"Wait, who called you?" I ask Shana suspiciously, not seeing either Virgil or Dale calling her.

"Isabelle." She says smugly. "I need to remain informed." She's referring to a maid who had taken a liking to her and really liked to gossip.

"Uh huh." I say blankly, Yanis is leading the way and I'm dreading every second that brings me closer to seeing them.

They're in the living room and I can hear raised voices, like a mini argument is going on.

Yanis barges into the room, visibly upset, I prefer to remain hidden behind him.

Excited screams start up at this.

"Oh my God!!! It's Yanis Nolan!" Julia squeals and I frown.

Shana comes up behind me with a similar expression on her face. "Bowl head is popular?"

"Yanis." Virgil says darkly, ignoring Nicole and Julia who look like they are about to evaporate from happiness.

"Hello, Virgil, I hear I owe you a punch."

"You two know each other?" Julia asks, looking morbidly pleased with the idea.

"You're supposed to be leaving." Virgil tells her blankly, ignoring her question.

Julia just ignores him and hurries over to Yanis with Nicole in tow, a phone gripped presumptuously in her hand.

Yanis just pulls me out of my hiding spot behind him and the girls flinch when they see me, I sigh wearily - I really didn't like to be mean.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." I comment dryly. "You barge into my house apparently uninvited and you're shocked to see me? Really?"

The freeze at this, blinking in confusion like they hadn't considered this, I just hear Shana evilly chuckling from behind and I'm grateful she decided not to make a scene.

"B-But." Julia stutters looking flustered for the first time. "We would just like to take a picture with you, Yanis." She says ignoring me.

Yanis doesn't like this though so he pulls me closer, instead of stepping away like they obviously expected him to. "Mon Minou, doesn't like the spotlight, I'm afraid you have to leave." He says coldly and I see their eyes widen in fear.

Dale blinks and shakes his head like he's waking up from a doze and I frown. "Who are you? What's going on?"

I try to stop Yanis but he's on a mission, he moves forward, brushing past Nicole and Julia like they aren't there and their shocked gasps elicit another wicked laughter from Shana - she's really enjoying this.

"Yanis, honestly I'm not pleased to meet you." He says coldly, crushing Dale's hand in a fierce handshake.

I ignore Virgil and Dale even though they looked like they swallowed something bitter, let them get a taste of their own medicine a little.

"I hear you're wondering who my Kitty's date is?" He turns around to address Nicole and Julia who are still stunned, I smile a little at their wrecked expressions, this is not half bad, it's a little surprising that he's using the translation of my pet name, he almost never does.

They gulp at this, their eyes are darting at the corners trying to get Dale and Virgil's attention but those two aren't even seeing them anymore - actually this is really fun!

"Can you guess?" He leans forward menacingly, letting his French accent roll off his tongue - he's pissed.

Nicole and Julia shake their head desperately, looking like they want to make a break for it.

Yanis clicks his tongue, looking genuinely disappointed. "Too bad, I had high hopes for you." He turns away at this, carefully leading me along. "Come along, mon Minou, I guess they'll have to wait and see won't they?"

"He's so terrifying." I hear Julia mutter as we make our way out.

As much as I want to turn around to check on Virgil and Dale, I force myself not to, two could play at that game.

To Yanis, I lean up to ruffle his hair. "You didn't have to go that far, those poor girls will have nightmares for a long time."

"Good." He smiles in self accomplishment.

"I can't believe you can even still call them poor girls." Shana shakes her head in disbelief. "See, this is why I'm invaluable, you need me to break the noses of anyone who tries to mess with you." She says fiercely, slapping an open palm over her fist.

I wince at this. "You're scary."

"I'm a scary ball of sunshine!" She exclaims happily, coming over to hug me but Yanis pushes her away.

"No touching, you're also on probation, I leave for a short while and come back to find out that you're all breaking mon Minou's heart." He says with faux seriousness and I burst out laughing at the expression on his face.

"Hey!" Shana exclaims in outrage. "I didn't do anything."

"You did this to his hair." He accuses, splaying out the edges of my hair that I had forgotten about, the lighter shade is actually really good looking on me but I wasn't telling Shana that.

"But it looks good." Shana says with a wobbly lip, looking affronted. "I'm going to tell on you, Maggie!" She calls pettishly, running in the opposite direction.

"Do you think she'll really tell?" I ask with an amused expression, suddenly tired with how much of a roller coaster my day has been.

"Nope, she's just looking for a reason to be in the middle of all the preparations."

I hum distractedly, the edges of my vision blurring a bit.

"You're yawning, Minou." Yanis points out, stopping our journey back to the playroom.

"I am?" I ask on another yawn, rubbing my eyes.

He just shakes his head fondly. "Want me to carry you up to your room?"

I blink at this, pouting slightly. "I can walk."

"You're walking right into a wall." He says blankly and I pause, blinking owlishly at the space in front of me and I must be seeing things because there is a wall in front of me.

"Oh wow, how did that get there?" I ask seriously, shaking my head to dispel the drowsiness.

"You're like a human sized cat." He shakes his head picking me up before I can try to run away and end up cracking my skull on a marble statue.

"Did I tell you I had a pet cat?" I ask sleepily, pawing at his face.

Yanis looks down at me briefly. "Yes, you did, a kitten, Apple." He says simply, not breaking his stride.

"I wan' to show her to you… I miss your glasses." I hum in a distracted voice, still pawing at his face.

"I can't see if you keep doing that." He scolds. "Plus I still wear my glasses sometimes.

I hear him from a distance, his voice sounds unreal like it's coming from the other side of a waterfall.

I'm not surprised I feel so sleepy and my hands fall from the sides of Yanis' face to fall by my side. "That's so nice." I mumble in disorientation.

"How can thoses two idiots be so stupid?" He mutters darkly when he thinks I'm asleep. "I should run away with you to Greece but things aren't so simple."

I let slip a small sad smile at his words which painted the situation so clearly, things weren't simple anymore.

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