Doe's POV:

Lily made the bagels into breakfast sandwiches and packed them into the basket she put together.

Along with a tall pitcher of water, some banana chocolate muffins, and some mixed berries for us to snack on.

She'd even packed some plates to set our things and the blanket that we currently sat on.

Xander cleared away the perfect spot for it all to fit, having us sit hidden in the grass, but still able to see what passed through here.

Though my focus shifted between that and Xander very often.

Still looking for those little clues.

And well, there were a lot of them.

We sat side by side facing the pond, one kind of leaning on the other as we ate.

Noticing that he'd set his hand down very close to where mine supported my weight.

The occasional glances I'd see out of my periphery whenever I watched the birds or dragonflies come near.

The warm tingling I'd feel at the sight of it now that I could give that feeling a name.

My hand inched to close the distance, but I resisted.

I wanted him to do it. To initiate it.

I wanted to be sure that I knew what was really going on.

If he really did... love me.

I had many signs pointing yes, but these few hangups were stopping me from pressing it any harder.

"I wrote a letter to the shop I got you from," he spoke, keeping his voice down as to not scare away any animals nearby.

I drew back, confused at his words.

And at the strange topic.

"For what?"

He tossed a blueberry into his mouth.

"I wanted to see if they had any registry of who your parents were. If they had records going far enough back to be able to tie you to a last name."

I blinked at him, surprised by what he was saying.

But then I found myself somewhat grateful for his attempt to connect me to a name that truly meant something about a family I never got to have.

Like everyone else's did.

"Just to broaden your options, I mean," There was a slight pinch in his hurried words, "If you don't like it, obviously you don't have to take it, but it figured that-"

He stopped when I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," I said, "I appreciate that."

He released a quiet breath, leaning his head over mine and actually closing the distance between our hands.

I had to mask my own relief at his action that I wouldn't have thought much about if Khloe hadn't walked me through all of this.

My eyes strayed when ducks flew by over head, landing with an impressive skid into the pond ahead of us.

I reached for a handful of fruit as they interacted, watching the white duck chase around the darker spotted one, quacking away.

The chase continued for several minutes, the brown one yelling and flapping its wings whenever the other one drew near.

Xander laughed quietly beside me, answering my question before I could ask it.

"He's trying to romance her," he told, immediately making me watch closer.

That's... not what it looked like.

If anything it seemed like she was trying to get away from him.

Obviously animals were different than us, but I feel like you'd still be able to tell a little bit.

"Is it... working?"

"Not in the slightest." He replied with a desolate yet still somewhat amused sigh.

Poor duck.

I kept watching the chase repeat itself, seeing them swim and dive for a few fish before he'd try to approach her again and she'd swim or fly away again.

But he wasn't giving up.

This kept happening for about five minutes before the darker duck just up and flew away, leaving him there alone.

Awe...

I thought that he'd try to follow her again, but he didn't.

Why was I suddenly feeling sad for this duck?

I looked up at Xander to gauge whether or not I was strange for getting upset over a duck, but his facial expression shocked me.

It looked like he agreed with me, but was feeling it a lot deeper than I was.

Like an actual pained sadness instead of just a general sympathy.

It disappeared though when he saw me looking at him.

"Ah... poor dude," he expressed, plucking up another blueberry and posing it into the pond right beside it.

The duck's attention switched to it immediately, gobbling down the berry and then flying away in the opposite direction.

Well, he got over that fast.

I suppose these kinds of things are difficult no matter what species you are.

Actually... that was kind of reassuring.

He kept his hand on mine as he fell back to lay on the blanket, giving it a little tug for me to join him.

Full from Lily's food, and getting to lounge in some warm sunlight next to my vampire?

Yes please.

He released my hand to extend his arm which I immediately fell back into with a quiet giggle.

This. This was one of those undeniable moments.

He pulled me into him, having me turn to lay on his chest.

The sun that broke through the branches warmed my bare arms perfectly.

