《Selena Arabella Calos》

"I don't like this," Teresa mutters, looking down at the cat purring at her feet. "It's just waiting for its moment."

I smile at her. She's so tiny and adorable. I wish I had a little sister like her. "I thought you liked cats."

Teresa tears eyes away from the cat and looks at me. "I do. But even I realise that some cats are sent from the darkest pits of hell- they are spawns of Satan."

"Teresa Celeste Castello! Who did you hear that from?" Elena gasps in shock of the words spouting out of her six-year-old's mouth.

"Danny," Teresa replies, unbothered by her mother's glare. Her eyes focusing again on the cat by her feet. It has started hissing now. "Leonardo!" Teresa shouts, and the man in question comes forward and looks at her expectantly. "Please get this creature away from me," she says in a dramatic voice, that makes her sound like Francis.

Leonardo stares at Mia for a second, as if he thinks that she's messing with him. When he realises that she's not, he hesitantly picks up the cat, who immediately stops hissing. Leonard says something to Gabriele, before rounding the corner of the house and disappearing from view.

Leonardo and Gabriele are my bodyguards of sort. Daniel has ordered them to follow me everywhere to keep me 'safe'. I don't know what they are keeping me safe from considering I haven't stepped out of the house in the two weeks since I woke up, but Daniel insists that I keep them with me. Leonardo is Stefan's brother. Although Stefan is Daniel's bodyguard, by the way they interact, I can tell that he is more than to Daniel than his bodyguard.

"Do not say that again, Teresa," Elena tells her in a firm tone and Teresa looks at her with a blank expression and nods.

Teresa is a mix of Daniel and Francis, which makes sense considering she's their little sister. She looks like a mini female version of Daniel and has the same facial expressions as him. She's has a dramatic flair and is a sweetheart like Francis.

At first, when I saw Daniel and Francis together, I thought that it was odd how different they were. I always assumed twins would similar looks and personalities but clearly not. Daniel and Francis are polar opposites of each other in every way. Daniel has dark hair; Francis has blonde hair. Daniel has ocean blue eyes; Francis has sea green eyes. Daniel has a dark and brooding personality, Francis has a light, cheery personality. Their personality difference makes sense, given what Daniel has been through, but apparently it has always been like that. Elena told me that when they were younger, people never believed them when she told them they were twins.

"Where is Leonardo?" I hear Daniel's voice from behind me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"He's getting rid of the spaw-" Teresa starts but Elena glares at her again and she groans. "... cat. He's getting rid of the cat that was about to attack me."

"To be clear, when she says get rid of, she means kick it out of the house," Elena says, then narrows her eyes at Daniel. "Speaking of cats, what have you been teaching Teresa?"

Daniel comes to sit beside me and looks at Elena with a blank expression. "I do not understand what you mean. I merely spoke the truth. And to be clear, I did not mean that solely about cats, I was talking about every creature that there is."

"Yes, especially boys!" Teresa chimes.

"Especially them," Daniel agrees, a little too fondly.

Elena groans. "Stop teaching her these things. She's going to turn into a mini you."

Daniel smiles softly but doesn't give her a reply. Instead he looks at me. "Hello, cara."

"Hey," I reply, almost shyly, because of the intense expression on his face.

He bites his lip and holds out his hand for me. "Walk with me."

I raise my eyebrow. "Walk?"

"I think that is what I said." Daniel stands up and grabs my wrist, making me stand up too. "Let's go."

"I didn't say yes," I mutter, jokingly, and he shoots me an unamused look.

"Where are you going?" Teresa asks us.

"Just to the greenhouse. I want to talk to Selena about something," Daniel replies. "I will see you later."

He pulls me behind him, as he quickly starts walking away from his mother and sister. I turn around to see Gabriele and Stefan following us, a safe distance away.

"You asked me to walk with you, not for you to drag me to wherever it is that you are taking me," I say to Daniel and he stops walking for a second.

He loosens his grips from my wrists, and slips his hand in mine, then starts walking again. "Is this better?"

"Much," I reply sarcastically and he smiles reluctantly. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like someone is forcing you not to but you can't help yourself."

"I do not like encouraging childish behaviour," he deadpans and I narrow my eyes at him. What does he mean by that? I am not being childish. If anyone is being childish then it's him not me.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" I ask him and he shrugs.

"You are smart. You can figure it out." I stop walking and Daniel looks back and stares at me unamused. "What?"

