My Husband

That day, when Violette walked into the hospital, the only concern on her mind was Charlie. She never thought she'd be a married woman by the end of the day. She had all but forgotten about the proposal Charlie presented her ten days prior and she was taken aback when he suddenly brought it up again.

Even in his last moments, he was still worried about her. And after hearing everything he had to say, she couldn't bear to reject him again.

If agreeing to the marriage meant that she could grant the man some peace in his final hour, she was more than willing to take that chance. She owed him that at the least. As for whether her choice was right or wrong, she chose to believe in Charlie's judgement and decided to take a leap of faith.

And whether she'd be free to fly into the open skies or be chained down to the cold, hard ground depends on 'the man' himself.

But the first time she looked at him, she was instantly drawn into his storm grey eyes, full of curiosity as if he was looking at something intriguing. But in the center of that storm, she saw a lonely soul – drifting about in the middle of a dark ocean, with no direction or destination.

And once they exchanged the rings, his eyes brightened up and he looked at her as though he finally found his anchor. His gaze was so clear and his smile so sweet, it left a lasting imprint on her.

She felt a strong attraction towards his eyes — honest, innocent and forbearing. And from that moment forth, her mind began to take notice of his every word and every action.

His sudden confession that somehow pierced through her barriers, and the quick, short kiss that conveyed his affection and promise.

His unabashed declaration to Charlie that made the old man break into a heartfelt laughter full of joy and relief.

His hesitation to hold her hand and his silent gesture of support when she was slowly crumbling inside.

His concern when she woke up in his arms, trembling from the nightmare, and his calm, clear voice helping her soothe her nerves.

The quiet yet pleasant dinner she shared with him and his considerate yet clumsy personality that made her feel comfortable and let her be herself around him.

She was surprised to realize that she already trusted him enough to let her guard down and fall asleep in a new place. And for the first time in a long while, Violette felt a once familiar warmth filling her chest and thawing at her frozen heart.

She rolled onto her side and noticed a long silhouette huddled in the couch. Her icy gaze turned gentle and her lips curved into a small smile.

"You have grieved long enough, Violette. It's time to find your own happiness." she could hear Charlie's faint voice echoing in her ears, reminding her, worrying about her.

Her lips pursed into a thin line and she closed her eyes to conceal the sadness within. She took a deep breath in and let it out, in a bid to control her emotions. But she was no longer suppressing them, she was embracing them instead, in order to move forward with her life.

In the quiet space, she could easily listen to her breaths, deep and heavy. But then she heard some rustling sounds coming from nearby. She snapped her eyes open and saw Lucian move about in the couch.

He tried to roll over on his side but since the couch was not as wide as the bed, he fell off and face planted himself to the floor with a soft thud.

It was already quiet inside, but it suddenly became eerily silent as if the entire world was paused. Violette was too stunned to move, her mouth was slightly open and she kept blinking her eyes, trying to process what she just witnessed.

But just as she recovered and sat up, ready to pull off her blanket to get out of bed, she heard a low, muffled groan.

It came from the man on the floor, as he slowly raised his head, his eyes still closed and his nose scrunched up in pain.

Violette quickly fell back on the bed without thinking and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep while trying to sneak a few peeks. The inside of the RV was decently lit so Violette was able to see well enough.

Lucian quietly sat upright, with a dazed look of his face before he slowly became conscious. He leaned back onto the coach and began rubbing around his nose gently with both hands as if in a massage. But then, he suddenly froze in his actions and dropped his hands as he slowly turned his head towards the bed.

Violette halted her secret surveillance and immediately closed her one open eye before resuming her smooth breathing pattern.

Lucian saw her 'asleep', let out a sigh in relief and dropped his head back on the couch. He didn't know which would've been worse – waking her up in the middle of the night or embarrassing himself by getting caught falling off a couch.

But luckily, it seemed he avoided both scenarios.

According to him anyway.

Meanwhile, Violette tucked herself into the blanket and buried her face into the pillow as she used all her self-control not to break out into laughter. Even then she was having trouble keeping her lips from curving into a smile and her eyes teared up for her effort.

It didn't help that her mind kept replaying that one moment when Lucian smoothly rolled over and planted himself to the floor. He probably didn't even register his fall until pain shot up his nose and woke him up. And then, he looked so confused that he didn't know what had happened.

She felt a strong urge to just go up to him and pat his head. How could such a calm, composed guy also be so clueless and cute at the same time?

A minute later, Violette peeked out from under her blanket and saw Lucian hop back into the couch and resume his sleep. She kept her gaze on his long silhouette, as a multitude of emotions began bubbling up inside her and she had no idea how to make sense of any of them.

She felt sour for hogging his bed while he suffered in the couch, but the sweet feeling rising in her chest warmed her cheeks and made her lips curl up into a smile.

She didn't know how her life would turn out from there on, but she wanted to believe that maybe… just maybe, she could find her happiness again.

And with a certain someone by her side every step of the way.

A sweet, clumsy, considerate and surprisingly adorable someone.

'My Husband.'