~Chapter 44~

On the evening of two of 24th December two boys and two girls met up at the only shopping mall of their town. Out of four of them, two of them were couple, the rest were 'acquaintances' or so as they like to claim of each other, completely ignoring their one night of passion and remaining as besties of the couple.

However, the awkward air between them was yet to be cleared and this did not go unnoticed by Rio and Emilia. They looked at each other, nodded in silent agreement of finding out what was troubling their respective besties. In order to find that, those two awkward people must be separated. Rio took Luke with him to one direction and Emilia took Seon-Hul to another. They agreed to meet at food court in front of the pizzeria where Rio used to work previously before quitting due to final year exams.

"So, are you even gonna spill what the fuck was that?"

"What the fuck was what?" Seon Hul's nonchalant reply made Emilia scoff at her in disbelief.

"The air, the atmosphere, the weather of awkwardness, avoidance between you and Luke…" the pink haired flinched at the mention of the mere name. Aha. "….even a blind person wouldn't have to see it because he'll be able to feel it!"

"What do you mean? We were normal." Or so that I think it should be.

"Really?" Emilia took away the baby penguin plushie with which Seon Hul was fiddling with. They were at a soft toy store, roaming and surfing around it because for some reason Seon Hul starts to speak and lowers her guard more when she is in this kind of store.

"We slept together."

As soon as both the awkward people said that from two different stores of the mall, their besties couldn't help but had their jaws dropped on the floor.

"What!"

"So you're saying that she kicked you out after she's done and dusted with you?"

"So you're saying that you kicked him out because you didn't want your family to know that you are not a virgin, pure girl anymore?"

"And then she never contacted you, never even apologized?"

"You never apologized because you felt like an asshole and a moron for behaving like that?"

"And now you don't know what to do?" At the questions of Rio and Emilia both the awkward people nodded pathetically.

"Apologize!"

"Hey, I, um…."

"Hi, yeah, um..."

By the look of the two squirming boy and girl at their agreed destination in food court, the couple almost face palmed themselves. The situation became more awkward.

"Should we let nature take it's course?" Rio whispered.

"Yeah. Let's do that." Emilia sighed because both Luke and Seon Hul are a stuttering and nervous mess. Since it's their problem, they should figure it out themselves.

Rumors might float in the air and may take some time to spread around to take subsequent effect but such is not the case with news. A news of murder. That too on the Christmas day, 25th of December.The news spread like wildfire and within hours the citizens of Roschend were divided into two divisions—one going to Miss Inlon's house and another to Mrs. Roberts house. Both these personas were more or less well known in this small town. Both were doctors. The unexpected murder of two doctors made the residents wonder if their country was at war with any other nation and if the murder of only these two doctors of this town was a part of that enemy nation's plan of ultimately committing genocide in this town. What more shocking to them was when further update about Miss Inlon's murder was fanned out.

"As per the information provided by the police to news channels, Miss Inlon has been dead for more than four months now. Her fiancé, for three months. Whoever killed both of them had expertly hidden their dead bodies enough not to let the reeking smell slip outside. However, it seems like the killer wasn't there for a couple of days and the rainstorm of few days back did its job of forcefully breaking a portion of the old, feeble wooden window of the bathroom where both the dead bodies were dunked inside the bathtub full of water. It was two elderly women who were lived in that area called the emergency services as the reeking smell started to bother the entire neighborhood and no one opened the door no matter how many times the doorbell was rung and the owner was called out...…."

The TV was switched off without a warning; "Hey! We were watching it!" protested a dirty blonde girl, the guy beside her remained quiet.

"That's enough watching of TV and murder shit. Time to get to work." Spoke the woman with the TV remote.

"Oh come on! It was pretty interesting!" this time the guy protested.

"You know, what'll be more interesting?...." the old woman wasn't having any of her employee's excuses so she smiled sarcastically. "If you move your asses and go to take the orders now!"

"Sheesh, you're no fun."

"Yeah, you got no jams." Both the employees of the late night diner grumbled as they walked to tend to the customers' needs.

