Diana awoke the next morning to find herself lying in Artemis' arms. He was still sleeping soundly, seemingly undisturbed by her sudden awareness. She slowly sat up, trying her hardest to not wake him. As soon as Diana began to lift herself off of the bed, Artemis' light snoring ceased as he grabbed hold of her wrist. Diana squealed, startled by Artemis' reaction. Artemis looked into Diana's fear stricken eyes and realized where he was. He immediately released her and sat up quickly, attempting to regain his composure by smoothing back his raven hair and straightening his wrinkled white dress shirt.

"Please explain to me what that just was?" Diana said quietly. In the two years they had been together, that was the first time Artemis had ever done that.

"It was just a reflex," Artemis tried to explain, and then cleared his throat. "Fowls are notorious for being paranoid. I didn't mean to frighten you."

    "You simply startled me," Diana relaxed back beside him for a moment. "I've seen scarier things. Speaking of, " Diana stood, straightening out her borrowed clothing, "Alex is probably freaking out right about now because I didn't come back."

"I know you were supposed to be back last night but you just looked so peaceful, I didn't want to disturb you" Artemis defended. "I'm sorry."

Diana laughed as she made her way to the bathroom. "Honestly, I'm glad you didn't wake me." Then she shut the door behind her.  Diana came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, dressed in her clothes from the night before, carrying her heels in hand. She had pulled her hair back neatly to help hide how desperately it needed a wash. She still looked as beautiful as the previous evening and it snapped Artemis from of his thoughts.

"I guess I should be getting you back," Artemis said, a small smile on his face.

"That's the plan," Diana replied.

Artemis stood, brushing out some creases in his button-up shirt. "Shall we then?" He held his hand out to escort her. Diana took the outstretched hand smiling and they left the room together.

Artemis and Diana slowly walked down the hallway hand-in-hand, in a comfortable silence. The sun shone brightly outside and came pouring in through the floor to ceiling medieval windows that lined the old stone brick hallway. It was rare that the sun was seen in Ireland; it would be a wonderful day to spend outside, and even Artemis was thinking it. He turned to open his mouth to speak to Diana when a very angry woman's voice interrupted him.

    "Diana Marie Foxwell!" the voice screamed. "Where have you been?"

Both Artemis and Diana turned around slowly to find Alex storming down the hallway looking incredibly irritated.

    "Oh, uh, hey Alex." Diana stammered over herself, trying to get over the initial shock of seeing her friend. Alex caught up to them and shot Artemis a nasty glare that actually scared him.

    "Answer the question young lady!" Alex crossed her arms and stared at her friend.

    "I spent the night at Artemis' dorm," Diana shrugged, preparing for the hellfire that was about to come. "It's really no big deal."

"And what exactly happened?" Alex continued. Artemis opened his mouth to interject but Alex cut him off instantly. "You don't get to speak. I'll deal with you later."

"Nothing happened," Diana shot back, frustrated with her friend.

"You spent the night with him! What do you mean nothing happened?" Alex argued.

"I mean just that, nothing happened. We fell asleep while we were watching a movie," Diana insisted, crossing her arms.

    Alex lost her bravado as she realized her friend was telling the truth. She turned and looked up at Artemis. "You had her in your room and you didn't do anything? Anything at all?"

    Artemis only nodded in response. Something about Alex when she was in a rage freaked him out a bit. Diana often referred to these rages as "Ginger Snaps," due to her friend's flaming red hair. They didn't happen often, but when they did, lord have mercy on anyone in her path.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Fowl?" she questioned.

"Hey, what we do is our business, mom," Diana retorted, unable to hide a smirk.

Artemis had opened his mouth to protest, but he was cut off.

"Hey!" another voice interrupted their conversation. "Drunk American girl!"

Alex turned towards the voice, instantly knowing that someone had recognized her from the party two nights ago. Running towards them was an athletic looking blond with bright green eyes. Alex shook her head, recognizing him as the guy she had made out with all during the party. She was disappointed that she had been all over this guy; she was just instantly repulsed by his confidence and seemingly perfect bravado.

The man slung his arm around Alex as if they were dating or something. "You never called," he said with a smile.

    Alex removed the athlete's arm from around her. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

    "Sebastian, your savior. We were pretty much all over each other at the party the other night. I caught you after you hit your head on a light fixture," Sebastian laughed. "Surely you must remember."

