[Dedicated to knockoutlou for the lovely fan art!]

Unedited.

WHEN I AWOKE, the throbbing pain at the side of my head made me gasp aloud. Cautiously, I let me fingertips press against the soft flesh, a rather tender bump residing just above my right temple. To begin, I had no recollection of how it had managed to get there until a sudden memory of waking up in the arms of a Councillor came back to me all at once. Heras' grip had been tight, too tight on my skin and I had instantly panicked, throwing myself around in his arms like a fish out of water until I broke free and fell to the ground at his feet. Before I could even pick myself up and make a break for it, he'd thrust the hilt of his Striking Blade against the side of my head. Then nothing, blank. Next thing I find myself sitting in an unfamiliar room with large rusty bars keeping me captive. A jail cell. I was no expert on the names of particular rooms aboard an alien vessel, but if I had to take a guess I'd say I'd been thrown in the, as Klaru had called them, cells. 

Fantastic.

Once I'd taken a guess at my whereabouts, I was instantly up and searching my surroundings for any sign of Louis. He was nowhere in sight, not even in any of the other cells lining the silver walls. Worry flooded my mind. Where was he? More importantly, was he alright? The last I heard, Norkar had been dragging him down there to make room for Klaru to have fun experimenting on me, at least that's what I got from the whole ordeal.

I frowned. Finding myself wondering what exactly she had done to me, I inspected my arm where the needle had been inserted. My eyes widened as they fell upon a grotesquely bruised area of skin between my upper and forearm. The nook directly in the middle was black and blue, almost like I'd been beaten several times over, my veins protruding horrifically below the surface as if they were about to burst right through the tissue. Being extraordinarily pale also didn't help, but one look at the tampered skin confirmed my theory and whatever the hell I'd been injected with obviously didn't seem to be a fan of my system. 

Had she possibly carried out the same procedure on Louis? Would he have the same bruising somewhere on his body? Prince or no prince, something in my mind told me that Klaru would tear through anyone to get what she wanted.

Once I realised that Louis wasn't there, I allowed myself to take it my surroundings properly. The room I was in was just like your stereotypical jail cell but done up with several alien touches of course; cold floors made from the metal of the ship as opposed to stone, the floor-to-ceiling bars separating me from other cells and the hallway of freedom, a small oval-like slab with several buttons on it. I looked at it confusingly, unsure what would happen if I were to press the red button or the green. My only guess was that it was some sort of bed seeing as there wasn't anything else in the cold square that resembled an appropriate place for sleeping. As I neared closer, I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me and I pressed the red button. There was a hissing, like an automatic door as the oval pod opened like an egg, the white surface splitting precisely down the middle to reveal a black bowl-shaped basin. My brain automatically thought, toilet. I pressed the green button this time and watched as the oval pod converted to its original form and then split horizontally this time to open and reveal what I'd assumed; a bed but minus the necessary things like a mattress and pillow. There was a scruffy old blanket and that was it. 

"And here I thought it would be a comfortable journey through space," I muttered, pressing the button once again so everything was how I'd found it. A shudder made its way down my spine as I tried to imagine just how uncomfortable it would be to sleep on the cold slab. 

I stood back and sighed. That was all there was in my cell: the egg-toilet-bed creation of horror. Or ETB for short, I thought. Then I found myself laughing at all the possibilities that ETB could stand for. Extra-terrestrial bullshít stuck in my mind for several minutes before I heard footsteps padding down the hallway. 

"This is all so unnecessary," I heard a voice huff. My head snapped in the direction of the voice and I knew it was Louis before I even saw him. Not a moment later he rounded the corner and came into view, closely followed by the bulky Councillor I'd encountered from before. Louis had his hands bound behind his back and I couldn't help but notice the deep gash on his cheek had almost healed. I squinted at him, wondering if I were seeing right. Only a few hours - hours, days, how long had I been out? - ago it had been bleeding severely. 

When the Councillor finally managed to stuff Louis - rather unceremoniously -  into the cell next to mine, I was already pressed up against the bars and asking questions.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"Perfectly," he groaned as he stood on his toes and called to the retreating Councillor, "Oi! Take these cuffs off me this instant!"

With a glare, the Councillor - Clepto, I recalled - turned and tossed the keys through the bars at me. "Untie yourself," he grunted before storming off without another word. I listened as his footsteps receded down the hall before I dove for the ring of keys laying by my feet. My face fell when I counted a total of twelve keys and only one problem; which was the right one?

