For the sake of "IT WAS F# KING ICE CREAM!"

Having a girlfriend is a funny thing.

Of course, Kalum knew nothing of said "thing", but he was beginning to. Or, rather, he was beginning to know what it was like to have many "things." How Kole did it, he would never know, but then again Kole never really followed through with his "things", and tended to refer to them as "thots."

The things/thots that Kole had never knew about each other, and when they did... well, let's just say that he wouldn't have to choose between them because eventually there'd be only one left standing. That's not how Kalum's things were. No, his things were even worse. They knew each other, they liked each other, and they were all sitting cheerily behind him in rows on a live mainstage with cameras everywhere.

Oh yes, Kalum's things were far worse, because if something were to happen, it wouldn't be themselves they would tear apart, but him.

And Kalum couldn't help thinking this as he sat ramrod straight with a cheerful grimace on his face, which he hoped wasn't as noticeable as he thought/knew for certain it was. All the while, his doting, loving, raving mad girlfriends sat behind him like a flock of harpies about to descend on their prey.

They weren't, actually. In reality, the girls were polite, a bit chatty, but altogether charming. But to Kal, they felt like his own personal firing squad.

He had felt that way since two days ago when he and Lydia had been found on the floor of the kitchen together, "nestled in each other's arms like a darlin pair of chipmunks ," according to Miss Bell, the young cook who had found them. She was a lively young blonde woman, only in her early to mid-thirties or so, and she spoke with such a charming southern-belle accent that Kal didn't have the heart to tell her that he had no clue what she meant by that. He asked her not to tell anyone what happened, and Lydia too, even though he knew that the latter probably never would. Still, he couldn't count on sweet ole Miss Bell, who, though he didn't know it at the time, was a terrible gossip.

So, news of his late-night-escapade with the blonde sitting front row soon spread through the castle and it had been brought up on at least 4 dates in the past two days. Naturally, his mother was livid, his brother congratulatory, and his father, well, unresponsive - which he didn't mind in the least, for the first time in quite a while. At least there was one person in the entire palace - nay, world, nay, universe - who didn't know of his scandalous "ice-cream" date.

"THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY QUOTATIONS," he wanted to shriek, "WE ONLY GOT ICE CREAM!"

But alas, it was not to be. Ice cream was, according to society, a code for secret sexual rendezvous in the kitchen, and quotations were therefore necessary. Oh cruel world. You are too scathingly dirty-minded for anyone to realize you.

Initially, on the Friday report, Baron and Vegas had planned to interview the girls as well as the Princes themselves, just for a little introductory press. It would be a fun, get to know you session with audience Q&A and a bit of fun banter just to make it a relaxed evening. But, per order of the Queen in response to Kalum's latest (and only) scandal, plans were to be changed, and so now they were sitting on a last-minute game show stage with gaudy lights, colors, buzzers, and an obnoxiously 1950's-esque theme song from a show that Kalum remembered as Wheel of Fortune, even though the chosen game for the night was Family Feud.

All the girls were dressed in glittering gowns and killer heels, with the complimentary gems given to them by his own family - only to be used during their stay at the palace, of course. Nothing but the best for their television debut as the official Daughters of Illea, and possible future queens.

It was enough to make Kalum puke.

Baron didn't feel much better. After his fight with Vegas, nothing had really restored itself as he had been kinda hoping it would. They had never fought like that before, but of course they had fought. And while he still felt weird being around her, he still considered them kinda-sorta-like-minded-peer-ish comrades, type of thing. Yeah… comrade…. That was the right word. They were comrades, and comrades could come back from a fight. Even a fight in which one comrade had told the other comrade that they were selfish, materialistic, fake, slutty, etc. etc - no need to relive the past. The last conversation that they had was the day before, and it was thrilling - captivating even! Here's how it went:

Baron: Can you pass the butter, Vegas?

Vegas: No.

Baron: Why?

