A Beautiful Consequence

Their History

Time sprinted fast and soon, it was 7:30 pm. As promised, the doorbell rang and Talia opened the door to find Nicholas standing on the other side, and looking as handsome as the devil he ever was. His dark hair was swept to the side and Talia felt the urge to run her hands through his thick hair and she was bewildered by her forbidden imagination. He looked good and Talia had to admit it.

As soon as the door opened and Talia stood there, Nicholas was in awe when his eyes took in the timeless beauty's appearance. Long dark hair cascading down in waves and curls, a blue dress that came down to just slightly above her knees, and the red lipstick that accentuated her features, Nicholas gulped as he took in her appearance. "You look beautiful, Talia", he said politely and handed her a rose. 

Talia's heart skipped  a beat at his compliment, and she chose to ignore it. "Thanks, you don't look half as bad too.", she replied him a typical reply that was always told to a person who compliments you, and she accepted the rose. "Thanks for this too.", she said softly and stepped aside to close her door shut. 

"Where are we going to?", she asked Nicholas with curiousity as he dressed a little casually, too casually for a date at a formal restaurant, she thought, as she had assumed all this while that he would probably bring her over to some fancy restaurant.  

Nicholas looked at her with a smirk and opened the car door for her. "That's for me to know and for you to find out. Now, where would the fun be if I told you where we are going to?", he told her playfully. Talia rolled her eyes as she got into his car, "Whatever, one chance is all you got. Better make this right.", she spat out her words icily which prompted a sigh from Nicholas.    

He knew it would take a lot of effort to mend his relationship with her, and it was understandable the way Talia behaved towards him. She was reserved and he knew he deserved it. The car kickstarted and he drove to their date, but he couldn't deny the sweat that was forming in his palms. 

How was he going to explain to Talia that the reason he left her was because he is an Alpha to one of the strongest packs in the werewolf society, and  particularly, how was he going to explain to her that he was a werewolf? Most humans live in contentment thinking that they are the only species of the mankind, but what they don't know is that another entire species- the werewolf race exists too and lives side by side with them in this world. 

He was certain that Talia was in oblivion about the existence of his kind and he could only pray to the moon goddess earnestly that the woman meant to be his luna, would not freak out and accept him for who he is. Just thinking about her reaction had sent his heart beating furiously.

They arrived to their destination and once again, Nico had opened the doors for Talia. "Being a gentleman, aren't we", Talia said and glanced around the destination. They were in a deserted beach, and it looked darn beautiful.

As she looked up at the darkening sky, she could see the looming sunset and as she glanced around, the smell of the salty waves hit her nose and she had to will herself from thinking about her first date with Nicholas. 

Years ago, this beach was where they had their first date, and first kiss, and she remembered how they lay on the very same golden sand. Her head was  laid upon Nico's shoulders as they watched the sunset together in harmonious silence, and that was also the day they had each confessed to the other about their feelings.

"This was where we had our first date six years and six months ago, 12 days and..", Nico looked at his clock, "8 hours 5 minutes ago", he told her softly as he looked at her eyes directly. Unable to comprehend the candid emotions that were swimming in his eyes, Talia looked away and focused on the sky instead. "I'm surprised you still remembered..", she told him softly. 

"I remember everything about you, everything about us, Talia. Everything.", he told her earnestly and Talia looked back at his face and smiled at him softly.

 "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.", she muttered very, very softly to herself. She thought that Nico would not hear it, but his advanced werewolf hearing senses means he heard everything that she said and it felt like someone stomped on his heart and crushed it. 

Without replying to her comment, he grabbed hold of Talia's hands and gently strode to the middle of the beach, right beside the palm tree, where he had planned his date tonight with her. "Why is the entire beach so empty?", Talia remarked as she looked all around her and not a single person was in sight, except the two of them. 

Nico glanced back at Talia and smiled sheepishly. "Uh...that...maybe, because I booked the entire beach for ourselves tonight", he told her shyly and continued walking.

Talia was stunned by the revelation, but she remained silent as they continued walking, and Nico stopped abruptly. "Here's your surprise!", he told her with enthusiasm as he showed her all the preparations that he has done. A blanket was neatly plopped on the sand a little further away, while a foldable table and two chairs were placed next to the palm tree.

 A candle was placed in the middle of the table, with two covered plates laying on the other side of the burning candle. "I hope you like it! but before we sit down, I want to show you one more thing!", Nico told her as he held her hand again and brought her closer to the palm tree. He bent down a little and his finger pointed at the carving on the tree, "Nico loves Talia".

 He had carved it for her all those years ago as a symbol of their love and the moment Talia saw it, she was overwhelmed with emotions. Her fingers gently touched the carving and a tear spilled down her cheeks. Nico wiped away her tear as he told her, "I know I screwed up before, Talia. but just know that I never stopped loving you, and I will always love you", with that, he gently placed a kiss on her lips and guided her to sit on the chair.

Talia's mind was spinning and she could not believe that he had still remembered all these little things, that he could have found the tree that they had once jokingly marked as the tree of their love. She remembered how he used to look at her like she was the most important person in the world ever, how she had kissed him so many times before and had sworn that he was her true love...and all those memories that she had with him in this very beach.

"Thank you, Nico", she told him honestly, her voice thick with nostalgia as every bit of her want for revenge got dissolved away as she stared at the man she once loved. Was it possible to mix love with hate? No matter how much someone has hurt you, if that person has meant so damn much to you, can you ever look at their eyes and still hate them? 

When Talia saw Nicholas's eyes, and the way he was staring at her like he had used to before, she looked away sadly. She still felt like the girl with a broken heart all those years ago, she still felt like clutching her heart with wary at the presence of Nicholas Raven and this was just complicating her lives further.