note: the next update will be on Saturday. Uni is eating away at all my free time unfortunately and I'll be super busy this upcoming week with a few things. 

Lots of Andrew and Aurora time in this chapter. I loved writing this one and I hope you love reading it as much. Please don't hesitate to drop your thoughts in the comments and vote if you enjoyed this chapter. Happy reading xo 

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Chased out of his daughter's room, Andrew lounged in the living room that Friday evening, a bottle of beer in his hand as he watched whatever was playing on the television with a preoccupied mind.

The early December air was harsher this year and he snuggled closer to the cushions of the couch, adjusting the blanket over his legs. February was when he decided to file for sole custody. It had been a long, hard and gruelling nine months but the custody battle had come to an end. He thought it would go on for longer. He wasn't ready to give up and Talia hadn't been either. But the custody battle must have worn her out because the next thing Andrew knew, she was giving up. She was still allowed visitation rights but it had been three weeks since the custody issues had been settled, it had been three weeks since Aurora moved back to Porte Orlands with him, and Talia had not come to see their daughter. She was all talk, no action.

Talia and Simon were still engaged, which Andrew had to admit was truly strange. Perhaps they worked well together, better than him and Talia did anyway, but the ex-wife he knew and the ex-friend he knew would never have gotten along so well. Maybe it was Andrew that had been blind to their true characters.

Whatever was going on with that couple, Andrew still had to attend their wedding which was to be scheduled in spring. Talia had always talked about getting a spring-themed wedding before they had Aurora and got married, and now was her chance. Andrew worried about their relationship. Despite the bitch that Talia had become to him, he still cared for her wellbeing. He only hoped she was doing what was best for her.

Talia had told him he was free to bring a plus one to her wedding and Andrew's thoughts had instantly jumped to London. But he hadn't seen her in months. No, that was lie. He hadn't talked to her months. He had definitely seen her two weeks ago at the Golden Quaff, a cafe he no longer frequented in fear of bumping into her. But Aurora had wanted to go to the cafe and get her favourite drink and cake because Noah Watson, the owner of the cafe, was known to be the best with cakes, and how was Andrew supposed to turn his daughter down when she'd finally returned home to him?

Ever since he decided to file for sole custody, Aurora had been his priority and though Andrew thought of London a lot, his mind would never dwell on her. It would only make him sad and make the heartbreak all the more painful. But ever since he saw her at that cafe... he just couldn't stop thinking about her.

A part of him was lost when she broke up with him. He understood why she broke up with him. He knew it was because of his doing, his insecurity, but it still hurt. Because he loved her. He'd been too afraid to say it, too afraid to even acknowledge it because there was that small part of him that clung to the past. His and Talia's relationship had been a whirlwind from the get-go. He wanted calm and easy with London. But every relationship was two-way, and he'd realised his love for London Liang only after she broke up with him.

He twisted the old wedding band ring on his finger. It had been a habit to wear it. Habits were hard to break but now when he looked at the ring he felt nothing. Perhaps it was time to take off the ring. Time to finally let go.

"Ba!"

He startled when Aurora yelled, jumping onto the couch beside him.

She grabbed his upper arm, looking up at him eagerly. "Can we go to the post office tomorrow? I want to send letters."

He shifted on the couch to allow space for her. He was sitting in the single one and Aurora's legs hung over his crossed ones, planting herself on the arm of the couch. He lifted her from the arm of the couch — no way did he want to damage furniture that was only a year old — before placing her in his lap. She was heavier now but he beared her weight as he leaned back on the couch and looked at his daughter.

"Send letters to who?"

"Mum," she replied quickly, looking away.

"You said letters. Plural," he pointed out. "Who else?"

"A friend."

He raised his eyebrows at her, unconvinced and she sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not doing anything bad. And you'll find out soon."

He tilted his head to the side, still unconvinced. "Why does your face tell me that I might be angry when I find out?"

She looked back at her father, pouting and basically giving him the puppy eyes. "Trust me, Ba. I'm doing this for you."

That raised even more questions. "And how does this letter to your friend help me?"

"It will!"

With a resigned sigh, he nodded his head. "We'll do it tomorrow and we could go to the park on the way back."

She squealed, giving him a quick hug and beaming at him. "You'll either love me or hate me. But I'm doing this for you."

Raising his eyebrows again, he laughed, "Who exactly is the parent here? Me or you?"

"Maybe me," she grinned, giggling. "You said I was a monk in my previous life. I am very wise."

"Hey! I didn't say you were a monk. We don't know for sure. I said you might be one. I regret saying anything to you," he tsked, shaking his head, struggling to keep in his amused smile.

She laughed. "Whatever. I'm wise."

"The ego you have, child."

"I'm wise. Don't call me child, child."

He gasped. "How dare you?"

"Oops?" she said, her eyes crinkling with mischief as she hopped off his lap and ran to her room.

"Young lady, get back here this instant," he said, half laughing to himself as he stood up from the couch. He placed his beer bottle down on the coaster, London momentarily coming to his mind at the sight of those coasters, before he jogged after his daughter.

He smiled when he got to her room to see her all cosied up in bed, a book beside her. He lay down next to her on her bed and opened the book, reading it to her once, and then again when she asked him to read over it. He stopped halfway through the second read when he heard soft snores.

This right here — he could never get tired of it. His heart felt so full looking at his daughter, peacefully asleep. Kissing her forehead, he gently removed her arm from around him and tucked her properly in. He got to her door, gave her one backward glance before he retired to bed for the night, completely exhausted.

They had taken the bus instead of his car to the postal office. It bothered him that Aurora was being so secretive. She even made him wait outside, telling him that she'd done this before with Talia when she sent him letters, and this was something that she wanted to do by herself.

