Destroyed For All Others

Chapter 29 - The Beach

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Niklaus

"It's you. From the rose garden. Four years ago," Allegra says to me, her beautiful brown eyes wide and questioning.

I can't tell if she is happy about this or sad. I knew that the song from that night was on this disc, knew the risk I was taking, but I wanted her to remember. To understand where my feelings started. I also wanted to know if that night meant as much to her as it did to me. If it changed her life like it did mine.

"Is it?" She asks again, her voice almost desperate.

"Yes," is all I say, unsure how she feels about this.

"How long have you known?" She asks the question I knew was coming but that I dreaded answering. I don't know if she would understand me not saying anything earlier.

"When we kissed in the elevator of The Grand." My words have her pulling back from me as she seeks to create some distance between us.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Her eyes hold mine as she asks the question.

"I wanted the memories of me to come back unforced. I wanted you to remember an evening that, for me, was significant and life-changing. I fell in love with you that night Allegra. In that rose garden, under a clear starlit sky."

She doesn't say anything, just stares at me as her mind churns through an array of thoughts, that much is clear from her expression.

"I think," she says, hesitating with her words, "I think I fell in love with you too that night. I can't tell you how relieved I am that you and that stranger are the same person. Many times when I'm with you, I have thought of that man, making me feel very conflicted. That was a significant night for me also, in more than one way."

My heart nearly explodes. To hear her say that she was as impacted makes me feel fucking overjoyed. Like I am the luckiest guy alive. She doesn't elaborate on the last part, and I get the feeling it has to do with the past she is hiding.

I take a step forward, closing the distance between us.

"I looked for you, but it was like looking for a ghost," I say to her, causing her to look away.

"I wasn't supposed to be there. Wasn't even on the list. But," she pauses, looking for the right words, "someone knew the host and managed to get me on the list last minute. Unofficially."

No wonder I never found her again. I'm curious to know who this someone was. It must have been a guest of the party. Someone on the list. If she didn't start telling me more about her past, I might have to do some digging myself. This information was a starting point, seeing as her public profile lacked history and was squeaky clean.

"I'm glad I met you that night. You don't know it, but you got me through a tough couple of days. Whenever I felt down, I would think of our encounter and feel light again. Happy." A small smile plays on her face as she meets my gaze again, her cheeks blushing with this small admission.

"One day, I hope you can tell me what that means. What you are hiding. But it doesn't have to be tonight. Tonight let's just enjoy ourselves and revel in the fact that fate has once again placed us in each other's paths. It must be for a reason. I can only imagine it is because we are meant to be together. They didn't want you missing out on all of this a second time." I step back, my hand traveling the length of my body as do her eyes. I wanted to lighten the mood and shift the focus away from her past. I could see how lost she could get in it when she did pay it any attention.