"You can only come inside if you change your mind. That is, before getting married to him." Mr. Hills gently pulled his hand back before retracing his steps back in the house.
He was about to shut the door when he gave one last look at them. "We're disappointed in you, Lavender." He sadly said, before locking the door shut. Her dad's voice implied that he was hurt rather than disappointed.
Lavender stood there with tears in her eyes. Her entire world had shattered and fallen apart in a matter of few minutes. She had never once expected that she would be confronted in such a way by her own parents. The worst thing was, she could not even justify it to them. She had no supporting reason. She could justify her love to herself and Tristen, but she never thought about how she would do that to the rest of the world.
Tristen had never felt so helpless in his entire life. He had won fights and arguments knowing he was wrong, but at that moment, he could not utter a word. Because if he did, it would only make things worse. He could not 'clean up' the mess like he did every time.
His love was insulted and hit by the bullet of mere civilian words, yet he could not do a thing. All he could do, was stand and watch. Had it been someone else, Tristen would have blown their heads with the revolver tucked underneath his shirt.
Mrs. Hills went back inside to continue her cooking, while she sobbed profusely. She worked to distract herself from the fact that she had been rude to her daughter for the first time in her life. Mr. Hills decided it be best to not speak at all. He was a father, who would do anything to have his daughter smile.
He could do nothing since he knew that his daughter was in the wrong. He still gave her a chance to correct herself, like any dad would. But her daughter was determined to her love. It made him happy, but also sad because Tristen was a mafia and he did not approve of it.
He decided to take a peek through the window from the curtains to check on the scenario, like the father he was. Lavender was sobbing as she stood in her place, while Tristen just stared at her. He then made a move, gently bringing her in his embrace. Lavender fell weak in the legs and collapsed on the stony walk path. Tristen held her arms to keep her from hurting herself. When Lavender did not stand back up, he kneeled down beside her.
He could see that Tristen was consoling Lavender, hugging her while she cried to his chest. She broke down into tears and muttering something. He spoke something to her, which her father could not hear, in hopes of calming her down but nothing worked.
Mr. Hills drew the curtains before making his way over to the couch. It hurt his heart to see his daughter cry. He knew that Tristen would make an amazing husband, but not so much for a person. No matter how caring he was, he was still a mafia. Her parents could accept anything but that.
"What do we do now, Tristen?" Lavender cried hard, hugging him while she sat on the ground. "We'll think about it later, baby, let's leave for now." Tristen murmured, rubbing her back. "I don't know about anything else, Tristen. Make it right, please, just make it right." She pleaded.
"Come on, love, we'll head back first. Let's go." He said, slowly bringing her back to her feet. He guided her towards the car, helping her settle down inside. He shut the door to glance at her old house one more time. The gifts that they had brought were laying scattered here and there as a symbol of rejection.
He let out a huge sigh before walking to the driver's seat. "What're we going to do now?" Lavender asked again, as he sat down. "I'll fix it all, trust me. We'll get through it, alright?" He caressed her cheek. A tear rolled down her cheek. Tristen wiped it away as Lavender flopped back on the seat.
Without wasting another minute, he started the car and took the road back home. Lavender was quiet all the way. No sobbing, no crying. Only soft whimpering and sniffling. Soon enough, it had faded away, too. She had fallen asleep after a severe mental breakdown.
"Mission accomplished, boss." Said a man who stood at a distance, watching all the drama. With Juggy. A smile spread across his face. "She didn't deserve this, though. Only if Tristen had listened to me." Juggy sighed, shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat. "But who cares?" He snorted, returning to his car while the man ran to open the door for him.
It was nearly night when they arrived home. Tristen got out of the car and opened the door for her. Lavender gloomily stepped out and started walking inside without waiting for him.
"Ah, Lavender! Did you hand out the invites?" Brendon greeted cheerfully, standing with the crew to discuss some deal. They all saw her walk past them without an answer. Tristen soon caught up, giving Brendon a gesture to say things were not good. "I'll tell you everything. Let me help her settle down first." Tristen patted his shoulder before following Lavender upstairs. Brendon gazed up at them walking by the mezzanine. "What's wrong?" Peter muttered. "Don't know. Just pray to God that Juggy didn't get down to his dirty tricks." Brendon sighed.
