"I think it's time I left... but I want you to enjoy the meal we made together..." he then placed his hand on the back of his neck. "I think I need some time to myself... maybe I will take that trip to Spain...?"

Seconds later I stood up and held onto his wrist... he seemed a little shocked, but his expression flattened when he noticed tears were falling down my cheeks.

"I care about you a lot Jackson... I didn't mean for this to..." he then leaned over to hug me.

"Just once... let me hug you like this..." I stood there quietly, letting him hold onto me gently... after another minute had passed he released me while pressing his hands onto my shoulders...

"You can't control who you fall in love with... I don't think any of us could have predicted what would have happened. Ever since you stepped into Ravenwolf's doors... who would have thought you and I would have changed this much?" he then slowly stood back...

"My friend will be here in another half hour to close shop... you can enjoy this space until then... I really meant it when I said I wanted you to enjoy the dinner we made..." he then looked over his shoulder.

"See you around..." while he left I slowly sat down, a little baffled.

My hands were shaking... out of frustration, out of sadness and perhaps a sense of loss... I tried picking up my fork a few times, but all I could do was hold onto my head and cry.

I cried for some time before I tried eating again... I managed to finish my dish after wiping my tears away... I made my way to the kitchen to clean up and then stared out into space in the lounge before his friend came to close shop...

Like a ghost, I wandered out into the streets. I walked around town for quite some time before I sat on one of the benches in a nearby park...

The summer night's were warmer, so I was able to spend some time thinking about what to do next... but I couldn't think of anything.

What more could I do if I couldn't return his feelings?

When my body slumped forward a little, I sat back... I was definitely tired from what happened earlier... I looked at my phone and saw that it was close to 11 o'clock now... I stood up and started to walk back into the direction of the nearest bus shelter, but up ahead I saw someone leaning against their car...

When I got closer I saw that it was Kai...

A sense of relief overwhelmed my heart... but in that moment I felt a sense of warmth... there was a bitter-sweetness that rose...

***

Jackson really did leave for Spain... but he took Edna with him...

After a week, Edna returned, but... Jackson flew to Milan to continue doing business...

Soon enough I realized at the beginning of July that he wasn't coming home any time soon...

Kai had been patient and understanding with me since the night he picked me up... I was a little unsure and distant at first, but eventually I spent more time wanting to be by Kai's side again... even after what happened between Jackson and I.

"Here..." Kenz said, while handing me a palette of water colours... I was outside painting in front of the gardens... Kenz offered to go and get some of my tools because I forgot them. So afterwards she played with Apollo in the gardens while I painted for a while...

About an hour later, Edna came out to check on her vegetable garden. When Nathan arrived, Kenz rushed over to hug him tightly...

The progress in their father-daughter relationship made my heart warm almost instantly... at this point in time, Gerald was also still living in the house. He and Nathan had mended their relationship after coming to a mutual understanding... and as for Cassandra, well... she was having difficulty keeping up with her lawyer payments so I heard she was going to divorce Gerald on some conditions.

Kenz held onto Nathan's hand while she brought him over to my designated painting station.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she pointed at my picture and Nathan nodded.

"Mind if we have a moment?" Kenz nodded and she skipped over to help Edna with her garden.

"How has work at the studio been?"

"My boss has been keeping me busy since I gave him open availability in my schedule..." Nathan nodded. He leaned forward to take a look at my picture a little closely.

"The team misses seeing you at the office," I smiled to myself.

"I'll come and visit..."

"Yes, but... it'll be a year soon..." I turned to look at him... I had almost forgotten... I turned to look ahead at the flowers swaying in the wind...

"Almost a year... time flies by..."

"Yes... and you'll be half a billion dollars richer..."

"I forgot..." that figure still astounded me... I didn't have any inclination as to what I would do with that lump sum... it was definitely as much of a burden having at the beginning just as it did now...

"What will you do?" Nathan's body had risen and he was lifting his hand up to block to bright sunlight.

To be honest, I hadn't thought about it...

At the beginning it was only a matter of time before I had to leave this place.

Thinking back to when I first got here, my mind was set on overcoming the challenges and obstacles that had been along my path. I had only been thinking about the end result. Somewhere along the way I forgot about that... and I genuinely enjoyed being around this family.

But... since Henry's wishes were fulfilled... it made me think my role was over. Even if I was with Kai... but still...

