author's note: did not except this much attention so quickly for such a rare pairing. Thank you! I decided to update earlier than I thought I would for you guys.
disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.


2 / 3
second sheild

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It did not take long for her to settle into his group of friends.

With Lucy it was easy, because everyone connected with the bubbly blonde. Mirajane welcomed the pink-haired girl with open arms and Lisanna and Levy were next. With Juvia... well, Juvia was Juvia, who was paranoid and jealous but all the while nice and kind.

Cana quickly took a liking to Aries upon realizing how innocent she was, leaving the brunette with the aim to defile the innocence out of her. If Cana was making Aries uncomfortable with all her suggestions for promiscuous activities and winks and nudges, Aries did not voice any of it.

As for Loke – well, he was close to breaking through the second skin of the shields.

It was a freezing winter day, a week or so after Aries had started school, and they had just finished another tutoring session when Aries got a phone call. She was pursing her lips the whole way through, and nodding as if the caller could see her. "Okay," she mumbled into the phone. "Bye."

"What's up?" he asked her when she pocketed her phone.

"Nothing," she replied, shaking her head. "It's just— something's wrong with the car so they can't pick me up." He furrowed his brows. "It's fine," she hastily added upon seeing his look. "I can just walk home."

"In this weather?" He scoffed. "C'mon, I'll drive you home."

"Leo, you don't—"

He rolled his eyes. She was always one to deny anything offered to her out of politeness. "Nope. C'mon." He reached for her gloved hand peaking out of her winter coat sleeves, but then stopped and instead took hold of her wrist. Aries did not say a thing as they walked to his car, being careful not to slip on the thin layer of snow quickly turning to ice. She nearly stumbled once, and he swiftly caught her before the fall. "You shouldn't have worn those boots," he told her, eyeing her knee-high pink woollen boots. "They're not safe."

"But they're cute," was her only reply.

He rolled his eyes again. "Girls and fashion."

"You're one to talk." She tugged his coat hood well over his head.

When inside the car, Aries stripped her hat and gloves off. Her hair was a mess, her cheeks flushed and her nose looked as if she'd borrowed it off Rudolph, but she still looked cute as ever. "What?" she asked, catching him staring.

"Uh, directions, dummy?"

She swatted him on his shoulder, and then told him the way to her house. The radio was on, and he smiled when he heard her humming along, her feet tapping to the beat. She was opening up a bit more, and he was glad.

He stopped the car outside a meek looking house. "Hey, I have an idea," he informed her whilst she was unbuckling her seat belt.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why do I not like the sound of this?"

He laughed. "It's nothing to worry about – I was just thinking that why don't we have tutoring sessions in my house this weekend?"

She was hesitating, he could see. He was fearful that she would bluntly reject the idea, not wanting to spend any time with him. The thought was preposterous – which girl wouldn't faint at the thought of being inside Loke's house?

Well, Aries.

"And you'll actually study?" She broke the silence. "No mucking about, running off to the kitchen to make cupcakes with actual flowers?"

"That was one time when we were eight!" he protested loudly. She laughed. "Just studying, I promise."

Just studying? Impossible for him. He could barely concentrate for ten minutes, nonetheless over an hour.

Come the weekend and, as expected, their plan on studying took a little detour when his little brother came rushing up to them as soon as they stepped through the door. "Aries!" Junior screamed in joy. Literally screamed. The kid was ten-years-old and had the lungs of an opera-star. Apart from that, Junior was a spitting image of Loke with the bright coloured hair, delicate facial features, mischievous black eyes, and class practically oozing off him.

Except, Junior was not lucky enough to have Loke's luck with the ladies—

Or maybe he had spoke to soon, seeing Aries hug Junior, letting the kid rest his head on her breasts. "Okay, okay, that's enough," Loke quickly jumped in, grabbing Junior from the back of his collar and dragging him away.

"I'm just so happy to see her!" Junior said in his defence, making goo-goo eyes at an amused Aries. "It's been so long!"

"You weren't even five when we moved, how could you remember the last time you saw her?"

"Love holds no barriers!"

He raised an eyebrow. "You've been reading shoujo manga again, haven't you?"

"I don't need to read shoujo manga to know what love is!"

"You're ten. How could you know what love is? I didn't even know at your age." Loke still did not fully comprehend what love was, and doubted it really existed.

"You didn't know because you don't understand love for what it really is!"

"You sound like a Mariah Carey song!"

"You sound like an idiot!"

"Learn some synonyms!"

