Chapter 24:

Zack's POV:

I pulled an inch away, cupped her face in my hands, leaned down and brushed my lips on hers directly since one look in her eyes gave me a new found courage and guts to do so. She was surprised at first but then she gained her composure again and returned the kiss with the same lounging I felt for her.

The kiss soon turned from a gentle and sweet kiss to a hot and needy one so I broke it and pulled back in order to inhale a deep breath. We both were breathing heavily and we needed some air so I just gestured at the door, and she nodded her head, approving shyly, her cheeks' color was as red as a tomato's. However, before we went out, I grabbed her by the waist and hugged her tightly to my chest.

I wanted her to feel safe... !!!

I wish I could stop time at that moment but I couldn't, we had to pull ourselves out of the bubble we created for ourselves and step out to face all of the problems we had to solve. The teenager who was keeping an eye on the door, was sitting on the ground, blocking the door from people who were standing outside scolding her. As soon as she heard the door's sound when we opened it, she snapped her head up and sighed.

"Thank god you're out, this old lady is giving me a hard time" The girl gestured at an old lady, annoyingly.

"Well, it's inappropriate for a man to be in the ladies' restroom" The lady glared at me, digging daggers on my skin.

"How many times will I have to tell you that it's for a higher purpose?" The girl stood up and winked at me.

"I do not care" The lady yelled at the girl.

"Mam" I addressed the old lady in order to get her attention "You see this beautiful young lady right here" I pointed at Nadia "She's my wife and we were separated for a week now so I had to do whatever it takes to get her back, even if it meant being in the ladies' restroom"

"Ah, really?" She furrowed her eyebrows at us.

"Yes, and getting in there was the only solution I had left" I smiled, genuinely, staring down at Nadia.

"How could you stay away from this handsome man?" The teenager questioned Nadia, disbelievingly.

"She says that I'm extremely annoying and so jealous of other guys that I'm driving her insane" I chuckled at Nadia, knowingly.

"That's so cute" The old lady stated before she walked around us, and entered the bathroom "Keep him, he's a diamond my dear"

The girl winked at Nadia, mischievously and told her "He's so romantic, if you get bored of him, look for me" Then she ran away, leaving Nadia and I, standing there, acknowledging the awkwardness we put ourselves into. Who said I'd be kissing Nadia in the ladies' restroom of a hospital in Chicago and make a teenager fall for my charm?

After a day:

The moment I opened my eyelids, I snapped my eyes to Nadia, and there she was still sleeping peacefully in my arms. Her flawless skin was tempting me to run my fingers on it, but I didn't dare to do so because I knew she would wake up the moment I touche her skin, and after what happened the night before when we were about to sleep, I knew that she needed every ounce of sleep she could get.

Flashback:

The moment we stepped in the suit, Nadia went to the bed area and threw herself on the bed, I chuckled at her reaction and followed her by taking my spot beside her. We just lied there, staring at the ceiling for few minutes before I dared to turn my head to look at her.

She focused on the ceiling as if an equation was written on it and she was trying too hard to solve it. After about five minutes, I couldn't handle silence which made the air heavy with unwanted emotions, so I just turned her to face me and hugged her.

She scared at me at first because she was literally numb in my arms but after I started drawing circles on her back, soothingly, she relaxed more and snuggled her head on my chest, then suddenly she started crying her heart out, just like she did when we were under the tree.

She was really hurt and broken.

We stayed like that for a while, until she was quiet and her eyes were dry. I pulled away, cupped her cheeks in my hands and made her look at me "Everything will be okay, or else we'll work hard to make it okay, I'm right here by your side" I kissed her forehead and added "Let's sleep"

"Wait, I'll go change my clothes" She stood up and headed to the bathroom before I could tell that it was totally fine to just get under to quilt like that.

While she was in the bathroom, I grabbed my bag and I pulled my shorts out, I changed my clothes and I prepared the bed to sleep by throwing the pillows on the ground and making up the quilt on top of the bed sheet. By time I settled myself under the quilt, Nadia went out of the bathroom, wearing blue pajama, and she joined me.

Without even asking her to come closer, she put her head on top of my chest and hugged me tightly, intertwining our legs under the quilt. She was quiet but I knew that she wasn't asleep because of her uneven breath that fanned my skin.

"Do you think it was my fault?" She broke our silence out of a sudden.

