I cross my arms and glare at Dad determinedly.

"Dad we're going to the mall in the neighbouring town because there isn't one here." I try to lay out facts, "I can drive us and we'll need barely forty minutes back and forth. And counting three hours in between to look at all the stores as well as the book and vinyl shop, we can be back by seven thirty at the latest."

"I cannot let the two of you wander alone for four hours, Ariya!" my father replies sternly, shaking his head, "I'm coming with you as a chaperone."

"I do not want you to come." I reply stubbornly, "We're seventeen and we can take care or ourselves just fine."

"You're forgetting that Nathaniel is not a normal boy, Ariya." Dad thunders, "You cannot imagine the consequences if anything goes wrong. And I cannot risk my job or the peace of the world for your mindless whims."

I draw in a long breath of air and blink a couple of times.

"Dad, with all due respect, you're being terribly unreasonable. How can you think for even a moment that I would ever do something to jeopardize this protection program?" I say, my blood beginning to simmer into a boil, "If anything, people will definitely notice if you accompany us. Because no seventeen year olds hang out at a mall with their father for heavens sake! And I just said that I wanted to drive in order to blend in. A couple of agents can tail us, of course."

Dad looks down at me from his imposing height for some time. He thinks it's a power tactic that will make me cower. Honestly, this very look terrified me until a few days ago but now I had the leverage. It was crystal clear to me that the protection program was more important to him than his life.

He opens his mouth to say something when Nathaniel knocks the wall beside the kitchen door as he peeks in.

"I apologise for the interruption, but I wanted to get a quick sip of water if that's no trouble." He addresses my father.

"By all means," Dad steps aside to give him easier access to the refrigerator in our tiny kitchen, "The house is yours."

The kitchen is a boring eggshell white and is designed with the bare necessities like a stove, a basic microwave oven and a medium sized fridge. No fancy fittings, and the cabinet doors creak every time you open or close them so we prefer to keep our washed dishes and glasses in the drying basket next to the sink.

Nathaniel strides over to the fridge and takes out the red Tupperware bottle filled with water that is assigned for him, pouring himself a glass.

I find my eyes tracking every move of his before coming to a rest on his slender throat, Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallows.

"Fine." Dad's thunderous tone cuts through my reverie and I look at him, confused momentarily.

"What?"

"I shall let the two of you drive to the next town alone without me under the condition that three agents will shadow you in disguise." He stares at me with a pointed look, as he speaks, "I expect you to be back home in time for your martial arts session this evening, Ariya. I will not tolerate it if you slack your designated duties."

"Thanks Dad. I knew you'd understand." I grin, "Love you!"

With an air of triumph, I drag Nathaniel out of the crowded kitchen excitedly and up the stairs.

"You know there's this new thrift store that's opened recently and it has the cutest clothes. I really want to check it out." I tell him, climbing up the stairs, skipping alternate ones, "Of course, today's about you. I have a list of the basics we need to buy. I hope your budget covers it and if it doesn't, I'm willing to pitch in from my allowance. I'll text you the list."

"I don't think I have your number saved in my mobile phone." Nathaniel says with half a smile, clearly amused.

"What shit?!" I exclaim, "It's been twelve days since you arrived and you still so not have my number?"

"No." He replies, when I pause to look at him.

"Well, I suppose the intelligence department had already dispatched your things before I was incorporated into this protection program." I surmise, "Anyway, come down in ten minutes. We can exchange our numbers in the car."

Unsurprisingly, Dad makes sure to give us the manual operation car instead of the automatic one so that I need to concentrate more on driving. It smells strongly of over sprayed deodorant and coffee which usually puts me off. But I'm too excited to pause and make a sour face. I simply open my window and wait for the smell to wear off.

"Here," I unlock my screen and hand my mobile phone to Nathaniel, "Put in your new number and give yourself a missed call so you can save it. And I'm giving you control over the radio today because I'm in a great mood."

