Not just a Story about Revenge

If stories were written about them, it would be centered on their solitude. It would start with the people they loved, but lost. Villains and malicious plots would be involved. Eventually it would all become a book about revenge and bloodshed.

The last thing they both expected is for this tale to turn into a love story.

Her character is dangerously ruthless and eerily self-sufficient. His is full of crippling self-doubt and bursting with shameless neediness. Under any other circumstances, their paths would not cross and their fate would not be united. But this author named Life seems to have a flair for the unconventional.

She is not easy to get. It doesn't stop him from wanting to try. For a while, he thought the missing piece to her puzzle was Jack. It didn't take long for her to prove him wrong.

She tells him that if she were a puzzle, he would be a riddle.

"The answer appears simple in the beginning. Though the more you try to solve it, the further away you seem to get from the truth."

She means this as an ominous observation – perhaps an ambiguous note on his trustworthiness.

He takes it as a compliment.

They take turns calling each other at the conclusion of every of their schemes. He informs her on the success of his end of the plan. And she talks to him about what she will need for next week.

He never asks "How are you" and she never says "Thank you". Unlike the other Hamptonites (or just people for that matter), politeness has proven to be a frivolity that isn't needed in the maintenance of this bond.

He is not sure that either of them actually knows what is.

He calls her twice on the same day when one of their schemes has gone a little awry. He wanted to make sure that she everything is ok.

"You have nothing to worry about Nolan. I already burned everything that could be traced back to you."

"Phew! Well it's always a pleasure to know that my ass was covered."

He doesn't bother telling her the real purpose of his call. She is way too observant to not have known it all along.

The first time he gets really scared – overwhelmed by fear to the point of suffocation - is when he hears her scream. He rushes to her aid as if everything he holds dear depended on it. He is irrationally afraid that it in fact does.

The dead body he helps drag out of her living room is a reminder that she is more than capable of taking care of herself. It doesn't stop him from walking her back to her place even long after they dumped the incriminating evidence deep into the ocean.

He thinks that it is a sign of her appreciation when she doesn't protest his offer to stay. He is unsure of who he is doing this for – her, or himself.

As he wraps his arms around her body, he is surprised by how comforting its warmth can be. He thinks he is not alone in feeling this as she mirrors his gesture.

They pretend that nothing has changed as she leans her head onto his shoulder.

When it is her turn to save him, her presence is needed far beyond just emotional support.

Tyler eventually blows his short fuse and Big Ed proves to not be above bribe. The way she hurtles through his door and guns down his ex-body guard is nothing short of sexy heroic. The way she slams Tyer's body against the wall, and jams her arm against his windpipe makes his mind involuntarily stray to when he was on the receiving of that.

"Thanks for the rescue princess."

He is half tempted to call her prince charming.

The first time they spend an entire afternoon together on the beach, they have more fun than they thought they would.

He is quick to notice the lack of their usual plotting and is even quicker to point it out.

"Hmm…why are you doing this?" He narrows his eyes in suspicion. "It certainly can't be because you enjoy my company."

She smiles - and it's almost impossible to tell the difference between genuine emotion and manipulation. But he knows her well enough by now to know whether this softness in her expression is something she is forcing or something she can't help but showing.

He doesn't need to hear an answer when he adds " Or can't it? "

She's no angel and he's only known it too well. Experienced her wrath first hand, and witnessed her takedowns from the front row.

He never attempts to change her. While others might suggest therapy, he knows that her best bet to recovery is through this. So he helps her finish with her plans and watches on the sidelines as she makes everyone who ever played a hand in her father's demise pay tenfold for their sins.

In some ways - the one where she plays people as though they are mere pawns in her chess game or the other where her smile doesn't falter when a man's entire life destructs before her eyes - she may very well be the devil.

He would still go down in flames with her.

When she is inevitably exposed and he is "forced" into hiding with her, it feels like they were headed here all along.

Somehow, it doesn't feel like exile.

If they have been paying attention, the way they find comfort in one another should be anything but unexpected. But saying they have been preoccupied would be putting it lightly, so it doesn't stop it from feeling any less surprising. If he was one to wax poetry, he might use the word "destined". But he isn't Jack and neither of them are the sentimental kind.

It remains one of those things that seem to not make much sense. Though if you look closer, nothing else came even close.

She isn't looking for perfection. He looks past her flaws.

She can be quite sweet on her good days. He can be quite charming on his.

Emily had Daniel and Amanda always belonged to Jack. But this girl, who is both and neither, fits with no one better but him.

It may not have started like a fairy tale but it certainly ended as one – with a kiss.

The way his lips touches hers and the way her body sways into his, it is just enough for them both to believe that this story may have a happy ending afterall.