"I am not walking with this Daniel!" I tell him, removing my hand from his and crossing my hands over my chest.

He sighs. "You are right. I am on edge right now because of somethings, so I am behaving like an asshole."

"Are you okay?" I ask him as I step towards him and place my hand on his arm.

"Yes, I am fine," he replies. "Just walk with me please." He looks at my face and sighs again. "I will not be an ass again."

Well, that's highly unlikely.

-

"It's beautiful," I say in astonishment when we walk inside the greenhouse. My parents' house had one too, but they mainly use it for tea parties and what-not so it's natural beauty is not as well preserved as this one's.

"Yes, it is. Mamma grew up in this vineyard in the countryside and she wanted to bring some of it here when she married Papà. Obviously this is not a vineyard, but she still loves it," Daniel tells me, a small smile on his face.

"That explains why you prefer the countryside."

"Mamma made us go there every time we had a holiday," Daniel explains. I suddenly gasp when I trip over who knows what. Daniel wraps his arm around my waist before I fall on my face. "Jesus. How many times do I have to tell you to be careful?"

"Hey! It's not my fault that I'm naturally clumsy!"

He stares at me then sighs. "How do you feeling?"

I'm surprised that he let it go so easily. Usually he gives me a long lecture after I trip.

"Better, I think."

When we round the corner, I see a concrete table, surrounded by benches.

"Sit," Daniel says, but it sounds more like a command than a request.

I raise my eyebrow. "Stand, roll over?" My sarcastic tone clearly isn't appreciated by Daniel who narrows his eyes at me. If he didn't mean it like that, then why did he order me to sit like I was some sort of an animal?

"Selena," he warns. I smile sarcastically and sit down.

"Happy?"

"Bloody ecstatic," he mutters, sitting down next to me.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I ask him after a long stretch of silence.

He glances at me before fixating his gaze on the table. Why does he look so nervous? "Dinner."

Oh. Oh, wow. Is he... asking me out?

"What about dinner?" I ask him but he still doesn't look at me.

"If you want to have it with me."

So he is asking me out. I must say, he isn't very good at it.

"But we have dinner together every night," I say, feigning confusion and he sighs in frustration. I almost roll my eyes. I should be the one who is frustrated. He isn't doing a good job at asking me out.

"Yes, we do. But I mean both of us having dinner alone tonight- just the two of us, no one else." He still isn't looking at me.

"Why? Will you be working late tonight?" I know I'm pushing his buttons at this point but I can't help it. If he wants to take me on a date, he should say it point-blank.

Finally, he turns his head to look at me. At first he glares at me, but upon seeing my amused expression, his eyes soften.

"I am trying to determine if you would be willing to go on a date with me," he says finally. This technically isn't the usual way of asking someone on a date, but I know that this is the best I'll get out of him.

I smile. "I would love to go on a date with you," I reply and his eyes light up.

"Would eight work for you?" He asks me, a small smile on his face. My smile widens because of the excitement on his face.

"Yes, it would. How should I dress?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll have an outfit sent to you."

-

I pace around my room, continuous looking at the clock. It's nearly seven, and I still don't have anything to wear. I am a quick dresser, so once I get the clothes, it will take me less than twenty minutes to be ready but that's not the point. The point is, what I'd the clothes don't fit me properly or-

"Oh, thank the lord," I mutter, when I hear a knock on my door. I walk to the door, open it and gasp in surprise.

"Hello, Lena," Alessandro says, smiling. Not taking into account that both of his hands are full, I throw my arms around his neck.

"I missed you so much!" Despite all the things in his hands, he manages to hug me back.

"I missed you too, sweetheart."

Alessandro is the only one who knows what happened to me because his family apparently helped find me. I have only spoken on the phone three times in the past two weeks, and for some it may seem enough, but after the month I had, I wanted my best friend with me.

"When did you get back from Vai?" I ask him, pulling away from him.

"About three hours ago. Sorry it took me so long to come see you, I had to take care of Valentina while Raf was helping Papà," he explains as he walks into the room and sets the garment bag and the other two bags that he had on the bed.

"You don't have to be sorry, I understand," I say, then hug him again.

"I missed you." He kisses the top of my head, then pulls away from me.

"I missed you too."

"So... Daniel Castello?" Alessandro asks after a while.

"I love him."

"I know," he replies and I raise my eyebrow. "Jax is the one who told me to get these things to you. He told me everything."

