...

What...happened?

Halle's grip on reality had slipped, and she remembered feeling herself begin to sway at the party. She had been drinking wine with Prince Joshua, and amidst her clouded memories, Halle had recalled someone picking her up in their arms. That person's hold on her was gentle as they carried her somewhere.

Who...?

Halle stirred slightly in her half-conscious state, and she snapped open her eyes in sudden alarm. Why was she lying in her bed back in her room!? When did she even...? Agh...

Halle abruptly sat up in bed, and she noticed she was still wearing the dress from the night before. Or perhaps it was now just later that same night? It was pitch black outside, and the clock showed it was around eleven at night. Halle had been lying on top of her bed with the same blanket from before placed on top of her, and that immediately had her curiosity piqued.

This was the blanket that Prince Joshua used to...

She didn't even bother to finish that thought, and Halle instantly got up from her bed and checked herself in the mirror once before leaving the room with the blanket in her hand.

_________________________________

Halle started off down the corridor when she heard dance music being played somewhere nearby. Huh... That was odd. Perhaps the party was still going? She guessed Prince Joshua would still be there entertaining his guests then, and she kept walking in that direction when suddenly a dull thud reached her ears.

Halle froze in her tracks and looked to her right at the door she stood in front of: Prince Joshua's office.

"No way..." Halle shot the door a scrutinizing look as she cautiously approached the door, and she gently knocked on it. When there came no answer, she lightly pushed it open and invited herself in, just as she had done last time. "Excuse me, Your Highness, are you in here...?"

As she predicted, Prince Joshua was lying on the floor in the same position as before, still sound asleep after rolling off the couch.

Halle scoffed a little as she looked at him, and she shook her head a little. "I just don't get you, Prince Joshua..." She knelt down on the floor beside him, and she carefully draped the blanket she was holding over him as she stared at his oddly peaceful-looking face.

Despite her attempts to not wake him up, Prince Joshua's eyes slowly fluttered open when he felt the blanket cover him, and he instantly looked at Halle as his vision began to adjust. "Mm... Oh, you're awake..."

Halle just chuckled adorably at his very tired observation. "So are you, it seems. And you will catch a cold if you sleep on the floor like that..."

Prince Joshua's eyebrows knitted together at he shot her a wry smile. "You're one to talk." He slowly sat up from the floor and moved himself back up to the sofa. "I drank a bit too much tonight... Are you all right, Halle?"

"Honestly, I overdid it too..." Halle rubbed at her forehead tiredly. "I'm much more like myself now though after having lied down for a bit."

Prince Joshua just smiled after hearing that. "That's good. Back at the party, I thought you were just going to sit down in a chair when you suddenly just started to fall asleep."

"What!?" Halle almost yelped a little in surprise, and she slapped a hand over her mouth in embarrassment. "I fell asleep at the party!?"

Prince Joshua's eyes widened as he looked at her, not having realized that she didn't know. "Don't you remember?"

"No..." Halle trailed off a little, shaking her head. "When I came to, I saw that I had somehow made it back to my bed... I wasn't really sure what had happened."

Prince Joshua drew his lips into a thin line as he scoffed lightly in response to her silly, blurted-out thought. "You make it sound as if you were sleepwalking."

"Sleepwalking...?" Halle knitted her eyebrows together in confusion, and her face suddenly grew red at she stared at Prince Joshua embarrassingly with her widened brown eyes. "D-don't tell me you carried me all the way to my room...!?"

His eyebrows twitched as she spoke, and Prince Joshua just laughed at her. "Why me? There's no way I would do something like that." He let his eyes linger on her for a moment as he studied her expression, finding her reactions to be amusing as always.

"Oh..." Halle stared down at her lap at his rejection, a little confused now. Now all she could think about was what that feeling she had of someone carrying her really was...

"Shouldn't you go back to your room and rest?" Prince Joshua pulled the blanket around himself a little as he shot her a tied look. "You did have a lot to drink."

"Your Highness too." Halle twisted her mouth into a displeased frown, and she rose an eyebrow at him critically like a mother would do to her own child. "If you are going to sleep, you should do it in a bed."

"Really..." Prince Joshua scoffed a little, and he stared off to the side of the room at nothing in particular. "You don't gain anything by worrying about me. You should only think about yourself."

Halle smirked wryly at his somber statement, finding it completely amusing because it was just so like him to think of it like that. "Telling me what to do is completely useless, you know." She folded her arms across the couch cushion and rested her head on top of them, grinning up at Prince Joshua mischievously. "In case you haven't realized this by now, I don't particularly listen when others tell me what to do." She grinned brighter at the stunned look on Prince Joshua's face, and she just kept going. "And, I am also just the type of person who worries about others unselfish reasons, so you should just get used to it." She laughed a little at the look on his face, and she winked flirtatiously to him briefly. "Someday you'll see it my way. I am a lawyer, after all. I'm a very persuasive woman."

