Audrey had waited as long as she could possibly wait. It had been three days. Three whole days, and all that she had been thinking of was that stubbornly handsome, frustratingly cute, infuriatingly charming boy that had stolen her away from her castle the other night.
It was preposterous. The entire ordeal was absolutely insane. After all, it was most certainly not considered normal for a thief to release his target and more than that, to flirt and offer the target his number and name.
Audrey had spent her entire three days waiting anxiously, debating with herself about whether she should call him or not. She couldn't get him out of her head, and she hadn't even begun to think about Ben for the past three days. He had even almost ran into her, and tried to make small-talk, but unlike her old self that would have absorbed the attention eagerly, she was now preoccupied. She had more important things to think about than Ben. She now was thinking about Jay.
Jay. It was such a daring, short, and devilish name that rolled out of her mouth almost like something that was forbidden to her. But it was deliciously and tantalizingly forbidden. It was similar to stealing a cookie from the jar before dinner.
But was it appropriate to call him? Goodness, was it even appropriate to like the boy? After all, he had kidnapped her, but he had also done a very good deed.
And this great dilemma is what was keeping Audrey sitting there at her vanity, staring at her smartphone as her heart and mind furiously debated against one another.
At this moment, her mind had a mostly sound argument. Audrey didn't know this boy. She was weak after losing Ben, and she was not at her strongest where she could easily see right through Jay. He was just some random thief that happened to be exceedingly attractive and did one good thing for her. It was nothing more and nothing less, and her treacherous heart was getting too caught up in fantasies that it shouldn't be entertaining.
However, her heart was beating a very convincing tune as well. This boy had done a great deed. He had put aside the chance of presumably great payment, he had not harmed her once, and when she was at her weakest, he didn't take advantage of her. He was dreamy, charming, and seemed to have a heart of gold.
The more that she thought about it with her mind, the more insane the idea sounded. But when she didn't think, and instead let her heart rule over her, it felt like the rightest thing that she could possibly do.
Almost unconsciously, she reached over to her phone, her hand grasping the cool plastic of her phone case as she lifted the device so that she could tap the screen.
Was she really doing this?
Audrey's fingers hovered over the number-pad hesitantly. The phone number immediately returned to her mind. She had memorized it the night that he had given it to her, and every moment afterward, it had been chanting itself repeatedly in her mind.
Audrey's fingers swiftly typed the number, her mind recalling the combination easily and quickly. She held her breath slightly as she stared at the call button.
Audrey was crazy. She was about to call her abductor. She was seriously beginning to wonder if she had Stockholm Syndrome. After all, that was what had been rumored to have happened to Ben's mother, but it was never official.
Before she could control herself, she tapped the call button. Audrey sucked in a breath quickly.
Oh. Oh… She had really done it now.
Audrey sat there, anxiously awaiting anything on the other side of the line.
"Hello?" his voice came in over the phone, and Audrey swallowed, her throat suddenly quite dry as she heard the sound of his voice once again. It was as if time had stopped, and her breath was caught in her throat as she almost felt like she might suffocate from her pure amazement and the sudden swell of something in her chest.
"Umm… Hello?" he spoke again, and she started a bit, realizing that she hadn't said anything as of yet. She wracked her brain for something intelligent to greet him with, knowing that she needed to speak soon. Amazingly, in the midst of all of her dreaming and thinking about calling him, she had never actually considered what she was going to say when she contacted him.
"Hello, is anyone there?" he questioned, and she shook her head quickly, pulling the phone away from her ear and quickly hanging up on an impulse.
As soon as she did, she realized what she had done, and she slapped herself in the forehead.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she berated herself quickly, immensely irritated at the fact that she had but chickened out and hung up last minute.
She felt like beating her head against her vanity, but she instead simply groaned deeply, placing her head in her hands as she threaded her fingers through her hair.
"Nice work, Audrey. Truly amazing job," she sarcastically told herself in the midst of her frustration.
However, she nearly fell out of her chair when her phone started to ring. She looked over at the number that appeared on the screen, and her eyes went ridiculously wide as she realized it was him.
Audrey swallowed hard, nearly panicking as she tried to figure out what to do. She hadn't had time to plan what she was going to say, and she was completely unprepared.
"Oh, my gosh! What do I do?!" she whisper-yelled in a panic, gaping at the phone in terror.
It kept ringing, and she finally decided that, ready or not, she had to answer it. Audrey picked it up swiftly, fumbling with the device before finally managing to press the answer button.
"Hello?" she squeaked, and mentally slapped herself for how silly that sounded.
