A BLOSSOM DURING THE WINTER:
Ch2: A Field Of Purple Flowers

Pokemonchen: Glad you think so. Enjoy! (she totally is jealous)

PrincessCutipie: I'll never get tired of hearing that you like my stories. Thank you. :)

xXxAronoelExXx: haha maybe you'll like Damian more when you figure out why Nicole is his girlfriend. MWHAHAHA! I mean what? She's just a normal, sweet princess.

Akora: Well you don't have to wait any longer! Enjoy!

daring2dream: You're review has really got me thinking. Thank you so much! It's so helpful and I love the ideas you've given. Your review has been one of the most helpful ones I've gotten. I hope you enjoy this next chapter, I tried to take your advice to make it better.

Dragonine09: haha Updating now... you will get your answers at some point as to why Damian would do such a thing. Just be patient, you won't be disappointed.

Thanks to Barbiegirl 22, PrincessCutipie, DustyPheonix, Dragonine09, MisterMiss, Express-Yourself101, JazzyFizzleBaby27, Deyanira Lucatero, and anyone else for favoriting/alerting this story!

Sorry for such a long AN... And here it is!


Damian:

I felt rather uncomfortable as Ash glared at me across the table, it was lunchtime and Nicole was sitting right next to me. Ash swore that she was only upset about me not telling her I had a girlfriend, but by the way she's glaring at me I don't think that's completely the truth. Seriously, if looks could kill I'd be dead about twenty times over by now. Maybe thirty times over…

"Hey baby, are you going to finish your chicken?" Nicole asked sweetly.

"Yeah, but here have a bite." I stabbed a piece of chicken and fed it to her.

"Thank you dear." She smiled at me. Nicole was just incredibly sweet. That's why I like her.

Nicole and I had met at my brother's wedding; she knew the bride and was invited. When I talked to her she seemed so down to earth and she kept helping all the younger children. She seemed perfect! Nicole was friends with everybody she met because she was kind, she wasn't like any other girl. She wasn't like any other princess and she wasn't like Ash.

Nicole and Ash are probably the complete opposites of each other. Nicole is sympathetic, generous and innocent while Ash is harsh and sarcastic. Nicole laughs all the time while Ash takes a bit to force a laugh from her. Nic is easy to talk to and loves to talk to me, yet Ash likes silence. Nicole is just perfect for me, and Ash is a great friend. I won't lie Ash is very pretty and her sarcasm is great but Nicole…

"Hey Damian, do you want to go for a ride?" Whenever I visited Ash, we always went for a ride. It was tradition.

"Of course." I say with a big grin, lets go. Nicole do you want to come?" Ash was looking so excited for our ride but when I invited Nicole she faltered. Ash's smile went down and her frown came up. Nicole glanced at Ash, and smiled sweetly.

"Definitely, if Ash doesn't mind?"

ASH:

"Definitely, if Ash doesn't mind." Nicole, or as I've decided to call her 'Miss Flutter Lashes', says in sickly sweet voice. I cringed at the tone of her voice it made me sick. I didn't get what Damian liked about this girl she was so… fake. Her smile, her voice, her innocence, the way she blinked too much and just everything about her screamed bogus. Yet Damian looked at her like he was a blind man seeing the sun for the first time.

"Why would I mind?" I asked. "It's only the one time we have a chance to spend together since a whole month ago, but of course Nicole can come. While we're at it why don't we invite George too?" I turn to George and send him a look. He stands quickly.

"Yeah, I'll come too. Anna?" He looks pleadingly at his wife who ignores him.

"I'll stay here sweetie. I want to talk to Rose more, she's telling me all about being pregnant and having a bundle of joy." I tapped my foot waiting; finally everyone stood and followed me out of the castle.

We grabbed our winter coats from the coat guy. Yeah, we have a coat guy. I think he has an actual title but I have no clue what it is so I just call him Larry the coat guy.

"Thanks Larry." I pull my light coat on and don't even bother buttoning it up.

"You're welcome Miss." He nods at me and then continues to hand out people's coats. When everyone's bundled up we tread outside. My boots crunched on the leaves as we walk down the pathway, out of the castle gates.

I couldn't believe Damian had never once mentioned the fact he had a girlfriend. A girlfriend! He never said anything about meeting some princess who wasn't a complete ditz, of course that's probably because Nicole is a complete ditz.

George walks beside me while Damian and Miss Flutter Lashes walk slightly behind us, completely wrapped up in each other.

"So how long have they been going out?" I ask George quietly. He looks a little surprised at me starting conversation with him, I've probably only attempted to talk to him twice in all the time that I've known him.

"Since my wedding." He replies glancing back at them. "If it helps, I don't like her much either." He mutters to me. I grin widely at that.

"Good, I'm not the only one." I input triumphantly.

"Yeah, we'd all rather he like you."

"What?" I ask rather loudly. Damian and Nicole both stop their chatting and glance at me. Nicole gives me a politely confused look before she speaks.

