"You only fall in love for the first time once."

Alfred Jones just had his own share of a clichéd love story.

His heart won't stop from beating faster and faster as he stared at those green eyes that glowed like emeralds on the other side of the book shelf. Through the small, teeny-tiny gap between the books right after he pulled the Grand book of Physics by Ivan Braginski, there they were staring back at him with equal shock.

The eyes then blinked once as if it had just woken up from its momentary trance. Alfred felt like he too was suddenly pulled back to reality. Realizing the situation, he smiled and leaned closer in an attempt to get hold of the view. He was about to pull some more books on the shelf to see them better but to Alfred's dismay, the person on the other side stepped back and before he could do anything, the stranger turned and was gone from his sight. Hastily retreating footsteps echoed on the marbled floors.

"No! Wait!"

He called out and rushed to the other side of the shelf but when he was there, he was greeted by an abandoned space.

His shoulders slumped down and he bit his lip as a hand ran through his blonde locks. He stared at where the stranger stood. With slow steps, he walked towards the same spot and the faint smell of Roses and tea embraced him. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and simply took in the scent, appreciating the wonder of this mysterious person who he was quite sure was a beauty.

Something at the back of his mind screamed for him to start chasing after the stranger before it was too late.

Something told him that he was going to lose the greatest good of his life if he just stood there without doing anything.

Without any more delay, he spun on his heels and started to dash across the shelves, all the while ignoring the irritated hushes from the old librarian behind the desk. His eyes quickly scanned the people that stared at him from the tables and chairs but none of them had the same green eyes which stared at him earlier.

He found himself out in the open space in a minute or so, surrounded by countless numbers of faces he didn't recognize.

Except of a certain man with sandy blonde hair and stunning green eyes just a few meters from where he stood. It seemed that he was talking with someone on his mobile as he just stood there in the middle of the plaza with his phone on his ear.

It was him.

As if the stranger knew that he was looking at him, those green eyes he admired lifted and met with his own blue. Even from a distance, Alfred was sure that the other blonde's lips curved into the tiniest and cutest smile he had ever seen.

But when he took a step to rush towards him, the blonde turned around and was instantly swallowed by the wave of a group of teenagers that passed by him.

Shit.

Alfred almost jumped down the steps and professionally avoided the people that were in his way. With lots of practice every morning whenever he was late for class, it wasn't hard to get pass all those students that walked awfully slow in front of him.

From time to time he would raise his head to keep the blonde hair in track, afraid he might lose him.

But lose him he did.

When he reached the other side of the plaza, the blonde was nowhere to be seen. Sure there were hundreds of people with blonde hair but the one he was looking for had was so different in a lot of ways for Alfred. It was like, happiness radiated from the other's whole being.

He was so unfortunate to lose him. Alfred ran his hands through his hair, something he always did whenever he was frustrated. His head still turned in every direction in hopes of capturing the green eyed man in his sight.

In the end, he walked back home with a frown on his face.

The next day, Alfred was back at the university library to borrow the book he intended to get the day before. He stood before the very shelf he was at before, and stared at the title Grand Book of Physics with second thoughts of pulling it out. What if he saw the man again? What was he going to do if he saw a pair of green eyes staring back at him once more?

He hoped, deep in his heart he prayed that the encounter yesterday would repeat as if his life went on a rewind.

With a deep breath, his hands found the spine of the book and with much gentleness, he slowly pulled it out.

And there on the other side were a pair of eyes that stared into him as if they were surprised yet smiling.

But Alfred wasn't amused because they were a deep brown color.

"Hey there." The stranger's voice said. It was a girl and she leaned closer which made Alfred back up. It was obvious she was ready to flirt and Alfred would have none of that. He saw her smiling with her equally brown hair almost on her lips. Somebody needs to buy a hair brush he thought.

Before she could even say anything more, Alfred smiled at her and quickly left the library.

He found himself an empty bench by the small park beside their campus. The wind whistled gently through the leaves and it left a cooling feeling in Alfred's skin. It was the perfect place to read and review for the upcoming test the next week. Though he was not the type to spend his afternoons on a park bench like an old man with his newspaper, Alfred thought that the park was the perfect place that gave him a high chance of seeing his mystery green-eyed blonde.

Many people came by at the place, especially students who liked the beauty of solidarity. He wasn't saying that the stranger was that kind of person. It was just that his serene face would look very fitting under the shades of the trees as he sat on the park benches with an open book on his lap. Alfred was always the one with the strongest imagination.

He found himself quite right though the moment he saw a blonde man with a blue sweater sit just across him.

Alfred sat still for a while; the pages of his book began to turn to another page as the wind passed by him.

