#That was a set of dreams I had about Drake and Liam
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Marabelle
It’s A Dream Come True
– Chapter 7
Choices – The Royal Romance, AU
Series Premise – An American teenager from New York City is introduced to the world of a small European country and its society of royalty, nobility, and commoners. How will her life story be transformed? Will this new adventure bring her happiness...or regret?
Marabelle Series Masterlist
Main Pairing – Prince Liam Rys x F!OC Sophia (Sophie) Taylor
Other Pairings – Maxwell Beaumont x M!OC Daniel (from NYC), Drake Walker x F!OC Melanie Smithson
Most characters belong to Pixelberry.
Series Rating – M*🔞Warnings: this series will have NSFW material, crude language & innuendo.
Not Beta’d - Please excuse all errors.
Category – Alternate universe/on-going series/angst/fluff
Words: 2393
It’s A Dream Come True
Chapter 7
Chapter Summary – It’s the evening of the Masquerade Ball. Bertrand and Maxwell formally introduce Sophie to King Constantine as Lady Sophia of House Beaumont and officially joins the court as a noblewoman. Prince Liam and Sophie spend more time together and reach a milestone.
Music Inspiration:
When You Walk in the Room, Sanne Saomonse
A/N1: Bethany Beaumont, Maxwell’s mother, is originally from the U.S. and is Barthelemy Beaumont’s second wife. Annabelle Beaumont (deceased) is Bertrand’s mother.
A/N2: ‘Social Season’ in this AU series refers to a traditional period in the spring/summer for royalty and members of the court to take part in Balls, dinner parties and charity events.
A/N3: My submission for Choices Flashfics @choicesflashfics, Week #52, prompt 3 - “Well...that was/this is unexpected.”
A/N4: My submission for @choicesseptemberchallenge2023, @midnightmelodiz, Day 4 – Dreams, Day Dream, “I’m in love with you!”
It’s A Dream Come True
Royal Gym, Cordonian Palace
In the heart of the palace, Liam and Drake were in the midst of an intense workout session. The Royal gymnasium was within an imposing chamber with high, vaulted ceilings, adorned with paintings of legendary battles and noble ancestors.
Liam adjusted the weights on the bench press and began to lift, his muscles straining against the resistance. Drake, spotting him, supplied encouragement.
“You’ve got this, Li! Remember, every rep gets you one step closer to looking dashing in that masquerade outfit.” Drake chortled with a grin.
Liam chuckled, grateful for Drake’s support. “I don’t know how I’d manage this without you, my friend. It’s not just about looking good at the ball, though. I want everything to be perfect for Sophie. This is a big night for her.”
Drake nodded, understanding all too well the pomp and circumstance of court events.
“Yeah, I feel you, buddy. Melanie has been talking about this ball non-stop. It’s like the Super Bowl of fancy parties, and I am determined not to embarrass her.”
Their conversation paused momentarily as they continued their workout, their thoughts on their respective relationships. While Drake thought about Melanie and their commitment to each other, Liam’s thoughts went back to his conversation with Sophie after the garden party.
‘Sophie, I’m glad you could make it.’
'Thank you for inviting me, Liam.’
'I hope you don’t mind my asking, but is everything all right? You seemed a little ... disturbed earlier.’
‘I must admit, running into your chest was not exactly how I envisioned starting a conversation today.’
'Nor I, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless.’
Sophie opened up about the events that had troubled her that day. She spoke about the pressures of court and the weight of expectations, and her encounter with Madeleine.
Liam knew and understood that the palace and the court can be overwhelming; even at times, for himself. He found that they had ‘common ground in unexpected places.’
This was why he was determined to get to know her better. He felt a connection with her and a shared understanding that went beyond their titles. Liam wanted to find out everything about her.
After finishing their sets, they retreated to the terrace to grab water bottles and fresh fruit. Liam sat down with a towel and wiped sweat from his brow. “Have you chosen your mask for the ball yet?” he asked Drake.
Drake scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Not yet, but I’ve been thinking something mysterious and intriguing. Melanie loves a good mystery, so I want to keep her guessing all night.”
Liam grinned. “All night, Drake? Really?”
“Yeah, maybe not all night,” Drake winked with a grin. Liam laughed taking a swig of water.
The Masquerade Ball
“Awe, Sophie... look at you!”
Maxwell blurted excitedly, as he twirled her around to appreciate her gorgeous red ball gown.
Sophie blushed at Maxwell’s enthusiastic compliment, feeling a warm flutter of happiness in her chest. Her ball gown, with its intricate lace details and flowing skirt, had taken her hours to choose with Aunt Bethany, but it was worth it to see the delight in Maxwell’s eyes.
“Thank you, Max,” she replied, her voice soft and touched by his admiration. “You don't look too shabby yourself in that dashing suit.”
Maxwell chuckled and gave her a playful wink. “Well, I had to step up my game to match your elegance tonight. Wait until Liam sees you, little blossom,” he teased.
“Are we ready?” Bertrand inquired, stepping beside Sophie and his brother, offering his arm for her to take.
As Sophie slipped her arms with her cousins, Maxwell exclaimed, “let’s do this.”
The doors to the grand ballroom are opened, and the herald announces,
“Lady Sophia Taylor of House Beaumont, accompanied by Duke Bertrand Beaumont of Ramsford with Lord Maxwell Beaumont of House Beaumont.”
The Introductions continued, as each noble or noble couple made their entrance into the ballroom.
King Constantine and Queen Regina, seated on the raised dais, exchanged polite greetings and nods with each noble as they were presented, their regal presence commanding respect and admiration from all in attendance.
As Sophie, Bertrand, and Maxwell approached the royal dais, Sophie executed a graceful curtsy, her gown billowing elegantly as she lowered herself before the King and Queen.
Bertrand and Maxwell, the brothers by her side, performed deep and respectful bows.
King Constantine and Queen Regina acknowledged their gestures with warm smiles and nods of appreciation.
Prince Liam, who was standing to the right of the dais, could not help but smile as he caught Sophie’s eye after she had finished her graceful curtsy as she moved towards him. His smile was warm and friendly, a silent greeting that conveyed his pleasure at seeing her once again.
"My lady, you are a vision of beauty."
Sophie, her cheeks tinged with a subtle blush from his attention, returned Liam’s smile with a gentle one of her own. It was a small, private moment amidst the grandeur of the ballroom, but it spoke volumes of their connection and friendship in the midst of the royal event.
A soft gasp escaped her lips as he gently lifted her hand and pressed a tender kiss to it. Her heart fluttered at his chivalrous act, as she felt a rush of warmth and attraction towards him.
With a charming smile, Liam offered his arm to Sophie in invitation to join him in the ballroom. She gracefully accepted, her hand resting delicately on his arm as they entered the grand hall together, the music and festivities swirling around them.
Melanie, watching the pair stroll into the ballroom, could not take her eyes off them. Their presence captivated her completely.
“Do you want another drink, Mel?” Drake asked, trying to get her attention. His voice broke through Melanie’s trance, and she turned to look at him, momentarily torn between her fascination with Liam and Sophie and the offer of another drink.
“Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” Melanie replied, her gaze reluctantly leaving the couple as she refocused on Drake. “Thanks, Drake.”
As Drake shook his head and started to walk to the bar, Melanie could not help but steal another glance at the couple now across the room. Liam and Sophie looked so comfortable together, their laughter heard from across the hall. It was hard for Melanie to ignore the pang of jealousy that tugged at her heart.
Drake returned with a fresh drink in hand, offering it to Melanie with a warm smile.
“Everything okay?” he asked, concern clear in his eyes.
Melanie forced a smile, trying to shake off her feelings of longing. “Yeah, just lost in thought, I guess. Thanks for the drink, babe.”
He nodded understandingly, his stare lingering on her for a moment longer before he turned to talk with his sister, Savannah. Melanie took a sip of her drink, determined to enjoy the evening despite the twinge of heartache.
Melanie watched as Liam gracefully guided Sophie across the ballroom floor, their waltz a mesmerizing display of elegance. The couple moved with such synchronized grace that it seemed as if they were the only two people in the room. She could not help but feel a pang of envy at their obvious connection.
As they waltzed towards the French doors and stepped out onto the balcony, Melanie’s curiosity got the best of her. She decided to follow discreetly, making her way through the crowd and out onto the balcony as well. The cool night air greeted her, and she saw Liam and Sophie standing at the balcony railing, gazing out at the garden maze.
From her vantage point, Melanie could see the intricate pathways of the garden maze lit by soft, romantic lighting, when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
Startled, Melanie turned to see a royal guard standing behind her. She immediately straightened up and offered a polite smile.
“I’m sorry,” she said apologetically. “I didn't realize. I was just admiring the view.”
The royal guard nodded, his expression stern but professional. “I understand, Miss, but for security reasons, we need to keep this area clear. I’ll have to ask you to return to the main ballroom.”
Melanie nodded in understanding. “Of course, I didn’t mean to intrude. Thank you for letting me know.” She turned to leave the balcony, casting one last glance at Liam and Sophie, but they were no longer there.
The Garden Maze
Sophie’s laughter echoed through the hedges as she darted around corners. Her gown billowing behind her. The scent of blooming flowers filled the air, and the distant sound of music from the palace mingled with the symphony of nature. Liam pursued her with playful determination, his eyes alight with mischief as he turned a corner.
He found Sophie, cheeks flushed with eyes sparkling, standing at a small clearing where a stone bench rested beneath a canopy of Ivy. Sophie, breathless but with an impish grin hiked up her gown, revealing her shapely legs and slipped off her heels.
“A lady must do what a lady must do,” she declared, her voice teasing. Liam couldn't help but chuckle, charmed by Sophie’s unpretentious spirit. He approached slowly, allowing himself to savor the moment.
“Well, this is unexpected,” Liam remarked, his voice laced with amusement.
Sophie's eyes twinkled mischievously. “You didn't think I let you catch me so easily, did you?”
Liam shook his head, feigning innocence. "Of course not. I just did not expect you to resort to such … tactics.”
With a playful glint in her eyes. Sophie stepped closer. “Desperate times call for desperate measures, don't they?” She winked.
Their continued banter dissolved into shared laughter, filling the garden with an infectious joy. Liam took a step closer, his fingers lightly brushing against Sophie's as he reached for her.
“Well then, Lady Sophie, I shall have to employ my own tactics.”
As if in response, Sophie took a step back, her eyes dancing with anticipation.
“And what tactics might those be?”
With a sly smile, Liam lunged forward, but Sophie was quicker than he anticipated. She dodged his outstretched hand with a graceful pirouette, her laughter ringing out like a sweet melody.
Their game of tag continued, each chase and evasion bringing them closer together, the connection between them growing stronger with every shared moment. The palace seemed a distant world, forgotten in the enchantment of their own private garden.
They finally paused, breathless, and flushed from their game of tag.
Liam’s gaze met Sophie's, and in that moment, the world seemed to fade away leaving only the two of them.
Their newfound love, unspoken yet palpable, hung in the air like fragrance of the surrounding flowers. It was a love that was blossoming amidst the twists and turns of the garden maze, a love that had taken root in their hearts.
Without a word, Liam took a step closer, his hand gently cupping Sophie’s cheek. She leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering closed. Their lips met in a tender, unhurried kiss. Sophie's blue eyes met his as Liam wrapped his other hand around her waist to pull her closer. Their lips met again, this time with an urgency as Liam deepened the kiss; his tongue searching hers.
Beaumont Estate
It was early morning when Sophie awoke in her bedroom at House Beaumont. The dreams she had experienced that night were like fragments of a beautiful story unfolding into reality.
As the soft light filtered through the gauzy curtains, Sophie could not help but smile. She lay in bed, the memories of her adventures with Liam in the garden maze still fresh in her mind. The way he chased her, the laughter they had shared, and the kisses that had ignited a fire within her heart.
With a contented sigh, she pushed back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She couldn’t linger in bed all day, no matter how tempting it was to stay in bed with her daydreams. ...but she knew Marabelle was waiting for her morning ride.
Sophie picked up a brush and began to brush her long, chestnut hair. Her reflection in the mirror seemed different now – happier, more alive. She remembered the laughter they had shared, the way Liam’s eyes sparkled when he looked at her, and the warmth of his embrace. In her thoughts...Liam, I think, I’m in love with you!
📌@ao719 @txemrn @queenmiarys @sfb123 @twinkleallnight @alj4890 @differenttyphoonwerewolf @harleybeaumont @busywoman @karahalloway @kingliam2019 @imjusthereforliam @lovingchoices14 @kyra75 @tinkie1973 @emkay512 @malblk21 @kristinamae093 @charlotteg234 @irisk12 @walkerdrakewalker @choicesficwriterscreations @midnightmelodiz
#liam rys#prince liam#tessa liam writes#the royal romance#trr#trr fanfic#choices the royal romance#choicesflashfics#choices monthly challenge#cfwc fics of the week#marabelle#sophie taylor
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you can tell me anything [drake x camille] [one shot]
This is vintage Drake x Camille! So much angsttttt.
*******
Camille wasn't herself tonight.
As the string quartet played their harmonies, champagne was poured and the nobility laughed and gossiped.
Everyone in the entire ballroom was oblivious to the fact that Camille wasn't herself and yet, only Drake could.
It had only been three months and he could already read her like a map.
Her smile was forced and her eyes, usually filled with sparkle, were flat.
She held her champagne flute tightly as she listened to Liam tell her a story which Drake could tell was meant to be funny from Liam's hand gestures and facial expressions but she wasn't laughing.
Drake was sitting in his usual corner near the bar. Nobody except Liam or Camille would talk to him at these events, so Drake spent most nights wiling away the long hours with whiskey and a running commentary inside his head.
He always watched Camille. He knew he shouldn't and he probably looked like such a creep but his eyes always followed her around the room. He couldn't help it.
She always shone in these settings. She glowed and shimmered, her laughter echoing around the room. Except tonight, obviously.
Drake wondered what was wrong. What happened today? He thought back.
They had spoken earlier. Oh god, what if he had said something that upset her? He didn't think he had… in fact, Drake had been on good form today. Not as sarcastic as usual and that was an achievement.
Applewood? Maybe she was thinking about what happened at Applewood. He knew it had been a horrible night for her, fucks sake he had the bruises to prove it, but surely she would have talked to him about it earlier? They had shared that experience.
Oh for fucks sake. They had what therapists would call ‘shared trauma.’
That wasn't the best start to a relationship, was it?
Drake sighed. It wasn't a relationship. He had to stop thinking of him and Camille like that. She was in a competition to marry his best friend.
It was a fucked up triangle.
They had kissed a few times. Shared secrets at 3am. Spoke about their dreams and fears.
He watched as Camille smiled faintly at Liam's punchline before belatedly laughing. It was a high tinkle and sounded very unlike the throaty, warm laugh that Drake was used to.
Hana joined Camille and Liam. She gently rubbed Camille's arm and the two women shared faint smiles.
Okay, so Hana knew something.
Drake watched as Liam excused himself to join Olivia who had been sauntering around, her eyes focused on him the whole time he had been speaking to Camile.
Hana bowed her head as she listened to Camille, who was now whispering in her ear. Over Hana's shoulder, Camille looked across at Drake and their eyes caught.
Drake's heart skipped as it always did when he and Camille locked eyes. Always.
Camille gave Hana a small hug and then strode quickly away, ducking her head down.
This was not like Camille at all. She never left the events early.
Drake stood up and abandoned his glass of whiskey. He walked with purpose through the ballroom, keeping a safe distance from Camille so it wouldn't look obvious that he was trying to catch her up.
He caught up with Camille on the main staircase.
‘Montespan!’
She stopped and turned, looking down at him. Her eyes were shiny, as if she was holding back tears.
‘Drake, I need to be alone…’ she croaked.
Drake strode forward and reached the step below her. She looked down into his eyes and Drake forced himself not to become lost in hers.
‘What’s wrong?’
She looked away, biting her lower lip. Her hand gripped the stairwell, turning her knuckles white.
‘I just.. I feel sad, I guess.’
Drake's eyebrows furrowed with concern. He studied her and could see that she genuinely looked like she was on the verge of tears. ‘Okay, let's get you somewhere,’ he murmured. ‘We can talk.’
She shook her head. ‘N-no Drake,’ she protested, her voice thick. ‘Please, I just want to be in my room, alone.’
Drake swallowed. ‘Okay. No problem.’
He watched her as she walked upstairs, taking care to hold part of her golden silk dress so she didn't trip.
The way she held herself. She usually had her shoulders thrown back for confidence, her head held high. But she was looking down and her shoulders were slumped, as if she carried a heavy burden.
Drake wished he could carry it for her.
******************
He retired to his bedroom after that. He was in no mood for a fancy ball now, especially if Camille wasn't going to be there.
He roughly took off his tie and pulled off his cufflinks. He hated wearing a suit. Although he cleaned up well, he felt like an imposter whenever he dressed up. Like he was trying to be someone he wasn't.
He got changed into a white t-shirt and checked blue pyjama bottoms. Throwing himself down on his bed, he turned on the TV to watch the late night news, but he wasn't really paying attention to it.
Drake couldn't stop thinking about Camille.
She was in his head all the time. First thing when he woke up, last thing at night. It had been gradual but now, Drake couldn't go about his life without managing to somehow think about her and to be honest, he was getting sick of himself.
It was a dumpster fire of a situation that Drake should have avoided but Camille kept pulling him back in.
His phone buzzed with a notification.
Drake's finger slid across the screen and his heart skipped when he saw that Camille had texted him.
Camille: I’m sorry for being off with you. Didn't mean it. X
Drake was replying back instantly. He didn't even bother to wait a few minutes to look cool.
Drake Walker was a lot of things but ‘cool’ wasn't one of ‘em.
Drake: Hey, it's cool. Are you okay? X
She read his message instantly. The blue dots under his text started bubbling. Clearly, Camille wasn't cool either.
Camille: Not really. I feel sad and overwhelmed. I wasn't in the mood tonight. Did you have a nice time? X
Drake thought about his response. He wanted her to be honest with him, feel like she could tell him anything. But he didn't want to push it in case she closed up.
Drake: Wanna talk about it? I get feeling overwhelmed, Cordonia does that to you! It was a ball, do I ever have nice times at balls? X
He was trying to keep this light. Make her smile.
Camille: It's a lot. Everything is too much right now. Haha good point, at least you get whiskey from the bar! X
Drake smiled. He started typing again, feeling a thrill at her name on his phone.
Drake: Is the competition getting you down? If it helps, you're doing great. That's true, whiskey at these balls certainly helps x
Camille read his message.
Two minutes and no response.
Fuck. He'd pushed her. Fuck.
************
She replied a few minutes later with an essay.
That was all Drake could describe it as. An essay but it was an essay worth reading.
Camille: I don't want to be in this competition anymore. At first, I thought it would be an experience. I didn't think I'd be in the running to win it but now Liam keeps telling me that I'm his favourite amongst the suitors. He is so kind and sweet but I just don't feel that way about him. I don't want to hurt his feelings but I don't want to lead him on either.
I'm at these balls and all I want to do is sit with you. Drink whiskey, talk, make fun of the nobles. The more I get to know you, the more I feel myself pulling away from Liam and just gravitating towards you. I know we've kissed a few times and I have no idea what's going on there but I'm so confused. Being inside my own head is fucking exhausting. You usually help calm me down, make me see the bigger picture but now you're in my head all the time and I can't see anything clearly. Sorry this is massive vent and I don't want to make you feel bad. Sorry x
Drake stared at her text, his heart pounding.
He was in her head all the time? Like, how SHE was in his head all the time?
And she wanted to hang out with him rather than Liam?
And she didn't want to be in the competition anymore?!
Drake rubbed his eyes fiercely and focused on the screen. He needed to talk to her.
Not by text. No, this was better done in person.
Drake: I’m coming to your room x
Two minutes passed. She hadn't read it.
Drake: Camille? You okay? X
She still hadn't read it.
*************
Drake was at her door in five minutes. He needed to see her. He needed to talk to her, calm her down, make sense of this situation.
He knocked on the door. ‘Camille?’
‘Yes?’
Her voice was very small.
‘It’s me, open up.’
The door opened slowly. Camille looked up at him, anxiety clear on her face. ‘Hey..’ she said softly.
Drake reached out and gently took her hand. ‘Can we talk?’
Camille nodded mutely and led him inside her room. The TV was on, showing a vintage episode of Sex and the City. The bedsheets were rumpled and a cup of peppermint tea stood on the bedside table.
‘Girly night in?’ Drake joked.
Camille wrapped her arms around herself and perched on the edge of the bed. She was wearing a silk pink striped pyjama top with matching shorts. Drake thought she looked incredibly cute.
‘So you texted me and I texted back but you didn't reply..’ Drake said.
Camille turned red. ‘Umm.. after I texted you, I may have locked my phone in the drawer. It was risky.’
Drake let out a laugh. ‘Was it a risky text?’
Camille’s eyes widened. ‘Yes!’ she protested. ‘I told you how I was feeling and instantly felt embarrassed! That's why I locked my phone away, I didn't want to see your response!’
Drake leaned against her dresser and crossed his arms, looking at her in amusement. ‘You’re cute when you flounder,’ he said, giving her a smirk.
Camille pressed her hands against her eyes and let out a groan. ‘Shurrup, Walker.’
Drake chuckled. He padded across the floor until he was standing in front of her. Gently, he took her hands off her eyes, forcing her to look up at him.
‘Camille,’ he said, his voice low. ‘We need to talk about this.’
