"Dwell on the beauty of life, watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."

~Marcus Aurelius

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Vivienne

"Sit still," I said flatly as I rested my hand over one of Chad's many injuries. "This will take a lot longer the more you squirm."

"It's uncomfortable," he replied through clenched teeth.

"If you hadn't picked a fight with Lilly and Shane, this wouldn't be happening."

Chad glanced at me sideways. "So you're on her side? After the shit she said to you?"

"I'm on no one's side. I think both of you were acting stupid."

"Lilly basically called you inept and unable to run the planet!"

"Yeah, well, maybe she's right. And the thing is, I don't think she's exactly capable of running it herself, either. She thinks I'm too trusting, and I don't think she's trusting enough. Regardless, you being upset about that isn't going to fix it. Why do you hate her so much?"

Chad merely ground his teeth and stayed silent. I rolled my eyes and focused on healing his numerous wounds. It took thirty minutes between all of them. The worst ended up being a deep puncture wound in his shoulder from a sharp icicle launched by Lilly and the broken ribs caused by Shane slamming him into the ground. When I finished, I moved to wash my hands, but Chad gently grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. I peered at him curiously and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I-" Chad hesitated and closed his mouth, mulling over his words. "I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I lost my temper and put you in harm's way. This... this is what I was afraid of if I let you get too close to me."

"I appreciate the apology, but I'm not the one you should be giving it to. You didn't hurt me, and what I did see isn't scaring me away from being your friend."

An emotion Vivienne couldn't place flashed in his eyes. "I don't want to be friends."

"Don't do this again, Chad. I've already told you I'm not afraid of you. You don't need to be dramatic and end our friendship because you lost your temper-"

"I don't want to end our friendship," Chad interrupted, appearing genuinely confused. "Vivienne, I've wanted to be a hell of a lot more than friends since the day I met you."

I blinked, slowly processing his words. "What?"

"I've kept myself at an emotional distance from everyone I've ever known since my parents died, including Caleb and Dylan, as close as I am to them. I've never liked a girl the way I have you, and that is what terrifies me because I've started realizing what I'd be willing to do and risk for you." Chad rubbed the back of his neck and dropped his gaze from mine. It was the most vulnerable I'd ever seen him. "I guess what I'm trying to ask you is, what I'm trying to say, is that I want to date you. I want you to be my girlfriend. If you'll have me..."

I stood stupefied in front of him. Of all the things he could've said, saying he wanted to be my boyfriend wasn't even a consideration, but I'd be lying to myself if I said I hadn't wished he was. Still, I had some concerns that needed to be addressed, and if he genuinely wanted to be with me, he'd have to fulfill my requests.

"I will say yes on one condition," I told him firmly, crossing my arms.

Chad nodded. "Name it."

"I can't have my best friend and boyfriend at odds with each other. You both need to apologize to her, but since you attacked first, you need to be the one to apologize first."

"Does it have to be right now? Because I think she might still attack me if I see her now."

"I'll be generous, and I'll give you three days. If you haven't apologized to her by then, we stay friends, and you will have missed your one and only chance to be with me."

Chad nodded and clasped his hands behind his back. "Very well. For you, I will do this."

"Make sure it's a sincere apology, too. Otherwise, it means nothing. An empty apology is as bad as a hollow promise."

"I understand. I'll give her a day to cool off, then reach out to her."

"Good. Speaking of which, I should check on her and make sure she got healed. I'll see you at dinner?"

"I'll pick you up at six," he confirmed with a polite nod. I smiled softly at him, stood on my tiptoes, and kissed him on the cheek. His brown eyes stared deeply into mine. "What was that for?"

"A thank you for making the promise and an incentive to follow through with it."

A grin spread across his face. "The simple idea of being with you is enough incentive, but I am not going to complain."

"I know you're not. I'll see you at dinner."

I shuffled off to the elevator and headed to Lilly's apartment. I knocked and called out to her. No response. I waited a few more seconds before knocking again and saying, "Lilly, we don't have to talk if you don't want to, but at least let me heal your injuries. Please?"

Silence.

I sighed and braced my head against the door in defeat, called out one more time, and then gave up. Either she wasn't in her apartment, or she was and chose to ignore me. I had a feeling it was the latter. As upset with her as I was, I wanted to work this out.

Head hung low, I ambled back to the infirmary, where I set to work. We had an influx of injuries come in from the attack, so the morning passed quickly. I had a quick break around lunchtime, and I took advantage of it by going to the gardens outside and soaking up the sun. I cleared my mind and listened to the bustling city of Alexandria. There were no obnoxious engine noises from the vehicles, as they were created by engineers who were much smarter than me and made them all but silent. I mainly heard the laughter and shouts of citizens and the chirping of birds. Their feathery friends looked similar to ours, but I'd seen some bizarre ones, too. One looked like a cardinal with a spiraling, two-foot-long blue tail. Another one was neon blue with a pink Mohawk. Apparently, the further you moved away from the city, the weirder the animals became. I'd have to test that theory one day.

