It had been a whole two weeks since the accident in Ella's home. It had also been a whole week since she and her parents had been staying with Fransisco, and Ella was already itching to leave that house.
While it had been nice to stay with her family surrounding her and always having someone in the house, Ella was slowly but surely recovering. She was actually recovering at a much faster pace than average, but she also knew that it probably had a lot to do with the fact that she was physically healthy and also mentally strong.
After speaking to her parents about moving back to her house, which took a lot of convincing, they finally agreed that her parents would help with the transition again. They had already decided that they were probably going to stay for a couple more weeks or even longer depending on how long the trail for the Vanders family took. They didn't want to leave Ella alone throughout the entire process even when they knew that she wouldn't actually be alone.
Over the course of time that they had been there, the entire office back at Kim's had gotten word of what happened to Ella and they all rushed to go see her one afternoon. The group had warmed the atmosphere and hearts of Ella's family who knew that Ella had found some good people that were her friends and seemed fiercely loyal towards her.
Now, Ella stood at the threshold of the office door where it had all went down. The room had already been cleaned and reorganized thanks to her mother and Erica who thought that a new and fresh look would do Ella good. It wouldn't be too healing to always work in the same room where she almost died. The one thing that remained in the same spot was that same, cursed, glass chandelier.
"Be careful with glass things, okay?" Her mom's voice rang from earlier that day when she called her.
"What is it?"
Ella jumped so quickly and hard, her heart skidding to a stop before working overtime to make up the skipped beat. "Mom," Ella gasped, holding her hand to heart as if she could somehow reduce some of the pain.
"Sorry, baby." Elizabeth smiled, reaching to grab Ella's shoulders. "What's the matter, though? You were staring at the room for a long time."
Ella looked back at the chandelier, knowing that no matter how healed she felt, she would never be able to stare at that glass decoration the same way.
"Can we take that out, please? We can donate it or trash it, but... I don't really want it here anymore." Ella licked her parched lips, looking away and back to her mama's comforting eyes.
"Of course, love." Elizabeth got to work, sending Ella downstairs where her Dad was reactivating her security system and camera's, all reinforced and with different companies managing different parts to ensure that no mistakes would be made again.
"Ellie, order some food, will you?" Her dad called, yawning from hunger and tiredness. They all been working hard to reorganize Ella's home for her.
Ella agreed, ordering some take-out since her refrigerator had been cleaned out since Stefanie knew that Ella wouldn't return for a while and didn't want her food to rot and stink up her kitchen and home.
Once they were all sitting around the living room, a Spanish Netflix show played while they ate comfortably until her dad cleared his throat.
"So... that Petrotti man..."
"Papá," Ella flushed, her skin becoming uncomfortably hot and pink. "Please don't."
"I can't not, honey. This is important." Timotheo laughed at his daughter's reaction.
"He's right, Ellie." Elizabeth placed a tender hand on Ella's knee. "Just tell us about him."
Ella sighed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She knew that this moment was going to arrive, her telling her parents all about her glorious boyfriend, she just wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. Lucky for her, they weren't even asking for much.
"Well..." Ella placed her plate of food on the coffee table that was in front of her, only a bit of distance away. "His name is Damien Petrotti, and he is Italian. His parents are immigrants, too. He's thirty two and a lawyer at Kim's firm." Ella stopped, not really not knowing what else to say. She knew that they already knew the basic information about the guy, but they had indicated they wanted to know the basics.
"Do you like him a lot?" Elizabeth pondered gently. She could already guess the answer herself with how Ella had behaved towards the handsome man, but Elizabeth still wanted to hear the words come out of her daughter's mouth for certainty.
"Yes," Ella peacefully admitted, a gentle smile on her face as she remembered that man that had slowly yet surely crept into her heart. "The more I get to know him... Mamá, he's amazing. He's smart, gentle, hardworking, caring... I really like him." Ella nodded, already feeling warm inside just thinking about him.
Elizabeth smiled at Timotheo knowingly. Their little Ella was smitten with the young man, and as far as either parent was concerned, they didn't have anything against their relationship. Timotheo had told Elizabeth what had happened and been said between him and Damien, and upon seeing how Timotheo seemed to really like the boy, Elizabeth concluded that she also liked him. He displayed signs of care and affection as well as respect and gentleness towards Ella that both parents wanted for their daughter. To top it all off, they really liked each other.
"Then we're happy for you." Timotheo stood up, leaning to kiss Ella's head before cleaning up their plates and heading back to finish installing the equipment he had left behind.