Camille looked into his eyes. Hers were filling with tears. ‘It’s getting too hard..’ she croaked.
‘I know,’ Drake murmured. ‘Look, I won't lie. Knowing you think about me.. hell, I think about you all the time too.’
Camille’s eyes widened. ‘You do?’
Drake swallowed. God, he hated talking about feelings. But for some reason, Camille made him more open. Maybe it was her nature, her warmth that made him want to tell her every little thing.
Or maybe it was because she was different to everyone else and quite frankly, she was the only person that mattered.
‘I think about you all the time,’ Drake admitted. ‘I’ve tried to stay away, keep you at arms length but I think after kissing you a couple of times that ain't gonna happen.’
Camille blushed. ‘I think that ship has sailed,’ she agreed, giving him a small smile.
Drake's finger grazed her jaw line. She closed her eyes, focusing on his touch.
‘If you left this competition…’ Drake said hesitantly, ‘what would you do?’
Camille opened her eyes. ‘I.. I guess go back to New York.’
‘Is that what you want?’
‘No.’
She was quick to answer.
Drake cleared his throat, keeping his eyes fixed on hers. ‘So, hypothetically, you leave the competition but you don't go back to New York. What do you do?’
Camille bit her lip. ‘I.. Look, Drake, what do you want me to say? That I will leave the competition for you? Because that's what I want. I want you. I want to be with YOU.’
Drake let out a shaky breath. He looked away, knowing that she had a fire in her eyes now.
‘If we could be together without hurting Liam..’ he muttered.
‘Which we will,’ Camille said bluntly. ‘And that is why I'm feeling overwhelmed, Drake. I feel guilty all the time. I have feelings for you, his best friend. He might propose to me and I have feelings for his BEST FRIEND. How fucked up is that?’
Drake swallowed. ‘Yeah.. it's fucked up.’
Camille stepped away from him and dragged her fingers through her hair. She flopped down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. ‘We’re stuck in this situation and I don't know how to fix it.’
Drake studied her. Without a word, he moved to the bed and lay down beside her.
‘C’mere,’ he murmured, holding his arm up so Camille could scoot in close to him.
She rolled into him, resting her head on his chest. Drake wrapped his arm around her and held her tightly.
‘This is all we can have,’ he said, looking up at the ceiling. ‘I can't hurt Liam. But I can't say that watching you with him doesn't kill me. But I'm not gonna say anything to him, Camille. He's been loyal to me since we were kids, he's always had my back.’
Camille sniffled. Drake leaned down to press a kiss on top of her head. ‘If I could take you out this competition without any consequences, I would. But it would hurt Liam and your reputation would be dragged through the mud. Leaving a prince just to be with a commoner. To be with me. They would rip you apart.’
Camille clenched his t-shirt in her fist. ‘I don't care.’
Drake held her tighter. ‘I do.’
Camille kept hold of him, not wanting to let him go. He smelled like leather and sandalwood. He was safe.
‘Can you stay here tonight?’ she asked. ‘I don't want to be alone. Not now.’
‘Sure thing.’
A moment of comfortable silence passed until Drake broke it.
‘There’s no such thing as a risky text to me, by the way.’
Camille sat up and looked down at him. ‘Really?’
Drake nodded.
‘I’m never gonna judge you, Camille. You can tell me anything. I'm not going anywhere.’
#drake walker#trr fanfic#the royal romance#drake walker x mc#drake x camille#trr#choices the stories you play
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Promise Me
One Shot: Choices Prompt Story (Prompt found here)
Fandom: The Royal Romance
Pairing: Riley & Drake, Liam x Olivia, Riley & Liam (past/friendship)
Rating: MA
Warnings: Grief, mentions of death
Word Count: 2275
A/N: This is set 4 years after my canon compliant series, ‘Not Quite Cinderella’ and is sort of a ‘What if’ Riley didn’t stay after the end of Book 2. It can be read as a stand alone, but just things to know from the series: 1) Riley’s given name is Emily, she changed it at 18, 2) Riley’s mom passed away a year before the social season so Riley was still processing her grief on the one-year anniversary that occurred during their time at Applewood in my series.
A/N 2: First person is not my usual style so...hope it’s okay :) and please forgive any errors (grammatical, tense, etc.)
My Other Stuff: Masterlist
Prompt Tags: @choicesprompts
Taglist: @ladyangel70 @gkittylove99 @lovingchoices14 @petiteboheme @kingliam2019 @differenttyphoonwerewolf @walkerdrakewalker @alyshak92
The cool wind pushes my hair back as I walk along the familiar path, every step taking me deeper into the past. It’s been years since I’ve been here; everything is different.
Everything is the same.
I’m not paying attention to the present as I walk, I’m too lost in memories of long ago. That’s why I don’t notice the person walking towards me until I hear a familiar voice call my name.
I freeze. It can’t be. What are the odds?
I lift my head as my eyes dart wildly around before finally landing on a face I’d recognize anywhere, even now.
“It’s you.”
“Liam?” I blink my eyes rapidly; I must be dreaming. That is the only rational explanation for the King of Cordonia to be standing in the middle of a cemetery in Hill Heights, Pennsylvania. Glancing around, I look to see if anyone else is with him but I see no one, not even the usual security that follows him around. I know who I’m really looking for…so does he. “Wha…what are you doing here?”
A gentle smile crosses his face. I’m further thrown by his demeanor, increasingly convinced that this is all a figment of my imagination. Gone is his usual polished persona as he casually slips his hands in the pockets of his designer jeans and chuckles. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Well…this would be the place for it,” I quip.
Liam looks down toward the stone at my feet where my mother’s name is etched before tentatively taking a step towards me and wrapping me in his arms. “I’m here…I’m real.”
“But you haven’t told me why,” I sigh into his chest.
“I needed to see you. Things were…” Pulling back, he looks down at me and I see the haze of sadness in his otherwise crystal blue eyes. “…rather unsettled when you left.”
My breath catches in my throat as I gasp. “Liam, that was…that was four years ago! And I…told you everything.”
Liam nods. “Can we…can we sit?” he asks, gesturing to a nearby memorial bench. “Let’s talk.”
“Ok.” I feel his hand land on the small of my back and I quicken my step to put some distance between us. There was a time when I would have relished in his touch, but that time had long since passed.
We sit and his gaze lingers toward the memorial garden we just came from. “You chose beautiful flowers.”
“Thank you,” I whisper. “But I don’t think you came all the way from Cordonia to talk about the flowers I leave on my mother’s grave.”
“No…no, I didn’t. I came to talk about what happened.”
“That’s very…broad,” I counter. “I’m not sure what more there is to say, Liam. I tried to give us closure.”
“You did,” he agrees.
“So, you…you moved on? Married?” I ask curiously.
“Not a follower of world news?” he jests.
“I’ve been trying to put Cordonia behind me, Liam, so…no, I haven’t kept up on the latest news.”
“I see. Well,” he says, as another smile twitches at his lips. It’s genuine…I can see he’s happy which confuses me all the more, because I can feel the sadness lingering in his presence. “I can give you the condensed version, if you’d like?”
His eyes search my face and I’m certain he can see my hesitance. I nod my head for him to continue, saying a silent prayer that nothing he says will break my already fragile heart.
“Okay, then,” he continues. “Cordonia has had some tumultuous times in recent years, but we have had our share of happiness as well. During the period in which I remained unmarried after breaking my engagement to Madeline, the monarchy came under attack by people seeking to overthrow me…”
“Oh my god, Liam,” I gasp, “I am so sorry. I had…I had no idea you’d face anything like that when I…”
Liam places his hand gently over mine, calming me. “No one could have known. I don’t blame you, Riley. I could have married quickly, but…but thanks to you, I still believed that I had a chance to marry for love.”
“That…seems like an odd thing to say to the woman who turned down your proposal,” I retort, quirking an eyebrow.
“Yes, well…it was something you said that night. You told me that, often the ones that have the most difficulty expressing their love have the capacity to feel it the deepest.”
And there it was…I felt my heart clinch in my chest as the new crack formed. “I did say that, didn’t I?”
“You did…and that gave me the ability to see certain people in a new light. Sadly, we lost my father during that time in one of the attacks on the palace…” he says, his smile fading as he looks again toward my mother’s grave.
My hand flies to my mouth. “Oh Liam…”
“It’s okay…I’m okay, I assure you. I have had my time to grieve. My father died saving me and I am sure he preferred it that way as opposed to letting the cancer take him. There is small comfort in that…his last act of love for me. But during those difficult times, there was one person who was there for me above all else…one person who dared not speak their love but showed it endlessly in actions and…in allowing her to guide me through my grief, I realized that I had perhaps loved her since I guided her through her own…”
“Olivia?” I smile.
With just her name, Liam lights up with happiness and I know I’m right before he even nods.
“Yes…Olivia. We married about a year after you left. Prince Fabian was born about 10 months after that and…Princess Emily will be born any day now…” He trails off and despite his expression and happy news, I can still feel the weight of sadness looming over us.
Tears spring to my eyes. “Emily? You’re…you’re naming her after me?”
Liam wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. “Of course we are…your true given name, to honor you and the woman who raised you to be who you are,” he says, smiling out toward the garden. “My Queen is a proud woman, and would never admit it to anyone but me, and perhaps you, but she knows the part you played in bringing us together. We would not have what we have if not for you and your courage.”
“Courage?” I scoff. “I did nothing courageous.”
“It took courage to be honest, Riley. Others in your position may have set their feelings aside and married me for the Crown and the title. You followed your heart and set me free to follow mine.”
“And look where it got me,” I say, wiping at my tears in frustration.
“Which brings us back to why I am here…” he says. Reaching out, he gently cups my chin and turns me to face him. “You left.”
“Thank you Captain Obvious,” I jest, trying to lighten the mood.
“Riley…don’t deflect.”
I gently take his hand from my chin and hold it in my lap. “I don’t want to talk about it, Liam.”
“But we must. I need to understand.”
“Why? You said it yourself, you ended up where you belong so there is nothing to understand.”
“I may have ended up where I belong, but my two dearest friends didn’t…” he says. “That night was very…difficult for me, but…I found peace in knowing that my momentary pain would lead to you and Drake having the happiness that you deserve…”
My whole body tenses at just the sound of his name. “Liam, please…”
“Riley, I’m sorry this is hard for you, but I just need to know what happened.”
“Then ask him…” I sneer, not even attempting to hide the bitterness in my tone.
“He loved you,” Liam says gently.
I nod as the tears once again slide down my cold, chapped cheeks. “Yes, he did.”
“But you left anyway…” he prods.
“I had to, Liam.”
“Why?”
I sigh, trying to find the words to explain to him the very thing I hadn’t been able to explain to myself for four years. “Because…because he loved me, but he didn’t love himself. The universe played it’s cruelest trick…I met the right person at the wrong time.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“Liam…you know as well as I do that Drake and I didn’t fall in love under ‘normal’ circumstances. He fell for me while I was still a suitor for you, and he hated himself for it. And I…I returned his feelings during the season and finally allowed myself to fully fall during the tour, knowing what you hoped for at the end of it all, and he blamed himself for that too. Drake doesn’t see himself the way we see him; he sees himself as the bad guy. In his mind, he destroys everything he touches and fails everyone he loves…he felt that way about Savannah, about you, and ultimately about me. So, after I turned down your proposal, I went to him and told him that I loved him, that I chose him, and that I was moving to Cordonia to be with him but he…” My body begins to shake with sobs as all the pain I’ve shoved down for four years starts rushing back. “…he decided that since it was inevitable…he’d ruin us before we ever even had a chance. That’s why I stayed in New York when the court left…he told me he couldn’t be with me.”
“You just…accepted it?”
I shrug. “Not really. I told him that I believed in us…I believed that one day, we would find each other again and just know that the timing was…right. I told him that I’d always love him, and I asked him to promise me…to prom…” I choke on the words as I gasp for breath through my sobs.
“To promise you that if he still loved you in five years, he’d come tell you.”
My entire body startles with shock and all I can do is stare as the tears continue to pour from my eyes. “H..h…how, how did you know that?” I ask in a shaky breath.
“He told me,” Liam replies pulling me close and holding me as my tears stain his coat. “Did you keep up your end of the bargain? Do you still love him?”
“With all my heart,” I breathe.
“Would you go back?”
I nod. “If he comes for me…if he asks me to…yes, in heartbeat,” I reply. I am as sure that I love him now, as I was then. I just needed him to be ready for me. “I’ve prayed every day that it wouldn’t take him five years to choose me.”
“It didn’t take him five years…he’s been here, in this very spot on this very day, every year for the last three years…”
“No…no he hasn’t. He couldn’t have been…how would he have known?”
“You told him during the social season…on the first anniversary of your mother’s death…you told him about the pact you made with your brother to come here on this day every year because you were so upset to be missing it already the first year…”
I think back and realize he’s right. I was a wreck at Applewood as the anniversary approached, and Drake was there for me, supporting me through it all. It meant the world to me and was among the many things that made me fall in love with him. “He remembered…” I cry.
I feel Liam nod against the top of my head. “Yes, he remembered. We never knew where you ended up when you chose to stay behind in New York, but Drake knew that when the time was right, he’d know where to find you.”
“But, I never saw him…”
“Riley, he chose you the minute you left, but he wanted to make something of himself first. He came each year, simply to see you, to be near you…”
“I didn’t need him to make something of himself, I…I just needed him.”
“But you said it, he needed to love himself, and he…he was getting there.”
“Was?” I ask, searching his face as a feeling of dread settles in my stomach. “Li…Liam, wh…why…if he’s been coming every year…wh…why are you here today?”
I’ve felt it lingering since the moment I saw him but my stomach flips in knots as I watch the normally stoic King fail to mask the sadness in his eyes. It’s a deep, profound sadness, not easily hidden, even for someone so trained. “Drake…made me promise to come if there was ever a time he could not.”
I jump to my feet. “NO!” I take off across the memorial garden on shaky legs. “I don’t want to hear any more,” I cry.
“Riley, wait…” Liam runs after me, catching me just as I come to a stop at my mother’s headstone.
“Please, god, no…please, mom, don’t…don’t let him say it…” I cry, just barely a whisper.
“I’m sorry, Riley…I’m so sorry…he…he saved my wife’s life, my daughter’s life…but…”
I don’t even recognize the primal sounds coming from my own lips as my legs give out. Crumpled on the ground, I clutch the headstone, pleading and wailing. Liam kneels beside me and takes me in his arms.
“I need you to come back with me…” he weeps, “He can’t ask you, but I’m asking. I…I need you to save him…”
My head snaps up as I gasp for breath, trying to speak. “H…he…he…”
“He’s holding on, but barely,” Liam cries. “Please…please Riley, come back with me.”
#choicesprompts#choices fic writers creations#writing prompt#trr#trr drake x mc#the royal romance#the royal romance fanfic#trr mc#trr drake#drake walker
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@honey358luv @mom2000aggie @lilyoffandoms
@luvquit @yolandawalker
Hello everyone I hope all is well, I had this sitting for about a month now, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it, don't know if 2 parts or more yet .
Thanks to all who read and share
The Royal Romance AU
Pairing Liam x Aliania Drake x Aliana somewhat
All characters belong to pixelberry.
Warnings mild sexual language,
Blended lines
youtube
He’s my best friend, and I just had to fall in love with his girl. I can’t imagine life without her. She’s everything I dreamed of and more, he trust us and yet we betray him everyday, half of me want to tell him and the other half don’t want lose him, as a friend, how could I do this to my best friend for my own selfish needs, I know I could get who i but wanted her, I just had to have her, his girl I had to tell her I loved her and I wanted more, I want her be the mother of my children I want her my wife, Seeing them kiss turns my stomach.
He’s My best friend and has been acting weird the last few weeks, and no doubt since they met she’s changed, I suspect them but maybe they are careful, It’s days when she don’t want me at her house, it’s been times we kissed and she quickly pulled away, and sometime I swear their staring at each other like no one else is around, the one time there was a mark on her shoulder and she claim to have bump into someone skating in the park, but never mentioned going out that day, when we make love she always cut us short, I see the twinkle in her eyes when she sees him, maybe I am wrong maybe they are just friendly, all signs are there but this is my best friend and she’s the woman I love, the woman I want more with. who's Maybe in love with my best friend`
They are best friends and I love one and feel I am leading one on, I make up excuses not to see the man I suppose to love because I am always in the arm of another, how can something so wrong feel so right, when he enter a room my body instantly responds to him right away, I don’t have to see him but I sense him, I love him I want him every time we see each other, I can’t get enough of this man, he’s my weakness, but I can’t be the cost of him losing his best friend, but I also can’t walk away or tell him no, I want things I never had before like a husband or children but he makes me want it all, Liam Rys is my destiny, I am heads over hill in love with him, and somehow I can’t bring myself to break Drake's heart.
6 months ago.
Drake walked in the ball with the most beautiful woman on his arm,When he introduced us I swear their were sparks there, the way she watches me when she think no one sees, I know because I am often doing the same, I noticed she can be somewhat jealous when other women are around me, she once didn’t say a word to me for over a week, but covered saying it was work, but I believe because of the blind date Maxwell set me up on.
A few weeks later it’s my birthday and Olivia and all my friends threw me a birthday party, 32 they all sing and bring out my cake and ask me to blow out my candles` and the ask me to make a wish
I locked eyes with Aliania I think I'll never get my wish, Drake doesn’t noticed her when she flirts or mad, maybe I am imagining things, but she been giving me signals all night, Drake went to smoke, she walked over and hugged me and kissed my jaw, she lingered a bit I wondered if, She felt me harden at her touch, I had been hoping no one noticed, the way she responded to my touch
Like she was under my spell or were we under each other, she went to walk, outside and I followed
I made sure no one was around. I grabbed her hand and pulled her to me kissing her, she pulled away breathless, “I need air all she could get out before running back in and down the hallway
I followed her to a nearby unused bedroom, I peeped in and she had fully undressed, fingering herself, she snaked her finger and I came, “are you sure Alania, she grabs my hand and place it in her center, she’s dripping wet, “and this is for me? “I think about you to much, I need to know why I am so drawn to you, why you drive me crazy since we met, “make love to me Liam she said, that’s all it took, we made love twice, I wanted to go another round but I knew it was just a matter of time before Drake was looking for her, I left and made it back to my quarters, after my shower there was a knock on my door, “hay Li have you seen Perez? No not since before I left I was talking to Page, she come and wished me a happy birthday then left I just assumed she went home, “okay thanks man I try calling her again
Sex with him was everything she dreamed about and more, after my shower I was left with with my thoughts, I felt guilty but I also knew that my heart belonged to Liam I was really in love with him, I didn’t tell him because I didn’t want to scar him off, I can’t believe he followed me I finally got what I wanted and there is no way I will ever let him go, but I also don’t want hurt Drake, he’s a good man.
I can’t find her anywhere and she won’t answer her damn phone, I drove by her house twice there was no lights on, and she usually leave on a light in the back, I walk around the house calling her number but I hear nothing, I shake my head damn it Perez where are you, I am wasted and hungry and sleepy I been up since 5 am, after looking for her over an hour I gave up, I had the car take me back to the palace, he showered and dressed for bed he was consumed with his thoughts about this unspoken connection between his best friend and his girlfriend, he wondered was there more between them, how jealous she seem especially when Max fixed him up on a blind date with Karen she told me that wasn’t the right woman for him, she got angry I could see it in her eyes, I see how she lights up around him, but would they cross that line would they hurt me like that, Li likes her I can see it in the way he looks at her when no one around, page said that Li walked out after Perez so why would he lie.
#trr choices#drake walker#liam x mc#if it's love#true love#blended lines#spotify#choices#fiction#royalty#Youtube#miaryswrites
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The MFackenthal Show with Special Guest @ownworldresident!
banner by @whenyourheartskipsabeat
Megs: Hello everyone! Welcome to another episode of “The MFackenthal Show!” Many many thanks to everyone who tuned in for the last episode. The response to the return of the show has been truly fantastic and humbling. It’s wonderful to have so many of you in our audience today!
Please give your warmest welcome to tonight’s special guest @ownworldresident!
Alex: Hey! *comes in waving* Great to be here, thanks for inviting me Megs I'm honoured! *gives bear hug* I'm a big fan of hugs. *collapses dramatically into comfortable looking teal lounge chair*
Megs: *Laughs* Well, make yourself comfortable, my friend.
Alex: Oh, you know I will!
Megs: Yes, yes I do. So I hear that you’re working on a book! Should I start calling you AJ?
Alex: Okay so ... as readers of Something Unexpected will know my name is Alex. My pen name, recently decided, is A. J. Brooks. *grins like an idiot* I give you permission to call me Alex.
Megs: Okay ... AJ ... so tell me, when did you join this crazy place we call the tumblr choices fandom?
Alex: I guess I could say I joined in about November? I started playing choices in August, because what better time to start than in the final semester of your bachelor's degree? I posted my first fic on Choices Archive which was unbelievably shit (the fic not the site!). I read A Royal Mate by @hopefulmoonobject aka Nesha and was inspired to write “You, The Lion” around chapter…. 6? I stalked Nesha to Tumblr, which I've never used before, and set up @ownworldresident, thus began the end of my social life. Courtesy of a design degree it was already pretty rocky.
Megs: Who needs a social life when we have choices, tumblr, and fanfic, right?
Alex: Right! We all need AUs to carry us through to the next chapter.
Megs: Speaking of the next chapter ... have you read all of the choices books?
Alex: Hehe… *grins sheepishly* I have not. I have, however, played TRR enough times to have played every book twice over.
