edited and rewritten

In Nick's car, Via, Eloise, and Emerson join us while the other girls stay in Nyx's car. Via gives Nick the directions to her house and he plugs it into the GPS. Eloise starts chatting with her boyfriend, Emerson, and she giggles loudly.

"Eme! Stop it." She playfully slaps his upper arm and his glittering smile shines down on her. Sparkles and warmth spread throughout his brown eyes as he wraps his arms around her.

My cheeks heat up as I realize I'm staring at them. I look away and focus on the road as Nikolai starts driving. Via stays away from the cute couple and starts a conversation with me. "I sincerely thought she was joking about having a boyfriend. I mean, where did she even meet him?" She whispers.

I snicker and cover my mouth, "Me too. She probably met him at a different school."

Nick sneaks a glance at me then he looks away. I tear my eyes from him and focus on Via. Not noticing the awkwardness between Nick and me, she continues talking about Eloise and Emerson.

"Hey, El, where'd you two meet?" I ask her and her smile grows wide.

She brings her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them. Emerson relaxes in the seat and looks at her, waiting for her to speak. "It was because of a class field trip. My history class was going with another school's history class and that's how we met."

Emerson chips in, "I noticed her struggling to order her lunch and I helped her out. We ate lunch together and well...the rest was history."

Both Via and I smile, "Aw, that's cute." I say.

"So adorable." Via agrees.

For the rest of the ride to Via's house, we make small talk about mundane things. "Hey, Ada, how'd you meet the prince?" Eloise asks as she eats sour candy and smacks her lips.

All eyes turn to me including Nikolai's. I've never had to come up with a backstory before for Nick and me. "Um, I—" Nick cuts me off.

"I first saw her a year ago when she accompanied her parents to the palace. I was immediately enthralled by her and I went and spoke to her. I asked her out and she said yes."

Eloise squeals and hugs Emerson. "That's so amazing! Then you asked her to marry you?" She looks at Nick with wide, impatient eyes.

He nods, "Yup," his eyes find mine as he approaches a red light, "I was nervous, more nervous than I'd ever been in my life but I knew I wanted to spend forever with her. I love her more than anything in this world."

He continues looking at me and for a moment I thought he was telling the truth. He is good at lying. Too good. I clear my throat and look away from him. Eloise and Emerson coo at our 'relationship' but Via looks at us with suspicion dancing in her green eyes.

I avoid her gaze and I look out the window for the rest of the ride. The light changes to green and Nick turn onto Via's street. Via's very modest when it comes to her lifestyle. Her father owns a successful investment company and her mother works in real estate. Her big chateau house appears before us and we get to the security gate.

The robotic voice comes from the speaker, "Password."

Via leans over to the prince, "Seaweed."

"The password to your house is 'seaweed'?" I ask.

She smiles and rolls her eyes, "My baby sister came up with it."

Nick drives onto her property and parks. I look around for her father's car but I don't see it. It's a Saturday night which means he's supposed to be at home. It's his 'work-at-home' day.

"Where's your dad?" I ask Via.

We open the car doors and get out. "On a date with mom. They said that they wanted us to have fun without them around. They'll be back around twelve," she says.

Nodding, I close the car door then we walk up to her front door. I never had to bring clothes to sleep over at Via's house. I'd just wear the clothes I left the last time I stayed over. I always leave tons of clothes.

She opens the door and we all walk in. The air conditioning blasts us in our faces and I immediately wrap my arms around myself.

"Why's it so cold in here?" Nyx asks as she walks in.

For a moment I forgot that the rest of the girls were following behind us. Via glides over to the thermostat and increases the temperature. "Sorry, we all like it is cold. Especially at night. It feels nice," she apologizes.

I get along so well with Via, both of our families like it cold. However, this temperature is ridiculous. It's around eighty degrees outside but in the fifties in here. How'd they even get it that cold? My thermostat won't go past sixty-eight in this heat.

The house slowly starts getting warmer but not hot. It's not cold anymore but cool. "The living room's in here, the kitchen is through the arch up those three steps right there. And the closest bathroom is off the kitchen right over there." She instructs us.

They take it all in while I walk off to the kitchen. Opening her fridge, I move different things around to find food. "And here you'll find a snoop," Via says, putting her hands on her hips.

I roll my eyes with a smile on my face as I take out a cold pizza box. "I'll order more pizza," Sage says then she gets on her phone and starts typing.

