Third Person's POV.
From the other end of the ballroom, Daphne watched Percy with Gemini. The scene unfolding was tragically clear to her sharp, observing eyes. Percy was engaged in a conversation with Cole, but his eyes kept returning to Gemini. She could see the warmth in his eyes whenever he looked at Gemini, the way his handsome face softened slightly with each glance. She noticed the protective stance he subtly took, positioning himself between Gemini and Cole when the latter tried to reach out to the younger boy—a slight, territorial shift of his shoulders.
Percy wasn't just trying to be nice to the younger boy; he was in love with him.
It's so beautiful and heartbreaking to see Percy be like this with another person. Daphne couldn't help the little spark that ignited inside her mind—a tempest of jealousy, anger, and bitterness. Why him? Why not her?
She clenched her fists beneath the table, then exhaled slowly, trying to suppress the internal storm. She watched as Percy finally led Gemini out of the overwhelming ballroom and into a quieter area, and she exhaled loudly, the sound heavy with frustration.
Penelope, noticing Daphne's distant expression, leaned over and whispered softly, "You okay, babe?"
Daphne forced herself to smile, the effort straining her features. "Yeah. Just... thinking. I think I need some fresh air."
Penelope nodded understandingly, her eyes filled with genuine concern. "Alright, just know I'm always here whenever you need me."
Daphne looked at her friend, grateful for the comfort, before standing up and quietly making her way towards where she had seen Percy and Gemini go.
Daphne quickly found her way outside onto a secluded terrace and hid behind a large marble wall. She could clearly hear Percy's deep voice.
"Are you okay, Bunny?" Percy was asking Gemini, his voice laced with the intimacy of true concern.
Gemini's voice was softer, muffled slightly. He tried reassuring Percy. "I'm fine, Percy, really. It's just a lot of people."
"If you're not okay, we can leave," Percy stated simply.
"You can't do that! This is your birthday party!" Gemini replied, sounding horrified by the thought of Percy abandoning his own celebration.
Percy just gave him a look that clearly meant:Do you even know me at all? I can do whatever the hell I want.
Daphne's eyes widened further when Percy closed the distance between them and kissed Gemini. It wasn't a simple peck; it was a full blown hungry, possessive kiss that broke her heart into a million pieces. She had just figured out that Percy loved the younger boy, and that she didn't stand a chance, but to see them kissing like that—she couldn't stand it. The sight was too much, a definitive answer to all her desperate hopes.
Daphne impulsively stepped out from behind the wall. "Percy?" she said, her voice shaky.
Percy immediately pulled back from Gemini, his expression shifting from unguarded affection to complete irritation.
"Daphne," he acknowledged, his tone flat. He turned to Gemini. "Go back inside first. I'll be there in a minute."
Gemini looked from Percy to Daphne, his face etched with confusion and guilt, before nodding and hurrying back toward the ballroom doors.
As Gemini made his way back inside, focused on getting lost in the crowd, he didn't see Mrs. Moore standing subtly near the entry to the main gallery. She had just witnessed the entire scene: the intense kiss, Daphne's dramatic interruption, and Percy's obvious annoyance for being interrupted.
Mrs. Moore, perfectly poised but radiating icy disapproval, stopped Gemini just before he could rejoin the party.
"Young man, a word," she said, her voice low and impeccably controlled, yet managing to stop him dead in his tracks.
Gemini looked up, his heart sinking, knowing he was caught. "Mrs. Moore... hello."
She didn't return the greeting. Instead, she took his arm, her grip surprisingly firm. "Come with me."
Mrs. Moore led Gemini through the lavishly decorated hallways, the silence of her home office a sudden, cold contrast to the music and chatter of the ball. She gestured toward a plush, uncomfortable-looking chair, remaining standing herself.
"Sit!" she instructed. Gemini sank onto the edge of the large leather chair, his heart hammering against his ribs, making his suit feel suffocating. He knew this was it.
"Now, tell me your full name, your family background, and the means by which you have attached yourself to my son." she demanded. Her tone wasn't curious; it was custodial, as if checking an invasive pest report.
