"You promise."

Amelia rolls her eyes like a child throwing a tantrum. "I do."

"You promise you won’t blame me if we end up anywhere that’s not Pyrenees."
I look at her cautiously.

She takes a deep breath. "Yes. How many times do I have to promise?"

Okay.
We hold the clock and in an instant, we’re in a different setting, an amphitheater.

Inside are students dressed in maroon blazers holding musical instruments. Passing them papers is a familiar face.

"An orchestra, Frankie? Really?"

I shake my head, remembering it hasn’t even been a minute since she swore she wouldn’t blame me for the outcome.
"Oh my goodness..." Amelia rushes down the stairs with joy and energy.

"It’s Malcolm!"

In the midst of it, Malcolm is visibly shocked by our appearance.

"Oh no," he says, hugging Amelia.
"You’re not supposed to be here."

"Surprise, surprise," I mutter, annoyed.
Once again, Malcolm and I weren’t on good terms back in Leeseland either. And now this completes their little squad.

"Come here." He takes us to the main entrance.

"You have to go."

"We know, Malcolm," Amelia replies, exhausted.

"You don’t understand, this is a—"

"Oh wow," one of the students interrupts out of nowhere. "Girls."

"This is a male zone only."

"What?"

More attention is drawn to us.

"Are they always this beautiful?"

We hold the clock, Amelia against her will, and return.

"For now, let’s just wait till the 25th hour."
I’m done.

For the first time since I got here, I allow myself to do something I’ve avoided entirely: Think of Xanthe.

I let my thoughts be filled with nothing but his voice and our passionate lovemaking.

I have to admit, I hid these thoughts for Austin. When I saw the way he looked at me, I felt guilty for even allowing Xanthe to look at me—let alone go as far as he did.

But nothing ever felt as good. Even the memories had a smell of their own.

Austin adds another spoon of oats to my plate.
"Are you okay?" he finally asks.

It’s been three months and three days.

"Yes," I try to play it discreet like we usually do.
But instead, he sits next to me.

My heart peaks.
"Austin, if—"

"It’s okay. Everyone’s busy doing whatever."

It takes a while just to breathe.

"Just relax. Do you need more food?"

He’s acting like he did when we were back in school.
Just like now, he and I weren’t supposed to be seen together, but he made exceptions, and it would warm my heart the same way it does now.

"Yes. But not oats. I freaking hate oats."

He laughs, all his innocence returning. The blonde hair playing into his lashes.
"You never used to swear."

"Have you spoken to Amelia? She’s a whole new person."
Amelia, as always, pristine and propped up like a doll with the best outfits and bags. If she wasn’t with Malcolm and Hayden, she was with her minions, ruining lives.

He nods thoughtfully. "Yeah, I did."

He laughs lowly.
"I almost thought I was losing my mind. To think she cried over someone breaking her tiara during prom."

We both laugh lightly this time.

He looks at me.
"I’ll bring you something else that isn’t oats."

From then on, he makes it a point to eat at my table before the bell rings.

Amelia, across the courtesies, glares at us like it’s high school all over again.

"What happened?"

Austin appears just as I’m washing a cut on my hand.
"Nothing."

He takes my hand.
"That’s deep. You have to be careful."
He wraps it with a cloth, and I feel the same safety I used to feel with him years ago settle back in.

"Be careful, okay?"

"Sure."

This can’t be happening to us again.

Amelia takes it upon herself to laugh at our fate that night in the pen.

"This can’t be happening to you two. No, not again."
She laughs.

"To experience it on the sidelines now is hysterical. I remember being the girl he was bound to marry and you being what he wanted. I thought you two were meant to be. But now it’s clear as day, you two aren’t meant to be. Not in our old world, and sure as hell not in this one either."
She gets up, staring me down.

"It’s never you. It’s him marrying someone else."

Amelia’s words hit like hot coals, and something even colder.

To get back at Austin, I drown myself in thoughts of Xanthe again.

It’s been months now and I wonder about Nightfall.
Did Fleur Panache survive it?
Is Enasis still alive?
Did Xanthe fade into obscurity like the underworlds usually do during the night creatures season?

Sometimes his face disappears from my memories.
Other times, it returns sharp as shards of glass, as if waking me from a dream.

"Miss Oliveira!"
I wake up in the pen with a start.

"Hey."
Austin appears, all sincere.

For some reason, it pisses me off.

I’m at the sink area, washing my hands.

"Is there anything you need?"

"No."

"So the other day—"

"No..."

He stops, now aware I’ve closed off.
He still has all the familiar looks from the boy next door to the one I lost when the Typhoon separated us at 18.

Now, at 22, here we are.
He has no choice but to steal moments with me again.

"Frankie, I know things have changed between us… but—"

"But what?"

"But this is it for me. I prayed for this, you know? For us to reunite. Every moment I don’t spend with you feels wasted."

"You’re betrothed to another... again."

"And just like before, I’ve had no choice in the matter. She handpicked me. Denying the princess meant trading my life."

"I know you see me as this coward who..."

"I don’t."

"You do. And it’s fine. Frankie... it gets so lonely without you.
Stuck in this purgatory... and you’ll leave."

He pulls me into a hug.
A hug I didn’t know I needed, one that felt like home.

Like Leeseland.
When I had no one and he would pull me in...
And I’d pull away...
So he’d pull me tighter...

And it felt like home.
I could never push him too far.

"It’s only when you’re with me that I don’t feel lonely."