Hi guys! This was another one of my fav chapters to write lol so just like chapter 16 it's gonna be split into two parts since it was pretty long. Anyways I hope y'all enjoy reading ! :)

Nadia's phone alarm rang loudly, interrupting her sleep. She sighed exasperatedly, from not getting enough sleep. Nadia reached out for her phone blindly until her fingers pressed upon the stop button. She looked up at the ceiling, then at Danny who laid next to her. He kept his eyes closed.

"I know you're awake." Nadia spoke in a hushed tone, faintly smiling at him as she sat up. He lightly chuckled, fluttering his eyes open. His pupils quickly constricted as the sunlight that peered through the curtain openings touched his face. Nadia gazed into his eyes, admiring how the sun made them prominently different. He caught her stare.

"What?" He asked amusingly.

"I'm gonna miss that."

"Miss what?"

Nadia smiled to herself, looking away from him. "Your eyes."

He smiled at her compliment. "Well, you have pictures." Nadia lightly shook her head. "It's not the same." Danny sat up now. "If you think you'll miss me that much you could always stay." Nadia chuckled, turning back to look at him again. "Nice try, you and your eyes aren't that great." Danny laughed. "I'll miss you too Nadia." He wrapped his arm around her, bringing her closer to him.

"After I get ready, can you help me pack? My flight's at 12:27." "In the morning?" He asked. Nadia lightly scoffed. "No silly, in the afternoon. Why do you think I'm up so early?" Danny sighed, breaking away from her.

"So much for that surprise..." He trailed off.

"What?" Danny could see the hint of sadness in Nadia's eyes. He quickly smiled to reassure her. "I'm kidding. I'll find a way to make it happen. I honestly thought you were leaving at night." "No, sorry, it's the afternoon. You can blame Amelia for scheduling my flights." Nadia joked. Danny chuckled. "In that case, you should get ready. I, will be heading out." He stood up, beginning to get ready himself.

"Where are you going?" Nadia asked.

He smirked at her. "I'm gonna go get your surprise."

...

As Danny drove out of the hotel parking lot, his phone began to ring. He quickly took his hand off the steering wheel, picking it up from the cup holder it was placed in. He chuckled, seeing Maia's name. He put her on speaker.

"Maia, how are you? Whatever you have to say, better make it quick. You know I hate talking on the phone while driving." He teased.

She scoffed. "I'm not done with you Danny-,"

"Oh, but Maia, I'm so done with you." He interrupted her.

She sighed, taking a while to respond. "Just tell me what you meant on the phone the other day." She spoke sternly. A smile crept onto Danny's lips. "You know I can't tell you that. It wouldn't be exciting anymore."

"We had a deal." He could hear Maia's assertiveness slip.

"Yeah, we had a deal Maia. Do you hear the past tense in that sentence? Your deal is done. It means nothing to me anymore. Leo's out of the picture, and that's exactly what you wanted." Danny chuckled. "But, if you thought I would end up like him, oh Maia, darling, you should have thought your plan over. You know? You should have made it less, I don't know, transparent?"

"Danny, you do not get to cross me without any consequences. I'm warning you now. Whatever you have in mind, don't do it. If you ruin my plan, so help me god, I will end your life."

Danny laughed at her threat. "Oooo I'm shaking Maia, truly." He mocked.

"Fine, do what you want Danny." Maia lowered her voice. "But, if I find out anything, you'll remember me."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Goodbye Maia."

He hung up on her.

...

Nadia took a break from folding her clothes as she saw Amelia's name appear on her phone screen. She took a seat on the bed, eagerly placing her phone to her ear.

"Hey Amelia, what's up?"

"You sound cheerful, what's going on?"

Nadia chuckled. "Seriously? I'm leaving today that's what's going on. Did you forget? I finally get to talk to Leo."

Amelia sighed. "About that,"

Her voice took a drastic plummet into sadness. "What? What happened?" Nadia asked. "Leo knows." Amelia's voice broke. "About everything. The whole plan we made so all of this could happen."