"Have you got any idea which one it is?" I asked, holding them up for Louis to inspect. He came closer, squinting through the bars that separated us and bit his lip in concentration. 

"It's not the big square one, that's for the canteen."

"You have a canteen here?" I asked, my stomach grumbling ironically. Only then did I realise how hungry I was.

"Now is not the time to be discussing the eating hall," he huffed, failing to hide a grin. "No matter how wonderful food may be."

"So, not the square one," I repeated, pushing it over to the opposite side of the ring. "Any clue?" I pressed, jingling the other eleven in his face. 

He sighed deeply and shook his head before turning his back to me and pressing the metal cuffs against the bars. His hands were curled into fists. "I can't remember. Just try them all. I believe it will be one of the smaller ones though; larger ones are usually for doors."

"Right," I muttered as I assessed which ones to try first. As I tried key number one, I asked again: "Are you sure you're alright?"

It took him a moment to register that I'd asked him a question and he just nodded his head slowly. "Yeah. As good as I can be considering all that has happened in the last few days. Why do you ask?"

"Well, like you said; considering everything that's happened you must be pretty, I don't know, hurt." Hurt seemed like the understatement of the year but it was the first word that slipped out.

"Hurt," he laughed, bitterness laced in his tone. "Hurt is only one word for what I'm feeling right now."

"I can imagine," I tried to lighten the mood but to no avail, there was no fixing this mess. He remained slumped against the bars as I tried a couple more keys, breathing slowly as if trying to calm himself down. Unable to see him wallowing in his own sadness, I said, "Your cheek. It's almost healed."

He seemed to pique at my observation and he smirked over his shoulder at me. "Have I never mentioned how advanced our medical research is up on Junito?"

I shook my head. "Tell me."

"We studied different kinds of skin and blood types over the years, trying to determine which was affected most by particular things and then trying to concoct the perfect treatment. It was challenging. We first tried healing a burn with an experimental salve but it only resulted in a rather nasty infection. Basically we kept working away until each kind of injury had a way in which to be healed almost completely."

"So, you were one of the ones who helped make these serums?" I asked as I tried yet another useless key. Finally, I found the right one and the cuffs loosened from Louis' wrists and fell to the cold floor with a clang. I watched as Louis carefully rubbed his wrists before shuffling round to face me, thanking me as he manoeuvred. 

"Yes. There's a whole group of us in the laboratories that-"

"Ha, laboratories," I laughed. "So serious, Loudrix."

He just smiled and continued. "Shut up. We're always trying to come up with new results to cure all kinds of illnesses, even the minor ones because if one of us suffers, we all suffer. It's a horrible thing to see those you love in pain."

I could only nod, not truly able to relate to his words having never lost anyone close to my heart. I'd been nine when my Aunt Sarah had passed away but I was too young to really remember her or what had been happening during those constant visits to the hospital. If we had been closer then yes, perhaps it would have struck me with more grief but all I could remember were the sad few weeks before and after her passing. And then everyone got on with their lives, putting on a brave face every morning. In a way I was lucky to have never dealt with a lot of loss. Jason on the other hand had had a really tough childhood what with losing both his gran and granddad in the span of a couple months and then his dad when he was eighteen. I could relate to Louis' words when he said his people felt the pain of each other; I'd been in pain while Jason had gone through the worst parts of his life.

I pulled a smile for Louis. "So, your cheek was healed with your magic potion?"

"Ha, 'magic potion.' Yeah, it's a tissue mender in a way. Once the initial bleeding had stopped, they layered some of the cream down the skin and over the course of a couple hours, it slowly starts to stitch itself back together. It's quite extraordinary actually. Almost like manipulating time. Usually it would take a few weeks for a gash this deep to heal properly, but with the treatment it will most likely be gone in a days time."

"That's amazing," I found myself saying and it was true; to think just how far Junites were in the evolution of medical practice made me wonder if we, down on Earth would discover such a life-saving wonder. The lives that could be saved if humans owned Louis' miracle working medicines would be well in the millions. "Is this healing cream only for injuries on the skin? Not for internal uses?"

He nodded. "We're working on a putting together all kinds of salves, potions, injections that can heal or slow down the effects of life-threatening conditions from a basic scratch on the knee to a dreaded disease."

