#ifthingsweredifferent

A little while later they arrived at the Beaumont State but were caught by surprise when they saw a different and smaller house. When Savannah showed up to greet them, she hugged them both. “Oh, God, I’m so happy you guys came!”

Drake hugged his sister back but couldn’t hide the shock.

“Drake-”

He interrupted her. “Oh, God, what happened, sis? I didn’t notice the different address on the invitation.”

Before Savannah could answer, Bertrand showed up with little Sophie in his arms.

“Oh my God! How big you are!” Riley exclaimed and Sophie blushed.

“They grow so fast! It’s almost crazy!”

They laughed.

“How about walking, little one?” Bertrand put a hand on his back. “Papa is not young anymore.”

He put his daughter on her feet and grabbed her hand while shaking Riley and Drake's hands.

“Please, come in, the party is just starting.”

They all went to the back of the house, where other children were playing, and next to two of them were Liam and Hana. When Liam saw Drake, he opened a large smile and came to greet his friend with a hug. “Oh, brother, I didn’t know you would really come!”

Drake hugged his friend back. “How could I miss my nephew's birthday? Besides, it’s on the way to our trip.”

Liam looked at Riley. “Oh, I see.” He shook her hand. “How are you?”

Riley smiled, shaking his hand back. “I’m great.”

“That’s wonderful to hear.”

“Yeah… I can see you’re doing good too after all.”

“Oh, don’t remind me about any of that, I can no longer be king, but I can say I was never so happy before. I can almost say that now I have all I've ever wanted.”

His eyes lingered on Hana and their two kids playing and eating.

Suddenly, Savannah showed up and lead Riley to another room. “Excuse us guys.”

Riley, unable to understand why she did that, asked: “Oh, what happened, Vannah?”

“Nothing big, I just wanted to save you.”

“Save me? From what? I’m not following.” She frowned.

“From the awkwardness there.”

Riley laughed. “That? Don’t worry, Vannah! It’s ok, we may not be friends, but Drake and Liam are and, after all these years, there’s no point in holding grudges.”

“Are you serious?”

“Come on, Vannah, look at me and your brother. Do you really think I’m not the happiest woman in this world?”

Savannah nodded and looked at her happy brother.

“Seriously, Vannah, you don’t have to worry about me, or even about them. Maybe just with your kids and the party.”

The two women shared a laugh and Savannah left to open the door for the newly arrived guests.

Meanwhile, Drake and Liam were chatting in the backyard.

“You know, I still don’t believe your father didn’t give up, even in the end.”

“Really. It is still unbelievable, he died from lung cancer, he saw how fragile and short life is and even that way he wouldn't stop trying to separate Hana and I, only because she wasn’t able to keep a baby in her uterus for nine months. He drove everyone crazy when he heard we hired a surrogate mother, but damn it! It was still our child, just growing on someone else's belly!”

“Right? I hope he can see his mistake, wherever he is.”

“So do I.”

“But… Don’t you miss being king at all?”

“Sometimes… you know? I was raised for that life, I learned almost everything I could since I was a child to rule Cordonia and fight for it, and have this being taken away from my hands wasn’t easy. I couldn’t sleep for months, worried about Cordonia and it’s future and the possibility of Hana’s father no longer accepting us together.”

“Rough times, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”

“Yeah, and not to mention I wanted to make Hana a queen. My queen. And I couldn’t.” Liam had a somber face.

“Liam, I’m sure Hana doesn’t care about that.”

“I know, but I wished I could do that. But let’s forget about this because now I think all things are going well, I have Mr. Lee's support and Hana and I have two amazing children today. Look at their faces!”

They looked at Hana and the kids.

“You know, Liam, looking again she even seems younger.”

Liam smiled, admiring his family.

“I think I can say you even seem lighter…” Drake said, wondering.

“Maybe is the weight of the crown that’s no longer on my shoulders.”

They both laughed.

“But you are different too Drake, you seem less grumpy now if you know what I mean.”

Drake smiled blissfully. “Happiness does that to us.”

“Totally agree!”

They toasted and drank their soda.

After all the guests have arrived, Savannah and Bertrand called everybody to sing happy birthday and cut the cake. After all the best wishes to the kids and cake eating, Riley was chatting with Maxwell.

