DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN WINX CLUB.

Summary: Sometimes, the past can come back and bite you in the butt. In Stella's case, her past is over six feet tall and breaks into her apartment just for the heck of it.

Stella yawned sleepily as she entered into her dimly apartment. Today was the worst. She thought that being a fashion designer was a rad career choice, but boy, was she ever wrong. She had fun and enjoyed the limelight when her couture designs quickly became a sensation overnight.

But her fun and sleep shortlived when she expanded her territories as different companies started to approach her to design various dresses for different occasions: cocktail dresses, casual wear, party dresses, wedding dresses, etc.

"Ugh," she groaned as she threw her bag aside. She quickly made a beeline to her kitchen without even bothering to change. The stupid board meeting to freaking approve her designs had taken over five hours. Five hours! She's a designer, not a freaking businesswoman!

She turned on the lights and sighed when she saw the clock in the kitchen glaring back at her with a pair of aggravating hands. The minute and second hands read nearly 12:20in the morning. And she hadn't had anything since small time snack in the evening.

She ran to her cabinets and started raiding each one of them for any signs of edible food she can eat. "Oh c'mon!" she angrily muttered when she didn't even find packed food. She bolted to her refridgerator for any leftover food.

None.

She let out a frustrated yell. "Ahhh!" she screamed as she switched off the lights before going back to the living room. She searched her purse and to her delight, she found a large Hersheys bar. Opening it eagerly, she hummed in satisfaction as she munched on the delectable chocolate.

"Ahh...this is the life," she munched appreciatively. It didn't take her long to finish all 12 blocks of the chocolate. She threw the wrapper away before heading for the bedroom.

She yawned as she slowly took off her jacket and threw it on the bed. She went to her closet and picked the most comfortable nightgown to wear. Without even bothering to turn on the lights, she discarded her day clothes and slipped into the nightgown. She took her hair off from the ponytail and shook it loose as soft curls spilled back her shoulders effortlessly. Normally, she would've showered after a long day of work, but tonight...she was too tired to take another step.

She turned on the air conditioner and sleepily walked to her bed.

She let out small coos of pleasure as she slipped into her warm covers. Her body loosened slightly, sending her small shivers down her spine. She pulled the covers till her chin and closed her eyes with a small smile.

Her moment was interrupted when she felt strong arms around her waist. Her back hit a warm, broad chest. Stella's eyes opened wide abruptly. She was about to scream out of fear when a hand clasped around her mouth. She felt extremely self-conscious at the moment. She knew from the touch that it was a man. And the fact that she was only wearing a flimsy nightgown didn't nothing to help her case. Her heart thudded against her chest in fright and she let out a muffled scream.

"Hey, sunshine," a deep, rich voice whispered against the shell of her ear. Stella stopped moving and went instantly frigid. She simply lay there as she processed the voice.

Could it be him? Is it really him? No. NO. NO! It can't be him! Her throat went dry as no words came out of her mouth.

"What? No hello? And here I thought you'd be more eager to see me," he said as Stella practically pictured him smirking right now. Her eyes watered immediately. What was he doing here?

Stella's mind came back to her senses. She finally realized she had arms and legs and pushed him away. Stella let out the breath she hasn't realized she'd been holding. She jumped out of her bed before he could touch her again. But he made no movement. She could see the smirk on his face even in the pitch dark. She stared at his silhouette. He had gotten...muscular. Why did God have to craft him so beautifully?!

"H-h-how did you get in here?" she finally uttered not even bothering to turn on the lights.

"I was a specialist once. Locked or unlocked doors...they make no difference to me," he smirked as he lay there watching her.

"Stop being a smartass! What the hell are you doing here?" Stella hissed acidly.

"Well, I was near the market and since your house is close by, I decided to drop by," he smirked.

Stella stared at him dumbfounded at his response. She blinked as he rolled across the bed. She snapped out of her trance when she saw him walking towards her predatorily.

"Stay the hell away from me," Stella said icily as she took a few steps backwards.