I wondered aloud, "Do you think you could find a cure for cancer?" I realised my voice was small only after he turned and gave me a quizzical look. When he asked if I were alright all I could offer him was a nod.

"What's cancer? That sickness?" he asked. "I think I remember hearing it on your television once."

"It's the nastiest thing in the world, Loudrix. It's a bitch. I guess that answers the question of is there anything worse than humans out there." I just laughed at my joke and shrugged as his eyes found mine. He seemed to be urging me to speak on and I just shrugged and told him, "When I was younger I lost someone in my family to cancer. Almost everyone has. It's the one thing we've not yet been able to completely understand or find a cure for."

"Well, how about after we make it to Junito, and if we somehow make it out of this mess, when I return to my parents with you by my side and everything is calm and it's revealed that you are friendly, we, Junites can communicate with humans to come up with something that will help?"

I could only smile at him and not just for offering his help and knowledge to my kind (if we lived through everything) but for being genuinely interested in aiding us. Being a scientist himself, he understood what it was like to be in charge of looking for those life-changing discoveries that could lead to bright and better things for his species. He knew it was the same for us, for anyone with a population that were easily tainted.

He was kneeling before the bars now, both his hands on the cold metal that separated us. I smiled and placed my hands over his. "I appreciate that, Louis. For now though I think it would be best to focus on the current situation. And also think of what exactly we're going to do once we arrive at Junito."

"We do," he agreed, looking at the ring of keys I'd set on the floor. "Let me see those for a second."

I handed them to him and he instantly began inspecting each one while muttering about how stupid Clepto was. When I asked him what he was doing his face fell.

"What?" I urged.

"I thought that Clepto would have been stupid enough to have thrown you the set of keys containing the ones for our cells. Apparently he's not quite as dimwitted as I'd thought. That or Klaru gave him very precise orders to not mess up."

"Would have been a stroke of luck if they had been," I laughed and he nodded, standing to his feet and spinning a slow three-sixty of the cell. He breathed in and out as if preparing to explode right before my eyes. "You alright there, Lou?"

"I would have thought they'd lock me in my own room as opposed to a dingy cell. I may be a prisoner but I'm a posh prisoner."

"You certainly are," I added. "And they're probably also thinking that you're a royal pain in the ass. Literally."

He flashed me a scowl before sauntering - not sulking or lumbering but sauntering as if it had been his plan all along to get caught and stuffed in a 'dingy' cell - over to the ETB. However, during his several months on Earth I'd got to know him well enough to realise our personalities were pretty similar and no doubt he was trying to make the best of the problem. He deserved a standing ovation for putting on such a bold persona after dealing with all the shit thrown at him. Standing before me this time wasn't a scared little blue man with odd verbalisation skills and a love for pancakes, no. This was Loudrix at his best; a prince, determined to do the right thing no matter the consequences. 

"What now?" I asked, leaning forward and sticking my face between the bars. "What does his Majesty presume?"

"Glad you asked, Earthling," he replied. Then he sat down which I hadn't been expecting him to do. "Absolutely nothing."

I raised a brow. "Nothing? We're not going to come up with a great escape plan?"

"I'd only suggest it if there were even a chance. But there's not. We're on my ship - I know every secret tunnel, every button, every-"

"But you don't know the keys?" I teased and he sighed once more.

"Point is, Flora, that we're  very much trapped here until a Councillors let's us out."

"Oh," I murmured, letting my eyes drop to the floor. Something inside me deflated like a balloon - hope? I'd been expecting such a grand finale to it all, the great escape if you would. But no, he had nothing and I also had nothing and so therefore we could only do nothing. And we did. For minutes, hours it felt like until a loud groaning sound echoed through the ship and the ground began to shake like there was an earthquake occurring.

"What's that?" I asked.

"We're moving," Louis commented. One moment he was sitting and the next, he was up shouting for a Councillor to show up. He was frantic, tugging on the bars like a madman in a movie. It took several minutes for him to calm down and tell me what was wrong. "You!" he shrieked. "You won't be able to take the changing air! You need a transfer!" And he was back to shaking on the bars.