"Learn what love is!"

Loke opened his mouth to reply when laughter suddenly filled the room. The uncontrollable sound was coming from a hysterical Aries who looked like she was about to drop to the floor with hilarity. Her whole face was flushed, and she was trying to cover it with her palms pressed her cheeks and covering her mouth in an attempt to thwart the loud sound escaping it. Her eyes were twinkling like dark topaz. "I'm sorry," she choked out an apology, directing it at Junior. "I—I'm ..."

Loke snorted out a laugh, finding entertainment as he watched Aries try to regain her cool. "What's so funny?" Junior asked in confusion, furrowing his brows and glancing from his brother to Aries.

Of course, this only resulted in Loke falling to the floor because of his brother's obliviousness, which only added gas to the fire that was Aries's laughter. By the end of it, they'd both shed tears of happiness, collapsed on the floor with Junior gone because he'd fled from them, muttering, "Weirdo."

"Glad to see you still find me hilarious, Aries," Loke told her as grabbed two water bottles from the kitchen refrigerator. Both of their throats were sore from laughter.

"I was laughing at you and your brother," she told him, taking the bottle he was handing her. "He's adorable."

"He has a crush on you." Aries smiled. "He has a crush on Lucy too. And Erza and Levy and—"

"I get it," Aries interjected, a hint of a smile on her lips. "Way to make me feel special."

He smirked. "Oh, don't look so upset. You were his first crush, if that counts. He cried for you on moving day." She paused, her smile fading and pursing her lips. "What?" he asked, wondering what he'd done wrong.

"I cried when you moved too, remember?"

Leaving day was terrible. After days of kicking and screaming and throwing a tantrum every second possible, he'd given up all hope that there was a way out of this mess. He just had to face it – his family were moving and there was nothing he could do about it.

It was as if the earth was opening up, ready to swallow him whole and drag him into the depths of hell. He felt like he was drowning and there was no way out. Anything, anything at all would be better than moving.

Aries's sorrow-stricken face drenched in tears when she found out he was moving was forever burned in his mind. Sitting on the porch steps of his soon-to-be old house, he put his head in his hands and stifled the tears threatening to spill. No, he could not let his emotions take over. If he let them take over then he would not be able to survive the next few years in his new town.

It was not to say that he would not make friends in his new town. At eleven, he was charismatic, sociable, and charming. He had no problems making new friends. He just did not want to leave his old ones.

"Leo?"

He looked up, blinking rapidly so Aries would not see the tears forming in his hard black eyes. Swiftly, she sat down next to him, not looking at him but staring out into the distance. He ran a hand through his hair, messing the spikes up even further, and sighed.

They'd said goodbye Friday at school, when their class had thrown a party for him for his departure. However, he did not think it counted, because they had been being watched by their classmates and friends while saying goodbye, so anything he wanted to say ("I'll miss you. You're the bestest friend I could ask for – and I know bestest isn't a word so shut up and let me hug you. I'll never forget you...") could not be said.

"I got you a going away gift." Her voice was barely a whisper. Still, he heard it echo in his ears. He made no reply, resting his elbows on his knees and head in his hands, so she continued, "It—It's not much, I'm sorry. I didn't think I should buy you anything when you could buy it yourself, so... yeah..."

Dropping his arms, his head snapped to her. "What is it?" he barked. His voice was hard, not revealing the true sadness he felt. He would die of embarrassment if Aries saw him cry. She'd seen his tears before, but that had been when they'd been six or seven, little kids and it hadn't mattered.

"Uh." Her mouth was in the shape of an 'O', surprised by his sharp reply. "It's a—It's a bracelet. A friendship bracelet." Reaching into the pocket of her yellow cotton dress, she took out a small rope bracelet.

He thought she was going to touch his shoulder like she always seemed to do to comfort him, but instead her reached for his hand and tied the bracelet around his wrist. It was the colour of his and her hair, strawberry blond and cotton-candy pink clashing against his tanned skin. Aries's aura was around it, that calming cheerful aura that made him feel warm inside. "I—I know it's stupid—"

"It's great," he cut her short, running the fingers of his free hand over the bracelet. A wave of tears was approaching, but he could not start bawling like a baby. If he did, Aries would jump to comfort him, and once again she'd be taking care of him. She wouldn't be there to console him anymore. He had to be strong.

"I'm glad," she said, although she sounded upset. She stood up and so did he. He did not want to sit on the cold steps any longer. "I guess this is goodbye."

