CHAPTER FOUR:[/center]

I gasped and jumped, turning around.

It was him. I recognized the strong shoulders, bulging arm muscles and the lay of dark hair peeking from the top of his mask.

He smirked, bending down and with a sideways look, appraised me. "You followed me. I didn't think you would."

I stopped and blinked. Oh, I thought disappointed. He's one of those guys the boys are always warning me about. A player. I made myself laugh, trying to ignore the current of energy flowing between our bodies. "Oh, I'm not completely like the docile girls I'm sure you go place to place, crashing party to party" (his eyebrow raised at that. He was obviously surprised that I'd caught onto that) "preying on. And that was just your parlor trick to your hook-line-sinker method, am I right?"

"Preying?" At that he scoffed. "I don't prey. Girls willing come to me. But then again," he whispered, his eyes fixating on me almost as if he was stripping me down to my very soul. "You already know that, don't you?"

Swallowing, I tried to shake off his effect on me. "And how would I?" I asked.

Keeping his arm above me to show just who was in charge, he bent down to my ear and brushed some hair back behind my shoulder. His warm breath tickled my skin as he softly said, "Well…you're here, aren't you?" With a smirk and a sudden jerk, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him. He moved his other hand to grasp my chin, teasingly grazing my lips with his fingertips.

"I see through you, you know," I said, through clenched teeth deciding to get straight to the point because I couldn't fight him any longer and my body would given into him.

"What do you mean?" Huskily, he asked, leaning into me.

I was struggling to breathe and focus. "Your whole I'm-a-player-and-no-one-can-hurt-me attitude," I answered. "It’s just protecting yourself from ever getting hurt. But isolating yourself in a self-proclaimed circle is just setting yourself up for a life where you die alone and unloved."

He froze and pulled away, managing to take all the electricity between us, with him. "Wow," he blinked. "You're the first person to ever be that honest with me."

"It's a gift." I managed to laugh and shrugged, "or a curse. It's all very dependent on how you look at it."

"I'm going to say crudely honest," he whispered. He was now staring down at me searchingly but also in wonder. His facade slipped to the marble floor and suddenly I could see the boy who'd managed to drawn me out of my music. "You know," he began slowly. "There's something different about you."

I rolled my eyes "That's the oldest line in the book."

He shook his head. "I'm serious. There's something about all of this including you that-" he shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it." He whispered, turning to stare down into my eyes.

I could feel my knees shaking at his closeness. I felt my throat close up as the air between us pulsated with energy. As if pulled to him by a chain, dazedly I moved my body closer to him, my back pushing off the wall as I tried to get closer to him. Our lips were just about to meet when all the sudden-

"Alexie, where are you?" I could hear Kevin calling.

My eyes widened. Dang it! I cried. The last thing I needed was for him to catch me in a less than subtle position with a guy-let alone one who would seem random to him. Then he, Nick, God forbid Joe and even Frankie would all fly off their handles. Oh yeah, and Brendan would make what they did to David look like amateur work!

"Crap, I have to go!" I cried reluctantly pulling back and straightening my posture. I was turning to go when he grabbed my waist suddenly sending me forward, my hands splaying out against his firm chest. "I have to go." I repeated. "They can't find me here. You don't realize what they would do to you." I didn't know him but I could feel something-something more powerful then just my obvious attraction to him, drawing me to him. And the last thing I wanted was for him to be hurt.

Darkly, he chuckled as if the very idea was absurd. "They don't scare me." He shook his head. "But that isn't what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" I asked my voice soft as I gazed up into his eyes.

"Meet me." His voice was rough and filled with such a intensity, I knew I would come. It wasn't just that he had the air to make me know I had to obey but that I wanted to. I needed to see him again.

I almost cried, what? But we didn't have time for him to repeat it and then for me to pretend to muse over it. "When?" I breathed.

"I'll send someone," he said hurriedly waving that aside. I could feel his eyes fixating on me as he moved on to what was more important to him. "Will you come?"

Quickly I nodded once and he dropped his arm and hurried to duck behind the curtain once more.

Suddenly feeling like all the oxygen that had been sucked from the room was returned all in one breath went slack against the wall. I closed my eyes and tried to even my heartbeat which was going 1,000 beats a minute.

[b]Alexie?

I jumped and leapt away from the wall. It look a moment before I realized that it wasn't Kevin coming around the corner but Nick in my head, checking up on me.

I cleared my throat and quickly fixed my dress and my hair. Yeah? I asked.

What's going on? He asked. Where are you?

Erm, I glanced around before I decided to just tell the truth. I was...just saying goodbye to Zac. He had to fly out on location and couldn't stay for long.

Really, Lex? Nick asked. That sucks. You've been planning this party for months and your date had to leave early- I felt his shift of mood from concern to annoyance. You've been planning this party for months. You have me out here in a tux, playing nice to all these people and your date got to skip town?

He didn't skip town, I rolled my eyes. And Nick, if you want to be president then you need to get used to playing hostess, I reminded him.

I'm rolling my eyes, Lex. Nick replied exasperatedly. You owe me for this. And I mean big time too.

I sighed. Fine. Whatever. Just throw it in with the other IOU's.

I picked up my hem and made my way back to the curtain I'd walked through to get here. I glanced back and suddenly it all came flooding back. The boy, everything he'd said, how we'd nearly kissed, and everything I felt when he was near. My heart started strumming harder again and for a moment I couldn't breathe. So I turned around and went sailing through the curtain back to where I came from.

Then immediately gasped as my heart flew to cover my throat. "Oh my god, Gabs you scared me!" I cried, my heart beating like crazy as I took her in. "Why did you just do that? I almost had a heart att-"

"A boy found me..." Gabs interrupted her eyebrow raised as she looked at me, watching for my reaction. "...and he was looking for you."

My heart caught in my throat as I froze. "He did?" I breathed. Oh thank God. I was going to get to see him again after all. My brow furrowed. "Wait-how did he know to tell you of all people ?" I wondered. Then I shook my head. Does that really matter? I know that I get to see him again! I turned to Gabby excitedly. "What did he say?"

"First off, ow." She grimaced, removing my hand from her arm where I could see the imprints of my nails on her arm.

I shot her a apologetic look. "Oh, sorry. And second?"

"He said to meet him in the corner of the garden..." she answered before she was interrupted. Bong! Bong-bong-bong! Gabby raised one eyebrow as she eyed the clock with a slight smile. "When the clock strikes midnight."

I turned to follow her gaze towards the clock, over my shoulder. Both the big hand and the small hand overlapped each other as they pointed to the golden twelve as my heart caught in my throat. It was now 12 o'clock.