:) And chapter 9.

I agree with Sierra156 (my amazing beta:D) that the ending a little odd. But, I also agree that it is very Ari and Seth.

Curious? :D then read on! Lol.

And please review once you are done. :) reviews are very wonderful things, and I really appreciate them. :D

So, here you go. Chapter 9. :) After the ball, things might take a little longer, simply because I'm not sure how to tie important events together. But, I promise, it won't take that long. I doubt it'll even take a week.

Sorry! Chapter 9. :D

I like your smile
I like your vibe
I like your style
But that's not why I love you
And I, I like the way, you're such a star
But that's not why I love you, hey

Do you feel?
Do you feel me?
Do you feel what I feel too?
Do you need?
Do you need me?
Do you need me-e-e?

You're so beautiful
But that's not why I love you
I'm not sure you know
That the reason I love you, is you
Being you, just you
Yeah, the reason I love you
Is all that we've been through
And that's why I love you

I took a deep breath. "Tomorrow night."

Seth half-heartedly smiled down at me. "It'll be fine, Ari. Crowded and very busy, yes, but you'll be fine. We only have to dance once."

"Three times," Jessie corrected from... the other side of the room?

How did she hear that?

He just let out a small laugh before grabbing my hand and leading me outside, across the huge front lawn and past the actual castle itself. Now, we were getting in the random place around the castle where they probably have all kinds of outdoor events and stuff.

It was a chilly night—as to be expected in December. But I didn't mind the dress, because he seemed to like it. Or he usually liked it when I wore dresses? I wasn't so sure about now.

I was surprised when we walked in complete silence all the way to a fence, where Seth looked over to me.

"Now, when I was little, I would always come out here with Roxy, and we would sneak over this fence," he informed me with a grin. "To get away from cameras so we could play like normal kids."

My eyebrows rose. "Really?"

He groaned. "Ari, seriously. Why are you so jealous? There's nothing to be jealous of."

"Seth, I don't care that you had feelings for her and still kind of do, to an extent," I started, but I didn't get to go on when he interrupted.

"No, Ari, I don't. Not anymore."

I rolled my eyes but nodded. "Okay. If you say so. But I don't like her. I will not ever like her. To be completely honest with you, I like Lindsey better than I like her. After all Lindsey's done, and you know, I'm not gonna explain why, because if you believe me...I don't know. I'm just not gonna hurt you like that, either way. Point is, please don't ask me to give her a chance, because we're already past that. We were past that from day one, and I'm sorry, but I'm not giving her a chance."

"Ari, of course I will believe you," he said firmly. "Okay. So, maybe it goes against everything I used to know? Hello? That's how things go with us."

I shook my head. "This is different, Seth. Way different. Even if you're right and you do still believe me, I'm not hurting you. So, change of subject. We're supposed to jump the fence?"

He nodded. "Changing subject back. Come on, Ari. You can tell me. I'd rather know whatever it is than know that you're holding something back from me."

"I will tell you, Seth, but not until we're out of here," I said honestly.

"Well, come on then," he suggested. "We can—"

I shook my head. "We can go, but I'm not telling you until we're out of England, back in Montana. Just listen before you freak out or anything. After we get back to Montana, I don't think we'll ever really come back while she's still here. I can promise you Jessie has no desire to have her around. Point is, Seth, things will get unnecessarily ugly. You will get pissed, along with being hurt, and then your grandfather will defend her. That'll just start more problems, okay? I promise to tell you, but not until later."

"Okay," he quickly agreed. "But, until I know, my view on Roxy doesn't change, Ari. She's still my friend until you tell me whatever it is that would show me otherwise."

"That's fine," I said honestly. "Seth, I really don't care if you have female friends, just like I can have male friends. This isn't a jealousy thing. But, maybe you could tell her to chill out on the whole 'trying to steal you away from me' thing. It's really getting old, really fast. I had that enough back home, and I don't need it here too."

"She just hasn't grasped the fact that I'm taken yet, Ari," he sighed. "She will soon, and she'll stop, but right now, she's adjusting."

"Seth, she's not just adjusting," I disagreed sternly, doing my best to stay calm right now. "Please just trust me. I'm not gonna be a tattletale and tell you everything that went on between us, not right now, but please just trust me when I say she's plotting to steal you. And I know she can't. It just gets old."

"Just admit you're a little jealous, Ari," he said quickly. "We can get over this fence and off to our alone time that we want that way."

I just rolled my eyes and snapped us both over it, making things much simpler—especially in this dress.

We began walking, through the trees around us and just, well, around. We were exploring, and I loved it.

It was why I hesitated to defend myself. "I'm not jealous of her, Seth. I do not like her. There is a huge difference."

"You didn't like her from the minute you laid eyes on her, Ari," he reminded me.

"Okay, I admit I might've been a little jealous before," I sighed. "But now, I don't envy her at all. I'm glad I'm not her."

He rolled his eyes. "You realize how frustrating you are sometimes, Ari?"

