I am so sorry for the delay with this chapter. My life has turned into a soap opera, so it would seem. I lost my wonderful granddad and then we had to plan his funeral whilst fighting off some rather rude 'family' members. If I'd written this then, it probably would have been very dark! I'm in a better place now and it's summer so hopefully more updates on the way! Thanks for your patience x

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I'd not been to the restaurant we were eating in before. It was just outside of town and was burried under ivy and white flowers. Inside, it felt like we had stepped into Lord of the Rings. The room was almost cave-like, lit up my candles and fairylights. White flowers were scattered about and the tables were laid with golden tablecloths and mismatched crockery. It was adorable.

'Do you like it?' Zed asked with a smile as we were directed to our table.

'It's lovely.' I replied, returning the smile. I allowed the waitress to pull out the chair for me and I sat myself into it. We were sat right by an open fire and it felt incredible.

'I'm Janice, let me know when you're ready to order.' The waitress drawled in a southern accent. I was sure I had seen her around campus sometimes.

'Seen anything you like?' I asked Zed as I scanned the menu.

His soft, warm eyes moved from the menu to meet mine. 'There's only one thing I'm here for.'

I shifted in my seat, uncomfortably. 'It's going to take time, Zed.'

'Sky, do you still love me?' His brown furrowed with worry.

'Of course I do.'

'And do you still want to marry me?'

'I don't know.' I watched his face fall and instantly regretted my response. 'I don't know if I can trust you.'

His eyes became watery. 'I don't blame you. What I did was unforgivable. I should have known you'd be like this.'

My heart throbbed in my chest and I felt sick at the memory, yet sick that I was going to lose him. 'I don't want it to be like this Zed. I'm just so scared.'

'I wasn't myself. She took over. I lost self-control. I don't remember anything.'

'I know. But that doesn't mean I can just erase what happened.'

'So is this it?' He winced.

'No.' I shook my head. 'I don't want it to be. It's just going to take time to heal.'

He nodded in understanding as Janice, the waitress, returned to our table. 'What can I get y'all?'

It was nice catching up with Zed that evening, although I couldn't help noticing some of the tension that hung in the air like a bad smell. One minute everything seemed perfect, and the next I was having flashbacks to his hands closing around my throat. It made me refuse a dessert.

'Well here we are.' Zed said awkwardly, as we reached the room I was sharing with Jenni.

'Thanks for tonight.'

'No problem.' He smiled.

'You didn't have to pay.'

'Well I asked you out for dinner.' He shrugged. 'I'll see you again soon?'

I nodded, unsure of what to say. He leant towards me and pulled me into a gentle hug. I breathed in, enjoying his scent as I always had before. He pulled away and it felt reluctant, like he would have preferred me to hold onto him forever. That familiar spark lit up inside me and I just wished I could go back to our apartment and curl up in his arms. But it was too soon. I knew I had to take things slow, just to make sure everything was the way it should be.

Zed and I continued to meet up everyday, whether he was cooking me dinner in our apartment or taking me to see a movie. When Thanksgiving came, I knew it would be a challenge. Sally and Simon didn't know there had been a problem between Zed and I. We knew that if we told them, they would be wanting the Benedicts out of my life once and for all. So Thanksgiving involved lying to my parents.

I turned up at the apartment nice and early for the Thanksgiving feast, wearing a red and gold plaid skirt with a black vest top, black boots and black baggy cardigan. Snow was due to fall any day now, and the cold air was enough to make cheeks and noses blush pink. Yves and Phee had arrived already, but luckily Simon and Sally were yet to make an appearance. The rest of the Benedict clan had decided to meet back in the hometown, as they'd not wanted to smother us in our cosy apartment.

'Sky!' Phee called, attempting to embrace me even though her tummy was getting slightly in the way.

'Hey Phee.' I smiled. 'How are you? How's bump?'

'I'm okay, though bump is making me eat loads. I'm never going to shed this baby weight.'

'Of course you will.' Yves appeared in the doorway. 'You look lovely Sky.'

'Not so bad yourself.' I replied, taking in his brown cord trousers and cream shirt. He looked like he was advertising Macy's autumn range.

'Hey.' Zed appeared wearing a black apron, his white shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal his muscular arms. He gave me a peck on the cheek. 'Did you pay your taxi?'

I nodded. 'He gave me a deal today as it was thanksgiving.'

'Oh, I could have picked you up!' Phee shook her head. 'It's not like I can drink right now!'

'It's no problem.' I shrugged.

'Well I'll drop you back. You've got to drink all of my drinks of my behalf. It's only fair.'

I hung up my scarf and jacket on the hooks on the wall and flicked my loose blonde curls over my shoulder. I quickly popped my bag into the bedroom and sighed. The bed was perfectly made on one side, the other side slightly wrinkled from where Zed had been sleeping. It was as if he had been keeping it perfect for me. I pulled the door to and joined everyone in the kitchen for my first glass of wine.

Simon and Sally arrived just before dinner. I was hardly surprised they were running late; Simon probably had spent too long deciding which tie to wear.

'Oh dear, you went for the turkey.' I rolled my eyes after greeting them.

'It was either the turkey tie or red indians! Just wait until Christmas; he's got some new ones that play music.' Sally sighed and shook her head, making me laugh.

'I'm already cringing.' I replied.

'Mr and Mrs Bright, lovely to see you.' Zed smiled, shaking Simon's hand and kissing Sally's cheek.

