Cress couldn't help but stare at herself in the body-long, oval-shaped mirror. She had never really thought of herself as a woman before…but tonight, even she could fancy the thought. Her light pink gown flowed down to just above her knees while the illusion neckline was adorned with lace applique and the front bodice cross pleated, strapping tightly around her bosom. Her small pink pearl earrings picked up the gleam of the light whenever she turned her head. Her hair was newly straightened and cut to just below her neck with little tendrils of curls hung down from her temples.

She sucked in a steadying breath and finally exited the ladies room, conveniently placed in the foyer before the ballroom entrance.

And there he was, waiting, as he had promised.

"Ready, beautiful?" he asked with a handsome smile that made her want to pull him in close, whisper for him to just take her home where they could cuddle and maybe do some other things.

But no, Thorne was looking forward to tonight. She had to get her mind out of the gutter. She would not ruin this night for him, no matter how many girls might flirt with him tonight.

Besides, everyone knew now that they were a couple. The ball was in her court.

"Ready," she replied, grinning for the first time since they had arrived, effectively shaking off her nerves.

She slipped her arm into his, feeling the smooth fabric of his suit. Despite the fact that the majority of the men that she could see through the doorway were wearing classic black and white tuxedos, Thorne was wearing a pure white fitted suit jacket and pants and a black tie. Yet as they slowly exited the foyer and into the ballroom, he was practically dripping with confidence. Cress tried her best to match his atmosphere, to begin to blend in with all of these wealthy people, to belong.

She could barely hear the sound of the quartet playing stringed instruments over her nervous thoughts. Waiters dressed in black and white offered drinks and little foods with toothpicks sticking out of them. She smiled and declined an offer for food, but Thorne swept two flutes of champagne and handed her one, which she accepted.

Might as well loosen up a bit.

Her breath was taken away at the sight of the ballroom. Upon first entering, she noticed the high-ceiling that towered above her. Immense numbers of sparking chandeliers hung from the high-up ceiling, picking up the dazzling glaze of the jewelry that the ladies of the ballroom wore.

The gracefully arched windows were decorated with unstained red curtains, finished with gold trimming. Couches and chairs were spread about the room to facilitate conversation and allow one to have a break from the dance floor. Cress wondered if one chair alone cost more than a small house would.

At the front of the ballroom was a stage, where the quartet was playing.

Cress sipped slowly at her champagne- it was even better than the champagne Thorne had at his house, and that was saying something!

"Ah, Carswell Thorne! The man of the hour!"

Cress held in a squeak when an elderly man walked up to them, a tall woman made even taller by her heels, beside him grinning with her bright red lipstick.

"Westerfield, you never miss an event do you," Thorne laughed. "And Christina, as beautiful as ever."

"Charming, as usual," Christina replied. Her eyes moved to Cress. "And this must be Cress. We saw pictures of you two on the newsfeed."

"Hello," Cress said quietly, but at least managed to without stuttering. Christina's eyes twinkled as Cress reached out to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you, Christina."

"Likewise," the woman replied. "My, you are even more pretty than you were in the pictures. No wonder you managed to scoop up the world's most eligible bachelor."

Cress blushed and Thorne pulled her by the waist to his side. "Hey, no credit for me? Maybe I'm the one that scooped her!"

They all shared a laugh, bouncing off witty comments to each other.

Thorne and Westerfield chatted some more, and both herself and Christina took the time to sip at their drinks. This wasn't so bad. Now Cress understood why Thorne hadn't wanted to come here, but did anyways. He moved them through the crowd, greeting and chatting, mostly gossiping, with many different people whose names she started not to bother trying to remember. This was all a business strategy for Thorne; a way to keep in the know and for his face to be remembered.

Perhaps, a way for her to be remembered?

Whatever it was, she didn't mind. If Thorne could watch cheesy romcoms with her throughout the night, she could attend a dance and socialize with a bunch of socialites if he wanted her to.

The music picked up, and Thorne took her empty glass, the second of the night, and placed it on an awaiting waiter's tray. He then swept her to the middle of the dance floor, the one-two-step they had practiced for hours last night jumping to the forefront of her memory.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked, his blue eyes sparkling in that way they did when he was about to laugh.

She felt light on her feet- maybe she was intoxicated, but she was sure that the happy feeling in her chest had something to do with it too.

She tried to shrug like it was no big deal. "This isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Usually I'm not one for crowds. But everyone has been nice so far."

"They've been cordial, as usual," he frowned slightly, but then squeezed her hand. "You don't have to worry about them anyways. This is our party."

She giggled and nodded. "A party to celebrate us."

"That's right, baby," he winked. She tried not to turn into a pile of girl-goo. Despite the fact that this was a fundraiser, leave it to Thorne to make her feel as if she were the star of the party.