"What? Oh my god, who told him-,"

"Maia. She-she came across us at the café and spilled everything. How all three of us were involved. How I was involved. How I lied to Leo and tried to help him so I wouldn't feel so bad. Nadia, you should have seen his face. He was so mad, he just left me there, but I can't blame him. He thought he could trust me, and I let him down."

Nadia sighed. "Like me?"

Amelia was quiet for a while, remembering what Leo had said. "Yeah, like you."

"I'm sorry Amelia."

"No, no it's okay. Maybe he'll come around. I'll just keep my distance for now." She paused. "Maybe it'll always be like that."

Nadia pouted. "Amelia what happened to 'we'll fix this'? Where's that optimism you had?" She sighed. "That was before he knew I was a part of this." Nadia lightly shrugged her shoulders. "There's still hope." She spoke softly. "Yeah, sure." Amelia mumbled.

"Anyway, when's your flight again?" She asked. "12:27pm but let me check just to make sure it's still the same." Nadia opened her laptop, checking in with her airline. Her eyes quickly scanned the words on the screen.

"Oh my god, are you kidding me?" She stated her thoughts aloud. "What happened?" Amelia asked. Nadia chuckled in disbelief. "My flight got delayed." 

"That's it?"

Nadia rolled her eyes. "You didn't let me finish. It got delayed a whole 12 hours off schedule."

"Oh."

Nadia laughed. "Yeah, 'oh'. Now I leave here at midnight."

She slammed her laptop shut. "Well, at least you get to spend more time with Danny." Amelia said sheepishly. Nadia scoffed. "That doesn't help Amelia. I think a part of me is ready to leave him. Nothing good came out of this trip."

Amelia chuckled. "You know that's a lie. I'm sure if nothing good came out of this, you wouldn't have gotten caught, so I'm sure you had a good time." She teased.

"Goodbye, Amelia. I'll call you later." Nadia heard Amelia's laughter as she brought the phone away from her ear and hung up.

The door clicked and Danny walked in. "Hey." He smiled at her. 

"Hey." Nadia sighed. "Guess what?" She asked as he tossed his car keys onto the table. "What?" 

She faked a smile. "My flight got delayed." 

Danny raised an eyebrow at her. "When are you flying out now?" 

Nadia looked up at him. "Midnight."

The slyest of smirks crossed Danny's lips, too quick for Nadia to notice. He stepped closer to her. "Really?" He chuckled. "Well in that case, why rush the surprise? It'll be even better at night."

...

Leo's POV

Leo quickly downed a shot, placing the empty glass on the coffee table. His eyes slowly shifted to the other three empty bottles sprawled out on the carpet. He sniffled, wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, and headed towards the fridge. His hand gripped the fridge door handle when the doorbell unexpectedly rang.

Leo immediately thought it was Amelia. He sighed angrily, walking over to the front door. He unlocked the door, quickly pulling it open, ready to lash out at her. He took a step forward, suddenly freezing in his tracks. He inhaled sharply, trying to speak after being rendered speechless. He furrowed his eyebrows, fighting back tears.

"Dad?" He breathed out.

His father lightly smiled at him, taking in the condition Leo was in. "Hi, Leo." 

He quickly hugged his father, crying on his shoulder. "Oh my god, dad what are you doing here?" His voice was muffled. 

"I just thought I'd come check up on you." Leo lifted his head up, smiling at him. 

"It looks like my instincts were right." He chuckled. "What's going on Leo?"

Leo wiped his eyes, gesturing his father to come inside the house. Leo walked over to the fridge again, as his father closed the front door behind him, looking around at his surroundings.

"You're really taking care of yourself huh?" He sarcastically grinned at Leo.

Leo faintly chuckled. "Yeah, I try dad."

He took two bottles of beer from the fridge. "Do-do you want one?" He asked. His father eyed the bottle, then looked back at Leo. "Just one. I'm trying to lay off the alcohol nowadays." 

