Since Monday, first day of classes, the prince hadn’t talked to Skyler.  He knew that the prince was angry at him, thought of him as a liar and a playboy and yet, he didn’t do anything to about it. So by Friday, fate decided to bring them together by ending up as partners for a group project; a long-term project.

“Damn that teacher. If it’s going to be a long-term project, he should have made us choose our own partners to work with someone that we are comfortable with.” The prince complained to nobody in particular but apparently, Skyler has no choice but to be a listener because they are now facing each other to supposedly ‘spend the rest of the period to plan about the project’ as the teacher said.

After listening to a couple more of complaints, Skyler decided to start planning for the project but suggesting topics but the prince wasn’t in the mood to cooperate. “Listen, if it’s going to be ‘choose your own partner’. Some people there won’t have partners and still end up with someone they’re not comfortable with. It’s not much different.”

“Heh. You’re just saying that because obviously, nobody would choose you to be their partner. I mean like who would want to be your partner, anyway?” Castor folded his arms as he leaned back on his chair.

“Oh, you just don’t know.” Skyler smirked. “There’s a lot of people out there willing to be my partner, wanting to be my partner. Especially, in bed.”

Castor dropped his jaw in surprise before remembering to close it as he blushed in embarrassment. “ert!” He thought that Skyler got offended since the blonde stood up. “Hey, where are you going? I didn’t mean to offend you but you started it!!!”

Skyler raised an eyebrow. “I’m not offended. It’s just that you aren’t being cooperative or helpful. Why should I stay here and waste my time? I’m going out. You can tell the teacher that I was the one being uncooperative instead. After all, we wouldn’t want the prince to look bad, do we?” He turned when he felt a pair of hands latch unto his arm.

“Don’t go.” Castor pulled Skyler and forced the blonde to sit back on his chair. “Okay, let’s discuss this project. The sooner this is over, the sooner I can get you out of my life.” He said determinedly. But his determination faltered a bit as he looked into Skyler’s blank and emotionless eyes.

“A few months ago, I was just a nobody. I felt unwanted, not needed. I forgot about that feeling until now. So anyways, about this project.” Skyler talked about the ideas he had in mine for the project. All Castor had to do was to agree to disagree. He was surprise on how Skyler can easily change his attitude. Then they decided on the days and time that they would have to meet with each other for the project.

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For the next few days, Skyler and Castor have been meeting with each other for the project during dismissal time. They would work on it at Castor’s private cottage, which is just walking distance from Skyler’s dormitory. Most of the time, the three rivals would invite themselves to make sure that Castor is alright and that the prince wouldn’t get or something. Sometimes, they (especially Rascor) would pick on a fight with Skyler. Castor would always kick out the three rivals after an hour or so because they’re such a bother and nothing gets done.

For Skyler, he didn’t mind the noise and chaos or whatsoever. He can concentrate and work on the project just fine so by the time the three rivals are kicked out, he won’t take too long finishing up his part and leaving. But today was unlike any other days. He was somewhat bothered that the three rivals didn’t show up at all so he ended up finishing his part a lot later than usual. Plus, Castor invited him to stay for dinner.

“Wait here while I prepare dinner.” Castor said as he stood up.

“I’ll help.”

Castor was surprise by this. He was expecting a reply of ‘you’re cooking?!?!’ and not an offer of help. “Okay.” Castor was simply cooking spaghetti but it looked more lively on the plate with Skyler’s garnish. Castor made the drink; fresh orange juice as Skyler prepared the table. After all this, they say across from each other and started to eat their dinner.

“It’s good.” Skyler said after having his first taste on the spaghetti.

“Thank you.” That made Castor really happy because he can clearly see that Skyler was being sincere. He was used to hearing or seeing the person’s expression with ‘I tasted something better than this’. “You’re pretty talented too. Nice garnish.” He said as he took a flower shaped carrot and plopped it in his mouth.

The rest of the dinner was spent with silence. It was only after dinner that they began to talk again. Skyler offered his help again so he ended up drying the dishes after Castor had washed it. Just as Castor offered another wet dish to Skyler, there was a sudden black out. Out of fright and surprise, Castor dropped the plate, which broke down into pieces as it reached the floor.

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In the morning, Castor felt really comfortable and warm as he cuddled on his pillow. The strange thing was that this pillow had a heartbeat and is…// Breathing?!?!?! // The prince snapped his eyes wide opened. He was staring unto a person’s chest. He looked up and saw golden eyes staring back at him.

Skyler looked down at Castor’s midnight blue eyes as he tried to remember the events last night. A black out, comforting Castor, sleeping with Castor as in literally. They just slept on the couch. The electricity never did came back last night. The prince was too frightened so Skyler couldn’t just leave him alone. Now, he is feeling lazier than usual on getting out of bed; or couch for that matter; since he’s really feeling comfortable right now.

“We should get up. Classes starts in an hour.” Castor spoke softly.

“Yeah.” Skyler agreed but neither of them made a move.

A few more minutes later, the only move that Skyler made was to Castor’s back and Castor giving out a contented purr like a cat. “I’m really comfortable right now. I don’t want to be anywhere right now.” The prince said honestly. “Why can’t you always be nice like last night?”

Skyler stopped Castor’s back after the question was asked but that didn’t mean that he stopped because of the question. Instead, he began to laugh that earned him a curious look from the prince. “It’s just that we were talking about getting up and going to school. Then I realized that today is Saturday.” He laughed again with Castor this time.

“Do you have any plans for today?” Castor asked when the laughter died down.

“Yeah.”

“Oh…” Clearly disappointed.

“Why? You wanted to spend time together?” Skyler smirked when he saw that Castor blushed at the question.

