Author's Note: A super short chapter, I'm afraid, but I've had terrible writer's block over the last few days and this is what I managed to get out tonight. I swear the next chapter will be longer, but I hope this is alright for you all for now. Happy reading x

Maria stroked her fingers against the hairs on his forearm and sighed as she laid in his arms in silence a couple of mornings later, a tired smile etched into her features as she could feel the rise and fall of his chest against her back and his warm breath beating against the nape of her neck. It felt so incredible to wake up, not alone, but in the arms of a man that loved her again.

She laid still for a few minutes more, revelling in the feeling of his arms around her, before she began to roll over in order to look at him. Once she had settled down in his arms again and he had tightened his hold of her on instinct, she brought one hand out from beneath the quilt and reached up to trail the backs of her fingers down the side of his face. He was just so dashing.

Last night, just as she had been thinking about going to bed, he had knocked on her front door.

If she was honest, she hadn't wanted to see or talk to him.

Not after the disagreement the two of them had had.

When she had opened the door, however, he had been standing on her doorstep with roses for her and the most apologetic expression on his face. He had apologised for everything (so had she) and within moments their arms had been around one another and nothing aside from the two of them had mattered to them. Time had stopped whilst they had kissed and reconciled.

Instead of saying goodnight to him and closing the door when he had ended their kiss, she had reminded him that her father was in Innsbruck before asking him to spend the night with her. The fact that he was sleeping beside her now was proof that he had been more than willing to do so. It had been so nice to be able to lie next to him and give him gentle kisses and nuzzles.

Her love for him was so deep that she was unable to explain it.

When she had wriggled out of his arms in the middle of the night and hurried to the en suite to throw up he had followed her. He had held her hair back so that it hadn't bothered her, he had drawn circles onto the centre of her back with his other hand to comfort her and he had talked to her in the most soothing way. Afterwards, he had led her back to bed and helped her relax.

The two of them had tried to get a little more sleep after he had gotten her a glass of water to take away the foul taste of vomit and her slumber hadn't been disturbed again for the rest of the night. Feeling her heart swell with love for him when he drew her closer and feathered the gentlest kiss against her forehead, she laid her hand on his chest and pressed her lips to his.

She lingered for a moment and sighed before pulling back, but when she did pull back she saw that his eyes were half-lidded and blessed him with a smile. 'Hello, sleepyhead.' She laughed.

'Mmm…' He ran his hand up and down her spine, 'hello, beautiful.'

After leaning in and kissing the corner of her mouth, he nuzzled further into his pillow.

'What time is it?' He raised his brow whilst she teased the hairs on his chest.

'It's almost nine.' She replied. 'How do you feel about getting some breakfast?'

'Do we have to get up now,' He smirked, 'or can we postpone it for a little while longer?'

Her hand travelled up his chest before coming to rest on the side of his neck.

'That depends on the reason for postponing it…' She ran her thumb along the line of his jaw as her gaze flicked from his, down to his lips and back again. 'It has to be quite an important one.'

'Oh, trust me,' He rolled her onto her back and covered her body with his, 'it's very important.'

She couldn't hold back the little laugh that escaped her when he lowered his head to graze his nose against hers, her eyes drifting closed of their own accord when he swallowed her giggle with a soft kiss. The smack of their lips echoed in the silence of her bedroom when he brought their kiss to an end, nothing but deep love and affection for one another shining in their eyes.

'I love you, Stefan…' She shook her head before wrapping her arms around his neck.

'I love you too, Maria.' He reassured her just seconds before he kissed her lips again. 'So much.'

It was a couple of hours later, not long after the two of them had had lunch in the dining room, when Maria and Stefan were walking through the foyer and in the direction of the front door. 'Do you have to go right now?' She almost pouted as she opened the front door for him, 'It's no fun being alone in a villa this size. What am I supposed to do until you come over tomorrow?'

'I'll tell you what you can do.' He rested his hands on her waist through her dress and drew her close until their chests were touching. 'You can sit and think about how, the second you open this door, I'm going to be holding you close to me and kissing you senseless.' He told her softly.

She smiled and stroked the front of his chest as she looked into his eyes.

'About that stupid argument we had the other night…' She sighed, 'I really am so sorry, Stefan.'

He shushed her before drawing her even closer to him - if that were even possible - and giving her hairline a kiss. 'You have nothing to apologise to me for. I should have thought about your feelings, sweetheart, because I know you've been hurt in the past. I should have been far more considerate.' She gave him a little nod in response before stretching to kiss him on the cheek.

