"Please can I come in?"
I sighed. An argument would not help my mood and it wasn’t his fault that every damn thing reminded me of Luc in some way. "Fine."
He pushed open the door and I turned around to look at him.
"I'm sorry for pushing you," he told me. Stefan didn’t need prompting for apologies. I never needed to have an argument with him in the same way I did with Luc.
"I shouldn't have snapped. I'm sorry," I apologized in return.
"Mia, may I take you out tomorrow night?"
"Where?"
"Anywhere you like. Dinner. A movie. Anything you want to do."
I hesitated for a moment. The other option would be to sit at home and let my mind tie itself in knots worried that I had made Luc so angry with my actions that he felt the need to leave. "I want to walk along the beach," I said to him.
"I'll take you there."
"Okay, but right now I just want some sleep."
"Of course," Stefan said. "If you need anything you know where I am." He stepped forward and placed a kiss on my forehead. "Night, Mia."
∞∞∞
The next day, after he was done with class, Stefan took me down to the beach. It was October and the air held a chill, but I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath enjoying the way the cold air burned my lungs. When I opened my eyes again, a silence settled between us that made me feel uncomfortable.
"Why the beach?" he asked in a bid to get conversation started.
"I used to come here with my Dad."
He took a moment and then asked, "Why don't you see him while Luc isn't here? I could always take you."
“First, I don't want to worry him with what's happened. Actually, I'd rather he never knew what happened.” I couldn’t imagine what Dad would say if he knew about Marco and the surgery. “Second, I'm not going to risk Luc finding out and hitting the roof."
There were still rules in place and I didn’t want to do anything that could jeopardize my Dad’s safety.
"He should never have threatened your family."
I shrugged and said, "I can understand why he did it."
Stefan looked surprised. "You can?"
I glanced at him before shrugging again. Luc had a reputation to uphold and after seeing what he was capable of, the way he had shot Marco with such lethal precision, I was grateful that it had been a threat against Dad and not an action.
"What about the rest of your family?" Stefan asked, changing the topic away from Luc.
"It's just me and Dad."
"That's it?"
"My Mom died from cancer when I was really young. I don't really remember her though I wish I could. I've seen photos and I know it sounds awful but it's like looking at a stranger."
Stefan stopped us and pulled me into a hug. "It's not awful. It makes a lot of sense."
When we let go of each other, we continued down the beach. "What about you?" Stef asked me. "Do you want a small family?"
A smile spread across my face. "I want a huge family. I’ve always been on my own or with Dad so when I have one, I want to be surrounded."
