Freya slept peacefully through the night, and morning came for her before she even realized it. Even though her alarm did not go off, her own inner clock had her awake around 6:15 but she laid there for another fifteen before hearing a knock at the door. It was James, checking in on her to see how she was coming along with her morning. Breakfast sounded so good, she groaned. "Mmmhm." She nodded into her pillow as she continued to lay there. She knew she should get up, but the blankets were so warm and she was slightly groggy from being up so late last night. She shouldn't have stayed up as late as she did..but it was her own fault, and now she was paying for it.

Making herself leave her warm prison, she showered and got changed into white sneakers and black pants and a pistachio sweater before putting on a pair of her white frames with small hearts. Opening her door, she was brushing her hair out, and left the brush on the shelf by the door as she went to sit at the table, yawning. "Guh Mornin' Jmms." She attempted a proper greeting. She had clearly not recovered from being up and rested her head against the palm of her hand, letting herself drift off again at the table, softly snoring. It was going to be a long day ahead of her.

She got into the shower that was a start. A small smile curled the corners of James’s lips as he heard the water going. Thank goodness he didn’t have to try to convince her to get out of bed as he worked in the kitchen. He could hear the shuffle of her sleepy feet, the shower could only do so much to wake her up and with that knowledge, James prepared a lovely set of tea for her to have along with her breakfast.

It took a moment for James to realize that Freya had started snoring once again. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly to himself as he readied her plate and placed it in front of her. “Miss.” He said, his voice a little louder than normal to jolt her awake. “You have a meeting with a councilor today before your classes to discuss where you’d like to take your career than you begin your basic classes for this term, reading, writing, speech, and math.” He placed two pieces of paper next to her and pointed to the first one. “This is a map of the campus, I have marked your classes with stars with a key over here in the corner so you know what color star is what class and I’ve also marked campus food spots if you don’t feel like coming home for a snack and the councilor’s office is highlighted in gold.”

Freya snored softly for a few minutes before she was startled by James talking to her. "What?!" She shot up, frantically looking around as she felt for her glasses in her panic. "What? Oh - James. Hi. Nice to see you." She smiled, as she put her glasses back onto her face, pretending like she just wasn't jolted awake from her mini nap. "Counsler?" She raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't that be decided after I see the classes?" She wondered aloud and glanced over towards the pieces of paper he had put out in front of her. Nodding as he went over the first paper, and her attention went towards the spread that he had made. At the prospect of eating anyone's cooking other than James' own she gasped.

"B-But I don't know what they're using! What if I eat something that I'm allergic to and don't even know I'm allergic to? What if I hate it? What if I love it and I can never eat your cooking again?! James I don't think I could live like that!" Freya was letting her imagination get the better of herself and was sending herself into a panic. She inhaled incorrectly, sending a bit of fluid down her windpipe which caused her to cough suddenly for a few moments.

She reached for the tea and smelled it before beginning to drink it. She needed to fix what just happened with her lungs a moment ago. He had chosen a Ginkgo Biloba tea! It would give her some energy and he must have known the first day would be full of things that were going to stress her out, and this tea helped ease feelings of anxiety, and had calming effects, too. Her panic slowly began subsiding the further into the tea she got until she was finished and sighed after it was all gone. "Sorry. I tend to...get..carried away." She laughed embarassed as she began digging into the rest of her breakfast. "Aren't you going to be bored while I'm gone at classes, James? I mean - this isn't like our house. It's pretty small so there aren't like hundreds of tasks for you to do until I get back from school." Her eyes scanned over her schedule again, and then drew attention to the second paper he mentioned. "What's this?"

Her panic about if she liked someone else’s cooking more than his didn’t stress him out; in fact it did quite the opposite. James felt a pulling on his heart when she expressed that she didn’t think she could live enjoying someone else’s cooking. It was adorable to say the least and she seemed to not only want to be his friend but enjoyed the work that he did! Comfort filled him when he came to that realization that she wasn’t going to fire him over his lack of ability to do his job. Then again Adrian was always on his case about the work he was doing and for the life of him, James could never figure out why.

