Through the years

33.

"May I have this dance?" Connor said, his hand outstretched before his wife who looked up at him with gleaming eyes before taking his hand and standing up, dancing to their favourite song in the middle of the living room while their family watched with smiles on their faces. 

It had been a while since they had heard this song. It held a special place in their hearts. It was the song that was being played on the radio on Talia and Connor's first date. It had made such an impact, both of them falling helplessly in love with each other even though their parents didn't like the idea of them dating. At that time, they only cared about each other and they were glad they hadn't listened to their parents. 

It had been hard for them during this period. No matter what they’d do, nothing seemed to be remotely enough for their parents to stop fighting over their relationship. One family was always blaming the other and so on, not caring if they were hurting their kids in the process. It was nothing else mattered other than winning this endless fighting. Talia had shed many tears because of it but she was as stubborn as the four adults and refused categorically to end her wonderful relationship with her boyfriend. She had never felt like this in her entire life before. She just couldn’t bring herself to ever stop loving that man. 

Even if that meant losing her parents. 

And thankfully, Connor thought the same. 

It was only when Talia got pregnant that they all stopped trying to separate them. Peter had always been extremely supportive of his sister's relationship as he had always been quite good friends with Connor. They would see each other at school during lunch breaks or crossing paths in the corridors and Connor had always been impeccable. He was kind and a true friend and had never failed to take care of Peter’s sister. So, really, Peter had nothing to be upset about. Laura's birth was the only thing that made their parents cave in to the relationship. And they played their song on the day of their first daughter's birth. 

After that, they would take any opportunity to play this song. But they had to admit that they hadn't had any reason to play it in a long time. Hearing it again was filling Talia's stomach with butterflies as Connor pulled her closer to his chest as they danced. It felt like she was brought back years ago. And it was such a nice feeling. When Talia was in high school, she was the type of girl who was way too independent and strong to be attractive to other boys. 

She was actually the subject of much teasing but she had always defended herself. It had been either on her physique or her strong personality. She had strong ideas and morality which never failed to scare boys away. In time, she grew to not desire any relationship at all because of it. She hated boys for being stupid and never serious enough to hold a proper conversation with her. It came to the point where she actually wanted to end her life alone. 

Until a transfer student arrived in her class. 

Connor James Hale. 

Oh, how attractive he was. With his blond hair, his freckles dusting his cheeks which gave him such a sweet look. He was tall and seemed strong. He held himself proudly as if he knew his self worth. And that was incredibly attractive because none of it was done in a dickish kind of way. Talia had never seen a boy like him before. The other boys of her school only held themselves with exaggerated overconfidence which was only there to try and cover up their lack of real confidence in themselves. But on his very first day, Connor had already attracted the attention of nearly every girl in school and Talia started to lose interest very quickly. She hated boys, especially popular ones. 

However, Connor liked Talia. He had noticed her as soon as he had stepped a foot in her classroom. She was the most stunning girl he had ever laid eyes on and he had found himself frozen in place the moment her eyes fell on him, scanning him from head to toe before diverting her eyes to the side with disinterest. Oh, how beautiful she was. Connor was thrilled to be lucky enough to be in the same class as her.