Confrontation

"How was I supposed to figure it out, when you implied it was someone else the whole time and I couldn't even remember you.?!" Miguel shrugged,

"Dami is the one who created the terms... I couldn't speak against it if I wanted to see you..." His contract with Hell?

"What do you get out of this?" I asked. He rolled his shoulders and said,

"Why are you still standing? Please, come sit with me." After his request, I took my seat at his side and as expected he immediately started kissing my neck and groping me,

"Miguel wait! I ... want to know... Please." He pouted a little then removed his hands from me and turned away.

"I get complete possession of my soul and... she has to accept that you have real feelings for me and stay out of my life. I kinda became her pet or... slave or sorts in hell, it was hard convincing her to let me come here..." So... if I couldn't figure out he's been in love with me this whole time, he'd end up getting dragged back down to hell...

"I see... so that's why you left me?" Miguel turned back to face me, then kissed my lips tenderly and replied,

"I was distracting you and we were almost out of time... You had to figure it out in half a year or less." The room got quiet as I rummaged through my thoughts, trying to figure out how I felt about what he had just said,

"So... you're... still my boyfriend?" I asked, timidly, just to be sure.

"I never broke up with you... and I kissed you on national television more than once..." He noticed tears forming in my eyes and poked my forehead saying, "I went through all this trouble because I wanted to be with you, there's no way I'd leave you that easily." 

"I...!" I noticed I was yelling so I cleared my throat and calmed down. "I want to remember you... how did you fall in love with me?" My heart fluttered with anticipation for what he may tell me,

"...You were with Jack so our memories aren't especially intimate. I just... lived with him so I saw how much you went out of the way to take care of him, prepare his meals, clean up after him, take care of him when he was sick. I think what I liked the most is how you looked at him with so much admiration... I was jealous. I was amazed by how sweet you were. There have been lots of women interested in me, maybe even hundreds, but no one ever looked at me the way you looked at him. All our conversations were about Jack, you asked me his favorite food, or cake flavor when you wanted to surprise him, but that didn't bother me. I just wanted someone to look at me like you... I didn't want to steal you from him. That's the basics"

"Then things changed?" He frowned,

"Well.. he started cheating on you. No... I finally found out about it, I don't know how long he was doing it. So I confronted him about it and he got mad saying I shouldn't care and that it was weird that I cared so much about his relationship with you." Miguel cleared his throat. "I don't know if it was weird or not but... I started to pity you whenever you came over and talk to you more, whenever you asked about Jack, I changed the subject to find out more about you. Eventually, I started to care for you so I had to tell you the truth. I knew he was planning on meeting some girl that very day so we had another argument. I left our room to meet up with you and I very bluntly told you, Jack was cheating on you. You cried immediately... I still remember your face, and my thoughts were, how can someone look so beautiful even in tears, I thought about hugging you and I wanted to comfort you but you yelled that I was wrong and Jack would never do that to you, and then you... ran from me. Your reaction hurt me and I didn't have the right to chase you so I took a walk, I was a few miles down the road when it started raining but I kept walking anyway. That's how I ended up on the bridge where you hit me." That... sounds like a horrible day, "The last thing I saw was you crying over me and I ... it's embarrassing to admit, but I wanted to comfort you again, tell you that it was okay. Then you pushed me into the river and I drowned... Drowning is much more painful than it looks."

"I'm awful," I muttered to myself.

"Maybe... but there's nothing you can do that would make me stop loving you or... wanting you to love me." I sniffled then hugged him tight and he sighed again. "I didn't just invite you to my room so we could hug and vent... It's been a month since I got to be alone with you," I wiped my eyes as I released him,

"I don't understand... You said I gave you the right answer," I replied in confusion. Miguel rolled his eyes and then laughed lightly,

"Of course, you'd say that..." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box He placed it on my lap. "The first thing I wanted to do after winning is open a new restaurant... the second thing I wanted to do was become your husband." I felt my eyes widen and then I opened the box to see a gold ring with a large white diamond.

"Are you... proposing to me?!" My hands were trembling as I held the box,

"Don't get me wrong, that ring is a family heirloom, my father gave it to me once I told him there was someone I wanted to marry... and I had to promise to introduce you to him and Mom after the competition." I tried on the ring, it was a little loose but it was still so beautiful that I never wanted to take it off. "We're going to have to get it resized for you... I mean... if you say yes."

