Boy, was Sam right. We had a lot to see. And I think my brain died today from receiving so much information. I was mesmerized by the beauty of the busy city and all the fascinating buildings ... it just took my breath away. Sam also told me a bit about everything she showed me.

She also explained all about the Tube and on which ones I need to go when I'm going somewhere and what I have to be careful about, but I didn't even remember half of it. I think I'll need a babysitter myself when I'll be walking around this city.

She also tried to drag me in the stores on the famous Oxford street, but I didn't cave. She had a cool style, not the really expensive one, but that cool that speaks 'I don't care what you think about me', which her personality proved her style matches her mind. She spoke her mind, she was funny and really ... energetic.

Right now, it's hard to believe that Alexander is her cousin because there's no way he could be close with someone like her.

When we went for a snack in the middle of the day, literally after I was begging her to go sit down somewhere if she didn't want to carry me around, we talked a bit.

"So, Gabrielle Perth from France. Tell me what brings you here all the way to London." Sam casually leans back on the chair, exposing her face to sunlight, causing her green eyes to get lighter and even more piercing.

I chuckle. "It's Gabby, you know." I look down on the table, uncomfortable that I have to talk about myself. I'm not used to people asking me so much about myself. Usually, they never cared, so they didn't bother. "Well, I ..." I sigh, tracing the table's edge, lifting my eyes to Sam's expecting eyes, "I wanted a change." I look at the busy street, watching all the people walking down it, completely unaware of a broken soul watching all the happiness radiate from them. "I got a chance, the money is good, and here I am." I shrug as if that explains it.

Sam crosses her arms and takes a sip of her coffee, watching me carefully. I bite down on the muffin to mask my discomfort. She leans forward a bit, causing her hair to fall around her face and frame it. "I sense that's not the whole truth, but, hey, we're all hiding something here, so I'll tame my curiosity."

Her words hold deep meaning, but I appreciate her not prying. And how true her words really are. Is there a person in a whole wide world who's not hiding something from others? There must be a part of you that you don't want to show people. It might be good, it might be bad, but there must be something you're holding in, not letting anyone see it closely.

"By the way, your accent is to die for. Goddamn, French people always get me."

I chuckle at her compliment. "Thank you. I think the same way about yours." I know that my accent isn't as strong as it was supposed to be, but I have some English genes in my body and I've also always been big on learning English.

I point at Sam's collarbone, where I noticed a tattoo before. Actually, I noticed two – she also has a big rose on her left bicep.

Sam's fingers go to her collarbone, the move seems subconscious. Something flashes in her eyes, but it might be just the sun playing with the colour of her eyes. Her fingers trace the words. "It's just something I got a few years ago. It's Arabic."

She moves the shirt a bit so I can see it. I look closer to it and then I notice an angel above her words, looking as if he's laying on them. "How cool. What does it mean?"

"But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more," she answers.

I lift my eyes to her in surprise. "Isn't that from –"

"The Little Mermaid, yes. These words hold a lot of meaning for me." She smiles, her smile sad and distant.

I take one last look at the saying and I feel a strange kind of compassion for Sam. I nod and take another bite of my muffin.

"You have any?" Sam nods at me.

"What? Tattoos?"

She nods.

A noise escapes my throat that could be only explained as a laugh. "No. No, I don't have any," I say when I swallow the food.

"You want any? I can do you one. Alexander comes to my studio all the time."

I stare at her, hoping she's kidding. She doesn't even blink at me, she's merely looking at me, her expression wondering. "Uh, no, thanks."

Sam shrugs. "As you wish. But the offer will stand until you change your mind."

I doubt I'll change my mind. I bite my lip not to say anything back. The needle sticking in my skin for I don't know how much time makes me nauseous. Plus, I'm not ready to get my skin marked permanently.

"Shall we go now?" Sam asks cheerfully, clapping with her hands.

I groan. Walking even more makes me kind of sick. I'm already so tired, but Sam has other plans for me.

