"MOM!" Brad lunged forward right as Georgiana's palm came into contact with Halle's face at an impeccable force, but by the time he was able to grab his mother's arm and pull it away, it was too late.

Halle's head jerked to the side from the hard slap, and she stared down at the floor in shock as her short hair fell down and covered her face. A stream of blood escaped her lips and spilled from her mouth, and she cautiously reached up to gingerly touch her swollen cheek.

"Georgiana..." Akihiro stared at his wife in shock, completely appalled that she had just slapped their daughter for the first time.

Tennoji angrily knitted his brows together as he glared at Georgiana. "Hey! What the hell d'yah think yer doin'!?"

Kirisawa stepped in-between the two women with a cross look on his face, holding his arms up as he barked at them. "Alright, you two, separate! Now!"

"Halle...!" Brad looked at his sister in horror, watching as she wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. He took a step forward and motioned to hold out his arms to her, but someone else beat him to it.

"Mitchell!" Hanai instantly ran forwards without giving it a second thought, running straight up to his partner with an intensely worried look on his face.

Halle looked up at him helplessly in shock, still numbly holding onto her cheek as she felt herself struggling not to cry. She instinctively turned to him instead of Brad, and she took a few steps forward to meet him half way. "H-Hanai... I..."

Hanai just wordlessly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her towards the exit. "Come on. Let's go."

Halle awkwardly squirmed from his touch and waved her arms back and forth in front of her face. "B-but, you're on duty... Hanai, you can't just leave!"

Hanai didn't seem to care as he just glanced over at Kirisawa with a look of determination on his face. "Boss, I'm taking her home."

"Go ahead, Hanai." Kirisawa gave his senior detective his nod of approval, understanding fully well that comforting Halle right now was more important than the job at hand. And besides, it wasn't like the rest of Second Unit couldn't handle being security for the rest of the evening just because Hanai wouldn't be there. "Just come in early tomorrow to fill out tonight's report."

"Got it." Hanai nodded his head as he led his stunned partner towards the door.

Brad wordlessly looked on as Hanai just led his sister out of the green room, and Halle was leaning up against his side as he supported her weight with an arm around her shoulders. She seemed comfortable enough around Hanai to actually allow him to support her, and Brad found that insanely shocking, considering just how stubborn and independent he knew his sister was. Slowly, a tiny grin crept up onto Brad's face as he watched them go, and although he felt a little dejected by his little sister not instantly running to him, he was just happy she had found someone capable and worthy enough of comforting her whenever he wasn't there for her.

"Georgiana, darling, I think you should step out for a bit and cool your head..." Akihiro cautiously approached his wife with a look of concern, and he gently placed his hands on her arms.

Georgiana looked shocked herself at this turn of events, and she numbly just nodded her head and followed her husband's lead. "Yes, dear, you're right..."

"Damn..." Hanai cursed to himself as he entered the dark parking lot outside the convention center with Halle right by his side. "I came here with the guys, and we all rode in the van together. I can't just take it and leave them stranded here."

Halle nodded her head and began to rummage around in her purse for her car keys. "Oh... Well, that's okay. We can just take my car."

"...which one is your car?" Hanai looked around at all of the lavish sports cars parked all around him, trying not to let the little boy inside of him die from fangirling over them too hard. He especially couldn't let his partner figure out that he had a weakness for cars.

"That one." Halle pointed to her jet-black car as she handed Hanai her keys. "Here."

Hanai almost fell over when she pointed to the one car he was admiring the most. "...the black Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. That's your car?" He was completely floored by her gorgeous car, and he freaked out a little when she carelessly just placed her keys in his hand. "And why are you giving me the keys!?"

"It was a present from my father when I graduated at the top of my class from the police academy." Halle just shrugged her shoulders, then frowned as she let out a quiet sigh. "And I'm sorry, I'm just too upset to drive... I hope you don't mind?"

"Nope. I don't mind. I don't mind at all." Hanai was a little too quick to answer as he vigorously shook his head no and practically ran towards the driver's side of the Corvette.

"...thanks, Hanai." Halle cracked a small grin as she witnessed this cute, boyish side of her partner.

Hanai was a bit of a car geek, huh? ...she would have to take note of that for future reference. It was actually kind of...adorable.

