In Love with the Prince (of Darkness, That Is)

Dreama packed a bag, wrote her brothers a note explaining that she was staying at Gemini's for the night, and then waited in the lobby for Taylor. He arrived in his Chevy a few minutes later, and for the first time Dreama noticed how heavily tinted the windows were. She asked about it when she climbed in, and Taylor grinned wolfishly. "It makes me feel cool," he said.

Dreama laughed and closed the car door. The drive to London took two and a half hours, by which point it was nearing five o'clock. Taylor drove to a restaurant downtown in a tiny building.

"This place is incredible," he said as he held the door open for her. It was nothing like Dreama had expected from the outside. They were led downstairs into a private dining room where there were already four people sitting.

They stood up as soon Taylor and Dreama came in. "Taylor!" they all cried.

Hugs and greetings were exchanged. "Dray, these are my friends Scott and Dean, and Jennifer and Lydia. Guys, this is Dreama."

Dreama tried to hide her shock at Scott's appearance; he had deeply freckled skin--so much so that there was barely and white skin left showing--and there were a few sickly-looking black spots around one eye. Scott, Dean and Taylor exchanged glances while Dreama shook hands with Jennifer and Lydia. Scott raised an inquisitive eyebrow, and Taylor shook his head slightly. Both Scott and Dean frowned disapprovingly, which Taylor pretended not to see.

"We already ordered the spring rolls and calamari as an appetiser," Scott said. "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not. What show are we going to see?"

"Chicago."

Dreama squealed happily, and Taylor laughed at her. "Sorry. I like Chicago." She adopted a serious face. " 'This is Chicago, kid. You can't beat fresh blood on the walls'," she quoted, in a perfect imitation of Billy Flynn.

"That's a little bit scary," Jennifer laughed.

"Are you kidding? That was uncanny!" Lydia cried.

"Thank-you. I've seen it a few times."

The appetisers arrived, and Dreama sat and listened while Taylor and his friends reminisced about times they'd shared together. It seemed that Scott and Taylor had met at camp, where they had both been life-time attendants and then Teen Advisors, and Dean was a life-long friend of Scott's.

After eating, the four piled into one car, Dreama and Taylor into the other, and they agreed to meet at the front of the arena.

"What's wrong with Scott?" Dreama asked quietly as they drove, picking at her nails.

"Nothing's wrong with Scott," Taylor replied sharply.

"Taylor, I'm not blind. He's more freckled than most people three times our age."

"I have lots of freckles too," he said defensively.

"Not like that. I'm not attacking him; I was just wondering. It's no big deal if you don't want to talk about it." But she folded her arms across her stomach and looked out the window, twisting her body away from him.

Taylor sighed. "Don't be mad at me," he said with a small voice. A long silence descended on the car, and finally Taylor admitted, "He has skin cancer. He's had it for almost as long as I've known him."

"You could have told me before."

"I didn't think to. It's nothing extraordinary to me anymore, it's just reality. I forget how it must look to new people."

"It's okay."

He parked the car behind Dean's and took her hand. "I'm sorry. It's not an excuse, but I'm not used to having to worry about how other people will react to my friends. It's been just the five of us for years."

"I get it. Really, it's fine."

"You aren't angry?"

"No."

He smiled, then leaned over and kissed her mouth. They were interrupted by a knock on the window, and Dean shouted at them through the glass. "Let's go already!"

Dreama blushed and scrambled out of the car. Dean winked at her over the hood before stepping back to let Taylor out.