"So, what are we gonna do?" I asked, feeling the excitement bubbling up inside, imagining having him to myself for the next two weeks.
He shrugged. "Anything you want."
"Anything?" I smirked deviously.
"I know I'll regret this later, but yes, my love, anything you want."
I squealed happily and clapped my hands, already thinking of a million things for us to do. "When do we start?"
"Whenever you want."
"Well, if that's the case, we'll be starting tomorrow morning."
"You have something in mind already?" His eyebrows raised in surprise as we pulled into the parking lot where the party was taking place.
"Maybe, but that's a conversation for later, now let's go before Stella has a panic attack."
We walked into the fully decorated barn hand in hand, and I gasped softly, taking in the beautiful scene before me. Colorful lights were hanging from one side of the ceiling to the other, along with white ceiling drapes. In the middle was a long walkway that led to a huge projector screen and gold table that was designated for Stella and Theo. Silver circular tables that seated four people each were littered on either side of the walkway with name tags placed on each chair. Most of the tables were already filled with family and friends chatting away, but as soon as we started walking down the aisle towards our table in the front where Carter and Gabrielle were already seated, all eyes were on us. I immediately started hyperventilating mentally, hating all the attention, but when I looked up at Nathaniel, he seemed unfazed, as if he expected this.
"Why are they looking at us?" I asked lowly so that only he could hear me.
"Because you're beautiful."
"Nathaniel," I squeezed his hand tightly, wanting him to be serious.
He chuckled and gazed down at me lovingly. "I think they're still in shock that I have a girlfriend."
"But didn't they see me at the museum?"
"Not all of them were there."
I nodded slowly and scanned the huge area again, locking eyes with many of Nathaniel's and Stella's family members. So many of them smiled at me, and others waved, clearly happy that Nathaniel had finally found someone. But as we neared our table, I couldn't help but notice a group of women sitting at the table behind us glaring specifically at me.
"Who are they?" I nodded my head in the direction of the females who were still giving me the death stare.
"Anastazi," Nathaniel sighed heavily, tightening his grip on my hand, but before he had time to answer, we had already made it to our table, where Carter and Gabrielle greeted us with huge smiles.
"Of course, you two would be the last to arrive," Carter joked as Nathaniel held the chair out for me to sit in.
"Let's just hope Stella doesn't notice," I laughed.
Seconds later, the entire barn lights dimmed, and a spotlight shined towards the front entrance where Stella and Theo emerged from. The crowd immediately cheered seeing the two lovebirds, and I couldn't help but smile when Theo bowed down.
Stella grabbed the mic that was lying on their table and began her well-prepared speech thanking everyone for coming and how she was so excited to start the celebration. The party started off with a beautiful montage video of the couple that played on the giant projector screen in the front for everyone to see. As soon as it began, Nathaniel slid my chair closer to his and tossed his arm around my shoulder, always needing to be touching me in some way.
Once the video was over, Stella announced that it was time to socialize and have fun, pointing out the refreshments in one corner of the barn and the mini photo booth in another. I was never good at socializing with people, and I was grateful that Nathaniel didn't care to do so either.
"Don't think I didn't see you two sneak in late," Stella announced as soon as she approached our table, making me laugh.
"You look beautiful," I smiled as I stood up and wrapped my arms around her small figure.
"Thanks, cupcake," she chirped, planting a kiss on my cheek. "And you look radiant...wait, Stazi, are you—" She paused and looked over my shoulder at Nathaniel, then back at me. "Never mind, I'll talk to you later."
I raised my eyebrows in confusion but brushed it aside as she pecked me on the cheek again before moving on to Nathaniel. "Can you stop sitting there brooding and give me a hug?" Stella snapped at her cousin.
"I don't brood," he grumbled, standing up and wrapping his arms around her, bringing a smile to my face.
We all chatted for a few more minutes before she and Theo moved on to other tables, along with Carter and Gabrielle, who went off to get some of the refreshments being served.
"You think we can escape while they're busy?" Nathaniel whispered in my ear once we were seated again with his arm around my shoulders.
"No, Nathaniel," I laughed, smacking his thigh. "How often do you go to family functions?"
He shrugged. "Never."
"Exactly, so you'll be fine for one night," I whispered, brushing my fingers against his cheek as I stared into his beautiful eyes.
Nathaniel groaned lowly and leaned down, burying his head in the crook of my neck, not caring who watched us
"Come on, let's go take some pictures in the photo booth," I suggested.
"Photobooth?" He lifted his head and raised his eyebrows in confusion.
I nodded and stood up with my hand out, waiting for him to grab it before walking in the direction of the booth.
"How does this work?" He asked wearily once we figured out our seating arrangement inside. Unfortunately, he was too tall for us to sit side by side, so I ended up sitting on his lap with his arms wrapped around my waist.
"Just look at the camera and do whatever you want," I instructed as I pressed the button to capture this moment. "It takes four pictures, so pose four times."
Seconds later, three flashes blinded us, and before the last flash went off, Nathaniel gripped my chin and locked lips with mine the exact moment the camera took our last picture.