"Don't tell anyone else yet."

"I won't. How he ask you out anyways? I mean, I know you said yes, but how did he ask?"

"Technically, he didn't ask me," I tell him. "He just brought it up very vaguely and expected me to understand." Alessandro laughs. "For someone as accomplished as him, he isn't really good at asking someone out."

"What exactly did he say?" Alessandro asks me. I tell him the whole story and he shakes his head in amusement. "You're lucky he went as far to say that. According to Jax, when he's going on a dinner date with someone, he doesn't ask. He's just like, "We're having dinner together tonight", and that's it."

"I wonder how they react to that."

-

The dress is beautiful. It's a periwinkle, tulle net, off-the-shoulder gown with an A-line silhouette and beaded bodice and straps. It wraps around the top of my body perfectly which makes me wonder how Daniel knew my size so well.

There is one problem though- my scars. My whole back and shoulders are covered with scars and because this gown is off-the-shoulder they can be easily seen. I doubt even makeup will help covering them, in fact, makeup may make them irritated.

I don't know what to do. I can't go out like this. Daniel knows about the scars but there would be other people wherever we are going for out date. They will definitely stare and judge. I can't-

"Come on out, Lena," Alessandro says and I take a deep breath and go out of the dressing room. "Wow." He looks at me and smiles. "You look beautiful."

I don't reply. He still hasn't seen me turn. My scars ruin the beauty of this dress. I don't deserve to wear it.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"Is there a scarf or something with this?"

Alessandro shakes his head, looking confused. "Why?"

I don't answer. Instead I turn around to let him see for himself.

"That doesn't answer my question," he says and I turn around and groan in frustration.

"I- this- ugh!" I walk to the closet, trying to look for something that'll help cover up my back and shoulders.

"Lena, Daniel has seen your scars, hell he knows how you got them. You don't need to hide yourself from him."

"It's not Daniel that I'm worried about. If anyone else-"

"Do you really think that if anyone made a negative comment about you, Daniel, or even I, would let them live to see another day?"

"That's not the point," I grumble but Alessandro rolls his eyes.

"Shush then. Be confident with your body. Your scars show your strength, wear them proudly," he says then walk over to the bed and takes out a shoe box from one of the bags. "I think this might cheer you up."

He takes out the shows from the box and just like he predicted, I immediately feel better. The shoes are the same colour and shade as the dress and have a crystal buckle on top with stiletto heels.

"They're so pretty," I murmur, taking the shoes away from Alessandro. He smirks, proud that he has managed to distract me. I put on the heels and tilt my head. Why is the height of the heel so small?

"It was either this or flats according to Jax," Alessandro comments when he sees me looking at the heels. "I brought that up too but Jax said that Daniel didn't want you to wear heels because of your fondness for tripping, but Jax convinced him that that might make you a little mad."

Of course it would upset me. When I don't wear heels, I look like a dwarf next to Daniel. He's almost ten inches taller than me, at 6'2. Even though the heels that I'm wearing add only three inches to my height, it would still make a lot of difference.

"I'll need to thank Jax for knocking some sense into him," I say. "Also, thank you for bringing these things to me."

Alessandro smiles. "No problem, sweetheart. Although I must say, he has good taste. You look lovely." He walks to me and kisses my forehead. "I have to go now. Papà wants to talk to me."

-

Why are some people naturally blessed to always look like they stepped out of a magazine?

Daniel is wearing a navy suit, leaning against his car and looking at his phone. That's it. Yet he looks swoon-worthy.

He looks up from his phone when I come close to him.

"Hey," I say when I stop in front of him. He doesn't reply instead he keeps on staring at me. I adjust my hair, which I left open, so some of it falls on my arms, covering my scars. For the first time in my life, I'm glad I didn't get my hair cut short.

"Jesus, you're so fucking gorgeous, baby," Daniel finally says and I look at the floor and blush.

"You too."

"I seriously doubt that." He brings his finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him. "I want you to look at me when you talk to me."

"I- uh..." Daniel raises his eyebrow and I close my mouth. What is wrong with me? Why did my speech skills decide that this was the best moment to take a break?

"Get in," Daniel says, opening the passenger side door of the car. I roll my eyes at his peculiar mannerisms. He always talks to people like he's ordering them to do something which to people who do not know him as well may sound rude.

"Where are we going?" I ask him as I sit in the car.

