~~~~~~~~~Third Person POV~~~~~~~~~

Days had gone by, not much had happened. Both Joel and Harley didn't bother each other much, which was surprising from Harley's part, but a huge relief nonetheless. Seems the redhead does have some pride to his work after all.

At the moment, they were back in their room. Most days were spent exploring every inch of the festival grounds in search for the the other spy, but no such luck. Still, it did help relaxing them, the whole place was pretty calm.

Today, now seven in the evening, was the royal ball. Yes, a medieval style ball, just like the olden days.

Messing with his jacket's collar, Harley glared down at himself. "Remind me again why I have to wear such stuffy clothes?! I'm suppose to be your squire, shouldn't I dress in something more comfortable incase I need to do something, you know, squire-y?!"

"Go ahead, if you want to stick out like a sour thumb." Joel replied from inside the bathroom. "We're suppose to be undercover, the last thing we want is to draw attention. Squire or not, you're suppose to dress formal for such events."

"If formal means suffocating, then yeah, I feel very formal."

Once Harley heard the bathroom door open, he let out a sigh of frustration. "Finally! I thought you'd never get- o-out..?" Out of pure surprise, his face suddenly matched his red hair, eyes widened as he unconsciously stared.

Joel's hair had been pushed back in a much more regal manner, covered with a golden crown that was covered in blue jewels; they wore a light blue jacket, and a crimson red ribbon from their shoulder down, which made their dark eyes stand out much more than normal.

He looked, well, like a prince.

Eyebrow now bent in confusion, he stared at the redhead. "What?"

"U-Uh.." He quickly looked away, embarrassment flushing his cheeks even darker. "N-nothing! You just.. l-look nice.. I guess.."

Joel stood there for a few seconds in surprise; that was the first time Harley had ever complimented them, but probably the last. Knowing that was most likely a fact, he simply returned a simple one back. "Thanks, you look.. nice too.."

Noticing how crooked Harley's top seemed, Joel walked over and began to adjust it. "And the reason why you feel like you're suffocating is because it's not suppose to go like this.."

Once the brunette was done fixing it, they looked up at the boy with freckles, noticing how defined their height gaps were when they were close together. Joel wasn't short, not by far, but anyone could easily be shorter than Harley, and the young prince was eye level to his lips.

They stared at each other for a while, wondering what the other was thinking. How did things get so bad between them..?

Once realizing how close they were, Harley backed away a little, clearing his throat. "Well, now I get why you ran away, having to wear such awful clothes everyday, what a nightmare!"

"Don't joke about that." Joel replied with deep seriousness, walking out of the room. "C'mon, we'll be late."

"Tsk, mood killer.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ballroom was already packed with many people of royal blood, some by the buffet table, some already dancing, and the two spies were currently by the west wall, unsure of what to do.

Joel knew almost every waltz the guests did by heart, he was pretty much forced into learning every single one, so much that it became an instinct of his. Truth be told, they didn't hate dancing, it honestly calmed them down, but with so many memories now linked to it..

As for Harley, he didn't know the first thing about any type of dancing, nor did he care enough to learn. It's not that he minded the attention, he just disliked the whole idea of dancing and would heavily prefer leaning against the wall for the hours it took until he left.

He knew he couldn't stay there for too long though, it might blown their cover.

Looking down to make a comment, the redhead stopped himself when he noticed his partner's posture; stiff, stressed out, ... afraid..? Their shoulders were tense, and they bit their lower lip while slightly gripping their sleeves.

"Worried?"

"H-Huh?" Joel jumped in place, as if he had been in some other world entirely before looking up. "What'd you say?"

"I asked if you were worried."

"Should I be?"

"You seem like you are already."

"Last time I checked, my good squire, you couldn't care less what I'm feeling.." Joel murmured that lady part, which got a growl out of the boy with freckles.

But before an argument could form, a brand new voice was heard. "Pardon me, your highness?"

In front of them stood a girl, a princess, with long hair as dark as the deepest night, thin brown eyes and pale skin. She had a kind smile as she dipped into a curtsy, speaking in a soft voice.

"I couldn't help but notice you from across the ballroom.. If you won't mind, would you care for a dance..?"

Harley noticed just how much Joel's shoulders tensed even more, and he was about to deny the request for him, when the brunette smiled and bowed in return. "I would be delighted, Miss."