I spend the whole day with Sam. I'm surprised how nice she is to me. I've always been guarded around unknown people because I expected them to be mean and I was usually never wrong about them. But something about Sam made me loosen up a bit and put my guard down, but not for much.

I had fun, though. But she got me so tired that when I came back to the Holt's mansion, I skipped the dinner and went straight to my bed.

The next day, I'm babysitting Amelia again. I take her outside for a small walk before she has to go to sleep, even though all my muscles are protesting today. I should probably consider doing some exercises if I want to keep up.

It's also a bit funny how Amelia knows more about this place and where we're walking than me. I would get us lost if she didn't correct me.

"I want to learn how to ride a bike," Amelia says out of nowhere when we're already close to the house.

I look at her with a puzzled expression, thinking she might too little for that. "I'm sure your mum or dad will show you how to," I tell her softly.

She shakes her head stubbornly. "No, Gabby, you do it. Mummy and daddy don't have time."

There it is, that feeling inside of my chest that appears every time Amelia says things like this. She says them like she's completely unbothered by them and like she accepted them already.

And teaching a child how to ride a bike ... I don't know if I'm the right person to do that. What if Amelia gets hurt? What if something happens to her?

Amelia tugs on my hand. "Gabby, please. Will you do it? Please, Gabby." She looks up at me with her big brown eyes that weaken all of my excuses in my head.

"Let's talk to your mum and dad first, alright, sweetheart?" I say and when she happily nods and jumps up, yelling, "Yippie!" I ask myself if this is really something I'll be able to pull off.

•••

There are only Rosalyn and me at dinner tonight, with Amelia of course, when Amelia gets out with the proposition of me learning her how to drive a bike.

Rosalyn looks perplexed. Her face pales and she stops eating, her eyes turning to me in panic. "A bike?" she asks quietly, her hand, which is holding a spoon, is trembling.

"Amelia said she wanted to learn how to ride a bike and begged me ... to ... help her ..." I trail off slowly, my last words get out quiet and unsure as I notice the look Rosalyn is giving me.

She's gripping the spoon in her hand really hard and her mouth is tightly pressed together. I slump down in my seat.

But Rosalyn then takes a calming breath and calms down. "I suppose ... you could help her with it," she says and then tries to smile.

I nod. "Alright."

Rosalyn continues staring at me and it's unnerving me. "I'll talk to you about it and then provide you with a bike. Something small, of course." She nods to herself and continues eating, but she looks distant and she's quiet the rest of the dinner.

After that dreadful, quiet dinner, I go help Rosanna in the kitchen, knowing I have to do something to release the tension that settled in my body.

"She got so distant and her face paled as if she's seen a ghost when Amelia said she wanted to learn how to ride a bike."

Rosanna swiftly turns around, looking at me with big, round eyes. "Oh, no," she says as if that explains everything.

"What?" I ask in surprise.

"Oh, no," Rosanna repeats. I merely stare at her, cocking my head on the side. She drops the dishes into the sink and comes to stand before me. "Gabrielle, there are some things you don't know and I can't tell you, but this is one of the things that triggers some bad memories for the family."

I'm confused. "What, Amelia learning to ride a bike?" I ask with even more confusion.

But Rosanna doesn't laugh. Her lips get even straighter, if that's possible, and she shakes her head slowly. "Yes. I can't tell you more about it, since it's not my place to tell, but ... I guess you'll learn about it soon enough.''

I let out a frustrated noise. "Why is it such a secret? I mean, shouldn't I know about it if it's such a big deal?"

Rosanna's movements stop as if my outburst surprised and shocked her, but she continues doing the dishes right again. "I already said too much," she sighs. "But, tell me, Gabby, did you and the boy made any progress?"

Changing the subject, I see. My eyes narrow as I take another sip of my cocoa. "What boy?" I ask, the confusion present in my voice.

"Alex," Rosanna simply replies.

It takes a great deal not to choke on that single sip of cacao I just took. "Why would I make any progress with Alexander?" I ask, my words coming out choked and forced. Her question doesn't make any sense.

