.

"But, why? What makes you like me?" I mumbled, uneasily looking down at my nails, while sitting on the window nook bench across him.

"Why not?" he whispered, making me look at his mesmerizing brown eyes as though he wanted me to comprehend from just that information.

He knew I needed an answer, so he continued, before giving me a silly smile for a brief moment.

"Tell me- why are you here when everybody's down there enjoying their food?" he asked, leaning forward.

"Because I think you didn't deserve to be treated that way. No matter how good or bad the impact is on you, it's not okay." I said, after a pause.

"That is why." he simply shrugs his shoulders, and it made sense but my mind was reluctant to agree.

-"When I said you know me better than anyone else, I wasn't talking about knowing my past." he continued, "You know what I feel. Better than anyone."

"That's not true-"

"It is. You know what's going in here." He says pointing at his temple. "You know how to read what's bothering me and how to make me feel better and that is simply why I like you." he mumbled.

Once again, a lump formed in my throat as I held back my tears, while looking at his eyes soften.

"I don't know what to say." I look away, staring at the delightful sunset spread unevenly over the Dubai skyline, widely visible from the window.

"You don't need to." he said, as his hand touches mine which was lifelessly laid on my thigh.

My eyes turn to his, tears brimming as I slightly shook my head, trying hard to keep the emotions subdue.

"You silly, don't cry." He said, pulling me to his chest, as tears roll down to his shirt.

I wasn't expecting him to say any of that but when he did, my heart felt a familiar beat of falling for someone and my mind was fighting it- to not feel any of it once again. Something had switched- something I don't believe has a switch to turn it all off. I knew what he was feeling for me, was exactly the same I felt for him- but I wasn't as courageous as him to tell it out loud and that ached my heart.

"You are enough for me, Faye Doneza." He mumbles, kissing the top of my head, as I felt his racing heart. "Come here, let me show you something." he sniffed, when I pulled apart, noticing his glistening eyes layered with tears, which he tried hard to hide from me.

He entwined my fingers to his, just like he does and gently pulled me towards the large wardrobe.

"When I told you I burnt down my mum's cottage after she passed away. Your eyes were desperately asking if I have anything left of my mum." He chuckled, and I realised I wasn't the only one who could read his eyes.

"This room, its her?" I ask, lifting my chin to his shoulder.

"Yes, and this too." He looks at me, before releasing my hand and opening the wardrobe door.

The wardrobe had a few random sized cases with velvet skin, some pieces of clothing properly folded and kept at a corner,which I assumed were his mother's. And he pulled out a dark-blue velvet round case, and turned it to me. He flips open the lid, which was secured by a fancy metal lock, revealing a gold pendant with a golden topaz coloured, oval-cubic zirconia stone. It was so minutely detailed and beautiful that it swept a smile on my face, imagining it dangling on his mother's neck.

"Its so beautiful." I said him, as his smile grows wider.

"I want you to keep it." he whispered, taking out the pendant from the case.

My smile fades and I grow surprised. "Toni, no I cant take it." I reply, taking a tiny step backwards. "Its your mother's pendant, I cant."

"She would love to see it on you." he said, putting the case away, whilst unclasping the hook. "I need you to keep it, for my mum."

He walks behind me, and I immediately turn back to his direction. "Its so expensive Toni, I shouldn't."

He chuckles seeing my reluctance. "Mable, come on. I'm insisting." he steps ahead. "Its way better on your neck than in that wardrobe." He tells, slowly turning me back.

I let him put it on, as the cold pendant touches my neck and his fingers brush my nape while he clasps the hook. My fingers reaches for the stone and I feel its surface, as he walks in front of me and his smile grows back, with his thin eyebrows arched as his eyes shine with happiness.

"You rock that pendant, Mable." He says, bringing my attention to the pendant.

"Its so charming." I smile, letting it sit on my neck. "Thank you."

We then sit by the wardrobe while he shows me the other boxes of her favorite everyday jewelry that she left for Amara. He displayed her photos hidden from under her clothes, and I saw his beautiful mother. She looked so familiar, and too young and pretty.

