It had been four days since Nadia moved in to Dre's home. The tension in the house was stifling.
"What part of I don't want that horrible looking coffee, do you not understand?! I need cream latté. You should get me omelettes too, swine" Nadine said to Cecilia who had a disgusted look on her face. Ellise who'd been making a call to Xanthis was making her way down the stairs when she heard Nadia's rude statement.
"Hey, Ellise?" Xanthis said from the phone. He'd apparently picked the call but she was no longer interested in it.
"I'll call you later" she said and cut the call.
With anger pulsing through her, she walked up to Nadine.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! You just show up and begin to order people around?! Are you crazy?! She's older than you! You have no right to do that to her! She's not your slave or something! If you want something, go and get it yourself, bitch" she snapped.
Nadia whistled under her breath.
"Wow, looks like someone isn't a morning person" she said, smirking.
"You're the one causing a nuisance here"
"Look, I don't care what you think. Do you really think I will follow your orders. I'm pregnant, heavily pregnant for your husband. You're lucky I'm not making him massage my back and foot. I will order anyone the way I want to and you can't do a damn thing about it"
Ellise's frustration and annoyance was rapidly soaring and she knew she would do something rash if she remained there.
So, she did the only thing she could do to avoid killing her with her bare hands.
She walked away, taking deep breaths. She headed upstairs, to the balcony. She felt like she was suffocating in her own house.
Ellise opened the door to the balcony. "Dre?" She said, squinting at the figure that stood at the far end of the balcony. He stiffened and slowly turned to look at her.
He remained silent and resumed his former position.
He had his elbows on the rails, his body slouched forward with his hair falling loosely around his face and shoulders.
"Dre..... I've been looking for you. Are you okay?" She asked, slowly moving forward.
He didn't say anything and she became even more worried. She moved to his side and looked at him. His eyes looked dull and the light in them was nearly gone. He was tensed and he had bags under his eyes. He hadn't shaved, his jaw was covered with a growing stubble. Ellise didn't need anyone to tell her that he wasn't okay with what was going on. She knew he was strong. But, he was a man. He'd gone through a lot of things and she knew he was so close to his breaking point. She wasn't going to let him get to that point. It broke her heart to see him like that.
His trembling hands were clasped together. She reached out and placed her hand over his. They remained like that without saying a word. Hand in hand, they stared at the empty space in front of them, basking in the comfort the presence of each other brought. The cool morning breeze was quite relaxing, Ellise noticed. It was probably why her husband had decided to come up there.
"It's my fault, you know" he said, his voice husky and rough.
"No, it's not. Please don't blame yourself" Ellise said, her emotions nearly clogging up her throat.
He swallowed hard, blinking back moisture in his eyes.
"Well, it is. What if the baby is actually mine? What happens then? What if she tries to murder you in your sleep? If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone to the bar the night I met her. And....to think that I had grieved for someone who wasn't even dead"
He sighed, closing his eyes.
"We have both been through situations a lot worse than this. We faced Baron who was a psychopath who murdered families, Olivia who was a green snake in green grass and Lacey who was a bitch who didn't want our happiness. We survived the false accusations, we survived your amnesia, we will survive this, my love. She will try to tear us apart, but she can't stop us from loving each other. Our love will make us strong" she said, cupping his cheek.
He smiled.
The first real smile he had given her in three days. He embraced her, pressing a kiss to her head.
"I love you" he whispered.
"I love you too" she replied.
"C'mon, your wild mane needs trimming and I'll help you shave" she said. He raised an amused brow, a smirk playing on his lips.
"I thought you liked the stubble" he said.
"No, I like the stubble. But it's turning into a beard" she replied with a smile on her face. He laughed, running a hand through his untamed hair.
"Okay, I agree with you. My hair needs to be trimmed"
"See? I'm right. Now, let's get you to the bathroom"
"You sure you aren't going to cut me?" He said, amusement in his voice. "Trust me, I will" she said, grinning. His eyes widened.
"Ever heard of the word sarcasm?" She teased, waving a finger in front of his face.
He burst into laughter, slowly shaking his head.
"Don't scare me like that again"
"I'm not going to promise you"
....
Valentino awoke to the insanely enticing aroma of Mexican food. Rolling over on the bed, he let out a groan since his muscles were quite sore. The door opened and Noelle walked in with her hair in a high ponytail.
"Hey, champ. You had a really long nap didn't ya?" She said. He gave her a small smile, brushing his unruly hair away from his face.
"Did you make that?" He asked, eyeing the food she'd brought in with her.
"Yeah, consider it a treat. I lived in Mexico nearly all my whole life" she said, plopping down on the bed beside him. He grinned, digging his fork into it.
The taste was amazing and he moaned in satisfaction.
"Man, this is so good" he said.
She laughed.
"Yeah. My mum taught me. My dad used to say my mum's cooking was enough to make him do things he wouldn't usually do"
"I wouldn't blame him. It's amazing" Val said.
She smiled.
"Last night, you had a nightmare. I heard you throwing up in the bathroom" she said after he was done with eating.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair, nervously.
"Will you tell me what you dreamed about?" She asked.
"Or why you had to puke your guts out for nearly thirty minutes" she added
"I- " he sighed.
"The nightmares are usually the same. I'm always the same twelve year old boy, hiding behind a chair. Baron comes in with a gun, yelling for me to come out. I can't move. I remain frozen beside the couch when my foster mom walks in. She has an alarmed look on her face. She's begging him not to do anything. But he keeps yelling my name. I refuse to move and he points the gun at mum. The gun goes off, there's blood everywhere. Baron leaves the house. I crawl out, scrambling to where mum lays, she's whispering to me with her eyes full of hatred and pain" he said, feeling the bile rising up his throat.
"What did she say?" Noelle asked, holding his hand.
"It's your fault" he croaked, pain flaring up in his chest.
"It's just a nightmare. You know it wasn't your fault" she said.
He swallowed hard.
"Last night, it was the same dream. There was no one behind the couch and there was no yelling of anyone's name, only this time it was you, replacing her and..." His voice trailed off as he blinked back bitter tears.
"It was me replacing Baron" he choked out.
Noelle gasped, tears filling her eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut, the dream still repeating itself over and over in his head.
"There was blood everywhere, so much blood, and you said those exact words that still hunt me" he croaked, a tear making its way down his left cheek. He angrily wiped it off, the ache in his chest growing. Noelle embraced him, holding him closely.
"You won't hurt me, Val. You're not a monster. Please, don't argue with me. Please don't hate yourself. You'll be okay. We'll be okay" she whispered.
He nodded weakly, resting his forehead against hers.
"I know it's hard for the both of us to let each other in. I can't deny the fact that I care about you and you care about me too. I had a lot of issues, Val. I don't want you to treat me differently when I tell you everything."
His eyes went wide.
Was she for real?
Was she finally going to tell him everything? Val didn't know what to expect.
"I-"
She placed a finger over his lips.
"We'll take it slow. You wanted to know who Lucas is"
He nodded.
"I presume you might've figured that he is my exboyfriend" she said and he shrugged.
"Yeah"
"He wasn't just my exboyfriend. He was my fiance, my betrothed. He used to abuse me both emotionally, physically and sexually....."