This Is What It's Like To Be Lovers [ON HOLD]

15: I Swear We Were Friends

• Lost in the light by Bahamas •

It was the blue hour when Lari was forced to wake up. She woke up like one does from a nightmare, but it seemed as if this one didn't stop with her eyes opening. For her left pinky twitched violently, to the point where it hurt.

"Goodness, stop," she winced and cursed at it, holding it within her other palm. Her words had woken the cats too and they gathered around her, meowing and bumping their heads against her.

"Trouble?" Lari heard Miss Mewton Pie ask.

"It's Jun again," the human answered. "I'm tired of this bullshit. Why did I ever allow him to put a fucking spell on me, Missy?"

"Language," she heard again, and snorted.

Exasperated, the Princess left the mattress to walk up to the nearest window. The blue aura had already seeped through the thin slits of the windows, and she unlatched them to welcome the light with open arms.

A cold breeze walked in alongside, and a shiver kicked her spine. But this was nothing, she had experienced much colder temperatures in Eira. She walked from window to window, pausing at the door as well to open them all up. Breathing in the musty, kind of manure-ish, vegetative smell, she realized she may be gone from here before long. Where to, she had left for Jade to decide.

As long as she was with her, she didn't care where.

But Jun's spell was stronger than the magical feeling that Jade's thoughts had cast upon her. With another twitch of the finger, growls of hunger replaced the butterflies in her stomach.

Lari grabbed a jar of cookies from the kitchen top and a saucepan filled to the brim with water. Munching on one, she watched as Missy leapt onto the counter and they both looked in. Jun was there.

"Did I wake you up, Princess?" He asked in a tone inclining to flirtation. "You look sleepy. Is it morning where you are? Or were you just napping?"

"Can we get this over with quickly?" She replied curtly.

The young soldier had made it a point to pull the strings almost every day in the last two weeks, making the Princess give out a gasp and have to rush to the washroom. Lying to Jade on a regular basis was becoming exhausting lately and she wondered every day when it'd be over with.

She didn't want to lie to Jade anymore, she wanted to disclose this aspect of her daily life to her. But she had no idea how she'd react so she refrained from it.

"Yes, Princess, of course," Jun answered. His voice and image were now much clearer than the first day. Lari could tell that his magic had become stronger and more refined. But what she couldn't tell was what that meant for her.

"How are you today?" He asked. "Is your friend treating you well?"

"Yes, very well. I'm fine. And yes, I just woke up from an afternoon nap," her spine tingled with the lie. "Are we done?"

"Just one more thing. When do you plan on returning, Princess? Haven't you had enough yet?"

Mewton hissed at the water, and Lari would have done the same if she wasn't human. "I'm not sure when I'd return, Jun. But thanks for your concern."

"Your parents are worried, Princess. They're constantly sending letters and soldiers to other realms in search of you. How are you staying out of their reach? I don't know where you are, but you must have noticed all the ruckus about you and your friend."

"We.. umm.." she tried to come up with something, anything. "We mostly stay indoors. Like I said, Jun, I'll return when I want to. You don't have to-"

"Princess?"