Destined Hearts Ch. 10

"Mother, I..."

"Anyway, forget it." She smiled brightly, cupping his cheeks in her palms. "Come inside and..."

"Well, mother, I... I..."

"He came to see me." A voice was heard throughout the entire house.

Everyone's eyes moved to the door, widening like they'd just seen something really surprising. It was Santiago, dressed in a beautiful black skinny jean, red shirt that was half way done, exposing his gorgeous muscular chest and his hair. He wasn't smiling. He was really serious.

"You?" Emilia tried her best to smile. "What are you doing here?"

Santiago rushed to her, going for her legs. "Please, bless me." He touched her feet,

Emilia slowly and hesitantly touched his head. She didn't know how to act around him, especially since he'd rejected her daughter. She didn't hate him though because she understood his reasons. But she wasn't happy because her daughter had been rejected.

"Bless you."

"What are you doing here?" Emma said in a rude tone, looking at him in a weird way.

"I am sorry." He apologized softly, going towards everyone. "I know that you might hate me so much right now and I probably deserve it."

"Yeah!" Emma jeered, moving slowly towards him. "Why would we welcome you with open arms after what you did to..."

"Emma!" Granny didn't need to tell Emma what she wanted to say. Emma got it clearly.

"My son, I am..."

"I accept!" Santiago beamed. His face was brighter than anyone in the house had ever seen it before. "I accept your proposal."

The moment he said that, Andrea felt her heart beat deep in her throat. She felt weak in the knee, feeling like she was about to fall. In fact, she was about to fall if not for Bruce that held her quickly. Her eyes widened as she failed to breath, feeling like someone had cut off her oxygen supply. Her body felt really cold like someone had poured frozen ice on her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was a joke.

"I accept the proposal." Those words kept ringing in her head as they made her weak.

"What?" Emilia exclaimed, a brilliant smile appearing on her face. "Are you serious?"

"Yes!" He bubbled, looking at everyone's faces. "I will marry your daughter."

"Really?" Emilia still couldn't believe it. "OMG, but you..."

"I know what I had said and I am sorry."

Emilia smiled brightly and went straight to him, cupping his cheeks. She kissed both his cheeks and gave him a tight hug. Then she took him to the living room and made him sit close to her and granny. Everyone was now smiling except for Andrea and Bruce. They were surprised. Even Emma was really happy. The guy was super rich and handsome. What more could she want for her niece?

"What made you change your mind?" Granny burst. She was just so excited. "When we came to see you, you seemed to stand on your decision."

Santiago slowly raised his head, his eyes landing on Praveen who was standing a little distant from him. A smile shot up his face, his heart beating rhythmically and with passion. He had no idea why he felt so calm, so at peace and so happy whenever he stared at Praveen. He was the best, the complete package although he was taken.

"A heart so pure that it can talk to your very soul." He said sweetly, feeling his body vibrate.

Praveen smiled back, dropping his eyes to the floor, blushing. Santiago was the kindest guy he'd ever met in his life. He was just wishing him a happy life.

"Praveen!" Emma bubbled as she looked at him lovingly. "I should have known. He's truly an angel."

"No, mother..." He quickly raised his face, nodding sweetly. "...I just had to go and talk to my friend, find out what had really made him reject the proposal. The rest was done by him. He's the one you should be thanking and not me."

"All credit goes to you."

The two souls smiled brightly at each other.

"Praveen!" Andrea thought as she clenched hard on her dress, feeling her body vibrate. "You bitch, you stupid bitch." She wanted to cry. She wanted to rip his fucking neck off, watch him die on the floor. But she couldn't do all that. "You've ruined my plans, you idiot."

"Andrea!" Andrea was gotten out of her thoughts when she heard granny's voice. She gasped, smiling sheepishly at her.

"Yes, granny..."

"Come here!" Granny gestured, giving her a brilliant smile. "Come and sit with your husband to be."

Andrea felt her stomach move and her breath stop. She got a really irritating vibration on her skin and wanted to puke. Without saying anything, she went towards Santiago and shyly sat with him while everyone just smiled brightly, even Antonio. For some reason, his hatred for Santiago was somehow vanishing. Why was that happening when he didn't like the guy one bit?

