Ara's POV

I woke up to something poking my . As my hands travelled down, I grabbed hold of the thing. It felt hard and stiff. This sparks my curiosity as I gave it a tight squeeze and heard a moan coming out right below my chin. Tilting my head down, I saw Jervis' head was stuffed between my s. Almost immediately, I went still as a stone and removed my right hand from the thing I touched a while ago. 

I was engrossed in figuring out ways to get myself out of here that I am unaware of Zachary's presence. He threw me a devilish smirk and all I wanted to do is to dig a grave for myself. 

With a rough tug, I push Jervis back to his spot and sprinted out as fast as I could. Finding the next nearest door, I locked myself in it. WIth a few deep breaths and a couple of water splashes onto the face, I tried to calm myself down. 

Why did I even agreed to stay last night?

Maybe it got to do with that puppy eyes or broken voice. I mean, he was so upset. He cried for goodness sake! I did not even know he is capable of crying. For some weird reasons, I felt that he needed me to be there for him and so I did. I was there for him. Though he is clearly in a better mood now, I, on the other hand,  felt embarrassed! 

I accidentally touched his... groin area. Not that I have not seen it before, but having a physical contact is a whole new different level. 

Staring at myself in the mirror, I saw a wide wet patch staining my shirt. That caused me to groan even louder.

Great, now I have to clean it up as well! 

"Arianna? Please open the door." I heard royal brat knocking onto the door as he tries to break in. 

"It's not my fault that I have an ! I can't help it when you're so close to me!" He stated the obvious, causing me to roll my eyes. 

Yes, sure. I am embarrassed with what happened but at the same time, I am also in the state of confusion and shock. 

It's impossible for someone like him to find a girl like me attractive. 

Some would say, oh looks does not matter. But that's all bull, it is human nature to look at physical appearance first. Because that's what captured their attention the most. Fine, let's say he did have a for overweight girls. What then? He cannot possibly find my personality wonderful right? Look at me! I'm nothing but a walking disaster and pain in the . 

I'm not nice. In fact, I am mean and unfriendly and straightforward. 

All this does not make any rational sense unless he is what I assume him to be. 

To collate more evidence, I need more time and space. I need to get out of here to sort myself out first.

It's okay, Ara. Chill. Think. 

It was as if someone answered my prayers as I heard a honk and a voice that I am super grateful for. 

"A, I swear if you don't get your right inside my car this instant, I will personally stomp through this entire palace until I find you!" Fabio shouted as he repeatedly honks. 

"Arianna! Playtime is over! Let's go back now!" Another feminine voice called out.

Sliding the window to another side, I am able to have a clearer view. Rose is sitting inside Fabio's car and his face is so red that I could feel his anger from a mile away. 

“Jer? Jervis? No, Jervis!”

"Do not break that damn door!"

"It's from Italy!"

With a swift motion, I did not even think. I jumped through the window, not realising that it was three stories high. Ended up with a sprained ankle, I dragged myself towards Fabio's car and get into the backseat. 

"You have a lot of explaining to do, A" Fabio reprimanded. 

I turned my head around and I am surprised to see royal brat chasing closely behind. 

As Fabio is yapping away, I smacked the back of his head. 

"Drive. Now." 

Sensing the seriousness in my voice, he stepped onto the gas pedal and speed away. 

Upon reaching the mansion, Fabio pushed my hair away as he inspected my neck thoroughly. He is trying to look for any signs of love bites. Sighing in relief, he carried me in a bridal style and brought me to the bathtub in his room.

Taking off my shoes carefully, he ordered "Shower first, talk later. You smell like him." 

I took a long shower as I have no idea what to tell him.  That I felt pain seeing Jervis upset and I have no idea why? Or the fact that the stupid me ran out of the house because I did not know how to react or what to say. 

Switching into a new set of fresh clothes, I laid down on Fabio's bed and waited for his arrival. He came back with an icepack on his hand. 

"Feet" He stretched out his arm and I place my leg on his palm. 

