A/N: I know I've said this about previous chapters but this was my favourite one to write so far - for obvious reasons! I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I'd love to know your thoughts, and thank you for reading!

Eric had been delighted to wake up the day after the picnic to discover it hadn't all been a dream. Although Kyle's laughter, his thoughtful conversation, his glinting smile, and the way he read to him after dinner with the fire illuminating his face had certainly haunted Eric in his sleep. Of course he knew what this meant, as alien and dizzying as it was. And he wasted no time in gathering the staff together before Kyle could wake for breakfast. He needed to inform them of his marvellous day spent with Kyle, even so he could just relive it.

"…You should have heard all that he was saying! He said I was intelligent, and sensitive, generous, even!"

"That's wonderful, sir!" Butters replied.

"Giving him the library seems to be paying off, eh?" Kenny added cheekily.

"Now, the master didn't give Kyle the library," Gregory corrected. "He simply opened it up again."

"And I'm sure that's not the only reason Kyle is growing fond of the master," Kelly added.

"Oh, of course," Kenny replied, he hardly ever disagreed with Kelly. He sidled up to her."Who needs libraries or even arms to be good company?"

Kelly giggled at Kenny's low, husky tone.

Meanwhile, Gregory tutted. "Please, you two…"

"Let the master finish!" Christophe added.

Eric nodded at him appreciatively, before he continued; "And he said he isn't afraid of me anymore!"

The staff all began to chatter amongst themselves, not that Eric minded since he was hoping his news would rouse such delight.

"Sir, this is so exciting!" Pip spoke up.

"What does it all mean?" Christophe asked, and everybody fell silent.

Eric looked to the floor, he knew what it meant. As soon as the realisation struck him he knew it to be true. It was undeniable, intrinsic, leaving him terrified and euphoric at the same time. Kyle may have even described it as a sublime feeling, and Eric smiled just at the thought of him.

"I think it means I'm falling in love with him," he finally answered. He shook his head, suddenly self-conscious. "I know it may seem hasty but-"

"Never mind that, sir!" Kenny interrupted.

"Time is of the essence!" Gregory added.

Kelly squealed. "Oh, it's wonderful!"

"You must tell him," Christophe said, serious and blunt as usual.

The words sent a shiver down Eric's spine.

"But will he say it back?" he asked."I know he's fond of me now, but love…"

"You'll never know unless you tell him how you feel, sir," Kenny remarked.

"Precisely!" Gregory replied, before composing himself. "Forgive me, sir, but it's crucial that you know… for all of us."

Eric sighed and shook his head. "I couldn't bear it if he rejected me…"

"But what if he doesn't reject you?" Gregory asked.

"The odds are certainly in your favour, sir," Kenny chimed in.

Gregory shuffled forward. "Don't you want to find out?"

Deep inside him, Eric knew he had to find out. As a child, his nanny had occasionally tutted and called him 'demanding', accusing him of 'always keeping on'. His mother chose a different tact, holding his shoulders as she beamed down at him, praising him for not giving up on anything so easily. Even if he had to cry and scream to get what he wanted, at least he was trying. Of course, Eric could hardly revert to such childish tactics now, but he also knew that he couldn't keep wondering what Kyle felt for him. He had to know.

"Yes," Eric replied."Yes, of course I do… all right, I'll tell him after dinner."

As the staff cheered, it was easy for Eric to become invigorated by their excitement even if he knew a potential rejection was in the offing. A rejection that would devastate all of them. How could Eric not be anxious when so much was at stake?

Eric hardly ate at dinner, and he was struggling to concentrate as Kyle read another chapter of Wuthering Heights. His thoughts all day had been concerned with how best to confess his love for Kyle, agonising over where, and when. He was too afraid to seize any moment, any dip in conversation. But he couldn't bear to leave it until tomorrow. He couldn't bear a sleepless night. He flinched when Kyle yawned softly, staring into the fire with lidded eyes.

"Are you tired?" Eric asked.