Maybe it had something to do with Adrian seeing himself in James. But the words out of his mouth were what drove James to want to seek education for cooking. He could still hear those words, “James, a butler’s cooking should never be outmatched by a lowly chief at a pathetic restaurant.” Sure his choice of words weren’t exactly the kind but it made sense to him. He should always try to provide the best service for his master, or in this case his Mistress.

Refilling her tea cup with a practiced grace he placed the pot back on the table and looked back down at the paper, “I took the liberties of writing down classes I thought you should discuss with the councilor today based on you personality I’ve observed over the time we’ve know each other. I apologize if I am overstepping my bounds as a butler.” He said softly as he stepped away from her to let her finish her meal.

As James replenished her tea, she graciously nodded towards him as she began her second cup while he explained what the second paper was all about. "Oh!" She blinked and smiled towards him. "Nonsense. Thank you, James. I appreciate you thinking ahead like this. You know I can be a bit scatter brained." She continued eating and once she was finished, gave a stretch before standing up and looking at her schedule again. "I should get going to see that counsler. Thanks for breakfast, James! It was awesome. I'll be back after the first half of my classes are over." She smiled as she grabbed a few lollipops on her way out and her bookbag before the door shut behind her with a soft click.

So this was it. She was actually here and headed to talk to her counsler for the first time. She hoped they would get along. Once she arrived, she greeted the older man that was sitting behind the desk and began talking about what classes she would begin taking since her transfer. They talked for a few hours, and luckily they could affort that time since they wanted to be thorough about what classes she selected. At the end of it all, she had signed up for Figure Drawing, Sewing 101, and Art History. Settling about what she was going to take, she headed out and towards her first class - Art History that began at 10am. She glanced back at the map James had made and found her way into her new classroom, sitting besides a young woman who had waved at her when she got into the room. They made small chatter as they awaited everyone else to file in. This was one of those foundational classes that just about everyone had to take. She wasn't sure how she would adjust but she was aleady so excited to head to her Figure Drawing class and afterwards tell James all about it.

Giving her a small bow he watched her leave for her classes and let out a long sigh when she did leaning against the fridge. Why is this so hard?! Why can’t he separate his personal life from his professional life? It shouldn’t be that difficult, she was supposed to be his mistress after all. His job was to serve her, make her life easier and treat her with respect but the idea of being her ‘friend’ has be implanted into his brain and being able to separate something like that from his day to day routine is turning out to be more emotionally difficult on him than he suspected.

Letting out a long sigh he ran his hand through his midnight blue hair and banged the back of his head against the fridge twice. “Pull yourself together James.” At that he took a deep breathe, straightened his gloves and cleaned up the house. Once it was spotless, her jars of lollipops refilled and bedroom straightened to perfection he left her apartment and went into his. After a few minutes he emerged from his apartment dressed in normal clothes and preceded to his classes.

His classes flew by quickly and he took instance notes, asked questions and blew through the classes he had signed up for. Though a good amount of the individuals in the class were female but he paid no mind, he was here to learn and improve himself as a chief. History of Cooking, Baking 132 and Authentic Ingredients and Cuisine 210 were his classes and he finished up his first two before she was done with hers.

James, being the professional that he was dressed in his butler outfit, gloves and all and in her apartment making her lunch.

Her Art History class finally ended, and she raced over two buildings over to her Figure Drawing class. They introduced the basics of line and mentioned the materials that everyone would need by next class. It was more an introduction and the teacher going over the different artists they would be covering. Freya was disappointed that they wouldn't be actually putting any pencils to paper today but she got out after time, and made her way back across the campus towards her apartment. Entering the building she entered the elevator and arriving at her floor, got out and walked back to her apartment, and gave a few light knocks before putting her key into the lock and opening the door. "Hey, James - I'm back!" She greeted as she closed the door behind her, removing her key from the door knob.

"I hope that it wasn't too boring for you." Freya smiled, as she set her bag down on the couch and took a seat there. "I forget that the first few days are going to be very rule based and talk of the syllabus. I got so excited to learn something in my drawing class so I could rush here and tell you all about it, James!" She gave an overdramatic sigh and slumped back. She had an hour between now and her Sewing class. "I don't know if we're going to do anything in my sewing class, either." She looked up at the ceiling. "But, I'm just rambling." Freya giggled.