"There you are," Esmeralda said kindly. I jumped at her voice and hastily stood up to curtsy. "How are you doing, dear?"

"Honestly? I'm exhausted," I admitted, the events of today finally catching up to me. "Between the rescue, the attack, the fight between Lilly and Chad, the fight between me and Lilly-"

"Yes, she told me a little of that but wouldn't go into detail. What happened?"

I sighed and plopped onto the bench before diving into the events. I told her about the initial spat between Lilly and Chad, the full-blown one hardly ten minutes later, ours in the midst of it all, which I'm pretty sure came down to a super bad miscommunication, and how I healed Chad, tried but failed to heal Lilly, and then went straight to work to take my mind off the madness.

"Goodness, child, that is a lot for one person to keep bottled up. If it's any consolation, you need not worry about Lilly. Shane took her to get healed."

"Good. I'm glad she's got him looking out for her."

"Yes, but I fear how close they're getting. Shane cannot be trusted, with or without Caleb's contraption on his ankle bracelet contraption."

"Then why let him out? Why risk everyone's safety?"

"He was only a teenager when everything happened, and the punishment for children is different than for adults," Esmeralda replied grimly, sitting on the bench I had just occupied. "I had to follow the law or risk having my rule contested because of it. I guess I also thought Lilly would be strong enough to resist his flirtatious and cunning nature, but it appears I may have been wrong."

"She is. She's the strongest person I know. And she has Caleb to help her, too."

"Speaking of Caleb, have you talked to him recently?"

Guilt rose in my chest. Between work and life in general, I hadn't had an opportunity outside of meals to talk to the guy who had been so kind to both me and Lilly in our initial days here. Esmeralda must've picked up on this because she said, "Lilly's been talking to him, but if she knows anything about what's been bothering him, she won't tell me."

"That's not surprising. She's good at keeping secrets."

"Vivienne, can I trust you with a secret?"

"Of course, Your Majesty," I replied immediately, leaning in to hear her better.

Esmeralda spoke softly. "Caleb's like a son to me. Always has been. Recently, he's been distant, quiet, and whenever I ask him what he's up to, he gives only a basic explanation. Not the fantastical stories he used to. I miss those stories."

"Did you ask him about it?" My heart ached for the evident pain on her face at the memories of Caleb pushing her away.

"I did. Caleb waved it off, saying he was tired and stressed by recent events. I wanted to believe him, but I couldn't ignore that the last time someone I cared about acted like this, they were trying to incite a rebellion against me. We caught them in the nick of time, but it's lingered with me, especially... especially since that person is back in all our lives."

"Shane." The name escaped my lips before I could truly process what I'd said, but Esmeralda nodded, confirming it.

"Yes. Shane Calhoun. His parents discovered what he'd been trying to do, and in their attempt to stop him, he murdered them. I arrived on the scene only a short time later, and it was... disturbing, to say the least. He stood over his parents' dead bodies, shadows writhing all around. He eyed us with utter hatred when we walked in. I've never seen such hatred in a teenager... It took thirty soldiers to subdue him, and not without a fair amount of injuries. The only reason he stopped is because he saw one of the soldiers escorting Chad out. He kept declaring he was innocent but refused to share the memory with us to prove as such."

"Share the memory?" I cocked my head in curiosity. "How can he share the memory?"

"Many mind readers also have the ability to share memories. When they share an actual memory, it's sharper and clearer than if it's something they're trying to plant in your head because the event's details are already there. They're not trying to create the details on their own. Memories cannot lie. However, Shane wouldn't share it with me or anyone else, no matter how hard we tried. To this day, he has never shared it with anyone, not even Chad."

"With how close Lilly and Shane have become, do you think he's provided it to her?"

Esmeralda shook her head. "I have a feeling we'd know if he had. You wouldn't walk away from seeing those images the same person. She'd be... changed."

"What about Caleb? Perhaps he has. You said he's been distant. I know it's probably a long shot, and he and Shane aren't exactly close, but maybe-"

"Vivienne, I think you might be on to something. Why didn't I think of that before?" Esmeralda slouched and braced her forearms on her legs. "They're not close by any means, but they're both Lilly's bodyguards. They've probably gotten closer than I've realized. I need to go talk to Caleb immediately."

She stood, and I followed suit. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Keep your eyes and ears open for me. If you see or hear anything suspicious, let me know. And keep watch on Lilly for me. I'm worried Shane may be getting his claws too deep in her for us to pull them out."

Squeezing my shoulder affectionately, Esmeralda breezed past me to go find Caleb. I watched her go, silently promising myself that no matter what, I would get Lilly away from Shane. Talking or not, she was still my best friend, and I wouldn't let anything happen to her.