"I guess." He shrugged slightly. Clearing his throat, he then took the plunge and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. He screwed his dark eyes shut as to stop any salty tears escaping, although Aries was trembling as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I—I— I'll miss you s—so much!" she cried, burying her head in his shoulder.

He gulped. "I'll miss you too."

"D—Don't forget me."

He gave out a strangled sound that was in the borderline between a laugh and a sob. A small tear cascaded down his cheek. "Never."

The bracelet was still there, in his bedroom in the bedside table. At times when the sky was dull and life seemed too bland, too blue, to put up with, he'd take the bracelet out and remember that he must be strong for the pink-haired girl.

"This is where the magic happens," Loke said as he introduced her to his vast bedroom.

"Since when have you done magic tricks?" Junior asked him, trailing behind Aries like a little puppy.

Loke and Aries shared a look, with him biting his lip to hold in laughter and her looking embarrassed and somewhat uncomfortable.

"Get out of my room," Loke sternly told his annoying brother. "Don't you have any other people to bother?"

"Nope, just you," he cheekily replied. "Do you want to see my room?" he asked Aries, his smirk turning into an innocent (pssh, yeah right) smile.

"Leave her alone, we have to study."

With wide eyes, Junior glared at Loke. Through his glasses, Loke stared back in confusion until he was hit with realisation faster than a bullet. "No no no!" he hastily denied. Oh, he'd forgotten that whenever he took a lady friend to his room, he'd tell his brother they were "studying" even though Junior could tell they were doing nothing of the sort. "Actual homework." He picked up the algebra workbook lying on the bed for proof.

Junior eyed him warily. Aries's eyes wandered from Loke to Junior in curiosity. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Loke answered. Nothing's going on between us.

:: :: ::

Studying turned into talking which turned into watching movies which turned into Loke and Aries throwing popcorn at each other and laughing like old times.

"You got it in my hair!" Aries complained in the car ride to her house. The little white-yellow pieces of popcorn were still stuck in her pink hair, and she gingerly picked each one of them out.

"Be thankful I don't like butter in my popcorn," Loke replied with a chuckle. Aries chucked a piece of popcorn at him. "Hey hey hey, don't you know rule one: you're not supposed to throw stuff at the driver?"

Wryly, she threw another piece. "Leo, you've never followed rules." Well, she did have a point. "So what's rule two?"

"Don't touch the radio. I don't want to listen to any stupid country songs."

"What's wrong with country music?"

"What's right?" He paused. "I mean, country music is all about finding your true love and whatever. It's not realistic."

He was met with ear-splitting silence, so he took a peek at the passenger seat to see if she was okay. Aries was gazing out into the distance, a soft look in her eyes full of wonder and sorrow. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but felt like it wasn't his place to get involved. The fun and carefree atmosphere had dissolved into almost palpable tension. Slowly, she turned her head to him. "So," she calmly said, testing out the words on her tongue, "you don't believe in love?"

He swallowed. Honestly, he used to believe in love. He used to believe that the feeling of butterflies in his stomach, the sensation of his heart lifting up in your chest or beating so fast it nearly penetrated your ribcage, that blush on his cheeks, that skip in his step – he thought all of that was being in love.

Karen Lilica.

The prettiest girl in the school.

She was the first face to greet him in his new school. She was beautiful, charismatic, funny... When she smiled, it was like his whole world lit up.

And when she turned him down, with a snort and roll of her eyes, it was like his whole world had been crushed in the palm of her hand.

But, as it turned out, it wasn't love. It was just the journey to heartbreak.

:: :: ::

The shrieks of cats being strangled filled his house—

Otherwise known as the ear-shattering noise of his brother singing Christmas carols.

"Hey!" Loke shouted to be heard over the horrific sound. He grabbed a candy cane and stuffed it into his brother's mouth. "Shut up!"

Junior shot him a dirty look, no doubt thinking numerous swears he could not say on account of Aries standing nearby and him having to keep up his image as a sweet little boy.

"Leave him be, the singing was nice," Aries said.

Junior's scowl turned into smugness. "You're taking his side?" Loke said in outrage. "Icould sing better than him when I was ten!"

"I remember how you sang back then in choir - and no, you couldn't."

"Oh, thanks for sticking up for your best friend." Loke nearly pouted as he passed her the tinsel.

Once again, they were back at his house, not studying. It was the season to be jolly because Christmas was approaching, and the three of them were decorating the Christmas tree in Loke's bedroom.

