He watched from afar as she strolled down the catwalk, looking eye-catching and confident. Her red hair was swept behind her ears and she walked with an easy grace like she owned the place. She was lithe, poised, and beautiful.

He wasn't supposed to love Lily Evans. They were enemies, competitors in the same industry, the top dogs—and yet here he was, attending all of her shows under the guise of "scouting the competition", but he was doing no such thing.

Lily jutted out her lower lip as she posed, giving the audience a show as she swayed her hips and strutted back to the curtain.

Regulus's mouth went dry. It's just a passing infatuation, he told himself, repeating the mantra over his head.

But it didn't go away. If anything, it grew.

He made his way backstage. The guard at the door narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but Regulus said he was one of the models and showed his "ID", and the guard, fooled, let him in.

Much to his chagrin, Lily wasn't there in the first few changing booths he passed. But he did find her at one of the ones near the end. She was fully dressed, but still shrieked when he walked in, and slapped him in face.

But the strange thing was, he didn't feel a thing. Not a single spark of pain.

"Gee, is that how you greet every guy who walks into your booth?" he joked, crossing one leg over the other and folding his arms, leaning against the wall in an attractive stance.

"You perv," she snapped, hitting his arm. But once again, it didn't hurt. That was odd.

"I just want to say that you looked magnificent out there," he said honestly, a lump forming in his throat. She was even prettier in person.

She was still glaring, but it softened just a little. "Thanks," she muttered. "Now, could you kindly get out?"

"Nope," he answered, uncrossing his legs. "I have a mission, and I cannot leave without completing it."

"Can't you go complete it somewhere else?" she said waspishly, and muttered under her breath, "Preferably Pluto."

"I wanted—" Now he's nervous, now that he was actually asking her, "I wanted to ask you out. Y'know, as in a date."

Lily snorted. "First you walk into my booth like a pervert, and then you expect me to go out with you? Nice try. Who are you, anyway?"

She pinned him with those sharp emerald eyes, and Regulus was at a loss for words.

"Well?" Lily demanded.

"I'm—Reggie," he said. "Reggie...White."

"Reggie," she hummed, evidently searching her brain. "Reggie—nope, don't know a Reggie. Though there is someone who has a similar name—Regulus, do you know him? He's a famous model for another company."

He sucked in breath, hoping she couldn't see his heart pounding against his ribs. "Yeah, I've heard him."

"He's rather good-looking, but he's so full of himself," she said, wrinkling her nose. "Always walking around like he owns the place. Rather like you, I'd say."

"Don't draw assumptions," he said warningly.

Lily opened her mouth to reply, but there was a knock on her door and they both froze. "Evans, are you dressed? Crosby's about to go, and then it's your turn."

"Coming," she said loudly, and then she lowered her voice. "Get out of my way."

He moved aside without a word. She paused, her hand on the doorknob. "You know—" and then, she hesitated. "Never mind."

He watched her go, neither of them saying goodbye.

He would win her over someday.

594 words

Romance Awareness - Your soulmate is the only person who can't hurt you

Writing Club - Sophie's Shelf - 27. RegulusLily; Film Festival - 1. Fashion show!AU