*Creeps in out of nowhere* Boom. A random update. Surprise, little ones. ;)

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Chapter forty-three – Perfect

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-November 15, 1987-

Nine days after the little visit to father's, our conversations are still all about Marco. This whole ordeal of living in fear of him coming back is taking its toll on us now; even I – the more chilled of us all – am becoming more stressed over it all. Michael's starting to notice that change in me, too. But he's unable to do anything about it, because he's feeling the exact same way.

Neither of us know what to do about it. We've thought about selling both my house, and father's, then just buying one larger one some place else – but Reiss pointed out that it would take too long, and Marco would be back before it happened.

The police haven't given us any other information regarding the investigation – they just keep telling us that they're trying to track Marco down for questioning. According to Reiss, they know he's in England, so perhaps they're trying to track his passport; or they've got their own search team in the UK to find him.

It doesn't help with the grief of having no mother, either. Lately I've really started missing her, and it's been affecting my everyday life, I suppose. I just try not to show it, because Michael's loss is much bigger, and tougher to deal with. I've lost less than him, so I shouldn't be complaining when I have more left than he does.

Michael is inside the house at the moment – what he's doing, I'm unsure on. But I'm in the garden, doing that thing Michael does when he talks to his family. In other words, I'm sat against the trunk of the tree, looking up whilst I speak to mother. It makes me feel better sometimes; but other times, it makes my heart hurt even more.

"Things have started getting so difficult, mother ... " I explain. Feeling the need to elaborate, I continue talking. "Uncle Marco is in England right now, but I know he's going to come back. I'm so worried about father. He's the weakest out of all of us, so Marco could easily strike at him first. I know daddy won't trust him; but it's not the trust that could harm him – Marco is a powerful man, and ... and father isn't. Marco could do anything to him, and he'd be defenceless. I'm scared, mom ... "

A soft breath exhales from my nose, taking on the form of a sigh. My eyes move downwards, as my fingers gently start messing with the grass beneath me. "That's why I want to get out of this place. I'm worried he'll come back and get us. Clover is in so much danger, and Reiss is, too. But my father is the vulnerable one; at least the others can defend themselves ... "

My brows furrow lightly as I look back up, leaning my head against the trunk of the tree. "And I just really miss you right now. The past few months have been nothing but struggle. I need your guidance, and your support. It just ... " Tears form in my eyes before I can finish my sentence; blinking some back, I attempt to speak again. "It just ... hurts ... " My words come out as nothing more than sobs of emotional agony.

My head falls into my hands, as I draw my knees up to my chest and embrace them. My head falls into my lap, so that I'm in a ball, and I start to cry loudly. It's not often I have an outburst like this, but the past couple months have really tested my patience and sanity.

And so I sit, for a few minutes, simply crying. Just shedding tears for my loss, and my worry, and my fear, and every negative thought I have. I have more to cry about than I first thought ...

But then I feel a tight embrace around the little ball I've formed myself into. I feel myself being squeezed with a certain amount of force, and I only look up when I hear soft words being spoken into my ear.

"Please Angel, don't cry ... " It's Michael. It's easy to feel the warmth that radiates from his body, to mine; it makes me feel safe, and supported. His arms feel like home, to me.

Coming out of my little ball, I turn around and fall into his arms. "Everything is so difficult, Michael ... " I answer, my voice muffled against his clothing.

"I know, sweetheart. It's real tough ... " He sighs quietly, pulling away from me to give me a smile. "Look ... I think we need to have a night away from all this. Just to escape this pain."

"But how? Our lives are revolved around this whole "Marco" business ... " Sniffling, I try to rid my tears – but this proves more difficult than I first thought.

"I'll tell you how," Michael starts, obviously having just formed an idea in his head. "Tomorrow night, I'm taking you out. Call it a date if you like, but it's whatever. I want to make you smile, because lately, all I've seen from you is a frown. And that frown makes me sad. I want to see your beautiful smile again."

The thought and gesture causes me to smile in appreciation. "You really don't have to, Michael—"

"But I want to. This whole thing with Marco has made us drift so far apart, even if it was supposed to bring us closer together. So I'm doing this ... for the sake of our relationship." His hand moves to my face, allowing his fingers to lightly caress my cheek. "You get me?"