(Yeah, he had a tree in his bedroom. There was one in every room in the mansion - par the bathrooms, because ew - but this one was the only one he was allowed to decorate.)

Tiny flecks of snow were falling outside, decorating his tall windows, and there was faint music reverberating from the stereo. Aries giggled, the sweet tinkling sound of bells, and helped Loke pick Junior up to place the shining star atop of the tree.

She'd been over to his house many a time, sometimes to study, sometimes to hang out, and slowly the recognition had trickled in. Recognition of the fact that, before Aries, he'd never been alone with any of his female friends in his house. Cana was always lugged with Gray, Lucy never stepped foot in his house unless the whole group of them were joining her.

He and Aries always spent time together, one on one, almost like a da—

No. He would not finish that thought. She was his closest friend, one of the only he felt comfortable with. Being with her was as easy as breathing, so he wasn't going to ruin that by thinking or saying something wrong.

"Arieeeeeees!" Junior cried out, jumping onto Loke's bed. He was grasping something in his hand and pushed his arm out, letting the plant dangle above Aries's head from the tips of his fingers. Wait, that plant looked familiar—

"We're under the mistletoe! That means you have to kiss me!"

Loke could not stop his howl of laughter. Part of it was caused by his idiotic brother who was desperate enough to use mistletoe to get kissed, the other part was because of Aries's bewildered face.

"Uh." She opened and closed her mouth, mimicking a fish. "Close your eyes."

His amusement immediately ceased. "You're not serious, are you?" he asked in shock.

Gleefully, Junior closed his eyes. Tentatively, Aries took a Hershey's Kisses chocolate out of her pocket and plopped it into Junior's mouth. While his brother looked disappointed, Loke was once again grinning. "Hey, at least I got chocolate," Junior said with his mouth full.

His brother was one thing, but high school boys were another.

The guys had been doused with Christmas fever and were using the mistletoe on every pretty girl who passed their way. One of them had attempted to use it on Erza, who had given the deadliest glare of all time. It would have been more entertaining if she had kicked the guy, but as the school council president she had to keep the violence to a minimum. Well, at least Loke had gotten a chuckle out when some guy had tried to get a kiss from Lisanna, but instead had gotten punched in the kisser by protective brother Elfman.

Loke may love the whole lip-to-lip action, but he hated when guys tried to force the girls to kiss them. They were that desperate? That was wrong on too many levels.

(If girls wanted to use mistletoe on him was another story. And when Juvia had used it on Gray, and had fainted as soon as their lips touched, was hilarious.)

"Show me your hands!" Lucy screamed when he entered the classroom at lunch.

"I have no mistletoe, I swear!" Loke insisted, putting up his hands in innocence.

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Like I can believe that! Empty your pockets!" she ordered him.

"How can I do that when you want to see my hands?" Cheekily, he grinned at her. "Unless, you want to search my pockets for me—" He was cut short when Lucy threw a bar of chocolate at him. ("At least I got chocolate." His brother's words echoed in his mind.) Rubbing his sore nose, he glanced around the room. "Where's Aries?" he asked.

"What, you need her to defend you now?" Gray grinned.

"I haven't seen her," Lucy answered.

Frowning, Loke left the room to look for her. Normally, when they did not have lessons together, Aries would come to his classroom once the bell rang and together they would walk to the usual meeting place for lunch. However, she hadn't met him so he'd only assumed that she had gone ahead without him.

He spotted a head of cyan blue hair in the hallway. Any other day, he would turn on his heel and flee because Aquarius was damn scary, but he knew that the girl and Aries got along – at least, Aquarius tolerated her because they were lab-partners – so there was a chance she knew were Aries was.

Gulping, he took the plunge and said, "Hey, Aquarius?"

She whipped around so quickly her hair looked like a tsunami on land. Her glower was blazing as she marched up to him. "What?" she growled. "I have better things to do that to talk to you."

(Out of all the girls in the school, Aquarius was the only one who would hate him no matter what.)

"Look, I know you have to get back to your boyfriend—"

"Nothing like that!" she barked. "I have to find Aries, because I seem to be the only friend she has!"

"What are you talking about? I'm her best friend."

She snorted. "Yes, because all best friends care so little."

"Aquarius," he said through gritted teeth, becoming more irritated by the second. Two months ago, he wouldn't have ever spoken to her in this tone. Hell, two months ago he would have never even spoken to her unless a gun was to his head. But this was about Aries, and he had to know what was going on. "Tell me, where is Aries?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be looking for her, would I?" she snapped. "She got kissed under the mistletoe and then ran off!"

