I start flailing my arms, trying to fight off whoever is there, but they're too strong.

   "No, get off me!," I shout desperately.

   They keep a strong grip onto my flying arms and hold them still, making my attacks useless.

   This is it, I think. They've caught me and they're going to take me away.

   Tears of anger and fright sting the back of my eyes. I decide on what seems to be my only option. If it's a guy, a swift kick to the groin should make them kneel over in pain and give me just enough time to escape.

   Just as I'm about to raise my foot, the man says, "Lianna, wait!"

   I know this voice.

  I calm down a little as he turns us so the moonlight directly lands on his face. Caramel skin, soft hazel eyes, and wild tangles of dark, messy hair that carelessly, yet perfectly fall over his forehead.

   "Jake?"

   "Yes, Jake. From dinner ten minutes ago," he replies. His eyes are wide with shock.

   A wave of relief washes over me and makes me want to sink to the floor. Of course, it was someone I knew. When did I get so paranoid?

   All the fight in me leaves and his hold relaxes.

   "Lianna, are you okay?" he asks worriedly.

   "Yes, I'm fine. It's just that you looked like a dark shadow sneaking up on me and so I panicked and the flight or fight part of my brain took over. You were blocking the way so I couldn't exactly take flight unless I jumped off the balcony and that wasn't a very good idea, you know? So I-" At this point, I made the mistake of looking into his eyes. They were so mesmerizing and filled with sincere worry that I couldn't think of what to say and my mouth felt stuck.

   I became hyper-aware of him. His sharp jawline, the fullness of his lips, and the way his knuckles, which still clutched onto my arms, pressed against my breasts.

   I think he noticed too because soon after, he let go and backed away nervously.

   "Um... sorry, I didn't, uh, mean to-" A small blush crept onto his cheeks as he struggled to make a complete sentence. "Uh, you know, like... touch your b-"

   "Jake," I interrupted to save him, and me, the embarrassment. My cheeks were feeling particularly warm right now. "It's fine, I know it was just an accident."

   He looks at me, flustered. Being with him now gives me a bit of a different impression from when we were at dinner. No longer super confident, or stuck-up-perfect. I stare back, also flustered.

   After a few seconds, Jake looks away and clears his throat. "Right, so uh, where's the toilet?"

   I give him a bizarre look. "What toilet?"

   He walks over a few steps to join me at the balcony rail. He leans forward and turns to the right to face me.

  "Well, you said you were going to the restroom. And now I'm curious about where you keep the balcony toilet."

   Oh, right.

   I let out a small laugh and he smiles in return. "Yeah, that was just an excuse to leave."

   He nods. "I figured."

   I can't believe I'm making genuine small talk with a special guest, as cliché as this sounds, Jake seems different.

   "How did you know I was here anyway?"

   "I heard footsteps going up the stairs right after you left."

   "And why were you looking for me?," Realization hits me and I roll my eyes. "It was my mother, wasn't it?"

   "Yeah. She asked me to check on you when you didn't come back.  I went up the first flight of stairs I saw and could feel the cold air-"

   "It's not cold," I snap, a little too defensively.

   "Woah, okay, calm down Elsa." He puts his hands up in a mock defensive position. "I get it, the cold doesn't bother you. But to every normal person, this is considered freezing."

   "Whatever," I say softly and playfully nudge his arm.

   Jake nudges me back with a boyish grin on his face.

   Holy shit, are we flirting? This isn't supposed to be happening, especially not with someone like Jake. Me, liking an aristocratic rich boy- a meeting set up by our parents- something my mother can't have the satisfaction of achieving. I want to shut down this moment and tell him off, tell off this whole situation.

   Yet the feelings of comfort, curiosity, and the rising warmth in my body, betray those thoughts.

  A blur waving by and a breeze brushing into my face jolt me out of Overthinking Land.

   "Eaaarth to Liaanna." He drags out the vowels, rough and deep, in a way that brings out the richness in his voice. I actually feel shivers run down my spine. God, he was not helping right now.

   "Um, yeah, I'm here. Sorry, I just spaced out a little."

   "What were you thinking of?" His deep, hazel-green eyes are once again boring holes into my soul. Is he conscious of himself? Does he really not know what he does to people?

  "Uh, nothing really."

    I avert my gaze and instead look at the pine scenery below. Beyond the areas of friendly, tamed grass, dense forests stretch- seemingly never-ending. Besides the path out the gates, the whole property is surrounded by thick layers of trees after trees.

   Against the darkness of the treeline, a black shadow rustles past the outskirts and into the woodsy depths. My body freezes.

   That did not just happen. Or- did it? Is my mind just playing tricks on me? No, maybe it was real and I'm fine and it was just a rabbit or even, uh, a bear. There are bears here. Bears are normal. Yah, it's cool, everything's fine.

