MAL SOON ARRIVED at Timothée's house, which was a big, luxurious house on Main Street, with a wide, green lawn filled with all kind of beautiful flowers. The area was quite private, so it was no surprise that nobody found out about Lily.

She tiptoed to the front door, and reached for the WELCOME doormat at the front, letting out a spare key from under it and unlocking the door.

Timothée had already told her once about the spare key's place just in case she wanted to surprise him. She did, multiple times, and she was planning to do it again.

She opened the door and stepped inside, as quietly as possible, and made her way to the kitchen. She could hear the sound of water running in the sink, making her know that someone was there.

She peeked from the doorframe, and found the back of a familiar figure standing by the sink, washing the dishes.

Timothée.

She made sure no one was around the room, then entered as quietly as possible.

Making her way towards him, she stopped at a fair distance. Then tapped his shoulder.

He turned around almost immediately, expecting to see Lily standing there with another chore to do, but it was a completely different person. He allowed his tears to stream as he hugged her as tightly as possible.

"Mal..."

She ran her hand through his hair reassuringly. "Baby..."

"W-What are you doing here? She's going to hurt you... Please leave, Mal."

She shook her head firmly.

"No, Timothée. I'm tired of this. I want you to be happy. I don't want you to get hurt anymore."

He continued to cry as he shook his head. "Babe, she's going to hurt you, you don't understand..."

"No, she won't! I'm going to be okay... And I want you to be okay."

He hugged her again, letting out a few muffled sobs.

"She was threatening me. She was threatening me this whole time. I wouldn't have cared to stand up to her if it was just me, but she wanted you involved too. She doesn't like you."

She patted his back gently, planting a kiss on his forehead. "It doesn't matter, Timmy. I'm here for you, not her."

They then heard a knock upstairs. Timothée flinched, allowing her to kiss him once again.

"Mal, you have to leave. Please."

"No, Timothée, I won't. I'm always here for you."

Mal thought she heard the softest sound of footsteps getting closer to them. Timothée gulped and hugged her tightly, whispering sweet nothings to reassure both of them.

"I don't want you to get hurt. Please..."

The next thing they both were aware of was Lily's figure standing by the doorframe, staring intently at them, visibly frustrated.

He had tears in his eyes as he changed the direction of his sight to both of the girls.

"Mal..."

She shook her head again, then stepped closer towards Lily, making sure to protect her boyfriend by standing in front of him.

"It's over, Lily."

Lily let out a dark, menacing laugh.

"Well, well, well... Who do we have here?"

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