54 Save me!

As the main page showed up on the screen, Alex looked at Abi with astonishment. This was the game she wanted to play? Why was she so excited about it?

He felt like he wanted to facepalm himself. But then, again, what the hell was he expecting with this little lamb? He couldn't believe that he was going to play something like this. Suddenly, he wanted to leave but when he looked at the excited girl beside him, he closed his eyes and leaned on the sofa, looking like he was trying to convince himself to bear with it for now.

Abigail on the other hand was very, very excited.

"Here we go. Get ready, Alex!" she exclaimed and then, the game started. Abi tried to get used to controlling her character using the buttons on the controller. She pressed each button to find out what each one did and in no time at all, she was controlling her character like a pro - well, not really, but to her, it felt like it.

Alex lazily played, with a deadpan expression. He was obviously bored.

After just five minutes of staring at the moving characters on the screen, Alexander looked like he was done. He turned towards Abigail to tell her that they were going to play for only ten more minutes but the instant he saw her face, he got a little distracted. It was because he found her expressions amusing and before he knew it, he could no longer concentrate on the game at all. He was distracted by her as he watched all the different expressions that went through her face. He could tell that she was very much enjoying herself, from the wide smiles and the bright stars in her eyes.

He watched as her little tongue adorably poked out from the corner of her mouth out when she was concentrating very hard, watched how her body tilted to the left or right depending on what direction she wanted her character to go towards and watched how her body jumped, as if she was the character itself.

"Hey, pay attention!" she ordered. He was brought back to the present and his lips curled up because of her bossy words.

"I am," he replied, still looking at her.

She didn't take her eyes off the screen because she was trying hard not to die. "Then why do you keep falling down the same hole?"

"Because it is such a pretty hole to die in…" he teased.

"W-we're not going to stop until we save the princess, okay?" she suddenly declared, causing Alex to gape at her. He knew that with her skill, there was no way they would finish the game anytime soon.

At that point, Abi fell down a hole too, despite her intense concentration and she grunted in a somewhat frustrated fashion.

"What are you doing? You actually declared to save the princess when you keep performing suicides like that?"

"T-the hole was sucking me in. It might be a black hole!" She pursed her lips like a kid who was about to cry, causing Alex to shake his head in amusement and disbelief.

"We have to save the princess, Alex, or I will feel guilty and won't be able to sleep if we can't save her," she cried without tears as she yanked Alex's arms. "The princess will haunt my dreams if we don't save her. Please, let's work together, okay?" she begged, even blinking her big eyes as she gazed at him. T-this girl…

In the end, Alexander couldn't make himself ignore her pleas and he finally gave in.

"Fine," he sighed and Abi's eyes twinkled. Alex finally concentrated on the game. He did give her his word, after all, that they would play a video game, so he should honor that promise and play properly.

Once Alex got serious, they blitz through the levels but it was already near midnight when they finally reached the last castle. Abi had started to slow down and her enthusiasm had waned a bit during the last few levels but her energy came back once they entered the final stage. Alex could tell that she was tired. He could see it in her eyes, and yet this girl didn't want to stop and insisted on saving the princess first. Alex didn't even realize that he was enjoying the game a little. Well, his amusement in seeing some small gaming quirks in her, especially her little tongue poking out cutely, made him laugh inwardly during the game.

With her tongue poking out and her controller held close to her chest, they maneuvered their way to the end. Just before they defeated Bowser, Princess Peach called out "Mario, save me!" from her cage and then in the next second, she was free!

Abi turned to Alex excitedly as she jumped in place. "We did it, Alex! We beat him! Mario saved her!"

"It was us who saved her though." Alex smugly said but Abi didn't seem to hear him.

She just looked back at the screen, put her controller down and stretched as she yawned. It seemed that dreamland was starting to call for her. "Mario, save me…" she murmured, as she rubbed her eyes sleepily, remembering Princess Peach's words.

"Alex, save me..." were the last words that came out of her lips before her body slumped down. She would have hit the ground but Alex caught her in his arms just as she was about to hit the ground.

He stared at her sleeping face in his arms for a long while before he carried her and tucked her on the bed.

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