"Ziggy probably threw her off" Huzey interfered when he realized Ziggy was not answering. The prince was still absorbed with his book, flipping from pages to pages.

"Of course I didn't, she was on leave!" the Montreal boy contended. However, despite his pretend innocence, guilty expressions protruded in every corners of his face.

"Then if she was on leave then you must know when she will come back" Huzey added to render Ziggy's statement doubtful "Apparently, you don't"

"If you don't believe me then go an ask Ellie" Ziggy glared at him.

The side of Huzey's mouth pulled up before he answered, mocking Ziggy. "Of course Ellie will not say a word against his young sire"

"What have you done Ziggy?" Xhemin questioned him just after Huzey threw a shade on the boy.

"I did nothing" He defended.

Xhemin drew an accusing brow at Ziggy "You are not good at lying just so you know"

"Why do I felt like you both are teaming up against me?" Ziggy whined. Feeling annoyed over his friend's instigation, Ziggy went out the room, stumping his feet as he made his way to the exit.

"Guilty!" Xhemin shouted over the withdrawing Ziggy. "Obviously he did something to Sam. Totally defensive!"

"Just let him be" Huzey uttered nonchalantly.

When Ziggy left, the room sank in silence. Huzey dug himself with the book that he was doting for a while now while Xhemin went to stare at the windows, her thoughts were deep and her expression was frigid.

Bothered with the deafening silence, Huzey's eyes that were skimming through the pages travelled from his book to the girl that was staring blankly somewhere.

"Tired?" He asked, his voice obviously startled her.

Xhemin didn't answer, instead she heaved a sigh and nodded in response to him.

"Should I leave so you can rest?" He alluded as he closed his book and pulled himself up from where he sat.

"No!..." She said hastily, as if afraid to be alone " Just… just stay right here"

Xhemin's expression drew confusion in Huzey's face, but he already knew she was not okay when she went on crying endlessly in his arms. For the last few years he had spent with her, Huzey knew the girl rarely cries and when she does, then the reason behind were huge —like the day their granddad banished them off from Richmond Ranch.

"You okay?" He asked with a voice soft and gentle.

Xhemin glanced at him, surprised, and then she cleared her throat and wiped off some wetness in her eyes, trying to pull herself up together "I'm fine"

Unconvinced, Huzey pressed on "If this about the Lagdameo heir throwing you out…"

"He must probably have his reasons" She cut him off before the boy could say something that would only make her feel worst.

Xhemin's answers hinted out that she was not ready to talk through it all, not wanting to embarra.s.s the girl, Huzey pretended not to notice the wetness that still clung to her cheekbones. He sat back to his previous spot and kept quiet. If she does not want to talk about it then he will not force her, he will just be there to give her a company like he always does.

The room grew silent again and once in a while, in between his readings, Huzey secretly checked on the little missus, studying her expression at the corner of his eyes.

"Huzey" She called after what seemed like forever.

"Yes?"

"Do you think..." She paused, settled some lump in her throat before she continued "Do you think he loves me?"

For the first time that day, Xhemin's eyes met Huzey's and their gaze held on for minutes. Xhemin's dark eyes dug into the eyes of the man before her and suddenly, her stares got drowned somewhere under his ocean deep blue eyes and deeper within.

There were something in Huzey's eyes today that she couldn't exactly describe, something that she haven't noticed before, something that made her get lost in an unknown and completely unfamiliar terrain—as if today the diamond prince forgot to wear his mask that gave her a chance to see through the depths of his soul.

"Love?"

"Yeah" She answered, still transfixed to his eyes.

"I can't tell" He answered honestly "But you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think it's too early for you to think about love"

"Too early? What you mean?"

"What I mean is that all this—the Lagdameo heir and you thing…" Huzey started as he went to move to where the girl was "… this could be just something you have to go through. Remember coach gem's words? Sometimes people come to our lives not to stay but to give us a lesson"

"Not to stay but to give us a lesson" She repeated the last words, looked away momentarily, and then sighs again dejectedly.

"That's right. You are too young to fall deeply. And the thing that you guys have might be just some sort of an infatuation…" Huzey put his hands on her cheeks and gently pulled her face to him and went on "not really you know…love"

"You think so?"

"Well, what you both had…It happened so sudden that there was no time to think it through. The feelings came also pretty intense that both of you become totally aggressive with it but at some point, it will just subside and you'll wake up one day realizing that all the feelings were gone"

Huzey cursed at his own words. He did not like the emotions that Xhemin's face painted at the moment. It must have been hard for the girl to hear those words, but it must be said.

She smiled bitterly "But how do you know if its love?"

"It is unconditional" He answered without wavering, as if those things were something he knew first hand. As if he had learned the whole love ordeal and had been felt short of his own expectations

"How unconditional?" Her voice m.u.f.fled as she whispered. She was just inches from the boy and despite the gap, she could feel his warmth. The warmth he always had with him, the kind of warmth that can make one leave their hearts with a.s.surance that they will kept away, safe and untouched.

"Like giving up the person you love the most to someone that makes her happy" He said to her. His voice was raw, sincere and full of unsaid emotions.

"How come you know these things?" She asked confused and curious of how their conversation went off.

"I just knew" He answered as he gave her a bittersweet smile.