It was unexpected. I honestly did not anticipate my dad to allow Dean to be my guard. It was not that Dean was necessarily a bad person, but his habits and past behaviors have never really been my dads cup of tea.
He never outwardly said anything about how he felt but it was obvious when my dad would ask if I ever attended any of Deans parties and be relieved when the answer was no.
But I could partially see why my dad would trust him now. While Dean still had those tendencies, he nonetheless does very well in his work. Every business move he makes is flawless and generates huge profits.
He embodies ideology of work hard and party harder.
Aside from that, lately Dean has cut back recently and has shown his reliability. My dad is not like other people who take a first impression and have that be the determining factor of ones character. He recognizes the good and determines character by patterns.
I cupped Deans face with my hands. His cheeks soft and they warmed up more at my touch. The red flush from his ears sneaking into my palms. "I am sure you must be thrilled to have more excuses to hang around."
His eyes crinkled from his deep smile, his handsomeness increasing even more. The best way I could describe Deans beauty was that while he had a strong bad boy image, when he smiled he gets a boyish charm that is enchanting.
"I am. For starters we could 'date' more openly since us being seen together will not be questioned. Secondly, the more I earn your parents trust, the better."
That was something I appreciated so deeply from Dean. He was genuine in his feelings but also in his actions. His consideration for my family was something I really valued. It also helped I knew he had no interest in what my family background offered since he already had his own.
"As much as I love what we are doing right now, I want you to rest. I will come back before you get discharged but rest up we will have a full couple of days head of us."
He slowly got out of the bed but before he left I grabbed his arm and pulled him back to me. I scrunched his collar as I pulled him to give him kiss.
He did not even hesitate in reciprocating back and even deepened the kiss further. His hands initially on the bed because of my pull but soon they repositioned themselves to ensure his kiss could become more fervent.
One hand cradled my head and the other to the small of my back. "God the next couple of days before I come back are going to be hell." He murmured against my skin before he begrudgingly pulled away.
It felt strangely good to be able to cause him to react that way. "Go on tiger, consider that a promise of what will come."
"Tiger? So now I finally have a nickname princess?" He poked my cheek teasing me about my name for him. I had been only calling him by his name for a long time.
When he started with my nicknames when I was little I would give him ugly nicknames to see if that would make him stop but it never fazed him. So I decided that wasting energy on him was pointless. Since then I never thought of a nickname for him.
But I felt compelled to now. So when I pondered as to what I recalled his tattoos. One of his tattoos on his arm was a tiger. It was some intricate line work and color that I recalled from the night we spent together. It felt very much like him. A tiger is proud and fierce and beautiful. He also shows no mercy.
"Well it is something I am testing. I might change it-" However before I could finish he gave me a quick peck on the lips to stop me. "No need. I like it so no changing it. Stay safe ok and get some sleep. Rested bodies heal better and I want you to be healthy and back to normal."
"I will try." I replied sarcastically. There was not much else to do besides rest, it was the only thing that made the time pass quickly.
And time did pass much faster than I anticipated. The doctors were happy with my recovery and finally sent me home. I looked much better than when I initially entered, as though nothing of that nature ever occurred.
And in a way, it seemed as if the world operated under that same sentiment. As no other significant people reached out to me. The day before my discharge Dean had come by with some strawberries.
I got the strong urge to see what was going on with the incident. I was told from my mom that my name would not be mentioned and any photos with any identifiers for me would be deleted by our PR team.
Thankfully, no mention of me came up at all. The case with Irene however, did make many rounds online. She was mocked and ridiculed for her actions. Many furious over her ability to not even care that she was hurting others.
The actual trial would not be until a while from now. Both the defense and prosecution needed time to get ready. And in her case there was speculation she would be defending herself and not use a lawyer.
The media was having a field day covering her background. Mainly because she should have been perfectly sane.
Many of the true crime stories we hear involve someone with some type of problem or issue that act as a trigger to their behavior. But she did not fit that bill.
She had a good family life. Her parents were in a loving marriage and she did well in school up until college when she dropped out before the end of her first semester.
Financially she was neither poor nor wealthy. She was as average as one could get.
But yet, something haunted her. Irene was telling every news source who interviewed her the same thing. That she fell in love at first sight and wanted her 'lover' to save her.
However she was mum about that detail in particular. Her confession to the police got leaked and according to her confession, she worked odd jobs to get any information she could regarding her 'lover'.
That was the other thing. Dante was also left out of the case. We were John and Jane Doe.