Something ticked at the back of my mind and I rolled up my sleeve to show him the bruised skin. "Is this what a transfer looks like? Or you think would look like?" He didn't answer me at first and my heart began hammering uncontrollably in my chest. Would I die? As soon as the ship left Earth, what would happen to me? Would I just drop? Suffocate while Louis watched, helpless? Or would I maybe live? Was the bruised skin where I'd been injected with alien blood? Thoughts, good and bad, were racing through my mind and before I realised what was happening, I was having trouble breathing.

"Oh, shit! Flora, no!" Louis gasped suddenly, racing forward to grasp my hand tightly in his. "Breathe! Just try breathe, it will be alright!" His face was inches from mine, whispering positive things at me as I tried to get my head around what was happening.

Was it the end? Would I die like this, my lungs starving for the air and my face turning blue? Would I just pop? I took one huge lungful of air.

You idiot, the voice chuckled, you're just panicking, not dying. Now breathe and stop giving the alien a heart attack.

I took another breath. And another. Once I'd regained my breath I couldn't help but laugh at Louis' wild eyes and furrowed brow. I knew if the situation had been reversed that I'd have acted like Louis had.

"Aw," I coughed, "you really do care."

"You scared me!" he raged. "Don't do things like that!"

"I couldn't exactly help it, Louis. I think it was a minor panic attack. Or just ... breath shortage. Like after you go for a run."

"You were doing no running!" he pointed out. "I was so scared."

"Of me dying?" I teased. "I can't ever die. I'm immortal."

"Yeah, it would be pretty great if we were at the moment," he muttered, inching closer until we were sitting opposite each other again with the bars to part us. "This is all so humiliating."

"It's sick," I corrected. "All of this just to rule a planet. Well, I suppose ruling a planet is pretty cool but for someone as selfish as Klaru to have that responsibility on her shoulders - no, not so good." I was just rambling to fill the silence. There was rarely ever a silence when Louis and I began talking, one of us usually had something to say that would interest the other. But now Louis was quiet, just looking at me with a miserable smile. I could see it in his eyes; we were screwed. 

"I apologise for seeming so distant." He cleared his throat. "And I'm also sorry for shouting at you earlier, that wasn't at all nice of me."

"No, it wasn't," I agreed. "I couldn't tell if you were putting on an act or actually trying to save my arse from death's door."

He scoffed. "Yeah, I was going to just let them take you. Of course I'm that evil." His sarcasm made me laugh and soon he was too, smiling widely at me until crinkles formed round his eyes. It was good to hear him laugh. "I wasn't going to let them take you away from me. You deserve more than all this. Sometimes I wish I'd never dragged you into all this mess and you'd be warm and comfortable in your home right now, getting on with your life."

"Are you kidding?" I blurted. "That's the last thing I want. You know me well enough by now to know how desperately I've been waiting for an opportunity like this. Not quite the opportunity to go to space, but more to leave Hoveton and explore somewhere else."

"You know what I mean, Flora," Louis said. "I want you to be safe, not stuck in a prison cell with me."

"There's no one I'd rather be stuck in prison with," I promised. "Besides, nobody else would try to make light of the situation like you."

"I suppose," he laughed. "What would you be doing right now if you were at home?"

I thought for a moment, trying to think what my routine was, not that I ever really had one. It was a Friday which meant I'd have gone to work, suffered through my shift with Imogen talking my ears off until the clock finally struck that magical hour of home-time. Following my departure from work, I'd most likely do my weekend shopping, purchase a copy of Heat and a bottle of wine to bask in that glorious feeling of the two days that made up the weekend.

"Nothing," I said. "Absolutely nothing."

The scary thing was I'd been doing just that on the night I'd met Louis, reading my magazine and drinking my alcohol until my life changed for the better. He'd saved me from those dreary nights of nothingness.

"At all?" he pressed. "Not visiting Jason or going out to drink yourself silly?" he teased, poking my arm through the bars. I just slapped him away and shook my head. "Wow. What a pitiful life you lead, Flora."

"Gee, thanks," I returned. "Just because you're a royal scientist who has always lived a life of luxury. What would you be doing at home right now?"

He sighed, seemingly having a difficult time remembering his Junite routine. "Most likely working on our medical research."

I thought about how little I'd actually asked him about his line of work. Sure, I'd pestered him with questions about his royal bring-up but never really about his passion for science and discovery. What had driven him into liking it so much? Why was his father not supportive of his choice? I was about to ask him all of this but then another question popped into my mind.