But Aurora was only eight! He couldn't possibly let her go in alone so they made a deal to let one of the security men to help her. He gave a generous tip to the security guard, who had scrutinised both father and daughter judgmentally, but who was actually going to deny that large of a tip?

When Aurora came out, she was grinning wide.

"What are you up to, princess?" he asked, shaking his head before taking her hand.

"You'll see," she simply shrugged back at him. "Can we go get ice-cream now?"

"No, we most certainly cannot," he said as they walked away from the post office.

"Why?" she whined.

"It's winter," he argued.

"You gave me ice-cream last winter."

"That was different. I wanted to make you happy," he started, fumbling a little over his words as they walked on the pavement, nearing the park.

"Ice-cream would make me very happy now," she argued, her tone clearly upset. "Why are you being like Mummy now?"

They got to the pedestrian crossing and before either of them could walk across the road, Andrew placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder and looked down at her. "Aurora, it's winter. You might get sick. And we still have to meet Mummy for Christmas. Do you think she'll be happy when she discovers you're sick?"

"She'll be angry," Aurora pouted.

"Absolutely livid," Andrew agreed with a light laugh. "We could go to lunch after hanging out at the park. Wherever you want."

She smiled. "Wherever I want?" she asked and Andrew did not like the suggestive look in her eyes.

"Within reasonable price range," he quickly rushed in, knowing full well that Aurora was thinking of Tollerz, not because of the fancy food — she liked more homey food — but because London worked there.

"Oh," she sighed, dismayed.

They walked across the street when the light turned green and arrived at the park within minutes. Taking a seat on one of the benches, Andrew held Aurora's hand tighter, tugging her gently towards him before she could go running off to play.

"Aurora," he said gently. The few minutes of silence from the pedestrian crossing to the park allowed him time to think of how to approach Aurora about London. They barely talked about her but it was obvious that his little girl missed London.

"Don't worry. I won't swing too hard. I know you were very angry and worried when I flew off the swing the last time," she said, trying to pull her hand away, eager to go play.

"Princess, just listen for a second," he tried again and she stopped fighting. He let go of her hand and she looked at him. Eye to eye, he began. "London's not coming back. I managed to screw things up and I'm not proud of it but if it weren't for that I wouldn't be here now with you. She encouraged me to fight for you, you know. And I miss her. Very much. I know you miss her, too, but London and I..."

"You love her!" she objected, confused.

"Yeah," he laughed but there was no humour laced in his voice. "Ba should have told her that."

"You can still tell her that," Aurora hopped, her eyes instantly shining.

"It's been over ten months since we broke up," Andrew reasoned. "A lot can happen in ten months. Maybe she's moved on. Maybe she has another boyfriend now. Or maybe she's still single and hates me for being an utter arse. Or maybe she just doesn't feel the same anymore. I haven't let go but maybe she has."

A few seconds of silence passed before Aurora spoke up. "That's a lot of maybes, Ba," she laughed. "We saw her at the cafe, remember?"

"I can't forget," he told her truthfully with a light smile on his lips. He couldn't stop thinking about her since that day.

"She didn't come in," Aurora pointed out.

"Further proving that she doesn't like me anymore," he pointed back at her.

She shrugged. "Or she still likes you and doesn't want to face you."

That made no sense. "What?"

"Mariam likes Dexter—"

"Is Dexter a new kid? I haven't heard of this Dexter before," Andrew cut in.

"He is. Weird name, don't you think?"

"So weird. Very serial killer kind of vibes," he mused, satisfied that he managed to distract her. But, of course, this was his daughter and that smart brain of hers caught onto what he was doing.

"Anyway," she continued, shooting him a glare before she went on, "Mari likes Dex and every time he comes to us during break time she runs away. She's very shy."

"Are you suggesting London is shy?" he questioned unbelievingly, then added for reinforcement, "The London Liang we both know?"

"I think she still loves you."

He stared at his daughter.

London still loved him.

London still loves me?

It was something his brain refused to process but it was something that made his heart stir, his stomach flutter. Hope. That's what he felt.

"You think so?" he asked his eight-year-old daughter, who was clearly wise beyond her years. She had to have been a monk in her previous life, nothing could convince him otherwise.

She nodded. "I know so," she winked, the confidence jumping out. That was certainly one quality of Talia's that Andrew was glad their daughter inherited. "You fought for me, Ba. And you won. Now fight for London."

Aurora's words echoed in his head. They filled his mind, took over his heart and now all he thought about was getting back with London, only if she'd have him.

"You know what," Aurora said, smiling at him cunningly. "London visits her Mum every Monday. Maybe you should get those yellow tulips and meet her at the cemetery."

He laughed. "The cemetery? Not very romantic, Aurora."

"It is romantic!" she protested. "You told me that's where you two first met."

Andrew couldn't help the smile that took over his lips. "You remember."

"Of course," she said, giving him a look that said he was stupid for thinking she wouldn't remember. "You were so happy when you talked about how you met her."

Andrew felt his heart flood with happiness and love and unable to hold the affection in, he grabbed her little figure and engulfed her in a bear hug.

"Ba!" Aurora screamed but giggled right after.

"You're the best daughter, you know?" he grinned, pulling away.

"I know," she groaned before tugging on his arm. "Now can we please go play?"

He let her pull him up from the park bench and towards the swings, his heart much lighter, the void in it almost closed. And it was mostly his daughter's doing. His brilliant little girl.

For the next week he let himself be whisked away into a fantasy, one where London still loved him, one where he managed to win her over and have his happily ever after with her. But the fantasy would not suffice. He wanted her back. He needed her.

Aurora was the one who encouraged him to go after London. He had wanted custody over his daughter — he got it. If he wanted — needed — London back in his life, he should have to do something about it.

And so he did.