"Are you sure about this?" Eini asked while watching Colleen stuff a bunch of sweets in one box.

"Of course! Gavin would love all of this!" Colleen exclaimed excitedly.

Gavin and Coleen have been dating for 7 months. They would regularly meet at the café every week; And every time they do, Colleen would give her best effort in dressing, finding gifts for Gavin and manners.

"Colleen," you called. "I think you're giving too much effort in this relationship."

"Shush, (Y/n). There is no such thing as too much in love!"

Eini rubbed her temples. "You're dwelling so much in your relationship that you won't accept it when he breaks up with you."

"Oh, come on. It's not like we'd break up any time soon."

Eini went to the side of the room and hit her head on the wall. She turned to you with annoyed eyes. "There's no stopping her, is there?"

"Unfortunately so..."

Colleen skipped on the sidewalk giddily with a big grin. She carried the box full of treats in her hands. The box had a vintage look on its wrapper, showing a bit of antiquity. It was pretty old. However, it was as beautiful as ever.

She laid her hand on the golden knob and pushed through the door. The chimes gave out a sweet melody, alerting the employees of her presence. However, it wasn't a warm greeting as expected. All the employees looked at Colleen with looks of shock, and horror.

One of the employees immediately put on a faux smile and ran over to her. "U-um, hey, Colleen! What can I do for you today?" he asked, while sweating bullets.

"Uh, is Gavin here..?"

Her words hit the employee like a bus and his face unraveled his forlorn emotion. "I should have expected you to say that..." With just a tiny speck of hesitation, he pointed at a near table.

Colleen followed the direction he was pointing and gaped. Her pupils dilated and her hands trembled, dropping the box on the cold, wooden floor. She ran out of breath almost immediately. She gripped her throat as her lungs pleaded for air. Then, her heart started aching, followed by her limbs. Feeling extremely weak and nauseous, her figure began to topple over.

"C-Colleen!" the employee exclaimed, catching her.

All of the customers turned their heads towards the current situation. They acted almost immediately, standing up and helping the employee.

"Someone call an ambulance! She's having a heart attack!" someone shouted.

"Hang in there, Colleen. I am not having somebody die in my arms today."

"Mrs. Ecclestone," the doctor said, pushing his glasses further into his face, "your daughter had just experienced a heart attack. Heart attacks, when a person does not have a history with them, are caused by emotional trauma. Your daughter must have experienced an intense emotion that it caused abnormal heart rhythm, leading to a blood clot in one of the arteries."

"Oh. When will we able to go home?"

The doctor hummed to himself before smiling. "You will be able to go home once she wakes up. I would just advice taking aspirin to prevent further blood clotting and nitroglycerin to improve blood flow through the coronary arteries."

"Thank you."

"I'll be going now." The doctor nod before taking his leave to assist another patient.

Colleen's mother looked at the door to her daughter's room and pushed it open, revealing the blinding, white, hospital room. She sighed and turned to close the door. Out of the corner of her eye, Colleen's finger can be seen twitching. Colleen's mother looked at her beloved daughter and ran to her side. "C-colleen.."

The brunette twisted her head from side to side. Drops of sweat formed around her hairline. "No.." she groaned. "No, no, no.. No!" she shouted, shooting up the bed with tears in her eyes. She hugged her knees close to her chest and sobbed. Colleen was immediately engulfed in a hug by her mother. She sighed. "Where am I?" she asked, looking around.

"In the hospital, dear. You had a heart attack at the café. The doctor says it was probably caused by intense emotion-"

"So it wasn't a dream.." she whispered, diving deep into her sulking again. Her quiet sobs turned into screams. "Mom.. I s-saw Gavin at the café w-with another woman. Th-they were holding hands, mom! They were holding each other's bloody hands!" she cried out.

Colleen's mother hugged her tighter. She tried her best to comfort Colleen but her daughter kept crying and crying. She hummed a sweet melodic tone that slowly helped Colleen quiet down her sobs.

"Mom.."

"Yes, darling?"

"Was I not enough? D-do I really deserve to be cheated on?" Coleen thought loudly. "Am I.. worthless..?"

"No, darling."

"Then.. why..?"

"I don't.. know," she told her daughter with a frown while rubbing circles on Colleen's back. "All I know is that he doesn't deserve you. He lost two things. The first one being extremely precious and a fragile element; the second being rare.. but heavenly."

"What are those two things?" Colleen asked, looking up at her mother with curious eyes.

"Trust and true love."

-ring-ring-

"Funny. No one usually calls me..unless it was my parents. But I doubt it..." Eini said, looking suspiciously at the phone. -ring-ring- She hesitantly picked it up and pressed the accept button. "Eini Milburn. How can I help you?"

You observed her facial expression as she speaks.

