That night, Aless, Danny, Kay, and DJ had a great time.  DJ immediately became infatuated with the beautiful Kay, who loved the attention but had no actual interest in DJ.  They planned on going out again as a group to celebrate Kay’s eighteenth birthday the next month.  Chipping in together, the four reserved a table at a club called Mabᴔb. Kay invited all her school friends and club friends, resulting in a group of twenty to thirty people.  The evening overall was a lot of fun.  With their table being so crowded, Aless chose to sit on Danny’s lap most of the night, which neither of them minded.  Poor DJ did what he could to maintain Kay’s attention, but it was a lost cause.  Too many of Kay’s rich crushes were there, who brought expensive gifts and bought Kayla lots of drinks.  By the end of the night, Kayla was trashed.  DJ carried Kay to Aless’s car when it was time to leave, which broke Aless’s heart.  If Kay wasn’t such a snob, she would realize what a catch DJ was. 

“It’s just as much his fault,” Danny sighed as they followed DJ to Aless’s car. “He knows what type of girl she is, but he keeps hoping she will change her mind.  I’ve warned him a hundred times by now. He just can’t get over how beautiful she is.”

“Kay is really beautiful,” Aless agreed.

Her stomach clenched.  Even though she knew it was petty, Aless hated when Danny said that Kay was beautiful. Stopping, Danny lifted Aless’s chin, so she had to look at him.

“You are far more beautiful, Aless.  I know you don’t believe it, but it is true.  Kay is flashy pretty, but flashy pretty gets old.  You are long-lasting beautiful,” he told her.

Kissing her gently, Danny ran his fingers through her hair and Aless felt her toes curl.  He always knew the right thing to say.

“You guys!” DJ called out. “The damn car is locked.”

“Sorry, DJ!” Aless chuckled.

Jogging over, Aless and Danny unlocked the car and helped get Kay situated.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to follow you home?” Danny asked.

“No, Danny.  I didn’t drink, so I am fine,” Aless reassured him.

“Yeah, but it’s going to be hard to get her out of the car.”

“I’ve got a system.  This isn’t the first time I’ve had to drag her butt into my house.  We will be fine.”

Giving him a quick kiss, Aless waved to DJ and climbed in. Rolling down her window, she called to Danny as he walked away, “Send me a dm when you get home safely, please.”

“I will. You do the same.”

“Okay!”

With that, Aless headed home.  Normally getting a drunk Kay out of her car was easy, but, for some reason that night, Kay decided to be a pain in the butt.  She wiggled, whined, and clung to the car seat in which she had been sleeping. Losing her temper quickly, Aless began cursing Kay as she tried to pull her friend free.

“Do you need some help?” a familiar voice said.

Turning Aless saw Bal standing by his truck.

“What are you doing making deliveries so late?” she asked.

“I should be asking what are you doing up so early,” he replied. 

Flickering her eyes to the car clock, Aless groaned when she saw it was almost six in the morning.  Damn.

“We just got back from celebrating Kay’s birthday.”

“Oh, that’s right. That was this week.  How was the party?”

“Good, but my friend drank a little too much.”

“I see.  Do you want some help?”

Debating for only a few seconds, Aless nodded.

“Please.”

Trotting over, Bal gave Alessandra a warm smile in greeting. 

“Normally, I can get her into the house on my own, but she is being a royal pain tonight.”

“It happens.  Let me try.”

Bending over, Bal leaned into the car.  He whispered into Kay’s ear, who moaned slightly then wrapped her arms around his neck.  Sweet as a sleeping babe, Kay allowed Bal to pick her up and out of the car.  Annoyed, Aless rolled her eyes at her friend.  Of course, Kay would be good for a man.  Together Aless and Bal walked to the front door and Aless let them in.

“Where should I take her?”

“We’ll put her in my room.  Just follow me.”

Quietly, they made their way up the stairs to Alessandra’s room.  There Bal laid Kay down gently on the bed.  Removing her friend’s shoes, Aless tucked Kay into bed then signaled for Bal to follow her downstairs.

“Thank you for your help,” she said when they reached the main floor.

“No problem. It happens to all of us.”

“Yeah, it does, but I still appreciate it. Can I get you anything to drink or eat?”

“I need to get back to my route, but I guess I can stay for a soda if you have one.”

“Sure.”

Padding to the kitchen, Aless told him to take a seat as she found a soda and glass.  Serving him, Aless beamed as she sat next to him. 

“You must be exhausted,” Bal said kindly.

“Naw, I always get energized from clubs.  I’ll be up for about another hour before I can sleep.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.  Watch TV or something.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.  If you're bored, your welcome to join me on my route.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s boring but at least you’d have company.”

“That actually sounds fun.  Let me change while you drink your soda.”

Slipping back upstairs, Aless changed into comfortable pajama bottoms and a tank top.  She didn’t bother removing her make-up, settling for brushing out her hair and throwing it into a ponytail instead.  When she was ready, Aless made her way down the stairs to find Bal waiting for her.  Quietly, they snuck out of the house and back to Bal’s truck. 

