Grim

13

"Good morning!" I greeted Diane as she entered the kitchen. I was making breakfast for everyone, although it had appeared that I was the only one up until she arrived.

"Good morning, Sapphire," she greeted with a warm smile. "Smells delicious."

Today's menu featured cream cheese danishes, waffles, scrambled eggs, and freshly squeezed orange juice. My mom was the one who taught me how to make the danishes, amongst other sweet treats, during our little lockdown in the safe house.

I thanked, "Thanks. My mother was the one who came up with the recipe for the danishes. I was honestly surprised that she could make something this great from the food we had."

Diane smiled, "I can't wait to taste everything!" Diane then walked closer to me before saying, "I think I might've offended you yesterday or made you uncomfortable. I was only poking fun, dear. I'm really sorry if I caused you any hurt!"

I smiled while nodding, "It's okay. I knew you were coming from a good place. I've just been going through some a lot, and some of those feelings resurfaced. I hope me leaving the table didn't offend you either."

Diane shook her head, "Of course not! I only waited until now to speak with you because I figured that you and Azias needed some privacy."

"Well, thank you," I politely smiled.

Diane looked off into the distance while smiling to herself. She then broke her silence to say, "I haven't seen my son this happy in a long time. Xander is usually the only one to keep him smiling and playful. You're a good influence on him."

I smiled, "You really think so?"

Diane chuckled while nodding. "I also have never seen him look at someone the way he looks at you. It's beautiful to watch, really," she smiled.

"Thanks," I blushed from growing shy. "You did great with him."

Diane joked, "I tried," earning a chuckle from me. "Things got really hard for us when he was a teen. He stepped up when I couldn't. This family honestly wouldn't have survived without him. I definitely wouldn't have. I just wish it hadn't come with the types of sacrifices he made. That was a lot to endure as a kid, you know?"

"Well, he still turned out great," I smiled. "You did the best you could, and it worked out very well! It's rare to find guys like Azias these days. I was beginning to lose hope." Diane and I chuckled before our eyes met with Ariela and Xander, who had just entered the kitchen.

"Thank God! I'm starving!"Ariela exclaimed as she eyed the food I had laid out on the countertop, and Xander made a big yawn that had us all laughing.

"That's that 9-5 yawn," Ariela teased, making us laugh again.

I turned the stove off and dished out breakfast for everyone, who sat at the dining table to eat. I then made myself and Azias a plate before walking to our room to check on him. I wasn't planning on waking him, since he hardly got enough sleep on a daily basis, but if he was up, I'd inform him about breakfast being ready.

I entered the room and saw him staring up at the ceiling. I was surprised that he was up. I would've thought that his body would have chosen peace and let him sleep, but it appeared that his mind was still roaming.

"Good morning, Zy," I greeted, and it was as if my voice had snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Good morning," he smiled as he looked over at me. His smiles always left me feeling all bubbly inside.

I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him. I then placed a long, wet kiss on his cheek before asking, "You okay, babe?"

"Yeah," he nodded before placing a long kiss to my lips. "Had a bad dream."

"Wanna talk about it?" I asked, but he shook his head. Respecting his space, I replied, "Okay. Whenever you do, I'm here." He looked into my eyes and smiled widely before giving me another long kiss on the lips. "I just finished making breakfast, by the way. Everyone is at the dining table."

He replied, "I just wanna stay in here for a while."

"Would you like me to bring your plate then?" I asked, and he nodded.

"That would be great, thanks," he smiled. "You can bring yours too."

"Okay," I smiled, happy that he still wanted to be around me. I brought the plates and drinks to our room, and we sat beside each other and ate silently.

About halfway through our breakfast, Azias broke his silence to say, "I'm gonna talk to my mom later and have her apologize. I know you said that it's fine, but I still think she should."

I smiled while shaking my head. I informed him, "She already apologized. She was very kind about it, but thank you."

"Aight good," he breathed. I could tell that he wanted us to get along well. "She's just always supported you, so I didn't want for last night to ruin her image."

A bit confused, I questioned, "What do you mean she's always supported me?"

"Remember when Marco, Ace, and I had to go to Cali to deal with some operations?" He asked, and I nodded. "When I had found out about the burner, I was pissed off, even when I arrived at my mother's house for a visit. She asked me what was going on, and I told her. She's the reason why I ended up talking it out with you in New York."

"Really?" I asked, a bit surprised that she vouched for me. She hadn't even known me then!

"Yeah," he nodded. "I told you that if you were to do something else that violated my trust, I'd cut you off. I planned on getting your explanation, but I was still gonna end things with you."

I looked away while saying, "Damn."

"She asked if I loved you," he added, and I connected eyes with him. "I didn't even have to answer her when she asked, because she already knew. She told me not to let you slip away or to at least hear you out first. What you did...I had never felt so manipulated, stupid, and betrayed in my life, but I couldn't find myself to hate you for it. How do you hate someone you love?"

I genuinely apologized, "I really am sorry for everything that happened! I honestly shouldn't have agreed to do anything that I did. I didn't expect to love you either, but that doesn't change how fucked up what I did was."

He nodded and connected hands with me before promising, "I forgave you a long time ago. I'm glad I listened to her, by the way. I used to think you'd distract me, but you honestly keep me focused. It's honestly a privilege to have someone intimate that cares about you."

I smiled warmly at our connected hands and nodded in response. He placed a gentle kiss on the back of my hand, making me cheese as I looked away from him.

"I know we're on a mission, but I intend to still have romantic nights with you," he announced.

While trying to hide my smile, I inquired, "Romantic nights?"

He gently rubbed circles on the back of my hand as he answered, "Dates and what not. Besides, it would be a bit nice for news to go around that I'm in whatever area. People will come to us instead of us having to search for them."

I knew that he added the last part because he had gotten nervous that I would be opposed to dates with him. He wanted to make it seem as if us going out on a date every now and then would benefit the mission.

"Okay," I nodded with a warm smile.

He added, "We won't be staying here much longer. We'll leave early tomorrow. I don't wanna bring any trouble here."

"Okay," I nodded again. "Will we be out in the open or in a safe house?"

He joked, "I said I wanted to create news, not our death."