And so, the two headed over to the ballroom and moved around in a graceful waltz.

There was anger inside the redhead's chest, forcing him to grip his jacket as a growl escaped his throat. Joel shouldn't be dancing with that princess, he shouldn't be dancing with just anyone, there was a job that needs to be done!

No.. that wasn't why he was angry, was it..?

But he despised that idea, shaking it off instantly. Not jealously, of course it wasn't jealousy, why would he be jealous of the princess dancing with Joel?!

Dancing.. dancing with..

'UGH, DISGUSTING!!' He thought as he made his way through the crowd, eventually reaching the couple and forcing on a smile. "Aha, hey there! Would you mind if I borrowed their royal highness for a moment?"

"Ah- of course not." She gave another curtsy.

Joel returned a bow. "I apologize, please excuse us." And the two began to leave the dancing circle.

That is, until a spotlight was suddenly placed on the them, and a new song began to play. People began to turn to them, an expecting look in their eyes.

"What- what's happening?"

"Dance."

"Eh?! No, no! I don't dance! I don't know how to dance!"

"Then you better learn quick!" Joel murmured back, taking Harley's hand in his before placing the other on his shoulder. "Don't draw extra attention!"

"But-!"

"That's an order!" That last line came out even quieter, and through gritted teeth, to which Harley groaned and placed his remaining hand on the other's waist, starting to die.

It was true what he said, Harley could barely dance, but the steps were easy enough to memorize with the occasional toe stepping.

Once everyone else began to dance along, Joel looked up. "Why'd you pull me away?"

"Uh.. job purposes."

"More specific??"

"You were- g-getting distracted by Snow White over there!"

"Snow W-? ... Wait, are you jealous?!"

Harley's cheeks resembled his red hair. "J-jealous?! Of what?!"

"I should ask you that!"

"I'm not jealous!! I hate your fucking guts more than any thing!!"

"Good, cuz I hate you even more!!"

Just then, the song came to an end, and everyone temporarily stopped dancing, including the two of them. However, when those words were exchanged, something snapped in between them.

Joel gripped his arm, gaze unable to meet the other's. "... why.. w-why do you hate me..? What did I ever do to upset you so much..?!"

"W- I-I- ... It's complicated, okay..?!"

"How is it complicated..?!?"

"It just is, okay?!"

"Then maybe if you actually talked for once, we wouldn't be-!!" As if a switch had been turned on, Joel's anger morphed into something else.

Fear. No, fear was too mild, their face presented pure terror.

His face had gone from its normal peachy tone to paper white, eyes wide and pupils tiny, his voice a barely audible whisper. "W-we- we n-need to g-go, now..."

"What? Why do-?"

"H-Harley, please..." The redhead tensed up, they weren't suppose to use their real names, but as tears formed in the brunette's eyes, he grew afraid. "L-let's leave, now..!"

Confused at his sudden change of mood, he glanced back to see whatever had happened. The only difference there was a new guest, a woman; her hair was long and curled into a fancy hairstyle, dark red with a golden crown. Her eyes were brown, and skin peachy light.

She was.. strangely familiar..

"Your highness, do you-?" Before he could ask, he saw Joel had already made his way across the ballroom, turning a corner to leave the room.

Harley quickly chased after, finding the young prince sitting against the corner with his legs against his chest, hands gripping his hair as his whole body trembled, lip quivering, eyes staring at the floor.

"I-I can't do this, I j-just can't- I need out, I-I need out n-now..!! Please..!!"

They weren't talking to Harley, that much was obvious, and that made him worry much more as he walked over, kneeling in front of the brunette. "Joel, hey! Snap out of it!"

"N-nonononono, no going back, I-I can't go back! D-Don't make me go b-back!!"

"Joel!!" Raising his voice, the redhead cupped the other's face so they'd lock eyes. This time, to Joel's pure surprise, Harley's voice was calm, reassuring. "It's okay, you're not going back.."

His hands trembled as he placed his hands over Harley's, sniffling. "O-okay.. okay.."

"Deep breaths.."

Joel did as told, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. Once a bit of time passed by, and their alert levels had gone down, Harley finally asked. "What happened..?"

"Sh-she's here.." He replied, looking up at the redhead. "M-my mother.. she's here.."

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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