"Now why would I do that? By the way...you look pretty hot," he muttered.

She blushed at his comment. Thank God it was dark so he couldn't see her blush. Stella backed up to the wall as the distance between them decreased. He smirked as he neared her. He placed his arms on either side of head.

"I missed you," he mused while burying his head somewhere in her hair.

Stella's eyes flooded with tears. "No, stop!" she pushed him away sharply. He expected that and he sort of did deserve that for everything he did. She escaped from him and tried to make a run for it. Stella gasped slightly when the lights suddenly turned on.

Before she could take another step to dash out of her room, she felt two arms wound tightly against her. Her heart raced as her back hit against a strongly built chest. "No, stop! Let me go!" she squirmed as she silently pleaded for him to not let go at the same time.

"Where do you want to go, sunshine? It's pretty late," he said with amusement. He longed to see her beautiful face. The face he missed so damn much.

He let out an annoyed sigh when she started to hit his arms. He twirled her around sharply until stopping until they were within a foot away from Stella's mirror.

His eyes widened as he saw Stella in the mirror before him. She's...

No words described his feelings at the moment as his eyes trained her features. All the memories and all the moments with her came rushing back to his head, hitting him with a full force. Her lips quivered slightly as she tried not to lose it.

She raised her eyes and her lips slightly parted as she noticed how much he had changed. He changed so much, but at the same time, he didn't. His eyes softened immensely when he saw a tear slide down her cheek, tainting the beauty of her face.

"Why're you here, Brandon?" Stella's voice cracked as she looked at him with broken eyes.

He turned her around and faced her seriously this time. "I missed you, sunshine. You have no idea how much I missed you over the past ten months."

Her eyes flared in anger at that. "Really?! Then why the hell did I get dumped?"

His eyes softened. "I never dumped you. You know that."

"Really?! Then why the hell did we live as strangers for ten months?! Why did you come back?! Now you have time for me? Well, guess what? I'm not a whore that you can summon any time you want," she spoke with acid on her tongue.

His eyes widened at her acrid choice of words. Now it was his turn to get angry. "Are you serious? Stella, you know me better than that!" he yelled as his voice boomed off the walls.

"Do I? You dumped me, Brandon! You didn't want me anymore! You didn't love me anymore. What was I supposed to feel?!" Stella yelled back.

He let her go and stepped back slightly. He ran a hand through his chestnut locks in frustration. "I never said any of those words," he said with his jaw clenched.

"You might as well have. Why are you here now anyway?!"

He took a step closer to her when she took one back. His patience grew thin at that. "I missed you, Stel. It wasn't easy for me either," he said.

Stella's eyes flared again. "It wasn't easy for you?! What about me?! Do you know...do you know what I went through?" her voice cracked as she looked at him with heartbroken eyes. "I thought...I thought that we would last. I prayed every single day that you would stay by my side each waking hour."

He remained silent as her voice broke even more. Tears flooded Stella's eyes and started to stream down her face. "I couldn't take it anymore. I nearly went insane thinking about you. All the nightmares I had...all the times I called out for you...it was hell. I indulged myself in work. I came back everyday at ridiculous hours just for sleeping. Do you know how it feels? Do you know how that pain felt?!" Her voice started out loud in the beginning but fell into a low whisper at the end. Her body started to shake as she let out a choked sob.

He instantly rushed to her and took her in his arms. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry, sunshine," he whispered while softly kissing her tears away. "I never stopped loving you even for a second. I left because I thought it was safer for you."

She sobbed. "No. It's because you were tired of me," she said sadly.

He shook his head. "That's not true," he said firmly. "The missions that the specialists and I were assigned to...they were too dangerous. I had to leave, so that you could be safe."

"I'm a fairy, Brandon! I can defend myself, okay? I'm not a pathetic glass bowl!"

He suppressed a smile at that. "I know you're not. But you were and are too important to me. I didn't know how long that mission would take, so I said that I wanted a break."

"Couldn't you have just told me to wait?! I would have waited for you!" she cried harder.