Gemini, still shaken from the kiss and the encounter with Daphne, recounted the necessary details with a trembling breath. He confirmed his family background and the fact that he's a scholarship recipient, his voice barely audible.
Mrs. Moore listened, her expression icy. When he finished, she leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping to a low, chilling register.
"I saw you with my son earlier. I saw the way he pays attention to you. I don't even want to know the details of what you two are doing, nor the nature of your current... arrangement," she stated, using the word arrangement with palpable distaste. "But you need to understand your position here, young man. You are nothing but a guest in his world, funded by the very institution my family owns."
She rested her hands on the desk, leaning in, her eyes piercing. "Listen carefully. Percy is not like other young men. His future is mapped out; it is substantial, and it will not accommodate beautiful distractions. You are exactly that. You are a risk to his focus, his reputation, and his eligibility within our circle." Her final words landed like stones: "If you want to keep that scholarship—if you want to graduate without finding your academic funding suddenly drying up—you will cease all personal communication with my son. You will stay away. Is that clear?"
Gemini's throat closed up. The threat was cold, real, and completely paralyzing. He could only nod, tears blurring the edges of his vision. Suddenly the office door burst open. Percy stood there, his mask slightly askew, his chest heaving—he had been searching for Gemini and had finally been directed here by a staff member.
He took in the scene immediately: Gemini, pale and hunched, on the verge of tears, and his mother, rigid and radiating cold fury.
"Gemini!" Percy rushed to his side, completely ignoring his mother. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Gemini was too choked up to speak, shaking his head rapidly. The look of raw pain on the younger boy's face twisted Percy's insides. He placed a protective hand on his shoulder. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
Mrs. Moore quickly positioned herself by the doorway. "He leaves, you stay. I am speaking to my son now. This is a family matter."
Gemini scrambled up, desperate to escape. "It's fine, Percy, I need to go. Please." He slipped past a frustrated Percy and bolted from the room, leaving the battlefield to the two people who shared blood and deep-seated conflicts.
Percy immediately spun on his mother, his eyes blazing with anger. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, his voice rising slightly. "What did you say to him?"
Mrs. Moore met his fury with unnerving calm. "I said what was necessary. I simply don't believe you would allow such distractions in the first place, Percy. Distracted by someone so... unsuitable. You've always been so focused. A scholarship kid? An orphan? Percy, why would you want to be seen with someone like that?"
Percy laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. "Unsuitable? He's more genuine than every vapid, backstabbing guest currently sipping champagne in your ballroom! And yes, Mother, I want to be seen with someone like that. There's more to him than his misfortunes. Gemini is a brilliant young man with more integrity than half the people on your board. His background isn't a flaw; it's a testament to his strength!"
Mrs. Moore scoffed, raising an elegant hand. "That's romantic nonsense! You need to think bigger, Percy. Smarter! We're talking about our family legacy, alliances! You're being sentimental over a beautiful distraction."
"I am thinking big, and I am smart, mother! That's how I know I want him!" Percy roared, slamming his fist onto the edge of the heavy desk. "And it's not Gemini's fault that his parents died. That's a cruel, despicable thing to say to another human being, mother. He is the only thing in my life that doesn't feel like a transaction! He makes me happy! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
His mother was bewildered. "Why are you suddenly acting like this? You've been compliant your entire life! You've never caused a problem!"
Percy ran a hand through his hair, the years of suppressed resentment finally bubbling over. "I'm not suddenly acting out, mother. I've spent twenty-two years being the perfect, controlled son you designed! I never pushed back before because there was never enough reason to. But I've been holding things in—I'm human too, you know. I have feelings. I get hurt just like everyone else. I might not have ran to you every time I got hurt, but I was hurting just the same."
He walked to the door, his eyes colder than his mother's. "I want him. And you will stay out of it. You will not touch his scholarship. You will not threaten him anymore. He is off-limits. This is my decision, and you will respect it or so help me God."
Percy threw the office door open and stormed out, leaving his mother staring after him, momentarily speechless at the depth of her son's rage.