Hey guys! I wrote this chapter in quite a rush, but I hope you don't find it too shabby whatsoever.

And thanks for the reviews ^^ like you'd probably have known anyway, I love reading reviews hahaha makes me feel good and motivated to write ^^

Anyway, enjoy this chapter!


Today, Neil received a very unusual visitor. "Where's your pet?" he asked once he saw the man entering his office. "If you're here only to look around, feel free to leave."

His visitor laughed at his cold reception. "C'mon, is that the way to talk to your brother-in-law?"

"I'm working."

"And so do I," Allen replied. "I heard from Gwen about you guys."

"Since when you became a marriage counsellor?" Neil asked coldly. You don't even know what's really going on, he mused.

"Since you're stupid enough to forget what you told me back then,"

"I forget many things." Neil admitted.

"Well, so here I am, using my free time to remind you what you told me eons ago."

"What?"

"'I don't want to risk hurting Reine because I know I will be hurt seeing her hurt'," He said. "Ring a bell?"

Neil felt a pang in his head. Then a voice echoed inside—his voice.

Who do you want to protect the most? Who do you love the most?

Neil stared at Allen in between the hammering that was going on in his head. "Shit."

"How… how much do you know?"

"Don't underestimate me, Neil Forrester," Allen smirked, "I am still the Allen Rosencrantz, you know? I am working in that hospital, if you have forgotten that as well."

Neil reached for his medication in his drawer and quickly took a small brown bottle containing white pills. His pain subsided somewhat after he took two of those pills.

"You can't judge me," Neil declared.

"I am not judging you," Allen assured him, "I'm just repaying my debt to you. When I was at my lowest point, you drag me up. And I guess it's just right to do the same when you're at your lowest point."

Neil said nothing. Allen's blue eyes pierced him like a spotlight. "Now, it's me asking you. Who do you want to protect the most? Who do you love the most? Is it Reine? Or is it… yourself?"


"Mrs Forrester, what happened to your hand?"

Today, Reine couldn't count how many of her students and colleagues that had asked that question. And to everyone, she replied, "I hit a glass frame,"

Many of them would think that her answer denoted her clumsiness, but not to Rod Braxton who had known her as long as Neil had. He didn't even need to ask.

"You had a fight with Neil." He immediately concluded once he saw the bandage wrapping her left hand.

"Huh?"

"Am I correct?"

Reine threw her glance sideways. The hall was only filled by a few students who ended earlier, and Neil hadn't arrived yet. "It wasn't really a fight," she replied in a low voice eventually.

Rod stared at her, concerned. Like many—if not all—couples, Neil and Reine bickered, but they never fought, physically (they were too tired of each other from sparring against each other for karate). In fact, Neil was the kind that wouldn't let Reine to get any scratch or bruise on her skin. So, this was… something.

Rod sat next to Reine and asked patiently, "Care to tell me what happened?"

"Well… it's kind of hard to tell." She admitted. "I made a mistake. A terrible one."

"Then?"

"I… don't know how to fix it."

"Hey!" Rod exclaimed, "Where's the usual Reine with her funny logic? Okay, not funny… hm… how should I say it…? With her simple logic?"

"Funny… simple logic?"

"Yeah! Neil used to tell me a lot about it!" Rod replied, "Like… putting an umbrella over your head when it's raining, or cook a meal when you're hungry… or say, declare your feelings to the person concerned? Sounds familiar?"

Reine then remembered the early days of her relationship with Neil, when they hadn't been dating yet. She then remembered that she often thought that she should do things that 'make sense'.

Reine smiled wryly. Maybe Neil wasn't the only one forgetting things.

"I should apologize to him."

"Yeah! That's the Reine I know!"

"Thanks, Rod!"

"Now you can just go and find your Neil!"

"What?"

"This kind of thing shouldn't wait!" Rod insisted, "Run! Find him!"

"Hey, I can't leave my job!"

"It's okay! I'll cover you!"

Reine laughed, "You've never changed, Rod," she mused. "But, hey, thanks a lot. Really."

Reine rose from her seat and headed out. Neil's car wasn't anywhere to be found, but she did find something, or rather someone, interesting standing on the school gate.

Mikhail Calleigh.

He walked over to her, "May I have a moment to talk?"

"No," Reine replied as she ran past him, "I have to find my husband."

Much to her surprise, he held her wrist tightly, prompting her to stop. Reine sighed, "Make it quick," she said. She didn't want to waste anymore time, or made any more misunderstanding between her and Neil.

It was then when Mikhail noticed the bandage. "Did he do that to you?"

"Yes and no," Reine replied, "Now, what's your business? Feel free to leave if you're just looking around."

Mikhail was tempted to press on the matter further but, noticing how rushed Reine seemed to be, cleared his throat. "The papers are ready."

"I…"

"And," he quickly interjecting, not knowing when he would get such courage anymore, "after all of this is over, and you're ready for someone new… can I be that person?"

"WHAT?!" Reine was practically yelling. "Are you crazy?!"

With one swift movement, Reine freed herself from Mikhail and ran away. Subconsciously, her feet brought her back to her home, the place where she believed she belonged to, and Neil's car was parked on the driveway.

She rushed and opened the door, and Neil was standing before her, confused. "Neil?" she called, holding her breath.

He frowned. "Kreiss, what are you doing here?" he asked. "This is my place."

Kreiss.

My place.

That moment, Reine cried at the top of her lungs and dropped to her knees before Neil, her tears streaming like a pair of waterfalls on the sides of her face.

Neil was extremely startled by her sudden breakdown. Without knowing what had happened to her, and how he had played a part in it, he reached out to her. He was unsure whether he was doing the right thing, but in the end he took her into his arms. Because there was one thing he knew—and remembered—for sure:

His love for her.


Mikhail eventually declared his feelings to Reine while Neil, on the other hand, had almost completely forgotten about her.

What will Reine do?

Wait for the next chapter to find out!

A/N: If you guys hadn't realised it yet, actually I made a lot of references to Colours of Our Hair. However, the scene between Allen and Neil that was referred to earlier will never be found in Colours of Our Hair; it's in the Colours of Our Heart. In summary, that time Allen was planning to break up with Gwen, thinking it was for the best, but Neil asked him whether Allen was really trying to protect Gwen from being hurt, or rather he was protecting himself who would be hurt seeing Gwen being hurt. So now it's kind of the reversal between the brothers-in-law.

That, aaaand... the request box is still open ^^

Thanks for reading! Please leave me your opinion! ^^