The two of them went about ten minutes in absolute silence as Hanai began driving Halle home at this late time of night. It wasn't awkward or tense, it was a comfortable silence. When they first were partnered up, the silence between them was always awkward. But not so much anymore...

And then, Hanai decided that he just had to break the comfortable silence between the two of them and say something.

"So... About what happened back there." Hanai brought up the awkward subject, keeping his eyes on the road as he did so. "Are you going to be okay? Is Ellie with you this week?"

"No, she's not..." Halle slowly shook her head no as she rubbed her arms comfortingly. "But I'll be fine. I wouldn't want her to see me like this anyways..." She sighed and looked down at her feet, trying to pull herself together.

Hanai dubiously looked over at her when they came to a stop at a red light, concerned for her well-being. "...so I'm just taking you back to an empty apartment right now."

"Yes." Halle simply nodded her head as a melancholy tone took over her usually-cheerful voice, which didn't go unnoticed by Hanai at all. "It's fine. I'm used to living alone most of the time, anyways..."

Hanai quickly flashed her a worried glance as he continued to drive. "Mitchell, are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

Halle hesitated a little too long before she answered quietly under her breath. "...yeah, I'll be fine."

"..."

"..."

"You're definitely not fine." Hanai suddenly cut the wheel and turned right at the intersection instead of left, knowing fully well that his partner was just putting on a brave face, despite what she was really feeling deep down inside.

"Hanai, you just missed the turn...!" Halle squeaked out her surprise as she dropped her jaw, almost glaring at Hanai in confusion.

"I know." Hanai replied confidently as he kept his eyes firmly on the road. "You're coming back to my place tonight."

"Hanai...!" Halle's eyebrows shot up and disappeared into her hairline as she stared at him with slightly-reddened cheeks.

Hanai just furrowed his brow as he continued to drive, knowing exactly what face she was making without even having to look at her. "No complaining. You're staying the night."

"B-but..." Halle awkwardly rose a finger in her defense, only to be cut off by her confident and cunning partner.

"Hey, what did I just say?" Hanai snapped at her in annoyance, treating her no differently than he always did, which was strangely comforting to Halle.

"...sorry." Halle frowned ever so slightly, trying to fight off the urge to smile at his usual demeanor.

Hanai paused for a moment before quietly sighing and muttering to himself under his breath. "...geez, who do you think I am? Like I could really leave you alone when you're this upset..."

Halle definitely heard all of that, and she stared at him in bewilderment as a tiny smile slowly found its way to her lips. "Thanks, Hanai."

"Yeah, yeah... Don't worry about it." Hanai awkwardly averted her gaze as he kept his eyes on the road, feeling a little embarrassed himself.

"Here." Hanai lightly pressed an ice pack to Halle's cheek, glancing at her raspberry eyes with a look of worry.

Halle winced as soon as the cold touched her cheek, reacting to it instantly as she instictively tried to draw her face back away from it. "Ah...! Ouch..."

"Sorry." Hanai held a small towel over the ice pack to make it feel less cold as he handed it off to Halle to hold. "I know it's cold, but we really need to get the swelling down."

"I know... It just sucks." Halle frowned as she lightly pressed the ice pack to her swollen cheek where her mother had slapped her just half an hour ago.

Hanai rolled his eyes at her pouty look. "Well, just suck it up for a bit, Mitchell." He got up from where he sat on the couch and motioned to disappear down the hallway towards his bedroom. "Make yourself at home. I'll be right back, I'm jut going to grab you something to change into."

"Okay... Thanks." Halle quietly answered him as she watched Hanai go, frowning even more as she leaned her cheek further against the ice pack.

They had arrived at Hanai's apartment just a few minutes ago, and Hanai's first concern was to treat Halle's swollen cheek with an ice pack. Halle had no trouble at all finding her way to the couch and making herself comfortable, having been over at Hanai's place once before. Except this time, it was a little less awkward; Hanai wasn't shirtless and purposely giving her a hard time for getting flustered over it. But really, who wouldn't get flustered over a half-naked man suddenly walking into the room!?

Hanai suddenly came back around the corner of the hallway and placed a bundle of clothes in Halle's lap. "I'm back. Here."

