"What are you thinking?" Xiah asked.

Iqah stared at him, and quickly her heart started to pound.

"I was thinking about Nab," she replied.

"Don't worry about her. U-Know will surely take good care of her. . .Or are you worried that U-Know is actually with her?" Xiah asked curiously.

Iqah lightly laughed. "Frankly I know your friend will take good care of Nab. What I'm worried about is . . . if he will be able to handle her. She's young and very impulsive. Your friend will surely have a hard time controlling her. I'm afraid he will have a headache after being with her for maybe an hour or so," Iqah explained.

Xiah laughed as he continued to drive the car. "Don't worry. U-Know is already used to having headaches all the time. Our group has been together for years remember?"

Iqah suddenly laughed. "Yes, I know. So are you saying that you guys have already caused him more headaches than I could ever imagine?"

"Yes," Xiah replied with a laugh.

"So where are we going? Why couldn't we stay with the others?" she asked.

Xiah gave her a meaningful look. "Are you afraid to be with me?"

"No, it's not like that. It's just that . . . Oh! Never mind. Please just forget what I said," Iqah tried to say. She was totally lost and somehow she couldn't find the right words to say.

Xiah suddenly smiled. "Don't worry. You will surely like the place where we are going."

Iqah felt like her heart was racing. She was very nervous. She couldn't help but think about what other people would say once news about her and Xiah broke out.

"Aren't you scared?" she suddenly asked.

Xiah gave Iqah a quick glance. "Scared of what?" he asked curiously.

"Aren't you scared about us being seen together? Your fans will surely react once they see you with an ordinary girl like me," Iqah answered.

Xiah suddenly stopped the car he was driving on the side of the road.

"Iqah . . . even though I am a singer, I am still human. I still know how to love and I surely have the right to love anyone I like. I'm not afraid of what others might say. Right now, I'm more afraid of what you might say," he confessed.

Iqah stared deep into his eyes, and there she easily saw sincerity.

Xiah smiled. "We will have plenty of time to talk once we arrive at our destination."

Iqah nodded her head. She suddenly became excited and curious as to where they were heading.

Minutes passed . . . Xiah slowly parked in front of a large house.

"A house? Why are we here?" Iqah asked.

"You'll see . . ." Xiah replied. He gently took Iqah's hand and led her into the house. Then they went straight to the wide and open garden.

As soon as they stepped into the garden, Iqah felt like she was in a dream land. The garden was so beautiful and captivating that she just kept on sighing in complete admiration for the beauty she was seeing.

"Let's walk," Xiah uttered sweetly, as he carefully took her hand.

Iqah's heart started to pound very hard.

As they both walked, their hearts were continuously pounding so hard that they were somehow lost for words.

Xiah tried to gather all his courage. He then tightened his hold on Iqah's hand. He knew he had to act now, or he might never have the chance again.

"This place is very beautiful," Iqah tried to draw Xiah's attention to something else. She was feeling very nervous as he stared seriously at her.

Xiah smiled. "Yes, this place is like heaven."

"How did you know about this place?" she asked curiously.

"We rented this place as a vacation house a few years ago. And ever since then . . . whenever I want to be alone or I just want to relax. I just rent the place for a day or two, and just stay here," Xiah replied.

"Oh, so I guess a lot of girls have been here as well," Iqah uttered as a tease.

Xiah stared seriously at her. "Actually you're the very first girl that I've brought here. I consider this place my sanctuary . . . my very own special place. So I don't bring any girl here . . . especially on a date."

Iqah lowered her head. Somehow she suddenly became confused. "So if you don't usually bring girls here . . . then why are we here? Why did you bring me here?" she asked with a very low voice.

Xiah slowly took a step closer to Iqah. Then he gently raised her head to meet his eyes.

"I brought you here because . . . you're special to me. I know I may sound weird, and I can understand if you get scared. But please believe me when I say that I'm serious about you. I already felt an instant connection with you . . . the moment I saw you. It's like . . . I've already known you before. . . from somewhere. And frankly . . . being this close to you now, brings me such explainable happiness that I've never felt before," he said as he stared deep into her eyes.