Vegas: Because it's right next to you.

Baron: Oh… thank you, I didn't see it.

Vegas: You don't say.

And that was it. Needless to say, the two comrades were a bit tense going on stage that night, and Kalum wasn't helping much. Altogether, the stage was downright angsty, like, early 2000's angsty, and Kole was the only one of the fearsome four who actually had his shit together. And that, dear readers, is how you know that armageddon is upon you.

"Good Evening, Illea! How are we doing tonight?"

The crowd went wild at Baron's introduction and he laughed jovially, taking a comical little step back as if this wasn't the reaction that he got every single friday night.

"We've got a fun show planned for you guys, don't we Baron?" Vegas jumped in, taking a little step inwards, so that she was nearly three feet away from him, and he was painfully aware of it.

"Indeed we do, Vegas," he coughed, cleared his throat, and chuckled a little, trying to play off his severe anxiety in that moment as a minor viral illness, "And I'm actually quite excited for this! It's not too often you get to see the princes lose."

A roar went up through the crowd with a varying number of "Ooooooo"'s and "Ohhhhhhh"s as Baron poked fun at Kalum and Kole, the latter of which was jabbing his fists and making slicing motions along his neck mockingly, playing along. The former, who hadn't been listening, looked up suddenly and shouted "Hey!", taking Baron's sarcasm to heart. The crowd laughed, and Vegas chuckled along, nudging Baron in the side so as to say "ha ha ha aren't we chummy! We're totally best friends in real life," but Baron had to suppress the urge to jump out of his skin when she did that. He quickly recovered though, and moved on.

"The game we've got for you tonight is an old one, maybe you've heard of it: Family Feud." And the room was in a frenzy. The Selected in the background cheered and hollered along with the crowd. Kole mirrored their actions and Vegas just clapped her hands and smiled like only Vegas could. Kalum and Baron, though? It was a good thing that there were so many other things to look at in the room, because those two were only 1 minute and 27 seconds into the show, and they looked as though their bow ties were choking them. In all fairness though, they probably hoped that they were.

"I can see we have a couple people in the crowd who know the game, Baron, but would you like to explain for those who don't how to play?"

"My pleasure!" Baron was downright relieved and grateful to whatever god was out there that he could finally step away from the blonde for at least a minute or so. Hurrying over to the enormous screen that hung suspended above the back of the stage, Baron stood between two identical podiums with two identical red buzzers blinking on top.

"So this is how the game's gonna work," he began, "All of you are going to be divided into teams of 5, randomly chosen, with the Princes included," the crowd roared, and Baron waited. "Then, we're going to pit one team against another. One person from each team will come and stand up here," he gestured towards the two podiums, "and listen for a category. Now, under normal circumstances, these categories can be whatever we want them to be! But since this is the Selection," he paused for dramatic effect as the audience clapped, "the stakes are being raised!"

Everyone went wild again, and Baron paused to catch his breath. It was all pointless to him, and he almost felt embarrassed. Almost.

"The point of tonight is to try and get to know our dear Selected, right? Well I think these categories will help us, and more importantly Prince Kalum, get to know them a little better!"

The room was in a frenzy, as people cheered for lord knows what. The Royals? The Selected? A chance to get to know either better? No, they'd only make up lies in the press that suited them. No, Baron suspected that the crowd's cheers didn't come from people wishing well upon their leader, but an audience awaiting - no, demanding, a show.

"So, once the category is given," Baron began again, "the first person to hit the buzzer and give the most accurate answer gets a chance for their team to play - and a chance for them to win more points! For each round, the team with the most points moves on, until we reach the final round where two teams will battle it out to win…" He cued a drumroll from the orchestra pit below them and grinned coyly at the crowd, who was eating it all up.

"A group date with Prince Kalum!"
And they went nuts for it.