    Alex rolled her eyes, wishing she could forget. "Right..."

    "Where did you come from?" Diana tried to be polite, but really she wanted to punch this guy for showing back up. Just when she was thinking she had gotten Alex away from this guy...

"I was just visiting a friend," Sebastian retorted, waving down the hallway. A girl with short black hair blew him a kiss from a doorway just a few yards away before disappearing back into her room. Alex looked at him dumbfounded. No wonder she instantly resented him when she was sober; he was a bloody womanizer. Diana resisted giving her friend an I told you so look for the moment, but Alex knew it was coming.

"We were kind of in a private conversation before you got here," Alex tried to get rid of him. "So if you don't mind."

"What were you guys talking about?" Sebastian tried to ease his way into the conversation.

"I was just going to invite Diana to walk with me in the gardens this afternoon," Artemis turned his gaze back to Diana who seemed to melt under his blue eyes.

"And I was about to say yes, and Alex was getting ready to go back to the dorm room," Diana added, regaining her composure and glaring back at Sebastian.

"That actually sounds pretty nice," Sebastian said with a smile, seeming not to notice that his presence was unwanted. "You wanna hang in the gardens today?"

Alex looked at Diana who was giving her a glare that said just say no, and then to Artemis, who was still looking at Diana. Alex squinted her eyes, debating her options. "Why not," she sighed.

"Great, I'll swing by your dorm at three and we'll go for a walk," Sebastian replied, putting his arm back around Alex. The girl left it there this time, hoping to fool Diana into thinking that she really did want to go for a walk with this guy.

"I'll come and get you around then as well," Artemis added to Diana. He took Diana's hand and kissed the top of it lightly. Diana's heart melted a bit as Artemis left her side and walked calmly back to his room. She stood there as Alex managed to get rid of Sebastian without kissing him and then they began walking back to their room together.

"What do you have up your sleeve?" Diana asked as they both walked into their room.

"Why do you insist that I have some kind of plan when I'm merely going for a stroll in the park with a guy I hooked up with at a party at the same time you and Artemis are going?" Alex said way too sweetly.

"Because I know for a fact that you resent that guy," Diana countered.

"You have exactly two hours to get ready so I suggest you hop in the shower," Alex changed the subject. Diana realized that Alex was right. If she didn't get in the shower now she wouldn't be ready come three o'clock.

"We'll finish this discussion later," Diana replied, pointing her finger and narrowing her eyes. Then she made her way to the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

Three o'clock came quickly and when the doorbell rang, Diana was the first to jump up. Alex sat on the couch and rolled her eyes, obviously not looking forward to this. Diana answered the door to find a prudent Artemis waiting in dark jeans and a black t- shirt. It was several steps down from his normal apparel but he still somehow managed to make it look fancy. His mother insisted that he tried to be more "normal," so occasionally Artemis attempted to wear something other than his suits. Diana didn't mind this unduly, but it always caught her off guard.

"Hey," Artemis said with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey," Diana smiled as he blew a stray lock of his flawless raven hair from his eyes. The two of them just looked at each other for a moment until the nuisance arrived yet again.

    "Is Alex ready to go yet?" Sebastian interjected from just behind Artemis.

    "Right here," Alex said unenthusiastically. Sebastian looked good in his jeans and white t-shirt, but Alex still didn't like him the least bit.

    "You look great," Sebastian complimented with a smile. When Alex didn't reply, he added, "Let's go." For a moment, Alex could have sworn she saw something different in Sebastian, something that was being hidden or covered up. Maybe who he really was, and she kind of liked it. But just as quickly as it had shown itself, it vanished. So Alex shook her head and didn't dwell on it or get her hopes up.

    They all headed out to the grounds' gardens. It was late spring so the flowers were still in bloom and my, did it look beautiful on a sunny day. A light breeze ruffled the trees as they walked under them, causing hundreds of light pink flower petals to shower over them. Alex and Sebastian sat on a bench beneath a flowering apple tree as Diana and Artemis continued to walk on.

    "You really don't like me do you?" Sebastian asked, playing with a flower petal between his fingers.

