A Modern Day Fairy Tale

Chapter Twenty

Disclaimer: All characters are not mine. No copyright infringement was intended. Thank you to Stephenie Meyer for creating Edward and Bella for our enjoyment. I just like playing with them, making them my own ... even for just a little while.

We'll continue the date next chapter, finishing the show, the Central Park carriage ride and some citrusy times. Full citrusy times?

Chapter Twenty

Bella

As much as I wanted to pay attention to the beautiful, selfless man next to me, I was too enthralled by the performance. The dancers were graceful, and the music was amazing. At intermission, I blinked over to Masen, who was smiling at me, with his perfectly lopsided grin. "What?" I asked, blushing.

"You're beautiful," he said, brushing his fingers down my bare arm. "You're watching this, and you have this child-like awe on your face, cherie."

"Thank you for getting tickets, Masen," I whispered, leaning forward and kissing his lips. He sighed contentedly, cupping my neck. He slid his tongue into my mouth, tasting me and making me yearn for more. "We should probably behave. I don't want our picture to show up on Page Six of us sucking face."

"Do you promise more sucking face later?" Masen quipped, running his finger over my lips. "Because I like sucking face."

"Yeah, it's weird to hear you say, 'sucking face' with your posh accent," I giggled. He just grinned, kissing me again before sitting back, twining our fingers together. He reached next to him, pulling out a bag. "What's this?"

"Open it up, Bella," he said.

I removed my hand from his and tugged out a program. "Masen," I breathed. "You didn't need to get this for me."

"I wanted to, cherie," he said. "I wanted you to remember tonight and the program is one way for you to do that." I looked at him, trying not to cry. "What is it?"

"I'm just happy. I never thought I could be this happy, Masen," I whispered, hugging the program to my chest. "Thank you so much, for everything."

"I would do it again for you in a heartbeat, Bella," Masen smiled, sliding his arm over my shoulders and kissing my forehead. He murmured against my forehead, speaking in his Gevalian dialect of French. We stayed entangled together until the lights flickered and dimmed into darkness. I leaned my cheek against his shoulder, watching the rest of the production. I was in awe of the 'Toy Soldiers' routine, entranced at the graceful precision of it.

After the finale, the lights went up. I pouted. "I don't want it to end," I sighed.

"We still have one more stop, cherie," Masen smiled. "Let's just wait until the crowd empties out. Jake needs to pull around the car." I nodded, watching as the audience cleared out. A few members looked at us, whispering. When some phones popped up, Masen slid on our coats. He curled his arm around me, blocking me from cameras. Some of the people sitting next to us formed a wall around us. A burly guy whispered in Masen's ear and we made our way out a side exit.

"Is everything okay?" I asked as we walked through the bowels of the theater.

"The paparazzi are milling around the exit," Masen answered. "I may not be a big draw, but I'm still a royal."

"Is this different than the charity event?" I questioned.

He sighed, nodding sadly. "The paps at the charity event were taking photos for the charity. The paps outside? They're vultures. They're the ones who practically caused my brother to ..." he trailed off. "I need to protect you, cherie."