Author's Note: There are thirty one chapters to this story, but a few of the chaps. are kind of short (well, in MY terms short)

I don't know what it is about Sunday evenings. We seemed to always be saying good bye on those kinds of days. He kissed me, "I'll be back down here once I find a good excuse, okay?"

I nodded, "I don't know how they haven't suspected us yet...."

"Grandmere would probably flip out," he said rubbing his hands up and down my arms.

I nodded. "No kidding. Agh, I love your hands. Next time I see you though they'll be all callously from rugby."

He nodded now, "Yeah well, they'll still be my hands, darling. I'm not about to cut them off or something. Hey, I'll use that lotion you gave me. It'll make them baby bottom soft."

"Someone is coming, "I hissed. "Closet, now."

I slammed the door shut on my closet and allowed the person at the door in. "Have you seen Joshua?" my dad asked.

I cleared my throat, "No, why?"

"Well, he's leaving tomorrow...I was thinking about having him in my study for a cigar."

"Dad...he doesn't smoke."

"It's a tradition I suppose..."

"To have a cancer stick with the help?" I asked. "Dad, you are a cancer survivor. You shouldn't be risking anything."

"You think I'm stupid?" he asked.

"Huh?" Okay, so he suspected us.

"You mean you haven't seen the looks he give you when you...okay, I don't suppose you would if you aren't looking. The boy is clearly in love with you."

My eyes widened in surprise, "Oh?"

"Yes. It's about time he did something about it, don't you agree? I mean, instead of following you around when you only want him as a friend. It's kind of pathetic. He is twenty five years old now..."

"Dad, its fine. Really..."

He winked at me. "I know. I'm teasing you now. Where is he seriously though?"

I shrugged, "I couldn't tell you."

He rolled his eyes, "Grandmere does not know, in case you were wondering. She's still stuck on the idea of you and that Rob getting together."

I nodded, "I know. I know."

He kissed my forehead. "No monkey business."

I waited until I saw him turn the corner before I let Joshua out of the closet.

"Nice pictures," he said opening up my old scrap book.

"I know..."

"SO this is the famous Michael? The other man?" he asked, looking at my prom picture.

I pulled it away from him and held it to my chest. "Joshua, that's in the past. You are my future. The only man I want now."

He stared at where I was holding the picture, over my heart. He kissed me hard, "I'll miss you," he said suddenly. "You haven't any idea how much I'll miss kissing these lips...or these shoulders..."

"Stop, Joshua. Come on. Let's not start what we both know we won't finish."

"Why won't we finish?" he asked, stroking my arm softly with his fingers.

"Because we just won't. You are leaving tomorrow," I reminded him.

"All the more reason," he said kissing my neck.

"Joshua..." I said in a pained voice. "Come on, you have to go."

He gave me a puppy dog face that he knew I couldn't resist, but I put up a wall. "Joshua Alexander Bloom, behave yourself! Stop acting like a dog in heat would you? Honestly, you are much more civilized than this," I said pushing him away. "It'll happen eventually. It's not like we've been together long enough anyways."

He looked at me oddly, "To me the past four years have been foreplay."

I smiled, "Sorry if I'll need a little more than that to get turned on. Now go on down to your room and take a long cold shower."

He came up to me once again, "As you wish, Princess Darling."

With a squeeze of our hands he left.

I started my junior year without anything going wrong. I made some new friends by joining different clubs. I was part of the equestrian team. I used to HATE most things related to horses, but now I loved it. The girls on the team and I would often go watch the polo matches on the other side of campus.

"Preston..." one of the girls, Kimberly cooed. "How hot is he?"

I squinted to see who she was talking about, "Who?"

"He's wearing the green jersey."

Me and the other girls, Tracy, Aimee, and Ashleigh nodded in agreement. He was definitely hot. He looked like an old MTV VJ, Damien Fahey. "He's a senior, captain of the polo team," Kimberly started giving out his vital statistics. "From New York," she finished up.

They all looked at me. "You are our connection," Ashleigh started. "After he finishes up here go introduce yourself as a fellow New Yorker."