"But this was one where there were slim chances of me returning," he said glumly. Stella's eyes widened. "W-w-what?"

"Why else would you think that I'd ask you to move on? In case I didn't return...I didn't want to talk to you through a goodbye letter. So I broke up with you before I left," he spoke softly while gently cupping her face.

She stared at him with wide eyes before more tears cascaded down her cheeks. "Then why are you here now?! You suddenly return out of nowhere as if the past ten months didn't exist!" she screamed.

He appeared unfazed by her outburst. "Don't you want me back?" he said gently while caressing her cheek. She stopped.

Don't you want me back?

Stella's eyes glistened. Of course she wanted him! She wanted him back so much! She wanted to wake up every morning with him and sleep in his arms every night. But...

"You're just going to leave again," she said sadly as more tears leaked out of her eyes. "P-p-p-please leave. Brandon, I can't handle it if you leave each time you think that I might be in danger. If you keep showing up and disappearing, I...I can never heal from a broken heart," she whispered as she sniffled.

Her words felt as if someone drove a sharp stake through the pits of his heart. His eyes glistened slightly as he saw her cry in agony. He wrapped an arm around her waist and took a step closer to her. He lifted her beautiful face with his finger before wiping her endless tears away. He attached his forehead and dwelled in the depth of her eyes for a few moments before breaking the silence.

"I...quit," he whispered softly as his lips slightly brushed against hers. Her golden-brown eyes widened as she blinked a few times. "W-w-what?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I couldn't stand to be away from you anymore. I finished the mission and...I quit," he said firmly as he told her lovingly with nothing but affection in his eyes.

"But you loved your job," she asserted disbelievingly.

"I love you even more," he retorted right on cue.

She remained in a hushed silence.

"Stel...please give me another chance. I swear I'll never leave you again," he pleaded as he pulled her even closer, if that's even possible.

"And...if you do?" she sniffled. "What am I supposed to do then?"

He smiled. "You have powers. I'm sure you have the advantage here."

A soft laugh burst from Stella's lips as he wiped her tears away. "That's a yes?" he asked.

"Yes! A hundred times yes!" she nodded vigorously as she wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her head into his chest.

"I love you," she mumbled against his shirt.

He pulled her back just slighty. With a swift motion, he captured her lips as she let out a surprised moan. The kiss, although started out as gentle, quickly turned passionate and almost ferocious as they both poured their frustrations and longing into it.

Many, many moments later, they pulled back. Stella panted slightly out of breath while she stared up at him with shimmering eyes.

"I love you even more," he said with a smile that made her heart skip a few beats. She blushed and stood there in his arms, still not believing that he's back. He's really back. Whatever the reason he left her for...it no longer existed.

"So you're jobless now?" she teased.

He smirked against her lips. "So will you be considering I have no intention to let you out of my eyesight any time soon." She blushed at the intense gaze that he mustered towards her.

But time soon started to catch up to her as Stella realized how exhausted she felt. She suppressed a yawn but he managed to catch it anyway.

"We'll talk tomorrow," he reassured her.

In a few moments, they were both comfortably entangled and entrenched in each other's presence, lost somewhere in the silky white sheets. Stella buried herself in his arms. Her pillow was tossed somewhere on the floor as she found no use for it anymore, making him laugh. He really missed her.

"This isn't a dream, right?" Stella mumbled. Even it is a dream, she never wanted to get out of it. This past year had been nothing short of hell. It was torturous not having him by her side. Her work was the only thing that had kept her fortunately sane throughout these months.

But what kept her really alive and going is the small glimmer of hope that she held within in. The hope that he would return to her.

The hope that her lost happiness would be found again.

This flu is really getting the worst of me because I nearly fell down a flight of stairs yesterday due to it. Heh, yup. I'm a total klutz and a nerd in real life.

Well, I hope you liked it anyway. I know I said that I would keep every story on hold until Shattered Heart is complete, but I couldn't resist a burglar Brandon xD

Hope you enjoyed/smiled once.

Thank you for reading :)