"But Mich—"

"I said, do you get me? I won't take no for an answer, my Angel."

His persistence earns a small chuckle from me. "I get you. I get you very much." As he sits against the trunk of the tree, I sit by his side. He places his arm around me, which gives me the opportunity to lean my head on his shoulder. "Thank you."

He kisses my forehead. "Don't even mention it. I may not have a lot to give ... but what I've got, I'll give to you. Because you deserve it. For everything you've done for me ... you deserve the entire world."

"But I've got my entire world," I answer, perhaps coming out more cringy than I first imagined it would. "It's you, Michael."

"Man," he starts, looking down on me. "And I thought I was too sickly."

"Hey!" In mock disapproval, I slap his arm, half trying to hurt him, and half not wanting to. "I was trying to be cute. To show how much I care!"

He giggles, causing my heart to flip, raising his arm to deflect my hits. "Hey! Hey-hey! I'm sorry! I'm kidding! It's cute! I love you! Stop hurting me now!"

Finding his pleads adorable, I can't help but stop abusing his poor arm. "I was just proving that I'm just as smooth as you."

"Smooth?" He stifles laughter, snorting a little to contain the sound. He bites his lower lip, fighting off the grin that's currently growing on his face. "N-No, yeah, no ... I mean, you're totally smooth, Citria. Very smooth. Smoother than a smooth criminal."

"Namely Marco," I joke, but with no emphasis on my words. Shaking my head, I mentally slap myself for coming back onto the topic of that man. "Sorry. But I'm smooth! You can't deny it." To prove my point, I give a casual smirk, nodding my head like some sort of idiot.

Michael finds this hilarious, and bursts into laughter. "Stop! My stomach already hurts from laughing so much!" His hand rests on his stomach, as he tries to calm himself down. His final signs of amusement come from the way he exhales out his nose – shakily, as if laughing still. But then, he licks his lip, attempting to maintain seriousness. "Okay. I got it."

"Good! I wish you took my smoothness more seriously," I admit, desperate to appear – ironically – serious.

He grins at me, before pecking my lips once. Upon pulling away, he answers. "I do take it seriously. But it's cute. Smoothness should be sexy, not cute."

"Calling yourself sexy? Narcissist," I name-call, pointing at him accusingly. "And it doesn't have to be sexy. It can be cute. Or maybe just ... casual."

"Well luckily, I got all three." He stands up, strutting around the garden playfully, in attempt to make me laugh. And it works; I uncontrollably begin to laugh, which earns his attention. "There it is," he smiles. "There's the adorable little laugh I've been waiting to hear."

Standing up too, I take his arm, and we go back inside. "You're such a silly little thing, Michael."

"But you love me," he defends himself, sticking his tongue out at me.

Shaking my head at his childlike side, I nod. "Of course I do."

*  *  *

So, tonight Michael and I are going out – so that we can "forget" what's been happening. Michael told me that we don't need to be dressed too sophisticatedly, but not to look scruffy, either. I'm intrigued, to say the least.

When I walk down the stairs to the living room, I hear Michael finishing up whatever he's doing. It sounds as if he's zipping up a jacket, or a bag – what could it be?

Entering the living room, I find Michael sat on the sofa, with a black bag by his side. He looks handsome; wearing skinny jeans (though not skin-tight), a shirt with three-quarter-length sleeves, and his hair down for once. Normally it's tied back into a ponytail. It looks lovely when it's loose.

"Look who's looking gorgeous tonight," he starts, standing up from the sofa and walking to me. "My Angel looks stunning. So effortless." He kisses me in greeting, before smiling down at me.

Shyly, I can't help but smile back. "And my beautiful man also looks lovely," I return, reaching my hand up to touch his ebony curls.

He takes my hand. "Turn around for me, Citria." Complying to his demand, I spin, and because he's holding my hand, it becomes more of a twirl. "Man, I'm one of the luckiest people on the planet to have you." After facing forward again, he pulls me into his arms, looking down on me. "So now, we go out."

