Oh, I really wish you'd tell me what line you're talking about, ParachutesFall! This is the chapter where I finally start deviating from the book… I hope it satisfies!

Thanks for reading, everybody!

Unspoiled Forever

The portrait was worse.

Gill stared in a mixture of horror and dark curiosity at the painting. His fingers traced the deep scowl lines of the mouth; the fabric was lifeless and dry as bone. So much for the theory that it could still be wet with fresh paint… That it was an extremely elaborate prank.

Gill Gray had woken up wanting to feel like a new person. He had his first fight with Selena, but he was ready to make things right again. He was starting to remember his own proclamation of what love was about. And he wanted to fulfill it. To love another so fully above one's self…

When the painted image of himself wore a terrible scowl this morning, Gill knew that everything had changed.

He couldn't believe it. But how could he not? It was right before him!

But what did it mean? Gill was of a sound, logical mind. Portraits harboring souls and aging while their subjects lived free was completely unheard of. Yet here it was before him. This portrait was his soul… And look how awful it is…

"Gill! Someone's here to see you, son!" His father's voice echoed from the front hall.

Suddenly panicked, Gill looked wildly around the room for a place to hide the portrait. No one must see it until everything was figured out or – better yet – fixed. His room was insufferably bare, and the portrait was too enormous to move alone.

"Gill?"

"Half a moment!" Gill called, cursing himself for his lack of time. Snapping his fingers, he dashed back into his bedroom and returned with his dressing screen.

The desk was too close to the wall, so Gill pushed it back with some difficulty. He threw the chair into place and positioned the screen around the picture, bending the three partitions to encompass it from all sides. Standing back, Gill didn't have much time to admire his hasty work before he adjusted his bolo and opened the study door.

Reaching for the knob was Lord Julius still wearing his top hat with his trusty cane in his hand. He didn't look the least bit surprised to see Gill in such a bustle. "Gill Gray! How are you, lad?"

"How am I?" Gill asked, quickly on his guard. The portrait weighed heavily on his mind, so his practical side found it hard to separate all topics from it.

Hamilton lingered behind the Lord Wotton, looking curiously at the screen propped up in the study.

"Why, after all that's happened, I made it my duty to see you at once," Julius vaguely explained, also catching sight of the screen.

Gill shook his head. "Excuse my informality. Please come in…"

"Thank you," Julius nodded, removing his hat and stepping in.

Though he owed him an explanation, Gill closed the door on his father. Hamilton was confused, but he left for the office as his son bid him to. The front door closed after him in the silence. Once it was just the two of them, Gill suavely feigned disinterest and sat before the fireplace.

Julius Wotton looked around the quiet room. The flowers that Gill kept on his desk drooped over their vase in decay. His red-tinted eyes focused on the picture of the woman above the mantle. "I'm very sorry for the current circumstances… You did go to Miss Vane after the recital, did you not?"

Oh. So that's what this is about. The fight. Gill didn't know how Julius found out, but it wasn't too unexpected. Lord Julius tended to make everything his business. "Yes… I was a monster to her, Julius. I meant to see her this very morning… Make amends."

"Of course," Julius nodded sadly, sitting down across from him. The cane never left his hands as usual. "Quite the tragedy all of this."

"But you know, Julius, I really think I've learned quite a bit from it," Gill Gray replied, the portrait again in mind. How ugly the face was! But what Gill had done was ugly. It mirrored the malice he unfairly bore upon Selena. What a mighty lesson! He nodded his head with a faint smile. "Yes, I think I've grown from this."

Julius' eyes widened and a mischievous smile played upon his lips. "I am… quite glad you're taking it in such a way. Such strength of self character! It really is quite a romantic notion if you look at it right."

Gill had to think a moment before he agreed. "Yes, I suppose so."

The two sat in silence for a moment before the empty hearth. To prevent any questions about the hidden portrait, Gill quickly stood and went for his hat and gloves left on the bureau. "Well, then, I must be off at once."

"Why… where will you go?" Lord Julius asked.

"We've just agreed upon the subject," Gill said, expertly tightening his cuffs. "I'm off to apologize to Selena!"

Julius slowly stood. "Have you not received my letter?"

"Letter?" He asked offhandedly. The only thing he had seen this morning was that God-awful portrait. The scowling face wouldn't leave his thoughts – not even for a moment. His father never mentioned a letter for him though he could have easily forgotten or misplaced it in his dementia state.

There was a strange glint in Lord Wotton's eye as he stood to his full height. It was a light that fearfully reminded Gill of the glare in the portrait. "Selena Vane is dead."

Gill's hand flew out behind him for support, catching the bureau before his knees could betray him. A look of absolute shock and horror came upon him. "Wh… What?! How? When?"

Julius shook his head and turned around. His fingers traced the lines of the mantle as he recounted the story. "It's in all the papers. I thought you had known…"

"Julius, you must tell me!" Gill Gray demanded. A deep hole opened up in the pit of his stomach. He felt sick.

"Sometime last night, there was a terrible accident. They found her in the dressing room – she had swallowed some sort of dreadful chemical. Some kind of acid. It killed her instantaneously."

"Accident…?" Gill's voice was incredibly small.

"You spoke with her that night, did you not?" Julius repeated the earlier question. "There's to be an investigation, but really… there's not a doubt that it was an accident. Yes?"

Gill slowly shook his head. He could hear Selena's voice ringing in his ears, but she wasn't saying anything. The more he tried to remember, the less logical the garbled speech became. All he could recall was her bell-like laugh, her bright smile, and the look of deep despair in her eyes when he turned his back on her. "An… an accident…"

Lord Julius let out a sad sigh. "Well, we can't have you mixed up in this. Did they know your name there?"

"They… They might have… But she always just… just called me…" Gill's voice trailed off as he turned around to face the bureau, looking down on its empty surface and the gloves still clutched tightly in his fist.

"What exactly?" Julius prompted.

"…Prince Charming."

"Ah, how romantic!" The lord said. He came up behind Gill who was desperately trying to hold back tears. "You really must look at this differently, my dear Mr. Gray. Selena Vane died loving you very dearly. Now it is forever that way! I wish people died in such a tragic manner for me. It's incredibly romantic. I'm simply in love with the idea, myself…"

Gill's shoulders shook. Lord Wotton laid a steady hand on him. "Just as your good looks will decay, so would have Selena's love. But now it has been captured forever – preserved! – at its peak. One could not ask for a better death. Let the past be the past."

Accident. The word was so… wrong. It was no mere accident that Selena Vane died on the night she was betrayed. Scorned by the one she loved with all her young heart… Ruined her career to be with the man who turned away! People don't just accidentally swallow dangerous chemicals they find in a backstage dressing room. No… they don't.

And Gill understood the scowl on the portrait. He had procrastinated his apology. But wouldn't any time be too late? Why did Gill not run back for her? Save her? He had killed her. He had driven her to whatever poison that stopped her beating heart. He knew it. And so did the portrait.

Though Lord Julius invited him out to continue living life, Gill remained inside. He sat before the screen, too scared to see his own scarred soul… upon the portrait that knew his every darkest secret.