The Trapped Lover

Chapter 12

Matthias

I knew Rhea was doubting herself, feeling low of herself. She had this habit. She would never graciously accept any compliment - big or small. But this time Matthias was hell bent on making her understand that she is the only one that he wanted to be with. And nothing was going to change that.

Rhea had been staring down for too long he thought and a sad silence had engulfed them. Matthias went and sat opposite to her on the floor.

"Ho.. Wh.. You don't know me Matt. You think you do but you don't. I'm a terrible person and I've done terrible things. You'll hate me when you come to know about it," Rhea said.

Matthias did a little dance inside when he heard Rhea call him from the nickname she had given him, but this was not the time. He could see it in her eyes that if she continued like this, she was going down the spiral of self sabotage.

"Hon, whatever it is, It is all in the past now, okay? This is a fresh start for us. Let me show you how much I love you. Let me take care of you, pamper you." Matthias knew that it all depended on how Rhea reacted to this, to understand if anything has changed in the last few days or not.

"I... I don't know what to say".

Matthias heart sank but he knew that the reaction he was expecting was not going to come soon. And anyway this was definitely better than her outright rejecting it.

He had to change the mood. Matthias got up from the floor, stood and took a nice dancing stance. Back arched, chest out, left hand back and right hand out which he put towards Rhea, seeking her to join him.

Though hesitantly, but Rhea took it and stood up. She put her left hand in his right hand and Matthias gently tugged her towards him and settled his left hand on her waist.

"Would you like to dance, milady?" Matthias asked dramatically, faking a terrible British accent.

Rhea giggled silently and is if shrugging away the tears, shook her head, took a deep breath, put on a wide smile and said, "Why, yes! I'd love to!"

This wasn't exactly what Matthias wanted, but he knew this was the best he was getting right now. Matthias knew he had to make Rhea fall in love with him again and this little something that they shared just now was a start. But for now, Matthias just wanted to enjoy the moment and savour having Rhea in his arms again.

It had been so long. So long, that he had held her. Matthias made Rhea do a little twirl and as she was again face to face with Matthias, he picked her up in his arms. Bridal Style.

Rhea didn't protest. She let him take the lead. Matthias carried her out of the room and down the staircase to the living room, not breaking the eye contact even for a split second.

When they were in the living room, he gently put her down. He stood straight and put his arms around her waist as Rhea put hers on his shoulders. And they started moving rhythmically in a sync. Left. Right. Left. Right. They continued on this way for a few minutes.

Rhea linked her arms behind Matthias' neck getting more closer than they were and put her head against his heart. Matthias had butterflies fluttering in his belly at Rhea's gesture. He too tightened his hold on her. In that moment he knew that everything is going to be alright. He knew that the tables had turned in Rhea's heart as well. Even though she wasn't aware of it herself, but there was a shift now.

As Rhea moved her head after a few moments and looked up into Matthias' eyes, Matthias felt a pull in his heart and he let his heart take the lead.

He cupped Rhea's face in his hands and bent down. He took it slow to give Rhea the time of stepping out if she wanted too. When she didn't, Matthias put his lips against hers and kissed her tenderly. A few moments later, Rhea started kissing him back.