"But there's a catch," Vegas raised her voice above the crowd before they could get too wild again. She strode over to Baron, who tensed as she drew near, "This is a chance for the people to get to know the girls as well. So, we are giving the people of Ilea the chance to pick and choose, for the first and only time during this competition, who you would like to stay, and who you would like to go. There are only 28 girls left. Six teams. From each of the losing teams, you at home or in the audience will be voting off one girl, which will be announced at the end of the game."

Yes, the audience was shocked. Yes, people at home were shocked. Yes, even the Royal family, namely the Princes, who knew nothing of this, were shocked! But no one, no one was as shocked as every single Selected on stage, who had not been informed of any of this! They all had been told coming in that it was a competition and that there would be mini competitions along the road - chances for them to be eliminated. But somehow, in all of the excitement of falling in love and charming Prince Charming, a majority of them had forgotten the single most important component of becoming Queen: the people. This was a lesson that Queen Jezebel had been taught very early on and something that she knew for certain to be true.

These girls have to learn it at some point, don't they?

"Alright then! How about we start picking the teams?"

And the mood was restored, but every single Selected was now fearfully aware of the axe hanging above their head on a very thin string.

The teams were chosen quickly and efficiently. Girls went to stand on separate corners of the stage with their teams, and then back in specific rows once the teams were chosen. Kal was placed on a Team Ruby with Ladies Samantha, Reece, Kenzie, and Caihi, who had received a slightly less enthusiastic welcome than the others. She didn't seem to mind though, because she kept her head held high. Her sleek, black dress with it's gold belt and hip hugging fabric made her appear alluring and vaguely threatening in the gaudy lights. She wore it well - like mona lisa's smile.

Kole was on Team Emerald with Lydia (much to his delight, for he had been meaning to talk to the girl about her supposedly dirty escapades with his otherwise clean brother), Priscilla, Daija, and a girl named Cornelia Van Heusen, who's name he soon forgot. He was a tad bit disappointed when Amoriel was placed on a different team, but then he had to keep reminding himself that he shouldn't be disappointed. There was no reason to be disappointed! He was on a good team with perfectly lovely ladies, one of whom was involved in a scandal with his I'm-too-good-for-the-silver-halo-I-have-to-have-the-gold-oh-and-can-you-get-me-a-pair-of-angel-wings-to-go-with-that brother. Everything was in perfect working order! Besides, she was in a competition for his brother's hand in matrimony, for Christ's Sake!

And she'll probably win too, he thought to himself, they'll probably bond over their shared frustration over which halos to go with their angel wings.

"Alright then," Baron sang, "who's ready to get this show on the road? First round: Team Sapphire vs Team Diamond!"

The girls stepped up to their tables as the corny music played. Ilaria and Katerina stood up together and walked arm in arm, despite being on seperate teams. Amore, Mirielle, and Imogen did the same, although Imogen far more timid than either of the other two girls. It had been only a few days since her outbreak, and while her friends (and the prince, for that matter) had been astonishingly supportive of her decision to stay in the competition, Imogen herself was having doubts.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, she kept thinking to herself, maybe I should have left when I had the chance.

Of course, it was a tad bit too late for that now, but in the back of her mind there was always that nagging feeling of, "I could hurt someone. I could hurt someone and it wouldn't even be me. I could be an entirely different person and not even know it."

It was discomforting to say the least; a real inconvenience.

"So, first up to the podium, we have Lady Alexandria Cohen from Team Sapphire and Lady Jaisa Michaels from Team Diamond!"

Vegas gestured for the two girls to come forward as the music began to swing again. Lady Alexandria stunned in her ethereal floral gown with her pale locks pulled back to reveal coppery freckles, dotting her creamy skin from head to toe. Kalum was quick to notice the way she seemed to be biting her lip almost unconsciously until she realized that she was doing so at the podium. Vegas, of course, was quick to notice that Alexandria wasn't wearing heels, and reeled over the fact in her mind before immediately returning to the task at hand.

