The dress did wonders to my confidence. And when I stood in front of the mirror, it reflected back the girl I once was. I saw a gleam in my eyes instead of the sadness that they'd held since Jaimie... and a even bit of color returned to my face. I managed a small smile and turned to leave, ready to get Hunter and apologize for how awful I had been.

When I opened the door I jumped back and found Hunter staring at my door from the opposite side of the hallway. He was equally surprised and his eyes widened and then slowly travelled down the length of my dress only to finally find my face when he was done.

A light blush creeped onto Hunter's face and I felt a smile take over my face.

"I believe you planned a surprise date for us?" I broke the silence.

He nodded and he walked closer to me until I was completely wrapped up in a hug. It was a surprise but my arms quickly wrapped around him as well.

Hunter kissed the top of my head and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Em. I am so, so sorry."

"Me too, Hunt. I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. It wasn't your fault." I felt tears but refused to let them fall.

He pulled back out of the hug and cupped my face in his hands, "You deserve an explanation. And I promise you will get one tonight still. But if we don't leave soon we'll be late." A smile graced his lips and I felt myself drawn into him again. But this time it was Hunter pulling me in for a kiss.

I missed him so much and the way he softly kissed me made me realize he had missed me even more. I found my hands move to wrap around his neck as he gently walked us back so that I was against the wall.

"I though you said we need to leave soon." I whispered against his lips and felt him smile.

"Smartass." He punctuated the insult with a kiss.

So I did the same, "Hypocrite."

"Know it all."

"Jackass."

"How does that even relate?"

"I don't know but at least you're a handsome jackass."

Hunter was laughing too hard so he had to pull away from me.

"It's not that funny." I said despite my smile and rolled my eyes. My only response was more laughter. "Ok. Hahaha, very funny. Now can we go please?" I dragged Hunter by the hand and pulled him downstairs.

I found Jade and my dad playing with their new born baby girl, Hannah, in the lounge.

"Emilia, you look stunning." Jade got up with Hannah in her arms and dad followed closely behind. I appreciated the compliment so I gave a small smile and nod.

"Em, dear, your mom and I want to give you something quickly if you wouldn't mind?" My dad looked at Hunter for confirmation that there was enough time and he got a nod in return.

Jade gave my dad an encouraging nod and when she moved to kiss him on the cheek, Hannah started crying. I had been told that Hunter had been her favorite and would almost instantly stop crying when he held her so that's what he did.

As I turned to leave with my dad, I looked back and saw Hunter swaying with Hannah as he sang to her. My thoughts flickered to what our child might look like. The thought shocked me but also sent a warm feeling throughout my body. And as he walked around with her and she stopped crying, my gosh I had never felt so in love before.

-

"Jaimie's promise ring." I looked down at the small silver band in my hands and clutched it tightly. "Thank you."

Mom could barely speak as she watched me so dad took control, "You kept faith all the time, Em and for that we are so proud of you. You are so strong and we're sorry we couldn't be better parents for you. You deserve the world and we know that one day you'll have it. But for now we thought we'd give you this since you did spend her last - " My dad choked on his words and for some reason that pained me more than anything else. No parent deserved to bury their child. But he quickly recovered and forced a smile, "Have fun with Hunter, okay?"

I nodded as I slipped the ring onto my finger and whispered gently, "I promise. Forever and always Jams. Forever and always."

-

"Come on, get out. We need to go get our seats!" I rushed Hunter as he pulled into the parking lot.

"Let me park the damn car first you crazy woman."

"Crazy, huh?" I cocked an eyebrow and glared at him.

"Crazy for me?" Hunter's voice went up slightly and I laughed at him.

"You got that right. But I swear if we miss the opening act of Phantom of the Opera I will castrate you."

"See? Crazy woman! Plus if you wanted to touch my ba - "

"Don't finish that sentence and park." I pointed to an open parking.

As soon as the car stopped I was out of my seat and running towards Hunter's side to get him to move.

"Ok. Please relax I'm coming." Hunter laughed as I practically pulled him out of the car.