"I saw the way you were treating him in your grandpa's house, you loved him and I could see it in your eyes" I replied, honestly "So it wasn't your fault if people didn't do their job properly"

"But I could at least watch after him" She inhaled deeply, her breath tickling my skin.

"You did the best you could do, so stop scolding yourself for things that no one would do better than you did"

"Okay" She mumbled to herself but I could hear her anyway.

"Sleep tight, princess" I kissed her forehead, tenderly.

I pulled her even closer to me, molding our bodies together as one, if it was even possible, and I started drawing different patterns on her upper arm, since I wanted her to feel as comfortable as ever in my arms, I wanted her to find comfort in my touch and I wanted her to believe me when I said that I was there by her side.

I wanted her to depend on me, just like I was starting to depend on her.

End of flashback

I knew I had to do something for her in order to pull her out of the state she was in, and while I was looking at her, admiring her beauty, a brilliant idea came to my mind. Therefore, I just grabbed my phone slowly because she was still snuggled in my embrace, and sent a message to the right person to help me make the surprise more special.

She would like it.

I watched her for few minutes then I decided to stand up to freshen up but as I was about to lift her head to put it on the pillow, she blinked her eyes and yawned adorably. She lifted her head slightly to look at me and the cutest smile ever, broke on her lips.

"Good morning" She spoke, her morning voice sounded husky and hot.

"Morning" I kissed the top of her head "How did you sleep?"

"I slept peacefully" She admitted as her cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Of course you did" I chuckled at her, gesturing at her laying position.

She had her legs wrapped around mine securely.

"Oh sorry" She started pulling her legs away but before she could so, I lifted my leg and put it on top of hers.

"Why are you apologizing for something that both of us liked" I grinned at her then added "As much as I like this position" I stroked her upper arm "While I can feel you this close to me, I have other plans for today"

"But, the funeral's today" She stated as a matter of fact "And it's so early"

"I know, just trust me" I kissed her forehead then I pulled away from her embrace and went to the bathroom.

*****

I changed my clothes and waited for Nadia in the lounging room of our suit; I looked at my wrist watch and realized that we still had five hours before the funeral ceremony. I'd try to cheer her up a little bit. Before I could even think of how to make the idea of that morning more special, Nadia went out of the bedroom.

She was absolutely breathtaking with her hair twisted on the side in a fishtail, her face void of makeup except thin eyeliner and some mascara, and her simple attire which was based of black denim, a white shirt, black boots and a black long jacket which reached her knees.

She was attractive.

"I am ready to go" She told me, putting her phone in her bag.

"Okay, let's go" I smiled at her, offering her my hand.

"Where are we going?" She accepted my hand and interlocked her fingers in mine "You woke me up, five hours earlier"

"I am not telling you, come on" I started walking, dragging her behind me, trying my best to hide my chuckle because of the weird expression she made with her face.

I leaded her to the elevator and instead of pressing the lobby's button, I pressed on the roof's; Nadia was surprised as she lifted her eyebrows at me questioningly but she didn't utter a word, she was mostly quiet and just kept looking at me.

As soon as we reached the final story of the hotel, I stepped out, I looked for the exit door and I walked toward it, still holding Nadia's hand in mine, securely. James was there waiting for me, I nodded at him in approval and he went away with spelling a word.

I turned my head and faced Nadia who was staring at James' back as he was leaving, she was obviously wondering what was happening so I just decided to add another level to her curiosity by turning her to face and telling her "Close your eyes"

"What are you going to do?" She raised her eyebrows at me, skeptically.

"Close them or I'll blindfold you" I threatened her, amusingly.

She followed my orders and closed her eyes, defeated. I held her hand and started leading her to my surprise. She tried to open her eyes once therefore I just pinched her cheek and put my hand on top of them then I started pushing her to walk until we reached the middle of the spot I made James prepare for me.

Nadia's POV:

Curiosity was taking the best in me at that moment, especially with Zack's hand op top of my eyes while we were taking baby steps, and his breath, which was tickling the back of neck, sending goosebumps all over my body and my feet feel like jelly and about to betray me.

Suddenly, we stopped walking and I felt him getting even closer to me; his lips lingered on the back of my neck, making me shiver and lean back in in his touch. He apparently had no idea how much his touch was affecting me because a simple touch of his finger, could start a freaking zoo, erupting my stomach, and there he was keeping his lips on kin longer than necessary.

