· · ──── ·𖥸· ──── · ·

Luck had never been on Joshua's side. He could have counted on one hand the number of times things had actually worked out in his favour. Those things that he had been lucky with, though, were the best things he could've imagined. He'd been lucky to find Amelia, he'd been lucky to have her love, and he'd been lucky to stop Drifting so he could be with her.

His life before Amelia had never been lucky, but now he'd come into the world with his Fated One, he'd found himself the luckiest man in the whole universe. Well, he decided that anyone who had Amelia's love would have to have been the luckiest person in every single universe there was.

She walked into the lounge after taking two hours to get ready for their first date and he was hit with a sense of luck. Not only was she breathtakingly beautiful, but she lit up the very room with her smile and personality. He didn't really blame Owen for the attempt at keeping them together, because Joshua wondered who wouldn't try.

But it didn't matter anyway, because he was Fated to her, and she blessed his life ever since she stormed into it.

His eyes savoured every inch of her from bottom to top; pink wedge shoes which nearly closed the gap in their height difference, a white and pink dress with flowers on it and a white cardigan over the top. He took it in once more and noticed how revealing the low-cut plunge top of the dress was, and he did not complain at how prominent her breasts looked. Her hair was put into a loose French plait around her head, and they both knew she'd done it because he liked it that way.

"You... look..." Words failed him for a moment. "You look heavenly."

She laughed. "You know what? I've never had that compliment before. But I kinda like it. Though, coming from you, I'd thought I'd be more like the devil. You know, 'cause I'm a brat and all."

His hand found hers and he drew her to him.

"You... are an angel."

"I've just put lipstick on. I would advise not ruining it," she joked.

He narrowed his eyes at her; he liked a challenge, and she'd always provided him with one. "You frustrate me, Amelia Nichols."

"I aim to," she retorted.

The arousal between them was so palpable, he could almost touch it. He could feel her want of him running through his veins, humming in his brain.

"If we didn't have a reservation at the restaurant, I swear I would absolutely ruin that lipstick."

She arched a very carefully made-up eyebrow at him, and a smirk danced onto her lips. "Maybe that's a challenge for later. Should this date go well, obviously."

He leaned down and kissed her neck. She had recently sprayed her perfume, and the signature scent of apples wafted into his nose and sent him wild with lust.

"I think it might just go very well," he whispered. Her skin danced under his touch, her pulse quickened, and her breath hitched.

His hand explored under the chiffon material of her dress. She was ready for him, he could sense it as well as feel it, but the tension between them stopped after a second.

"You know what happens when someone gets hungry, Joshua?" she whispered. "They can get angry. Especially when someone can be described as a brat, like me. Right now, I'm hungry."

He chuckled against her skin. "Fine, let's go, my lady."

· · ──── ·𖥸· ──── · ·

Amelia arrived back at the table at the same time the plates of cheesecake arrived. As her heels clicked across the hard floor of the restaurant, he watched as two men at the bar turned to watch her. Joshua noted he wasn't the only one to see her breasts bounce as she walked, and it made him grin like the Cheshire Cat. When she sat down opposite him, her eyes stayed on him instead of regarding anyone else. He glanced once more at the bar, where the two men who'd been checking her out kept glancing over. They both looked younger than him, both looked like they'd spent a while with a set of weights, and both looked like they'd belong beside a beautiful angel like Amelia. It forced him to sink in his chair a little; he was eight years older, nearing his thirties, nowhere near their stature and she was stuck Fated to him.

"Joshua, if you don't stop staring over there, they'll think you're checking them out," Amelia said.

He chuckled and stared at her. "Sorry. They were checking you out—"

"They also tried to slip me their number," she cut in. "You were too busy ordering another beer to notice on my way to the bathroom."

"I mean, should I be worried?" He could sense she knew he was slightly self-conscious, but he felt the amusement waltz through her.

"All I'm going to say is, if you had any cause to be worried about me with another man, just focus on the second set of emotions that run through your brain," she responded.

He did just that. Her love shone through everything, along with smugness and a strong hint of arousal. He also felt a pang of hunger for the cheesecake as she put a spoonful in her mouth.

"You're feeling it because they're, like, younger than you, right?" she asked.

He ate a piece of cheesecake and nodded. Joshua knew there was no point denying it. "I mean, sure, the Fated thing and whatever. But let's face it, I'm still eight years older than you. Owen—"

"Nope, we don't mention that name tonight," she warned.

"Fine, people have mentioned the age gap before. We can't deny it's a thing," he said.

She ate before replying, "I mean, yeah, there are eight years between us. I mean, you told me about how, you know, you're now ageing again properly. So, it's eight years, right?"

He nodded. "A little under, but essentially eight years. Ten if you want to be specific to add in the time I was... Drifting." He said the word hushed so no one in the room could hear.

