The Prince's Tutor

The wind nipped at Callie’s cheeks and nose, causing her skin to flush from the cold. She had never been outside of England, and the scenery of the Alps was enough to take her breath away.

She slowly tried to steady herself on the skis, finding it very difficult to balance herself.

She tried to remember back to how she even got here, but the past week had all been a blur. She and Harry had finally decided on being nice to each other, and although she didn’t know exactly what was going through that ginger headed boy’s mind, she assumed it was because he was just as tired of arguing as she was.

She thought back to the moment on the bench when they had gone to buy ice cream. It was relatively innocent, a tutor and her student taking a break from a study session, but there was something in his eyes that gave Callie the impression that it wasn’t the way it should have gone.

No, there was something far more intimate in that moment.

It was the way he was looking at her. The way her stomach tingled when his face came closer to hers. The way her heart beat a little faster when his hand lightly brushed against hers.

There was something in his eyes that made her feel nervous, as if he was looking straight through her, straight into every insecurity and sadness she kept hidden away.

Callie bit her lip in thought, wondering why that ginger headed devil could have such an effect on her.

He was loathsome, cocky. Extremely arrogant. Most of the time she couldn’t stand being near him. He was just a spoiled, self assured prince that manipulated others’ emotions and used them to his advantage.

But there was more to him than that.

He was also lonely, filled with so many troubles he would never speak of. He could be gentle at times, when the moment was right. At other times he would be fierce and defensive, almost to the point of being frightening.

He was secretive, hiding all of his emotions and thoughts under an iron mask. And yet, at times he could be extremely vulnerable, allowing Callie into his world, even if it was only for a few moments.

Despite his aloof attitude, Callie knew that Harry was capable of extreme kindness and compassion towards other people. She had seen it herself these past couple of weeks.

Callie sighed, sticking her ski pole into the soft snow. She had had enough of these thoughts; they were just confusing her.

These things would figure themselves out eventually. For now, she would just agree that being friendly towards him was a hell of a lot easier than fighting with him.

“Callie!” She heard Kate Middleton’s voice and spun around to see the tall, young brunette approaching her. Callie could tell she had mastered her skis, the way she moved skillfully across the white planks.

“Well, you’re loads better now than a few hours ago,” Kate said.

“You’re just trying to make me feel better. I’m useless at this,” Callie laughed as Kate looked down at Callie’s ski boots.

“Rubbish, you’ll get the hang of it soon. The first time Will took me skiing I was dreadful.”

Just then a figure zoomed past the pair of girls, covering them in wet, fluffy snow. The girls let out a scream of shock, and Callie groaned when she saw who the figure was.

There was no doubt it was him. His ginger mane was just barely concealed by a black hat and snow goggles as he raced down the icy slope.

“He did that on purpose.” Callie muttered, shaking off the snow from her hair.

“Yeah, well he’s always been a bit of a wild child.”

The voice came from William, who had slid his way next to them. He removed his own pair of snow goggles and Kate leaned in and gave her fiancée a sweet kiss on the lips.

“Will, I think Callie needs some proper lessons. If we go at this pace, she’ll never even get to slide down her first slope.”

“Oh, that’s completely fine by me,” Callie interjected “I don’t think I’m ready to go down that.”

Will laughed at Callie’s widened eyes as she stared down the steep mountain. He watched her as her eyes ran down the mountain and landed on a familiar ginger, her eyes trailing after him.

“I think I have just the perfect tutor.”

~*~

Nightfall had crept around the pair during Callie’s lessons and now the two were enclaved in darkness. Harry had informed her that this ski resort allowed night skiing, so the two had stayed out longer to practice.

“No, you have to keep your knees together. Keeping them apart is not going to help you.”

Harry stood in front of Callie, doing his best at instructing her on how to ski, but there were a few complications. For one, Callie was doing everything completely wrong, and she was getting more impatient by the second.

“I am doing that. I just don’t know what you’re talking about half the time.”

“I told you that in carving, you have to switch one edge of the ski to the side so you can maintain your speed.”

“Yes, except you forgot to mention what the hell carving is.”

Harry glanced at the perplexed expression on Callie’s face and let out a small laugh.

“Don’t laugh,” she warned, her green eyes were unforgiving.

“Okay I won’t.” Harry said, trying to hide another laugh that was threatening to escape his round lips.

“You’re still laughing!” Callie said and gave an unattractive groan.

“I’m not laughing at you. I just think this whole situation is… funny.”

Callie let her ski poles fall to the ground and sat on her bum, right in the middle of the slope, her arms crossed against her chest.

“That’s a good way to get knocked over. You’re sitting right in someone else’s path.”

“I don’t care,” she huffed. “Let them run me over.”

Harry walked up to the slender girl and bent his head down to her level, his twisted grin mocking her frustration.

"What's wrong, princess? Too hard?"

Callie looked up into his blue eyes, feeling a strong hatred for this ginger prince. For all these games he played with her head.

‘Damn it, Harry!” she let out a cry of frustration.

Harry sat down next to the rampant young girl, and turned to face towards her.

“What’s wrong?” His voice was soft and soothing.

“It’s hard. I’m rubbish at it. And you’re not making it any easier.”

Callie’s face turned into an unattractive scowl as the complaints rolled off her tongue.

“And you’re a complete arse half the time anyway. All you do is play around with me, and tease me to no end. I’m sick of being played with all the time. Why can’t you just say what you are thinking and give me a break. It’s not easy for me to constantly guess at what’s wrong and pretend like your remarks don’t have an effect on me.”

Harry sat calmly while the girl rambled on, his eyes trained on her. He felt the spark in his stomach slowly catch fire and knew the hunger was deepening again. This time he no longer was confused as to what it was. He knew exactly what was happening, and what it was he needed.

“I just wish I could figure out what is going on in that…”

Harry grabbed Callie’s chin with his fingers and forced the girl to look up at him, breaking off her rant.

She was momentarily speechless, her green eyes glistening with frustrated tears. She looked at him with complete shock, confused by his actions.

Harry kept his gaze on her, not letting her look away. He could feel the heat boiling in his veins, his stomach set ablaze.

“This is what I’m talking about.” Callie mustered, her bottom lip trembling. “What does this mean?” she said, her eyes not moving off of his.

Harry bent his face towards her slowly and gently kissed her mouth. Her lips were soft and warm and he savored the sweet taste of her mouth.

Unwillingly, he broke the kiss in just a few moments. He could feel the panic rising underneath the kiss. He looked back at her face and her expression verified his assumptions. She was on the verge of losing it.

Harry sat back and sighed, feeling disappointment settle in the place the fire had been. He had messed up again.

“That’s what that had meant,” he said quietly, his eyes glued to the sparkling snow. It wasn’t long before Callie had regained her composure and after a few incoherent mumblings, she stood up and walked off, leaving Harry alone.