three days since the incident. Auden and I were now sitting in his beach house on the island. Well, my house. But, I still can't accept it. Anyway, that is not significant right now. Shira, Theo and Danny were helping to take down the posters. Auden told me that all the posters were gone by the next morning. How is that possible?

It is a big city and surely, there must have been a thousand posters.

How can they be all gone just like that? They must have had some help from others right?

Unanswered questions circled my mind and I have been staying that way for the past three days. Staring into space, sitting alone, not doing anything and just over-thinking. I was surprised that Auden is not pissed at me or demanding answers from me. If I was in his position, I would have been pissed off after five hours of the first day itself. But, he is just there, whenever I needed him, sitting beside me and staring at space together with me or not doing anything together with me.

It's actually horrible when he is having his problems to deal with. Phone calls after phone calls chased him and I could conclude one thing— They were trying to shut down his mother's company and I could see that he was trying very hard to not let that transpire. He almost looked grim now and I didn't like that.

That's when a brilliant idea popped into my mind.

Again.

This idea of mine had been popping into my mind every time I looked at his sullen face.

It was a dangerous idea but I wanted him to be happy.

I can withstand any harm as long as he is happy.

Would it work?

What if it fails?

They would know. They would do horrible things to him.

I can't let that happen to him.

My head turned slowly to peek a glance at Auden. He was typing away furiously on his phone. He seemed tense, angry and frustrated. I could tell that whoever he was texting to was not making him happy. I frowned at the sight of his stern face. I didn't like it at all.

He had done so many things for me. He had given his whole heart to me. He is willing to do anything for me.

You know what?

I'm doing it.

No matter how dangerous it is, no matter how much I hate it, I am doing it.

"Auden," I called out and he turned around, whipping his head around at such a fast pace it was almost as if he was waiting for me to call him. I could understand. After three days, this is the first time I am calling him. It's usually the other way around. Standing up, I walked over to the hammock and sat beside him. Grabbing his phone, I placed it on the nearby table and smiled at him.

He smiled back, narrowing his eyes at me at my sudden behaviour change.

"Thanks," I said, intertwining my hand with his and he smiled, a wide and happy one as he looked out our connected hands. "For everything."

"It's my duty." He replied, and I smiled at him, feeling my heart getting warm already. For a moment, we stared at each other, becoming completely ensnared with each other's unwavering gaze.

A hand pulled on my hips and that was all it took for me to kiss him. I kissed him like he was my support, my strength and he kissed me back with the same amount of ferocity. "I love you." He whispered against my lips, reminding me in those three words that he would always be here for me. He pulled back just for a milli-second before diving in for another kiss again. We had not touched or spoken for the past three days and the way he kissed me told me everything I needed to know.

I was straddling him and his hands were tugging the hem of my shirt. The moment his cold finger made contact with my warm skin, I pulled away and moved his hand out.

He frowned.

I smiled a fake one and rested my forehead against his while cupping his cheeks. He got distracted and I felt relief flood through me.

"How is your mom?" I asked, for the first time, talking about his family. He lifted his eyebrows, momentarily surprised before calming down. He looked like he was trying to hide an emotion but it went away as soon as it came. "Good."

"Her company?"

He let out a loud sigh and a frown fell upon his face. Suddenly, he looked a lot older. I lifted his chin to make him look at me. "They are shutting it down."

I felt my heart sink at his sullen face.

"I am sorry. I lied." His voice cracked all of a sudden and I frowned, not understanding what he was saying and lifted his head to see his eyes. There were unshed tears in them and I felt like a million thorns were piercing my heart.

"She is not well. She is dying. I don't know what to do. I tried everything. It's her life's work. It's the only thing that kept her alive after their father's death. I don't know what to do." A tear rolled down his left eye and I wiped it away furiously. The muscles of his chin trembled like a small child. "She is dying Kitkat." His voice went an octave higher at the end and I hugged him to myself, his face buried at the crook of my neck.

How could I have been so selfish?

I only cared about my problems and forgot that he had problems of his own. The sound of a loud sniff from him made tears reach my eyes and I hugged him tighter. He sobbed into my chest and I held him in silence, rocking him back and forth. I blinked my lashes, to control myself from not crying together with him.

I looked at the waves ahead of me. They were wild and crashing against each other like they were in agony. The pain hit me in waves. I hugged him closer to me and kissed his hair, wanting him to feel better. I could tell that Auden never broke down before this. He was always a strong man. He had a hard wall built around himself. But every day, as he spent his time with me, I could see his walls tumbling down brick by brick together with mine.

The world turned into a blur, and so did all the sounds. The taste. The smell. Everything was gone. That's how it felt when the love of your life is hurting.

But, the one advantage here is, I can fix it. And I am willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means losing him.

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