“So, you guys are doing so great in NY, huh?”

“Yeah, now Drake has his own law firm, I have my own publishing company and we have two dogs. You know… I can’t imagine my life different now. However, let's stop talking about me, I heard you are a dancer now, huh?”

Max opens his mouth in shock. “How do you know that?”

“Max, I have internet, we are on the twenty-first century!”

He laughed.

“Yeah, you’re right. But I can’t waste my dance skills. I’m not Agent Breakdancing for no reason, right?”

Riley laughed and hugged him tightly.

“I missed you so much, Max!”

He hugged her back.

She released him and asked: “Max… Didn't Bertrand try to stop you not even once?”

“Well… you know him. He said: 'You can’t do that, you are going to throw the Beaumont name in the mud' more times than I can count, but in the end, we needed the money.” He looked down.

“Max, if you don’t want to talk about that, it’s ok.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… It was a rough time for him and if we were broke before… after Liam lost his throne and when the new king made changes on the court, our house was unsustainable. We had to move, we sold the house and with the money, we paid our dues and bought this new home, smaller as you can see.”

Riley put a hand on her mouth, in shock. “Oh, God! But the new king kicked all of you from the court?”

“No, but we no longer had the same influence as we had before.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that Max, I can’t even imagine how hard all this was for all of you.”

“Nah, you know this is harder on him than on me.”

Riley tried to smile in comfort. “I know.”

Max touched Riley’s arm. “But everything is going to be better, I’m planning on opening my own school dance!”

“Wow! Look at you!”

Maxwell opened his mouth.

“Oh! I realized there's someone I wanna introduce to you!”

“Who?”

“Come here.”

Max pulled Riley with him and approached a young lady in the other room.

“Lady Rose.”

The woman turned and looked at Max, grinning widely, and when she saw Riley she blushed.

“Lady Rose, this is Riley, my best friend in this world.”

“Oh! It's you, the famous Riley!”

“I don’t know about famous, but… that’s me.”

Rose extended her hand and Riley shook it.

“Nice to meet you, Rose.”

“I’m glad to finally meet you, Max always talks about his American friend that once lived in Cordonia.”

“Always? How long would that be?”

Max laughed.

“Riley, actually Rose and I are engaged.”

“What? And you didn’t tell me about this sooner?” Riley punched Max’s arm.

“Ouch! I’m sorry, but I didn’t want to tell you this on the phone!”

Rose laughed.

“So, tell me, how did you meet?”

“Well… the new king called for a meeting and I was there with Bertrand when Lady Rose Victoria came with her family.”

“I’m from a minor house in Cordonia, and in that meeting, Max looked at me…”

“I couldn’t take my eyes off of her! I swear!”

“I was very intimidated at first, but when he came to talk to me, he introduced himself and apologized for staring so much.”

“Look at this! Maxwell was caught by love at first sight.” Riley teased him.

Rose blushed again, but Max wrapped one hand around her waist and kissed her forehead.

“Indeed.”

"Bertrand was demanding for me to stop courting her... He thought her parents would not accept me because we're broken and I'm a dancer."

“But my father always said if I were to marry one day, it would be for love and not for money or position, like people used to do at court.”

“Wow, I don’t even know your father but I like him already.”

“Don’t tell me! Now I’m saving money to buy our own house, her dad already gave us the wedding party.”

Riley looked at Max with a questioning face.

“Don't worry! We'll make sure you’re invited when we choose the date!”

“Good, and if you don’t, you know…”

Someone bumped into Riley’s back before she could finish the sentence.

“God, I’m so sorry!”

When Riley and the other person turned and looked at each other, there was Hana trying to clean her dress, and when she realized she had bumped into Riley, she was paralyzed.

“It’s ok.” Riley tried to calm Hana down.

“I’m sorry, one of the kids was running and pushed me over you. Please…”

“Hana, It’s really ok. Don’t worry.”

“Hey, I have to go… over there…” Maxwell took Rose’s hand in his and left, leaving Hana and Riley alone.

The two women shared a look.

“I… I’m going… I don’t want to bother you…”

“Hana…”

“Y… Yes…?”

