Astraea

"I know why you did what you did that night. I know about your illness and I know that you are pregnant with my child. That is why I am not letting you out of my sight, ever again." Lorcan stated firmly.

And for a moment there, Lydia became speechless until a tear dropped from her eyes. That's when she found a word to say, "You...you are pitying me..." Lydia stuttered but still managed to say the words making Lorcan antsier.

"Of course, I'm not! I'm in love with you Lydia for heaven's sake, don't you get it?! I'm in love with you and always have been!" Lorcan could not believe that Lydia thought that he wanted her back because he just pities her. Did he sound like he pities her?

Lydia shook her head and avoided his gaze. "I don't understand. You are saying that you love me, then why did you push me away?" She asked, her grip on her sketchpad tightened.

Lorcan sighed and brushed his hair with his fingers. "Because I was a jerk. You know how dangerous my job is, and I only want to protect you. I thought I was protecting you by pushing you away from me."

There was a long silence.

Lorcan said that he loves her. He feels the same way as she did. She wanted to believe him because there were times when they were together that she felt he did.

She felt like she was riding a rollercoaster of emotions. It took Lydia some time to calm down.

Then Lydia raised her head and looked at Lorcan. "Then, what changed?"

"You left." Lorcan simply said while intently staring at Lydia. "You left and everything stops. When you were still there, if I wanted to see you I could see you. If I wanted to talk to you I could talk to you. If I wanted to know if you are doing fine and safe I would know. Then you were gone, and suddenly I didn't know what to do. I wanted to protect you but how can I when you are not with me. You might think that you don't need me but I need you. I need you, Lydia to keep me sane. To keep me alive." His voice was full of emotions and almost pleading which Lydia has never heard him like that before.

And just like that, he believes him.

Lydia sighed heavily and looked back at the lake. "You haven't been sleeping well," She voiced out what she noticed first when he came. He looked miserable and lacked some sleep.

Lorcan looked at her side profile and saw how beautiful Lydia is. She has always been beautiful in his eyes even in her worst state. Back then, he always finds himself staring at her as if he can't get enough of her but he would always shake the thought away. He knows that he feels something for her but he didn't want to put a name on it, afraid that if he got too attached to her, she would be used as leverage against him. But the thing is, he realized that even if he pushed her away, she will still be used as leverage and what's worse is that he might not be there to protect her.

"I haven't been sleeping well since I pushed you away," Lorcan said, making Lydia look at him with a frown.

"Don't look at me like that, I know you haven't been sleeping well too," Lorcan added and he reached out his hand to touch her face. His thumb rubs the dark circles under her eyes. For a while, Lydia was startled and frozen from his touch but felt herself leaned into his touch.

"Ever since that day, I found myself stationed outside your place day and night almost every day checking out if you've been well and safe. And most of the time, I could see that you have been working day and night. You didn't even step out of your place."

"You did?" Lydia was flustered. All those days, she rarely gets out of her place except that day when she had to go see a doctor see if she is pregnant. Most of her days were spent in her workroom. So, she didn't get a chance to see Lorcan outside her place.

Lorcan nodded his head. "You really didn't get out of your place since then?" He asked, wanting to know if his assumptions were right or he just missed out on her.

"Just once," Lydia replied then she lowered her head. Lorcan didn't ask further because he saw that in her memory, that day was when she went to a doctor and found out that she is pregnant.

Lorcan watched as Lydia's finger played on the edge of the sketchpad. "Aren't you going to show them to me?" He asked, eyeing the sketchpad.

"Huh?" Lydia looked up at him and started to panic when she realized that Lorcan was talking about the sketchpad.

"You don't have to hide it from me. I know that you are sketching me. I just wanted to see them for myself."

Lydia's eyes widened and her face immediately blushed. "How did you know?"

Inside the lake house, sitting around the kitchen counter the Villan sisters were served tea with Mrs. Collins while watching the couple at the deck. They decided to stay inside so that they could give the couple some privacy, but they cannot give them a hundred percent of privacy. At least they were not eavesdropping.

