So here's the next chapter! Thought I wouldn't be posting for a few more weeks, but was itching to continue writing. Hope you enjoy!

Keenan and Aislinn pulled up to her house. Aislinn had averted her gaze the entire trip home. She refused to look him in the eye. She didn't want further proof of the horrible truth she didn't want to face; that she desired Keenan, more than she should.

Keenan turned off the ignition and the low humming of the engine cut off. Now they were only left with a heavy silence that made it almost difficult to breathe. He leaned his head back in his seat, searching for the right words. Aislinn fiddled with the hem of her shirt, her hair covering her face from his potential gaze.

She didn't turn to look, but she could hear him exhale in frustration, and could picture his expression clearly, as if she had witnessed it many times.

"Aislinn, I-" he tried to begin, but cut himself off. What could he say?

She just shook her head. She didn't want his apology. He hadn't done anything wrong. He had only acted on his desires, something she should try once in a while. Why was she so scared anyway? What was she scared of? Scared of doing what she so desperately wanted to do? Scared of actually maybe being happy for once? Scared of touching him again and maybe never wanting to let go?

She didn't know the answer. Was there even a logical answer? Or was it just her insistence of not wanting to become one of those girls he had hanging of him in the past?

He didn't seem like how she had pictured him. While she had looked at him and seen a playboy with no feelings and had his head and conscience in his pants, she now saw a fragile boy with real feelings and the potential to not only to be charming and charismatic, but could muster sincerity.

And wasn't that the kind of guy all girls dreamed of meeting? Wasn't that the kind of person she wanted to be with?

Maybe that was what she was so afraid of. Of actually having found the person she wanted to be with. The fact that she found that person somewhere she least expected it, seemed terrifying and exciting in a way.

She had always been one to jump at opportunity and take chances. Why did he bring out the insecure and careful sides of her? That wasn't who she was. She had acted on her desires, too, in the past.

What was the worst that could happen anyway? What could be the worst case scenario if she actually let him in, let him embrace her until she could never part from him again. The thought of his embrace had her heart fluttering and she felt a blush creep up her cheeks.

These feelings that he brought out in her could not be ignored. It would only cause her, although she hated to admit it, unnecessary heartache, something she would not inflict on herself could it be prevented.

"Keenan…" she whispered.

His eyes sprang open and he turned to look at her.

She lifted her face to meet his gaze. His eyes had a pleading look about them, as if he desperately desired something. He looked so heartbroken. Was it for the same reasons as her heartache? She didn't allow her to contemplate. She didn't allow herself to hesitate, not even for an instant.

She lunged across the small space between them and cupped his face with both her palms. She crashed her lips to his, not letting him pull away.

He stared at her closed eyes for an instant, surprised at her sudden eagerness. Her lips were kissing his, hard, trying to convey all the confusion and want she felt with one kiss. Soon he relaxed and closed his eyes. He met her kiss with as much intensity and passion as she felt and knotted his hands in her hair.

Her hand slid behind his neck, pulling him even closer, while her other hand slid down his torso. She could feel his rapid heartbeat beneath the fabric of his shirt and his muscular physique. Her hand knotted in his shirt, wanting their bodies to touch desperately.

She was leaning awkwardly over the handbrake and shifted her position so she was kneeling slightly, her lips never leaving his in the process. They both broke away for air, only to resume their passionate activity.

She could feel his hand slide down the side of her body, resting on her waist. She could almost sense his eagerness, as if they shared a connection where they could sense each other's feelings. She felt his tongue run along her lower lip, waiting for admittance. She opened her mouth willingly without giving it a second thought, deepening the kiss even more.

Their tongues fought lustfully, Aislinn never giving in to submission and Keenan playing along willingly. He groaned in such a husky fashion it caused Aislinn to blush. She pulled away, panting and trying to catch her breath. Their faces were still only inches apart and her hand still knotted in his bronze curls.

