Music Recommendation: Novo Amor - State Lines

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Belle was worried, but if Lucas' plan worked when it came to the bond, the two Grim's would not find out who Greed was. They had not spotted Lucas yet, it was only right to send Greed ahead who had changed the colour of his eyes so that his unusually striking blue eyes wouldn't be questioned by them as not many had blue eyes like his.

She didn't stay long near the kitchen and she headed back to the hall where everyone were present. With Greed offering them a drink, it would make him be less of a suspect and more to be part of the land of the living in the eyes of the Grim. Without looking their way, her eyes met Edith's who only offered her a smile. Edith was the neutral Grim, she wouldn't say anything, but at the same time she knew everything.

"Belle, we didn't know that you were going to be with Lucas," came the statement from one of the woman, "I always suspected that something was going on between you two."

Belle walked to where Lucas was, sitting next to him where he had been playing the piano. He now turned to look her as he was done with the song, "I wished I knew it sooner," said Belle.

Her uncle, who was present in the room, was not happy that one of the lady's from the family was building a relationship with the measly butler. It was nothing but shameful, "If your parents were alive, they wouldn't be pleased to find you with a butler, but then you know what is best for you," came the taunting words from the man.

If it was before, Belle would have felt bad, but she was past over feeling anything her relatives thought or said. Lucas was the one who answered her uncle, "They would be more than pleased, happy that their daughter is being taken care of by a man who is responsible for shouldering her worries and pain, instead of shouldering her money," said Lucas.

"What does that mean?" asked her uncle.

"Don't mind Lucas, uncle. Sometimes he likes to be brutally honest," Belle said and placed a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "Is there someone who would like the play to piano?" asked Belle, and she saw her friend Simone step forward.

Both Belle and Lucas got up from the piano seat. Her uncle looked displeased and didn't utter another word while the other guests were busy talking to each other. Belle wanted to inform Lucas about the two Grims who were here, but she saw him hold her hands in his.

"I thought I should do it right," he said to her, taking one step away from her and Belle saw how Lucas sat down on one of his knees. Before she even heard another word come to pass his lips, she felt weak in her knees by knowing what he was going to do.

The guests who were present turned to look at them, turning quiet as silence started to fill in the room.

"Belle Adams," said Lucas, still holding her hands in his while Belle's red eyes concentrated on him, "I have known you for a really long time. I know everything about you, the good and the mischief you have caused in the past when you were still a small girl. I have seen you grow up to the person you are, from someone who often caused trouble to this person who I admire the most. I want to thank you for pursuing me. Because if it weren't for you, I would have never known what it means to belong to a place where it can be called a home."

Belle knew Lucas was not speaking about this life but about the life they previously had before they were both killed from the land of the living, "I was something before meeting you, but you give meaning to live. To be there with you is a joy and I would want nothing from you," he said before his hand reached out to pull a ring from his pocket. The diamond on top of the ring was big, and it sparkled under candlelights and many lanterns that were present around them.

The people, who were present couldn't get their eyes off the diamond that Lucas now held in front of Belle, "There might be times when I might not be there to protect you the way you might want me to, but I will try my best to protect you. Any day, any time. I offer you myself, Belle," Lucas said and Belle looked at him with tears in her eyes.

This was the present.

Not the ring, but Lucas himself to her. An official proposal in the land of the living.

Belle stared at Lucas, and she nodded her head, "I will take all of you," she said, to have him get up to stand in front of her, "I will take all of you any day. No matter what," and she whispered to him as he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, "I was okay with the twigs."

"I know," said Lucas, slipping the ring on to her finger and making their relationship official, "I can put many more rings on the other fingers," he teased her before leaning towards her, kissing her on her lips. Belle wound her hands around Lucas' neck, not caring that there were many people who were watching them right now as she kissed him. Lucas held her close to him, his hand around her waist and pecking on her lips.

"It's time to congratulate the couple!" came Simone's voice who had slowed down the piano to raise the notes finally.

Belle had not let go of Lucas, and she continued to hold him in her arms. She remembered how she had yearned for his love in the past, and now that she had it, she couldn't believe it. They were each other's soul mates before they met again, and the relationship they shared in the past had been a secret. But not anymore.

In living and the dead, Belle was his and Lucas was hers.