"Ladies, ladies, you look absolutely divine, and while I would love to compare dress designers, we unfortunately have a game to play," Vegas said in a sing-song voice, "Are you girls ready? Jaisa, you look ready to conquer the game tonight!"

"Oh, honey, I plan to." The seductress clad in black never missed a beat as she slyly curled her blood red lips into smirk.

"That's the spirit, darling! Ok, so, let's look to see how many possible answers we have up on the board," Vegas gestured for them all to look up at the flashy screen above where 6 slots appeared, "Now, each answer will be a specific number of points. Whichever one of you hits the buzzer first can be the first to guess the answer, but whichever gives the answer with the most points, your team will get a chance to either pass, or play - meaning you get the chance for more points. Whichever team wins the most points will move on! Sound like a plan?" The girls nodded and made faux competitive faces towards one another as Vegas began to read the question

"When a woman is trying to catch a man, name something she pretends to like-"

Jaisa was the first by a millisecond to hit the buzzer, smiling cockily to herself as she leaned into the microphone and spoke clearly: "His dingdong."

Well, Vegas thought, at least she cenored it… kind of…

The audience roared with laughter at Jaisa's response, while the queen and a significant number of Selected blushed profusely. Kole sat back slapping his knee and nudging Kalum, who looked positively mortified, not knowing how exactly to react. It was a family show after all. Not to mention the fact that he was in a semi-relationship with this girl… what would happen if… if…

Forget it, he thought, no need to think about that just yet… hopefully.

That was uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. It was time for him to move on.

"Dingdong," Vegas mused, pursing her lips and looking at Baron, who seemed to be in physical pain, "Solid answer. Any, uh, any particular reason? I mean not that I don't agree, but…"

"No, I think it's just a knee jerk reaction," Jaisa smirked, "What do I pretend to like about a man? His penis."

Vegas nodded thoughtfully, licking her lips and squeezing her eyes shut as she desperately tried to hold in a burst of laughter. "Alrighty then," she continued, "Can't say I disagree. Let's see what the board thinks," and she turned up to see the second slot on the board flash His face/Body with 8 points next to it. The crowd cheered as Jaisa gave a little winning dance and blew a kiss to the cameras. Vegas turned to Alexandria, who was laughing herself at Jaisa's response.

"Lady Alexandria?"

It took the girl a minute to realize that her name was being called, but she looked up and tried to compose herself before saying, "Oh, Lex, please! Just call me Lex, I'm not used to hearing my full name."

"Oh, cute," Vegas smiled at the girl, "I only ever got the nickname 'V' because the boys weren't clever enough to give me something better…"

"We tried to call you 'gassy' but you didn't want it!" Vegas turned her glare to Kole, who had shouted from his seat and was now chuckling to himself like a 12 year old who had just gotten away with pulling her pigtails. While the audience laughed, Vegas turned back to Alexandria, who simply chuckled and gave her a sympathetic look saying, "Oh cherie."

"I'm going to get him for that later," Vegas said to the camera. She then gave Kole a look that said she definitely wasn't kidding and that he had better run. "But moving on, Lex, what is something that a woman pretends to like when she's trying to catch a man?"

"Sports." She gave a nonchalant shrug towards the crowd as the cheered and Vegas laughed.

"Nothing has ever been so true, darling, nothing," Vegas grinned as she looked towards the board, "Sports, she says!"

Sixty-Six points appeared next to the word Sports in the number one slot, and Lex cheered, jumping up and down. She told Vegas that her team would play, and the game went on.

Needless to say, Lex's team won that round. They only got one more correct answer when Ilaria responded with "His personality," and then they proceeded to get 3 answers wrong. It then went to Jaisa's team again where Amoriel, rather shly, responded with "Sex with him." Vegas, of course, gave her a little sneer that only Amore could see and said, "Naturally." Amoriel kept her eyes glued to the ground from that point on. Still, the Sapphires won and the game continued for another 3 rounds.