"What is your most incredible scientific break-through?" 

"Honestly? Probably you. Or the fact that I look just as handsome in human skin as I do without," he offered, flashing me a humorous grin. I scoffed - not in disagreement but because he was right; both in and out of his human form he was a beautiful person within (and he wasn't exactly the ugliest either), someone who wouldn't hurt a fly.

"Or the fact you're just as cocky?" I returned to which he just gave me a faux-scowl. I noticed that he often did that.

"Funny. But in all seriousness it would probably be you. You're the best of your kind. I was lucky to have fallen in your back garden and not somebody with no patience."

"I do have no patience," I reminded him. "I wasn't taking any of your crap when I first brought you into my house, remember? Extra-terrestrial or not."

"Yes, well you know what I mean. If some old, alcoholic gentleman had found me glowing brightly in his flower bed he'd have no doubt telephoned the authorities. I'd have ended up on that metal slab, being experimented on." I could sense the sadness in his voice at the thought. It still surprised me how un-alien-like Louis often seemed to be but then again, as a human being who'd only been brought up on the stereotyped space creature, it wasn't exactly his fault. 

"Hey," I said. "Chin up. It'll all be fine."

"Hmph." He didn't seem convinced. "We can hope. Besides, it's me that Klaru really wants so with a bit of luck you'll walk out of this unscathed."

"You will too, you're the prince. You have the authority and power over her pathetic plot. It can easily go your way if you play your cards right. Get someone's attention when we land. Don't you have a sort of code word for when you're in danger or something?"

"Oh!" he gasped. "That would have been an excellent idea! You know, if I did have a danger word."

"How about danger?" I suggested, giggling as he sighed loudly.

"How about no?" The Prince stood to his feet and looked down at me with a grin. "How about you then, mighty human. What's the best thing you've ever achieved?" He wandered over to the ETB again and pressed the green button and waited until the little pod opened to reveal the cold slab of a 'bed.' "This is unacceptable," he muttered just loud enough for me to hear.

"My greatest achievement?" I repeated, thinking back over my twenty-two miserable years in Hoveton. It had been nursery, primary school, secondary school with a couple years of college before heading straight into work. Nothing out of the ordinary. "I can't think of anything, to be honest. I've lead a fairly normal life. Not to sound cheesy but I'd say you, Loudrix. Not everyone can say they've found an alien lurking in their back garden."

"I was hardly lurking," he protested, rolling his eyes. "More like recovering from a nasty crash-landing."

"Fair enough," I said. "There's really no point in asking me about my boring life. I want to know more about you. All your scientific theories and discoveries."

"Well," he began, scratching his chin thoughtfully, "I suppose there is this one thing which you may find enlightening." Suddenly his eyes lit up and he swivelled round to face me, gesticulating enthusiastically as he spoke. "I've always had this theory that there are several persons that closely resemble yourself."

"What do you mean?" I copied his actions and took a seat on the poor excuse of a bed.

"Well, when I was younger there was this child who I used to acquaint with during lunch hours. He was one of the cook's sons and he was called Gark. We'd play games or tell each other secrets we'd heard from the servants throughout the castle. And yes, that would be my castle."

I held my hands up as if to say, "Ooh, Mr. Fancy Pants." He just laughed.

"However, the more we interacted and became friends, the more I realised how similar we looked. It was rather uncanny. My father had even confused Gark as myself this one time and he'd even expressed how similar we looked. It was something that always stuck with me, right up to when I became interested in science and though this theory isn't necessarily anything to do with science, I believe it's true."

"So, because this kid looked like you, suddenly there are several look-a-likes out there?" I teased. "Louis, there was a girl in my school with red hair and blue eyes too and people said we often looked alike, even though I was thoroughly insulted because Caitlin had a lazy eye and I didn't. You can't have the same colour of hair and think you look like a twin."

"Ah, but that's not what I'm saying," he promised. "I think it's true because when we grew up and met for the first time in several years, he looked scarily identical to me. He suggested something to do with genes only spreading so far. Maybe he was right, perhaps not - I never really looked into it. However, I'd like to think it's true, that there are doppelgangers out there. How interesting would that be?"

"Eh, it'd be pretty confusing," I said. "How embarrassing to get you mixed with another person. Tell me more theories you have."

"Hm. Well, I believe the sun will eventually kill all it's nearby planets."

