Julie.

I wipe my tears on the napkin and sniff. Dad shouldn't have done it, is the only thing I can think of.

When I exited the hall and reached the party outside, I did find grandpa there. But apparently, he had just arrived due to some car issue.

Didn't dad say he had arrived a while ago? I thought.

I was shocked. Still, I had a nice five minutes chat with him, and then left saying that I'm going to find my date for the night...

.... only to arrive at the hall's gate to find dad coming out with a smirk on his face.

I don't like that smirk. In fact, I hate that smirk. It's always there when someone gets hurt badly, when someone gets dethroned or unearthed.

I was at a distance, so dad didn't see me. When he was gone, I peeked in and saw Ryan, looking all handsome and— arrogant? , and in front of him was...

Oh....I thought. ...That's why he's all arrogant...

Ethan McKay...

Just a peek at the scene, and I knew what had happened. Dad had left the two of them alone to have a row. He thought that would scare Ryan, or maybe enrage him enough to leave the party and then not talk to me. Dad always does this. He makes Ethan do that every time I make a male friend. They leave without a word after that.

And that's what hurts me the most...

...now Ryan will leave me too...

An other river of tears flows down my cheeks from my eyes. The tissue paper is wet. So I take a new one from the box beside me.

I'm sitting in the little balcony attached to my room's window. I changed the dress to a comfortable jeans and a top, because there's no way I'm going back to the party. Ryan is definitely not there anymore ....

I sniff and stare into the inky blackness in front of me. Light breeze is blowing, making my hair frizzier but I don't tie them back. I don't want to.

Ryan

I storm out into the chilly night, clenching my fists in my coat pockets, and biting the side of my cheek to stop my self from replying to the string of curse words Mc'Kay is using behind me.

The kid is a rich brat and nothing else. He doesn't deserve Julie. She need a guy who can make her happy, not rich.

And I need Julia because I know I can keep her happy. I'd never let harm come near her.

I don't wanna destroy her dad's little show of money party because of my anger at this little prick.

My feet don't stop at the door of the hall, they make way towards the backyard from where all the noise seems to be coming from. I follow the sounds, and soon figure out that this party is not Julia's dad's little show of money, it's a big one.

The backyard is not your normal backyard. It's more like a back-park with a stage and round tables covered with white sheets on them, spreed all over it. There is a mesh of fairy lights hanging above the heads of the people and every one has a glass of wine.

Wow. Is all I can think. This place is huge. I mean, I already feel like an insect.  I'd like to feel like a normal human again, thank you very much.

My eyes skim over the crowd in search for my Julia but deep inside my heart, I know she's not here. So, I turn back.

I go back through the hall— Mc'Kay seems to have stormed off— following the path Julia led me by, to her room. The corridors almost look the same, so do the stair cases. So I almost get lost twice. But in the end, I find the door on which her named is carved.

Julie.

I knock on the door.

No reply comes. So I turn the knob and enter. There is no one here. But there are shoes, the shoes Julia was last wearing...By the opposite wall, peeking from behind the curtains.

Julia is... out side?

"Julie?" I call. She doesn't reply. So I go near the window. I can feel the light breeze pushing past the fabric of the curtains.

"Julie?" I call again. Nothing—no. There was a ... a sniff.

Julia is crying.

Julia

"Julia?" A voice behind me freezes my movements just as I start to reach for the next tissue.

"Julia why are you here?" He asks. And then I feel a strong male body sit down next to me. I feel like I'm under his shadow and that's the most comfortable feeling of the day. I look up at him, and find his eyes all worried and restless, searching mine for an answer.

"Why are you crying, Julie?" His voice is soft... so soft and soothing.

What do I tell him? I think to my self. That I'm crying because he's— he's—

I burst into tears again, pulling my legs up to my chin and hiding my face there. Before this moment, I didn't cry out loud. This time I chocked on my tears in front of him.

"Julia.."

Ryan wraps his arms around me and pulls me to his chest. A warm feeling takes me over, and suddenly, I know he's not leaving me. But the mere thought of that he would've makes me cry harder and for a long while, I stay in his arms, head pressed against his chest and his hands in my hair and on my back.

Then Ryan whispers..

"Julia? What's wrong?" He asks. "Is it something I did?"

I want to answer him, but the words don't come out of my mouth. So I just shake my head no.

Ryan pulls me away from himself, just enough to look down at me, and gently places a hand under my jaw.

"What is it Jules?" His voice is so soft and caring. Does he know what I'm feeling right now? Does he..?

"Dad." Is all I can say. I watch his brows furrow, then he closes his eyes for a second too long.

"It's ok Julia." He says. "I'm alright."

Relief flushes in my veins and I look into his mesmerising eyes. In this dark, they look more enchanting than they do in light.

"Are you sure?" I ask him.

He nods with a smile at his lips.

"Yes I am," He says. "I'm alright. He didn't say anything."

"I'm sorry you had to meet Ethan." I tell him. Suddenly I can't look up at him. So I lower my eyes to where his hand is resting on my arm.

"He's—"

"An idiot?" He finishes for me. A small laugh escapes my lips and I press my lips to stop it.

"Yes." I nod, letting my self smile "that."

"Oh he can fantasise all he wants," Ryan laughs too. "He's still a kid. He can't hurt me."

