My face is wet. . .

Why is my face wet? I open one eye halfway open to see Reilly dragging her tongue across my cheek once more before she notices I'm awake and begins yipping happily in my face. I sigh and push her away from me, as I wipe my face with the sleeve of my pajamas. I glance up halfway through drying my face and see my cat, Melville's, yellow irises narrowed at me in disgust.

I roll my eyes. It's not my fault Reilly has her own special way of saying "good morning" to me. I throw my covers off and make my way over to Melville, stroking down his back. All his previous annoyance gone as he purrs happily at my attention.

It's been nearly a year and a half since I got that letter from the Harvest King. And, through annoying and heavy work, I'd, one by one, returned each of the Harvest Sprites and Harvest Goddess to this world.

I feel great about that and all. I really do. I promise.

But ranch life is so . . . boring?

I mean, I love all of my animals. And each of the crops feels like a baby I've nursed to life. But, it's so mundane around here.

And, those turquoise eyes I'd seen that day. . . I see them when I look into the sky in the afternoon. In the streams when I'm fishing. In my dreams at night . . . And, I'd only seen them once. Why do they have such a lasting impression on me?

I sigh, my breath pushing my bangs out of my face, but they just fall right back down into my eyes. Before I can fall back asleep, I get out of bed and get ready for the day.

As per usual, I water the crops, feed the animals and then I have the rest of the day to myself.

And so, I head over to Lumina's mansion. Lumina's estate is. . . impressive to say the least. It's the biggest plot of land in the valley aside from my ranch and, of course, Vesta's farm.

Lumina is a. . . friend, a sometimes very annoying and conceited friend, but I'm aquatinted with every girl in the valley.

I climb the marble stairs that lead past the enormous gates that I've never seen locked and enter without knocking. Lumina is sitting at the piano, plunking away at the keys with one of the most bored expressions I'd ever seen her wear.

"What? Rock not here to entertain you today?" I ask. She looks at me with a bright smile.

"Jill!" She squeals happily. "You haven't visited me in so long!" She abandons her piano bench and throws her arms around me.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm aware." I respond gently, patting her back awkwardly. She pulls away from her embrace and holds both my hands hostage in hers.

"Oh, I've missed you!"

I mumble something unintelligible in reply and she's babbling away, catching me up on her life. I can't say I really pay attention.

"I have a favor to ask you," she begins.

That gets my attention.

"What?" I tried to keep my voice from sounding utterly unenthusiastic, but I'm sure it comes out exasperated anyways. But, if she notices, she doesn't acknowledge it.

"The mansion is looking so dull these days. If it's not too much trouble can you please bring me some of those flowers? The fall is almost over and I won't see them again until, well spring."

"Well . . ."

"Oh please, please, please, please!" She begs, a slight pout on her face. Maybe I shouldn't have come today. . . But it's too late for that now.

"Fine." I hang my head in defeat. I can never say no when she begs like that. . .

And now, 10 at night, I find myself lugging an armful of flower pots to the mansion.

I really should have thought this through. I could have easily strung a carriage up to Zayn, my horse, and gotten this done in a few minutes. But nooooooo.

Just as I'm mounting the stairs, a single pot drops from my arms and shatters on the granite steps.

"Fuck." I mutter under my breath, and then I set down the rest of the pots and bend down to salvage what I can of the flowers. As I pick the dirt away from the roots, I hear a door fly open and bite back another curse. I have no doubt that's Lumina, come to complain about me dropping one of her precious flowers.

I keep my head down, preparing for her onslaught of disapproval. But instead, I find a slimmer, more masculine figure standing above me, hand outstretched politely to help me up.

To my utter bewilderment, I raise my eyes and find myself gazing up into a pair of aquamarine eyes. . .

If the man recognizes me, his eyes don't show it. And, I can't look away from his eyes. I can't seem to remember why I came here. What am I doing?

I subconsciously register the small smile on his lips as he says his first words to me.

"Hello, beautiful." My hand finds his and I'm brought to my feet. "Walking alone at night?" I'm obviously lost for words. Lost in his eyes. . . A smirk plays on his lips and he winks at me.

"Hehe. . . I'm quite the ladies' man and. . . A Prince of the Stars." That comment is enough to snap me out of my daze and irritate the hell out of me. I recoil from his touch, my hand snatching away from his and I cradle it against my chest like a wounded animal. (I'll never admit it, but my hand kind of tingles where his skin had been against mine.) I open my mouth to say something that I think will knock his self-esteem down a few notches, but I'm interrupted.

"HEY!" A voice calls from the doorway. Both our heads turn and see Lumina standing in the wide doorway of the mansion. "Aren't you that famous thief who warns his victims ahead of time?!"

The man in front of me gasps very audibly and I turn back to look at him in shock. To his credit, he recovers quickly and regains his demeanor. He grabs my hand in both of his and catches my gaze in his once again.

"Sorry, but I'm a bit pressed for time." He brings my hand to his lips and presses a kiss against my knuckles, his eyes never leaving mine. I bite the inside of my cheek and, despite myself, feel a slight blush rising to my cheeks. "I'm about to jet out." He winks at me for the second time that night and our fingers linger against one another's as he releases my hands. He turns and starts to run away, but stops after a few steps and turns back to me. "Call me, Phantom Skye. I have a feeling we'll meet again."

He points upwards, into the sky. "It's in the stars."

My eyes widen visibly in the moonlight as I watch him backing away. And I jump when I hear Lumina speak from right next to me.

"Wait right there!"

Skye chuckles softly, "Hold up, beautiful. Don't let such raw anger steal away your beauty."

He sticks his tongue out at her in a teasing manor before turning and dashing away.

Lumina is bright red. "What a smooth talker… Phantom Skye…"

And then, she shakes her head and runs after him. "Wait!"

I look down at my hands. I can still feel his lips pressed against my knuckles. I can feel his gaze locked with mine. Those eyes. Those eyes. I never thought I'd see them again. Especially not like this. I can't even be upset that he's a thief. I can't even mind too much that he's so cocky…

Footsteps returning break me from my thoughts and I look up to see Lumina scampering back to me.

"Phantom Skye!" She exclaims. "He… He got away from me!"

I don't give her any response at first, just looking at her as she catches her breath. It actually makes sense for Lumina to be so taken by Skye. I mean, she has a thing for Rock as much as she likes to deny it. And as much as I don't want to admit it, Skye does remind me of Rock in an annoying way. Lumina finally composes herself, and look disdainfully at the broken flower pot still at my feet.

"Um, what happened to my flowers?"

Quick A/N: Thank you for viewing my first chapter for my first fanfiction and I apologize for any inconsistencies or errors that may be present. I edited this chapter kind of quick. And if you want to ask me a question about the story or leave me a review to help me improve my writing, I'll reply to anything through PM. Thank you!