"What are you two talking about?" Her eyes are widened creepily, as if they will help her see the answer before I tell her it.

"Nothing." I answer quickly. I shoot a glare at George; he raises his hands in surrender. I can't believe he'd suggest something like that, Damian and me? We are just friends and we'd never be anything more. At that thought my stomach does a weird pitching thing, so I ignore it. It's the safer thing to do especially because I had an idea it was related to feelings. I hate feelings.

"Where are we going?" Damian questioned. Oh, so now he wants to walk next to me and talk to me. I open my mouth to reply with something sarcastic and witty and just altogether brilliant when Flutter Lashes interrupts me.

"I know a place near here, it's really quite lovely this time of the year…" She trails off at my glare. Good, she did get the point of me staring daggers at her.

"Really Nic? You've been here before." Damian looked like whatever her answer was could save a bunch of poor people's lives. Whipped.

"Yeah I've traveled through Gramiere, it's really pretty. A field filled with purple flowers." Nicole talked like it was a far off mystical place.

"Whoopee, flowers." I rolled my eyes but followed Nicole as she led Damian by the hand towards this field I had never seen before.

"You know, I've never seen a field of purple flowers in Gramiere." I call out loudly. Damian stops when I say this, I grin a little. Damian believes me over his little girlfriend.

"Maybe you've just never found it before." She says it through gritted teeth. George looks confused, glancing between her and me. Damian however nods like that makes perfect sense and turns around to follow her again. How could he even think I wouldn't know every inch of my kingdom? I was beginning to get frustrated.

"No, I don't think that's it. I've been everywhere in Gramiere. I can be a bit adventurous." I say sarcastically. George scoffs at this and grins.

"A bit? Please that's the understatement of the year." I smile at George, I'd expected Damian to say something like that not him. Which is why I feel even more stunned when Damian opens his mouth to speak, and he wasn't defending me or laughing along with us.

"Maybe Ash missed it. She's not perfect okay? Nicole knows what she's talking about, don't you?" He turns and asks Nicole the last part kindly. She grins evilly, and reassures him that she knew exactly where she was going, and what she was talking about. Damian was going to trust this little tramp he met a few weeks ago over me?

What is going on here? Damian is acting strange, and none of it made sense. I followed the couple to the non-existent field. When we didn't find it then I'd just say that I told them so.

I felt extremely shocked when we walked in between to large oaks that I've passed by many times and entered a clearing. A clearing that had purple blossoms springing up everywhere. What the hell?

"What? This is impossible; I've passed those oaks before. A lake should be here, not this… this field!" Damian rolls his eyes and glances at me.

"Just admit you were wrong Ash." Damian verbalizes rather harshly. George glances at me like he can't imagine that Damian just said that to me, and I can't believe it myself either. I would expect it from him as a joke but not as an accusation.

"It's impossible." I whisper softly. George pats me on the back and shoots me an apologetic look. I shrug his hand off; I did not need him to feel sorry for me.

Nicole bends down and picks some flowers and holds them up. "Smell." She commands of me.

"No thanks. I hate flowers." I inform her. She scowls and shoves them towards me.

"Smell them, I think you'll like it." Damian glares at me when once again I refuse to smell the purple pollen makers.

"I'll smell them." Damian bends forward and takes a large whiff of the things. "See Ash they didn't kill me." Some of his old humor was back in his voice and it mad me smile for a second. But only a second, because then Damian collapses in to the hideous purple plants. I hear two screams, one was my own and the other Nicole's. Nicole.

"What did you do to him?" I demand angrily. "I know this is your fault."

"I didn't…" She glances at the flowers and then to Damian shocked. "I didn't know, they must be poisoned." She whispers. Her hand unclenches the flowers as the drift to the ground.

"You think?" I say accusingly. I launch myself toward her. "This is all your fault." I screech. I planned in those milliseconds of running at her ways to kill her. I went through scratching her eyes out with my nails, chocking her and so much more. Yet luckily for her George stopped me. He grabs me by the waist and hoists me over his shoulder. I kick and punch and yell.

"Let me go! Let me at her. She did this on purpose!" Nicole had to have known this was going to happen, she was trying to get me to smell them. She's evil. I wanted to punch her, to rip her hair out, to…

"Calm down Ash." George intones.

"I swear I didn't mean to, I had no idea." Nicole sounds close to tears, which is what stops me. I stop my kicking and yelling and punching. She was just as upset about this as me. How could she know that Damian would pass out and that those flowers would be poisoness.

"You done?" George questions gently. I nod.

"Yeah." He places me gently on my feet; I almost launch myself at Nicole again, but think better of it. Instead I turn and slowly cross over to Damian. What were we going to do now?


And second chapter... DONE! I had my mom sit on my bed and yell at me every time I stopped writing and got distracted.I told her I needed a Russian drill sergeant to get this done... I would've updated sooner but my computer kept being stupid and I got sick and... ok enough of the excuses, well love you all. Please Review! Bye.

PeaceLoveEggrolls

Jenn