“Look, since I’m here, let me say something. Years ago, I did read your letter, ok? And I’m glad you are still alive.”

Hana opened her mouth in shock.

“Are… are you serious?”

“Yes, I am. Look we aren’t friends anymore, but I never wished your death, I heard about the times you were in the hospital because of some pregnancy that almost killed you, and today I saw you so happy with your kids…”

Hana looked down and smiled.

“Yes... I was miserable when the doctor said I was sterile, and when I got pregnant it was like a miracle, but no longer after I discovered my uterus would not support a pregnancy, and that’s why I always lost the babies…”

Hana told Riley how she had her children and Constantine dethroned Liam.

“This does not surprise me at all… But who is the king now?”

“A Liam's distant cousin. You know… royal blood and blah blah blah…”

“Yeah, I get it. Maybe it was for the best, who knows, huh?”

“Right? It’s what I try to tell Liam. Anyway, I’m sorry for taking your time.”

“It’s ok, I was the one who started the talking.”

“Before I leave… Riley, can I ask you something…?”

“Go ahead.”

“You and Drake… how are things going?”

Riley looked at Drake talking to his sister on the other side of the house and smiled, sparkles in her eyes.

“I… I couldn’t be happier.”

Hana grinned.

“I’m so glad to hear that!”

“So…”

“I… wish you the best, Riley. I meant that back then and I still do.”

“Thank you, Hana. I wish you the same.”

They nodded in agreement and parted in separate ways. Riley approached Drake and kissed him on the cheek from behind. He recognized her sweet and floral scent and responded by wrapping her shoulder and pulling her against his body.

“Hey, babe.”

She leaned her head on his chest and smiled.

“I’ll give you some space.” Savannah left them together.

“Something happened?”

“Oh, no. Nothing. I just wanted to feel you.”

“Oh!” He smiled fondly. “Anytime you want, you know I’m always here for you, right?”

He gave her a peck on the tip of her nose.

“I know.” She tilts her head and looks at him. “Me too. Ok?”

He tightened his grip on her. “I know.”

After staying like this for a while, Drake whispered.

“Babe, I… It’s better we get going, we have to wake up early tomorrow.”

“Well, let’s say goodbye then.”

He intertwined his fingers with Riley's and they walked to greet Max.

“Max, we’re leaving.”

“Oh! So soon?” He made a sad face.

“Yeah… But you already know what you owe me, right?

They laughed.

“Don’t worry, Riley, I’ll make sure you both are invited!” Rose shook Riley and Drake’s hands.

“It was a pleasure, Lady Rose, I wish you two the best.” Drake smiled.

“Just make my older brother happy, and don’t forget to be happy too, ok?”

Riley hugged both of them and they left to talk to Liam.

“Liam, we’re leaving.”

“So soon?”

Riley laughed.

“Oh, sorry.” Liam said, embarrassed.

“It’s ok, Liam, it’s just that Max said the same thing to us.”

He laughs.

“So he agrees with me” He extended a hand to Riley. “You look great by the way.”

She responded to his greeting. “Thank you. You guys too, Liam.”

Hana approached, holding Liam’s arm, and he said. “Hon, they’re leaving.”

“Oh, It was good to see you today!”

Riley smiled and waved while Drake hugged Liam.

Hana shouted to her son. “Hey, don’t do that to your sister!” She looked at the couple. “Excuse me, guys.”

“Go, go. We get it.”

Liam smiled. “If you guys excuse me too, I’ll go help her, Leon is impossible these days and Lana is not getting behind.”

Drake and Riley smiled back and when they were going to look for Savannah, she surprised them.

“Are you planning on leaving without saying goodbye?”

“Of course not, sis! We’re just saving the best for last.”

“Are you learning to be funny now, Drake?”

“Just come here.” Drake hugged his sister tightly.

Savannah hugged him back and when she released him, she looked at the couple and held their hands.

“Before you two go, let me ask you something.”

“Bring it on.”

“I saw you two leaned over there looking at the kids running… But when do you plan to have one?”

Drake and Riley looked at each other and tried to give a straight answer, without being rude.

