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As we entered the house, the guys came filing down the stairs.

"Hey, Elizabeth!" Jun waved, skipping some steps and crashing into me, giving me a hug. "Entertain me."

I was a bit unnerved by his endless amount of energy.

"Keep your hands to yourself," Ashton hissed, pulling Jun off me by his hoodie.

Jun let go unwillingly before running off to go torment Kristof.

Jackson shook his head. "Jun needs to grow up. Please don't entertain his antics."

Haha... it was a little too late for that.

"How old is he?" I asked out of curiosity.

"He just turned thirteen. He's the youngest one here. That's pretty obvious." He grimaced as Beau tried to pull Jun off Kristof.

"C'mon Kris, let's fight!" Jun chuckled excitedly.

I giggled. He was still very much a kid. He was a year younger than Micah too. I hoped that in the future, they would be able to play together evenly, instead of Jun's one sided games.

Jun flew from Kristof back to me in a matter of seconds.

"Let's do something fun!" he said buzzing with energy.

"I'll play with you another time," I promised. I seemed to be making a lot of those promises recently.

"Iie, ima asobu! (No, play now!)" he said in what I think was Japanese.

He latched onto me again and Jackson rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, Jun let me go with a glimmer in his eyes and turned to Ashton. "Yes!" he said pumping his fist in the air.

"Oh dear," Beau sighed.

"Nice knowing you kid," Raúl laughed.

"What happened?" I asked.

Kevin suddenly appeared beside me. "Ashton just promised to fight Jun if he'll leave you alone," he chuckled. "Sorry this ended so late, are you ready?"

"Fight?" I asked worriedly. "They're going to fight?" I turned to Ashton. "Don't you dare hurt him."

"I'll go easy on him, relax."

"No!" Jun shouted. "Give me everything you've got."

"Those will be your last words if you think you're on Ashton's level." Kristof remarked.

"Let's leave them to it," Kevin whispered to me and I nodded in response. I wanted to go home now.

"Bye guys," I waved.

Jun gave me a tight hug, burying his face in my shoulder. "I like hugging you."

Everyone froze, then turned around at the same time and looked at Ashton.

"So you chose death," Ashton said darkly.

"Now you'll fight me with everything you have, right?" Jun laughed.

"You idiot," Raúl grinned.

"Yeah, time to go," Kevin said leading me away from the guys and through the door.

"Is Jun always that... energetic?" I asked.

"I think chaotic is the word you're looking for. We had to kick him out of the meeting four times today," he groaned.

I laughed at that. "I saw Micah today," I remembered.

"I see."

"Aren't you guys friends with him?" I asked. "Jun was using him for target practice before I showed up."

"Jun would use any of us for target practice if we allowed him to," Kevin laughed. "But no, we're not friends."

"You should get to know him. He's really nice."

"Nicer than me?"

"By a landslide," I laughed.

"That breaks my heart," he joked.

We rode in comfortable silence for a while.

"Kevin, what exactly do the king and the queen do? It seems like the government runs everything."

"That's what most people think, but other royals and nobles know the truth. The monarchy controls almost everything."

"They're so private though," I frowned. "They barely come out into the public, so everyone's always curious about them."

"Yeah, well, that's how the royal family's always been. They tend to associate with themselves. The queen was from a different kingdom, so it was probably harder for her to adjust to this life."

"Both of Ashton's parents were born royalty," I mused. "Should I try calling him, His Royal Highness?"

"You don't have to call him that," Kevin laughed.

"Then, His Royal Arrogance, maybe," I joked. "If I'm Ashton's betrothed, then that would make me a princess."

"Yes, Your Royal Highness," Kevin mused.

"I kinda have another career path picked out though," I sighed. "And it doesn't involve the throne."

"You can still be a doctor, you know. You don't have to choose one or the other."

"But still," I pressed. "This whole betrothal thing is weird. Who has an arranged marriage in the 21st century?"

"You'd be surprised at how common it is with us," Kevin sighed. "Most families do it to keep their status. Your betrothal made it destined for you and Ashton to be together. Especially since you're his soulmate too, it's like a done deal."

"So, how do you know I'm his soulmate?" I questioned.

"Royalty and nobility can tell almost immediately when they've found their soulmate. That night at Ashton's party was when he really confirmed this. The soulmate bond must have kicked in then. I guess he always felt a connection to you, which is why he wouldn't leave you alone. You're fated to be with your soulmate," Kevin chuckled. "I guess he was totally surprised. If you touch your mate, you'll know. They say you'll have feelings you've never felt before."

