MYLES POV

The kitchen lights are off, but those from the patio are emitting slightly through the windows. They gave me enough glow to see the color of the nightwear Cali had on and how her hair tumbled down her shoulders.

She gently walked over, leaning onto the island.
"Hey?" She mumbled, nervously standing on her toes.

"Can't sleep?" I asked her.

"Kind of. What about you?"

I set down the cup around the untidy island that was packed with baskets of berries and some flowers from Mary's garden which the girls had plucked in the evening.

My fingers detached the wire containing the flowers together and they all strewed over the surface.

"Kind of," I answered without looking over at her.

It was quiet while I started trimming the pieces of flowers.

"Can I ask you something?" She muttered, her voice soft and tender. I looked up at her then.

"Yes."

Her lips pressed into a hard line. She swallowed and folded her arms onto the island, pushing up, on her toes like she was timid.
"Do you ever feel scared when you play?"

My forehead forms creases.
"A lot."

"But you look confident." She opposed.

"That's because I learned to mask it."

"Then that takes confidence." She smiles lightly.

She might be right, but she has to know that no one is immune to being scared. In life, one way or another, we must get to a point where we question ourselves, who we are, what we are capable of or what we lack that makes others better than us. And sometimes we come across an impact, occasion, story, or even a person that intimidates us.

"It's the nature of life to live with even a little bit of fear. But we evolve by not letting it overpower us." I said and picked another flower, fixing it to the base.

"So we masked it even when inside we are falling apart?"

"No Cali, we breathe in and out. Try to look around us, and remember those below us, instead of those we think are better than us."

"But what if those better than us make us feel guilty about ourselves?"

I knew what she meant. Somehow, I've also experienced it.

"Do you make others feel bad about themselves?" I asked her and she exhaled a laugh across the island.

"No. Myles. I am not a bully."

"Fine, then don't let anyone treat you the way you wouldn't treat anyone."

She was wordless at my statement, her head downcast, and she watched her fingers on the island's surface.

I know it's not that simple, since we do not control the switch to idiocy and inhumanity, and some people just choose to understand only those languages. But she doesn't deserve to be tortured by some jealous brats.

"Myles I..." Her voice cracked, and she stopped.

"I owe you an explanation for everything," I spoke impulsively and irrelevantly. However, this talk is needed, and it kind of feels like the right time for it. I've always thought of a chance like this ever since I woke up in the hospital last summer.

"You don't have to tell me. I believed you. I know you are innocent." She sounded desperate.

In her eyes, I saw the zeal to provide me with the consent that I did not need to do this if I didn't want to. It was tingling her nerves.

"You shouldn't owe anyone an explanation." Her voice was almost a whisper. I heard it but I wasn't looking at her.

A wave of heavy quiet flowed through the room, while I continued placing the flowers around the wire.

"Myles?" She called and I instantly stopped and faced her.

My eyes sightlessly connected with her gaze while I was concerned about how to start. But eventually, I pulled a stool back and held out my hand for her to come over and sit.

She wasn't hesitant. Her small hand dropped into mine when she went around the island, and let me assist her until she settled down. Then I pulled a stool for myself next to her and picked back the flowers, ceaselessly putting them together. It was a distraction-an excuse to not have to look Cali in the eyes, now that she is close and I could feel the warmth of her gaze shrouding me.

"My parents died when I was ten. So I call Halen's mom, but she isn't my biological mother. She's just all I have now." I drew a breath and exhaled before continuing. "She used to be Nelson's wife until I was seventeen."

"Nelson?" She gasped, and I felt every shock in her voice. I know this would be her reaction. That is why I do not want to see what her eyes have to say.

So, I only nod.

"Nelson wasn't only my manager, he is my guardian, or at least, he used to be. He adopted me after my parents died and given we used to be neighbors and Nelson was the father of my best friend, I assumed it was him rather than a foster home. But in my junior year, when I started getting recommendations, some officials began coming to my games. Nelson wouldn't sign my papers to go pro until if, in exchange, I would be with his daughter and have him as my manager."