   "Woah, check out the moon." Jake nudges my soldier and forces me to look up.

   My eyes are met with the radiant white glow of a full moon, majestic and illuminating. The glowing orb lights up the surrounding darkness of the night sky that's speckled with diamond stars. Millions, and billions of miles away, yet visible with the naked eye. It looks so close I could touch them if I jumped, so perfect it could all just be fake.

   "Le soleil est brillant, mais la lune est belle," I comment absentmindedly.

   "Oui. C'est vrai," he says in the most gracious accent I have ever heard.

   I look at him astonished.

   "Tu parle français ?"

    "Et chinois, Italien, et Espagnol aussi."

   He smirks to the shock on my face and I just stand there with my mouth agape.

   Chinese, French, Italian, Spanish, and English? That's five languages!

   Smart, sexy, and funny.

  I shake my head almost disbelievingly.

   "You really are the whole package, huh," I mumble under my breath what was supposed to be inaudible.

   But then Jake says, "I heard that."

   Heat makes its way to my cheeks again.

   Thankfully, he doesn't bring too much attention to my comment.

   "Anyways," he says, "really look."

   So I do.

  I look, and he looks, and we don't stop looking.

   "I wish I had this view. This is seriously amazing. I could stay up here for forever."

   I laugh at his childish infatuation and find myself staring at the gleaming spotlight created by the moon. The light beam makes its way to the ground, to the outskirts of the tree line where an unmistakable figure stands. It's a person.

   My blood runs cold.

   Someone is there. Someone has been watching me.

   "Um, you know what actually- I think we should head back inside. Our parents are probably wondering what we're up to."

   "Are you sure you don't want t-"

   "No. Let's just, uh, go. Please." I don't want to look into his eyes, but I do anyways. Almost immediately, I can feel their depth and worry beginning to swallowing me, and I have to look away.
  
   "Okay." I can feel his eyes searching mine for answers. He wants to pry, but thankfully he just accepts my distant attitude.

   We step inside and I lock the balcony doors behind us. As we walk back, he asks, "Hey, are you okay."

   "Yup. I'm fine."

   "Are you sure because you seemed different than from earlier. You're... darker.
 
   "Yes, I'm positive."

   "Look, Lianna if-"

   "Jake!"

   The increase in my tone makes us stop dead in our tracks. Jake turns to look at me, waiting. My fear and confusion made me snap at him and now I'm regretting it.

   I wasn't mad at Jake, I was scared of whoever was out there and it was getting to me.

   "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's not your fault- it's just that... I have..."  The end of the sentence trailed off. What was I thinking? I can't tell him about the stalker, or the texts. "We should head back to dinner."

   I purposely avert his gaze and stride on towards the dining hall.

   "Right," he replies. His voice sounds a bit hurt. But he doesn't say anything and we continue walking. In silence.

........................................................................

   When we got back, we quietly took our seats. Our parents exchanged questioning looks, but no spoken comments were made.
  
   Dinner went on normally. Food, wine, talk. The Petersons and my parents were getting along great. It was their first meeting, and hopefully their last.

   Jake- no, Jacob- and I were indifferent to each other. Well, at least I was. He kept trying to catch my eye, but I refused to be sucked into the intense warmth of his prying hazels, riddled with worry and perplexity. I could hear the unspoken words emanating from him: What did I do wrong? My cliché of a response would be Nothing. It's me, not you.

   Dishes were eaten, plates were carried off, and time ticked on till the evening finally passed away.

   I was forced to stand by Jacob as we escorted the guests on their way out.

   As our parents said they're partings, Jacob surprised me by tenderly taking my hand in his. He raised it to his lips and placed a delicate kiss on the back of my palm. His eyelashes fluttered against my skin as he closed his eyes. Despite the tension from earlier, I found myself weak-kneed by his touch.

   He tilted his head up and opened his eyes, captivating me in a trance-like state, unable to speak.

   "I hope we meet again," he whispered. "I enjoyed the time we spent together."

   Jake gently released my fingers, and I ravished the feeling of every second our bodies touched.

   He smiled softly one last time, before turning to head out with his parents.

   I had to say something before he was gone for good.

   "Jake!"

   He swiveled around to look at me.

   The butterflies in my stomach began taking flight again, and I could feel my face flush.

  "As did I. I- I enjoyed being with you... too."

   This time his whole face lit up with his smile and I couldn't help but do the same.

   Then the door shut and it was just my parents and I. I turned to them and saw my mother staring at me, a peculiar look in her eyes.

   "Such a nice family," my father said, "and their business is wonderful too."

   "Jacob's a nice boy, isn't he?" My mother said, aimed specifically at me.

   I remained stoic as I replied.

   "Yes, quite."

I took off my heels and head past the both of them, upstairs to my room. Shutting the door behind me, I felt a small smile slowly creep onto my lips.

Jake is a nice boy.