"Oh, is this Foxy?" he asked, and she felt her stomach flutter as she giggled a bit against her will. However, she quickly reigned in her emotions, regaining control of herself as she placed a somewhat sweaty hand against a burning cheek.
"Is this the Thief of the Night?"
"Oh, yeah. This is definitely Foxy," he chuckled, and Audrey felt her knees grow a little weak at the sound. She was suddenly very thankful that she was sitting in a chair.
"Yeah, and this is definitely you," Audrey replied, miraculously managing to keep the grin out of her voice as she attempted to muster her usual sass.
"Well, that's kind of to be expected. I gave you my number after all," he wittily turned it around on her, and Audrey scoffed, finding herself completely uncertain of what to say.
"So… What're you doing?" Audrey asked, and immediately regretted the question. Of course she knew what he was doing. He was probably taking some target away to some hirer, and she definitely did not want to know about that.
"Oh, nothing much. Cruising down the road," he answered easily, and her suspicions were practically confirmed at that moment. She couldn't help but wonder who he had with him now.
Against her will, she strongly wondered if it might have been another princess.
"Not with a target, though, like you're definitely thinking," Jay added, pulling her from her thoughts, and Audrey's jaw slackened. After a moment, Audrey couldn't help but laugh at the fact that he had so accurately assumed what she was thinking.
"What are you doing?" he asked, a smile in his voice, and inevitably her smile grew a bit bigger as she realized where she was at and the irony of it all.
"Just sitting here in the exact spot that you kidnapped me the other night," she told him, proud of herself for actually coming back with a good response.
"Huh. Waiting for another dashing thief to come and whisk you away?" Jay inquired, and she almost choked, despite the fact that there was absolutely nothing in her mouth. Her mind immediately wandered to the possibility that he could come back again, but she pushed away the giddy, ridiculously excited feelings that went along with that in favor of steeling herself to reply with something that hopefully sounded effortlessly calm.
"I don't know… My window's not open for just any thief," Audrey pointed out playfully before widening her eyes and face-palming after realizing how embarrassing that statement was.
"Well, Princess, I don't think that your window is quite as locked as you think. After all, I got in easy," Jay told her with a slight laugh, and before she could quite control her mouth, her next words fell from between her lips.
"Maybe the window was just waiting for the right one," Audrey said, and she closed her eyes in pure mortification as she dreaded what he would think of her response.
What was wrong with her? This dumb boy was bringing things out of her that she never thought would come out of her mouth. She had never told Ben these sorts of things, and she had been with him for much longer. What kind of magic did Jay have that just pulled these words as if she were a puppet on a string?
Either way, she was humiliating herself terribly at this moment, and she felt as if her face would practically melt away if she hadn't already been turned to a puddle.
"So… Would you be interested in a thief coming to whisk you away?" Jay finally asked, and Audrey's eyes widened as she realized that she really hadn't scared him off. She couldn't help but look at herself in the mirror, trying to ensure that she was perfect. She hadn't removed her makeup, fortunately, and she gladly noted that she was fortunately not in her nightgown like last time. However, she swiftly shook her head, pulling herself out of her ridiculousness.
What was she thinking? She was getting much too involved. This was starting to go way further than just an enjoyable phone call.
But she wasn't sure she exactly minded.
"Where would he take me?" she asked, hoping her voice didn't sound as shaky as she felt on the inside.
"Anywhere you wanted to go," he replied easily and immediately, and she sucked in a breath, not really knowing what to say to that.
"Okay… I guess the thief would know where to find me," Audrey spoke, and she heard him chuckle a bit.
"I guess so. Well, be on the lookout. Word on the street is that there's a thief lurking around your castle," Jay told her, that wicked mischief in his voice, and her eyes widened as she realized that he must be right outside. She opened her mouth, starting to say something, but he hung up before she could even begin to address that fact.
Audrey furrowed her brow, pulling the phone away from her ear as she looked down at it. She rolled her eyes and huffed before it suddenly dawned upon her the significance of this.
He must be right outside. Waiting on her to call. Watching her.
Audrey shook her head carefully, shocked at this realization. She couldn't help but wonder if he had been doing this every night since he had returned her to the castle. As weird as it might have been, she couldn't deny that it did bring a certain flutter to her stomach.
Suddenly, she heard her window click as it had just the other night, and she turned quickly, seeing him standing there on the bay window once again. Audrey blinked, and he just watched her with an easy smirk.