"All right, tell me to stop when you find a song you like." He begins to browse through the radio stations.

"No, you're manning the radio so you get to choose. Come on, I'd like to know your taste." I shake my head, eyes never leaving the road as I twist the throttle.

He switches the radio station twice before settling for a country pop music station that's having a Taylor Swift music marathon.

"Ooh, you like Taylor Swift too?" my lips curve up into a crooked smile.

"No." He replies curtly, "I normally prefer classical piano or listening to an orchestra so none of these stations really appealed to me, but I recognized this song. You were humming it endlessly last week. I presumed that you would like listening to it."

My smile becomes bigger.

"You know you're such a sweetheart, Nathaniel. You're so kind and polite, and you always do the most perfect things. Any girl who dates will be undoubtedly lucky." I chuckle, taking a left turn.

"Right." He mumbles looking away a little uncomfortably.

I suppose he must have some sort of family tradition that looks down on dating without betrothal or something since he's a royal. Or he's just shy.

We spend the rest of the drive in silence, Taylor crooning in the background.

"You shouldn't have argued when your father said he wanted to come with us." Nathaniel states out of the blue, when I drive into the parking lot of the mall.

"Do you not feel safe?" I raise one eyebrow.

"Well, it's always better to prevent any possible predicaments and this town is unknown to both of us." He explains calmly.

I pull the car key out of ignition and turn to face Nathaniel.

"Which is why we have three agents tailing us in disguise." I reply in a bored tone, "Besides, Dad would insist on going around with us if he came and it's embarrassing. It's so uncool. We're both old enough to make it through a shopping spree at the local mall without incident."

"But Ariya...."

"Oh come one!" I cut him off midsentence, stepping out of the car, "Don't you see that there's use of arguing over this? We're already here and I have a lot to do."

With a relentful sigh Nathaniel begrudgingly steps out of the front seat and I lock the car.

"Wait isn't that the car that almost ran over you this morning?" he asks, motioning towards a grey Volvo that rolls into the parking lot on the far side.

"I don't know, maybe. But I don't care now." I shrug hurriedly, "Let's go inside."

The mall hardly looks like a conventional one. It looks more like a plain grey building with ten odd shops and a couple of fast food joints, nothing like the big mall back in the city where I lived with Mum.

We make our way to the men's casuals section in the clothes store on the ground floor, soft pop music playing from the speakers installed in the corners of the shop.

I throw a scrutinizing glance at Nathaniel as I sift through the t-shirts, "I think medium will fit you and just try out a couple of these pants and tell me what your size is."

He picks up a pair of trousers from the pant rack and heads to the trial rooms, walking purposefully.

"Umm, we need to get you two pairs of denim jeans," I state, placing one hand on my waist after he tells me his size, "One blue and one black. And since your legs are decently built, we should get fitted ones."

"I think I'll also need a couple of pairs of running shorts for gym class and our jogs." Nathaniel suggests thoughtfully.

"Yes, I know. It's all in the list, and we'll get everything one after the other." I nod, "Wait, I forgot to send you the list. Just a sec."

I fish out my mobile phone from my raspberry pink sling bag and forward a copy of the list and approximate budget ice made to Nathaniel's number.

"I don't think I need a hoodie." He frowns, scanning through its contents, "The weather around here is too warm to ever wear one."

"I'm aware," I shrug, "But you'll need one, in case you ever fall ill. And don't say you won't because that's a legitimate possibility."

I pick out a pair dark washed jeans and hand it to Nathaniel before picking up one more in a slightly lighter shade and thrust it into his hands as well.

"I'll go look for a basket to carry all the clothes." I tell him, "Why don't you see what you like until then?"

I take a stroll around he store, mentally nothing all the sections I wanted to revisit for a closer look after I was done with Nathaniel's stuff.

"Excuse me, I am looking for a shopping bag. Where can I find it?" I ask a salesman piling boxes of handkerchief sets onto a shelf.