“Look, sis, I know you are going to insist on this and just so you know, we decided to not have kids.”

“What do you mean by that? I want my own nephews too!” Savannah said with a dour face.

“Look, sis… really, Riley and I talked about this years ago, and this is a taken decision. We won’t change our minds.”

“I can’t believe that!”

“Uncle Drake!” Bartie and Sophie ran into Drake’s legs.

He taps the kids' hairs.

“Just don’t get your uncle naked on your party, ok?”

They all laughed and Riley bent down to hug the children and say goodbye, so they ran away letting the adults talk.

Bertrand approached. “So is it time, huh?”

“Yeah, we’ll get our plane tomorrow morning.”

They said their proper goodbyes and returned to their hotel room.

On the way, Riley was leaned on Drake’s shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her. “You know, it was good to see all of them after all this time, Liam seemed so happy, like I never saw him before.”

“Hana told me what happened, at least they found a way to be happy in the end. Too bad Constantine couldn’t enjoy and be a part of that.”

Drake nodded in agreement.

Not long after they arrived at their hotel room, Drake closed the door behind them and Riley started to undress, but he quickly held her hand.

“Don’t…”

Riley turned and looked at him. “What? I’m going to take a shower.”

“It’s not that. Just let… let me help you out of this dress.”

She smiled playfully, aware of his intentions.

_____X_____

A while later, after a lovely time together in the shower, they were cuddling on the bed and he kissed her forehead.

“So, are you excited to start our trip tomorrow?”

“As ready as ever. With you by my side, every year I have a reason to celebrate.”

Drake smiled and looked thoughtfully at the lights of the city through the balcony’s door.

Riley put her finger on his chin, turning his head in her direction, making him look at her.

“What are you thinking, Drake Walker?”

“I don’t know… But seeing Liam sad about his throne made me think that if he had married you he would still be king.”

“What is that now?”

“Think about it.”

“No, I can’t think about it, simply because I see all of this in another way.”

“How?”

“Seeing Hana and Liam together and with their kids today, I realized something I couldn’t see before. That this isn’t the kind of life I ever wanted, and if things were different then they are now, I would be miserable… and I think it would not be just me.”

Drake smiled and kissed her passionately and adoring.

“You know, Brooks? You’re completely right.”

She kissed him back and smiled.

“I know I am. Never forget how much I love you.”

She kissed him one more time and lied on his chest.

He pulled her fiercely against his body and kissed her.

“Happy wool wedding anniversary.”

They fell asleep, resting to catch their plane and head to their trip where they would celebrate their love, as they’ve been doing every year since they got married.

“I know you came here for me, but I found someone else along the way.”

“B… but… all of your promises all this time during the social season, the tour engagement!”  

Riley tries but can’t hide her tears.

Liam stares at Riley and can’t explain himself. In a certain way she is right, he had promised in the beginning to resolve the scheme against her.

“Liam, all of the rendezvous you brought me!”

Liam opens his mouth but says no words. He wants to tell her how sorry he is, but how to explain all the kisses, all the moments he spent with her during the trips?

“Liam, you made me your mistress this whole time knowing that you wouldn’t marry me? Seriously? How could you? You played with me the entire time! Made a fool out of me!”

“Lady Riley… I did intend…”

Riley slaps his face.

“I’m really in love with you, while you play with me. Thank you so much for this Liam!”

“Lady Riley please, I didn’t play with you…”

She tries hard not to cry in front of him, turning her back and leaving. She doesn’t even care about what he is saying. How could he?

Liam runs after Riley.

“Lady Riley wait! Please!”

Riley tries to move faster, she couldn’t look at him. Not now. Maybe never.

He touches her arm.

“Lady Riley, please.”

She dodged and pulled her arm.

“Don’t touch me! What now, Liam? Aren’t you satisfied? Actually, be honest, why did you even invite me here in the first place?”

“Lady Riley, I’m sorry, but I can’t marry you knowing my feelings for someone else. And I had invited you here because I wanted to be honest with you and give you a present.”

“A present? Seriously Liam? All you know is to buy people by giving them presents, right? I’m not interested in any of your presents.”