Cali's soft sniffing was breaking my heart. The atmosphere became melancholy when I only wanted a normal conversation. I am not telling her this to hurt her. I just want her to know me, and to realize that I am not any different from her either. That I used to be scared and alone and let others manipulate me.

"I just wanted to be somebody, even without my parents. I didn't think of the cost. So I hired him to manage me and after my first year, the team was so focused on the league, I had no time to offer to his daughter, and he knows it. Rather, he decided she would move into the condo after she graduated college, as though it was his to decide. He suggested she would come to every game. She was my best friend, then my sister, and then suddenly he persuaded me to be her lover. I just couldn't have it. I thought we are all allowed to have personal space, to inhale the one free thing in the universe that we do not have to pay for. But as I refused his demands, he framed me. I didn't know then, but I knew it was his idea that getting married was the only way to save my career. And he brought up the idea of his daughter and me. It is why Helen ultimately left him and his daughter."

"What about Autumn?" Her voice shuddered.

I know I am smiling, but I am tense. I could feel my nostrils flaring, and my stomach agitating. The words were heavy, but she needed to know.
"She is the daughter."

"Oh my goodness, Myles." Cali softly cried, her breath was shaky. "I thought she was a stranger. You said you didn't know her. Why? Why didn't you tell me, Myles?" Her tone was miserable, she was hurting, and I couldn't even bring my eyes to watch her, knowing what I might see would remain engraved in my head forever.

What if she hates me? What if I disgust her? What ifs are all that is crammed into my head.

"You do not know how embarrassing it is to tell you I was going to marry someone who is the closest to a sister to me. Just listen to what it sounds like." I scoffed, my fingers slightly shaking around the flower tiara that was finished.

"I don't get it..." She wobbly whispered.

I don't too.

"Then out of nowhere, I met you... Just when I was about to make the greatest mistake, I would've regretted it for the rest of my life. I was supposed to get on with the wedding but you saved me. You showed me what love is. For the first time, I wasn't afraid of Nelson. So I called off the wedding because I was ready for anything else except for losing you." It was then my eyes flew to hers and what I saw created a large lump in my throat, that breathing had to be a struggle. I wonder if she could see it from where she was sitting when I tried to work it down but it stubbornly refused.

She was watching me with horror in her red and puffy eyes. My words had broken her in every way that I did not wish for. It repeatedly scratches my chest.

"I swear to God Calista, I am not what the filed report said about me. I know I fell in love with you while you were underage, but I would never do anything that would hurt you." I wouldn't even go to the limit to test the boundary. I know what is right and wrong, and black and white. I know green and I know red, just like I know grey and what made up a rainbow. My biological mom and Helen taught me about those.

When my gaze dropped to the floor between us, I saw Cali's foot coming off the stool and closing the space between us, and her arms wrapped around me.

"I know. I know." She whispered in my hair, her tears sinking into my scalp.

None of what I said was supposed to make her feel sorry for me. I just wanted her to know. That's all. Now I feel bad for sharing my burden with her. She deserves better. Happiness as a priority.

"But it's alright now. Nelson is locked up. Jake made sure of it." I whispered, pulling her in between my legs to sit on one lap.

While at the hospital, when Nelson sent him off and switched to the monster he truly was, confessing all the blackmail and the limit he had gone, Jake, like an angel, recorded everything. He restored hope in me after I lost everything. That tape proved my innocence to the court and had Nelson arrested.

Cali pulls out her tear-stained face from the nook of my neck.
"Is Jake still around?" She asked.

"He's still around. He said you texted him to check on me that day."

She nodded and chewed her bottom lip. I wish I could kiss her instead. So I interrupted the deep eye contact by bringing to her hair the flower tiara I made just now. It wasn't perfect but she winsomely smiled.

Both the smile and the tiara looked lovely on her.

"Thank you for telling me." She whispered, hugging me again. "And certainly for this crown. No one ever made one for me." She added.

"Does it mean again that I am your first?"

Her body shakes against mine while she giggles. My chest softens as my whole body relaxes at the soothing sound.

