Sufferable Acceptance

Final Chapter

Amelia

I laid next to a sleeping Theo, afraid this was all a dream, and if I fell asleep when I woke up it would all be gone. It was too good to be true. In the past good things never lasted, so for the longest time I tried to fight my feelings for Theo. I didn't want the heartbreak when he left, but no matter what happened between us he stayed. I had this feeling deep in my heart that told me we were going to be together for a long time. I was finally home.

I think Theo could tell I was having a hard time falling asleep because he wrapped his arm around me. He mumbled something in my ear that made no sense, and then fell asleep again. Before falling asleep I thought about Theo running the family. I was worried, but I knew that we'd get through it together. We had each other to lean on. I cleared my mind if only for tonight, and tried to enjoy our first night in our new home.

I woke up to Theo trying to pull the covers from me. He thought he was being sneaky by rolling me towards my side of the bed. Surprising him I rolled over to face him.

"Good, now that you're up I can get my half of the covers back." He complained.

I rolled my eyes and rolled the covers even further over me.

"Amelia," He whined.

I finally gave in and opened up the blankets giving him space to crawl under the covers and rest his head on my chest.

"That's better." He said snuggling into me.

Theo tried to go back to sleep, but I tapped him on his shoulder.

"Theo?"

"Mhh."

"I'm hungry."

"Our kitchen is completely empty. There's nothing to eat." He said, eyes still closed.

"That sounds like a you problem." I joked.

Theo groaned and complained, kicking off my covers. He walked over to his clothes and took his time putting them back on.

He walked over to me and gave me a kiss on my forehead, "I'll be back. Don't go anywhere."

*****

Thirty minutes later I heard the front door open, and Theo shouting letting me know he was back.

I crawled out of bed still covered in blankets and walked to the balcony. I found a small table, and sat down.

The room to the bedroom opened, "Amelia?"

"I'm out here."

Theo found his way to the balcony and sat down with a bag of food and coffee. Theo pulled out a box and silverware, "Waffles from that coffee shop you like."

I gave him a smile and dug in. We sat together on the balcony watching the rest of the world wake up.

"I want to stay here like this all day." Theo grinned.

"We can't, your mom is throwing a party tonight. I'm sure it has something to do with your dad retiring. I promised her I would help her get ready for it." I told him. Theo pulled out his phone from his pocket and started typing.

"Who are you texting?"

"I'm texting Mom letting her know you're sick with the flu, and we won't be able to make it."

"Theo! Don't send that!" I said jumping out of my seat. "We're going to the party tonight." I said snatching away his phone.

*****

I spent most of the day helping Theresa set up. Theo spent the day working with his dad and Marcus. We would run into each other every once in a while, but were pulled apart every time someone found us and we had to get back to work.

Guests would be arriving soon, so I went up to my room to get ready. After a shower, and messing around with my hair I walked over to my closet. Turning on the light I was surprised to find a dress I didn't recognize hanging on the door. I pulled it out of it's bag and put it on.

It was a beautiful strapless dark red dress that flared at the waist and had a deep slit that went up to my thigh. The fabric folded over itself and flowed when I walked. I walked back out to my room, and sat down to do my makeup. On my vanity was a note from Theo.

Looking forward to seeing you in this dress..

and getting to take it off..

Love you xx

I finished getting ready, and headed down stairs in hopes of finding Theo. I found him talking to a friend of Lorenzo's. He saw me walk into the room, and he completely froze. He watched me as I walked over to him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

"William, this is Amelia. The one I was telling you about." He said.

The man Theo was talking to shook my hand, "Amelia, it's a pleasure to meet you. Theo was just telling me wonderful things about you." He said getting back to his conversation with Lorenzo and Theo.

As soon as William looked away Theo got real close to me and whispered in my ear, "You look so beautiful babe. I was right, red is definitely your color."

I wanted to stay and spend time with Theo, but we kept getting pulled in different directions. Lorenzo had him meeting all of his old friends and business partners, and Theresa was busy introducing me to her friends. By the end of the night I'd met more friends of Theresa's than I ever knew she had. Theo and I would steal glances as we passed each other around the ball room, but then we were back to being dragged around by Lorenzo and Theresa. Towards the end of the night Lorenzo pulled Theo up on the stage, and asked for everyone's attention.

"I am honored to be surrounded by our closest friends and family tonight. I am forever thankful for the loyalty you all have shown my family. As many of you must have guessed I will be stepping down from running the family business. I am so incredibly proud of the man my son turned into, and I have total faith he will do a fine job taking care of the family. I hope you all show the same amount of support you have shown me all these years. I love you son. Cheers." He toasted. Lorenzo gave Theo a quick hug, and toasted once again to the family.

After Lorenzo's speech I saw Theo across the room. He nodded his head towards the kitchen. I made my way over to him, careful to not be caught by Theresa. Once I was in the clear I ran to the kitchen and found Theo leaning up against the counter waiting for me.

He looked up when I walked in and a big smile spread across his face.

"Hey." I smiled.

"Hey.." He said, pulling me by my dress closer to him. "I missed you. It's like everyone at this party is trying to keep us apart."

"I have a conspiracy your mom is trying to keep us separated because we cause too much trouble together. I think she's trying to avoid us ruining her perfect dinner party." I said.

"Well then we should probably get back out there before she finds us, and we get yelled at. I finally got her on my good side. I can't ruin that." He joked.

He gave me a quick kiss and left the kitchen.

We went our separate ways for the rest of the night. Theo was busy being congratulated, and Theresa trusted me to take care of Ava and Oli. Putting them to bed I walked down the hallway back to the party. I found Theo waiting for me by the door.

"Want to sneak out of here?" He whispered.

"Oh my God yes! I'm exhausted. You go get the car, and I'll sneak out the back without anyone noticing."

I made it out of the house unnoticed. Outside waiting for me was Theo. He had the car running. I jumped in and he sped off.

It was a quick drive back to our house. We walked in from the garage and threw our shoes near the front door. Theo took off his suit and unbuttoned his collar. I couldn't walk another step. I laid down in our empty living room. Theo walked over, and laid beside me. He reached for my hand and turned his head to face me.

"What are you smiling about?" He asked.

"Nothing, I'm just happy." I smiled.

"Yeah.. me too."