Disclaimer: I do not own Sofia the First in any way. This fic is only for my own entertainment and literary practice.

AN: Thank you for the kind reviews. To SofiaxHugo Fan, I'm sorry that your other review wasn't posted. I tried to combine your two reviews so that it wouldn't inflate my stats—apparently, editing reviews in the Moderate Guest Reviews module does not work that way. In the end, your other review accidentally got deleted. Rest assured though that I have read it and greatly appreciated it as I do with every form of feedback I have gotten from using this site. Also, this isn't a one-shot; this is a story about 5 chapters long—maybe I unintentionally sounded too final on my first chapter. Anyways, here's the second chapter, everyone. I hope you all enjoy.


Chapter 2: Heat

There are times when people choose not to believe when subconsciously they do know something is true. Such is called "denial." How susceptible a person is to assume a phase of denial depends upon what the subject of disbelief is and, of course, his personality. Even the most adaptive of people can undergo this state of mind given the right circumstances. Denial may be a protective mechanism of the brain—some things are too grave to be swallowed whole, after all. However, denial might also be strongly limiting and possibly adverse. Either way, denial is something to overcome—it cannot be left to creep and solidify. If it proves difficult, there is no shame in taking it slow. There are cases, though, that the denial is so deeply rooted that it would be almost impossible for the person in question to come to own that he is only but lying to himself—or rather, specific to a certain princess, that she is only lying to herself. Her palms sweat, her ears warm up, she feels this whirlwind of emotion so often when dealing with her skating partner that it is incredibly irksome to her how she could barely contain herself when she normally has her wits well controlled. There is no mistaking that she is in a dire state—and whatever the cause of those feelings, whatever the cause of her denial of having those feelings, she is deep in it. Lucky for her, her well-meaning sister is prodigiously perceptive and can be quite nosy.


"So, how was school?" asked King Roland, as he did routinely every dinnertime on a school day.

"Oh, we had our Potions II exam," said James after humming in thought for a second.

"Really? How did it go?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," remarked James. It was definitely one of the harder exams they have ever had; and James decided is was worth a lengthy monologue over dinner. "There was this one question where they had us write down 10 possible ingredients of a potion," began James, "And the question only gave the effe-OW!" He was stopped by pinch on his arm under the table. He jerked his head towards Amber who was sitting beside him. Amber was holding that smile—the smile that James knew from being her twin she was up to something. Conveniently, that same smile also meant "Shush, James." He rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "I wasn't done."

"Daddy, Mother," said Amber, still holding her signature smile, "You might have noticed that we stayed in school longer today."

"Now that I think about it, you did, didn't you?" said Miranda.

"You both should have seen it. I've had the pleasure of watching Sofia and Hugo practice. It was so cute. And, Sofia was-"

Sofia felt her heart skip a beat. So that's what she was going for, thought Sofia. She had to change the subject, "I know right? That Potions exam was super hard. I hope we still did well," said Sofia frantically as she quickly stood up, her ears red.

"Whoa there, Sofia, sit down, I'm sure you all did fine," laughed Roland, "So, what were you saying about Sofia, Amber?"

Sofia felt uneasy in anticipation of what Amber was going to say next. She felt like her soul left her body; there was this strange feeling of cold and emptiness that made her feel as if she was hollow on the inside. Amber can't possibly think that she had a crush on Hugo; that's ridiculous! But, Amber might just have gotten the wrong idea. Sofia was worried that Amber might make mom and dad think that she liked Hugo. Amber was wrong.

"As I was saying," said Amber, "Sofia was amazing, she did like a dozen flips and twirls in the air. It was beautiful."

"Wow, that's great, Sofia. You should let us see it some time."

"T-thanks," said Sofia with a shaky breath of relief and a nervous laugh, "M-maybe you'll get to see it on the next recital."

oOo

"What are you trying to pull, Amber?' Sofia asked her sister on the hallway after dinner, exasperated. It was one of those rare times that she was genuinely mad at her sister. She had only raised her voice on Amber a few times—less than the number of fingers there is on one hand, in fact.

"Huh?"

Oh how irksome can Amber be at times. "You know, when you told Mom and Dad about ice dancing."

"What do you mean? I really do believe you're amazing; and I'm your sister—I'm automatically your number 1 fan," said Amber with a wink.

"Not that," said Sofia. "You were," she sighed then lowered her voice, "you were hinting at something else."

"But I told them exactly what I saw—no details left out," said Amber. "Unless, there's something you feel I've left out?" asked Amber rhetorically with her signature victorious smirk.

Pink rushed across Sofia's face, running across from ear to ear, passing over her cheeks. "No! There isn't," said Sofia firmly.

Amber broke into a sudden flurry of excitement, "I knew it! There is something."

"No. I just said there isn't," said Sofia, turning around to retreat, "I'm going to bed."

"You know, Hugo was talking about you at lunch the other day."

"He was? What did he say?' Sofia asked, quickly turning back to Amber and being met by another one of her smug, knowing smirks.

"Mmhmmm," hummed Amber. "I got you, Sofia. You know you can tell me anything," said Amber, assuming an older-sister-authority demeanor; but she immediately broke character by cheekily and enthusiastically adding, "So tell me all about what's going on between you and Hugo."

"There isn't anything to talk about."

"Daddy," called out Amber to the relatively empty hallway.

"Alright, alright," said Sofia, still blushing, "But, don't get your hopes up. I'm telling you there really is nothing."

"I'll be the judge of that. Remember, you're sleeping in my room tonight."