"There were eleven years between my grandparents," Amelia said. "They were Fated to each other. Lived a long and happy life together, had three kids. No one mentioned their ages, really. I think they had a few questions before they got married, but they were Fated, so no one gave two craps."

"It doesn't bother you? I mean... those guys... they're young, probably look better—"

"Joshua, we got off to a... uh... rocky start, for sure. But does it look like I'm bothered by eight years?"

He sat back and pondered it over the next mouthful of cheesecake. He went for the plain vanilla while he grinned at her choice of cookies and cream. He knew she wasn't bothered; he could sense and feel it.

But it bothered him, somewhat.

He was honoured to have her in his life, and he was still confused as to why and how she fell in love with him. Sure, they were Fated, but she was so ready to choose Owen that she was determined to cut him out before they fell for each other.

She was his angel, she saved him in so many ways. She saved him from Drifting, from feeling like he never belonged, from years of self-doubt and hatred. But it bothered him that he felt old compared to her. Well, it didn't bother him until he saw the younger and better-looking men checking her out.

"I know you're not, but it just... I don't know, men like him, or them, you deserve so much—"

"Oh, do shut up," she exclaimed. She finished her dessert and sat forward, holding her glass of wine. "Because I've had a glass of wine and because you clearly need the truth right now, I'll be nice. But don't expect it every day."

He chuckled. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Twenty-seven is not old. You're a smart, kind man. Better than your counterpart, anyway. You're hot, like... really hot. Age is just a number, and for god's sake, you know how much chemistry we have. I hated you at the beginning and yet I could feel it between us. I am in love with you, whether you're eighteen, twenty-seven or thirty-seven. We're also Fated."

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," she replied. "You have no idea what you've done for me." She grinned, and he noticed a cheeky twinkle in her eye.

"Oh, I do. You forget I can feel your emotions."

"Yeah, I suddenly hate you again," she retorted.

· · ──── ·𖥸· ──── · ·

He walked back into the room with two glasses of wine and grinned. Amelia was still in the dress, but her shoes were off, and she was wearing one of his hoodies from the coat rack with the hood up. She was holding a tub of ice cream with two spoons while the Xbox she took from Owen was loading up a game.

"In my defence, I know most first dates don't end up like this, but I'm kind of craving shooting up some Stormtroopers, you know?" she said when she caught him looking.

"I'm game for that," he replied.

"I see what you did there, and I love it."

He chuckled and she started running around in-game. He decided it was that moment to bring up the next day. "So, are you nervous about tomorrow? Meeting Sophia?"

She sighed. "We're on a first date!"

He kissed her temple. "I know, but I need to know you're ready for this. I'm concerned. You haven't really... mourned your relationship yet—"

"Because the man... ugh, I do not want to go there today, Joshua, come on. He is my past now. I just want to move forward. Yeah, I'm nervous about meeting her, because I have to be the one to tell her about what he did. But I have to do this to get him away from us."

She rummaged in her handbag and produced an envelope with her name in scrawled writing on it. "He's been giving Sam my post, and this."

Joshua took the envelope and took the letter from inside. She'd already read it, he knew that, but he saw what it was. A handwritten note.

'My Camellia,

You are as white as a camellia, your favourite flower.

Innocent,

Pure,

Beautifully in bloom forever.

My Fated One.

My Only One.

My forever,

Amelia Camellia.'

Owen.

Joshua sighed and put the paper on the coffee table. "You could get him done for stalking. Get a restraining order."

"That's ridiculous. I have a single poem."

"And a black eye that's not healed yet, I have a bunch of bruises. I mean, we could go before they heal. Show the texts you've got. He went to the university this morning. Told them about how you and I are in a sexual relationship. I mean, they laughed him out of the building because I told them beforehand. Conveniently, he forgot to add on the bit where we are Fated, you know, because that would help my cause. Plus, I'm leaving. The guy will not leave you alone, Amelia."

Amelia sighed and turned the console off. He felt her annoyance as she ate some ice cream. "Can we break the two-date rule and go to bed, please? That'd be so much better than this."

He laughed. "Believe me, I cannot wait to get you into bed. With the dress on, and yes, I will break the two-date rule."

She glanced at him, and the desire peaked in the air. "That's why I bought the dress."

"I know. I'm aware, and it fucking works, believe me. But I want to know you're not hurtling yourself into this... any of it... and opening yourself up to be hurt."

Her smile faded and she sighed. "I'm fine. I thought I would be more hurt than I am, but I think because I knew for a while he was lying to me, I kind of reacted then. The emotions of finding you and working out what my feelings were doing helped, or hindered, I don't know. But it's weird. Sure, it was a long relationship, but he betrayed me, Joshua. This isn't just cheating, this is like deep shit, and I think having a lucky escape because I found you helped me. Because it was just that: a lucky escape. I found you before I married him and got into deep legal shit. He also proved himself when he punched me. Sure, he didn't mean to, but he did. If he loved me, truly, if he really was in love with me, like I am with you, he would've told me before he changed his Knot."

