Camilla checked her watch while Henderson gave the opening greeting to the guests at the ELS ball. It was finally here, and Camilla was tasked with making sure all of the opening speeches and performances went of without a hitch. This meant staying backstage and directing all the key players with her walkie. Henderson only had five minutes to open the event which is why Camilla had told him he had three and why now at four minutes she was peering out at him and moving her right pointer finger in a circle.

"Thank you for your time, honored guests, and welcome again to our ball. I would like to introduce our next speakers, our society's founding couple Yor Briar and Loid Forger," Henderson said. He clapped as he left the stage.

Loid and Yor walked to the podium while holding hands. "Hello, my name is Loid Forger, and this beauty is my girlfriend Yor Briar," Loid said.

"Hello," Yor said.

"Housemaster Henderson asked each of us to share what the Elegant Love Society has done for us. Honestly, founding the society put a lot of strain on us as individuals. We were suddenly much more noteworthy to our peers. But it also placed a strain on our relationship because our relationship was now incredibly public. We were on the front page of the Herald kissing twice both times without our knowledge. That wasn't something we had experienced before. I think it's safe to say we're both relatively private people," Loid said, stopping here to look at Yor who nodded. "And being in this new context was uncomfortable and stressful for both of us, but we survived because we were determined to stay together. I learned that a lot of couples aren't lucky enough to share that determination. And I learned that I am the luckiest because I get the opportunity to learn and growth with Yor."

Yor cleared her throat before speaking into the microphone on the podium. "That was sweet, Loid. I guess if I had to pick one thing I learned in ELS, I'd pick communication. I've never been the best at expressing myself, and, as great as Loid is at interpreting me, he can't actually read my mind. There have been times where I had to tell him what I wanted no matter how embarrassing or uncomfortable. I don't know if we would be here tonight talking to you all if we both hadn't given the other the chance to listen to and understand us. As Loid eloquently pointed out, we are a team, but I wouldn't have known that if we hadn't listened to each other. Though Loid is wrong on one thing: I'm the luckiest because Loid is the most patient listener."

Camilla pressed the button on her walkie, "Stage crew ready? 10 seconds to second curtain up."

"Stage crew ready," the freshman in charge of stage crew said.

Camilla peered behind the second curtain to be sure that the band was in place. Yor gave the closing and introduced the band before moving exiting with Loid. The stage crew used the five seconds of curtains down to roll the podium out of the way and place a floor mic for the vocalist. Ludmila walked past Camilla and positioned herself in front of the mic. Camilla gave her a thumbs up as she walked past. "Curtains up," Camilla said into the walkie.

On the ballroom floor, Dominic led Frankie over to the perfect spot for viewing the performance. He knew that Ludmila was going to sing for him tonight, but everyone had kept the when a secret from him like Ludmila had wanted. As the curtains rose, he was blown away by the sight of Ludmila in a green dress with three poofy tulle tiers that each had extra strips of tulle sewn on the end of the tier. Her hair was artfully pulled into a bun with a few strategically freed spirals and her makeup was almost as glamorous and dramatic as the dress. For someone who spent her life trying to blend in, she certainly knew how to stand out when it counted. Frankie struggled to make thoughts coherent, but if he had been able to, he probably would've concluded that she was the prettiest sight he had ever seen.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Ludmila Castillo de la Gracia, and Housemaster Henderson was gracious enough to let me use this slot to sing for someone important to me. So this one is for you, mi querido, and everyone else thank you for your patience," Ludmila said quickly. The band began playing a jazzy love song which Ludmila provided the vocals for. The lyrics lamented how the singer's adored person didn't love them the same way the singer did. Ludmila performed it with a lot of longing and frustration. She had tried her best to avoid watching Frankie in his matching green bowtie watching her because she knew he would make her lose her nerve, but couldn't help but meeting his eyes for the last repetition of the chorus. "Love me, love me. Pretend that you love me. Just say it, say that you love me. Oh, go on and fool me. Go on and. I don't care about anything but you," Ludmila sang. The crowd clapped for a respectful amount of time before ceasing. "Thank you. Thank you to the band for allowing me to sing with them. And another thank you to Housemaster Henderson for permitting this. Have a good evening, everyone," she said with a polite smile before walking as quickly off the stage as her giant dress would allow.

Frankie took off for the backstage as soon as she began her thank yous. He recognized the panic in her eyes when she finished singing and was not letting her slip away. "Brava, mi reina," he said as he intercepted her backstage.

"Gracias, mi querido," she said before turning her back to him.

"Wait, Mila. You can't run away after that."

"And why not?"

"Because you've ruined my life."

That was enough for her to turn around. "I'm so sorry…"

"Would you let me finish?"

