Ally lay in bed staring at the ceiling, the room was dark and all was silent. Yet, her head was full of noise, thoughts flittering around endlessly. Roughly she slammed her palm against her temple.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she spat. The fiasco at dinner seemed to be on replay in her mind and there was nothing she could do to stop it. I care about you I really do. Austin's words cut through her like a knife. Tossing over she shoved her face into the downy pillow and hissed, insisting that the twinge in her heart was induced by lack of sleep. It still wouldn't come, in a last ditch attempt she started counting sheep.

"Bloody sheep." She sighed when even that effort was in vain. Slipping out of bed she hurried down the hallway and the endless staircase, letting her feet guide her. Wandering aimlessly in the darkness in a ginormous castle was mildly terrifying, like every other horror film she was just waiting for someone to jump out at her or come running round the corner with an axe. However, anything was better than laying in bed with the events of the day running through her head on an endless loop.

"Couldn't sleep either." A deep voice echoed down the hallway. Shrieking in shock Ally clung to the wall. "It's only me." Austin chuckled in amusement, raising his hands apologetically. Ally's heart dropped as she realized she was alone with him yet again. There went her plan of avoiding him for well, ever. In her nervousness she pressed herself closer against the wall, she had left the room in a hurry without a gown and her nightdress was a little too revealing for her liking.

"Cheese and rice." she sighed, 'You scared the living daylights out of me."

"What are you even doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same thing!"

"Well if you must know I'm headed towards the pantry for a midnight snack."

"A midnight snack?" Ally questioned dryly. "What? They didn't feed you enough at dinner." She raised a pert eyebrow. "Not like I was allowed to be there."

"Ally I –"

"Save it Austin. We already hashed this out earlier; we're not doing this again. I have nothing more to say on the subject."

"Then at least join me in the pantry." He pleaded. A bubble of laughter escaped her. Was this boy mad?

"As if I'm going to spend anymore time with you. Have you lost your mind?"

He sighed heavily and cleared his throat.

"Look, I know things between us are tense at best and you'll probably never forgive me as long as I live." He said gravely. "That is still no reason to turn down a perfectly good snacking opportunity." He exclaimed with a cheeky grin. His enthusiasm was infectious and she found a small smile creeping upon her.

"Fine, but let's be clear, I'm only in it for the sweet treats."

"So what, I'm not a sweet enough treat for you?" He laughed as he guided her through the endless hallways.

"You only ever leave a bitter taste in my mouth."

"I may not be sweet but you're certainly salty."

"Yet you're the one like a bag of Lay's crisps, all that comes out of your mouth is nothing but wasted air."

"Well in this castle you're like a sour candy, everyone pulls a face when they see you."

"Yet you're the Pepsi to Coca – cola, a downgraded version of Eliott." She quipped, immediately regretting it as he grimaced.

"Wow."

The silence ensued for several more minutes as they continued towards the pantry.

"Is that what you really think of me?" He whispered.

"After tonight, how can I not?" A small part of her was still hurting; she couldn't help but want him to feel some of it too. He stopped in his tracks and turned towards her. He stroked an errant strand of hair away from her face. She shivered as his thumb grazed her cheek.

"You're cold?" He noticed taking account of her barely there nightdress. His throat ran dry. Crossing her arms across her chest she shifted back into the shadows.

"Please can we just go to the pantry." She whispered. Slinging his own nightgown around her shoulders he continued down the hallway. Opening her mouth to protest his kind gesture she realized he had already sped much too far ahead of her. With a sigh she wrapped the soft blue nightgown tightly around herself and hurried to catch up. Austin's scent of vanilla immediately washed over her.

The silence, which ensued, was almost deafening. Austin hadn't turned to look at her once. Instead he busied himself unlocking the pantry door with his master key. The door swung open with a creak to reveal a dark stairway.

"We have to go down there?" Ally questioned. He only nodded in response. They took their time making their way down the staircase, there was not enough light to see the steps properly. Ally was sure Austin had done this a million times before and could probably do it in his sleep. He was only going slowly for her sake and the fact that they had both established she was prone to accidents. The darkness and the silence sent her jumping at any random noise; she wrapped the nightgown even tighter around herself, bundling against the cold.

When they finally reached the pantry it was smaller than she had expected for a castle so huge. Every shelf was filled with various items from tinned goods to packaged biscuits and cakes. Austin grabbed a pack of biscuits and flung it at her before grabbing his own and settling on the floor. They simply ate in silence, she got the feeling he was done attempting to make conversation with her. Fine. It suited her perfectly, the late night wandering was meant to clear her head of thoughts about Austin not send her into a tailspin over him again. Austin seemed to be munching away merrily on a chocolate chip cookie, completely oblivious to the silence, it were as if it were not affecting him at all. That fact alone annoyed Ally even more. She glanced up at him and their eyes met, he gave her a small smile and continued nonchalantly eating.