"Miss Lydia blushed," Brylee said when she saw Lydia blushed then all the girls found a spot to get a better view.

"Oh my god! Did I just see Uncle Lorcan smile?" Briony exclaimed in excitement because she had never seen him smile.

"Yeah, I thought he smiled," Brina said in amusement.

"That's a smile, right? A genuine one?" Brylee said as if she can't believe her eyes.

"He did, that is a rare phenomenon." Bianca chimed in a soft low tone but enough to be heard by everyone.

Mrs. Collins chuckled, "You girls speak as if you haven't seen your Uncle smile."

"We have not!" All girls except for Bell said all at once, making Mrs. Collins startled and looked at Bell with confusion.

"Uncle Lorcan only knows two kinds of smile, a fake smile, and a sarcastic smile," Bell said nonchalantly when she saw the look on Mrs. Collins. "He never really smiles that much," She said then shrugged her shoulders.

Mrs. Collins understands immediately, "Looks like only Lydia could make him smile, and be happy." She commented while her gaze landed on the couple outside the house. Lorcan had already closed the distance between him and Lydia and is now sitting side by side with her.

It looks like he finally convinced Lydia to show him her sketchpad that is filled with his portrait.

"Look at Uncle Lorcan! He is such an idiot! How could he not know that he is in love with Miss Lydia when his actions show how madly in love he is with Miss Lydia!" Brylee crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted like a child.

"There is a difference between an idiot and naive. An idiot is lacking intelligence while a naive is lacking worldly experience, wisdom, or judgment. And Uncle Lorcan is obviously the latter. He was never interested in women before so he doesn't know how to deal with his feelings with Miss Lydia." Brina defended her Uncle.

"Yeah, and his naivety caused us a burden," Bell commented snidely.

Brylee scoffed at Bell's comment, "But honestly, you don't mind, do you? We all don't mind suffering from his cold and grouchy demeanor all these months as long as it will make our Uncle happy."

Bell didn't reply because she knows that Brylee is right. She doesn't mind helping their Uncle. She has been with her Uncle while growing up and he had never really seen him genuinely happy. She felt that all these years, their Uncle was living without a purpose. He has never really found anything that would make him happy. And if it is Lydia that could give him a purpose to live and happiness, she would do anything to help him find her.

"You girls really do care for your Uncle, do you?" Mrs. Collins asked with a smile.

"Oh! We really do. Even if he is so annoying." Briony nodded her head with a frown nonetheless, she really meant it. That they truly care about their annoying Uncle.

"I wonder why Uncle Lorcan asked for our help when he can actually find Lydia on his own," Bianca asked. Being the youngest and doesn't have enough experience working with Lorcan, she doesn't understand him.

"Uncle Lorcan needs us to watch over him. After losing Lydia, he almost lost his sanity. He cannot think right. And besides, he is too impatient. Knowing her condition, he wants to find her as soon as possible. Having more people search for her, the faster we could find her." Bell took the initiative to explain.

"And yet, it still took us a month to find her," Brina said softly. "By the way, how did she end up in here?" She remembered to ask and looked at Mrs. Collins.

"Oh, she said that she really didn't have a concrete plan when she left. She was at the airport and still undecided about where to go when she remembered my invitation for her to visit us here if she has time. You see, I've been a fan of her designs and most of my dresses, I ordered them from her and have them delivered here. So, she took the first flight coming here. She didn't even inform us that she is coming. She just called us and told me that she is in town and is having a hard time finding public transportation that would take her here which I understand because there is really no such thing. Originally, it was supposed to be a vacation until we convinced her to stay here for good when we found out that she is pregnant and looking for a place to start a new life. She fell in love with the lake and decided to buy a lot near our house and my husband will help her build her own house."

"She is planning to stay here for good?" Brylee asked with worry. Then she looked at her sisters.

Mrs. Collins shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it looks like she'll be changing her mind soon," She said then looked at the couple outside her house.

Lorcan already has his arm around Lydia's shoulder while Lydia's head is rested on Lorcan's shoulder. The couple was watching the sunset behind the lush mountain over the heart-shaped lake.