'We were both in the wrong,' She pointed out, 'but let's leave it all behind us now and move on.'

'Yes,' He wrapped his arms around her middle, 'let's…'

The two of them looked at one another for a time, Maria stroking the underside of his jaw with her thumb as she cupped the side of his neck in her hand and he palmed circles into the small of her back. 'How do you feel about going to the Untersberg tomorrow morning?' She inquired.

'A picnic breakfast?' He leaned his forehead against hers.

'Can we?' She beamed. 'Please?'

'I suppose so.' He teased before giving her a squeeze.

She released a sigh of happiness. 'You should get going.'

'I'll telephone you tonight, alright?' He ran a hand over her hair.

'I'll be waiting.' She replied as she rested her hands on his shoulders.

He then leaned down to give her three kisses on the lips before letting go of her and turning to walk out of the villa. Maria leaned against the doorframe to the front door and watched as he walked over to his car, a giggle escaping her when he turned to her and gave her a wink before slipping into his vehicle. He then started the engine, gave her a wave and started to drive off.

She smiled to herself as she left the sitting room and walked in the direction of the front door again some time later, shaking her head good-naturedly as she knew that it would be Stefan returning to pick up something that he had left there. When she got to the door and opened it, however, she saw that it wasn't Stefan standing there. It was the last man she hoped to see.

It was Georg.

For a couple of seconds she did nothing but stare at him.

He looked so different compared to the last time she had seen him.

There were bags under his eyes, his hair was rather dishevelled, he had stubble on his chin and jawline and he wasn't dressed anywhere near as immaculately as she remembered. 'Georg, I.'

'Five minutes.' He almost begged. 'I just want five minutes to talk to you, Maria, please…'

She sighed as she folded her arms across her chest. 'I don't see what you're hoping to achieve.'

'I'm not hoping to achieve anything at this point.' He admitted. 'All I know is that I'm going to go insane if I have to go another minute without talking to you.' It sounded as though there were tears clawing their way up his throat and the sound made her heart break. He sounded so low.

Not wishing to see him turn into a trembling mess on her doorstep she nodded and stepped to one side, allowing him to enter the villa before she closed the door and turned to look up into his eyes. After a couple of seconds she saw his lips curl up into something of a smile whilst he took in the sight of her. 'Oh, Maria…' He sighed, taking a step closer to her, 'you're so perfect.'

When he reached up to tuck a blonde strand of hair back beneath her ear her mind told her to take a step back from him, but her feet didn't get that message and so she remained still and allowed him to do so. He traced the line of her jaw with his fingertips after doing so, revelling in how smooth her skin was to the touch. 'Georg, please.' She finally stepped back from him.

'Can I ask you a question?' He raised his brow once his hand had returned to his side.

'I suppose so.' She shrugged.

He took a deep breath. 'If you didn't want to see me anymore; if you wanted to end things, why didn't you come and tell me that yourself? Why did you send your maid to come and tell me?'

Maria's brow furrowed in confusion. 'What are you talking about?' She asked.

'A few days before your party,' He started, 'your maid - Amelie, I think her name was - came to tell me that you sent her to me with a message. Naturally, I wanted to know what you asked her to come and tell me, so I asked her what the message was. She told me that you said that you want nothing to do with me anymore.' The pain that he was feeling was clear in his eyes.

After looking at his chest for a time, Maria looked into his eyes. 'Georg, I...I never said anything like that. I never summoned Amelie and asked her to visit your villa and give you a message.'

'Do you remember the letter that I supposedly sent to you?' He inquired.

'Of course.' She felt her heart ache. 'I can still see the words on the page now.'

'I didn't write that.' He closed the distance between them before reaching for her hand, smiling when she didn't back off from him or wriggle her hand free. 'I don't know who did, Maria, but I didn't do it. I haven't written a letter to anyone in almost a month.' Maria felt her heart shatter.

After a time, however, something clicked in her head and her sadness turned to rage.

'No…' She breathed.

'What?' Georg frowned as he ran his thumb back and forth across her knuckles a few times.

'Georg...' Her eyes were filled with anger when she looked up at him again, 'I...I think father and Amelie did this. I...I think they set all of this up…'

Author's Note: I want to thank you all so much for taking the time to read this chapter and the previous nine. I apologise once again for this chapter being so short, but I hope that it was alright for you all and that you'll drop me a review to let me know what you all think of it. See you all next time! x