“N-no…it’s not that…” Castor stuttered and denied. “Why would I want to spend my weekend with someone I hate?” He yelped as he found himself being pushed and falling off the couch. “What did you do that for?!?!” He sat up on the floor.

“I just figured since you hate me so much, you shouldn’t be cuddling with me.” Skyler sat up. “You brought it upon yourself the reasons why I can’t be nice towards you.” He fixed himself a bit. “I won’t be here Monday dismissal so I’ll just work double time on Tuesday. Have a good day.” He said as politely and as emotionless as he could before leaving the cottage.

“UGH!!!” Castor punched the pillow in frustration. // You’re such an idiot, Castor. He actually started to act nice towards you but you just had to say that you hate him and it’s not even true. // He went back lying on the couch and hugging the pillow. He can still smell Skyler’s scent on it.

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It was already evening when Castor visited Skyler’s dorm to apologize. He was polite to knock at first but nobody was answering. He was hearing sounds as well. He thought that maybe Skyler was too busy to open the door so he decided to open it himself since the door wasn’t lock anyways. He wasn’t prepared at the sight that greeted him.

“I’m so sorry for intruding!!!” Castor said it so fast and went back out of the room again. His face was very flushed and his heart was beating fast. He looked at the number that was placed on the door to make sure that he had the right room. // But this really is Skyler’s room and yet there were two guys having… // He flushed some more as he recalls the sight.

Then the door opened and Skyler walked out. Castor just had to stare in surprise and blink a few times. It looks like Skyler just came out from a shower since his hair was wet and he seem to have strong vanilla scent. It must be from the soap or shampoo he uses. “What were you doing in there?!?!” Castor exclaimed.

“Huh? Oh, you’re there.” Skyler turned to see Castor. Then he made sure to lock the door before he closed it. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”

“Well, yeah…but the people in that room…they needed privacy!!! Who were those people anyway?” Castor asked as he followed Skyler, who began walking to the hallway.

“My dorm mate and his lover. They actually like it when people get to see them accidentally. It makes them feel more excited so they leave the door unlock. But it only happens if they broke up or had a fight and made up because it is usually my dorm mate’s lover who would come to him and apologize. Usually, my dorm mate would spend most of his night at his lover’s apartment. I bet his only reason to have a room in this dorm is for a place to stay if he have a fight with his lover.” Skyler explained until they reached outside of the dorm. They were are at the backyard of the dorm now. “So what brings you here?”

After hearing that question, Castor’s blush faded and turned serious. “I wanted to apologize.”

“There’s nothing wrong with expressing yourself. It’s not the first time you said that you hated me either.” Skyler leaned against the wall and looked up at the stars. It was a beautiful night. “You’re not the first person to say that either.” He added.

“I don’t hate you.” Castor said softly, which made Skyler to focus his attention on the prince again. “I never meant it when I said I hated you. Well, I don’t like how you act sometimes but I don’t hate you.”

“Why were you mad at me, anyway?” Skyler asked.

“Because you lied about not having a boyfriend and stole my first and second kiss. I was hurt. I think at some point, I was even heart broken.” Castor admitted. Then he looked at Skyler with a smile. “But I’m fine now so let’s be good friends.”

Skyler looked at him coldly and replied with “No. I don’t need a friend who doesn’t trust me. Come on, I’ll walk you back to your cottage.” He started to walk and grabbed Castor by the arm.

“Aw! Loosen your grip a bit.” With that, Skyler obliged. “And I do trust you.”

“Then will you believe me when I say that I don’t have a boyfriend?” Silence.

“But he kissed you.” Castor reasoned out.

“It was a simple brush against the lips. It was friendly and nothing more than that. He’s going out with Darwin, my other best friend. Heck, even Darwin does that sometimes to me. It doesn’t mean anything. Why were you so angry about that, anyway? To the point of ignoring me. Geez, you act like a jealous boyfriend.” Skyler paused and turned around to look at Castor. “You don’t like me like that, do you?”

Castor widened his eyes and blush was forming on his cheeks. “Of course not! I like you but not like that!!!” Or at least, he refuse to admit it’s like that since he just realized it now. // Oh great! I have a crush on Skyler. // He felt more of sarcasm than being happy because he can’t believe he would like someone that would purposely hurt people. He was also sure that Skyler won’t return his feelings.

Skyler didn’t reply to that. He just began walking again, tagging Castor along. The rest of the walk was in silence but Castor decided to speak out though in a shy manner. “I’ll trust you from now on so can we be friends?”

Pause. They are now in front of Castor’s cottage. “Goodnight.” Skyler said as he turned to start walking back towards his dorm. He heard Castor sigh before the sound of opening and closing the door.

“You’re such a heartbreaker, Skyler.” Xien, who was hiding behind the tree showed up. “You probably don’t want to be friends with Prince Castor because you want to date him but I won’t allow that. I know for a fact that you like dating people for a limited time and dumping them afterwards. Dating without commitment is your hobby. You’re the worst. Did you hear all that, your highness?"

Skyler turned to see that the prince was standing by an opened window. By the prince’s frown, it was clear that he heard everything. “He’s wrong about one thing.” He told the prince and saw a glitter of hope in the prince’s eyes. “I don’t want to be friends AND…” He paused for a while to emphasize. “I don’t plan to date you.” The hope in the prince’s eyes was crushed whether it was because of the refusal of friendship or date or both. Skyler felt a bit guilty but that’s just how he was, a heartbreaker. He turned and walked briskly out of the scene before he change his mind and comfort Castor.

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A/N: Comments are appreciated. Sorry for the typos and wrong grammars if there is any ^_^;; I have no beta reader >.>