~Sabina~

I can't seem to get him out of my mind, not only because he's one of the most gorgeous and dangerous guys that I've ever met, but more like because of the fact that the kiss we shared was just how I imagined my first kiss to be. Special, undescribable, with sparks flying and our hearts beating as one.

Of course, the little, mean voice in my head has been messing around with me.

'Oh come on, Silly Girl. That kiss had no meaning to it. He only kissed you because he was hurt and you showed him that you cared. Deep down he has no true feelings for you- you're just another kind, pretty face.

And what is he to you?' Pause. 'Nothing am I right? He's just a pretty boy who sure knows how to kiss and make a girl's heart all mushy-mushy.'

But why voice in my head can't I get him out of my mind?

"Sabina, come back to earth. Hello, you there?"

My eyes focus on Bruno. "Uh, yeah. I believe so."

"Good, because your test is about to begin."

I gulp nervously. "What is the test for today?"

"Not at all the same as the previous three days. Now follow me." He walks off and I jog to catch up with him.

"Are you going to tell me what it is?"

He ignores me and I scratch at the itchy patches on my elbows annoyed.

We enter the weapons treasury and Bruno hands me a long knife.

"We haven't trained with this yet," I acknowledge, swinging the knife.

He ducks. "Hey be careful with that!"

I gaze up at the ceiling at fault. "Sorry," I mumble.

"You should be," he huffs, crossing his thick arms over his broad chest. "And yes, I am well aware that I haven't taught you yet how to wield this particular weapon, but you will still be using it today for this test."

"Yes, Master."

Just then Daniella strolls into the room, scowling when she notices me. "What do you want me for, Bruno?"

He hands her the twin of my long knife. "You're going to be Sabina's opponent."

My opponent. What? No? I'm going to be slaughtered. Everyone here knows that Daniella is the best sword slayer in this place.

She smiles, flashing a row of sharp teeth. "It would be my pleasure."

I gulp.

"The first person to hit the other with the blunt side of the knife only in a vital area wins."

"This is going to be a piece of cake," Daniella gives me a wicked smile as she faces me.

"Yeah, that's what you think," I growl, my grip on the knife's handle tightening, my fingers going white.

"That's what I know," she counters back.

I glare at her. That's what you think/know whatever. But I am going to give you one hell of a fight before you beat me. And that you do not know.

I grin, just as she swings her knife at my side. Dodging out of its deadly path, I parry, aiming for her cold-blooded heart. The clatter of steel on steel reverberates around the room as she blocks my attack.

Sneering, I try again, now swinging the knife at her neck. She ducks, which makes me annoyed.

"Come on Sabina, you're not going to hit me, so stop trying." Daniella takes a swing at me.

I'm so overpowered with frustration, that I'm too slow to move out of the way on time. I'm hit hard on my upper arm. That is definitely going to leave a bruise, isn't it?

At the moment my blood is boiling from humiliation as I stare Daniella down. I may be small but I don't think that makes me soft. "You didn't just do that," I snarl, advancing toward her with my knife swinging in an arc. She blocks my blow, pushing me back, adding to my frustration. Stumbling, I raise my knife to block her parry.

My arm is throbbing and I ignore the pain as Daniella sends blow after blow my way. She's not going to give me the chance to hit her, is she?

That's when I notice him slipping into the room, his eyes meeting mine briefly before glancing away. What is he doing here?

"And you're dead."

I come back to earth to find Daniella's knife poking into my heaving chest. "Hold on, what?" I sputter.

"You got distracted." She smiles. "And I don't blame you. Ashton sure makes a great distraction," she finishes, watching my face carefully.

I show her no emotions, or at least try not to, but I can feel the blush spreading up my neck.

"Good match." Bruno comes to the rescue, relieving us of our weapons.

Slouching, I wait for Daniella to leave the room. "It wasn't a good match, I failed the test." I can't seem to meet Bruno's dark eyes, my shoulders slouching even more.

"I didn't expect you to pass."

I now stare at him, bewildered. "What? Why?"

He turns to Ashton who's perched by the door. "Please tell Sabina about your first mission."