There were some memorable moments. For instance, when Priscilla responded to the question, "If you met the real Prince Charming, how would you know it was him," with, "Well, first of all, he'd introduce himself as Kalum," and winked at the blushing prince. Baron, who was finally asking the questions, laughed and said that she couldn't be more wrong, and Priscilla for her part gave him a mini-scowl. She still hadn't forgotten his argument with Vegas that she had accidentally stumbled upon in the Women's Room. It was still sitting in the back of her mind, though she didn't know what to do with it. But while she walked back to her table, she couldn't help thinking, "Well it's not like you have particularly stellar taste in women, Mr. Chamberlin

Lady Daija Olmedo actually responded to the same question with, "G-go-good looks," as Kole casually slung his arm over her shoulder. The girl was clearly flustered being in such close proximity to the prince, but Kole looked like he was just having the time of his life making this girl blush, and gave the camera a playful smolder when she said that. Baron rolled his eyes, and said to the girl, "You could do so much better, honey," which only made Daija's blush deepen, and Priscilla's scowl darken.

You can't murder Kalum's best friend, you can't murder Kalum's best friend, you can't murder…

Lydia answered the question, "What does a man pretend to like when he's trying to catch a woman," with, "Claude Monet." Kalum began seething and had half a mind to scream, "MONET IS A CLASSIC, BEAUTIFUL ARTIST!" It only made it worse when she quite visibly winked at him after answering and he quite visibly flipped her off. Luckily, the camera didn't catch it. They were too busy focusing on the board when she won seven points for her answer (Arts/Ballet).

They went through two rounds after the first one, and then they had three teams left: Team Sapphire (Lex), Team Emerald (Kole), and Team Ruby (Kalum). Since it was Kalum's Selection, Team Sapphire went against Team Emerald, and Emerald won, making the crowd go wild for the Prince vs Prince matchup.

"You ok, little brother," Kole teased Kalum as they walked to their respective places, "you look a little nervous."

Kalum was nervous. Although, it wasn't because of the competition, but more due to the fact that he and Lydia were the first up to the buzzers, and he hadn't actually spoken to her since that fateful morning when they both woke up with ice cream on their faces and people called it scandalous. Also, he was pretty sure he had a hair sticking up on the back of his head, and no one had commented on it yet, but if someone were to do so, it would be Lydia. So it was bothering him that he couldn't figure out a suave way to take out a pocket mirror without appearing less manly.

As they stood face to face at the buzzers, Lydia kept making faces at Kalum, trying to make him laugh. It only made the poor prince more jumpy, though, because every time she would make some sort of gasping expression, he'd think for sure that she was looking at his hair and he'd quickly pat it down. Vegas watched them closely, and thought that for Kalum's sake, it was best to just move forward.

"Last round, guys," she looked back and forth between them, "Both of you ready?"

Lydia looked directly at Kalum.

"Is Monet overrated?"

"No!"

"Ok then, I don't think he's ready," Lydia looked back towards Vegas, "But I am!"

Vegas cinched her eyebrows, a bit confused, but shook her head and moved on nonetheless, earning a light chuckle throughout the crowd. "I'm not even gonna respond to that - you guys can have your own nerdy inside jokes," she took a deep breath, and read the question.

"Name something that a man had better not take on his honeymoon."

Lydia, to Kalum's great dismay, was the first to hit the buzzer and answer with, "Another Woman."

It was a good answer. A quality answer. She got a few good laughs out of it, and 17 points in the number two slot, but when Vegas turned to Kalum with his answer, he simply responded with, "His brother."

Kole was the first in the entire room to start laughing, and his first response was to immediately give poor Daija a kiss on the cheek and give Kal an impish grin after the fact. Baron practically fell to the floor laughing and Vegas crouched down in her heels behind the table, gasping for air. Lydia, to her credit, actually gave Kalum a hand shake in all the madness saying she couldn't argue with that. Vegas, thankfully, was the first to stop and tried to calm the room down, waving her manicured hands for everyone to quiet down. Still chuckling to herself she turned to the board as Brother appeared in the number one slot with 33 points beside it.

