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Kevin, Mel and I walked along the streets in the Royal Realm.

"I'll contact him and see if he's here," he informed us.

I nodded and Mel gave me a nervous smile. I took a deep breath. After all these years... I never would have imagined Daniel coming back into my life like this. And to top it all off, he was a noble? First Kevin and Ashton and now him?

"Uh Mel," I started hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Trey's not an Origen is he?"

She laughed. "Not that I know of. I guess him and Demetri are the only normal guys we know. For some reason everybody's an Origen now."

"It seems like some weird Wattpad story that someone would write."

"Wattpad? What's that?"

"Some book reading app."

"Ah," she nodded. "Looks like you'd be the main character."

"Or Liz."

"Okay, so Daniel's here," Kevin announced. "And he really wants to talk to you. He wanted you to come over to his house, but I'm not down with that, so you're meeting somewhere else."

"I could go over," I shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"Callie... you really don't know if you can trust him right now. He has been gone for three years. People can change," Mel reminded me softly.

"And we won't be there with you," Kevin added. "He's a guy and I know how guys think, so I don't trust him."

"Okay, I don't care where we go either way," I shrugged. "I just want to get this over with."

"I'll take you to the park and tell him to meet you there," he decided.

We walked to the park, admiring the scenery around us. It was really beautiful. A few kids waved at us as they ran by. Kevin took me to a quiet spot in the park and I suddenly forgot how to breathe as a familiar pair of brown eyes landed on me.

Kevin and Mel glared at Daniel, but he thanked them for bringing me here.

"If you need us, just call," Mel said, motioning to her phone.

After they disappeared from sight, I slowly turned around to face Daniel.

I stared at the ghost who had haunted my love life for three years. He was cute before, but he'd definitely glowed up over the years. He was so handsome and he had gotten much taller. His carefree smile was gone and was replaced with a more serious expression.

I sat down at one of the benches and watched as some white birds dived beneath the silvery ripples of the lake. I waited for him to say something because I was not going to start the conversation when he was the one who'd asked me to come here in the first place.

"Callie."

His voice was full of emotion. A shiver ran down my spine after hearing my name on his lips.

He walked over to me and sat down on the bench. He smelled so nice. Everything about him was perfect. I pinched my arm in an attempt to get myself together. Yes, he was handsome, but he had also ripped my heart out from my chest. I was here to reclaim those missing pieces today. Then I could finally move on.

"I'm so glad you came. I didn't hear from you yesterday and I was so worried that you didn't want to see me. Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"Feeling better from what? Three years ago when you just left or back when I fainted?"

"Um... when you fainted?" he frowned, staring at the ground.

"Yeah. I hung out with my boyfriend after, so I'm feeling much better now," I told him pointedly.

He sucked in a short breath of air. "Your... boyfriend?"

"Yes. If that's all you wanted to ask, then we're done here, right?"

"No!" he said hurriedly and bit his bottom lip while trying to arrange his thoughts. "I wanted to talk about three years ago. I want to tell you what happened."

I pursed my lips. This was what I came here for. I waited for him to start talking.

He ran a hand through his hair. "You're probably wondering how I'm a noble," he said, forcing a smile. "Yeah, well, I didn't know about that either until three years ago. It was the shock of my life."

"How didn't you know about that?" I asked a little too harshly.

He shrugged. "My parents and I didn't live in the Noble Realm. We lived regular lives. I didn't know that my mom was born a noble woman. I had no idea that Origens existed and that I was one."

My lips parted in surprise at this news and I scolded myself. I wasn't going to show him any emotions other than disdain. But as much as I wanted to, I just couldn't bring myself to act.

"That's how we ended up leaving three years ago. I came home from school and no-one was home. It was just a regular day. I went up to my room and before I could open the door, my senses awakened. It was the second most painful thing I ever felt in my life. My bones all cracking and breaking... I passed out."

I winced. That sounded gruesome. Did all the other Origens have to go through that?

"You're probably wondering why it was so painful," Daniel guessed.