"Yes! But you gotta promise not to disappear on me again!" He laughed,

"Alright,"

"And you have to let me cook for you sometimes..." Miguel nodded,

"Sounds fair." I hugged him again, then jolted when I felt his lips on my neck and hand slide down my back. "You're so tense." He commented,

"It... it's been so long since you touched me and... you feel so warm, now." I explained, "I'm nervous." When I looked at his face, he kissed my lips saying,

"I'm nervous too." With a smile. Contradicting the way he tore off my clothes moments later. I did my best to mirror his enthusiasm as we were intimate. After that, we fell asleep together and I cuddled up as close to him as possible, I'm afraid that this is just a dream and that when I wake up he'll be gone.

"You're coming back with me!" A woman yelled, jolting me awake, but my body was too groggy for me to sit up right away, and when I cracked my eyes open they stung from the smoke,

"I'm not going back! Why is that so hard for you to understand? She passed your f**king test so move on!" Miguel yelled back at this person,

"Fine... but if you and that woman die together, you'll return to me. And you'll have no reason to come back."

"You honestly think I'll want to be with you after you kill Lemon?!" He asked, enraged.

"Well..." She began, "Maybe not at first but after a thousand years or so, you'll let it go." 

"No... Dami! Come back! Put this fire out!" Dami... I coughed and forced myself to sit up but the room was spinning, 

"Lemon... are you okay?" Miguel asked while throwing a wet towel over my head. I nodded, but truthfully I wasn't okay, I felt like I could barely move, my skin stung from the heat... and even though I knew that I needed to leave right now, I felt like all I could do was sleep... He picked me up in his arms, wrapped a sheet around me, and rushed out of the room, I heard his frantic footsteps and saw a blur of firey walls as we rushed down the hallway, When he finally got to the stairs, part of the roof caved in blocking the pathway down. Miguel cursed and ran off in another direction, and at that moment we were surrounded by a blinding light,

"I worked too hard to repair that body, to let it go up in flames." That's... Kiel's voice. I closed my eyes and when I woke up I was in the hospital, still wearing the ring Miguel gave me with him crying at my bedside,

"You're awake?!... I'm so sorry Lemon... I screwed up." I touched his cheek and said,

"It's not your fault and...even if it was, there's nothing you could do to make me stop...loving you." It was a direct quote of his own words, and he laughed in response, but his face still looked sad. 

"I'm glad you're okay..." Then he stroked my cheek... "You're safe, now, I promise." He kissed my hand and held it gently. 

"You're worth a little danger," I muttered. He eased up and laughed loudly this time.

"You're so... stupid, sometimes." After his comment, Kiel stepped into sight saying,

"That's not very nice, Miguel. This woman sacrificed half her life for you." Miguel scoffed,

"Well, I've given my whole life for her, so I can call her dumb if I want." I pouted, but his teasing did restore some of my energy, so I sat up in bed.

"Did... Dami set fire to the Hotel? Did anyone get hurt?" I looked at Miguel first then Tzadkiel,

"Yes, Damien was the cause of the fire... but I extinguished it and no one was severely injured, you inhaled a lot of smoke. That's why you're here and... Damien is forbidden from entering the mortal realm, and if he sends anyone to harm you or Miguel his existence will be... erased." I was shocked and relieved all at once.

"Okay... good... I was so worried she'd hurt Miguel." I replied tearfully while laying back down. Miguel sighed and said,

"Worry about yourself..." Before kissing and wrapping his arms around me, into a tight hug. "You've gone through so much because of me... I don't know if I can ever make it up to you." 

"You... just have to stay with me, that'll be more than enough." Miguel laughed and Kiel joined in laughing too,

"Since the terms of our contract are now complete, you may see me less but... I'll always be here for you both... as your friend." Kiel chimed in "I feel like a third wheel right now though so... bye-bye." He disappeared from the room in a blinding light. Miguel sighed, shook his head, and then he began asking me about my life while we were apart, and I asked him about his. I liked catching up... but I couldn't shake off the anxiety I felt, that he'd disappear. I hope it's not too soon for us to discuss living together again, I don't want to go home without him.

"Let's move in together." I blurted, while he was still speaking, he paused and looked down at me, lying in my hospital bed. I feel so dumb, I could've at least waited till he ended his sentence!

"... Yeah... I'd like that." I'll never be done being haunted by my feelings for this man.

-End of Part 1-