"They say that we're out of control and some say we're sinners..

..But don't let them ruin our beautiful rhythms."

Two enemies glaring at each other.

Mikhail was boiling in rage as he tried his best not to break his teeth from how rough they gritted together. "What are you doing here?!"

His mother threw him a kiss in the air. "Long time no see!" she smirked, stroking the fur coat she wore over her white satin dress.

I curled my lips in disgust.

Mikhail rolled his eyes, jaw clenching. "I asked a question. What. Brought. You. Here?" He glared.

"I had some business to do." she shook her head with arrogance, holding a flaming cigarette between her fingers. "It's not like I am yearning to see the both of you. Here. Together." she glanced me up and down, as though I was a parasite creature.

I narrowed my eyes, feeling offended.

Mikhail looked at me and squeezed my hand to relax.

"We're already leaving." Mikhail furiously stated to his mother. "You won't have to see our faces again."

"Thank god!" her eyes widened with relief.

Liam then stepped out of the restaurant, and I flinched, holding tightly to Mikhail.

Liam looked at Mikhail's mother and gave her a wide grin. "Miss Chloe! It's such a delight to see you! My father is waiting for you inside with the other guests."

Wait.

His mother works with Liam's father?

"Amazing, honey! I'll be there in a minute." she inhaled her cigarette, proceeding to climb up the stairs, but then she stopped and glanced at my black heels with embarrassemnt. "By the way, dear. You're way too tall to wear high heels."

As I was about to furiously speak for myself, Mikhail pulled me back by my waist. "She can wear whatever she wants, and she'd still pull off twice the way you do."

My lips uncontrollably turned into a wide smile, I tried hiding it while covering my mouth.

I never liked it when someone spoke for me, I always preferred speaking for myself.

But, him, God.

I guess I'd shut my mouth forever.

His protectiveness over me made me forget that Liam was literally standing right next to us.

Chloe curled her lips at us, flipped her hair and entered the restaurant, leaving us alone with Liam who's been staring at me that whole time.

Mikhail anxiously let out a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair as he unbuttoned his white shirt.

There was a cold breeze of air that flew with the wind, making my skin shiver as I rubbed both arms.

Mikhail noticed I was freezing, he took off his tux and covered me with it. "You okay?!" he concernedly asked me.

I think I should have brought a coat with me, I always forget them and It makes me seem so clumsy and stupid.

I nodded, forcing a smile.

"Let's go." he took my hand, and we walked to the parking lot together.

I heard Liam rushing as he ran to me. "Evelyn, wait!"

I squeezed my eyes shut, pretending he was not there as I leaned closer to Mikhail.

"Evelyn!" Liam's hand grabbed my wrist, and I gasped from terror. "Why are you avoiding me?!"

Mikhail furiously grabbed Liam's wrist and pushed him off of me, holding his wrist tightly as though he could easily break it. "Who the fuck allowed you to touch her?!"

Liam glared at him, raising an eyebrow. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Someone you will never be." Mikhail smirked, still tightly holding his wrist. "Her boyfriend."

Liam's frown turned into a huge laughter. "So that's the guy you dumped me for?" He looked at me with a chuckle, pointing his finger at Mikhail.

"I didn't dump you for anyone." I disgustingly curled my lips. "You're so sick you can't even admit the truth!"

"No-no, Evelyn. You dumped me for him." Liam frowned, dramatically placing his hand on his chest. "You don't know how much I loved you!"

Mikhail let out a deep breath, gritted his teeth and then he violently punched Liam in the face.

Liam's nose bled too much and he was thrown to the ground, groaning painfully.

Mikhail reached for Liam again and grabbed his shirt, blood covered both his hands and Liam's clothes.

"What kind of love does your mentally ill brain acknowledge?!" Mikhail shouted, the kind of shout that made me flinch in fear myself. "Do you call that love you piece of shit?!"

"Mikhail, please!" I cried out, covering my mouth. "Enough!"

"At least I tried my best to love her, while she dumped me for some fucker like you–" Liam choked out, blood spitting all over his mouth.

Mikhail chuckled, leaning for Liam's ear. "Well, you can say I'm satisfied she was able to hurt you as much as you hurt her." he hissed.

Liam looked half conscious, but still managed to form a smirk on his lips. "She's just a weak pathetic girl, she can't hurt me."

