A/N: Yay! Finally, it's updated! Sorry it took so long, but I have been obsessed with Death Note lately, in case you have not noticed. I finished this one when my sister (FoxFire Pheonix) INSISTED that I finish it.

I'VE GOT ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT! HANG IN THERE, MY PEEPS!!

Part 5 A Proposal

When Reno and Rude arrived, Adela released herself from my arms and ran straight for Rude. "Father!" she cried out as she grabbed him and he held her close. She looked like she was going to tear up again but closer study to her red and puffy eyes told me that she was not going to. Rude looked up at me almost accusingly, but I just shrugged and waved with a nervous smile on my face which must have told him all he wanted to know; what happened was not my fault.

Reno walked over to the bloody scene and surveyed every last detail, studied each body, and examined the blood spatter on the dumpster and the walls. "What a mess." He turned to me. "What did you do, boss?"

"Some thugs attacked us as we were taking a short cut back to my car." I growled. "They were the same men who attacked Adela a year ago and led to our meeting. Apparently they didn't like me very much."

Reno just chuckled and called Rude over to help him. The big man walked up to me, his face unreadable, and left Adela with me. "Thank you," he said without emotion. I raised an eyebrow at the older man. What did he mean? "For protecting my daughter." He then walked off and joined Reno with the cleaning of the street. Those two may have never liked clean up duty, but they were the best at leaving no trace of anything behind for people to find. That is why I called them there. Besides, I'd probably receive a long lecture about self control from Tseng if I called him.

I left the two to their work, taking Adela's hand; we took the long way back to my car. We walked around the block on the sidewalk so there were plenty of witnesses if we got attacked, which was highly unlikely out in the open. When we got to my car, I helped the weak and shaking Costa del Sol girl into the passenger's seat then went around and settled myself into the driver's side. Inserting the key into the ignition, I turned it and heard the engine roar to life then began our long drive back to Healin.

--

I unlocked the front door to my apartment and allowed Adela to enter before me. I gave her a brief hug after I shut the door then allowed her to rest up in her room. I needed to pull out the thug's bone fragments from my face before I took a shower and pulled myself into bed. I was used to things like this happening a lot so I was sure I would be able to sleep soundly tonight. However; I was not sure about Adela. She looked pale and her eyes still had a hint of traumatizing fear in them.

After Adela had hidden herself in her bedroom, I made my way to my bathroom, turned the water on for my shower so I could pick out the small pieces of bone while I waited for the water to get hot. As soon as I heard the spray of the showerhead, I removed my white, blood-stained suit and turned to my bathroom mirror in nothing but my boxers. Digging in my drawers, I pulled out a pair of tweezers and began to carefully pick at the shards of bone that had embedded themselves into my skin. After about ten minutes of digging, I managed to pull most of the fragments out, but some that I had trouble with remained. I was not going to be able to remove them unless I got help. Without thinking, I yelled for the only person around that could help me.

"Adela!"

She came almost immediately, as if she were just waiting for me to call her. When she entered, I held the tweezers out to her, as if expecting her to know what I wanted her to do. The look in her eyes told me that she did not. I sighed. "I need a little help pulling out the rest of the bone from my face," I stated. "Could you help me?"

Adela hesitated. For a moment, I thought that she would refuse, but then she nodded and took the tweezers from my hand, walked up to me and examined my face. "Where do you want me to start?" she asked.

"Anywhere, just remove the rest of the fragments for me."

"Alright." She sounded unsure but began anyway. To the best of my ability, I held my head as steady as I could. It was easier when I was the one picking at my face but when someone else was, it became a lot more difficult.

It was rather unnerving having her face so close to mine. I had to restrain myself from making any sudden movements towards her. It took a while but eventually ever single bone fragment was removed from my skin, the blood stopped flowing, and the tweezers were set back down on the counter top. She squatted down in front of me and raised her hand and touched my face ever so gently.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her own face full of worry. I smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine." She seemed like she did not believe me. I smiled down at her but her eyes began to water; apparently the events of just an hour before still affected her. She was still traumatized a bit from the bloodand gunshots from the alley.

"You can't be fine!" she cried, standing up, now staring down at me. "How can you be? You murdered five men!" The tears came freely now and flowed down her cheeks like rain running down a window. "I thought for sure you would die right in front of my eyes! I wouldn't be able to live if you did!" Where was she going with this? Did she mean what she said? Adela moved her face closer to mine slowly and gently kissed my lips. I was shocked. I had never expected her to do this. She said she only wanted to be friends now so why the sudden change of mind? "I love you, Rufus, how could you scare me like you did!?" She kissed me again but this time, I wasn't so shocked. She just wanted to hide her feelings for me from her father. Of course I would not be able to hide my feelings for her from her father but that was not what she was trying to achieve.

