Chris and Hazel

'Hazel, wait! Hazel, please wait!' Chris shouted chasing her.

Hazel wasn't ready to pay any attention to his plea but instead just hurried outside not wanting to look back at him.

'Hazel, stop!' he said catching up to her.

'What?' she asked stopping to look back at him.

'...'

'Chris? You asked me to stop, right? Why aren't you saying anything?' she asked crossing her arms around her chest.

'Well…I didn't think you would stop…' he answered honestly looking at her.

'So, no explanation?' she asked losing patience.

She had enough…it wasn't the first time she's hearing something like this, first Ryan told her that Chris liked her from college and when she confronted Chris about it, his answer was barely a sentence and now she overhears Ed telling that Chris intended to marry her and the irony was that though both the news were great she couldn't get herself to feel happy about it and though she was related in it she didn't know any of it…all these years she had a positive thought that Chris loved her and that's why it was worth it though she knew that she could be wrong about that but…when she comes to know that they were actually true instead of feeling happy she feels betrayed...and who wouldn't?

'Look Chris, I have reached my limits. I can't take it anymore…I am not gonna wait or pretend anymore…I want you to explain to me right now because I deserve to know for the sake of falling in love with you' she paused to look at him her eyes red with anger but her voice filled with anguish.

'You know what Chris? When we met for the first time in the office you were pretending to not know me and to be honest I knew that you were acting but I didn't think much because that's what you do to all the girls who you aren't interested in and so I let it pass then I heard that you were married and the past six years slapped me right on the face for wasting my time over a guy who don't even want to remember me. And when I take initiative to move on and open my way to dating, suddenly like some fantasy novels I get to know that you are a single dad with two kids and then you get the heart to tell me you didn't even have a wife…great! How the hell am I supposed to react to that? I seriously don't know…just tell me, dammit! I am sick of acting like I understand everything and because of that I am losing myself Chris…if I don't speak out today…I won't be myself anymore, for the first time in my life…I don't have my life together and that too it's because of a guy who thinks that I have some supernatural power to read his mind cause he doesn't want to give me an explanation? I manipulate myself into thinking that you don't affect my life but the truth is you do...…maybe a little too much' she finished breaking down in front of Chris onto the ground beneath.

'Hazel' he shouted as she fell onto the ground.

'Hazel, stop crying! Get up' he said bending down towards her.

She looked up at him with watery eyes;

'Are you crying too?' she asked wiping her tears off to get a clear vision.

'I am not! Get up now' he said pulling her up.

As she settled on her foot, he let go of her. Hazel wiped off her face and looked at him waiting for a reply;

'Are you smiling?' she asked after two minutes.

'Actually, yeah!' he accepted still smiling at her.

'Do I look like a joke to you Mr. Finch?' she asked irritated by his action.

'Needn't get too formal now, ok?! I am happy that you are lashing out at me' he said turning serious.

'You are?' she asked her voice turning feeble.

'Yeah, I was afraid you will end up forgiving me' he said walking closer to her.

'You wish! Only a fool will forgive you for this' she said moving a few steps backward as he came forward.

'Stop!' he said holding her hand to prevent her from moving further far from him.

'Let go!' she said in a low voice barely audible.

Chris didn't bother to listen to her words, he heard enough…at last he was able to listen to Hazel's pour out…though her words tore him apart he knew that she lashed out before the wounds could turn into a scar and that gave him a hope...that he could heal them…and all he could think at that time was how to make things right and had no time to pour out his grief. After all, all these years he had to hold back for various official reasons but this time it was for his love and he wanted to embrace it because he knew if he narrated his grief to Hazel she would hide her true feelings and give in willingly without an effort and that can't happen after this and so he willingly embraced his pain and buried it underneath.

'Thank you' he mumbled slowly pulling her into his arms.

Hazel's heart skipped a beat when she realized that she was hugging Chris. Though she wanted to pull back her body froze.

'It is ok… for some time' she consoled herself hugging back.