"So what, are we just not going to talk anymore?" Ally huffed. He chuckled in amusement, examining the cookie in his hand.

"I didn't realize that the silence was making you so uncomfortable."

"It's not, I just, I don't know." She trailed off fiddling with the sleeves of his dressing gown.

"If you want to talk then we should talk. It would be wholly ungentlemanly of me not to."

"Since when have you ever been concerned about being a gentleman?"

"You would be surprised. I stand by what I said before; you really don't know anything about me. You should stop acting like you do."

"Then tell me, why is it that you act the way that you do?"

"Act like what?"

"Completely spineless in front of your uncle." She raised her eyebrows, challenging him. His gaze flicked sharply back to hers as he dusted crumbs from his lap.

"I'm not talking about that."

"Why not? You said I know nothing about you, so please, do me a favour and enlighten me.

"Allyson, why must you always push me?" He sighed in exasperation as she cringed at the use of her full name.

The tension was pulled taught between them as if it were a rubber band, the loaded silence returned. The minutes ticked by slower than before, to the point where Ally began fiddling with the plastic covering of the biscuit packet. Austin rolled his eyes at her awkwardness.

"There was an accident." He said quietly. "It was a long time ago and it turned my life completely upside down." Ally remained silent at a loss for words, still focused on the damned biscuit packet. "I don't expect you to understand but when a person goes through something like that it changes them.

"I know." She choked eyes trained avidly on the empty packet.

"When I was younger I had a brother and a mother, they died in a car accident not too far away from the castle. He was older, my brother and the one that was meant to take over from our father. He was everything you would expect a young heir to be, charismatic, charming, funny and kind. He was responsible and sensible and knew just the right things to say to my father to smooth things over whenever I would get in a fight with him. I began to rely on him being diplomatic to get me out of all sorts of situations. I was younger and I knew I wasn't going to take over like him; I prided myself in the fact that I had that freedom which he didn't have. I could do whatever I wanted and pursue all the things I was passionate about and cared about. One of which was music and the other –" He paused capturing her gaze. "Was people. I would travel the world with a group, we would go to countries devastated by natural disasters and war and we would help rebuild communities. I began making friends with locals from many small civilizations all across the world, as we spent time there rebuilding the communities I would learn from the people about their culture and most importantly their music. My father hated it."

"What? Why? Austin that sounds amazing." Ally exclaimed. Gently she squeezed his knee, "really it does."

"It was a long standing argument between my father and I. He wanted me to be more like my brother, involved in the family affairs and socializing and making my mark among the elite that society had to offer. To him I was not only wasting money and time but also all the opportunities being a Moon should have provided me. My brother would defend me and help me so that I could continue doing what I loved. He enjoyed being built up to be the heir, he prided himself in it, he was good at it and he loved it. All he wanted was for me to experience the same, something which I enjoyed and would happily dedicate my life to."

"So what happened?"

"The accident is what happened." He grimaced shaking his head as if to remove the bad thoughts. Roughly he ran his hands through his hair. Ally folded his hand in hers, gently encouraging him to continue. " When my brother and mother died, my dreams went out the window as did my fathers. He no longer had the perfect heir to take over and I now had to live up to my brother, my fathers pride and joy. Not only was there animosity already between us because my interests were not the same as his but my father had a taste of perfection and lost it. Now he is only left with me to pick up the pieces. I will always, always try my hardest, to replace what my father lost and to live up to all the expectations my brother had for this place. I owe it to him, I owe it to my mother, and she wouldn't want this place to fall to pieces just because my heart lies somewhere else. There is Cassidy to worry about too. One day all of this will be on my shoulders, on me, I'm going to have to carry the Moon legacy forward, I'm going to have to support my father and sister, the employees here and the local village. Every decision I make will be subject to speculation, my choices are limited and my hands are tied." Visibly Austin sunk as if the weight of the world had just struck him. "Say what you will Ally, I know I should have stood up for you, but for my mother and brother's sake I'm going to live up to all they need me to be, I have to. If that means being as amicable as possible with my father then I must. I'm not letting my brother's dreams go to waste." He squeezed her hand as if to reinforce his passion.

In that moment Ally realized he was trying to live up to the dreams of a dead man, her heart clenched, there was nothing she could say or do to make him see reason that his own dreams are just as valuable as anyone else's.

"This castle is beautiful Austin, yet it is more like your gilded cage." she let his hand drop away from hers and stood up. "In case you were wandering, you're forgiven." Slowly she shrugged off his nightgown and held it out to him.

"Keep it, I don't want you wandering into anyone else with nothing but that night dress on." Ally blushed profusely as she clutched it back against her chest. Giving him a small wave she disappeared into the darkness of the stairwell. Austin remained on the floor, sat deep in thought. She watched him briefly from the steps, it were as if the ghosts of his past were dancing around his head. He let out a choked sob unaware of her presence; clutching the nightgown tighter she disappeared up the stairs, not wanting to witness a grown man fall apart before her eyes.