Anyway, the plans for the engagement started there and then. Granny was so happy that she couldn't wait. She suggested that they started discussing the wedding as soon as they met Santiago's brother and anyone else that was still alive in the family. It was a happy occasion except for Andrea who felt really defeated. She didn't know what to do.

***

"I am in love with someone, okay?" Santiago's voice was really high. "But being in love like this hurts."

"What do you mean?" Praveen asked, raising his eyebrows. "Shouldn't that be something to celebrate? You should have told them that but..."

"It's not that simple." Santiago's eyes were watery. "Not when you're in love with someone that is already someone else's, someone that's already married."

Praveen froze, staring at Santiago without even blinking. What he'd heard was too much to digest and really sad to some extent. The guy was in love with someone who was married, he thought as his mouth shook? Why? How? When? He had lots of questions that he needed answers to. But did he have the right to ask him?

"This is like a curse, Praveen." He quickly rubbed a tear that was making its way to his cheeks. "I swear, it hurts because each day that you live, you get to realize that that person can never be yours. You get to realize that that person is happy with someone else and not you. It hurts, a whole lot but as long as that person is happy, I am really happy. I will always be happy."

That had happened a few hours back but they were still fresh in his mind. He couldn't believe how on one hand, Santiago seemed to have it all, like he was happy but on the other, he was sad. He really felt for him and he wished he had helped him.

"Okay, just think about it." He had said, looking deep in his eyes. "How would that woman feel if she got to realize that you're in love with her?" He had asked him with a lot of emotions in his voice. "Imagine how she would feel if she got to know that because of that love, you have refused to start a new life."

Santiago had gotten close to Praveen, slowly rubbed on his cheek while looking emotionally in his face.

"What would you do?" He had asked, shaking his head. "What will you say to me?" He had said, making Praveen really scared at his question. "I mean, if you were her."

"I would want you to get married and make her happy." He had responded without any thought. "Marrying someone else doesn't mean you don't love me anymore. You can continue loving me even though you are married to her and eventually she'd take that love you feel for me and you would be happy. You would learn to let go of me and you would be happy with your new life."

After his answer, Santiago had hugged him tightly and told him that he was gonna accept the proposal for Andrea.

Praveen was now walking slowly towards his room, deep in thought. He had a really strange feeling and had no idea what had to be done in order to let all his worries go away. They'd all had dinner with Santiago and he just wanted to sleep. On one hand was Antonio acting all strange and on the other was Santiago.

"Did I make a mistake by convincing Santiago to marry Andrea?" He thought, feeling really bad. "Will she make Santiago really happy?" He stopped in his tracks, putting his hands together and bringing them forward. His eyes looked up as he took a deep breath. "Dear God, please guide my path and help me, but help Santiago even more. He made this decision because of me and I don't know if what I said to him was right. I don't want him to be unhappy.

But you know the reason why I did this. I love granny and mother so much that I couldn't bear to see them sad. Please," He breathed. "If this is a bad decision, don't make Santiago suffer or unhappy. Let me get the punishment because I forced him into this. He's a good man and deserves to be happy always. Please, help him with everything and let him prosper."

He slowly bowed his head and was about to continue going to his room when suddenly...

"Wow, he's praying..." He heard Bruce's mocking voice.

He stopped in his tracks and just stood still. Bruce and Andrea came and stood in front of him and God knows he'd never seen the look Andrea was giving him. It was scary. Was she angry or happy, he thought, gripping his shirt?

"Are you praying for my departure from this house?" Andrea accused, folding her arms angrily on her chest.

"What?" Miguel was rather surprised. "Why would you ask that? This is your house and..."

"Exactly!" Andrea fumed, furiously dropping her hands. "How dare you play that stunt?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't think you did me a favor by bringing Santiago." She warned, pointing angrily at him. "Whom do you think you are, Praveen? How dare you try to predict how my life should go and whom I should marry?"

"I don't think I did that, Andrea." He breathed. "I only did that because of mother and granny." He wasn't scared of her because he was used to her anger. "Santiago is a very good man and he's my friend. Granny and mother did all they could to fix this alliance with him and I only thought it would be good if I helped them."

"Oh, and you think that..."