"Aislinn…" he murmured, his voice still painted heavily with lust.

She only swallowed and tried to catch her breath, her heart still racing in her chest.

"What does this mean?" he asked again. His touch became gentler and his hand drifted up to her cheek, pushing away a tendril of hair and placing it gracefully behind her ear.

What did it mean? She had no idea. All she could do was answer truthfully.

"I don't know," she murmured. "But I refuse to hesitate anymore. I want to be happy."

At this he smiled a smile that lit up the distant corners of his eyes. At that moment he reminded of her a child that had just seen something extraordinary and wanted to preserve the memory of it for eternity.

Niall sat on a couch in the loft. He was reading a book, yet was not able to focus on the printed words on the page. He was too busy worrying. Tavish was sprawled across another couch, caressing a humming bird which had perched itself in his index finger.

Niall could no longer contain his worry.

"Keenan's been gone for a long time…" He let the sentence hang in the air. Tavish didn't avert his gaze from the bird in his hand.

"Has he?" he asked indifferently. Tavish didn't see how important it was that it worked out this time. Niall didn't know how much more disappointment Keenan's heart could take. Every time one of his chosen turned out not to be his Queen, he would stay in his room for days, not letting anyone go near him. Niall knew how much it took of Keenan's willpower to continue the search after the heartbreak he always felt after every failure. For Keenan's sake, he prayed this girl was the one.

"Do you think she is the one?" Niall asked, still trying to digest some of the words on the page in front of him.

"When hasn't Keenan thought his current girl was 'The One'?" Tavish responded. Tavish didn't see how much it hurt Keenan to have to leave the girls behind afterwards.

"But do you?" Niall pressed.

Tavish sighed and watched as the humming bird flew to one of the many plants which crowded the space.

"I don't know," he replied, sitting up on the couch, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "It would be nice to see him finally happy and settled."

Niall agreed with a silent nod. He wanted the same thing. After nine centuries, their King deserved to find happiness.

Niall flung the book on the coffee table in front of him, giving up the task of trying to read through the worry.

"Wondering what's taking him so long…" Niall wondered aloud, rubbing imaginary sleep from his tired eyes. Tavish was quick to respond in his usual self.

"Maybe the girl finally gave in, if you know what I mean…" He let the sentence hang in the air, one of his eyebrows raised and a grin stretching across his face. Niall couldn't help but smile. Tavish was always so… suggestive, a quality that Niall sometimes appreciated in times like these, times when he couldn't ignore the worry in the pit of his stomach.

"I don't think she-" Niall began to contradict playfully, when they heard the loft door spring open.

In strode Keenan with a playful skip to his step Niall couldn't help but notice.

"Good evening, all!" he exclaimed, a grin plastered on his handsome face. He was whistling and strode over to the resting birds in the many small trees in the room. He stroked the wing of one and let some of his sunshine seep into the bird's feathers.

Both Niall and Tavish could only stare in amazement. It had been a long time since they had seen Keenan in this high spirits.

Keenan chuckled softly to himself and spun around to face the others who sat mesmerized on the couches.

"What?" he asked, his tone suggesting that he thought he had done something wrong, although his grin never left his face.

"I take it went well," Tavish asked, obviously amused by Keenan's good mood.

Keenan flopped himself down on the couch next to Tavish, and sighed as he kicked off his shoes.

"It went more than well, Tavish." Keenan said, his tone slightly suggestive.

"Oh?" Tavish asked incredulously.

Keenan nodded. He looked at Niall who could only stare in awe at his friend's high spirits.

"That taking it slow thing, Niall, was downright genius!" Keenan said in pure glee.

Niall couldn't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm. "I don't know how you ever doubted me," he said teasingly.

"So," Tavish began, turning his body to face Keenan properly. "Tell us what happened. Don't leave out any details! Even the dirty ones." After a moment of contemplation, he added. "Especially the dirty ones."

"Tavish!" Niall said appalled.

