'Were you... worried?'

"L…Leave me alone!" Ava yelled, but Skylar's hands were too strong.

He pushed her to a secluded corner forcefully, she felt too wobbly to do anything sensible. His eyes stared at her slim waist and smooth exposed shoulder, he looked like he'd seen his prey and was ready to devour it. Ava was trembling at this moment, she was drunk and weak, void of magic powers and Louise was nowhere to be found.

She tried to push him off again, "get off me" she mumbled. The way he was touching her made her feel uncomfortable, like she needed to have a bath right away.

"Do you think anyone here cares?" He whispered in her ear "Don't worry baby, you and I would have a good time"

He leaned his head towards her shoulders, Ava moved aside avoiding his touch.

In an instant, a huge club landed on his head. Skylar fell right away. Ava saw who did it.

He was taller than her with shiny blonde hair and had worn a mask to shield half of his face.

The guy motioned to hit Skylar once again but Ava stopped him, afraid that he was going to hurt him.

"T…Thanks" She stammered; it was very hard to speak straight in this condition.

......…

Louise was utterly confused.

She had told Ava to wait for her at this spot till she had come with the drinks. She had even purposely selected non alcoholic drinks because she knew that it was not going to be a good idea to get drunk here.

She knew she had stayed too long but that was because she had accidentally broken one of the glasses and had to pay for it. Besides, the drinks-stand was getting more and more crowded by the minute making it hard to order.

She hoped nothing bad had happened to Ava, she had wanted them to go order drinks together for a reason, nobody was trustworthy out here.

She headed to the very crowded dance floor. Putting the drinks aside, she began to search.

...…

"You aren't supposed to follow strangers around, nobody here is trustworthy" The guy said and dropped the club.

"Y…Yeah thanks" Ava stood straight. The guy's face looked very familiar as she tried to see his face better but it was just too difficult to think straight.

"I…I have to go now" the guy said,

"Wait" Ava held him back "You…I know you right? …you're…"

"Ava!" Louise ran towards her "Where have you been? Ive looked all over for you!" she said.

"I…I couldn't find you too" Ava staggered.

Louise frowned as she looked at her, Ava was obviously drunk. Her eyes glared at the suspicious masked male that stood beside Ava.

"You jerk! What did you do to her?!" she launched at him motioning to give him a punch.

"Hey…Hey!" The guy stepped back and held Louise's clenched fist. "I saved your friend; she'd have been in a much worse condition if I didn't come on time"

"Louise…don't hurt him, he didn't do anything wrong" Ava added.

"Uhm!" Louise retreated, eyeing the suspicious-looking mask. Ava's eyes never left his face…he looked so familiar, or was her eyes deceiving her.

"Aaron?" Ava blurted "It…It's you right?"

The guy turned to her instantly, and then frowned in confusion.

"Uh…Take care of your friend I have to go" he said and dashed off before Louise was able to ask him any more questions.

"Oh gosh, I can't believe you got drunk Ava!" Louise scolded.

"That guy…he's Aaron, I know what Im say_" Louise cut her.

"You're a little too drunk to even think in the right direction. You don't know what you're saying, he can't be Aaron. Besides, how am I supposed to take you back like this?"

"Is it already late?" Ava asked sleepily.

"Of course, we have to go now" Louise said. She held Ava's hand and they moved carefully to the exit of the bar.

.........

Neville had searched for Ava everywhere.

He had already covered up for her saying that she had been with him doing some very rigorous training. And this was already past dinner time, no sign of Ava.

Neville had to personally search for her because he didn't want anyone panicking over anything. Especially when it was the day before Aurora's engagement ceremony.

He had been watching Ava very closely since the day she had levelled up, he still had a lot of uncertainties about her magic and had wanted to understand it well.

Something about Ava wasn't just right.

He passed by the Forbidden Area where he had found one of the royal horses. It would have most likely been taken by Ava. But, he was a little confused because he knew that Ava was terrible at horse riding.

He paused when he heard some sounds in the bushes, and traced the sound to a corner.

"Who is there?" He asked as everywhere fell quiet.

"Hello?" He asked again pulling out his sword

The sound came again in another direction and Neville ran forward, using the sword to sweep through the bush.

"Hey" He stopped as he was pointing directly to the person he'd been looking for.

Ava.

"Uh…um…" Ava wanted to say something but her voice trailed off instead.

"What in the world are you doing here, at this hour, looking like…this?" Neville watched her stagger forward.

"And you're drunk too"

"I…I can explain" Ava stammered.

"Oh really?" He frowned "goodness, you confuse me" he ran his hand through his hair.

Ava swallowed hard and bit her lip. She walked forward again; Neville caught her as she was about to fall. It was hard to make her stand straight, she was all over him, it made him feel clumsy.

"Why did you look for me?" She asked, her eyes were sleepy "Were you…worried?"

Neville swallowed hard, he didnt know what to say.

"W…we need to go back to the palace, before they'll start searching for me as well" he tried to compose himself, Ava was hugging him this time, her head buried in his chest. It looked cute the way she was just so snuggly with sleepy eyes.

"Hmm?" Ava said and bit her lip again, "You didn't answer my question"

"You're drunk Ava. Let's go" he whispered.

Neville gently carried her to the horse and made her stay behind him. She was insistent on hugging him even at that. So, she wrapped her arms round his body, it felt warm and cosy.

The horse rode slowly until they reached the palace. Everywhere was already dark and quiet, he took her down from the horse and walked her to her chambers.

"Here" Neville whispered as they arrived Ava's chambers. "I have to go too"

"B…but Im scared" Ava said refusing to leave him.

"Of…what?" Neville asked "What scares you?

"There are many things I don't understand here, what if…I never understand them?"

"You will…Ill teach you" Neville wondered why he said that.

"Are…you…sure?" Ava asked, her sleepy hazel eyes stared directly at his own grey orbs. He removed the strands of hair from her face, eyes scanning her seductive full lips and smooth scarlet face.

"I will"

Neville cupped her chin and tilted his head; his lips fell on hers. the soothing feeling travelled down both of them. It felt soft and simple. Then slowly, Ava pulled away.