Inevitable

38 - Y O U ?

"You?", she gasped in shock.

"Shh, don't be so loud!", he whisper-yelled back at Noelle, not wanting to garner any attention. He pulled her wrist towards him as gently as possible, hiding her from the guests. 

"Michael you can't be here", she whispered softly, being as nice as she could, though internally, she was angry. She banished him and his wife from the Kingdom, how could he go against the rules. How did he break in? How did he not get caught? So many questions ran through her mind as he breathed heavily, as if he had run a mile. 

"Listen to me. I know that I'm not supposed to be here, but I just need to explain. I had no involvement in what Iris did last time she came here, I even told her not to, and to give you some space. She didn't listen to me. She went with her heart when she should've gone with her head. I understand you may not want to see me, but I need you to know that I love you, more than anything in the world, even if you don't love me, which is completely fine. You don't know me after all. Please rethink your decision, I'll give you all the time and space you need but I can't live without seeing my daughter. Please", he pleaded with her, explaining everything as quickly and quietly as he could, and Noelle felt nothing but guilt by the end of his speech.

She had banished him for his wife's actions. 

She made him suffer for something he didn't do. 

Evil

She could feel tears in the corner of her eyes, doing the last thing Michael expected her to do.

She threw her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. Bewildered and eyes widened, he hesitantly placed his arms around her, careful not to squeeze her too hard, although he wanted to so badly, since this is his first hug with his daughter. He himself began to tear up, overwhelmed. It was such a small gesture, yet it meant so much to both of them. 

"I'm sorry da- Michael. I didn't know, I-I just-"

"It's okay, you don't need to explain yourself", he reassured her. 

Michael didn't miss the fact that she almost referred to him as 'dad'. He wanted nothing more than to be called dad, but she probably wasn't ready yet, as he respected that. 

"I-I want to know everything, w-where I come from, w-what happened. Can you tell me please?", she asked hopefully and he nodded, embracing her tightly once again. 

"Baby?!", they heard a frantic voice yell.

Easton

"F*ck, I need to leave", Michael whispered, pulling away from his daughter. 

"What? N-no, don't go yet", Noelle begged, her bottom lip quivering at the thought.

"I have to, he'll kill me if-".

"Noelle?", they heard his voice again, but this time, he was right behind Michael. Michael turned around, taking a few steps away from the brooding, younger man. "The f*ck are you doing here?", he asked angrily, ready to pounce at the man who broke his queen's rules. 

"Easton, it's fine. I want him to be here", Noelle defended Michael, standing beside her mate. "He shouldn't have to suffer because of Iris's mistakes, he deserves a second chance", she explained and Easton looked down at her adoringly. 

So pure, he thought to himself. 

"Whatever you want love, but we'll need to have a long conversation", he said and Michael nodded, smiling at his daughter, to which she returned the smile.  "Oh, and I'm not doing this for, I'm doing it for her", he added, causing Noelle to give him a light slap to his chest, and a chuckle from Michael.