.
"You should go, Toni." I mumbled, laying straight on my bed.

"I don't want to." He mumbles shaking his head lightly on my pillow, his head leaned on while he sits on the floor next to me.

"I can't let you stay on the cost of losing everything you've been working so hard on." I say, turning my body to his side, inching my face closer to his while his arms unfold, his hand raising to caress my cheek.

"Then come with me." He smiles, booping his nose to mine.

"Good idea but you know I can't."

"I can't see you why you shouldn't." He says, biting his inner cheek.

"What about school?" I roll my eyes.

"Ditch it. I'll make sure to look after your grades and attendance." He says, raising his head from the pillow and crossing his arms.

"You mean bribe the school?" I chuckled.

"There must be a more appropriate word for that." He laughs, rubbing his neck. "How about persuasion?" He says, grinning widely.

"I don't know, Toni." I said, getting up from my laying position and leaning against the bed frame. "I argued with Stella, I don't think she'll be okay with that."

"Not really." Stella appeared by the door, changed into her comfort clothes and hair tied in a pony.

"I'll be right outside in the living." Toni excused himself and left the room, leaving me and Stella alone.

"I didn't know you still had panic attacks." She said, walking upto the bed.

"It's not that usual, quiet rare these days." I smiled politely, letting her sit beside me facing my face directly.

"I'm sorry, Faye." Her hand crept up to mine, taking it into her grip and caressing it.

"I should be apologizing you, Ell."

"Nah, Faye. It's not just about now, but for everything I've ever burdened on you. And for leaving you when you needed me." She smiled, holding tears in her eyes.

"I'm not mad, Stella. I was just upset. I know you've been through a lot mentally and it's insane but you gotta see that everything is not wrong. And sometimes it's just fine to be wronged." I took our hands into my free hand and caressed the top of hers.

She nodded lightly, "You're brave, Faye. Stronger and smarter than me, and I know you can look after yourself. Just know, I'm proud of you. After everything you've been through when Luke left, I'm happy to see you like this." She sighs, leaning for hug and I wholeheartedly welcome it, pressing her to myself.

"Love you Stella."

She chuckles, rubbing the back of my head. "I love you more baby." She pulled away, sniffing her nose and wiping her tears. "You should go with Toni, take a break from everything. Just you and him."

"You okay with that?"

She nodded quickly, cupping my face. "You deserve it, Faye. Go live!"

This rained tears from my eyes, looking her letting me go. It was as though she had found herself in me and she was remarkably strong to let herself free of her past.

So I did. The next thing I knew, I was packing my stuff in a duffle bag. Tossing anything and everything out of happiness. My heart raced, mind freed and every inch of my body sparked with glee.

After bidding adieu to my friends and Stella, I rushed to the curb of the house where Toni stood leaning against his car, having already loaded my belongings in the trunk.

"Hey!" He smirked, walking towards me when I grin foolishly running to his embrace, as he lifts me up and swirls our bodies round, while we giggled in delight.

"Hey!" I reply, when he lowers me to the ground.

"You have no idea how my insides somersault at the sight of your stunning smile." He says, rushing my adrenaline when I smile wider.

"You have no idea how happy I am being with you- it's like I'm glimmering inside." I said, making him chuckle at my joyful voice.

"Then let's not wait another minute. Hop in." He holds the door ajar for me to enter and closes it as I seat myself inside.

It was spontaneous, something I haven't been doing since a long long time. I was ecstatic and I could feel the same energy from him. It wasn't just the start of a new journey with Toni, but a new start within myself.

Something I needed a long time ago, but nonetheless, better late than never.

"You can straighten your seat and take a nap, it'll be a few good hours until we reach." Toni says, focusing on the road.

"I'm too excited to sleep, Toni." When I slept off after my panic attack, I woke up by the noontime, with Toni sitting beside me throughout.

"Then are you hungry?" He asks, tilting his head to give a quick look.

"Uh yeahh." I replied, looking around for any snack stop.

"Are you craving anything specific, other than me?" He says cockily, biting his lip to suppress his laugh.

"I haven't had a taste of you yet." I whispered, immediately wanting to take back my words when I looked at him.

He gives a shocked look before drifting off to laughter, shaking his head in denial.

"That's a new side to you, Mable." He says amidst his laughter, making me crouch lower into the passenger seat.

"I guess I'm craving shawarma. ONLY!" I said, ignoring his remark.

"It's the same thing." I hit his arm, when the joke registers my head and we switch to laughing in unison.

The roads took us 3 hours to reach the destination. We kept a moment of 15 minutes to ourselves when we stopped by the road to see the sunset, sitting on the pavement. We talked and talked for the rest of the ride and in no time we made it to the centre of the city.