Megs: Yeah, I think we’ve all done that! Okay, so who do you stan in TRR?
Alex: *in a monotone* Oh, gosh, what a difficult question. Gosh Meg that's so hard to answer… *feigns thoughtfulness, then grins and speaks normally* if Liam isn't gripping the headboard with one hand to steady himself… What's the point of playing?
Megs: I’ll answer that with one word: Drake.
Alex: *rolls her eyes* And that’s my cue to leave the stage. *Alex starts to get out of her chair*
*Megs grabs her arms to keep her in the chair.*
Megs: Nooooo! Stay! Tell us what you do when you’re not writing fics! Geeze!
Alex: Haha, you know I’d never leave you, beautiful! Okay, what do I do when I’m not writing fics ... I write my novel, reblog writing advice, play choices, chat to (and spam with excerpts) Nesha, Alicia, Stef, Urica, Pam, and you of course, also I have friends here but I'm not sure if they know I'm alive … I mean, I think I went out last month. This is specifically for Alicia - HE WILL REMAIN FRIENDZONED.
Megs: Awh, maybe you need to give this guy a chance?
Alex: Oh gosh, not you too! Stop! FRIENDZONED!
Megs: I’m just saying, sometimes the friend can be the *eyebrows raise twice* “friend.”
Alex: So, I’m from Australia! I was born in Perth (Western Australia), grew up in country WA, moved over to Melbourne to get a big fancy degree from a big fancy Uni, which i did *lifts fists in victory* and I love it here! Lots of ... um ... hot guys. But I spend all my time as a resident of my own world so don't actually see them much. I think I will need to go to Europe to find myself a Rhys.
Megs: nice deflection ... and we’re back to Liam. Hahah! Okay, okay, so as anyone who follows you on tumblr knows, you love to talk about writing. Tell us about your writing process.
Alex: What's a ‘process? *frowns quizzically* I haven't really trained myself enough to have one. I have a muse, she is incredible, if I'm stuck I give her a problem and go and do other things and my tigress works on it in the background. For example the last big thing I wanted was a new story to write, so about a week later I was washing dishes or something and she went LIAM BANGS AN ASSASSIN and that's how The Mark came about. In case you were wondering or something. i also really like walking through forests, that really puts me in touch with my tigress. It's how You The Lion started. *shrugs* otherwise it's just when I feel like it. If I'm angsty I write Rayne. If I'm frustrated (at myself) I write Anna. If I'm excited I write SU with Nesha. If I'm focused I write my novel. *smirks* that's it! *chuckles*
Actually, Megs, are you up for an acting challenge?
Megs: Don’t you know it! Did you bring a script with you?
Alex: Oh, just a snippet of my favourite passage of all I have ever written. It’s Liam and Lisa's argument. It’s love and trust and loss and honesty and pain, it’s really a pity they were too badly injured for angry sex. *winks*
Megs: I call reading Lisa’s lines!
Alex: Wha? Oh, okay, I’ll play Liam ...
*both ladies stand up in the middle of the stage and read overly dramatically*
Liam/Alex: “I thought you loved me Lisa…”
Lisa/Megs: “Of course I love you!”
Liam/Alex: “Then that should be enough to just my judgement…”
Lisa/Megs: “YES! It should! It should be enough to trust and yet you don’t! You don’t trust me, you’re blinded by him and how DARE you use your rank over me! I don’t give a shit what your reasoning was Liam that is not okay.”
Liam/Alex “It was to -”
Lisa/Megs: “Keep me safe! Guess what! I can defend myself, as if you didn’t know that. I told you, you should have believed me, because you said you loved and trusted me EVEN THOUGH YOU DON’T and that should be enough!”
Alex: And end scene!
*The ladies take a bow*
I don't know if it makes sense without context and its only the dialogue but I love it! You were a decent Lisa. Though I’m not sure Lisa would have been quite so dramatic about it.
Megs: You weren’t a half-bad Liam. But i know he would have been more dramatic than you were being! *wink*
*Both Alex and Megs starts to return to their seats - but Alex gets to Meg’s chair first. Megs slowly goes to sit in the comfy teal green chair and gives Alex the side eye.*
Alex: So Megs ... when and why did you decide to review and interview fanfic writers?
Megs: What is it with my guests thinking they get to take over asking the questions?! *Megs shakes her head in disbelief* Hmm ... the first spotlight post/MFackenthal show was just over a year ago on May 5, 2018. At that time, I wasn’t writing any fanfiction, but I wanted to give back to the community. I don’t think I had even done a review post yet. By that time I had written some posts to wish authors happy birthday or to highlight someone’s work that I was in love with ... but I had 100 followers and I wanted to celebrate that. @maxattack-powell, @tmarie82, @lizeboredom, and a few others who aren’t here any more helped me come up with a way to spotlight the fanfic authors and I wrote a pilot episode of the Mfackenthal Show. Ellen saw it, gave me this show, and the rest is history as they say.
Alex: I love that you wanted to give back! One last question ... *leans elbow on side of chair and rests chin on fingers to look at you, narrowing gaze* ... tell us one of your most fantastical Drake related dreams. Maybe you or someone can turn it into a one shot?
Megs: Alex! Oh my gosh! Hahaha! Hmmm ... okay ... well, the story would be an AU. The MC, Megs - cause all the MCs are named Megs in my stories, is a Princess of a small country, but she’s gone into hiding because someone is after her and her family. She goes to Cordonia and asks to help manage Liam’s social season. She needs to stay behind the scenes so she can’t be in it. She convinces Bastien, Liam, and Drake that she would be a good counselor/therapist for Liam - help him make decisions about who would be the best partner for him. Of course, both Liam and Drake end up falling in love with Megs. As always, Drake believes himself to be unworthy because he knows that Megs is a princess. Megs is always very clear that she’s not in love with Liam and is in love with Drake. All the forces keep Megs and Drake apart. Drake eventually helps Megs get back to her country and Megs gets injured in a battle when she tries but fails to save her father from being murdered. This means that Megs has to take the throne. Drake tries to live without her, heading back to Cordonia. Drake and Megs finally get together after her country and Cordonia enter trade negotiations and Liam sends Drake to make those negotiations.
Alex: *sighs* Megs, that’s beautiful.
Megs: Thanks! Probably not a one-shot though.
Alex: Probably not. Alright - well, your producers are telling me that it’s almost time to wrap up the show. So, I think it’s time for you and your audience to learn to do the shuffle! So stand up.
*stands and looks at you expectantly until you do the same*
okay now drink this …
Megs: uh ...
Alex: Just drink it! It's not poison *smirks as you drink and splutter then shrugs at your horrified expression and drinks the other half* don't worry it's just tequila. Okay follow me, stand there… music please… let's do this.
*proceeds to teach and dance and drink more and kiss the cameraman and fall over then get up and keep dancing like nothing happened*
--- several minutes later, both collapsed and grinning and slightly drunk ---
Please don't analyze me. I have a lot of problems. Urk.
Megs: We’ll save the analysis for after the show! (hiccups) Alright folks (hic!) I guess it’s time to go!
Alex: *drunkenly* Omgosh I LOVE this fandom. Everyone is so friendly and (predominantly) positive *side eyes you* and creative and supportive and talented! I love you all. Thank you for being you, and if you interact with me, my fics, or anything I post, I consider myself honoured thank you!! To the fandom I will say keep being who you are. Every single one of you is incredible *shrugs excitedly, grinning*.
Megs: Have a great night, all! Don’t drink and drive! Love you all!!!!
And now for the tags! If you want to be added to the tag list for these or removed, please let me know! They won’t come out every day, I promise!
@hopefulmoonobject @queen-among-writers
#The MFackenthal Show#Official episode 4#but really episode 5#I'm not drunk - you're drunk#Alex is a pusher!#She got Liam drunk this same way once#Tequila may be poison though#That was a set of dreams I had about Drake and Liam#Really couldn't be a one shot#We really do love you all though!
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Heir Apparent Chapter 7: A Little Broken
Series: Heir Apparent.
Fandom: The Royal Romance
Pairings: Drake x Riley, Liam x Riley (past)
Rating: R
Warnings: Language
Everything else: Master List.
They stood at the podium in front of throngs of people, hundreds of cameras flashing brightly, blinding her. Riley held her hand up to shield her face as the man to her left stepped up to the microphone. Her other hand gripped tightly to the hand of the man on her right. She looked to her right to see her husband, jaw firmly set, expressionless as the other man cleared his throat to speak.
She glanced to her left to see Liam’s face light up as he made the announcement, “Ladies and Gentlemen of Cordonia, esteemed members of the press. We are here to today to announce a happy event. The Rys line of succession is secured, Lady Riley Walker is carrying the heir to the throne!”
An explosion of voices broke out, the hubbub deafening. Liam beamed down at her, tears of happiness shining in his eyes. She felt her heart plummet as she drug her gaze to back to Drake. He stared straight ahead, still not looking at her.
Through the general buzz, Riley heard the comments and questions being hurled in their direction.
“So you’re sleeping with the king and his best friend?” “Whore!” “Where will the child live? How will custody be split?” “Faithless slut!” “Common American trash, not fit to raise the heir to the throne…”
“Duke Walker, did you know?” “Your majesty, isn’t Drake your best friend?” “How does it feel to know your best friend fucked your wife?” “Are you going to file for divorce?” “Please, do you have any comment?”
Drake finally moved, leaning into the microphone to announce, “Yes, I have already filed the paperwork, Liam can have her.” He pulled his hand from hers and dropped the divorce papers on the podium in front of her, “Have a nice life.”
“Wait!” She cried out as he walked away, “Drake! Stop! Please!” The tears came pouring out in a torrent as giant, heaving sobs wracked her body. She dropped to the ground, unable to run after him, “No, don’t leave me!”
She felt hands grasp her shoulders, shaking her, “Riley, Riley. Riley! Riley, baby, wake up!”
She slowly became of aware of her surroundings. She was in bed, in Valtoria, Drake was pulling her body to him, soothing her, “It’s ok, it’s ok, sh, sh, sh, whatever it is, it’s ok, it was just a dream.”
Oh thank God! She turned and threw herself into his arms, the sobs still shuddering out of her.
He wrapped both arms tightly around her and stroked her hair, “It’s ok, I’m here. I’m right here. You’re safe.”
She was, for the moment. In his arms was the safest place she had ever known. How would she ever live without him? She slid her arms around and clung to him as if she were drowning and he was the life raft, burying her face in his chest as the tears continued to pour down her face.
“Baby, what is it? What’s wrong?” His voice was gentle and laced with concern. She squeezed her eyes shut and cried harder. She didn’t deserve him.
He blew out a sigh as his hand continued to stroke her hair, “Ok, just get it out then.” He held her until the torrential outpour slowed to a trickle of low shuddering whimpers.
When she could breathe again, he sat up and pulled her up with him, placing a hand under her chin and tenderly tipping her face up so he could look into her eyes. Her emerald eyes met his copper ones, wetness still shining in them.
“Now,” he said gently, “Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”
“I had a bad dream.” She whispered.
“Must have been one hell of a dream.” He continued to caress her face as he stared into her face, “Want to talk about it?”
“I-“ She hesitated, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to the question she had.
“It’s ok, you can tell me anything, you know that, right?”
She nodded.
He sighed. “Damn it Riley. Please, if you don’t talk to me, I can’t help you!” He didn’t sound angry, just sad.
She took a deep breath, “I dreamed the baby was Liam’s and you left me.” She bit her trembling lip as the tears threatened to start up again.
He stilled, “You think…you think that I’m going to leave you?”
She nodded while fighting back another barrage of tears.
“Huh.”
She glanced up at him, “Huh? What’s that mean?”
He regarded her seriously for a moment before responding, “If the baby is Liam’s, is that going to change how you feel about us?”
“What? No, of course not! How could you ask that?”
He shrugged, looking away so she didn’t see the pain in his eyes, “I just- I know that you loved him first and a baby, that…that changes things, I thought maybe-“
She grabbed his face with both hands and turned his head back to her as she shook her head vigorously from side to side, “Nothing will ever change how I feel about you!”
“So, if the baby is Liam’s, you’ll still want to be married to me? Still want me by your side?”
“God, yes! That’s the only thing I want!”
He nodded and drew her back to him, “Then that’s where I’ll be.”
“Promise?” She asked as she laid her head on his shoulder.
“Promise.” He responded as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. Like hell he was letting this come between them. Yes, it was big, yes it was potentially life altering, yes, he was hurt and angry, but he knew with everything in him that there was still nowhere else he’d rather be than by her side. No where else that he belonged.
He tightened his grip on her then said, “You might have to make that clear to Liam.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean….I don’t know what I mean……….I just think he might harbor hopes of some kind of reconciliation.” He couldn’t help remembering the smile that had spread across Liam’s face when he’d told him about the baby, about the possibility it was his.
Riley drew away a little to peer up at him, “What? No. I don’t think so.”
Drake sighed; she never saw the worst in anyone.
“Drake?”
“What?”
“Are you and Liam going to be ok? I hate that this has come between you. That I came between you.” It was the very reason he had fought his feelings for her for so long, why they almost never were.
“I don’t know.” It was the only honest answer he could give her.
“I know this is hard, but I can’t stand to see you two fighting like this, you’re best friends, brothers! There has to be a way to fix this.”
A tear slid down her cheek. He reached over and wiped the tear away, “Hey, hey, it’s ok, it’s gonna be ok.”
“No, it’s not. This is my fault, I ruined everything, I ruined us, I ruined you and Liam, I ruined everything for this baby that isn’t even born yet, I’m already the worst mother in the world!”
She tried to turn away from him, but he held her firmly and turned her back to face him, “Look at me baby. Nothing is ruined. It’s just……a little broken.”
She snorted through her tears, “What’s the difference?”
“The difference is broken can be fixed.”
She looked up at him hopefully, “Really? You think all this can be fixed?”
“I-“ his words caught in his throat for a moment, “I think so.” I hope so. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Walker.
She leaned up and drew him into a kiss. He kissed her back hesitantly at first. She reached around him to sink her fingers in his hair and he relaxed into the kiss. After a few minutes he pulled away and told her, “We should get some sleep.”
They both repositioned themselves in the bed and pulled the blanket up to cover themselves. Drake reached out and pulled her body closer to him. She sighed and snuggled into his side, letting herself slide back into sleep.
He laid awake in the darkness for a while, listening to her rhythmic breathing, feeling the rise and fall of her chest as she slept beside him, wishing he could freeze time and stop tomorrow from coming.
#angelasscribbles#heir apparent#riley campbell#drake walker#liam rys#the royal romance fanfic#choices fic writers creations#cfwc fics of the week#drake x mc#drake x riley
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She Ain’t Me Part 2
Book: The Royal Romance (AU)
Pairing: Liam x MC (Ella); mentions of maybe Liam x Olivia; maybe Drake x MC (MAYBE)
Song Inspiration: She Ain’t Me by Sophia Scott
Summary: TRR during the homecoming ball, Olivia and Ella still get close on the engagement tour but Liv loves Liam, and she’s told him several times. What happens when his guard is down?
Catch up here if you missed part 1
A/N: Part 2 because I got a lot of requests for it, hopefully I didn’t mess it up too much LOL
Thank you @alyssalauren @burnsoslow @ofpixelsandscribbles for prereading and your suggestions and edits to this mess, I love you guyssss!
Warnings: TW: angst; adult language; TW: gun violence; some kinda love triangle (square?) thing I guess
Words: 2635
Olivia sucked in a breath. “Then be with me.”
Liam opened his eyes and turned to his oldest friend. “Liv …”
“What?” Her heart was beating a thousand miles a minute as she arched her brow.
“Liv, y-you know I don’t-”
Her hand shot out so fast and smacked him in the back of the head; Liam didn’t even flinch. “Stop being a dumbass.”
“Olivia!” Liam’s hand went to the back of his head and rubbed the sting away. “What the fuck?”
Liv blurted out what she really wanted, more than anything in this entire world. But it was stupid and fleeting. She knows Liam loves Ella Brooks.
The more Olivia thought about it, the more she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this man was meant to be with the woman of his dreams. Not me. “Drake worked his ass off to protect her,” Olivia said in a calm voice, even though everything inside her wasn’t calm. It was stormy, dark, and bleeding, but she pushed on. “He found Tariq that night trying to put his hands on Ella,” she watched Liam’s jaw clench. “He was the one that fought him and told him to leave.” Liam’s nostrils flared, his eyes clouded in anger. “And he didn’t tell you how he felt because you had enough shit going on being engaged to that two-bit blonde devil, Liam. Should he have told you? Yes,” Liv nodded and turned to stare at the setting sun, orange and yellow hues now a sliver in the now almost dark sky. “But when would have been an ... appropriate time to tell your best friend that you’re in love with the same woman?” Olivia slid her eyes back to Liam’s and held his gaze. “Do you think it’s easy for us?”
Regret flashed in Liam’s sky blue eyes as he stared into emerald ones. He slipped his hands inside his pockets and let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “I …” his voice hitched and he swallowed quickly. “I’m sorry, Olivia,” Liam shook his head and turned to look at the doors to the ballroom. He could see Ella trying to peek through the windows to get a glimpse of him. “I may have … overreacted.”
“Understatement of the year,” Liv arched her brow at him with her signature smirk.
“Thank you.”
Olivia tilted her head slightly. “For?”
“Knocking some sense into me … quite literally,” he chuckled and then winced as he put his hand where she smacked him.
“Anytime,” she smiled, although it didn’t reach her eyes.
An awkward silence settled between them for a moment before Liam cleared his throat. “Did you mean what you said? Or was that something you did to get my attention?”
Olivia walked towards the balcony and leaned her elbows onto it. “Maybe a little of both.”
“I’m sor-”
“Liam,” she turned around quickly to face him. “Don’t.”
He opened his mouth to respond and Olivia held up a hand. “I don’t want or need your apologies, Liam. We’ve been friends since we were children and you were always straightforward about your … lack of romantic feelings.” She picked an imaginary piece of lint on her fire-red sequined gown. “You were honest from the beginning. I don’t need you to feel sorry for me, I’m a big girl.”
Liam knew when it was pointless to argue so he just smiled. “Would you mind bringing Drake out here please?”
She nodded and hastily made her way inside the ballroom. Ella, Drake, and Maxwell immediately ran towards the fiery redhead.
“Liv!” “Is everything okay now?” “Where is he?”
“Drake,” she gestured towards the balcony doors. “You’re up.”
Ella’s bottom lip quivered and she bit down on it to keep from crying. No one noticed but Olivia.
“Maxwell, please grab Ella something to drink. A fruity one” - Olivia waved her hand in the air - “with some glitter or some shit.”
Max grinned and ran towards the bar, Drake ran a shaky hand through his already tousled brown hair and turned to make his way outside. When they were alone, Olivia grabbed Ella’s elbow and gently pulled her to the corner of the ballroom.
Ella began to babble. “Liv, I need to go, I have to check on-”
“You’ll stay put, Ella, this is a conversation for those two and those two alone.”
The queen-to-be nodded in agreement but said nothing.
“I, uh …” Olivia pulled her lips between her teeth as she glanced down at the floor then back up at her friend. “Ella, I need to apologize to you.”
Ella’s eyes widened in surprise.
Liv waved her hand up in a circle. “Spare me the looks, please.” Ella and Olivia had grown close over the engagement tour, much to Liv’s dismay. She used to look at Ella as an American dolt that had no clue about Cordonian traditions, who stole her childhood love out from under her. But over months of being on the tour, they had to work together to figure out the plot against them and … Ella didn’t take any of her shit, and she respected that. “I want to apologize because-”
“You’re in love with Liam?” Ella smirked.
“In short, yes,” she nodded.
“You’ve known him almost his entire life, Liv,” her brows rounded as she took in her friend. “I don’t blame you for loving him.”
It was Olivia’s turn to look surprised.
“He’s the kindest person” - Ella let out a sigh - “anyone has probably ever met and he loves hard. Plus, he’s really easy on the eyes so I don’t blame you at all.”
Liv chuckled. “I’m working on it, it’s just really difficult to … see you two together.”
“I understand,” Ella pulled the Scarlet Duchess into her arms for a hug despite her protests. “Shut up, Liv, friends hug.”
Olivia squeezed Ella into a hug and then pulled away with a sigh. “I think maybe … after the wedding … I just take a small break.”
“I understand,” she let out her own sigh and swallowed the lump that was in her throat. “How pissed …” Ella looked up at the ceiling and waved her hand over her eyes to keep the tears from falling. “Was he really mad about-”
“He was pissed, yes,” Liv knew what she was asking. “Did you kiss him?” Her arms were folded across her chest.
“Who? Drake? No! Of course not!”
“Did you sleep with him?”
“Olivia!”
“Did you give him any reason to pursue you, Ella?”
“No,” Ella shook her head vehemently. “I told him that I love Liam. I only see Drake as a friend; I love him like a brother.”
“Then this isn’t on you and you let those two hash it out between them.”
**
On the balcony
Drake opened the door and shut it quietly. He had no idea what to expect from this conversation with Liam. This was about his fiancé for crying out loud. He was in love with Liam’s fiancé and if the roles were reversed, he’d be fucking pissed off too.
“Drake.”
He looked up to see Liam standing against the balcony, hands in his pockets, legs crossed at the ankles.
“Hey, Li.”
Liam pushed himself off of the cool cement and made his way towards him. “Tell me when this all started.”
His voice was calm as he spoke and it threw Drake off. He was expecting a coldness, anger, anything but this. But he went along with it and cleared his throat before speaking, choosing his words wisely. “Well, uh … I’d probably say the very beginning, on the plane back home from New York; there was a moment in Lythikos” - Drake shook his head - “But I didn’t realize anything until Applewood.”
