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"Do you accept?" The Prince repeats himself.

I blink and my throat grows parched. There's a thicket of silence between us. I'm still wrapping my head around all this. He wants help with the pregnancy allegations by fake-dating me? There has to be a better way, right? He's the Prince, can't he come up with something else? Also, why me? There are tons of girls out there, many of them he's interacted with before. He has only interacted with me once. Why me?

I don't want to date him, it doesn't even matter if it's fake or not. I'm not sure if it'll even feel organic. He's done many questionable things in his past, things I'm not sure I want to look over.

He observes my silence and tries to reassure me. "It will be fake, and it will benefit you as well. That vampire who attacked you last night? He's still out there. I will keep you safe from him and you'll help me with this, deal?"

My skin starts to itch and I bite my lip. Chewing on my skin, I weigh my options. Okay, either I can date―excuse me, sorry, fake date―the Prince of ArchDale and have his protection. Or leave him to fend for himself and deal with the vampire attack on my own.

Shivers travel up my spine at the thought of it attacking me again. Having a vampire bite you isn't as uncommon as it may seem. It happens to many people. The ones that are lucky enough to not have it happen to them are a rarity. I thought I was a rarity. No vampire has ever paid any attention to me before. Why would one happen to care so much and bite me?

I can't date the Prince, I don't care if it's fake or not. I won't be comfortable. He's a Prince for crying out loud. This isn't like dating a regular person. He's the most famous prince on planet earth. If someone was to get wind that he was dating someone, fake or not, they'd lose their marbles. We'd become the center of attention. I'd be thrust into this world of fame and flashing camera lights. That's not what I want. I want low-key. I want privacy. I prefer not being out in the open.

Besides, I can't fake date someone, much less the Prince of ArchDale. Let's be real, it's me I'm talking about here, I'd catch feelings. A guy from freshman year once held the door open for me and I still think about him. I can't fake anything.

I've come to my decision. I only hope that he allows me to stand by my decision. If he wanted to make me do this, he can, but I hope he doesn't make me.

"No," I say.

He nods his head, expecting that I said yes then his eyes grow wide. His posture falls in surprise and he looks at me like he would at a half-solved puzzle.

"No?" He repeats what I said.

I nod and I purse my dry lips, "Nope, I refuse your offer, your highness."

My anxiety surfaces and nerves grip me like a tight rope around my hand. My palms flood with sweat and I rub them together trying to get rid of it. I swallow as I wait for his next words.

Questions hang onto his parted lips, "Why? I don't understand." With his brows furrowed, he fixes his position on the chair. I'm sure it's not every day someone rejects his proposals.

"I don't want to. Um, may I ask you a question, your highness?" I ask. I don't want to say something that could offend him. I need to be careful with my words so that I don't get too comfortable. He is the Prince, after all.

He nods, giving me the go-ahead.

"Well, why me? Why did you ask me when you've hung around other girls? I'm sure they wouldn't mind hanging around you." I mumble as I play with my fingers.

He sighs, "They frustrate me. You don't."

Now it's my turn to appear confused, "You don't know me. How can you say that?"

He regains his posture and leans back in his chair. "You're my lawyers' daughter. I've said before that I know things about you."

My body tenses when he says that. What does he know about me? What information have my parents granted him? I fix my posture on the bed.

"L-Like what?" I ask.

He looks up at the ceiling as he thinks. "Well, I know that you're sixteen and you attend ArchDale Central High School. I also know that you love macadamia nut cookies, your favorite food is pizza, and you love history."

"You got one wrong." I squeeze my eyes shut the moment I say that. Good going, Adara. Nothing like correcting a royal. Why don't you hold up a sign saying that you want to die? 'Cause, that's what's about to happen.

He raises an eyebrow and he leans forward in the chair. Resting his elbows upon his knees, the edge of his lips lifts, "Oh yeah? What did I get wrong?"

I swallow hard at the sound of his voice. It's as if he's teasing me almost. "My favorite food isn't pizza, it's spaghetti." I cross my arms, looking away from him. We're venturing into a sort of conversation in royals and commoners shouldn't have. It seems too personal. I don't know, I may be reading into it too much.

His eyes become a little wide, "Spaghetti? That's your favorite food?"

I nod, not understanding the big deal, "Yeah, it is. What's wrong with that?"

He shakes his head, looking away from me, "Oh nothing, I'm also a fan of spaghetti. See we have a lot in common, it's why I decided to come to you."

