"Sometimes, I think of the sun and the moon as lovers who rarely meet, always chase, and almost always miss one another. But once in a while, they do catch up, they kiss. And the world stares in awe at their eclipse."

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Outside the King's bedroom,

Crystalline Castle.

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"I missed you so much."

My feet, which were already moving in a slow motion came to a stop as I heard those words come out of the King's mouth. A gasp escaped my lips as I took a step back, away from the King's bedroom. I gripped onto the jug of water because it almost slipped from my sweaty hands. The noise would have surely alerted them of my presence if it had hit the marble floor.

Finally breaking my staring contest with the floor, I looked up to discover the wide opened door of his bedroom.

There they stood, wrapped up in each other's arms. Damien was holding onto the back of her head, preventing her from increasing any distance between them. It seemed like he was in a stance and nothing could ever be more precious than the girl standing in front of him. His hold on her loosened a little, treating her like she's more fragile than a flower vase.

Katrina held onto his arm, as if begging them to never let her go. A glint on her face told me that she was crying. Due to the way her mouth was stretched into a smile, I knew they were happy tears.

She looked happy.

Happy because he had accepted her back. Happy because all it took was a five minutes convincing from her to melt his cold heart. Her eyes pulled him in, drowning him in the pool of emotions. He couldn't escape the way he felt for her, it didn't take long for him to forget about me.

My eyes widened at my own thoughts. Since when did I become so selfish? Since when did I start thinking only about myself? These people were made for each other. For the first time, Damien seemed happy. He didn't look like he lost a part of himself. They looked like a perfectly completed piece of art as they stood before me kissing.

Who was I to ruin their blissful fantasy?

Who was I to take away their happiness?

Without me even noticing at first, a single tear slid down my left cheek. Before it could even reach past my lips, I quickly wiped it away. But soon, as if a dam just broke, more tears followed the last one in a never ending pattern. Trying to wipe away every wet drop on my face, I took a couple steps back so they wouldn't see me. My back was met by the wall in the hallway. I placed the jug on the table beside me because I didn't trust my shaking hands any longer.

Just why am I crying?

I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself down, but it seemed like I couldn't get enough oxygen. I made the mistake of looking at the couple once again, to find Damien not responding to the kiss, but he didn't push her away either. The picture twisted my insides, making me want to throw up. It shattered my heart into a million pieces, making me want to take them out and throw them away so that the pain wouldn't spread to other parts of my body. All I could think of was how in love they were. Not only did that thought acted like a venom in my body, it made me want to end the suffering.

Nothing ever hurt more than knowing his heart belonged to another.

I realized a twisted truth, that I would rather be locked up still than ever see him again.

I covered my mouth to hold back the sob which was struggling to be let out. I didn't notice what I was doing until I saw the painting in the hallway blur past me while I ran and ran.

Stopping at the end of the hallway, I opened the door to my right. I remembered it to be a spare bedroom that I cleaned once. Stepping into the room without a second thought, I hurriedly closed the door, trying to make as less noise as possible. My back hit the door as soon as I was safe inside the room.

Safe to slide down onto the floor. Safe to finally let the sobs win as they freely came out of my mouth non stop. Safe to take my hand away from my mouth and place my fist over my chest. I tried to make the pain go away, tried to numb it by applying pressure. No mater what I did, the tears didn't stop.

The last thought that made its way into my brain before darkness overtook me, was that I was more safe in that locked up cell. At least I wouldn't be having this never ending battle with the feelings I have developed for a person who could only be my dream, not my reality.

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The next day.

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I splashed cold water onto my face to get rid of the dried up tears. Turning the tap off, I looked up to find the mirror. I blinked my eyes as if that would get rid of the redness in them. Pushing back my hair, I averted my eyes to avoid looking at the girl who was a mess because of a person who shouldn't affect her at all. I grabbed the towel, drying my face when I heard someone call my name.

It was him.

What did he want now? Why can't he just live happily ever after with Katrina and leave me alone?

It sounded like he was in the spare bedroom, while I was in the bathroom connected to the room. How did he know I was here?

Oh right, he came here following my scent.

"Alexis, what are you doing?"

He was right outside the door.

"Oh I don't know. What do people usually do in a bathroom, your majesty?"