I truly couldn't imagine a better place to be in that moment, than right where I was.

~~~

The sound of the pond and the forest showed me a new kind of tranquility.

The sound the subtle breeze gave as it brushed through the leaves most of all.

Yeah, I wanted to see more of this place Xander knew so well.

Especially if it lead to more moments like this.

It felt different being in his arms like this in a place that wasn't our room.

I don't know it just felt more... real.

Like this wasn't just something we kept to ourselves in that room alone.

Even if I wasn't too sure yet about showing this in front of anyone else yet, the privacy out here was nice.

I don't even know how people would react if we were to do any of this in front of them.

A human and a vampire...? I don't know.

He told me once that it was seen as taboo. Something generally not accepted by the community as a whole.

But then told me that he personally didn't care about that. As long as the people involved were happy together.

I was happy with him.

But also...he was a prince, and I knew that image was something he had to be careful about.

I jolted when Xander suddenly sucked in a quick gasp, raking me with him when he rose into a sitting position.

"What the heck are you-"

"Shh," He cut me off.

I was about to yell at him even more for that, but the focus on his face made me change my mind.

He was stating a little bit to the left past the bond, nostrils flaring.

Oh...

I hunched in a small show of surrender, seeing his eyes narrow before his lips tilted up into a smile.

"What is it?" I whispered.

He looked back down to me, fingers trailing my back, "Wanna see what you got your name from?"

My hunch suddenly disappeared, eyes growing wide and nodding eagerly.

His smile grew, "Good, then stay low and quiet. Deer are easy to scare off."

I listened, keeping my gaze on where he was previously staring.

After another minute or so, my breathing stopped when I saw what stepped out of the shadows.

The first one I spotted from the other side of the pond was massive, even with just small nubs as antlers.

It stopped after revealing itself from the trees, turning its head to see the area before stepping closer to the pond.

One more came out to follow it. Two, three- five in total following the first to the water.

They were magnificent, all looking just noticeably different, but one, in particular, caught my eye.

And it just so happened to be the one Xander pointed to before leaning in close to my ear.

"That's the one," he whispered low, "That's the doe I had in mind."

I kept my eyes on her, looking over the white spots that dotted her dark brown and tan coat.

She stood tall and proud, waiting for one of her friends to finish their drink before she lowered her head for hers.

I'd arguably state that she was beautiful. Definitely one of the most beautiful creatures I'd ever seen.

Each movement of hers- of all of theirs' held a grace comparable to Xander's.

When he wanted to be graceful that is.

The first one took a few steps deeper into the water, submerging itself up to the bottom of its long neck.

The others followed close behind, making their way across the pond that way instead of just walking around it.

All except the one I'd favored, who instead watched her friends trudged on without her.

Then she took a few steps back.

I was seconds away from asking Xander if he knew what she was doing, but before I could, she suddenly ran and leaped into the pond, gaining some impressive height before water splashed all around her.

Startling the others it looked like.

I had to stifle my laugh, never having seen an animal act like that.

Although my stifle might not have been enough to keep them from hearing, because suddenly they all stilled, eyes in my direction.

Xander noticed too, his hand pausing on my back like we'd just been caught.

The tension grew in the seconds that passed of them just looking in this direction, ears flicking and noses twitching.

Xander did mention to me once that vampires had a certain scent that prey animals evolved to avoid...

And just like that, the one in the front began running first, sending the rest of them bolting out of the water and back into the woods with some very loud splashing.

My regret grew as the sound of their steps added away with the sound of the breeze.

"Dammit," I slouched with my disappointment.

Xander's hand resumed in an effort to console me.

His little chuckle at my reaction didn't help much.

"Don't worry too much about that. There are tons of those little herds around here, so we're bound to run into them again. Definitely later in august when their antlers are back in full view."

I sagged even more, nearly folding over my legs at this point, and groaned.

I knew he was right, but I still was disappointed about what happened.

He let out another badly hidden laugh, nudging me over from my strange position to lay my head on his legs.

"I could go chase one down for ya," He jokingly offered, "Bring it back here and let you get a closer look."

"And scare it even more?!" I snapped, falling into my new position.

He brushed back my hair before offering a better solution.

"They'll be back. This is most likely their go-to water source, so how about we leave the rest of these berries behind as an apology?"

I thought that over, agreeing with a nod, and pushing myself back up.

He stoop before helping me up to my feet, snagging the bowl as I did.

Even if it wasn't them, I knew something in these woods would enjoy the snack.

Maybe even that poor duck that got rejected.

We ended up spreading them at the ponds edge, a few falling into the water and getting snagged by the fish.

Xander took the placement of them so seriously, showing his dedication to this stupid little thing that upset me.

The second I took to really think about it lead to a blushing fit I didn't agree to.

That had to be one of the signs right?

It had to be.