“Lady Riley, all I ask is for you to listen to me. I may not be in love with you as I thought before, but I still wish you all the happiness in this world, and truly wish you could stay in Cordonia. There are a few unclaimed duchies in Cordonia and one would have been bequeathed to you as a sign of my gratitude.”

“What? And do you really think that a gift like this will make me forget all you have done to me now?”

“No! No! Please Lady Riley, it isn’t like that at all. Look, I care about you ok? Just not in a romantic way like I used to, and no matter what our relationship is, I firmly believe that your presence and influence at court is good for Cordonia. I can still make the arrangements.”

“No Liam, I can’t accept that. Just… let me go ok?”

“Lady Riley, I’m sorry again.”

“Liam…” She takes a deep breath “Just tell me one thing before I go…”

“Whatever you want.”

“Who? When?”

Liam opens his mouth.

“Who… what?”

“The person that you’ve been in love. Couldn’t be Madeleine, after all, you broke your engagement with her.”

“Lady Riley…”

Riley screams.

“Tell me Liam! I deserve to know!”

Liam looks down, unsure of what he should say, but he realizes that sooner or later Riley would find out, and it was better to know from him than any other person. He takes a deep breath and says quickly.

“Lady Hana.”

Riley wide opens her eyes in disbelief.

“What? You can’t be serious about that!”

Riley approaches Liam and start to beat him.

“How could you both betray me this way?”

“That was not our intention, Lady Riley.”

“If it was not your intention, why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why did you keep calling me to meet you until yesterday?”

“Lady Riley, please forgive us! It just… happened… I swear, I was trying to tell you, but I looked at you every time, and it broke my heart when you looked at me with so much passion, so much tenderness, so much… love…”

Riley cries even harder but this time with an angry look in her face. “What? Just happened?”

Liam, ashamed, doesn’t respond.

“Yeah, yeah Liam… This is why you should've told me sooner, you knew how I felt all this time. Thanks again for playing with me until now. Just... just let me go, ok? And don’t try to stop me this time.”

Liam only looks while Riley walks away from him, all the things he wish he could say to her beyond the truth about how everything had happened, the unplanned moments he shared with Lady Hana, looking the pain in Riley’s eyes he realizes that there isn’t one single word that could comfort her, or even make her forgive him or Hana.

Riley walks the entire night in the streets of her old home before going to the hotel. She doesn’t want to meet with anyone. All she wants is to be alone in her room, even knowing she won’t be able to sleep at all, but she had to go back. She rubs her arms and sighs, the dress she is wearing is not suitable in the cold.

Trying not to call attention, Riley enters the hotel in her tiptoes, holding her shoes in her hands, but when she sees Hana in her door’s room, she turns away.

“Riley, wait!”

Shit! Riley keeps walking, trying not to talk to Hana.

Hana approaches Riley, extending her hands and trying to catch Riley’s arms.

“Please Riley. We need to talk!”

Riley takes a deep breath.

“Oh really? What are you going to say? 'Oh, Riley, I’m sorry, it was not my intention…' Please Hana, save it for yourself. I’m done with this. All I want now is to be in my room, ALONE! Do you understand?”

Hana steps back and her face is down. There is shame and pain in her eyes.

“Don’t make this sad face.”

Riley turns her back and moves to her room.

“Riley, I am really sorry. None of this was supposed to be this way.”

“Oh come now? You are pretending to be my friend this entire time. And this is not your intention? Or the times when you encouraged me to meet Liam, or when I came back to tell you about the meetings, or even the times when you pretended to cheer me? Please don’t.”

Hana’s eyes are full of tears.

“Crocodile tears? Come on. Don’t try this. It doesn't work with me anymore.”

“Riley…”

Riley interrupts Hana. “Hana please, I get it. All the act about being nervous or not being interested in the social season was a move. Well played, Hana. Congratulations. Is this what you wanna hear? Suit yourself.”

“Riley it's not this… please, listen to me.”

“Hana, seriously, I truly wish you and Liam happiness, but right now I hate you and I don’t wanna talk. Hear me out if it’s not clear yet: LEAVE ME ALONE!”

With tears in her eyes, Riley enters her room and shuts the door without looking back.

