"Is it supposed to smell like that?" I ask, peeking from behind E.

"No, I don't think it is..." Nice responds, from behind me,

"Go away the two of you," E shoos, "stop bothering me,"

I turn back to Nice and shake my head, "I'm sure he's burning it..." I whisper, Nice nods, pulling me away from the BBQ and towards Cayden who was sat on the swing besides Joe, both with a drink in their hand and deep in conversation.

While I notice Smirks, leaning against the fence towards Ms Verms garden, I walk towards him instead, confused as to what he was concentrating so hard on.

I quietly tiptoe behind him, "Boo!" I shout, causing him to jump up and glare at me, I laugh, "I thought you were a highly-skilled assassin,"

He narrows his eyes at me, "my guards were down and also, you scared the kitten away,"

I blankly stare at him, "again, I thought you were a highly-skilled assassin... That apparently has a soft spot of kittens," wait, kitten?

He smirks, going into a slight daze, "only feisty ones,"

I roll my eyes at him and huff while muttering to myself, "what is it with men and 'kitten',"

Smirks shrugs, pulling me away and towards Cayden, "we're not very original with nicknames," very true

I was about to respond when I hear the doorbell, "oh that must our guest!" I pull away from Smirks and run back inside, heading straight for my door.

"Hey!" I greet, opening the door to find the grinning man on the other end. Oh no...

He holds his hand up and smiles wider at me, "hey,"

"You actually came," I awe while moving out the way so you can enter. I'm so dead.

"Of course I did," he says, holding out a box of chocolates for me, "you mentioned these were your favourite once,"

I nod, taking them out his hands, "thank you, surprised you remembered. Everyone's in the back, let me put this away and I'll join you," he nods while we part ways, I head to the kitchen to put the box of chocolates away, using this as an excuse to prepare myself for everyone's reaction. You can do this Melody!

Taking a deep breath, I turn around only to find an unamused Cayden standing at the entrance with his arms folded.

"Yeah...I messed up," I say, giving Cayden an awkward smile.

He raises a brow at me, "you think?"

I shake my head and walks towards him, "no, I know I did... But I didn't wanna seem rude, I mentioned the BBQ and then he was just staring at me, I felt bad so I had to invite him. It's like telling someone, I'm gonna order pizza and not offering any..."

He sighs and shakes his head at me, "Melody,"

"I'm sorry," I frown, trying to worm myself out this, I reach forward to wrap my arms around him, "it not like I invited my ex to our wedding..."

Cayden buries his face in my neck and sighs, "it totally is," no it's not...

I roll my eyes at him, "It's more like I invited a cop to a heist..."

Cayden groans and if he was going to say anything, it's interrupted by the doorbell,

Cayden groans louder, "oh no, who did you invite now?"

I laugh, pushing him away and heading for the door but not before answering his question, "just my uncle,"

"Melody!" I hear him call after me, causing me to laugh even more.

This day would forever go down as my favourite day, it was probably the most lively my house had ever been, I was scared the neighbours would complain at the unusualness, probably thought I was getting robbed... But, that day truly felt like I was home in a very long time, never would I have guessed what was about to happen very soon.

.

.

.

"Hey Cayden, you alright?" I ask, popping down beside him on the swing outside, the calming evening wind in the air.

Leaning back, looking up at the sky, waiting for Cayden's response. He's been weird for the last few days, lost and stressed over something, even a little distant.

"Do you ever feel like there's a ticking time bomb, just waiting to explode, especially when you least expect it," he asks, that's very random...

I turn my head towards him, furrowing my brows in confusion but he was looking at me, his eyes glued on the grey dark clouds, I huff, "all the time. Why? Wait, this is metaphorical right? There isn't an actual bomb anywhere.... right?"

His lips move up at little as he shakes his head, "no bomb that I'm aware of, but-" he pauses, taking a deep breath, "this is about us,"

I could feel my heart pick up as I straightened up, "us?"

He sighs, wiping his hands on his trousers, "I could just be paranoid, years of seeing good things destroyed because of some careless loose end,"

I was getting even more confused, so I waited for him to continue before jumping to any conclusions even though it already felt a little too late, my brains already taken the jump.

"What are you trying to say?" I ask, hoping he'd be a little more clear.

His Adam's apple bobs up and down as he swallows, almost like the words stuck in his throat, "I-I don't want anything to happen to this-" he gestures between the two of us, "because some guy I beat up once comes back to take revenge, there's a lot of petty people out there, that are just waiting for me to put my guards down or looking for any weaknesses,"

I was still unsure where this was going, is he-no he promised, he can't just...

Cayden slowly turns towards me, "I think I need to clear out all loose ends before I choose you, before I put a target of your head, before I- before I make this place a safe home,"

"You-you have to leave?" I ask, my voice breaking, that's why you should never promise anyone anything because, in the end, you'll just end up breaking their heart.

After a few seconds of staring at my face, he reaches forward to take hold of my hand and nods.

Taking a deep breath I nod back, "okay,"

"Okay?" He repeats.

I place my other hand on top of his, as I felt the wind getting stronger, "If you have you leave, you can, there's nothing stopping you anymore,"

I look up at him with a slight smile, to see him staring at me, an analysing look before he says, "that doesn't mean I'm leaving forever, I promise I'll be back,"

I nod at him, the smile on my face as I felt my heart break a little more at the word promise, "okay and I guess I'll be waiting," nothing new for me.

I've been waiting all these years for two people to finally return, I guess adding another name to the list won't do much except maybe break my spirit for a few months. I've done it once, I can do it again

Nodding I stand up, "we should go inside, it's about to rain."

"If it's meant to be, it'll find another way to be."