Amy's POV

I'm awoken by the sweet smell of warm pancakes and fragrant strawberry syrup. I stretch my body out of slumber, chuckling when I hear an 'aww~' from the other side of the room.

"Good morning, princess." Before I could open my eyes and soak up the sunlight, Nick sat by the edge of the bed. He caresses my hair, luring me to go back to sleep!

"Don't force me to go back to sleep. I just woke up..." My groggy voice instructs. I hold his hand, redirecting it to caress my cheek instead. He does so, affectionately.

"I've got breakfast for us. Fresh out of the kitchen and delivered." He brags. I smirk, "But I wanted to have something warm, white and creamy for breakfast first."

"Naughty little devil..." I chuckle as he nudges his nose into my cheek. Waking up, I enter the bathroom to freshen up. Nick is enjoying his breakfast at the small study table as I join him. "Oh. It's waffles. I thought they were pancakes."

I watch as Nick widens his eyes, caught mid-bite! "I can go ask them for pancakes!" He exclaims suddenly! I shake my head, quickly joining him by the sofa chair, "It's alright! I love waffles just as much. They smell the same."

We eat thereby in silence. Comfort surrounds us. None of us feel playful as the small scoop of whipped cream sits on our plates. If it had been at home, we would be fighting with the cream spread across our hands and faces by now. It makes me chuckle out of the blue.

"Hmm? What is it?" Amused by my amusement, Nick inquires.

"Nothing. Just thinking how blessed I am to be here. Wonderful waffles, by the way, too." I say after gulping.

"Yeah..." I'm not feeling good vibes from this response of his. I stare at him for a few seconds - he's busy eating. Then out of nowhere,

"We need to address the elephant in the room, although she isn't quite here to be addressed." I raise an eyebrow.

"You know who I'm talking about. Gina Chen's daughter." He makes it clear to me. I gulp my bit of food, scurrying to wipe my mouth and turn to Nick.

"Are you interested to know about her?" I ask, feeling hopeful. Nick shrugs his shoulders and I begin.

"...Hmm. So Gina Chen never got married again. Aria's father is some random American dude?" Nick asks.

"Yes. From what she told me." I confirm.

"I don't want to know the details. But didn't you ever question how our father lied to us about Gina Chen, too?" Suddenly, it hits me. George Philip was so insecure about this woman that he twisted the story to make her seem somewhat villainous and desperate. Nick's conclusion hits me like a truck as I blurt out of nowhere.

"I wonder what else George Philip is hiding from us." My voice is laced with disdain.

"I like how none of us call him father anything. Or even 'dad'."

"Of course! He sold us out to the world that day, Nick! He's made us the centre of all evil eyes! This is what I've been desperately trying to stay away from!" I suddenly exclaim, enraged! Nick calms me down, patting my shoulder and then moving to hold my thigh.

"What happened, happened. We can't change the past. He must've done it for some wicked reason. We know how George Philip is. We've seen it up close." He says. I look down at my lap. The memories of George Philip talking about Gina Chen come rushing in front of my eyes. He spoke of her so adoringly. But suddenly, one day, the story did a full flip. He started berating her, calling her vile names, calling her 'child' a family wrecker, and everything else. What did the 'child' have to do anything about it?

Did he mean...Aria back then?
The 'child' in his stories?

"It must be weird to say this out loud, but..." Nick catches my attention. He's finished with his plate of food while I pondered and left my plate out for the cold wind to feast.

"But?" I urge him to complete,

"Uh...I want to meet Gina Chen. I want to see if she really is the woman George Philip talked about." He steals the words right out of my mouth.

"So you're up for the plan to meet up with her? She's a neighbour of-" Abruptly, I cut my words off. Oh, that was close. Nick and Cynric are classmates who despise each other. I can't let Nick know that I know where the Zelinskys live. That is...right next to Gina Chen. Or otherwise.

"Neighbor of?" Nick ducks his head to urge me, but I shake my head, "I'm still sleepy I think, haha! Blurting out shit again."

Claiming to feel exhausted, I ask Nick to put the trays out and come join me in the bed. He does so, but painfully after he takes a long, warm shower. He did invite me in, but I'm too lazy to follow him.

"You missed out on a show," Nick says, walking out of the warm shower with the steam walking with him. He cleans his spectacles with a hand towel, carelessly. All the while, I eat him up and eye-fuck him intensely.

The way his wet strands fall over his forehead, his cute little mole that is prominent over his neck from this angle, the cursed projection standing proudly between his thick thighs...Nick is an enjoyable, delectable man for sure.

"Nick?" I call out, clenching my thighs,

"Yeah?"

"Can I please squeeze your boobs?"

"...."

He lifts his gaze to stare at me, I smile innocently-

"Well. Only if you allow me to nibble on your nubs then. I'll make them soar and angry red before you touch my pecs."

"Done deal. Now come here! We don't need the towel." I say, spreading my legs for him. He abandons the towel down to his feet, walking out of it. His manly body hovers over me just before I pull him into a deep, fervid kiss. And the rest, is history and memory.