I fixed him with a cold stare and said, "Thank you for that. You forget that I'm living on one of those planets."

He realised his mistake and apologised profusely before promising to have helped every human on planet Earth evacuate to Junito pre-sun expansion. I just laughed and told him that with any luck, it would be long after I was buried in the ground and humans would have finally stopped wasting money on things like fancier phones and cars and gadgets that are useless and quite frankly pointless.  

"I'm sorry again for earlier. I'm ridiculously mad at myself for losing my temper at you."

"It's fine," I told him. "Though I'm not so sure I'll forgive you so easily."

His mouth fell open as if he were about to retaliate but instead he just shrugged. "You will. When the time is right. I know you will because you like me too much, human."

"Not with that attitude, alien."

"Oh, please! You said you were loving this whole ordeal despite being held captive at the moment. I personally can't see the fun in it but hey, everybody likes different things."

"True, true." I pulled my knees up to my chin and hugged them closely, reality finally hitting me hard. What exactly could Louis and I do while stuck behind bars? We had no idea what was going to happen once the ship landed on Junito let alone how to alert an official that there was danger right before their eyes. It scared me that Louis had been rendered so clueless aboard his own ship; it must have been awful to have no clue how to resolve such a situation. Plus his crew ought to have been terrified not only for their lives but his too.

The movement of the ship felt like that of a train, a steady sort of rocking motion that was easy to fell asleep to. Only the adrenaline racing through me would never be the same as when on a train, hell no. There were no windows down where we were and I was disappointed that I couldn't look out and see the world go by. Most likely, we'd already left Earth and I felt a wave of relief pass through me when noticing I wasn't dead. The bruised skin on my arm must have been a blood transfer after all. Besides, it'd be pointless of Klaru to keep me prisoner and take me to Junito dead. She knew that a human couldn't stand-

"Oh, my God." I was on my feet all of a sudden, my stomach in my throat. "Holy shit. Oh, my God!"

"Flora?" Louis asked, at the bars as quick as a flash.

"Jason! What happened to Jason?!" I was shrieking now, my heart hammering in my chest as I thought back to when I'd last seen my best friend. Right before I'd ran off to find Louis. He had been with Bu but who knows where they'd went after I'd fled. Where was he now? Had he managed to get off the ship? Had the Councillors killed him?! All the panic and dread flooded my mind until all I could think was the worst.

What if he's been caught?

What if he's gasping on the ground right now, his lungs deprived of oxygen?

What if Klaru is torturing him?

What if he's dead?

Dead. 

The word was embedded on my lids as I squeezed my eyes shut to try and hide from it all. The guilt of having left him, the worry that his life was in more danger than I'd ever intended for it to be, the sadness at the thought of his body being lifeless, a corpse because of my desperation to find Louis. I'd left him, helpless.

Your fault, it's all your fault if he's gone.

"It's my fault," I said aloud.

"What's your fault?" I heard Louis inquire but only just over the screaming voices in my head.

"Louis, it's my fault! I left Jason - I left my best friend back there! I don't know what's happened to him! What if he's been killed? What if he's being beaten right now? It's all my fault." I couldn't stop myself from slumping against the bars, my hands in my hair and tugging until it was almost unbearable. "Louis, what have I done?"

Louis' hand came to rest on my shoulder. He was kneeling beside me whispering calming words. I wanted to tell him it wasn't helpful but I couldn't say anything else but that it was all on me if something dreadful had happened to Jason. I'd never be able to forgive myself.

"Shh," Louis muttered, rubbing circles on my back. "He'll be fine. I promise he'll be OK. Where was he last? Was he with one of my crew mates?"

I nodded. "Bu."

"Bu," Louis repeated. He sounded relieved. "Then I can guarantee you he will be fine. Bu is one of the cleverest people I know. Flora, she will have taken care of him, I promise."

"But if he's still on the ship he'll need a transfer-"

"And Bu knows that. Did she see you two together? She knows you're friends? Then she will have made sure he's safe. Most likely she'll have transferred her own blood. Flora, I promise." He shook me gently until I looked into his eyes. I hadn't been aware that I'd been crying until he wiped my tears away with his thumb. We were sitting so close and I longed for a hug. They were powerful after all.

"He's my best friend," I managed to croak and Louis just gave me this look that both comforted me and made me realise that he knew exactly how I felt. He took my hand and squeezed it tightly. "I know how it feels to be scared for a friend's life, Flora." 

