At Arms Length

Chapter 10

The night ended way too soon for my liking and I hated having to leave James arms to say goodbye to the guest, it was tradition and no matter how much I hated it I couldn't just blow it off like I wanted. It was 12 am when my brother approached James and I dancing to tell me that our father requested for me to stand by the front doors and say goodbye to the hundreds of guests. I let out a long exaggerated sigh and gave James a short goodbye and a kiss on the cheek since my brother was standing so close. As we walked away Lance draped his arm around my shoulder and gave me a half hug, "Did you enjoy your party?" he asked with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and looked down to hide my grin, "Yes, actually I did. Though I wish I could have spent more time with James." I answered truthfully. Lance chuckled, "I am very interested in how long you and him are going to last. Your relationship is pretty odd don't you think?" I narrowed my eyes at him and pulled away from him. "No, no I don't think it's odd. Why would you say that? I know you aren't a big fan of vampires but if dad can give us his blessing then I would think you could." He put his hands up in surrender, "Calm yourself, I didn't mean it like that. I just mean that you barely know him and you are already kissing him in front of the whole party." I growled in response and said, "I've known him for years, for your information." Lance shook his head with a look that I knew meant he was going to insult me. "Really, so what is his whole name? What does he do for fun? Hell what is his favorite color?" he asked with a holier than thou look. I gave him a look of displeasure, "I can't answer all of those questions. That is what he courting me is for, duh." Lance rolled his eyes, "Okay, but you could at least keep the PDA to zero in front of everyone, when you haven't even gone out with the guy. I'll give you this he does seem more appropriate match for you than that douchebag best friend of yours." I didn't reply because of the fact we were in ear shot of father, mother and our sisters. We stood next to the twins and gave polite goodbyes to the guest, and more personal ones to family members.

It felt like forever when the last guests, who happened to James and his parents, stopped in front of us. I smiled at James and looked at his parents, they had removed their masks and I remembered their faces. I had actually seen his father a lot over the years and I felt like slapping myself for not recognizing him sooner. "It was so good seeing you Sebastian and Clara." I said giving them a slight curtsy and a genuine smile, then I turned to James and my smile turned to a grin. "I am glad you came tonight. I do not think that I would have enjoyed my birthday half as much if you had not been present." He inclined his head as a slight bow, "I think I enjoyed the evening just as much as you I think and I hope that you would agree to spend an evening with me soon, with of course your parent's consent." He said with a breath catching smile. I was barely was able to take my eyes off of him to look at my parents for their consent. Both of them gave us indulgent smiles and my father gave me a nod as a sign of agreement, making my grin turn almost face slitting big. I turned my attention back to James. "I would absolutely love to spend an evening with you soon, but uh," my grin dimmed a bit as I thought of an obstacle. "What about um, Cameron... are you not his guardian?" James shoulders slightly stiffened at my question. "That will not be a problem, my father and I have discussed my position and I will not be guarding Cameron anymore. I will be understudying with the captain of the guard from now on so that I could possibly take over on day if I wish to do so." His voice was strained a bit as he explained this to me, I hated to be the reason James and Cameron were not close anymore. "James could I talk to you in private for a few minutes?" I asked ignoring our families stares. He nodded and offered me his arm, which I took and guided him towards a salon that was not too far from the front door.

Once the door was shut behind me I turned and looked at James trying to gage his emotions. "I do not want to be the reason that you and Cameron become distant. I have been around the two of you for years so I know that you two are really friend and that you have more than just a guardian and guarded relationship. I would hate myself if my decision to not be friends with Cameron any longer has anything to do with your decision to not to guard him anymore. I just do not want to be the reason there is a rift between the two of you." I said my body feeling ridged and uncomfortable with the thought of being the cause of a friendship to dissipate. "Breathe Victoria, relax please. I hate to make you feel uncomfortable or anxious." I nodded and took a deep breath, trying my best to relax. I rolled my shoulders and my neck trying to alleviate the tension in my body. "Sorry I just," he stopped me mid-sentence and with a finger placed on my lips. "Victoria let me speak," he said with a slightly amused tone of voice, "I made my decision on my own and though the situation with Cameron did have some connection with my decision making, but I did not solely decided to do this because of you. I had been deliberating over this with my parents for a while, I have learned all I can from watching over Cameron and it is time for me to move onto a higher position. So, please stop worrying over this. My relationship with Cameron has not dissipated, though it will be altered since I am not too fond of how he has been treating you and I have been trying to tell him for years that he should have been more sensitive to your feelings. I do not want you to feel guilty for Cameron's actions and I especially do not want you to feel guilt for my decisions." He said this as he slowly walked the few feet between us and caressed my cheek with his hand gently, making me feel slightly lighted headed from the gentle touch. I stared into his eyes unable to verbally respond though my body did with a small tremor of excitement down my spine and all I could do was nod in agreement. He gave me a gentle smile and pulled his hand away from my face. "We should get back to our families, we said we were only going to be a few minutes and I do not want to leave your parents with a bad impression." He said offering his arm once again before opening the door and exiting the room. When we reached our families I took my hand from his arm with a sigh, "This would be goodbye I would suppose then?" I asked my voice laced with obvious disappointment. James gave me a rueful smile, "Yes I suppose it would be Victoria. Good night and sweet dreams, Princess." He said taking my hand and lifting it to his lips, placing a chaste kiss on it. Which of course caused all the nerves in my body to ignite with excitement at his touch, causing another tremor to run down my spine once again. When he finally let go of my hand his rueful smile was replaced with a smirk, which I in turn gave him a playful glare. His smirk then turned into a grin. "Goodnight James." I said before turning to his parents and my own who from the looks on their faces had been enjoying our interaction. "Goodnight to you too and once again I truly appreciate you coming to celebrate my birthday." I said towards James' parents. They responded in kind and the three of them left after saying goodbye to my parents and siblings.