Iqah felt her heart had suddenly stopped after hearing Xiah's words. She couldn't believe that Xiah was really confessing his love to her. Somehow she wanted to pinch herself and see if she was only dreaming.

Slowly Xiah took out something from his pocket. It was a gold necklace. He then carefully placed the necklace around Iqah's neck.

"So beautiful . . . and perfect . . ." he uttered as he again stared at her.

Iqah touched the necklace she was wearing. Then she carefully looked at the pendant. It was a heart-shaped locket. She was suddenly shocked with what she saw inside the locket.

"What's this? How did you get my picture?" she asked as she stared at the locket containing pictures of her and Xiah.

Xiah smiled. "I hired someone to get me a photo of you."

"What? You didn't have to do that," she uttered with disbelief.

"I wanted to giive you something special . . . something that you will always remember and treasure," Xiah lovingly said.

Iqah felt like her heart was floating in mid-air. Xiah's sweetness was somehow too much for her. She was unconsciously falling more and more in love with him. And this feeling was really scaring her. . .

She again lowered her head, to hide the emotions written all over her face. She didn't want him to see the truth in her eyes.

"What . . . what's wrong? DOn't you like me too? Don't you feel the same way that I do? The first time I saw you . . . I saw love in your eyes . . . Was I wrong?" he asked with a quivering voice.

"I . . . I'm sorry. But isn't this too fast? I'm a little bit confused. I'm sorry," she tried to say.

Xiah felt like his heart had suddenly broke into two. The happiness and glow in his eyes were immediately replaced with sadness.

"No, don't be sorry. I guess . . . I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry, if I'm rushing you. It's just that . . . after I learned that you were already leaving. I decided immediately to be honest with myself and just tell you how I truly feel about you. . . I didn't want you to go without even knowing my feelings for you," Xiah tried to explain while trying to control his emotions.

Iqah slowly stared at Xiah. How she pitied him . . .

"I guess . . . I really am very unlucky with girls. I always end up . . ." he suddenly stopped talking. A tear had suddenly ran down his face. He was hurting inside, and he couldn't hide it anymore.

Iqah closed her eyes. She had already noticed the tear that ran down Xiah's face and that tear had brought pain in her heart. She didn't want to see him hurting . . .

"I'm sorry . . . if I bothered you with my foolish acts . . . We . . . we can leave now if you like," he said again with a trembling voice.

Iqah finally opened her eyes. And as she slowly looked at Xiah again, her heart already forgotten all its fears and hesitations.

Xiah had already been brave enough to admit all his feelings, and now it was time for her to do the same.

"Xiah . . ." she started to say.

He suddenly shook his head. "Before you say anything else . . . I want you to listen to me first . . . I . . . I love you. You don't have to return my love, if you really don't want to. I'm not forcing you to like me back . . . I just want to be true to you and to myself."

Iqah smiled. "I love you too Xiah. . . I had already loved you, even before we met each other. Remember I'm your number one fan," she said sweetly.

Xiah couldn't believe what he heard. "You . . . you love me too? You said you love me too?"

Iqah nodded her head. "Yes, I love you. I'm no longer afraid to voice out my feelings. From now on, I'm going to be brave just like you."

Happiness quickly filled Xiah's heart. He then gently embraced Iqah.

"Thank you . . . Thank you for loving me back. I promise I will do everything . . . and anything just to make our relationship work. And I promise I will try my very best to make you happy," he uttered.

"Just being with you . . . and knowing you love me already makes me happy, Xiah. So you don't have to do anything else," Iqah said as she rested her head on Xiah's chest.

Xiah tightened his embrace. He could easily feel his heart beating so close to Iqah's heart.

"I love you, Iqah. . . Even if we part today, as long as you have that locket next to you . . . I will always be with you . . . And wherever you are, I will always continue to love you."

He then gently raised Iqah's face. he gazed straight into her eyes. "I love you," he uttered as he lovingly kissed her. He had never such happiness and feeling of being complete.

A wind suddenly blew and somehow all the flowers and plants around Iqah and Xiah swayed happily. They were the silent witnesses to such a happy love story of two souls finding each other.

Xiah's gentle kiss sent shivers down Iqah's entire body. Everything was just like a fairy tale. A wonderful love story with the perfect ending . . .