His Beautiful Addiction

She was bored, so standing up she toured the house.

She walked around the gardens, the gym house, the swimming pool. As she walked towards the pool, she remembered being there.

This time the memory was clear.

She was drowning, and Nicklaus had saved her, but something was not right. She didn't like him. In fact, she hated him with passion.

Tiana frowned. Why did she hate him so much? She tried to think, and then she remembered something else, a dark room.

There was a darkroom in the house. She remembered being dragged into it.

Wait…

Tiana's heartbeat so fast that she almost had a heart attack. Turning around, she ran back into the house,

and to the basement.

As she approached, the memories became clearer. Everything was coming back to her slowly.

Earlier, she had remembered her father owed someone, that someone was Nicklaus.

Tiana turned the door handle, but the door was locked. 𝑓𝑟eℯ𝒘𝗲𝑏n𝑜𝚟𝙚𝒍.𝒄o𝐦

She hurriedly ran out, and luckily, she saw Dan.

''I need you to help me with something,'' she said; 𝗳𝗿𝐞ℯ𝙬𝗲𝗯n𝗼νel.𝒄𝑜𝘮

''What do you need? ''

''The key to the basement. '' Dan's face fell the instant he heard her. His lips moved, but he could not say a word.

''There's no need to hide anything, I already remember, so are you giving me the key or not? ''

It didn't seem like he had a choice, so he went in and got the key for her. As soon as she left with it, he called Nicklaus.

''Boss, the miss asked for the key to the basement. I'm afraid she remembers.''

Nicklaus could not reply, after minutes he ended the call. He knew she would remember someday, but his prayer was that she wouldn't remember just the pain that he caused her. He prayed she would also remember the happiness.

Nicklaus' head fell, as he didn't know what to do. He wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn't bring himself to. They were already happy, and he wanted nothing to spoil it. What was he going to do now?

…

Tiana walked into the room, and surprise met her eyes. Instead of an empty room as it was in her memories, the room was like a living room. Beautifully furnished.

She stood by the door for a second, then she walked into the room. Her eyes looked around closely, but there were no signs of what was in her memories.

Tiana walked to the end of the wall, and she remembered curling up at this end because she was afraid that there was something else in the room with her.

She remembered everything. Everything, like a rushing wind. Her memories came back.

She had taken the place of her sister and was tortured so her sister could be free. Nicklaus was not always like this, he was once a dark monster who was as cold as ice. Whose parents were murdered in cold blood and who got happiness from causing pain to others.

Tiana sat down on the couch as she fixed the details of her memories piece by piece, tears clouding her eyes.

…

Nicklaus had his head bent on his table. He had been fighting with himself on whether or not to go home.

He wondered if she would hate him now. If she wouldn't want him anymore. His heart hurt so much thinking about it, he didn't know what to do if she only remembered the times he had hurt her.

Nicklaus regretted repeatedly why he had caused her so much pain. He wished he could go back in time and stop himself from doing that.

His eyes looked at his time and he saw it was past 9 in the night. He couldn't avoid it. He had to face his fears.

So, standing up, Nicklaus dragged himself to his car and went home.

His heart raced faster as he approached his house, wondering if she was still there, wondering if she had angrily left. Where would he start if she left him?

The pain would kill him…

Beautiful, please be here, please…

He begged in his heart as he walked into the house. The house was quiet, as though nothing had happened.

Dan, who was standing in the living room, walked to him when he saw him come inside.

''Where is she? '' Nicklaus asked, his voice trembling a little.

Dan pointed at the basement.

Nicklaus nodded sadness in his eyes. She didn't leave the basement all afternoon.

He thought.

Summoning up courage, he walked to the basement, but before he could open the door, Tiana beat him to it.

Nicklaus stood transfixed as he watched her step out of the room, her face red and swollen.

His breath caught in his throat, and he couldn't breathe. His lips opened but he couldn't say any word.

He just watched her.

Tiana raised her eyes to him. They were red and swollen. She had cried a lot, but when she saw him, she couldn't help crying all over again.

Without a word, she closed the gap between them and hugged him, crying in his arms.

Nicklaus was shocked. That was the last thing he expected her to do.

He was transfixed for a second before he hugged her back, patting her back.

''I remember everything, Nicklaus. Everything,'' she said, crying in his arms. They had gone through so much. So much. And just when they were about to be happy, the accident happened, taking her away from him. She remembered what she thought about before going blank. It was him. She had thought of him. Knowing the amount of suffering he had to go through waiting for her made her to cry more.

''I miss you, I miss you baby, I love you, I love you so much. ''

Tiana cried in his arms.

Nicklaus heaved a sigh of relief as he hugged her back, kissing her head.

''I love you too, and it's okay, don't cry anymore. '' he consoled her.

Tiana didn't know how long they stood there. She only opted to go to their room when her feet began to hurt.