"You'll see," he replies, closing the door.

-

"You... Why is there no one else here?" I ask Daniel, looking around the restaurant. Apart from Daniel and I, there are a few waiters in the restaurant, which doesn't make sense since it's Friday night.

Daniel looks at me with a confused expression. "You would rather there be other people here too?"

"No. I just don't understand how the restaurant isn't busy given that it's Friday night?"

"I wanted to dine alone with you," he says simply as if it explains everything.

My parents have done this too at times- reserve the whole restaurant. They usually do that when they want to have conversations that they don't want anyone else to hear. But they make the reservation at least two or three days in advance. Daniel just asked me out today, there's no way he could have gotten a reservation unless...

"Is the restaurant yours?" I ask him and he shrugs

"So to speak." I raise my eyebrow. "A friend and I bought it a few years ago as a joke. It looks fine and the food is good so we decided to keep it."

The place looks more than just fine. The lighting is dim, but the table that we are seated at has two white candles, separated by a vase of black roses, that burn brightly. The walls are plain white with randomly placed pieces of modern art. The tables have white linen table clothes and plush black chairs. Classical music is playing in the background, but I don't know what. I'm not much of a fan of classical music- it doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't have any lyrics, which is what I like to listen in a song. So all in all, the atmosphere of the restaurant is by no means just fine. It's lovely- romantic even.

"Do you come here often, then?"

"No," he replies. "It's a very... intimate place. I don't usually have relationships which are intimate in this sense."

What is that supposed to mean? What sense is this intimate in then?

Before I can ask him anything, a waiter comes towards and hands us the menu cards.

I look at Daniel. "I don't know what is good here."

He looks up from his menu card and nods. "I'll order for both of us." He turns to look at the waiter who seems to be staring at me. I look down, uncomfortable by the waiter's gaze. I noticed it before, but he was only glancing at me sometimes then.

"We'll each have a filet mignon, medium cooked, with Greek salad and a bottle of Yarra Valley Pinot Noir," Daniel says curtly, as if he's irritated but his face devoid of any emotion.

The waiter looks shocked at Daniel's rudeness- he did not say please or thank you even once. The waiter quickly composes himself mutters a "of course, sir" and gives me a last glance before turning around and leaving. I almost sigh in relief as I watch him walk away.

"Selena," Daniel says, and I look away from the retreating form of the waiter. Daniel gazes at me expressionlessly for a moment then shakes his head. "Tell me about yourself."

That sounds like I am interview question, and having given few to none interviews in my life, I'm not sure how to answer that. People that I associate with usually know about me, they don't have to ask.

I raise my eyebrow. "What would you like to know? I think you know everything about me worth knowing."

"On the contrary, I would say I know very little about you. What was your childhood like?"

I bite my lip, trying to think of how to answer that question. In short, if I say that my childhood was bad, I would be being ungrateful. My parents may not have loved me but I still had everything else that a child could ever want. But I can't exactly say that I had a happy childhood because that would be a lie.

"It was... unique." Daniel lips tug upward into a small smile at my choice of words. "My parents were always working, so that made it difficult. But I guess the rest of it was uneventful."

"And school? What kind of student were you?"

"What do you think?"

"Teacher's pet," he replies teasingly.

"Ha-ha," I deadpan, then shake my head and smile. "I was the student who did everything, academically speaking. I always finished my homework and had good grades. But at the same time, I would act out, mostly to try and get my parents' attention. I distracted other children from their work after doing my own. I got into fights. I didn't listen to teachers at times. I wasn't a nightmare child, but I was definitely not a teacher's pet."

"You got into fights?" Daniel asks me, incredulous.

I laugh at his surprise. "Yes, I did. It was mostly to defend my friends from someone was being rude to them." Daniel shakes his head in amusement. "What about you?"

"I was what you'd call the nightmare child. I was smart, but had no interest in doing my work or letting others do theirs. I was the disruptive child. I think my teachers encouraged me to graduate early just to get rid of me."

I smile at him, shaking my head. Daniel graduated college at sixteen- two years before people his age did. Then he finished his undergraduate degree when he was nineteen. He's that smart.

"What's the worst thing that you ever did?"

"There are so many bad things I did, it's difficult to pick one," he says and I raise my eyebrow.

"Come on. There has to be one thing that stands out."

"Well, there are two. The duck incident and the snake incident."

"Why do both of these involve animals?"

