MEGAN

Miles snaked his hand around my waist pulling me back to him. He pressed a feather light kiss on my neck as he held me tighter. I could feel his bare chest radiating heat off of him. Ignoring the tingling sensation in the pit of the stomach, I flipped the pancakes in front of me and smiled at it when I caught it perfectly back in the pan.

"Good morning to you too." I turned off the stove, keeping the cakes in the hot box before turning to face the guy I adored.

"Wow, you are now so good at it!" Miles beamed down at me. "What could anyone expect when you have such a hot mentor?"

"That cooking is the second-best thing." I teased, putting my hands around his neck. I could see his cocky smirk already knowing where I was heading at.

"What's the first, darling?" It was barely above a whisper, but it was loud enough to make my knees weak and bring out chills down my spine. In a good, fantastic, nerve wrecking way. I loved and hated the fact that he could turn me into goo with only one look.

"This." I muttered, as I hoisted myself up to stand in tiptoes. Pulling his neck down to me, I pressed my lips on his in a passionate lock. As our lips touched, all the insecurities and doubts that lingered from the previous nights vanished.

It was as if we were the only two left. I for him and him for me. I was his and he was mine. And that was all that mattered. His tongue touched mine and suddenly, everything seemed to combust around me. As he let out a manly groan that I consumed along with his kisses, I forgot everything that came with a red flag. I didn't care as long as he was there next to me to pick up the pieces that he shattered.

"Darling." He breathed as we came back to our senses. We both were panting from our hot make-out session, but I didn't regret it. It was the best part of waking up with him. He groaned again, pecking my lips deliberately. "What is it with you and the kitchen! Damn!"

He pulled me closer and pressed another kiss, making me giggle. "Come on, get ready." I said, pushing him away.

He smiled down at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners, the same smile I adored and loved. His nose turned up a little, as his lips widened showing his perfect teeth. I couldn't help but stare at him wondering how in the world I had become so lucky so fast.

"Meg, I found these on the door mat today." He said and pulled a letter with a flower out of nowhere. "It has your name on it."

My face fell at that. All the happiness that I had mustered, forgetting everything that had to do with letters and flowers, was now haunting back. My hands became clammy and suddenly, I couldn't breathe. I tried to take in as much air as possible to calm myself down, but it wasn't helping. I looked at his face and it had turned into a scowl. A scowl that was aimed at me.

"Miles..." I started, not knowing what to say to the person who stood in front of me.

"Are you seeing someone behind my back, Megan?" He spelt my name as if it was an instant killing venom. And he never called my name unless he was angry with me. But why was he angry with me when he was the one who wrote the letters?

"No, Miles... no." Tears had already started and I hated myself for not able to control my emotions. "I love you."

Miles let out a sinister laugh at that throwing away the piece of paper that he had held towards me. The red rose, my favourite fell on the floor as he crumpled it under his foot. I gasped at his actions.

"You will run away with someone who writes and gives flowers to you!" He shouted. "You will abandon me and go to someone else when time comes. You, Megan were cheating on me!"

"What?" I stumbled over my own steps as I tried to reach him. "You were the one... you sent it to me."

"I sent it to you to see if you would take the bait!" He clutched my chin and pulled it closer to him. I could feel his hot breath of rage fanning my cheeks. "And you fucking did! You will go to someone else when you feel like it and that," He pointed towards the crumpled letter. "is the proof of it!"

Tears brimmed my eyes looking at his eyes turn angrier as the seconds ticked by.

"I hate you, Megan Taylor!" He shouted as his grip on me tightened. "I fucking hate you!"

"Miles... please no!" I cried, desperately asking him to take back those words. They hurt me more than the pain he was inflicting on my chin. "You know I love you. I stopped getting those letters years ago! Please Miles..."

"If tomorrow, if there was someone else writing the letter to you, you would fucking go to him!" He hissed as my tear rolled down my cheeks to his knuckles that had turned white from clutching me too hard.

"No!" I shouted as I closed my eyes, trying to take in the pain. If that meant he would let go of his hatred for me, I would do it all over again.

The pain slowly eased away and I felt someone caressing my head rather than gripping it tightly. A sense of relief spread through me. Carefully, not wanting to do anything that would disturb Miles' calmness, I opened my eyes.

The bright light blinded me and I had to blink for a few times before I took in the surroundings. The first thing that I noticed was Miles was nowhere to be seen.

A pang of disappointment that he had left me when I cried over him and a pinch of respite that he wasn't there to hurt me anymore took in the empty space of my heart. It only made me want to cry more.

"Hey, are you okay, sweetie?" A gentle voice asked, and I realised that the hand that was caressing my head hadn't stopped.