"But I can kill you." Mikhail gritted his teeth, grabbing Liam's shirt tighter. "If you ever touch her, if you ever think about hurting her or forcing her to get back with you again, I will kill you with no hesitation. Before you even blink you'd feel your throat crushing between my fingers, begging for the slightest bit of air that you will never be able to breathe again. If you come closer to her, I swear, you will be the one suffering the consequences."

"Mikhail-.." I sobbed, reaching to grab his shirt, as I kneeled on the ground beside him. Helpless. Hopeless. Heart full of broken pieces.

Mikhail again smirked, whispering to Liam. "Let the last explosion be an example of what I could do to you in the future."

Liam's eyes widened of knowing the truth, the truth of what Mikhail did, the fact that he almost was able to burn him to death, he, and his whole family.

Mikhail finally let go of Liam, dropping him on the ground as Liam was too unconscious to hold his balance.

"Come on." Mikhail gently grabbed my arm, walking me to his car, not daring to look me in the eyes.

All I was able to see was the merciless, cold-hearted assassin he was known to be four years ago.

A person who does not know forgiveness.

Just vengeance.

...

When we went back home, we both stayed in our rooms, silently not knowing what to say after all what happened on our first real date.

I'd consider it bad luck, as I once said, the world was never fair to us, especially Mikhail.

At the end of the day, we never got to be fully happy, or at peace.

I always got to know the dark side of him, never the bright and kind one.

But I believed that one day I would. I would get to know the childish one more, the protective one, the peacefully ignorant one, the passionate, the careless, the clumsy one.

I knew I'd eventually discover all of him, understand everything in him.

The door knocked, and Mikhail entered half smiling at me. For the first time, he was wearing normal pair of pyjamas and not a business suit.

I smiled under my blanket, it was already freezing and I couldn't handle any type of cold breeze.

"Mind if I get in?" Mikhail glanced at the blanket, shoving both hands in his pockets.

I pulled away the blanket, patting at the empty space. "You're most welcomed."

He took off his grey furred slippers, and quickly got under the blanket.

We gazed at each other for two minutes, his cheeks looked so soft, I wanted to badly caress it.

"Eve.." Mikhail softly whispered, resting his head on the pillow.

"Hm?" I raised my eyebrows, curiously.

"I'm sorry about tonight." he said with frustration. "I really wanted this date to go well, but I couldn't control my anger—"

"Who said it didn't go well?" I calmly questioned, "The date was everything I could dream of. You are everything I could dream of. It's not your fault we ran into Liam and Chloe. The world hates us for a reason, but I'm cool with it, as long as I'm with you."

He smiled a bit, then sighed. "Maybe we wouldn't have been able to meet each other without all the hate the world has been giving to us. Maybe that hate was the reason I'm here with you now."

"I'm sure It's the reason why we met." I slowly placed my hand on his chest, sleepy eyes gazing up at him. "I don't think I could have survived this without you. You saved me."

He slowly pulled me closer to him by my waist, I could feel his breath, his heart beats, his eager-passionate love for me.

My stomach was filled with tiny little butterflies.

"And I always will." He said, glancing at my lips. "No one will be able to hurt you again, love."

I bit the inside of my cheeks, holding in tears. I didn't know if they were tears of joy or pity for myself. Maybe both.

But I knew I was finally safe.

As long as I was between his arms, I had no reason to be scared.

I wrapped my arms around him, and he placed his hand on my hair, stroking it.

"I love you." I whispered, hugging him as tight as I could, inhaling every moment that was left for us that night.

Because after that,

I had to wake up to reality.

...

"I've packed my bags."

Next morning, I woke up early, I took a shower, cooked breakfast, prepared everything I had to take home with me.

I was feeling too anxious since I confessed my love for Mikhail.

He never said it back to me, and I didn't know how he even reacted to it.

I just blurted it out of a sudden, it came out as a whisper while I hugged him tightly. I'm not even sure if he heard me saying it, and I didn't dare ask him about it. I hoped he never heard me at all. Because if he did, I didn't know how much pain I could be able to handle.

"Are you sure you want to go back?!" Mikhail raised an eyebrow, kind of stuttering with my decision. "You can still live with me and no one would know it."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "I guess it's time to accept my miserable reality." I wrapped my arms around his neck, brushing my nose with his. "Don't you think?"

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pursing his lips. "Acceptance is a really difficult thing comparing to your life, Evelyn."

I smiled, realizing I was going to miss being delusional with him, forgetting my family and my friends I left back for months. I was going to miss all of that.

But happiness isn't a thing we can forever possess.

"Don't worry about me." I smiled, glancing at his soft lips that was calling out my name.