Kyle turned his head, like he had been caught out for his fatigue.

"No, not really," He replied. "Why?"

"N-n-no reason!" Eric answered abruptly, fidgeting in his seat."I was just…" his eyes wandered the room, and spied the dusty, forgotten gramophone behind the door. "I was just, uh, wondering if you'd like to dance."

Kyle blinked, tried to respond but surprised chuckles fell out of his mouth instead.

"Dance?" he asked."How? There's no music."

Eric smiled and stood up, the most confident and assured he felt all evening. He crossed the room.

"Haven't you noticed the gramophone before?"

He was sure he hadn't imagined the gleam in Kyle's eyes; intrigued but anxious. Kyle laughed and shook his head. Eric reached for a record, blowing the dust off it and placing it on the gramophone.

"These may be rather old but…"

The music started, grasping his heart and it ached with nostalgia. But when he turned to Kyle that ache began to subside.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, extending a shaking paw.

Kyle's shoulders rose and fell, and Eric swore he heard a taut, faint breath. It comforted him somewhat, that Kyle appeared just as nervous and shy as he was, especially when a tiny smile was still present on his face.

"But I… I, I don't know how-"

"Well, I do," Eric cut in. "I'll teach you."

Kyle pursed his lips, considering the offer, before nodding and rising from his chair. He met Eric across the room with silent, cautious steps. But his hand was firm and unwavering when it held Eric's paw, holding him steady. Eric held Kyle as gently as he could, lifting his arm and Kyle followed. In his mind he was a teenager again, on summer lawns, and in lavish Christmas parties. When his mother had encouraged him to dance with the daughters of her friends whose names escaped Eric now. It wasn't necessary, of course, this quaint waltz, but families like Eric still liked to pretend that outdated courting rituals like these still meant something. They never meant anything to Eric, and nerves never got the better of him. He was simply appeasing his mother. Now, it meant everything to him. Kyle was as bewitching as any young, coy socialite if not more so, and represented a future and fortune far more tantalising and tangible.

Eric was just glad he still remembered the steps. Instinctively he reached out to place his paw on Kyle's side, just above his waist. It was an action that had felt as hollow as the giggles of his previous dance partners. But his touch, weighted with fur and claws and desire felt so much more affecting now, and Kyle was too precious to hurt, or to startle.

"Do you mind if I-"

Kyle shook his head before Eric could finish.

"Not at all," he smiled.

Eric smiled too and placed his hand on Kyle's side. He felt the warmth of his body even underneath his shirt.

"Now, just put your hand on my upper arm," Eric instructed.

Kyle obeyed, reaching up and holding on.

"And just follow me."

They tentatively began to dance a slow, shuffling waltz, not the sweeping, exuberant dances Eric remembered. He wished they could have done this in the hall, where they had more room to move. But Eric supposed this was fine, for the drawing room was intimate, and cosy, and a place where he and Kyle had already shared so much. It was fitting for Eric to tell Kyle how he felt right here. Kyle was smiling at the floor, his eyes on his feet, and Eric was happy to admire him silently. But Kyle must have felt the weight of his stare, for he soon met his eyes, and when Kyle was smiling up at him, it was like the full extent of Eric's love washed over him.

Reeling from the force of it all, he whispered; "you're beautiful."

"Pardon?"

Eric froze, the words had drifted out of his mouth before he even realised it. But he soon recognised this as his chance to tell Kyle he loved him. He couldn't deny it.

"I said you're beautiful," he replied. "You're the most beautiful person I've ever met."

Kyle's eyes widened and colour rushed to his face immediately. He looked away as if he could disguise it.

"Thank you, Eric," he said softly. "Nobody has ever called me beautiful before-"

"Well, that's a terrible shame," Eric interrupted, and Kyle's eyes were still wide when they returned to look at him. "Because you are, Kyle. You're extraordinary, really, you're… kind, and you're smart, and the greatest person I know. Nobody has ever made me as happy as you do."

