Huang Li stayed by Fan Xiao Yao''s side until she was able to calm down. No, she didn''t calm down. She cried herself to sleep. It was another release that she needed.

    It was already late at night. Their neighbors were probably already asleep. The sound of her sobs and cries came to stop. The room became silent. Only their breathing and the tick of the clock was heard.

    He carried her into his arms, in a bridal style, bringing her to their room. He gently and carefully placed her down on the bed, pulling the blanket up until her shoulders and watched her sleep for a while, and at that moment, he made a promise that he was going to stay by her side and take away as much pain as he could from her.

    Some people leave after finding out how broken a person was. They were people who couldn''t handle the burden of taking care of such a person since they were not strong enough to take care of such a person. But Huang Li wasn''t like that. Seeing this side of her, learning her past, even if it was such a hurtful thing for him to see her that way, only brought him closer to her. They were both broken people who were brought together to complete each other. They were each other''s pillar.

    He reached out and carefully brushed a stray strand of her hair away from her face. He leaned forward, bending down just to place a soft, loving kiss on her forehead. "Everything''s going to be alright." He was going to make sure of that for her.

    He was planning on proposing to her after getting her parents'' blessings it seemed like that wasn''t needed at all. It seemed like he needed to get his plans started.

    ...

    As Fan Xiao Yao woke up from her deep slumber, everything was blurry for a second until her sight cleared up and what greeted her was Huang Li''s peaceful sleeping face. It was rare for him to oversee this way so it kind of surprised her to see him still asleep.

    What time was it?

    She was about to turn but stopped when she felt Huang Li''s arm around her waist. She was about to carefully move his arm away when she suddenly felt him pull her closer to him.

    "It''s too early..." Huang Li mumbled. "It''s still early..."

    She lifted her head a bit just to look at him again. "You''re awake."

    "I''m sleeping." He retorted while his eyes were still shut.

    "People who are sleeping don''t talk back." She pouted a bit.

    He remained quiet this time as if showing that he was now sleeping.

    She chuckled a bit before she buried her face on his c.h.e.s.t.

    "I''m... sorry for troubling you last night..." Fan Xiao Yao apologized, her eyes were still puffy because of last night''s crying.

    "It''s alright. You didn''t trouble me at all." He replied.

    "See? You''re awake!" She leaned back a bit from the hug just to look at his face again.

    "I''m trying to sleep." He slowly opened his eyes, meeting her gaze.

    They stared at each other for a short moment. The side of their lips slowly curled up and they ended up smiling at each other.

    "You''re the best." She snuggled unto him this time.

    "I know." He chuckled, resting his chin on top of her head.

    They stayed like that for a while, enjoying each other''s company until Huang Li broke the silence between them. He was hesitant at first but decided to ask her. "Do you want to see her?"

    She knew who he was talking about. It was her mother. She wanted to see her. She knew that her condition may still be the same as back then but... with Huang Li by her side, she knew that things would get better. She may have broken down earlier but she didn''t want to deal with her past. Huang Li''s presence helped her even if he didn''t say words of comfort. His presence was enough. She was not alone anymore. She has him. She was going to marry him, start their own family. She was going to a parent with him. His presence helped her realize that it was about time to close that chapter of the past and look forward to the future, the future that he was going to share with him.

    "Yes..." She replied honestly. "I want to see her..." She was still her mother after all. It has been years but it was time to face her past and accept reality.

    With a gentle stroke her hair, closing his eyes. "Then let''s go see her together."

    They didn''t have anything scheduled that day, it was weekend so they were free the whole day. Despite that, he still asked her just to make sure, "Today or some other days?"

    Even if she was willing to see her mother, right at that moment, Fan Xiao Yao was not ready. "Next week... can''t we see her next week?

    She closed her eyes and burying her face on his c.h.e.s.t, inhaling his scent; the ocean, and citrus. It was the cologne he used the longest and it seemed to blend in with his body. His scent always had a calming effect on her. Whenever she was inside his strong arms, she had always felt the safest.

    "Next week?" He asked the question smoothly, the baritone of his voice reverberating through his c.h.e.s.t. "Okay. Next week it is then." The low rumble of his voice was comforting as it wrapped around Fan Xiao Yao and carried her off to a world where his voice was the power that could change everything wrong in the world.

    She flushed lightly. Ah, his voice was so s.e.xy. Really s.e.xy this way. She would never get tired of hearing it every day.

    Just like what Huang Li said, it was indeed early for them to get up. She ended up drifting back to a peaceful slumber.