Not knowing where to start, I kept my mouth shut. Fabio has always been a brother to me. He is the only person that I could call family. Through all my ups and downs, he is there no matter what. 

"Did he force himself onto you?" Fabio breaks the silence and I takes in a deep breath. 

Oh, no.

"No, Fabio. I volunteered to stay the night with him because he was upset over something, okay? He did not violate me." I assured him while he nodded his head meekly. 

"I know. I just needed to hear you say it. You know I can never lose you, not after that incident." Fabio said with so much pain that my heart aches for him. 

"Look at me, Fabio. I am fine. No one is going to hurt me. Besides, you will never let that happen as well." I teased and he smiled a little. 

"Promise me, you will think it through before accepting." He said.

"Accepting what?" I questioned.

"Before accepting him as your soulmate." He said, stating the obvious. 

"Come on, it is only one night. Not a big deal! Nothing even happened! Isn't it a bit dramatic to call him my soulmate already?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, you have no idea what you got yourself into." He trailed on and smacked my right foot. "Alright, all done."

"You know, I do feel pain right?" I winced and rubbed my foot.

He rolled his eyes, "You'll get over it. Now, let's get you some food!"  

Throughout the weekend, I spent the time plotting ways to get near to blonde hair, aka Zachary. I know I could not get anything much from Fabio or Jervis. Besides, Rose's safety is my priority. I needed to make sure that the person she dates is not a threat to her. 

Monday arrives and classes went by as usual. Fabio took leave to tend his family business while I followed blonde hair like a super glue. It's even better that he is my partner now as I could use it as an excuse to get close to him. Heck, I even changed my seating arrangement. The process is a walk in the park since royal brat is not in school today. 

During lunchtime, I would sit right next to him and grill him with questions. On the outside, it might seem like I am interested in getting to know him better. But in actual fact, I am looking for any unusual body language and loopholes.

"So, about that Design and Technology project, I was thinking that we should start doing soon." I started.

"Oh uhm okay?" He replied with the chicken stuffed in his mouth. 

"Well, we are required to think of three ideas relating to a product, a system, and environment. Let's start with the product first.”

"Sure...." He trailed as he continued to steal a few glances towards Jervis.

"Great. We shall head out to one of the malls together then!" I blurted.

"What?" Rose and Zach said in unison.

"We need to look for inspirations and get supplies. Afterwards, we will go to your place and get the project started!" I continued.

"How about we just do it in school instead? I can call one of the guards to get us all the supplies." He murmured slowly as he cautiously looks at Rose. 

"The school does not open for the entire day! Besides, I do not fancy the idea of other classmates knowing what we are doing." I retaliated, trying to sound convincing. 

"Uhm, I do not think that is a very good idea." He trailed as he nudged Rose, waiting for her to say something. 

"Oh, sure. I mean, it's a school project after all. Go ahead and do it with Arianna!" Rose encouraged.

"Speaking of that, I think I shall start doing the assignment with Jervis as well then!" She smiled. 

"Don't overthink, Rose. I am doing it for my grades." I reassured as she nodded her head in understanding. 

School ended in a flash. Rose left us alone claiming that she will be starting on her project as well. Whereas, I sat on blonde hair's car while he drove us to the nearest cafe for a drink. He passed me a cup of chocolate with marshmallows and added a tablespoon of chocolate powder. 

I raised an eyebrow at his actions. 

"I merely saw you doing it frequently" He explained, trying to brush it off as quick as possible.

"Okay... so, do you have any ideas?" I asked.

"We can do whatever you want, I am fine with anything" He shrugged and sip on his Iced Latte.

"Well, I was thinking that we can make something that we are able to use in our daily lives. You can throw in any ideas you know? As crazy or silly it might be, I will not judge you." I remarked as I could sense his discomfort. 

"Oh... uhm, I think we can do something related to storage or entertainment?" He suggested in a low voice. 

"Such as?" 

