The First Curse of Love
42. Heart Rate

Qiara was standing next to the window of her room when suddenly Danny walked in and looked at her in annoyance. Since this afternoon, Danny continued to try to contact him, but the stubborn woman actually ignored his call to make Danny can no longer hold back his immortality.

Walking over to Qiara, Danny put his phone in his jacket pocket. "Why hasn't my phone been picked up?"

"out! I'm gonna be alone again." Qiara's voice sounded cold. He even refused to look at Danny's face.

"It's been a week, Qiara!" Danny warned sharply. "You can't keep going like this, you—"

"Danny?" Sela Qiara closed her eyes for a moment. His brain is too dead-end to be able to think clearly now.

Danny remained silent. A trace of an unpleasant premonition suddenly touched him. The atmosphere that had been cold between them was knowingly possessed by tension.

"Our decision to get married seems like we have to think again."

"Qiara, do you realize what you just said?"

Qiara turned around and blotted her gaze at Danny's eyes. And his defense was almost muddled when he accidentally saw a cut on the back of Danny's hand. It felt like Qiara grabbed that hand and treated the wound. But Qiara's anxiety apparently escaped Danny's sensitivity.

Because at that time Danny thought that Qiara was serious about his words. Danny's courage instantly eroded. But he knew that he had to reject Qiara's words. Danny could not immediately follow his wishes. Their marriage is in sight, why should they think again about it?

Of all the questions in her, Danny was only able to find one answer; that the reason Qiara wanted to rethink their decision to get married, was that, because of his anger at Danny who was more siding with Pricilla when he and Pricilla had a fight this afternoon. Danny shakes a few times. "If you're acting like this right now just because of this incident, you should know that I didn't mean to make—"

"JUST BECAUSE?" Qiara cut out Danny's words out loud. "You lightly said JUST BECAUSE?" Qiara said in disbelief as she put a very strong and angry emphasis on the phrase 'free because'.  His heart really hurt when he found out that Danny was too simplistic in his mistakes.

Not a single drop of Qiara let out her tears. At that broken point, he was no longer able to cry. Every breath of his even felt so painful that he thought that it was better to be numb than to endure all this pain.

This time, Qiara really wanted to disappear from Danny's life.

"Qi?"

"It's NOT JUST BECAUSE you're more on the side of the woman. Have you ever tried to ask yourself, do you really love me, or are you just afraid to lose me? Have you ever tried to ask yourself, have you really been able to release Pricilla?"

Danny only fell silent while lowering his gaze as Qiara hoped that Danny would stare into her eyes and say that he also loved Qiara, instead of Pricilla.

'Tell me you love me, Dann. And I'll bet everything to keep you." Qiara.

Seconds passed, but Danny still persisted with his silence. Qiara who was completely fed up finally released the ring that Danny had placed on his ring finger when he proposed to her.

As soon as Qiara reached for Danny's hand to hand over the ring, Danny instead brushed Qiara's hand away forcefully. The flashes of anger were clearly in his eyes. His view seemed to imply that he was able to destroy anyone who tried to stop his marriage plans with Qiara, including Qiara himself.

With a dull feeling, Danny snatched the ring from Qiara's hand, then paired it back with a rough move on Qiara's ring finger. "You're angry now. Your mind is not clear. Whatever decision you make right now comes from your momentary emotions."

"Danny!" Qiara Sentak.

Danny released Qiara's hand after pairing the ring. Then without daring to look into Qiara's eyes, Danny begged himself to leave. "I'm coming home now. We'll talk again after you clear your mind."

Danny then left Qiara alone before listening to Qiara speak.

As soon as Danny was out of sight, Qiara immediately drooped.

Danny really ruined it from the inside.

...****...

Ray was pouring porridge into a bowl when Celine suddenly came and stood by his side, "Sister Ray?" Sweepings.

"Eh, Lin? You came?"

Celine nodded with a warm smile on her pretty face. Then when his attention is on the activities that Ray is doing, Celine automatically knows that Ray is preparing the porridge for Qiara.