"That's true..." I admitted.

"TMI," Kevin groaned and I blushed and hit him.

"I should keep track of the amount of times you've hit me since yesterday," Kevin laughed. "Anyways, people outside of royalty or nobility, usually go by these feelings. For us, every touch is pleasurable. Which is why I realize now that Ashton is fascinated with touching you, and can't be left alone. He's like a teenager all over again," Kevin rolled his eyes.

I thought about this. Ashton and I were destined to be together? It sounded like the punch line to some unfortunate joke.

"But Ashton has a girlfriend, so I guess our destiny ends here," I said somewhat relieved.

Kevin glanced over to me. "What? No. Our royals don't have a formal rule about dating. Dating is for fun, but marriage is not up for questioning. But you know by now that Ashton doesn't even look at the rules. And he kind of has his own reasons too... not that I'm saying what he's doing is right. Anyways, no one likes Nicole. The king and queen don't, we don't, nobody does. She's not even girlfriend material much less princess material," he scoffed.

"Ashton likes her, though," I said a bit more bitterly than I thought possible.

"That's debatable... as I said he has a few reasons."

"What if..." I trailed off.

"What is it, Liz?" Kevin asked, glancing at me.

"Can Ashton get another soulmate? Or another betrothed at least?"

Kevin looked at me a bit longer this time before placing his eyes back on the road.

He cleared his throat. "No, he can't get another betrothed. In our kingdom, betrothals to royals are permanent. And no, he can't get another soulmate either. Soulmates are made for that person. They're forever."

"Then what if something happens to your soulmate... like death?"

"You can always date and marry if you feel up to it. Regular humans do that a lot. They date, fall in love, get married and then do it all again. But for Origens, it's different. There's a part of us that tells us that it's a wrong fit. The wrong puzzle piece."

I was quiet. There was a question buzzing in my mind that I couldn't bring myself to ask.

"You can ask me anything, you know," Kevin said quietly.

"What if... What if I don't want to be with Ashton?" I asked softly.

There was silence. Kevin's eyes softened as he looked at me.

"Liz..." he trailed off. "He's really not a bad person once you get to know him. He just... does stupid things sometimes. Can't you give him a chance?"

A part of me wanted to believe in Ashton, but another part of me was screaming no. I closed my eyes. I was usually good at making split second decisions. But this was a lifelong commitment... and the lives of the people like Micah and Armani hung in the balance. How could I ignore them?

I still hadn't even wrapped my mind around the fact that all of this was possible.

"This is a bit unfair," I murmured so softly that I didn't think Kevin would hear. I barely heard myself.

He pulled over, unbuckled his seatbelt and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I sniffled and let the first tear fall.

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I really hated crying. I didn't have a problem when others did it, but I couldn't stand myself crying. Unless my tears were tears of joy I would rather avoid them.

But some situations had problems that called for solutions that were impossible to understand, and lately I felt like all of these were being thrown at me. Like all the tears I had been storing up until this time were desperately trying to break loose.

Kevin was rubbing circles on my back. I could tell that he was sad for me his best friend and sad for Ashton his other best friend. It seemed like he was living out Callie's fantasy of having two best friends who were fated to be together. It wasn't nearly as exciting as she made it out to be.

I tried to get myself together, but the kingdom kept crossing my mind. Should I sacrifice my own happiness and accept this 'destiny'? Did Ashton even want this?

I let go of Kevin and leaned back while drying my eyes.

"You do have a choice, Liz," he told me although it sounded like it killed him to say it.

I nodded and didn't press him for any more information. I tried to put myself in his shoes. The kingdom was also his life, and now their prince was at the mercy of some indecisive girl.

Kevin stopped at my gate. He smoothed down my hair, which he'd ruffled too many times today.

He gave me a smile and I was infinitely grateful to him for being my best friend.

"Thanks, Kev," I managed to smile back.

"Don't stress about it so much tonight," he said "Make sure, you get some sleep."

"Yes sir," I said, knowing full well that I probably wouldn't get a wink of sleep. Kevin saw right through me.

I pulled the door and got out. I greeted my parents and then went upstairs to my room. I didn't even have the courage to ask them about the bracelet.

Another reason why I hated crying. It drained all of the energy that I didn't even have in the first place. Outside it began to rain. It was almost six pm. I took a long, warm bath. Then I ate dinner and got started on homework from my college course.

The questions were very difficult, which was just what I needed tonight. I focused all my energy on answering them, and eventually the memories of the day were a small throb in the back of my mind.

But as soon as my homework was done, they all came flooding back.

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