By the time Tristen reached his room, Lavender was already sitting on the bed and removing her heels. He gently approached her and stood in front of her. "Are you alright, love?" He asked. "No, Tristen. Nothing is alright." She replied in a husky voice. Her throat was sore from all the crying. "I just don't know what to do with my life anymore." She wiped her tears with the back of her palm. "It was something to be expected, honestly." Tristen sighed, sitting beside her. "What do you mean? There's no way that my parents could ever know about our secret. How could I have expected them to find out?" Lavender argued.
He quickly realized his mistake; he should not have said anything like that to her. It would only fuel the tension and cause an argument, which would result in them getting into a verbal fight. Lavender would definitely question her love for him in that case, which would make things even worse.
"I know. I'm sorry." He embraced her, rubbing her back as he gave himself a internal smack on the head. It's something a person like me can expect, because I know what's at stake out there, he thought. "It's all over between them and I, now. They're never going to look back at me." Her voice came muffled as she buried her head on his chest.
"Lavender, look." Tristen pulled back. "I know what's between us, and you know what's between us. We cannot keep explaining it to others. Because no matter how much we love each other, this is wrong. And for that, we cannot provide everyone with a suitable reason." He said, while cupping her cheeks.
"Love, I know I promised to settle down with you after we're married. And I'm going to keep it. But until that happens, you don't owe anybody an explanation." Tristen said. "But they're my parents, Tristen! How can I let them be that hurt? It is all my fault!" Lavender tried to argue.
"Firstly, it's our fault. And secondly, you need to understand a universal truth about this world. You can't keep everyone happy, Lav. It's either one person or the other, or your own self. No matter who they are, your parents or your lover, you cannot keep them both happy along with yourself. This world gives us choices and we have no other option but to choose the most suitable ones. It's either do, or die. Eat, or be eaten." He said, giving her an answer in his mafia terminology.
Lavender lowered her gaze, knowing what he was saying was indeed, correct. She could not keep everyone happy, including herself. She had to choose even if the choices provided to her were difficult. "Listen baby, you know we have it all figured out, and I know we have it all figured. There's no need to explain it to everyone. Once they find out that I'm no longer who they think I am, they might gradually start accepting us." He explained.
"I don't think I can shift to that perspective at the moment." Lavender sighed, laying down on the bed to look up at the ceiling. She realized she was not at her place, since there were no glow in the dark stars on her ceiling. Her mini galaxy was not there to comfort her. She could not get lost into her own little universe to momentarily escape reality.
"You know..." Tristen groaned as he lied beside her, facing the ceiling. "My parents, had they been alive today, would've been against our marriage, too." He said. "Really?" She sniffled, looking at him. "They were always against bringing a non-mafia blood into the family. You see, our entire family has its roots in this world. They would've killed me had they even known that I was in love with you." He chuckled, running his fingers through his hair.
"It would have been harder than convincing my parents then." Lavender mumbled, as she finally stopped crying. Her hair fell on her face, partially covering her eye.
"Not really, honestly. If I was able to convince them into thinking that you were ready to help our business, they would've given it a thought." Tristen said, turning to face her. "But of course, I wouldn't want that." He smiled as he put her hair out of her face. "Do you wish they were here for our wedding?" She asked, snuggling closer to him.
"I'd say yes, but no. They were huge chaos makers. I'll tell you all about it sometime later when we're lying on the bed, tired, after celebrating our honeymoon." He smiled, pulling her closer by the waist. It made Lavender smile, after hours of crying.
"Okay." She replied. "Now, get some sleep before dinner's ready. I'll come wake you up." Tristen said, as he stood up and started unbuttoning his shirt. Lavender propped herself up on her elbows to watch him get changed into comfortable clothes. "Where are you going?" She asked, while he stood bare chested with his black track pants on. He walked back to her in an intimidating manner, hovering over her.
"Daddy's got work to do." He smirked, pecking her forehead. He wore his grey hoodie while Lavender lost herself in the feelings he had created by kissing her. "Try to get some sleep." Tristen caressed her hair. She slightly smiled, sitting upright once he left the room.
He, however, did not closer the door and instead left it wide open. Like someone would dare to enter it.
Tristen walked downstairs with his phone in the pocket. He knew that someone was waiting for his call, so he came out to do just that. He walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, pulling out his phone.