I had a place I could go home to. A place I could call my own... but suddenly the idea of leaving... was a little more than heartbreaking. It was devastating...

My small apartment was somewhere I always felt safe. But now it felt like it would be somewhere I would have to unlearn all of the warmth I was given here... even after all of the speed bumps. Everyone here at Ravenwolf was precious to me...

And I didn't want to leave... but how could I possibly stay?

"Nathan... you seem a lot more cheerful these days?"

"I'm always cheerful..." I shook my head while lifting the paintbrush to my painting again.

"This is different..." I smiled... Nathan pat the top of my shoulder before walking over to help Edna and Kenz bring in some vegetables.

I suppose I really did need to think about what I would be doing...

Later in the afternoon, I spent some time in the library... Ravenwolf had a beautiful room filled with older volumes and newer collections of books from around the world on many topics. I sat by the bay window, looking out from time to time...

I heard a knock on the door and Kai walked in.

I walked over to greet him and he touched the side of my face briefly.

"How was your day?" I reached over to hold his hand, which was resting on my cheek...

"Good... I was able to paint in the gardens..." he smiled.

"How was work?" I asked.

"The production in Nagoya is going well..." I nodded. "I'm going to visit again... would you like to join me?"

"When will you be travelling?"

"Probably sometime in late September?" I stood there quietly. "What's wrong?" I looked up at him while shaking my head.

"Let's sit for a bit? You're probably tired..."

When we sat beside one another on the couch, Kai wiggled his body forward a bit and rested his head on my lap. I chuckled...

"You're acting a little too sweet today..."

"Let me indulge... I had to work non-stop for three days without seeing you..." I grinned a little, gently stroking the sides of his fringe.

"I know... I also had to wait for you too..." I leaned in to kiss the top of his forehead and he smiled.

"I told Nathan..."

"About what?"

"About our relationship..." I sighed as he spoke... "actually, rather than actually admitting it, I would say it was a matter of entrapment..."

I suppose there was something deeper behind Nathan's words today... he was definitely a sly person... I smiled to myself again. I'm sure he already figured it out long ago.

"Nathan definitely had his suspicions already..." I said and Kai nodded.

"So, what should we do next?" I paused for a while.

"Let's tell the rest of the family then..." Kai turned around and adjusted his body again so that he could lean into me and hug my waist. I giggled a little because of his sudden movements making me feel ticklish. And after snuggling a little, we both got up to have dinner with everyone...

While we were there with everyone, I held his hand underneath the table and we announced that we were a couple.

"It seemed obvious at this point," James said while looking up from his dinner plate.

"Wait, what?" I said, while removing my hand from Kai's. Kai took a sip from his wine glass.

"You two look at each other with stars in your eyes..." Kenz said while mockingly pointing to her eyes and rolling them around. Charlie let a sharp laugh escape from his lips.

"Sorry, we didn't know if you wanted to keep it a secret..." I watched Charlie confess his part in keeping the secret too so my mouth widened.

"You all... Edna couldn't either..." when I looked over at her she had pretended something had caught her attention.

Suddenly, I felt a wave of embarrassment rise up into my chest. My cheeks were blushing right now, for sure... I lowered my head and Kai cleared his throat.

"Now that you all are aware of our relationship..." he grabbed hold of my hand again. "Then, please take care of us well..." I wanted to scowl at Kai for saying such a thing, but everyone else broke out into conversation.

Asking us when we didn't say anything further: just how far back we made our relationship official and where we had been on dates...

After a few glasses of wine later I was able to sit properly with all of them... watching them all smile, laugh, and joke about their day, about things that have happened in their lives recently, what plans they had for the week...

And it made me feel a sense of gratefulness for being able to share this moment with them...

"Hazel..." I turned to Kai... we were now walking side by side towards our rooms.

"Yes?"

"Would you... like to spend the night in my room?"

I bit my lower lip nervously... then released it and tightened my grip around his hand a little more. There was a burning sensation inside of my heart right now... I looked over at him and saw the same desire reflected in his eyes. I wrapped my arms around his waist and nodded.

When we reached his room, he opened the door... we both stepped inside... and moments later he shut the door behind us... I could only hear my heartbeat racing at first, but sometime after, I could feel his heart beating rapidly at my touch...