I had no idea what caused my anger to rise up, but I didn't regret a word I said. I just wanted him to leave me alone. Just wanted him to go away so I could stop thinking about something that will never happen.

"I need to talk to you,"

Realizing there wasn't an escape from him, I unlocked the door and stepped out.

I came face to face with Damien as he stood there dressed in his usual formal clothing. Although something was missing, his tie. I ignored that as I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to "talk".

"Where were you last night?" He sounded worried.

That was something I didn't expect. I thought he wouldn't even notice my absence, because it looked like he was enjoying Katrina's company very much.

"I was... I just thought that you and Katrina needed some privacy... I didn't want to stay where I didn't belong." I walked past him towards the bed, pretending to fix the sheets, when I just didn't want his intense eyes to watch me like he could look deep into my soul.

"Alexis..." He started but seemed to be struggling to find the correct words.

"Is there anything you need?" I turned to face him.

"Yeah," he finally answered after a minute of silence.

"What is it?"

"My favorite tie. I can't find it. Where did you put it?" A frown was visible on his face.

I tried to hide the disappointment I felt because he came to find me so I could tell him where his tie was. The moment he said that, I knew he was referring to the golden tie that matched his eyes. I knew it was his favorite because that's the one he wears the most. I recalled putting it in the place it's always in after laundry.

"It's in your closet." It was clear that I was in no mood to talk to him but he kept pushing me to.

"I looked. It's not there. Come and help me find it." He started moving towards the door but I stopped him.

"Second row, first drawer."

It's the only drawer that is filled with his ties...It's really not that hard.

The frown never left his face, "Why can't you just come and give it to me? Why are you brushing me off?"

Me? I'm brushing him off?

"Can you please go? I just need some time alone."

"Why? Is something wrong?"

Yes. Everything is wrong. What I'm feeling is wrong. What you did to me is wrong. Hell , even my whole life has been wrong.

Before I knew it, he had closed the distance between us. Tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear , his eyes watched me. Suddenly I remembered the same hand caressing Katrina's face as he kissed her.

"Don't touch me." I pushed his hand away from my face as if I had been burnt.

"Is that really what you want? I don't know why you're being distant because your heart wants the opposite. If you don't want me to touch you then why is it beating so fast? Why does your breath hitch as if it becomes harder for you to breathe when I'm close to you? Why do these nervous lines appear on your face? Does my touch make you nervous, Alexis?"

The way his eyes were filled with playfulness made me like this side of him. But then I remembered the love they held yesterday while he was looking at Katrina. I was just a playing toy for him, he thought of me as the same little girl he locked up all those years ago. He didn't take me seriously. He thought he could get away with playing with my emotions. One moment, he's so close to kissing me, while just five minutes later, he's busy sucking another girl's face. I didn't know why that made me extremely angry at him.

"Is that how you feel when Katrina touches you?"

That was like a blow to his face, and he didn't dare hide the shock. Even I was surprised at what I said, but there was no going back now.

"What? Lexi, I..." He began but I cut him off by turning my back to him. Picking up the blanket, I started to fold it. In the middle of the night, I had woken up to my hurting back so I decided to sleep on the bed.

"Actually, I don't want to know what she makes you feel. Please just go, I'm sure you must have a lot of catching up to do with her now that she's back after... How many years?"

"Eighteen. But that's besides the point. You really want me to go? You know to catch up?"

"Yes."

The blanket in my hands was ripped away from me as the king forced me to face him, harshly. We were barely a couple centimeters apart, allowing my mind to make up different scenarios of what could happen in this position. His eyes glared into mine, "And you wouldn't mind if we do more than just catch up? "

I had no idea what he was trying prove, why he was asking me all this. Even though I made it look like I didn't know what he was talking about, I knew what he was implying. I felt like he was testing me somehow, like I had to show him the thought of them doing anything together didn't effect me at all.

"Why would I? Who am I to stop you from doing what makes you happy?"

He was growing angrier by the second, I could feel it. The way his eyes were just a minute away from turning golden. I could make out the calm before the storm in them.

"Then surely, you wouldn't mind me touching her then? See if her touch still has the same effect on me."

"You shouldn't be wasting time, then, you're Majesty. Go and find out."

