After our trip home last week, I'd felt more like myself. I hadn't realized how draining holding this appearance was on my magic. I'd probably need to go again soon.

As Jolie pulled into the parking lot, I could tell she was looking for me. When she found me standing at the edge waiting, she radiated happiness, and I was thrilled. There didn't seem to be any confusion in her feelings for me anymore.

Walking toward her car, she and Mark didn't realize I could hear them from this distance. He quietly said, "He's been getting here early every day for weeks so that he can see you for two minutes before class. He must really like you."

She giggled and bumped him with her shoulder. "Good morning!"

She was yelling at me again, and when she realized it, she blushed. That alone was worth being early. She was lovely, and when she reached for my hand, my morning was perfect.

Her habit of yelling when excited, always amused Mark. He chuckled as he walked into the school in front of us, "See you guys later!"

When she turned her attention to me, I said, "I'd like to go with you again this afternoon, to walk dogs. If it's OK?"

I felt her excitement at my words, but when she said, "That would be fun!" I was still overjoyed.

How was I so fortunate? The first person I'd ever had feelings for, and she had them for me too. Besides Tate, I wasn't close to anyone at home. Most of the other fae avoided me because of my position with Queen Crystal.

Many of them had negative opinions of her, and they were worried I'd tell her, but I wouldn't. I didn't choose my position. I was born into it, raised for it. It was just another part of my life in which I wasn't given a choice.

Unless someone close to her felt strongly enough to do her actual harm, I'd never tell. She had her Seer to tell her if an attempt on her life was coming. Anything less than that didn't concern me. I didn't want to see anyone punished, especially when I shared many of their beliefs.

I walked Jolie to her first class. Outside the door, I said goodbye and kissed the back of her hand. She felt nervous in a pleasant way and gave me a sweet smile.

I could feel irritation directed at her from inside the class, and I saw Samantha glaring at us. Jolie either didn't notice or didn't let it bother her. She just sat and started getting her things ready.

When Jolie saw me still standing in the doorway watching her, she gave me a perplexed smile and a little wave. I let out a chuckle when I realized I'd been caught staring and waved back before walking away.

After school, I knocked on Jolie's door and could immediately feel excitement inside. I heard her whispering, "Be nice! Please, don't embarrass me!"

The door swung open, and Jolie was standing there with her mother close behind.

"Hey! Umm, this is my mom," she gestured toward the woman that looked so much like her, "Mom, this is Ash."

Both of them had nervous pink cheeks. I reached toward her mother to shake her hand, the way Tate taught me, "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Sanders." When she touched my hand, I was flooded with emotion, delight, but also worry.

"It's nice to meet you too. Call me, Emily."

"Alright, Mom, you've met him," Jolie grinned, "we have to go."

"OK, be careful. I shouldn't be too late." She kissed her on the forehead before going to her car.

Jolie took a deep breath, "Well, that wasn't too bad, right?"

"Meeting your Mother? Not at all. She seems nice."

"Thanks!" she smiled and felt satisfied. "She's great. Are you ready to go?"

"I'm ready if you are."

She took my hand when I reached for her, and we walked toward Mrs. Janie's house. Again, she was waiting on the porch, with the three small dogs already on their leashes. She stood and greeted us kindly, but her joy was tinged with concern.

She studied me closely before turning her attention to Jolie, "I see you have your helper again."

Jolie smiled as she collected the leashes, "Yes, ma'am!"

"Doesn't he have anything he should be working on? I thought they kept the kids pretty busy over at the college." She glanced at me, and I could feel she was being protective.

Jolie chuckled, "Don't worry, he's a senior like me, he's just..." she paused like she didn't know how to finish her sentence, and her cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. "Tall, I guess."

Mrs. Janie smiled, "Yeah, he's that for sure. I'll see you in a bit."

"Yes, ma'am." Jolie grabbed my arm to get me moving and started back down the walkway with the dogs trotting in front of her. She felt awkward, but I wasn't sure what happened.

"Why does it matter that I'm tall?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "I should have known that bringing you around Mrs. Janie again would be worse than meeting Mom. She wasn't going to let you slide by twice without questions."

"She disapproves of me?"

Jolie grew more self-conscious. "No. She just knows I don't date much, and then I bring you around, and you're so, you know," she waved her hand at me.

"Tall?" I supplied.

She huffed in exasperation, "You're a little more....mature looking than the average high school guy. Plus, you're really attractive. I'm sure she would feel better about a smaller, less experienced looking guy."

I wanted to laugh at the assumption, but she was unsettled, so I held it in. Instead, I leaned toward her and said, "You think I'm really attractive?"

She snickered, "Doesn't everyone?"

"I don't know," I shrugged, "I never paid attention to what anyone thinks of my appearance before you."

She gave me a disbelieving look, "Well, that must be nice."

"Do you care what people think of your appearance?"

She shook her head, "I try not to. I don't think it should matter, but sometimes not caring is hard."

We'd stopped walking so the dogs could sniff around the trees, and I stepped in front of her. With my hand on her cheek, I lifted her face to mine; I wanted to see her eyes.

"In case you're wondering, I think you're much more than attractive. The way you draw me in, you're captivating."

