A/N: you guys should play the song above during this chapter (if you want). It's called Pain by Jurrivh, just in case the link doesn't work lol.

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Inaya's POV

I walk back and forth in my room, impatiently.

"It's his fault... he's literally traumatizing me everyday and yet, here I am, feeling guilty for raising my voice!" I say to myself.

I sigh and head to bed instead. I wrap myself tightly with a blanket and try to get comfortable.

After about 10 to 15 minutes, I hear music.

I squint at the clock, it's 1:30 AM.

Where's the music coming from?

"Don't be dumb, Inaya... Don't go trying to find the source of the sound..." I start pacing back and forth in the room again until my curiosity gets the best of me.

I grab my scarf off the table and wrap it around my head, loosely.

The closer I got the the sound, the sadder it sounds. I finally reach a grand French doors, leading to a mini-ball room with a piano tucked away in the corner.

I see Dominic sitting in front of the piano, playing it.

I quietly stand behind the door, peaking out, watching and listening to him play.

The tune is... sad. It's heartbreaking. Each note drains sadness through me, instead of gliding over my skin. It travels through every cell in my body, giving my goosebumps. My heart swells up and my eyes become teary.

I can feel the emotions through each tone being played. It's as if it's telling a hidden story about everything painful that's ever happened.

"Come inside." Dominic's voice shakes me out of my trance.

How did he know I was here? I hadn't even made a noise.

"N-no, it's a-alright. I was just woken up by the sound." I say.

"Sit with me." He slightly pats the empty spot beside him without looking back at me.

Do I really want to make him angry?

No, no I don't.

So, I slowly make my way to the piano seat and sit down with enough space in between the two of us.

His hands were hovering over the keys, as if waiting for me to say something.

"What you were playing–it's beautiful. Sad yet beautiful." I say.

He doesn't say anything back but continues to start playing.

Now that I'm closer to the sound, I can really feel it coursing through me. It's the type of sound that carries a strong emotion, where your spirit isn't sure if you want to cry or if it's just overwhelming. It has my heart aching and my stomach feeling empty: it's draining my energy, making me feel weak and tired.

These must be the emotions Dominic is pouring into the song. He's playing it as if there's no escape from that feeling.

I saw a single tear fall from my eye right onto the back of his right hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to—" I quickly wipe away the tear from his hand using my scarf.

He pull me in closer to him and slides his right hand from around my back. He holds both my hands softly, making my heart skip a beat. He presses certain keys using my finger to play the tune, as if trying to reach me.

"My mother taught me how to play. I hated it, at first, but it grew on me. And now I play whenever I feel fucked up." He says.

My eyes widen. I didn't expect a normal conversation from him.

"That's sweet of her. Maybe one day you'll introduce me to her." I say those words without thinking.

His grip on my hands tighten and he stops playing.

I shouldn't have said that. I don't even know if she's alive or in his life or not.

I look over at him and even in the darkness I see an emotion so clear that my heart aches for him. He looks as hurt as he sounded when he was playing his music.

I turn my head to look at him, my heart racing at what I'm going to do. I place my right hand on cheek and softly caress it with my thumb.

"Whatever happened... you're alive and breathing. You made it." I whisper slowly.

With that, I stand up to leave only to have him pull me down onto his lap facing him. I rest my hands on his shoulders as I look into those familiar yet foreign eyes.

My heart is pounding in my chest; the butterflies in my stomach intensify from being so close.

He stares down at my lips, his rough fingertip brushing against my lips.

"Are you always like this?" His voice is course, yet gentle.

"Like what?" I ask in a hushed tone.

"Pretend like you care for everyone, pretend that everyone's good."

"Everyone has some good in them; they just don't know it, sometimes."

He tilted in close, hovering his lips very close to mine.

"Not everyone, amore mìo, not everyone..." I can feel the tingles on my lips from him being less than an inch away.

I turn my head away. "I-I should go."

"You should go." He agrees.

For some reason, the fact that he didn't ask me to stay made my chest pull.

Is that a pang of... disappointment?

Snap out of it, Inaya!

I quickly stand up before the Satan in me decides to stick around any longer.

He stands up just as quick as me and grabs me by my elbow. He leans down to my ear and whispers, "If you sat there a second longer, I might've given into my temptations."

This sends tingles down my spine. I didn't know how to answer to that and the comment sort of... scared me? or is the feeling something else?

Before leaving the room, I turn around to look at him one more time. "You should play the piano often, you play beautifully. I'd love to hear more."

And I swear to you, I saw his lips curl into a half smile; a genuine smile. It's as if this is the first real compliment he's received about his music in a while.

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A/N: hiiiii guysssss! It's been a while! I'm still trying to deal with something but here's a chapter!!

Next Update: Thursday, November 7, 2019. Insha'Allah!