"I feel like I've seen her somewhere." I said, taking the picture in my hand and inspecting her face. "Or maybe not, I don't know," I shrugged unable to recollect, "I wish she was here today." I smiled giving it back to him, while he gave a suspicious smile while taking it, "What?" I scowled.

He shook his head, smiling foolishly and puts everything back inside. "The one you are wearing was her wedding anniversary gift which she wore just for a day." he turned back, closing the wardrobe. "The very next morning, she found out about my father's affair. She was reluctant to remove it cause she loved it so much." he smiled looking at my face. "And then I- promised her that one day I'll find a woman who can keep it forever."

My face lit up by his words, blushing evidently as he smiled genuinely at the pendant and back at me. "You kept the promise?" I asked frankly, subduing my adrenaline rush.

"I absolutely did." he replied promptly, and we cackled together.

-"Come, lets get away from here." he said, removing his blazer and tossing it to bed, springing to his knees and reaching his hand out for me. "With those heels on, I wouldn't mind you using both my hands." he said, pulling out his other hand.

I snorted at his expression, high fiving his palms as he laughed.

"Where do we go?" I ask dangling his hands mid-air.

"Wherever we want." he says happily, leading the way.

He luckily knew a passage from behind the building and we snuck out from there without anyone else noticing which was funny because only he, Khalil and Amara knew about this secret escape. We got out the gates when he commanded the guards, and we simply walked randomly wherever the road was leading us.

"You seem happier." I comment, looking at him laugh at our mischievous escape.

His head bobs to me, and his laugh faints leaving a wide smile on. "You do that to me." he stated, still not having let go of my hand. "Aren't you happy?"

"No," I say dryly, when he frowns. "I'm elated." I continue, squeezing his hand out of excitement, as his laugh takes over my senses.

It was already dark now but the city just woke up. Shops and stores lit up the roads buzzing with people. It was already half an hour since we started walking, and now I begged him to take a break nearby a busy garden because my heels hurt.

"Yours." he says, handing me my red slushy and sits beside me on the bench, as I remove my heels. "This place is always this rushed and those kids at the concession window of the food truck make it worse." he sighed.

"You don't like kids?" I asked, sipping my slush.

"No, I didn't mean that. I love kids, but look," he pointed at the truck by the pavement, "The chaos they cause." I laugh at his expression, as he stressfully sips his slush.

"I hate kids." I stated, as his face went pale.

He gasped dramatically, "How could you?" he sighed.

"I mean, they are very irksome."

"Oh, were you one of those kids too?"

"No, I was the very quiet, studious one."

"Ah, always the silent ones." he says silently, but I hear it anyway.

"What?" I asked, turning my position to his side. "What's with the silent ones?"

"Smart, clever yet with issues." he says, turning to my side as well, "Being thinkers and analyzers at once, and I love that." he says, sipping dramatically.

"You think I have issues? And that's attractive?" I say offendedly squinting my eyes.

"Don't you?" he asked, "You have trust issues. Not saying that's attractive, just impressed how your brain works." he frankly pointed out.

"Doesn't everybody?" I promptly asked.

"No, Mable. Everybody doesn't. Not everybody has to analyze a person inside out in one single glance and not everybody overthinks of ways a person can mess your life." he says, as though he was reading my mind all this time.

I try to respond or at least give him a comeback but I couldn't put forth a word.

-"Didn't you do all that when you eventually met Khalil, Amara and me?" he asked.

"I did." I blatantly agreed. "But its because people do mess it up sometimes."

"Not everyone comes in life to mess it up." he says, stressing his words.

"But you did an all-rounder stalking on me before you arrived here, isn't that trust issues?" I asked.

"I stalked you to only know more about you. Not to strengthen my trust on you." he said softly.
"I know Faye, we go through things that waver our trust on normal people, because we don't wanna risk getting our heart to hurt again."

-"But trust is something like a present you only give to people- you really want to and if they decide to break it, its not your fault. But all you need then, is believing that you're capable enough to walk away from the betrayal."

"What if it happens again?"

"No matter what, at the end of it, you will survive." he said, making me ponder for a while. "The more you treasure something, the more it is at risk of being stolen."

He read me as clearly as an open book. It was nothing false that I had trust issues and other issues, but that he could put it all in a different perspective, is what surprised me.