Liam clenched his jaw and his hands fisted in his pockets. “What happened?” He croaked out and then he cleared his own throat. “What went on in Lythikos? Did you … did you two-” He couldn’t even say it out loud as he let out a breath, his chest burning. He and Ella were together intimately for the first time that night in Lythikos during the social season and if something happened with her and Drake as well …
“No!” Drake blurted out, his head shaking so fast that he got dizzy. “We’ve never … never, ever, Liam.”
Relief flooded Liam’s handsome face.
“You … you really thought I’d do that to you? That she would do that to you?” Drake stuck his thumb out and gestured towards the ballroom at Ella.
“No,” Liam answered honestly. “But my mind was going a thousand miles-a-minute and for a little bit I had no clue what to think.”
Drake's eyebrows rounded. “Nothing happened with us … romantically. On our way back from New York, I was telling her she didn’t belong, that people would be shitty to her. She put me in my place. Ever since then, she’s made me eat my words. In Lythikos,” Drake rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the roughness of his stubble from the day. “Olivia was giving me shit about Savannah leaving …”
Liam gave his friend a concerned look, knowing.
“Ella jumped in and told her to shut the fuck up before she stabs her with the fork she’s currently eating with” - despite his dissipating anger, Liam started to chuckle, interrupting the story. Drake looked up, surprised, then started to laugh with him - “El goes right back to … eating her fruit tart … looking at Olivia … with that fucking smirk.” The two continued to laugh, Liam knowing exactly the smirk Drake was talking about and also knowing the Scarlet Duchess and how she probably had no comeback.
When the two had calmed down, Liam wiping some moisture from his eyes from cracking up, Drake continued with his recount of the day in Lythikos. “Something inside me just … I don’t know how to say it,” he frantically thought of the words to describe what he was feeling. “No one besides you and Savannah had ever stood up for me before and it made me feel …”
“Like she cared about you,” Liam finished for him.
Drake nodded. “Then we watched the meteor shower together outside and I told her about Sav.”
Liam chewed on the inside of his cheek. “And Applewood?”
“After seeing the fear in her eyes that night, Tariq’s fucking hands on her, I just … felt this rage” - both men sucked in an angered breath - “A rage I’d never felt before over a woman and I realized then that I’d do anything and everything to protect her. To make sure no harm came to her, and …”
“You realized you were in love with her,” Liam said quietly, finally understanding.
Drake stared at Liam’s shoes for a moment then looked up to meet his best friend’s gaze. “Yes.”
“I …” Liam paused for a moment, making sure these were the words he wanted to say. “I understand why you fell for her.”
Drake looked at him, surprised.
“She’s fierce, intelligent, loving, beautiful” - Liam’s eyes slid towards the balcony doors and saw his fiancé sneaking glances at him from inside - “and loyal. I want to apologize and to thank you.”
Drake’s face went from surprise and contorted to confusion. “I’m sorry, you what?”
Liam nodded. “I overreacted and quickly jumped to conclusions without giving it careful thought. I just ... wish you would have told me when you realized you loved her, Drake, it took me by surprise, that’s all. And thank you for always being there to protect her,” Liam sucked in a breath. “I wasn’t there,” he whispered. “I wasn’t there in Applewood and what if …”
“Don’t you dare blame yourself, Liam!” Drake’s voice was raised. “We can’t think like that, if nobody was there to step in …” he closed his eyes to contain his temper. “We can’t go there. One of us was, and that’s all that matters.”
Liam nodded.
“And you’re right, I should have told you the minute I realized my feelings,” he agreed as he ran a hand through his dark hair. “I’m so sorry for that. I told her about my feelings in Applewood when she helped me with my bruises. She told me that she’s here for you and that she’s in love with you” - Drake closed his eyes briefly then opened them to look at his brother - “and that I should tell you how I felt.”
Neither man said anything for a moment, the only sounds that filled the night air were crickets, the leaves rustling in the wind, and an owl in the distance.
“You’re a lucky man, Liam,” Drake whispered.
“I know.” The young king took a shaky breath in and let it out slowly. He knew he was, and he knew how difficult it must be for his best friend to watch the woman he was in love with being engaged to someone else.
“Are we going to be okay?”
Liam looked over at his best friend of a decade, his brother, and smiled. “Yes, but” - his smile faded - “I don’t want this to be difficult for you. You have to watch Ella and me-”
“I’m fine, Li.”
“Don’t do that,” Liam said sternly. “I know it would kill me inside if the roles were reversed.”
“Of course it’s painful but it’s you and Brooks,” Drake said as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb before looking back at Liam. “Who else is going to watch your backs? Bastien? Beaumont?!” He flung his arm back towards the ballroom in disgust.
Liam chuckled. “Just know that I would understand if you needed … time.”
“I appreciate that, but I don’t want or need time. My place is here, watching over you two. Making sure Beaumont doesn’t accidentally light the palace on fire or some shit.”
The two men hugged and pulled away, patting each other’s shoulders.
“I wanted to speak with Ella-”
“Yeah,” Drake sighed. “She’s been trying to be sneaky, walking past the door almost the whole time we’ve been out here.”
Liam chuckled. “Alright my friend, let’s head back in.”
The two slipped back into the ballroom and the lights went out.
“What in the-” Drake growled.
Gunshots sounded in the air. “Everyone shut the fuck up and get on the ground!”
“Ella!” Liam’s voice boomed over the screams. “ELLA!”
“We’ll find her, Li,” Drake’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness but could only make out shadows of people running frantically in every direction.
The lights turned back on and both men turned to see Ella with one of the assassins, his arm around her waist, Glock pressed to her temple. “Ahh, King Liam. Perfect setting don’t you think? I can kill your bride” - he ran the side of his gun against Ella’s face and she struggled to get away - “Or I can kill you.” Another assassin appeared from behind the first one with his assault rifle pointed at Liam.
“Let her go and take me instead,” he commanded.
“Liam!” Ella choked out, her cheeks streaked with tears, her eyes pleading. “Don’t!”
“Where are you going, sweetie?” Assassin number one cooed as she struggled against his grasp. He raised his firearm and hit her over the head with it.
“Ella!” Drake and Liam yelled out as she lay limp in the man’s arms.
“Take her!” He hissed at assassin number two. Ella was removed from the ballroom as Liam and Drake watched helplessly. “Stay!” The man commanded as he pointed his gun at the two of them. “You’ll hear my demands in a few hours.”
The assassin leader turned and left with a loud cackle. The other assassins with their rifles pointed at Drake and Liam backed out of the room one by one until the deafening silence was almost too much to bear.
#She Ain't Me#Liam x MC#Liam x Ella#King Liam#trr fanfic#trr fandom#trr#trr choices#choices trr#choices the royal romance#choices liam x mc#choices trr au#choices liam#the royal romance#the royal romance fanfic#the royal romance au#pixelberry#play choices#tw: gun violence#tw: angst#tw: trauma
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Walked Through Hell
Characters belong to Pixelberry
A/N: This was a request from @emkay512 to see Liam and Charlotte’s year apart from Liam’s POV. Thank you to @dccbw, @the-soot-sprite, and @burnsoslow for reading in part and whole. This is part of my Full Disclosure series.
Title Inspiration: Walked Through Hell - Anson Seabra
Warnings: Lots of angst, language, alcohol use.
•One Month•
When his bedroom curtains are ripped open, bright sunlight fills the King’s usually dark chambers; it startles him awake, causing him to let out a growl of disapproval. “What the hell are you doing? Close the goddamn curtains!” Liam barks as he turns onto his stomach and pulls the covers over his head. He’s unsure who he’s even speaking to; if it’s staff, they can kiss their job goodbye.
“Get up,” a familiar voice says firmly.
Liam squints his eyes as he slowly peels the blanket away from his face; blinded by the bright light, he can only make out a silhouette standing in front of the window. “Seriously, Leo, what the hell?”
“I know you want to sleep off that hangover for a few more hours, especially since it’s your day off, but you need to get up. You’re having breakfast with me.”
“I do not want to get up, nor do I want to have breakfast. Get out.” Liam curls his arms around his pillow and buries his face into it. Leo grabs the blanket and gives it a hard yank, tearing it off his brother. “Leo!”
“I said, get up,” Leo says calmly. “I’ll give you five minutes to meet me on the terrace. Otherwise, I’ll come back in here and drag your ass out there myself.”
Liam rolls to his back and tenses his jaw; he presses his thumb and forefinger into his eyes as he listens to Leo’s footsteps fade from his room. His arms then flop onto the mattress, and he lets out a slow breath, struggling to keep his eyes open. He begrudgingly sits up on the edge of the bed, feeling the effects of the bottle he had consumed the night before.
Liam staggers his way from his bedroom to the terrace; Leo glances at the King, taking in his brother’s appearance. Liam’s hair is tousled, he has bags under his slightly bloodshot eyes, and seeing him shirtless in a pair of sweatpants, Leo can tell that he’s lost a bit of weight.
“You smell like a distillery,” Leo scoffs as he hands Liam a cup of coffee. Liam doesn’t respond but accepts the mug as he sits down. There’s a breakfast platter on the table with eggs, bacon, fruit, and bread with apple butter.
Liam pushes the empty plate in front of him out of his way as he stares at the palace grounds. “So what do I owe the pleasure of this unwelcome wake-up call?”
“I wanted to check in on you, see how you were doing … but I can see just fine. Clearly, not well,” Leo responds as he looks him up and down.
“I’m fine.” Liam takes a sip of the hot coffee, hoping it will diminish the pounding in his head. He knows why Leo came. “Let me guess, Regina called you.”
“She’s worried about you, Liam. And so is father.”
“Again, I’m fine.”
“They said you haven’t been the same since you returned from New York last month.”
“Don’t talk to me about New York,” Liam spits out. “And their worry stems from there not being a wedding yet. Nothing more.”
“I don’t think lack of a wedding has everything to do with it. I mean, look at you,” Leo says, flinging his arm out towards him. “You look like hell, Liam. The press will start asking questions about why you haven’t been seen in public in a month and why you haven’t set a date for the wedding since your return from the Engagement Tour. You’re slacking in the duty and responsibility department.”
Liam’s already heard enough; he pushes his chair back from the table and stands. “You’re the last person I should hear anything about duty and responsibility from, big brother. The whole reason I’m even in this position is because of you and your own slacking. I don’t need anyone to check up on me. I’m fine. You can see yourself out.” Without another word, Liam turns and walks back inside.
It’s been a month since Liam said goodbye to Charlotte. He left New York to fly home the morning after she walked away from him, leaving her and the future they had once planned behind.
Liam was able to push back setting a wedding date with Madeleine once he returned to Cordonia due to Constantine’s treatments; they started to get the better of him and appeared to be doing more harm than good. For the last month, the King Father was in and out of the hospital. Liam used his father’s diagnosis to his advantage to halt any wedding plans and to stay out of the public spotlight.
Last week, however, to everyone’s surprise, including his doctors, Constantine began responding positively to the treatments. Liam felt another wave of guilt when his first thought was that he wouldn’t be able to stall setting a wedding date much longer. Although Constantine was the entire reason Liam was in this predicament in the first place, he was still his father.
Over the past month, Liam has found comfort in being alone. He’s avoided seeing anyone and everyone, including his closest friends: Drake, Maxwell, and Olivia. The only person he saw daily was Bastien until he dismissed him from his detail two weeks ago. Liam found it hard to see him and not think about Charlotte and the role he played in setting her up. He found it hard not to question the what-ifs, feeling as though all of this could have been avoided had Bastien just told him the truth. Now Bastien was stuck on paperwork duty until further notice.
In the last month, Liam has also found comfort in the bottle; it has been the only thing that numbs the pain. It doesn’t help take his mind off of Charlotte, though; she’s all he thinks about, all of the time. He constantly wonders what she’s doing. He wonders how she is and hopes like hell that she’s nowhere near as miserable as he is, because he wants her to be happy.
He needs her to be happy, because if she’s not, then their goodbye was for nothing. He thinks about calling her; every night for the past month he’s had to talk himself out of it. He keeps telling himself that it won’t help matters for either of them.
Liam spends his day off hidden in his quarters, assuring that he’s left alone. And that night, a bottle of scotch sits on his coffee table; he holds a half-finished glass in one hand as he stares at his phone, contemplating making that call.
———————
•Two Months•
“I don’t understand why you think Regina needs company on this duchy tour,” Madeleine spits out. She’s staring at Liam, who stands on the balcony off of the main dining hall; he’s on his fourth glass of scotch since dinner.
“Do you not think you need the experience touring the duchies with the Queen Mother, Madeleine? Is that somehow beneath you?” he scoffs.
“I think we both know I don’t need the experience, Liam! I’ve been groomed my whole life for this goddamn role. Hell, I was engaged to your brother for three months before the abdication. I’ve done all of this already!”
“I don’t care how much you’ve been groomed. I think you should go.” Liam doesn’t even look at her when he responds; he stares into his glass as he drains the last of the amber liquid, and the only thing on his mind is a refill.
“It’s a month-long tour, Liam!” He knows this. “We have other things we could be doing in that time, like, I don’t know, finally setting our wedding date!” And that’s why he’s sending her: to buy himself more time. “Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is for me when the press asks about a date, and I have absolutely nothing to give them for an answer?”
“Your King is telling you to go on the tour, Madeleine.” With that, Liam turns and walks back inside, ignoring Madeleine’s huff; he refills his glass at the bar cart before heading up to his quarters.
Liam walks down the corridors, finishing glass number five before he reaches his quarters. Now that he’s alone with his thoughts, his mind is on two things: another refill and Charlotte. Once inside his quarters, he gets another drink before heading to his bedroom.
Three weeks ago, Liam made his first public appearance since arriving back from the Engagement Tour; he attended the opening ceremony of a new school with Regina. His appearance was brief; he gave a statement and answered none of the questions, most of which swirled around the wedding date.
The Cordonian people are anxious for a royal wedding, but their King is in a downward spiral. And he knows he is. He simply doesn’t care; he has neither the energy nor the heart to.
Even two months after their goodbye, Charlotte is still on Liam’s mind, more so now than she was before. He thought time was going to make it easier, but it’s only gotten worse. When he tries to work, she’s there. When he’s alone, she’s there.
Even when he sleeps, she’s there.
In his depression, Liam began dreaming about her. He found that the few nights he went to sleep with nothing to drink, the dream didn’t occur. So now he makes sure to drink just so he can see her. And it’s the same dream every night.
Liam sits in the dark of his chambers. After staring at his phone for 30 minutes and once again talking himself out of calling her, he empties his glass and sets it on the nightstand before he slips beneath the covers. It doesn’t take him long to fade off into an alcohol-induced sleep, and he can see her.
Liam stands on the empty private beach as a soft breeze washes over him; a midnight velvet sky littered with bright stars reflects off the water.
“Liam,” her soft voice echos.
Liam turns, and his eyes find her bare feet and travel up the flowing pale pink chiffon gown; his breath hitches when he sees her face. She’s smiling at him, and her eyes sparkle in the moonlight. “Charlotte?” he breathes, and his face twists with relief as he takes a step toward her.
Charlotte laughs, and then she turns and disappears between the trees down the pathway that leads to the Forgotten Falls; without hesitation, Liam runs after her.
When Liam makes it into the pathway, it’s illuminated by the moon. He sees the swish of her gown rounding a bend. “Charlotte, wait!”
Her laughter echoes as Liam whips past the trees after her; his chest is aching, and he doesn’t know if it’s the burning in his lungs from running or his heart fracturing with each beat as he tries to get to her. Panic courses through him as he pushes himself to catch her, and he can feel the sting in his eyes from the tears that start to form from his desperation.
As he rounds another bend on the dirt path, Liam skids to a stop when he sees Charlotte standing at the other end, smiling at him. “Liam … you have to let me go.”
Liam attempts to blink away the tears that start to blur his vision, but they fall anyway as he shakes his head. “I don’t want to let you go.” He starts to walk towards her; she turns and continues down the path. “Wait!” he shouts as he takes off after her once more.
Liam starts to gain on her as they near the clearing of the falls; he keeps hearing her repeat the same heartbreaking mantra: “Let me go, Liam.” And the closer he comes to reaching her, somehow, her whisper of a voice fades more and more with each word.
Liam reaches for her as he barrels into the clearing just behind her; he stops at the edge of the plunge pool that sits at the bottom of the falls and looks around.
It’s silent, and he’s alone. Charlotte’s gone.
———————
•Three Months•
Liam sits in his study; his brows knit as he reads over the papers in front of him. He shakes his head as he pushes them back and looks up to meet Constantine’s gaze. “This is absurd! I’m not agreeing to this.”
“What are they asking for?”
“Both Auvernal and Monterisso want a betrothal agreement. One of their heirs with my nonexistent one.”
“When you were young, Auvernal wanted to make an alliance with us. They believed we would do it without hesitation simply because your mother was from there. I refused,” Constantine explains. “But Monterisso might be worth looking into more.”
“I’m not arranging the marriage of any future children I may have! They both are asking for that. It’s not happening.”
“See what else Queen Amalas is willing to offer,” Constantine suggests. “They both want the financial stability our country can give them. So negotiations will be in your favor.”
“I’m just going to hold off on doing anything for now. If they want an alliance that badly, they’ll wait until I’m ready to make a decision.”
“Liam-”
“It’s late. You can go.”
Liam walks his father to the door, shutting it behind him. He grabs his empty glass off his desk and goes to the bar cart and pours himself another scotch; he stares out of the window as he takes a large sip. He has no intentions of agreeing to an alliance, even if they took the betrothal off the table.
Liam managed to find another way to stall wedding planning when neighboring Kingdoms began pressing him for an alliance. He is biding his time, using the negotiations that are being tossed around as a way to hold off on setting a date. When they first came to him, he jumped at the opportunity to use it as an excuse. He said with the terms they were trying to negotiate, there should be no reason to rush into the marriage if it was going to be for Auvernal or Monterisso’s benefit. To his surprise, Madeleine agreed.
Liam stares at his already-empty glass before pouring another; he takes his refill and leaves his study for the night. As he walks the corridors with his drink in hand, Charlotte is at the forefront of his mind, where she always is.
Once inside his quarters, he sits on his terrace with yet another drink as he stares at his phone on the table. With the liquid courage coursing through his veins every night, talking himself out of calling Charlotte has become more difficult over the last month, but he still manages to refrain from doing it. But god, how he wishes he could hear her voice.
And over the last month, he’s found that his patience with everyone is wearing thin. He feels angry all of the time. Drake, Maxwell, and Olivia have all tried to talk to him; they came to him and expressed their worry for the way he’s been lately. He dismissed their concerns and told them he was fine. Leo also returned, stating his worries as well; Liam told him to mind his own damn business.
After draining the rest of his glass, Liam goes to his bedroom, changes, and slips into bed. He’s fast asleep before long, and like clockwork, the dream comes.
Liam stands on the empty private beach as a soft breeze washes over him; a midnight velvet sky littered with bright stars reflects off the water.
“Liam,” her soft voice echos.
———————
•Four Months•
Liam glances down at Drake, and a smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. “So who made you dress up as a noble for the costume gala?”
“Fucking Maxwell,” Drake scoffs. “We were playing cards, and he upped the ante and said whoever won got to pick the other’s costume for tonight. I swear, he cheated.” Drake looks at Liam appraisingly. “And who are you supposed to be?”
“King Fabian,” Liam answers.
“The naked guy down in the square?”
“That’s the one.”
Drake sees Bastien across the ballroom, talking with Leo. “I see Bas is back on your detail.”
“He is.”
“Have you talked to him about everything?”
“I told him it would take some time for him to gain my trust back completely …”
Drake watches Liam grab another drink from a passing waiter’s tray; he knows it’s at least his fourth since the gala started. He hesitates for a moment before asking his next question. “So, how have you been doing? You feeling ok?”
“I’m fine,” Liam replies, raising the glass to his lips.
“Li, you know if you need to talk or just vent … I’m here.”
“I don’t need to talk or vent. I’m fine.”
“Well, as your friend, I’m going to be real honest with you … you’re full of shit. It’s been four months, and you are far from fine.”
Liam’s jaw tenses, and he turns to look at Drake. “I appreciate the concern, but I don’t need a lecture. I told you, I am fi-”
Liam’s words are cut off by a loud explosion and the instant panic that ensues inside the ballroom. Bastien and a few other guards are at his side within moments, attempting to usher the King from the pandemonium, but Liam shoves them away when he sees Leo and Regina crouched on the floor across the room. He rushes towards them, and the color drains from his face when he sees his father lying lifeless under a pile of rubble.
****
In the early morning hours after the attack, Liam arrives back from the hospital once the palace is cleared. Having just lost his father mere hours ago, the longing to call Charlotte is stronger than ever. He sits on the terrace of his quarters in the dark with a bottle of scotch in one hand and his phone in the other.
For months now he’s been able to convince himself that reaching out to her wouldn’t do either of them any good, and each time he wanted to call, he had talked himself out of it. But at that moment, the stress of everything he’s been dealing with now paired with his father’s death brings it all to a head. He needs someone to talk to. He needs someone to open up to. He needs someone who knows him -- the real him. He needs someone who understands him.
He needs her.
Liam takes a deep breath, taps his finger to the screen, and puts the phone to his ear. He’s met with not a ring and her voice but a tone followed by an automated intercept message. “We're sorry; the number you have reached has been disconnected or is no longer in service.”
