"How are you Vivi?" Darcy asked me as we stood on the warm sand of the beach. I laughed and nodded in response, still unsure whether I should speak to him or not since he believed that I couldn't speak properly.

Darcy placed his hand on my shoulder and sighed. "Violet, I know you can speak. Adrian told me everything when he invited me here so that we can meet up. Look, I'm not mad at you for not speaking to me in the past but I will if you won't right now."

My eyes teared up when he spoke. It had been so long since we last met and everything between our friendship was complicated. "Darcy... I-I'm sorry." I sobbed uncontrollably. "I'm so s-sorry that I l-lied to you."

Even though my vision was blurred, I could feel Darcy gathering me into another hug. "It's okay, Vivi. I understand why you did what you did, you were scared of your family."

Darcy used his fingers to pull up my chin and look at his face, his eyes softened. "And I'm sorry too." It took a second for me to realize what he said and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "What for?" Darcy took in a deep breath, causing his cheeks to flush and pulled away from the hug.

"Remember when I left? I told you that I was going to visit my unwell father? Well, he's doing perfectly but... that was only part of the reason as to why I left." He averted his gaze for a split second over to Ms Anally who was being introduced to an awake and overjoyed Alora by Adrian.

They both moved away from us to give Darcy and me some privacy to talk. Darcy then returned his concentration to me and shook his head. "I was in a dilemma. I had feelings for Lexie for a long time, ever since I started working at the orphanage. But I didn't know how she felt about me.

She would be very nice towards me but I needed to know if she returned the same feelings I did to her. So I asked her one day about how she felt about me and she said that we were good friends and nothing more. This broke my heart and I felt alone. I wanted move away from her.

Right then my mother called me and informed me about my father's condition. I took this as an opportunity to move away from the orphanage so that I could take care of my father. But I was so remorseful about leaving you Vivi, you needed support but I wasn't there and I hated it." Darcy stopped speaking and reached his hand forward to hold mine.

"When I left, I got a phone call as soon as I reached my parents' house and it was from Lexie. She inquired me about why I left and demanded me back at the orphanage. I was still in a depressed mood due to the situation of my father and... so I ignored her and hung up. Next thing you know, she was at the doorstep the next morning and extremely mad.

She gave out to me for hanging up on her and leaving work without telling her. I then told her everything about my father and his health. Luckily she calmed down and apologized and asked if she could see my father. She stayed with me till the night and helped me and my mother assist to my father.

She grew a friendly relationship between my mother and father, my mother was actually very happy with Lexie. Then night fell and Lexie had to leave so I helped her out to her car. We talked about work and that I had to be back when my father got better. Lexie said sorry and when I asked her why she hugged me.

She told me that when I asked her if she had any feelings for me, she didn't know how to reply. She told me that she loved me, Vivi!"

Darcy grinned his heartwarming grin with a smitten look on his face. "I told her that I loved her too." A blush was creeping up his neck and to his cheeks. I blinked several times before I broke out into a fit of laughter. "What's so funny Vivi? Huh?" Darcy demanded with his arms crossed above his chest.

I regained my composure and coughed while smiling. "I knew it, I k-knew you liked her and you kept denying it so many times. I'm happy for you Darcy." Darcy rolled his eyes playfully and chuckled at me. "Thanks, I brought her over here with me cause she wanted to meet you too." I nodded and turned my head toward Lexie and Adrian. "Can we go over to them? I wanna say hey to Ms Anally."

Darcy replied with a yes and then we walked over to Lexie and Adrian who were in a conversation. "Hey Violet! It's been a while since I've seen you. How are you getting on?" Lexie asked me when Darcy and I reached the table.

"I'm doing good Ms Anally, what about you?" I replied while sitting down in my seat beside Adrian, followed by Darcy who sat next to Lexie. I noticed that the plates were gone and replaced with new ones, the waiter must've attended to it while we were busy chatting.

"I'm doing good. And call me Lexie, Violet." She responded and I nodded, smiling. "We have a lot to catch up on but, all I want to know is about this cute baby. You adopted her?" Darcy questioned me whilst pointing at Alora who was cradled in Adrian's arms.

"Y-yes, Adrian and I did a few months back." Alora giggled at me and jumped up and down in Adrian's lap. "Mama!" she squealed as she looked up at me earning an 'aw' from both Darcy and Lexie.