"...these again?" Halle picked up the shirt and pair of gym shorts he had lent her last time, remembering how she had just washed and returned these very same clothes to him two weeks prior.

"Sorry, it's all I really have." Hanai smiled bashfully as an apologetic look came up onto his face.

"No, it's okay..." Halle looked up at the standing Hanai with a smile as she held the ice pack pressed lightly onto her swollen cheek. "Thanks. Anything is better than this dress..." She looked down at the ridiculously expensive dress her mother had forced her to wear for the party, and all of the dress's fabric practically engulfed Hanai's entire couch.

What she said had struck a chord with Hanai, and he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I didn't really get the chance to tell you earlier, but..."

"What, Hanai?" Halle looked up at him curiously, tilting her head to the side slightly in confusion.

Hanai awkwardly averted her eyes that pierced right through his soul, reaching back with one hand and grabbing the back of his neck. "It looks really good on you. The dress, I mean..."

Halle became awkwardly flustered at the compliment, and her cheeks grew rosey-red. "O-oh... Thanks."

"..."

"..."

"Umm... I'm gonna go get changed now." Halle awkwardly stood from the couch with the pile of clothes wrapped up in her arms, and she quickly dismissed herself and began to walk towards the bathroom.

"Uh, yeah... Right." Hanai stepped aside so she could pass, trying to regain his senses from that moment of awkwardness as he looked at her. "Can I make you some tea in the meantime?"

Halle paused and turned to flash him a fleeting, bashful glance. "Oh, I'm fine. I don't want to put you out..."

"It's fine. I was going to make some for myself anyways." Hanai justified his reasoning with his typical, cocky smirk, already back to his old self again. "Earl Grey, right?"

Halle paused awkwardly as she stared at him. "...you remember the tea I like?"

Hanai flashed her a scrutinizing look as he disappeared into the kitchen. "...I notice things, okay?"

"You're right, I'm sorry..." Halle bit her lip in attempt to hold back her laughter, and she smiled as she began hearing him putter around the kitchen for a teapot. "Yes, please. Thank you."

"No problem."

"...I'm starting to make a habit out of this, aren't I?"

Halle came out of the bathroom fully changed into the set of baggy boys clothes Hanai had lent her, and the detective in the kitchen just looked up and simply laughed at the sight of his partner.

"Ahahah!" Hanai let out that cute laugh of his as his eyes instictively closed, and he half covered up his mouth as the warm sound escaped his lips. "Like I said last time, it suits you." He flashed his partner a smirk as she sat down on a bar stool on the opposite side of the counter from him.

"Hey...!" Halle took offense to that and flashed him a glare, but she was more amused than annoyed by Hanai's comment as she bit back the smile threatening to come up onto her face.

"Here." Hanai slid a cup of steaming tea towards her, smirking at her silly reaction from a moment ago.

"Thanks." Halle accepted it eagerly, grateful to finally have something warm on her stomach. Perhaps a cup of Earl Grey would help relax her nerves...

"There's four sugars in it." Hanai told her as he began cleaning up the minor mess in the kitchen, keeping his back to her as he did so.

"...again with your observations about me." Halle wore a smirk of her own, staring at her partner's broad back that was facing her. "You're not stalking me, are you?"

"What? Of course not!" Hanai whipped around incredibly fast at her playful accusation. "Don't flatter yourself." He came back over and leaned across the counter, resting his arms on it as he looked directly into her eyes. "I'm a profiler. It's my job to notice things, like your childish taste for a lot of sugar in your tea."

"Hey!" Halle dropped her jaw at that comment, laughing a little.

"You brought that upon yourself." Hanai flashed her a smirk as he drew away from her, going back to washing the dishes directly across from where she was sitting.

"Ugh..." Halle pouted a little as she stared down absentmindedly at her cup of tea, taking a little sip from it. She already felt ten times better, but that was mostly because Hanai was joking around with her as he usually did. "Um, Hanai..." She hesitantly looked up at the man in front of her, feeling very nervous all of a sudden about what she was going to ask him.

"Hmm?" Hanai paused washing the dishes and looked back at her, ushering her to say whatever it was she was going to say.

Halle stopped and looked back down at the counter, unsure of how to bring this up. "Do you... Hate me now?"

"What?" Hanai widened his eyes in shock, dropping his jaw a little. "Why would you ask that?"