Smiling and growing redder, Kyle's eyes searched Eric's face and chuckled limply. Daring to squeeze his hand a little tighter, Eric pulled Kyle closer to him and looked into his eyes.

"Kyle, I love you."

Kyle's wandering gaze finally stopped, and he stiffened in Eric's arms.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I love you," Eric repeated, and he adored how it sounded. For a moment, he wasn't afraid of the words anymore."I'm in love with you, Kyle. Don't you love me too?"

Kyle's eyes resumed their restless movement and Eric knew his thoughts were probably just as feverish. He wilted, letting Kyle go when he began to back away. Suddenly he was scared again, when his arms were bereft of Kyle.

"Eric, I don't… I don't know what to say, I, I, I'm certainly very fond of you," Kyle said, his breathing was coming faster."In fact, I'm fonder of you than I've ever been of anyone but I can't say for certain that it's love – romantic love, like you're suggesting. I've never been in love before. I have no idea what it feels like-"

"But I had never been in love either until I met you," Eric interjected, stepping forward.

His hopeful, naïve tone seemed pathetic under Kyle's conflicted stare. He felt his lip curl in a snarl, frustrated not with Kyle but at himself for being so foolish, so reckless. The humiliation was stifling, but the fear even more so. That perfect future, that dazzling fortune seemed to be crumbling down on him like this decaying house and, once again, it was all his fault.

"Damn it!" he roared, and he saw Kyle flinch when he stopped the record. "I knew I shouldn't have told you!" he threw his paws up in the air, not looking at Kyle as he paced. "But they all kept insisting that I should! You were supposed to fall in love with me too! You were supposed to break the spell, but I've ruined it! I've frightened you and I've ruined it all again!"

"Ruined what?" Kyle asked, shrill and scared. He walked over to Eric and asked lowly, "Eric, what are you talking about?"

Panting, and with tears stinging his eyes, Eric realised that perhaps he had skipped too far ahead. Maybe Kyle had needed to hear another confession first.

"I have to show you something, Kyle."

Their footsteps had seemed louder when they walked to Eric's bedroom in silence. Kyle hadn't asked any questions along the way, but Eric wished he had. He needed to know how Kyle was feeling, if he hated him, or was afraid of him again. Eric shuddered at the thought.

When they reached his bedroom, Eric opened the door and stepped aside. He wanted Kyle to go in first, but when he looked at him he saw his hands shaking at his sides. For the first time since Kyle arrived here, he appeared small and uncertain in the huge house. Finally, he stepped inside. His slow, quiet steps eventually quickened as he studied the room, his fascination easing him in.

"I've never been in here before," Kyle commented, looking over his shoulder at Eric.

"I'm aware," Eric replied, shutting the door behind him. "I didn't want you to know…"

"Know what?"

Kyle stood still, holding Eric's gaze and searching for answers. Eric sighed, crossing the room to where the wilting rose was kept; a plain glass jar beneath the window though it didn't require sunlight. It required something elusive and rare to find in this deserted manor. Kyle gasped upon seeing it, transfixed on the floating flower and the wilted petals below it that still shimmered with charred iridescence.

"This is what I had to show you, Kyle." Eric felt he had to say something.

"Who gave you this?"

"An enchantress…" Eric paused when Kyle looked at him, only mildly puzzled. Eric supposed nothing could surprise Kyle in this house anymore."You see, I wasn't always like this. I was born a human, an aristocrat, but ten years ago a poor, old woman came to my door. It was winter, and she needed shelter for the night… my mother had died only a few months ago. I was bitter, and selfish, and not exactly in the right frame of mind to entertain guests who were beneath me, who didn't deserve my hospitality – or so I thought at the time. She offered me a beautiful rose – this one, if you can believe it – but I threw it on the ground and ordered her to leave. But she didn't. She transformed into an enchantress and cursed me and all the staff. She turned me into what I am today. She told me that if I didn't find somebody who I could love and who could love me in return by the time the last petal falls, I would remain this way forever."