"…..and then he was like...….Rio?" The golden blonde girl stopped talking the moment she realized that her partner is not listening to her. He looked dazed, his mind frolicking away somewhere. "Rio!" she called again.

The said boy was startled upon his name being called. He looked at her, blinked, his mind returning to the present; "Sorry, what were you saying?"

A moment of awkward silence passed.

It was 25th of December and Emilia's birthday and also the day when Rio Sanders once again witnessed something terrible. The couple had decided to go out in this diner for dinner as a date but Emilia was willing to cancel it after Rio returned too early from his therapeutic session with Mrs. Roberts at her door looking pale and sick with a police officer. He had pushed her aside to run inside the house in order to empty out his stomach. It wasn't long before Emilia understood the reason. Miss Johannes was swamped with work at home thanks to a certain serial killer roaming in the town who killed Roschend High's nurse and posed as her all this time. She was worried and offered to cook up something but Rio wanted to take Emilia out to this date so she promised that she'd join them if she's done with the endless paper work.

"Can I tell you something?" Rio stopped his mind from frolicking away and paid full attention to his girlfriend opposite of him. Her eyes were downcast, her voice quiet. "I don't know if I can explain it well though…." She looked at him to check if he's listening and upon receiving a positive result, her facial expression softened.

"I can make a wild guess judging by the incidents that keep happening around you, your expressions, your panic attacks that something horrible might've happened to you in the past…." Rio tried to speak but Emilia overpowered him, "….which you might find it difficult to share with anyone. It's not that I'm forcing you to speak up, it's….I might be rushing you when I never asked you out formally…nor did we go to dates much, heck I don't even know what you like to eat and if you have any allergies…."

"I pretty much eat everything and I don't have any allergies."

"Rio...that's not what I'm talking about…"

"Then what are you talking about Emilia? F-from where are all these coming from?"

"Who knows?...maybe my deepest, darkest fear? Someday you're going to leave me without looking back?"

They were interrupted by the diner's waiter who had come to serve the ordered food; he perhaps sensed the tense air between the couple so he quickly returned back to the kitchen after serving them. The food in front of them didn't seem delicious anymore. The joyous mood too seemed to have been fizzled out. Halfway through their silent meal, the blonde girl in turquoise green dress started to speak.

"I was 8 years old when I was kicked out of my house by my own biological mother. Why? Because she suspected that I was seducing her new husband. Me!" Emilia Johannes scoffed as the restaurant seemed to dissolve before her eyes and her memories took her back to 13 years ago on a rainy night. "An eight year old kid, eh? Well, she suspected right but the real situation was completely opposite of what she thought it to be. However, that woman was too blinded in love for her new husband that she didn't even think twice or rationally before kicking me out without a penny on the curbs." Rio listened to her silently. Her eyes had become unfocused and misty as if she's witnessing a same incident again. "She called me out several derogatory names and then slammed the door on my face wishing that I had never been born." Emilia's moist eyes looked at Rio's forest green ones that are not covered in spectacles today with his dark hair parted sideways. "I-I don't know how much I walked away from that house but my aunt says that I was suffering from pneumonia coupled with my body bearing signs of abuses. My aunt said that when I came to consciousness after fighting against pneumonia for several weeks, I had lost the ability to speak but slowly and gradually I improved. After that my aunt adopted me, apparently my biological birth giver transferred all her paternal rights to my aunt." A scoff of mockery slipped from her lips.

"I-I don't mind living with aunt, she's great b-but I can't help it y'know, fantasizing what it'd be if my mother hadn't kicked me out, if my biological father hadn't died untimely, if-if we were a normal happy family….." Emilia choked. Soon she heard a shuffling and then warmth draped over her, it was Rio who was hugging her.

He spoke in a comforting voice; "Regrettably, none of us can turn back time, I am sorry you had to go through all this but in order to put the past in the past, we can only move forward with what we have to live this one life to the fullest."

Emilia let go of her tears that she had been constricting all this time in his warm, comforting embrace.