Untouchable Fruit

Dates and Smiles

Briana's POV

The halls are mostly empty as we walk around the castle, and while they don't bother us that much, I'm still getting used to being followed by a shadow. It's nice to know that I have someone to protect me, but I think I will take up on Artemis' offer to get trained.

Seeing her in just jeans in a blouse was a shock, but a nice one. She looks so country and wholesome as we walk and the click of her boots hit the floor.

I try not to snicker because as soft and sweet as she may appear, she's a tomboy through and through, nothing soft about her.

My hand in hers is soothing though I don't know what made me grab it earlier. When we were walking beside each other so close, it was like a tug, an invisible string rhat keeps on pulling me to get closer and closer to her.

I guess this is the Soulmate Bond I've heard about all my life.

It's almost addictive in a way.

"It's annoying isn't it?" Art asks me and I pull myself out of my thoughts to turn towards her, her hold eyes looking down on me softly as we keep walking. I frown at her and she takes the second to explain. "Having people following you everywhere you go." She elaborates and I smile.

"I assume this is what Alex felt when we were little." I tell her and she snorts and shakes her head.

"Oh no. You were a feisty little girl. You didn't want help or comfort from anyone. I remember I saw you crying and I went to hug you, and you punched me. Three years younger than me and you punched me." She says in exasperation and I shrug.

"I don't like being held when I'm sad." I tell her and she laughs and nods her head.

"Copy that." She says before we stop at a door. It's a different one that fleas outside than the see through one Chelsea showed me, and I look on curiously as Artemis opens the door for us and we step out.

My mouth almost falls open as we walk outside, the color of the flowers and grass and everything here so vibrant and it almost looks like it's glowing.

"It's beautiful." I tell Art and she tugs my hand to get me moving against as she laughs.

"Of course." Her ponytail swings as we walk closer towards the empty clearing in the middle.

When we get there, she unfolds the blanket in her hands and spreads it out over the soft grass before we sit down. One of the guards, Carl I think, brings over the basket and sets it in between us. Art swats his hand away and the older man laughs as he pulls away to go stand with the others as they watch all the entry points.

I turn my attention back to Artemis who begins pulling things out of the basket, the first thing being cheese, crackers and grapes for us in a container. She opens it and the smell of the snack makes my mouth water.

"That smells amazing." I say as I reach for some food and she hums her agreement as she does the same.

We begin eating and I can't help but wonder what else there is to Artemis beyond just wanting to help her people. What other dreams and things that she likes that isn't chosen and dictated by the Court.

"Let's play a game." I offer and she looks up at me as she stuffs a cracker in her mouth and nods her head, though her eyes narrow in suspicion. "I want to play Truth." I announce and she smiles to herself.

"Alright. Winner gets what?" She asks. "The only games worth playing is when the winner gets something."

"Hmm I'm not sure." I tell her since that wasnt my goal.

"Okay. Winner gets a free pass at something at any time." She says and I laugh a little as I grab a grape and pop it into my mouth.

"Scared you're gonna do something and fuck up, huh?" I ask her and she grins at me, no shame at all found on her face as she shakes her head.

"No, not scared. I just know I can be an oblivious dick head sometimes." She admits and I nod my head in respect. It takes a lot to be abel to admit one of your flaws out loud to someone else.

"Can't we all?" I ask and she grins at me as if grateful. "You go first."

She pulls out some fancy sandwiches and sits them down in front of us, pushing the left over cheese and crackers aside, the last small bunch of grapes in my hand, though she doesn't seem to mind at all. "Alright." She concedes as she thinks. "How many countries have you been to?"

I pick up the sand which that was placed in front of me as I go through all the places I been over the past almost three years. "Ten I think. It's been ten." I tell her and she nods her head. "Which tiara is your favorite?"

"I loath all of them. Everyone knows that I'm the Princess and it's redundant to prance around the castle with one on my head. But if I had to chose it would be my simple diamond one. Pretty, small and lowkey. That way not everyone wants to stare at me and critique the different colors in my crown and what they mean. People read too much into stuff." She rants and I listen to her, knowing that she doesn't get a lot of silent support.

"You didn't put one on today. Do you feel happier?" I ask and she smiles at me.

"Thats two questions. But yes. I'm only with you, and what we are goes behind the Crown. It's more personal with that. I wouldn't taint our first date with something that represents what's trying to tear you away from me." She explains but before things get too deep, she changes the subject. "Tell me about Alex's kids"

My eyes get soft when I realize how much of her friends lives she has missed. From Alex finding his Mate, James and Alex having kids and everything in between. I can't imagine coming back to all my friends being happy and Mated and being so isolated from that feeling. "Well they are twins, and they look just like their parents. Madison is the sassiest, meanest baby I know and she's hilarious. She adores Alex and I think Ares already has her hooked too. Ashley is a very quiet baby. He rarely cries even when he's hungry, and he looks like an exact copy of Chloe." I tell her and her smile is wake and wistfully she listens.

"Their family sounds amazing." She says and I nod my head with a smile.

"They just turned one last week, and they are the most adorable kids ever." I tell her and I notice a few tears in her eyes rhat make me sad, but I ignore them as she blinks them away. "What's your favorite talent?" I ask, still in awe that she can do them all.

"I get asked that all the time and my answer always changes." She tells me with a grin and I laugh along with her as she thinks. "I think it would have be to Fire right now."

"Fire? I would have guessed.... yeah okay that makes sense." I admit and she nods with a laugh. There a pause in question and I can feel the mood change though I don't comment on it.

"Do you want to be here?" She asks me, biting into her sandwich to appear nonchalant, but I can feel the fear rolling off of her in waves.

"If I didn't I would be in Russia right now. The accents just do something for me." I tell her and my joke makes her smile, lifting the sudden cloud over the conversation.

"Okay, yeah. Accents can be hot." She tells me and them we turn into a fit of laughter as we show each other our best accents, food being almost forgotten as we sit and talk to each other as the sun moves in the sky.

Maybe having anchors isn't so bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Awwwe I love them. I don't know how many chapters I'm going to get done but I hope it's a lot. S much as I love Arts book I've developed a favorite now and all I wanna do is write that one lmaooo. I'll try to have at least four chapters of Arts and Ben's book today.

Thoughts?

Comments?

QOTD: Has Wattpad been acting up?