I didn't reply. He was correct, but I was not going to let him know that. He could still read my mind as easily as three years ago. In some ways, it felt like everything didn't change.

"The first time awakening is the most painful. As it is, our regular bodies can't handle the physical strain of our special abilities so it changes. Kind of like how kids change teeth as they get older. Origens usually awaken before high school. They would have the resources and the support of their parents to help them through it. That makes it a lot quicker and practically painless. But I had no idea what was happening and I was freaking out."

I fluffed my curls out as the breeze raked through my hair.

"My parents found out what happened to me when they got home. My mom was horrified. She didn't want me to awaken, which was why she'd moved away from the Noble Realm. She was hoping my senses would never awaken and for a while, things were going the way she wanted them to, but eventually everything came crashing down.

"I couldn't control my new abilities and I ended up hurting my dad. I almost killed him... He was in the hospital for a while because his arm was all messed up. I was scared of what I was," he muttered, kicking at some leaves by his foot. "I was angry with my mom for not telling about me this before and I was terrified that I would hurt you accidentally or something. I didn't want you to hate me."

I frowned. I didn't know how I would've reacted to something like that three years ago. I had been frightened when Kevin showed me his special abilities even though he had explained thoroughly to me and Mel about what he was and what he was about to do. Hell, I had panicked and hit him with a rock.

But there's no way, I could've hated him. It just wasn't possible. Even now...

"My mom decided that it was best for us to leave. That's why I met up with you the next week, to tell you that I had to go and I knew you were heartbroken because you kept crying and," his expression turned into one of pain and sadness, "That was the most horrible pain I've experienced... when my heart broke that day."

Breathe in and out Callie. In and out, I told myself to stop from reaching over and slapping that expression off his face.

I knew my face was getting red, but I couldn't help it. I'd never been this angry before. I was feeling just the tiniest bit sorry for him before, but now I was angry. I glared at him as I wondered how he could sit there and lie right to my face while acting sad. And his acting was perfect.

Greatest pain my a*s! He would know true pain if I lost my self control and got my hands on him

"How dare you?" I whispered.

"What?" he asked uncertainly.

"Did you call me all the way here just to lie to me, Daniel?" I hissed through gritted teeth. "Are you continuing your little game from three years ago?"

He stared at me in confusion. I laughed bitterly. Of course, this would've happened. What more did I expect? I was a fool for expecting anything in the first place.

"I'm not lying to you, Callie," he frowned, searching my eyes in confusion.

"Three years ago you left without a word. You never met up with me or anything. You just vanished! Like you're the freaking Avatar or something!" I was yelling at him now as my anger boiled.

"What? No, we did meet up. We went to an amusement park, we saw a movie and we went to Creamy Dreams," he said slowly as if trying to jog my memory.

But there was nothing to jog. It didn't happen.

I crossed my arms and let out an angry sigh. "I don't remember any of that, so are you going to keep this up?"

"Callie..." His brows furrowed in confusion. "I'm not lying. We did meet up on the day that I left."

"Okay, I'm leaving," I said as I got up to leave, but I suddenly felt dizzy.

He reached out to me, but I held onto the bench for support and sent him a withering glare. The more I tried to think about what he was talking about, the more my head hurt.

He looked at me and concern was written all over his face, then he remembered something. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a chain. On the end of it, hung a small ring.

"Don't you remember this?" he asked desperately.

I frowned as I looked at the ring. That reminded me of what I had brought with me. I reached into my bag and pulled out a ring that was identical to his. It was the only thing of his that I had kept. Some part of me just couldn't bear to throw it away, so I had kept it all these years, for the moment when I could return it to him.

"Don't you remember how you got that ring?" he asked, stepping closer to me. I took a step back and he looked hurt.

"No," I answered coldly.

"We got these on that day, Callie. They're promise rings. Look at the date."

I inspected the ring closely, but it was so worn from my stomping and throwing that I couldn't even read the words on it anymore.

"Look at mine, then," he suggested.

I peered at it from where I was. It had our names and the exact date that he had left on it.

"You could have just gotten a new one made," I pointed out, feeling confused.