Joshua nodded. "I understand."

"So, yeah, I'm sad. It hurts to think about him, and it really burns when I think about what he did. But I got out. If I don't think about it, I'm fine. But I think meeting Sophia and telling her... and eventually when she finds him, and they meet and feel what we feel? It'll help more. Then he will get it, and then maybe I'll mourn more. But these emotions with you? It kind of helps me stop mourning him because what I thought I had with Owen was never real."

"You were in love with him, though, Amelia," Joshua pointed out.

"I was in love with a lie," she retorted. "But that's for me to ponder in like, a long time from now. I want to move forward."

He wasn't convinced, but he trusted her. He wasn't sure if her attitude towards her emotions with Owen were the healthy way to deal with it. But he knew she would deal with it when she was ready. She was an adult, and she was the one dealing with it. He could be there for the fallout, and he was. He just didn't want to see her hurt any more than she already was.

"Just promise me one thing," Joshua said.

She nodded.

"You'll let me in when you're ready to deal with it," he whispered.

She chuckled. "I don't need to let you in, you're already here." She pointed to her head before pointing to her chest.

He couldn't help it when he replied, "I'll always love being there. That's my favourite place."

She snorted. "I knew you'd say that."

"I love that you've been living here for a week and you're already wearing my clothes," he whispered.

She put the ice cream down and straddled him. The dress was pushing her breasts out even more than earlier, it skimmed the top of her thighs, and she kissed him so hard, he started seeing stars.

"I love that I've been living here a week and I haven't used the spare room once like I said I would," she retorted.

"There's a reason it's still called the spare room."

She looked at him with her coffee eyes that sent him wild. "In all seriousness, I know you think I haven't dealt with it, but I have. I'm fine. If anything, I think my emotions are on relief because I found my Fated One, you know? I always missed these feelings that the internet and friends said they felt, like what we have with the connection and all. I always felt left out, and I thought it was because Owen and I grew up together. But it wasn't, it was a lie. Then you come swanning in and change everything, and as much as I wanted to deny it and suppress it, I couldn't. I'd found what I was missing... not just the connection, but someone who gets me."

She shifted so she was sitting on his lap properly and it was no longer sexual. She was going there, and Joshua felt both disappointment for his lust, but relief that she was opening up.

"Owen and I were best friends, and yeah, we knew each other like I know the fucking lyrics to Let it Go, but he and I were comfortable. He never really pushed me. I've wanted more for myself than he thinks I do. He's happy with a managerial job and writing on the side, and he's always thought that that's it. He thinks I should be doing the same, when I think it's good for him, but not for me. I've wanted this... degree, this life of education. He wants money and kids and marriage now. I'm down for all of that, but I want it differently. I don't know how to describe it—"

"You want to finish your degree and get a job before all of that?"

She cocked her head. "Well, before kids anyway. I don't know, he's never valued the way I want things. I don't know if I'll ever be a high-flying PhD sociologist or a government worker or whatever. But I want more than he ever has, and he didn't like the imbalance. Owen's parents are amazing, but his dad always instilled the alpha male bread-winner type of personality in him. I didn't mind it so much growing up until he changed his mind, and we changed the way we were going."

She buried her head in his chest, so he tightened his grip on her while she spoke.

"Then when we met and this connection happened, I knew it. You get it. Whether you've voiced it or not, I know you get it. Probably because you're older than me and with our connection, I don't know, but I just feel like this constant missing part of me is here, with you."

"That's called being Fated. I don't know how they do it, but whatever it is, we have it. We get each other, Amelia, and that's why we work."

She smiled and looked up at him. "That's why I'm not mourning my failed relationship because it was over when he and I grew up. I just didn't see it because he hoodwinked me into believing I was Fated to him. That's why I'm so betrayed, and that's why it's a lucky escape."

He kissed her. It was a full, deep, passionate kiss that neither of them broke for a while. He wanted to tell her that he got it, he understood. That he trusted her implicitly to deal with her emotions, but he didn't need to. The kiss deepened until they entangled themselves so much there was no end to one of them without the other, and they both knew that they were understood and trusted.

It was that moment that Joshua knew that, like Amelia, he'd been hoodwinked too. Luck had always been on his side because he was Fated to a woman who was not just beautiful, smart, or funny. He was Fated to a woman who had such a deep connection to him that it didn't matter that they had a large age gap, or that he had been a Drifter, or she was engaged before him. They were connected so deeply that he understood her, and he knew that she understood him, and without much convincing, they trusted each other implicitly.

That's how he knew that she understood just how much she had done for him because he had done the same for her. He saved her from a lie, she had saved him from a miserable life. She was his brunette, bubbly angel. He knew she viewed him as her guardian angel. Luck really had always been on his side, he just never saw it until Amelia.

· · ──── ·𖥸· ──── · ·