Keenan ignored them both with a chuckle. "I took her to the apple garden and we talked. And I kissed her. And she ran away." Keenan couldn't help but daydream about her confused expression, how she had looked so surprised at the fact that she had welcomed his kiss with open arms.

Niall shook his head in confusion. "Then why the good mood?" he asked. Had his friend finally lost it? After all the years of searching, had he finally succumbed to lunacy?

"Because," Keenan continued, "after the car ride home she was all over me." He couldn't help but grin widely.

Tavish only raised his eyebrows in disbelief before hitting Keenan playfully on the shoulder.

"Bow chica bow wow!" he sang suggestively. "You still got game, man! How did you do it?" he asked, wanting to know the secret powers Keenan must have possessed to cause a girl to run away from him one minute, and then give herself to him the next.

"I don't know," Keenan said, his grin fading as contemplation painted his angular features. His eyebrows furrowed.

"She didn't say a word the whole trip home, but when she finally looked at me, she suddenly seemed unafraid and determined in a way."

"Sounds like this girl might turn out to be a 'freak in the sheets' if you get my drift…" Tavish said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut up, Tavish," Niall said playfully. "What is your next move, loverboy?" he asked.

Keenan stood up from the couch and wandered over to the huge window overlooking his park, something he did subconsciously when he needed to think.

"I was thinking about taking her to Crow's Nest."

Niall and Tavish exchanged looks of bewilderment behind his back. Yes, Niall thought. He has definitely lost it.

After many moments of silence, Niall spoke.

"But there are fae there, Keenan, Dark Court fae. It wouldn't be safe for her-"

"She needs to know the truth sometime." Keenan interjected, not willing to discuss his future plans.

At this Tavish couldn't help but interfere. "But don't you think it's kind of early? I mean, you've only been on one official date. You wouldn't want to scare her would you? I mean what if she's not the one?"

At this Keenan whirled around to face him, all his previous glee had seemed to be consumed by the frustration he now wallowed in.

"She is the one." He said stubbornly. He towered over Tavish, who seemed to lean away from his stare on the couch.

"How do you know that?" Niall asked, wanting Keenan to see common sense. Keenan turned to glare at Niall. How was he to explain the feeling he got when he was in her presence? It was like she radiated sunshine, though she officially wasn't granted those powers yet. Still, it was like she was the personification of Summer. He could smell floral lilies off her skin and her eyes concealed sunbeams she might not even be able to see herself. He knew she was the one, yet couldn't put his certainty into words.

So instead he opted for the easy explanation he knew they would not contradict.

"Because I just do."

"And then I just kissed him."

Aislinn had been talking for the last ten minutes about her date with Keenan. Seth had tried to stay calm and stay in his seat. He couldn't help but clench his fists in pure rage as she told him how she had misjudged Keenan.

"Why did you kiss him?" he asked, trying to sound curious. Still he could hear the annoyance in his voice. Aislinn didn't seem to notice.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I just… wanted to."

She wanted to kiss him? She had told Seth just a few days ago how she had pushed him off her front porch in pure disgust. Now she was…kissing him?

"You wanted to?" he asked incredulously. He knew he should be supportive, but he couldn't get the image of Keenan's hands on Aislinn out of his mind.

"Seth, what's wrong?" Aislinn asked, sincere concern showing on her gorgeous face. She tried to reach out to touch his cheek, but Seth pulled away.

He stood up, bringing their empty mugs with him over to the kitchen area of his train carriage. He threw the cups in the sink and could hear them shatter into many unfixable pieces. He had his back turned to her and braced his hands on the counter, his head lowered.

He wanted to tell her. Now should be the time to tell her. He was losing her, to some ignorant jackass who thought he could use Aislinn for her body. Seth felt the rage build inside him as he imagined Keenan lying on top of Aislinn, yanking off her shirt and violating her. He knew he should trust Aislinn's judge of character, but at that moment he didn't trust anything. Everything he had known before she had come over had been altered into something he couldn't recognize.