"Oh and she's definitely a charmer." Adrian stated making everyone laugh. I was so happy that I met my best friend and Lexie after a long time. I missed them both so much and catching up on our lives together was amazing.

I peeked at Adrian from under my lashes and couldn't stop myself from smiling cause he was the one who invited Darcy and Ms Anally. Not only that, he was the reason why I was content.

He was definitely loyal to his promise.

———

"You two met as children?"

It was a bright day and the air smelled refreshing. Lexie and I, with Alora sat on the plush benches in the back garden of Adrian's house, while Adrian and Darcy lingered somewhere within the house.

Darcy and Lexie were staying in a hotel near Adrian's house and decided to meet up with us again after yesterday's meeting. They were staying for another week before leaving to their homes. I'll miss them a lot.

I nodded at Lexie and cradled Alora in my arms as she silently snuggled herself into me. Lexie hummed at my response and continued. "When did you fall in love with Adrian? How long did you date before deciding to marry?" I froze and as a result began choking on my saliva. I obviously never fell in love with Adrian. We never dated or even came close to that.

But Lexie didn't know the entire story about our relationship. I doubted that Darcy knew about anything other than my abusive family. Maybe they both thought that Adrian and I had fallen in love.

Lexie patted my back as I regained my breath. I gave her a fake but polite smile and glanced elsewhere but her. I had to lie, like I always did."U-um... we dated for maybe six years a-and we decided to get married last year."

By the stuttering of my voice, I was convinced that Lexie would know that I was lying. But surprisingly, she smiled and approved of my response. "That's so cute! You both stuck together for a long time. If you don't mind me asking, how did you fall in love with Adrian?" She asked and waited patiently for my reply. I chuckled uncomfortably since I had to make up more lies and it was getting hard.

"It's okay if you don't feel like telling me about anything. Its just that Darcy and I are dating and well I just wanted to know." Lexie rambled on. "No that's fine, I'm not scared to tell you anything. I-I feel nervous each time I speak about it. Adrian and I fell in love when I was eighteen. Our families kind of separated and so we both went our separate ways until we met by accident in a Cafe. Meeting him again was a-amazing and he was-"

The backdoor creaked open which caught my attention. I turned my body around in my seat and glimpsed at Darcy and Adrian who were making their way outside. Once Darcy laid his eyes upon us, he approached us with a smile etched onto his face.

"What are you two chatting about? Is it me by chance?" Alora giggled at him and stuck her fingers in her mouth, attending to her usual hobby of drooling. I let out a laugh as Lexie snorted in response to Darcy. "Stop daydreaming honey, you know that it's a bad habit of yours."

Darcy suddenly sat beside Lexie and contorted his face into a playfully looking frown. "My ego is shattered Lex, I can't believe that my own girlfriend insulted me." He muttered wiping an imaginary tear from his cheek, whilst opening his arms to slowly and gradually end up hugging Lexie. Lexie chuckled and pecked his cheek earning a grin from him. "I'm only joking Darcy."

"Quit playing around, Darcy. We all know how much of a drama queen you are." I heard Adrian comment behind me as he placed his hand on my shoulder which took me by surprise. Alora on the other hand sat up on my lap in alert as soon as she heard Adrian. "Da!" She squealed with an expression of pure delight.

Darcy in response to Adrian's comment, immediately retreated from his hug and snorted in annoyance. "I am not." He glared at an amused Adrian. "You are. Hey Alora." Adrian snapped at Darcy merrily before pulling Alora from my hold.

"Look at him! He first insults me and then steals Alora from me." I rotated my head and caught sight of Darcy just as he was rising from his seat, appearing as ready for a fight.

Lexie yawned dramatically and shook her head in disapproval at both Darcy and Adrian. "You two need to stop bickering around like you're children-" She began speak to them but got interrupted by Darcy, who made a dramatic statement.

"Alright, its you against me." He continuously punched his left fist into his right palm, and stared intently at Adrian like he was about to jump on him. Clearly, exaggerated jealousy laced his words.

Adrian reacted by scoffing tediously. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see you try." And with that said, he spun around with Alora on his hip and strolled away from us and further into the depths of the luscious backyard while Darcy followed him hot on his heals. "Take that back Hayes!"

