"Earth to Liza." I come out of my reverie to find Kystan standing in front of me, worry written all over his face.

"Oh, sorry." I shake my head. I get up from the bed and walk to my briefcase. The room Kystan got is a large master suite, with a king size bed, it's own ensuite bathroom, a desk, a vanity table and a two seater.

"The bathroom is good." He says as he starts to rummage through his bag, his back facing me. "We have a pre-party to go to in thirty minutes, better get ready or Angry Bird will be on you." He says and pulls out a pair of ripped jeans, a white t-shirt and a jacket. "Does this look good on me?" He asks and turns around to show me.

Upon noticing my anxiousness, he puts the clothes down. I look up. He is worried but at the same time amused. "You know I won't eat you, right?"

Huh? I am surprised at first, that's not what I expected him to say, then it morphs into mirth. Laughing makes me less jittery. "Of course not. I'd have taken you down ages before that happened." I answer snarkily.

"That's more like it." He says with a smile on his face. He picks up the outfit again, "So?"

"It looks horrible." I say and smile goofily. He rolls his eyes and sets it on the bed. I carry my toiletry bag and get ready in the bathroom. I put on a long red floral summer dress with two slits at the front and white sneakers.

Kystan enters after me to take a shower. I do my makeup as he is bathing. The door to the bathroom opens, and I catch his reflection as he walks out. Instead of being fully clothed, he walks out with just a towel wrapped around his waist.

I had imagined what his body looks like a couple of times, I admit, but damn! I can't get myself to look away even though I shouldn't be looking. Our eyes meet as I am still ogling his body. I look away, embarrassed at being caught. "I forgot my clothes." He says sheepishly and goes to the bed to get his clothes. I catch a whiff of his soap: something between a woodsy scent but it also reminds me of the beach and the sand.

A few minutes later, he walks out looking great as always. "Are you ready?" I ask him.

"Yeah, you?"

"Same." I put my phone and a few other necessities in the pockets of my dress and we are ready to go.

I walk out first, and he closes the door behind us. Our hands brush as we walk to the elevator. Some of the awkwardness from before returns. When we are in the elevator, he whispers to me, "You are beautiful." I don't know what to reply. Images of him hugging Belle cloud my mind, I can't form an answer before the doors open and the rest of our entourage comes into view.

We take the ten minutes drive to Fitch path where the A&F home office is and is at the same time the venue of the A&F challenge. I did my homework of course. The venue is jammed with people watching the live performance. As we get off the bus, girls recognize the models and flock around them. I squeeze between them as it gets claustrophobic. I catch my breath whenI reach the edge of the crowd. I make my way into the tent where everything is taking place. Kystan catches up to me and follows me. I end up at the concert listening to music I have only heard on the radio. Music booming in my ears, I clasp Kystan's hands and make him dance with me. We twirl, sway and jump as the beats alternate from song to song. At the fourth song, he excuses himself. I continue dancing but after a while the songs get too slow to dance to alone.

Feeling alienated among strangers, I set out to look for Kystan. My search should have been easy because he is tall but I can't see him anywhere.

Luckily, I spot Asher. He is already hammered despite the small amount of time we have spent here. "Asher." I call him. He looks up from his phone. He is holding his phone in one hand and a beer in the other. I take that away from him when he reaches me. "Did you see Kystan around?"

"No. Give me back my beer." He protests as he tries to get it from me.

"Are you sure?" I persist.

"I just saw him at the entrance some minutes ago, I don't know if he is still there." I give it back and head in that direction.

I see him the moment I have a clear view of the entrance. He is leaning on the left door frame, with Belle.

I feel a jab to my heart. I am reminded of my place once more. I haven't even moved one step when I hear someone shout my name. I look back and see Cynthia coming towards me at top speed. I am almost sure she will knock me over but she stops right before that happens.

"You can't believe how I love this song." She says. I can sense a tinge of beer on her breath.

She holds my hand and takes me near the stage area. I can't recognize the song but I humor her for a moment and dance with her. I am really not in the mood anymore.

"Care to give me this dance?" We turn and see Kystan and Luca.

"No." Cynthia answers stubbornly.

