•Night Angel•

CHAPTER XLVII - TIME

(Listen to the song during the whole chapter!)

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June 2008. 14:10. Malibu, Los Angeles. CA.

Third person POV

Michael arrived at the Stark mansion and as soon as he stopped the car, he sprinted out of it. Walking to the door, he found it open.

Quickly walking to the living room, he saw a figure sitting down on the couch. Her legs criss crossed underneath her, her hands on her lap and her head hanging low, her brown curls covering the frame of her face. She lifted her gaze at the sound of footsteps and she slowly got up.

She stood in her place. She didn't move. She took her hand to her sweatpant's pocket and grabbed something. Michael was watching her every move.

-Soph...-He said, but he didn't get to finish his sentence as he saw what Sophia had pulled out of her pocket. His heart stopped.

She held the necklace in the air, hanging from her fingers. The necklace he had given her almost a month ago. The necklace she thought was a beautiful goodbye gift, but in reality, it was just a gadget for spying on her.

Sophia didn't say anything. She just stood there. Watching him and his face. She hoped to see something on him that could tell her that he was not part of this. Anything. She found nothing.

-I can explain.- Michael said as he got closer to Sophia. She lowered her hand and laughed humorlessly.

-I would show you Tony's present as well. But he destroyed it as soon as he found out. Who would've thought, right?.- Sophia said as she turned the necklace in her fingers.

Michael got closer to Sophia. He reached for her hands but she quickly pulled them away. He felt a sharp pain spread on his chest.

-Please, Soph. Let me explain. I can explain.- Michael said, getting closer to her, almost to the point where the space was nonexistent. Sophia swallowed hard and looked at him with cold eyes.

-Okay. Explain.- She said as she sat down. Michael sat beside her. He couldn't describe the look on Sophia's face towards him. It was something he had never seen, at least not towards him. It was a look that she gave only to people she didn't trust. That's when it hit him again. Maybe she didn't trust him anymore.

Now that he looked at her closely, he saw her eyes, red and puffy, he noticed the dark bags under her eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes were now sad and expressionless.

And he was the cause of this.

Taking a deep breath, he thought of the ways and words to explain himself. He knew it was going to be hard for her to forgive him. He knew it perfectly. But he had to try. And maybe it'll take time, but he was going to gain her trust back.

He turned a little so he could face her. She was staring at the coffee table in front of them. She had no emotion on her face. She was stoic. They way she had never been with him before.

Her mind was thinking if what Michael was going to say would just be a big misunderstanding. One part of her, the emotional and sensible one, wondered if maybe what he was going to say was that he was no part of this and just found out. That they would face this, whatever it was, together. But her rational part, the logical one, knew that that was not what he was going to say. And by the look on his face, she knew he had done this.

Now, I know that maybe you think that this was not a big deal. Her finding microphones her own uncle and boyfriend placed on her apartment, that she was overreacting, you may think she was being incongruous. That they were not the bad guys, they were just doing it to know something of importance.