Sofia knew it was going to be a loooong night. There really was nothing to talk about. She and Hugo were just friends. Period. Why couldn't just Amber believe her?

oOo

Why did she let herself fall into this mess, thought Sofia. She was already sitting on Amber's bed. Amber was serious about having this mini-"slumber party" between them. "Sister-bonding," Amber called it.

"Okay, when did you start to like Hugo?"

"I don't!" denied Sofia in reflex.

"So, you don't like him?" asked Amber, knowing just the right buttons to push to unravel a vulnerable Sofia.

"No, I like him. I mean I don't like him; I like him as a friend—that's it." Yes, that was it. Hugo was just a friend to Sofia. He was a friend that she enjoyed skating together with; a friend whom she looked forward to meeting every day; a friend that could somehow make her simultaneously feel both like she's the prettiest girl in the room and like she's a nervous wreck. Yeah, sounds like a regular guy friend.

"Okay, just friends then."

"Yep, just friends," said Sofia, "Does this mean I can sleep in my room now?"

"We're not done," said Amber, laying her head down on her pillows. "What do you like about Hugo?"

"I don't like him."

"As a friend."

"He's-" Sofia couldn't answer right away. It's hard for her to pick out certain things about a friend that she liked best. She hadn't thought too much about it before. When it came to friends, she just liked them all in general. She doesn't look for a certain characteristic when making friends, it was just a matter of whether they would want to or not. For every one of the friends she had made, they all turned out to be good and nice people; and that was enough.

"He's nice."

"Hugo? He knocked you off your flying horse once."

"He's nice once you get to know him."

"And? That can't possibly be all."

"He's reliable and helpful," said Sofia, "He helped me get better at ice dancing."

"You give such boring answers, Sofia."

"Beeecause that's all there is? I told you, Amber, Hugo's great and all but I only like him as a friend."

"I think he's cute."

Sofia had to spend a few seconds to process what she had just heard. "Come again?"

"No, really, he's cute."

"I-I guess?"

Amber studied her sister's ever growing blush which egged her to push on. Her strategy was to throw out the vaguest compliments she could think of and hopefully Sofia takes the bait on at least one of them.

"His eyes are alluring, wouldn't you say?"

"If you say so, Amber." His eyes do have this weird way of pulling you in, she admitted in her mind.

"And his smile," said Amber, with a small pause as she scrambled her mind for something good to say about his smile, "is so... fitting. It suits him."

"Sure." It wasn't nearly as much about his smile than his whole expression, though, thought Sofia. The way he slightly lifts up his eyebrows when he smiles—she had always found it charming. Ack, she was getting swept up by Amber. "I know what you're trying to do!"

"Too late, Sofia. You've said every word out loud."

"I don't like him."

Her sister just wasn't giving in. She had to bring out her trump card, "Well, I do."

The world stopped for Sofia for a moment. "What?"

"I like Hugo," said Amber, sitting up to make eye contact with Sofia; which she regretted at once when she saw her sister's face painstakingly suppressing a grimace.

Sofia felt a dull, compressive sort of pain just a little below her chest, where her ribs ended. Amber liked Hugo. So that was why she was asking so many questions about him as of late. Why couldn't have Sofia realized it sooner. "I-I didn't know."

Amber couldn't find words to say—she kept silent.

Sofia supposed it made sense. Amber was one of those in the in-crowd. Everybody in Royal Prep loved Amber. Hugo, too, was one of the "popular kids." In hindsight, thought Sofia, Amber was cheering for Hugo when she had just found out about flying derby. They do seem kind of close—Amber was very comfortable talking to him earlier. The farther Sofia's train of thought travelled, the stronger the pain grew. Maybe what she ate for dinner didn't just come down well; maybe it got stuck just before it reached the stomach—it certainly felt that way. It was like a huge ball was stuck a little beyond her sternum.

"I-If you want, I could help have you and Hugo become ice dancing partners staring tomorrow," offered Sofia, trying her best to ignore the fuzzy, swelling feeling that continued to develop in her chest. But she couldn't. It just grew more painful with every thought of Amber replacing her as Hugo's ice dancing pair. She and Hugo only ever get to really spend time together during ice dancing—sometimes derby. But often times, they don't get to talk much. Hugo was always surrounded by his set of friends during free periods, and she was always with her friends. Her not being his ice dancing partner would practically mean that they wouldn't get to talk anymore—rarely, at best; and that did not sit well with Sofia. She hated the thought so much that she couldn't hold in the frown that was currently breaking through her efforts and defenses to conceal.

Amber launched forward and hugged her sister tightly, "I'm so sorry."

Sofia felt as if her body had turned to jelly. It was loose, shaky, and she barely had any control. It felt like she was just a pillow and she couldn't hug Amber back. "What for?"

"I didn't mean it. I lied." Amber didn't say anything else but just continued embracing Sofia.

Sofia liked Hugo as a friend; but, for what might be the first time, she considered that maybe she liked him a little more than she had thought.


Getting out of a state of denial may be a slow process for some people; and it may be quick for some. It may be smooth sailing for others, and be excruciating for the rest. Only Sofia can know exactly what she went through; but, assuredly, Sofia had just made her first few steps into accepting that she might have a crush on Hugo—just a tiny one.


AN: R&R please. Do you think this one was an improvement from the first chapter? I hope you enjoyed.
*(2016/12/08) AN: I'll be back once Christmas break starts; the next chapter will probably be up before the end of December.