I raised my head to see Smith, my godfather, and my waterworks started all over again. How could I be so selfish to dream about the things that would never be true when I had to be strong for the only person who stood by me?

It was late afternoon when the call had come. I was reading a magazine when Hannah, Smith's wife had cried over the phone call asking me to come back to the town. It wasn't a demand; she was pleading me. Not forever, thank God, but for a few days until Smith got better. With no kids of their own, I couldn't say no to the requests of a woman who treated me like her own daughter.

Smith had a heart attack that afternoon when he was gardening. The same flowers which once gave him solace had his heart on his sleeves that day. He was admitted to the hospital and when he had asked for me, Hannah rang me the first time in years asking me to come back.

I had run past the guards of my heart to look at the old man who had treated me like his own blood. I just couldn't help but put his needs before mine when Hannah was desperate for me to stay next to him.

In a way, Smith and I resembled each other. He was in the hospital now, recovering his heart attack while I sat in front of him, hoping to recover from mine. Though his could be cured with medications, I doubted if the same could be done for me.

Now, as he slept on the hospital bed after the surgery on his heart, he looked more alive than I ever was. Smith smiled up at me and wiped away my tears with his wrinkled fingers.

Ever since I had left, Smith looked like he had aged tremendously. A part of me still blames for running away when I had to face the demons here on my own. I did no good eloping. Rather, I destroyed the only family that had kept a smile on my face those years ago.

I often dreamt of them blaming me for running away when I had to sit and solve the mess that I had left behind. But, how could I? I was tired. I was alone. I was scared. The only thing that seemed plausible was to hide away from everything and that was exactly what I did.

"It's alright, honey." Smith continued to stoke my hair as I composed myself. "Let it all out."

He knew about how messed up I was after I had broken up with my ex. A famous chef who had turned into a ruthless businessman over the years. There were so many disastrous things that my life had offered me, but breaking up with him was the one which took toll on me.

The dreams that I had turned into nightmares, often ending up in screams of agony all night... every night. I spent sleepless nights, scared to go to sleep. Amber, had taken me to the psychiatrist hoping that I would see better days. But they had never helped, for I didn't open my mouth to tell them what grieved me the most.

They had given me a few tablets to help me sleep, but they were of no help. That was when Gwen, my doctor told me that it would be better for me to change my environment to escape from the nightmares. I had agreed of course. Anything that would make me stop from cribbing over an ex.

They said that time would heal almost anything. But it my case it never did. It only worsened. Miles Jackson, the renowned chef had left his mark in every cell of my body, marking it to be his. 2000 miles of distance hadn't helped me at all.

Miles had stopped calling after I had walked away from his apartment. He had gone to the press soon after he had stopped and claimed that we had broken up and had moved on in our lives. It didn't help that I had a recognized face in town. Even with a thick layer of makeup on my skin, one could tell that I wasn't the same Megan Taylor I once was.

Now, I was just a depressed, clingy, trust-breaking, worst daughter ever, who had come to see her godfather in the hospital, but was bawling over the leftovers of her non-existent relationship that had drowned years ago.

"I'm... I am okay." I smiled, quickly drying my eyes. "How are you feeling? The doctor said that there's nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, nothing has happened to me, anyway." He waved his hand in the air. Though he acted tough, I knew that he was scared... just like all of us. "Hannah was just fussing over for nothing. She even called you when I told her not to!"

"I'm glad she did." I answered him, simply trying to make sure that he didn't carry his guilt. Honestly, I was a little hesitant to come, but with Smith in question, all the doubts were forgotten. "She was scared. I was scared. We were all scared."

"I know, sweetheart." He said, closing his eyes lightly. He held my hand and settled it on his heart. I could feel the rhythmic pattern beating steadily and it calmed my senses for a while. "I'm sorry, you had to come over when I knew..."

"I love to come over." I shushed him. "I'm sorry I didn't earlier, and I had to wait for you to have a heart attack."

My eyes teared up again and I was glad that Smith was closing his eyes. "Don't be upset, Megan." He said, calmly. "Even if you hadn't turned up, I would have understood."

As I opened my mouth to tell him that I would never do that to him, the doors opened. Hannah came in with a tired smile. I could tell that she had been crying, but had put on a cheerful smile for her husband's sake.

Poor woman. She hadn't had a nice nap ever since I broke up. She had asked me to move in with them so that I wouldn't have to be alone. And when I did, I cursed myself for having a nightmare, shouting his name at odd hours at their place when they could have been sound asleep.

"Are you okay?" She sniffed, walking towards the bed where Smith was laying. A small smile adored his face when he heard her voice. "You scared me, Smith. What are you laughing about?"