"Because I lied to you..." Halle frowned as she looked down in shame. "About my family, I mean..." She cautiously looked up at him, expecting to be met with an angry expression.

Halle was floored when she saw that Hanai looked to be more stunned than angry by her question. But she was more shocked by what he said.

"Don't be ridiculous." Hanai shook his head no and went back to washing his dishes. "There's no way I could hate you, Mitchell. Especially not over something like that."

"O-oh..." Halle blinked at him, unsure of what exactly he meant by that.

Hanai caught on to how strange that sounded, and he looked back up at her as he began to elaborate. "I-I just mean that I already knew you were a private person, so... Although tonight came as a bit of a shock, I wasn't all that surprised to learn that you were hiding something like this from us."

"Oh..." Halle looked back down at her tea as she began to silently sip from her cup.

"Why did you ask me if I hated you?" Hanai looked at her dubiously, shocked that she could even think that's what he felt towards her.

"Well..." Halle depressingly looked off to the side as she spoke. "Tennoji looked really pissed, and I..." She suddenly stopped herself, pressing her lips together as she nearly said something that would be a little embarrassing to say aloud.

"And you what?" Hanai ushered her to continue, wanting to know what she was trying to say.

Halle looked directly into Hanai's eyes as she gathered the courage to just say it. "...I wouldn't be able to stand it if you hated me too."

"Oh." Hanai stopped what he was doing as he stared back at her. "Well... I don't. I don't get emotional about these sort of things."

"So I've noticed." Halle scoffed a little under her breath as a warm smile encompassed her face.

Hanai set down the towel he was using to dry the dishes and leaned forwards, getting right up in Halle's face as he looked at her. "I don't care whether you're a rich company heiress, or a middle-class single mom." He paused as he looked at her stunned face, getting lost within her eyes that were swimming with confusion. "You're still the same obnoxious, clumsy, yet amazingly strong-willed woman who I'm proud to have as my partner."

"Hanai..." Halle let out the breath she had been holding, feeling absolutely touched by what he had said. Never had he once admitted that he enjoyed being partnered up with her, let alone proud of her...

She had no idea he felt that way about her.

Hanai awkwardly cleared his throat at the sight of the huge smile his partner was giving him, and he quickly changed the subject. "Anyways... Do you want to talk about what happened tonight?"

"Not really." Halle frowned and crossed her arms, looking off at the wall to the side.

"Uh huh." Hanai rose an eyebrow at the woman, not buying what she said at all.

"What? I don't!" Halle snapped at him, sensing that he was doubting her.

Hanai snorted a little at her hilariously angry face. "You're a terrible liar, Mitchell. I can see right through you."

"Ugh..." Halle's angry demeanor shattered as her embarrassment and frustration showed though. "Am I really that obvious?"

"Yeah." Hanai reached forward and tapped her on the nose. "You have everything you're thinking written on your stupid face."

"Hey!" Halle dropped her jaw at him, getting angry all over again for that snide remark.

Hanai just rolled his eyes, urging her to speak. "Come on. Out with it."

"Out with what?" Halle tilted her head to the side as she stared at him in confusion.

Hanai just looked at her dubiously. Hadn't she already figured out that he could practically read her mind? "You're practically dying to either tell me something, or ask me something. So which is it?"

Halle awkwardly shifted in her seat, looking away from Hanai once more out of guilt. "I just...feel obligated to explain why I lied."

"Why?" Hanai looked at her in confusion, not understanding why she felt obligated to explain anything to him. It's not like she had to tell him every single thing about herself. She never had before, so he wasn't really expecting that to change now...

"I don't know..." Halle folded her hands in her lap and looked down. "I mean, I've wanted to tell you that I was one of those Mitchells for a long time now, but..." She paused, struggling to force the words out that she had been trying to keep a secret all this time. "I was just ashamed, and I didn't know how to tell you."

"Ashamed?" Hanai looked at her quizzically, engaging in this conversation with his complete, undivided attention. "Of what?"

"My family." Halle answered simply as she looked at him. "As you witnessed tonight, they're not the best of people." She looked down in shame, recalling the events of tonight's party with a sullen frown on her face.