The amount of excitement as she nearly broke down the door to enter was adorable. He greeted her with a polite deep bow. “Welcome home.” He said as he rose up from his bow and proceeded to take her things and unpack her bag onto the coffee table and started to pack for her next classes, new notebooks and pencils and a few pens along with a handful of lollipops.

Her mention of him being bored made him shake his head left and right before looking back at her and giving her a small corner lifted smile. “It’s alright Miss, you can ramble.” A nod rose and fell his head as he placed a lollipop in her relaxed hand before standing up and venturing into the kitchen. Returning almost instantly he placed the plate down on the coffee table. “The cobb salad with two fresh slices of French bread and a hard-boiled egg.” His voice was filled with a small amount of pride at the simple yet delicious looking meal. A comfortable silence fell between the two of them as she ate and once she was done she took the plate. “What time can I expect you home? Will I need to make for more than one?” Basically asking if she was bringing home a new friend.

Freya scratched the back of her head, embarassed with her outburst. "Well, yeah. But just because I can, doesn't mean I should. Like this guy in my class who was wearing like four pairs of pants. Just to show us he could! It was crazy." She furrowed her brow and beamed as she recieved the candy. Before she even had a chance to undo the wrapper, he was back with another beautiful presentation. "Woah. This looks amazing, James!" Freya took her time eating and took a napkin to gently dab at the corners of her lips to refrain from licking them, a terrible habit her father had to constantly remind her of.

She unwrapped the lollipop and began dissolving it in her mouth. "Oh? I might be back in about three hours maybe? But it might be sooner with it being routine talk and all that." She shrugged. "Guests? Oh! No, no no no. It will be just me." She laughed, slightly uncomfortable. "I think it too soon to be inviting strangers here. I don't even know...uhm..." She glanced around, her eye catching the clock near the door. "How many different chimes come from that clock when it strikes an hour." Freya stood up and gave another stretch. "I've got another fourty-five minutes before class. I'm going to head into my room for a bit." She waved as the door closed behind her. She fell back onto her bed and pulled out her phone.

Hey James! I had a really great time last night doing karaoke! We should do it again sometime! :)

Half of James was disappointed that she didn’t make any friends on her first day at the college; however he was also grateful that she wasn’t bring over a man. Something inside of him turned as that thought crossed his mind. Would he be… jealous, if another man walked into her apartment? Maybe… maybe not… Why would it matter though?! He was her butler. His job is to take care of her, make sure she has everything she needs and insure her comfort. If her comfort involved having a man over for any reason… he shouldn’t get in the way of that --- right?

His heart swelled a little hearing her praise him and he felt like he was standing up straighter and puffing out his chest a bit more because of it. When she wasn’t looking he lost his professional composure and allowed a smile to move across his face. But when he picked up her plate it was back to normal. “You’ll make friends soon. I doubt it will be a problem.” He said with a nod.

Attention turning to the wall where the clock hung he gave a small nod. “That will ring every 15 minutes with a light chirp but the hour rings consist of how many bells play. I’ll make sure you have enough time to get to your classes.” When she left he began to do the dishes only to feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. Finishing up the last bit of dishes he pulled out his phone to check it, he was surprised to see that it was Freya of all people. And he couldn’t help but smile.

Hello Freya, long time no chat. Yes I had fun last night as well. Next time we should try some songs from Grease. Whatcha up to?

Yeah! That sounds great! Me? Oh..well, you know. I was going to maybe try to get some sleep before my next class. I like them so far. Normal day so far. Except for that one weird guy with the three pairs of pants today.

Freya sent the message, and rolled on her side, glancing at the wall in front of her. She glanced towards her phone again seeming to wrestle with something inside herfself before opening her messages again.

I hope this isn't weird. But I really missed you while I was in class. You know, going from being around you almost all the time to having to go some periods without seeing you? Maybe that makes me sound clingy. It's not like that! Just..you know..

She hit send again, and felt like she was digging a hole for herself. Softly groaning, she put her phone on the table next to her and got herself nestled under her blankets after taking her glasses off. She wasn't sure how much time she had now to sleep but she was determined to get some. She had not made any friends yet, but was pretty convinced she didn't need any as long as she had James with her.