Ella, relieved that they hadn't asked much more nor had they insisted on prying, also stood up to go see what she could around the house. It was still hard to walk around without the lights on, even when the sun was out, so she decided that it was best, for her piece of mind, to install some motion sensor-activated lights.
"Ella?" Her mom called from downstairs while Ella had been testing the hallway lights. She had already installed the other lights in every single room. "Come down for a minute. Damien is here."
"Coming!"
Elizabeth turned back to Damien after hearing Ella's response. "She's been trying to distract herself all day, so thank you." Elizabeth smiled kindly towards Damien in appreciation that he was taking Ella out.
"Is she okay?" Damien frowned. He did think that returning to this place was going to be hard on Ella; it was still hard for Damien to visit Vincent's parents every now and then.
"She's much better, yeah. It's just certain things that seem to trigger her anxiety, but she tends to play it off." Elizabeth explained, falling into a quiet conversation until Ella came downstairs. "I'll go see if your dad needs any help." Elizabeth winked, knowing that the couple probably also wanted to talk to themselves.
"What are you doing?" Ella smiled at Damien, moving closer as he swooped down, holding her jaw and waist before kissing her gently.
"I missed you." Damien then kissed her forehead. "You want to come out on a picnic?" He offered, chuckling lowly once he saw her slightly dazed expression from his kiss.
"I would love to." Ella agreed, asking for just a couple of minutes while she changed and fixed up her appearance.
It only took her about twenty minutes to come back downstairs in a dress and with a bit of makeup on just brighten up her face. She had left her hair in the same, pin-straight style that it naturally fell as. She didn't want to make Damien wait for too long since she didn't know how comfortable he was with it being just him and her parents. When she came back downstairs and found them, though, they were just casually conversing in the garden.
"I'm ready." Ella stepped out, accepting Damien's hand to help her down the stairs, but they ended up holding hands even after. "I'll see you guys later." Ella waved goodbye to her parents while Damien promised to look after her and return her safe and sound. Her parents only waved them off, knowing that Damien would take care of her and that Ella was also responsible to take care of herself too.
Once they were out of sight from the fenced garden, Damien had gently pressed Ella up against his chest and vehicle, leaning down to steal another kiss.
"You look beautiful."
Ella blushed, laughing softly before reaching up to kiss him again.
"You look handsome." Ella returned, causing him to chuckle before tucking her into his car. "Did something good happen at work today?" Ella wondered, lacing her hand with Damien's and bringing it to her lap to gently play with his fingers.
Damien shrugged. "Work is work."
Ella nodded, still curious as to why he was so freely smiling and affectionate today. While he was generally happy and caring towards her every day, today he seemed even more so. She just didn't know the reason.
Damien, meanwhile, did feel happier. He felt relieved and elevated now that Ella was laughing and smiling with no restraints as the last couple of days. That put him in a good mood. He wished to see her like that every day if possible.
"What are we doing here?" Ella frowned when Damien stopped at a local market, finding a parking place.
"I figured you could pick out a drink and something sweet. I have everything packed but that. I wanted you to choose for yourself." He explained, turning off the car before rounding to her side to help her out. Ella nodded, slipping her hand through the crook of his elbow until their hands were laced again. Damien picked up a basket once they entered, holding it in his other, unoccupied hand while they walked around until Ella picked out a fruity water.
"That one looks good." Ella pointed at a strawberry and chocolate cake that was on display. Damien peeked over her shoulder, agreeing to anything Ella liked. He wasn't much a sweets type of person, so he didn't mind what Ella chose. "Yeah, let's get that one."
Damien agreed, ordering it while Ella walked a little down, checking out the rest of the cakes, her hand still being held by Damien's. Once Ella took one last look at the end of the display, she stepped back, catching a young woman staring at her. Instantly feeling uncomfortable, Ella shrank back, moving closer to Damien who noticed her change in behavior almost instantly.
"What's wrong?" Damien frowned, pulling Ella in between him and the cake display.
"I..." Ella looked away from the blonde woman. She wanted to think that the person was just looking at the cakes, but it was impossible to ignore the following of her eyes that were still stuck on Ella. "That woman is staring." Ella moved closer to Damien, successfully hiding herself once he turned.
"Who?" Damien rubbed Ella's back soothingly, his eyes searching for the person responsible for making Ella feel uncomfortable. Everything was going so well, too.
"Damien?" Selena's voice was close, and once Damien turned, he instantly knew who it was that was staring at Ella.
