Cuddled together on the blanket in our little hidden spot in the quiet park I rest my head on his chest listening to his heart furiously beating against his chest. A smile pulls on my lips as I lovingly stroke my fingers through his ruffled hair which is slightly shorter than it was all those years ago. 

"What's wrong?" he lazily asks as he yawns. I'm not in the least bit surprised that he was falling asleep. I've lost count of how many times we would just be laying around and he would out of nowhere fall into a deep sleep leaving me to sit quietly and wait for him to come to. 

"I like your short hair," I say lightly tugging at the ends of his minor curls on the back of his neck. 

Pushing himself up onto his elbows he looks down at me with a shocked look on his face. "I thought you liked my longer hair."

"I don't recall saying that," I say as seriously as I can even though I know he's telling the truth. I loved his hair back then, it flowed down to his shoulders and held so many curls at the back that were so fun to play with when he would let me.

He scoffs and shakes his head. "You threatened to freeze me to death if I ever cut my hair and now all of a sudden you like me with short hair."  

I shrug, "I guess I changed my mind. I mean don't get me wrong your longer hair was nice but this just looks better and cleaner if that makes sense."

"Nothing you do makes sense," he sighs as he drops onto his back and covers his face with his hands. 

Laughing at his antics I sit up plucking a small violet flower that was sprouting in the grass beside me. Twirling the flower between my fingers and rubbing the soft petals I look out at the bushes and trees around me. 

"I wish we could stay here forever," I whisper. 

I hear him shift before I feel his hand rest on my lower back gently rubbing it back and forth. 

"Me too," moving so that he is sitting up completely he wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close, "Sadly the world will not allow us just stay here, especially our parents."

I chuckle nervously at the thought of my parents finding out about us. They freaked when they found out I was talking to him imagine them learning that not only are we together but we're reincarnations of royalty that lived a thousand years ago. Just when I thought my life couldn't get any more complicated, I think as my head moves from side to side. 

"They'll never let us be together," I sigh. 

"They didn't allow us to be together a thousand years ago, but that didn't stop us." 

"I don't think I need to remind you how that ended for us," I quietly mumble my hand resting over my heart my fingers moving in a circular motion where the icicle sliced my flesh. I wish I could go back to forgetting what it felt like. I wish the memory of that hunk of ice cutting into my flesh and stabbing my heart would disappear. Even now a thousand years later I can feel the pain and remember the feeling of my life ending. One second I was running in front of Sandriel and the next I drifted away into the endless darkness where I would stay for eternity, or so I thought. 

As tears trickle down my cheeks Seth pulls me into his arms resting me against his chest. "I'm sorry, my love. I shouldn't have brought it up," he whispers into my ear while kissing my head and stroking my hair.

"It's fine," I sniffle and wipe my tears away with the sleeve of my jacket. "It would have come up eventually." 

Sitting in silence cuddled in each other arms we watch as the sun starts to set over the horizon. I know I should be getting home but I just got the love of my life back and I want to spend as much time with him as possible. 

Turning in his arms to look up at him I say, "Let's go do something fun." 

"Like what?" he asks through a wide smile. 

I shrug, "I don't know." Right as I'm about to try and think of something for us to do my stomach rumbles giving us no other option for what we should do. 

"Come on, princess, let's get you something to eat," he laughs. 

Pulling me onto my feet and grabbing the blanket Seth rushes me to his car basically throwing me onto the passenger seat. Jumping in through the driver's side he has the car started and driving off before he can even close his door. As the radio hums Do I Wanna Know by the Artic Monkeys in the background, I stare out the window wondering where he is going to take me. I could just ask him but I know better. Sandriel always took pride in his ability to keep our dates secret never letting anyone, not even me, know where we were going. And every single time he picked just the right spot: the back corner of the library where no one even ventured or the waterfall on the other end of the field and through some trees. Beaches, woods and secret rooms that not even I knew about. Every time he managed to outshine himself, and I'm sure this will be no different. 

"Here we are," he announces as he pulls into the small parking lot in front of a cute little restaurant called Miceli's. 

"It's so cute," I exclaim looking up at the green neon sign showing the name with curly letters. 

"Yeah, it's a nice place and the best part is that it's so far away from where the large portion of fire and ice benders live that nobody comes out here, so we won't be spotted." Unlocking his door he motions for me to wait as he jumps out and runs over to my side. 

"I love how you just assumed I like Italian food," I joke as he takes my hand in his allowing me to hold onto him as I step out of the car. 

"Princess, with the amount of pizza you eat in the cafeteria anyone can see how much you enjoy Italian food," he chuckles slamming the car door shut. 