James had gone rather heavy handed into cleaning up the kitchen from making her lunch and missed both text messages and it wasn’t until he needed to wake her up that he read the text messages. To those he couldn’t help but smile and the fact that she had said she missed him. Something inside of him jumped reading that, a smile spread across his face as this was something he did not expect. His heart pounded in his chest as he slipped his phone into his pocket and walked to her door.

Taking in a deep breathe he gave the door a few knocks. “Freya,” He called out, “You need to get up, it’s time to go.” Once she was gone, James went to his apartment and changed into his casual clothes, a black dress shirt, crisp blue jeans and black shoes before venturing back to the school to continue his classes. In one of them he pulled out his phone and texted her back.

I miss you too when you’re not around. At that he hit send then stopped, his mind running like it had never ran before. Hey I have this weekend off, my sister’s taking over my shift; want to go into town and check it out?

It was no secret that James would have ‘days off’ and that Annie of all people would be taking over for his weekends but should he really spend time with her outside of work… It may not be the best idea but he couldn’t help it, at least it was getting harder and harder to.

All too quickly, James was rousing Freya from her slumber and she reluctantly pulled herself out of the tangle of warm bedsheets that called her name to stay just a mere five minutes longer. She reached for her glasses and upon getitng her vision back, gave a yawn and stretched before heading out of her room and thanking James for her bookbag. She had asked to have snacks packed for her classes sometimes and waved as she shut the door behind her, but not before letting out another yawn.

On her way to her class,her phone chirped and she looked a bit confused as she pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and upon reading James' message, she felt a tinge of heat gather in her cheeks. She was relieved that she wasn't the only one feeling this way, and took a moment to wonder if they should hang out. It would be similar to karaoke that they had engaged in just the other evening, except they would both be exploring a town they had not really been in before. They would be hanging out at friends! Her fingers quickly tapped out a response.

Sure! I would love to hang out around town with you, James! It would give us some great time together to learn the local events and what kinds of entertainment is around for us to do when we get some free time either between my classes or during breaks or weekends, even! We can totally talk and make plans about it tonight when you get off work! Talk to you then! I'll see what intel I can gather in class about fun things for friends to do.

Freya hit send and put her cellphone back into her pocket, giggling to herself with delight. This was easier than she thought it would be. She was worried that it would be fairly hard to get to James in a friendship way, but they both seemed to really enjoy the other's company. She rolled her eyes. Of course. If they didn't, James wouldn't be here with her in the first place. But, she had made it across campus and was heading into her Sewing class, and began jotting down notes about different sewing techniques and hand sewing tips as well. The thought of making a little stuffed companion made her grin as she looked at the young woman next to her and while there was a lag in discussion began asking around about things to do for fun. She couldn't wait to get back to James this evening and talk about what they should do over the weekend.

James spent most of his school time taking notes in class. Though when he in his final class he couldn’t help but notice that he was the only guy in his final class. His body curled slightly in his chair and his cheeks turned pink at the sudden attention. His phone buzzed which caught his eye and he couldn’t help but grin; apparently the grin was enough to deter quite a bit of the women in his class. Something about the smile on his face said that A] the text was from a woman and B] it was a woman who was important.

You can text me while I’m at work too, my boss is pretty cool about it. He couldn’t help but chuckle at his stupid little joke before continuing on with his text. There’s a flee market that goes on Saturdays with people who sell locally grown foods and local crafts. I think you’d really like it. With that he hit sent on his phone and went back to focus on class.

The day climbed to an end and James was back to her apartment dressed and preparing dinner for her and restocked her suckers.

Freya giggled at the text she got in response to his joke. 'Well, only if it's okay. Wouldn't want to distract you.' She talked to the girl nearby about the flea market this weekend, and she agreed that it sounded like a good time. However, a young man in class overheard them and was soon in conversation. Before she knew it class was over and the three of them were headed to her apartment.

