"I thought you died."

I closed the door behind me and rolled my eyes at Catherine's smart remark. She was applying ointment to Justin's skin with Gray watching by her side. Out in the club, I spotted the other boys playing a game among themselves. Catherine looked over her shoulder at me and arched an eyebrow.

"He's talking with Jade," I clarified, stuffing my hands into the pocket of my cloak. I'll go wash my hands out in the well later, but I couldn't let any of them find out or else it'll be another round of inquires. 

Catherine's eyes widened in surprise. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something before suddenly breaking into a smile. I glanced over at Justin who patted his hand down next to him on his bed. 

As I walked over to him, Catherine clicked her tongue and held up an empty roll of gauze. "I have to go out and get more."

"I have some in the cabinets," Gray spoke up.

"I already cleaned out your cabinets," she responded.

"You looked through my cabinets without my permission?" Gray asked in disbelief.

"You never said I couldn't," Catherine replied hauntingly.

"Well, since you used all, go get me some more, you thief," he scoffed.

"Why you," Catherine growled. "Is that what you have to say to me after I endured all of your annoying questions about my knowledge of medicine?"

"I'm just joking! It's totally fine if you used all my gauze without my permission—" Gray shrank back and laughed nervously as Catherine towered over him. Ignoring his protests, she grabbed Gray by the collar and stormed out of the room.

When the door closed behind them, the room suddenly feel quiet. As I forced my eyes to stay on the door, I felt a cold sweat break down my back. Was being alone with Justin always this awkward or was I just imagining it?

"What's wrong?"

I turned my head towards Justin and tilted my head. "Huh?"

"You suddenly stiffened after the other two left," he said. "Is it uncomfortable for you to be alone with me?"

I felt another burst of dread slip down my spine as Justin smiled at me. Justin's scary when he's mad, but when he smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes, it was a different type of scary.

"Of...course not," I forced a chuckle and avoided his eyes. "Uhhh, it's pretty hot, don't you think? I think I'll go fetch myself a glass of water—"

"Sit."

I froze midway and sat back down without protest. Although I followed his command without hesitating, I felt as though I still couldn't look at him straight in the eye.

"You're pretty cold for someone who wouldn't leave my side when I was unconscious," he said. "Do you like me better when I'm out cold?"

I glared at him out of the side of my eye. "Don't say things like that."

"Just speaking my mind," he chuckled, leaning against the post of the bed. 

"You've been caught up with everything, have you?" I said, looking at the ground.

"Yeah," he nodded. I glanced back up at Justin who stared back at me with a nonchalant expression. Did he not hear about Petal's death? I don't think there's anyone who could look so laid-back if they woke up from a week's coma only to find out a young girl had died in the hands of Guren's soldiers.

"You...you've heard about Petal, then?" I hesitated.

Justin blinked. "Oh. Yeah, I have."

I stared at Justin's unwavering expression and shook my head. "She's...she's dead."

"I know," he replied instantly.

I opened and closed my mouth wordlessly, trying to figure out what to say, but just staring at Justin's unblinking eyes wiped the words out of my mind. "How are you so calm about it?"

Justin raked a hand through bangs and sighed. "Then? Do you expect me to be bawling about it?"

"No, but you don't seem to be affected by the news at all," I said.

Justin rubbed the back of his neck and fell silent. Confusion and worry exploded within me as I stared at Justin. Was he trying to hide his grief? There's no way he couldn't be affected by her death. He plays well with children, and from I've seen, he was always smiling when he talked with Petal.

"A—Are you okay?" I stammered. "It's not good to suppress your emotions. If you need to cry, I can lend a shoulder for you. I know you're probably very caught off guard especially since you just woke up so you don't want to burden anyone with your grief, but everyone won't mind, you know. When you were still in a coma, everyone was grieving over her death and—"

"Princess," Justin closed his eyes. "That's enough."