Kyle stepped back, lips parted and eyes flitting back and forth.

"I… I knew it," he said, voice just above a whisper. "You're the son who everyone thought had disappeared."

"Yes," Eric replied, hanging his head. "Yes, I am."

"Oh, oh God." Kyle ran a trembling hand through his hair. "I don't know what to say… then how did I come to be here? How do you know my father?"

Eric gulped, he was terrified of that question but he couldn't lie to Kyle anymore. He shook his head.

"I don't, not really," he replied. "Kyle, perhaps you should sit."

Kyle nodded, empty and bewildered. He studied the room before quickly finding Eric's plump bed. He sat on it and waited for Eric to continue. Eric had no choice now, he had to speak.

"I only met your father the day before you arrived here. It was evening, and I was taking a walk around the grounds. I heard somebody knocking on the door and decided to hide until they left. But I saw your father picking one of the roses from the bush and reprimanded him for stealing. He was very frightened, and begged me to spare his life. He said he had a son, and that he would do anything. I…" Eric closed his eyes briefly and sighed. "I saw an opportunity. I told him to bring his son here, to work here, although I had no intention of employing you. I hoped that one day we would fall in love. I never anticipated it happening so soon. Although as you can see by the rose-"

Eric paused to glance at the flower, and Kyle followed him.

"I can't afford to waste time," he continued. He stepped forward, reaching his paw out in tentative imploration. "But now I see how cruel that was of me, to do that to you. Before it had never mattered but I care so much about you, Kyle, and it devastates me to think I may have hurt you in some way. I'm so dreadfully sorry, is there any way you could forgive me?"

Kyle's gaze was preoccupied, but Eric could see that his eyes were gleaming. His shoulders were rising and falling with rapid, reeling breaths. Eventually, he nodded, and Eric could've sank to the floor in relief.

"Yes… Eric, of course I can forgive you," he replied. "You were desperate, and you didn't know me then. If I was in your situation I may have done the same thing. "

"Kyle, you have no idea how relieved I am," Eric said, sitting next to Kyle. "I would never want to hurt you."

"I know you wouldn't." Kyle nodded, before taking a shattered breath and lowering his head. "I thought I knew the same thing of my father too."

"What do you mean?"

"How could he do this to me?!" Kyle demanded, leaping up from the bed.

"I told him I wouldn't hurt you-"

"But why should he have trusted you?" Kyle cut Eric off, pacing in front of him. "Why should he have used my life as a bargaining chip? Like I'm worthless! How was he to know that you wouldn't have hurt me? Killed me, even! I just wish I could know what on Earth he was thinking! I wish he was in front of me right now so I could demand answers!" Kyle's body sagged and he rolled his eyes. "As if I've ever had the nerve to do such a thing…"

He returned to the bed, burying his head in his hands. Eric frowned and gently placed his paw on Kyle's back, remembering how Kyle had done that to him the day previously. He hoped it would rouse the same comfort, although that wasn't the only method Eric had at his disposal.

"Well, you may not be able to confront him but you can see him," he offered.

"How do you mean?" Kyle asked, lifting his head.

Eric reached for the silver mirror on his bedside table and handed it to Kyle.

"It was my mother's," Eric explained, watching Kyle run his fingers over the frame. "When the enchantress cursed me, she cursed the rest of the house as well. If you hold it and tell the mirror what you'd like to see, it'll show it to you."

Kyle raised a questioning eyebrow at him, but Eric nodded at him in encouragement.

Clearing his throat, Kyle said; "I would like to see my father, please."

Eric leaned over to look into the glass, and saw Kyle's reflection twist into a dark, rainy landscape. The rain pelted down on miserable, underfed chickens, their feathers matted with mud. When he glanced at Kyle, he winced at his disconcerted expression. Like they were viewing Kyle's home through a phantom's eye, the mirror took Eric and Kyle inside a dim cottage; a kitchen where a sink was brimming with grimy dishes, a living room coated in dust, a desk covered in scattered, crumpled papers.

