.

That Friday, Sebastian, who tried (and failed miserably) not to get his hopes up, cleared not only his schedule for one hour (which was how long the ball was) but for the whole day, in a desperate attempt to meet Jylan again or die trying. This left servants shuffling to get ready for the one-day disappearance of the crown prince, who hadn't taken a vacation in two years. Sebastian himself was also almost drowned in paperwork, so the eyebags made an infamous return, and now so dark that Sebastian constantly had to carry a small palette of concealer around at all times to avoid looking like a ghost. 

Finally, Sebastian was carefully combing his hair once again to make sure it looked the way Jylan would have styled it. It took him three hours of hair gel, 7 redos, and 4 types of combs, but finally, his hair looked the way it had on that day, swept to the side with a few hairs sticking out. Mournfully, Sebastian tappen the mirror with the edge of his comb, and said, quietly, 

"Jylan, I miss you." 

Then he blushed and pinched his cheek. Then he decided that either of what had been going on for the last 5 minutes was the least princely, so he put the comb down on the vanity table, beside his collection of concealer bottles, and turned around as there was a knock on the door. For a minute, Sebastian felt like he was going to hear the words "My prince" again, so he spun around abruptly as the door was opened by a butler. But no, his heart fell inside his chest again when he realized this butler had dark blue hair.

"Your Highness, It's time to go." 

Sebastian was now telling himself that he was probably going crazy. Yes, that was the only explanation for THIS. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest, and then run down the hall and jump out the window while yelling, "Whee, I'm in loooove!". Sebastian sighed loudly, making the butler jump, and followed him down the paths of winding corridors. With yet another sting, he remembered that this was where he and Jylan had gotten lost at midnight. There was not a tinge of anything in the crisp winter air, like the world had wiped everything clean with a wash of white snow, and hidden everyone's mistakes. Sebastian usually liked it whenever it snowed, and he also liked the cold air. Still, tonight the glistening white of the snow was reminding him of a particular white wolf, which was in turn reminding him of a particular white-suited butler. 

As Sebastian was about to step into the cottage, he suddenly saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. Holding up a hand to the driver and adjusting his tie, he waved the hand that was now in the air. "Go on without me. I'll hire a carriage." He said, and the carriage started rolling without stopping for a minute. The servants knew not to question the prince. Another question was what was going to happen once the carriage arrived since it was empty, but Sebastian pushed that out of his mind and turned to hurry down the path. 

The morning sun shined down on brown hair, and dark green eyes turned to him…