Justin sat back down, an uncharacteristic pink blush spreading across his face as he looked away from me.

"Somehow that was more…" He muttered. He glanced back at me. "For the record I don't want to pressure you into anything, I just wanted to let you understand how I feel. I'm willing to wait until you figure things out with Jacques and-"

Up until that point I had been frozen, mouth half open as I processed his confession. Here I could hold my peace no longer and interrupted.

"What on earth do you mean by that?" I asked, standing up and leaning over the table myself.

"Well, I know you've been in love with him for a long time, you've told me as much. And he's not married yet. So I thought you were gunna-"

"Let me stop you right there." I backed up, putting my hands on my hips. "It's true I loved him once, and I thought it was him who would be the one to break the second part of my spell. But I have not loved him for a long time now, I've realized, and what's more you were the one who pushed the second spell off me."

"What do you mean? What exactly kind of spell did my sister put on you?"

"She-" Blood rushed to my head, my face burning. "She, err, gave conditions that had to be met for me to return to being Augustina. And you fulfilled one of them."

He raised an eyebrow. "I did? What was it?"

"I, uh," I crossed my arms, unable to look him in the eye. How had he been able to say he loved me so easily? "I had to be recognized as Augustina by the one I loved romantically." My voice got smaller, practically mumbling the last few words.

Evidently Justin had heard me just fine.

He stood and went around the table to me, leaning close to my face as I tried to avoid his gaze.

"It's true, isn't it." He murmured, trying to study my expression as I turned away embarrassed. He gently took my shoulders laughing light and happy, like a child who has been greeted by a puppy. "It's true! Ha! Yes! Augustina, you love me!"

He grabbed my waist and spun me around as well has he could in the small room. After a moment I was laughing with him. We collapsed in the armchair dizzy, breathless, and supporting each other. As we caught our breath we fell into a warm silence, shoulders burning where they touched. Justin's arm had fallen behind me. He gently grabbed my shoulder with it, drawing me into him. I looked up at him and he leaned down.

As I realized what he was about to do my head cleared.

"Not like this." I said, placing a finger on his mouth, stopping him. "Not while I have this face."

"But-"

I stood up and went back to where I had placed down the hand mirror earlier, picking it up. I turned back to him and smiled apologetically. "I want you." I said simply, no longer feeling embarrassed saying it out loud. "But I want to be whole first."

I brought the mirror to him and had him hold it for me. Now that I had my own hair back, I knew how to manage it. I couldn't just let it flail about all willy-nilly. That wasn't me.

"So," he said as I fixed my hair, "what do we have to do so that you feel whole again?"

I smiled, watching my unfamiliar face smile with me in the mirror. "I'll fill you in on everything that's happened to me in a bit, but for now just know that in order to break the spell completely I need at least one member of my family to recognize me as Augustina."

I filled him in on everything I had done after I had parted from him a year ago. He listened quietly, holding back his surprise even after I told him about my meeting with his grandmother.

"So now, I've decided that I want to be Augustina." I finished. "I want to be me. I want to love me. I want to know that I'm worth loving. So I'm trying, trying hard, to be recognized. I'm trying to see who I am to them so that I can show myself to them. But honestly, I just don't know-"

He pulled me into a hug, lightly stroking my hair. I stopped him, grabbing his hand.

"You'll muss the pins." I mumbled into his shirt, enjoying his warmth.

He chuckled softly. "Okay." He said, stopping. He bent down and tilted my chin up so he could see my face. "You've done well, Augustina."

I ducked away, stepping back. "Don't look at me like that, don't look at this face like that."

"You know I can't help loving you whatever your face looks like, right?"

I shrugged. "Just, for me, okay?"

He sighed, relenting. "Okay. Now then, how are you going to get your family to recognize you? From what you told me I assume you don't just want me to tell them for you."

I nodded. "I want to confront them on my own. I want them to recognize me on my own merit. I know it's selfish, but, well, it's time I stopped running from them. Stopped hiding from them. Stopped relying on everyone else to fix my problems."

"Yeah," Justin said, scratching his head awkwardly. "That's where I tripped up when trying to help you. Sis was right, go figure. I wanted you to rely on me, which was not the kind of care you required after a while."

"No." I took his hands. "You helped me. You wanted me. You want me. More than anything else, that was what I needed. It's because of that I can take the steps I can right now." I squeezed him and let go.

Out the window the streetlights were being lit, the sky turning orange. The noise from the streets below had begun to quiet as people returned home. Below us I could hear the other residents shuffle about, telling their family's about their days and grabbing their meals from the dining room.

"It's getting late." I said. "You should go back. They'll be worried."

"No." He said firmly, sitting back down at the table. "If I go back I won't be able to stay quiet, I'll have to tell them. Besides, I promised not to leave your side."

"Well you can't very well stay here. I don't have room to keep you."

"It's not all that much smaller than the inn's we stayed at while traveling." Justin said. "And there's even two rooms to boot, that alone makes it better than some of the places we stayed. I can just sleep on the armchair."

"But-"

"Please, Augustina."

I couldn't say no. Not when he said my name like that.