ELEVEN

"Mon rayon de soleil, you have nothing to be sorry for."

Leon Knight spoke with a pained feeling evident in his chest from the words that had left his daughters lips, his eyes glassy from the crystal clear tears welling up there.

"I do!"

Lennox Knight cried as she stood in front of her father at his home, a place where she had not been for a very long time, her hands shaking as her body trembled from the mass amount of emotions that she was feeling.

She felt pathetic.

Her father had done everything to give her a good life and look after her and she had upset him time and time again.

Every time that he wanted a hug from his daughter, she couldn't do it, she hated hugs and she always felt uncomfortable when he had tried to hug her and she knew that it wasn't his fault bit that of her own.

It was entirely her fault.

Her father had worked four different jobs in order to give her the opportunity of becoming a fashion designer, he had sold many of his belongings and family heirlooms to give her what she wanted, just to make her happy.

And she couldn't even give him a hug.

"You're my dad! I should be able to hug you with ease and yet it's a really difficult task for me and I just don't get why! I hug Ginny, I hug Mick, why can't I hug you?" Lennox released a sob as the guilt racked her body.

Her father had been suffering from loneliness for years, since his wife had abandoned them both, only for his daughter to move out and in with her best friend, barely spending time with him because of how easily she became overwhelmed at his presence.

She had made him suffer more.

Leon lunged forwards to grab a hold of his daughter as her body crumbled under the emotion that she was feeling, pulling his little girl flat against his chest to soothe her and ease her pain.

He didn't blame her, of course he didn't. Yes, it hurt, but he understood why she had been unable to connect to him so he would never blame her or take it out on her, he was lonely, but his daughter was everything to him.

When he had nothing, he had Lennox. When he lost his wife, he had Lennox. And he still had Lennox.

Lennox sobbed violently as she curled in to her father, her hands clutching at the white shirt upon his body, squeezing it since she didn't want to lose him and felt like if she let go, that she would do just that.

The elder Knight pressed a soft kiss to his daughters forehead as she was against his chest, whispering small phrases in French that his daughter had loved since she was a child, that always eased her when she was restless.

He reminded himself to tell Mick of such phrases, they would be very useful for the German boy.

"It's okay, mon rayon de soleil. You're my daughter and I love you so much, whether I get hugs from you or not." Leon whispered quietly, not wanting to speak too loud and give her a headache or spook her. "I am so proud of you and the bright young woman that you've become, and nothing can change that."

"I love you too, papa."

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"Wake up!"

Mick Schumacher jolted awake as he heard a familiar voice scream, his ocean blue eyes wide with fear as he rapidly glanced around to see where she was, worried that she was in danger or needing him.

Instead, she was crouched down right beside him, since he had fallen asleep in her design studio.

"Lex? What's wrong? Are you okay? Do you need a hug? Do you need Gina? Or my sweater? What do you need?"

Mick breathed frantically, noticing how the American-French woman furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion, shaking her head from side to side, making her brown curls upon her head move and bounce.

"I need you to get up." Lennox muttered, rolling her eyes lightly at him, her lips twitching up at the sides. "We're getting breakfast."

"We are?"

"I've been awake for nearly fifty hours and I'm hungry. I won't sleep unless I eat something." Lennox admitted with a slight blush coating her cheeks, having not liked admitting how long she had been awake.

After her breakdown at her father's two days ago, she had not slept at all, and she knew that if she was going to sleep that she needed two things.

Breakfast and Mick.

The Schumacher boy nodded his head up and down as he stood to his feet, stretching his body out before his eyes fell upon the piles of paper sprawled out over her design desk, a multitude of drawings and designs on it.

She had clearly been motivated to draw many different items for her to make, and they all looked amazing.

He knew they would, she was amazingly talented and he always believed in her and her ability to make great items of clothing.

The duo walked together out of her studio, the creaking of the floorboards sounding as they made their way down the stairs, until they left the building and walked to the bakery which was directly next to it, the scent of freshly baked good being heaven to their senses.

Mick hadn't even noticed that the Knight girl had grabbed a hold of his hand, squeezing it until they had pointed out to the cashier what baked goods that they would be choosing, a smile lighting up his face.

The German boy squeezed her hand back as he paid for the baked goods, watching with amusement as she grabbed a hold of a croissant from out of the brown paper bag, immediately taking a bite out of it before he could even blink.

"Happy that we got breakfast?"

"Absolutely."

Lennox muttered with her mouth full, her stomach thanking her for the croissant, before she decided to lock her studio up so that she could get some sleep in an actual bed and not just the wooden chairs within her design room.

The two of them walked back to Mick's apartment, since he had made sure to buy an apartment in Paris near to his sisters in order to be near Lex as much as he could, the pair immediately heading in to his bedroom.

It was strange, he had two bedrooms in his apartment and yet his own bedroom barely ever contained just him, most nights, Lennox was with him.

It had practically become their bedroom in their apartment.

Lennox quickly changed in to the clothing that she always wore when she was at Mick's apartment, his clothes, climbing in to the bed and pulling the sheets up to her chin in order to be ready to get some sleep, her tired eyes struggling to stay away.

Once Mick was beside her once more, also under the sheets, Lennoz quickly turned her face towards him, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek before she turned back around and immediately fell asleep, soft snores leaving her lips.

Mick however, he lay there frozen in time, his eyes startled and wide, his mouth slightly open in shock from what had just happened.

Because in her exhausted state, she hadn't kissed his cheek.

Lennox Knight had accidentally kissed his lips.

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A/N

Short but still here, what do you think?

I really liked writing this one, so do let me know your opinions on the story, characters and what you would like to see happen.

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you all soon for the next one,

I'm so proud of all of you, my loves

Love you all,

-RUBY 🇵🇸🇨🇩