Mission 1:

Get me to give you three back hugs in the matter of time we spend together today. Have fun and be creative Rhyth. :)

I was utterly confused. What is all this? Looking at the letter that came with the package, I guess Mark has come up with a creative way for us to hang out. Sure I was confused, but my curiosity beats my confusion. But I don't understand why he had to get me this. He should know that these weren't really my thing.

I picked up the dress from the package. It was a light shade of blue and it wasn't too showy. It was simple and beautiful. Simply beautiful. Something in my mind told me that I was supposed to wear this today. On me and Mark's date. 

I was deciding whether or not I should wear it, but as I stared at it a little more, I realized that I couldn't say no. I tried it on and smiled when it fit perfectly. Mark, I could punch you right now. I loved it. I never imagined myself saying that I loved a dress, but it's happening alright. 

I had to meet up with Mark at 9:00. I checked the time, hoping it wasn't too late. It was 8:30, plenty of time to get to the theaters. I took a taxi there, thinking that Mark has more planned for the day than just a movie. On the way there, I couldn't stop thinking about the look my family gave me when I told them I was going out. They stared in awe and confusion at what I was wearing. My mother was more shocked. I remember the times when we went to the mall together. I went to the section of the store where there were jeans and t's, while my mom went to the dress section. She would always show me a dress, hoping I'd like it, but only to be turned down by me. 

My brother always thought of me as a tomboyish type of sister. There were times when we would ride our bikes around the neighborhood. There were also times when we wrestled with each other. He didn't think of me much as a girl, but more of a brother. I liked that because it brought us closer as siblings. 

We reached the theaters in a matter of minutes. I scanned the front for Mark. I was about to call him when someone grabbed my phone.

"Yah!" I turned around to see who I was dealing with, only to see Mark, my phone in his hand. He smiled mischievously at me as he handed my phone back to me. 

"Hi Rhyth," Mark said. There was nothing else he said after that. His eyes were on me and that's it. He eyed me up and down, probably thinking to himself, "Wow, I'm a genius." I smiled and clapped my hands in front of his face to break the spell. 

"Gomawo," I said after he came back to his senses. 

"For?" Mark asked. 

"For this pabo," I said. I was motioning towards the dress. "So what do you have planned for the day?" I took his hand as we got in line for movie tickets.

"You'll see," he said. He was grinning from ear to ear. I always wish that I had the power to read other people's minds. But I knew that if I did posses that power, life would be sorta boring. If I had that power, there would be no such thing as surprise. 

"What movie are we seeing?" I tried a different question. 

"Is there a movie that you wanna see?" Mark asked. I thought about it, but we were already at the front of the line. Horror? Romance? Or perhaps Sci-Fi?

"Hi, what would you be seeing today?" the employee asked when we approached him.

"Two tickets to The Fault In Our Stars please," Mark said. I mentally slapped myself. I can't believe I forgot. Out of all things to clear my mind of because of training, it just had to be the movie I've been most awaiting. Mark looked at me to see my reaction. Gosh I hate you Mark.

I turned to Mark and kissed him on the cheek. I loved him for taking me here. I loved him for remembering. And I loved him for being such an amazing boyfriend. Mark had a surprised look on his face after I pulled away from his cheek. And for some reason, so did the employee. He had Mark's change in his hand. He probably didn't expect to see couples kiss right outside of the theater, especially when purchasing tickets. He handed Mark his change and smiled at us teasingly.

"You two have fun," he said. We said our thanks and entered the theater. Mark didn't say a thing. Like me, Mark still had a tendency to blush whenever I kissed him unexpectedly. He also tends to shut up whenever I kissed him unexpectedly too.

We got in line for popcorn when I remembered the mission. I thought about a way to discreetly make Mark give me a back hug. A back hug. Out of all things Mark could've made as a mission. This was a pretty hard mission to accomplish, considering Mark knew about it and would be cautious the whole entire time we spent together. But I summed up a plan that would get him to do it. I realized that boyfriends tend to do a lot of favors for their girlfriends. Sometimes when they're doing the favor, they don't think about anything else. They only think about the satisfaction of their girlfriend when the favor is done.

