Falling, Fallen | ✔️

52

~Ayla's POV~

"So," Mr. Maxwell said, sitting across from Soren and I. "We need to talk about the divorce, and how it's going to work. Ayla, we are going to begin moving out your things th—"

"We don't want to get a divorce." Soren cut in, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand underneath the table. "I'm sorry, what?" Mr. Maxwell asked, startled and probably very confused. I looked up at Soren and he smiled at me, his eyes lingering on my lips. "We're not getting divorced." He repeated, glancing back over to his father, who was looking between the two of us like he was expecting it all to be just some cruel joke. "You...You want to stay married? Why on earth would you want to do that? When we started this, you hated the idea of being married and said you wanted out of the agreement." Mr. Maxwell recalled to his son, furrowing his brows.

The two of us looked at each other again. "Well, that was before I got to know Ayla. I wasn't happy with her being there at first, but I know I'd be even more unhappy now with her gone if we divorced." He said, squeezing my hand. My heart raced as Mr. Maxwell glanced over at me, looking curious. "So, then you two are actually together? You want her to actually be your wife?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. Soren nodded his head. "Yes." He answered simply. Confidently.

Mr. Maxwell looked like he was about to burst into tears of joy, staring back and forth between his son and I. "Oh, my god." He whispered to himself. "I never thought I'd see the day."

Soren scowled at his father and I couldn't help but to laugh, amused. It wasn't like it was uncalled for of Mr. Maxwell to be surprised that Soren, the ultimate playboy, wanted to stay married—and for us to be real husband and wife. I understood perfectly well why it was so surprising. After all, he most certainly wasn't that way when he and I first met each other. "Why are you so surprised?!" Soren exclaimed defensively. "I've been in a relationship before. It's not like I've never had a stable relationship!" He huffed, causing Mr. Maxwell to chortle. "Son, if it was a stable relationship then why are you with Ayla and not that other girl, huh?" He drawled.

He huffed at his father. "Whatever, that's not the point here." He mumbled. "We just wanted you to know that we don't plan on getting a divorce. We want to stay together. That means nobody is moving Ayla's stuff out of my house." He said, causing the older man to smile. He looked back and forth between Soren and I. "You know, Ayla, I know I said your job was to make Soren not seem like such a player anymore but I didn't think you'd go so far." He teased, grinning.

My face burned. "I didn't plan this! It just happened!" I exclaimed, embarrassed. He laughed and smiled at the two of us. "I'm only joking, don't worry, dear." He assured me. "You two are quite the good looking couple. I'm glad you guys found happiness with each other." He said, standing up from the table. I smiled and looked up at Soren as his father left the room, reaching up to push some hair out of his face. "Mm." He murmured. "My wife." He whispered, gently grasping me by the back of my neck and pulling me in for a kiss. I smiled into it, looping my arms around his neck. "I love you." We whispered at the same time.

We both stood up and left Mr. Maxwell's house, climbing into the car with one another. I slammed the car door and put on my seatbelt whilst Soren stuck the key in the engine. "You wanna go out to eat?" He asked me, sparing me a glance as he began to drive. Humming in thought, I nodded my head. "I'm kind of in the mood for Italian food, but I could go for anything. What about you?" I responded, bouncing my leg absentmindedly. He looked over and smiled at me. "Italian food sounds delicious. How about Carmine's? You been there?" He asked, to which I sadly shook my head. "No, I haven't. Is it good?" I wondered, causing him to grin at me playfully.

"Oh, yeah. Good enough to make you have one of your foodgasms." He teased, wearing a giant smirk on his face. I smacked his arm gently, unable to help myself from smiling like a doofus.

We arrived at Carmine's and headed inside, where we were seated across from one another at a table. "This place looks a little bit fancier than I was expecting it to, but it's nice in here." I told him, scooting my chair in beneath the table. A waiter came over and curiously asked us what we wanted to drink. "A bottle of Il Duca's Rosa Imperiale, with some ice." He told the man, who nodded and walked off. "Rosa Imperiale?" I echoed, confused. I had never had that, whatever it was.

Soren smiled. "It's a Merlot wine." He told me, causing me to open my mouth in an 'o' shape. "It's good. Trust me, you'll like it." He assured, looking up as the man came back with a bottle of wine in a bucket of ice, and two wine glasses. We said our thanks and then the waiter left again. Soren poured us both some in our glasses and then watched me as I tasted it. I had almost expected it to be bitter or a little dry because it was a type of red wine, but it was actually really good. "Wow!" I licked my lips and looked down into my glass.

Laughing softly, Soren eyed me with visible affection and I felt my cheeks burn. "You're staring." I told him, causing him to snort. "Guess the roles are reversed for once, hm?" He teased, only earning a scowl. I set my cup back down and placed my forearms on the table, leaning into it. Sure, it wasn't considered good manners to have elbows on the table but I didn't care. "You know, I still haven't thanked Luca for talking some sense into that dumb head of yours." I realized. That earned me an offended look. "Well, geez, I can feel the love." He pouted, leaning his chin into the palm of his hand. I just laughed.

His smile faded and became serious. "I really am sorry about all of the stuff I said, and for being such a coward." He muttered, shaking his head. I watched him closely as he spoke, giving him my undivided attention. "I should've told you a lot earlier how I felt but I guess I thought that you would probably be better off if I didn't. It took me a while to realize I couldn't let you go without at least telling you the truth." He smiled softly at me and I grabbed his hand, kissing him on his knuckles. "At least I know now. That's all that matters to me." I said.

"And besides," I grinned. "Sometimes people don't even realize they're falling for someone until they've fully fallen. Until you realize that you could lose it." I said, causing him to pause and look at me. He shook his head slightly.

"Maybe, but I don't think that applies for me." He told me. "I knew I had fallen for you before I even realized I was still falling."