Page 79 of The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

Nicole nods slightly. She squeezes her knees tighter to her chest and furrows her brow. “You really think she likes Claire?”

Dalisay nods. “Because you do.”

Nicole buries her face in her knees again, but Dalisay can tell she’s smiling. Dalisay goes to her side, bouncing on themattress, and leans into her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. “Thank you,” Nicole whispers.

“For what?” Dalisay asks.

“For talking to Mom for me,” Nicole says, peeking over her knees.

“You knew?”

Nicole nods. “Daniel blabbed.”

Dalisay smiles. No one can keep any secrets in this family. Nicole wraps her arms around Dalisay too and Dalisay realizes they haven’t hugged like this since their dad died. It’s like nothing has ever changed. And yeteverythinghas changed. But now it’s not so scary anymore.

Dalisay breaks the hug, only because she hears something. “What is that?” she asks. It almost sounds like singing, but Dalisay turned off her headphones, so it’s not coming from her laptop.

“Is that music?” Nicole asks.

“It’s coming from outside,” Dalisay says. She leaves her room, Nicole following behind, and the music is getting louder. When Dalisay goes to the living room window overlooking the driveway, she sees four people dancing in the dark, lit only by the light of the garage.

“The Serenade,” Dalisay says, grinning.

Evan, JM, Yoon-gi, and … Daniel! What? Even he’s in on this?

They dance in a line like backup singers as Evan takes center stage. In the lights from the garage, he belts out to “I’ve Fallen for You,” a song by the Filipina singer Toni Gonzaga. Growing up, it was Dalisay’s favorite song in the world, slow and soulful. Daniel must have told Evan about it; he had tosuffer through her playing it on repeat for weeks straight when he was studying for exams. She can’t stop smiling.

They sound pretty good actually.

“They must have practiced a lot,” Nicole says. “At least he doesn’t have to sing in Tagalog.” That makes Dalisay laugh. Nicole had heard about the time when Evan serenaded her at the museum. This time there’s no need for boy band dance moves. Evan’s voice carries through the window, and he locks eyes with her, making her heart pulse through her whole body.

She can’t take it anymore.

At the final chorus, she throws open the window and sings along, throwing her head back and belting to the night sky. He stops dancing to watch her, and she can’t believe how handsome he looks. She’s missed him so much.

The song ends and Dalisay stands at the window breathless.

“Hey,” he says, panting, as the song fades. He beams at her, blushing hard, and Dalisay can’t help but laugh. It’s just like last time, only so much better.

Nicole appears at Dalisay’s side and yells down to them. “What are you doing? It’s late! Don’t you know people are trying to sleep?” She slams the window shut and Dalisay hides her grin behind her hand. She’s overjoyed.

“Should I go down and say hi?” Dalisay asks, breathless.

“No way,” says Nicole, guiding her by the wrist back to her room. “Stay right where you are. Keep those doors locked. This is only the third stage, remember?”

Right, Dalisay thinks,get it together. It’s so hard to stay put; all she wants to do is run down the stairs and throw herself into Evan’s arms. At least now she finally knows how it feels to have fallen really, unbelievably in love.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Evan braces himself, takes a breath, and knocks on the Ramos’s front door.

He’s prepared himself for this moment, the worst of the stages—Servitude. Last time, the Ramos’s threw everything at him. It felt like a never-ending list of chores and duties. Now,he’sready for anything they throw at him. In his backpack, he brought kneepads, gardening gloves, sunscreen, anything he could think of that he might need doing service for the family, even a first aid kit just in case. Whole-ass mode.

Last night, during Facetime with his dad, his father asked Evan what he was packing for.

“I have to be prepared,” he said after he explained what the Five Stages are in the Filipino tradition and how he was trying to win Dalisay back. “Stage four is where I go to her family and serve them, showing that I can be responsible and dependable.”

“You want to go through all of that again?” his dad asked. “Are you up for that?”

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