I gazed out the window with mild interest, taking in the view of neatly primed gardens and blossoms of colours. There was even a swimming pool glistening in the sunlight and several people lounging near it. How is it so warm here? How far did we travel exactly? It's autumn where I live and it seems to be summer over here. The door opened and Emma walked in, beaming.

"April, there's going to be a pool party here today and we figured we may as well introduce you to the rest of our pa- friends." She smiled at me warmly.

"What?" I said stupidly. "The deal was that I meet his dad. Not the rest of the social circle." I involuntarily whined, shaking my head.

She sighed, her eyes dampening like the canopy of a tropical rain forest. "Come on April. You're going to have to meet them at least so that Aiden's father believes you. It'll be very suspicious if Aiden's friends haven't even seen his mate - I mean girlfriend," she reasoned. I sighed angrily and dragged my fingers through my hair - I hated it when people used leverage over me. And the word 'mate' especially freaked me out. It sounded like a ritual.

After five minutes of arguing with Emma, I finally succumbed. Then, another five minutes of arguing over an outfit ensued, in which I managed to semi-win, although I would have much preferred to remain in my t-shirt and jeans. I ended up in a white, floral dress that stood out against my tanned skin and kept my silver pendant on that was a gift for my 16th birthday. I never took it off.

"April, you look beautiful." Emma grinned at me. "I need to go down now and help Carlos with the BBQ, so come down when you're ready. You'll be fine." She added at my expression.

"Wait." I called after her. "How far did we travel exactly? It feels like summer here and it was autumn back home." I could feel the confusion on my face was evident.

A pause. "We traveled far. I mean, it's sunny a lot over here but there can be some mean thunderstorms. You were sleeping like a baby in the car. We were going all night and all day, on back roads too to cut back on journey time. We're in Atlanta now."

"How the heck did we travel so far in such a short amount of time?" I choked, my stomach dropping.

"We travel fast - and we use short cuts." She explained sheepishly, leaving me to get finish getting ready.

Just as I had left the room and was about to descend the stairs, I realized my hand was empty. My phone. Despite it not being the most important of objects in the moment, I felt as though I needed it with me; I wanted something familiar in my hands to grip and fiddle with.

But when I entered the room again to find it, it wasn't there. After searching every inch of my room, panic rose in my stomach. Where was it? I need it. After 15 minutes, I was in complete panic mode. Partly because I'd accidentally walked in on someone, unannounced, and partly because the noise outside was growing louder, indicating more people.

Gulping, I turned slowly so I was facing the corridor that belonged to Aiden. It seemed so uninviting - a stark contrast to the sunlight that was filtering in through the large glass windows. I shuddered and started towards the corridor. He said to only go to him if there was an emergency. Well, this is an emergency - I need my phone, god damn it. As soon as I entered the corridor, darkness shrouded me and the atmosphere felt colder - I regretted wearing the dress now.

Peering through the darkness, I strained my ears for a sign of noise. I took small steps towards a doorway and paused when I reached it, clenching my fists and practicing what to say when he opened the door - if he opened the door. I knocked tentatively. I waited several, impatient moments and was about to turn away when it creaked open.

Aiden stood in the doorway, in nothing but his boxers, rubbing his eyes. He looked a wreck. Smoke hit me as soon as the door opened. My eyes caught movement behind him and I saw a girl lying on his bed. My eyes widened. I don't remember stepping back slightly and knocking into the wall.

I looked up at him and for a minute. Was that regret softening his eyes? No, it was gone. He stepped forward but I flinched and he stopped. My stomach twisted, like a knife had been plunged into my abdomen.

Why am I so upset?

That is who Aiden is, not the one who was comforting you when you watched The Exorcist, April.

I turned and fled without a word, running down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Spotting a bathroom to my left, I turned into it quickly and slammed the door shut behind me, sinking onto my knees.

I should have never gone there. He warned me not to go there.

I forced myself to pull my act together and glanced at my reflection, hurt. I looked flustered and pretty shitty if I was being honest. On top of that, my stupid outfit suddenly looked even stupider. I struggled to pull myself together, trying to look unaffected. I was unaffected by that. I was. I had to be. Hearing a small knock from the other side of the door, I realized how long I'd been locked in the bathroom for and shook myself back to reality.

I opened the door and mumbled a sorry, not looking up at the person who had waited. I felt an arm stop me and my head jerked up, meeting Aiden's eyes. He had pulled on a long-sleeved top and didn't look intoxicated anymore, but I still recoiled away from him. He spun me around and groaned, running his long fingers through his hair. Seeing my expression, he removed his hand.

"April, I know what you saw upstairs was pretty bad, but you can't tell anyone about that, okay?" He said solemnly, his eyes pleading. I kept silent, glaring. His head was dipped so our eyes were level with one another, his hands forming a cage around me.

"Get your damn hands away from me."

"Please April. I'm sorry that you saw that, but you need to promise me. Can you promise me?" His voice was soft.

I couldn't look at him the same. What I saw was vile. But then again, what more did I expect? I shouldn't have had any expectations. I nodded my head insincerely, wanting to get away from him as quickly as possible. He sighed in relief, but didn't look convinced. I tried to contain my anger but it twisted into words and spilled from my mouth before I could stop.

"I don't understand you, Aiden. First, you try and make people believe that we're a couple after kidnapping me off the streets, but then you go and sleep around with other people. I don't give flying fuck about what you do in your spare time, but don't try to contradict yourself and tell me what I can and can't do. How the hell do you think that you're going to pull this off if you can't stop yourself from taking your pants off?" I raged. I don't know why I sounded so hurt - I don't even know why it angered me so much.

He looked shocked at my outburst and quite frankly, ashamed. I shied away from him, knowing full where he just was. I had never felt angrier.

"Okay." He said shakily. "That's fair enough. I understand that what I did was stupid. I won't sleep with anyone until this deal is over. I promise. My dad needs to smell you all over me, not that girl, which means I need to be with you." I grimaced and felt my hand rising to punch him, but I stopped myself, clenching my jaw and raising my eyebrows pointedly, signalling for him to move.

We started walking away from the bathroom and he fell into step besides me, his jaw tightening as we edged neared to the doors. I was careful to keep distance between us. "Oh and by the way, I don't smell, you do. Your dad's sense of smell can't possibly be that good that he can smell what girl you've slept with - it's not biologically possible." I snapped.

"Oh, the things you humans think you know." He muttered under his breath. Excuse me? But I didn't bother arguing - I was still trying to mentally wash the image of Aiden and that girl out of my head. "Wait," he said stopping me in my tracks. He turned to me and his fingers reached for my face. I stepped back and glared at him angrily.

He rolled his eyes and stepped towards me again, his presence making me go cold. His fingers brushed a strand of hair away from my face away, tucking it neatly behind my ear and I shivered, scared of what my stomach was doing, how my heart was racing.

Rationality hit me like a bus. My eyes flew open. "We don't have an audience yet, Romeo." I said, my voice hard as I stepped away from him.

I could have imagined it - I must be crazy but I thought I heard him say five small words behind me.

"I don't need an audience."