My eyes became huge. "No. I don't just go up to strange men..."

"DO IT!" Kimberly pleaded. "Please? For me?"

I took one look over at him. "Fine. For you I will."

"Hi there," I greeted after he got out of the locker room.

He gave me an uneasy smile, "Hi, do I know you?"

"Mia The-"I stopped myself. "Mia Renaldo."

"No...hey, aren't you that princess?"

I nodded, "Uhm, yeah."

"The name is Preston Coolridge," he introduced.

"Pleasure to meet you," I said extending my right hand.

"You are from New York, right?"

I nodded.

"Thank God! I finally find someone of sane mind around here!" he joked.

I smiled, "I wouldn't go that far, but I am American."

"Was that you I saw watching the match?"

I nodded, "Yeah, you looked great out there."

"Thanks. I know it's strange for an American to be playing polo, isn't it?"

I nodded, "I was just thinking that," I replied as we started walking away from the sports complex.

"I figured I was so far from home I might as well find something to do to make new friends. Here I am riding a damn horse and hitting a tiny ball."

I laughed, "Not something you'd find in New York, is it?"

"Can't you just picture the cops doing that in Central Park?"

I burst out laughing, "I know! It's like-"

"Hey, Mia," Kimberly greeted, staring at Preston.

"Oh, hey girls. Um, Preston, this is Kimberly, Ashleigh and Aimee."

He smiled politely, "Nice to meet you girls. You all go to the Academy...or from our nemesis Ridgeway University?"

"Academy, of course!" Ashleigh said as she flirtiously grabbed his bicep.

He smiled at all the attention he was getting. I looked at my watch. "I better be leaving. I have dinner with the minister of finance tonight."

"Don't you just hate when that happens?" Preston teased.

I glared at him. How dare he act to familiar with me! "Yeah, see you guys later. Nice meeting you Preston."

"Hey darling girl!" Joshua greeted that evening on the phone.

"Hey dear boy."

"What's wrong? Did you not get an A on that English literature paper?"

I smiled. I loved how he could tell something was wrong without even looking at me. "No...just a really sucky dinner with the minister of finance. How'd he get so uncool?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well...he used to have my back about things. Like the parking meter thing back when I was like, fourteen. Now he won't accept any of my suggestions."

"Chauvinistic pig," Joshua put in.

I giggled, "What did you do today dear one?"

"Details?" he asked.

"I don't need to know every moment but the big ones. High and Low of the day."
"Oh how I love this game!" he teased. I always was asking about the high and low of his days.

"Go ahead now."

"The low would be that I overslept my first class of the day. The high would be this moment right now. What was your high? I know your low..."

"Other than talking to you I would say...Grandmere did not scold me once today. In fact, I didn't even see her at all, not even at breakfast."

"That could call for a celebration!" he joked.

"Well, I think she's stressing out about the festival coming up. She's upset because I am not going to be arou- Oh, I forgot to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I'm going back to New York for Thanksgiving. To see my mom and brother and step father."

"Oh. Okay. It's not a problem. Not like we were making plans on seeing each other any time soon or anything."

"You are mad."

"No...not at all. Why would I be? I still think the holiday is useless for you to celebrate."

I laughed, "And why is that?"

"Because, like you once told me, your mum's family came over in the early twentieth century. Your dad's obviously never came over. You have no connection to the pilgrims."

I rolled my eyes. "Stop being logical. And bitter that America got its independence from your dreadful country."

He laughed, "Fine..Fine..I give up. I have to go though. I have a presentation in the morning. I'll talk to you tomorrow though?"

"Of course."

Those were basically our conversations every night. No one had figured us out quite yet. The only ones he knew about us were his friends up there in England (and who were they going to tell?), my mom, and Lilly. Oh, and a few people from Sophie's wedding. The only people who would protest didn't know. The only ones who knew could be trusted with our secret.

"Hey Preston, what are you doing here?" I asked after I finished riding one afternoon in late November.

"You going back to New York next week? For Thanksgiving?"

I nodded as I removed the saddle from the horse. "Wednesday, right after I get out of class."