    Alex was caught off guard by the question and glanced over at him. "Honestly," she began. Sebastian nodded for her to continue. "No I don't. I find the fact that you're a womanizer and grossly charming to be repulsive."

    "You really don't know how to break it to someone easy do you?" Sebastian laughed, seemingly not bothered by the fact that she found him unappealing.

    "It's never been in my nature to sugar coat anything," Alex said with a smile.

    "I got a smile out of you," Sebastian retorted, "that's gotta count for something."

    "You're very persistent aren't you?" Alex asked.

    "It's never been in my nature to give up," Sebastian replied with a smile. Alex began to let her guard down but she caught herself. He was not to be trusted; she could feel it. As he continued to smile, Alex took notice that his eyes seemed somewhat glossy, glazed over almost. They were bloodshot and red as well, but that was probably due to heavy partying. Alex shook her head, trying to shake the uneasy thoughts she was having.

    Something really wasn't right with this Sebastian guy. She stood to walk away but Sebastian grabbed her wrist lightly. "You're leaving already?" he questioned, practically pouting.

    "As I said before, I'm not interested," Alex repeated, gently pulling her wrist away.

    "Then why did you say yes?" Sebastian smiled slyly.

    Alex opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't find an accurate response. Why had she said yes? Originally it was to keep an eye on Diana but she had let Diana disappear with Artemis. Maybe there were some kind of underlying feelings for Sebastian.

    Sebastian stood from the bench and, before Alex even realized what was happening, pressed his lips against hers. Alex was stiff under his warm lips, partly too shocked to react and partly because she was fighting against the urge to kiss him back. In her panic, Alex drew her right fist back and punched Sebastian in the left side of his jaw.

    He stumbled backwards and wiped the little bit of blood that was coming from the corner of his mouth. Alex waved her hand in the air trying to ignore the pain in her knuckles. She began massaging it as she walked away to find Diana. Sebastian simply laughed it off like it was all in good fun.

    Alex found Diana and Artemis a few yards ahead kissing under a gazebo. She actually found herself sighing at the adorable sight. Maybe this Artemis guy wasn't so bad after all. Even though her friend had been seeing Artemis for over two years now, Alex still wasn't so sure about how she felt about Artemis. Really, she wanted to dislike the guy because by all accounts he was a bad guy. But he had saved Diana, and he treated her right. It was a confusing situation, but she shook it off as she approached them.

    Alex walked up to Diana still massaging her sore hand. "Can we go back to the dorm room so I can get some ice?"

    Diana's worry instantly kicked in as she took her friend's now purple hand gently. These motherly instincts of hers were kicking in all too frequently recently. "What the hell did you punch? A brick?"

    "I hit Sebastian. In the face," Alex said reluctantly.

    "Did you really?" Artemis asked, surprised by the redhead's response.

    "He kissed me so I hit him," Alex said, shrugging it off.

    "Well don't you just play hard to get?" Artemis teased.

    "I don't need any comments from the peanut gallery alright?" Alex said impatiently. "Right when I was starting to like you, you chime in with your smart ass comment."

    "You're right; it was a little brutish," Artemis somewhat apologized. To actually say he was sorry would've been too much to hope for.

    "I've got to get her back to the dorm and to a nurse," Diana said to Artemis, and then she turned back to Alex. "Way to go on punching him though."

    "Thank you, I found it to be an appropriate manner to say no that he would understand," Alex said calmly, despite her bruised knuckles.

    They turned to leave when Artemis had a last minute thought. "I thought you wanted me to help you practice tonight, Diana?"

    Artemis had reluctantly been helping Diana practice soccer. Mostly that meant him standing there in the net and rolling the ball back out to her after she shot it. Sometimes, if he was feeling more adventurous, he would attempt to kick it back to her. Most of the time, he chose the first option. Some things changed, but Artemis Fowl's lack of enthusiasm for athletics was not one of them.

"I don't know Artemis. Alex's hand is looking kinda bad," Diana said, hardly hiding her disappointment. "My soccer skills can always get worked out later."

Alex looked at her friend like she was crazy. "My hand will be fine," she told Diana. "I'll wrap it up and ice it a bit, and we can come back down. It's no big deal, really."

"Are you sure?" Diana asked.

Alex rolled her eyes, and then looked to Artemis. "We'll practice. No worries. After all, what could go wrong?"