Crowns & Chaos

twenty-eight

"Wait, Evangeline!"

I whirled around. 

"What the-"

Peter was racing towards us, Frank hot on his tail. 

He skidded to a stop in front of me, breathing hard. Ron smiled at me and stepped away.

I looked at the boy in front of me.

"Peter, what the fuck are you doing here?"

"I couldn't let you leave without talking to you first," he said. 

"Why? I thought we figured everything out already?"

He shook his head. 

"That's not it. I couldn't let you leave without telling you the truth."

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked down sadly. 

"Listen, I'm really sorry I kissed you and I really understand if you hate me, but can you please just let me go-"

A gentle hand grabbed the bottom of my chin and tilted my head upwards.

"Evie, you absolute idiot, I don't hate you. If you'd answered any of my calls you'd understand that."

I looked at him, confused.

He actually seemed nervous, running a hand through his hair. 

"I've been trying to tell you for a while now, but I could never get the words out."

"Tell me what?"

"And then you kissed me and dropped off the face of the earth,"

"Tell me what?"

"And then we ended the stupid fucking contract today and you said that's what you wanted. But I'd never forgive myself if I didn't at least try."

My brain was going a million miles per hour. What was he trying to say?

"Ok, here goes... Evangeline Windham, I'm in love with you."

Time stopped. I was very aware of my heart beating out of my chest like a bird trying to escape a cage and I suddenly felt lightheaded. Was this some sort of sick joke the universe was trying to play on me?

"W-what?"

"I've been in love with you since you showed up in my life all at once with your red hair and umbrellas and kindness and silliness. I've been in love with you since you smudged ice cream on my nose and we fell in a fountain after you met my friends. I've been in love with you since the day I met you, but I didn't realize it until you kissed me on a balcony at dawn six days ago."

I didn't know what to do with myself. I stared at him with wide eyes. 

"I... are you messing with me right now?"

He looked confused. 

"Why would I be messing with you?"

Tears were already making their way down my cheeks. 

"Because, you absolute moron, I'm in love with you too! And I thought that none of this meant anything to you and that I was making it all up in my head! And then you and your dorky smile and your stupid laugh and cute face stuck to me and I've been losing my mind for two months!"

His face lit up like a fucking Christmas tree, and I don't think I've ever loved something more. 

"Seriously?"

I nodded, tears still streaming down my face.

He took three strides forward and our lips collided. 

My heart was screaming as my hands knotted themselves in his hair, his hands finding my waist and tugging me closer to him. Every nerve in my body was electric, sending currents of pure joy through me as our lips moved in sync. He tasted like mint and the saltiness of my tears were getting mixed in there and everything I'd ever done had led to this moment. 

The kiss on the street was for the cameras, and the kiss on the balcony was unsure, but this... This was pure and real and he was the only thing grounding me to the earth. This was the kind of love you read about and watch in movies and dream about late at night, the kind of love that people wrote songs and stories and poems about. 

This was all that and more. 

We finally broke apart, and his smile could have outdone the stars. 

"I love you," he said.

Absolute joy radiated off of me as I replied.

"I love you too."

He grinned a soft crooked smile and stepped back, still holding my hand. 

"Now that we've fully cleared this up, I have one more thing to ask you."

I watched him reach into his pocket and my heart stopped. 

"This is gonna sound insane, but everything about this relationship has been. All I know is that I never wanna feel the way I did when I thought I'd lost you ever again. Evie, you're the sun. Will you marry me?"

Mind reeling, legs unsteady, I stared at the man in front of me. The freaking prince of England. The guy who made me laugh and made me feel safe and made the world seem like a less scary place. The guy who fell in fountains and laughed at croquet and played ridiculous card games and who made me feel loved in a way I'd never felt in my life. 

I stared into his big imploring eyes, and I knew my answer. 

Laughing gleefully, still crying, I launched myself into his arms. He rocked us back, stabilizing us. 

"Is that a yes?" He asked, grabbing both sides of my face.

"Yes, it's a yes! Yes yes yes!"

Both of us kneeling on the cold floor, he slid what I recognized as his grandmothers ring onto my shaking finger. 

He looked up at me, eyes so full of love that I melted. Peter reached up and wiped my tears, pulling me back into another kiss so perfect that if the world had exploded right then, I doubt that I would've noticed. 

Several moments later, someone cleared their throat. Ron was standing above us, a smile on his face. 

"I take it I should get your bags back?"

I smiled at him, nodding. 

Peter helped me to my feet and pulled me against his chest in a tight hug. I sighed contentedly, inhaling his familiar scent and feeling the most at home I'd ever felt. 

"I love you," my words were muffled by his shirt. 

"I love you too, my darling," he whispered into my hair. 

Ron returned with my bags. 

"I'll call your parents and tell them you won't be making the flight," he smiled softly, patting my shoulder. He grasped Peter's shoulder and looked him in the eye. 

"Hurt her and I'll hurt you."

Peter nodded seriously, tightening his grip on me. 

"Wouldn't dream of it, sir."

And with that, hand in hand, we left the airport.