"E-Eini? I-it's Colleen's mother."

Eini sat up and shared a glance with you. "Of course, Aunt Prim. What can I do for you?"

"Colleen's at the hospital right n-"

"W-what?! What happened? W-what hospital? (Y/n) and I wil-" Eini said frantically with a horrified and worried expression.

"I'm afraid that it will be too soon for that. I just wanted to let you know since Colleen won't be able to do your history project with the two of you. However, I'll call you when she wakes up."

"O-okay, Aunt Prim. But what happened?"

"Heart attack."

"Alright. Thank you, Aunt Prim." Eini ended the call and turned to you. "Colleen's at the hospital because of a heart attack. Aunt Prim refuses to give any more details."

You nod. "I guess we'll have to continue this project by our own. I think we ran out of newspaper."

Eini groaned. "Why do we need to do the Terracotta Army structure of China of all the landmarks in the world! Do you know what makes it worse? We need papier-mâché!"

"Hm.. I think my uncle has some spare blueprints down the basement. However, I doubt he'd let us in there since.. it's too dangerous."

"(Y/n), I am so desperate right now so let's just go and take them. I'm sure he wouldn't mind," the redhead countered, going straight for the door. "Plus, there's nothing that would be dangerous enough to almost kill me or send me to the hospital."

You followed her through the door, doing your best to keep up with her. "Eini, you don't underst-"

"Yeah. Rickety stairs, scattered tools, ya-da, ya-da, ya-da. I'll be careful. Don't worry. Also, if there was a freaking murderer, or a dangerous animal, I hope they're friendly enough to spare my oh-so-dear-life."

"Eini-"

By then, she already opened the door to the basement, revealing the staircase down to hell. "Well, this sure is going to be fun," she mocked and flipped the lights on. "I see no murderers or animals around. Maybe there are invisible ghosts? Oooh, spooky."

"Eini, I'm serious."

"So am I about this stupid project. Now, let's go," she replied sternly and grabbed your arm, dragging you down. "What in the blazes is this?" she asked you, pointing at the time machine. It wasn't really destroyed yet by your uncle.

You looked at it and furrowed your eyebrows. "Th-that's nothing. It's just a crazy contraption that my uncle made."

"Stuttering is connected with lying, you know," she commented before her eyes sparked with satisfaction. "There's a ton of blueprints over there!"

You realized it was stacked inside of the machine. "Eini, no!" you shouted. However, she was already inside, carrying all the blueprints with her. You grabbed her arm and tried to pull her out but it was too late. The machine already did its work, and you were dragged with her.

Colleen's mother counted the pounds (UK currency) in her hand. She had just returned from the pharmacy, getting a few tablets of aspirin and nitroglycerin. Once she was satisfied, she put it back in her pocket and walked down the hallway towards Colleen's room. Unbeknown to her, a familiar person had already gotten there before her.

"Mrs. Ecclestone!" Gavin called out, getting her attention. I came as soon as I heard. How is Colleen? Is she feeling well now? Was she looking for m-"

"Gavin, I think it would be better if you just leave her for now. She's.. not yet ready to face you."

Gavin sighed and nod. "Alright, I understand. Thank you though, Mrs. Ecclestone." With that, he left.

Colleen's mother watched him walk away and blend in with the numerous people in the hospital. She sighed and went inside the room. "Hey, darling," she greeted her daughter.

The brunette stayed still, not moving an inch. "Gavin has gone to the hospital to visit me, has he not?" she stated coldly.

"He has.."

Colleen looked up at her mother with a few tears cascading down her cheeks. "Have you told him to leave?" she asked.

"I have.."

"I want to slap him in the face so bad," she sobbed. "B-but.. but.."

"But you still love him," her mother finished. She wore a warm and gentle smile while walking towards her daughter. "If you're really sure about what you saw, I don't think you should dwell into your relationship anymore. However, I would suggest the two of you talk together before you come up with a decision."

Colleen huffed. "If I have gotten the wrong idea, do you think our relationship is still worth a try?"

"It's your decision."

"Why must I suffer like this?" she asked, pouting.

====[Author's Note]====

Psycho: I really.. really.. think that it's time to go back to the 17th century. Yes, the moment you've all been waiting for. You're welcome.

No one make a reference about Gavin's line.

Another note that I would like to leave: I got my grades this quarter. It.. got worse. With that, I am taking a break from updating. I will only hold a phone on weekends to focus on my studies more. But I won't be able to promise that I would update on weekends. I mean, we also have take-home projects. I also take MTAP classes during Saturdays where they only teach Mathematics. They also give us activities to answer at home, making my time on the phone limited.

My Christmas break is also occupied since we have a family activity and a trip to do during that time. Nonetheless, I will still try my best to update.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As always, I wish you all a great day and an advanced merry christmas.