"I don't think anything." He said rudely. "You might think I did this for you but I didn't. Like I said, Santiago is a very good man and I don't think you deserve someone like him, Andrea. You two are completely different and I really hope he'll continue being happy even after this marriage."

With those words, he started walking away from them but before he could even take two steps, Bruce furiously gripped his arm, pulling him back.

"Don't try to be a saint because we know what you are..."

"I am not trying to play saint or anything." He angrily released his hand, looking at Bruce like he wanted to beat him. "And I think I have spoken to you for long. I don't even have to answer you. Look, if you're looking for trouble, I don't have it."

He walked away from them and went to his room. The two friends remained standing there, staring at the door he'd entered. They were really furiously.

"Don't think that you've won anything by doing this." Andrea grinned evilly, looking at her friend. "This is just the beginning and you'll be surprised by the turn out of events. If I were you, I would be careful."

"What have you got planned?"

"A lot!" Andrea said abruptly. "But we need to hit him hard and very soon. He has overstayed his welcome."

"I don't..."

"I will explain to you."

Meanwhile, when Praveen entered the room, he found that Antonio was not there. He thanked his lucky stars because he was not ready to face any drama that night. He was just too tired. He just brushed his teeth and went to sleep on his couch. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep even before Antonio came to the room.

***

"Sure!" Antonio smiled brightly, throwing the towel he was toweling his hair with. "I will definitely do that."

He waited for a second before answering again. "A meeting! Sure, that would be nice. I will meet you at grand prime hotel at 3 today."

He waited while smiling. "Thank you too."

He cut the call, smiling brightly. Another businessman was interested in his music company and that meant more money was gonna come. He was just so happy that he felt like dancing. Putting the phone down, he just met with Praveen's eyes, staring at him sternly.

"What?" His mood with Praveen seemed to improve. Even Praveen was surprised. "Can't a guy be happy even though he's staying with you?"

"Well..." Praveen raised the towel, showing it to his husband. "...you should try cleaning the room one day. Maybe you won't be throwing things anyhow in this room."

With those words, he threw the towel on Antonio's face, surprising the guy. "What?" Antonio removed the towel, following Praveen behind.

"Don't ruin my mood because another deal is about to..."

"Look, I don't care about your mood and..."

Praveen quickly turned and something happened. The very moment he turned, he hit into Antonio who was rushing behind him. Both of them were heading for the floor. Antonio hit the floor with his back while Praveen fell on top of him. Without even realizing it, Antonio quickly wrapped his arms tightly around Praveen's waist, bringing his body closer as both of them hit the floor.

Praveen's mouth went straight to Antonio's face, kissing his cheek, very close to his lips. Shit! His hair flipped forward so quick, covering Antonio's face. When Antonio breathed out deeply, it hit Praveen's face so hard that he felt his body vibrate in what he couldn't even explain. Feeling Antonio's powerful arms around his waist, he couldn't control the shivers that overtook his body. Where his hands were, it felt really cold there.

When Antonio slightly closed his eyes and when he opened them, it was to look into Praveen's beautiful eyes that seemed to be glowing. First, he could have sworn he saw the moon in Praveen's eyes. His body on top of him felt different. Feeling his hair on his face felt really different too, magnificent. His breath also felt different.

The two souls couldn't help but stare into each other's eyes. They were alone in this world, literally. Antonio felt really nervous. He couldn't move his hands away from Praveen's waist. Something was really wrong with him. It was as if he was frozen.

Suddenly...

"Ahem!" Someone cleared his throat, getting the two of them to reality.

Praveen quickly moved his hand, removing his hair from Antonio's face and slowly getting up. Without even seeing the person that had come into the room, he stood still, dropping his eyes to the floor. He felt really shy and he was moving his eyes from side to side.

Antonio on the other hand quickly got up, moving his eyes to the person that was in the room. It was Ethan and he was busy smiling with his arms on his chest, looking at Antonio like he was about to laugh at him, really hard.

He was dressed in a black skinny jean, sky blue shirt and white shoes. His hair was beautifully combed and his face was brighter that morning. It was as if he was mocking Antonio.