He points me in the direction of a small stand hidden behind the table of discounted clothing from the winter and fall collection which lies forgotten as everyone in the store moves past it to buy clothes for the summer.

Nathaniel neatly places a bunch of similar shirts in various shades of grey and black into the bag when I reach him.

"These are all turtle necks." I narrow my eyes, "Why do you need so many?"

"They are the only kind of shirts other than formal button downs that I will agree to wear. The t-shirts here don't suit my taste." He replies firmly.

I stare at him with a small frown but he ignores me.

"Ok, you can get these turtle necks but I'm going to make you buy at least two t-shirts. You don't need to wear them at school if you don't want, but you need them." I concede begrudgingly.

We spend the next two hours finding things that suit Nathaniel's liking and are acceptable in a normal school setting. I find that he's extremely picky and colour sensitive. And he prefers darker shades like blue, grey and black. And white. He reluctantly lets me throw in a red printed tee and a pale mint green pair of swimming shorts.

"Well, now that we're done picking out your things, let's go to the women's section." I grin brightly.

"I didn't know we had that on the agenda today." Nathaniel says blankly, "We are already running late and I don't think it's the best idea to cross your father today."

"Chill dude!" I urge him calmly, "I'm just looking at the clothes, I promise I won't buy anything, ok. Besides, we can spare fifteen minutes since we've already come all the way here."

"Aren't you an opportunist?" he mutters under his breath.

Shrugging slightly, I smile triumphantly and make my way to the section with cute flared pants.

Contrary to what I promised myself earlier, I end up buying a short lavender summer dress with polka dots and a delicate golden chain with a puzzle piece pendant to match.

"We're late." Nathaniel says softly as the cool evening air hits our faces when we step into the parking lot, but the sour expression etched onto his features makes his frustration obvious.

"We won't be if I drive fast." I reassure, fishing out the car key from my pocket.

All of a sudden, the lights in the parking lot turn off and tall shadows loom around us.

The crescent moon doesn't do much to illuminate the darkness, bats screech somewhere far away and add to the eeriness.

I catch a flash going off from the corner of my eye and the click of a camera echoes in my ears. The person in the shadows starts running in the opposite direction when they realize that I noticed.

"Get down, now!" I order Nathaniel in alarm, before running after the person.

I vaguely register the agents accompanying us shouting orders to seal the perimeter and exits as the person, who I can now make out is a tall man runs up to the old grey Volvo and jumps in.

Fuck! I shouldn't have put off its appearance as a coincidence.

Ridden with guilt, I run closer and memorise the number plate as the car drives towards a closed gate. The man's going to ram the car into the gate, I realise.

"Shoot at the tyres!" I yell.

The gunshot is silent, the tyres burst noisily and the car spins out of control before crashing into the wall beside the gate and I see the airbags blowing up. The man inside manages to climb out of the backseat door that's intact and attempts to climb over the wall and escape, but he crumples down to the ground in a fearful heap before he can run away. They shot him with a stun gun.

The agent closest to that gate runs towards the battered vehicle and the man lying next to it to investigate further, the others following as they call for backup.

I swallow slowly, making my way back to where Nathaniel is crouched between two cars.

"They managed to intercept the man and the camera on which he took your picture before he could send it to whoever he's working for. It had only loaded seventy two percent because of the choppy bandwidth in this area." I say quietly, my voice heavy with guilt and a tinge of fear.

"This shouldn't have happened at all in the first place!" he shouts, looking away as he gets up and Pat's the dust off his clothes.

"I'm sorry." I whisper.

"Your word means nothing to me. Everything that happened today is your fault, Ariya. Now if you'll please excuse me." Nathaniel throws, the bags he's holding into the boot of our car and strides past me furiously.

•><•

Someone is furious... *sigh*

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My semester is almost over and I'll be having my break soon! Just a few more exams before it gets over. I'm so excited for all the possibilities it holds. Hope everything goes well!