It was done. The people from the charity that Rian had donated Theo’s bed and other medical equipment had been to the house already. Rian had sold or given away most of the furniture in the house. There wasn’t anything she needed to take other than family pictures and her personal items, which were already in her car. Rian had seen Rafi a few times and spoke to him daily, but he had been rather busy with work. The islanders and Rafi’s family had been offering help the entire time, and she had to admit it was nice to have people to talk to and rely on.

Rian sighed as she looked at the empty living room. It surprised her to hear someone knocking on the door. “One second,” she walked over and opened the door to see Rafi. 

“I was wondering if you needed any help,” He said.

Rian smiled, stepping back to let him in. “The charity came and took medical equipment, and I’ve already loaded my car.” 

“You mind coming somewhere with me?” Rafi asked. “I know you had planned on checking into the hotel because you haven’t found a flat yet. But there is somewhere I’d like to take you first.”

Rian shrugged, “Sure, why not?” 

“You don’t mind riding on my bike, do you?” he asked, walking over grab her a helmet. 

She shook her head, “As long as I am wearing a helmet. I don’t mind.” She quickly put her hair into a braid before slipping the helmet on. 

“You’ve done this before.” He said approvingly.

“I was a pretty wild teen.” Rian teased. 

“I don’t doubt it,” Rafi said, an amused grin on his face.

“Where are we going?” She asked. 

“It’s a surprise.” He said as he started the bike. Rian carefully stepped up and got seated, wrapping her arms around Rafi.

They drove for about 30 minutes, and he stopped in front of a grove of trees. He pulled the saddlebags off the bike and took her hand. “I thought a picnic would be nice.” He led her through the grove of trees to a field that had a small castle on the other side. 

“Wow, this is pretty,” Rian said.

“I thought so too.” He replied, digging into the saddlebags to pull out a picnic blanket. “Please sit.” 

Rian smiled, “You got this, right?”

He nodded as he started pulling the food out of the bags. “I wanted you to have a nice day.” There was a platter of egg and cress sarnies, cheese, onion, potato pasties, a green garden salad, and a Victorian sponge for dessert. 

“This looks amazing,” Rian said, “Did you make it?”

Rafi laughed, “I have nowhere near your culinary skills. I enlisted in Mum’s help.”

Rian chuckled and tapped her forehead, “smart.” They chatted about Rafi’s work while they tucked in. But then Rafi turned the questions around. 
“Have you decided what you are going to do now?”

Rian furrowed her brow. “I figured I’d rent a flat and get whatever job I can find until I figure it out. I’m not sure I can push myself to keep researching after this.”

“You wanted to be an actress, didn’t you?” Rafi asked. “I mean before everything happened.”

She smiled faintly, “I did, but I left that dream behind when I saw the wreckage of my parent’s car. I need to think about my immediate future. Survival. Most of everything I had went to Theo. I kept a couple of months’ worth of savings for after. Did Theo tell you that?”

“He mentioned you changed your career, but I admit I did a deep background check on you after the Villa,” Rafi said. “The guy I hired was comprehensive. He even found your high school plays.”

Rian blushed, “how embarrassing.” 

He chuckled. “I thought they were great. In fact, I know you were already signed up for drama school just before your parents passed, and you dropped out.”

“I had to go to work so they wouldn’t put Theo in foster.” She explained. 

Rafi nodded. “I thought as much.” They finished the food and sat back, taking in the view and relaxing. “Would you like to look at the castle?”

Rian looked at him, incredulously, “Are you serious? Are they giving tours?”

Rafi beamed, “You could say that.”
 
They picked up their picnic and walked to the castle. “It’s even prettier up close. Like a miniature version on an enormous full-on castle.”

“It reminded me of the castle challenge day.” He admitted. “It was a sad day because that was the day everyone left. No one was really in the mood to castle build. The producers should have read the room. The sand fight you started, though, made it much better.”

“I was trying to lighten the mood. It was so needed.” She replied. They stopped in front of the door, and Rafi opened it, guiding her inside. 

Rian expected there to be someone to guide the tour or tell them the castle’s history, but there was no one. She turned to Rafi in confusion. “It’s OK. Let’s look around.”

“I guess you need to answer my questions then,” Rian teased. “How many rooms does this castle have?”

He smiled, “4 bedrooms, 2 with en-suites, reception hall, additional guest bathroom, kitchen, laundry, and study. There is also a rooftop terrace and a tower lookout.”

He continued as her tour guide, showing her which areas of the castle were from the original 18th century and they were parts that had been added more recently. They walked out to the manicured back garden. “That was beautiful. Thanks for showing me.”

They sat on a bench, and Rafi smiled nervously. “I’m glad you like it.” Rian had a feeling he wanted to say something, so she waited patiently for him to start. A few minutes later, he took a deep breath and spoke. “Look, I know that things have been crazy, but the one thing I know is that after going through all this with you is that I still feel the same way about you.” His face screwed up, “I’m rambling…” He took Rian’s hand, “I love you. I want to be with you. Will you marry me?” He held out a gorgeous gold ring with a sizeable purplish-red stone in the center surrounded by diamonds.

Rian’s eyes immediately filled with tears. She swallowed hard. “After everything I did?”  

“I forgave you for that,” He said gruffly, “You need to forgive yourself.”

Realizing he was still holding her hand and the ring waiting for an answer. She took a deep breath, pushing back her tears. Her voice shook as she answered. “Yes, I will marry you.”

His body went limp with relief, and he smiled as he slid the ring on her finger. “Good, because I’m not sure if I could get back the down payment for this house.”

Rian’s eyes widened. “Did you seriously buy this place?” 

Rafi nodded. “It’s ours. I wanted it to be a surprise. That’s why I’ve been so busy lately. Mom and Diya even helped decorate it. They are going to so happy.”

Rian shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t understand.”

“You gave everything of yourself to help Theo. That shows how loyal you are and how much you care.” Rafi explained. “I wanted to give you a reprieve. A moment to rest and figure out what you want to do. You’ve spent since you were eighteen doing for someone else and worrying about survival. So I bought our dream castle for both of us, really. OK, so it’s not really as big as a castle, but I like it, and it reminded me of Villa where we met.”

Rian smiled, “You are the hugest melt.” She pressed a kiss to his lips. He hungrily responded, asking for more until they pulled away from each other, breathless. “This is ours, right?” She asked. Rafi nodded. “I think we need to check out the bedroom again,” Rian said. Rafi smiled, and before she could say anything else, he picked her up, walking back toward their castle.

Author’s Notes – I had a lot of fun writing this one. To me and a few others, from what I heard, S3 was pretty bland. I wanted to create some actual drama within the story. I have a rewrite of the boat trip coming up with different characters looking forward to that next. <3