"If you think about it," Baron came up with the microphone next to Kalum, "Another woman is probably worse than bringing your brother."

"Yeah," Kalum conceded, "but this is the Selection, and the worst possible thing that any man, especially myself, could bring on his honeymoon, would be Kole."

A wave of laughter again surged through the crowd as Kole shrugged and said, "I can't disagree. My brother knows me well."

"I do, I do," Kalum nodded, looking at Kole out of the corner of his eye, "Now, I think my team and I will play."

Kalum's team won the final round, and unfortunately five girls did end up going home. Cornelia Van Heusen, the girl whose name Kole had continuous trouble remembering, ended up being too quiet to receive many votes from the audience, as were a few other girls. One girl named Francesca, who had made fun of Daija's stutter, had a grand total of zero votes for her stay, and was a joy to see leave. Kalum wasn't troubled by the audience choices, and was relieved when they all left relatively peacefully. It did scare him a little to think that he was now down to only 23 girls in only one week! He made a personal decision to prolong any other eliminations till November at the very least. This Selection needed to least as long as possible.

As the girls began to head back to their rooms, Kalum and Kole stayed behind to oversee cleanup, and to casually spy on Baron and Vegas as they spoke with the producers on the next episode.

"What do you think happened?" Kole leaned on the chair Kalum was lounging in, eyes trained unapologetically on their two friends.

"I don't know," Kalum responded, "Baron wouldn't tell me, and I haven't seen Vegas in a couple days. I think she's still mad at me."

"Probably."

Kalum looked up at Kole, and then back at Baron and Vegas. Sighing, he said, "Thanks man."

"You know I'm right," Kole fidgeted with the upholstering on the chair, eyes still on the couple, "No one can hold a grudge like V."

"You mean gassy?"

They shared a mischievous grin, and then went back to looking at their friends.

"That was so stupid," Kalum said.

"Yeah. It was," Kole smirked, "But it was so worth it though."

"She's gonna get you for it."

"Probably."

"No one can hold a grudge like V," Kalum smiled, and Kole resonded, "You mean gassy?"

They laughed absentmindedly, not realizing until the last second that Lydia had walked right by them and winked at Kalum. He shut up immediately. Kole saw this and nudged Kalum in the side, eager to finally get something out of him.

"What happened," he asked, "Something was going on between you too during the game. The sexual tension was tangible!"

It wasn't - the tension, that is. It was more of a knot-in-your-back kind of tension. Kole knew that, he was just tyring to push Kalum's perfect little buttons. Kal sighed.

"I like her. I really do," he paused, rubbing a hand down his face, "It's just that it was so easy before I remembered that it was all a competition and this was all a game."

"So did you sleep with her?"

Thanks, Kole, for that question that came out of nowhere and had absolutely no correlation with what I was just talking about.

"No." Kalum glared lazily at his brother.

"Do you want to?"

"No."

"C'mon, I'm not asking you if you want to marry her, just if you have a crush!"

"I like how you equate wanting to sleep with someone ot having a crush on them," Kalum droned incredulously, "Really says something, buddy."

"Nothing that you didn't already know."

True.

The younger prince looked blankly at the wall. COuld he have a crush on Lydia? Did that mean that he was falling in love? Did that mean he could get married? Did that mean he was going to become King? Did all of this mean that he was ruining his brothers life.

Wow, Kal, nice inner monologue. You got 'ruining your brother's life' from being embarrassed about your hairstyle in front of a girl.

Before he could respond to Kole, he saw another two figures approaching them. Priscilla Contreras strode confidently across the stage, arm in arm with Amoriel. The two girls smiled at the Princes, and began to walk past, when Kalum suddenly stood up and said, "Wait!"