"Really, guys. My place isn't even that nice. I think I still have boxes to unpack." A male voice could be heard through the door. "I'm sure it's fine, Freya. No judgement. Cmon and open the door." Freya opened the door, her unexpected guests coming in behind her. "Hello, James. I've...got company. Two extras. Sorry. I just...kind of happened." The male looked around and greeted James as he took a seat on the couch. The woman smiled and took a seat in a chair nearby. This left Freya to sit next to the gentleman. "This is Alex, and Dianne." She introduced.

Alex smiled. "Freya. You didn't tell me you had a karaoke machine. We got to do it." Freya gave a light laugh. "Yeah, maybe one evening we should do it." Alex glanced at Freya, giving her a look over. "Yeah, we should." It sounded innocent enough. The three kept their chatter up until dinner was finished.

James was excited for Freya to come home. He could feel something bubbling inside him, seeing her just made him feel happy, relaxed and like himself; even when he had to remain professional. His ears twitched as he heard a sound at the door and proceeded to it to await her arrival but the sound on the other side of the door dropped his heart to his stomach. Was that… a man’s voice?

The door opened to reveal that she was accompanied by two other individuals. One was a young lady and the other was a man. Though his greeting was a simple hello and nod, James greeted the new people as a butler should but any time he wasn’t in eye contact with the young man, his lips dropped ever-so slightly into a frown of disapproval. He left the three to talk in the living room as he disappeared back into the kitchen to finish dinner. The laughter and chatter from the living room made his heart ache, especially when Freya would laugh at something Alex said. It made his stomach turn and a look of disapproval appear across his normally straight face. Was he, jealous?

Emerging from the kitchen he had three plates laid gently out on a tray. “Dinner is served.” He announced as he entered into the living room and began to place the perfectly prepared plates in front of everyone. “Tonight is Beef Wellington with fried vegetables.” After giving everyone their food he hesitated for a moment before bowing quickly at their ‘thank you’s and disappearing into the kitchen. Placing his hands on the counter and stared down at it; she was sitting next to him… next to that, guy who was checking her out at every chance he got!

His hands ripped onto the counter. The look on that man’s face was anything but respectful; his mind was elsewhere and wanting to take advantage of Freya in more ways than one. James felt his blood begin to boil the more he thought about it. That wasn’t right. Freya was a beautiful woman who deserved respect and that Alex-guy was looking at her like she was a piece of meat. And if he found out whom her father was there was no limit to how much that man could try to use her… His whole body paused, his rational side taking over as he looked down at his balled up fists. He had no idea what Alex’s actual intentions were, he was blowing it completely out of proportion and building the young man up to look like a bad guy when he didn’t know him. A long soft sigh left James as he claimed himself down. He had no room to judge this young man but… he couldn’t help but admit to himself that he was jealous.

The trio continued talking about school assignments. Dianne began telling stories of what experience she had sewing. Her mother was apparently a designer abroad and she was here studying to be able to intern with her. Alex looked confused and rolled his eyes. “You have to go to school in order to study under your own mother? That’s rough. I mean, maybe she sent you here for a reason?” He asked, shrugging. Dianne shook her head. “No, Alex. Actually – I wanted to come here. I don’t’ have to do any schooling if I didn’t want to. I’m my mother’s daughter and could get by just as well as the rest of them, but I didn’t want anyone thinking I thought I was better so I wanted to still get some formal training anyway. If you must know. Besides, what is it that your parents even do?” She questioned, looking unimpressed. This was a chance for Alex to talk about himself, he nearly leapt at the chance.

“My parents? Oh – you know. They just…kind of one of the larger contributors to this place. So that’s why all the rooms look super awesome and not dreary and depressing. I don’t bother to really remember what they do. All I know is I get to chill out here and meet a lot of ho…interesting people.” He cleared his throat at the end. “You know how it is. Right, Freya?” He asked, looking at her with a smile.

Freya blinked, and noticed he was looking right at her. Her cheeks flushed with a bit of color at the unwanted attention. “Uhm. Yeah. I’m kind of shy sometimes, but when I get comfortable it’s pretty great meeting all sorts of people.” She agreed, tucking some hair behind her ear. James came in, and she looked a bit relieved to see him. Her eyes sparkled as she saw the cooking James had been working on. “Oh, this looks amazing thank you so much, James.” She beamed towards him and Dianna also was star stuck. “I’ve never seen this before. It’s so pretty!” Freya jumped at the chance to talk about James’ cooking presentation. “I know right?! James is so awesome in the kitchen. Sometimes he makes things that I swear I shouldn’t eat just because of how nice they look.” This caused a giggling exchange between her and Dianne, but Alex nodded that it was in fact – nice to look at.