Hana keeps looking at Riley’s door with pain in her eyes, she really likes Riley and never wanted to hurt her friend, she couldn't stop feeling guilty for what she has done, but now it was too late. She doesn’t want her friendship to end this way, but she doesn’t know what she could do anymore, she hasn’t seen Riley so mad, and she has the right to. Hana takes a deep breath, clears the tears from her eyes and approaches Riley’s door.

“Riley, I know you can hear me, you have all the right to be mad at me, but you should know that I never faked being nervous at court, and I really liked meeting you here among these people. Just none of this was planned, nothing happened between me and Liam because we wanted to tell you first. I know probably you won’t forgive us but I won’t forget how happy I was while I had your friendship.”  

Inside her room, Riley hears what Hana is saying, but those words made her feel like her skin could boil with the anger that was taking over.

“Go away Hana, I don’t wanna hear any of your BS!”

Riley decides to take a shower and lies in her bed, where she cries all night embracing her pillow.

________X ________

In the morning someone knocks.

Riley approaches the door.

“Max?”

“Yeah, can I come in?”

Riley opens the door and Maxwell looks at her.

“I know. How are you feeling?”

“What do you think?”

“I know, I’m sorry for this. I never should've brought you here.”

“What are you saying Maxwell?”

“Make you go through this, you didn’t deserve this.”

Max sits in the bed beside Riley and hugs her, who starts crying again.

“Why, Max? I love him and all this time he was playing with me, with my feelings. What did I do to him? I’ve never loved anyone like I love him, and look what I got.”

“I don’t know Riley, if it worths something, he fooled everybody. People in the court always talked about his favorite, who was you.”

“I know! I know! He made so many promises in all of the meetings. Do you remember how many times he asked you to deliver a message to me about a spot for us? He hugged me, he kissed me every time and I believed in every one of his promises, because I love him Max! I don’t care about his title, the court, any of this, all I want is him!”

Max looks at Riley without knowing what to say to her, but seeing her like this and not being able to do anything to help her is hurting him even more.

“Riley, you are my best friend, and it breaks my heart to see you crying, suffering. You don't know how much I'm feeling guilty for putting you through this… It’s all my fault! I hope one day you can forgive me.”

“Oh, come on Max! None of this is your fault, stop this nonsense ok? I’m the fool here, probably he was doing the same with all of the other ladies here, and I was the only one who truly believed.”

Riley stands up, clears her face and starts to pack.

“Look, I'm going back to my old home. It’s better that we are in NY, I don’t need to go back with you guys to Cordonia, and please don’t tell anyone. Do you understand Max?”

Max stares for a while, but soon he agrees.

With a small bag, Riley looks in the mirror, takes a deep breath and turns to Maxwell.

“Max, I appreciated everything you and Bertrand did to me until now, I’ll never forget. You’ll always have a friend in NY, ok? It’s no royal, but it's sincere.

Riley hugs Max, who had tears in his eyes.

“Bye, Riley. My home will always be open for you. Now let me walk you.”

Riley looks down and puts a sunglass in her face.

“No. I want to walk alone. I’ll try to avoid the court in the way.”

“As you wish.”

Max kisses her forehead and looks while Riley walks out the door.

________X ________

Riley is walking, avoiding to look at people. She doesn't want to find Liam or even Hana before she leaves, or anyone to be honest.

“Brooks?”

Riley slowly looks to see who is calling for her.

“Where are you going, Brooks?”

Riley frowns and puts her finger in her mouth.

“Shhh, Drake!”

Drake looks surprise.

“What? Hiding from anyone now, Brooks?”

“Just keep your voice down, I don’t want anyone to see me leaving ok?”

“What? Why are you leaving? Our return is only tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, come on? Don’t play dumb, Drake.”

With an open eye Drake stutters.

“I… I swear I don’t…”

“Liam dumped me, ok? Satisfied?”

“What? How? When? How could he?”

“Thanks. My thoughts exactly. Just let me go, ok? Bye.”

Riley turns and starts walking again.

“Let me walk with you at least, Brooks.”

“Be my guest. Just be quiet, ok?”

“Whatever you need, just let me be here by your side.”

Riley nods.