'Thank you for holding up this long…I will explain everything once things have settled down between Ava and Ed because we are here for them…after that I will gladly explain everything…so just wait for maybe a week?' he asked holding her closer.

'...…Okk' she said after a long pause.

'Thank you' he said giving her a kiss on her forehead.

'I will go to Ed' he said pulling back slowly.

'What was that?" Charlotte asked rushing to her side from the house's main entrance as Chris walked out through the side door.

'...'

'Haze?' she called out shaking up her frozen friend.

'Ah…Char?' she asked surprised to see Charlotte standing next to her as moments back it was Chris there.

'What was that?' Charlotte asked teasing her.

'What was what?' Hazel asked still in daze.

'That kiss on your forehead, are you guys a thing now?' she asked smiling widely.

'I…seriously don't know Char! All I remember was he pulling me into a hug and the things that followed I don't think it was Chris at all or I don't know whether he did that to avoid another outburst from my side' she replied holding her head trying to sequence all the incidents in order.

'Oh my god! So he made a move on you?' Charlotte asked getting stressed up.

'No…No just be quiet, the last thing I want now is that someone to notice and ask what's going on here' she said hushing her friend.

'Fine then let's go to Ava's room and tell her' Charlotte said pulling her upstairs.

'Fine' Charlotte said rolling her eye balls giving in to Hazel.

'Rob and Aurora are in my room, you go look after them and I will go talk to Ava' Hazel said as they climbed up the stairs.

'Oh…you see your bestie after a long time instead of giving her a hug you assign her as a babysitter to your future kids' she said turning her head away pretending to be angry.

'Come on! Quit whining and go!' Hazel said laughing at her complaining bestie.

'Fine I am going!' she said taking a left.

'Bye' Hazel said waving her bye as she entered Ava's room.

'Hey' she greeted sitting on the bed next to Ava.

'Hi' Ava answered with a wry smile.

'What's wrong, Ava? Why did you not tell me anything?' Hazel asked worried.

'I just didn't know how to tell you Haze; I know you are trying to pick up the pieces to pull your life together and…I didn't wanna bother you' she answered in a broken voice.

'From when on did you start getting so distant, Ava? Does that mean that I should also stop bothering you when I face something?' Hazel asked turning towards Ava.

'...sorry Haze' she whispered.

'Just talk to me Ava, I am happy to help' Hazel said trying to make Ava come out of the closet.

'…you know I have been avoiding Ed since day one here' she said getting up walking around restlessly.

'You are? I thought he was' Hazel said looking up at her.

'He is but only after he spoke to my dad but I was silently avoiding him since I got here' she answered sighing heavily.

'Why?'

'…did you know Ed was the only heir of the Richardson's?' she asked her face displaying a thousand of questions.

'…Yeah' Hazel answered avoiding eye contact.

'I thought he was some guy working under a company but when I came here right from the first day I knew that we belonged in different worlds, what if I don't fit in? Did you know all this Haze?' she asked terribly confused.

'…Yeah, I too didn't know that Charlotte and Ed were the heirs of the Richardson family initially, they both don't breathe a word about it to people and I found out only after a year of getting to know Char. Ed has been working in certain companies for experience as he didn't want to work in his own company because he wanted outside knowledge and Charlotte doesn't tell people because she knows the treatment she will receive later and they decided that Char will get a part of their companies so she is busy with all her works and that's the reason they both remain so secretive at times' Hazel sat there explaining everything to Ava so that she doesn't feel like things have been kept from her.

'Everything is fine Haze, I am not angry at them for keeping anything away but what I am worried about is the difference between the worlds we live in, how do you think I am gonna fit in?' she asked her face exerting nervousness.

'…well…' Hazel paused; she looked up at Ava who was waiting expectantly for her to continue.

'I will be back' Hazel said leaving the room growing restless.

She knew that a simple "Yes Ava you will fit in" would solve Ava's anxiety but she couldn't get herself to tell that to Ava because she's facing the same dilemma.

When she couldn't solve her own dilemma how was she gonna do it for Ava?

'I have to look for Chris' she said to herself searching around the house.

