Boyyyy it's been over four months! I already had this chapter written months ago, but due to my recent personal life, I've had no time to even edit, let alone write! I've missed you all! :)

Chapter forty-two – He Flew Back

~~

-November 6, 1987-

It's been a little over a week since Michael and I went on our picnic, and things have settled down a little, now. Of course, everyone has been worrying about Marco's return, but not on the same level as before. Michael's finally starting to calm down rather than checking every corner of the countryside for him every thirty seconds. He was so paranoid last week about it all.

Today, we're going to see father again. It seems to be more of a weekly thing now, rather than something that happens every other week; or every month, even. It's because I'm worried about him. He admitted a lot to us when he told us about Marco's past, and I feel as if he's feeling guilty for keeping it quiet until now.

The police have been informed, too; but as far as this aspect of the case is going, their job isn't going so good. It's tough enough investigating the murder of all Michael's family; without trying to track down the one behind it all. Marco keeps moving around, so it's making the police's job a lot harder than it should have to be.

Marco knows he's in trouble, though – otherwise he would have stayed around the countryside. I might ask if anyone has heard anything, when we go to father's. Perhaps they know something more than Michael and I do.

The journey to dad's is nice; it isn't silent, but not every moment is filled with chatter from Michael or myself. Like he said, not too long ago – not every second has to contain speech. Just feeling is enough.

When we arrive, we just let ourselves in; Clover and Reiss were made aware that we're coming over, so they'll be expecting us. We enter the living room, to find father and Clover sat together eating breakfast. They've normally finished by the time we're here ... Oops.

"Sorry; we must have come early," I apologise, checking my watch. It's displaying the right time; maybe they're just eating a little later than usual.

"No, no; it's fine. We were just finishing up," Clover answers, standing up from her seat by father. She takes her plate into the kitchen, before re-entering the living room. "So ... how've you been lately?"

"Not too bad, all things considered." Without Michael noticing, I edge forward towards Clover, and mutter so he can't hear. "Michael won't stop worrying about Marco, though. It's getting a little out of control."

"I can hear what you're saying," Michael intervenes, instantly making me feel guilty for talking about him behind his back – or, attempting to.

Turning around, I frown. "Sorry, Michael. I just don't think it's healthy for you to be worrying about Marco as much as you are. We need to settle down and try to get on with our lives. He can't ruin it ... "

"Well, he is ruining it," Michael retorts – not to me, but the subject in general. "And I wish I could control how much I worry, but I can't. It's a pain."

"I just think we all need to calm down. There's nothing we can do to prevent him from coming; we can plan ahead just in case – but worrying will just make it worse if he really does come back." Although my words make sense, I know that it's way easier said than done; doing this kind of thing successfully.

"I'm not worrying about him coming back. I'm worrying about what he could potentially do to us if he does come back!" Michael is already getting worked up about all this; his fingers are harshly running through his curls as he speaks.

Reiss then enters the room, almost looking casual. "There's really no need to worry about Marco right now, Mike – he flew back to England."

Michael stops in his tracks upon hearing this. His head turns to Reiss, with confusion in his expression. "Wait, what? How could he fly back to England if he's wanted in America?"

"Uh ... " Reiss looks up in thought. "That's a good question, actually. Uh ... I don't know."

"And more importantly," I interrupt, realising the bigger problem. "Have you told the police about that?"

"Um ... yep. All sorted. They said they'll investigate as much as they can with what evidence they have. They said that him travelling would make it more difficult to find him, but easier 'cause England is much smaller than America," he explains.

"That's true," Michael reasons, sitting down on one of the chairs in the living room. I think he's the most relieved out of all of us, that Marco is out of America. "But Uncle Reiss, you still haven't told us how you got that scar on your cheek."

"I did tell you; it's from falling over on the way back from the grocery store. It's really nothing." Reiss obviously wants to change the subject, but Michael isn't done yet.

"But it goes right across your face, Uncle Reiss. And it's not even healed over much yet. It must have been done pretty bad." Michael briefly examines the large cut, shaking his head in disapproval. It's obvious he doesn't believe Reiss' words.

Admittedly, there's something weird about how big the scar is, but it could genuinely have been from falling over. It's not my place to ask Reiss about it, or whether his story is true. It's none of my business, really.

"Look, kid ... I don't get why everyone's making such a deal out of it. It doesn't even hurt!" He shakes his head, an amused grin forming on his face. With that, he dismisses the topic, looking at me. "So, Citria, how have you been? Nobody seems to be asking about you."

