I'm not convinced I did anywhere near a perfect job with this, but at least it's finished, and at least it's ready to be seen! I have to keep telling myself that no matter how long I've been working on HT, it's still a first draft. I hope while posting this that I'm not all by myself here. I put this on ff.net yesterday afternoon, got one review, and then lost a favorite. It made me kind of sad, because I didn't know if all my same readers cared anymore.

Also: is it just me, or his Erik's manipulation and word games just so obvious? I revised chapter 42 and made it more overt that Lily was trying to get across how he acts like this and how hard it is to deal with. Paulina even says she knows what she's talking about.

( Chapter 43 - Sleep )

Favorite Dialogue

"That dress was very flattering on you. It seemed to be yours.” I removed my hand.

“No – tell me I looked horrible in it so I can give it back without feeling bad—”

“—It was a disaster.”

I smiled and closed the door, but when I saw him smiling back, I couldn't help but sigh. “We lie to each other far too often for me to take that as a proper insult.”

“You look horrible in everything, to be honest.”

“Stop that! You know I don't like it when you're too nice to me.”

“Well, lucky for you, I'm about to become a real asshole."