Rolling my eyes I allow him to link my arm with his and lead me through the door. My eyes widen at the pure marvel around me. The tables draped in the traditional Italian red and white checkered cloths, the tiled floors and dark wood bannisters above us. Everything in the restaurant is a bit of Italy brought across the sea.

"This is beautiful," I whisper squeezing his hand as hard as I can. 

Smirking he runs his free hand through his hair. "I've still got it," he says cocky as ever. 

"Have some humility, babe," I chuckle as I shake my head. 

A petite woman dressed in her uniform approaches with two menus in hand. "Hello, table for you?"

"Yes," Seth responds for us. 

With a picture-perfect smile tugging on her lips she leads us through the semi-busy restaurant toward a lovely table close to the back. We quickly take our seats and after a quick glance over the menu, we order our food and drinks. 

Lifting his glass of water in the air Seth says, "Here's to our first date," he looks around making sure that no one is close enough to hear him, "in this lifetime," he adds. 

My lips curl into a smile and laughter spews from me. "To our first date," I giggle lifting my glass to meet his with a satisfying clink.

As the hours drifted by we talked, we laughed and ate some of the best pizza I've ever had. I didn't know what our first date as ourselves would look like but I couldn't have imagined anything better. We didn't want to leave but as darkness started to settle on Los Angeles I knew that I had to get back home before an amber alert with my name on it was sent through the whole city. 

Despite his urge to take me right up to my house and walk me to the front door Seth reluctantly agreed with my plan for him to drop me off down the street so that my parents don't see us together. Pulling his car to the side of the road and turning it off he turns to face me with the wide smile still on his face and love gleaming in his eyes.

"Do I have to wait until tomorrow to see you again?" he asks his lips pulling in a pout. 

Running my fingers through his soft hair I slowly nod, "Sadly."

Whining like a child being told he can't get the chocolate he wanted he drops his head onto my shoulder burying his face into my neck. "I don't want you to go."

I giggle at his childishness gently pushing his head away from me. "You've lived through worse. Now I have to go before they file a missing person report on me."

"Okay," he sighs. 

Leaning forward I plant a quick kiss on his lips before rushing out of the car and running down the street not stopping until I get to my front door. As I'm about to insert my key the door is pulled open revealing my furious father. 

"Get inside now!" he screams at me spit flying from his mouth and his face red from anger. I'm sure if I look hard enough I might see steam coming from his ears.

With my metaphorical tail tucked between my legs, I shuffle inside standing with my hands tucked in front of me and my gaze firmly directed to the floor. The door slams shut with a bang soon followed by my father yelling even more. 

"Where the hell were you, young lady? Do you have any idea how worried your mother and I were? We thought you were hurt, kidnapped or dead! I honestly don't know what was worse the fact that you dared to come home this late or the fact that you didn't even think to let either of us know where you were, who you were with or even if you were okay!" Silence settles over our entrance hall and I'm waiting to hear a cricket. "Well, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry, Dad," I mumble as tears trickle down my face falling to the floor.

"That's not good enough," my mom says from behind me. Her heels click on the floorboards as she walks up to where my father is and stands beside him. "The least your father and I deserve is an explanation, and I don't to hear half the story I want the truth."

Looking up at them with my tear-stained eyes I choke back a sob. "I went to the park and then had dinner with a classmate," I quickly say hoping that they won't ask me anything else about my story. 

"Which classmate?" my mom asks taking away the small bit of hope that I was holding on to. 

I shrug, "Just some boy from my English class. You've never met him."

"What's his name? You can't tell me you spent the whole afternoon and then had dinner with him and you don't know his name." 

Like a computer running through some data, my mind shifts through the names of every boy in my English class skipping over one main person. 

"Evan. We're reading Romeo and Juliet and he's been struggling with it. He came to me after class and asked me to help him make chapter summaries. That's what we were doing in the park and then to thank me he took me out for some pizza." If I could give myself a high five I would because that was probably the best lie I have ever told in my entire life. Now all I can do is pray that they believe me. 

Looking at one another they silently debate my story probably hoping to find some sort of plot hole. 

After an eternity of waiting my dad turns back to face me and nods. "We believe you but helping your classmate doesn't excuse the fact that you didn't even try to tell us where you were. You're grounded for four weeks which means no going out with your friends you go to school and then you come straight back, do you understand?"

Reluctantly I nod. 

"Good, now go to your room I don't want to see you for the rest of the night."

With my head hung low I slowly walk up to my room closing the door behind me. Sighing I lean against the closed door. How am I supposed to spend time with him if I can't go anywhere for the next four weeks? I can't be with him at school because my friends might see us and they will no doubt tell my parents. I can't bring him here because my parents might catch us. I don't know what to do but maybe some sleep will help me.