I see Rosanna shakes her head, but I can't see her expression since she's turned around. "I was just wondering. That boy might hang out with the wrong guys, but I think it would be nice for him to get some different people around him."

My eyebrows rise up high, almost all the way up to my hairline, my mouth hanging open. "Me?" I wouldn't want to be around him even if he begged me.

"He's not that bad, Gabby. He's just ... misunderstood."

I'm really done with this conversation. Why is everyone praising Alexander that much when he's nothing but a jackass who's cool with threatening everyone? Even someone he doesn't even know? Yeah, a real nice guy he is ...

I drink the rest of my cocoa. "You know, Rosanna, he had a lot of chances to prove me wrong, but I don't think that highly of him and the reason for that is only him. He made it clear for me to stay away from him, I'm only respecting his wishes."

I hear Rosanna's sigh from all the way to where I'm sitting and see her shake her head. "That boy is really gonna lose himself," she mutters.

I ignore her words because it's not any of my business what Alexander does or what his reasons are or just anything about him, really, so, therefore, I have no reason to talk about him and literally no wish to even think about him. "It's getting late, Rosanna, I'm going to head up now, alright?" I announce.

I take the mug and put it on the counter.

"Of course." She looks at me with her searching eyes. "I'm sorry if I'm pushing you too hard with Alex. I thought ..." She smiles sadly. "Never mind. Sleep well, dear."

I look at her for a few more seconds, trying to read what she wanted to say before she changed her mind, but I don't understand her expression. It's sad and sour and I don't dare to ask about it, because I suddenly think I probably couldn't handle the truth, at least not at this moment.

So I let it go, even though I want to stay and talk to her to find out all about the secrets of this family, but then remember that the people around me are not the only ones hiding their secrets and I know what it takes to share your secret with someone else, so with one last nod and, "You, too. Goodnight," I head up the stairs to my room and lock myself in it.

I wanted to go take a shower first, but I change my mind now, since I need some fresh air and some clear mind, so I decide on going out on the rooftop first to have some quiet and alone time in the freezing air.

But when I climb out of the window, I'm unpleasantly surprised to see that someone's already there. And that someone is no other than Alexander. I inhale sharply and when he turns his head around swiftly, I just want to jump back down from the window into my room.

"I'll just go ..." I trail off, staring at unmoving Alexander. It's clear to me that it won't be him this time that'll go away, so it means it'll have to be me. And I'm too tired to deal with his outbursts.

But then, on the second breath I take, I realize that this is getting pointless. All this running from someone ... I'm getting sick of it. I've been running my whole life and I came here for a sole reason of not having to run anymore. And here I am, running from someone again because I'm a coward who doesn't know how to stand up for herself.

This is getting silly and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the feeling inside of me like I always have to look behind my back, like I always have to be careful. I'm really sick of it and I don't want to live life in fear anymore. Because that's no kind of life to live.

I pull myself all the way up on the rooftop. "You know what? No. I'm not going anywhere."

I crawl a bit forward, careful to put some distance between us because I might be filled with adrenaline right now and feel really brave, but that doesn't mean I still don't fear he's capable of, I don't know, pushing me off the roof or something. And I kind of don't want to die like that.

Alexander's lips curl up and if I didn't know better, I'd say he smiled. He looks casual, but still on alert, if that even makes any sense. I'd describe it as he looks relaxed, but he's ready to attack if he needs to at any moment.

I don't let that take my bravery away.

"Oh, is that so?" Alexander drawls out lazily.

I tilt my head up higher. "Yes," I reply curtly.

Alexander chuckles. His chuckle is dark and it runs chills down my body, and not in a good way. "You know, Little one, one of us will need to go, and it's not gonna be me."

The nerve of this guy ... I honestly feel like I'm meeting a king when I'm near him, except he's without a crown and he doesn't have any kingdom, but he still acts like the whole world should bow down to him.

