Alistair was trying to kill me, I was sure of it. Since we had settled in Paris we had walked for kilometer upon kilometers of distance. Now, five days in, I had seen what Paris looked like from the heights of the Eiffel tower, I had sampled some of the best hot beverages in various cafes all over the city, and marveled at the beauty that was Notre Dame. We had managed to buy more clothes and Alistair even insisted on buying me a wonderful digital camera, saying that it would help our tourist image. The house was now fully stocked as well after several grocery trips, which allowed our mornings to slow down and our spending to ease.

Now we shared quiet breakfasts in the large house while sipping freshly brewed teas. Most of the time it was relatively quiet, just the sounds of the French news coming off the television. Alistair would actually listen to the news, seeing as he was able to understand while I would just get lost within my own thoughts until he announced what he had planned.

But this morning I was in a foul mood.

My feet and back ached from wandering over the cobblestones all day. And the people, the people were absolutely everywhere all the time. I felt like I couldn't take a step without brushing against someone. It made the introverted part of me anxious and irritable. I knew that he was only trying to exhaust me to the point that I could collapse into my bed and sleep deeply for the whole night and it was wonderful of him to do that. But I still wasn't sleeping well as I would never be completely rid of the anxiety with Josh still hunting after me.

"So the Louvre-"

"Oh great, you can take me to another museum for a fake date." I snapped hotly.

Alistair seemed to recoil from my harsh reaction, but he was quick to cover up his emotions, as always. With a neutral expression he leaned back in his chair and met my eyes evenly, though I could see something storming beneath that intense green.

"I'm sorry, I'm tired." I blurted, already feeling awful.

I was also not ready to fight with only of the only people that was defending me right now.

"It's alright." He responded, "We can stay in for the day. I think both of us are physically and mentally drained. A day in might be a good idea."

So we had a quiet day.

Alistair spent the majority of his time in front of the television or beside the turntable that was quietly playing classical records. When I scooted out of my bedroom to grab a glass of water from the kitchen I could see his mouthing words along with the announcers on the news. And when he wasn't watching the news he was plunked in front of a computer with his brows furrowed and a firm frown on his face. I wondered if he was working on my case, or if he was trying to get in contact with his parents back in Canada. Unfortunately, my outburst made me feel awkward and embarrassed around him so I didn't say anything.

And while he worked away so seriously I was stuck in my bedroom reading a cheesy romance novel that I had managed to find in a drugstore. I slipped in and out of sleep while reading, clearly more tired than I had originally thought. When I became too groggy or annoyed with being in the same position I would tinker with my new camera, trying to understand what all the settings meant. Between the naps and my mild entertainment the evening came relatively quickly. And between my boredom and my loneliness I decided that it was time to face my awkwardness. Plus, I felt like I couldn't stare at the plain walls in that small bedroom without pulling my hair out.

I ambled out of the bedroom once more, prepared to see Alistair completely attentive to the news or reading something on his laptop. And he was watching TV, but he was splayed out across the couch, his eyes only half open as he watched a children's show.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "You couldn't find anything better than a kids show?"

His eyes drifted over to me lazily and he gave me a sloppy smile, "If I watch another depressing segment on the news or listen to another classical song I think I might actually go insane. But do you think my parents own any rock music or pay for any comedy channels? No."

My vision landed on the empty beer bottles that were neatly stacked in the middle of the coffee table. I quickly counted seven, but saw more strewn around.

"Are you drunk?" I pressed carefully.

"You bet. Watching kid shows is the best drinking game of all time. Every time something ridiculous happens you drink."

I expected my heart to start pounding at his confession. I thought it would terrify me because- though Josh was awful all the time- my ex-fiancé was much worse when he had a few drinks. The idea that he couldn't leave bruises or had to worry about the neighbors hearing my screams usually drifted out of his mind. And the aggressive blows would land on my skin without mercy.

But there was Alistair, strewn across the couch, wearing a comfortable hoodie, joggers, and socks with little dinosaurs on them. And seeing him like that, I couldn't even pretend that he was the same man that Josh was.

"Hey," he began, bringing me back to reality, "I'm sorry about those things."

"What things?"

"The things I did when I was trying to figure out who you were in Canada."

"Oh," my face flamed. I had come out of hiding to squelch this embarrassment that festered in my stomach, not bring it to light again. "It's fine; you were doing your job."

His attention flicked to the television for a moment and he took a hardy swig of the beer he had in his hand before coming back to me. Despite my efforts to dismiss the conversation he continued on.

"I know, but God, I wished I wasn't an agent and I wish that I hadn't been so stupid."

"What do you mean?"

Alistair gave me a sad smile, perhaps the most genuine emotion I had ever seen from him. I saw something deep and dark hiding just beneath the surface.

"When I first met you outside of your house I knew I wanted to be with a girl like you."

My mouth fell open in shock and for a moment I could only stare at him. Then, after stammering out a few half words, I finally found what I needed to say.

"You didn't even know me then."

"Wrong, I'm an agent." He said, sitting up properly. He took another swig of his beer, finishing it off. "My job is to assess the situation as quickly and as deeply as possible. I had to know if it was a targeted attack or random. If you knew who it could be or some vandals just preyed on you. To me you were the situation before your house was because you would give me that information without even knowing it. You told your driver to go home and you faced your vandalized house alone. That's brave. You didn't just allow me to waltz through your house when I first introduced myself either, showing that you have decision making skills under pressure. And just from watching you get out of your car I knew that you were a force to be reckoned with. Now, the more I find out about you the more my first opinion is proven to be correct."

"How so?"

I folded my arms over my chest awkwardly as I watched him unscrew the cap off of something stronger.

"You had a charity gala for hearing impaired children. That's very selfless, especially when you can't take any credit for it. Then I went into your office and I saw how all these people who should've been stressed and angry were working together in this perfect balance of motivation and relaxation. Plus, who else has rooms where grown adults can play with modeling clay and easels? No one."

"I like my workers to be happy, they work harder for me that way and they are much more loyal. Allowing them to express their creativity makes them infinitely more productive as well. Plus, hearing impaired kids aren't something that everyone thinks about, I was just raising awareness. Plenty of rich bitches have charity events like that." I countered, but I could feel my face flaming with all the flattery.

"You protected Sophie very aggressively during the interrogations. There was a few times when you could've thrown her under the bus and just hoped for the best afterwards. You could've even used her as a bargaining chip, letting us take her into custody and let you go. And when I met her I saw how much she cared about you and how far she would go to protect you as well. Friendships like that aren't given; they're earned by two people who deserve them."

"Sophie is amazing, I'm lucky to have her."

Alistair continued like he hadn't even heard me.

"The more I got to know you the more I wished that I had no idea about your past. I wished I didn't know that you were Camila Lopez and I wasn't trying to confirm my suspicions about you."

He moved himself off the couch while I could do nothing but stare.

"Alistair I-"

"Now look at us. Two criminals on the run." He said with a harsh smirk. "Jasper was right about these things."

Then he was stumbling away to find another bottle and I was retreating to my room, stunned and speechless.

****Hello everyone! Thank you to everyone who said what they are grateful for, it warmed my heart. I'm super grateful for all of my fantastic readers! I honestly do love all of you. Happiest of holidays to each and every one of you! Any guesses on who Jasper is?****