"Before you, I spent a lot of time alone. I was fine with that. I had a few friends and my family and that was enough. But then you crept into my life and poisoned every single aspect of it: my school, my friends, my family, my personal life. You challenged, irritated, and embarrassed me. I despised you for it. Until I realized that I didn't. I've never had more fun in my life than I have when we're scheming together, and I never want to go back to running the school alone. I don't have to pretend to love you, and I never did. I'm so damn lucky that I get to be your prometido. Even if it started as petty revenge, I really hope you'll let me keep the title."

Ludmila's winces had turned to tears at some point.

Frankie stepped closer and wiped some of them away gently. "I can't tell, mi amor; are those good tears or bad?"

"Good tears. You know I was at St. Ignatius in Westalis for the four years before this, right? My first day was the day that you ousted that teacher for assaulting a student here. That news reached St. I because that teacher used to work there. I was so annoyed everyone was talking about how conniving you were, so I used some connections to learn everything I could about your plan and you. I told myself it was because I was going to crush you, but I was the one with the crush, the silly kind like girls that age get on pop stars. When we moved here and my father suggested Eden, I thought I was going to faint. I promised myself I would just scheme against you enough to get your attention and that would be good enough, but I didn't stop there. I'm sorry I manipulated you."

"If I held that over you, I would be a huge hypocrite."

She looked down. "I guess so."

"Let's agree no more manipulating each other."

She looked up and nodded.

"Mila, one more thing."

"Hm?"

"Te amo, Mila."

"Te amo tambien, Frankie. But I swear to god if you ever make me foxtrot again, I will decimate you."

He laughed. "I promise I'll do everything I can to make sure you never have to foxtrot again."

She smiled before kissing him.

Dominic put an arm around Camilla's shoulders as she continued to check things off her to-do list on her clipboard. "Hey, babe. You about done?"

"Not yet, I still have to check that all the equipment got put back properly," she said.

"Isn't that something the stage manager can do?"

"Well…"

Dominic grabbed her walkie and pressed the button. "Hi, is the stage manager still around?"

"Yep, still here checking the equipment."

Dominic looked at Camilla pointedly.

"It's my responsibility."

"I've got it, boss. Go have fun with your handsome boyfriend," the stage manager said over the walkie.

Camilla tried to take the walkie back from Dominic who used his height and wingspan to keep it out of her reach.

"Thanks, bro. You're a lifesaver," Dominic said over the walkie before letting go of the button. He put the walkie talkie down on a table before doing the same to her clipboard and pen. "Come on," he said while leading her out to the dance floor. The band was playing a waltz which was easy for Camilla and Dominic to fall into. "Well are you having fun with your handsome boyfriend yet?"

Camilla blushed. She had picked a metallic purple damask tux jacket with black lapels, a black shirt under it, and a black tie with Swarovski crystals matching the ones on her own dress for him, and as usual he made it look amazing. She had always thought that he was gorgeous and wanted others to see just how beautiful he was, well as long as they didn't try to get between them. His natural confidence and apathy about what others thought of him meant that he could wear anything at all and look incredible. This did have the downside of making Camilla worry that she wasn't pretty enough for him. "I'm not going to compliment your appearance because you already know that you look good."

"Thanks, babe. You look—" he let his gaze take her in again in her one shoulder long chiffon dress. It transitioned from black to reds and purples in the folds sprouting from waistband and again on the draped fabric from the shoulder over the back which highlighted the daring back cutouts. Some Swarovski crystal were clustered near the beginning of the cutouts and on the shoulder. Her hair was in a wavy high ponytail, and she'd traded the dramatic makeup from the last ball for a playful purple and red look. "—wow."

She frowned. "Bad wow? I know I shouldn't have gone with this dress."

"The best kind of wow. I love the dress. Especially these," he said creeping one hand up to touch her exposed back.

She shivered. "Dominic!"

He moved his hand back to its previous respectful position. "I'm just saying."

She rolled her eyes.

He beamed at her. 'She's even more beautiful when she's annoyed.' "Camilla."

"Dominic."

"Will you marry me?"

She frowned. "Dominic Ray, we are 16 years old. We are far to young to be talking about this. Why do you keep bringing it up?"

"Because I want to marry you."

She gaped.

"Eventually, obviously. You're right: we're too young to get married now. But the thing is I know you, and you are incredibly stubborn. I figure if I start bringing it up now, then by the time we're ready, you'll be more open to the possibility."

"You sound like Franklin."

"Well, sometimes that guy's on to something. Speaking of Franklin, what about him and Ludmila? They're engaged and Ludmila's younger than us."

"They don't count. They're promised to each other. That's entirely different."