"Hey, I don't want you to be burdening yourself with such heavy emotions especially since you just gained conscious—"

"I'm not a good person, you know?" he said.

I blinked. "What?"

"I know you're worried about me repressing my emotions for the sake of others, but I can assure you there's nothing like that," Justin turned his eyes towards me. As I stared at his clear caramel eyes, I could see nothing but the truth. 

I dropped my eyes to the blanket on the bed and said, "She's dead, Justin. I don't get your reaction. Explain yourself."

At first, Justin didn't say anything, but eventually, he heaved a sigh. "I don't know what you see me as, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm a very selfish person. There's a limit to how many people I can afford to care about."

"That's not the point," I snapped. "Even if you didn't care about her, you still knew her. Wouldn't anyone feel sad if someone they knew passed away? She was a young and innocent girl. Everything about her death was unfair."

"I suppose so," he said.

"Don't you...feel any kind of remorse?"

Justin glanced at the ceiling and seemed to contemplate his answer before looking back at me. "I guess so?"

The lack of emotion in his voice was unnerving. I'd never seen this side of him. I always knew Justin lacked the normal emotional quotient, but seeing it play out this way was on another level.

It was at that moment when I realized I had underestimated the severity of his trauma. Just how deep had his scarring gone to make him like this? 

"Anyways," I flinched when Justin spoke up. "That's enough of that topic. It's making the air depressing."

"I'm going to get a glass of water," I pushed myself off the bed and walked past him. Before I could take another step, Justin grabbed my wrist and yanked me back. Surprised, I fell next to him.

I glared up at him, ready to scowl at him for his rash movement when I realized his eyes were on my hand. His eyes, that were so devoid of feeling just seconds ago, were bright with anger and worry.

"Just what is this?" he glared down at me.

I tried to yank my hand out of his grasp, but he clung tighter to my wrist. Wincing from the pressure he was applying, I said, "I cut myself with a blade."

"Bullshit," he said. "The blood on your hand is recent, but your wounds have already closed up."

My heart began to hammer noisily as I tried to come up with an excuse. Before I could say anything, Justin's eyes widened. "Did your demon finally awaken?"

"I—" I bit my lip. "How'd you come to that conclusion?"

"Royals aren't just granted with powers from their demons," Justin said. "But also heightened senses and more demon-like traits such as an incredibly fast healing body."

My stomach flipped. Leaning towards Justin, I begged him, "Don't tell anyone else. Please. Just keep it in between us."

"They'll find out soon," Justin said. "Your wounds will heal faster, and since you're still new to this, your power might go out of control if you can't control your emotions. During sparring as well, you'll be much more agile."

I unconsciously grabbed Justin's sleeve. He looked at me in surprise as I tried to force the words out of my mouth. " I...today, I broke something."

Justin stared at me silently before patting me gently on the head. A sudden cheer from people outside in the club roared. "You don't have to force yourself to speak if you don't want to."

"No," I said shakily. "The fact that I knew exactly what I was doing is what scares me. Usually, my power comes without me commanding it to, but today it came so naturally."

Justin grabbed my shaking hand and squeezed it tightly. "Don't be scared. You will get used to it sooner or later.

"What if my power gets out of hand?" I gulped. "What if I accidentally hurt someone?"

"Princess," Justin muttered, pulling me into his chest. "Don't look like that. You'll be fine. You look as if you have to carry this burden alone, but you have me and the others. It's only been a few days since you met your demon, right? There's no need to stress, then."

I had reiterated those words in my head before, but for some reason when Justin said it himself, I felt so much better.

"Hey Justin," I said, leaning my head against his chest. "If I died, would you care?"

I felt Justin's muscles stiffen from underneath me, and he gripped my shoulders as he pushed me off him. I stared at his wide alarmed eyes and flinched when his grasp on my shoulders tightened until it began to hurt.

"What are you—" he started.