"I'm really fine." A shrug accompanies my words, to indicate that I don't want to be thought of as important. "I've just been worried about all of you guys, that's all."

"It's all good now that Marco's gone," Reiss answers, smiling. "There's no need to worry unless he comes back to America."

"Which he won't ... right?" Michael speaks up nervously, giving anxious glances to Reiss and myself. "There's no chance he'll come back, is there?"

"We don't know, Michael. It really depends on what his game is." Reiss raises his brows, heading over to the sofa to sit down.

Would Marco really leave the country before having the chance to hurt us all? There's something weird about all this. Perhaps it's part of his little game – to make us all think he'll never return. I believe that he's out the country now, but I don't believe he's gone for good. There's a large part of me that feels he's going to come back at least one more time.

"I think he might come back," I dare to assert, earning the attention of everyone in the room; Clover comes back in just as I make my statement.

"You do?" Michael frowns, fear obvious in his facial expression.

"I do. Don't you guys realise he's messing with us all? He's not gone for good. He'll come back again. All this is a way to trick us. The whole 'false sense of security' thing," I elaborate briefly, scanning the room with my eyes so that I look at everyone in turn. "And the longer he waits, the more I'll know he's going to come. He's going to come when we've forgotten he exists. He isn't going to come back straight away; he might not even make his presence clear when he does show up. But I know he will, and I want to keep everyone protected. Who knows what his next trick is? Maybe he'll come for the weakest ones first."

As I say the latter sentence, I can't help but look at my father. Since mother died, he's grown weaker, and has been put on various medication so his health doesn't deteriorate. If Marco is going to come back, he'll target my father first. That can't happen. My father is one of the few people I have left.

"You mean to say he'll come for your father, Citria?" Michael gives a look of concern, as he comes closer to me. "But doesn't your father know not to trust him?"

Feeling terrible for talking about my dad without his knowledge, I whisper in response to Michael. "It's not the trust that'll kill him; it's how weak he is. He knows not to trust Marco, but he doesn't know how to fight him off if he attacks. He isn't strong enough. I need to protect him."

Seemingly understanding now, Michael nods. "Okay. I get that. We all need to help each other."

"Exactly," I speak aloud, so everyone can hear. "Michael's right. We all need to help each other – now more than ever."

Reiss and Clover nod, briefly voicing their agreement to the statement, before sitting down on the sofa with Michael. I decide to join them all, sitting the closest to father. Maybe it would be nice to move away from the Marco subject, now.

"Michael, Citria; would you like anything to eat?" Reiss offers kindly, starting to stand up as if I'd already said yes.

"No, no. It's fine," I answer politely. "We already ate back home. But thank you, anyway."

"You're sure?" Reiss questions.

"Yes; honestly." As I answer, Michael places an arm around me, subtly pulling me closer to him. "But I meant what I said. We all have to protect one another, now. Don't trust anything or anyone other than each other. Marco has the potential to do awful things."

"We know all too well, Citria," Clover adds in agreement, her eyes averting to the ground. "It's not right having to live in fear of one person."

"You're not wrong," Michael pipes in to the conversation. "Every noise; every movement; every single thing worries me, now. It makes it difficult to sleep at night."

"We shouldn't have to live like this," Reiss adds to Michael's comment. "It's ruining our lives."

"Maybe we should try to move house ... Just so we have a little more safety. Not too far; just another town. Maybe another state not far from here," I suggest, in attempt to take the worry away from everyone, even if just a little.

"But we can't," Reiss reasons. "It would take too much time, and too much money. It would be at least a few months before anything really happened – even if we found a house to live in."

"I hate to say it, but Reiss is right," Michael frowns, before sighing in defeat. "It looks like we're stuck here for good. And that's a risk to us all."

"Well, it makes it safer that Marco doesn't know about this place," I point out; and simply saying this causes my stress levels to go down a little.

"That's true. We're a little safer here than we are at Citria's house," Clover admits, looking at me with a hint of guilt. "As much as her place is lovely, I mean."

"None taken," I chuckle softly. "It is safer here. For father; for Clover; and for Reiss. But this is the only place that's safe in this countryside, now. And if Marco finds us here, we're not going to be so lucky."

"We'll protect one another, like you said," Reiss reminds me, smiling faintly at me.

"I know ... But this is your permanent living space. It's not like you can escape from this place like you can at mine." In slight frustration, my cheeks inflate with air, and I blow it out slowly to calm myself down.

"I guess that's a point," Clover evaluates. She then sighs loudly, before growling in frustration. "This whole thing is so ridiculous! Why can't the police just track him down?"

