he looked older, somehow, as if he had aged into a man she no longer recognised within the time they've been apart. the boyish smile he once wore felt a little mismatched to the sharp features he now had. it squeezed her heart in the way she thought she would never feel again. "i saw you at the— um... there was an article about you opening the— ..." she racked her brain for something she hadn't fully erased after reading. although she could muster up another word, his revelation rushed upon her like a particularly vicious wave in an otherwise calm sea. "oh!" what else is there to say? ariel had to set down her mug, worried that her shaking fingers might spill the coffee. "oh..." it was an unfortunate reality of their world, but it doesn't make things any less difficult. "congratulations, i... suppose... well—" ariel ran her fingers through her hair. "did your sister have to... i thought that there are better ways to do politics nowadays." she stayed silent for a few moments before continuing. "who is it?"

"the university? or the hospital? or parliament?" hadn't he done it all? gone and turned into a proper little representative for his family in a way he had simply never expected, and he thinks the people around him felt the same. disbelief in his sudden stepping up had been all too common in the belgian court. everyone seemed to be under the impression he would never grow up, he thinks his parents shared that thought too, and he wondered what they would think of him now. "she's a belgian countess. her father needed to be brought back into the fold. i'm the sacrificial lamb if you will." the smile he flashed her was tight, terse, he wondered if she still recognised when he was struggling to produce a genuine smile. "she's awful. i've had one dinner with her and i faked stomach problems to leave." but it was too late to reneg on the deal, a ring had been brought from the vaults, a photoshoot scheduled. "i just," he sighed and looked up at her. "i wanted to make it clear to you that this isn't a rebound or... i don't even know. it isn't anything. i wish it wasn't happening at all."

" well, like i said, i don't know what your relationship status is and fuck louise! i told you not to listen to her. she literally never has a single good idea. " araya was still pissed about the arrangement. " honestly... would rather you end up with ari at this point because at least you were happy or whatever even if she kissed my boyfriend who wasn't my boyfriend at the time when you two were together, but that's all in the past! " araya glances over at her phone to view the profile once more and shrugs. " i doubt she'd run to the press. she's not one of those influencers. her dad is some big oil guy. old money, y'know? "

"publicly engaged, privately... i don't fucking know." he still went out with his friends in brussels, he still took girls home, but it didn't mean anything anymore, it wasn't what he wanted. "lou is doing the best she can, and mélanie's dad was halfway to waging another fucking war, so if i have to get married to keep us all safe then... it's a sacrifice." not one he wanted to make, but someone had to fall on the sword and his fiancée's father didn't have any sons. "ah ari is... i hear she's dating some italian artist. very up her alley i suppose. and as for her kissing aurel... it was for a dare, 'raya. who cares? i don't anymore." he leans back in his seat, glancing over at her, "might as well send me her details then, i've got to keep entertained somehow, right? we can't all be swept up with german crown princes, now can we?"

she would, and probably mumble awkwardly throughout the call — it was an unfortunate reality that made her wince pronouncedly. "yes... well, as well as someone could be after..." one abduction was too much for a lifetime, let alone two! "pretty well, considering. and you've been alright, haven't you?" truthfully, everything she had heard about him had not been of her own choice. an offhand comment from biel, or an article regarding central european politics with him on the cover photo that appeared on her feed. "keeping busy, looks like." it was his excuse, wasn't it? ariel handed him a mug of steaming coffee, and sat gingerly upon her sofa with her own. "so... what's up? are you just visiting... erm— araya? biel?"

he resisted the urge to reach out and hold her hand, old habits certainly died hard. "hm, well enough considering." could one be good after becoming an orphan, dealing with his little sister's health scares and still having to project a happy front to the world? he wondered when, if, the world would ever be kind to him again. "you know me, i keep myself occupied," when he's busy he doesn't have to think. beau held onto his mug like it was a lifeline, alternating between watching the steam billow from the coffee, and watching ariel, hoping words would spring to mind that would make this conversation easier. but she was the writer, and he was hardly eloquent. "i'm engaged," the words tumbled from his mouth, and then it was there, laid out on the table. "you deserved to know first, before the news breaks. and you deserve to hear it from me, in person." he took to busying himself, instead of looking at her, he sipped his coffee, fixed his collar, and then looked up at her again. "it's not... i didn't choose this."

" don't know what your relationship status is, but i met someone super fucking cute at fashion week and i think you'd really get along. she likes pizza and i think you really like pizza so you already have like one thing in common. i can send you her instagram if you want to creep. her ex was some duke from lithuania. he's like a solid 2, and that's totally being generous. " ( @beaudebelgique )

"you've forgotten my... predicament," he spoke, tone about as bored as he felt in his godforsaken engagement. how on earth he'd let louise talk him into it, he didn't know, or rather he did but hardly wanted to admit he'd allowed himself to be a royal puppet. "how cute are we talking though? and what about her likelihood to run to the press if i spend a night in her bed instead of my fiancée's?"

"i..." he didn't know how to respond. he'd thought the same thing, he loved ari and he loved biel, in different ways perhaps. but they were both there all the time when he'd been in the program, and then... "i had to go home, after dad died lou and lola needed me." they had been broken, needed to mourn their loss, even though their father hadn't really been there for years. "you could have visited, you're always welcome."

"oh." she hadn't pictured him in the threshold of her casablanca villa. it was one of the few places in the programme that hadn't been infused with the memory of him — somehow she thought that she would be safe in this place that she claimed for her own. "when they told me i had a visitor, i didn't think that it would be you..." it had been close to a year since they've seen each other in person, and enough time for her to feel as if she could face him again. however, the mere thought did not prepare her for the actual man standing before her — ariel suddenly realised that she did not feel anywhere close to ready, at all. "come in, i'll . . . i was making coffee, i'll pour you a cup." @beaudebelgique

it was a strange situation to fly to a new continent to discuss his relationship status with his ex. how was he meant to even begin broaching the conversation? all he knew was that it was, if nothing else, an in-person conversation. there was no respectful way to tell his ex-girlfriend that he had a fiancée over the phone. so, it wasn’t even a question, he got on a jet and he flew to casablanca, to the program, to her. “i didn’t know if you’d take my call.” he could have told biel, he could have asked araya to tell her, he could have done a million things, but none felt right. “thank you, it was a long flight, i came here right off the plane.” beau followed after her awkwardly, how was it that they once lived together, hardly separating, and now he felt like an outsider again in her home. “how have you been? are you well?”

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