Abby was so startled that she ended up rambling. "I…wow. Give me a second for my brain to start working again. I mean, I like you too but you did just drop a bomb on me so—"
"You do?" Blaise asked, uncharacteristically cutting her off out of eagerness.
"Uh, yeah. That's why I gave you my ribbon. I wanted you to have a reason to come back and panicked at the last second."
His smile grew so big that her heart stopped. It was a critical attack. He was too handsome when he smiled like that! Give her poor heart a chance to recover first. Abby was still trying to process that this was actually happening.
Dating here was a lot different than back home. On earth people dated because they liked each other and wanted to test if they were compatible. In this world courtship was a precursor to marriage, simply allowing time for setting up a wedding and building a house for the new couple to live in.