"Is this how it felt to date secretly with an artist?" Violet asked while blinking her tears away.
"Vi…" He empathised with her situation as he hugged her, understanding how she felt.
"Why did they have to twist the facts? Can't they just write the truth? Isn't that what their job motives are about? To bring justice and truth to the whole truth?" Violet vented as Sam hugged her tighter before she suppressed her cries in his arms.
"Vi… It's going to end soon… By then… Much later, you could bravely chase after what you want." Sam comforted her and knew from her sad gaze that she was on the verge of giving up.
"Why do I always love miserably?" She asked with regret.
"No, you didn't this time. It's just the wrong timing…" Sam pointed out, and she knew he was right but refused to admit it.
"Yes, I do. I should never love again…" Sam was a little disappointed listening to her backing away, but there was nothing he could do for now. "Get home and rest. I will bring him home once he can be discharged." Violet's eyes brightened up knowing Sebastian could return home.
"His drama…" She mumbled, recalling.
"He is resting for the rest of the days before returning on Sunday." Sam updated as her happiness slowly failed to disguise itself on her face.
Sam knew his little sister was long gone, drowning in love, but all thanks to their father's constant teaching of forcing them to stick with reality, she was dragging herself out of the love pool in denial.
Sebastian was allowed to return home later in the early morning after Sam negotiated with the doctor, as it would lessen media attention. Again, Sam did not want him to be alone; hence, Sam led him to his place.
Sam had no time to inform Violet, who was busy studying to distract herself. When she heard the door open, she thought it was just Sam as she waved at him without looking at him.
"Oh, you're still awake… Here, help me bring in Sebastian's stuff…" Before Sam could finish, Violet was packing all her papers and laptop as she rushed back into her room and slammed the door shut.
Violet was caught off guard as she was not ready to face Sebastian while pacing in her room. It took Sam by surprise as he shared a stunned gaze with Sebastian.
"Didn't she know I am…" Sebastian wanted to ask if Violet was aware of him discharging and their staying arrangements, only for Sam to raise his hand to stop him, realising he had forgotten.
"Wait… I will explain it to her." Sam said as he went to knock on Violet's door.
"Vi, sorry! Forgot to mention, we negotiated for him to return home early!" Sam announced as he shrugged; not getting a response meant she had received the news before Sam continued to help Sebastian settle in.
Violet was fuming with rage at Sam, but there was nothing she could do other than being trapped in her room and trying to study. To Sebastian's disappointment, he was looking forward to seeing and talking to Violet, but she was probably asleep as Sebastian continued waiting in the living room while staring at her room's door.
A little close to three in the morning, she could not sleep a wink but slowly revised her notes till her stomach's rumble annoyed her. She was contemplating sneakily grabbing a quick snack bar from the kitchen only to find Sebastian staring at her while sitting on the sofa.
Violet quickly shut the door, only for him to rush over to hold it.
"Vi…" he called out gently. "Let go…" She retaliated as he boldly pushed her into her room.
"Looking for this?" He revealed the snack bar in his hand, which he was preparing to give her after he mustered the courage to knock on her door, but for the past two hours to no avail.
She looked away, but her stomach grumbled. He chuckled, wanting to hold her close, but she pushed him away.
"Leave. Don't come in…" She protested angrily, only for him to hold her hand tightly. "It's my house…" He teased her as she fumed in agitation.
"Then I will leave…" She concluded, but he pushed her into the room, shut her door and locked it.
"What are you doing? Leave me alone…" She folded her arms in annoyance as he hugged her forcefully, ignoring her trying to push him away.
"I miss you. I wanted so badly to see you and to hold you… Why didn't you tell me about the threats and your plan?" He could feel she relaxed a little in his arms.
"I wanted to tell you the news wasn't real… I have received the papers from Janice. So why would I die?" He continued explaining himself before turning her around to face him.
"To tell you not to worry cause I was stupid to forget that I should take a lesser dose of sleeping pills when I was taking my anxiety pills too…" He let go of her to find her sad gaze searching his face. "Alright, correction. To not mix both." He said firmly, to which she pouted even more.
"To tell you that my time in this industry is close to the end. I know it was hard for you, but I am still going to give all these up for us to be together. Whether there's a marriage or wedding or not, who cares, Vi. What matters is us… It's you who made me realise how bravely I am loving you by knowing how much you sacrificed for me." He gently caressed her eye bags.
He gently inched closer and kissed her on her forehead as she held on to him. "How did you survive so many years? This isn't fair for anyone…" She said as her breath shuddered.
"Fame comes with a price, Vi. It is no longer a price I want to pay, and you are the reason for it." He pulled her closer, but Violet tried to push him away.
"I know you are afraid to love again after what you have been through…" He whispered as she shook her head and met his gaze.
"No, I'm afraid of losing you…" She closed her eyes, forcing herself to admit the harsh truth as she closed her eyes, ending in a sob as he pulled her in for a hug.
"I'm sorry… I… I didn't mean to…" Violet apologised as he pulled her in for a passionate kiss.
"Seb…" She stopped him, but they both knew they had waited for a long while to be passionately intertwined in bed ever since that fateful night in Phut Bi, coupled with her miscarriage.
When they were finally snuggling side by side again in bed in the early dawn, he kept his gaze on her.
"Do you not feel safe at home? Or sleeping alone?" She asked to break the silence as they gazed into each other while he gently caressed her cheek.
"Hmm…" He hummed in acknowledgement.
"What happened?" She asked while adjusting her position in his arms to snuggle closer.
"You can't help but be paranoid about stalkers in this industry… blackmail and pressure…" He explained with a sigh, wanting to pull away, but she held him back.
"There's me now… I'm sorry I didn't tell you this time. I wanted to appease the agency to not burden your schedules or give you more trouble, so I had to leave…" She explained as she blinked away her tears.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I have been pestering them because I know they won't let any of us go so easily…" He wiped her tears away as she eased into his palm.
"Cause you had enough trouble, haven't you? The filming… The divorce… The agency… Finding Phor Tat again." He hugged her as she broke down into a quiet sob.
"I cannot bear seeing you break down like this… I just… I wanted to tell you after the exam on Saturday to bear with it. Besides, I thought it was only a few more weeks of filming, and you would be heading to the camp. That would really save a lot of trouble…" She continued to explain as he hugged her.
"But Vi… I need you…" He admitted as their gaze met again.
"I could only sleep peacefully with you by my side. I could be at ease and remind myself I am Phor Tat around you. I don't have to care about the stalkers probably breaking into my house or room or anywhere I am because we are always at places where no one knows who we are. I don't know why or when it started, Vi, but I realised I couldn't… Live without you nor wanting to see you hurt." He confessed as she smiled before stealing a kiss from his lips.
"I'm glad you're not breaking apart from all the pressure you are going through…" She held onto him closer as he smiled.
"Cause there's you… And when I learn about it from someone else that … I…" He forced himself not to tear up as she hugged him.
"I promise from now on we will tell everything to keep each other safe and in check… Promise me you would fight with the agency and not follow their crazy schedule. Don't even sign or do things under any threats which would harm you. Even if they threaten you with me, let them." She warned him with conviction as he nodded.
"Cause you have Sam too…" He reminded her as she smiled.
"How were you trained so well?" He questioned, which reminded her of Sam's past.
"Cause Sam had a trainee before who committed suicide…" The seriousness in her eyes made him search his memories of the news to no avail as he hugged her closer to comfort her of her arduous training back then.