"I don't know, we could get a cabinet and turn it into a holder for cleaning equipment? Or maybe we can create a portable projector...." 

"Sounds pretty cool! Let me write it down... Actually, we can do a soccer table game too."

Blonde hair rubbed his chin with his index finger as he is deep in thought. When he slammed his hand onto the table and said "OH, I KNOW I KNOW!", I choked on my freaking drink. It was too sudden that I did not have the time to respond. 

"How about making an indoor arcade game, such as basketball?!" He hollered.

"How do you intend on doing that?" 

He snatched the pen from my grip as he started to sketch it down excitedly. 

"We can make use of recycled materials and make a digital scoreboard ourselves. Then we can set it at different heights so that it can cater for pups, youngsters and adults!!"

"Cool, it's a great idea actually. See! You do have some kickass awesome suggestions. Why are you so insecure?" I teased.

"Well... No one really bothers to ask for my opinions. You're the one of the few who cares about what I feel and think." He said with a sheepish smile. 

We continued discussing for over an hour and settled with the final three ideas catered to the project. As the module is a 100% project-based, it is important for us to do well. Besides, I heard that cash award will be given if our idea is being selected as the top 3. And I will never say no to money. 

Later on, we travelled to quite a few places and get ourselves the materials we need. The one store that we spent the most on would be the supermart, particularly the Home and Decor department store since it has almost everything we need.

During our time here, I could say our friendship has grown better. 

I would refrain him from spending aimlessly as we always set a budget for ourselves and see if it is necessary. Meanwhile, he will always do all the labour job and even pushed the trolley with me in it. From time to time, we even made jokes and teased each other. 

It is a platonic friendship that I am utterly grateful for. It was so fun that I have forgotten the main motive for spending time with him. I neglected it completely and gain nothing useful from it. However, I am glad that I could make my first ever friend under mundane circumstances. It was not even dramatic or drastic, just peaceful and almost normal. 

Once we reach Zachary's room, we did not waste any further time and jumped straight onto the first product. 

"Are you sure you want to help in making the thing? You can just order me around and I will do everything." He asked again. 

"Zachary, it's fine. I have hands and I am sure I can deal with a simple DIY." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah... I am worried that you might get hurt. Jervis and the others will never forgive me for that." He murmurs softly but I was able to hear it. 

Ignoring his words, I initiated "Let's split the work. You do the skeleton while I will make the digital scoreboard and drill holes."

"Okay sure, smart ."

All is good until Jervis barged right into the room and throw a murderous glare at Zachary. 

"I asked you to look after her, not bring her to your god damn room!" He roared.

"Chill, Jer. Nothing happens. We are doing our projects, see!" Zachary raised his hands up in surrender. 

"She smells just like you!" Jervis growled an animalistic sound and advanced forward. 

"Arianna, get out of here. Now" Zachary shouted with so much force that I almost didn't recognise him. 

I was not one who is good at listening. Instead of doing what he said, I approached Jervis and placed my palm onto his body. I rubbed his shoulders in a circular motion and he starts to cool down slowly. 

I wanted to say something to flip Jervis off, but seeing as how it took a while for him to calm down, I decided to not speak. 

This man definitely has some anger issues and I am not that stupid to trigger him at this moment. 

"I am going to stay here and help you instead" Jervis blurted out of nowhere. Immediately, Zachary bowed his head down in submission and left his own room without complaint.

"What for? You have not even started on your own assignment!" I frowned.

"Are you for real?" He looked at me in disbelief.

"What?"

"Because I like you, like a lot and I can't stand you being with another man! Call it jealousy if you like, isn't that what you humans like to label it as." He let out an exasperated sigh.

"I was on my way back home and all I could think about is you. I know I made you upset and I do not know how to make it up to you. I was so scared and anxious that you will reject me. I am just... argh... this " 

The next thing happened so fast that I couldn't even remember what he said previously.

He smashed his lips against mine. 

And the worse part?

I kissed him back. 

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