Claire Morning wanted absolutely nothing to do with this.

She told him she didn't like him. She told him she'd never forgive him. Told him she was never speaking to him again. She pushed him away as far as she could out of her life, never looking him right in the eye when he turned her way.

So how exactly did this man manage to catch her completely alone and off guard?

Claire was busy stacking new equipment that day, which ranged from musical instruments to portable microphones. It had taken nearly the entire day to label everything, put each item in individual boxes, and place them in their appropriate closets. She was nearly finished stacking her last box when the door banged open abruptly and quite loudly.

She was so surprised she dropped her box and fell from her ladder, as if in slow motion. She heard someone shout her name. She shut her eyes and hoped for the best. She really hoped she wouldn't be throwing out her back. That wouldn't sound very nice.

But instead of landing on the floor, she ended up somewhere else. Somewhere that was surprisingly soft and solid.

"C-Claire?" said a familiar, much too nervous voice.

Slowly opening her eyes, she let out the breath she was holding. She found herself staring straight into Liam Healy's eyes. She felt her pulse quicken, and for a minute, she couldn't even process a thought. It was like the whole world had stopped. She forgot she hated him. Forgot he had helped with the attack on her father…

She blinked. Wait, what?

"Liam?" she asked, her voice threateningly low. "Can you put me down? Now."

It wasn't a question. He nodded vigorously and set her carefully onto her feet. "I'm sorry!" he said, his voice raising an octave. He cleared his throat. "I—um…"

Claire just looked at him. She crossed her arms. "Why are you here, Liam?"

Liam managed a shaky smile, his eyes resembling an adorable lost puppy. No, not adorable, Claire reminded herself. Liam was anything but adorable. And he certainly wasn't cute. He never was very handsome, either. Claire pinched herself hard.

Shut up, she told her brain.

"So you're talking to me now?" he asked, hopefulness filling his voice.

"No," she said swiftly, moving past him to set the last box onto her shelf. She climbed the latter more carefully this time and slid the box in place with the others. When she was done, she climbed back down. She turned back to him. "You never answered my question."

Liam tilted his head. "What question?"

Claire just sighed. "Why. Are. You. Here?"

His eyes widened and he quickly raced back to the door, picking something up. But before she could see what it was, he hid it behind his back. He walked towards her, his face growing increasingly nervous. He took a deep breath and held her gaze. "I wanted to ask you something."

Claire raised her eyebrows. Her brain was screaming at her to just run away already. And she normally would've by now. But for some reason, her feet stayed routed to the ground. She couldn't move, even though her heart depended on it. Inwardly terrified, all she could do was stare at him.

It couldn't be that bad, right?

"Claire," he said, getting much closer than she would've preferred. "I was wondering- well, o-only if you wanted to. I-m-mean, I thought it'd be f-fun if we um, go for a—walk? Or out to d-dinner? You don't have to! I can go by myself! But o-only if you want! We c-can both decide!"

He cringed at his outburst and bowed his head. In a flash, he held up the object behind his back, which Claire now recognized was a bouquet of flowers. And he probably went through all the trouble to pick them out… just for her. She was completely speechless, something that didn't occur often.

Liam had just…asked her out?!

Claire's brain raced a mile a minute. Her heart pounded in her chest. All she could do was stare at the colorful flowers, wrapped in the neatest bouquet she had ever seen. She glanced back up at his face and could tell he was visibly shaking. She almost felt like throwing up. She tried to think of something to say. But what?

She should just say no. It wouldn't help her case since she swore to stay mad at him forever. But every time she tried to say the word, it didn't come out. Just like her legs, her mouth was working against her.

"I'd love that."

Her eyes widened as she heard the words escape her. Liam's eyes widened to, and he straightened up and stared at her. His confused expression formed into a happy one. "Wait, really?!"

Claire was so going to blame herself for this. She hadn't meant to say that! No way was she going out with him! She tried to shake her head, but it came out more like a nod. Ugh, seriously?

She tried to think of an explanation to why she'd even said yes, but she couldn't find any. Liam grinned and did something that took her by more surprise than she was already going through. He threw his arms around her, pulling her into a quick hug.