He wanted to stand and sit beside the other but his legs just won't move and his eyes won't leave the person that got his attention. He bit his lips and took in the sight that warmed his soul. His imagination just came to life and he had to debate with his inner self if what he was seeing was real.

The stranger did fit the scenery. Actually, he was perfect in it. Oh if our eyes functioned like a camera, Alfred would've taken millions of shots in every angle.

The man's collar bones peeked out from his sweater as he read a small yet thick book in his hands. He held the pages near his face and once again, all Alfred could see were his lively green eyes.

Something at the back of his mind screamed for him to stand and walk towards the other.

Something told him that he should grab the second chance or else he'd never see him again.

So Alfred closed his book and stood up. Once again as if on cue, the stranger's eyes lifted from the literature he was reading and even if Alfred could not see the lower half of his face, from the way his eyes shined he knew that the blonde stranger was smiling.

It gave him such confidence that he started to take a step.

But life wasn't about getting what you want in a blink of an eye. Alfred was supposed to know that.

Right after he took the first step, a group of bikers blocked his way and he had to step back. There were an awful lot of them and he tried to steal a glance on the other side of the park just to make sure that the stranger was still there, sitting comfortably while reading his book.

To his dismay, after the bikers went pass him his green eyes were gone.

Alfred tried to kick a pebble on the ground but he ended up hurting his toes with the pebble left unbothered.

The next day came; it was the third day since he saw this beautiful stranger at the library.

His mind kept on drifting off to his own little world with the stranger in it which caused him to bump on a potted plant or trip over some rocks inside the green house.

He was in Biology class, and today they were to observe and get samples of something which he either forgot or didn't hear as he was not paying attention. The professor led the class on a corner to appreciate the wonders of something that he didn't understand once more. He followed with little interest and let his eyes wander over the blue Hydrangeas at the far left corner of the Green House.

There was another class that marvelled on the pretty flowers and all of them seemed to enjoy themselves.

The group shared smiles and soft laughter before they walked away to proceed to somewhere he didn't really care of knowing. Though as the students disappeared on his sight one by one, a single person was left out crouching and staring at the Blue flowers intently.

A person which he identified to be his green eyed, blonde haired stranger.

Yep, his. Apparently he had grown fond of thinking that the stranger belonged to him only. Like he was his own mystery gift, a treasure that nobody else was supposed to know.

So once again he stood there at a good distance without doing anything. Why was he frozen on the spot? Why was it always like this? He was not a coward; he knew there was nothing to be afraid of. It confused him as to why he cannot make a move instantly whenever he saw him. And every time he had mustered his strength to take a step, something would separate him from the stranger and within a minute he was gone. He never got to take the second step.

But now he was more than determined to talk to him. He felt this pull that was very similar with how the Earth kept the Moon in its company for years. He was the moon; the stranger was the ground he was standing on.

He carefully took the first step and waited for something to happen—for a group of students to eat the other blonde or his professor to call him and lead to another direction. But nothing happened and he smiled as he was able to reach his second step.

As his foot landed on the ground, he heard a distant voice that made the other blonde look up to its direction.

Alfred watched him stand up and walked away slowly. His feet stopped on their own once again and it pissed him off. Something at the back of his mind screamed that people rarely were given a 3rd chance. Something told him that it could be his last.

But he just stood still as if it was what he was supposed to do. Just about when the green-eyed man disappeared behind the tall bushes on the corner, he seemed to notice someone was staring at him and so he paused and turned his head slightly towards Alfred's direction.

It made Alfred's heart stop just like the previous days.

Especially now that the stranger, at the sight of him waved his hand (but was not smiling, Alfred took notice of that,) before he was gone.

He waved at me.

He just waved at me.

Oh my god.

He felt his stomach churn with excitement and happiness that he just stood there contented. The simple wave made him think that their relationship was progressing into something higher than before.

"Jones! Get moving!"

He flinched at the annoyed tone of his professor and immediately turned around to follow.

When tomorrow came, he skipped along the hallways with a stronger resolve to approach the stranger. He swore over and over again that he was not going to waste even a second the moment he spotted him anywhere and anytime.

His friends were beginning to make fun of him but he just brushed them off, claiming that it was fate's decision for them to see each other without fail. So he was confident that he was going to see him that day once again.

But he was wrong, because there were no signs of a green eyed man with blonde hair the whole day.

He tried to go back at the library; he visited the park, and even walked around the Green house for an hour but there wasn't even a shadow of this guy.

On the fourth day, he walked home defeated.

But on the 5th day, it was he that Alfred saw first thing in the morning on his way to the university.

He was riding his bicycle as usual since it was the only transportation he got that would not cost him his money. As he rode through the busy streets he had this habit of stopping by his favorite game store that would still be close at that time of the morning. So he always would just be sticking his face to the glass window just to marvel and see if there were anything new.