That means Ethan....

Sorrow engulfs me again and I sigh.

That also means that Dad...

"Did he insult you?" I ask him, unable to look at him. But then his silence causes me to do so.

"Dad?" I add. "He did, didn't he?"

I see his jaw clench and he releases a frustrated breath from his nose. He closes his eyes for while.

That means he did... dad did insult him.

"Your dad knew mine in school." He says at last. "He told me some of that. And then that how much he loved you and—"

"And that he thinks you're not good enough for me" I say more to my self than to him. He nods in confirmation, and I feel my throat tighten. Tears threaten to fall down my cheeks.

"Why does he do that?" I ask no body, just as a tear does slip, and the others go out of control again.

Ryan

"Why does he do that?" She asks apparently to no one and I see a tear glistening on her cheek. 

"Julia" I pull her to my self and hold her while she shakes as she cries.

"He always does this." She says between sobs. "Always."

"Julia" I try to comfort her by patting her head and her shoulder. "Maybe it's because he loves you."

"It can't be." She refuses to accept. "Why would he do this if he loves me?"

"Because he wants the best for you." I tell her the words her father said to me. "You are his princess, Julia. He wants a stable future for you."

"But threatening my friends like this." She pulls away to look up at me. I place both hands on her cheeks and wipe the tears away with my thumbs. "This is not fair. This is not love"

"Every one has a different way to show love Julie." I tell her. I can't believe my own words as I say them. I remember every single venomous word Mr. Garfield said to me. It's hard to keep it out of my own words.

"That's how he expresses his." I pull her to my chest again, just to keep her from not crying. "He might just not know any way else."

Julia says nothing as she rests her head against my heart, which is now drumming hard in my chest to feel her this close. Her fingers unconsciously start to play with a cuff link on my wrist as she thinks. I rub her arm gently and feel goosebumps rise on her skin. So I back away to take off my coat and wrap it around her. She pulls the lapels around her without a word uttered, and I pull her back to my self.

We stay like this for a long while as the wind gently blows and the night grows deeper. Julia plays with the cuff link, then a few tears slip from her eyes which I wipe away, then she resumes what she was doing with the cuff link. This keeps telling me that julia is not asleep. Then at last, she says

"Thank you Ryan" her voice is barely audible but I can understand it. "For not leaving me."

I look down at her, and she sits up pulling away from me. Before I can protest she continues

"I've cried alone in my bed ever since my mom died."

"Julia I—" I want to say something, but no words come out of my mouth. I want to tell her that I'm sorry for that. And that I'll always be there for her from now on, but the mere thought that keeps me from saying all that is that I'm not her boyfriend. I love her. But does she...

"It's ok." She says, noticing my inability to say something, a smile spreads on her lips. "You don't have to be sorry."

"Have you ever told your dad that—"

"No." She says before I finish. "I don't talk to him much. Especially about such things."

"Why?" I ask her.

"It's along story" she says and gets up. "It's late. You need to go back."

"What?" I don't understand what she is— then I realise. She's not ready to open up to me yet. This is a good way to dodge it. And if she wants this, I'll gladly play along.

The stupid curfew. 'Be back before this time on the clock in the week days'.

"What about you?"

"I live in a shack remember?" She brushes off her cloths. I get up too.

"I come and go as I please." she shrugs a shoulder and smiles.

I laugh.

"Yes ma'am." I tell her, not wanting to just leave yet, "you're absolutely right. It is the servant quarters that close so early"

She giggles. I like her giggles. I want stay here and hear her giggle more. But then...

"Come on." She takes my hand and puts the coat in it. "I'll see you out."

Julia

It was hard telling him it was late. I can't believe I'm the one making him go. He could've stayed with me in the guest room, and leave in the morning but that didn't occur to me then. I had the keys to his car which he had given to the valet. So together we stepped out into the dark night.

He followed me to the parking lot and we don't stop until we reach his car. The party is still going on inside and so there is no one here. I stop right in front of the driver's door and turn around to face him. He's standing right behind me. The wind blows from him to me and I can smell his cologne on it.

"Drive safe Ryan." I tell him with a smile.

"I will." He says pocketing his hands. But he looks down at his shoes, and rocks back and forth instead of leaving.

A little more forward, I think to him. But he cant hear.  and we would be too close... just enough to be perfect....

"I surely will" he mutters to him self. And then looks up at me.

There is an expression on his face I can't place. I remember it from somewhere before but I can't say when. I feel the temperature rise up around me as he leans in.

Unconsciously, my arms move and wrap around his neck as he takes my waist. I feel his breath on my face, all warm and soft. I see his deep blue eyes just before our lips meet and then I know no more.

Just pure bliss... just for a few seconds. Then he backs up, my arms fall back to my side, and he opens the door to sit in the car.

When did I move away from that door? I can't remember.

But before he sits in the car, he smiles down at me— I'm dead sure he licked his lips— and says,

"Take care julia. Tell your dad I said good night."

A playful smile spreads on his lips and he disappears behind the door. I don't know if I wave as he leaves or not. I don't know how I got back inside the house. I don't even remember how I got back to what he calls my shack.

All I remember is the warm feeling on my lips accompanied by the scent of his cologne.

I kissed Ryan Hunt.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•