"Knock knock, anybody home?" I say a bit louder than usual, rattling the brass doorknob. I know Grandmom Pamela won't be at home. It is the perfect opportunity to show my guts.

"At your service Madame." a grinning Jason throws open the door. "And thanks for waking up the entire neighbourhood." he remarks, his face serious.

"Oh really?" I pretend to look around at the vast acres and acres of farmland and forest stretching up to the horizon. "I didn't think you guys do the neighbor thing."

"We prefer to live in class!" he announces, taking a big bite out of a paper package on his hand.

"What's that you're stuffing, you glutton?"

"Jost-aa-cheesseborger-and-I-won't-share am-mmm!" he mumbles with his mouth full of food. I could barely make out the "cheeseburger" and that he won't share.

"Didn't your Grandma teach you how to welcome people? You're such a terrible host, Jace!" I remark, pushing my way into the drawing room, making myself comfortable on the couch.

A bread basket with gingerbreads was poised perfectly on the tea table. It smelled of homemade butter and delicious roasted nuts.

"Help yourself. Tea is coming." he remarks, casually flopping down beside me.

"You'll make me fat and totally unfit for the ball."

"I love plump girls!" he winks. "A dollop of fat won't hurt. Besides these were baked by our English chef. They're exquisite." he picks one and drops it into his mouth, chewing silently, his eyes closed, as he savors the taste.

"Mmhmm" he remarks, licking his lips visibly.

I follow suit and soon the tea arrives as we chat about our day and a million little trifles.

Things have been very cheerful between us lately. I wake up and go to work and then I come to his place, eat some exotic snacks. Then we practice the dance steps. Most often I lose my balance and end up on my bum and sometimes he laughs so hard at one of my jokes that were both down on the floor, clutching our bellies with laughter. By the end of it I'm drained of all my energy but a lavish dinner awaits. After which we sometimes visit the balcony and just stand in silence, staring into nothingness and ruminating a past that neither of us chose for ourselves.

Sometimes he will unmindfully put a hand on my shoulder and I don't actually chide him for that. Instead I nuzzle closer. There's a particular unexplainable warmth that I find in his company. He makes me feel safe, secure and most importantly, he makes me feel wanted, possessed, cherished. For once I just isn't another girl who is replaceable like any other.

Jace is a good teacher and I learn fast.

"Final practice today. Tomorrow is the ball!" he noisily sips his tea.

"Where are you manners?" I chide.

"Manners are for the judgmental world outside of us. I don't need to put up a show in front of you." he sips tea again with a small slurp.

I can't help laugh. Soon we are both slurping tea is the most uncivilized way. I feel free in his company just like he does in mine.

"Why doesn't someone as funny as you have any friends?" I broach the subject cautiously, not wanting to push the matter further. He looks at me, his eyes almost a murky shade of sea blue, a lifeless but serene pool.

"Because my mom thought they are beneath our standard and chased all of them away. She wanted me to mix with the aristocracy and I absolutely hated the other kids, my cousins included. Day by day I could feel my friends avoiding me until one day there was a minor tiff with my best friend and we punched each other. Mind you, we were in fifth grade." He reaches out for my hand.

"Then?"

"She actually called the police on the poor guy and sent him to a juvenile centre. He was stuck there for a day because his parents were out of town and couldn't fly in fast enough."

I clasp my hands over my mouth. "Poor guy, he must be so scared!"

"He was scarred for the rest of his life and is in a mental asylum now. Mom has no regrets however!" he sighs. "So you know, after that I stopped making friends because I was afraid that my mum would do something bad. The 12 year old me thought that I was actually jinxed."

"That's why you withdrew into yourself, you poor thing!" I run my hands up and down his arms in a steady pace.

He leans on to me and smiles. I know he has trusted me with his inner self and it's up to me to uphold his trust. It's a heavy responsibility but I've always been the "mature one". My mother says I should've been in my thirties.

"Okay, let's practice then, Your Majesty," I nudge him in the ribs. The last thing I want now is get caught up in a moment and risk losing Jason. I need time – time to think through my decisions and time to counsel my heart to move on finally. But with whom?

I look at the shadows playing on a gorgeous face in front of me. I have my answers. 

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