And then we sat side by side until my breathing was steady and my eyes were dry. His hand never left mine and words weren't passed until I told him how grateful I was that he had appeared in my life when he had. I probably would have died of boredom otherwise.

He chuckled. "I hardly think so. More like your boredom would have cast you into an unshakeable sensation of miserable longing."

I forced a laugh and looked up into his eyes. I'd never really found the opportunity to examine them at such a close proximity until right then, when our faces were only inches apart and I could see every small speck of green and silver there mixed in the blue of his iris. An odd sensation of warmth spread through me as he continued to look at me sympathetically, like he expected me to have another meltdown right there. I wouldn't, not again. He'd seen me at my worst over the last few days and I wouldn't force my pain onto him. 

I was terrified for him, for Jason, for the crew and for once, myself. Until you realise how endangered your life is you don't fully appreciate everything you've had throughout life. I thought of my parents, my friends, my ambitions. Would I see them again? Would Jason see his family again? Louis?

"Are you alright now?" he asked me, sitting down once more.

"Yes, thanks." You're lying to him. "I'm alright for now. I just had a bit of a scare to be honest."

"You and I both," he murmured, resting his head on the bar between us. "Sitting in here is giving me a headache. I'm going to demand we're moved to my quarters for the remainder of the journey. If they expect us to sleep in these contraptions then they are very much mistaken."

"I hate to tell you this but I doubt your status will get you anything at the moment. Probably another injury to the head."

"Most likely but it would be worth a try."

We were still sitting so close that I could feel his breath on my face. I dreaded to think what I smelled like - I was still a mess from the night out at the pub. My hair was a shambles as were my clothes and probably my face. Plus I had a lovely bruise to go with it all. Great. But Louis didn't cringe or move away, he just continued to flash me the occasional smile as the ship rocked between us.

And suddenly a strange realisation crossed my mind. During the several months I'd known Louis, I'd never truly paid attention to how attractive he was. Only as I'd been peering at his eyes had I found myself checking off everything beautiful about him from his pointy nose to his high cheekbones. He'd acquired a smattering of scruff along his jaw while he'd been on Earth, which I was subconsciously reaching up to touch. He said nothing as my fingertips brushed gently along his jaw and I was thankful for that, otherwise it would have been slightly embarrassing. But I'd never touched Louis like this so I could only assume he was as curious as I was. Unsure of what I'd been expecting to happen, I continued to run my hand across his face until I tangled my fingers in the hair resting at the back of his neck. My forehead rested against his as I closed my eyes to enjoy the familiarity of his breathing.

It was the only familiar thing I could hold on to. 

"Louis?" I heard myself whisper.

"Yes?" he replied, just as quietly.

"I'm scared," I admitted, blinking back more tears that I could no longer fight. "I never admit that, not to myself or anybody."

"Believe it or not, but discussing your dilemmas with another can truly help you. More than you may think." He spoke like he understood and it made me wonder if he'd ever had a time in his life where he was terrified and needed someone to let it all out to. Being the prince, I tried to imagine if he'd ever had someone like that, a person he could rely on or if he was expected to take it all on by himself and set a good example. 

"I'll believe you," I said, leaning forward to rest as best I could against him. His skin felt just as cold as the metal separating us and I grew angrier at Klaru for having dumped him in a cell. He may have been a prisoner but he was still a prince - the prince. Despite all my best efforts to keep him safe, it seemed I'd let him down after all.

Thank you for reading! x

What does everyone think of Harry's single? I like it and I'm so happy that I do because I thought Niall's was kind of meh and I wasn't keen on Louis' at all, not going to lie. Out of the three I think Harry's is the best but not necessarily the best song in the world. Let me know what you thought of it!

Who's seen 13 Reasons Why?  Holy shit don't get me started, that show messed me up so much and I was in tears by the end. There's been a lot of criticism about it 'glorifying suicide' but I really didn't get that impression from it at all - I thought it was a real eye-opener and was informative of how things, little or big, can affect a person in such a way and it really makes you think about what you say to people. It was scary and intense and fúcking sad, urgh. Have you seen it? What were your thoughts (good? bad?), I'd really like to know. 

Space joke: Why don't astronauts keep their jobs for very long? Because as soon as they start they get fired!

Cazza