"Yeah, me too. But you are probably taking a private plane, huh?"

"Usually that is the case, but not this time. The festival falls during the same week this year so she needs it to fly in heads of state and stuff. I'm just going to be going first class," I said in a snobbish tone. Joking, of course.

He laughed, "So maybe I'll see you on the plane? I mean, I'll just be coach and I know how you rich people loathe interacting with the lower classes."

I laughed, "You know us too well. Hey, you going out with Aimee tonight?" I asked.

He had his pick of my three friends basically after that first meeting. He chased after Aimee because she didn't seem as pushy as the others. Kind off like Joshua did for me. He had blown off Kate and Bebe in favor of me.

He grinned widely, "Yeah. I really like her. Thank goodness I met you that day, otherwise I may have never met her."

"That's me, matchmaker extraordinaire"

He tapped my cap, "You'll find someone, I'm sure of it."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm taking care of myself. I am sure I'll find someone."

"Okay. Shit, I better go shower. I'm supposed to pick up Aimee in an hour."

"Have fun!" I called out to him.

That weekend I snuck off to England to see Joshua. I told Grandmere and Dad that I was going for a vegetarian awareness protest. They actually bought that!

Lars couldn't believe that I had been getting away with this affair for so long. "I've known your grandmother since I was a little boy. She knows everything. Why not this? I do not know....she may be going senile."

"Yeah, about eight years ago," I replied, poking my head around, looking for Joshua. "Do you see him?"

"No, Princess."

Lars and I took a seat on a bench outside. We must have looked rather silly because there I was all dressed in a designer suit with only a teeny purse and Lars was next to me in a big black suit with all of my luggage.

I would have just taken a cab to his apartment, but he had moved so I had no idea where he lived now. He had moved out of the small one he had brought me to years before. And he was not staying with Fitzy. And he wasn't answering his cell phone. Great. The first time I see him in about three months and he doesn't even show up.

"Lars, maybe we should just go back to Gen-"

"Oh darling," Joshua called, running toward me. I turned and glared at him. Lars snickered.

"Three hours later," I replied.

He hugged me, "Oh terribly sorry darling. I feel like a complete ass. I lost my mobile so I couldn't call to tell you I would be late. I had this dreadful presentation in my-"

"Whatever Joshua. Can we just please leave?" I asked, looking at all the eyeballs staring at me.

He caught on, "Right...sorry."

"So, solo journey to New York on Wednesday. How will you cope?" he teased when we arrived in his apartment.

"Oh, I forgot. Preston is going home too. I think we'll be on the same flight on Wednesday afternoon."

"That American polo player?"

I smirked. He was jealous, "Yes. Aimee's boyfriend."

He relaxed after that. "Oh, go ahead and poke around the new place," he said, taking the bags from Lars.

"Princess, I'll be at the hotel. You know my contact information, correct?"

I waved him away. I had been with Lars for too long that day. "I'll be fine. I promise. If we go anywhere I'll call you."

He nodded and left the apartment.

I liked the new place MUCH better than the old one. This one was very...modern. Clean. Almost everything was white. "You sure do like white, huh?" I asked.

"My mum designed the place for me."

I rolled my eyes. I noticed footprints stained into the white carpet. "Not a good idea for you to have a white carpet, huh?" I asked, pointing to the marks.

He laughed, "No, not a great idea. She was hoping I'd quit rugby and therefore would not be tracking mud into the house."

"But you'll never really grow up, will you?" I teased. "Only act like it in front of my family?"

He smiled. "Duuuuh. Did you want to go to dinner over Fitzy's?"

I had been hoping to spend some time with him, alone, that night. "Sure," I said with my back to him.

"Is that a 'sure, but I don't wanna', or a 'sure, I can't wait to see him and Whit?'"

I turned to him, "Does it matter?"

He came closer to me and put his hands on my waist. "You have no idea how much I adore you, do you?"

"You may have to refresh my memory," I teased, leaning up for a kiss.

The phone rang. He ignored it and kissed me with all the longing that he'd had for the past three months. It continuted ringing though.