"Rule one," I squinted my eyes at him as I pulled him towards the theatre, "Never tell a woman to relax."

"Duly noted." Hunter was wide eyed but kept up with my pace.

-

Once we were inside the theatre, my eyes travelled across every inch of it. Each chair matched the dark red flooring which was a very similar color to the walls. However the walls material also had intricately woven patterns stitched onto it, depicting scenes I could only dream of. And then there was the ceiling. Swirls of color covered it with ancient tales of war, romance and tragedy.

Every aspect of this theatre was breathtaking and I stood by the entrance and breathed it all in.

"You look like you're at home." Hunters voice made me open my eyes and face him. He was staring at me intensely and a certain emotion crept its way into my heart. "I understand why you want to be a performer. I really do."

A sad smile graced his face as he took my hand and lead me to our seats which were close to the front. Yet again, Hunter had spoilt me.

Hunter kept my hand in his while we sat and waited for the lights to dim and the show to start. His mouth was a soft touch against my ear as he whispered, "I know I haven't said it yet and that's probably because I can't choose the right word but... You looking stunning, Em."

I turned my face to kiss him gently and then slide off Jaimie's ring and uncurled Hunter's fingers from mine. His gaze followed my every movement as I removed the ring off my finger and put it on one of Hunter's.

"This is probably a bit unethical in terms of relationships but... it was my sister's promise ring and I want you to know how much you mean to me so I want you to have it."

Hunter's jaw dropped and his eyes flicked from the ring back to mine and a couple more times again before deciding on my eyes, "My gosh Em, you never fail to surprise me. I can't even begin to explain how much I lo - "

Hunter's words were cut off by a loud crash as the performance began.

-

"You were on the edge of your seat the whole time, Em!" Hunter laughed as he watched me from the corner of his eye, still keeping his concentration on the road. "I was scared you were going to fall off."

"Thank you Hunt. You can stop embarrassing me now." I rolled my eyes and hid my face in my hands.

"I think it was absolutely adorable." Hunter took one of my hands from my face and brought it to his lips. I smiled to myself as I felt the silver band around this finger touch mine. An unspoken promise.

I watched Hunter for the rest of the car ride, laughing along at his awful jokes that would make any dad even cringe. So when I noticed his smile drop as his face glowed in the blue light, I flicked my eyes towards my house surrounded by two police cars.

My parents and friends were outside being questioned and when the car stopped and my mom's eyes met mine, I had never seen such a look of betrayal.

My steps were slow and careful as I approached my family.

"What's going on?" I asked to anyone that would answer me.

My mom stormed back into the house so an officer answered my question with a question of his own, "We're looking for Hunter Maddox. Is he here?"

"I'm right here." I felt his arm wrap around my waist and his fingers dig into my side.

The officer stepped forward, "Sir, we're going to need you to put your hands behind your head - "

"What's going on?" I also again.

"Hunter Maddox, you are under arrest - "

"This has got to be some kind of mistake!" I tried to reason with them although I knew it was useless.

The officer continued unaffected, "- for the assisted kidnapping and murder of Jaimie Anderson." I watched as Hunter's hands were taken to be cuffed. "You have the right to remain silent - "

"No." I whispered to myself and shook my head, "No. it wasn't him! I was there! It wasn't him!" I struggled against my dad's strong grip.

"This is absolute bullshit!" Theo screamed over the cop who was reading Hunter his rights. Fortunately, Ivy managed to hold him back.

My insides turned cold as Hunter eventually lifted his head and met my stare.

This time the emotion swimming in them was the complete opposite from what I had seen only hours ago.

He was apologizing.

•

You will get an explanation soon. Just gotta write the chapter :) Its super late and I'm tired so please forgive any mistakes and I am sorry for taking so long to update but I had writers block and I was away so I couldn't post anything.

But I'm back now! And I hope to finish this book by 17 Jan 2018 the latest! So that does mean it's coming to an end... So prepare yourself because we still have quite a journey.

Remember to tap that star, comment, share, tell your friends, follow and do the most ;) xxx