They walked for an hour before Riley sits in a park and takes a deep breath.

“Seriously Drake, what are you doing?”

“What? Why are you asking this?”

“I don't get it, ok. Go be with your best friend. There's probably an engagement dinner happening tonight to Liam and Hana. You should be with them and not with a stranger nobody like me.”

“You know I’m not a royal person, right Brooks?”

“I know… but you are his friend.”

“Don’t worry Brooks, he has plenty of people around him, he won’t miss me. And right now I don’t see anyone with you. So… do the math.”

“I… Seriously, you don’t need to be here. I’m ok alone, as I always have been.”

“Look Brooks, you may not believe when I say to you, but I’m here for you ok? Whenever you need a friend, I’m here, like you were when I needed.”

Riley looks in the distance and tries to smile.

“You know, Drake, you don’t owe me anything. I did what I did for a friend because I wanted to, not to charge anything later.”

“I know, Brooks. Relax, ok? I just don't think anyone is supposed to be alone in a time like this.”

“You know, Drake… Now I get what you always say about royals messing with us commoners. How fool I was, thinking that I really had a chance to be by his side someday.”

“Not Liam…”

Riley looks Drake in his eyes and cups his face with her hands.

“Drake…I know he's your friend, you don’t need to be defending him. But thanks… You being here… this means a lot to me.

Riley kisses his forehead and stands up, walking away without looking back, or even without a destiny, while Drake stares at her. After all that happened in the last 24 hours, she was lost, her world fell apart in front of her eyes and she couldn’t do anything to change. All she wanted and seemed like it belonged to her was now taken.

A few days later, Riley is in Drake’s place at night, organizing a few things for the wedding. Drake isn’t home yet, but she finds his guest list on his desk and when she sees that name she holds the paper tight in her hands, looking at it intently.

Drake opens the door and enters the place. “Baby, I’m home!”

Riley leaves the list where she found it and stands up to greet him, but Drake just gives a quick kiss on her lips. “Let me take a bath first, I don’t wanna leave this sweat smell on you.”

When Drake is in the shower with closed eyes, Riley appears from behind putting a hand on his waist.

“I thought… maybe I could join you…”

“Oh, God, you scared me!” He turns and pulls her closer. “But you shouldn’t think, you should be here with me before even thinking about it.”

She smiles and stands on her tiptoes to kiss him. He kisses her back, holding Riley by the low of her back, pressing her body against his…

After finishing the bath, they roll up in their towels. Riley opens the drawer, looking for a clean shirt, but Drake wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her neck from behind.

She looks at him through the mirror.

“Drake…Since we are here now… I’ve been wanting to ask you something.”

“Oh, God. I already wonder what it is.”

“So… I saw your guest list earlier, and I think maybe we disagree about some people.”

He sighs. “I figured you would not like it.”

“Yeah.”

“I know. I know and I don’t want that coworker of yours either.”

“Who? Daniel? No way, he has to be there.”

“Not Daniel.” Drake rolls his eyes and pronounces the name with disgust. “Hunter. Who the hell is named Hunter? I don’t like the guy and I don’t want him with us in our day.”

“But, Drake… is going to be awkward not to invite him since I’ll invite Lisa and her boyfriend, Tom, and she is my coworker too.”

“Riley… is he your friend? I don’t think so, and he isn’t mine either.”

She looks at him thoughtfully.

He sighs. “But Liam is my friend.”

Riley makes an angry face. “But he is not mine and I don’t want him there either!”

“I know… I know, I understand you, but could you understand me too? Right now, I don’t really know what to do, we are friends since we were kids. He took care of Savannah and I when no one on the palace did after my daddy died. And, just so you know, at the same time I’ll never forgive what he did to you either. So… It's confusing to me, ok?”

“Drake, I know all that, but think, he hurt me and… since you are saying you’ll never forgive him, he hurt you too when he did what he did to me, and even this way, do you still want to invite him to our day? Our special day?”

The reality of her words makes Drake stay quiet and thoughtful for a moment.

After they both get dressed, Drake takes a deep breath.

“Brooks. Actually, there is something I want to tell you.”

She looks at him suspiciously.