Liam’s vision blurs from the stinging tears in his eyes. He stares straight ahead as he lowers the phone from his ear and raises the bottle to his lips.
Later, Liam slips into a coma-like sleep, and he sees her.
As he rounds another bend on the dirt path, Liam skids to a stop when he sees Charlotte standing at the other end, smiling at him. “Liam … you have to let me go.”
*******
A week after the attack, Liam sits in a plush booth inside of a club located in the Capitol’s downtown area. He is in the VIP section and sips a scotch as his eyes scan the room. Constantine’s funeral was the day before, and Leo convinced Liam to come out with him that night instead of being in his quarters alone. Drake, Maxwell, and Rashad are with them, and Leo uses his repertoire with women to bring some to their corner of the club.
Liam feels numb, but it’s not only from the alcohol and the loss of his father. Ever since making that phone call to Charlotte, he feels like she is truly gone, never to return. But the loud music drowns out his thoughts as he finishes off another drink and motions for more. He watches the others, who are all deep in conversation with the women gathered around them. When the waitress brings the King another drink, he nods in thanks as he takes it.
Just as he raises the glass to his lips, he feels the sofa shift as someone sits next to him. “Hi,” a soft voice says.
Liam slowly looks over; he blinks to rid his slight double vision, bringing a blonde woman into focus. She smiles, and he can’t help but see something familiar in it. “Hi, yourself.”
****
Liam squeezes his eyes shut as he moves in the bed and groans; by the way his head is spinning before he even opens his eyes, he’s sure that he’s still drunk. He feels movement next to him, and it causes his eyes to fly open; he’s momentarily blinded by early morning light coming in through the window. He turns his head and sees a woman’s bare back and her blonde hair splayed on the pillow; a sheet covers her lower half.
Liam abruptly sits up and too fast. A wave of nausea hits him, but he’s too focused on what’s going on, so he ignores it. He looks around; he’s not in his room but a guest room of the palace. Then his eyes land on the scattered clothes on the floor. He looks back at the sleeping form next to him before looking down at himself; he’s naked, covered by the white sheet. He closes his eyes, cursing himself senseless before he quietly slips out of bed.
As he pulls on his boxer briefs and pants, he tries to piece together the events of the night before. He remembers the club and the woman sitting next to him. They talked. They kissed. And then he left with her. He remembers Drake stopping him on his way out the door, asking him what he’s doing. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Li?” And before he could answer, the woman took his hand and pulled him towards the waiting SUV. He remembers getting back to the palace, the two of them stumbling up the stairs and leading her to the guest wing. He remembers entering a room and her pushing him up against the door once it’s closed. His lips on her, her hands on him.
“Fuck!” he grumbles through a clenched jaw, then snaps his gaze up when his voice causes the woman to stir. But she doesn’t wake.
Liam grabs his shirt from the floor, not even bothering to put it on before he turns towards the door; he opens it and slips out of the room, closing it quietly. When he turns, he sees Bastien, who’s standing just down the hall. Embarrassment and shame twist Liam’s features as the two men stare at one another.
“Sir …” Bastien says quietly. He has that look on his face, silently asking the King what he wants him to do. Liam’s not sure. This is a first for him.
“Can you, uh …” Liam’s voice trembles before he trails off. He knows he fucked up. Sure, plenty of people do things like this all the time, but he’s not just anybody. And he’s not this type of person either; he’s not someone who has random one-night stands and then sneaks out in the morning. It was the alcohol and grief, but he knows there is no excuse. “Can you handle that situation … discreetly?”
Liam knows the process, having seen Leo do this plenty of times. “Of course, sir. I’ll find you to give an update once she’s signed the NDA.”
“Thank you.” With that, Liam walks away down the guest wing corridor.
Back in his quarters, Liam stands in the shower; his palms are pressed against the tile as he leans forward, letting the hot water run over his body. He’s trying to wash away the night before, and the shame and guilt he feels as the downward spiral he’s been in finally catches up with him. He doesn’t even recognize who he is anymore. Everything in that moment seems to crash down on him at once: his heartache over Charlotte, how he’s been behaving, the heavy drinking, the stress of doing anything and everything to stall the wedding, his father’s death. He turns, leans back against the tile, and slides to the ground; his knees are bent with his elbows resting on top of them as he hangs his head and laces his fingers behind his neck.
As the water continues to run over him, Liam completely breaks down.
———————
•Five Months•
Liam sits in his study one evening with Rashad, looking over paperwork as they prepare for the upcoming summit in Italy. “You actually seem to be looking forward to the summit,” Rashad teases.
“Honestly … I am. I’m looking forward to getting away for a bit.”
“Away from the incessant nagging over the wedding?”
Liam glances up from the papers in front of him, meeting his old friend’s gaze. “Yes, that’s part of it.”
“As one of your most trusted advisors, I should be telling you to stop pushing the date back and get on with it.”
“Yes, you should be.” Liam stares at him expectantly but chuckles with a shake of his head when Rashad offers a smirk and shrugs his shoulders.
Since the attack at the Costume Gala, Liam has actually had a plausible reason for pushing back the wedding while they worked to find the people behind it. They knew the ones taking responsibility were members of a faction known as Sons of Earth, but they had yet to bring anyone into custody. Neither Madeleine nor the press gave him a hard time about halting the nuptials when it came to the group responsible for killing his father. They didn’t dare question him about it.
Rashad rises from his seat and walks to the bar cart, pouring himself a drink. “Can I get you one?” he asks Liam.
Liam glances over his shoulder to see him holding up a bottle of scotch in question. “Uh … no, I’m alright. Thank you, though.”
In the time since Liam’s private breakdown after his one-night stand, he’s stopped drinking for the time being. He threw himself into work while attempting to get his life back in order. Luckily for him, the woman he woke up next to that morning didn’t remember a damn thing. She had asked Bastien who she even ended up at the palace with; it was a question Bastien didn’t answer. She signed the NDA, and that was the last Liam had heard of the incident.
The temptation to down a few drinks is hard to ignore, however. Since he stopped drinking, Liam hasn’t had the dream of Charlotte. It’s the only way he can see her, and he’s tempted only for that reason, but he manages to overcome the urges. He doesn’t want to end up back in that hole he just crawled out of.
———————
•Six Months•
Liam, Drake, and Maxwell sit in the great room of the Beaumont Estate after playing cards that evening. “I can’t believe tomorrow is the start of the Social Season already,” Maxwell says. “It doesn’t feel like it’s been a year.”
“It doesn’t,” Liam agrees. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about that very same thing all week, and how a year ago, his life completely changed. The Social Season’s arrival comes as a reprieve for Liam, however; it’s bought him three uninterrupted months of not having to worry about the wedding. He feels a slight weight lifted off his shoulders because of it.
“Nothing will top last year’s Social Season,” Maxwell chuckles.
Liam knows exactly what Maxwell is referring to. It had been a year since Charlotte first came into his life and showed up in Cordonia for his Social Season, taking it by storm. And to his own surprise, Liam can’t help but smile, thinking back on it; it was the most fun he can ever remember having.
A memory causes Liam to start laughing, and Drake and Maxwell both give him a questioning look. “Last year at the Masquerade Ball … I took Charlotte down to the garden maze that night. I had told her earlier about maze-tag, and she gets this idea to play, right? So we’re running through the maze, and we near the center, and instead of going around the bushes to get to the tree, she attempts to hurdle them.” As he says it through a laugh, both Drake and Maxwell begin to laugh as well, knowing Charlotte and how this more than likely ended for her. “She flipped over the bush and landed upside down on the other side,” Liam chuckles.
“Remember when she told you at the derby that it was an American tradition not to watch horse races while wearing shoes because it’s bad luck, but really, she flung her shoes out of the tent because she stepped in horse shit?” Drake snorts, and Liam starts to laugh even harder as he nods his head.
“She set fire to the hot tub in Lythikos,” Liam’s voice shakes.
“Nothing beats her falling off the boat at the regatta,” Maxwell grins.
“Yeah, and then she tells your dad she decided to become one with the boat,” Drake laughs, and Maxwell doubles forward as Liam throws his head back, his face red and his body shaking.
A few moments later, after composing himself, Maxwell glances at Liam to see him staring off; he clears his throat to get Drake’s attention, but he’s already noticed it too. “Ah, hell, sorry, Li.”
“No … it’s ok,” Liam shakes his head. “I needed that. I guess … I’m finally starting to come to terms with it. It’s still not easy …” A silence falls between the three of them as Liam chews the inside of his cheek; this is the first time Drake and Maxwell have heard him talk about Charlotte since returning from New York six months ago. “I just miss her,” he whispers.
“I know you do, Li, but you can’t dwell on the past,” Drake says.
“She said she wanted me to be happy.”
“What?” Maxwell questions.
“In New York, the night she told me she was staying … she told me she wanted me to be happy. And I … I don’t know if I can be … not without her.”
“You have to try, Li.”
Liam looked at Drake. He could try. It’s what any normal, sane person would do: accept what is, take the loss, and attempt to move on. But the thing is … he doesn’t want to.
———————
•Nine Months•
“Other things have taken precedence, Madeleine!” Liam’s voice is raised inside his study; he’s locked in a heated discussion with Madeleine. “There are more important things going on than making sure you secure your precious crown!”
“It’s been NINE MONTHS! And you continue to find every damn excuse you can to keep pushing it back!” Madeleine shouts. “And now THIS is starting!” She tosses down the latest issue of the Cordonia Tribune. On the cover is a photograph of Liam and Madeleine. The text beneath their photo: Cordonia Still Waiting For Royal Wedding.
The article lists every time Liam has stalled the nuptials and his reasoning for doing so. It goes on to point out that no details have even been given regarding the wedding and questions whether or not Cordonia will even see it take place that year or if he’ll continue to push back the date.
“So what?” Liam scoffs. “They’ve taken notice that there hasn’t been a wedding yet. Stop acting as though it’s the worst thing in the world!”
“This is just the start of it, Liam! You and I both know that these articles are only going to get worse from here forward! We need to set a date and announce it!”
“What? You’re afraid they might catch on that this is the last thing that I want? You want to marry me as much as I want to marry you, which isn’t at all! The only reason you’re pushing for it is because you actually get something out of it!”
A knock on the door interrupts them; Liam calls for them to enter, and Rashad opens the door. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“You’re not interrupting anything,” Liam says, and his tone makes it clear that he’s thankful for the intrusion. He grabs a stack of papers from his desk and looks at Madeleine. “I have a summit planning meeting to get to. You can see yourself out.”
———————
•10 Months•
Countess Madeleine Says Wedding Is In The Works: The queen-to-be was every bit of a blushing bride when finally speaking about the royal wedding Cordonia is waiting for.
“Why are you lying to them?” Liam growls, throwing the latest issue of Trend magazine onto the table in the great room. “There are no plans in the works! The summit is coming up, and nothing has been planned at all!”
“I have to tell them something, Liam! It’s been 10 months of SILENCE!”
Liam tenses his jaw and turns to the bar cart; he pours himself a finger of scotch. He’s been able to control it, having only a glass here and there; it’s generally during moments like this when he and Madeleine argue. And in the past month, the arguments have escalated.
“You don’t need to tell them anything! It’s simple! You say NO COMMENT!”
“And give them more ammunition for further speculation?”
“Yes! I don’t give a damn about their assumptions!”
“Well, I do! I know you don’t give a damn about my reputation, but I do!”
“Like your reputation will be tarnished over lack of wedding details. Give me a fucking break!”
“10 months, Liam! 10. Months! We could have produced an heir already!”
Liam lets out a wry laugh. “Believe me, the last thing on my mind is heirs. Especially with you.” He shakes his head as he turns towards the fireplace and takes a sip of his drink.
“Your disrespect is completely uncalled for!”
“Maybe, but it’s the truth.”
“How the hell would you know what the truth is? You’ve spent the last 10 months avoiding it!”
At her words, Liam turns, and his eyes narrow. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re holding onto this flicker of hope that she’s suddenly going to come back for you, and she’s not!”
“What did you just say?”
“Charlotte!” Madeleine hisses. “That’s what all of this stalling is about! She stayed behind in New York -- where she belongs -- and she’s not coming back, Liam! And it’s time you come to terms with that and face fucking reality so that we can move forward!”
“Get out.”
“I’m not leave-”
“GET. OUT!” Liam’s deep booming voice reverberates around the room. Madeleine calmly stands, seemingly unfazed by his tone; she smoothes down the front of her dress before she turns and exits the room.
Liam turns, and with a growl, he chucks his glass into the fire; the alcohol causes the flames to rise. He leans against the mantle and closes his eyes, trying to calm himself down. The thing is … he knows Madeleine is right. He has been avoiding the truth, and he has to come to terms with reality.
Charlotte is gone, no longer a part of his life.
———————
•11 Months•
Drake weaves his way through the crowd on the grounds of the Valtoria estate; he watches as people light their lanterns and lift them into the sky.
The court arrived in Valtoria earlier that day for the annual Lantern Festival, and Drake noticed that Liam seemed to be off from the moment they got there. It started when they first exited the SUV, and Liam stared at the outside of the estate, clearly a million miles away. He’s been relatively scarce ever since.
As Drake nears the lake next to the estate, he spots Liam standing at the edge, alone, holding his lantern still. He makes his way down the embankment towards him. “What are you doing down here?”
“Oh, hey … uh, nothing really. About to light this.” He motions to the lantern he’s holding.
Drake stuffs his hands into his pockets as he looks across the lake that the moon reflects off of. “You seemed to have something on your mind today …”
Liam nods with a wry laugh; Drake can read him like a book. “I, uh … I was going to give Charlotte this place after we cleared her name …”
Drake’s brows furrow. “What?”
“There’s an old Cordonian law that states a Queen must hold her own lands prior to ascending the throne. Valtoria is an unclaimed duchy. And it was the one I chose to give to her once we cleared her name … when I proposed …”
Liam’s behavior that day suddenly makes perfect sense. “I see …” Drake has kept quiet over the past 11 months when it came to Liam and his personal business. He knows his best friend has a responsibility, and the man is nothing if not dutiful. But tonight, Drake can’t seem to bite his tongue. “Look, Li … I know you have a responsibility as King to marry … and I know I’m just a commoner, and most would say that I have no business throwing my opinion about courtly matters out there, but … do you really want a lifelong commitment to misery?” Liam looks at Drake; he doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t have to. “Maybe you should think about calling it off. Because no one deserves to be this unhappy. You always put everyone else first, but maybe you need to think of yourself for once.”
It’s nothing Liam hasn’t already thought about. The idea of saying to hell with it and calling of his engagement crosses his mind more times than he can count. But he’s a King with responsibilities, expectations, and a duty to fulfill.
———————
•12 Months•
Inside the palace ballroom, guests dance and mingle during a charity gala hosted by the Queen Mother.
Outside the palace, Liam stands in the center of the garden maze, having stepped out to get some much needed fresh air. Some press members are in attendance, and instead of focusing on the reason they’re all gathered there that evening, they instead chose to ask Liam questions about the wedding and the articles that continue to come out week after week about his choice to keep pushing it back. He doesn’t answer them.
Liam’s been thinking more and more about calling the whole thing off, but there’s something that’s holding him back, and he can’t quite figure out exactly what it is.
As he stands in the center of the maze with his hands in his pockets, he looks around the dimly lit area. He feels his mother’s presence as he always did when he would come there; it was her place, after all.
Liam lets out a soft breath as he looks up at the night sky. “I don’t know what to do, Mother,” he whispers. He finds talking to her cathartic, even though there’s no response. “I know I have a duty … ” Liam looks down to the ground, speaking over the lump in his throat. “I want to be a good King … but I want to be happy too. I want to be as happy as I was when I was with her … but I don’t think I ever will be.” Liam lets out another breath. “I feel like if you were here, you would tell me that duty wasn’t everything. That I should follow what my heart is telling me. But then again … that could just be what I hope you would say.” As he looks back up at the night sky, he chews the inside of his cheek for a moment before asking for something he knows isn’t possible. “I just need a sign … can you give me that? Something. Anything.”
****
That night Liam falls asleep, and without a drop of alcohol, his thought to be forgotten dream comes.
Liam stands on the empty private beach as a soft breeze washes over him; a midnight velvet sky littered with bright stars reflects off the water.
“Liam,” her soft voice echos.
Liam turns, and his eyes find her bare feet and travel up the flowing pale pink chiffon gown; his breath hitches when he sees her face. She’s smiling at him, and her eyes sparkle in the moonlight. “Charlotte?” he breathes, and his face twists with relief as he takes a step toward her.
Charlotte laughs, and then she turns and disappears between the trees down the pathway that leads to the Forgotten Falls; without hesitation, Liam runs after her.
When Liam makes it into the pathway, it’s illuminated by the moon. He sees the swish of her gown rounding a bend. “Charlotte, wait!”
Her laughter echoes as Liam whips past the trees after her; his chest is aching, and he doesn’t know if it’s the burning in his lungs from running or his heart fracturing with each beat as he tries to get to her. Panic courses through him as he pushes himself to catch her, and he can feel the sting in his eyes from the tears that start to form from his desperation.
Liam starts to gain on her as they near the clearing of the falls. He reaches for her as he barrels into the clearing just behind her … and his arm wraps around her waist. She twists in his embrace to face him, and her eyes meet his as she smiles. “Hi.”
Liam’s eyes don’t leave her, afraid if he even blinks, she’ll be gone. “Hi …”
“Liam, you can’t give up.”
Liam searches her eyes. “Give up on what?”
“On me.”
Liam’s eyes snap open as he shoots straight up in bed; he turns his head towards the sounding alarm on his nightstand and reaches over to shut it off. He slumps back against the pillows and lets out a heavy breath as he rubs his tired eyes and remembers the dream. It just happened on its own, not brought on by anything like the times before. But it was different this time; Liam caught her in the end, and she told him not to give up. And he’s not sure what to make of it or what it’s supposed to mean.
Liam’s brows furrow as he thinks about it. Is this the sign I asked for? But he quickly shakes the thought. It’s absurd and ridiculous, and frankly, it’s impossible; he’s not sure what even made him bring that up the night before. Signs don’t really exist.
****
Later that afternoon, Liam sits in his study, going over a proposal from the council. He glances over at yesterday morning’s issue of the Cordonia Tribune; his picture is on the cover next to large lettering. Trouble In Almost Paradise? King Liam continues to push back royal wedding to Countess Madeleine.
Liam rolls his eyes. It’s far from paradise.
There’s a knock on his door, and before he can call for them to enter, it swings open; Bastien and Rashad barrel inside. “Good afternoon,” he says tentatively as he stares at them.
“Sir … we may have a problem …” Bastien says.
“What is it?”
Rashad gives him a nervous glance. “I have an informant at the Tribune who gives me a heads up with certain matters. He gave me a copy of tomorrow’s issue …”
“What now? More trouble in hell?” Liam scoffs.
“No … it’s … it might be worse …” Rashad outstretches his hand and gives the copy of the issue to Liam.
Liam takes it, and his eyes widen. There on the cover is a picture of Charlotte; next to her image is a headline: The Truth Exposed?
As he reads the article, he relives every single moment of the past year and a half: meeting Charlotte in New York, the Social Season, the Engagement Tour, their goodbye, his spiral … all of it.
When Liam finishes reading, he’s irritated, and a little pissed about how this came out, but he feels a small spark of something that he hasn’t in a year: hope. “Prepare the jet. Now.”
“Of course, sir. Where exactly are we headed?”
“New York.”
**********************************
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Want Your Heart Beating On Me
Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)
Book: The Royal Romance (The Royal Romance Book 2, Chapter 9)
Word Count: ~2550
Rating: R (language, some sensual content)
Summary: "You can’t sleep. You’re testing me. Bad but sweet, and I’m just tryin’ to keep it together.” ~James Bay
Author’s Note: Well, the writer’s block is disappearing as I listen to my writing playlists... but it’s inspiring one shots, hahaha! This one wormed its way into my brain as I listened to “Peer Pressure” by James Bay and Julia Michaels and I just had to explore it. It is a missing moment in my headcanon, set the night after the Never Have I Ever scene in TRR2. So, while I work to get back into my ongoing series, here is a random one shot from canon content that was released years ago, hahaha!
Drake sighed as he rolled over, grabbing his phone off the shelf next to his bed in the train cabin. It had vibrated a few times now, and he didn’t want to push his luck and have Maxwell wake up. He was too sleepy to have to come up with a lie about who was repeatedly texting him at this hour, and it was too much to hope that Maxwell wouldn’t ask him loads of questions.
He pushed his thumb against the home button as he rolled from his side back to his back, the glow of the screen feeling almost blinding in the dark cabin. He supposed he should count his blessings that Maxwell wore one of those dumb eye masks to sleep. He unlocked his phone, the time of 1:54 am barely registering in his brain before his home screen popped up. He blinked several times, taking in the little red circle that read “7” along the corner of his texting app. Until recently, the only person who would have sent him a text at this hour was Liam. But tonight, he just knew who it was going to be. Even if he hadn’t suspected the texts were from Riley before picking up his phone, the back to back messages were much more her style than Liam’s.
Bracing himself, he tapped open his messages, clicking on the bolded thread labeled “Liu” at the top of his list.
Hey
I can’t sleep
Wanna get another drink?
We could have a rematch of Never Have I Ever
Maybe I won’t kick your ass for a second time tonight
Are you up and ignoring me?
Or are you having more dreams about us?