His hold onto me tightened, his fingers almost digging into my arm. The pain became almost non existent when he used his other hand to slid it around my waist, to my back. The movement caused my thin cotton shirt to rise up a bit, making one of his fingers come in contact with my naked flesh. He brought his face next to mine, whispering in my ear, "you're telling me that you wouldn't mind me touching her like this?"

I could only manage to nod my head, not trusting my voice to come out strongly. My mind was yelling at me to push him away, but my hands, which were in a fist by my side, wouldn't cooperate.

My breath was knocked out of me as his hand slowly started moving upwards, dragging my shirt along with it. The simple featherlike touch was enchanted with burning fire. Surprisingly, that fire was icy cold on my skin.

"Why would I mind?" My voice was barely audible. Even though I'm sure he heard it, my words were ignored by him.

"You wouldn't mind me exploring every inch of her body like this? While she wraps herself around me, too? While I pull her close to me so that our bodies are practically glued together?"

"Stop," hearing him say what would happen between them, made me feel ten times worse. I wanted to throw his words out of my head.

His fingers pushed back my hair, giving him a better access to my neck. Before I could stop him, I felt him breathing against my skin, his lips brushing against it as he whispered, "Tell me you wouldn't care if I place love bites all over her skin, kissing, bitting, tasting it."

The memories of what happened last night came back crashing down on me, making the pain in my chest return.

"Like you did last night?"

His eyes snapped up to meet mine, "What are you t-" he paused for a second as the realization drawn on him, "Oh. You were there weren't you? You saw me kissing her. It's not what you think! She kissed me. I was just so shocked to even think about pushing her away for the first few seconds. You were there? I didn't even smell your scent..."

"How would you, I'm sure the name Katrina was flowing through your blood, preventing you to think about anything else."

Preventing you to think about me.

For now, I didn't care if I sounded selfish. I didn't care that I was thinking about myself because no one will ever know the person I've become. I had never felt more glad that Damien couldn't read my mind than I did at that moment.

"Alexis," he took a hold of my shoulders once again, his voice dropping to a soft tone, "how much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that no matter where she goes or what she does, a part of you belongs to her and will always belong to her. Enough to know that you missed her. I know you've accepted her back in your life. Oh, I know you guys must want to share a room, too. Don't worry, I'll move my stuff out of your room into this one. If that's not okay with you, I'll just sleep on the couch that's in the hallway. I--"

"Is that really how much you trust me? Is your faith in me even worth a single penny? Do you think I'm that naive to give that girl another chance? That's like handing a knife to an enemy who has stabbed you before. I never knew you thought so.. So low of me. Yes, we kissed. Do you know what happened after that? All it took was one image that flashed across my eyes to push her away. I admit, I was thinking about forgiving her. But one thought opened my eyes. Want to know what made me push her away? What made me ignore her protests to let her stay? You. A hurt expression on that beautiful face of yours if you found out was all I could think of. That was all it took for me to not take her back. I realized that I may have feelings for her still, but I didn't want her back in my life. I'm letting her stay for a couple days, though. Until I arrange a place for her to stay at in the city. I feel like it's the least I can do, she left her house and family for me. A family who will never take her back, I know. Nothing is more important than their dignity for those people, not even their own blood."

I didn't know what to say. How do I apologize for misjudging him? I had clearly thought wrong by not staying to watch their whole conversation play out. I felt like a heavy weight was lifted off me. But it soon came back down as I took in how hurt he looked. He tried to hide it by looking at the wall next to him as if the pattern on it was the most interesting thing in the world. And that's when I knew, I messed up.

I should have trusted him more.

He glanced at me for a second, "I'm just gonna... Go do some work. And also deal with that bitch who stabbed me."

Even though it looked like he was back to his usual self, his smirk twitched. His shoulders weren't straight with confidence like they always were. His eyes were gloomy as if he had just lost a battle. I don't know if it was just me over thinking again, or he really wasn't okay. But why? Since when did he care about what I thought of him? How can he be this affected by me misunderstanding him?

He started to walk towards the door, he barely got a step away from me when I grabbed onto his hand. One question was still left unanswered, which I probably should have asked the second I saw her.

"Who is she?"

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