Audrey gaped at him, realizing that he wasn't wearing those black clothes and was actually wearing leather. It was still an odd choice of dress, but it suited him well. Of course, she was a princess, and wasn't accustomed to much outside of pastel and soft fabrics, so anything other than that would be somewhat of a shock to her.
"What? I'm still coming in through the window without knocking. If I didn't, it'd ruin my reputation," Jay told her, winking with a wide grin as he stood there. Audrey suddenly shook her head, pulling herself from her thoughts in favor of standing up hesitantly as she leaned against the vanity carefully.
"I'm just shocked at your clothes," she pointed out, and he looked down at himself.
"Hey, I do have a life outside of stealing, you know," he quipped, and she giggled in spite of herself.
"So, you ready to go?" Jay asked after a moment, and she looked at him strangely before remembering the entire purpose that he had come. Honestly, she had ben so distracted by his choice of dress that she had completely forgotten almost all else.
"Oh… Well, I don't really know where we could go," Audrey told him as she strode forward, coming a bit closer. Jay looked at her for a moment before shrugging. He opened the window and turned to her.
"I've never been on a castle roof before. And I hear the view up there is beautiful," Jay suggested winningly, and Audrey stared at him for a long moment before laughing shortly. She swallowed hard, watching him, and he shrugged, extending a hand to her as he faked a bow.
"Shall we?" he questioned, putting on a gentlemanly voice, but it was entirely too goofy to be realistic. Audrey smiled widely, looking down somewhat sheepishly as she stepped nearer to him. She contemplated for a moment about taking his hand, but ultimately decided to simply step onto the bay window with him. Audrey was a bit nervous to take his hand, because despite how she would have loved it, she still was just a bit hesitant.
He raised an eyebrow at her, seeming slightly impressed, and he stepped out so that he was on the ledge of stone lining just underneath her window.
Audrey's eyes widened as she looked at the far down drop to the ground, and she swallowed hard, not sure how she was going to get out.
"You coming, Princess?" he asked, and she bit her bottom lip before hesitantly stepping out, hoping desperately that her flats didn't slip from the ledge.
He grinned at her approvingly before starting to wedge his feet around stones jutting out of the castle and he grabbed onto the top of her window. Audrey furrowed her brow but started mimicking his actions with ease.
Jay gazed down at her and smiled widely.
"So what? You're a princess that can climb like the best of thieves?" With the compliment, Audrey immediately felt her cheeks flare with a heat unrivalled.
"I rock-climb at school," she replied, and he nodded easily.
"You just have it all, don't you?" he questioned as he hoisted himself up a bit further, getting to another ledge where he could stand with just a bit of wiggle room. Audrey giggled just a bit, her giddiness getting the better of her.
"Not all," she told him stubbornly, but her smile was affecting her impact. Jay finally reached the top of the castle, and he looked down at her, watching her climb. Audrey tried hard not to focus on the fact that he was staring at her and attempted desperately to center her thoughts on climbing.
She was almost to the top when her foot suddenly slipped when she was reaching with her hand and her eyes went wide as she screeched, about to fall to her certain death.
But before she knew it, Jay had locked his arm with her own, grabbing her arm tightly. She returned his grip swiftly, and he pulled her up. She grabbed onto his arm with her other hand and climbed the rock with her shoes as he pulled her up the rest of the way.
Between the both of them, she finally was at the top of the wall. But when she stepped down from the stone railing along the edge of the guard's walkway, she tripped and fell into him.
Jay quickly wrapped his arms around her, placing his hands on her waist as he steadied her. They just stood there gaping at one another for a moment before he smirked.
"Didn't think you'd fall for me that fast," Jay quipped, raising an eyebrow, and she clung to his arms carefully, her eyes wide as she found that she almost didn't have any breath left in her.
"You're just awfully forward, aren't you?" she finally shot back at him, but her effect was a bit dulled by her breathlessness as she gazed into his eyes from her position against his chest. Those eyes were even more gorgeous up close with all of those sparkles and beautiful
"I just thought that since I just rescued you from messy death, we know each other on a level that surpasses the typical acquaintanceship," he replied smoothly, and she pulled away from him, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she tried to keep her butterflies under control.
"Shut up," she muttered with a grin much too large to really mean it, and she knew he could see it easily. He had to have seen it. He looked entirely too smug as he looked at the nearby guard tower.
"C'mon, Princess, let's go to the top," Jay told her, pointing to the short tower, and they both started toward it, climbing the stairs as they approached the base of it.
They entered the tower, and there was a ladder leading up to the top of it where there was a clear view of the sky, and she looked to him, expecting him to take the lead. However, he just shook his head, raising his hands up as he looked at her.