He presses his finger against his lip, trying to repress his laughter.

"They were the most amusing," he says after a moment. "The du-"

Daniel suddenly goes stiff and impassive when the waiter returns. I try not to look at the waiter as he fills our glasses with the red wine.

"Thank you." The words slip out of my mouth before I can stop myself. My eyes snap to the waiter and there's a small smile on his face, his eyes roaming through my body, fixating on my bare shoulders. I shuffle uncomfortably in my seat.

Daniel clears his throat and the waiter immediately looks away. He places the bottle on the table before turning on his heels and leaving.

I settle my gaze on Daniel again, but his playful demeanour does not come back. Instead his jaw is clenched and his eyes look stormy.

"Excuse me for a second," he says, getting up from the table and walking in the direction the waiter just went.

I play with the edge of the tablecloth. Why was Daniel suddenly so angry? Did he notice the inappropriate way in which the waiter was looking at me? Or was it something that I did?

Five minutes later, Daniel returns to the table and gives me a brief smile. "I apologise for that. I had something to deal with."

"It's alright," I say, looking down at the table.

"He was making you uncomfortable," Daniel says. I shrug, keeping my eyes fixated on the table. "Look at me, Selena." My eyes snap to his. He looks furious. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it and ruin our date." My voice is quiet but he hears me clearly.

His jaw clenches again. "You didn't want to make a big deal out of it?" He repeats slowly and my heart hammers against my chest. He's terrifying when he gets this angry.

"Please don't be mad at me."

His eyes soften and he sighs. "I'm not mad at you, cara. Just... next time if something is making you uncomfortable, just tell me. I don't care who it is or where we are. I just need to know when you aren't feeling safe and comfortable."

"I will," I say, reaching out to grab my glass and take a sip. I've had Pinot Noir before so I know what to expect- pleasantly dry and acidic. The flavour is a bit different than the one I'm used to- it has fruitier notes than earthy ones, but it tastes good.

I look up to see a different waiter walking towards us. He keeps his head down as he places our plates in front of us.

"Thank you," Daniel mutters before the waiter walks away. I try not to look surprised by his sudden good manners. Daniel's eyes flicker to my face and he rolls his eyes. "I'm generally not rude, cara, but the waiter before this one was pissing me off with all this staring."

I smile at him before looking at my food. Bloody hell. That's a lot for just one person. I feel full just looking at my plate.

"Eat," Daniel orders and I bite my lip. It's going to be so hard finishing this, but I know what Daniel will do if I don't so I pick up my knife and fork and eating.

-

I can't stop thinking about it. What Daniel said about not having "relationships which are intimate in this sense." What did he mean by it?

I know I'm overthinking but I can't help myself. I don't want to ask him about it, because I know it's dumb, so all I can do is sit in the car and silently think about his words. Maybe this is why I can never-

"Something is bothering you," Daniel says and I sigh. I honestly think that he has the ability to read my mind. "Tell me what it is," he commands after I ignore his previous statement.

"No. Nothing is bothering me," I reply and he glances at me.

"You know I don't like people lying to me."

I purse my lips. "It's nothing."

"The fact that you're not able to look at me properly makes me think that it is not nothing. So, tell me what's wrong." I don't answer him again, and this time he sighs before pulling over. He turns to look at me, his eyes blazing. "Selena, don't test me."

I bite my lip and look at my lap. "You said that you didn't have relationships which are intimate in this sense. What-"

"I usually have relationships which are... just physical." I turn to look at him. "It was just sex. There were no feelings involved- well, not more than friendship anyway. Most of my partners were women who had been my friends from before and they knew what to expect from our relationship."

"What do you expect from me?" I ask, my voice a mere whisper. If he has never had any real relationship, if all his relationships were purely physical, does that mean that's what he expects from me? I don't think that I'm ready for that.

"No!" He says, almost shouting and I recoil in surprise. "No," he says, more gently this time. "I- I feel differently about you. You- I don't know how to explain it but I've never felt this kind of an emotional attachment with anyone before."

"Were you in any sort of such relationship when you met me?" I ask him, thinking back to the girl I saw with him when I had lunch with Natalie and Alessandro.

"No," he replies. "If you mean the girl you saw me with- we parted ways before I met you. Stella is one of my best friends and that relationship was mutually beneficial, but she had to move away so that ended."

"Okay," I reply and he smiles at me. He turns his attention back to the road as he starts driving again.