"Yeah..." Hanai absentmindedly formed that response as the sudden image of Georgiana slapping Halle hard across the face flashed before his mind like a horrible flashback, and he instictively began to reach out and cup Halle's cheek in his hand.

Halle instantly became flustered at his sudden touch, and her cheeks grew red. "H-hey, what are you..."

"Relax, stupid." Hanai rolled his eyes, taking a close look at the cheek that was swollen just twenty minutes ago. "I'm just checking to see if the swelling went down."

Halle scoffed as she failed to think of a good response to that, bitterly looking down at the floor as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Y-you're the stupid one..."

"Hah." Hanai just laughed as he pulled back and looked at her with an all-knowing smirk. "Even though you're the one who's getting all worked up?"

"Shut up!" Halle snapped at him as her cheeks grew even redder, and she shut her eyes in frustration. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you!"

"Sorry." Hanai smothered his laughter as he let her continue.

"Anyways... I guess I was just embarrassed that you would find out about my mother." Halle reached up and gingerly touched her once-swollen cheek, remembering the horrible woman who had hit her so thoughtlessly an hour ago. "She's really the only one I'm embarrassed of..."

"I can see why." Hanai frowned as he looked at how heartbroken and hurt Halle was. It just made him so angry to see her in pain like that, and it made him even angrier that there was nothing he could do about it.

"Yeah..." Halle hugged herself tightly and rubbed her hands up and down her arms, comforting herself as she began to recall the darkest parts of her childhood. "My brother and I are super close, and my father and I get along, despite the fact that he never stands up to my mother on my behalf..."

Hanai remembered something about the argument he witnessed earlier at the mention of that. "Yeah, I noticed that he didn't butt in earlier between you two." He frowned, furrowing his brow in frustration. "Why is that? I thought fathers were normally over-protective of their daughters."

"It's just always been like that." Halle shrugged her shoulders, not really knowing the answer to that herself. "When it comes to my mother, my father won't say anything. She's got him wrapped around her finger..." She bitterly glared off at nothing in particular, releasing her pent-up frustration on the matter with every word she spoke. "It's like he doesn't have the ability to speak his own mind the second she tells him to be quiet."

"Ah." Hanai nodded his head, calmly listening to what she had to say.

"It was awful..." Halle whispered those hushed words under her breath as a grievous look came upon her face. "My childhood, I mean." She looked up at Hanai as she decided to finally spill the rest of it to him. "What have I told you about it already?"

"Not much." Hanai shook his head as he thought back on it. "Just that your mother is the reason you play piano and sing, Brad's the one who got you into baseball, and you met Sam in high school by hitting her in the face with a baseball bat and have been best friends ever since."

"...oh yeah." Halle remembered telling him those stories, and she took in a deep breath as she gathered the courage to finally tell her partner the rest.

The rest of everything he didn't already know about her.

"Well, Hanai... My childhood wasn't exactly...bright. I'm sure you heard me say this earlier during our argument, but... I was a mistake, and I was never supposed to be born." Halle paused and looked at him to see if he would say anything, but when she took note of him just quietly listening to her, she took it as encouragement for her to continue. "When my mother found out she was pregnant with me, she was hoping it would be another boy so she would have another excellent son like Brad." Halle's entire face became immensely depressed as she looked down and off to the side. "When she found out it was a girl... She was instantly disappointed. And I've been painfully aware of that fact from the moment I was born." She looked back up at Hanai, who was still listening to every word. "My mother has compared me to Brad my whole life, saying things like how I'm nothing like him, and I should work hard to be such a success like my older brother..." She scoffed bitterly, shaking her head as these unwanted memories came back to her. "From the moment I turned three, she hired me a personal tutor who began teaching me dancing, piano, violin, singing... I was home-schooled up until high school. I had a really tough time transitioning from a private tutor to going to a public high school, and that's when I met Sam." The tiniest flicker of a smile came up onto Halle's face as she recalled meeting Sam, and it seemed to brighten her mood just a little. "She was my first friend, and that's when my life started to look up. At home, whenever I actually did see my mother, which was when she wasn't too busy planning a party or going to various social events, all she ever did was scold me for not being good enough and give me extra things to study." Halle slumped down onto the counter, resting her chin on her overlaying hands as she stared blankly ahead at Hanai's chest that was positioned across from her. "I would go over to Sam's house after school every day under the ruse that I was doing homework just so I could get away from her. Seeing how Sam and her mother interacted with one another so lovingly made me...jealous. Sam's mother treated me like I was her own, and I was always welcome over any time. That was the first time I had ever experienced real love and affection..."

