Witness Protection ✔

The Most Beautiful View

They stopped just before dinnertime, content with how far they'd gotten, although they'd have to continue cleaning the next day.

She cooked up a quick macaroni and cheese dish because she was too tired to put in too much effort. Darius didn't seem to care though, he always ate whatever she served up. She'd asked him what his favorite dishes were before, but he always said it didn't matter to him.

For a pretty food-obsessed person like Nathalia, it felt weird. Who doesn't have a favorite dish?

But she learned food didn't play a big role in his life and he genuinely didn't care about it too much. Except for the few foods he disliked; Brussel sprouts, tofu, and walnuts. She made sure to avoid those, which wasn't hard since she also disliked Brussel sprouts and never really used tofu or walnuts in her cooking.

She'd almost finished washing the dishes when she felt him come up behind her. He had disappeared immediately after dinner, saying something about having to check the generator.

He grabbed her hips with both his hands and dipped his head low enough to kiss her neck. She wanted to react somehow but her hands were covered in suds and she didn't want to smear them on his face.

"I've got a surprise for you," he murmured into her neck, making her turn around almost immediately.

"Really? What kind of surprise?"

"Come on, I'll show you," he said as he released her hips and grabbed her hand. He guided her to the backdoor and gestured for her to put on her shoes and jacket.

When they got outside she became even more confused, what kind of surprise could he have that's outside? Her mind went to the wildest things, maybe he found a cow or something.

They were surrounded by farmland so keeping a cow wouldn't be that weird. But why would he? They were only going to stay here temporarily and cows lived pretty long. She still secretly hoped it was a cow. Or better yet, a little calf.

They walked out further and further out until the house was almost out of sight. They walked up a hill, which turned out to be quite the challenge for her out-of-shape ass. But he didn't pressure her into walking faster and stayed behind her no matter how slow she was going. When they almost reached the top he stopped her.

"Close your eyes," he said, making her narrow her eyes.

Sighing, he explained, "It's not a surprise if you see it from far away, now is it, love?"

It made sense, but she wasn't too keen on walking on the dirt path with her eyes closed. Darius seemed to pick up on this and walked up to her and put his arm around her, keeping her eyes closed with his hand.

"Just trust me," he whispered softly.

"I trust you," she replied confidently. She knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Slowly, he nudged her forward and she continued to walk. She doubted she could even trip with his firm grip on her shoulders, so she continued walking at the same pace as before. Before she knew it they reached their destination and Darius pulled her to a stop.

"You ready?" he asked.

As if she would say no.

She nodded and felt his hand lift from her eyes. She blinked a few times and then gasped.

The hill they stood on provided the most perfect view she'd ever seen. Off in the distance, the mountain tops were covered in the ethereal glow of the setting sun which seemed to bounce off the mountaintops in a way that she'd only ever seen in paintings.

She was about to turn to Darius when she caught sight of something in the corner of her eye. She looked down and to her surprise saw a blanket spread out. And in the middle of that blanket, a cake.