Claire couldn't breathe. She was positive she was going to have a heart attack. But this was almost worse than the actual "heart attack" spell. Because this time, it wasn't her father getting pelted.

It was her.

Liam let go as suddenly as the hug had come, his face a bright red. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I just wasn't expecting you to say yes. Where should we meet?"

"Right at the front doors of the mansion?" Claire suggested, her voice barely audible.

He nodded and backed away towards the door. "Okay! I—I'm really looking forward to this! T-thank you!

He gasped and suddenly ran to her, handing her the bouquet of flowers he'd been holding. "Couldn't forget to give you those!" he said, finally skidding out the door, falling straight into Simber as he ran down the stairs.

Claire couldn't help but laugh as the terrified Liam murmured a thousand apologizes and raced away from Simber. The large stone cheetah raised his eyebrows and turned to her with a very amused expression. "Did I miss something, Claireee?"

She couldn't help but grin. "Not at all."

The rest of the day was a blur as she went through her afternoon classes. She might've been teaching well enough, but her mind was elsewhere. Whenever she had a spare moment, whenever she wasn't demonstrating how to hold an instrument the right way, she was always staring at the clock.

She didn't notice the sly or mischievous looks some of her students were giving each other. She didn't notice the whispered conversations or the rare quietness of the classroom that seldom occurred. She didn't even notice Lani Haluki, one of her younger students in the class, writing up a quick poem and setting it on her desk. She was in such a daze, the only thing that snapped her out of it was when the bell rang for next class. She jumped and turned to her students to announce they could leave…only to see they had mysteriously vanished.

She frowned. Huh. Well this had never happened before.

That was when she noticed a small piece of paper on her desk. Something was scribbled on it in a handwriting she couldn't quite identify. She picked it up and peered closer. It looked like…a poem?

She read it aloud.

"Your smile shines like the sun, your eyes light up my world,

Whenever I'm around you, you make my heart soar,

I can't take this torture, this hope that fills me once more,

So will you do me the honors and meet me at 4?"

- L

Claire felt herself grow warm, her stomach doing somersaults and all kinds of rocketing moves. She could hardly control her emotions anymore. She sighed and set the poem back down. She'd always known that one day…this would happen. One of them wouldn't be able to take it anymore. Deep down, although she hated to admit it, this was something she'd always wanted. She slid her bag over her shoulder and walked out the door, making sure to lock her classroom behind her.

It looked like she was meeting Liam Healy at 4.

It took longer for Claire to get ready than expected. At first, all she planned to so was change into a nice, casual outfit. But somehow, between remembering his poem and the bouquet of flowers he'd given her, that didn't seem like the appropriate thing to do. He'd put so much effort into this…she'd feel bad if she didn't try too.

After she was done freshening herself up, she put on the prettiest casual dress she had. It was a short light pink dress-not too fancy, not too laid-back. She tried to ignore her nerves as she put on a necklace with a heart attached, looking vaguely similar to the heart attack component.

She shook off the thought. Liam was trying to show his forgiveness, and she had to accept that. It had been almost two years since the incident, anyways. She should just let it go. Forgive and forget.

She marched to the bathroom and sat down in front of the mirror. Taking one look at her hair, she grabbed a comb from her vanity drawer and brushed through it, wincing as she encountered a knot. When she was done with that, she twisted her hair into a low bun.

For the finishing touch, she added some red lipstick and a touch of blush. She looked herself up and down and nodded in approval. Over the years, she had visibly grown more beautiful. She wondered what her father, Mr. Today would say.

Would he approve of this?

Claire thought about it and hesitated. He had always been forgiving and kind. And…he'd never wanted to hurt anyone, not even his twin, the former High Priest, Justine. So that would mean…he would approve. He would. And she could feel it in her heart, no matter how scared she was, that she was doing the right thing. She took a few deep breaths and tried ignore the butterflies in her stomach. She was utterly terrified, confused, and lost. But whatever happened tonight, she was ready.

A little before 4, Claire walked down the spiral staircase to the mansion's front doors. On the way, she smiled as she passed group of kids that she often saw together: Alex Stowe, Sky, Lani Haluki, and Samheed Burkesh. They all had identical grins on their faces.

