"This is going to be too weird. I should leave you and your friends alone." River says nervously as we walk down to the cafeteria.

"It's not going to be weird." I assure him. "Stop stressing over it, alright?"

He pouts. "I can't. I'm their leader and they're my wife's friends. I don't know how it can't be weird."

"Easy. Just pretend you're not their leader and be yourself. You know, the part that doesn't involve The Blue Assassins at all."

"Right." He nods and I grab his arm, making him stop walking.

"Wait." I look up at him. "I just thought of this... But why is called The Blue Assassins?"

River smiles. "Well, Kinsey Ashmore, my ancestor, was forced to take this drug that made his blood blue and was later on assassinated. My other ancestors made a vow to assassinate the killer and when they killed him, more killers were revealed."

"So, " he continues, "they kept assassinating the killers involved. Once their revenge was fulfilled, they realized there were many other killers in the world who may have done the same thing to other people. And there they created the organization to assassinate people, in honor of my ancestor's assassination."

I laugh as he takes a deep breath. "Wow. That's a really long story."

"It sure is hard to tell."

"It makes sense, though. I understand them. Your ancestors, I mean." I say and he chuckles softly.

"Really?" River raises his eyebrows. "I thought you would disagree with the whole thing."

"Well, I obviously wouldn't encourage it. But I understand." I shrug.

River gives me a big old smile. "You're an extraordinary person. You know that?"

"I never noticed." I grin and he rolls his eyes.

"What a narcissist you are."

"An extraordinary narcissist."

He laughs and puts his arms around me. I suddenly feel him tickling my sides and I yelp.

"No!" I laugh, trying to push him away. "Stop! R–River, stop! No tickling! I hate tickling!"

"Sorry." He apologizes but continues to tickle me. Not being able to control myself anymore, I elbow his stomach and he groans.

"Finally!" I sigh in relief, clutching my stomach.

He glares at me. "Why'd you do that? Jesus, that hurts."

"I was defending myself." I respond and he shakes his head.

"No." River leans on the wall, closing his eyes. "I'm pretty sure you wanted to beat me up."

"Oh, I didn't realize that was an option!"

River huffs. "You're despicable."

"Thank you, Daffy Duck." I grin and he frowns. He crosses his arms while shooting me a dirty look.

"Aw, come on, River! It's that bad." I say to him but he turns away from me. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry, alright? I'm really, really sorry. Do you forgive me?"

He gives me a sly smile. "Only if you can beat me to the cafeteria."

And with that, he runs away leaving my clueless self behind. It takes me a moment to process the situation before I run after him.

"Wait!" I call out. "That's not fair! You got a head start! Ugh, River! Wait up!"

"Sorry, my queen!" He yells and I roll my eyes.

"Just wait!" I whine as I see the cafeteria doors around the corner. He glances back at me and slows down a bit.

Grinning, I zoom forward and literally crash into the doors. I land on the ground, muttering curse words under my breath.

"Hey, hey. You okay?" River asks, holding up my head.

"I'm fine." I mumble angrily.

He chuckles. "Calm down, my queen. You still won."

I smirk. "I did, didn't I?"

He nods and pecks my lips. I use his shoulders to stand then open the doors.

"You ready?" I take his hand, squeezing it.

"Um...sure." He gulps as he stares at the table my friends are at.

"Okay." I smile. "Let's go."

We walk, hand in hand, to the table and Alexis grins at me.

"Hey, lovebirds." She winks while Sam whistles.

Cody bows to River. "Good morning, Leader."

"Uh, no need for that. This is off the record."

"Great." Drake pipes up. "My neck kind of hurts and bowing would probably make it worse."

"Shut up and throw me a fry." I laugh. He throws directly into my mouth and I give him a thumbs up.

River whispers in Alexis' ear. "Is that normal?"

"Very." She answers and I pull him to my side. River chuckles softly as he fidgets in his seat. When I hold his hand, he visibly relaxes.

"Any news on the cure?" Sam questions.

"We're still working on it." River responds. "But we're definitely getting closer."

Cody sighs in relief. "That's good."

"But don't you have a time limit right now?" Drake raises an eyebrow at me.

"Well, yeah. I still have a month, though." I say and Alexis leans over.

"I don't mean to be a pessimist." She starts. "But isn't it possible that the drug could be speeding up inside you? Isn't there a chance that it may be going faster than you think?"

I bite my lip. "Yes, there's a chance. It's not a very large one, fortunately."

"Besides, the lab has a sample of her blood and they'll be on the look out for any changes." River adds and I nod.

"So there's nothing to worry about?" Drake asks.

"No." I smile reassuringly. "Getting rid of me is much harder than you think."

We begin to talk about other subjects when River squeezes my hand.

"The kitchen was recently stocked so I'm gonna go get us a big breakfast." He says, kissing my cheek, then he stands up.

I grin up at him. "Don't take too long."

"Why?" River smirks. "Are you gonna miss me?"

"No, I'm just really hungry." I scoff and he chuckles.

"Sure, my queen." River shakes his head as he walks to the kitchen.

I open the refrigerator and fill up the plates with her favorite food.

I have really strong feelings for Blair. To be honest, I don't know even know why I haven't said 'I love you' to her yet. Maybe I should say it tonight when we're alone...

Smiling, I pour apple juice into a cup and picture Blair's face when I say those three little words.

"Leader!" Someone shouts and I turn around. It's Wilbur.

I furrow my eyebrows. "Hey, Assassin Wilbur. What's wrong?"

"Blair's blood! It's changing! The drug is having a faster effect."

"What?" I put down the apple juice carton. "What does that mean?"

"She doesn't have a month, Leader. I don't think she even has a week!" He exclaims and my eyes widen.

A scream disrupts us and I run out of the kitchen.

Everyone becomes silent as I run to her. As I held her in my arms, shouting. One of our doctors rush to us.

But there was nothing he could do.

I scream in pain and push them away. I couldn't believe them. This isn't happening.

It can't be.

I love her!

She promised me!

She has to stay with me!

No!

Blair...

Blair's dead.