She stopped dancing, her bladder begging her to get the ladies' room immediately. She excused herself, and Thorne nodded.

"I'll be outside- I need some air," he pointed towards the glass door on the far side of the room. "Just go out that way."

She grinned and nodded, hurrying off to do her business. When she was finished, she walked back into the ball room and hurried right over to the glass doors. As soon as she exited the building, the cool night air hit her, chilling her skin a bit yet refreshing her senses at the same time. She walked slowly across the stone pavement, moving towards the pillars, when she spotted Thorne. She walked beside them before she spotted Thorne. He was staring beside the pillar, and he moved behind it.

She giggled, thinking that he was messing with her, wanting her to chase him or something cute along those lines.

Her eyebrows flew to the top of her skull when she finally came up behind him.

She hadn't seen the woman behind the pillar, but now she could see her. Her long brown hair, her skinny body.

The way Thorne was kissing her. He pawed at her body, her hands were running through his hair.

"T-Thorne," she heard herself say, but her voice sounded far away to her own ears. Her throat felt ached, feeling as if she had swallowed a stone that was now lodged inside and wouldn't go down. Her body felt cold yet clammy. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move.

They broke the kiss and his eyes wandered slowly towards her, dark and lustful. The woman blinked and smirked. "Go away," she said with a wave of her hand, as if she were shooing away an unwanted dog.

She frowned when Cress didn't move.

Thorne blinked once, twice, staring between Cress and the woman, his eyes widening larger than Cress had even seen them before.

"Who are you," he asked, taking a step back.

"Is this an android? Tell me the truth," the woman snapped at Thorne.

"No…" Thorne replied immediately. "She is not an android." He looked horrified, like he wanted to turn and run but couldn't.

Realization dawned on Cress at the same time that it did for the woman. She gave Cress an icy glare, her voice coming out vicious, "you're a shell then."

Her nose turned up in disgust. "I should have everyone at this party attack you. I should have them kill you. You should be dead."

Cress' stomach churned. All of that champagne was about to come back up. How could she had been so stupid?

Her mind played back what she had seen on Thorne's netscreen what seemed like eons ago. What the journalist had been saying- "The nations are surely in danger. Anyone could be a suspect if Lunars are slowly invading Earth and are strategically placing themselves in positions of power. Surely we must ask ourselves: Can anyone be trusted?"

Of course a Lunar would be here among the elite. There were probably dozens of them here. She had let her guard down- forgotten that she was a fugitive, let herself be distracted too much by Thorne's love.

Or, what used to be Thorne's love.

Everything was catching up to him, and the Lunar had probably dropped whatever beautiful glamour she had disguised herself with.

"Y-you're a Lunar?" If possible, he said the word with as much contempt as the Lunar woman had called her a shell.

The Lunar bristled, but then smirked. "Oh, she's from Luna alright."

Cress closed her eyes, keeping the tears at bay. There was nothing she could do but accept her fate. She didn't have any weapon to knock the Lunar out. She wasn't strong. There was no technology at her fingertips. She would probably have Thorne rip her to pieces with his bare hands right here and now. Even if she ran, she was certain Thorne could catch her.

"Luisa, darling. There you are!"

The Lunar froze, then stared at a group of people coming towards them. She bristled, then smiled. She turned to Cress, "You are luck, shell. I need this night to go perfectly, so I won't have a body on my hands tonight. I believe that your punishment will be doled out to you by this human."

Thorne certainly looked like he wanted to punish her.

The Lunar glided over to the group of people.

Cress breathed a sigh of relief. For all of the Lunar's bravado, she probably wasn't that strong. She couldn't glamour so many people at once. Even if she had told Thorne to take Cress away and get rid of her, there wasn't a guarantee for the Lunar that Cress wouldn't be able to get away in either situation.

But the woman was right- judging by the way Thorne was walking away from her, he wasn't exactly pleased with this situation at all.

"Thorne! Wait," she called, but her voice was swallowed by background noise the moment they stepped back onto the dance floor.

He weaved through the crowds with a grace that she did not possess in her heels. He was out into the foyer near the bathrooms while she was still trying to push her way past dancing couples. When she finally made it outside, he was already halfway into the hovercar.

"Thorne, please," she begged. He was humiliating her- clearly walking away from her in front of all these people. Was he planning on making her find her own way home?

"Get in," he said.

She hurriedly rushed into the hovercar. The entire ride home, he didn't say anything, so she didn't either. Her mind was reeling and she was becoming a bit dizzy.

When they were finally safely inside of the house, Thorne went straight to the kitchen and began to pour himself a dark liquor. He knocked it back, then two more back to back while Cress stood there awkwardly staring at him.