The three of them ate, and once they were finished, Dianne thanked James again for the meal. Freya reached for the plates to gather them in a stack, but Alex reached over and swiftly took it from her. “I got it, Freya.” He stood and walked into the kitchen before putting them into the sink, giving James a pat on the back. “Thanks, man. Food was great.” He commented, walking back to the young ladies in the living area. “So, what do you guys want to do now?” He asked curiously. Dianne looked around and shrugged. “I suppose we can do that karaoke thing that you wanted to do, Alex.” She giggled. He shook his head. “I don’t want to discourage you guys from singing after I blow you all away.” He grinned, eliciting a few giggles from the girls. “Alex, please. Maybe if I weren’t so full off of dinner I would totally take you on, but…I just don’t have it in me.” Freya snapped her fingers as she got an idea. “How about we all watch a movie? We can try karaoke next time, haha.” Everyone agreed. “Sure,” Dianne smiled. “But, what kind of movie?”

Alex stood up and gave his best evil laugh impersonation. “A scary movie, of course! Surely you have one, don’t you Freya?” He asked, turning to her. “Uhm…well..I can set up Netflix and I’m sure there’s something on there.” She smiled, doing her best to remain hospitable. They settled on a movie and before it began, Freya turned to James. “Hey, James?” She began. “I would go get them myself, but I’m not sure where you put the extra blankets. Can you grab them, please?” She smiled. Alex decided he would chime in. “And can you make popcorn, too?” Dianne lightly hit his arm. “Didn’t you just eat a totally awesome meal?” Alex shrugged. “Hey, man. Popcorn always goes with movie. I always have room.” Freya put a finger to her chin throughtfully. “This is…true. I think we still have some of the seasonings in the cabinet…” She stood up from the couch and went into the kitchen while James went to fetch blankets for her and her guests. Turning the light on, she moved a chair to get on one of the counters to get a better look of what might be inside. Alex followed her, and startled her by suddenly grabbing her around the waist, which caused her to scream in a panic.

Dianne rushed over to see what had happened, and Alex blinked, still holding onto her waist. “Woah, Freya. Chill. It’s just me. It’s dangerous up there.” He grinned at her, showing he meant no harm. Freya felt silly for screaming like that. “Can you…please put me down?” She asked, her cheeks flushing. She hoped that James didn’t go into panic mode. She didn’t even mean to be that loud.

Maybe Alex wasn’t such a bad guy, he beat James to collecting the dishes and gave him a polite thank you. Maybe James really was thinking of this too hard. It was a bit of surprise not to have them question her about having a butler in such a small apartment, they were being polite and he could appreciate that. When he arrived back into the living room the talk turned to watching a movie and when Alex mentioned a horror movie, James’ dark blue eyes moved to Freya to see her reaction. There was no mystery that she wasn’t a fan of horror movies but fact that she was watching one sitting next to this Alex-guy made his blood began to boil once more. She should be sitting with…

He nodded to her request of blankets and left the living room though he really didn’t want to. He gathered three blankets and a couple comfortable pillows. He had just arrived to the living room when he heard the scream and he was gone before the blanket and pillows hit the floor. When he hurried into the kitchen he saw something he really didn’t want to see... Alex had his hands on her.

Keeping as calm of a face as he could he walked towards Freya and without warning, he scooped his arms under her legs and caught her back, holding her bridal style like she weighed nothing. “Miss please don’t do something so risky.” He said in a slightly lecturing tone before turning on his heel and carrying her to the living room. “This is why you have me. I am here to make your life easier.” He could feel what he could only figure was invisible daggers being shot into his back from the other male in the house but he didn’t care.

