Present.

It was one of the most pleasant ways to wake up I had in my life. Even if it was a bit dangerous. Bella almost suffocated me, hugging my head tightly into her plentiful chest.

Not the worst way to go. But I still had things to do. Yeah, actually having something to live for wasn't something I was used to.

As I crawled my way out to get some air, a nostalgic, even if not entirely pleasant, sound reached my ears through the murmuring sound of the forgotten TV.

Bella was sobbing in her sleep.

Sigh. 

I brought my special woman into my embrace and started gently stroking her back as her tears dripped onto my chest.

Sadly, if there was one thing I was completely powerless against, it was nightmares.

***

A bit over an hour later, Bella finally calmed down. Or, more precisely, she woke up.

"Nightmare again?" I whispered softly into her ear.

"Yeah," she said into my chest, refusing to look at me.

"Miguel?" I asked.

"No," she denied.

"Your father?" I continued my questioning.

"Not him either." Her answer caught me off guard.

This was, to say the least, surprising. It was a nightmare worthy of tears, yet it wasn't one of those. What then?

We kept lying there in silence as I searched my spotty memory for an explanation.

"You." Bella's unexpected words brought me back.

"Me?" I asked back.

Instead of answering my stupid question, Bella raised her face and looked at me, as if searching for something. Her desperate expression could be seen in the darkness of the room, lit only by the still-working TV screen.

I felt lost for words. This was something new.

No, of course, the young Michael Roah was a rare breed of bastard, but his actions were hardly something worth such a reaction from Isabella Alvarez.

"Want to talk about it?" This was the only thing I could offer in this situation.

I felt her arms tighten their hold on me as she buried her face deeper in my pecs. And I was just waiting for her response, lightly rubbing her back and shoulders.

"No…" Her response followed. "Yes. I don't know."

I kissed the top of her head.

"It's all so confusing, Michael," Bella continued.

"Life is confusing," I agreed.

In the next moment, I sucked air through my teeth as Bella decided to bite me hard enough to let blood out.

Yeah, sure, anything to make her feel better. I surely deserved at least this much.

I kissed the top of her head again.

"This one started one and a half months ago."

***

As I was listening to Bella's story, I couldn't help but think about the weirdness of this whole situation.

On second thought, the strangest thing, by far, was my own second chance. Who could say, with confidence, that the same powers weren't behind this thing as well?

Not me.

***

"Then you came back and made me feel stupid for thinking this could be something more than just my psyche working against me. You know, I'm many things, but being superstitious isn't one of them," Bella kept talking. "But then, you told me all those things back on our 'date'. And that bitch from 'Big Pharma' with her stupid ideas..."

I kept nodding along, but those last words caught my attention.

"What did she say?" I asked.

I had a hunch who this 'bitch' was and what she said to my dear, sure. But I still felt curious.

"You knew that she started this off-shoot to catch a time-traveler, yes?" Her tone sounded a bit inquisitive.

"Yeah," I confirmed. 

Bella's teeth made contact with my skin again, this time playfully. My special woman then proceeded to lick the blood off.

Well, I heard the rumors about That Alvarez Woman being an actual bloodsucking bitch, but never before I experienced it myself. 

Should I bite her back?

I shook my head, chasing the stupid thoughts away. Yeah, if there was something that could mess with my head, it was a naked Bella clinging to me.

A whole damn lot.

"She wants to meet you." Bella finally decided to speak.

I put in some actual effort to think it through.

"Nah. At least not in the near future," I declined.

My special woman froze after hearing my words.

"Dear, do you understand who she is?" Bella raised her face to look at me as she said that.

"Dear, do you understand who I am?" I met her gaze and gave her my most condescending smile.

Neither Long Tian nor Kouzuki Shinji were people that just anyone could meet. Even for someone like her.

Especially for someone like her, I corrected myself.

Bella kept staring at me, as if waiting for continuation.

"She is someone I would prefer to avoid, at least for a while," I conceded. "I already feel like I'm in over my head with the situation at hand, and adding another wild card would mess it all up. Even more than it already is."

Bella accepted my words with a nod. A moment later, she asked:

"What should I tell her?"

"The truth. Young Master Long Tian is interested in meeting with her but is currently indisposed due to clan matters," I said with a cheeky wink.

There was no need for me to explain every other implication behind those words. And they were, in fact, the truth—in the end, my personal love life was a clan matter as well.

Bella smiled and moved in for a kiss, straddling me in the process. Not the most unwelcome start of the day.

The only problem was an insignificant fact—this bloodsucking bitch riled up the fucking animal part of me. And the beast demanded to make her submit.

And all the other masks, much to my surprise, agreed with the necessity of this course of action.

As for me? I was never much of an M person.

I put my hands on her waist and rolled us over. Judging by her knowing smirk, this Alvarez Woman expected it all along. How devious of her!

I was about to kiss her, but she stopped me.

"About this dream, or whatever it is..." Huh, she was still hanging onto that.

"It doesn't matter," I cut her off. "Whatever it was, I already told you. That future is obsolete."

How many times would I need to tell her that, I wonder.

"But…" Oh, for fuck's sake.

"Look, my dear Bella. If you are so worried about not returning, just don't let me leave."