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Chapter 36

After she is done and all tucked into bed, with the hot cocoa, I quickly change myself and get in bed next to her. While we're both lost in our own thoughts, we drink the cocoa. Anna still hasn't spoken, but I notice that she is a little more relaxed.
Ones we've finished our drinks, she snuggles into me and falls asleep.

Having my angel back in my arms again is a wonderful feeling. Her warm skin against mine, the feeling of her breath tickling against my chest. It's heavenly.
I close my eyes and fall asleep with a smile on my face.
I'm finally complete again.

❖Anna❖

Finally waking up in Gabriel's arms again is a bliss. The feeling of his strong arms wrapped tightly around me, his warmth against my skin, it feels safe.

I've woken up before Gabriel did, so I'm taking this moment to have a look at him.
Even though he's asleep, he still looks extremely handsome and powerful. His strong features still standing out and even in this dim light, his jawline still looks as sharp as ever.
But I also notice the dark circles under his eyes, and the slowly growing stubbles of a forgotten beard.
He hasn't been taking care of himself when I wasn't here.

"You know, it's rude to stare." Gabriel says with his husky morning voice.
"And you are all for 'playing by the rules' aren't you." I answer teasingly, earning a small smile from Gabriel.
"I play by my own rules mio Angelo." He says as he pulls me closer. "And I can bend and change those rules however I want." He sends me a cheeky wink. "So, where is my good morning kiss?"
I giggle softly and lean over to peck Gabriel on his lips. "Good morning."
"Good morning mio Angelo."

I'm about to lay down again, when Gabriel stops me. "No, you can't go back to sleep just yet angel. We have a doctor's appointment remember."
Groaning, I roll over to my other side. "Just give me 5 more minutes."
"Anna." Gabriel sighs. "I know you're tired, but we really need to get up and go to the doctor. I need to know if you're going to be okay." Giving me a quick kiss on my cheek, he gets out of the bed.
"I'll go downstairs to make some breakfast. You got precisely 20 minutes to get ready and be sitting at the kitchen table. Deal?"
I hum an answer, closing my eyes again.
"Get up angel." Gabriel says softly and he walks out of the room, closing the door behind him.

For a short moment I think about going back to sleep. At Samuel's place I didn't get a lot of it and this bed feels too good to get out. But I understand Gabriel's worry. If something would have happened to him, I would have wanted him to go to the doctor as soon as possible. So, I decide to just get up and get ready for the day.

In the bathroom I'm about to brush my hair when I see myself in the mirror.
There is a long cut starting above my left eyebrow and ending on the middle of my cheek.
There are also a lot of other cuts and bruises over my entire body. But this one feels like it is the worst one. Because it looks like the one that I gave to my father the day I ran away. He cut my face as a 'return of the favour' as he called it."
With a big sigh, I try to push my thoughts away and move on with my morning routine.

Exactly 19 minutes after Gabriel had left the room, I'm in the kitchen, sitting at the table.
"You actually made it in time." Gabriel jokingly says. He hands me a cup of coffee and some freshly made toast.
We eat mostly in silence, both busy with our own thoughts, when Gabriel suddenly asks; "Did you get any food while you were... there." He is clearly struggling to say that sentence, so I quickly answer it.
"Sometimes. It depended on whether I had 'behaved' or not. It wasn't much though. Just enough to stay hungry."
Gabriel nods, deep in thoughts I can see anger flashing through his eyes.
I don't want him to get mad though, so I quickly change the topic. "I promised Senna that I would go back for her. She helped me a lot Gabriel and she deserves so much better than the life she has right now."
He nods again, still lost in his thoughts.

I stand up and put my dirty dishes in the sink. Suddenly I think of a different way to get him out of his mind. "What time did you say that doctor's appointment was?"
That does do the trick and his eyes jump to mine. "Right, we need to go." He says as he stands up and walks out of the kitchen. Not long after that, I hear the front door open and close, leaving me standing in the kitchen, with a confused look on my face.
"Where did Gabriel go?" Eliot asks as he walks into the kitchen.
"He went to my doctor's appointment, without me."
Eliot starts to laugh when suddenly Gabriel appears back in the kitchen doorframe. "You need to come with me." Gabriel says, making Eliot laugh even harder.

"What is going on here?" Joel starts. "Why are you laughing so hard?" Aro finishes.
Gabriel grabs my hand before Eliot can explain, and pulls me out of the kitchen.
But before the front door closes, I hear more laughter erupting from the kitchen and I know that Eliot has told the twins what happened.
Gabriel is going to be teased for this for a while.