As Rhyse piled more food on his plate, I took it as the perfect opportunity to snap a quick picture- well, a cute selfie of me with Rhyse deliberating over how much he should dip his strawberry into the fondue in the back.

The second he heard the familiar 'click' of the lens, his head snapped up, eyes wide, puzzled brows raised. His expression relaxed once he saw the camera and watched closely as the image developed. Just as I finished marking it 'Rhyse's first date', I saw him jolt beside me.

'Oh no, you aren't getting this.'

I grinned slyly and stretched my hand with the picture in behind me and out of Rhyse's reach. His brown eyes narrowed, obviously an unmistakable warning to give me time to rethink my decision. They then widened with my confident defiance as I wiggled the picture, still just out of his reach.

"I'm completely gorming! Take a better one!" He insisted, attempting to snatch it from me again.

"It's not like you don't usually look like that," I shrugged casually.

With one final lunge that took me completely by surprise, I ended face up with Rhyse hovering over me, my arms over my head and Rhyse's beside my head and chest. He was staring again, but it wasn't like how he used to when we were first getting to know each other. No longer trying for the picture, his cheeks were slowly darkening into a deep red and his eyes seemed... enamoured. He even looked a little bewildered. I felt the same. He was so close, I actually wanted to- wanted him to-

Wait. What?

Before I could even finish piecing together my thoughts a jolt of- something ran through my body. When I finally recovered my senses and my eyes opened, I saw Rhyse's head slowly lifting away from mine. His chestnut coloured hair tickled my forehead in the process.

"Aren't we supposed to like... be dating before we kiss- or you kiss me?" I breathed out, trying to regulate my heart rate.

I mean I kind of wanted it to happen but I really didn't expect it. Rhyse's flirting was always just a joke. There was no way he was being serious and there was no way this could all happen so soon.

"Don't have to be dating to kiss," he responded smoothly- well, as smooth as he could. He was still practically on top of me, so the waver in his voice and the rosy blush to his glowing cheeks were a dead giveaway of his emotions.

"Touché."

"Touché indeed." He leaned down for another one, and just as I was beginning to enjoy it, he shot back up, and in his hand was the picture. I craned my neck to glance at my empty hand and back at the smug-faced boy, who was still blushing.

"Son of a-"

"Bitch!"

That shrill voice wasn't mine, and there was a lot more animosity in their tone than I would've used.

Rhyse's eyes widened in abject horror as they remained glued to a spot behind me. The picture slipped from his grip as he scrambled desperately to his feet. I turned my neck as I could to see what it was he saw... and it was no other than his mother, Mrs Amstell, along with her glare directed at me filled with unmistakable hatred as if I'd done some heinous and unspeakable crime.

She grabbed Rhyse and began shaking him by his shoulders. From the distance, I couldn't hear what she was lecturing him about, but Rhyse was arguing back feverishly.

Ultimately, I managed to bring myself to my feet and dust myself down, feeling the oncoming torrent of anger from Mrs Amstell as she stormed over to me, tugging herself free from Rhyse's grip.

"You slut! Just what the hell do you think you're doing with my son? Who do you think you are? You girls from the city are all the same. You thought you were going to use my son for your own gains? Get in his pants then his head? Absolutely not!"

Rhyse rushed over and attempted to calm down his mother and get in between us. I couldn't even react, couldn't move, couldn't even think properly as she hurled more and more insults at me. I was... scared.

"Mom! You can't talk to people like that, and you can't talk to Sophia like that!" Rhyse looked and sounded furious with his mother.

"I'll do what I damn well please, and you will listen!" She then shifted her attention back to me, and jabbed me in the shoulder after each word; "Stay. Away. From. My. Son. Stay away from my family. All of you! Don't let me catch any of you on or near our land. I won't be held responsible for my actions," she hissed.

Rhyse looked at me with sincere regret and sorrow before he hurriedly attempted to pack up the things he brought for our short-lived first date.

As he walked past, he whispered gently that he'd be where we first trained at 3 pm most days, but not the following day. His voice then returned to normal, "I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"If I catch you with her again, don't think that you're not getting punished Rhyse Amstell. You should've never spoken to her in the first place."

Rhyse spared me one final guilty glance before trailing off behind his mother who continued lecturing him as they disappeared into the forest.

All that remained after all that chaos and the disturbance, was me, my camera, the photo and some spilt remnants of the picnic, along with the unsettling silence of the forest. The sorrel lay spilt, slowly seeping into the disturbed ground below.

I had no other reason to be there, so I gathered my personal belongings and ambled back home. The only thing I could feel was where Mrs Amstell had jabbed me, and it bitterly hurt. My body was so confused, I should've been feeling happy after being with Rhyse, and we kissed but all that was left was this sense of... vacancy in my chest and the overwhelming desire to cry.