The Tyrant's Pet

"You were there with me. You kept me warm."

Two nights ago, Abel wasn\'t even halfway through his way to reach the mainland. He wasn\'t there to keep her warm. However, what she said only proved reality barely sank into her.

Another shallow breath slipped past his lips, lifting his hand from underwater to touch her cheek with his fingertips.

"I can touch you," he said, only to see her smile slightly. "So you can also touch me inside here, huh?"

He reached for her temple and tapped it, making her nod slightly. He wasn\'t surprised, though. Her witch was Maleficent, and if Maleficent was not so powerful, he wouldn\'t even leave this repugnance in his mouth just by her presence.

"This is a dilemma, isn\'t it?" he asked, smiling helplessly. "What should we do now?"

"Like always?"

His brows rose as she lifted her hand, showing her palm to him. Using the other hand, she reached for his hand, guiding it to her other hand. Aries slowly slipped her fingers in between the gaps of his fingers, curling it ever so slowly.

"Like this," she said, looking back at him with a smile.

Abel remained quiet as he assessed the smile on her face.

\'So this had been what you were doing, huh?\' he sighed inwardly, but he was not any better.

Day and night… he lived in those memories where she was. That world was hell even though no one could physically hurt him. Just her absence alone was enough torture for him; to live in a world without her was the true nightmare.

Abel wrapped his slender fingers around her hand, guiding it to his face until the back of her hand was resting on his lean cheek.

"Better?" he asked, pressing his cheek on the back of her hand with a smile, eyes fixed on her.

Her eyes softened, lifting her other hand to caress his other cheek.

"You\'re still beautiful," she whispered, still mesmerized by that sinful beauty. "You don\'t hate me?"

"Why would I?"

"Abel." Aries sighed, dropping her hand on top of her bent knees. "You know what happened two years ago —"

A finger pressed on her soft lips, stopping her attempt from mentioning that night two years ago. She frowned, gazing up at him with dissatisfaction. Aries practiced how she would explain everything to him and even how she would beg him to forgive her — just in case. Although she was nervous herself, she wanted to get done with it.

But every time she would muster enough courage, he would stop her from saying anything further. The answer to this question came almost immediately as she remarked.

"I understand," was all that he said with a subtle smile. "You don\'t have to go through the hassle of details. I understand and it was alright."

Understand? And it was alright?

Her breath slowed down as her eyes slightly shook. "What?" she blurted out under her breath.

"You don\'t have to tell me or apologize or explain yourself. I already understand and it\'s alright," he repeated, scrambling his words but his point was the same. "Don\'t beat yourself about it."

Aries opened and closed her lips but no words managed to escape her mouth. All she could do for a moment was stare at him, listening to the thick layers around her heart break, layer by layer. The corner of her eyes slowly turned red as a thin layer of tears coated them, making her bright orbs gleam beautifully.

"What\'s with that look, darling?" he humored with a weak chuckle, planting his hand on her head, causing it to lower. Abel simply ruffled her hair as if she was a kid. "Did you think I\'d be angry and resort to violence? You break my heart, darling. It seemed your habit of seeing the worst in me hadn\'t changed."

Another helpless sigh slipped past his curled lips, ruffling her hair more gently. It had always been like that. Aries doesn\'t always see the good in him; matter of fact, she would always assume he would do the worse. The reason she would always look so surprised whenever he would exercise kindness.

Quite strange, that people fall for those who would see the good in them. But it was the opposite for Abel. Aries often sees the bad in him, but still loved and accepted him, regardless.

She was crazy; his crazy.

Meanwhile, Aries kept her eyes on her distorted image on the surface of the water. Her vision slowly turned blurry as tears formed in her eyes, biting her bottom lip to stop herself from crying aloud.

[ I understand, and it was alright. ]

Such a simple response that she had never considered he would say. Yet, her heart felt utterly at ease. All the crazy overthinking and countless guessing of how they would talk about that night two years ago was ultimately resolved with just those words.

"Are you crying?" Abel asked, noticing how her shoulders and back trembled. His brows rose, flinching when Aries suddenly raised her head.

Her face already turned red as she was chewing her lower lip. Tears naturally stained her flustered cheek, keeping quiet despite the presence of tears.

Seeing her reaction, which was quite new and adorable in his eyes, Abel was rendered speechless momentarily. When a minute passed, a shallow breath slipped past his lips as he shook his head.

"Don\'t cry," he said out of instinct, only to flinch when she yelled.

"But you told me I can cry now!" her voice was louder than she expected, forcing her voice out of her tight throat.

"Ahh… haha." Abel laughed, pulling her slender arms closer to his body. "Right, right. I think I said something like that. Then I\'ll lend you my chest to release your frustrations."

Abel kept her in the safety of his embrace, spreading his leg on either side of the tub, confining her in his arms and legs. His hand stroked her back, listening to her muffled sobs until she was crying out loud like a child.

"Wah…!"

"There, there." He patted her back, chuckling as she started hiccuping. This was probably the first time she cried so hard and so loud, like a child, but he didn\'t mind.

Abel leaned the side of his head against hers. His expression was soft as a subtle smile turned up on his face.

"We\'re together now, Aries," he whispered as a layer of tears coated his eyes. "No one will take you away from me again. Not that man on the throne, and definitely not Maleficent anymore."