Shit. He swallowed roughly, trying to rein in his fantasies. He was in way too deep here. This was a massive mistake. He was getting carried away, letting himself think that Riley wanted him. Not just as a casual hook up or distraction, but actually wanted him for a real relationship. But that’s not how this would play out. She might enjoy his company, might even be attracted to him, but that would never compare to how she felt about Liam.
Maybe if he wasn’t so wrapped up in her, obsessed with her bascially, he could actually enjoy a little fun with her. But he was long past that being an option. He… well, he was in love with her. He didn’t like to think about it, but it was the goddamn truth. At this point, he would have to be a moron to ignore that fact. Or rather, more of a moron than he already was. So, instead of letting himself get further tugged under her spell, he needed to shut things down.
No way the bar car is still open now, Liu.
He rolled onto his side to put his phone back down, but it vibrated in his hand before he could do so. Against his better judgement, he read her response.
Guess you’ll just have to come to my cabin then
Drake bit back a groan, running a hand over his face. This was a fucking booty call. She was in love with his best friend. He was just a comfort for the moment. He kept repeating these facts over and over, trying like hell to convince himself that he shouldn’t head over to her cabin right this damn minute. But his mind kept trying to rationalize a way he could justify going over there. He thought of how often she’d stated that she’d cared about him, her insistence on calling the times they hung out dates, the way she looked at him as she actually fucking listened to everything he had to say. He felt his resolve crumbling by the second, all his self-preservational skills apparently left back in Cordonia. Probably somewhere in a wine cellar in Lythikos, if he was honest.
He swung his legs over the side of his bed as he sat upright, tucking his phone and his cabin key in the pockets of his gym shorts. He pulled on a t-shirt, but didn’t bother putting on socks or shoes. Ignoring the voice in the back of his mind that was practically screaming at him what a fucking dumb idea this was, he stood up, slipping though the cabin door as quickly and quietly as possible. The corridors of the train cars were completely deserted at this hour as Drake made his way towards the front of the train, drawing closer and closer to her cabin with every step.
When he reached her door, he hesitated for just a moment. But temptation and visions of her overruled any semblance of intelligent thought, and a second later, his hand was raising up, his knuckles rapping against the door almost of their own volition.
He heard a faint rustling sound, and then a few moments later, the door slid open, revealing Riley. Her face was washed free of any makeup, her long black hair loose and flowing over her bare shoulders. She was clearly dressed for bed, only wearing a plain white tank top and a pair of bright blue cotton shorts. She smiled at him, her dark eyes playful and bright behind her giant glasses.
“Drake, what a surprise!” she teased, cocking an eyebrow as she grinned even wider.
Drake shook his head. “Liu…”
“What could possibly bring you by my cabin in the middle of the night?” She was practically giddy, her eyes sparkling as she continued to mess with him. Drake didn’t know how it was possible, but it made him want her even more.
All he could do was roll his eyes, drawing a laugh from Riley as she reached out, grabbing his hand and tugging him into her cabin as she stepped backwards. She reached around him with her other hand, closing and locking the door behind them. Drake swallowed, trying not to get carried away by how fucking close they were, by the fact that they were completely alone, and by the fact that Riley was definitely not wearing a bra.
“Took you long enough to get here,” said Riley, twisting her hand to thread her fingers through his.
Drake swallowed roughly again. He was feeling so many things at once, and given that he was pretty sure this was somehow simultaneously his best and worst decision in a very long time, he was pretty close to being completely overwhelmed. “I had to put on a shirt,” was all he was able to croak out, his eyes drifting down, taking in the way their hands fit together.
“Well, I think that was pretty fucking pointless.” She inched closer to him, pressing her chest right up against his.
At her words, Drake let out a groan as his eyes jumped up, locking onto hers. Before he even realized what he was doing, he leaned forward, his lips meeting hers. This wasn’t like the kiss they shared at the dive bar earlier. He’d been cautious, not wanting to let things go too far. But here he was, only a couple of hours later, control and restraint completely out the window.
His free hand slid through her hair as she slid her tongue into his mouth, deepening their kiss. She tugged her hand out of his as she stepped backwards, instead clutching the front of his shirt as she dragged him with her towards her bed. Her other hand clawed into the back of his neck. The kisses were sloppy as they stumbled across the little cabin, but quickly they reached her bed. Riley broke away for just a second as she slid back across the covers, her head landing on the pillows as she pulled him down over her.
Drake braced himself over her as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, tugging him lower and kissing him again. He sank down as he traced his fingers along her sides, still using one elbow to keep himself slightly elevated, but Riley had other ideas. She hooked a leg over his thigh and nudged him lower, letting out a groan as Drake settled fully against her hips, clearly noticing how turned on he was by all of this. Drake thought it might have been the hottest thing he’d ever heard.
It was so intense, so fucking spectacular feeling, Riley grinding her hips up against him as he started kissing his way down her neck. He faltered in his path when her hands slid under the back of his shirt, her nails tracing up and down the skin of his back. She nudged him up just enough to tug his shirt most of the way off, but then she clutched at him again, slamming their bodies back together as he finished taking off his shirt and tossed it somewhere on the floor.
He maneuvered himself just enough to slide his hand over, cupping her breast through her tank top, his thumb tracing over her nipple. How had he even contemplated not coming over to her room to see her tonight? She was so fucking perfect. Feeling her body underneath his, the way she was responding to his touch, returning his kisses, all of it was one of the best things he’d ever experienced. Why had he considered ignoring her?
As he moved his hand down her body, her lips moving against his wildly, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Suddenly, reality came crashing down around him. There were only two people who would text him at this hour, and this time, it clearly wasn’t Riley. He froze, his eyes slamming shut as he let out a groan of frustration, not arousal.
“What’s wrong?” He dragged open his eyes at her words, taking her in, her eyes wide and her brow furrowed.
He let out a sigh. “I just got a text.”
Riley frowned. “It’s the middle of the night. Can’t you just ignore-”
Drake shook his head. “It’s Liam.” He didn’t bother saying the rest of his thoughts. He didn’t need to. The way she bit her lip and the guilt that settled into her eyes really said it all.
“Oh,” she said, sliding back and sitting up as Drake moved off of her, sitting on the edge of her bed by her feet. Clearly, hearing his name served as a wake up call for her as well. She probably was feeling guilty about what they’d done that night, remembering the man she actually wanted to be with but couldn’t. It was probably a good thing that he’d texted. It reminded both of them of what was at stake, of the reality of their situation. His text stopped them from going too far, from crossing a line that would fuck things up for all three of them.
Letting out another sigh, Drake pulled his phone out of his pocket and read the text.
What happened between you, Bertrand, and Maxwell? I assumed you’d left to help Lady Riley with her mission since she didn’t make it to our planned rendezvous, but Bastien just informed me he had to remove all of you from the party.
His eyes darted back towards Riley. She looked almost timid, her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around them. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her. Why had she spent time with him twice tonight when she had plans with Liam? It didn’t make any sense. Was she just trying to protect herself, not wanting to risk falling more for Liam when he was still engaged and they weren’t really any closer to clearing her name? Or did she actually mean it when she said she wanted to be with him?
No, it was dangerous to consider that possibility. That would just lead to more pain when she finally got to be with Liam. So Drake swallowed down his impossible hopes and pushed himself off her bed, grabbing his shirt off the floor. “I gotta go fill him in on Savannah,” he said, keeping his eyes focused on his bare feet. “He knows that I got into it with Bertrand and Maxwell, and he needs to know why the fuck I lost it like that.”
“Oh, okay.” Her voice was smaller, more reserved than usual. “Well, goodnight I guess.”
He nodded, stepping towards her door, trying to resist the urge to look back. He didn’t like leaving her like this, probably feeling like shit. Not only was she likely feeling guilty about turning to him for some physical affection at the expense of time with Liam, but him stopping things the way he did had to carry some sting of rejection. After everything she’d had to endure, he hated the thought of adding to her burdens. But he didn’t trust himself to say the right thing here. He was too caught up in this mess to say anything reassuring.
“Drake?”
He stopped right at the door and took a deep breath. “Yeah, Liu?”
“I know tonight was kind of a mess, but I did have a lot of fun. With you, you know?”
He couldn’t resist twisting back to look at her at that. Her eyes were locked onto him as her cheek rested on top of her knees, her arms still locked around her legs. He didn’t know if she was referring to their drinking game at the bar earlier or their makeout session now. At the end of the day, it really didn’t matter. All he could do was force a smile and nod.
“Will I see you tomorrow?” she asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.
Drake bit his lip. He needed to keep his distance, allow her a chance to reconnect with Liam. The more time they spent together, the messier things got for all of them. But he couldn’t stand to cause her any more pain tonight, so he just shrugged and kept things vague. “I don’t know. I’m sure we’ll see each other at some point.”
Riley frowned, but kept on going. “Wanna grab breakfast in the dining car?” He should have known she would see his hedging for what it was. She could read him too well, having actually paid attention to him in a way that few people at court ever had.
He shook his head. “I don’t know how long things will take with Liam. Might just skip breakfast and try to get some sleep.”
“Oh, okay.” Her eyes dropped to her knees as her fingers dug into her thighs. “Maybe later then?”
“Yeah, maybe.” He hated lying to her, but he knew he had to put the brakes on whatever was unfolding between the two of them. And it was clear that he had no willpower whenever he was around her. “I gotta go, Liu.”
She nodded, still staring at her knees. Drake slid open her door and stepped out into the corridor, grimacing as he made his way towards Liam’s cabin. He’d fucked everything up, and he’d hurt her, the one thing he’d sworn he’d never do. He had to make things right, to make things better for her. He’d just have to work harder to help her figure out how to clear her name. That way, she might have a shot at some actual happiness. Liam too. It was already far too late for him to hope for that much for himself.
Perma: @mom2000aggie @octobereighth @kingliam2019 @lovingchoices14
TRR/TRH: @iplaydrake @princessleac1 @twinkleallnight @gkittylove99 @ladyangel70 @marshmallowsandfire @axwalker @sirbeepsalot @iaminlovewithtrr @forallthatitsworth @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @hedgehogs-dilemmas
Drake x MC: @petiteboheme @mskaneko
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Tag List Update
It’s that time again - it’s been almost a year since I updated my lists, and seeing as I’m wrapping up one series (Kairos), prepping for RODAW, picking up old series, and deciding what new thing I want to work on next, I want you to be able to read the things you want to 💙
Comments and/or reblogs are good (and I appreciate every single one of them!), but I've made up a form that will hopefully make things easier. Listing perma/book tags below the cut; to avoid repeating names by listing every series, I'm mentioning everyone that's been tagged for at least one book/series to opt in on what you want.
If you're seeing this post but you weren't tagged and you want to be on a taglist, hello! and click the link below 😊
If you've been tagged but you're no longer into my writing, ignore this post and the form; I'll remove you from tags once I close submissions. There won't be any hard feelings - I know tastes change over time, and I don't want to annoy you with a story you no longer wish to read
You can always hop on or off a list later, this is just my attempt to stay organized
Form will stay open until Sunday, 25 July, 11:59 EDT. After that time, I'll update lists accordingly.
These are included on the form, but here are 50 words or less "snapshots" of my WIPs and upcoming series:
Non-Choices
(last updated November 2020) The Exchange: Daniel Henney x Reader thing where you meet Daniel Henney at an informal gathering
(last updated June 2021) To Ruined Friendships: Logan Delos x Reader potential miniseries where you set aside years of friendship with Logan to see the side of himself he rarely shows the world
Ride or Die
(last updated July 2019) Mixtapes & Milkshakes, Side A: through a series of flashbacks via mixtape, Jin recounts her time with the Mercy Park Crew and the two boys she fell for (Logan x MC, Colt x MC)
(TBD) Mixtapes & Milkshakes, Side B: AU where Logan recounts his summer with MC (Lana) while he listens to an album
(last updated February 2020) Mixtapes Hidden Track: open series of one shots between Logan and Jin as they repair their relationship
(last updated July 2019) Prologue to Breathe Hope Love Live: 3-part introduction to an AU where Ellie tries to start a new life on the East Coast, but she’s still in love with Logan and Colt
(TBD, August 2021) RODAW 3.0: fic, edits, crafts, and other submissions for ROD Appreciation Week
(TBD, August 2021) Untitled AU: series adjacent to Mixtapes (Hidden Track) where Logan learns how to love & be loved as he and Jin rebuild their relationship and start a family
The Royal Romance/Royal Heir
(last updated November 2018) Crimson Snow: gangster AU where Liam is part of the Yakuza. IDK when this series will actually begin
(last updated February 2020) Deja Brew: prologue posted; coffeeshop-esque AU that will incorporate Friends quotes/prompts that will loosely follow events from TRR Book 1, if everything had taken place in New York
(last updated August 2020) Elpida: TRH AU set 20+ years in the future, where Eleanor “Teddy” Rys returns to Cordonia to be crowned Queen. Technically complete but I've been asked to write more
(last updated July 2021) Kairos: nearly completed Wacky Drabbles series/AU where Riley asked Liam about the one that got away. Liam recalls his time with a woman named Elia, and their time together one summer
(last updated July 2021) Love is Patient: possible Wacky Drabble AU/miniseries where Liam and Trina had a chance meeting as kids and pretended to get married. 20 years later, Trina’s summoned to Cordonia because Liam can’t be crowned king without a wife. Can two relative strangers fall in love and prove their love is real in time?
(last updated October 2020) Morpheus Dreams: snippet posted; soulmate AU set in a post-apocalyptic world where dreams only occur when you fall asleep in the arms of your soulmate. burnsoslow’s Alyssa Devereaux from Remember Two Things will be on loan
(last updated October 2019) Morsels: miscellaneous one shots following You Are the Reason series, where Liam and Trina navigate married life in between ruling as monarchs, raising kids, and finding moments of time for themselves
(last updated September 2019) Serendipity: college AU where TRR characters exist, but Cordonia doesn’t and they don’t have noble titles. Liam shares a kiss with Trina within minutes of meeting her, and spends the rest of the semester getting to know her
(last updated December 2020) Sojourn: AU comprised of one shots after TRR Book 2 events, where Trina accepted Liam’s proposal on the condition that she goes to law school before they marry. Drake becomes her roommate/extension of the Kings Guard for protection while he also finishes his degree. Chaos sometimes ensues; precursor to You Are the Reason
(last updated April 2019) You Are the Reason: series occurs after Sojourn, where recent graduates Trina and Drake officially return to Cordonia. However, unknown forces try to keep Trina from marrying Liam. Some parts of TRR Book 3 will be included
(TBD 2021) Untitled Summer Love/Wacky Drabbles series: AU where Cordonia doesn’t exist/no one has noble titles. Liam and Drake take a long overdue summer vacation, where they meet an interesting pair of ladies, under odd circumstances. Will there be more than one summertime spark?
FYI I don't post anything on a schedule 🙈also tags max out in a post so I'll reblog in a minute. Thanks for reading this mess, and reading in general 💙
Permatag All Stories: @ao719 @blackcatkita @debramcg1106 @neotericthemis @ofpixelsandscribbles @smalltalk88 @the-soot-sprite
BLADES: @choicesarehard @princess-geek @saivilo @storyofmychoices @walkerswhiskeygirl
MOTY: @justbeingmyself21 @pirateofprose /princess-geek /saivilo @siegrrun
ROD: @burnsoslow /choicesarehard /pirateofprose
TRR/TRH: @aestheticartsx @bbrandy2002 /burnsoslow @choiceskatie @darley1101 @dcbbw @gardeningourmet @iplaydrake @kingliam2019 @liamxs-world @rainbowsinthestorm @riseandshinelittleblossom @superharriet @texaskitten30 @theroyalheirshadowhunter
melee tag for anyone that was tagged for a ROD or TRR series but I have too many to post lists one by one so you need to check off what you wanna read *points to snapshot descriptions above*: @alexpottrechoices @blznbaby @brightpinkpeppercorn @choices97 @clairexoxo100 @client-327 @cocomaxley @cordonianroyalty @cordonian-literature @everythingchoices @forallthatitsworth @gibbles82 @gkittylove99 @gnatbrain @h3llostrang3r @hustacks
#tag list update#cleaning up my lists#could this post BE any longer?#does this count as my WIP Wednesday post?
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Hi,if Liam would sing and play guitar to pregnant Riley,what song would it be?Please use the guitar of Liam's mum 😊
😭 WHY DIDN'T PB LET THIS HAPPEN???? Oh goodness. That would have been a scene I would have thrown diamonds at to get. It would have been so sweet! I doubt I can do it justice, but I will try 😭
I'm using the lullaby that was sung in a classic movie from the 1950s, Bundle of Joy. My mom is the one to give me my love for classic cinema and she had this particular movie playing often when I was little. I ended up memorizing this song along with the others in it, LOL. I also sang it to my boys when rocking them to sleep. Poor things. They were stuck with my awful singing voice. No wonder they fell asleep so quickly when they were infants 😂
Lullaby In Blue from Bundle of Joy.
@gkittylove99 @darley1101 @krsnlove @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @yourmajesty09 @mom2000aggie @ofpixelsandscribbles @twinkleallnight @lodberg @twinkleallnight @amandablink @neotericthemis @mm2305
Masterlist
Sweet Memories
"Liam?" Drake rounded the corner when he heard something he hadn't heard since he was little.
He saw his friend sitting outside, strumming an old guitar.
"Is that your mom's" he asked.
Liam's cheeks heated with color. "It is." He set it aside and stood up.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he avoided eye contact.
"I didn't know you played guitar." Drake muttered.
He was curious at Liam's reaction to being caught with it.
"I learned how after her death."
Drake's eyebrow lifted. "You did? How come you never told any of us?"
Liam shrugged. "It was a way for me to hold on to her memory." His brow furrowed. "Now that Riley is pregnant, I want to pass that on to our child." He hesitated. "But I've been trying for weeks now to remember the lyrics to a song my mother used to sing to me."
He felt such guilt over this. Each day, he would tell Riley he was going for a walk around Valtoria. He had been using that as a time to practice and hopefully jog his memory.
It was eating him up inside that he couldn't remember the very song his mother would sing to him at night if he had a nightmare or felt unwell.
"Why is it that I can only recall the melody?" He raked his hands through his hair. "I wish Father was here. Perhaps he knew the song."
Drake folded his arms and tried to think back to anyone who might have heard it. "I bet my dad knew it too."
Liam sat down once more and picked up the acoustic guitar. His fingers moved over the wood as he willed his memories to come back to him.
He could see her so clearly. Her blonde hair in a neat bun. The blue dress that perfectly matched her eyes. Her bright smile as she let him strum while she made the chords.
He could almost hear her laughter when he made up silly lyrics to go along with the music she created. Her sweet encouragement that he too had musical talent.
"Do you like my song for frogs?" His six year old self had asked.
"Like it?" Eleanor reached out and gently ruffled his hair. "I adore it, dearest. I've never heard a more perfect ballad for amphibians."
"I'm running out of time." Liam explained. "In a couple of weeks, the baby will be able to hear us." He turned to Drake. "I wanted one of the first sounds that he or she heard be a song from their grandmother."
"Somebody has to remember it." Drake argued. "Maybe Maxwell or Olivia. They spent time with her too."
Liam felt a glimmer of hope. "They are supposed to arrive tomorrow for a visit." He set the guitar back in the guest house he had hidden it in. "I'll find a way to talk to them without Riley knowing."
"She doesn't know?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise for her too." Liam smiled softly. "I told her I played guitar during our date at Ramsford. She's never heard me play before. This can be something special for her and the baby."
****************
"I remember that!" Maxwell exclaimed. He hummed the rest of the tune.
"You do?" Liam felt his hope grow. " Can you remember the words?"
"Sure." Maxwell hummed the beginning. "Um...it went...hmm." His brow furrowed. "What were the words?"
Liam practically deflated. If Maxwell couldn't remember a song then all hope was most assuredly lost.
"I remember snippets." Maxwell paced back and forth. "Like, Sandman is commin and he'll be here--"
Liam sat up when those words jogged his memory. "Mighty, mighty soon. And if you don't cry--"
"He'll be dropping by with the great big lollipop moon." Maxwell belted out. "I always loved that part of the song. Who wouldn't want the Sandman to bring them a moon shaped lollipop for going to sleep?"
Liam strummed along, repeating the words Maxwell had remembered. He stilled at not recalling any of the others. "How does it begin? Or for that matter, end?"
Maxwell sat down beside him. "It'll come back to you." He patted Liam's back. "Just keep at it."
****************
The next day, Liam took a walk with Olivia.
"I've been digging around some more about Bradshaw and Isabella. Nothing concrete yet, but it never hurts to have something on them." She told him.
Liam wasn't overly concerned at the moment with the monarchs wanting an alliance with Cordonia. "Do you remember my mother's songs she used to sing to us?"
Olivia stilled. "What brought that to mind?"
Liam averted his eyes. "I've been trying to remember a song she would sing to help me sleep. It was some type of lullaby that made me smile. Maxwell remembered part of it, but the beginning lyrics have eluded me."
Olivia began to walk forward again.
He couldn't help but notice how tense she appeared.
"Olivia? Is something wrong?" He jogged to catch up.
He then saw the tears in her eyes.
She took a deep breath. "What difference does it make if you can or can't remember a song?"
He stepped back from the bitterness in her tone. "I wanted to sing it to the baby." He slipped his hands into his pants. "I've been practicing on her guitar and wanted..." He sighed. "I wanted my child to have something precious of my mother's. You remember how much she loved music."
Olivia lowered her eyes. "I do. Queen Eleanor would hum and sing even when walking down the halls."