"Selena," Damien nodded, his face unintentionally blanking of emotions until Ella cleared her throat. "Ella, this is my childhood friend, Selena. Selena, this is my girlfriend, Ella."
Ella smiled gently, kindly. Now she understood who that woman was and why she was staring. "Nice to meet you." Ella struck her hand out, and Selena forced a smile, shaking Ella's hand.
Even without Damien introducing them, Selena had already guessed who the young, raven-haired woman was. Selena had never seen Damien hold someone or even look at someone the way he did towards Ella. It pulled on something in Selena's heart. Seeing him be so... gentle and happy and tender... Selena always thought that was going to be her.
"Likewise." Selena lied, clearing her throat of the hard knot that was slowly chocking her. "I... I never expected to meet you here." Selena actually never expected to meet her; she was hoping that Damien's girlfriend was someone she wouldn't meet.
Ella smiled with her white teeth, her eyes warming as she shrugged, moving slightly closer to Damien who seemed very guarded, almost as if he was ready to jump in front of Ella in case Selena did something.
"Right. That's the beauty of life, I guess. The unexpected happening at certain times."
Tragic, Selena thought bitterly, sadly. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
"What are you doing, Selena?" Damien regarded her carefully. He hadn't missed the bitterness in her voice or the double meaning in her words, and he was almost positive that neither had Ella. The last thing he wanted was for Ella's first night out after everything be ruined.
"Getting a cake. It's my father's birthday." Selena's eyes moved from Damien's to Ella's. "We invited you, but I guess you had better things to do."
Ella couldn't have felt more uncomfortable than she did there. She hadn't expected for Selena, who was clearly in love with Damien, to accept her with open arms, but she was also a bit taken aback by the hostility. It didn't seem like Damien's friends and family were going to be accepting of her anytime soon.
"Strawberry Chocolate cake!" The shrilling voice of the women behind the display quickly interrupted the awkward and intense moment.
"I'll get it." Ella was grateful for the opportunity to leave the conversation. She could tell where she wasn't wanted. "It was nice to meet you, Selena." Ella untangled her hand from Damien's and left for the cake.
"I haven't been to one of anyone's birthday parties for a while, Selena. You know that better than anyone."
"I do." Selena acknowledged, now cursing herself for making such a petty and rash comment. "I'm so-"
"Tell my mother to not call me tonight. I'm sure you have better communication with her than I do right now." Damien didn't want to hear Selena's unapologetic and empty apologies. That's how Selena always was; she would make a mistake, then apologize, but then go right back to doing the same thing. Damien wasn't going to allow that, not with Ella. It was time that his family and Selena saw that he was serious about Ella and that he wasn't going to accept anymore disrespect towards her, especially when Ella had done nothing but be kind and accepting towards him. It made him feel ashamed to see the comparison of how Ella's family treated him and how his treated Ella. "Let's go." Damien took the cake box from Ella and grabbed her hand, pulling her after him until they securely made it outside again.
Ella decided not to say anything during the car ride to their destination. It seemed like Damien needed a minute to cool down, so she sat quietly, drowning in her own thoughts. By time that the couple arrived at the destination, the sun was setting, a warm and orange with red tint covering the skies. Soon after, the flow of pink and purple would follow before the sky became shades of dark blue and black.
"I'm sorry, Ella." Damien sighed once they had set up their station. He really had intended for Ella to have a good time, to relax and just enjoy herself, but it always seemed like he couldn't do things right.
Ella smiled up at him, grabbing his hand to pull him down beside her, making sure he was lying down before she cuddled up to him. He accepted her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, sighing.
"I like you, Damien. You've done everything right. You've helped me in more ways than you realize. Let's just forget we met her today. I just want to be with you." Ella whispered, fixing herself to look up at Damien.
"Okay," Damien agreed, bringing her closer to kiss her.
It was a kiss that escalated like no other one before. Ella seemed to really give in just as much as Damien, kissing sweetly and deeply until she was trapped under Damien's body willingly. She even encouraged his lips and roaming hands with her own. Damien's lips pulling away from his sweet Ella's to travel down her jaw, settling onto her neck where her scent was the strongest. The same scent that drove him to a place of serenity, a scent that he now had imprinted in his mind. He kissed her gently, basking in the soft sighs and mewls of pleasure that escaped from those plump lips he knew well.
Before he could get carried away, after all, he was a still a man, he stopped, kissing her neck one last time before kissing her jaw, cheek, nose, eyelids, and finally, her forehead. He could feel her warm breath against his as he pulled away slowly.
"I like you, too, Ella."