A/N Bonjour, my dears. I am extremely tired because of College work, but I wanted to post. My plot bunny has been up to his tricks again. I'm so sorry it's very short, but I felt the need to leave it at this. And I'm sorry for the long gaps between posts as well. College has taken over my life!

Ooh, I saw the new Harry Potter movie and it is awesome! I urge you all to go see it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters and the plot.

Adrian gave a small smile, still unlike himself. He seemed like he had a lot on his mind, and I was intrigued. What could it possibly be?

He'd led us to a cosy restaurant right on the edge of the Court compound. It didn't appear to be a place a young, rich Royal would frequent, but then, Adrian didn't appear to be your typical Royal. It was brightly lit, with cheery tablecloths and colourful menus. It was the kind of place I'd have chosen.

We were all sat at three tables, shoved together by V and Alex, who'd decided to see who could be the most childish. Ariana had just gotten impatient with them, and ended up smacking them both up the heads to stop it. We'd all ordered, and were now waiting for the food to arrive, while we all had a drink.

"I still don't get why you couldn't have come with us." Alex muttered, glaring at V, his arm slung around me as I snuggled into it. "I mean, we're your family. You'd think you'd want to come with us, but no…"

V raised one eyebrow, giving a magnificently understated look. "I don't answer to you, Aleksandr." He smirked, leaning back in his chair. "I'm a grown man-" Ariana snorted at that. He carried on, regardless. "And I can do whatever I want." Adrian looked up at this, slightly less downcast, and V held his hand up for a high five. "Am I right, Adrian?"

"Of course." Adrian answered. He leant forward, ever-so casually, and said quietly into my ear. "You do realise we're being followed, right?"

I turned oh-so-slowly in my seat, attempting to look inconspicuous. Sure enough, two burly, scary-looking men sat a few tables away from ours, one cracking his knuckles, the other one staring lazily out the window. I could sense immediately that they were following us, as Adrian had sent. I put my hand to Alex's face, pretending to caress him while I whispered in his ear too.

"We're being followed." His eyes slid to the two men I'd caught sight of, and I nodded minutely.

He put his other arm around me, making it look to all the world as if we were a normal couple, cuddling together romantically. Of course, we weren't, I thought bitterly. "Should we go?" He asked, deferring to me in security matters, as he always did. I bit my lip and looked up at him.

"Maybe we should." I told him apprehensively. He sighed.

"I'm sorry the little get-together's been ruined." He said, giving me a sweet smile. "I was gonna surprise you with something as well…" He sighed again. "It'll have to wait, I guess."

He was so lovely, I felt my heart constrict lightly at the unfairness of it all. "Oh, Alex, it's not your fault. It's just…circumstances. I hate it too. But hey, we don't even know it's us they're following!" It was. My inner sense was a-tingling. Alex looked at me, as if to say 'Who d'you think you're kidding?'. I stood up, and the rest of the group looked at me in surprise.

"Honey, what's going on?" Mum asked, a worried crease forming between her eyebrows. I wished I could never cause that little wrinkle, but with my job it was hard to avoid.

I held my hands out in a placating gesture. "No worries, everyone. Alex just wanted to show me something." Dom gave a ribald laugh, and cocked an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to speak, but I glared him down. The naughty twinkle in his eyes told me I was in for a massive amount of teasing late. Oh joy…

V looked up too, having previously been talking to Ariana, and gave Alex an interesting look, to which Alex shook his head. What an earth was going on?

I started again. "Anyway, so we'll be gone for a bit."

Chloe looked up at me. "Do you want us to go?"

"No, no!" I told her. "You guys stay here. We won't be gone long." I gave them a weak smile and tugged Alex's arm so he'd follow me. We exited the restaurant, walking swiftly onto the pathway next to it. I ducked under the awning of a shop furthest away. I glanced behind us. I cursed.

We were being followed.

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