Priscilla turned around, whipping Amoriel with her, making the girl's flower crown fall off.

"Hey!" She complained, picking her crown up off the ground, but was immediately silenced by the sight of Kole, standing right in front of her.

"Hey," she breathed.

"Hey," He smiled.

"Hi," Priscilla brightly chirped, though she wasn't looking at either of them. Instead, her gaze was cheerily trained on Kalum, who had folded his hands behind his back to keep from fidgeting. He hadn't exactly planned this. It sort of just happened, and now that he had done it, he had no idea what to say.

"Um, would you like to go on a date with me?"

Well, I guess you'll just say that.

Priscilla looked taken aback. So did Amoriel for that matter. And Kole. Everyone watching was a bit surprised by the Prince's sudden question. He looked at her, a bit pleading. All he knew was that she couldn't possibly say no, which was good for him right now.

"Well," Priscilla quickly composed herself, "Far be it for me to say no to a Prince," she smiled, a bit sheepishly, which was rare for Priscilla, "but might I ask why?"

"Yeah, Kalum, why?" Kole jumped in on the conversation, and earned an irritated eye roll from Priscilla. Kalum looked at his brother rather placidly, and said, "Kole, why don't you escort Lady Amoriel to her room? I'm just going to finish speaking with Priscilla."

Kole's eyebrows jumped, while Amorile simply smiled and said, "Ok," and tugged Kole along.

Kalum looked back towards Priscilla, and said, "We had a date planned the other day, and unfortunately, it was interrupted," he looked sheepishly to the ground, and Priscilla blushed, charmed that he was so nervous. In reality he was just thinking of something else to say.

"I just thought that we might have another go… Would you maybe join me for dinner tonight?"

Priscilla could only nodd. It was strange for her to be so speechless. Usually she had tons to say! Not only that, but she knew exactly the right thing to say at the right time. But this was no use. She just stood there nodding.

"So, um, does 7:30 work for you?"

She nodded.

"Perfect." And he walked off, kissing her hand before he left. It felt like the right thing to do at the moment, and she seemed to like it. When he finally left the stage, he breathed a sigh of relief, nd made his way back to his room.

See, he thought to himself, you don't care that Lydia might've been laughing at your hair. You asked Priscilla out again. You kissed her hand. You made her blush. Clearly you don't have a crush on Lydia. Clearly…

Priscilla stood there in the middle of the stage, not sure what to do next. She smiled to herself, giddily, and was about to run off to her room to get ready when someone spoke from behind her.

"Don't get too excited," said Baron, his hands shoved in his pockets, "you see the way he just asked you out of nowhere? And walked off without you? I wouldn't start planning your wedding just yet."

Priscilla seethed.

That. Is. It.

The girl whipped around, her eyes narrowing on Baron Chamberlin as she stalked forward to meet his complacent gaze.

"You think that you're so clever! You think that you know everything there is to know about everybody! Everyone should look to you for advice on their love life because you're so knowledgeable on the fact," Priscilla stood toe to toe with the scruffy Report host, thanking the lord that she was wearing heels and wasn't at her normal 5'4 stature, "I'm so done with you! This entire night you've been commenting on everyone! 'This person shouldn't be with this person and this person looks like crap next to that person and OH NO HOW DARE YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON THE MAN YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE IN A COMPETITION FOR," she mimicked his accent and made a face like she tasted something sour, but it had no effect on Baron as he listened to her rant, patiently.

"What did I ever do to you?! What could I have possibly done to make you take all this negativity out on me?! I'm sorry that you have poor taste in women, but Vegas is not like Kalum!"

Crap.

She didn't mean to let that one slip. Shutting her eyes as tight as she could, she prayed that the old saying "If you can't see them, they can't see you," held true. But unfortunately, she had to peek open one eye to see his reaction.