'So you said everything to Hazel?' Ed asked as they were roaming in the garden.

'Nope…I decided to deal with my problems after dealing with yours' Chris answered looking around the garden.

'My problem is nothing…let's focus on the big one here' Ed told him hiding away the pain in his eyes.

'Well for me your problem is the bigger one' he answered honestly stopping.

'So spill, what's wrong? Why did you panic while talking to Ava's dad?' he asked looking at him.

'I don't know man, let's talk about something else' Ed said sitting in the garden's swing.

'I knew it, you won't tell me anything. Why are you like this? I open up each and everything to you but you? Do you even consider me as your friend?' Chris asked losing patience.

'Chris, calm down! I will tell you at the right time and now tell whether Hazel knows everything or not?' he asked avoiding eye contact.

'You know what? Just don't tell me' he said storming off from there.

'Oh thank god I found you' Hazel said as she saw him entering the house from the side door.

'What's wrong, Hazel?' he asked seeing her restless face.

'I don't think I can talk to Ava and console her' she said after catching her breath.

'I don't think I will be able to make Ed open up too, he keeps distracting me' he answered slightly annoyed.

They both looked at each other for some time before the idea could click; they smiled at each other as they said at the same time;

'Let's swap'

'Where's Ed?' she asked.

'Garden and whe..? Chris answered.

'Room' Hazel answered his unfinished question and ran to the garden.

'I can't believe both your dad and Hazel left you guys to me and vanished somewhere' Charlotte complained as she was telling her fifth story to the kids and the scariest part was if they ask for more she didn't know any.

'Is this part of the story?' Rob asked as it didn't sync with the story she was narrating.

'No dummy she's talking about Hazel and dad' Aurora said looking at her brother.

'You know what, I am not gonna tell anymore stories if you want you guys tell me one' Charlotte said grabbing a glass of water from the table.

'Aurora let's tell her the story daddy keeps telling us' Robert said excited.

'Ok' Aurora nodded smiling sweetly.

'I am all ears' Charlotte said smiling at them.

'Once upon a time there was a cold Prince who didn't talk to people much, he only had a few friends but they were true to him' Aurora started narrating the story.

'And one day he met a girl who was sweet, beautiful, warm and loving just like a princess…and fell in love with her' Robert continued.

'Then one day the princess told the prince that she likes him but at that time the prince's kingdom was falling apart and for the sake of the princess' safety he rejected her'

'But when he finished rebuilding his kingdom, the princess was long gone but the Prince swore to find her and marry her but though he searched for more than a year she couldn't be found'

'But finally he found her next to a magical fountain making a wish though the prince had no idea about the wish she was making; he knew that his wish has come true'

They finished narrating the story taking alternative turns.

'Then?' Charlotte asked curious.

'Don't know, dad didn't tell us more and when we asked he said it's still ongoing' Aurora answered.

'Wait!' Charlotte exclaimed as she recollected the story.

'Oh my god! Oh my god!' she shouted realizing something as all the truth dawned on her.

'What happened aunty?' Robert asked looking at Charlotte.

'Aunty? Why do you call me that and from when?' she asked looking at them.

'We call Ed as Uncle Ed and Ava as aunt and we call all our daddy's friend as uncle and aunt so we call you as aunt too' Aurora explained.

'But I never saw you guys call Hazel aunt, why?' she asked growing more and more suspicious with each passing moment.

'Well…' Aurora started as they both blinked at each other.

'Fine…leave it. Did you guys happen to know Hazel before meeting her at the cake shop?' she asked looking at them.

'Yes' Rob answered.

'No' Aurora answered.

The siblings looked at each other caught red-handed as Charlotte looked at raising a brow.

'Well…yeah we happened to have a picture of you three in our home and that's why that day Rob recognized her and went to talk to her' Aurora said managing keep away the whole truth from her.

'…ok sweeties take rest and I will come take you for lunch later and remember don't keep playing around ok?' she said getting up from the bed.

They nodded obediently at her. Charlotte smiled at them and walked out of the room saying;

'I have got to tell Hazel'