"How romantic," I joked, pushing myself off of him to go wait for our pictures to finish developing outside of the booth.
It didn't take long before 2 sets of pictures slid out the slot, and tears pricked my eyes as I looked at each photo. In the first one, we were both looking directly at the camera, me with a big smile on my face and Nathaniel with the slightest smile on his. I decided to switch things up in the second picture, sticking my tongue out while Nathaniel's buried his head in the crook of my neck. But seeing the third picture is what made my heart squeeze tightly, in it Nathaniel had lifted his head and was gazing up at me in adoration while I smiled at the camera again oblivious to his stares and in the last one was where Nathaniel kissed me, but it wasn't until I saw the third picture of him admiring when I realized he didn't kiss me for the sake of the photo, he kissed me because he genuinely wanted to in that moment.
"I love them," I whispered as I continued staring at the pictures, smiling.
We spent the remainder of the night back at our table, mostly talking to each other and occasionally making conversation with some family members that would pass by. And it wasn't until we stayed a few more hours when we finally decided to sneak away and go home. Stella was too wrapped up with Theo to even notice our disappearance, but I made sure to send her a quick text the second we arrived at Nathaniel's place.
"Fuck, I'm so sleepy," I sighed, crawling onto the bed after taking a long hot shower with him.
"We can always stay home tomorrow," Nathaniel smirked, pulling me against his bare chest.
I laughed and flicked his nipple. "Nice try, Creed, but you're not getting out of my plans that easily."
He chuckled deeply and pressed his lips against my hair. "Goodnight, my love."
"Goodnight," I mumbled, snuggling deeper into his warmth, my eyes fluttering shut.
Minutes passed, but no matter how much I tried to force myself to sleep, I couldn't. My mind was restless and occupied with so many endless thoughts.
"Can I ask you a question?" I whispered out loud, not knowing if Nathaniel was even up but silently hoping he was.
"Mhm," he answered immediately, making me regret my decision to my mouth. I laid there on his chest in silence, trying to pretend that I had fallen asleep, but Nathaniel knew me too well.
"Speak, Anastazi."
I swallowed hard and sucked in a deep breath before speaking again. "Do you ever wonder what your life would've been like if your mom didn't die?"
"Every day," he answered casually, brushing his fingers against my arm.
Silence captivated the room again as I tried to shut my eyes, but I still couldn't bring myself to sleep; it was just one of those nights where my brain made me overthink every single thing that happened in my life.
"You know I killed her?" I blurted out loud, feeling tears roll down my face. "My mom, I killed her."
Nathaniel's entire body stiffened at my confession and his arms instantly wrapped around my body. "Anastazi, you had nothing to do with her death."
I shook my head in disagreement. "She died in childbirth, Nathaniel; if I was never born, she would still be alive today, but I took that away from her."
"You can't blame yourself for something that you had no control over love."
I laughed bitterly and sniffled. "But I do, and I have ever since I was old enough to fully understand what happened."
"Anastazi--"
"I never told anyone this, but when I was growing up, and the kids at my school found out what happened to my mom, they all called me a murderer. Imagine being called that at ten years old. I never told my dad, though; he was always too busy with work or too busy ignoring me, in general, to even care about anything that happened in my life." I cleared my throat and continued.
"It took me a while to live with the psychological damage my mother's death caused me at such a young age, and I spent a lot of my younger years in mental hospitals, but the older I became, the easier it was to bury all the pain and pretend it didn't exist--pretend I was fine," I let out a shaky breath and squeezed my eyes shut. "But some days when I think about her, all I can do is think about how different my life would've been if she survived, how different I would've been."
"But at the same time, I'm grateful--grateful because despite every bad thing that happened in my life, it all led me to you, my knight in not so shining armor," I joked, referring to how horribly he treated me when we first met. I lifted my head from his chest to look him in the eyes, watching a tortured expression flicker across his face.
"I'm so sorry," he murmured, brushing away my tears with the pad of his thumb.
"Don't be," I smiled softly, placing my hand on his cheek. "I'm happy now, and I'd go through it all again if it meant being with you." I got up and straddled his waist, pressing my forehead against his, and closed my eyes. "I told you I'd walk with you until we reach the light together, but you are my light Nathaniel, you always have been, and I am eternally grateful that you were able to take my broken pieces and make me whole again."
"As did you," Nathaniel breathed before cupping the back of my neck and smashing his lips against mine. I moaned loudly in his mouth as his hands slowly traveled down my back to my ass, spreading my cheeks apart, exposing my aching core. His finger slipped past the lace thong I wore, plunging deep into my soaking cunt eliciting another loud moan from the back of my throat.
"Fuck, I need you now," Nathaniel groaned into the crook of my neck after a few minutes of fucking me with his fingers.
"I'm all yours," I whispered, nipping his earlobe as I unleashed his dripping member and sank down on it until my cunt swallowed him whole. The remainder of the night was spent having the most mind-blowing passionate sex we've ever had; I lost count of how many times he made me orgasm, how many times we expressed our love for each as he was buried deep inside of me and how many times I lost myself to him, the love of my life in more ways than I could ever dream of.
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