Leo's eyebrows rose in astonishment. "Really? You, laying off alcohol?" His father continued to pace around the house, chuckling softly at his son's remark. "Yeah, really." He sighed. "And I think you should too."

Leo's smile faded.

He knew his father saw the other bottles on the floor.

"Leo, is there something I should know?" He saw the concern written all over his face.

They took a seat in the dining room, across from each other. Leo sighed. "I haven't been in the best shape lately." His father nodded. "Yeah, I see that. Leo, you've got bottles all over the place." He sadly chuckled. "You're acting like me, when your mother left." Leo clenched his fist, looking down at the table.

"Dad, Nadia left me." He blurted out.

His father was silent for a while. "What?"

"She left me, to be with another guy she used to have a relationship with. She didn't want me to know, but I found out later on. I guess she feels like shit after what she did. She apologized, and she's been calling me ever since."

"Did you call her back?" His father asked.

Leo shook his head. "No. I can't, I-,"

"Why not?" His father cut him off.

He narrowed his eyes at him. "You want me to call her?"

His father chuckled. "Leo, she is trying to reach out to you. Do you think she'd call if she were head over heels for that other guy? You would never hear from her again if she really loved him. The fact that she's trying so hard to get ahold of you, means you're still there in her heart Leo."

Leo sighed, feeling conflicted again. "I don't know Dad, she lied to me. I mean she went back to someone who really hurt her. I don't get it."

His father reached out for his hand. "Do you know why your mother left me? Left us?" He suddenly asked. 

"No." Leo whispered. 

His father lightly scoffed. "Of course not. You were eight years old. She knew how to lie. She knew how to make sure you knew nothing about what she was doing. She made sure you were the happiest you could ever be, until she walked out that door, never to be seen again."

He paused. "Your mother left to be with someone else, someone richer. Yes, she essentially had an affair with that man, and when she knew what she wanted, that was it. She gave me back the ring on her finger, packed her stuff, told you she was going on a little trip, kissed you goodbye and left." 

Tears began to well up in Leo's eyes as he recalled the day his mother left.

(Flashback)

"Mommy, where are you going?" She looked down at me and smiled. "It's just a little business trip darling, I'll be back soon." She ruffled my hair. "Do you have to go?" I pouted. "Yes, but it's okay Leo, you have your father until I get back."

I looked at Dad. He was seated in the living room, just staring at the TV.

"Hey Dad, aren't you gonna say bye to Mommy?" I asked.

She quickly spun me around to face her again and knelt down to my level. "He already said goodbye dear. He's just sad." She whispered. "You should comfort him for me, okay?" I nodded. She pulled me into a hug. "I love you Leo, okay? You be good, you hear me?"

"Okay." I didn't understand why she told me to be good. I always was. She kissed my forehead and stood up. When she opened the door, she looked back at me.

"I love you too Mommy." I smiled. She faintly smiled and closed the door.

...

That was the last time Leo saw her.

She gave him a half-hearted smile and that was it.

"That's why you were so sad."

His father nodded. "Yeah." Leo chuckled. "I always wondered why you were. I thought you loved her that much, and I would tell you that it was only for a while, you don't have to be so sad. She's coming back. But she never did."

He sniffled. "That's why I'm telling you Leo, I don't want you to end up like me. Nadia wants to come back to you. At least you have that option. I think you should talk to her, and if you think it's not going to work out, then let her go. But give her a chance."

He smiled at Leo. "You know, you seem so happy whenever you're with her." Leo lightly smiled. "Yeah, I know. Thanks Dad." Leo mumbled. His father stood up. "Now come on, wipe those tears away, I need you to help me get my suitcase out of the car."

Leo's face brightened. "You're staying?" His father smiled at his excitement. "It's been awhile, hasn't it? Why not?" His father put a comforting hand on Leo's shoulder. "Looks like you might need some company anyway."