"You know that didn't happen. These rings were a pair. Where could I have gotten another one? I just came back to Crysauralia two days ago."

I glanced at him uncertainly and then stared down at the ring. This was beyond weird. He was talking about a day I couldn't remember no matter how hard I tried. That day... I just remembered crying. That was how I had met Demetri.

"Callie, please," he pleaded. "Even if you don't remember, you can feel it."

He stepped closer to me again, but I took a step back. It continued like that until my back hit a tree.

"Daniel, stay away from me," I warned as he reached for my hand.

It was like my skin cells exploded into tiny fireworks at his touch. His hand took mine tenderly and gently.

A gasp escaped his lips too, and his breathing got heavier.

"What is this? What are you doing to me?" I asked, panicked.

"Soulmate," he growled lightly as he took my other hand in his. "Soulmate," he repeated and a shiver ran down my spine.

What. The. Hell?

I pulled my hands from his, although my body argued against my logic. I just stared up into his eyes. I suddenly felt claustrophobic. I slid my back down the tree until I was sitting on the ground.

Daniel sat down in front of me, but I shook my head. I needed space.

"What... are you... saying?" I said, trying to catch my breath as he tried to fan me with his hands.

"Callie, stay with me, okay? Don't faint," he fretted as he pulled my hair back from my face.

After a few minutes, I'd managed to catch my breath and was trying to figure out what was happening. He had said soulmate twice. Did that mean... No, it had to be a joke.

"I'm your soulmate?" I asked incredulously.

He nodded and a small smile was beginning to form on his face.

"That's crazy. I don't want that," I scoffed and his smile disappeared. "How long have you known about this?"

"When I saw you again two days ago I felt something. But now I'm sure," he paused. "I know you're the one."

"And you still left me behind two days ago? You didn't even wait until I woke up?"

"I had to go. My parents had to transfer documents from my other school in Italy. I'm living here alone."

"Why did you come back now?" I seethed.

"My family was supposed to move here together, but my parents decided that they wanted to stay in Italy and I had already signed the documents. That was what I had to talk to the king about. I needed to tell him that I'd decided to stay with my parents, but then I saw you..."

"And you thought that everything would be all peaches and daisies and that things could go back to the way they were. Well, you're wrong. You literally had no excuse. Social media is a thing. I'm on every single platform," I said, emphasizing each word.

"I didn't use social media that often, and I especially wouldn't use it to find you," he sighed. "I didn't deserve to come back into your life after just leaving like that. I wanted you to move on and be happy... and it looks like now you are," he frowned.

"I was never happy after you were gone."

True.

"I was heartbroken and cried every day."

True.

"But now I'm happy with my friends."

Also true.

"And with my boyfriend who I love very much."

Lie.

I picked myself up off the ground and stormed around him to where I had left my bag.

"You can have this back," I said, placing the ring on the bench.

I felt like I was leaving my heart there. My fingers lingered on it for a moment, but then I closed my eyes and let it fall.

Daniel stood up and looked at me with a sad smile. "I definitely can't tell you what to do. And I can't make you choose me. I'm just a villain in your story. But Callie, I love you. I've always loved you and I will always love you."

Tears rose to my eyes at those words. I could feel how genuine they were. After all, I was an actress. I could tell when people were putting on an act. Hearing him say those words felt so natural... so beautifully real.

His russet eyes gazed at me, thick with emotion. They held a sad longing. My eyes... I didn't know how they looked to him. A knot formed in my throat. It was unfair the way he still made me feel.

He stepped closer to me and although I wanted to back away from him, I just couldn't move.

Do you know how hard it is to walk away from someone you once loved?

He reached a hand up to tuck my hair behind my ear. My body was set ablaze with heat where his fingers brushed me. My eyelids drifted close at the unfamiliar, but eerily pleasant feeling. The smell of clean spice on his warm breath fanned my face. It was the perfect perfume.

A soft breeze rippled through the space between as we stood there motionless with his hand on my cheek.

"Daniel... kiss me."

Without hesitation, he leaned towards me and placed his lips on mine.

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