ZORAS POVI looked down at the twins who had identical sunny grins and ice cream smeared all over their faces. "Hello, you two," I said, forcing myself to smile at them. "How are you doing this afternoon?"Still holding on to my legs, they pulled back a bit. "We are having a lot of fun with Elliot, mum," Finn said excitedly. I stared at him in surprise. All traces of the reserve he had been treating Elliot with was gone. I wondered what Elliot had done to make Finn thaw towards him. I shot Elliot a glare. "Yes, mum," added Freya. "We came here from school. It was Elliot's idea. Finn and rode the carousel until we were almost dizzy and then-"Finn interrupted. "-and then Elliot finished telling us the story he didn't get to finish the other day.""Sounds nice," I said. I straightened a bit and glanced over at Elliot, half an ear on what the kids were saying. Elliot didn't even have the good grace to look away, or look sorry at least. By my expression, it was clear that I did not a

ZORA'S POV I uncovered the pan and peered in. I grimaced. Considering what I saw simmering in the pan, it looked like this was one of those times where Katherine would be proven right. "What's the matter, Zora?" said Katherine from her place on the kitchen stool. "Don't like what you see?" Freya sniggered and Katherine put a finger on her lips. I turned and flashed them a smile. "I do actually," I said with confidence I did not feel. "What I made looks really good." "Okay, if you say so." I turned back to the pan and racked my brains for how I could salvage what was left of the meal. While Katherine and Freya were talking, I furtively googled the cooking instructions once again and followed them as closely as I could. "Go to the dining room, all of you," I called out. "Food will be served in a couple of minutes." Katherine and Freya left. Finn was the last to leave after packing up all his stuff. I hoped the food would look better when dished into plates. When I dished it u

ZORA'S POV The streets were totally deserted as I walked home. The houses I passed were mostly dark and silent. I really had no idea of how much time I had spent with Elliot, but it seemed like it had been a while. All I wanted was to go to bed and hopefully have some rest. With a sigh, I pushed open my gate. The first thing I noticed was that all the lights in the house were on. I paused for a second, clearly recalling that they were turned off when I set out for the park. It was very odd that someone, mostly likely Katherine, had turned the lights back on. This evening, Katherine had complained of having a severe headache. Because of that, she had gone to bed early. The guards would also have retired for the day. I just hoped Katherine's headache had not gotten worse. Perhaps she found that she couldn't sleep anymore and was sitting up, doing something to pass the time. Or maybe she had gotten hungry and decided to get a midnight snack since she gone to bed early and hadn't eaten

ZORA'S POV"Alright," Elliot said as soon as I unlocked the door. "Show me your kitchen."Without saying anything, I led and he followed. I opened the cupboards as I walked into the kitchen, showing him their contents. He nodded in satisfaction. "You seem to have everything I need," he said, when he had peered into the fridge to see what we had there. "By the way, what did you plan on cooking for her?"I thought for a moment. "I am not really sure but... macaroni and cheese, maybe," I said listlessly."Okay then. Macaroni and cheese it is."Elliot grabbed an apron, put it on, rolled up the cuffs of his shirt and set to work. I leaned against the counter a little away distance from him and watched him cook. As usual, he was very efficient in the kitchen. He chopped up the ingredients faster than w even Katherine. He didn't made a mess and cleaned up as he went. I felt a pang of sadness as I recalled all of the times he used to cook for me, all the times he used to watch me cook- or

ELLIOT'S POVZora shrugged. "So you see, that's why I didn't say anything to him earlier."Though she was trying to be very mature about the Derek situation, I could tell that Derek's words had hurt her very much. I saw the tears that had started in her eyes right before I intervened. I would be damned first before I would allow anyone hurt her that way. "That is a messed up way of looking at things. I still stand by what I said. In this situation, you are not the one at fault. You were in a relationship with him and it ended badly. So what? Is Derek the first guy to go through a breakup? I understand that he is hurt and broken up about it, but it is not an issue that he should constantly bring up and torment you about. Derek should get over what happened, suck it up and move the hell on."She shook her head and started to say something when we heard a sound. We both turned to see Freya dragging herself upright. I hurried to her, but before I got there, she was already seating up. Fr