Danielle looked up when she heard the door open and immediately felt anger wash over her when her eyes met Hunt's. She'd thought she had calmed down on the way back and while waiting for him but, oh no, she certainly had not. Her anger was still hot and fresh and she was just about to jump off the bed and charge at Hunt when he spoke.

"Please," Hunt said calmly, "hear me out before you start yelling at me. I… I must apologise."

She watched him cautiously but felt his calmness envelop her. He was apologising. That was a start. She didn't say anything, waiting for him to go on.

"I have made a terrible mistake." He looked away from her. "I should have never kissed you."

And there it was again. The anger. Mixed with a heavy dose of disappointment. Of course. Of course, that was what he considered the mistake. And, yes, it had been a mistake. In their situation, that kiss made it so much easier for Viktor to ruin their lives. But still… still, she remembered the feel of his lips on hers and she could not bring herself to think of it as a mistake.

And she couldn't bear the thought of not getting to feel it again.

Thomas could tell that he had just made her more furious than she had been before he had spoken, and he was not quite sure he understood what her problem was. Hadn't she wanted him to apologise? What had she expected him to say?

He suspected he was about to find out as, suddenly, she was no longer sitting on the bed but standing right in front of him. Her face was much too close, especially if she was going to yell at him.

But she wasn't yelling. She spoke in a low, almost threatening voice, dripping with seething rage. "No. No, you don't get to kiss me like that, to make me feel like that, and then just… take it back."

Thomas swallowed hard. "I didn't mean—"

"I'm not a silly little schoolgirl anymore, Thomas," she spat. "I'm not going to let you manipulate me into thinking this was all me this time."

What? What was she talking about now? When she had been his student, nothing like this had ever happened between them. She had been on his mind more than most of his other students, granted, but he had no idea what she could possibly mean. Indignantly, he began to object. "I never—"

"Oh yeah?" Danielle challenged. "Fairytale Kingdom Formal, Freshman Year. New York Fashion Week. Centaurus Lost. Any of these ring a bell?"

Thomas shook his head. "Those were… nothing ever happened…" Right? He hadn't seen Danielle in this light up until a few days ago. Never, ever had he thought of her as anything other than simply a student during her time at the university.

And yet, he had danced with her in the rain at the Fairytale Kingdom Formal and then tried to convince her he was just helping her out because she was a student. He had taken her to New York despite her not being a Fashion Major because he wanted to give her opportunities she otherwise wouldn't have had… and then berated her for most of that trip and told her he'd rather not have taken her.

And then there was Centaurus Lost… he knew it wasn't her fault that they hadn't kept their promises to remain civil. He had done everything to erase the memories of their long nights on set together. Not just from his mind, but from hers, too.

Now here he was, after he had crossed a line yet again, trying to reverse it. Unfortunately, he could not turn back time, and Danielle was right.

But so was he. Their kiss had been a mistake, especially with how public it had been.

"No, nothing ever happened. Or so you would have me believe," Danielle said and, to Thomas' relief, took a few steps back. She looked angry still, but more than that, she looked almost dejected. "But something happened today, and I just need you to be straight with me for once."

Thomas let out a sigh. He didn't want to fight her. "Very well. Let's talk."

Hunt walked past her and sat down on the bed. Danielle followed suit, watching him intently. She thought he would be the first to speak, but he seemed to struggle to find the right words.

"Look, I know this is… complicated. I know it was reckless to ask you to kiss me, but…" She sighed. She wasn't sure what to tell him without insulting him. She didn't have to finish her sentence, though.

Hunt finally spoke. "As I said before, it was a mistake." Danielle wanted to interrupt him, but he shushed her before she could get even one word out. "But if we did not have Montmartre breathing down our necks… I would not regret it for a second."