Chapter 522 - Perfect date - day 3, day 4 (changes)

Aiden was not sure if Sarah forgot about the shower, or is taking an extra-long one, but he decided to go and check. He wants to go there anyway, and this shower thing is giving him an excuse to do it now.

He stood in front of the master bedroom suite and hesitated. He prepared himself that he will find her in the bed, sleeping. Or maybe on the balcony and she forgot about the shower running. Or maybe she is in the shower, doing her spa-like treatments, shaving her legs, giving herself facials and whatnot… but even with that, it should not take two hours. Or maybe she is sitting in the living area, angry that he left after throwing a tantrum and as soon as he opens the door, various items will fly toward his head...

Whatever the case is, he needs to get in.

He would feel much braver if he has more than just a towel around his waist covering him.

Aiden took a deep breath and got inside.

He didn't find Sarah in the living area, or on the balcony, or in the bed, or in the closet. There was only one more place left: bathroom.

Aiden knocked on the door and called, she didn't answer. After few attempts, he opened the door.

He found her sitting in the corner of the shower, hugging her knees, her eyes were closed.

"Sarah?", he called.

She didn't respond.

He inched closer and turned off the shower. He noticed that water was cold.

She didn't react.

Aiden touched her arm which fell on her side. Only when he brushed her cheek and realized that she is very cold and not conscious.

He grabbed a towel, wrapped her in it and carried her to the bed while calling: "Sarah? Sarah?!" He was consumed with panic.

It took him a second to collect himself and check on her state. She was breathing… her pulse was slow… her body was cold… He was not thinking straight. The only thing he could think of was to hug her tightly, without intention to let go. He pulled cover over them to warm her up.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…", he chanted.

…

Sarah was standing in the shower for a long time, crying.

When she felt her legs going weak, it was too late, she lost balance and ended up in the corner of the shower. As she went down, she reached with her hand to grab onto something and moved shower handle to cold water with a grip which was not firm enough to keep her from falling.

She is not sure if it's because of the crying, or because of their fight, or because of the stress caused by her realization how much she wronged him, or because she was in the shower for too long, or maybe all of that together but she felt drained of energy. Sarah hugged her knees and closed her eyes. She felt her body getting cold, but she had no strength to move.

Sarah had a nice dream… She was feeling warm, in Aiden's embrace and he was covering her face with kisses. But why was he apologizing? She didn't know. He never did anything he needs to apologize for. 'Stop, stop apologizing…'

"Stop apologizing…", she mumbled.

Aiden felt a huge relief when he heard her speak, even though he didn't understand what she said. But he felt her body shift, so he knew she is waking up.

"I'm sorry, I will never do it again…" He said between his kisses.

"No… stop… I don't want this…", she mumbled, and her eyes fluttered open.

His heart dropped. Does she not want to be with him anymore? Is it because of his outburst? He said some ugly things and raised his voice. He felt her struggle weakly in his embrace, but he didn't want to let go.

"Please… forgive me… I promise I won't do it again…", his voice trembled.

"No… Stop apologizing… Don't apologize… You did nothing wrong…", Sarah was not feeling well, but she did her best to clarify.

Aiden looked at her with eyes full of pain, unsure what she means.

"Can you hold me a bit longer, please? I'm feeling cold…", she leaned her cheek on his chest.

Aiden pulled her closer to him and held her tightly. Based on her request, he can guess that she does not want to leave him. He exhaled in relief. "Sarah, I…"

"Shhh…", she interrupted him. "Just hold me. We will talk later. OK?"

He nodded in response.

Sarah wanted to talk, she had so many things to tell him, but she was exhausted. She hugged him tightly and whispered: "I love you."

Aiden kissed top of her head and whispered back, "I love you more." He noticed her even breathing. She was already sleeping, and he was not sure if she heard him… but it didn't matter. He will tell her again when she wakes up.

Sarah slept through the night.

Aiden wanted to move to call the medically trained staff few times, but every time Sarah would cling onto him and not let him get out of the bed. He saw that her complexion, pulse as well as temperature were back to normal, so he relaxed.

When Sarah opened her eyes, the sun was up. Aiden was still holding her. Her head was tucked under his chin, so she was not able to see his face, but she was confident that he is awake.

"Can we talk?", she asked.

Aiden didn't respond. He knew that Sarah will want to talk when she wakes up, and he dreaded that she will scold him for his behavior. The only thing he can do is apologize, but she told him last night to stop apologizing… so now he didn't know what to say, fearing that he will make it worse.

Sarah took his silence as agreement and started: "I know I messed up. I realize that from the beginning I am taking you for granted. And you are so sweet, and kind, and considerate, and I don't deserve it. Based on how I treated you, I don't deserve any of it… but you are still with me, and even apologizing for being a wonderful boyfriend. I was wrong and I hope that you will give me a chance to fix this."

He took a deep breath and kissed back of her palm. "There is nothing for you to fix. From the beginning I knew about your personality. It's my fault for having expectations that go against your nature."

His words made her heart ache. "How can you always find excuses for me? I will never learn and change if you are shielding me like this."

"I don't expect you to change.", he responded.

Sarah moved higher so that she can see his face and look him in the eyes. "But I want to change. This relationship will not work if you are always the one who is giving way."

He smiled. Her determination touched him, but he didn't dare make any hopes beyond that.

She looked at his gentle gaze and her heart melted. "I told you before that I don't believe in words because they can be empty; and I don't want to make empty promises. I want to show you that I love you and I am proud to be with you… and not just to you, but to everyone. It will not be an easy thing for me to accomplish that, to change, and I hope that I will have your support."

He responded with a small nod.

She reached to the side and got her phone which was charging and settled back next to him.

"Your left hand, please…", she extended her left arm up in the air, above them, and waved her hand gesturing that his should be there as well. From their angle, her hand was over his, fingers half-intermingled, engagement ring was visible. She took a picture of their two hands, showcasing the engagement ring, and ceiling in the background. Within seconds that photo was on her social media pages with caption: "Engaged!"

Next, she took a selfie of two of them with back of her left palm in shot and sent it to her sisters and Bridgette with caption: "Future Mr. and Mrs. Aiden White!"

She made sure that her phone is on silent mode before keeping it on the side table.

"First change: no more excuses…" Sarah snuggled next to him. "I am yours, and I am NOT ashamed of it. And I will make sure the whole world knows… we can talk later today about telling our parents that we are engaged."

Aiden embraced her, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was happy.