Anne followed behind Lianne as she walked out of the classroom. The moment Lianne stepped out of the door, Byron reached out to grab her arm.

Lianne swiftly dodged it by stepping to the side and gave him a glare before saying, "Leave me alone."

Byron's hand dropped down and seeing the obvious displeasure on her face, he decided to take a step back (figuratively).

"I'm sorry," Byron said, "Can we talk?"

As much as Lianne wanted to say 'no', she knew that it was best to get this over and done with. Avoiding him or ignoring him without making the line clear wouldn't solve anything.

"Not right now," Lianne said, "My Dad is already here to pick me up."

"Tomorrow then? Before class?"

"Sure," Lianne replied, then twirled on her feet and left immediately. Byron watched her go helplessly - yet again - and briefly wondered whether her back walking away from him was a sight that he would be often looking at.

It was something he did not want to see often, that's for sure.

Byron clenched his hands into a fist.

Before, he had been interested in finding that elusive Cinderalla of his. It started as something interesting, then ... an obsession of sorts.

Now, he didn't know what to call it.

All he knew, was that he didn't want to let her go so easily.

It didn't quite occur to him that she was never his in the first place to 'let go'.

In his mind, she was already his. It was just a matter of her admitting to it.

✿ Author only posts on w.e.b.n.o.v.e.l. ✿

That night, Lianne knocked on Joseph's door and entered after he said 'Come in'.

Joseph looked up and was surprised to see that it was his sister.

He closed his laptop, and twirled around in his seat to face her, "What's up?"

She closed the door and stood there, looking at her brother before saying, "I'm using Zero as a shield against Byron."

"Wait, what?" Joseph said, not comprehending as he looked at her dumbfoundedly, "Since when has Byron been in the picture?"

"Remember two years ago, when he was looking for his so-called Cinderella?" Lianne asked.

Joseph's face broke into a grin then he started laughing, "Oh yes, I remember that. It was epic indeed. That Byron was like a headless chicken, going about looking for the girl that did not exist. He …."

Joseph stopped as he saw how she was looking at him.

"Wait …" Joseph faltered, "Why are you asking about her … are you ... "

Suddenly, he remembered the details. Girl. Curly hair. Draws.

No. Way.

No. Freaking. Way.

"What? YOU'RE that Cinderella?"

"Wow, about time you figured that out," Lianne muttered, "It's been like, what? Only two years."

"You've never shown any indication whatsoever!" protested Joseph.

"That's because I had no interest whatsoever," explained Lianne patiently, "So why should I bother?"

"But now, he knows it's you? How did that come about? And what is this using Zero bit?"

"How he knows? I don't know," Lianne admitted. It was a far stretch to say that he recognised her because he never did all this while.

Was it simply because he had seen her sketches?

That's all?

It was hard to believe.

Then again, never underestimate the mind of a fool. They could make the most illogical conclusion based on the most ridiculous facts and somehow, by sheer luck, be right.

"As for Zero, why not? Who else and what else can I do?" Lianne said.

"You could just say no," Joseph replied.

Lianne looked at her brother and asked, "Really. You're really saying that. This is Byron, remember. The person who kept on looking for that Cinderella for months?"

Joseph pursed his lips.

She had a point.

"The best and fastest way to stop someone from having any interest is to have a boyfriend, right," Lianne said.

Actually, it wasn't necessarily the best. Lianne knew that. If a guy was stubborn or dense enough, he would ignore that fact and just feel that he was a better candidate. In short, steal the girl away.

With Byron's personality, it was hard to tell.

He had a big ego but that could go both ways.

Feel that he's too good for you so give up (the good way that Lianne was hoping for) or, feel he's better and chase after you simply for the conquest. He may not necessarily want to be with you, but it strokes his ego that he could 'have' you even though you had a boyfriend.

Lianne hoped Byron wasn't in the second category.

Either way, Zero is the best shot because if Byron happened to fall into the second category, Zero was scary enough to shoo him away.

Zero definitely would not be a passive shield.

Of course, Lianne wasn't going to tell Joseph that. If he had thought she was in any danger, then he'd tell their father. She wouldn't blame him for it either.

"Zero is a good friend, and wouldn't misunderstand," Lianne said, "So he fits the bill to a T."

"Okay, I will grant you that," Joseph said, "But is Zero alright with that?"

"Yeah, he's fine. I just had to tell you so that you're prepared and most importantly ..."

"Don't tell Papa, I know," Joseph said, putting up his hand, "Papa would kill you after he deals with Zero."

Lianne snorted, "As if he could even touch a hair on Zero's head."

"Zero would let him, you know," Joseph pointed out.

Lianne looked at Joseph, and thought, that her brother wasn't that dense after all.

"But isn't Zero just too old for you? I'm sure Byron wouldn't believe that you guys are a couple because of it, so how would that work?"

"Please. You're giving Byron too much credit," Lianne scoffed, "First, Zero doesn't look like he's in his 30s. He looks more like Kay's age."

Joseph shook his head, saying, "I can't believe anyone that old can look that young. Well, at least he doesn't look like he is in his teens. Now, that is something completely ridiculous. I mean, can you imagine? A 30-year-old looking like a 15-year-old."

Lianne had to bite her tongue on that one.

Little did her brother know, the person who was by his side at school was exactly that.

While Lianne knew about the existence of her Team, Joseph did not.

The last thing their mother wanted to do was disrupt his life. He was to remain in the dark about MIB and the danger that they could possibly be in due to their association with the Smiths. Joseph would probably not be able to act naturally either.

Well, Joseph didn't really have a team. It's more like, Lianne's team also kept an eye out on Joseph, but he did have one personal shadow bodyguard.

Akikai.

The first time Lianne saw him, her first thought was that he must have gone under the knife but nope. How anyone could look that young was beyond her.

"Secondly, so what?" Lianne continued, putting her mind back to what they were talking about, "Age doesn't matter at all. Whether the guy is 10 years older, or 5 years older ... or even if it's the girl who is older, does it matter? If two people love each other and are compatible, what's wrong with that?"

Joseph stared at his sister, "You really think that?"

"Of course I do," Lianne replied, "Just look at the president of Country F. He's only 39 years old yet his wife, who is his political advisor, is 64 years old. That's a difference of 25 years, okay!"

Joseph nearly fell down from his chair.

"They met when he was 15, and she was his high school literature teacher," Lianne went on to patiently explain, "A married woman with three children. Yet, despite all odds, he managed to win her heart and they are happily married until today. She said his persistence, patience, and commitment won her over."

"I truly believe that as long as your love is true, anything is possible," Lianne said, "Age is but a number. Having the courage to love is the secret."

Joseph felt like his mind was reeling.

He had already gone down the road of fantasizing his life with Kay and pretending that all of their movie outings were dates between couples.

He thought that it was enough.

Now, though, he began wanting more. Could his fantasy really come true?

Does he dare to take that step in order to make their current good friendship into a relationship?

He decided he's going to read up on this President and take a leaf out of his book.

Lianne, seeing the sudden seriousness and determination in her brother, gave out a breath of relief.

Okay, that was the push he needed.

Now, she had to work on Kay.

The way these two were going at it, it would take forever for them to get together.