I saw a flash of disbelief, but with our gazes locked, she could feel the truth behind my words. She might not understand this connection, but she knew for sure I meant what I said. She could feel it.

She was surprised and finally delighted, "Thank you."

She kept her eyes on mine, and I left our connection open, letting her feel the way I was in awe of her until the dogs start pulling at their leashes, ready to go home.

She looked away with a little shake of her head, and the connection was broken. For the rest of our time together, she barely felt shy at all. There was some confusion, but not enough for her to say anything.

She was starting to relax with me, and I was glad. While I loved her pink cheeks and habit of unintentionally yelling, I just wanted her to be comfortable with me.

When we got back to Jolie's house, Clara's car was in the driveway.

"Clara's here! She and Mark are probably playing poker. He taught her over the summer, and she loves it. Do you want to come in for a while?"

"Sure. I don't know how to play, though."

She smiled, "That's OK; we can just hang out."

We walked in, and the two of them were sitting on the floor in the living room playing cards. They had little piles of pretzels and marshmallows on the table. 

Clara was frustrated, but when she saw us, her feelings changed to excitement. "Hey, guys! You wanna play?"

Mark laughed, "She just wants to start over with fresh piles of money. She's mad I've won all her marshmallows."

Clara stuck her tongue out at him, "Maybe I was being nice; you don't know everything."

He grinned, "I know you can't have anything better than a pair in your hand, and my four of a kind is about to take the last of your pretzels."

She groaned, "Fine. You win,  take my pretzels. I need to go with Jolie to get a drink anyway, and I'm pretty sure you cheat." She smiled at me before taking Jolie by the arm and heading to the kitchen.

Jolie called back over her shoulder to me, "Do you want anything to drink? Water?"

"That'd be great, thanks."

As soon as they were in the other room, I heard Clara whispering eagerly, "Are you two going out?"

"SHHH! Geez!"

"He can't hear me."

She was right. I shouldn't have been able to hear them; Mark didn't seem to. I took Clara's place on the floor and tried not to listen.

"So you won all of the snacks?"

Mark smiled, "Yep! I'm marshmallow rich! Do you want to play? I don't really cheat, she just says that when she's losing." He held up the bags of treats, "We have plenty of money."

I chuckled and shook my head, "Thanks, but I don't know how."

"Really? That's OK, I'm sure Jo would teach you. She taught me when we were kids."

"She did?" I shouldn't have been surprised, she seemed to be good at most things.

"Yeah, Bea taught her, and then a couple of years later, when I had the attention span for it, Jo taught me. Back then we weren't allowed to bet though, my mom..." He stopped talking, and I was overwhelmed with the sadness coming from him.

Clearing his throat, he said, "Sorry. Umm, my mom wouldn't let us bet, not even snacks. She thought it was wrong. Anyway, I'm going to start on my homework. I'm sure they'll be right back."

He got up and went up the stairs before I could say anything. With the room quiet again I could hear the girls in the kitchen.

"What do you mean you couldn't look away? Like you were hypnotized? Did he say, look into my eyes, and dangle a pocket watch?"

I heard a small huff, "No, Clara. I guess I could have looked away. I didn't try. I didn't want to."

"I guess not, I wouldn't want to either if he'd just called me captivating. Girl, I'd still be staring at him."

They both giggled, "I know, right? Who says stuff like that? But it didn't feel like a line, I don't know."

"Well, I know. He's got the hots for you, bad. We need to get back in there before he realizes Mark's pretty captivating too." There was more giggling as they came back into the room, and Jolie handed me a bottle of water.

"Where's Mark?" Jolie looked at the cards that were still on the table.

I spoke quietly, hoping he couldn't hear me, "He was talking about playing cards when you were kids. He said something about his mother and got upset. He went upstairs to start his homework."

Jolie shook her head, and Clara said, "They shouldn't be treating him like this."

I could feel concern and anger coming from them, and Jolie kept glancing at the stairs.

"I'll go home so you two can go be with Mark. I think he could use his friends."

Clara went up the steps as Jolie walked me to the door. "Sorry to kick you out so fast. Thanks for being sweet about it."

"He's your family, I understand. I wish I could have said something to make him feel better."

"There isn't really anything to say. We'll just go hang out with him so he can talk if he wants to, and if he doesn't, I just want him to remember he's loved," she shrugged.

When I stepped outside, I turned back to her, standing in the doorway. All of the protective and loving emotions I could feel pouring out of her were showing in her beautiful features.

Before I knew it my fingertips were on her face, tracing her cheekbone back and down her soft skin to her chin. Every time that beautiful blush had colored her cheeks, I'd wanted to touch her, but I'd stopped myself.

She didn't move. I wasn't sure she was even breathing. I could feel her nervousness and wished she knew I felt the same way.

When her eyes met mine, I opened our connection, "I'm so glad I met you. You're amazing. No one has ever made me feel like this."

She inhaled deeply, feeling the truth in my words. Leaning in, I kissed her cheek. It was just a peck, but it was enough for now. "Go spend time with your friend, I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded, and I turned to leave.

Before she closed the door she whispered, "I'm glad I met you too."

Her emotions were all coated in happiness, and I'd never felt so lucky.