"I didn't mean to upset you with my question." Liam apologized, regretting the fact he had dragged his friends into this.
"No. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did." She sniffed and squared her shoulders.
Although thoughts of her childhood held a great deal of bitterness, Liam and his mother had been the one bright spot in her lonely existence. She couldn't deny him her help, no matter the heartache those memories contained.
"Now. What song is it?"
Liam led her to the guest house. He strummed the tune and noticed her expression light up in recognition.
Before he could even ask, a clear alto slipped from Olivia's lips as she sang the song.
🎵Hushaby... rockaby. Listen to my lullaby in blue
Bluelululululululu
How I love my pretty baby
Sweet and precious pretty baby
How I love my pretty baby
Honest to goodness I do
See here, Sandman is commin'
And he'll be here
Mighty mighty soon
And if you don't cry, he'll be droppin' by
With a great big lollypop moon🎵
Liam joined in, remembering how the rest was sung with two people. That thought reminded him of the times his mother encouraged his father to join in, their voices blending into a sweet note as they focused on their young child.
🎵Dream dream dream (How I love my pretty baby)
Be an angel
Dream dream dream (Sweet and precious, pretty baby)
Be a darling
I love my pretty baby (How I love my pretty baby)
Honest to goodness I do
Honest to goodness I do
Bluelulululululu🎵
"It's called Lullaby in Blue." Olivia told him. "Your mom sang it to me when I first came to live with you." Her eyes became distant as she thought back. "I asked her to teach it to me so that I could sing it to my stuffed dragon when he had trouble sleeping."
Liam reached over and grasped her hand. "Thank you. I know you don't like thinking of the past," he squeezed her fingers, "but being able to share this song means everything to me."
Olivia slowly smiled. "You better practice then. Your child deserves nothing but the best."
She wrote down the lyrics and left him alone to practice.
When he began to sing the words, he could hear his mother's voice singing too.
***************
A few week's later...
"How are you feeling, my love?" Liam asked one evening.
Riley rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm fine. I think the baby is not too happy I ate those brownies Hana made, but i am determined to not throw them up."
Liam pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I have a surprise."
"You do?" She sat up with a big smile. "What is it?"
"Wait right here." He left her on the couch to retrieve the guitar.
Her eyebrows raised when he returned with it in hand. "Liam! Is that your mother's?"
He paused before her. "You remembered."
"Of course I do. How could I ever forget our first date?" She patted the spot next to her for him to sit. "You promised me that night that one day you might play for me." Her eyes twinkled with mischief. "I didn't know a girl had to get pregnant to get serenaded around here."
Liam chuckled at that. He was touched that she recalled their date so clearly. That was the best night of his entire social season, well other than seeing her again at the Masquerade Ball.
Hearing she loved him during the Coronation Ball was also up there. If only it had ended differently.
He pushed those memories to the side. "I thought it might be time to start sharing with the baby a song my mother used to sing to me."
Riley's smile turned tender. "I think that sounds wonderful."
She watched, fighting back tears, as he positioned himself on the floor so that he could sing directly to her belly. The expression on his face as he began the lullaby was one that touched her heart.
His love and wonder for their unborn child was stamped across his handsome features. Each word he sang was done so with a smile unlike any she had ever seen before.
When he ended the song, he pressed a kiss to her baby bump.
"I hope you liked that." He gently rubbed her tummy. "It was a favorite of mine from my mother. I wish you could have met her. She was the kindest, most gentle woman I have ever met." His hand moved to hold Riley's. "We're lucky though that you have a mother just as wonderful as mine was."
"Liam." Riley gave up on not crying.
He pressed a kiss to her hand before continuing. "I love you and your mother more than anything. I intend on you hearing that every single day I am blessed to have with you." His fingers tangled with Riley's. "That song is a reminder of just how beloved you already are to both of us."
Riley tugged him back on the couch. She kissed him, whispering how much she loved him, how happy he made her.
The two cuddled together and thought of the day coming soon when their family would at last be complete.
#liam x riley#choices the royal heir#King Liam#choices trh#choices the stories you play#choices fan fiction#requests
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Happy Heart Broken
Original Post Date 05/23/21 at 2:25PM EST
This is @wackydrabbles question of the week “I love it when {I/you/he/she/they/name} wins which will appear in bold.
This is also a special one shot of Fast Forward.
The Book: TRH
Pairings: Liam x Riley / Riley x Nico (Riley x M!OC)
Word Count: 296
Warnings: None
A/N: If you watch Wheel Of Fortune my title is an example of a Before & After puzzle. You can read it one of two ways: Happy Heart/ or Heart Broken as both will happen here.
A/N2: In my social season, Liam understands that Riley will be alone at times and when he can’t be there, he set up a Cordonian Arrangement with Nico one of the palace guards. Drake is not considered a LI in this AU, and Liam tells Riley flat out, “If you need companionship when I can’t be around, Drake and Leo are off limits.”
"My favorite 'in your face' memory of the social season?"
Taylor nodded.
"There were so many. The nobles here in Cordonia underestimated me a lot. But if I had to pick one, it would be clearing my name."
"Well go on!"
Riley smiled at Liam taking his hand.
"Our last stop on Liam and Madeleine's engagement tour was New York."
"Hold up Madeleine that hired me?"
"One in the same."
"She thought she was won. But we didn't give up.. We searched high and low for Tariq, and we found him in California. After I knocked the hell out of him, we made him fly back to NYC with us and make a statement about the true context of the photos. We had the statement leaked to the press at the perfect time."
"When I saw the glint in Riley's eyes I knew, my farce of an engagement was finally over and I could finally have the life, the marriage I dreamed of."
"It's ironic we came full circle back in New York, on the streets where our love story began."
"That next night I was finally able to propose properly to the woman that possessed my heart from day one."
"Damn!" Taylor exclaimed.
"What?" Riley inquired.
"I love it when underdogs win!"
"When Liam proposed, it confirmed, I belong."
Content, Taylor changed subjects. Riley recalled the rest of that evening to herself.
Liam dropped her off at her room that night.
He kissed her softly and nonchalantly whispered.
"Tell Nico it's over, tonight."
Riley nodded.
Alone for a moment, she slipped Liam’s ring off her finger.
Nico arrived immediately.
Ironically for Riley, the happiest night of her life was also the saddest night of her life, thanks to two men, Liam Rys and Nico Karahalios.
#bebepac writes#wacky drabbles#question of the week#trh fanfic#trh fandom#liam and riley#riley x nico#choices fic writers creations
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Sapere Aude - Part 8A
Book: The Royal Heir
Pairing: King Liam Rys x Queen Riley Brooks
All characters belong to Pixelberry.
Catch Up Here
Series Description: I developed a theory of what I think will happen in TRH Book 4, and I was encouraged by some very lovely people to turn my theory into a fic, so here it is. Basically, Riley is recruited to join the Via Imperii, this series will follow her as she joins them to try and bring them down from the inside, and all of the drama and bombshells she learns along the way. Sapere Aude is Latin for “dare to know” it seemed like an appropriate title.
Rating: M -MATURE
Warning: Adult language, smut (🍋🍋🍋) and other adult themes.
Word Count: 4,049
Notes: I know I’ve sucked at updating and posting. I hit kind of a personal slump in my writing, there was a lot of self-loathing involved. I really struggled with writing chapter 9, and I eventually had a revelation that it was likely because I wasn’t done exploring everything that happened in chapter 8, so I’ve made a sub chapter. We follow Liam when after he leaves their quarters and get into his thought process in dealing with the bombshell that was dropped on him.
And yes, you read that rating right, my lemon tree has had its first bloom. I really stressed myself out over this, so I hope it’s worth the time I spent trying to convince myself that I was doing a good job, not to mention the time my friends had to spend (see below) to boost my ego.
Thank you so so much to @txemrn for reading a couple of snippets for me and being the cheerleader I needed when I was feeling really down on myself and my work...even though I was supposed to be the one giving YOU a peptalk!
And a super special thank you to my fairy smutmother @jessiembruno. You listened to me complain, and doubt myself, and a million other things multiple times a day while I was trying to find my way, and you never once came off as annoyed or frustrated. I am so lucky to be able to call you a friend.
Finally, thank you so much @twinkleallnight for my UPDATED moodboard! She took it upon herself to update it to better reflect the feel of the story, and she did a kick ass job!
Tags: I’m officially rocking my new tag list. Everyone is listed below as well as in the comments for safety. If you’d like to be added or removed, let me know!
“Liam, where are you going?”
“I need to take a walk. Gather my thoughts.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, I need to be alone right now. You stay here, I’ll be back shortly.”
Before she could stop him, Liam was out the door. He knew she just wanted to be there for him, but he needed to be alone. The royal quarters, his home, his sanctuary, suddenly felt so small. He was suffocating there, he needed to get away, to breathe.
“Your majesty?” Bastien stopped him.
“I’m fine, Bastien, just going for a walk. Please stand down.” Liam tried to keep his tone and expression neutral, but it was obvious to Bastien that something was wrong. He bowed to the King, following orders and remaining at his post.
Liam continued walking through the palace, unsure where he was going, he just needed to get out. He found himself walking through the gardens, approaching the maze. One of his mother’s last projects before her passing...or rather, before she abandoned him. It was always a special place for Liam. Growing up, he would often go there to hide out when he was feeling lonely, or missing his mother more than usual. It was one of his favorite spots on the grounds, possibly in the world. How would he ever be able to look at this space the same again? It would serve as a constant reminder of the insurmountable betrayal he had faced at the hands of the woman that gave him life.
As he walked the familiar path through the maze, he considered his options. Perhaps he would burn it to the ground, and salt the earth to prevent any attempts at regrowth. Would that make him feel better? Would it take away the pain?
Likely not, but it would feel good to know that I took something away from her that she cherished so dearly. A metaphor for what she has done to me. My memories of her, her kindness, her generosity, they mean nothing anymore. Because, to her, I meant nothing. I couldn’t have. If I did, she wouldn’t have left.
He continued his journey, getting lost in his thoughts. He would look back at his childhood memories, trying to remember something, anything, that could ease this moment for him. Nothing came. His mind then wandered to the relationship he could have had with Thomas, his brother. He had another brother this whole time. All those times when Leo had run off to god knows where, he wouldn’t have had to be quite as alone as he was. Sure, he had Drake to keep him company, but Drake wasn’t a prince. He didn’t have the same expectations, the same limitations, that Liam faced. He could have had someone else by his side that understood all of it.
How was he supposed to feel about Thomas now that he knew the truth? His first instinct was anger, but he quickly rejected that. It wasn’t his fault that they were kept apart their whole lives. He was suddenly very curious about Thomas’s life.
What was his childhood like? How did he feel when he learned that he was also royalty? Has he ever wanted to say anything to me, to come forward? Would I have believed him if he had?
Even though he wasn’t supposed to know any of this, he hoped that things would get to a point where he could talk to Thomas, and ask those questions. Ideally in a casual setting over drinks, and not an interrogation cell.
Liam soon found himself in the center of the maze. As he took in his surroundings, his mind kept racing back to his childhood. The picnics with his mother, the games of maze tag with Drake.
I wonder if Thomas would have liked to play maze tag with us, had he been around.
He felt a sudden calming come over him at one point. When he took a look around, he realized that he was standing in the exact spot where he and Riley had landed when he inadvertently tackled her the night of the masquerade ball. The night he learned she had traveled halfway around the world just for a chance to be with him, because she felt what he was feeling after just a few hours together one night in New York. Even now, all these years later, he still felt the same butterflies in his stomach thinking of that moment.
Wistfully, he walked a bit further, to the spot where they stood the night of his coronation, where he had finally managed to say those three words he had been feeling since the moment his eyes met hers. He smiled as he replayed the memory of her saying it back to him. He was fairly certain at the time that she felt the same way, but to hear those words fall from her beautiful lips, he had never felt a high quite like that in his life. His mind then wandered to the events that those words led to, another moment he had long dreamed of. Physically expressing the love they had just declared. He felt his heart start to race thinking of their first time together. All of the sudden, anger quickly replaced all other emotions, as he remembered that there was a tape of that moment. A tape that was recorded, and held, by her group. He quickly searched the area, digging his arms through the hedges, looking for anywhere a camera might be hidden. He came up empty. Given how long it had been since the recording, it made sense that they had likely removed their surveillance from the area.
Another reason to be rid of this maze once and for all. Another reminder of the deceit. Only this time it’s worse, they brought Riley into it.
Liam needed to move on from the center of the maze, so he continued walking, finally coming across the wishing well. The wishing well his mother had told him about when he was a child.
Can you take back wishes? I wished so many times that my mother would come back to me, for her death to have been a misunderstanding. Well Liam, you got your wish, now look at you. How many other wishes have I made that will come back around to bite me in the ass?
His mind began to wander again. This time, to the night of the Homecoming Ball. The night Riley was officially presented as the Duchess of Valtora, and more importantly, his fiance. They both made wishes that night, he remembered his wish: to never let fear dictate his choices, the way his father did.
He let fear dictate his choices because of the loss of his wife. Had he known what truly happened, things would have been different. Perhaps he wouldn’t have interfered with my choice during the social season. I could have been with Riley all along. The way things were always supposed to be. I know we ended up together, and the struggles made our bond that much stronger, but there was a very real chance that I could have lost her forever, I almost did, over his choice.
Thinking of Riley reminded him of her reassurances that night, she was so confident in his ability to be a good King. She believed in him from day one, and never faltered in that. Even when he didn’t believe in himself, thinking of Riley, and her faith in him gave him the strength to continue on. To be the best man, and King he could be. To make his Queen proud.
In that moment, Liam had an epiphany. This maze was so much more than his childhood and memories of a mother that betrayed him. This maze was about the love he and Riley shared. It had played a paramount role in their story. When he looked around, he saw memories of them, their stolen moments, their heartfelt confessions. He couldn’t get rid of this maze, if he did, he would be destroying a piece of his heart.
From this moment forward, this maze is not about her, not about the lies that she raised me on. It is about the love and support I have shared with my soulmate. This is where our love, much like the flowers that adorn these hedges, blossomed.
Riley...my heart, my world, my Queen. She gave up her life, her freedom, to be with me. She left her family and friends, her job, everything, for me. She has dedicated her life to my country, she has taken on my responsibilities. What have I done in return? I’ve put her in this impossible position. I’ve put her in harm's way, yet again, for the good of Cordonia. A country had never even heard of before I came in and turned her life upside down.
He needed to get back to her. Walking back toward the palace, he started considering how she might be feeling in that moment. He had been so caught up in his own mind, that he didn’t stop to think what all of this was doing to her. She had to deliver devastating news to the man she loved, and his reaction was to abandon her. His heart sank as he approached their quarters, he felt so small. He entered their bedroom, overwhelmed with shame for the way he had left her.
Of course she’s still awake. She probably stayed up worrying about me. I was so selfish to just leave her like that.
He kept his head down, too ashamed to look her in the eye, and walked straight into his closet to get ready for bed. His mind working overtime, trying to find the right words, but nothing came. He exited the closet and walked toward the bed, hoping something would come to him.
Finally, Riley broke the silence in the room.
“Liam…” She said barely above a whisper, he turned his head and looked at her for the first time since arriving home. “I’m sorry.” She placed her hand gently over his.
She thinks I’m mad at her. She’s blaming herself. How does she not understand that she is the only thing keeping me from going off the edge? I’m the one that dragged her through all of this, and she’s apologizing to me. I don’t deserve her love.
He was overwhelmed with anger at himself, and heartbreak for his wife. “Riley, you have nothing to apologize for. I am the one that wanted you to do this. You did nothing wrong. None of this is on you.” He tried to smile, but he knew it was unconvincing. He could feel the sting of tears beginning to well up in his eyes.
“Fine, but you’re not allowed to blame yourself either.”
Even to this day, after all of these years, it astonishes me how she can see right through me like that. I’ve had years of training to hide my thoughts and emotions, that training proved useless when it comes to Riley.
“What you just said, telling me you were the one that wanted me to do this. I know you Liam Rys, better than anyone. You’re thinking about how you brought all of this on yourself.”
It’s the truth. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t talked you into joining.
For the second time that night, Liam couldn’t bear to look his wife in the eyes. She was right, but so was he. Liam felt the firm, yet loving touch of Riley’s hand holding his chin and lifting his gaze to meet hers. There was a fire in her eyes, unlike any he had seen from her before.
“This is all on them, it’s the Via Imperii’s fault. That’s why we’re going to take them down. Together. Just like Anton, just like Auvernal, just like Barthelemy, just like any other enemy that has ever, or will ever come our way. We are the King and Queen of Cordonia, Liam and Riley Rys. We are a force to be reckoned with.”
Liam was taken aback by the determination in her statement. He knew she was strong, she had been his rock since the day they met, but this was so much more than that. He didn’t know it was possible, but he felt his love for her grow.
Awestruck, he took the hand she had planted on his chin in his, and brought it to his lips, kissing it softly. “You always know just what to say, love.”
“Years of diplomatic training. I need to be prepared for every possible scenario.” She winked at him.
He couldn’t help but chuckle at the comment. She made it seem so easy to turn his mood around. It was something he would never understand, but always be grateful for.
God, I love this woman.
Riley smiled and leaned into him. “C’mon, let’s try to get some sleep. We can circle back to this nightmare in the morning, start working on a plan.” They both laid back onto the bed, and into each others arms.
In the middle of the night, Liam’s eyes shot open, his heart pounding in his chest, worry overcoming him. He needed a moment to get his bearings, turning to his left to make sure she was still there. She was.
He had been dreaming, a nightmare, technically. Riley was gone, he wasn’t sure where she had gone or why. All he knew was he felt empty, broken, more so than he ever had before. He watched Riley as she slept, a single tear rolling down his cheek. He thought back to his family, the people that were supposed to be there and care for him above all else.
His mother, who had lied to him from the second he was brought into this world. She was his benchmark for love and support, but it was all fake. Because of her, he lived his life based on false ideals. Then he met Riley, she showed him what love and support truly was.
Leo, he was a great brother growing up. He made sure Liam got to have fun, and took the heat when it would get out of hand. However as he got older, his priorities changed, and he was around less and less. When he finally abdicated the throne, he placed the weight of the world on Liam’s shoulders. The bright side to that, was that becoming the Crown Prince, and having a social season, brought Riley into his life. She helped him believe that he truly could carry the weight that was thrust upon him.
His father, a King above all else. As hard as Liam tried to break through that wall, it was duty and his country above all else. That never mattered to Liam though, he still looked up to his father and held him to such a high standard. Until it was uncovered that he attempted to destroy his son’s one chance at true happiness. Despite his attempts at ruining her name, and putting her in harm’s way, Riley stayed and fought. She fought for herself, and she fought for their love. She forgave him for his actions, something Liam was never fully able to do. And when Liam mourned his loss, she was there by his side, holding his hand.
Riley, his bright spot in all of the darkness. His constant source of goodness and joy. In all of that pain, Riley was there. Who would be there if she left him? He would have nothing, he would be nothing. He felt a tightness in his chest at the thought of losing her. He reached his hand out and gently stroked her arm, needing to touch her.
He saw her eyes slowly start to flutter open.
She’s cute when she’s tired.
He watched as she lifted her hand and ran her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
“Hey, are you ok?”
He unsuccessfully tried to swallow away the lump in his throat before answering. “Please don’t leave me, Riley.”
Liam watched as she sat up in bed, a confused look on her face. “Liam, never. I love you, you’re stuck with me for life.
He knew she meant it, but he also knew these things weren’t always under their control. “I just…there have been so many people that said they cared about me, and then left. Losing them was so hard. But if I lost you Riley, I don’t know how I would be able to continue on. You are the most important part of me, my everything. I don’t exist without you.”
A sadness overtook Riley’s face, Liam felt horrible for making her feel that way. He looked down before feeling her hands on either side of his face, her thumbs softly stroking his cheeks. “Liam, I promise you with all my heart, and everything I am, that there is nothing on this earth that could take me away from you. My husband and my daughter are the greatest joys of my life. A world without the two of you is not a world I would ever even want to think about.”
In that moment, all Liam could think about was being as close to her as he possibly could. He desperately needed to feel her body tangled with his. He surged forward and kissed her with everything he had. It was a kiss loaded with love, longing, and need. He lowered Riley from her seated position and rolled on top of her.
“Show me.” He whispered.
“Yes, my king.”
He shuddered at her words. Pinning her hands above her head, he slowly rolled his hips into her so that she could feel just how desperate he was for his wife. Riley closed her eyes and moaned at the sensation.
Liam’s mouth moved to her ear, nipping at the lobe before saying in a commanding, yet tender tone, “Open your eyes Riley, I want you to see everything I am going to do to you.”
Riley’s eyes opened as she met Liam’s hungry gaze. “Yes, my king.”
“Good girl.” He kissed her deeply, removing one hand from hers and slowly moving it down her body, traveling the familiar curves that drove him crazy time and time again.
Liam’s lips moved away from hers, treading across her jawline and down her neck. Riley hissed at the feeling of his teeth running along her tender skin. “Liam, calm down. You’re going to leave marks.”
“Good, they will serve as a reminder that you belong here, with me.”
Riley freed her wrists from Liam’s grasp and brought his face to hers. “Liam, I don’t need a reminder, I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.”
He silenced her with a searing kiss. One hand traced the curve of her breast as the other traveled downward, rubbing her center through her panties. “You’re so wet for me already, love.”