"The house…" Kyle murmured. "It's dreadful."

He then gasped at the image of his father, tossing and turning in bed before shuddering with tears. Kyle pursed his lips and shook his head, turning away from the image.

"Damn it…" he muttered, thrusting the mirror into Eric's chest and burying his head in hands once more.

Eric held the mirror close to him, and regarded Kyle warily.

"Are you all right?" Eric hated the question as soon as he asked it.

Kyle shook his head, looking up and revealing his pained face.

"I don't know," he replied. "I have no idea what I'm feeling. I don't think I've felt this confused since I came here, I…"

Kyle stood up again, grabbed his hair in two fistfuls and began to pace.

"Seeing him there, restless and upset, I could have forgotten what he did," he continued. "He's my father, of course I still feel care for him, of course when I see him like that I can't help but feel worried. I've been here, having picnics, and pouring over books, and talking to furniture, while he's been struggling! Eric, being here with you I've never been happier but I still miss him. I miss him so much, and oh God, what am I even doing when there's still so much I have to take care of back home! I could have forgotten all my responsibilities…"

Eric nodded, ran his claw over the mirror's etchings. "I, I, I understand…"

"But then…" Kyle covered his face with his hands for a moment. "Oh God, I couldn't even say it."

"What?" Eric asked, eyes following Kyle as he paced. "Kyle, tell me."

Kyle pursed his lips, and crossed his arms around his chest, holding himself steady.

"Seeing him like that, I felt this peculiar, twisted satisfaction," he replied. "Like, as if, after all these years of him giving me orders, making me feel guilty for what we don't have, moulding my life as he sees fit without giving me any say, and placing the responsibility of our future happiness on my shoulders… that's what I needed to see. I needed to see him suffering without me." He shook his head and looked to the ceiling. "How appalling! What kind of son am I?"

"A good son," Eric answered, firm. "Kyle, you're a tremendous son. In fact, he doesn't deserve you."

"Then why has he never told me that?" Kyle demanded, throwing his arms at his sides and glaring at Eric like he knew the answer."Why am I not enough? He clearly doesn't want me if he can cart me off to a stranger without a second thought!"

Kyle choked on a breath, his body shuddering as he began to sob. Placing the mirror on the bed, Eric rushed to comfort him. Tentatively, he wrapped his arms around Kyle, not wanting to hurt him. But Kyle didn't care, welcoming the embrace and burying his face in Eric's chest. His heart tremored at Kyle's muffled sobs, and he didn't mind the wetness of his tears. Eric just wished he could say something, do something more to make Kyle feel better.

"You should get some rest, Kyle," he finally said. "Let me take you to your room-"

"No," Kyle cut in, lifting his head and patting at his damp face. "No, I want to stay here. Can I please stay here tonight?"

Eric blinked, stunned, but nodded.

"Of course," he replied. "Of course you can."

Kyle smiled weakly, and rested his head on Eric's chest.

"Thank you… " he said, his soft voice making Eric bristle.

They were both still awake hours later, lying over the sheets and facing each other. Eric could feel his eyelids droop, the exhausting night weighing down on him. But he would stay awake as long as Kyle needed him to; to protect him, to reassure him. They hadn't talked for a while, but their eyes found each other in the dark, aided by the moonlight shining through the thin curtains.

"Are you afraid of what will happen when the last petal falls?" Kyle asked.

"No," Eric whispered. It was the first time he was saying it aloud. "Not anymore."

"When did you stop being afraid?"

Admiring Kyle, Eric realised it was when he discovered some things were more important.

"Tonight," he replied. "I realised that even if you'll never fall in love with me, and if I remain this way forever, I will be happy just to have known you. I will always want you to be in my life."

Kyle smiled, a crescent moon, and shifted closer. Eric felt the sheets tug beneath him, and Kyle's fingers clutching his fur.

"I will always be here," Kyle murmured, eyes closing. "I promise."