Luca steps in and takes her hand, "I got this." He leads her further down and starts to dance with her. I am surprised Luca isn't drunk yet.

"Want to dance again?" Kystan asks me.

"No. I want to sit down." I refuse to look him in the eye. I don't want him to see the jealousy swimming in my eyes. I head to the bar and order a beer. When the bartender brings the beer though, he takes it away before I can get it.

"Are you sure you want to drink this early?" He asks with concern.

I am quiet for a moment, "I just wanted to enjoy this time." I say with hurt in my eyes.

He looks confused, "Let's enjoy it then."

Silence reigns for a moment, "I am cold." I say out of the blue. I've been feeling the cold since we stopped dancing but I hadn't meant to say it.

He removes his jacket and wraps it around me, I feel the warmth immediately. He pulls me close and hugs me. At that moment, I want to doubt my doubts. How can he be this sweet and affectionate with me and still have something with Belle? But I know better than to be swayed by this momentary affection.

I remove the jacket and hand it back. "I need some air." I say and walk out without waiting for an answer. The buses arrive as I am still outside. People start filing out to go back to the hotel so I don't bother to go look for Kystan again. As we are going upstairs as a large group, someone suggests that we go to the indoor pool. We all agree, but for me, it is my chance to evade Kystan more.

We meet downstairs again in our bikinis and trunks. I am wearing a towel on top because, seriously these are models and I am just, me. Eventually, I remove the towel, because I can't swim with it. A game of tag begins in the pool, I join it too. It is really silly, the pool isn't that big and we have a lot of people in there.

At some point I feel the need to go to the restroom. I find it easily and do my business. After relieving myself, I hear someone crying in a stall nearby. I swiftly get out of mine and go over there.

"Are you okay in there?" I ask stupidly. Of course she is not okay, would she be crying if she was?

She graces me with an answer though, "Yes. Don't mind me." She says.

"Are you sure?" I persist.

"Yes." She answers more resolutely this time. I walk away to give her some space. I go to the sink and wash my hands.

The door to that stall opens before I leave. To my surprise, Belle walks out of the stall. I don't know whether to be sympathetic or be on the defensive. She looks at me briefly like she recognizes me. I finish my business and head for the door.

"You're Kystan's girlfriend?" She states without looking away from the mirror.

"No." I answer even though it wasn't a question.

She looks at me briefly through the mirror and looks back at her reflection, "I've loved him since he came to A&F." She turns and looks at me full on, surprisingly, she doesn't look angry at all, rather amused "Kystan is a great person, I deserve someone like him." She says matter of factly. "No offense, but you get what I mean."

I am dumbfounded. This girl is literally declaring war on me but from her tone no one would even guess.

She gets some napkins and dries her hands, "Nice to finally meet you, Liza." She says as she takes her leave. I walk out a few minutes later when the surprise has worn off.

I am angry. Not angry at her, I am more angry at myself because I can't get angry at her. If she had been a bitch to me, I would have known what to do; I'd have bashed her even harder, but she wasn't.

You might be wondering why I am always assuming the worst; well, I have insecurities. I just don't believe any of my relationships can last long. Granted I spent almost three years with Glen, but look how good that turned out. I have little expectations of longevity, I know it can end any minute. That's a poor way to look at things but it's true for me.

I take a shower and put on my pajamas. I lie in bed and wish my dad was here. At least, he'd comfort me. With the time difference, I can't call him this late. Tears slip out of my eyes. I wipe them away. I don't want to cry because of this, it would only be self pity. I finally fall asleep with my mind troubled.

I feel a pair of lips on my forehead, I open my eyes and meet Kystan's cobalt eyes looking at me.

He leans back looking apologetic, "Sorry for waking you." He says and sits back on the bed. He has changed into his pajamas and his hair is wet from showering.

Instinctively, I throw my arms around him and hug him. He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight. I realize belatedly that I have made a mistake. I should have stayed away, but my mind still clings to him. I try to let go but he holds me still. In the back of my mind, I know I hugged him, because I am happy he isn't with her right now.

"Did I do something wrong?" Kystan asks me as he still holds onto me. At that proximity, his breath tickles my ear. I squirm out of his arms.