All Riley could do was groan in response. She felt his lips return to her neck, as his hands traveled to the hem of her tank top, he gently lifted the shirt over her head and deposited it on the floor. His mouth continued its descent, kissing her shoulder and quickly moving to her breast, taking the nipple into his mouth, slowly circling it with his tongue. He kissed across her chest, paying the same attention to the other breast.
The quiet moans and whimpers coming from his wife were the encouragement Liam needed to continue moving south, kissing down her torso until he was met with the waistband of her panties. He paused and looked up at her.
“Liam, please.” She whispered, desperate for him to remove the lacy barrier.
He gave her a wolfish grin before taking them between his teeth and quickly dragging them down her legs. Once they were removed, he lifted her foot and softly kissed the inside of her ankle, his lips moved at a painfully slow speed, resting her leg over his shoulder as he moved closer to her wanting center.
As soon as Riley felt Liam’s breath on her glistening core, her own breath hitched. Liam heard it, and it satisfied him to know that in that moment she needed him just as much as he needed her. He tantalizingly licked up the length of her slit until he reached her sensitive nub.
She gasped as he began sucking and licking, his tongue moving in calculated circles. He knew her body inside and out, he knew just what to do to her to get the reaction he wanted.
Riley’s hands quickly found their way to Liam, running her fingers through his hair and gripping tightly guiding him exactly where she needed him. The pressure caused Liam to moan into her, Riley felt the vibration against her body and trembled.
Sensing that she was close to her release, he slowly slid one finger inside of her, and curled it slightly. She bucked her hips and moaned Liam’s name, that was all the invitation he needed to add a second finger.
“Yes Liam, don’t stop.”
He looked up at her with an unmistakable mix of lust and adoration. “Never, Riley.” Before continuing his efforts, causing Riley to plummet over the edge, loudly moaning his name. He worked through her release, savoring every second of her ecstasy.
As she started to come down from her release, Liam kissed a path up her stomach, positioning himself on top of her. Once they were face to face he kissed her deeply.
Their tongues intertwined, and Riley’s hands drifted to the front of Liam’s pajama pants, palming his hardness through the fabric eliciting a deep groan from him. Riley smiled into the kiss, moving her hand into his pants, wrapping it around his length and pumping slowly.
“Mmm...are you ready to take all of me, love?” He asked as he thrust into her hand.
Riley nipped at his bottom lip before responding. “Yes Liam, I need you.”
He quickly removed his pants, lining himself up with her entrance. Pressing his forehead to hers, and looking deep into her eyes, he eased himself into her carefully, desperate to feel every inch of her. He paused for a moment, allowing her to adjust before slowly rocking his hips against her.
As they moved together, Liam began sucking and nibbling on Riley’s earlobe. Riley whimpered in response, her hands running up and down his muscular back. She wrapped her legs around him and dug her heels into him, urging him to move faster. He complied, and almost immediately, he felt her walls starting to clench around him.
“That’s it Riley. Cum for me, love.” He locked eyes with her again, bringing one hand to her cheek to ensure she held his gaze through her release.
Riley’s back arched as she lost control, the muscles in her body tensed, and she screamed out in pleasure. “Oh god Liam, yes!”
Watching and feeling Riley come undone was all Liam needed to push him over the edge. He thrust into her one last time with a guttural groan as he filled her with his seed.
They laid still for several moments, Liam resting his face in the crook of Riley’s neck, breathing in her scent as his breathing slowly began to return to normal. He then removed himself from her and laid on his back, pulling Riley to his side. She rested her head on his chest, and he responded by planting a gentle kiss on the crown of her head.
“Are you feeling better?” She tilted her head up to look at him.
He stroked her cheek and smiled softly at her. “Much. Thank you Riley.” Their lips met in a brief kiss.
“Good. Now please try to get some sleep, we’re going to have a lot to figure out in the morning.”
“Of course. Riley?”
She looked up at him, eyelids heavy. “Hmm?”
“I love you, so much.” He kissed her on her forehead.
She smiled and leaned into him, placing several light kisses on his chest. “I love you too, Liam. Always.”
He let out a content sigh and tightened his arms around his wife as they both drifted off to sleep.
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Sapere Aude:
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Liam x Riley:
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#choices#playchoices#choices stories you play#pixelberry#choices trr#choices trh#trr/trh#trr fandom#trh fandom#trr fanfic#trh fanfic#the royal romance#the royal heir#trh book 3#choices the royal romance#choices the royal heir#king liam#trr king liam#trh king liam#trr liam x mc#trh liam x mc#trr mc#trh mc#choices fic writers creations#sapere aude
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The Riley Brooks Stories
Savage Love and Bad Romance were a direct pushback against the notion that the MC must be pure and chaste to be worthy of love. The rest of these just happened in my head when I wasn't looking.
Masterlist
The Agreement: Liam was forced to marry Madeline and hatched a plan for Riley to marry Drake to keep her at court and close to him. Things did not go as planned. Six years later will the fallout of his decisions cost him the woman he actually loves? [Series Complete]
Unbothered: Riley is married to Drake but gets pregnant during the Vega's fling with Liam's baby. Liam is married to Madeleine and they are all living under the same roof. Three-Shot. [Series Complete]
Secrets: Riley enters an arranged marriage. But everyone has secrets and agendas of their own. Miniseries. [Series Complete]
Unexpected Max has an inappropriate fixation on Riley. This one is a dark romance.
Savage Love follows undercover agent Riley Brooks on assignment to Cordonia to investigate the Via ImperiI where she finds herself entangled with both the captain of the royal guard and the crown prince's younger brother.
Royal Retribution This series starts the night of the coronation ball when Liam discovers the depths of his father's treachery. Riley, Drake and Liam are a throuple in this story.
Insurrection: Riley isn't what anyone thought she was. Her actions set off a civil war in Cordonia.
Bad Romance Riley finds herself in a complicated set of relationships with four men. Very little of this is canon. [Series Complete]
Bad Parenting: The Bad Romance gang navigates parenthood.
Bad Romance Continues: The ongoing adventures of Riley, Liam, Max, Drake and Rashad via one-shots, drabbles and miniseries.
What If: Bad Romance AU's. Answers readers questions about WHAT IF this or that had been different.
Lavender and Crimson Drake returns to Cordonia after breaking Riley's heart by leaving six years ago under a mistaken assumption. [Series complete]
Star Crossed Drake Walker meets the woman of his dreams the night before his best friend’s wedding. Too bad she turns out to be the bride. [Series complete]
#savage love#bad romance#royal retribution#lavender and crimson#riley brooks#agent riley brooks#angelasscribbles#masterlist#choices#trr#the royal romance fanfic#the royal romance#choices stories you play#liam rys#drake walker#maxwell beaumont
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Everything Has Changed Chapter 9 - Butterflies
Book: The Royal Romance (AU)
Song Inspiration: Butterflies by MAX & Ali Gate
Pairings: past Liam x MC (Ella); Drake x OC
Characters belong to Pixelberry; MC Ella Brooks belongs to me
Summary: What if Liam was promised as a child to another kingdom’s princess?
A/N: Sorry for this taking forever guys, thanks for pestering me about this chapter!
Catch up here -> EHC masterlist
Thank you @ofpixelsandscribbles and @alyssalauren for prereading! Y’all know I get nervous before posting anything. Love you!
Warnings: Angst; fluff
Words: 1428
I won't stop getting butterflies, I get 'em every time I look into your eyes
You won't stop running through my mind, For the rest of both our lives
You give me butterflies
Liam, now 13 years old, was introduced to the court as the Prince of Cordonia. His father insisted that a ball needed to be thrown and whatever Constantine wanted, he got. Liam spoke with some of the court with his father and then sat in the corner of the ballroom and played a dice game with Tariq. Now and then, he would look up and try to find 10-year-old Ella in the crowded room. She was with her parents that night and wore a royal blue floor-length gown with tulle and a rhinestone belt that shone in the bright lights. She’s really pretty.
“Hello? Earth to Liam! It’s your turn,” Tariq pushed the dice into the young prince’s hand. “Who are you staring at?”
“Nobody,” he mumbled and tossed the dice against the wall.
The boys played for a few moments until Liam heard a little voice.
“Prince Liam.”
He looked up and saw Ella smiling down at him. “Hello, Princess.”
Ella playfully curtsied. They both giggled.
“May I dance with the Prince of Cordonia tonight?”
“I suppose I have time,” he turned to Tariq. “See you later, my friend.”
Tariq waved at both of them and the two turned and walked towards the dance floor.
Ella’s little arm was curled through Liam’s. “So, are we doing the Flamingo?”
Liam let out a loud laugh. “Our parents would not find that appropriate.”
They turned to face each other, Liam putting his hand on the small of her back and holding her right hand in his left. As soon as the Prince and Princess began to glide across the dance floor, the entire court stepped back to watch them. Royalty was always expected to learn to perfect the art of dance at a young age, but these two held everyone’s attention. They danced like grown adults that had been doing this for years.
“Everyone is staring at us,” Ella whispered as she gazed into Liam’s eyes.
“No, they’re staring at you,” Liam had always noticed Ella’s almond-shaped, light brown eyes, how they lightened under the sun, how they darkened and turned almost grey when she cried. This time, however, her eyes were almost green. Liam felt a fluttering in his chest, then it moved to his stomach. Am I hungry? He had never felt this sensation before. “Did you know that your eyes change colors?”
Their movements were practiced and natural, elegant in every way. They didn’t even need to think about what came next, their bodies already in sync. Ella shook her head. “Nobody has stared at my eyeballs long enough to know.”
Liam chuckled softly. “Well, they do. They’re really pretty - you’re really pretty.”
Ella bit her bottom lip. “Thank you, Prince Liam.”
“I’m not telling you as a prince, El,” Liam swallowed nervously. “I mean, I am. I think you’re beautiful,” he stammered. “But I’m also telling you as a boy. As Liam.” The fluttering was back, this time he felt it everywhere, his chest, his stomach; he felt the tingling in his fingers as he held her hand, emptiness when she let go of him to twirl under his arm.
“You’re very sweet,” Ella’s cheeks turned a rosy pink color. “Thank you, you’re very handsome too.”
Present-day
Liam and Ella stared at each other - both trying to decide if this was real or just a dream. He felt the butterflies flutter in his chest just like he did the first time he danced with her all those years ago.
Liam was the first to break the reverie and took a tentative step forward. “Can we … talk?” He was overcome with emotion but kept his stoic facade in place.
Ella nodded, unable to form words.
Liam quickly took her hold of her arm and gently led her to the VIP area where it was darker and a bit quieter. Security let the two by and Liam slid towards the back of the booth, Ella following.
They turned to look at each other and began talking at once.
“Are you here?” “Oh my God, it’s you!”
Liam couldn’t help himself, he had to touch her. He still got butterflies when he looked at her. Even when they were kids, the love he felt never went away. If anything, it got stronger as the years went by. Liam gently cupped her cheek and he let out an audible gasp. “You’re real,” he whispered.
Ella leaned into his hand, relishing in how her feelings for him came back all at once; it hit her like a freight truck. When she locked eyes with him by the bar, her heart stopped for a moment. “I’m real,” she whispered back.
“Where … have you … been? I looked … for you,” Liam was crying now, a slow, steady stream of tears trickled down his cheeks. Four years. Four years of missing her, afraid for her, not knowing where she was. Almost believing that she had died with her family.
Ella’s cheeks were already wet with her tears; she could barely speak. “We … were attacked,” she closed her eyes to try to keep her breathing normal but she couldn’t.
“Shhh,” Liam whispered as he leaned in to kiss his long-lost love. The salt from their tears mixed when their lips met; it was like everything they both had endured in these four years apart was worth it. Liam pulled back and wiped her tears away with his thumb. “What happened, Ella?”
“They took … over our kingdom. Killed … my mom,” Ella cried. “My name is … different … for protection.”
Liam put his forehead against hers and they stayed that way for several minutes. Both crying, both trying to get their emotions under control, otherwise this conversation would never happen.
“What is your name now?”
Ella gave him a small smile. “My name is Ellie Wheeler.”
Liam sat back and held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Ellie, my name is Liam.”
Ella let out a giggle and put her hand in his. “The pleasure is all mine.”
Liam softly kissed her knuckles and took in her scent. The coconut and lavender instantly hit his brain and he felt drunk off of it. “So, Ellie, you’re here in L.A., what about your kingdom?”
“Hey!”
The two turned to see Riya staring at them with an arm in the air. “What are you doing in there, El? And who is that?!”
“Is that your friend?” Liam noted that he saw her at the bar, in her red jumper.
“Oh, yes that’s Riya,” Ella waved and Liam nodded to security that it was fine to let her in. Drake, who was still at the bar looking for Liam, heard what was going on and made his way to the VIP section.
Riya huffed and placed her hands on her hips. “You ditched me to hang out with” - she motioned to Liam - “this snack?!” She studied him intently, then her eyes widened in shock. “Oh my God, you’re Liam!”
“Brooks?!” Drake exclaimed from behind Riya as he stared in shock.
“Hey, Drake,” Ella grinned sheepishly.
“Why is he calling you Brooks?” Riya demanded.
“Who are you?” Riya and Drake had turned to face each other as they spoke at the same time.
Liam stood from his seat and waved his hands in the air. “Okay, timeout! There’s a lot of explaining to do. Can you both please sit down?” He gestured for them to join him “They have the same scowl and both are drinking whiskey,” Liam whispered to Ella quickly before their friends slid into the booth.
Ella clapped a hand over her mouth to stop her giggles.
“Okay,” Drake quipped as he set his tumbler down onto the table. “So, what’s going on?”
Ella explained what happened at the palace four years ago, how her father’s men had tried to kill her family, taken over the country, and that she fled to California with her dad.
“Damn, I’m so sorry about your mom, Brooks,” Drake lifted his glass in the air as a salute and knocked it back. “Alright, so is the arrangement off then?”
Ella’s nose crinkled. “Arrangement?”
Liam’s eyes showed remorse as he turned to look at Ella. “Ah, well … I have something I need to tell you.”
#Everything Has Changed#Liam x MC#Liam x Ella#Liam Rys#trr fanfic#trr fandom#choices trr#trr mc x liam#trr#the royal romance#choices the royal romance#the royal romance fandom#the royal romance fanfic#the royal romance fanfiction#choices liam x mc#choices trr au#choices liam#choices au
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Marshmallow
Dream come true
Book: The Royal Romance AU
Word count: 1559
Pairing: Drake x Hana
Disclaimer: All characters belong to pixelberry.
Rating: Mature
Warning: None.
A/N: I am participating in @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt "dipped in silver" appearing in bold.
For the story till now: Catch up here
LeoOlivia stand in front of me beaming at each other and I keep giving confused looks to both of them.
I don’t realise my mouth is gaping in surprise till Livy speaks. “Chin up Drake or you may drool your whiskey.”
“Since when?” I fumble over my words. “You… you never said anything.”
“You never asked.” She replies calmly.
“When did this happen?”
“When you were busy being a doting commoner to the court and running away from me.”
Leo laughs at her comment and adds, “You could have done better as her best friend Drakey.”
“My apologies to the Duchess.”
Olivia swats me on my arm. A royal guard approaches Leo, “The king is asking for you, sir.”
“Excuse me, dearies.” Leo places a kiss on Livy’s cheek and walks away with the guard. I watch Livy gazing at his retrieving figure.
“So, why now?” I ask her.
“Huh?”
“I understand that you have been meeting in secret, till now.”
“Leo didn’t want to create any more problems for Liam. He stayed at Lythikos, maintaining a low profile and preferred we wait till the social season gets over.”
“Why did you plan it today, on the coronation ball?”
“You may say I wanted the right waltz partner today.” She gives a carefree smirk.
“I am really sorry. I was not there for you.”
“Its fine. I guess that was how we were supposed to find our paths.” She then says, her eyes pointing at Hana. “How are things between you?”
“She is leaving for Shanghai tomorrow. Her parents want her back.”
“And you plan to just sit and watch her go?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Not much that I can do amongst the powerful nobles. I promised her, we will find a solution but I don’t have a clue.”
“In the end she will leave heartbroken from here.” There is hurt in her eyes.
“ Why do you say that?”
“Why do you you do that?” she questions me instead.
“What?”
Livy shakes her head, “Nothing. Go enjoy the time you are left with, with her.” She leaves me alone and I keep staring at her back, thinking about what she meant.
The musicians start playing the Cordonian waltz, and the eager one pair up twirling around on the dance floor. There are many smiling faces, Liam and Riley, Olivia with Leo, happy in each other’s arms. I watch them moving swiftly across when a gentle tap on my shoulder distracts me.
“Hana?” I turn to find her behind me.
“Dance with me?”
“You know I can’t.” I shy away.
“Follow my steps. You have tried once. Remember?” she insists.
“How can I forget? That was the best birthday I had.” The sweet memories of the autumn night, bring a smile on my face.
“Shh. Don’t. Someone doesn’t like to talk about birthdays.” She teases me.
I laugh at her sarcasm, as she pulls me to the dance floor. I follow her steps and pick up the pattern of movements, in few steps.
“See, that was easy.” Hana whispers, her hand in mine and her body flush with mine. I am going to miss her voice, her smell, her touch. The thought upsets me.
“Hana, what am I going to do without you.”
“Liam will need you around a lot with his new role as a king.” She tries to reason.
“I am a vet, not a royal advisor, that he would need me.”
“It’s not always about your qualifications. It’s about who you are as a person to him. You are his best friend, his confidante, his pillar of strength in his difficult times. You are that commoner who keeps him grounded amongst the high headed royals.”
“And who will keep me sane in the throng of these high headed nobles?”
“Don’t make it more difficult for me, please. You know how much I want to be with you. You will have all of them, Liam, Max, Riley. I am going to be all alone back home.”
“Then stay back. Don’t go.” I try to convince in vain.
“You know I can’t stay. Liam has promised us he will find a solution. When we are away, maybe we will be able to find a way through.”
I let out a sigh in defeat. “You are stronger than I had thought. But I am scared. Scared that I will lose you. Just like…”
She places her finger on my lips, “No, you will always be in my thoughts. I will call you.”
“How? We will be in different time zones.”
“It’s just a 6 hours’ time difference. We can catch up.”
“I don’t want to catch up. It want to be with you.”
“Don’t be so tough.”
“Don’t go away.”
“ I am always here.” She gently places her hand on my chest.
I don’t care if my steps are falling right as we waltz. I wish to absorb all that I have for the rest of the evening. I won’t leave Hana’s side till the night gets over.
*************
Early next morning, Hana is ready for her journey. Liam and Riley stand beside her bidding her farewell. Max roams around aimlessly. Hana says her good-byes to them all and walks to the door where I stand with a sullen face.
They all walk out one by one leaving just the two of us alone. She leans in and I take the whiff of her perfume as I hug her.
She cups my face. “Don’t be grumpy.”
“You too? I hate Riley for teaching you all her unwanted vocabulary.”
She smiles through her glistening eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you more.” She hugs me again.
“Now I need to leave. Wait for my call.”
And just like that, she is gone. Hours turn into days and days into a week. She never calls up. I keep waiting. I try asking Riley but nothing comes up except reassurances.
Liam has kept busy with his plans for the engagement tour and setting up his new council. I try to keep myself busy at the stables and on the farms until after a week when Livy visits.
“How are you?” She asks, tilting her head, judging with her piercing green eyes.
“As always.” I give a casual shrug.
“How is Hana?”
“I don’t know.” I avoid her gaze.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I kept waiting but she never called back.” I say as a matter of fact.
“You are an idiot.” She says in a raised voice.
“What? What did I do?” I give her a puzzled look.
“That is the problem. You don’t do anything. You know her circumstances.”
I leash out my frustration at the situation. “For all we know she must be having her precious fingers dipped in silver wares, busy, throwing away parties and bragging about her Cordonian expedition.”
“How can you say that for her?”
“Because I am a fool. After all, she is a noble like you all. Why would she care about some commoner she had a fling with?”
Livy snarls at me. “You moron! Are you out of your senses? You know the conservative culture where she comes from. And yet you sit here waiting for her call?” She smacks me hard on my bottom. “Get your ass up and act.”
“Gawd! Lady, have you forgotten your manners?” I rub my hurt part and stare at her offensively. “Where do I call? Her old number is invalid. I don’t have any alternate number. I can’t call up at her estate and say that I am the royal vet and want to speak to their daughter because I am in love with her. I don’t know what repercussions she will face for that. What can I do?”
She thinks for a moment and then speaks. “Meet me in Liam’s study after two hours.”
“But?”
“Just do what I am telling you.”
“Okay.” I throw my hands up in the air and walk away.
************
Three hours later I am sitting in front of Liam’s desk. Riley is standing next to him smiling widely.
I look at Livy, who is sitting next to me handing me some documents. I have read them carefully and I can’t believe what I am getting myself into.
“Do you think this will work.” I ask Livy
“I don’t do half cooked job. I have covered up all loopholes. It definitely will work.” She says firmly.
“Why didn’t it strike me all these days?”
“Not everyone has the prowess of the scarlet Duchess.” Liam beams looking in approval at Olivia.
“Thank you for doing this for me.” I have said that almost ten times in last half an hour.
Olivia stands up and I follow suite. “You are a nuisance to handle Mr Walker. It’s rare to find a match for a stubborn stag like you. Now that we have found one, it’s better you don’t lose your chance at it. Go, get her!”
I hug Livy. “You are the best!”
“I know.” She says with a smirk.
I pick up my air tickets and the official documents addressed to Mr Lee with the royal seal from the king of Cordonia. I walk out of the study with a spring in my gait.
I grin thinking about seeing Hana soon and that too in Shanghai. Dreams do come true!
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