Xeria’s P.O.V

Today is the day of the date. After checking on mom, I'm back to get ready for the date, and it's nowhere close to what Khaos is expecting it to be.

A floral skater dress with white sneakers is nice; it will go with all the places, I guess.

After getting dressed, I find Khaos in the living room, who is dressed in a denim jacket, a plain white shirt inside, and beige pants with white sneakers.

I guess we really don't put too much effort into our outfits.

"What makes you look so amused?" Khaos asks, seeing me smile like an idiot.

"Nothing, ready to go?" shaking my head, I ask him.

"Let's check on Potato, then we're all set to go," he says, picking up the keys from the table.

Walking inside the kitchen, I see Potato and Aunt Nora having a staring contest.

Now, what happened?

Judging from Khaos's expression, he's also having the same thoughts.

"Aunt Nora, we're leaving," I say, in an attempt to break the ice, and Potato breaks the eye contact and walks towards me, wagging his tail.

"Nothing, young madam; have fun," she says, untying her apron.

"Potato, behave okay; I don't want any other complaints today, ok?" I try to convince him not to attempt any mischiefs today, and he just licks my hand.

After that, he enjoys some patting and rubs from Khaos. After saying our goodbyes, we're finally in the car.

"Where are we going?" he asks, buckling his seat belt.

"You will see," I answer, driving off and hitting the bustling roads.

"Aren't we putting too much work on your secretaries?" I ask him: Though the two of us always manage to do our work, there's still a lot to do since Khaos is here.

"Don't worry, I'm managing everything just fine; unlike a newbie like you, I have experience," he smirks, tapping on his phone.

"Thank you for reminding me that I shouldn't be nice to you." I snap back, pushing the accelerator.

"Seriously, you're like an angry furball, except you're just a small bunny," he laughs, pulling my cheek.

Why does he keep doing that?

Smacking his hand away, I concentrate on the road.

"It's really fun teasing you," he says, and I frown. Twenty minutes later, we arrive at our destination. After parking the car, we stand in front of the building.

"Seriously, Beryl, we're going to have our date here?" Khaos asks, fully surprised.

"Yes, grocery shopping is fun, and there are all kinds of things in this mart; for our home, let's go." I say, dragging him inside with me.

"I have never done grocery shopping or any home decor shopping in my entire life," he grumbles.

"Now who's an angry furball? Don't complain; it's still our date," I say, pushing a shopping cart.

"Let's buy snacks; we don’t have any at our place." I excitedly walk through the shelves, and Khaos walks behind me, pushing the cart.

"Beryl, you shouldn't be eating these many snacks; they aren't good for your health," Khaos complains for the nth time.

"Yes, Mr. Healthy CEO, but I want to know which ones you like; we will take them," I ask him.

"I really don't have any favorites. Since childhood, I have done everything as planned by my elders: "What should I eat and what shouldn't I eat? So, it's a habit now," he says, putting the things in the cart.

I really don't know anything about him; maybe today I can ask him about his story, which isn't on the internet.

After the complaints and retaliations in the snack section, we land in the plushie section.

Unexpectedly, Khaos also seems interested. "Which one do you want?" he asks.

"I'm not sure; they're all too cute," I answer, and my eyes land on the big bunny.

"This one," I say, picking it up and hugging it. Khaos chuckles and walks away; after two minutes, he emerges with another big cart.

"Fill it with all you like," he smiles, and I couldn't be happier.

"You know, we can go to the arcade, and then we can win more of them," I suggest.

Though the arcade is also part of my plan but after looking at these adorable ones, I changed my mind.

"But it's going to be sunset soon, so we should go now." I add more plushies to the cart, some for my dear Potato too.

"Ok, as you wish," Khaos says, and we go to the billing counter. After loading up the car with groceries and plushies, we head for a nearby park.

"Why a park?" Khaos asks.

"Because we can talk about things freely there," I answer.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asks me, taking a seat on a bench.

"Your childhood, about your parents—I mean, if you're comfortable, we need to open up about things." I smile, looking at the orange evening sky.

"Hmm, let's see, my parents never liked each other; they were in a way forced to marry each other under my grandparents' pressure, and they had me under their pressure too when I was three, I guess. They had a major fallout, like they couldn't bear to be with each other. Mother was already seeing someone. They didn't like me either because I was unwanted to them. When it was time for them, they left without a trace or a word. By that time, only my grandfather from my father's side was there for me. He also tried to put things back together, but the damage was too severe. He took my complete responsibility; my father planned everything for me before leaving, which was the only thing he did as a parent for me," Khaos says, leaning his head back against the bench.

"What about your grandfather, then?" I ask, staring at his expressionless face.

"He didn't have time for me; he was busy cleaning after my parents' mess. He was old and sick, but he pushed past his limits, and he passed away when I was eighteen. Before that, he also instilled in me with his thoughts of becoming his perfect heir and not to become like my parents, but now, looking at our circumstances, I don't think that I'm much better than my family," he says, closing his eyes.

I am aware of some parts from here and there, but nothing about his grandfather, but now thinking about it, all the details of Khaos's family are wiped away from everywhere with no trace of his family; it's a complete mystery.

Scooching in closer to him, I snaked my arms around his waist. I have absolutely no idea what to do when a person is sad.

"What about your parents?" "Did you ever look for them?" I continue my series of questions.

"No, never," he answers, leaning his head on mine.

"I don't know where they are, nor do I want to know; my grandfather made it in such a way that I don't have to deal with any sort of issue related to my parents." he adds, freeing him from me and then lifting me onto his lap.

"What are you doing?" I squeal.

How did it go from an emotional trip to this?

"I'm sorry for forcing you into this marriage, but I don't want history to repeat; I want this to work more than ever," he confesses, snuggling in.

"You know that this isn't easy; you are kind of playing with my emotions; I only want to put in some effort because I'm also at fault. At first I said yes to meeting you out of anger too, and you did the same; yours is worse than mine, but we're still not better than each other, and my mom has done so much for us, I can't just disappoint her, so I also want this to work, but at my pace." Leaning my head on his shoulder, I confess my thoughts too.

"Be honest, Beryl, you don't say anything, but what about mom?" He asks the most painful question.

"She will begin her radiation therapy too, but we all know that it can relapse. I don't know what to do; she is just putting up a strong face; the fatigue is catching up to her; the PET scan results are not coming out better either; the doctors say that they can extend the duration at best, but I don't know what mom wants. When I overheard mom and dad on the day of our wedding, mom was pretty sure that she's not going to make it; I don't know how dad is managing everything; he has always been so into her; more than me, I'm concerned about him." Tears begin to fall from my eyes, soaking Khaos's jacket.

"I don't want to face reality; I'm a coward, but now I only want to spend more and more time with her. If things don't go as we want them to, then I have to take care of things; I can't just give up on everything; they have always been there for me, and I want to be there for them too." chewing on my lip, I feel tears sting in my eyes.

"You aren't alone now; we will face this together, Beryl," he says, soothing me.

After sitting in silence for some time, we head back home. I want to be optimistic; there's still time, things can change for the better, and I want to put my faith in the process.