Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

"What are you thinking?" Daniel sat beside Rachel as he watched his lady drowning herself in deep thoughts and pulled her to him, hugging her close until she heard his strong heartbeats.

"How did things go?" Rachel stopped her thoughts from consuming her entire mind and turned towards Daniel, looking at him expectantly. "Did you tell your parents about us?"

Although the circumstances were not right, Daniel had to reveal his relationship with Rachel to his parents. His sudden departure the previous night had raised suspicions in his parents' minds and the only way to stop them from worrying about him was to divulge the truth to them.

Daniel let out a sigh and smiled softly before kissing Rachel's forehead. "What do you think their reaction was?"

Rachel leaned back to take a good look at the man who was pulling her legs playfully. Although at first, she did assume him to be serious and that his parents had not been supportive of his relationship with her. But later, when she saw his sparkling eyes, she knew the truth and she punched him hard on his shoulder.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch." Daniel cried and let Rachel go, allowing her to move away from him and maintain a distance between them. "Violence woman." He chided her and rubbed his shoulder gently. "I'm a peace lover."

"And I am anything but that." Rachel retorted with a smile. "Moreover, you deserve it. Who told you to lie about it?" She spat and Daniel had no words of a comeback. Eventually, he dropped the argument and pulled her back to him, embracing her from behind.

Rachel did not put up a fight with him and allowed him to hug her as she waited for him to disclose all that had happened.

"My parents have..." Daniel stopped, creating a sense of mystery in the air. Although Rachel knew what his next words would be, she still looked at him expectantly, hoping for the man to break the suspense.

"No objections to our relationship. In fact," Daniel smiled widely and placed his chin on Rachel's shoulder. "They are quite happy with our relationship. When they learned about you, they were about to rush to meet you. But I stopped them."

"It's good that you did." Rachel blurted out. "I'm not certain I will be able to face them in this situation."

"What do you mean?" Daniel turned her around and looked at her, scrutinizing her closely. f𝚛e𝚎𝙬𝑒𝚋𝚗𝚘ѵ𝐞𝒍. c𝐨𝙢

"Look at me. Don't I look like a zombie?"

"No." Daniel's reply was instant. "You are perfect."

Sweetness flooded Rachel's heart and she smiled widely, jubilant by his words.

"You are distracting me." She complained and punched his shoulder again, this time a lot less gentle than before. "I mean I look pathetic and sick and I do not think it is the right time for me to meet them. I might scare them away and even worse, they might object to us when they see my ugly face."

Daniel had no idea if he should laugh or cry at her words and he chuckled softly as he shook his head, loving Rachel's adorable and pouty look. It made her all the more loveable and he could not love her more even if he wanted to.

"Let's wait until I'm all healed and fine. Then, I will accompany you to meet them."

"Sounds fair." Daniel obliged and pecked her lips.

"That reminds me..." Rachel slapped her forehead lightly. "My family might already know about us."

Now, it was Daniel's turn to become nervous and he stiffened suddenly.

"What did they say? Were they acceptive?" He queried, utterly worried about the outcome, only to be surprised by Rachel's next words.

"I have no idea. I haven't met them." She replied guiltily and lowered her eyes as though she had committed a huge crime.

"What do you mean? What's happening?" Daniel was filled with confusion and he gave her an enquiring look. "I do not understand."

"Do you really think my parents would not know about us all this time when Grandpa already met you?" She questioned back. "If I am not wrong, they must have found out about us long ago and since they had not objected to us being together until now, they must have given their silent consent."

Rachel's words were like water to a thirsty man and Daniel's face bloomed, his lips arching up into a blissful smile. He did not forget the brief time he had spent with Rachel's grandfather at the hospital and was not worried about him. It was her parents he was concerned about. Now that he found out where their stance lay, he had nothing to fear.

Daniel heard wedding bells in his mind and his happiness surged all the more. He tightened his hold around her and embraced her tight which Rachel reciprocated with equal vigor.

However, her excitement was short-lived when she recalled her brother's words at the dining table. Something was troubling him. Something grave and horrible, she was sure of it and she did not know how to help him. From his words and reactions, it was confirmed that whatever it was would definitely impact her too and she started to feel apprehensive about everything.

'If only Noah had told me what the matter was." She thought and pursed her lips before she forced her thoughts to the back of her mind and tried to appear as normal as possible. But failed at it miserably.

Considering how shrewd and observant Daniel was, he had sensed the changes in her mood right away and he pulled back before she could even mask her confusion.

"Rachel, what's wrong? And don't say nothing." Daniel interrupted her, reading her mind brilliantly. "I can see that something is wrong."

Rachel let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead in anguish. "I too have no idea." She muttered helplessly. "Something is wrong. I can detect the changes in Noah's behavior. But my stubborn brother is unwilling to disclose the matter to me."

She grumbled and for once Daniel did not smile at her. He too had seen Noah's changed behavior but had not questioned him about it, not when he had other matters to deal with. Now that Rachel had pointed it out, he realized the crux of the matter and his expression too turned serious at once.

"I agree. I too noticed it. Did you speak to him about it?"

"I did and the stubborn man is unwilling to speak about it. He does not have any solid evidence to prove his points. So, he wants to wait."

"But?" Daniel prompted when he realized that there was more to the matter.

"From Noah's actions and words, I have an inkling that whatever it is huge and perilous and somehow must be related to me, I mean he and I." She clarified and Daniel understood immediately what was bugging her. "And I want to find out what it is."

"Don't." Daniel interrupted her the next moment, startling her greatly. "Wait for your brother to reveal the matter himself. Don't try to get involved, Rachel."

"But why?"

"If Noah is not willing to speak right now, he must have his reasons. Let's wait until he has evidence to prove his points. And.." Daniel frowned as he stared at Rachel in all seriousness. "Considering how dangerous the past few days have been, I do not wish for you to put yourself in danger. Not now, not ever."

"But..."

"Rachel." Daniel tilted his head and gave her a look, one that had the lady zipping her lips and she gave up dwelling on the matter.

'Daniel is right,' She thought. 'If Noah wants, I will find out the truth when the time is right. I must not add more to his problems by getting involved unnecessarily. Now, all I can do is wait and hope for everything to be fine.'