When Mark was busy looking at the prices for popcorn, I discreetly pulled the ribbon on my dress. The ribbon went around the dress and had to be tied in front of it. I had to get Mark to tie the ribbon from behind me. When he does, it will automatically be a back hug. He wouldn't suspect a thing. After this day was over, I could gladly laugh about how he fell for it.

We were still a few minutes until we get to the front of the line. I had to act quick. I nudged Mark to get his attention.

"Mark, could you tie this for me? It got loose." I said. I handed him the ribbon and quickly turned around so that my back was facing him.

"Like this?" he asked. He put the ribbon around my waist so that he was tying it on my back.

"Nope, the ribbon has to be in front of me," I said. He nodded and did as he was told. His hand wrapped around my waist until they were in front of me. He hugged me close to him so that he could look over my shoulder at the ribbon. He finished tying it and let go of me.

"Done," he said and smiled at me.

"Thanks," I said and smiled back. You pabo, you fell for it so easily. I wonder if he realized it yet or if he will realize it later on today. I checked his face to see if he's realized it yet. Nope, nothing, not a clue. Yes, one back hug down, two to go!

As Mark purchased the popcorn, I began to think about the movie. I may not look like it, but I am a little bit of a bookworm. Hidden behind my life of dancing is my life of books. Romances are my favorite. When I found out one of my favorite books is to be made into a movie, I knew that I couldn't miss it. When I read this book about a year ago, I never imagined that when they made it into a movie, I'd be watching it with Mark. I smiled at the thought. Mark noticed as he was paying for the popcorn.

"You seem happy," he said. "I'm guessing it's the movie you're all smiley about."

"Yeah the movie," I paused. "And you." He smiled and took my hand. We walked to the theater and found seats for the both of us.

Throughout the movie, all I could do was keep my eyes glued to the screen. There were many times when I'd start to cringe because of the insanely cute moment that happened in the movie. Although I couldn't see Mark, I knew that he was glad that I was enjoying the movie so much. He even managed to put his arm around me without me even realizing it.

Nearing the end of the movie, you really can't take your eyes off the screen. The end is like the breaking point of the movie. By breaking, I mean breaking everyone in the theater into tears. I mentally slapped myself for not bringing tissues, but then realized that I didn't even know I was gonna watch the movie today. I turned to Mark and was surprised to see that he's crying too. Aww Mark. I made a mental note for myself to when the movie was over.

The movie ended and I we finally took our gaze away from the screen. We filed out of the theater. We haven't said a word to each other yet. I wonder what he thought of the movie. He was clearly moved by it, considering he was moved to tears. We exited the theaters and my eyes found Mark's car. I started walking towards it when he grabbed my hand. I shot him a confused look.

"Can we take a walk first?" he asked. He motioned towards the park nearby. I nodded, thinking it would be nice. He didn't let go of my hand as we walked to the park. Even as we reached the park, he didn't let go. Perhaps he was thinking about the couple in the movie. Was he comparing them to us?

"What is it Mark?" I asked. "Are you thinking about the movie?"

"Yup, thanks for telling me about it," he said. "I actually liked it." He shot me a smile.

"Your welcome," I said. "It's no doubt my favorite movie of all time, now that I've seen it."

"I think it's mine too," he said. His eyes lit up as if he just came up with an amazing idea. "We should have one too!" I was confused.

"One what?" I asked.

"A word," he said. "You know, like Hazel and Augustus' word, Okay."

"Oh I get it," I said. "Yes! We should! But what?" I was thrilled of the thought of us having our own word. Like the movie, this word has to be something that would last forever. Like our word for forever. Hazel and Augustus has Okay. Isaac and Monica had Always. Mark and I should have one too.

"I think I have one." Mark said. He seemed confident that I would like it. Let's hear it!

"Dance." he said. When he said it, I felt like laughing. It was so cute and it fit us very well! It's what brought us together in the first place. It's also what will keep us together forever. I love it!