Since yesterday Qiara has been unwell, especially after his quarrel with Pricilla, and Danny prefers to side with Pricilla by deliberately taking her away, increasingly breaking down the feelings and physical Qiara who was already weak since the sudden death of his parents.

"Sister Ray anterin's going to Qia's room first, huh? Since Semalem Qia did not want to eat, and this morning when Kak Ray checked his condition, it turns out he has a fever."

"Not taken to the hospital?" Celine tried to give her advice.

"So Ray ajakin's. He said he was just in the wind and just needed a break. Thankfully it's a holiday. If not, he'll probably do the job."

Ray rubbed the top of Celine's head after ending his words. He then immediately brought the porridge to Qiara's room.

"Sister Ray, I want to cook noodles. Ray's brother want to join?" Celine's question instantly intercepted for a moment Ray's steps.

Ray did not reply and simply raised his thumb as a gesture of agreement.

...****...

After sending a short message to Dean, Qiara took off her phone then looked at her reflection in the withered-looking mirror. The memories of when Danny yelled at him during a fight with Pricilla, or when Danny pulled Pricilla's hand and took her away from the mess back hit Qiara's head mercilessly.

Qiara held her breath, trying to minimize all the tightness that hit her chest every time her heart beat. When all the pain touched the top, he threw both hands on the sink, then his eyes moved and stopped right on the ring that was coiled on his ring finger.  The ring he had released last night, but was then forcibly reattached by Danny.

He bitter.

Qiara slowly gripped her hand firmly, and when she felt her tears would soon flow, Qiara bit her lips which began to tremble holding her sob. His eyes closed, another memory greeted him.

"Why, Qi?" Danny asked who suddenly appeared from behind Qiara while hugging her and landed a short kiss on her cheek, then on her neck.

"Well, Danny's ticklish!" The Qiara protest.

Hugging Qiara from behind, Danny peeked at the iPad that had been Qiara's focal point. Apparently Qiara was looking for referrals for her new hairstyle.

"Let's see what?" Danny asked again. He then took a position beside Qiara who was sitting on the sofa at the time.

Hearing Qiara's reply, Danny immediately revealed a sharp grin, as if two horns had appeared on his head. Danny then snatched the iPad from Qiara's hand as he cynically said, "who said you could cut your hair? Don't macem if you don't want to see me angry."

"Danny geraaaah! You try my long hair like me. You will not be strong any day. This is what I am since kind of long hair kept. You're not even sure if you see me with long hair?"

"Have you started to get senile? Back in the eighth grade you had a short haircut. You look like Boboho's girlfriend."

Qiara pursed her lips with a scowl. But for a moment he was amazed when he knew that Danny still remembered every detail of him. It was just used by Danny to kiss his lips with a quick motion. Qiara then turned his head, the sight of Danny who was smiling was satisfied immediately welcoming him. "Is he still alive?" Qiara started to growl.

But instead of responding to Qiara's annoyance, Danny came closer, and pulled Qiara's body so that there was no longer any distance between them. Once again Danny kissed his lips, but this time it was longer.

"Still to argue? Hm?" Challenge Danny while looking into Qiara's eyes deeply.

Qiara. His vocal cords suddenly couldn't work.

Danny gives one more kiss, "come on, argue!"

"Dann, I want to grab a du— drink" Qiara listened to herself make a sound.

But Qiara had not finished his reason to escape from Danny, Danny had even grabbed his face and then shower him with other kisses.

Qiara's cry finally broke as soon as she shut her memories. Even when they had gone that far, even after Qiara willingly gave herself up completely, never once did Danny say that he loved Qiara.

For a moment, Qiara felt so sorry for herself. Then out of his consciousness, his hand suddenly moved to grab a scissor located on the side shelf of the mirror. Then, overwhelmed with anger, Qiara cut her own hair. Everything blurred when suddenly an unbearable pain hit his entire body to make him fall on the floor. Everything happened so quickly as Qiara watched the blood flow from both sides of her legs.

"My baby..." Lirih Qiara with a crumbling feeling.

"Dek, you're in the dalem, right?"