That was when he saw his favorite blonde guy.

As Alfred leaned back, he noticed the other's reflection casually walking with a satchel bag on his shoulder. His eyes widened and when he turned around he found him walking at the other side of the street and headed towards the same direction as where to Alfred was going. In an instant, all interests he had about the video games vanished as his mind was pre-occupied to the idea of chasing the man.

And so he did as he quickly stepped on his pedals.

He almost bumped into other people as his eyes weren't on the road but on the stranger, afraid he might lose him in the crowd of rushing students, shoppers, and businessmen. Downtown was always busy especially in the mornings when everyone would be rushing the places they ought to be. His glasses would sometimes fog up because of his heavy war breaths so he would have this mini heart attack and lost his balance. He was quick to recover though and being the other man so special, it wasn't hard to keep track of his dishevelled hair.

When he saw a pedestrian up ahead, he doubled his speed as the green numbers counted down before it turned red again. People were running to get in time as the number diminished and there were only 7 seconds left.

But again, he should've known that fate wasn't going to let him cross the road. He wasn't able to make it when a kid ran across him all of a sudden which caused him to clash with a basket of banana by the fruit shop.

"Aaaah!"

He fell from his bike and had his bottom splat the yellow fruits. People all turned towards him and before he knew it, he was being hit in the arm by the little girl's mother. He flinched and tried to get up as he apologized. The situation didn't get any better when the store owner finally arrived at the scene.

The American tried his best to get out of the situation. It wasn't like he was trying to escape his faults. He just had something more important to deal with. He said sorry over and over again, assuring them that he would return later to pay the damages but his words fell on deaf ears. He left them like that and pedalled away as quick as he could.

When he tried to look for the blonde hair he had been tracking, it was gone but he did not lose hope. Not just yet. The other attended the same university as him so there was a huge chance that he might catch up to him or even meet him at campus gates.

A lot of students rushed in. Some were in a hurry while others couldn't care less about being late. He was one of those people.

When he spotted the blonde hair a good distance away from him, he started to work out his legs once more but then it was harder to get through people now that he was at campus. Unlike in the streets, people were at least walking by the sides and there were spaces between them. At the university, the students occupied almost all the space and he had no choice but to hop down his bike and begin squeezing his way through them.

"Excuse me!"

"Let me through!"

"Please move!"

Alfred was thankful for being given a fair height. He was able to keep the stranger in sight though it wasn't really helping his mood since the distance between them was beginning to grow farther and farther. He began to shout and call his attention with Hey you! Hey! Look here! And he even tried to wave his arms but the other wouldn't even turn his head.

In the end, Alfred lost him. His legs began to feel the stress they went through all that pedalling and his knees immediately gave out.

He crouched in the middle of that big space, defeated.

The 6th day came and Alfred was beginning to think about giving up. His friends were worried as hell with the way he kept on obsessing on the green-eyed man. Sometimes he even skipped lunch which was very weird and uncharacteristic of him. Lunch time was supposed to be sacred and never to be disregarded. But there he was, taking every free time he had just to go to the possible places he might meet the man.

But something inside him screamed NO, giving up would be the worst decision he would ever make.

Something told him that if he stopped now, he would be losing the most amazing moment of his life.

He debated on his thoughts the whole day even if he already knew that he would end up on continuing the search. So even if he had started on building his hatred for whoever Fate and Destiny was, he decided that they decide if he was going to continue or not.

If I see him today, it's a go. It not, then I give up.

His classes ended and he was on his way home at around 8 in the evening. The day was almost going to end and still there were no signs of the green eyed man. His heart sank at the fact that he had to let the stranger go as fate decided that they were not meant for each other.

He had no idea that he was so, so wrong.

Alfred lived alone and so in late evenings like this one, he did not bother himself with cooking dinner. So he walked down the streets and headed for the closest convenience store and bought loads of microwavable pastas and popcorns. Music was blasting in his ears while he continued to embrace more and more food on his arms. There were Pringles, Doritos, and some other junk food.

When he walked towards the freezer and began to take cans of Rootbeer on his arms, that was when he saw him.

And he saw him walking away toward the glass doors of the convenience store.

You've got to be kidding me.

Like every other person who had spotted someone they've been looking for for ages, he began to rush towards the sandy blonde, almost dropping the items in his arms.

Fate had decided that the search was still on, but fate also decided that now was not the time to finally meet him as Alfred was caught by the beeping sound by the entrance for carrying the unpaid goods past them.

His arms were immediately seized by the shop's staff and he knew that he just got in some serious trouble. He tried to wave his money at them while craning his neck outside in hopes of spotting the blonde man but he was pulled inside by the police (when did the police get here?) for questioning.

