butterflies | ✓

schlemiel.

After telling my maids that Gabriel asked to see me and that he told me to dress comfortably, they excitedly rushed around the room to find something. Virginia pulled out the dress: short sleeved and white, with thin sleeves and little patterns swirling over the fabric that looked like flowers. The material was the same as what my nightgowns were usually made of, but a little thicker. The hem stopped at my ankles, unlike my nightgowns (which were short to make sleeping in the Angeles heat more comfortable). Michelle handed me thin white slip on shoes and Angela carefully undid my hair, letting it drape loosely over my shoulder. They had pushed me out the door as soon as I was ready, and I quietly walked upstairs to Gabriel's room.

Not even a moment after I knocked, Gideon opened the door. He grinned down at me. "Ah, so you're the reason Gabriel was so insistent that I leave."

"Perhaps he just likes me better," I teased with a smile.

"Perhaps? Lady Lysel, it's blatantly obvious that he does."

"I was trying to be polite," I replied.

He chuckled. "You're too sweet for your own good. Go on in." He stepped aside and once I was past him, he left and shut the door behind him.

Gabriel exited his office and ran a hand through his hair. He smiled when he noticed me. "Was he bothering you?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

He let out a sigh and shook his head. "He frustrates me sometimes." He paused to think about it for a second. "Actually, he frustrates me most of the time."

I nodded once. After a few minutes of awkward silence, we took a seat on a couch and gawked at each other for another minute.

"So," I said slowly. "When do you have to do your next elimination?"

He ran a hand over his face. "My next elimination is due within the next week. After that, I can either wait until the next week or just get it over with by the next Friday."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet," He sighed. "I know I'm going to send Fleur home. As nice as she is, we just aren't meant to be. And she wants to go home. She already made it clear to me that although she loves it here and she's made some wonderful friends, she knows that she shouldn't be in the final three."

"Who else are you going to send home?"

"You," He said, grinning. "I'm kidding. Probably Delilah, so I don't have to send home another favorite. You do realize that I'm going to pick you in the end, don't you?"

"I had assumed so."

His smile brightened a little more. "Are you okay with that? Or do you want to go home?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be foolish. Of course I'm okay with it." I let out a breath. "I should probably tell you that big secret."

He just shrugged, picking at something on the couch cushion. "You don't have to tell me now."

"You should at least know it before you decide that you want to commit to me."

"I've already decided," He said. "Whatever this secret is, it doesn't matter."

"But it does," I insisted. "It's not just the anxiety and Gideon, although he's a big part of it. I'm not nearly as perfect as you think."

"Then what is it?"

It came out in a rush. "My mother broke the law. She had sex with a guy before she was married, and that resulted in her being pregnant. She was a Four. She kept me a secret for years, and then she met my father and he agreed to marry her to bring her up to a Two. He loved her and she loved him, and they always said that I was his child. I wasn't. My father was a rebel. And I told Gideon all about this and when I tried to distance myself from him, he threatened to expose it. He did once we got him convicted. He said some terrible things and tried to attack me, and that's why he was really thrown in jail. That's why I have the anxiety."

"So you're technically illegal?"

I nodded.

He let out a laugh. "You thought that would make me hate you?"

"He's still after me," I said. "Gideon, I mean. And my father...he doesn't like that I was raised by another man. He wanted me to be a rebel like him. Gideon was his best friend's son, and they have this sick idea that if they can get me to come with them down South, then they can turn me into a rebel and make me fall in love with Gideon again. It's not a danger to you yet, but if we were to get married...I don't know what would happen. Gideon is deranged, and so is my father. I don't know what they'll do."

Gabriel sighed. "That wouldn't change my opinion of you, Lysel. I still love you." He stiffened, realizing what he said. "I-I mean—"

"Gabriel," I cut him off with a laugh. "I love you too."

He smiled in relief and leaned in to kiss me. "You'll be safe, okay? Nothing will happen to us."

I looked up at him. "Promise?"

"Promise."