“You sure you don’t mind me hanging out with you while you work?” Aless asked,

She hesitated at the truck door.

“If I did, I wouldn’t have offered.  Honestly, I appreciate the company since I’m not a morning person and these early shifts drive me crazy.”

Grinning, Aless knew what he meant.  She was not a morning person either.  Climbing in, Aless made herself comfortable as Bal got the truck started.  He was wearing his usual long-sleeve uniform with combat boots.  Aless wondered what he looked like in regular clothes.  Silently, she harangued herself for not paying more attention when they had met at the club months before.  It wasn’t that she was interested in Bal, Aless had Danny after all, but she was just curious. 

Bal had been right.  His morning route was slow and boring.  Aless and Bal entertained each other by first talking about Kay’s party then telling jokes and then talking about places they both wanted to see in the world.  To her surprise, Bal was highly intelligent and had seen a lot of the world.  It seemed that once they began talking, the route and time flew by.  Before Aless knew it, it was almost nine in the morning.

“Crap,” Bal exclaimed.  “I should get you home.  You must be really tired.

“I’m fine,” Aless said as she stifled a huge yawn.

Chuckling, Bal touched the top of Aless’s head gently.

“You are literally falling asleep in that car seat, Ale.”

“Am not.”

Her voice sounded sleepy and pouty. 

“Too cute.”

Softly laughing, Bal turned the truck around and headed for Aless’s house.  Trying to keep her eyes open, Aless kept talking, but soon she fell asleep.  Bal drove in silence, glancing at her once and while.  When they reached her house, Bal parked the truck and reached over to wake the sleeping girl. Stopping short of touching her shoulder, Bal thought for a moment before pulling out a small imaging device from his pocket.  Holding it up, Bal focused on Aless’s face then said the word capture in a whisper.  There was a momentary pause then a small mechanical whirring noise, followed by a small flash.  An image of Alessandra projected above the small device, a perfect image of her sleeping.  Pocketing the device, Bal got out of the truck and picked Aless up.  He saw no point in waking her.  Carrying her to the house, Bal managed to open the door with her keys then made his way to the living room.  Carefully, he placed her on the couch and covered her with a blanket.  Standing there for a moment, Bal left out a deep breath.

“Ale, you really should be more careful with who you talk to.  It may get you in trouble one day,” he whispered to her. 

Licking her lips in response, Aless rolled onto her back.  Shaking his head, Bal left, locking the door behind him.  Sleeping most of the day, Aless woke around three in the afternoon.  Momentarily confused, Aless slowly recalled falling asleep in Bal’s truck.  Realizing he must have carried her inside, Aless felt grateful for his kindness.

“He is a nice guy,” Aless thought. “I’m glad we are becoming friends.”

Sneaking upstairs, Aless checked on Kay who was still sound asleep. Showering, Aless thought about some of the jokes Bal had told her that morning and she giggled.  She would need to remember them, so she could share them with Danny.  Thinking of Danny, Aless realized that she had never messaged him when she got home.  Damn.  Jumping out of the shower, Aless immediately ran to her phone and saw several messages from Danny.  As fast as her fingers would type, Aless sent several apology messages, explaining that it had taken forever to get Kay inside, and then she had fallen asleep.  Part of her felt that she should tell Danny about Bal, but a large part thought that it would cause him unnecessary worry.  She knew that Bal was just a new friend, but sometimes Danny got jealous. Nothing crazy, just a little jealous.  And since Bal and Aless were just friends and nothing had happened, Aless didn’t see the point in causing a problem.  In a short time, Danny messaged back, expressing his relief that she was okay.  They messaged back and forth for a little while before Danny had to go to work and Aless had to work on homework. Sitting down at the kitchen table to work, Aless felt tired, but content.  Life was good, she thought. Life was very good.

The next month passed as Aless’s eighteenth birthday drew closer.  Bal and Aless started hanging out regularly on his weekend routes when Aless didn’t have too much homework.  They would spend a few hours talking about everything from movies to philosophy to stupid jokes.  There was nothing Aless liked more than talking to Bal about his home country.  Alᵫmdaun sounded breath-taking and it didn’t take long before Aless added it to her list of places she wanted to visit once she graduated college.  The longer they talked, the more relaxed Bal became.  He laughed easily and teased Aless endlessly.  The only time he ever became serious was when Aless asked about his family or the reason he came to Mᴔjin.  Realizing it was a sore subject, Alessandra decided to avoid those two topics. 

Her friendship with Kay was going strong as well.  Whatever problem Kay had with Danny and Aless’s relationship appeared to be over and the girls were close as ever.  Her relationship with Danny felt the same way.  Aless couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have met Danny.  Sure, he could be overprotective and jealous at times, but that didn’t bother Aless.  It felt nice to be with someone who always wanted to be around her and who she actually wanted to be around.  Most of the guys she had previously dated didn’t last longer than a month.  Quickly, Danny was becoming the longest relationship Aless had ever had.