He heard Aislinn stand up behind him and walk slowly towards him. His eyes were clenched shut, trying to force images of her and Keenan out of his mind. He felt her delicate hands on his shoulders, trying to make him turn around.

He felt the tension in his shoulder lessen at her touch and he turned to face her. She was looking up at him confused. Yet, it seemed to him, that deep down, she knew why he was acting the way he was. Deep down, he suspected she knew everything.

She let her hands slide down to rest on his upper arms. He tried not to tremble beneath her touch.

She shook him softly, as if she wanted him to suddenly snap back to the way he was before, before Keenan came into the picture.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her voice pleading him to answer honestly.

He tried to form words, but he couldn't concentrate while she was touching him. So he leaned away from her, his back resting against the counter. She lowered her hands, and in the moment of confusion that he had brushed her off, she crossed them over her chest, a stance she always took when she felt vulnerable.

He would have liked to tell her exactly what was wrong. How mad the thought of the two of them together made him, or the fact that he had always liked to think that they belonged together. Instead he simply answered with another question.

"Are you sure he's the one for you?"

Aislinn exhaled sharply and closed her eyes, her black eyebrows furrowed. He could tell he was being hard on her, but he needed to know.

She spent a few moments searching for the right words before she finally replied.

"I'm not sure of anything anymore," she answered simply. She paused for a while, making Seth think that was her reply, until she continued.

"But I am sure that I like him. I think I may even…" She trailed off and left the sentence hanging in the air, pressing down on them both.

"You may even what?" Seth pressed, desperately wanting the truth, even though it may hurt him. She contemplated if she should answer, until she gave in to his wishes and crushed his soul.

"I think I may even be falling for him." The end of her sentence was nothing but a whisper.

Seth had to brace himself against the counter so that he wouldn't sink to the floor in pure despair. He blinked several times, thinking that maybe he had heard her wrong. Maybe it had all been his imagination.

"You're what?" he repeated, praying profusely that he had been mistaken.

"I'm falling for him." She said, louder this time and with more conviction in her voice. She was sure of it.

"Falling for him…" Seth repeated quietly, unable to embrace the truth the way he sensed Aislinn had hoped he would.

He could see it clearly now; visions of her and Keenan. Keenan and Aislinn out for a stroll in the park, their hands entwined and Aislinn gazing at Keenan, with a look that Seth wished he could see in her eyes when she gazed at him. His imagination shifted as he saw Keenan on one knee in front of Aislinn who was crying tears of joy as Keenan held out a diamond ring which seemed to glow in the sunlight. Aislinn exclaimed her joy as Keenan slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her passionately. Seth could feel his stomach turn at the sight of it. He then imagined Aislinn in an exquisite white dress, flowers woven in her hair and a trail of flowing silk behind her as she walked down an aisle to stand beside Keenan. The last image that tainted Seth's mind for the worst, was a vision of Aislinn lying naked on a bed, beckoning someone with a seductive wiggle with her index finger. Seth's stomach sank as he saw Keenan laying down on top of her, kissing her passionately and thrusting into her, making her scream his name in pure ecstasy.

He thought he might actually throw up.

Aislinn reached out to stroke his cheek. This time he didn't pull away.

"Are you okay, Seth? You look ill." She sounded concerned as she pressed her palm to his forehead, checking if he had a fever. He noticed that he was sweating and felt slightly dizzy. He swayed slightly, stumbling as he tried to regain his balance.

Aislinn took his hand and led him over to the couch where she made him lie down.

He could see his vision turning blurry, but tried desperately to see her face clearly. She pushed his hair away from his face, leaving burning trails where her fingers touched his clammy skin.

"What if…" Seth murmured, trying to form the words that would undo all this. The words that would make her see how wrong she had chosen, and make her stay with him.