The following day he dozed off the lunch table as he spent the whole night explaining and arguing with the officers that he had no intentions of robbing the convenience store. His friends laughed at him and teased him at how stupid he was but he was too sleepy to entertain them.

It was the 7th day and a lot had happened since their very first meeting so there he was, dead tired. Yet the fire inside him was alive and his will to find the stranger was ever burning.

And that explained why he was positioned on the window of his classroom, ready to jump from the second floor with his professor and classmates panicking behind him. Only his closest friends knew he had bones of steel and he wouldn't die from what he was about to do.

He saw his beloved stranger walk by with a pile of books in his arms and Alfred figured he could help him carry those heavy readings. He also thought that the books would do him a favour of slowing the other blonde down and it would be easy to chase him.

"Jones, get down right now!"

"I'll be back I promise!"

"I'll fail you!"

"I said I'll be back!"

He gave his prof a thumbs-up along with a winning grin before he jumped down and was gone.

When he got down however, he did not catch even a glimpse of the other's shadow. It did immediately crush his hopes though s he started to hurry towards the most obvious location that the blonde would be.

The Library.

Everyone's head turned when he pushed the wooden doors a little bit stronger than intended. He was immediately silenced by the 76-year-old librarian even if he hadn't uttered a word yet. It seemed that he was well remembered by her since he almost broke everyone's eardrums when he found a dead spider inside an old book and shouted his lungs out.

This did not stop him from entering the establishment though and it was obvious that the old lady did not like him anywhere near the place with the way she crossed her arms. He greeted a soft hello and before he could even go wild and explore each corner like crazy, the neatly piled books beside the librarian took his attention as he recognized him to be the same books that his sandy blonde was carrying.

He hurriedly walked towards the desk.

"Would you happen to know the person who borrowed those?"

"Of course. But I'm not telling you."

Alfred could feel the hatred radiating from her but there was no backing up now.

"Please? I'll leave you in peace if you tell me."

"Go away."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because I don't like you."

"Can't you give me even the smallest info? Like what major he's in. Please?"

"I'm not giving you anything young man. Now go away and leave this place in peace."

The old lady glared at her and he glared back, even inching forward to show his determination.

And also to snatch— borrow— the record notebook beside her right arm.

He bit his lip as his hand slowly crawled towards that one piece of paper that would take him another step closer to his most wanted man. It was good that the old woman was indeed old for her to notice his inching hand. Within a few more seconds wasted on the staring contest, he launched swiftly forward and grabbed the record notebook with a cry of victory.

Without wasting another second, he quickly scanned through the names of the students who borrowed books as he searched for him.

M. Williams – — Date Borrowed: 03/03/14 Date Returned: 03/05/2014

E. Herdevary – – Date Borrowed: 03/03/14 Date Returned: 03/05/ 2014

F. Vargas – — Date Borrowed: 03/04/14 Date Returned: 03/04/2014

V. Zwingli— Professor: Faculty of Engineering— Date Borrowed: 03/04/14 Date Returned: 03/07/2014

Alfred browsed through the pages, each carefully reading the names of students and professors but after a while, the surname he had been searching for did not appear in any of the pages. He found it odd since the sandy blonde was just there a few moments ago. The books on the counter were a solid proof!

He heard a low giggle behind him and saw the old lady laughing.

"Actually, I haven't written his name yet since he was the first to return books for this week. I haven't prepared a record sheet."

So that explained why the recorded dates were all from last week. Why didn't he figure it out?

Alfred had to stop himself from tearing the papers apart.

"Why'd you want to know about him?" The old lady looked at him seriously with a raised brow. "Cause you obviously don't know the lad."

He looked at her, hesitating to tell her his reason because he thought she wouldn't understand anyway. Hell, she might just laugh at him for being so caught up in love at first sight!

"It's love at first sight." His tongue slipped before he even knew it. "And I don't care if you laugh at me. It's the truth."

He expected laughter to follow but to his surprise, nothing came but silence and the usual sound of pages being turned. When he met the old lady's face, she was smiling at him. Not that mocking, judgemental smile she had moments ago. Rather it was something like what Alfred's grandmother wore and he felt comfortable.

"You should work hard. Very hard. You'd look good together."

"Excuse me?" Now, that was rather confusing but he didn't complain. "Don't you find it funny?"

She shook her head and relaxed down her chair. "Well it's kind of stupid but love is stupid so I'll leave it be." The old lady giggled and leaned on the counter. "I can see sincerity in your eyes so I'll trust you with this information," She summoned Alfred near him and smiled.

"His name is Arthur Kirkland and I think he loves you too."

This will be composed only of 2-3 chapters. :)

Hope you like it.