"I'm just kidding," I smiled. Of course he would care. I was part of his plan to get revenge, wasn't I? I knew that from the very beginning, but for some reason, it felt a bitter taste in my mouth now. "Okay, I'll go wash my hands now—"

"Princess," his voice suddenly seemed to grow tones darker. "You aren't thinking of anything unnecessary, are you?"

I stared at him silently for a moment before flashing a smirk. "Of course not, idiot."

Justin didn't look convinced, but he didn't push me. Instead, he let go of my shoulders and cupped my face with both hands. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing and started to stroke my cheek with his thumbs.

Butterflies suddenly exploded in my stomach as his eyes held on to mines. His fingers gently caressing my face left me breathless, and I could feel a familiar heat crawl up my neck to my face. One of his hands suddenly dropped from my face and slid down my neck.

I jolted as Justin lightly trailed a finger down the side of my neck. Comparing his attitude now to just moments ago, they were like two different people. Whatever Justin was feeling was out in the open now; there was a dark, hungry look in his eyes that I couldn't quite pinpoint as to what it was.

Slowly, Justin wrapped a hand over my neck, applying just enough pressure so I could breathe easily yet still feel the warmth pulsing from his hand. His hand stroking my cheek slipped down and tilted my chin up so that I was looking straight at him.

"You...just you what doing?" I stammered.

"Huh?" he blinked.

I blushed. I couldn't believe I was so jumbled up inside my head, I couldn't even speak straight. "What are you doing?"

"I'm..." he glanced back down at his hand wrapped around my neck. "Replenishing."

"What?"

"Just how long do you think I wasn't able to see your face?" he said. "After all, being able to touch and see the real thing is way better than doing that in your head."

I blinked. Was I hearing him right or did I really go crazy?

"Did you just admit to me that you were dreaming about me?" I chuckled, trying to come off as nonchalant as possible. Justin was acting a little strange right now; I wasn't sure how I should react to him.

Suddenly, Justin smiled. This time, it reached his eyes. My heart suddenly climbed faster than ever; I couldn't hear anything but the pounding of my heart over my ears as I stared at him.

"Oh?" Justin smirked. "You're turning redder."

"Hey!" I snapped, grabbing his arm. "You're just teasing me, aren't you?"

"Well, I do admit it's fun to tease you," he slid a thumb down from my chin to the base of my throat. "But that doesn't mean I'm lying to you about anything."

I couldn't understand how Justin was saying everything with such a cool expression on his face while I was flushing the color of a tomato.

"That reminds me," he said, glancing up at me. "You owe me something, don't you?"

I tightened my grip on his arm and suspiciously glanced at him. "What?"

"Don't tell me you forgot your promise?" he smiled. I desperately tried to wreck my brain to find out what he was talking about, but with his hands and his words had already filled my mind to the breaking point. I couldn't think of anything else.

"S—Sorry, I can't remember what I promised you," I managed.

A suspiciously chummy smile turned the corners of his lips as he leaned in. "Is that so? Should I remind you then?"

"W—What did I say?" I gulped, unconsciously leaning back. Our close proximity was not good for my health; it felt as though my heart would leap out of my chest any moment.

"A kiss," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "You promised me a kiss."

I blinked, and for a moment, I just stared blankly at him before I barked, "As if! Don't treat me like an idiot! There's no way I promised you that!"

"How do you know?" he sighed. "You can't even remember."

"No—well—uh—" I stammered.

"If you can't uphold your end of the promise, that's quite disappointing, isn't it?" he frowned. 

"Why did I even make a promise in the first place?" I growled. "Remind me."

"Nope," he smiled, popping the 'p'. "If you can't remember, you can't blame me for receiving my reward."

I broke into a cold sweat. I've got to remember. Just when did I make such a promise to Justin? Too many things have happened for me to pinpoint a likely time that it could've happened. I was much too busy making sure Justin wouldn't bleed out—

"Oh!" I remembered. Justin leaned down further, and I slapped a hand over his mouth. "Don't even think about it, you liar. I remember now. I promised a hug, didn't I?"