She sighed and slipped out of her heels.

"Thorne, we should talk about this."

"You mean about how you're a deceitful alien," he spat.

She flinched. "I…I'm not like other Lunars," she explained, her voice shaking. "I can't glamour anyone. That's why she called me a shell. I've never glamoured you, Thorne!"

He poured another glass, but sipped this time. "It doesn't matter. You're still," he sighed and ran a hand down his face. He finally looked at her, his eyes intense and focused. "You're still from Luna. Which means I told the world that I'm dating someone from that evil planet filled with evil people. If anyone finds out, I'm ruined, Cress."

This time, a spark of anger flew through Cress. "But I'm not evil. You could tell them that."

Thorne shook his head. "People don't listen. Everyone already has the idea in their heads that Lunars are manipulative evil beings. I won't be able to change the minds of the people who really matter. And aces, Cress. It means I was housing an illegal alien in my house!"

"….was?" she squeaked.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Cress, you can't stand here."

She felt as if the world was about to cave beneath her feet.

He neared her. "We have to get out of here."

"Thorne?" a glimmer of hope sparked in her chest. He took her hand, leading her upstairs.

Somehow she knew where they were going without having to ask. The door with the lock. The door that she wasn't allowed to go through. He scanned his wrist, and to her surprise the scanner opened up, revealing a secret glass compartment. He put his finger against it, a blue light roamed down it, beeped in affirmation, and the knobless door slid open.

Cress stepped into the dark room and it lit up, revealing a small room with a desk covered in binders and paper, a book shelf filled with old books and a window. It reminded Cress of old detective series that she had found on her portscreen.

To top it off, an ancient looking computer sat on the desk. Her eyes widened. Even in her shock, she was itching to touch it.

"I wasn't going to tell you this, but I suppose my plan is back on now," Thorne said. He crossed the room leisurely, then picked up a few of the papers and pressed the button to boot up the computer. "We can get out of here, Cress. If you'll work your magic."

She slowly neared him as he pointed out calculations, names, charts, bullet points. "I learned a long time ago from my father that our businesses were built on our customers…by taking more money from them than what was necessary. These are the names of our most affluent business partners. We can take the money from right under their noses and no one would even know it was us."

As his finger trailed down his list of plans, as he scrolled through the secret documents on the old computer, a sense of dread unfurled in the pit of Cress' stomach. Thorne was talking about stealing, painting it over with pretty words to describe his plans about how she could hack into their accounts, send them off the trail of Thorne's name, put the money in his private account.

"No one would ever know," he kept saying, as if it made it right.

As if she could do this.

"Thorne…" she whispered. Her head was tilted down. She couldn't even bare to look him in the eyes. "Y-you've been planning this since we met?"

"Because I did, we can run. Just you and I," he grabbed both of her hands. "If we're going to be together, we're going to have to run. I can't be with an illegal- "

"Yet you want to do something that is potentially even worse?!" She hadn't meant to shout, but she did. She wasn't sure if it startled her or Thorne more, but either way they both jumped at the sound of her sudden outburst.

He threw her hands down as if they were dirty. This time, he was the one to take a step back. "You've got a lot of damn nerve, Cress. When we first met you had broken into my lab, trying to make an illegal identity!"

Her eyes filled with tears. She shook her head back and forth. "That wouldn't have hurt anyone. That wasn't stealing money that someone earned."

Thorne didn't say anything, so she kept talking. "I thought I knew you…I thought you were a good person. I didn't know that you- you would do something like this."

"And I didn't know that you would endanger everything I've worked for by not telling me that you're not even from Earth," was his reply.

For the first time in a while, she dared to look up at him. So handsome in his white suit, even with his fists balled at either side, his face contorted in anger. But she knew that his physical features didn't matter if he was ugly on the inside.

None of this mattered if that was the case.

"I suppose I should leave then."

"I suppose you should."

She nodded and turned. She sped-walked from the room, not surprised that she didn't hear his footsteps behind her. He didn't care about her.

She went to her room and pulled out the largest purse that she had bought, sad now that she had not bothered to buy a suitcase. She folded a few shirts and pants as small as she could and stuffed them inside, along with under clothes and a few toiletries. She stepped out of the pink dress that she was still wearing, took out the pearl earrings, washed away the makeup, clipped her hair back. She slipped into a plain tank top, jeans and sneakers.

She walked to the front door, her vision blurring.

Thorne was nowhere to be seen.

She opened the door and stepped out of the house, making sure not to look back, and let the door close behind her as she stood on the pavement.

She sucked in a breath but when she let it out a strangled sob escaped her. She covered her mouth, but a waterfall of tears kept falling despite her efforts to hold herself together.

She was on her own.

Again.