Uncommon (BWWM)

Chapter 15

Having Arthur back, even just to do exams and leave, is wonderful. Since he and Grace are in their final year of university, his family allowed him to finish his degree before he started any official royal engagements. It had delighted Grace, not just because she would get her boyfriend back, but also because she knew how gutted he'd be if he had to give up 3 years of hard work.

"I assume you're not taking the kettle?" Grace teases, holding the appliance up with one hand and cocking her hip out.

Arthur chuckles, "And you assume correctly." He says, taping up a box of donations, "Pretty sure I've got all this stuff covered at home."

Grace sets the kettle down on the counter, manoeuvring around the many boxes to stand at Arthur's side. She reaches out to wrap her arms around his waist, nudging him so that she could fit her head under his arm.

He smiles and rests his arms on her shoulders, his cheek pressed against the top of her head.

"I'm proud of you." She tells him, breaking the silence, "You've handled everything so well."

"Thank you, Sunshine." Arthur sighs contentedly, "I just wish I could've stayed in Wales with you forever."

Grace's pulls her head away from Arthur's chest and she looks at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Who said that I was gonna move in with you, Casanova?"

Arthur narrows his eyes and his arms tighten around Grace's body.

"I did. You don't get a say." He says jokingly, then he rocks them side to side with a hum. "We were gonna get our degrees, then run away to the Welsh countryside and raise some sheep."

Grace sighs forlornly, "That would've been nice."

Their moment of peace is interrupted by a few taps on the door.

Separating herself from Arthur, Grace makes her way to the entrance.

"Hey, Lovely!" Rebecca ('Call me Bex!') exclaims at the threshold. She's got some folded boxes in her hand, making good on Grace's request for more storage.

"Hey, Bex." Grace smiles, opening the door wider to let the other girl through, "just set them down in there."

"Hi Rebecca." Arthur greets the blonde girl, taking the boxes from her hand to put them where Grace had pointed.

"I've never seen your place, Arthur." Bex comments, swiveling around to observe the room, "Swanky."

Arthur grins and opens his mouth to reply, when a shrill ringing erupts from his phone. He winces, yanking it from his back pocket.

With a sigh, he mutters, "Parents." Then answers, "Hey!"

Arthur waves at the screen with a plastered on smile then walks toward his bedroom for some privacy.

"I take it you haven't met them yet?" Rebecca concludes sadly.

"Not for lack of trying." Grace pauses then gives Bex a look, "On Arthur's part."

"What?!" Her friend exclaims, "Why wouldn't you want to meet his parents?!"

Grace frowns. Rebecca is lovely, she really is; she's kind, and positive, and nothing you can say would ever phase her, which makes her the perfect confidante. But there are some things that Grace just doesn't talk to her about. Simply because she wouldn't understand. That's why she and Elina are so close. Call it... shared life experience.

Despite all this, just this once, Grace decides to explain her problem. Because even though Bex might not completely understand it, the girl is far from stupid.

"Because I'm me... working class, black... me."

Rebecca grimaces, "But you're awesome. And beautiful." Her face morphs into a pout, "It's the 21st century, it's not fair that you feel like this."

"You're right, it isn't." Grace sighs, "But it's not just my feelings. I know for a fact that you'd probably been seen as a more viable option for Arthur than I am."

"Trust me, Arthur isn't my type." Bex laughs, then fixes Grace with a hard look, "Fuck what everyone else thinks. I've known Arthur for what, a week? And I can already tell that he's head over heels for you. No matter what his parents say, he'd drop everything for you."

"I know." Grace laments, "But what if I don't want to be known as the girl he drops everything for."

"Love is hard, babe. Sometimes you've got to make compromises."

"Thanks, Bex." Grace smiles, grateful she has another caring friend to talk to while Elina is busy studying.

"Right, where's the sellotape?"

"Um.." Grace looks around the room before groaning, "Arthur's room. He was taping up stuff in there."

"Don't worry, I'll get it." Rebecca tells her, giving her a sympathetic pat on the knee.

She gets up and knocks on Arthur's door. At the muffled 'come in' she enters the room, leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey, I just needed the sellotape."

"Oh sure, yeah it's here." Grace hears Arthur say as Rebecca disappears inside the room, leaving the door ajar.

"Who's this, Arthur?" An older woman's voice comes through the phone, "Is this your girlfriend?"

The woman, Arthur's mother, sounds so excited. Before Arthur manages to speak, she continues.

"Oh she's so beautiful and poised! I knew you weren't dating that girl you were seen with."

"No, Mum, this is Bex, she's a friend of my girlfriend, Grace." Arthur says, sounding startled, then his voice becomes a little more upset, "W-what's wrong with the girl I was seen with?"

"Absolutely nothing, dear." His mother replies, backtracking, "but you know how uncommon it is to be seen with-"

The woman's voice is shut out by the closing of Arthur's bedroom door. Rebecca turns around with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Gracie, sweetheart, she probably didn't mean it like that." She says as soon as she lays eyes on a shocked Grace.

"Well how else could she have meant it?"

"I..." Bex sighs, "I don't know. But it doesn't matter. Arthur loves you."

Grace stays silent while Rebecca moves to sit next to her, wrapping her skinny arms around her body.

Grace isn't even that upset. Honestly she knew this would happen. She has a habit of preparing herself for the worst, and this doesn't even scrape the surface of what she'd imagined.

No. What does upset her, is the sudden confirmation. It hits her like a ton of bricks. This is the exact moment she knows that even though she'll always be his, and his alone... Arthur doesn't just belong to her anymore.

A/N: okay, so there's your glimpse at Arthur's mother! Thoughts on her? And what do you guys think of Bex as she features more?

Serena x