Vaguely Qiara could hear Ray's voice calling out to her from outside. He wanted to say it, but he felt he didn't have the strength to do it until he lost half his consciousness. At that moment, Ray bursts into the bathroom. And how surprised he was when he saw Qiara who was already lying down in a sitting position.

A panicked Ray immediately approached his sister, "QIARA!"

Ray hugged Qiara's shoulder as he continued to call out her name. Not long after, Celine who had indeed listened to Ray's loud screams ran to Qiara's room. With the same frantic reaction as Ray, Celine approached the two brothers.

"Qia! What's up, Qi? What's the same thing you did?" Scream Celine.

The panic intensified as Celine looked at the blood that continued to flow between Qiara's legs.

"QIA! QIA!!"

Qiara had not listened to anything anymore as her vision gradually disappeared and only left the darkness.

...****...

After six days of not returning to his apartment, today Danny finally decided to go home. As soon as he entered his room, Danny was stunned to see a blue suitcase perched beside his closet. Amidst the bitterness surrounding her, Danny smiled faintly as he found out that the suitcase was Qiara's.

Her heart was finally able to warm up a little when she found out that Qiara had already moved some of her clothes to her apartment.

From the suitcase, now Danny's attention is focused on a small box with a pink ribbon decoration on the cover located on Danny's bed. Danny frowned slightly in wonder before finally getting closer and opening the box.

And what Danny found in the box, apparently jolted him even more, to make his heart beat fast in a soothing thump. Inside the box is a photo of a baby ultrasound. Without question, without a single doubt, Danny believes that the fetus in the USG photo is the baby.

Danny let out a sigh of relief with miraculous bursts of happiness. Danny then flipped over the USG photo and found Qiara's handwriting neatly stamped there;

"This is your birthday present. Congratulations on being a Papa. The doctor said he was only 6 weeks old. The first time I heard her heartbeat, I fell in love with her. Next time, we'll listen to the sound of her heartbeat together, yeah. I love u, Dann. Thank you for bringing him into our lives."

Danny's tears were dripping slowly in an indescribable vibe. It was the most beautiful birthday gift she had ever received in her entire life. He will soon be a father. And her dreams of making Qiara the mother of her children are getting closer to real.

With trembling hands and an overflow of joy that he was no longer able to contain, Danny opened his phone to contact Qiara. But just as Danny was about to knock on the screen, he suddenly heard the sound of the door opening. Danny cheated and reflexively thought that it was Qiara.

Danny was out of his room. But instead of finding Qiara, he found that Dean had just come to his apartment in an illegible gesture.

"Sister Dean?"

Dean didn't answer and just passed Danny by.

Danny's feeling was even more unnerved when he saw Dean enter his room and pulled Qiara's suitcase out.

"Sister Dean, why are you carrying Qiara's suitcase?" Danny tries to stop Dean by taking the suitcase out of Dean's hand.

"Qiara asked for help to get her suitcase."

Danny shook his head with both eyes shaking violently. "We're getting married soon. Why would the suitcase be taken again?"

Dean removes Danny's hand from the top of the suitcase, and takes it back from Danny. "Qiara needs time to think again. He also talked directly with Papa and Mama yesterday."

Once again Danny shook his head, but stronger than ever. For a moment he lost his mind. Apparently Qiara was really serious when last night said that he wanted them to rethink the wedding plan. As strongly as Danny dodged, but he had no capacity to break up.

Dean pulled back Qiara's suitcase. At that moment, beyond his sanity, Danny suddenly knelt right under Dean's feet while hugging the suitcase. "Sister Dean please, don't bring Qiara's suitcase. Danny's gonna talk this into Qiara. So please, don't take it. Danny beg for." Danny said with tears in his eyes.

Dean actually did not have the heart to see his sister plead like that, but even so, Dean should be able to uphold himself. Danny has to understand his mistakes, and learn from them, so he knows how to appreciate what he has.

Dean let out a heavy sigh before finally pulling the suitcase with full force from Danny's embrace. Before he could continue, Dean said...

"Your chances are up, Danny! Thank you for hurting Qiara, and for opening my way back to me."

^^^To be Continued...^^^