Nevertheless, I wasn't complaining.

"I hope you like it" He whispered, trailing kisses from the crock of my neck to the sensitive spot beside my ear then he unexpectedly, took his hand off my eyes and wrapped his hand around my wait, protectively.

My jaw almost hit the floor at the sight in front of me. red petals covered the floor on which a giant pillow sat comfortably and a picnic drape was placed, full of a variety of appetizers, breakfast food and two huge mugs of coffee.

It was perfect...

Zack's arms were still wrapped around my waist and I couldn't even walk around to check the view from that height, and whenever I tried to take a step forward, he pulled me backward and embraced me tighter to his chest. Thus, I just snorted at him and turned in my heels immediately, ready to snap at him for not letting me go but I was trapped in my place instantly.

He was close, so close. He was looking at me as if he was lost in a deep ocean and I had to gulp in my saliva because of nervousness and excitement at the same time. He grinned at me like a lovesick fool before he pressed his forehead on top of mine and closed his eyes, exhaling a deep breathe.

He seemed lost.

"What are you thinking?" I blurted out.

"Isn't it obvious?" He answered, his eyes were still closed.

"What?" I asked, hope laced on my voice.

"You, who else grandma?" He chuckled, making me roll my eyes at him "You are adorable" He added after containing his chuckles.

"Come on, let's eat" I said to have an excuse to look away since I felt like he was digging in my soul with his intense stare, however, as I turned my head, I payed more attention to the detail that he only brought one giant pillow "Why do we have one pillow not two"

"Why would we need two?" He shrugged off his shoulder at me, innocently "I take the pillow"

"Genius! What about me?" I put my hands on my hips, feigning annoyance but I had an idea of what was about to come out of his mouth.

"I sit on the pillow, and you take your place on my lap" He smirked at me, devilishly.

'Back to that smirk?' I thought to myself as I watched him moving toward the pillow taking his place on it.

"No way"

"Unless you want to try the hard floor, come here" He offered me his hand.

I smiled at him and started walking toward him with a mischievous grin covering my face. I knew exactly what to. It only took me two steps to be standing in front of him, however, instead of following his commands, I threw myself on the floor and winked at him.

"That's not fair" He glared at me "Okay, just come take the pillow, you're not romantic at all"

"Then go call the teenager of last night"

"Maybe it's a good idea after all" He turned his head and looked elsewhere.

At that moment, I thought of stopping acting like a child so I stood up, dropped to my knees in front of him and hugged his from his torso; he flinched right away but he didn't utter a word, he just leaned back as I put my head on the crock of his neck.

His cologne filled my nostrils with the most addicting scent I had ever smelt in my entire life, and I was already drooling over him. I didn't know where I gathered my strength and I placed a kiss on his neck, totally surprising him and myself as well. I was becoming bold.

"You know you are torturing me?" He whispered out of a sudden, making me pull back immediately.

"What?"

'How was I torturing him?' I wondered as I watched him, turn his head to watch me, closely. He chuckled at my blank face, he threw his arms on my waist and he lifted me from my position till I was sitting on his lap. He then reached for my cheek and started caressing my skin, tenderly "You are tormenting me because every time you approach me or even breathe beside me, I have a strong desire to kiss you, and before we solve our personal problems, I feel like it's wrong. However, I don't want you to stay away, I want you to stay like this"

I don't what had gotten to me but I literally lost my voice, he made me speechless, so I had to nod at him in order to agree on what he said because it was absolutely true; fooling around would only make things worse for both of us and we wouldn't really move on, we'd always be stuck in the past.

"But what I said doesn't stop me from, doing this" He captured my lips with his for a brief kiss then pulled back "Or this" He then kissed my cheeks "Or maybe this" He put his head on my neck, and inhaled deeply, making the hairs of my neck stand up. Literally.

But I was way far from complaining, I liked it. Heck I loved that playful side of him because it made me fall harder for him.

'Did I say fall for him?' I pointed out to myself "I did' I realized that I was starting to admit to myself that I was falling in love with him despite everything that had passed before and out ups and downs.

'I was falling' I confessed to my inner self and grinned at him, foolishly.

*******

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/*The next chapter will be updated on Friday, April 7th*/