She wondered if his happiness was always this melodious as he said, "Eat first, we'll talk after that. I put in a lot of effort in this breakfast after all."
Stella nodded and took a bite of a sandwich and her face lit up. "Peanut butter!!!" she exclaimed and Den laughed. She seemed to remember something and offered him a sandwich, and to her surprise Sharp took it and took a small bite. Stella's smile widened further as she continued to gobble up all the food in front of her.
Stella had finished almost everything on the table and burped loudly as she patted her stomach. Sharp made a face and said, "Manners!!" Stella laughed as she reached for the last cup of coffee and began to sip it. "Everything tastes so good when you haven't spend like ten hours cooking it!" she exclaimed and Den laughed. "Everything tastes good because I cooked it. Anyway, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, beginning to clean up the table.
"Umm. . . . . Before I tell you, I have a question." Stella said. "Ok. Shoot." Sharp replied, sitting back down and giving her full attention. Stella fumbled for words for a few seconds before she looked Sharp dead in the eyes and said, "Why?"
Den frowned, "You're still on that topic? Cause I made you a promise yesterday." he replied with a shrug. "I get that." Stella said, "I just don't understand. Why?" Den stared into those amber eyes and Stella felt a faint blush creep on her cheeks, but she didn't avert her gaze. She knew she would get the answer if she allowed herself a peep in Sharp's mind, but she wanted to hear it from his own lips. Wanted to know that he knew his reason well enough to be able to put it into words.
Den sighed as he looked away from Stella's eyes and fixed his gaze on her coffee mug. "Look McCartney, I. . . . ." he began and stopped, looking for words. Stella waited patiently, while he seemed to pull his thoughts together, and finally began, choosing each word with deliberate care. "When you ran out that day, and I saw you leaving from my window, I didn't understand my thoughts. Then I looked at the locket you had bought, and I slowly began to question my behavior these past few months, comparing it with how I usually act. And when I thought back, even I was disgusted by my own self. Why had I been treating you that way? Couldn't only have been because you saw those paintings. They're not really a secret anyway."
Stella's breath hitched as Sharp mentioned the paintings. He had never mentioned them to her before. But Den went on, not noticing, "Couldn't have been you. You were the same even before. Maybe it was me. Probably it was me. I don't know. I still haven't figured it out." At this point, Sharp looked up into Stella's eyes.
"All I know is, when I found out that Zuako was in the forest and could cross paths with you, I felt my heart twist. I didn't want to lose you. I don't want to lose you. Not like this. Not again. Then when I found you, all broken but alive, well, let's just say I'm very glad you are fine" Den's eyes were shining with tears by the time he finished.