"Seems like it," I respond, separating from him and walking to the door. He walks to the sofa and grabs his bag, earning interest from me. "What's in the bag, Michael?"

"You'll be able to find out when we get to where we're going." He smirks with this comment, knowing full well that I'll be waiting the entire journey to see.

*  *  *

Around half an hour later, we arrive at our location – and it's truly beautiful. It's a lake, with a small wooden dock which goes slightly into the water. There are little fairy lights scattered around; on the trees, the dock, and on the ground. It's absolutely perfect.

"This is ... amazing," I breathe, in awe of what I'm seeing before me. "It's absolutely perfect, Michael." Turning around to face him, I jump into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Thank you for this."

"It's nothing, Angel. I just thought it would be a nice setting. It's like the romantic scenes you see in the movies." He smiles down at me, resting his hand against the small of my back. He looks out at the lake, taking in the view for himself. "Now, let's go sit on the dock."

He guides me – his hand still rested against my back – towards the dock, like a true gentleman. As we reach the edge, I look down in the water to see little metallic fish gliding around under the surface.

"They're so cute," I comment, watching them all race around together happily.

"This place has all the qualities you do," he answers – taking back his title as the smoothest of us both.

"You always know just what to say," I snicker, sitting at the edge of the dock. My legs hang over the side, swinging back and forth above the water. "Come join me."

He nods, sitting down on my right. His legs also hang over the side; because he's taller, his feet dip into the water just a little. His arm slowly moves around me, bringing me closer to his body, and my head leans on his shoulder. I feel a soft kiss against the top of my head, which sends shivers running down my spine. This man makes me feel so special.

He hasn't once mentioned Marco today; it's probably so that I don't get worked up. I know deep down he's thinking about it, too ... but for the sake of this magical moment, I don't want to even think about that man. This time with Michael is too special for me to worry about my problems.

This is the first time in a while that I've felt so safe, and protected. It's a real weight off my shoulders. Words can't describe how wonderful it feels to let go of all the stress you face in the real world. I want this moment to last forever, really.

After a few moments of silence, my head moves away from Michael's shoulder, and my eyes avert to the bag by his side. "Michael?" I mutter, as not to take away from the soft atmosphere around us.

He looks down on me. "What is it?" His voice is as quiet as mine.

"You never told me ... what's in the bag?"

"Oh." A closed-mouth smile tugs at his lips, as he unzips the bag. From inside, he takes a box from it – quite a large one, at that. "I got you a little something."

"A present?" I gasp, taking the box from his hands. "Thank you, Michael. You really didn't need to get me anything."

"Before you open it, though ... I want to warn you about it." His smile subtly fades as he starts to elaborate. "It's not exactly the same as something else precious to you; neither will I ever be able to replace the original with this one. But it's identical, and I made sure every single speck of it was the same."

"What is it?" I ask rhetorically, as I slide the ribbon from around the box. Carefully removing the lid, I find the box is full of tissue paper, in the colour purple. Moving all of it aside, I finally find out what it is.

It's an exact copy of the vase Michael broke not too long ago ...

"Oh, Michael ... " My hand covers my mouth as I admire it. "I can't believe you got me a replacement ... "

"Ah-bah-bah-bah! It isn't a replacement. I can never replace something that you held so dear to your heart. But it's the exact same design. It'll never have the same sentimental value, but I'd like to think it'll be enough whilst I fix the old vase."

"I love it, Michael. Thank you so much." Placing the lid back on the box, I wrap my arms around his neck, embracing him in appreciation. "Tonight has been perfect."

"I'm just happy to see you smiling again," he answers, rubbing my back with his fingers. "And I'll still fix the other vase. Count on it."

"You're such a special man," I state breathlessly, tears forming in my eyes from happiness.

To show just how grateful I am towards him, I harshly press my lips against his in a kiss, cupping his cheeks with my hands. He jerks from the initial shock of my suddenness, but then settles, kissing me back.

And as we kiss under the light of the stars, surrounded by gorgeous lights, I finally realise just how in love I am.

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Hands up who thought a proposal was coming? Tricked ya. ;)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)