He glanced at my lips, and smiled at me. "Sure." He stared again for a moment, then he slowly placed his lips on mine, kissing me as though I wasn't ever coming back for him.

"What in the holy freaking fuck is that?!—" I heard Marcus yell, standing on the apartment's door as he dropped his two bags with shock and confusion.

I gasped a little as I pulled away, but Mikhail still held onto my waist.

"You guys are finally dating?!" Marcus grinned, pointing at us. "What did I miss?!"

"Why are you back?!" Mikhail raised an eyebrow with irritation, and I awkwardly rubbed my forehead.

"I'm so lucky I came back on time!" Marcus shut the door by pushing it with his leg.

"Good." I pursed my lips, clapping. "How was your trip or whatever–, did you enjoy it?!"

"No, don't change the subject now, Evelyn." he shook his head, and threw himself on the couch. "You guys are going to tell me everything I need to know."

Mikhail sighed, face palming.

...

"What do you mean you're leaving?!" Marcus questioned, irritated. "We never got to spend some fun time together!"

"Later, I promise." I said, "Exams are starting soon, and I need to study."

Marcus pouted with frustration, as he crossed his arms at me. "Lame."

Mikhail rolled his eyes, as he got up from the couch. "We've heard enough– I think Evelyn needs to go now." He grabbed my shoulders. "You don't wanna miss anything at school."

"You're right, though–" I knitted my brows.

"Don't act like you're her parent, dude." Marcus mocked, and Mikhail gave him the middle finger.

I chuckled at them, opening the door, and picking up my bags.

"Wait-" Mikhail stopped me, getting something from the drawers in his bedroom. "You forgot something." he said with an awkward smile, holding the painting of him that I made when we where at Rafael's party.

My grin widened like a little kid who got happy that someone remembered giving them candies. "You kept that?!"

"Of course I did." Mikhail smiled, scratching the back of his neck. "Out of all the beautiful things in the world, you chose to paint me."

"You're also beautiful." I sarcastically poked his shoulder, and he chuckled.

Sorrowfully staring at him for a moment, my eyes welled up in tears.

I quickly pulled him for a hug, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I'm gonna miss you so much." I cried out.

"Come on, Evelyn!" Marcus squealed, cocking his head backwards. "You're not getting soft already! It's not like you're traveling out of town."

I chuckled, whipping off the tears on my cheek.

"Love, the moment you step out of that door, I won't stop until I make sure your parents know that you belong to me." he pointed his finger to his chest, then cupped my face with both his hands. "Even if they didn't, I'd sneak you out from your bedroom everyday, just to make sure you're still mine."

"Awhh, how romantic!" Marcus placed both hands on his heart sarcastically. I kind of needed to punch him.

Mikhail rolled his eyes, then looked at me. "I made sure the driver bring your own personal bodyguard with him. No one is going to notice anything, he will be keeping an eye on you, in case Don or Adriano tried to reach you. They're in Italy now, but just in case."

I nodded, and raised my pinky finger to him, eye burnt from crying. "Till we meet again."

"Till we meet again." he chuckled, crossing his pinky finger with mine.

I smiled, and the driver entered the apartment, carrying the bags to the car.

"Goodbye then-" I waved my hands at both of Marcus and Mikhail.

"Wait!" Marcus shouted as he glared at me, and I flinched.

"What?!" I questioned with concern.

"You really think I'll let you leave without giving me a goodbye hug?" He crossed his arms at me, frowning.

I giggled, stretching my arms to him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around me.

"Thank you for being a great brother." I whispered, almost crying again as I rubbed his back.

"Always, sister." he whispered back.

...

Two hours passed and I arrived home. The driver carried my bags to the door, and left me with the bodyguard.

I cautioned the bodyguard to keep eyes on me as far away as he possibly could, we did not want to get exposed by my parents. I wouldn't be able to explain everything that had happened ever since I ran away.

I took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

My opened for me, her eyes widened with surprise as she let out a slight gasp.

I nervously stood in front of her with my bags, waiting for her to scold me, waiting for her to hit me, insult me, kick me out of the house.

But instead, she smiled widely, and pulled me in for a hug. "You're back!" she excitedly giggled.

What the hell happened?!

_________

[Liberosis] (n.) : the desire to care less about things.

....

Why do you think Mikhail hadn't said he loved Evelyn back when she confessed?

Do you expect her mother to forgive her for running away from home or not?

Don't forget to vote and comment!

xoxo <33