"Sir, may I offer Lavender some tea?" Grace, the maid, asked as she approached him with her head facing down. "Leave her be for the moment." He said. "But sir-" She gulped down her words when Tristen looked up at her from his phone. His stare was enough to shut her up. "I'll take my leave." Grace said. "If you're going to give her something, give her a raspberry leaf tea." Tristen ordered, before getting back to his phone. "Right away." Grace agreed, without another word.
After he was left alone, Tristen threw his phone on the table in front, propping his head on his palms with elbows digging deep in his thighs. "This shouldn't have happened. First, this fucker Juggy and on top of that Lavender's..." He bit his tongue to swallow his words. Giving his hair a gentle pull of frustration, he grabbed his phone and went to the rooftop to call his 'friend', Juggy.
"Ah, Tristen. After such a long tim-"
"Cut it out, Juggy. What did you do?"
"That's rude. I was going to ask you how things were going."
"I asked, what did you do, Juggy?" Tristen clenched his jaw in anger. "If that's how things are going to be from now, then so be it. I did what I had to, just like you did what you thought was right." Juggy replied.
"Why'd you put Lavender through this?" Tristen slammed his fist down on the parapet on the terrace. "I thought of you as a friend, Tristen. And I still do, which is the sole reason why I did not announce it publicly. I worried about your security, that's all. Else, I would've shamed the woman who you call your precious kitten over the media." He said.
"JEREMY!" Tristen yelled out his friend's birth name. "I see how frustrated you are to call me by my real name. But that's the price you pay, and will keep paying until you help me get things back on track." Juggy said.
"What do you want?"
"The bidding's day after tomorrow, Tristen."
"And?"
"I'm one girl short in my business. Get me one, or I'll choose for myself. And trust me, I have just the right girl in my mind. That's it." He hung up on Tristen. "Shit." He muttered, holding his temples with his index finger and thumb of his left hand. "I can't have someone kidnapped for a human trafficking, now. I've never dealt with these kinds of businesses. I could, but I'm about to marry her. She'll never forgive me." He talked to himself.
"Tristen?" Brendon called, as he cautiously proceeded toward him. He did not wish to die on such an occasion. "Hm?" Tristen simply hummed, alerting him of his annoyed state. "It was Juggy, wasn't it?" He asked, standing beside him. "Yeah." Tristen replied. "What happened in Bilsburg?" Brendon asked. "Her parents found out about me. Her mum slapped her real hard for it, and shut their doors on her face. And I just stood there, Brendon. I just fucking watched." He sighed heavily. "Juggy was behind it. It was just a warning, since he knows revealing my identity is a huge risk factor. So he's after Lavender now." He explained.
"So, what does he want now?" Brendon asked.
"He wants me to get him a girl since I helped Bates get Renee back. Else, he would take Lavender."
"I know you don't deal in such business, but I can have it done for you. You don't even have to do anything on your part."
"I'm going to get married, Brendon. I cannot have such a horrendous crime done at this point."
"Excuse me, did you just say 'crime'?" Brendon scoffed sarcastically, yet offensively. "What is wrong with you, Tristen? Lavender's life is at stake. You know that man will have her one way or the other if you don't give him what he wants." He tried to explain. "Think about Claire, Brendon. Would you like it if someone got her kidnapped so that they could save some other girl?" Tristen snapped, getting angrier. Brendon choked on his words, falling silent. "I already have her heart broken six times. From the day we met, I remember it all, crystal clear." He added.
"Six times?" Brendon said in disbelief. "People like us may find it absurd, but she's not us, Brendon. The first time was when I asked her to stay away from me. Second time, when she found out who I was and I distanced myself from her. Third time, when I tried to come back into her life at the moment she had nearly moved on. Fourth, when I made her feel worthless by getting so fucking involved with business that I missed her birthday. It put her in a dilemma, if you did not know." He said, recalling it all as if he had memorized material for an examination.
"Fifth was when we were in a car chase and Lavender put her life on the line to save me. That day, she left with a physical injury all because of me; I asked her to leave my house when I was the one to call it her own. And sixth, when she found out that I helped Bates get his daughter back which caused a serious security threat to our lives." Tristen said, taking a huge breath after that. "Don't you know that was the entire reason why she wanted to marry me? Just so that I could stop doing this." He added.
