"Ten months later, I returned back home, only to contact Oliver and move here," I finished as I looked down at my fingers.

Daniel remained silent throughout the whole story. I mean, I didn't lie to him about my past, I just didn't tell him the whole reason to why I moved here.

"Now you're going to think I'm some weirdo," I sniffed as the tears trickled down my cheeks. "You're probably going to think less of me-"

"Astrid stop," he spoke with a hard voice, causing me to shut my mouth immediately. I expected him to make an excuse and leave my room, instead, he did something I never thought he would do. He hugged me.

I felt his strong arms wrapping me and pulling me towards himself. I hesitated at first and slightly pulled away.

"Is this a goodbye hug?"

"Wait, what the fuck?" He furrowed his brows with confusion. "Why the heck would you think that?"

"I don't know!" I exclaimed. "I thought that you would-"

"Run away?" He finished, causing me to bite my lip, confirming my answer. "Astrid you know I would never do that to you. I'm not that big of a dick!"

"I just-"

"Astrid, I wouldn't run away. The fact that you're telling me this, proves to me how strong you are! That bastard should rotting in hell right now for what he did to Emilia, but the fact that he assaulted you..." he trailed off whilst looking away, clearly showing that the thought of Mateo harassing me was unbearable for him.

There was a moment of silence, but it wasn't awkward. It felt good to share my story to someone, even though they don't have a similar past. Knowing what Daniel thought of me, it was the best feeling in the world, and to know that there was someone who I could count on, was even better.

"When did you stop?" He asked, breaking the silence as he rubbed my wrists.

"When I nearly died from overdose," I whispered, watching him kiss my wrists and looking back at me.

"You are the strongest person I've ever known," he whispered as he tucked a strand of my hair.

I looked up, my eyes meeting his deep green eyes, and for a second, I acted without thinking. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him, my lips meeting his. At first he was taken off guard, but quickly recovered as he began to kiss me back. I felt his arms snaking around my waist and pulling me towards his lap, intensifying the kiss. We slowly broke off, and rested our foreheads together as we gained our breaths.

"I think this was a good goodbye kiss, don't you think?" Daniel joked, causing me to laugh, for the first time in a long time.

"I've had better," I joked back whilst he chuckled.

He then let go of my waist and placed a hand onto my cheek, softly caressing it, suddenly changing the playful atmosphere to a much more serious one. "You know I would never hurt you, right?" He spoke softly as he contemplated my face.

"I know," I whispered as I stared into his deep green eyes as he pulled me into a hug.

Having his arms around me was the best feeling ever. It was like my safe haven, just where I needed to be. Knowing that a huge weight had been swept off my shoulders and Daniel's reaction to my past, it caused a warm feeling to surface, the same feeling I get when he's near me.

I've fallen in love with Daniel Matthews.

And I don't even regret it.

❤️