"What is it, Seth?" Aislinn still sounded concerned, like how his mother had sounded once when he had had a high fever as a child. She had made him take ice baths to try to cool him down. It had been excruciatingly painful. He had a feeling this would be just as painful.

"What if there was someone else?" he asked, shaking off her touch and raising himself to rest on his elbows.

"What do you mean 'someone else'?" she asked. She looked so confused.

He tried to patiently make her see. To make her understand.

"What if there was someone else for you? Someone who cared for you deeply?" he asked again. He looked deep into her eyes, trying to convey with his eyes how desperately he felt he had to cling on to her, or else she would just slip through his fingers and disappear.

She only smiled and shook off his attempt to reason with her as a joke.

"I don't know of such a person," she said casually, smiling a crooked smile that barely touched her eyes.

Seth sat up fully. He raised his knee to rest his arm on it, his other leg stretched out on the couch. Aislinn was sitting on the edge, trying to push him back to make him lie down, but he refused. Her hands touched his chest as she pushed him and he grabbed her hands and held them between them as a barrier.

He leaned in closer before he spoke softly.

"I do," he assured her.

He saw as her eyes turned from a look of confusion to a look of understanding. Now she knew. Now everything would change. For better or for worse. He didn't want her to answer him. He just wanted to prolong the moment in which their hands touched. His thumb made small circles on her hand as he watched her.

"Seth-" she began. She never got to finish. He couldn't stand listening to her response that would break his heart. So he silenced her. With a kiss.

He started out gently, giving her the chance to pull away if she really wanted to. She didn't. Instead she just sat there, her eyes closed, as if giving him permission to do what he wanted, without her actually participating.

He would make her participate.

He let go of her hands and placed both hands on either side of her face, one resting on her jaw line, the other snaking its way in her hair. Her hands just braced themselves against his chest as he pulled her closer. He opened his mouth, desperately trying to deepen the kiss. She was just frozen. It was like kissing a rag doll.

He pulled back.

He could see she had tears in her eyes. Now that understanding finally struck her, he realized maybe she should never have been told in the first place. Maybe he should have just buried his feelings and let her be happy.

He still held her face in his hands as her tears spilled over and touched his palm. He brushed away her tears with his thumb, trying to comfort her. But how could he? It was he who had inflicted this pain on her.

"I never knew…" she whispered. She sounded so hurt and almost weak. He had thought that her realizing that her best friend had feelings for her would bring her joy. Instead she was now more torn than ever before.

He let go of her face and pulled away from her, giving her space. She wiped her eyes with the edge of her sleeve. He crossed his arms over his chest in an almost defensive manor while gazing at the floor.

"Seth, I-"

He raised his hand to stop her. "Don't." he said sternly. "It's fine. You don't have to apologize." He wouldn't look her in the eye. She didn't seem to want to budge until they had talked about this.

He didn't want to talk about it. He wanted to wallow in self pity until he finally had enough courage to face her again. He rose from the couch and strode over the front door. He could feel her hurt gaze burn into his back, but he didn't turn around.

He opened the front door and stood beside it, not saying anything.

She took the hint and rose from the couch as well. She walked over to stand in front of him. It hurt to see her like this. She looked ashamed, as if the fact that she hadn't seen something that had been right in front of her for the longest time broke her heart. The feeling was mutual. They were both left heartbroken.

She opened her mouth to try to speak, but only closed it again without uttering a single word. She left the train carriage slowly, although Seth could see that as she was about to turn the corner, she broke into a run. He could imagine her cheeks streaked with tears, running away from him. She was running from him because he had pushed her to do so.

He sank to the floor as he stared after her, hugging his knees and thudding the back of his head against the wall. He felt so frustrated with himself. He could have been more careful about admitting his feelings to her. Now it was too late. Things would never be the same again. They would never be able to go back to the way they once were.

And if they actually managed to stay friends, Seth knew a little piece of his soul would wither and die every time he saw Keenan and Aislinn together. His Aislinn.