He looks hurt by this. "No." I look at him to convince him but he isn't buying it.

"Tell me. I know something is wrong." he pleads. He looks so vulnerable I feel guilty for hurting him in the process. I shake my head and lie down. "I am not leaving until you tell me." he says resolutely.

I compose myself before speaking, I get up to be square with him, "You lied to me." I state accusingly.

"I-" he starts but I cut him off.

"I deserved to know about Belle." Hot tears form in the corners of my eyes. "She said she loves you." I finally break. Tears shamefully roll down my cheeks. I do not want to make this a sob fest, I wipe the tears away. "Why did you lead me on when you are with her?"

Kystan, who has been silent all this time, speaks. "Please don't cry." His hand comes forward to wipe my tears away but I move my face from him. "I don't love her." he states.

I look up with confusion but then realize, "but you're still with her." My voice raises. The fact that he didn't even deny that-

"No I am not." He gets up in a passion. Kystan looks more enraged by my accusations than I expected.

"Then why did you leave me and go to her? Where were you when I waited the whole day for you? You were with her too, right?" My finger points accusingly.

He looks at me incredulously. "I was with Rehan that day. Beside you didn't answer my calls afterwards." His eyes close for a moment. He takes a deep breath, and opens them again devoid of the fire that was burning within just a few minutes ago. He sits down while raking his hands through his hair. The motion leaves it disheveled. I lean back onto the headboard appalled by how in a moment of passion, I was ready to butt heads instead of talking it out rationally. I've never been known to be rational but I should have tried at least.

"I want you to be honest with me. If Belle is your girlfriend, I'd rather know now than later." I say my gaze downcast.

"She isn't." He answers resolutely, but that still isn't a satisfactory answer, it's either me or her. He seems to read my mind. "I only love you. I wasn't lying about that." I don't look up when he says that.

The bed dips beside me, his hand turning my hand towards him. "Don't feel threatened by her, okay?"

"Okay." We don't say anything for a moment. The tension gets swept out of the room with every passing second.

"Were you jealous?" He asks, his eyes resuming their familiar glow. He laughs.

"No I wasn't." I slap him lightly on the arm.

"Was too." He answers playfully

"I wasn't."

"Was too."

"I wasn't. Stop arguing with me." I say.

He gives a short laugh and leans forward. Our lips meet halfway.

The kiss is slow and tender. Like we are both transmitting our sorrys through it. I regret making a fuss and not trusting him and so I avidly tell him with my lips. Before I know it though, it starts getting more heated and passionate. We end up lying down, with him hovering on top of me. My hands wander towards the planes of abs that I only caught a glimpse of momentarily. I slip a hand under his t-shirt and let it savor the feel of his bare skin on my hands. Sadly, I can only access his torso this way, I start tugging on his t-shirt. He pulls away and removes it. I allow myself to ogle his abs without shame.

He seems to have a different intention though, he pulls me back and resumes our kiss. I leave it up to my hands to explore. His hands are also not still, one of his hands is in my hair, tugging on it every so often and the other somehow sneaked its way to my bare back. The way he is caressing me elicits a flame everywhere he touches, and I like it.

If nothing stops us, we might be going all the way right here. The thought of that both scares me and excites me.

A few moments later, he pulls away and flips us sideways so we lay side by side. He turns and wraps me in his arms and kisses the top of my head. "You're beautiful." He says while patting my hair. He gets up and goes to the bathroom. Meanwhile I get out of bed and stand at the window, watching the sky. Despite the lights here, the stars can still be seen. I open the window and a breeze enters making goosebumps erupt on my skin. Warmth engulfs me from behind. A blanket is laid on my shoulders and arms wrap around my waist. I tilt my head backwards and looks at Kystan. He bends down and pecks me on the lips.

His gaze is drawn to the landscape as well. "I say yes." I utter out of the blue.

"Hmm?" he hums questioningly.

"Yes." I say with excitement. He still doesn't get it. "I want to be your girlfriend."

A moment of realization passes before he gives a smile that goes from ear to ear. "Yes." He exclaims and lifts me up. A shrill laugh escapes me as I lose my footing. I grasp onto him for stability.

"Yes." I repeat with joy. 

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