Hanai had never heard a more depressing story in his entire life. He reached out and gave Halle's arm a little reassuring pat, not really being the comforting type of person who knew exactly what to do. He just knew how to listen. "What about Brad? He loves you."

"I know that, but... We're eight years apart." Halle sat back up and looked at Hanai with a frown on her face. "I didn't really get to see him much when I was younger. Whenever I did see him though, we would go out in the yard and play catch." She smiled fondly at the memory of her younger self playing catch with her brother in the yard, laughing and having fun together. "That's how I got into baseball. I wanted to join my high school's baseball team, but when I pitched the idea to my mother, she instantly rejected it." Halle's face melted back into that frown, and she folded her arms over each other on the counter. "The only way I could get her to agree was if I joined my school's show choir club to continue my musical studies, and... Well, you know the rest."

Hanai listened to what Halle had to say with an open mind, but he was confused about one thing. "So, what happened when you joined the police academy?"

"My mother freaked." Halle laughed nervously at his question, recalling the screeching and verbal slashes her mother had delivered to her the day she joined the police academy. "I was supposed to go to Johoku University and get a business degree so I could help out at M.I.C, but... Well, I didn't do that." She scoffed a little under her breath and began to nervously twiddle her fingers, staring down at them as she did so. "For once in my life, I didn't ask my mother's permission, and I did something that I wanted for myself. My father eventually coaxed my mother into letting me do what I wanted, at least for a little while." Halle bobbed her head to the side and raised her eyebrows, remembering the ridiculous argument that ensued between them after that. "She initially tried to disown me, but I own 25% of the company, so that didn't really work out for her in the end."

"You own 25% of the company?" Hanai looked at her curiously. This was the first he was hearing of it.

"Mmhmm." Halle nodded her head, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for a twenty-four-year-old to own 25% of the stock of Japan's biggest technology company. "Brad and I both do, and my parents share the remaining 50%. Once I turned eighteen, my parents went from owning 75% to 50%, and I got that 25%." She casually explained to Hanai how the company was divided, and Hanai couldn't help but sweatdrop at how easily she talked about such large sums of money. "Even though I don't work for the company, I still own the shares, and I can have a say in the company as much as I want." Halle brought her cup of tea to her lips as an evil smirk came up onto her face. "If my mother wants to take that from me, she'd have to take me to court, and she'd lose. She knows that all too well."

Hanai just sweatdropped again at the evil aura surrounding his partner for that brief moment. "You don't think she would actually try something like that, do you...?"

"I wouldn't put it past her." Halle shook her head and sighed, relaxing her tense shoulders. "You know... She didn't use to be this bad."

"Really?" Hanai looked at her curiously, genuinely wanting to know more about his partner.

"Yeah." Halle absentmindedly stared down at her cup of tea, looking at her reflection in the dark-colored liquid. "She was tolerable up until my ninth birthday..."

"Oh. You mentioned something about that during the argument earlier, didn't you?" Hanai posed his question as his curiosity was piqued.

"Yeah, but my mother shut me up before I could say anything else about it..." Halle frowned as she continued to look down.

"Why? What's so bad that you couldn't say earlier?" Hanai looked to her for answers, wondering if she would tell him even something like this.

Halle seemed to grow cold as an uncomfortable aura surrounded her. She appeared to be remembering something horrible as a terrified look came across her face. "I... Well, something awful happened to me on that day that caused M.I.C. to take a huge financial hit that we almost didn't recover from. My mother blames me for nearly bankrupting the company fifteen years ago, and ever since then, she's just felt as if I owe her everything because of it..."

"Mitchell, what..." Hanai didn't even know what to say to that as he stared at her in shock. "What happened to you?"

Halle shied away from his gaze as she only seemed to draw into herself the more Hanai prodded her for answers. "I... I'm sorry, Hanai... I just can't..."

"No, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked." Hanai looked stunned that the dark expression his partner wore, not expecting her to have such a horrible secret plaguing her. Just what else was this girl hiding...?