"You've got it. You go on up," he told her, and she nodded as she started up the ladder.
"Besides, I've gotta be down here in case you try to fall to your death again," he teased, and she rolled her eyes at him, groaning.
"I was not that close to dying," she told him.
"Oh, yeah? I think that scream told otherwise," he pointed out, and she scoffed, a playful smirk gracing her features as she climbed.
"That is, unless you were just trying to get me caught," Jay continued after a moment of quiet. Audrey simply laughed at that comment as she finally reached the top of the ladder. He effortlessly pulled himself up and stood next to her.
Audrey turned away from him for a moment and she felt her jaw slacken as she gazed at the beauty of it all.
Audrey's eyes widened as she looked up at the stars and the lonely full moon in the sky. It was like the finest of inky black fabric with millions of small speckles across it. She had never really seen the stars with this limitless of a view.
"Wow… You're right… The view is… amazing," Audrey expressed wondrously.
"It really is," he agreed, and she glanced at him, realizing he wasn't looking at the sky at all and was instead just staring at her face. As ridiculous as the line was, she undeniably felt a rush of something overcoming her as she rolled her eyes at him.
"That was terribly, horribly cheesy," she informed him, and he sighed dramatically.
"Oh, come on. I worked hard on that one," he joked, nudging her shoulder, and she tried to fight the smile she felt coming on as she pushed back against him in equal measure.
"You did not! That's the oldest trick in the book," Audrey laughed as he pushed against her a little harder.
"It is not! The 'did it hurt when you fell' is the oldest one," Jay insisted, and she pushed a bit, but he had moved slightly, and she suddenly found that she was pressed against him with their faces much, much closer together than last time.
Audrey swallowed as she looked into his eyes, unable to rip her gaze away as she felt his warm breaths against her face. She felt his hands gently touching her waist once again, and she took in a sharp breath as she tried to pull herself together.
He was looking down at her so intently, and she suddenly felt very weak in the knees. She put her hand on his forearm. She insisted to herself that it was just to provide additional support, but she knew the real truth. She suspected that they both knew the real truth.
"You know, you're really pretty when you're not tied up in my car with a nice pair of raccoon eyes from all of your makeup running amok," he murmured, and she couldn't even find it in her to snap back with something sarcastic.
"And you're kind of handsome when you're not driving me to my death," she commented, and she noticed swiftly how they were each leaning in closer to one another.
Her eyelids started to droop a bit as he leaned in, her lips parted as he hesitated. However, after only a moment of waiting, his lips finally grazed her own and they met softly. Audrey felt as if her heart might jump out of her very chest as she took in the feel of it all.
It was almost as if she had been kissed for the first time. At least, she knew for sure that any kiss that came before this one certainly didn't matter anymore.
However, interrupting them from their moment, there was suddenly the voice of a guard yelling, and they pulled away swiftly. She looked at him, and she realized that he was already starting to climb down the tower.
Her eyes went wide as she gaped at him. Jay's eyes met hers, and after a moment, he smirked, winking at her slyly.
"Give me another call later?"
"Yeah," she breathlessly nodded, swallowing hard as she giggled.
He nodded back to her before making his way down the tower. Audrey spun around quickly as she realized that the guard was in the bottom of the tower now.
"Who's up the- Princess Audrey?! Your Highness, what are you doing up there?" the old man questioned, suddenly looking very respectful as he offered a bow.
"Oh, I just thought I'd look at the stars for a little," Audrey informed him easily, starting down the ladder as she got ready to accompany the older man.
"Oh. Of course, of course. Umm, forgive me if I'm mistaken, Princess Audrey, but I thought I saw someone up there with you," he pointed out worriedly, and she smiled secretively as she reached the bottom swiftly, dropping down.
"No, no. It was just me," she assured him, and he nodded, offering to escort her back to her room. She agreed easily, and they began their journey to lower levels of the castle.
While she walked, she tentatively touched her lips, feeling their intense tingling. They seemed almost as if they had been electrocuted, little zaps of voltage scattering across her lips as she grinned ridiculously widely. She turned her head, hoping that the guard wouldn't spot her expression.
And as she walked down the stairs, she couldn't help but think that if this was Stockholm Syndrome, they needed to call the doctor because she had it bad.
A/N: Well…. That was sappy as sappy can be. XD Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoyed it! I really loved writing this.
Also, if you guys feel like it, please check out ViLLAiN NATiON, and their videos on YouTube. They recently produced a video translation of the prequel to this story "A Stolen Rose." They are an awesome channel. :)
I hope you guys are having a great day! Until the next fic!