"Were you in a relationship?" He asks me after a whole and I freeze.

Alex and I... well, that wasn't exactly a relationship but if I had not met Daniel, it would have been. Alex was a way for me to defy my parents and so everyone expected me to end up with him. But no one ever foresaw Daniel.

"Not exactly," I reply honestly and I see a flash of confusion across Daniel's face.

"Oh?" I'm surprised at his tone. I know he's trying to feign indifference but instead he sounds confused, angry, hurt, and another emotion I can't quite understand. How such a small word can convey so many unspoken emotions is beyond me.

"A best friend of mine asked me out on a sort of date before, you know, everything that happened. I, after some resistance, said yes."

"Why?" He asks me. His voice is calm and collected but I notice his hold on the steering wheel tightening.

"Everyone one expected us to be together. I didn't really have feelings for him like that because I knew my parents would never approve of him and it would end badly. Still, my friends thought I might end up with him just to spite my parents. I thought I might have the tiniest bit of feelings for him but after meeting you, I realised my feelings for him may have been more to do with what others expected of me rather than what I wanted."

"Do you still... like him in that way?" Daniel asks me, and for the first time he sounds unsure about himself.

"No. I never really did. But I never realised it until I fell in love with you. My feelings for you... well, I've never felt like that before and it made me realise that I never really had romantic feelings for him."

Daniel remains quiet as he comes to a stop outside his house but his lips lift into a smile.

"Did you have a good time today?" He asks me as he turns to look at me. His blue eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Yes, I did. Thank you," I say and move forward to kiss his cheek. He inhales sharply at my unexpected gesture.

"Stay in the car, I'll open your door," he says as he steps out of the car. I watch him walk around the car quickly and open my door. "Thank you for not being stubborn and listening to me this time."

I grin. "It's only a one-time thing, love."

He rolls his eyes but smiles regardless. "I'll have to do something about that then."

He takes my hand and helps me out of the car. "I didn't even trip once this evening."

"Don't jinx it, cara, the evening is still not over."

"I'm more coordinated in heels," I tell him and he rolls his eyes.

"No, you're not. The only reason why you didn't trip yet is because you got lucky."

"Hey!" I say, pretending to be offended.

"It's true," he says, then wraps his arm around my waist.

-

"You still haven't changed," I say to Daniel, leaning against his door frame.

He turns to look at me and raises an eyebrow. "That was quick."

I roll my eyes. "Just because girls are considered to be slow at changing their clothes does not mean that they actually are."

He smiles as he takes off his coat and starts walking towards me. "As a devout feminist, I would never imply that someone does something slowly just because they are a girl."

I smile at him. "You said like Elijah Mikealson."

He looks at me blankly as he comes to a stop in front of me. "Who is that?"

I gape at him. "Don't tell me that you you've never seen the Originals? That's just wrong."

"Then you and I have a very different definition of what wrong is."

"I think we have already established that that's true."

"That we have," he says, then slides a finger under my chin, making me to look up at him. "If I remember correctly, I promised you a kiss when you were off painkillers."

I would be lying if I said that I haven't thought of that everyday, but he doesn't need to know that. "Did you, now?"

He brushes his lips against mine and my breath quickens. "If you don't remember, then..."

Suddenly he pulls away from me and I glare at him. I am going to bloody kill this man.

He smirks at me as he leans on the wall beside me. "If you want me to kiss you, baby, ask me for it."

I resist the urge to shout at him. "I will not."

"Then I will not be kissing you."

"You are not the only one who wants to kiss me." The words are out of the mouth before I can stop myself and as terrible as it sounds, I don't regret them. Especially when I see his eyes darkening.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" He growls and I shrug.

"You're smart. You can figure it out," I reply, quoting him from this afternoon. Wow, where did all this confidence come from? Wherever it came from, I like it. It's finally my chance to rile him up instead of the other way around.

"If y-" I don't get to finish my sentence.

Daniel cups my face and slams his lips onto mine. I almost forget to breathe as his lips move roughly against mine, forcing me to respond. It isn't like the first time he kissed me- that kiss was sweet and urgent. This one is rough and slow, as if he's punishing me and he has all the time in the world- which to be fair he does.

He pulls away from me, rests his forehead against mine and looks directly into my eyes. "In case I have not made it abundantly clear yet, you are mine."