I shook my head but smirked a little. "Nah. I'm only told that quite often. So, I'm guessing that means I'm pretty frustrating."

He nodded. "Yeah. That's putting it lightly."

I grinned. "So, now, we've discussed wall colors. We've discussed pets. We've got the kid thing figured out quite simply. What else are people supposed to talk about before they get married? I mean, like... decision wise?"

Finally, he relaxed a little and sincerely laughed. "Ah, man, baby, I don't know. I've never been married before. Oh. I know. When we finally settle down, where do you want to live?"

I shrugged. "Well, I was thinking maybe we could travel from place to place, stay each place a while, and then keep moving."

"That's really bad for a job, though," he pointed out. "I mean, I know we don't technically need one, but we might get bored just sitting around all day. Yes, we'll be together, but we'll still get pretty bored. We've got to do something."

I nodded. "Yeah. That's true, but we're not gonna be aging. So, we can't stay in the same place forever."

"We can, because by that point, your secret will be out, and everyone will know you—as more than just the princess of England," he reminded me. "I'm not saying we'll want to, but we can stay a good, long while—twenty or so years."

That was a strange title, even still, putting with my name. But I loved it. "That's... see, I've never been one to stay in one place. I don't know if I can 'settle down.'"

"We'll see where it goes, but sometimes, we have to make sacrifices, Ari," he said gently, saying something kinda harsh as nicely as he could.

"Wait a minute," I said quickly, eyebrows furrowing. "Are you saying I don't make sacrifices for this relationship?"

"I didn't say that, Ari," he defended firmly, voice getting kinda angry now. But, hey. Can't blame him; mine was too.

"No, Seth, because you didn't have to," I scoffed. "It was very nicely implied. Thanks."

He rolled his eyes. "I hate it when you do this! You take something that came out wrong anyways, and you twist it into something that it wasn't even supposed to mean!"

I blinked a couple of times, my mind replaying his last statement over in my head. "I...have no idea what you just said, but if it means what I think it does, I shouldn't be saying that...but what else could that have meant?"

"Many things!" he exclaimed.

Right as he yelled that, thunder clapped above us. Instantly afterwards, it began to pour down. Badly.

I was having fun, but I couldn't exactly show that in the middle of this argument. Having fun in an argument?

He saw it anyways, but he also understood it and kept a cool head about it. Instead of continuing, he grabbed my hand and hurriedly pulled me out of the freezing rain and into an old abandoned shack.

I frowned. "Where is this?"

"Old servant's rest place," he practically barked, releasing my hand with a jerky push, almost.

I rolled my eyes. "Will you stop? Whenever you get pissed, you get all whiny and mean. Seriously, Seth. This isn't a big deal."

"Oh, right, I forgot," he muttered sarcastically. "Defending myself isn't a big deal."

"You just did the same thing you got mad at me for!" I yelled back at him. "Let's just wait for the stupid rain to go away so we can go back!"

"Fine!" he shouted right back in my face.

I felt the need to have the last word, so I yelled it right back. "Fine!"

But, after I said that, Seth seemed to have other plans, because his lips were on mine almost immediately afterwards. And for whatever reason, arguing made this moment that much more passionate. We were mad, yes, but we also still loved each other. We still craved and needed each other.

And the next thing I knew, I was in nothing but a skimpy pair of boy shorts laying on one of the beds in here, and he was in his boxers laying on top of me, still kissing me with his own intense, fiery passion.

I tried to say his name to stop this, but I couldn't. This was just too good, too needed, and too long waiting for it.

But what surprised me was when he pulled back with a cocky smirk. "Wow, Ari. I could fuck you so hard right now."

"You could," I agreed. "And I wouldn't regret it. At all."

He grit his teeth together and winced a little. "Which makes saying no that much harder. Ugh."

I smiled softly. "I love you, Seth."

"I'm quite aware at this point," he informed me, still in that arrogant mood, because he loved this power. "But I still love hearing it, and I still love telling you that I love you too."

Now, my smile got brighter, and I was struggling to breathe for a few moments. "Yes. Definitely keep saying that during our eternity."

"I plan to."

I took a deep breath. "So, if we're gonna do this, I seriously suggest we do this now."

He shook his head, now smiling in a loving, gentle way. "We're not doing this, not when we have eight more days, love. No. We can do this, and you'll appreciate that later. I want to, so badly, but I think you might like this a little better."

And after that, the most amazing night of my life—even more so than the night we got engaged—occurred. It involved blind folds, and...well, you really don't wanna know, and if you do, I'm not sharing. Because it's my special night, not yours.

Let's just say things got very intimate and amazing. I'm surprised we didn't both snap and just do it, but we didn't. Actually, this night might not have been the best idea, because it only made us want it that much more, but hey. We're good at that, right? Doing things that don't involve actually having sex, but in the always finding a way to want it even more.

But it was a night I wouldn't trade for anything in the world, because it once again proved how we could do anything we wanted to.

Together.