"WHAT?" Joshua snapped. "Oh, hey Mum....yeah. I know. Well, what did he say? What?" he asked, looking at me. "Okay, tell her she can stay here then."

Great. Just great. So much for my romantic weekend with my boyfriend.

"Sorry darling girl," he said coming up behind me. "My sister and her husband had a huge argument and she needs a place to stay. You don't mind much, do you?"

I looked at the ground and shook my head. "No, not at all. Why should I mind? It's your sister."

"I knew you would understand! We'll be picking her up later on tonight, okay? She needs to sneak out of their house while he's asleep. Otherwise he'll flip on her."

Great. Domestic abuse, just what I need in my life. "Okay."

HE took my hand, "It'll be okay darling. She'll be fine."

He had mistaken my expression of upsetness about the lost weekend for upsetness over his sister whom I had never met. A sister he rarely spoke of. "I'm sure she will be. Maybe I should go stay at the hotel with Lars for the weekend. Maybe go see the Queen-"

"Mia, come on.. Do not be so..."

"So what?" I snapped.

"Selfish!" he snapped back. "My sister and her husband are having problems. Not everyone has a relationship like ours-"

"What, one where they never see each other? And when they do they have to go socialize with every person they ever met? I mean, honestly! Sometimes I feel like I'm being paraded around for you to show everyone how you scored a princess!"

He fell back into his arm chair. "Mia-"

"Don't give me that face," I snapped. "I mean, sorry if I lied to my family so I could come up here to see you. Sorry I flew commercial for three hours to see you. Sorry I am just a little undergraduate student who wouldn't understand the strain on a second year law student. I'm sorry!" I screamed.

He didn't say anything. I stormed off into his bedroom and fell onto the bed, crying. He came in about an hour later. "Mia, did you still want dinner?

I glared at him. Was he taking stupid pills? "Excuse me?"

"Dinner. It's a meal that people have in the evening so they don't starve by breakfast."

Wasn't he going to apologize? "I'll find something on my own," I snapped.

"Then I won't eat," he replied.

I looked at him with inspecting eyes. He wasn't kidding. I knew that would be a big sacrifice for him because dinner is his favorite meal. "Fine. Let's go meet your friends."

We arrived at the restaurant, successfully without talking to one another the entire way over. "Hey guys!" Fitzy said waving and standing up by a table.

"Be pleasant," Joshua said, squeezing my arm.

"Aren't I always?"

He rolled his eyes. "Hey Fitz, Whit. What's happening?"

I looked at Whitney who looked like she was ready to cry. "Whitney, are you okay?"

She started sniffling. I shared a look with Joshua. What had we missed?

Whitney ran off to the bathroom. "Maybe you should go see if she's okay-" Joshua started.

"No, let her be ," Fitz said sadly. "We just got a call about her Mum. The cancer returned and she needs more treatment. They can't afford it."

Joshua took my hand from underneath the table. "Fitz, is there anything we could do? I mean, I could loan her the money-"

"No...we want to do this on our own. We'll figure out a way to raise the money. Somehow. I'll be right back."

After he left I looked at Joshua, "I'm sorry," I whispered. I realized how selfish I really was.

He kissed my cheek, "No, I am. You have done an awful lot to come see me and everything got screwed up." I put my head on his shoulder. "And I haven't made any attempts to come see you. And then I wasn't even there to pick you up today...I'm surprised you haven't given up on me."

I looked up at him, "I'll never give up on you silly."

He kissed my nose. But then we realized we were having too much PDA. I pulled away and took a sip from my water glass. "Should we leave?" I asked.

He bit his lip and looked around. "I don't see them anywhere," he replied. "Maybe we should go. Maybe pick up my sister."

I nodded and grabbed my purse. He took my hand and pulled me out of the restaurant. "That was a bit...uncomfortable?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I nodded, "Ya think? That poor girl...to have her mother sick and not be able to afford it... I thought you guys had the free health insurance?" I thought back to when my dad had testicular cancer. It was never a question of money about whether or not he'd get better. We got him the best doctors in the world and he got better and has been better for the better part of nine years.

