Parental Discretion Advised

Blackout

Kikah's POV:

I was so relieved to make it to the weekend. This week had been hell, and I just wanted to rest and relax away my troubles. So, when Amber offered to take Aurora for the weekend I jumped at the opportunity. Apparently, they were going to go see Pororo on ice and then go to an indoor soccer game with Minho the next day.

I've never packed Aurora's bag so fast. I love my child, more than life, but I just needed some me time. It made me feel bad sometimes that I felt this way. I mean, parenting is a 24-hour job with no vacations.

Yet, here I was needing a break away from not only being a mom but running a company.

I kind of felt like a coward. Like, I was running away from my responsibilities. However, Aurora was excited for her weekend with Amber. It was all she talked about, as I packed her things.

That made me feel a little better and less like a jerk, who was pawning off her kid on her friends. Aurora's happiness was my own. So, as long as she was okay with it, I felt a little less guilty.

It was after 6 when Amber showed up. In her excitement to leave, my child didn't even hug or kiss my goodbye. Instead, she tugged Amber's hand and pulled her out the door. Telling me she would see me Sunday.

Laughing, I waved goodbye and then walked into my bathroom and drew myself a bath. Adding a Shea Butter bath bomb, I watched it bubble and foam.

After grabbing a glass of wine and my favorite book, I settled down into the water and let the bath bomb unwind my frazzled nerves and tense muscles.

I was just getting to the good part in the book, when my doorbell rang.

Thinking it was probably Amber, having forgotten something, I got out the tub and wrapped myself in my robe.

Opening the door, I was met with not a forgetful Amber but a smiling Taemin. In his arms, he carried movies in one hand and bags of take out in the other.

"Everybody's out or has something to do. I got bored, so I thought we could watch some movies." Beamed Taemin.

I moved out the way, so he could come inside. While he set everything up in the living room, I went to change into some pajamas. Sitting on the couch I grabbed a pair of chop sticks and dug into the food.

"So, what are we watching first?" I asked around a mouth full of Japchae and reaching for a piece of fried chicken.

"I thought we could start with 'The Final Girls' then work our way towards the 'Villainess'." He replied, already putting the disk into the DVD player.

"Sounds good!" I exclaimed grabbing the carton of bokkeumbap.

We had just gotten to the good part of the movie, when there was a rumble.

Thunder clapped loudly, the sound ringing throughout my apartment and then the lights went out.

Getting up, Taemin walked to the window and peered out. "It looks like the lights are off for the entire city block." He observed. I left out and, using my phone's light, found some candles and lit them.

We sat back down and for a while neither of us spoke. The news had reported nothing about a thunderstorm. Yet, here it was raging a scorching path across the city. Leaving nothing but darkness in it's wake.

Breaking the silence, Taemin asked. "Kikah, do you trust me?"

Maybe, it was because the room was so quiet or maybe it could've been that it was dimly lit. Whatever the reason, this was the moment we had chosen to be honest with one another. To have a conversation we both seemed more content to avoid lately. This was the time to be honest.

"I trust you Taemin." I started slowly." I trust you with our daughter and that you love her. I trust that you'll keep your word to her."

Interrupting me, he asked quietly. "But what about you? Do you trust me with yourself, with your heart?"

I met his eyes, even in the dimness of the candle's light. "I want to" I replied softly. "It's like my heart and body already do, but my head--" I struggled to find the words to describe how I felt. I was confused and conflicted. My head was in a constant battle with my heart over this situation. I wanted everything the way it used to be. Before NaEun--before the drama that ripped us apart. I wanted to love him--I did love him.

I was just scared.

"It's okay." He sighed. "I get it. Logic is telling you that if I left you once, then I'll probably do it again. I won't though." Taking my hand, he kissed it and placed it up to his cheek. "Kikah, I won't because I know what it's like to be without you. I can't handle that shit again." He whispered.

"You're my world Kiks. I can't change what I did. I hurt you. Badly, but by hurting you I hurt myself. I had to live everyday for 3 years only half alive because of it. Walking around pretending to smile, like I was so happy." He laughed bitterly at that. Confessing. "I was dying. I felt like I was dying without you. I never want to feel that way again. I can't even imagine what it must've felt like for you."

Pulling myself closer to him, I laid my head on his shoulder and intertwined our finger; using my thumb to run circles over the back of his hand. "It was a little different." I began. "I had Aurora to think about. So, I put all my energy into her and my company. It was late at night, when she was asleep, that my mind would wonder about you. If you were happy? If you missed me? How much I missed you."

Kissing the top of my head, he whispered into my hair. "I did. I missed you so much it physically hurt."

Voice soft, I continued. "I want to trust you Taemin and I hope eventually I'll be able to. You and I both know exactly what path were headed towards. I just hope it works out better this time."

"I know it will" affirmed Taemin.

The storm brought rain, hard and heavy it pounded against the windows of my apartment, as the thunder roared its displeasure with the world.

"Kikah, I want you to promise me something." He softly stated. I looked up at him and waited for him to finish. "Promise me, that no matter what happens between us that we always continue to put Aurora first. It's important to me that she always knows how much both her parents love her."

"I promise." I agreed. "You know I was thinking the same thing." I laughed. He kissed my cheek and pulled me into a side hug.

"I know you were." Taemin spoke gently. "I can't even imagine my life without you in it, now that your back; but I wanted to assure you, that you could trust my love for our daughter supersedes pettiness. I love you both, more than anything. I think--maybe, we should try again. I'm not saying start over or anything like that."

Laughing, I agreed. "Yeah, there would be no way we could anyway. We have a whole child together. We have history and, aside from that one bad incident, it was pretty damn good. A lot of really nice memories."

"What if we took it slow for a while?" He suggested. "Go on lots of dates, just you and me. It'll be fun." Kissing my lips teasingly slow, he lifted my chin. Angling it so that he can deepen the kiss. I wrapped my arms around his shoulder, running my hands through his hair. Slowly, my back hit the soft cushions of my sofa.

"Slowly?" I asked, slightly breaking away from his sinful lips.

Wickedly, he smiled at me. That sinful smirk that sends delectable heat to pool in my belly. That sexy smize that lights a fire in my veins.

"Anything for you. I only want you--and for you, I have all the time in the world." He whispered in my ear.

As the storm raged outside--inside my world shattered, from a dreary darkness into a beautiful starry night.

Only Taemin could make me see stars during a thunderstorm.