Though Hannah was trying hard not to cry in front of Smith, a sob, nevertheless escaped from her lips. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair was dangled, and it had come out of her bun. For a woman living in the age of late sixties, she looked as if she had aged over eighty.

"I still have a few more years left to torture your life, Hannah." He said, his voice dropping low. I was sure that the medicines were kicking in. "I'm too tough to let go."

"I love you, Smith." Hannah's voice broke at the end. I couldn't help but sniff at the sight in front of me. Wanting to give them some time alone, I slipped out of the room and went out.

Amber, my best friend was standing there with her boyfriend, nodding her head to the doctor who had treated Smith. Dr. Murphy looked like he could use a day's rest himself. I couldn't blame him though. It was already two in the morning and he was still working. He was the one who had introduced me to Gwen.

"What happened?" I asked, wiping my tears away. "He's fine, right?"

Amber and Zack looked at me, their faces not revealing anything. I turned towards the doctor, wanting him to explain me what was happening.

"This is his fourth heart attack in four months, Megan." He sighed. "Heart attack can be caused by many things such as cholesterol, blood pressure or plaques accumulating in the arteries. Since Smith already had his blood pressure high with angioplasty done on the last two times he was here, he is in a critical condition."

I gulped audibly. "What does that mean?"

Amber stood next to me, putting her hands around me, as she always did when I broke down. She rubbed my back soothingly looking at the doctor.

"That the next one, if he has might be the last one." Dr. Murphy said. "The pace maker we placed last time was replaced this evening. If the pacemaker and the wire, called lead are functioning properly, then it's extremely unlikely that heart will stop. But we need to be careful. He's one strong man. I'm sorry."

"So... that means... means..." Suddenly, it became difficult to breathe again. My lungs were giving up on me.

I had travelled back to the same town which had given me the worst and the best memories only to find that Smith was dying on us? After all that I had to endure and land here, was this what I got as a reward? Was I going to lose everyone that I loved?

"Megan, you need to calm down." Zack said, holding my head as he urged to look at him. "Calm down."

"You don't tell me what to do!" I shouted at him. "Smith is dying! And you want me to calm down! How can I! Tell me, Zack!"

"With your anxieties, Megan, stress is not good for you either." The doctor said as I leaned against Zack for support. "Listen to your friend and please, calm down."

Hannah opened the door wide and with her face looking ashen, I knew my outburst had revealed what the doctor didn't want to tell them himself. Excusing himself, Dr. Murphy walked away while silent tears streamed down Hannah's face.

It was as if a deadline had been presented to all of us, a time bomb ticking down the lane with Smith at its disposal. It was so harsh and cruel that I couldn't help but run to her, trying to share her grief with me.

"That cannot be possible." Hannah muttered, as I held her tightly in my bosom. But it felt as if she was consoling me rather than the other way round. "You heard him that he's a fighter, right. Nothing is going to happen to him, Megan. I promise."

I nodded my head, hoping that what she was telling was true. I couldn't imagine what would happen if he wasn't there to pull my leg every time I stayed over at his place. I couldn't imagine his garden without him standing behind the flowers, inspecting the petals every morning. I couldn't imagine him not being with us.

"Can I stay with him for a minute?" I asked Hannah, for which she only nodded. She kissed my forehead before letting me get in.

I wiped my tears away before I reached him. He was still closing his eyes, but his face seemed calm. I sat on the stool next to the bed, taking his hand in mine. I kissed his warm knuckled, scared of letting it go.

"Megan." He said, his voice was barely above a whisper. "Don't cry, my sweetheart. I need to thank you for everything that you have ever done for me. For both Hannah and me."

"Smith... you don't have to..."

"You are my daughter and I love you." He opened his eyes to look at me. He looked weary and lost, as if he had given up on hope. "My only regret is that I couldn't see you happy."

"I really am happy." I cried over his hand. "You don't have to think that way."

"I have only one more request, Megan." He said, holding his own tears at bay. "I know my time is up and as a last appeal, I want to be selfish. I want you to come back to us. Please, Megan. I want to see you smile genuinely just once. Just before I go."

I broke down completely in front of him as I held his hands tight. "Yes, Smith. I will come back! Please don't say that it's your last request. I want many more. I will come back, but please don't say that!"

With that Smith smiled at me as he closed his eyes, letting me borrow his hands as I sobbed in front of the man who had requested me to come back to the town that I had once escaped from. Though it had been years, I didn't know if I had it in me to face the crowd.

But I was going to do it anyway. I was already broken inside; I didn't think there could be anything left to break me further.

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A/N: It has been too difficult for me to let go of my favourite couple. And hence, here I am with a new approach considering how I left things in the previous chapter... Anyway, what do you think? They still love each other, don't they? Let me know what you think.