"Oh my god..." Brendon mumbled in disbelief. "It's the seventh time, today, Brendon. She lost her parents because of me. I broke her heart a total seven times." Tristen's voice trembled.
He was in pain. He never once knew what it felt like to be put in a dilemma with negative choices at both ends. He was having a taste of his own medicine.
"Then, what do we do?" Brendon asked. "That's what I want to know. Desperately." Tristen replied, burying his face in his palms. He wanted to hold back the tears from falling, or having Brendon see him that way. He was not scared of Juggy, no. What he felt scared for, was that Lavender was in danger. He felt responsible for all the hurt he put her through. Brendon put a palm on his shoulder to comfort him.
"Tristen?" Lavender squeaked in a fragile voice, standing at the door. It was clear that she had been crying again. Tristen immediately spun around followed by Brendon. "Grace told me you'd be up here." She said. "Yes, love. Why're you standing there without a jacket in the cold?" He motioned, spreading of his arms wide while he held his phone with the other.
Lavender gloomily walked towards him and right into his arms. "How was the tea?" Tristen asked, fixing her hair. "It was nice. I had a raspberry tea for the first time in my life." She replied weakly. She put her arms around his torso as a sign of neediness. He hugged her tight enough to warm her skin up. Resting her head on his chest, she felt somewhat at ease.
It was the reason why she had come up searching for him.
"Did you take a good nap?" He asked, shoving his phone in his pocket to caress her cheek. "Not really. I could not sleep." She answered. Her voice fell weak just the way it did when someone was about to throw up. "What's wrong? Not well again?" Tristen asked worriedly, creasing his eye brows. "Yeah, I thinking I'm getting it back, the flu." Lavender sighed heavily. "Let me see." He put the back of his palm to her forehead to check the temperature.
Brendon quietly watched them both getting lost into each other, while he stood there without any other option than to observe the scene. He saw how protective Tristen was for her. The way he held her, looked at her, and cared for her. His gestures were enough to let someone know how much he loved her.
Brendon turned his head to the side, as it reminded him of Claire. How I wish to hold you just like that, Claire, He sighed, looking down from the rooftop. He quickly shook off that sight in his mind and thought about the choices he had for his boss and his wife-to- be whom he held so dearly. It was his job at the moment to pull them out of the mess, not to relate his personal life with them.
That's when he got a call from Claire. "Brendon, is Lavender there at Tristen's? I can't reach her call." She asked. "Yeah, she's here. Hold for a moment." He replied, before holding his hand out in front of the couple. "Claire, she says she can't reach your phone." He said. "Ah, I left in on the bed." Lavender sniffled before taking his phone.
"Claire?" She said in her normal voice.
"Lavender! I've been calling you since the past hour! Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"That's great. Did you hand out the invites to your parents?"
"Yeah, I did. They were... happy about it. Very much." She fake smiled, before coughing a little. Tristen looked at her in pity, seeing the way she had to lie about it. "That's great to hear. I've given one to Jim as well. I handed it to him in person." Claire said. "Good. How's Creampuff?" Lavender broke out a tear. "He's nice and plays a lot. Don't worry, I've been keeping him in my room since you're gone. He doesn't feel alone." She replied.
"Good to hear. Claire, make sure you have dinner, I'm going to do the same. Call you later." Lavender said, giving the phone back to Brendon. The moment he took the phone back, she embraced Tristen.
"Brendon? Is something wrong? Lavender doesn't seem well." Claire asked. "No, it's just that..." He trailed off, watching her muffle her cries in Tristen's chest while he held her consolingly. "She's not well, again. Tristen's looking after her, so don't worry." Brendon said. "Alright then, I'll wait for your call at our usual time. Be quick!" Claire happily said, making him smile as well. "Definitely. Take care." He hung up, taking a glance at the couple.
"Let's go have dinner. I'll make sure you eat lots." Tristen said, holding Lavender's hand. "We'll be downstairs, join us soon." He said to Brendon before leading Lavender down the staircase. Brendon spun around in frustration, resting his hands on the parapet. "No, I'm not letting Juggy ruin their life. Never." He spat, pulling out his phone.
He knew just who he had to call.