I take out a few slices and shove them in the microwave. "What'd you guys wanna do?" Via asks.

The girls go into the living room and lay down on the couches. "I don't know. I'm too hungry to think, let's wait till we get our pizzas," Justina says.

Nick's eyes flicker at her for a moment but he looks away, ignoring her. Justina's always seemed to be confident and assertive but in the presence of the father to her 'baby' she seems to be avoiding him like a plague.

The girls notice the awkwardness of this situation and they remain silent.

—♡︎—

Our pizzas come and we talk with soft music playing in the background while eating. "Hey, I'm just saying King Meir was a hot man and I wished I was born when he was. We would've made some pretty kids." Sage laughs.

Different tones of 'mmhm's go around the room, sounding like a choir. Nick smiles a little, "Are you sure you'd want to meet him?" He asks.

Sage nods as if it's the one thing she's been wanting forever, "Yes, he's so hot, he did so many wonderful things and saved so many people." Her eyes turn into tiny bubbles, reflecting the different colors of love she has for the dead king.

"Yeah, he did do a lot of stuff. Y'know, except for the children he had relations with and then killed. And refugees he murdered brutally. So yeah, other than that, a great man indeed." Nick comments with a sharply irritated undertone.

The laughter stops and uncomfortable looks go around the room. "He did that? They didn't teach us that." Eloise says as she munches on chips. Instead of looking surprised like the rest of us, Emerson has the same look Nick has.

Emerson scoffs at his girlfriend, "Why would they darling? They want you to remember the human king as a good man, not a terrible creature."

"Besides, didn't you order his death, your highness?" Emerson looks at Nick and he nods.

"I did. He was skinned then burnt for his crimes." My eyes widen and I expect there to be a look of care on his face but I see nothing. His jaw is hard and set, not even a brick could break it. Does he feel nothing for the lives he's taken? Does it truly not affect him?

His eyes flicker to me and I shut my thoughts up. I forget that he can read my mind. I wonder how many times he's done that without me realizing it?

I won't be able to get to Justina. You need to do it.

I look at him but he's not looking at me, he's laughing along with something that Valerie said. Of course, the person who gets him to laugh is the girl dressed like death itself. Does he have no saving grace?

Well, how on earth am I supposed to get to her? It would be so weird if I spoke to her one on one. How does he expect me to do that?

"Hey Via," I stand from the couch and a few eyes turn to me, "Could I talk with you in private? It's about that thing you told me a few days ago." I pray that she understands what I'm trying to say.

Confusion coats her face but she goes along with it anyway. "Oh yeah, sure. We'll be back. Don't finish the pizza." She gets up and we walk up to her room.

Getting there in a few minutes, I make sure to lock the door behind us. "What is it?" She asks.

"I need to talk to Justina but it would be weird. I need help, and I don't know what to do." I say.

She sighs, "Okay, what do you need from her? Maybe I can help."

"There's something bigger to her pregnancy shtick. There's someone in charge of it all and I think she knows who it is."

Via nods and brushes down her shoulder-length black hair. "Okay, you won't be able to get that information without showing her your cards. I'm sorry, Ara, I don't think I can help." Her brows knit together and she frowns.

"It's okay, I'll try to figure out another way then." I turn around and my hand touches the door knob when Via places her hand on my shoulder.

"By the way, is everything alright with you and the prince?"

I nod, "Yeah, why?"

She shakes her head, "Was just wondering. It's just that you said that you can't tell me what's going on with you and the prince and I thought that it was because your relationship with him was fake. However, I seem to be wrong. In the car when we were talking about you, his eyes lit up, I can tell he loves you. I'm so happy for you, Ara. Don't forget about me when you become a princess," she bumps my shoulder with hers.

I smile, rolling my eyes as I try to ignore how she guessed it right. "Thanks, Via," I say. If only I could tell her the truth. I'm sure Nikolai wouldn't mind me telling her but now that I know the mafia is involved, I don't want to involve her. What if I do and she gets hurt? The less she knows the better.

We walk back downstairs and everyone has made themselves comfortable on the couch as they watch a movie. Nick has a blanket in his lap as his eyes watch the television intently. He sees me coming and a small smile makes its way onto his lips.

I sit beside him and he shares the blanket with me. He looks at me and I shake my head. Leaning closer to him, I whisper, "I don't have a way of getting to her."

He nods then he sighs, "We'll have to do it the difficult way then."

My brows crease, "What's the difficult way?"