The beat of the still heart[Completed]

24: Friendship

Hana carefully climbed down from the bed and replaced herself with Jassabella's favorite teddy bear named Chimmy so that Jassabella would have a peaceful sleep. For some reason, the feeling of uneasiness was making her unable to sleep therefore she had decided to go out for a walk.

Hana tip-toed out of the room planning to head towards the park nearby when she found Daniel already in the living room drinking alone.

"Having fun without me" Hana plunged beside him and filled one of the empty glasses with the wine.

"Couldn't sleep?" She asked him observing his dim face and Daniel replied with a small hmm.

"Wanna share?" She proceeded to take a sip of red liquor while waiting for Daniel to open up.

"Just recalling how you had nearly beaten me to death when I first tried to kiss you and today even though that brat kissed you for thirteen times and the only thing he got was light smacking on his cheeks" Daniel vented out his jealousy as subtle as possible.

"That brat thinks you are harsh to him, the funny part is he has no idea how brutal you can be." he snickered chucking the rest of his drink at once

"Ya-When was I ever brutal to you idiot, " she gave him a tight smack on his arms and Daniel was quick to point out now earning soft giggles from her.

"Is he the one?" Daniel inquired though he was terrified to know her answer.

" I feel attracted to him and I go soft, but I really don't know if those are the signs of falling in love. However, more than goody-goody feeling I get annoyed by him, He acts so stupidly sometimes..." Hana revealed while Daniel listened to her quietly.

"...Reckless actually, but then I understand where he is coming from. After all, He is the crown prince of Death valley. He will be the regent of the emperor in the future. I know he was brought up in a different environment and all but no matter how hard I try to be calm around him, he somehow manages to trigger me and you know how rarely I lose my cool...." she continued venting her emotions.

" I do feel like giving in to his stubbornness but again his attitude makes me rethink- I doubt I can handle someone that has been so entitled all of his life and I also doubt that he can handle me, I mean look at me, I can be a pain in the ass too. There are so many other things I need to consider which he hasn't bothered to even think about and all these differences make me feel skeptical about us...."

"And yet every single time he appears in front of you, your mind is in mess, your breath stops and your heart is no more in control" Daniel completed her sentences empathizing exactly how she felt as it was no different than how he felt for her.

"Some of those things happen" Hana admitted and even though hearing her confession was one of the worst pain Daniel had experienced in his life, he managed to smile at her.

"No matter how smart you are Hana, you are really clueless about love right" Daniel shook his head in dismay not knowing how he could help her naive friend.

"I am not that ignorant okay, I have fallen in love before..."

"With anime guys," Daniel reminded her about her crush that didn't exist.

"So what? they are men too, I mean have you seen how hot captain Levi is" Hana quickly defended herself while all Daniel did was give her a pity look.

"He is the sexiest man ok"

"But he isn't real"

"How would you know that?" for the entire night, they kept bickering like kids, making plans for their upcoming holiday.

Growing up in a family where all that mattered was wealth and power, Daniel was a troubled child. Though pampered with materialistic things he had never received parental love. His own family always treated him as if he was some kind of retard because he was neither well-behaved nor serious regarding his responsibility as a prince.

His family had hidden him from the eyes of the public feeling he would bring their family to shame for years causing him to leave his family and come and live with his exiled uncle in Venesia. If His bond with Hana was not revealed to his mother, his family would have made no effort to bring him back to his country.

He hated how his parents saw him just as a pawn to expand their empire. He felt trapped to be in a position he didn't wish to acquire, especially after the previous crown prince, his stepbrother, was murdered in cold blood by some mysterious invaders. He loved his brother and was broken by his death and to add salt to his grieving heart his mother had wasted no time asking his father to make him the crown prince allowing her to gain more power and rise in the court.

Daniel was horribly trapped by his family and their politics and before Hana came into his life, he was practically living in hell. At first, she was just a commoner for him but soon he began feeling vulnerable around her because she could see right through his facets. As if his suffocation was visible to her she was never harsh to him even when he was terrible to her.

Hana had opened up a door in his heart that he didn't even know existed. She was the person who taught her compassion, love, and true friendship. He loved her as a friend and as a woman and even though he knew she didn't love him back as a man, her love for him as her friend was abundant.

He couldn't explain but she made him feel safe, she gave him the warmth he needed, therefore, no matter how big a storm would be, he knew no power would be able to break their bond.