It was nothing. He looked just as placid as ever, his arms crossed in front of his hard chest, waiting for her breathing to slow down. She hadn't realized it before, but she was red in the face. Her hands reached up to cup her cheeks, feeling how hot they were. Priscilla couldn't believe that she had let herself rage like that, and that Baron wasn't responding to it at all. At the very least he could respond.

Instead, he simply gave her a thin smile, and reached out to take her hands from her face. She flinched slightly when he touched her, but let him hold her hands anyway. When he dropped them by her sides, he sighed and said, "I thought it was you."

She gave him a look, shaking her head incredulously, and said, "What? W-what do you mean, I'm confused."

He swallowed and put his hands back in hi pockets. Slowly, he said again, "I thought it was you. I thought I saw you a couple days ago in the Women's Room. I didn't realize it at first, but it was definitely you."
Priscilla held her breath, waiting for him to go on. He had to go on. She just hoped that he didn't go on to say, "Pack your bags."

"Sorry I was an ass," he laughed to himself, "I figured that, from what I've seen of you, you would eventually snap."

"I would not!" Priscilla gaped, but quickly shut her mouth, realizing that she already had. Baron grinned.

"Told you."

"Ok," Priscilla tried to form her words slowly, "I'm… sorry. I don't really know what to say now… I mean, what do you want from me?" Baron shook his head and shrugged.

"Nothing, I guess," he bit his lip again and looked down, embarrassed, "I just wanted to ask you not to tell anyone… Vegas and I have been friends forever," he laughed to himself, remembering that he shouldn't refer to them as friends. Comrades. They were comrades.

"It's just…"

"It's just that you want to try and fix things before anyone else, namely Kalum, could get involved," Priscilla finished for him, giving an understanding smile, "I know the feeling. BUt normally I just want to fix things, period," she laughed to herself, without any real humor in her tone, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

Baron nodded graciously, visibly relaxing and breathing a sigh of relief. They sat in uncomfortable silence for only about two seconds before Priscilla quickly said, "So can I go now?"

Baron chuckled, "Um, yeah, you can go. Sorry to keep you waiting."

"And for generally acting like an ass," Priscilla reminded him. Baron nodded, grinning.

"And for generally acting like an ass," he agreed. Priscilla, in a sudden surge of courage, reached out and gave Baron a one-armed hug, surprising him a bit. Slowly but surely, he hugged back, and then let go, smiling to himself. Priscilla squeezed his hand reassuringly, and spoke softly, "Don't worry. You're a decent guy. She'll see that." Baron threw back his head and laughed.

"Great," he said sarcastically, "Now I'm about to get the pitiful, 'if she doesn't like you for you, then she's not worth it,' speech, right?"

Priscilla shrugged slyly. "I don't know. Maybe she is and you actually suck. But who am I to say right?" She gave his hand another squeeze and let go. Walking away, she shouted over her shoulder, "Now I'm gonna go get ready for my date with a prince! Who's out of their league now, right?"

Baron laughed as he and Priscilla shared one last smile before they both went their separate ways.

Remember me?

No?

It's fine, I get it.

Do you still like my story?

No?

It's fine, I get it.

Liking the cliffhangers?

No?

It's fine, I get it.

No, I did not make up the Family Feud Questions, and yes, I did change a coupld things. If you're like a die hard Family Feud fan, my sincerest apologies, but I'm not writing Family Feud, I'm writing this garbage. So, let's not get to sensitive shall we? Alright then.

I've already started working on the next one and the plan was to post two at a time, but I have to go and do homework and my grandmother might just kill me if I don't get ont he road in the next ten minutes, so this is where I end it!

Please review! I know I say that every single time, but seriously, the more reviews I get, the more inspired I am to get a chapter out. So if you want to read more, please review! If not, I'll probably keep writing because F you, I want to, but it just won't be as quick.

Much love!

Leah

P.S. The reason this is shittily edited is because I needed to get it out quick because I kept promising to get it out. Don't worry, I'll go back and redo it.