Chapter 53.

Tessa’s POV.

“May I talk to you for a second?”, Kevin requested, “In private”, he added, looking at Gabriel who was attached to my side. I nodded, about to stand up when Gabriel dragged me back,

“It’s okay, babe, nothing’s going to happen”, it told him whilst placing a kiss on his lips, he smiled at me,

“I know nothing is going to happen, I trust you”, he stood up from the couch, “I will excuse the both of you”, to say I was proud of him was an understatement, I was honored to be his fiancé right then. He was almost to the door when he turned around, “Touch a hair on her and I’ll kill you in your sleep”, I rolled my eyes- that’s the Gabriel I know and love.

“Whatever man”, Kevin said with an eyeroll. Gabriel left the room and the atmosphere found a way to shift, the air around us became tense as he sat down beside me, leaving good space between us, he sighed, “We need to talk”,

I nodded my head, “Yeah, we do”, I was already bracing myself for the upcoming storm that I was sure would arrive sooner or later but it never came, “What is it?”, I asked softly, why was he silent? He looked like he wanted to say a thousand things when he had come in here.

He took in a sharp breath and turned to look at me, “Are you sure about this? About marrying him?”, there was no hesitation before I nodded my head, I had never been surer and more aware in my whole life, “Umm, so you love him enough to do this with him?”, I pursed my lips together and nodded again. He turned away from me with a frown on his face, there was silence for a while before he turned back to me, “Did you ever love me half enough to want to do that with me?”,

I was frozen, what on earth was I supposed to say? I couldn’t just say ‘no’, it would crush him and he would assume he wasn’t good enough, “Please don’t put me on such a tight spot”, I had opted for the cowardly version of ‘no’,

“That’s not the answer I was looking for”, he bit his lower lips and folded his arms over his chest,

I let out a sigh, “See Kevin, I can’t say that I am sorry for never giving us a chance because I am not. I love you okay? But not just like that”, he had a pained expression on his face but something in me wanted to keep going, so I did, “But what I feel when I am with Gabriel is unexplainable and out of this world, when I’m with him, its like there is no one else in the room- its all so surreal and mind blowing”,

“You said being with me was surreal as well”, he accused with a frown,

“Yes”, I agreed, “But you have to understand that what I have for the both of you is different. I love you but I am in love with him, heck, I loved you before we even met”, I proceeded to point out,

“Totally not creepy at all”, I saw a glint of a smile on his lips and it made warmth spread through my chest, that was my Kevin- always finding fun in a serious situation. “Are you happy? Does he make you happy?”, the playful Kevin had gone on another vacation and I was once again met with his serious side,

“More than anything and anyone in the world”, I gave him a tight lipped smile and he nodded,

“I guess that is all I should care about then”, he raked his hand through his head and stood up, “He making you happy and you being happy”, he was about to leave when I called him back,

“Kevin”, he looked over his shoulder with an eyebrow up in question, “Why are you leaving? For the army, I mean”, the idea of Kevin quitting music and joining the army was still a surprise to me. Not that I was completely against the idea, I just wanted to know why.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s because I want to work on myself, you know, figure out who I am, be known for something other than being Kevin O.C, do something selfless and good for once in my life, maybe I just need something to take my mind off things”, he answered, I looked down at my hands as if they were the most interesting thing happening right then,

“Oh”,

“But who knows, I just might get traumatized enough and leave, maybe music is actually where I belong but I won’t cross my options out before I try them”, I swear I felt the direct jab towards me that accompanied that statement, “Good night Tessa”, he did not allow me reply before he left the room. I kicked off my shoes and bought my knees up to my chin, burying my head in my hands.

I heard the door open again, “Tess… What happened?”, heavy footsteps strode over to where I was and I felt his hands on my shoulder and the space beside me dip, “Was it Kevin that did this to you? I swear I’m going to fucking end him!”, he was about to get up when I pulled him down and lifted my head up,

“Gabriel, no”, I placed a smile on my lips, “I’m not sad, I was just thinking, okay? I am fine”, I placed my hand on his shoulder and he relaxed, “I love you”,

“I love you”, he dragged me unto his laps and placed a long lasting kiss on my lips. “So, we have agreed to leave tomorrow, back to Cali so we can get a few of our things before they take the house. I believe you also have a few items you would want to pick up. Anyways, Drew has hired a few moving trucks that would help us move our stuff- only, we are leaving my father’s stuff behind”, his eyes became darker as he talked about his father, “We will be back for the hearing in two weeks”, I could tell there was something else on his mind but he was afraid to spill it out.

“You want to say something, what is it?”, I urged and he sighed, placing his arms around my waist,

“I was just thinking”, he pursed his lips together, “You should go back to school, get your diploma and go to college”, as tempting as the idea sounded, I wasn’t sure I could, where was I supposed to get the money to pay for all that? High school- sure, but college was far too expensive for me,

I bit my lip and turned away from him, “I do not have that kind of money, it’s far too expensive”,

“I will pay for it, I didn’t bring it up to put a burden on you, babe, I will handle the expenses”, I sighed and stood up from his laps,

“No, Gabriel, I can’t let you do that”, that was a lot of money and i was sure that from now on, he was not going to be living off his father’s money, if anything, I would feel guilty taking that amount of money from him.

“Why not?”, he stood up and came up to me, taking my hands in his, “Tell me babe, why the hell not?”,

“Because I will feel bad taking it from you”, I blurted out, “You do not have your father’s pocket to depend on anymore and I would hate to make a dent in yours”,

“What the hell are you talking about Tessie? And why are you talking as if the money belongs to only me? We are getting married, my account belongs to the both of us”, he brought my hand up and placed a kiss on my knuckle, making goosebumps erupt on my skin, “Plus, I, Kevin and Alex are starting a business empire of our own very soon and I have a strong feeling that its going to be a success”, he smiled at me. “I remember you saying you wanted to go to UCLA, you still up for that?”, I could not hold the tears back, they were falling in streams down my face as I stared at the man who had captured my heart and hidden the key from the eyes of other men.

“I fucking love you”, there was no warning, I jumped unto him and kissed the hell out of him like I had been wanting to ever since he walked into that door.