"Okay, but it's still a promise to get married eventually, right?"

"You could put it that way, I suppose."

"Let's get promised to each other."

"That's not a good idea."

"Why not?"

"I'm already promised to someone, but before you get upset with me, please keep in mind that it is a business agreement my parents made when I was an infant and the other party's family cut all ties with us after my secret was exposed."

Dominic slightly tightened his hold on her. "They can't do that to you. We're going to visit your parents right now!"

"Dominic, no. We are not. They are in Cubana on business."

"Oh."

"Since it really bothers you, I will make time on their schedules for a family dinner next week where you can tell them what you think about it."

"Really? You're going to let me meet your parents? I was starting to think you were embarrassed of me."

"Absolutely not! My parents are awful, and I didn't want to subject you to them."

He looked at her with a bit of sadness and fondness mixed.

"Don't. I'm fine. I have you."

"You do. Always."

She kissed him sweetly.

Loid and Yor had danced a few dances, but both were feeling increasingly uneasy with their new knowledge.

"Yor, would you mind if we retreated to that balcony for a rest?" Loid said.

Yor smiled at him gratefully. "Yes, that sounds nice."

He led her to the balcony. "You look pretty," he said. 'Why did I hold back like that? She makes pretty seem ugly. Especially tonight.' He respectfully admired her ensemble. She was wearing a long red velvet dress with a sweetheart neck, sheer lace long sleeves, and a bold slit up the left leg. Her hair was in a low braided bun, and her makeup was soft and smokey.

Even knowing how he feels, she blushed. "Thank you." She tucked a phantom strand behind her ear. "You look handsome." He did cut a nice figure in the dark grey tux with black lapels and the red tie.

"Thank you."

The two stood in silence for a moment.

"Pardon me for this, Yor, but I read your letter, and I can't wait any longer to tell you how I feel," Loid said.

At roughly the same moment Yor said, "Please forgive me for betraying you, but I read part of your journal, and I need to tell you something."

They laughed together.

"Sorry, please go ahead," Yor said.

"No, I'm sorry. Please, go ahead," Loid said.

"No, you should go first," Yor said.

Loid exhaled. "Thank you. I read your letter. I apologize for invading your privacy."

"My letter? Oh, oh no!"

"Yor, darling, why is that 'oh no?' Did I not hear you say you read my journal?"

"Well, yes, I did say that."

"And what did my journal tell you?"

"You love me."

"I do." He blushed. "So why is it so bad if I know how you feel too?"

"Well it's not unless you think I'm weird for it or you don't want to date me anymore."

He put his left hand on her cheek. "Yor, I love you. I have loved you since I saw you kick a kid into the wall and he bounced back in a judo lesson three years ago. The series of events leading up to our arrangement have been the happiest accidents of my life. I've never been happier than I am when I'm with you. Why would I not want to continue dating you? And I am honored and elated and lightheaded because you love me."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

She giggled. "He did not bounce back."

He smiled at her. "Yor, you wound me. I'm here trying to confess to you, and you're laughing at me."

"I'm sorry, but he didn't bounce back. I remember that day, and he definitely didn't bounce back."

"Darling, the point is that you are incredibly strong and I love that about you."

She blushed. "Thank you."

"What I want to know is how you love me because I wasn't entirely sure you knew I existed before the hospital."

Yor looked up at him with big, shocked eyes. "How could I not have known you existed? You're you. I actually noticed you around the same time. I'm sure you don't remember this, but I saw you between classes one day. There was a lost first grader crying in the hallway, and you were the only one who stopped and helped her."

"I do remember that."

"You were so kind. You took her hand and walked her to her class. I've never really recovered from that." She blushed.

"That was what did it?"

"Yes, I love your kindness, and I love you then and now."

Loid groaned. "Wait, you're telling me we've both been in love with each other for these three years? We could've been spending time together and even dating years ago."

Yor chuckled. "But would it have the same meaning if we had?" She gently smoothed one of his tendrils of hair like she'd been thinking about doing for years.

"No, I don't think it would."

"Hm. Loid, dear, could I kiss you please?"

"You never have to ask. The answer is always yes."

"I'm still going to ask."

"Whatever makes you happy, darling."

She place her hands on the back of his head and gently pulled him in to her. It was hackneyed, but they both felt a shift and release upon the kiss. Nothing would ever be the same again, and thank god for that.

AN: te amo tambien = I love you too.

Thank you so much for reading. This is the end unless fancy strikes me to write an epilogue. (I am sort of tempted to write a Halloween epilogue.) Big thanks to the person who pointed out to me that I'd posted one chapter twice. And the biggest thanks to my sister who got me to watch this show, was my first reader for much of this, and helped me brainstorm.