'I hear you've done all the cooking today.' Simon said. 'I hope it's as lovely as the turkey Sky roasted last year.'

'I'm sure it is. Zed's a great cook.' I shot Zed a smile.

Thank you. His voice in my head made me jump. He hadn't done that in a while.

'Shall we sit down?' Zed murmured, signalling the way to the dining table.

After dinner, we all collapsed in front of the television, feeling too stuffed to move. There was plenty of food left over, though I had no doubt that Yves, Zed and Phee would finish that off between them later on.

'Let's play a game.' Phee suggested as Yves gently rubbed her belly.

'What game should we play?' I asked, unsure of what we had in the cupboard.

'Mr and Mrs!' Sally called out, excitedly. I groaned inside my head. She was obsessed with the television programme and even watched the UK repeats online.

'How do you play?' Phee asked, giving me a nervous look.

'Basically you have to answer questions about your other half. And if you both give the same answer, you get a point. There's a prize for the winner!'

'A prize?'

'Usually a clock... but how about the winner gets to take the untouched cheesecake!'

We all groaned at the thought of more food.

'Pleaaseee.' Sally pleaded.

Simon sighed. 'You're awful after two glasses of wine.'

'Hey!'

'Okay! We'll play it.' Zed interrupted, shooting me a crooked smile.

'Ooh yay!' Sally clapped her hands together. 'We'll need some paper and some pens.'

Phee and Yves did well at Mr and Mrs, as expected, although there were a few errors that I could tell were irritated Phee. Her competitiveness seemed worse when she was pregnant. Sally and Simon also did quite well, although they were in last place.

'Right, you two, you're up.' Simon sat up with a list of questions, glad the pressure was off of him for a while.

'Can I ask them?' Sally pouted, making Simon roll his eyes. He was right, she was quite a sulky drunk.

'Okay.' He sighed, handing them over to her. 'This is why I don't let you drink at the gallery events.'

'Question one: what is Sky's favourite film?'

I quickly scribbled down my answer at the same time as Zed.

'And reveal.'

We both revealed the same answer, and I smiled, pleased that Zed remembered my love for Audrey Hepburn and 'Roman Holiday.'

'Question two: what is Zed's most treasured possession?'

I thought long and hard about this one. I watched as Zed bit his lip in concentration, before scribbling down an answer. Was it something his parents had bought him? Something his brothers had bought him? His phone. His eyes met mine and made me melt. Then I knew what the answer was.

'And reveal.'

Yes, right again. We had both scrawled down 'Watch from Sky' and there it was, sat on his wrist as always. He smiled.

'I hope you two aren't cheating!' Yves laughed from across the room. We both shook our heads.

'They're definitely not.' Phee grinned, and I knew she was listening into our minds, checking to see if we were passing messages to each other.

'Question three: what is Zed's favourite memory?'

I knew what it was. I didn't even need to think about it. I scribbled it down at the same time as Zed.

'And reveal.'

Sure enough, we had both scrawled out something along the lines of 'proposal' on our pieces of paper.

I mean it. Zed's voice entered my head. You saying yes was the happiest moment of my life and if I could relive that moment, I would. Any day.

The rest of the game followed as it had started; Yves and Phee came second, Simon and Sally came last, and Zed and I came first, having got every question correct. Shortly after, Simon and Sally left, as Simon had wanted to get his wife home to bed to rest and sober up. Yves and Phee made their excuses to head back to the hotel, saying that they were 'tired', although I was not sure if I believed them. The look on their faces suggested this was a ploy of theirs.

'Cheesecake?' Zed offered, as I rested my head against the back of the sofa.

'Well I might as well.' I smiled. 'We did win it, after all.'

He returned the smile and headed to the fridge. 'We did pretty well, didn't we?'

'And we didn't even need to cheat.'

He passed me a plate of cheesecake and sat on the sofa beside me.

'Ah this is heaven.' I groaned, swallowing my first bite of caramel cheesecake. It tasted divine.

'Thanks, it's homemade.' He smiled.

'I can't believe you can cook now. I remember when you even burnt pizzas!'

'I had to learn.' He shrugged. 'Especially over the last month or so.'

We were both silent until we finished our cheesecakes. Zed took my empty plate and placed it on the coffee table. I looked over at him and noticed the pink aura surrounding him; love. He still felt it when he looked at me, and I knew from the look of his face that he hated the distance between us- both physical and emotional. I scooted over to him, laying my head on his shoulder. He jumped in surprise, before kissing my forehead and placing his arm around my shoulder.

'I'm glad you're here Sky.'

'I'm glad too.' And I meant it. I was never going to forget what had happened, but I didn't want him out of my life. I liked him being there. I loved him.

'I love you.' He whispered, as if he wasn't sure whether he should be saying it or not.

I took my head off of his shoulder and turned to face him. 'I love you too.'

Mixed emotions crossed his face; first surprise, then joy and then love. His eyes became watery and I hoped they were filled with tears of joy. He moved his face towards me and kissed me, very softly, before pulling away again. This time, I closed the gap between us and kissed him, slightly harder than he had done before. Zed's kisses became more urgent as time passed, and I knew he was worried I was going to disappear into thin air, leaving him by himself.

We eventually pulled apart from each other, breathless, leaving only our foreheads touching.

'Sky, would you stay here tonight? With me?' His voice sounded small and uncertain.

'Of course.'

And I did. That night, I slept in my old pyjamas I'd left behind, wrapped up in Zed's arms like old times. And despite my fidgeting, he didn't let go.