I raised my eyebrows at their childish fight which didn't even make sense. "Well... aren't they getting along?" My eyes tracked down Adrian and Darcy like a shadow. They both stood on the other side of the backyard and Adrian had his back to Darcy as Darcy kept patting Adrian's shoulder repeatedly to vex him.

Lexie chuckled and shook her head, tucking a stubborn piece of her hair behind her ear. "I'm sure they'll be fine." I agreed to her with a nod. "Anyway, as we were talking about, do you mind continuing?" She requested with a big smile plastered onto her perfectly sculpted face.

I bit my inner cheek as I considered Adrian who was now bouncing a squelching Alora up and down, a beautiful smile gracing his lips and his hair was ruffled. The sunlight lingered around the both of them making them look more enchanting.

My heart swelled at their loving bond. I took a deep breath and altered my concentration for Lexie's question, speaking with my heart rather than my mind.

"He was handsome and kind. Honestly, the first thing I fell in love with was his breathtaking smile." Which wasn't false, his smile was a magical sight that always stood out. "We ran into each other in a Cafe and we began to speak. It wasn't long until we fell in love with one another. After some years we decided to get married, and that's where we are now."

Lexie clapped her hands excitedly by the end of my fake confession. "I'm so happy for you both! You love him a lot don't you?" She questioned me suddenly and I struggled to answer her abrupt question. Of course, I didn't think I loved Adrian, but I also felt uncertain about it.

Love is a strong word for representing the relationship between two people, who must be getting along well and have a specific connection that drew them both together.

I sensed an odd connection between Adrian and me. I didn't know if it was love, but I liked him. His sweet comments, his concern for me and his smiles all made it undeniably obvious that I liked him.

Not only does he compliment me, but also makes me feel special. The way he caresses my face, looks into my eyes and kisses me makes me feel like thousands of butterflies are fluttering within my body. But then again, I could remember how he used my trust against me and broke me at one point in the past.

No Violet, you said that you'll forgive him and move on from that phase of your life.

Even if my heart says to forgive Adrian, my mind refuses to comply sometimes. But I have to pull myself together and realize that everything that happened has been embedded within the past, and there was nothing that I could do about it.

It was best to move on and create a new view for Adrian, for which he already started off with making an impressive one.

"Violet?"

I snapped out of the tangle of thoughts that grappled at my mind. "Woah, you spaced out there. Are you alright?" It's was Lexie that pulled me back to reality and I nodded in response. "S-sorry, lost track of myself, Lex-" I began but as soon as I did, an awfully sounding sinister laugh followed by yelling cut through my sentence like a knife.

I turned towards the sound and realized that it originated from both Darcy and Adrian, and the scene that unfolded couldn't have been any more ridiculous.

Darcy was holding a giggling Alora in his arms and was running around the garden, away from Adrian who was yelling at Darcy to give Alora back to him. "Darcy! Give Alora back to me now!" Darcy in response chuckled loudly and called out as he ran. "Never, try to catch me!"

Lexie threw herself into a fit of laughter as she stared at them both. "They are so childish." I nodded my head and followed my gaze onto Adrian who suddenly, right then in the moment, turned around and searched for me and when he did, he flashed me a heartwarming smile and resumed chasing after Darcy.

My heart raced as I replayed his smile in my mind again and again, absorbing his cute nature. The way he smiled made me want to hug him cause it made me feel safe and happy. It warmed my heart that he could even produce such a beautiful smile, just for me.

I could feel myself blushing. But what did this all mean? I blushed and I felt tingles at his sweet actions for me. My heart pounded each time we got close and my breaths cut short. This could only mean one thing.

I froze and tried to rid of my thoughts that swarmed through my mind, but it was impossible. My heart took over my mind and made it come to a scary conclusion.

I love Adrian.

It was a weird feeling to realize and digest since one side my heart was blossoming with love for Adrian and the other was withering with the dread of facing the love I had for Adrian. But I just had to say the words out loud in order to confirm my feelings for Adrian, maybe that would help me sooth my mind and heart.

I slowly twisted around to Lexie. "Yeah I do, Lexie. I love Adrian." My words came out strangely strong and confident. Finally the built up stress of my thoughts could leave my mind at rest. Lexie replied with a laugh and smirked at me. "I could tell by how red you're getting."

I laughed nervously at her comment, but felt a lot freer talking to her from then onwards about Adrian's and my relationship. It's cause I reached a point of finding out what I felt for Adrian.

I love Adrian.

"Caught you!"