"Uhm hmm." She mumbled, nodding over my shoulder.
A smile plastered itself on my face.

I don't know for how long we stayed in the kitchen but we chatted about the last months until we agreed to finally go to bed. She had named the schools she applied to, and said she had received a couple of mails but Scarlett's friends had torn them before she could know what was inside. It was excruciating to listen to that. I wanted to ask her why she allowed them to treat her that way, but she had just cried. We can't dwell on sad things in one night. Then she talked about the weather, and the flowers she planted in the garden that she was now wearing on her head.

When I walked her to the staircase, none of us knew what to do next. She linked her fingers again and smiled sweetly. I returned it. But when she began to take two steps forward, she spun around and pecked me on the cheek before hurrying up the stairs with her tiara perfectly fitting in her beautiful hair.

It was adorable, it gave me something to dream of when I drifted to sleep.

CALISTA POV

He was out there in the kitchen, so it shouldn't be considered stalking if I went to him.

I navigated through the dim light in my nightwear until Myles noticed my presence.

Nervously leaning onto the island, I said hi to the man staring at me in the dark, like I was a newly found gem.

"Can't sleep?"

Honestly, he was the cause of my insomnia, but I came up with the simple answer, "Kind of. What about you?"

With my lip between my teeth, I watched him admirably as he set down the cup on the island, around flowers and baskets of berries from my mom's garden. Quietly, Myles separated the wire that was collecting the flowers and they all scattered over the island. He was more focused on the flower than he was on me when he briefly answered.

After that, I didn't know what to say. It was getting awkward, the tension around us was crammed into the space of silence. Myles made himself busy with the flowers while I fiddled with the hem of my nightwear considering the words I had on my tongue.

"Can I ask you something?" I finally asked and his eyes met mine.

"Yes."

Nervous, I went on, "Do you ever feel scared when you play?"

The question came to him confused, but he managed to answer, "A lot."

"But you look confident."

"That's because I learned to mask it," he said.

"Then that takes confidence."

"It's the nature of life to live with even a little bit of fear. But we evolve by not letting it overpower us."

"So we masked it even when inside we are falling apart?" If he believes we can make progress with our fear haunting us, then he isn't familiar with terror. Maybe his fear wasn't as overpowering as those I've experienced. My fear was like my shadow. It can't be suppressed because it's always following me. I can't hide away from it.

"No Cali, we breathe in and out. Try to look around us, and remember those below us, instead of those we think are better than us."

"But what if those better than us make us feel guilty about ourselves?" He had no idea.

"Do you make others feel bad about themselves?" He asked. Such a funny question he asked.

"No. Myles. I am not a bully."

"Fine, then don't let anyone treat you the way you wouldn't treat anyone."

He was right. I so badly wish I could help myself.

"Myles I..." I stuttered, having so many things in my mind that I was afraid to say.

"I owe you an explanation for everything," Myles blurted unexpectedly, and my eyes widened in surprise.

"You don't have to tell me. I believed you. I know you are innocent." Even after all the things that happened, I didn't agree with any of what I heard. Up until this day, Myles has been my idol. He was flawless.

He has to know I trusted him.

He has his head down, staring at the things in his hands. It was like he was ashamed.

"You shouldn't owe anyone an explanation," I informed him.

He didn't say anything. The room got too quiet, it was getting me anxious.

"Myles?" I called and he immediately stopped and looked up at me.

His thoughts seemed far away but he maintained eye contact and held out his hand for me to take while pulling out a stool with the other hand.

Inwardly, my excitement couldn't be repressed. I rushed over to him, taking his hand and experiencing the spark that thrills me. He helped me down before he settled on a stool next to me.

He picked back the flowers and suddenly I wished he would pay attention to me as he was doing to them.

"My parents died when I was ten. So I call Halen's mom, but she isn't my biological mother. She's just all I have now. She used to be Nelson's wife until I was seventeen."

Wait, what the hell?

"Nelson?" I breathed in shock and he nodded. I can tell that it's hard for him too.

A lot was running through my head but I just gaped at him.