"Hmm... Looks like romance is all around this house." He said, looking at the two of them, especially Praveen who was still really shy. Who knew what Ethan was thinking? "I just found out downstairs Andrea is getting married and here, you two..."

"No... it's not what you're thinking, Ethan." Praveen shook his head, still unable to make eye contact. "I bumped into him and..."

"Why are you explaining yourself?" He laughed, enjoying the awkwardness in the room. "I am supposed to be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have entered the room like that knowing that you two are newly married. But truth is, I knocked several times..."

"What non sense?" Antonio rolled his eyes, wondering what the hell his friend was talking about. "...you found us both on the floor and..."

"Dude!" He raised his hands as if he was surrendering. "I didn't mean to..."

"You know what," Antonio playfully grabbed Ethan's ear, pulling him towards the door. "You talk a lot. Now why don't you come with me so that we can discuss something important instead of talking nonsense?"

"Ouch!" Ethan screamed softly. "You don't have to be so serious."

But Antonio was already getting him out of the room. After closing the door, Praveen looked towards the door as a smile appeared on his gorgeous face. He had no idea why he was smiling like that. After days of acting weird around Praveen, he was finally able to act the way he did.

"Why do I keep seeing a different side of you?" Praveen thought, still smiling. "I don't understand what's wrong with me. Why do I keep feeling this way around him at times?"

He'd never felt like that before.

He breathed in deeply, holding his cheeks." No!" He shook his head. He couldn't accept the thoughts that were on his mind.

"N, please Praveen..." He literally screamed. "This can't be happening. Please, have mercy on your heart."

He needed to do something. He quickly turned and went to fold some clothes in the closet. He needed to keep himself busy but that wasn't gonna be a problem since there were a lot of things to do in the house.

***

Praveen was slowly coming downstairs, smiling brightly to himself. He was really happy. He had just been from talking to his aunt on the phone and she had been telling him a lot about their lives abroad. He was really happy that now things were starting to turn out great for his aunt. After everything they'd been through, they really deserved it. She missed him as much as he missed her.

Suddenly as he was coming downstairs, he almost bumped into Emma who was coming from the kitchen with a glass of juice. Seeing her, he lost the smile on his face and stared at her, hoping she wasn't gonna insult him.

"Watch it!" She said in the rudest tone he'd heard from her. "You're a walking disaster."

With those words, he stood there watching as she went to the living room where the rest of the family members were. She sat happily with her hands on the couch, putting the glass on the small table. Andrea and Eduardo were not there but Bruce was. Early that morning, Santiago had gotten Andrea so that they could get to know each.

"Hey! Praveen!"

Praveen got out of his thoughts, looking forward. He saw his granny calling him with a smile. He quickly nodded and then went to everyone in the living room. He sat close to granny who smiled happily when she saw him. Antonio was there too but he was busy on his tablet, probably on social media.

Bruce was also there, staring at Antonio like he wanted to devour him there and then. He was admiring his man, probably fantasizing about the two of them making love. The guy was really horny. It had been a month since he came back and the two hadn't had any sex. Shit! It was killing him inside.

He just wanted to throw himself at Antonio there and then and fuck his brains out in front of everyone. There was a lot in his mind and his cock was really hard. He was just lucky that it wasn't showing due to what he was wearing.

"Now that all of us are here, I can finally break the news to all of you." Ethan said in a happy tone. "And I am telling you that this is gonna make all of you happy."

"Yeah, dude..." Antonio closed his tablet. "You've kept me waiting for a long time and it's not funny anymore."

"Relax!" Ethan winked. "Listen, I have some great news. You know the news of your marriage went like wild fire and that was why people demanded you to take a photo shoot with Praveen. Too bad that didn't work out." He took a deep breath, sitting at the edge of his seat.

Antonio knew Ethan very well and he knew that something was in his mind, trouble.

"What are you getting at?" He asked, raising his eyebrow.

"What I am getting at my dear brother is that..." He paused and gave an evil grin. "...for the music videos that we are about to start shooting, your fans and your business partners want to see Praveen in it too."

Praveen felt his heart move in his throat as his breaths seized. He felt frozen, looking at Ethan like he'd just grown another head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, again. He had just been from making another mistake by agreeing to the photo shoot and now the music video. He was dumbstruck.