Ariella's POV
I was sleeping soundly on my bed when the endless knocks on my door interrupted my sleep. I opened my eyes lazily and looked at the timing reflected on my clock.
It is freaking 9am in the morning.
This person, who has been knocking on my house door, better have a valid reason for the interruption.
I am definitely not being cranky right now, especially when I got back late from work yesterday.
I barely had my 10 hours of sleep.
You guys heard me right. 10 hours of sleep is all I need to recharge myself.
I headed down to the living room and looked through the door hole to see who it was before deciding if I should open the door.
It is pretty dangerous to not look and know the person on the other end before opening the door, especially when I am alone in the house.
I was dumbfounded after looking through the door hole.
Someone please explain to me why Tyler freaking Hood is standing outside of my house at this hour. Like it is freaking 9am in the morning.
Not knowing what to do, I dashed to my room and immediately sent a text message to Ella.
Me: Ella, Tyler is standing outside of my house. What should I do? :(
Tapping on my phone screen impatiently while I waited for Ella's reply, I heard the endless knock on my house door once again.
Just as I was about to give up and open the door to let Tyler into my house, Ella finally texted back. Thank goodness.
I am seriously about to lose my sanity here.
Like, I really need a break from work and all of this relationship hassle, if that is the reason for Tyler appearing at my house at this hour because this is seriously vexing.
I immediately opened up my message inbox to read Ella's message.
Ella: Why is Tyler freaking Hood standing outside of your house at this hour?
Me: I have no idea. I guess I shall ignore it for now. Who knows he might go away right?
Ella: Maybe. Update me if anything :)
Just as I had finished texting Ella, my phone began to ring.
Great, now Tyler is calling me when I did not open the house door.
Letting the phone ring for a moment while I gave myself a moment to breathe, I scrolled through the phone button and answered the call.
"Oh my goodness! Thank goodness you picked up the call, Ariella." Tyler's voice of relief echoed through my phone.
"Is there anything?" I said cautiously, not wanting to sound annoyed over the phone.
"Erm... Actually... I have a favor to ask... Would you help?" Tyler pauses in between before he finally stated the reason for calling me.
"Depends on what it is. What is it?"
"Do you remember the orphanage that we went to volunteer together during last Christmas?"
"Yup."
"Apparently the singer could not make it for today's Christmas event at the orphanage. So Mrs Granger asked if you could come and replace her instead?"
"What time is the Christmas event?" I asked, looking at the time on my clock.
"11am. Are you at home right now though?"
"Give me 30 minutes. I shall meet you at the Starbucks café near my house."
"Thank you so much and see you. Bye Ariella."
"Bye." I hung up the call and began to head to the bathroom to wash up.
After washing up, I head to my closet and begin to rummage through the clothes I have as I pick my outfit for the Christmas event.
After rummaging for several minutes, I finally made the choice.
A white tank top with a long denim button-front pencil skirt, along with a grey coat, a pair of black converse shoes and a necklace to go with it.
Perfect sense of style I would say. Great job, Ariella.
Looking really pleased as I looked at my reflection in the mirror, I headed out of my house to meet Tyler at the Starbuck café a few streets away from my house before going to the orphanage together.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Thank you so much to the both of you for coming down to help us out with today's Christmas event, despite the late notice." Mrs Granger, the head mistress of the orphanage said as she thanked us for the fourth time.
"Don't mention it, Mrs Granger. It is our pleasure to be able to come back." I replied, smiling back to her as I reassured her once more.
"Besides, we missed the kids here too." Tyler chimed in.
"That is really heartening to hear that, Tyler. I can assure you that the kids missed the both of you too. They were so happy to see you two earlier!" Mrs Granger smiled at us as she recalled the look on the children's faces.
"With that said, I hope that you two are still loving and cherishing each other." Mrs Granger said, giving us a cheeky look.
That remark definitely made both Tyler and I look at each other awkwardly.
I was about to reply to Mrs Granger that we are not together anymore when Tyler beat me into answering it.
"I don't know about Ariella but I do love and cherish her, till this very day." Tyler confessed, looking straight yet cautiously at me.
"Oh! Just look at the look on his face! A boy so seriously and helplessly in love with his girl!" Mrs Granger commented happily while giving me a little nudge on the right arm.
I stayed silent throughout the whole conversation and gave a closed awkward smile as I struggled to find words to say.
As much as I want to tell Mrs Granger that we are not together, my conscience just would not allow me to, especially when today is such a joyous occasion.
Perhaps I should just break that news to her when I meet her again.
Someday at sometime. Not today.
"How about you, Ariella?" Mrs Granger's words draw me back to reality.
"What about me, Mrs Granger?" I said, looking clueless from the conversation.
"Oh dear! Did someone lose focus after hearing her man's bold confession of love?" Mrs Granger laughed so hard at me that a tear escaped through her eyes.
"My question to you was, do you still love and cherish Tyler too?" Mrs Granger continues, after regaining her composure a little.
This question made me wonder a little.
Do I, Ariella Elise Hudson, still love and cherish Tyler?
"I guess he knows the answer." My mouth spoke faster than what my brain could actually process the information.
Oh my goodness. Seriously Ariella?!
"I say, she still loves and cherishes me." Tyler continued, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him as we locked our eyes.
"Oh my goodness! So much love is in the air! I guess I shall wait patiently for that day where you two send a wedding invitation to me then!" Mrs Granger said excitedly before a kid ran up to her to start a conversation with her.
After Mrs Granger was out of sight, I tried to move away from Tyler by stepping towards the side.
But I have miserably failed to do so since his grip on my shoulder was strong.
"Tyler, please let go of me." I said politely and softly, not wanting to catch anyone's attention.
"What if my answer is no?"
"Don't force me to do things that I do not want to, Tyler." I said as I tried to move Tyler's hand away from my shoulder.
Just as I was about to successfully move Tyler's hand away from my shoulder so that I could move away from him, his other hand was quick enough to hold onto my waist.
This causes the both of us to face each other, with our foreheads touching and our lips to be mere inches apart.
My breath hitched and my heart skipped a beat at the close proximity that both Tyler and I shared at this very moment.
"Look at you being so affected by my touch... Just how long are you going to keep rejecting me, Elise?" Tyler said to me in a soft tone. Somehow, I could sense the hurt that laced between his sentences. But too bad, the decision he made had caused this.
"Until one of us is dead." I said bitterly, mustering all of my courage as I refused to let the walls I have built between us to fall.
I then took the opportunity to pry his hands off me and began to walk away from him.
~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Annnnndddd that is another chapter of Reloving Us Again! (Badum Tsk!) What a heart wrenching one, don't you think?! Let me know your thoughts in the comment below!!
As usual, thank you for reading this chapter! :)
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Fun Fact: I initially planned to release this chapter last Christmas but I was too busy / tired to even open Wattpad so here it is, on a Good Friday Eve :)
Stay safe everyone!
Love, J.