Hanai felt like he understood his partner a lot better after hearing about her upbringing, even though there was still something she wouldn't tell him just yet. But... Well, there was just one more thing eating at him, and he couldn't let her go when they would leave for work the next day without asking her about it first.

Hanai put on a brave face and looked up to meet his partner's eyes. "So... What was all that about an arranged marriage earlier?"

"Oh..." Halle awkwardly looked away from him, a bit uncomfortable discussing the topic with Hanai, since she...sort of...well, had feelings for him. "That's a new development. My mother pulled me aside today at the party and just suddenly told me that I am to marry some rich man with a good reputation in order to better my family's already great reputation." Halle buried her feelings for Hanai within her subconsciousness as she spoke, getting angry as she recalled how horrible her mother was in even doing something like this to her behind her back. "She didn't even ask me what I thought of it, she just forced me on it. Naturally, I refused even the thought of an arranged marriage as soon as she told me about it, but she just wouldn't listen... She never does." Halle closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, slowly letting it all out, along with all the stress she had been carrying. "Today was the first time I feel like I finally got my point across to her, and this is how it ended..." She pointed to her cheek with an annoyed look on her face.

"How are you feeling, by the way?" Hanai looked at her with a flash of concern. "Did the cut on the inside of your cheek stop bleeding?"

"Yeah, I'm okay..." Halle looked away from his stunningly attractive 'I'm worried about you' expression, suddenly finding herself unable to meet his eyes. "Thanks, Hanai."

Hanai looked down at the counter as his anger from earlier began to bubble up, and he suddenly looked up and stared at Halle. "She was wrong, you know."

"Hmm?" Halle stared at her partner in confusion, not sure what he was talking about all of a sudden.

Hanai looked right into her raspberry-pink eyes as he leveled his honest, true opinion with her. "You are Ellie's mother."

Halle was left completely breathless at that statement as she exhaled his name sharply. "Hanai..."

Hanai began to let his anger towards Georgiana show as he paced back and forth in his kitchen, getting all defensive on Halle's behalf. "She doesn't see how hard you work to take care of her, or how much you love Ellie as if she were your own child. She doesn't understand that you juggle a career and raising Ellie just because you want to do both of those things. And she doesn't get how you sacrifice everything for her, just how any mother would for her daughter...whoa!"

Halle didn't let Hanai finish what he was saying before she suddenly stood up from her barstool, walked right up to Hanai, wrapped her arms around his torso, and pulled him into the tightest hug ever.

"Thank you for saying that. Really..." Halle thanked him as the tears she was holding back began to prick at her eyes, and she felt herself beginning to cry as she rested her head on Hanai's broad chest.

Hanai was floored by the sudden hug, unsure of what to do as he cautiously brought his arms down to pat her on the back. "Mitchell, don't cry..."

"I'm sorry..." Halle gasped as she tried to catch her breath, but she had just opened the floodgates, and the tears were just not stopping now. "I just can't help it..."

"Don't cry, Halle..." Hanai looked down at her helplessly as he slipped up and called her by her first name. "I don't know what to do if you cry..."

Halle looked up at him with tearful eyes, hiccuping every time she tried to catch her breath and stop crying. "S-sorry, Hanai, I'm trying to s-stop, I just c-can't..."

"It's okay... Shh." Hanai absentmindedly began running his fingers through her hair, letting his partner cry on his chest as she did so. "You've been bottling all this up for so long, it's no wonder you're this upset..."

Halle buried her face in his chest and looked at their reflection in the refrigerator door, staring at the image of her in Hanai's arms. She was almost...mesmerized by it, and she didn't want to let go. "Can we just...stay like this for a little while?"

"Yeah." Hanai nodded his head, being strangely considerate for once and abiding by her wishes.

"Thanks, Hanai... For everything."

"It's no problem, Mitchell."

...whoa. That was...a lot. Finally, part 4/4 of this arc has been published...

Wow. So...everyone found out about Halle, so now how is it going to go down when she goes into work tomorrow? Now that this fluff is over (for the most part) what's going to happen once the plot picks back up? Well, not that really important information wasn't released in these past four chapters... But you get what I mean!

Anyways. You'll just have to wait and see what happens!

Read, review, and enjoy! :)