"Nelson wasn't only my manager, he is my guardian, or at least, he used to be. He adopted me after my parents died and given we used to be neighbors, I assumed it was him rather than a foster home. But in my junior year, when I started getting recommendations, some officials began coming to my games. Nelson wouldn't sign my papers to go pro until if, in exchange, I would be with his daughter and have him as my manager."

Along the way, I couldn't suppress my emotions. I was crying silently, wishing he had told me this earlier.

"I just wanted to be somebody, even without my parents. I didn't think of the cost. So I hired him to manage me and after my first year, the team was so focused on the league, I had no time to offer to his daughter, and he knows it. Rather, he decided she would move into the condo after she graduated college, as though it was his to decide. He suggested she would come to every game. She was my best friend, then my sister, and then suddenly he persuaded me to be her lover. I just couldn't have it. I thought we are all allowed to have personal space, to inhale the one free thing in the universe that we do not have to pay for. But as I refused his demands, he framed me. I didn't know then, but I knew it was his idea that getting married was the only way to save my career. And he brought up the idea of his daughter and me. It is why Helen ultimately left him and his daughter."

"What about Autumn?" My voice quavered.

That has to be the reason he hastened into an engagement despite just meeting her.

He was smiling. How can he? This isn't normal. He was restricted from his rights.

"She is the daughter."

What?

"Oh my goodness, Myles. I thought she was a stranger. You said you didn't know her. Why? Why didn't you tell me, Myles?"

He kept his head down, probably ashamed of the lies he told me.

"You do not know how embarrassing it is to tell you I was going to marry someone who is the closest to a sister to me. Just listen to what it sounds like." he scoffed like he was disgusted with himself.

"I don't get it..." I wobbly whispered.

He still should have told me. All those excuses he used. All those times he had brunch with Nelson's family, it was with Autumn as his sister and Nelson as his father.

The photos that he claimed were photoshopped.
He shouldn't have to hide it away from me. I knew there was always something wrong with Nelson. I didn't like Autumn. I would've understood. Brayden would've too.

"Then out of nowhere, I met you... Just when I was about to make the greatest mistake, I would've regretted it for the rest of my life. I was supposed to get on with the wedding but you saved me. You showed me what love is. For the first time, I wasn't afraid of Nelson. So I called off the wedding because I was ready for anything else except for losing you." He had finally let his eyes back to me but he looked horrified like he had made a grave mistake that he wished he could rewind.

"I swear to God Calista, I am not what the filed report said about me. I know I fell in love with you while you were underage, but I would never do anything that would hurt you."

He was disturbed. He looked down. As much as I am disappointed he kept a lot away from me, I also know he must have his reasons. He was being blackmailed unfairly, they were going to ruin his career. He was scared and alone and didn't know who to trust. If I had known though, I would've ripped Autumn's mop off her head. She knew he didn't want her but she went on with it like it was meant to be. They wanted to control him just because he needed them to be his family.

I am just glad I was there to chase him until he realized he needed me.

I rose from the stool and took the two steps between us, pulling his head to my chest.

"I know. I know." I whispered, partway crying, given the ache was a fresh wound.

"But it's alright now. Nelson is locked up. Jake made sure of it." His voice was hushed. He pulled me between his legs until he settled me on his left thigh and my face was hidden in his neck.

"Is Jake still around?" I asked when I pulled back a little to see his face at the mention of Jake.

He smiled mischievously. I only watched the way his lips were shifting.
"He's still around. He said you texted him to check on me that day."

I nodded, a little embarrassed, and then he magically brought out a flower tiara, setting it on
my hair. He literally did that while we were there.

He watched me with adoration like I was rare. The feeling was something I never thought I could have.

"Thank you for telling me," I said and hugged him again for everything. "And certainly for this crown. No one ever made one for me." Myles Cameron, one of the most desired and popular men, just happens to appreciate me for what I am.

"Does it mean again that I am your first?" He teases me and I laugh.

"Uhm hmm." I agreed, nodding over his shoulder.

We stayed for a while. I enjoyed his company. It sucks we have to go back to our rooms separately because I didn't want this to end.