Okay so we have the same favorite food, so what? I'm sure plenty of people love spaghetti. "I'm sorry, your highness, but I don't want to be your fake girlfriend. Um, may I go home now?" I ask, looking around the room.

I still have no idea where I'm at. I want to go home.

He nods as he avoids eye contact with me, "Of course, let us go."

He stands from the chair and my neck cranes up to look at him. I get off the bed and he stands at least a foot taller than me, if not higher. I always knew that he was tall but I never knew how tall. My head reaches his chest. I've never been this short compared to a person ever. Not even my dad.

He looks down at me with those piercing light brown eyes. His lips are set in a straight line and his body language gives nothing away about how he feels. With one hand behind his back, he offers his hand out to me. I eye it with obvious hesitance.

"Hold my hand, Adara." He gives me an order, but his voice is tender. That's ironic. When delivering an order shouldn't one's voice be rough and cut to the point? Instead, his voice is calm, tender, and patient.

With creased brows, I place my small hand in his bigger one. He closes his hand around mine. Warmth circulates in our hands but I ignore it as we walk out of the room. We walk into a living room then he opens the front door, and we go outside to the car.

"Where are we?" I ask, looking at all the trees.

He presses a button on the key fob and the car unlocks. The driver and passenger's side door open with another click of a button on the key fob. "At my home, in Violet Olive Woods. It's a bit far from your house. Closer to the Palace. We'll get to your house in about twenty minutes."

"Oh, okay," I answer then he leads me to the passenger side and I get in. I mutter a 'thank you' to him as he assists me inside. He gives me a curt nod then he goes over to his side and gets in. Starting the car, we drive to my house.

Hmm, I didn't know that he had his own home. I assumed he lived at the Palace. I check the time on the dashboard. It's early in the morning. This means my vampire attack was yesterday. Do my parents know where I've been? Oh, I must have worried them sick.

As we drive through the forest, the breeze whips around me. I'm thankful that he wound down the windows so that the breeze can fill in the silence. I close my eyes as I take in the fresh air. We passed many trees along the way and no other homes. It does me great pleasure to see so many trees. Meanwhile, in the city, they're cutting down trees to build new gas stations and whatnot.

"How are you feeling?" He breaks me out of my thoughts.

I turn to him, "Okay. A little bit weak, but good." I try to answer in as many short words as possible. It feels sort of weird having this regular conversation with him.

"That's normal. It should recede within the day. Also, when I drop you home, please give this to your parents. It'll explain everything to them." He takes up a card from the cup holders between us and hands it to me.

Our fingers brush against one another as he hands it to me. I hold my breath at the touch and I immediately look away. I release my breath as I twirl the card around my fingers. I turn it over to read it.

Good day, Mr&Mrs De Clare,

I'm sure you're worried about why your daughter wasn't home last night when you arrived. It's easy to explain. A vampire attacked her, but I thwarted the predator. There is an ongoing search for him, don't worry. Your daughter will be safe. She was at my home last night because she needed a blood transfusion. Don't worry, I'm qualified to administer one. She is okay now. If you have any questions please direct them to your daughter or me the next time we see each other.

Sincerely,

Prince of ArchDale

I stare at his signature at the end of the page. It doesn't say his name. Only his title. What's his name? He has one, doesn't he? In all my life, I've never heard anyone refer to him as anything other than his title.

This makes me want to know his name even more.

It's sweet of him to inform my parents of what happened. I imagine that if I came out and said that the Prince of ArchDale saved me, it wouldn't be well received. They'd think that I'm lying.

"Thank you, you didn't have to do this," I say, looking at him. He watches the road before us. I take in how concentrated he seems to be. Driving seems like a lot of stress. I'm not sure if I want to do it.

He looks at me then back at the road. "It's no problem."

→⁜←

We arrive at my house and I unbuckle my seatbelt. I had expected him to speed through the streets like a mad man but he was rather careful. I didn't know that about him. There's so much that I assumed about him due to how he's portrayed in the media. For example, he seems to be the kind of person to yell at you but he's cool. At least, that's what I garner from our short time together.

"Thank you, your highness. For saving me and everything." I say and I wait for his response for a few seconds but I get nothing more than a nod. When I realize I'm not getting a verbal response, I get out of the car.

I walk up the steps to the front door but I stop when I hear his voice. "Wait." He calls after me.

I spin around to see him running toward me. "Please. I need your help, Adara." He pleads with me. I never thought I'd see the Prince of ArchDale look so. . .sincere.

I look into his eyes then the weak part of me caves, "I'll think about it." With that he lets me go.