DYLAN

I look away quickly and step back. Her eyes are still wide open. Giving her the time to recover, I say, "we can do this all night. How 'bout we eat something? 'Cause I don't know about you but I am starving" I tilt my head, gesturing towards the dinner table.

Today, the plates are not on the opposite ends of the dinner table as it is always. I wanted her to be...close to me. I've set our plates beside each other at one end of the table. I wanted to apologise to her decently.

Just when I think, I will try to do something like this, she has to throw the deal thing on my face. Yes, I made the contract, and yes, it's still valid. Still, I don't want to think that she would be leaving as soon as the contract is over. I'm quite vulnerable right now, and that's the reason why I'm having such thoughts.

"Yeah, " her voice comes out softly, and she looks down at the floor. I don't know which Avery I like the more, the rebellious one or the one who stands in front of me, blushing hard. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ears and says, "why did you wait?"

"Apparently, that's how an apology dinner works. Shall we?" I hold out my hand for her. She looks at my hand and then at my face, astounded. Gently, she puts her hands on mine and I wrap my fingers around her tiny ones. Up until this moment, I didn't realise how much I wanted to hold her hand again. As if her hand was made just to fit in mine, precisely.

I lead her to the table and pull out the chair for her. She sits down, not removing her eyes from my face. As if she is seeing me for the first time. Well, to some extent, it's true. After the way, I have behaved with her since our wedding, it's pretty much unexpected, isn't it?

I take my seat beside her and begin serving. Filling her plate with food, I start with mine while her eyes are still fixed on me. Unable to stop, I say, " Will you keep staring at me all night?" That didn't come out well.

"Oh...um...I'm sorry!" She squeaks and looks away, rapidly blinking. I glance at her face. She is blushing harder. "How did you know I was back? You were sleeping..."

"Your shoes, " I answer and start eating.

"Oh..." She goes quiet for some time. "You apologised to me that night itself."

"I apologised to you for what I didn't say not for what I said." She stops eating and looks up. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

"It's ok. You didn't know."

"You know Olivia, that's the problem. I never tried to know you. I was being so selfish. I heard about you not having your parents and then on the wedding day when you stopped at the graveyard. It was clear but I was too busy being an asshole to think about you."

She stares blankly at me and then says, "You weren't. You were just stressed. And...no one said I would've answered your questions if you had asked me then..."

"Now you would?"

"What do you want to know?" I can't believe she wants to open up. I just know something, she isn't the type of girl who would open up easily. She keeps a lot hidden inside her. And something in me wants to know her better.

"Let's complete the dinner, " I say, giving her a tight smile and dive in. We eat in silence like we always do but there is this anticipation working inside me. After dinner, I wanted to sit with her and talk. Just talk. But...does she want that?

After we complete the food, she helps me clean up the table and carries the dishes to the kitchen along with me. I knew she would help but that is a hard part. I'm nervous. I might not appear, but I am.

She is rubbing her hands on the kitchen towel. Her back is turned towards me. I pick up the bottle of wine and two glasses from the counter. I kept it all ready before she came home. "Do you wanna come to the pool and have some wine?"

She turns around and keeps the towel back at the place. "Yeah, sure." She follows me outside through the glass doors. Setting the bottle and the glasses on the ground at the edge of the pool, I bend down to roll up the legs of my trousers. Avery does the same with her pants.

I dip my legs into the cool water of the pool and sit down at the edge. So does Avery. I pour wine into our glasses and hand her one. "You liked the food?"

She looks at me as her eyebrows shot up, "you made it?" I shrug, casually. I didn't think of telling her before. But it was an apology dinner so I was supposed to cook.

"So, you liked it?"

"I loved it. Oh my god! You cook so well!" She squeals.

I chuckle and say, "I'm good at many things. You just have to give me a chance." Looking at her, I say, "that came out wrong. I didn't..."

"It's ok." Way to make things awkward, Dylan! Bravo!

"So...did you have fun at work?" What?

"Uh...regular day. Oh...and there's this new government programme!" She lights up immediately.

"Yeah?" I urge her to continue.

"So this is about feeding and treating the stray animals. I was doing some work regarding that..so I was late, " she looks down at the glass of wine. As if she feels guilty. Did I make her feel guilty?

Involuntarily, I reach out and put my hand on hers before I realize what I'm doing. "It's okay. No big deal." She looks at my hand then at me and smiles softly. I hastily remove my hand and take a sip from my glass.

She is starting right ahead at the cover of trees on the other end and swinging her legs, forming ripples on the water. A swift blow of wind hits her face, causing a few strands of her dark hair, fall on her face. She brings her hand to her face, removing them from her face and tucking them behind her ears.

Several minutes pass by before I speak up, "can I ask you something?" She nods and sets her glass down.

"Go on."

"When did your parents...?" I trail off. She goes silent, looking into my eyes so I hastily add, "I mean you don't have to share if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine. I was three when they died. I don't really remember anything, to be honest, except the day of their funeral. I remember people standing in the graveyard, in the black when my eyes were searching for my parents. My best friend, Marcus stood beside me, squeezing my hand. He was about the same age but still. I barely understood anything except that I would never be seeing them again." She looks down and sucks in a breath staggered breath but shrugs at the same time as if it doesn't bother her much.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. It was a long time ago." She looks ahead, and I stare at her. She seems to get more beautiful every day. Her face holds a blueish countenance due to the moonlight. "Although I don't remember them, I miss them. Even today. I wonder how it would've been to have a mother who loves you, unconditionally and who understands you better than anyone ever can. Whenever I am having a hard day, I wish for someone to hold me. Someone in front of whom I can be as vulnerable as I want, with no fear of getting hurt."

I reach out and tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. She turns her head to look at me. Her eyes are watery and she is biting her lower lip. I can feel that she is trying hard to hold back her tears. She is afraid of being vulnerable. She is afraid of getting attached. And all I want to do right now is kiss her and say 'I'm here'. My thumb starts caressing her jawline slowly and gently touches her lower full lip. She sucks in a sharp breath through her mouth. Damn!

Closing my eyes, I slowly remove my hand and look forward before I do something stupid and flip her off. Among the conditions she gave, one was I can not touch her. I was ok with it then but I'm not sure if I still feel the same. I am trying to figure out what's wrong with me when Avery removes the bottle and glasses from between us, places her hand between us and scoots closer, with just a few inches until our bodies are touching. I scoot closer, covering the small separation between us. She looks at me with her deep intoxicating eyes expressing the emotions all at once leaving me utterly breathless. Removing her gaze from my face, she rests her head gently on my shoulder with her hair falling on one side of my chest. I bring my arm around her and gently pull her closer to my body. We both stare at the moon beautifully shining in the night sky. Nothing can be more perfect than this.