Prince Joshua was starting to get used to this strange woman stunning him into silence with her words, but he could honestly say that she had never before shocked him more than she had just now. He stared at her with the widest eyes ever, completely shell-shocked. It took him a good minute to regain his thoughts, and once he did, he lightly smiled at her. "I suppose I should be the one listening to you this time..."

Halle smiled when he gave in to her, and she took in one deep breath as she relaxingly shut her eyes for a moment. "This is probably the last time I will be able to speak to Your Highness like this." She spoke without thinking, and Prince Joshua smiled sadly as he laid down on the sofa.

"I was just getting used to having you around." He looked at her longingly, masking his true thoughts and feelings behind his deep purple eyes.

"Wha..." Halle's words got caught in her throat as she blinked back her shock, staring at him owlishly.

Prince Joshua didn't remove his gaze from her even for a second. "It's going to be strange not having someone here pestering me all the time..." There was a sad look in his eyes as he stared down at her, and it felt like a stab to the heart for Halle to see those sad eyes of his. "You're troublesome to have around, and yet I feel troubled that you are going away..." Prince Joshua laughed cynically under his breath. "I can't win either way..."

Halle was stunned into silence as she looked at Prince Joshua's face; her eyes swam with utter confusion. Was he trying to tell her that he'd be sad to see her go?

"I'm planning on going to the party at Nobel Michel Castle tomorrow..." Prince Joshua nonchalantly changed the subject, successfully pulling Halle from her thoughts and putting and end to that awkward silence that sat between them. "You should come too."

"What?" Halle blinked at Prince Joshua, at a loss for a response. Why did he want her to go to a party? Her, of all people...?

"I'll give you a lift." Prince Joshua wouldn't take no for an answer as he got comfortable on the couch, and the tiredness returned to his face as he let himself relax a little.

"But..." Halle rose her pointer finger up to protest, not really sure how to answer this.

If she said no, it would be awkward. But, if she said yes, she could spend a little more time with him... Even if it meant tolerating one more miserable party.

Prince Joshua smiled shyly, and Halle's heart gradually began to beat faster. "I'm sure the other princes will be happy to see you, though I know I made the mistake of thinking you were a noblewoman in the first place..."

"Prince Joshua..." Halle's eyes fluttered awkwardly to stare down at the floor, and she found herself unable to look at him any longer.

Faced with his smile, she felt as if she never wanted to leave.

And that terrified her.

___________________________________

Halle made whatever excuse was necessary and ran out of that office as fast as she could. As soon as she shut the door to Prince Joshua's office behind her, she slammed her back against it and slowly slid down to the floor where she melted into a pathetic little puddle on the tile flooring.

"No, no, no..." Halle cursed herself as she pressed her hands firmly over her heart, internally scolding herself. "No, I can't let this happen..."

No matter what Halle did, she couldn't calm her racing heart. No man had ever made her feel this way just by being around him, and it terrified her. She could see exactly where this was going, and she couldn't let this happen. The things she felt when just talking to Prince Joshua were all new to her, and it completely terrified her. The last time she met someone she cared for this much was Prince Roberto, who was really her only friend actively in her life, and meeting him was just a happy accident. She hadn't planned on befriending him, but fate had other ideas... Honestly, she planned to live her life alone, and constantly distance herself from anyone who tried to get close.

The hatred that lied in her heart was too strong to just get rid of, and it was toxic. It made Halle sick because it was just always there, constantly poisoning her... And it didn't positively effect anyone around her, either. More often than not, it always chased them away, one way or another... She didn't want this to happen to Prince Joshua and her.

Her hatred consumed her soul on a daily basis, and her thoughts were always occupied by it. Because of that hatred she developed so young, she also had grown a strong sense of justice, and that was why she became a lawyer. Halle would do anything to put criminals behind bars. And not because it was the right thing to do, but because they were scum, and she couldn't stand to let scumbags like them roam free on the streets just to do others harm, like they did to her. Scumbags like him.

She couldn't let herself get close to anyone else, especially Prince Joshua... She had really started to grow fond of him over these past few weeks, and that just made this all so much harder. Especially since he was very confusing, and he did a very good job at making her feel unsure of her own feelings.

She had to leave, for both their sakes.

Halle felt a stray tear roll down her cheek, and she sniffled a little as she picked herself up off the floor and ran towards her room as fast as she could. "Anyone who gets close enough to me just always gets hurt... I can't do that to him. Not him..."

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XD I feel so bad for not updating in like...a month. Sorry guys!! I got really caught up in the excitement of working my my Metro PD fanfiction, Catch Me If I Fall, so I haven't been working on this one as much. Sorry about that! I'll start to get back on my game now, I promise.

So anyways, let's talk about Halle and Prince Joshua...

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I think we all know what's kinda going on here, although we're sorta in that awkward, straight-up denial stage on one end, and on the other we've got an intense case of the "this is never going to happen," kind of denial. Yikes. This might end in flames, but I guess there's only one way for you guys to find out... >:3

Read, comment, vote, and enjoy!