The city wasn't densely populated like the city where I live. The people are comparatively lesser, the atmosphere almost same but the only difference was the thick humidity.

It was magical, traveling next to him, our favorite songs played on his car console.

"We're almost there." He says, halting his car at the signal.

His hand takes my hand from the glove compartment and intertwines his fingers with mine as a smile spreads on our faces.

"How are you gonna operate the gear?" I said, caressing the top of his hand with my thumb.

"Just like that." He demonstrates changing the gear, keeping my hand on the gear and topping it with his as he changes the gear. "It's that simple."

I grinned at his cuteness, the innocence in his eyes is immaculate. I'm surely obsessing over his flawless face, perfect curves and tones of him.

"Do you stay in a hotel or something?" I mumbled, laying my head on the headrest.

"It's not a hotel, as in my friend's place but he doesn't live there anymore. You remember David right?" He says, taking a turn beside a tall building.

"Ah it's the prank texting guy, David." I said, remembering him from Liz's birthday.

"Yep, he keeps changing rooms for absolutely no reason. He's in the same building though." He says parking by the same building.

"This one?" I point at the narrow, tall beige building with tinted glasses.

"Mhm." He nods, resting his head on his headrest.

"That's a nice building." I commented quite surprised by the looks of the building.

"Were you expecting something more grander?" He chuckles, making me turn to him.

"Honestly I was expecting worse, considering how working men prefer low rent houses." I shrugged when he snorted.

"You surprise me, Mable." He chuckles, unbuckling his seatbelt.

We get down from his car when a chauffeur comes running towards the car as Toni unloads the trunk. The chauffeur beams a polite smile and goes by carrying our belongings on his luggage cart.

It was a residential area, mostly filled with working people. The staff were really polite to Toni when they saw him walking in with me. They offered us drinks at spot but Toni asked them to be sent to his room.

From the looks of the building, I could tell the rooms weren't big enough to accommodate two people in one room.

"What's going round in your beautiful head?" Toni asks, zoning me back to reality as the lift dings open.

"I can't believe, I'm on a break. But you're here for business purposes. How does that make time for-" I said, entering the lift as the doors shut close.

"For us?" He completes my sentence when I fall short of words.

"Mhm." I nod as his smile spreads across his cheeks.

"You're here with me! There's no way you're gonna be bored for a minute." His eyes rolled down quickly and came up once again to my eyes, making me blush at his subconscious intentions.

Thankfully the door spread open at the 4th floor, bringing in view the stretched red carpet on the floor leading to a fancy hallway of rooms.

He walks to one of the farthest rooms from the lift and I quietly follow his lead while he jiggles the keys in his hands.

"Here comes the abode!" He announces before unlocking his door and pushing the door open.

I walk in first when he holds the door open. The room was beyond my expectations, it was small yet spacious. The door lead directly to the kitchen with an attached living. The bedroom was by the left inner corner in a secluded room with an attached bathroom.

Walking to the large window beside the king sized bed, the view enabled was of the entrance of the building and the bypass roads of the city rushing with cars and two wheelers, lit with streetlights and street decorations.

"What do you think?" Asks Toni, hopping on the bed.

"Pretty cool." I nodded my head in appreciation, removing my shoes and plopping onto the bed.

"So you said only working people lived here, right? Mostly men?" I asked, flipping myself on my stomach.

"Yeah." He nodded lazily leaning his head against the bed frame, his leg crossed over another.

"Isn't this scandalous?" I said mocking surprise, and voicing suspicion.

"Really? How?" He tilts his head, frowning at my act.

I pull myself up, crawling towards him to close the distance between us and stop inches close to his face.

"You and me, alone in a residence that's meant only for working youth to stay." I whisper, making him gradually smirk as his eyes scroll down to my lips and come back up.

"I think that's completely fair." He whispers, putting my hair away from my face. "No one gets to know what we do behind the doors." He says flirtatiously.

Before I could respond to his cockiness, his hand grips my arm pulling me towards him. In an attempt to pull away, I turn around when he thrusts my back to his chest. Leaving no space between us and his left arm wrapping my waist while clutching my right arm disabling me from moving away.

My breathing intensifies with the warmth of his body and closure, making me crave more of him. My hands locked under his embrace, as his other hand brushes the hair away from my neck.

He leans on my shoulder, his lips stroke my jugular vein making me inhale deeper with pleasure.

I squirm my arms under his grip when he slowly lets go of them, freeing my arms as I dig my fingers into his black hair, massaging his scalp as he starts gently kissing on my neck.

The sudden loud doorbell makes me flinch when we loosen each other and Toni lowly grunts in frustration, getting down from the bed and leaving the room before giving a glance at me.

"I'll be right back." He mumbles, scurrying away towards the door when I groan in irritation, laying back on the bouncy bed.
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