"Wh—what?"

"Don't make me say it—"

He ran off before she could finish that sentence.

Someone had kissed Aries. Someone had kissed her. Those soft and delicate pink lips words hardly ever escaped from, but when they did they were the kindest, sweetest words that strung together like a harmonious melody—

(Shut up, shut up, shut up.)

He clenched his fists in anger. She was far too innocent, far too pure and perfect for anyone to have the right to kiss her. If her were to find out who had had the nerve, he would punch them so hard—

First thing first, find Aries...

And he did.

In the janitor's closet.

It was normally a hook-up place, so he had not thought of looking there, but had heard a snuffle and a sob as he passed by. Sure enough, there was Aries, sitting in the corner of the closet, between the mop and the broom. With her arms wrapped around her legs and head pressed against her knees, she looked tiny in the even smaller room.

Her face was hidden, but he knew her eyes were watery with salty tears, nose gone blotchy, sugar-sweet mouth curled into a frown as she quietly sniffled. It made his blood boil to think that someone in this school had caused her tears to fall.

He was unaware of how long he'd been standing there, watching her, but then she finally took notice of the figure standing at the door. Her head inched a little, her eyes now noticeable from behind her legs (and red-rimmed like he'd thought they would be). She blinked once, twice, teardrops on her feathery eyelashes, staring up at him.

Moving the broom, he took a seat on the floor next to her. He was unsure what to do – he was horrible at comforting people without making jokes – but then put his arm around Aries and hugged her to him. She stiffened first, then relaxed and put her head on his shoulder, releasing her hold on her legs.

In the silence, he could hear her soft breathing as she struggled to stop sobbing. When she did, there was only shattering silence for a few seconds before she spoke. "It was my first kiss."

His arms flexed around her, holding her tighter than he should, like a shield wrapping around this childlike girl he thought he needed to protect. Not only had someone kissed her against her will, they'd taken her first kiss, the first thing to touch her chaste lips.

"It doesn't count," he nonchalantly replied.

"What?" She pulled her head away from his shoulder she'd been using as a pillow.

"First kisses... they're with someone you like. They're voluntary. If you didn't want it, then it doesn't count."

"But—"

"If it did, then that would mean my first kiss was to my great aunt Muriel." That managed to get a small, if hesitant, smile out of Aries. The unspoken 'thank you' was felt in the palpable air.

He also felt the warm body-heat radiating off Aries, their shoulders side by side with no space acting as a barrier between them. Gazes locked, he inadvertently drew himself closer to her, feeling her warm breathe. His heart seemed to be racing (or was that hers?) as she tipped her head up and he leaned down—

And, like glass cracking, he hastily broke eye-contact and shattered whatever scene that could've taken place.

After a moment, she shuffled away, and then stood up. "Thanks, Leo."

He did not understand what she was thanking him for.

He did not even understand what the hell had just happened.

:: :: ::

He was still confused about the odd incident in the janitor's closet, come the Christmas holidays. There had been that slow dramatic drum-roll as he'd inched further towards Aries, her eyes fluttering close and his heart racing madly. He still could not comprehend why he'd feel such a way – or what this feeling was – about his best friend.

Still, that did not stop him from inviting her to his parents' Christmas party.

"Really?" she asked him in disbelief. "You're inviting me?"

"You don't have plans, do you?" he asked, nervousness gnawing at him for no apparent reason.

"No but— I thought you'd invite someone like Lucy," she explained.

"I'd be more fun with you." The words had surprised her as much as it had him, because they might've been true but he never considered he would actually voice his thoughts, and her eyes had looked at him with wonder, face beaming like this had been the best thing she'd ever heard before.

All he wanted was to make her smile like that again, like he'd hung the stars for her and her only.

Before she arrived, the party was vastly dull. He lounged near the front door, away fro the other guests. Dressed in long beautiful gowns made of silk or tulle, all the girls roaming the hall, their skirts swishing from side to side as they swayed to the classical music with no real rhythm of their own.

Last year, he was in that room, charming them with sweet words and his natural good looks. Last year, he was mingling with all the ladies. Last year, he was ignoring the obvious fact that none of them would care for him if he wasn't this wealthy. But Aries, bubble-gum pink Aries, would still be by his side even if he was dirt poor.

Wealth did not matter. Nothing else mattered when he was with her.

(But that was beginning to scare him.)