"Then you're out of luck because I'm not going anywhere, either," I reply snottily, sending a fake smile his way, even though he's not even looking at me, but somewhere above my head like he can't even stand to look at me. Jerk.

"Fucking hilarious," Alexander replies dryly, his voice without any emotions, clearly showing that he doesn't find this hilarious at all. "If you're looking for trouble, I'd suggest you go somewhere else. Because with me, you're not only going to wish you didn't experience trouble with me, you're going to wish you didn't even know the meaning of that word."

That doesn't even make any sense, I want to retort back. But I bite down on my tongue. I'm already getting too far with this and I feel like I'm digging myself a big hole here. But I can't stop myself. "You know, Alexander –"

"It's Sin for you."

"I – what?" I ask dumbly.

Alexander makes a noise of impatience. "Not Alex or Alexander. It's Sin for you."

Sin? He wants me to call him Sin? It takes a lot not to burts out laughing at the absurd situation I found myself in. "I'm not going to call you that," I say with disgust. Seriously, who does he think he is?

Alexander shifts his whole body toward me. It takes a great effort not to shrink into myself and escape back into the room. Instead, I put my hands down on the cold rooftop and leave them there, just in case I should stand up and have to run back inside, but I don't move just yet.

"I'm not gonna repeat myself. I'd prefer you not calling me anything and not addressing me at all, but if you have to, it's Sin for you."

I snort at him. "Are you an asshole like that to everyone or just to me?" I ask sarcastically.

"Just to you," he shoots back shortly.

That shuts me up because I did not expect that answer. Well, okay then. "May I ask why?" I try carefully.

"You may. Doesn't mean I'm gonna answer," he says back rudely.

I roll my eyes, even though I'm positive he can't see the gesture. "I don't know why I bother with you. Honestly," I mutter to myself, staring up at the night sky. The sky is clear tonight and full of stars. It's actually beautiful. I still prefer the dark, though.

"Me neither," Alexander says dismissively.

It pisses me off. His attitude pisses me off, especially if he really is like that only with me. But he was rude to his mum, too. And to Amelia. So how can he dare to say he's only like that to me? Is he a liar, too?

"Maybe because there are people who think you're a good person. And either they're all wrong or I'm totally blind." I don't know why I said that. It just ... escaped my mouth before I thought the words through and before I reminded myself who I was really talking to.

Alexander suddenly stands up. And that's when the real fear grips me. Oh, shit. What is he going to do? He walks toward me and I helplessly watch him, knowing I'm too late to run back into my room now.

He leans down, bringing his face so close I smell the smoke on his breath and so close I see his wide eyes in the dark. He places his hands on either side of me, preventing me to escape anywhere. I stop breathing, I'm even afraid to blink.

"I'm as bad as it gets, Little one, and it seems to me like you want to test that out tonight," he says lowly, whispering right onto my face. I keep quiet. "I'll be nice enough to give you another warning, Gabrielle," he spits my name out and my eyes close at the venom in his voice. "Don't make me do it for the third time. Because the consequences ..." He shakes his head. "You're not gonna like them."

I don't move and I don't say a word. I stay silent and stare at him, waiting for his next move. He lifts his right hand and gets in near my face. I flinch, afraid he'll slap me or hurt me otherwise. But he gently takes a strand of my hair between his fingers and lets it slip through them. I'm still as a statue.

"Keep your mouth shut if you don't want me to do it for you." He places his hand on my cheek then, his touch soft, but his words, on the contrary, are not, "You have a pretty face. It'd be a shame if I ruined it."

I suddenly slap his hand away from my face, having enough of this. "You already ruin your face with your attitude, so you're in advantage here."

He stares into my eyes for a few more moments before he hangs his head and a small smile forms on his face. Then, he stands up and walks toward his window, making it look like he's walking on the floor instead of a rooftop and making it look so effortless and so fearless.

I hear him mutter, "Fucking pathetic," under his breath and see him shaking his head before he climbs back down through his window and shuts it, loudly.

When he's closing it, I can't help but shout, "Yes, you are! But we all already know that."