"You look really dressed up tonight, Ms. Morning," Samheed told her, looking like he was internally struggling. Lani elbowed him in the ribs as the others stifled laughs.

She crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "What's that got to do with your questionable ability to sing, Mr. Burkesh?"

Everyone burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer. Samheed turned a shade of red. "Hey!" he said, looking around at his friends. His eyes landed on Lani. "What? You too?"

Lani choked out a "yes," too busy clutching her stomach.

Claire just shook her head in disapproval at the teenagers. "You kids…" she muttered.

That was when looked back at the stairwell and saw him.

He was dressed in a white button-down shirt and black pants. Like her, he had cleaned himself up, even brushing his hair. In other words, he looked…well…incredible.

She couldn't help but smile as he walked up to her, the group parting to let him pass. Liam stared at her, taking in her appearance breathlessly. "You look a-amazing, Claire."

Claire felt the heat rise to her cheeks. For a moment, she couldn't take her eyes off of his. "Thank you. You look nice, yourself."

He cleared his throat and extended his elbow. "Shall we?"

She linked her elbow with his. "We shall."

Together, they opened the front doors of the mansion and stepped outside. To her surprise, the lawn was completely empty. And even more surprising, there were candles on either side of the pathway leading up to the stunning water fountain. And right next to that was a small round table set for two.

She felt touched. She glanced over at Liam, feeling the sudden urge to grab his hand. "You set this up?"

Liam nodded. "Yes. But I had help, of course."

Claire had a feeling she knew exactly who had helped him, but she didn't say. This was their night, not anyone else's.

She let him lead her to the table. As she sat down, she had to once again admire the time and effort he'd put into their date. Napkins, folded into origami dragons, were resting on their plates. A few candles were in the center of the table as well, along with a vase of various-colored flowers. The magical tray of food was already set out for them, so whatever they wanted to eat would appear whenever they asked for it.

"Liam…" she said softly. He looked up and didn't say anything, as if he was already too nervous to even try. She took a deep breath and clasped her hands in front of her. Better now than never.

"I know how…complicated things have been between us. And I know…majority of it…was your fault."

He averted his eyes, his face falling, so she quickly continued. "But now…I have to realize. It's not just you. It's my fault, too. What happened with my father wasn't entirely your doing. It was Quill's. You were just doing as you were told so you wouldn't get killed. Most people would've done the same. And it's my fault for being so cold towards you. I have to learn to forgive. But well…I'm not exactly sure how."

Liam lifted his gaze, his expression changing. He no longer looked nervous, or scared at what she might say. He looked confident. He reached over and took her hand, causing her to flinch ever so slightly. But she didn't want to pull away. Not anymore.

"If you can forgive me…that'd make me incredibly happy. You have to know…everything I've done is because of you. Feeding you when you were held captive, sneaking you water without getting caught…even saving Fifer and Thisbee and bringing them here. I know you push me away…but it's almost like I can't stay away. C-Claire…it's like I'm tethered to you. No matter how many times we run away, I always end up in the same place. Right in front of you."

He swallowed hard and tightened his hold on Claire, as if she might try to escape. But she didn't. This time, it wasn't just her body that wouldn't move, but it was her heart that didn't want to move. She had fallen under his spell, completely and utterly mesmerized by him.

"But right now, I know that it isn't a bad thing anymore. Please don't hate me anymore. Or shut me out. I can't live with it. I love-"

He was cut off as she leaned across the table and pressed her lips against his. His eyes widened in a panic, but he ended up just giving in and letting it go. In their minds, fireworks were exploding. They hardly heard the cheering many people and creatures were making as they watched the couple from inside.

After a few seconds, they pulled away and simply stared into each other's eyes, the rest of the world forgotten. "It's okay," Claire whispered. "I love you too."

She began laughing at the look on his face and sat back in her seat. Both of their hearts were soaring. Liam joined in, his face even redder than before, and soon they were laughing hysterically, as if they were only children becoming friends for the first time. And for the first time, everything melted into the same perfect moment.