Downstairs, Xavier was sitting at the foot of the grand staircase, looking at his watch impatiently.

"I don't think Alex will come down any time soon. Darn! Zeke won again. How did he know that Alex really won't leave Abigail even for a while?! Ugh… I don't know what's going on anymore," he mumbled and Kai, who was sitting near the fireplace, threw his head back and looked at the ceiling.

"I can't believe this. Alex is supposed to be torturing Eli by now, making him taste the worst kind of death but here he is, stuck in this house with his girl. It's really hard to believe that Alex is actually able to suppress his bloodlust," Xavier continued, shaking his head. "Sigh… I waited all night for nothing! I expected an action filled night just to end up counting the sheep in my head. T^T He should've told us beforehand that he had no plans to leave the house anymore!"

…

The sun had already risen and was peeking through the window when Abi opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, then yawned and then thinking that the one in her embrace was her pillow, Abi moved to bury her face on it. However, her face didn't encounter the softness of a pillow as she expected, it was met with hard muscle instead.

She lifted her head and saw that the pillow was actually Alex. He was wide awake and looking at her with his messy yet still gorgeous 'I just woke up' look.

"G-good morning, Alex," she greeted as she let go of him and sat up.

The man tilted his head and looked intently into her eyes.

"Did you… have a dream last night? I mean, a good dream, not the nightmare," he asked and Abi blinked, trying to remember. She was a bit curious about why he was suddenly asking that.

"I don't think I did. I think I slept pretty deeply after you hopped on my bed," she answered truthfully as she looked at him in curiosity. "Why?"

Alex averted his gaze and put his feet on the floor. "Nothing. You were just… snoring last night so I thought you were dreaming " he said before he cleared his throat and stood up.

"I was snoring?" Abi's eyes were wide.

He cleared his throat again and glanced at her before he headed towards the door. Just like that, he left her room, leaving Abi speechless. She creased her brows because she felt that he was lying but she shrugged it off and climbed out of the bed.

She made the bed quickly and got ready in the bathroom before she went downstairs.

In the dining room, the others weren't around so they were the only ones eating. Abi was talking to him like usual, cheerful and bright, despite what happened last night. It almost seemed as if nothing had happened, like a ball of fire that kept on burning no matter how wet and cold the weather was.

"So? What're your requests? You have three for today," Alex asked as he leaned on his chair. He had already finished his breakfast, eating so little as always.

"Uhm… Alex, why do you eat so little?"

"Don't mind the silly things, little fruit, and tell me your request while I'm being good."

Abi pursed her lips because the man was being serious again. She gazed at him deeply and she thought she felt a sense of heaviness surrounding him but in the next second, that feeling was gone. She looked at him again and this time, he looked like his normal self. Abi sighed in relief and in then the next moment, she opened her mouth.

"Feed me, Alex. Ah ~"

Alex's lips parted. "This is your first request?"

She nodded and he twitched. But he still moved and began to feed her. Although his actions seemed forced, it didn't seem to annoy him.

Abi was smiling at him as she chewed her food. "Mmm… so yummy," she uttered before she opened her mouth again.

"You should have some, too. Here…" She soon took a spoonful of food and tried to feed it to him but the man refused.

"I'm already full, Abigail."

"But this is part of my request. My request is for us to feed each other," she explained as she stood up and put the spoon near his mouth. Alex looked like he wanted to leave the table but he didn't. He sighed and ate the meat as fast as he could while looking around, maybe to see if someone other than her had seen it.

Abi chuckled and picked up another spoonful of food.

"Last one, please," she begged, blinking cutely at him and Alex, despite the deep lines on his forehead, looked around again before he ate the meat as fast as a hungry hippo.

Too bad for him because that was the exact scene that the three men, who just walked in, saw.

Alex almost choked when his eyes saw them. He chewed the food and nonchalantly drank some water while Zeke casually walked over and took his seat. The other two were still stunned by the door.

"The other two, what are they?" Alex immediately switched gears and started to divert the topic back to her other two wishes, not minding that Zeke and the others were there.

"I am going home today, Alex, and I want you to come with me. My family also wants you to come," she said and Alex stared at her.

"Is there a special occasion?" Xavier was the one who shamelessly asked.

"Ah, yes. It's my birthday." She answered with a smile and…

"CLUNK!" the spoon on Alex's hand fell on his plate.

Everyone looked at Alex.

The man realized what happened and he cleared his throat.

"So there will be a celebration at your house?" Kai was the one who asked.

"My parents had been preparing for this day and they said they wanted to throw a simple celebration where all my close friends could come to celebrate with me" she explained with a smile when Xavier suddenly butted in.

"How about us? Can we tag along, too?" His eyes were almost sparkling, almost like that pet dog eager to tag along to go on a vacation.

"Of course you can come. You guys are totally invited, if you're not busy," she beamed and Xavier rejoiced.

"Yehey! Thank you, Abigail! We will definitely come. Zeke, are you gonna come too?"

"Yes."

Abi kept glancing at Alex but he didn't seem to be displeased that the three were tagging along which made her smile. Little did she know that the man was not listening to the current conversation.

Once Abi went back upstairs to get ready, the first to speak was Zeke.

"So you didn't even greet her 'happy birthday' yet?" he asked and the man, who seemed to be lost in thoughts since his spoon fell, finally looked at him. The answer was obvious on his face.

"Oh c'mon, Zeke. When did the great Alexander Qin ever greet anyone 'happy birthday'? He doesn't even remember his own birthday anymore," Xavier butted in and the atmosphere somehow became heavy.

Kai nudge Xavier to shut his mouth and Zeke broke the silence.

"Why don't you prepare something for her? You still have plenty of time," he said and Alex just gazed at him without saying anything.