I threw my arms around him and kissed him on the lips. He was surprised of course, but gradually fell into the kiss as well. 

"Dance is perfect," I said after we broke away from the kiss. Mark put his hands behind his head.

"Yup, I knew you'd like it," he replied. I pushed him to make him end his overconfidence. We laughed as we talked about our word: Dance. 

Mark and I took a walk a little more. I thought about the mission he gave me. I had to act fast, before the day came to an end. Since I already had that word stuck in my head, I decided to go with that. I summed up a plan. Let's dance Mark!

We were nearing a park bench. I stopped him from walking any further. I pulled out my phone and quickly searched up a slow song. I set my phone on the bench. Mark was confused at first, but then he gradually got the hint that I wanted to dance with him. Slow dancing will be the perfect plan to get him to give me a back hug. He would be too caught up in the moment to realize whether he gave me a back hug or not. Perfect.

"May I have this dance?" Mark asked. He bowed and gave me his hand, which I gladly took. 

As we danced along with the music, I momentarily forgot the plan in my head. It felt nice dancing there in that part of the park. It was nice weather outside too. I then remembered my plan.

"Spin," I said. Mark heard me and spun me out. When I was spun back in, I pressed my back against Mark. One of my hands was holding his, so I wrapped his arm around me. I didn't have to tell him to wrap the other hand around me. He did it himself. Automatic back hug. I'm a genius!

After we were like that for a moment, the song ended. He released himself from me. 

"Got anything else planned for today?" I asked. I didn't want this day to end yet. I'm almost positive that he's got more planned for the day. Not to mention I still need to get one more back hug from him to complete my mission.

"Let's eat lunch," he replied. We turned around and walked back to the theaters, where Mark's car was parked. He rushed to my side so he can open the car door for me, but I beat him to it. The guy opening doors for the girl, is a common thing to do in a relationship. Mark and I turn it into a game to see who would get to the door first. We're such an immature couple.

On the way to the restaurant, I thought of another way to get a back hug from Mark. I was considering tripping on something. Mark would come to the rescue, but the plan could fail completely. There's no telling how Mark would save me from falling. He could grab my hand, catch me from my front, or another way. I smiled to myself as I considered the possibilities of this plan. I was taking this way too seriously, considering it's just a little mission given by Mark. I had a sudden thought, what would happen if I didn't complete the mission? I steered clear from that thought. I didn't wanna find out. I just wanted to complete the mission.

We arrived at the restaurant. I wasn't very surprised when I saw the name. But I was surprised that Mark remembered. It was a sushi restaurant. There's a story to why we're here. It was about seven or eight months ago. Mark and I were talking about food when sushi all of a sudden came up.

"I like sushi," Mark said. "I could eat it all day. How about you?"

"Uh yeah sure," I said. I didn't really say it as if I totally agreed with him. I remember that.

"Please don't tell me you don't like sushi." Mark said. 

"Well I can't say I don't like it," I said. "More like I've never tried it." Mark's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. 

"Then you have to try it at some point in your life," he said. "You have to."

"Fine, I'll try it one time," I said. "Just don't be disappointed if I spew it right out of my mouth."

"Are you saying I'm gonna be there when you try it?" he asked. I noticed a hint of teasing in his voice. I blushed as I realized that it sorta did sound like I was saying that. 

"Kidding," he said. He punched me playfully in the arm. I smiled and we resumed back to training.

Mark parked the car and turned to me. I guess he was checking for my reaction. He was the first one to speak.

"I wasn't kidding," he said. We both smiled and got out of the car. 

"I knew you weren't." I replied.

~ Hello readers! A little bit of myself went into the chapter. TFIOS is my favorite movie and I'm a bookworm as well. And tbh, I've never tried sushi either. Lol XD Stay tuned for the next chapter and please don't unsubscribe! ^^

~ The song Rhyth and Mark slow danced to is none other than a song from TFIOS! ^^

*** All Of The Stars by, Ed Sheeran