"When it comes to you, mia principessa, I wish everyday that those four would quite frankly just disappear. It might make me look selfish - greedy even - but if it gets me what I truly want, then I think I'll carry on wishing for that."

Your eyes widened in shock after hearing that; frozen to the spot whilst you tried to ignore what he'd just told you. His courteous character really was just an act. He...He couldn't care less if anyone lived or died - so long as you were in his sights. This wasn't just possession, or obsession - this was...this was some seriously insane infatuation. "Lack of empathy. Lack of guilt. Lack of remorse. Fake charm. Acting insincere. Those people... The ones that rarely show emotion. The people that share those traits...they're what you call psychopaths." "Is that what you are? Are you one of those people?"

"Are you...Are you a psychopath?"

"You...You really are a psychopath..." Your voice shook slightly as you weakly whispered that out, raising both hands while attempting to push him away by the shoulders.

But Hannibal was much quicker than you; his movements like lightning as he gripped your wrists and held them in place, flashing you a smug smirk right after. "A psychopath you can't help but fall for." He spoke in an incredibly condescending tone and behaved completely different from his usual polite personality. "Trust me, I've taken note of your true feelings during all this."

"W-Wait...What...?" You stammered with scarlet cheeks, your heart pounding whilst you internally panicked. "And just what exactly are you implying!?" Your heartbeat only grew faster as his thumbs softly skimmed over the top of your wrists' skin; his actions immensely intimate and flirtatious.

"Oh mio bel petalo, surely you must know what I'm saying by now~" Hannibal angelically remarked, using your wrists to pull you closer to him and lean his head against yours. "I'm saying the barrier that you've built between us all isn't working."

"Barrier!?" You exclaimed loudly - now at a complete loss for words. "Hold on—!"

"—I wish you'd just accept it already~" The psychiatrist's lips brushed against your earlobe as he passionately murmured that into your ear; clearly trying to change your mind. "After all, unlike Krueger, I would never cheat on you - and unlike the others, I have never attempted to end your life. So I'd appreciate it very much so if you would just consider it - an actual relationship with me and only me."

"Hannibal..." Your blush only grew brighter, too embarrassed by this point to deny anything. He...He knew. He knew everything. This psychiatrist had read your emotions and feelings like a freaking textbook. "Let's just um-I mean, why don't we-It's just, the library will close soon, so..."

"Of course. My apologies, mi amore, I was just so enamoured by you that the library became completely and utterly irrelevant to me." Hannibal innocently commented, pulling away as he held your hand and entered the library with you instead.

"So uh, what did you want to come to the library for anyway?" You wondered awkwardly, feeling timid whilst you avoided his glance entirely. "I mean, we could've spent time together back at the house, y'know?"

"True, true." He pleasantly agreed, taking steps towards the culinary section as you both carried on speaking. "But it just seemed more...refreshing, if the two of us were able to spend time together without all that commotion and chaos."

"I can understand where you're coming from." You dipped your head and nodded - seeing his point of view. "But don't you think all of you are behaving rather ridiculous?"

"I have to disagree with you there, mia cara. We've each all had our fair share of spending time with you, have we not? I don't think that's "rather ridiculous" at all. On the contrary, I believe that's actually rather reasonable. Don't you?" The dark-haired male gave his opinion as politely as he possibly could; reaching out for a book whilst he finished speaking.

"All I'm saying is—" You stopped yourself after noticing the cookbook - now growing tremendously curious as to why he came all the way to the library only to pick that up. "—Hold up, you wanted to visit the local library with me just so you could borrow a book full of recipes and different ways to prepare meals...?"

All of a sudden Hannibal's smile seemed to darken, almost as if your question amused him in some way or the other. "You would be correct in that assumption, my lovely (Y/n)." He airily replied, showing you the title of said culinary book before tucking it under his arm. "Now is there any type of book you'd like to take out from the library?"

"Oh, um..." You bit your lip and turned back around, wandering out of the culinary aisle whilst looking at certain storybooks and paperbacks. "Hm...I guess that one is—"

"(Y/n)!" A familiar voice made you jump, stopping you from grasping a book in the process. "Long time no see, girl!"

"L-Laura!?" You gasped in complete and utter surprise - not expecting the black-coloured, curly-haired friend of yours to be standing there waiting for you to notice her. "I-I don't understand, what are you doing here...?"

"She got discharged from the hospital earlier today - isn't that awesome!?" Amber appeared by her side and hugged Laura's side lightly, Cadence also standing next to them both.

"I'll say, oh my god." You clapped your hands together and gave them all an individual hug, overjoyed by them showing up. "But are you sure it's alright for you to be walking around like this? I mean—"

"Pffft, I'll be fine. Besides, I wanted to see if you were okay after all that drama, and..." Laura trailed off once she noticed Hannibal behind you - all three girls starting to quietly giggle amongst themselves.

"Wait, what...?" You asked them in bewilderment, frowning while you flashed a confused glance towards Hannibal.

Then, your eyes widened. Wait, did they think—!? "Oh, nothing." Amber brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and stifled another giggle, throwing a playful look at Cadence and Laura. "Just wondering what you're doing hanging out at the local library with a guy."

"Hold on, hold on, wait a sec, it...it isn't like that!" You hurriedly protested, hating the way your cheeks had already grown pink.

"Sure it isn't." Laura joined in with a smirk.

"It's really nice to meet you." Cadence ignored the other two's mischievous antics and decided to just warmly greet Hannibal. "Please excuse them. My name is Cadence, this is Amber, and that's Laura."

"I hate you both." You muttered under your breath at the two of them - relieved at how civil Cadence was behaving. Thank goodness

"The pleasure is all mine. My name is Dr. Hannibal Lecter - but please, just refer to me as Hannibal." The psychiatrist introduced himself in a massively friendly fashion; sliding back into his charming façade as he left his superiority in the shadows.

"So are you two like, dating?" Laura quizzed right off the bat, her cheerful attitude causing Cadence to sigh while Amber merely gave another giggle.

"Laura!" You exclaimed in alarm, silently panicking at what Hannibal might think about your friends or how they were acting.

"Or perhaps this is one of the roommates you were telling us about?" Amber brought up with a casual smile - choosing to give you a break and cut you some slack.

"I...I'm sorry girls, I wish I could but—"
"Oh c'mon, what could possibly be more important than seeing your best friend...?" "Is moving house that tedious of a task to do...?"

"Not really, but uh..." "I've been putting it off and my roommates are super irritated with me because I haven't unpacked yet."

"Yes!" You quickly answered, "He is! We were just-I mean-he just needed to pick up a few things, so—"

"Come now, mi amore, there's no need to be so embarrassed~" Hannibal took ahold of your hand and gently raised it up to his lips; delicately pressing his lips against the top of your fingers as he purposely acted seductive. "Do you really intend to hide our relationship from your friends? Oh my, I certainly didn't expect you to be so unfeeling towards them."

"You were hiding this from us!?" Laura bursted out worriedly, looking a little hurt as your other two friends also shot you painful looks.

"No, I wasn't!" You loudly denied, snatching up Hannibal's wrist and tugging him towards the librarian's desk - away from your friends. "I-I'll explain all of this through a Skype call later, I-I promise you guys!"

"You'd better!" Amber yelled after you - the dark-haired girl raising her eyebrows as Cadence gave a gentle wave and Laura crossed her arms with a flick of her head.