Ashton looks at me and my stomach does stupid summersaults when he smiles. "Bruno loves to remind you of your terrible past, so take this as a warning."

"Um, ok."

He now frowns. "On my first mission, I got into a knife fight with an Inhuman double my size and strength. I ended up getting stabbed in my shoulder. Not one of my best moments."

"So you see why I gave you this test?"

My eyes move to Bruno. "Yeah, I believe so." Your opponents may be double your size and strength which means you have to be prepared. 

"Good. I'll see you after the weekend."

Yeah, yeah, can't wait till then.

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

"Home sweet home." Ezra grins as he pushes the door open.

"At last." I smile, stepping over the threshold.

"Ezzie," Mira yelps before crashing into him, "you're home."

"Yup, we have the weekend off," he explains.

Just then Mrs. Black appears, wiping her hands on her food-stained apron. Her face brightens when she sees us.

"I thought I heard your voices. Well don't just stand there, come on in Dinner is about to be served."

I follow them into the kitchen, smiling like a fool. I sure did miss the Blacks and am glad to be back even for the short time that it is. 

Who doesn't like homemade dinners?

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

I plop onto the couch beside Ezra and place my hands on my bursting stomach. "Wow, am I stuffed."

"Well, I told you not to eat the whole pie."

"Hey, I can't help it if your mom's a great cook!"

He smiles, "Yeah, she's amazing."

We sit in silence for several minutes, until I dare to ask, "What's the deal with Ashton?"

I can feel his caramel-brown eyes on me. "What do you mean by that?"

I glance down at the tan carpet embarrassed. "Has he ever been in a relationship before?"

"OMG, have you been checking Ash out?"

I don't have to see my reflection to know that my face is red. "No, I was just wondering."

"Aha, I see."

I shouldn't have asked Ezra anything. 

"You want me to be honest with you, then I will." I look at him and he continues, "Honestly I've never seen Ash close to a girl before."

So I might have been his first kiss?! Don't be silly girl. Oh no you again. Yes, Sabina, me again. Now listen. You know Ashton had to have kissed many girls before you since he definitely knew what he was doing. Yeah, but I can still hope that he didn't, can't I?

"Sab, be honest with me just like I was with you, and tell me why you really wanted to know that?"

"I already told you, I've been wondering. It's just called curiosity." I try to keep his gaze.

"Did anything happen between you two?" His eyes search mine and my heart stops. Literally.

"What-what would make you think that?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you two have been acting weird around each other lately."

"No, we haven't," I protest, even though I know he's right. Whenever Ashton and I are in the same room, we are afraid to look at one another, so we try to avoid to. But when it does happen, like when we make eye contact, I could never keep the heat rising to my neck and cheeks away. 

And well, of course, Ezra noticed all this since he notices every action I make. All because he's in love with me. And when you love someone, you're always watching out for them. 

Ezra touches my wrist lightly, bringing me away from my thoughts. "You know I'm here for you. So if you ever need someone to turn to, you can rely on me."

I smile weakly. "Don't worry, Girl Seeker, I know."

"Yeah, just checking." He then tugs on my arm. "Come it's late. Let's head upstairs."

I grin. "Sounds like a plan."

Pushing his hand off of mine, I bolt up the stairs.

"Hey, that's not fair. You didn't say anything about a race."

I make it almost to the top of the staircase when he grabs onto my ankle and trips me. 

"Hey," I cry, as he sits on top of me, a smug, satisfied smile plastered onto his boyish face.

"This is what happens to cheaters, Miss Jones," he says.

"I didn't cheat, since like you said, I didn't say this was going to be a race," I protest, squirming, in an attempt to break free.

He smirks, adding more weight as he leans forward his face inches from mine. "Very clever of you to use my own words against me."

"I try." Our eyes are locked, his breaths coming out heavily. "Ezra, no," I whisper.

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to." He gives me a feeble smile as his eyes flit down to my mouth. "But I can't stop myself from fantasizing." His lips brush against my cheek instead. "Goodnight Sab," he murmurs before climbing off of me and heading up the remaining stairs, leaving me here alone with my thoughts.