He placed Freya gently down onto the chair and tossed a blanket over her before she could move. Then he presented her with a fluffy pillow and the control to look through the movies on Netflix. “Honored guests.” He said turning to Dianne and Alex who entered the living room. “Please feel free to make yourself comfortable, the Miss will find a movie and I will prepare the snacks.” With that he presented them each with a blanket and a pillow and gave them a small bow before walking into the kitchen, grinning the whole way as he foiled Alex’s original plan to get cozy with his Miss during the movie.

Alex had begun to make a comment that she would be fine, but her butler had come around the corner out of nowhere it seemed, and stole her out of his arms. He greatly disapproved of this, indeed glaring daggers at the back of James’ head. She was clearly fine, no reason to get all twisted about. Tch. Hired help. He rolled his eyes as he grabbed the blanket and pillow before sitting in a chair by himself. This sucked. Once James brought around the snacks, he hoarded a whole bowl to himself, getting popcorn everywhere.

Before she knew what was happening, Alex wasn’t holding onto her any longer. Instead, James had heard her startled scream and was now in his arms. Her cheeks flushed, and as he gave a disapproving tone, she opened her mouth to explain herself, but he swiftly answered it before she got it out. She knew why he was here, she was just trying to grab something..Once she was back on the couch, she held the controller and listened as he went to get snacks.

Dianne followed James back into the living room after he had grabbed Freya. She made sure to see if she was alright before thanking James as she took the pillow and blanket, sitting in a chair nearby Freya. “You don’t even have to pick a scary movie, Freya. I don’t think we need any more scares this evening.” She joked lightly. Hearing this, she nodded. “Yeah. I think a musical sounds good. It’s a good mix of karaoke meets movie.” She giggled, and put on “The Sound Of Music”. James had come back with a small assortment of snacks, and once the movie was over, everyone was pretty tired. Freya thanked them for coming, and seen them out. Alex didn’t even look over at her as he left, pretty much heading downstairs to go to another building where he stayed, but Dianne gave her a hug, and thanked James for the tenth time before heading right across the hall and closing her door with a click. Freya shut the door and locked it before sighing to herself.

What time was it…? She could have sworn during the movie she heard James’ pocket watch chime, but she wasn’t sure… Freya went back into the living room and turned off the television and turned off the console that she had Netflix installed on before beginning to fold the sheets that were on the ground. Dianne had folded hers, but Alex left his sprawled about…She glanced up, and re-confirmed that it was indeed after midnight for James. She gave a forced smile. “You’re more than free to go, James. I put a lot of stuff on you today. I’ll get this cleaned up and head to bed. It's the least I can do for all the trouble some of my guests caused.” She gave a weak laugh, and with that, put the two blankets on a nearby chair, and the pillows as well. There was still some popcorn on the floor, and she began picking them up to put in the trash. “I’m…sorry I gave you a scare.” She apologized, standing up with the empty bowls from the movie favors. She didn’t like that she could still feel Alex’s arm around her. It felt awkward, and thinking about it made her uncomfortable as she shifted her weight slightly from foot to foot.

Alex turned into a complete slob and through the movie, James took his spot behind Freya as the apartment rang with the sound of the movie and everyone watched it. Alex was being a total slob and James couldn’t help smirk. Not only was he mad about being cut off but he was also jealous of James and his ability to ‘sweep’ Freya off her feet. Ha ha ha. To this his lips curled up in a small smirk. But he stayed professional, refilling drinks and making sure that Freya didn’t run out of suckers.

When the two finally left; Alex obviously in a huff and Dianne in a polite fashion which he bowed in response to her complements and thanks. During the movie, his pocket watch did chime but he didn’t remove his gloves; he wasn’t going to lose his professionalism in front of other people. When the door finally shut he removed his gloves and began to help pick up the living room. Alex was such a slob but he was just proving James’ point of how he wasn’t the best out there.

When she said she would clean up he shook his head. “No I’ll help…” But it wasn’t until she apologized for scaring him that he realized just how uncomfortable she actually was with the whole situation. A small sigh left him as he put down the remainder of the pillows and walked back to her. Taking the empty bowls from her he placed them down on the coffee tabled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. One bare hand rested gently on her back while the other slowly stroked her head. “I’m sorry for the way I react Freya, you just… didn’t look comfortable, and I couldn’t stand for that.”