However my mind still argued.

"What if I break your trust some day? After all the time you invested in me, all the memories we built together, one day that doesn't exist anymore. Will you be able to trust again?" I asked lowly, never losing eye contact.

His eyes smile along with the tip of his lips, "As much as I'd hate that to happen, I won't have complete control over it. I'll still have myself and the belief that I have it in me to move on." he simply states,
"I have crossed many people who broke my trust, and they only teach me how I will eventually persevere."

It took me aback seeing how he learned to trust again without letting his past haunt him, without the images of lost loved ones flashing from past whenever he feels the familiar feeling for another. He was trying to revamp my trust on people and we knew how easy that is to be said, than actually done.

"Not so easy though." I whispered, turning back to my normal position.

"Yeh, its not." He agreed. "I know the world is too shady to trust, but maybe if you trust it wont be shady anymore."

I nod my head slightly with his eyes still fixated on me. "You can't trust everybody." I said, zipping my lips together.

At this point it was his argument against mine, and I was clearly losing.

"True, you see those kids standing in a line waiting for their turn so they can buy their drinks. And how they trust the process- that the kid ahead is eventually gonna leave the line once he gets his drink, and also how the kid behind is gonna stay patient until his turn comes." he says, gesturing once again at the kids. "Sometimes you don't trust the people, you trust the process." he said shifting his face to mine and my eyes intently see his perspective, as a weak smile appears on my face.

I was content, that he was right to prove me wrong.

While I stayed lost in thoughts, his phone buzzes bringing his undivided attention from me to his pocket. Pulling it out, he answers and stands up, simply nodding to mumbles from his phone.

"Yeah, sure." he says, before hanging up.

"Who was it?" I asked.

"Liz. I think its time we take you home." he said, turning his head to different directions to find a cab.

"Ugh, okay." I sigh, proceeding to put on my heels.

"Don't wear yet." he says abruptly, "I'll get the cab, and we can go without wearing those." he points at my heels. "Or do you want me to give you a piggy back ride till the cab?" he asked, before jogging to the sidewalk to halt a cab.

"With this dress? I can probably walk barefoot, I guess." I said raising my voice to be audible and relaxing my feet on the cold block.

"Don't need to worry about that." he speaks getting interrupted by the honk of a cab, he instructs the driver through the window as I stand with my heels in hand and he comes jogging back. "I got you." he says, pecking my forehead.

"What-?" before I interpret his next move, he bent down swiftly picking me up in his arms, as my hands wrap around his neck in reflex. "Toni, are you serious!" I yelped embarrassingly.

"Yes." his breath hitting my face, smiling innocently as a sudden rush of blood flows to my face, smelling his cologne and feeling his hand beneath my knees and his other hand wrapped by my back.

He walks happily towards the cab, while I stare at his features admiring his charm, unable to process my surroundings. When he neared the cab, he slowly lowered me never losing our eye sync. His hands slip to mine, taking my heels in his hand, gesturing me to enter and I follow.

Sitting there in the cab laying my head on his shoulder, with our hands interweaved it came to my realisation that today was about bonding with his family, instead for us it progressed into a special moment- binding us stronger together. I know things were gonna change with him around me, but I wasn't afraid being by his side. Knowing that he understood me like no other, that we shared something that was pure, but rare.

He dropped me at my doorstep, with the cab waiting on the curb- he whispered that he wasn't ready to leave yet, so I happily hugged him closer to my chest, with his hands embracing my waist and back.

"Thank you for making today tolerable." I whispered in his ear, my eyes praising his hairline on the nape of his neck, which smelled of fresh berries.

"Hails to you, for looking this hot." he said giggling, as I parted away with a shy smile.

"You did me justice, matching my hotness in that suit." I said eyeing him, as he rolls his eyes mockingly making us both snicker at ourselves.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he said, stifling his laughter.

I happily nodded.

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Is she falling head over heels for his charm? What do you think?

Also, I couldn't edit this chapter since I am sick, so do not be hesitant in pointing out any mistakes (but be kind). And you munchkins got me 350+ reads, I'm so grateful ;]

don't forget to drop your votes, bye!

<3