The shower was ready so while I was kissing her soft lips, I removed my boxers and backed into the shower with my arms wrapped around Adela. She was a bit startled when she felt the hot water soak her clothes but immediately warmed up to it and grabbed me around my middle. I thought it odd that she was in the shower with her clothes on but then again, I was the one who brought her in with me. She seemed to understand what I was thinking because she began to remove her wet clothes and toss them onto the floor on the other side of the shower curtain. Soon she was down to nothing but her bra and panties. I moved down to suck on her neck as I let my hands do as they pleased. They found the back of her bra and unhooked it, then removed the straps from her shoulders. Her body was pressed up against mine so the undergarment did not fall immediately but stayed there until I pulled it off, feeling down her smooth body as I did so.

She did not seem to care whether I undressed her or not. In fact, she seemed to want it. She kissed my collar bone and licked off the water that covered us both. It was almost suffocating to have the hot water beat down on our heads while we kissed. I learned to ignore it, though. I had Adela back, that's all that mattered to me at the moment.

I grabbed her hips and noticed that she still had her panties on. I slipped my thumbs in the waistband and pulled them down. They fell and came to a rest on the sopping wet floor around Adela's bare feet. I grabbed her butt and picked her up, allowing her to wrap her legs around my waist. She linked her arms around my neck and began to, almost forcefully, shove her tongue between my lips and tickly my own.

She continued to kiss me for several more minutes before she dropped her feet back to the tile floor of the shower. She released herself from me and smiled. "Thank you, Rufus," she said, her breath almost lost in the downpour of water from the showerhead. I stared back at her, obviously confused. Adela let out a slight chuckle. "For always being there for me," she added.

"You're quite welcome, Adela," I returned, my smile back. Turning around, I grabbed a bar of soap and handed it to her. "Here, wash up." She took it and gave me an odd look. "I accidently transferred some of the blood I had on me to you. You might not want that there." She nodded her acknowledgment and rubbed the white bar over her dark-tan skin. While she was washing her body, I busied myself with the shampoo and conditioner. The other man's blood had found its way into my hair as well as on my skin and clothes.

When we were done washing up, I turned the water off and stepped out, wrapped a towel around my waist and walked out of the bathroom to a small, hallway closet to get Adela a towel. Grabbing a fluffy, pink towel I had bought for her a while back, I returned to the bathroom to see her out of the shower and ringing out her hair. I could not help but stare at her wet body. Her skin seemed to gleam and sparkle from the light that reflected off the droplets of water that clung to her body. When she saw me, she smiled innocently at me and I felt my cheeks grow a bit warm. Shaking it off, I handed her the towel and she took it gratefully. She dried her hair first then, after wiping the water of her skin, she wrapped the towel around her torso, covering her from the breasts to just below her butt.

Walking past me, Adela gave me a quick peck on my cheek then continued down the hall to her own bedroom. I watched her until she disappeared through her door then I turned and headed for my own room. I immediately went to my dresser and pulled out my pajamas. It was a cold night and I was not in the mood for sleeping in just a pair of boxers. I slipped on my pajama bottoms, turned off the light, and then pulled the blankets of my bed back so I could crawl gratefully under the covers. I was longing for sleep; the events of the day left me exhausted and weary.

I was about to slip the sheets up over my bare chest when I heard a knock at the door. "Come in."

The door creaked open and Adela walked in. I wondered what she was doing when she walked around to the other side of my bed and pulled back the sheets.

"May I sleep with you?" she asked in a hopeful tone. I smiled and nodded before she slipped in next to me and almost immediately fell asleep. She slept on her side, her back turned to me and I slid over to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. Her hair had no specific scent to it but yet I could not help but think that is smelled lovely. It was warm, probably from the hairdryer she had used to get most of the excess water out of it so she could go to bed. I believed tonight would be the beginning of a brand new life for me and Adela.

--

The next day, there was no hiding the fact that Adela and I were back together. Rude was bound to find out eventually so I just outright told him. To my great surprise, he was not at all offended or angered by it, but relieved. It seemed that he thought Adela was happier with me than by herself.

Adela still kept her job at the Seventh Heaven Bar, though I do think that Cloud was too happy about having someone connected to me working there, but Tifa was kind and a wonderful employer, and she did not care about Adela's connection to me. An upside to having the girl working there was that I got discounts on all of my drinks, as did Rude. One day, a few months after Adela and I were dating again, I was feeling rather spontaneous; I actually bought drinks for everyone in the bar. Tifa was a bit surprised, but Adela was all too happy to serve us and laughed as she handed out the glasses. That night, I proposed to her and, with a tear-filled smile, she agreed.

A/N: Yeah, I feel like something is missing from this chapter. But, if you like it, kudos to you. Enjoy.

Review!! If not, think of the worst way for you to die. I will do that to you times 100. I am dead serious.