His breath caught in his throat when she stepped through the front door. He did not know what he had been expecting. Clearly he knew that Aries would not appear in a floor-length dress or a short skin-tight one, because that was nothing like her. Her hair was curled and pinned up high, showing off the delicate features of her creamy complexioned face – the high cheekbones, the rosy cheeks, wide and angelic eyes, and the way her mouth slid into a warm beam when she saw him.

"Hello," she greeted him.

"H—hi." He hesitantly smiled at her. "You look great."

She fiddled with the hem of her knee-length A-line dress. It was a mint-green color in an attempt to be festive, because eye-popping colors were not what she usually wore. "Thank you. The place looks great."

"It should, my Mom hired five interior designers for the party." He rolled his eyes. "Do you want to go somewhere to sit down? I don't want to go back into the hall."

Shyly, she nodded, and they made their way to the off-limits living room and sat on the comfy leather seats. She slipped her fluffy white shrug off, revealing her bare shoulders in her strapless dress. He stared at her collar bones, her small waist, her tanned legs, a second too long before rushing off, stating he needed a drink.

He returned with two glasses of champagne in hand. She looked at the glass of bubbly liquid, startled. "Uh..."

"You don't have to —"

"No, I'll try it." She gave him a small smile, and took the glass from him, holding it tentatively in her hand. Cautiously, she took a tiny sip, while he gulped about half of it down, the bubbles tickling him as they slid down his throat.

The uneasiness washed off with the tide, and the two of them talked through most of the night, with Loke forcing his gaze not to linger or his thoughts to wander off.

Other than that, it was perfect. He did not feel like he had to impress her or put on a show for her – there was no pressure with Aries, just simple conversations and jokes, carefree and mellow.

It was beginning to freak him out. His humming heart felt like it wanted nothing more than to spend every second with her, listening to her laugh and seeing her smile brighten every room.

(He really should not be feeling this way.

And he definitely should not feel upset that she now had to leave because it was getting late.)

Like a gentleman, he walked her out to the gates of his house, behind which her ride was parked. The thick black sky hole-punched with a few luminescent stars cascaded its light onto Aries, lightening her skin as if she were an angel.

"I had fun tonight," she joyfully said.

"Me too." He shoved his hands in his pockets so he could resist the urge to sling his arm over her shoulder or around her waist. "Hey, I forgot to give you your Christmas present!" he realised when he felt the small jewellery box in his pocket poking his hand.

They stopped in their tracks for Loke to pull the box out and pass it to Aries. Their fingers brushed against each other, an electric spark between them that only he seemed to notice.

Tentatively, she opened the box, squinting in the moonlight, and a small gasp escaped her lips when she saw the necklace that lay inside. "Thank you!" she ecstatically told Loke. "I love it, Leo!" He grinned back at her, a fluttering feeling in his stomach. "Would you put it on me?"

"Sure." She handed him the delicate necklace, turning around so her back was towards him. Carefully, he put the necklace around her bare neck, careful his fingers not brush against her skin and give him another terrifyingly exhilarating electric shock. He closed the latch and she turned around, the small heart pendant shimmering in the moonlight.

She traced the chain, eyes gleaming. "Thank you," she said again.

"It's no problem. It looks great on you."

"I got you a present too." She pulled a little ring out of her purse. It caught the light if the moon, the orange stone shining brightly. She reached for his hand, and his breath caught as he had the stupid idea that she was going to hold his hand, but instead she pressed the ring into his palm. Her petite fingers lingered there in his hand for a second, before she pulled back and said, "I know it's not much but -"

"It's great," he said without having to so much look at his gift. Aries would never fail to impress - she was perfect that way. "You really didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to. You deserve it."

She looked at him with sweet eyes, like he was the kindest being alive, and he knew he deserved none of it. That did not stop his heart from picking up the pace, his hands from turning clammy, and his butterflies to stop fluttering.

Gazes locked, she reached on her tiptoes, leaning closer towards him. He froze in shock, unsure what to do. Warm breath escaped her lips as she tipped her head up and kissed-

His cheek.

It was a small brief peck, not long enough for him to bathe in her touch, and then she pulled him into a short hug.

"Merry Christmas, Leo," she whispered into his ear, her breath tickling him, and then pulled away.

There was an embarrassed blush on her cheeks as she walked away, looking over her shoulder just once to sheepishly grin at him.

And then she was gone.

The butterflies were still fluttering, his heart still racing, as the car drove off. Then, once the car was out of sight, his heart plummeted down into a crevice when reality hit him like a bullet.

H— He, he lov—

Well, there went his golden rule.