He put his arm around me as we started on our way back to his apartment. "Her mum isn't a citizen.They'll figure something out, I'm sure of it."

We took his new car (why was he suddenly letting his parents buy him these sorts of things?), a silver BMW, out to the far outskirts of the country. "Why does she live so far away?" I asked.

"Her husband bought a house out here," he explained. "To get her away from the family. He figured we'd never come out to get her or to see her."

It was getting really late, nearly one o'clock by the time we reached the corner where we were to meet his younger sister. He stood and waited outside the car, and told me to stay put. He didn't want me to see the husband, just in case. I started thinking we should have brought Lars with us. I saw a small figure coming towards us. He ran over to the girl and picked her up. I noticed, as they got closer, that she held a little baby in her arms. Joshua had never mentioned a baby being involved.

He put her and the child in the backseat, not introducing me. We wordlessly drove back into the city.

He carried her into his bedroom and then came out to the living room with me. "Hey."

"Hey," I said softly "You okay?"

"W-Would you go clean her up?" he asked. "I don't think I can bear it."

I nodded and then kissed his cheek. I had never seen him cry like this before.

I took some wash clothes from the bathroom and filled a big bowl with some cool water. I slowly went into his bedroom to find his sister lying on the bed in a fetal position. "Hello?" I asked softly. "I'm Mia..."

She turned to me and didn't make any expression. "My name is Joycelyn."

I smiled, "Want me to clean off those cuts?"

She looked at me sceptically, "Who are you?"

"Mia Renaldo. Joshua's friend."

I cleaned off her cuts as she held her baby. I didn't ask any questions, just cleaned her up. "Do you want something to sleep in?" I asked when I finished up.

She nodded wordlessly. I handed her my nightgown. "If you...or the baby, need anything, just call out and we'll take care of it."

With that I left her in the room.

I quietly walked into the living room. I found Joshua sitting on his couch, crying. I didn't know what to do at first. I sat next to him and started rubbing his back. "It's okay babe..." I said softly, "She'll be all right..."

He looked at me hard. "Mia, I didn't even know she had a damn baby! He never let us see her! It took this to make us go get her."

I didn't say anything, what would I say?

"I want to go out there and murder that bastard!" he said with conviction.

"I know...I know..." I said. "Rest your head," I said pulling his head onto my lap. He looked up at me.

"I would never hurt you, Mia. Never in a million billion years."

I nodded, "I know. I love you darling.
He closed his eyes, "I love you too."

I left the next day so he could be with his sister and his new found niece. "I'll miss you," he said softly so he wouldn't wake his sister.

"I'll miss you too, darling boy."

He smiled for the first time all morning. "I'll see you at the holiday ball?"

I nodded, "These lips are reserved for you alone."

"I'll check on that reservation," he said kissing me softly. "I love you darling."

I hugged him tightly. "Just let me know how things go with your sister and with Whitney. If there's anything I can help with..."

"I'll let you know. Bye darling," he said kissing y cheek. He waved to Lars who offered only a nod.

On the ride to the airport I looked at Lars, "You don't like Joshua, do you?"

He stared at me for a minute, then out the window "I like him fine."

"But?"I replied.

"But what?"

"There's something else."

"No there is not," he replied still not looking at me.

"Lars, I know you are hiding something. I know you cannot bear to look at me when you are holding something back."

"He's not...he's not what I expected for you."

I nearly laughed, "And what did you expect for me?"

"That boy...Moscovitz."

I rolled my eyes, "How can that be? I never even dated the boy!" I exclaimed. For the first time I said that without any regret. That's a big step, right?

"But, with all due respect, your highness, he loved you. And he is more your style."

I didn't say anything, "No he didn't. He was just a teenager. He had no idea what he wanted."

"And you loved him. You were yourself with him. Not this role of the perfect princess. You two had the kind of fun that a young couple should have."

"I didn't know what love was," I snapped, more sharply than I intended. "Sorry, but I do not believe I was in love with him. Joshua is the real thing."

"If he is, then why haven't you told your grandmother?"