"They're trying to, Clover. They're really trying to," I assure her, smiling gently to comfort her. "They've been notified about everything, from Reiss. They'll find him. It'll happen."

I'm saying these words loosely; there's no knowing for sure that they'll find him. Who knows? Maybe they never will. But for the sake of remaining sane, I think I'd rather believe he will be found.

"I hope to God they find him. I can barely take the sleepless nights, now. They calmed down a little before, but now they came back. Sleep is more of a rarity now." Clover keeps her eyes on the floor, obviously not feeling particularly happy about this.

"You don't look tired, though, Clove." Michael attempts to cheer her up a little, but accompanying those words with a closed-mouth smile.

Clover looks up at Michael, raising her eyebrows briefly. "It's the makeup. Makeup is magic for tiredness. Underneath this stuff, is a half-dead, puffy-eyed freak."

"I'm sure that's not the case. You look fine." Michael's soft smile grows into a wider one, in order to make her feel better about herself.

"Thanks," she chuckles softly, shaking her head in disbelief of his words.

Having made the conversation a little more lighthearted than before, we try to steer clear of any mentioning of Marco.

* * *

As night time starts to draw nearer, Michael and I begin to get ready for bed. After dinner, we decided that tonight would be an early night; it's been a long day, after all. At father's house, we all started discussing our futures – returning to the subject of Marco, of course. It seems he's taking over our lives, now.

But now, I'm brushing my teeth ready to go to sleep. As far as I know, Michael's in the bedroom, changing into his nightwear. As I bend down to spit the toothpaste out into the sink, however, I feel his arms wrap around me from behind. His face presses against my shoulder, as he leaves a single, prolonged kiss on it.

When I look at my reflection in the mirror, I note that his curls are tied back into a scruffy ponytail, and he's wearing his striped pyjamas. He looks simply adorable right now.

"My Angel ... " he softly says, his lips still pressed against my shoulder – which is covered by my dressing gown. "My reason to live ... "

Setting my toothbrush down, I turn around and wrap my arms around his neck, which naturally forces his lips away from me. A gentle smirk finds its way to my mouth as I look up at him. "Someone's being cute, as usual."

"Just expressing my thoughts for the girl I'm so crazily in love with," he answers, leaning down to kiss me once. "Even if I'm not the man you're crazily in love with." With the latter sentence, he grins, before sticking his tongue out playfully.

"Hey! I never said I wasn't in love with you," I retort, taking one hand, and using my forefinger to bop his nose. "And you're wrong. I am in love with you."

"She finally says it," he chuckles, his arms now settled around my waist. "After all this time."

"Who said I wasn't always in love with you?" I question rhetorically, taking my bottom lip into my mouth shyly.

"You're almost as smooth as I am," he mutters, bringing his head closer to mine. His forehead rests against my own, and his nose hovers just millimetres away from mine. "But not quite."

With those words being said, he closes the tiny gap between us by kissing my mouth. Oh, how smooth he really is.

My eyes close, to savour the feeling of his lips against mine; then Michael moves one hand from the small of my back, and brings it to the back of my head. His other hand falls to my hip, caressing the area lightly. Slowly, he pulls me towards the wall of the bathroom, allowing his back to press against it, whilst my front connects with his.

My hands move downwards from around his neck; remaining on his chest for a moment. Meanwhile, Michael separates his lips from mine; instead, he moves his head to my neck, and kisses the skin sweetly.

There's something about the way Michael's acting right now that makes me feel a way I've never felt before ... but I think I like it. I'll admit it right now; what he's doing is driving me crazy. This is the first time he's done this to me since we started our relationship.

After a few moments of this, he pulls away from me, looking into my eyes with glazed-over irises. He looks a little shy with this.

"Citria, can we continue this in our room?" he asks quietly, seeming a little bashful for having questioned this.

"Continue what?" Although it embarrasses me to say it, I'm feeling the exact same way as Michael's feeling right now. And I know exactly what he wants to continue, too.

"Please ... just come with me." He takes my hand, pulling me out the bathroom. Because of the force he uses to pull me towards him, I end up in his arms. He uses this as an opportunity to kiss me again; only this time, it's a lot more intense. As we continue with our passionate little episode, Michael brings me into our room, kicking the door closed with his foot.

And we continue as we reach the bed, too. It seems our early night could turn out to be quite a late one, after all.

~~

Okay, I'm gonna stop it there. We all know what's about to go down. ;)
But due to wanting to keep this story as sophisticated (ha) as possible, I won't be including any of thooose scenes. :3
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)