The hopeless romantic in me sighs at his words but all I can do is stand there breathless, staring at his entrancing blue eyes. His eyes are dark right now, blazing not with anger but with desire. That's a first.

Before I can collect myself enough to reply to him, his lips are on mine again- more gentle this time. The kiss is so incendiary, so overpowering that I feel dizzy. I move my hand to his chest to steady myself when I feel him flinch ever so slightly.

Wait, what the in the world was that? I break the kiss, open my eyes and look up at him. He sends me a confused expression.

"Wha-"

"No," I interrupt, breathless.

Daniel inhales sharply when I move my hands to unbutton his shirt. "Uh, Selena, what exactly are you doing?"

I ignore him and continue to unbutton his shirt. I should have realised it before. I saw him flinch twice today when something or someone touch his chest. I should have realised something was wrong. I take off his shirt and throw it to the side.

"What happened?" I gasp as I notice the new collection of bruises all over his chest. I can't see most of them because of his tattoos, but the ones I can see are red- which means they are new. Daniel remains quiet. "Daniel, these are new bruises, you didn't have them before. How did you get them?"

He glances at me before looking away again. "I got into a fight."

I blink in surprise. "A fight?"

He looks at me again and sighs. "Don't worry about it, it was voluntary."

"Aren't all fights voluntary?"

He smiles at me. "I suppose they are. Like I said, don't worry about it."

How can I not worry about it when I know he's lying? What are the chances that he got into a "voluntary fight" and came out without any damage to his face?

Daniel sighs then kisses my forehead. "Get into bed, I'll be with you in five minutes."

I want to ask him more about his new injuries, but I know he is not going to say anything else on the matter. Once he has made up his mind about not talking about something, no one can change it.

"Selena," Daniel says and I sigh.

"Okay." I move away from him and look at his bed. I know he wants to say something to me, I can feel his stare. But he doesn't, instead he walks away from me towards his closet.

I feel conflicted. I know I shouldn't. He doesn't owe me any answers but that does not mean that I don't want them. If he expects me to be honest with him all the time, why is he not honest with me then?

-

For the first time since I met Daniel, I wake up alone. I open my eyes to look beside me and frown when I confirm his absence. What-

"Why are you up so early?" I sit up in bed, startled and turn around to see a very shirtless Daniel.

It's not like I haven't seen him without a shirt before- I have, many times. But all those times, I was too worried about the fact that he was hurt to bother to actually see him. I mean, of course I noticed his sculpted body (abs and toned chest). What I mean is that I never realised how well the black ink of his tattoos complimented his tan skin. Despite the bruises covering his whole abdomen, he looks hot- beautiful even. He's leaning against his desk with a cup in one hand. I know he's watching me stare at him, but I can't force myself to look away. He's a sight for sore eyes. My eyes follow the trail of tattoos from his shoulders down to his abdomen and I bite my lip. All I want to do is walk over to him and-

My eyes widen at my inappropriate thoughts. Oh my lord, what the hell am I thinking? What's wrong with me?

Daniel clears his throat and I force myself to look at his face. He's smirking at me- of course he is; I was blatantly checking him out.

I turn away from him, flushed in embarrassment, and rest my head on my knees. "What time is it?"

"Five." Wow, it is early. Usually Daniel wakes up at seven, so that's when I wake up too.

"When did you wake up?"

"An hour ago."

I look at him. "Why did you wake up so early?"

We slept at twelve, so he only had four of hours of sleep before waking up. That can't be healthy.

"I had some work left from yesterday and I was not sleepy anymore." I raise my eyebrow. How is four hours of sleep enough for anyone? "I am not used to sleeping a lot," he explains before I even bother asking him.

"Go back to sleep, cara mia," he says after a while.

"I'm not sleepy anymore," I tell him, getting up from bed. He looks like he's going to argue with me and I send him a look. "If I feel sleepy, I'll sleep sometime in the day."

He relents, sighing. "Fine. What are you doing today?"

"I'm going to start packing," I say and he freezes. "I have been here for a month now. I'm going to have to go back to my parents' house soon."

"I know," he says then looks at me. "I'm going to miss seeing you so often."

"As am I," I say, walking towards him. "But you can still talk to me whenever you want to."

He brushes a strand of my hair behind my hair and presses his lips against my forehead. "I know, but it's not the same."

He wraps an arm around my waist, pulls me closer and buries his face in the crook of my neck. "I love you."

I smile as I run my fingers through his hair. "I love you too."

-