Love at War

Chapter Three

Keisha had managed to pull herself out of bed a little earlier than usual. She was a bit too excited to lay in bed any longer.

She replayed last night in her head. The tension, the subtle glances they'd made at each other, the attraction she was starting to feel and the wonderful evening they'd spent together.

She threw the covers off of her, freshened up and went downstairs to make herself a cup of hot chocolate and maybe a little something to eat.

While she busied herself with the pancakes in the frying pan, she felt a presence behind her and found Adrien by the dining table. His eyes skimmed down her cute night dress and came back up to meet her eyes.

“Are you done staring?” She chuckled and hid a blush.

“Not quite yet. You look cute,” he commented. “How was your night?”

Keisha couldn't miss the deep huskiness in his voice. “I slept just fine. I hope the fireworks didn't keep you up.”

Adrien chuckled lightly. “Some sounded a bit too familiar, a little concerning but it was alright.”

After many years in the military, at front lines, even fireworks scared him. It was something he didn't like to talk about.

Keisha poured out some hot chocolate into a cup and handed him one. He sipped gingerly at it.

“What about your parents?” He looked around.

“They're still asleep. I think they stayed up last night watching the fireworks after we'd gone to bed,” Keisha responded and drizzled some honey on a small stack of pancakes.

“Who knows, they might have done more than just watching the fireworks,” he laughed and Keisha swatted his arm.

“Okay, that's disgusting. Why would you even say that?” She chided playfully.

He wasn't wrong anyways. She knew her parents well enough.

After breakfast, Keisha went upstairs to get changed. Every morning, she would go on a walk or a little run. It all depended on how her mood was and today, she was feeling pretty energized.

“Mind if I joined you?” Adrien asked.

“You have a bad knee and a couple broken ribs. I don't think you should be doing that,” she shook her head.

“It's just a bad knee. You're making it sound like I can't walk anymore.”

“Either way, you're not coming with me. You were sent back home to rest up so that's what you should be doing,” she added clearly adamant on not letting him come.

Adrien had clearly forgotten how much well she played the motherly role. She was always looking out for him.

“I'll be back in an hour, alright?”

An hour? It took everything in him to hold back a groan. An hour was way too long but he didn't want to seem all whiny and desperate to have her around.

“Alright then, see you in one hour.”

____

Adrien was downstairs in the living room with Dante, watching a football match over a bottle of beer when there was a knock on the door.

He looked up at the wall clock. Nearly two hours later and Keisha was just getting back. He pushed himself up and went to get the door.

Standing outside was a young man, a little shorter than him, with an armful of gifts. They stared at each other for what felt like a slow minute before Adrien turned around.

“Mr.Parks, I think there's someone here to see you?” He said and whispered audibly for the man to hear. “I didn't know delivery men work on New Year too.”

“It's nice to meet you too,” the man scoffed and stepped in.

Dante's face lit with surprise.  “Micheal?” He lowered the volume on the TV. “I didn't know you were coming over today.”

“Hey Mr.Parks. Yeah, I thought I'd do a little surprise,” he said. “I actually wanted to wish you all a happy New Year in person. I brought gifts too.”

Diane pulled him into a motherly hug, then gave him a light pat on the back. “Well these look lovely,” she said.

“Yeah. I wasn't really sure what to get so I got a couple things I thought you'd all like,” Micheal responded. “Is Keisha home?”

Adrien arched a brow inquisitively. “No, she's out on a jog.”

Micheal glanced at Adrien and turned to Diane. “I didn't know Keisha had a cousin coming over for the holidays,” he said.

Adrien bit back a scoff. “Oh no, he's not her cousin. He's an old family friend of ours. He just got deployed from the military on medical issues. He's a very good friend of Keisha,” she replied.

Something flashed in Micheal's eyes as he nodded.

He extended a hand out for a warm handshake. “It's nice to meet you. I'm Micheal,” he said as Adrien shook his outstretched hand. “Keisha’s fiancé. It's a pleasure meeting you.”

Adrien could've sworn he was close to choking on his own saliva. He held his composure and tightened his grip on Micheal's hand a little.

Keisha never told him she was engaged. He thought hard. “I didn't know she was engaged,” he smiled lightly. “I saw her yesterday but I can't remember seeing a ring.”

The room went silent. Micheal held his gaze and pushed a simple smile up his lips.

“It was nice seeing you all again, happy New Year to everyone. I've got to go,” Micheal said and took his leave.

Diane shot Adrien a look that seemed to warn him. He ignored it and went back to the couch to try to watch the football game. Dante made no comment, thankfully.

All throughout the game, till Keisha got back, he couldn't concentrate. He felt his heart shattering slowly and he couldn't fully understand why.

He'd only just met Keisha for the first time in so many years. He didn't understand where the sudden attraction had developed from. He knew they had something. A little spark? He wasn't sure what it was.

Either way, he would get all the answers he needed once Keisha was back.