"Oh shucks," he muffled behind my hand. Before pulling away, he closed his eyes and kissed the palm of my hand. I jolted and yanked my hand back as he drew back.

"Well then," he dropped his hands and spread them out with an expectant look in his eyes. "I'm waiting."

If anything, I hated how good looking Justin was. I'd never felt so nervous around Justin before; I was pretty close to throwing up because of how many butterflies there were in my stomach.

"Don't think about doing anything else or I'm chucking you across the room," I warned him as I leaned in.

Justin chuckled as I wrapped my arms around him. I felt his arms wrap around me as he placed his chin on top of my head. We stayed like this for a few seconds, but I could barely breathe in the position we were in.

"That's enough—"

"Nope," Justin tightened his arms around my waist. "Just a little more."

"I can't breathe," I gasped.

"I'm not choking you though," he chuckled. I could feel the vibrations of his chest pulse underneath my head. "Are you feeling a little embarrassed?"

"If you say anymore, I'm really going to kill you," I wrapped my hand into a fist and hit his back.

"Oh?" his voice was suddenly right by my ear. I flinched as he sniffed my neck. "Smells nice. The smell of trees is off you now. What kind of soap are you using?"

"I—I don't know," I replied in a haze. "I just use whatever is by the well."

"Smells really good," I could practically feel his breath against my neck as he nuzzled his face right above my ear. I let out a squeak and clutched the back of Justin's shirt. 

"W—Wait Justin..." I gasped. "I feel weird..."

"What are you talking about?" he mumbled, stroking my neck as he brushed my hair back. 

"I don't know," I shivered. "My heart feels like it's going to jump out of my throat any second."

Justin didn't respond. Instead, he gave me one last squeeze and pressed his face into my hair. I thought I felt his lips brush against my head, but he pulled away and let me go. Looking refreshed, he smiled happily at me as I stared at him in shock.

"What's with that haggard look, Princess?" Justin's face looked completely refreshed as he smiled at me.

I felt a vein pop and slapped my hand on the blanket. "Because of you! What's with that satisfied look on your face? After all that, are you trying to kill me, you bastard—"

The door suddenly swung open, and a tired-looking Gray holding an arm full of gauze tottered into the room with a smug-looking Catherine walking behind him. I could immediately tell Gray had been dragged with Catherine around the market and was obviously traumatized by the experience.

"She's actually crazy," Gray mumbled, dumping the gauze tapes on the table before collapsing on to a bed. "I'm never going shopping with her again."

Catherine held the rolls of gauze up in the air with a triumphant look on her face and announced proudly, "We can go for months with this much!"

"Hold up," Gray snapped his head up. "I paid for all of them so they're not all yours."

"What?" Catherine snapped. "Just who bargained for such great prices?"

I stood up and sneaked off towards the well as the two began to argue again. I took a deep breath of the cold air and touched my cheeks and immediately felt myself blush as I remembered Justin's touch.

Rushing towards the well, I quickly drew up a bucket and splashed water on my hot face. Leaning against the stone wall, I shook my head, trying to rid of the fluttering butterflies that were still in my stomach.

Grabbing the soap, I put my mind to the task of washing my hands so that I wouldn't have to think about anything unnecessary. It took quite a while to get all the stains off my hands; they were a little red still, but it was enough.

Gray and Catherine were still arguing with each other as I walked back into the room. I avoided Justin's eyes and headed for the door leading out to the club.

"Where do you think you're going?"

~~~~~

Yay! I managed to post early in the day instead of late at night when it's almost 11 LOL whoops Take advantage of Labor Day tomorrow kids and rest up! Maybe go out and treat yourself but make sure to wear a mask! Oh, but like me, you could just stay at home and sleep ⊂◉‿◉つ

If you guys enjoyed this chapter, please comment below your thoughts and hit the star! Thank you for your support!!!

I'll see you guys next Sunday <<33