“Back then when we went to Cordonia and I talked to Liam before we leave the palace, he told me a few things, as I already told you, but…” Drake approaches a box on the top of the wardrobe and grabs a letter. “But Liam gave me this and asked me to give it to you. Hana wrote this before leaving Cordonia, even not being sure if you’d read it someday.”

Riley looks at the letter and then looks away.

“I know you probably don’t want to, this is why I kept it and waited for the right moment to give it to you.” He leaves the letter beside Riley. “I’ll give you privacy to read.”

She looks one more time to the letter without wanting to read. What good would it do to anyone at this point?

Riley holds the letter on her hands and remembers that time at the hospital when Hana tried to apologize to her. Hana looked like she wanted to say something that day, maybe now it’s easier to read than hear it directly from her. So Riley opens the letter and starts to read it, hoping she wouldn't regret the decision.

Riley,

I don’t know if you’ll read this someday, but I needed to write. Forgive me for all you had been through, I’ll never get tired of apologizing for everything. I just want you to know that I never planned anything that happened. I never pretended to be your friend. All the times when I said to you that you were my true and only friend at court, I was telling the truth. I had never met someone like you, so sincere, so loyal. It was never my intention to hurt you, in any way. I hope you can see this someday.

I don’t know if this is the right thing to do now but I’d like to tell you, and maybe you don’t even wanna know, but the first time Liam talked about his feelings to me, I demanded him to stop. God, I even threatened that I would stop being his friend and never see him again. I couldn’t imagine doing something like this to you, I always knew how much you cared about him and my feelings for him didn’t matter. You were the right person to him. You came to Cordonia for him and not for the queen position, like many ladies there, you loved him since the beginning and everyone could see this in your eyes. You guys seemed to be genuinely happy together. And most importantly, I knew how he felt about you. So how could he be there telling me those things? Maybe he was just confusing things.

When he was able to break his engagement with Madeleine and finally you two could be together in the open, I was happy for you. You had fought for this. But that night he came to my door and told me I was the woman he wanted and he wasn’t going to pick you, but he still didn't have the courage to tell you the truth and then he kissed me. Hearing that… and with his kiss… my feelings spoke louder and for a moment I gave in and told him that I could only be with him if he was honest with you, but when I realized the nonsense Idea and the mistake I was making, I told him to stop lying to me and to go away and look out for you, you were the right woman, not me. It broke my heart, but I knew that you were the one who deserved him. He left my door, indeed, and the next day when I heard that you two would meet that night, I was so relieved that he finally forgot that insanity and went after the right woman for him and for Cordonia. You have all the courage and the spirit to manage the queen position that I’ll never have.

But I couldn’t be more wrong. That night, he called me and said he had broken up with you and had told you the truth. I yelled at him so much on the phone, but he kept listening to me, and in the end, Liam said he had done this because it was the fair thing to all of us, you, me and himself, and no one would be happy living a lie. He was truly sorry to break your heart, but this way you could find someone who truly loves you, and could make you happy, even if it didn't seem this way at that moment. That was when I saw you coming to the hotel and tried to talk to you. The rest you already know.

Now he knows his mistake was not telling you the truth sooner, and if it's any consolation, Liam and I, we'll never be together. Constantine will never allow us, given my condition.

Riley, I am aware that no word from me or Liam will undo any damage or pain that we have caused you, but… my sincere apologies, and maybe someday I'll be worthy of your forgiveness. Until then, I wish you nothing more than happiness in your life.

With hope, Hana.

Riley finishes reading the letter without knowing what to think yet. Drake returns from the kitchen and offers her a plate with a sandwich. She takes it and starts to eat.

“So…?”

“I don’t know… I mean, she already asked me to forgive her… But she says they’ll never be together because of her condition, but isn’t she pregnant?”

Drake looks down.

“She wasn’t when she wrote this letter to you… But Liam called me a few days ago and told me Hana lost their baby after returning to Cordonia.”

“Oh, poor Hana! So is that why you came to my place that day?”

Drake nods. “Look, I really did miss you, I wanted to see you and be with you more than anything that day, but I was kind of sad for them too.”

“It’s ok, Drake, you know you can show up whenever you want. I’m here for you.” She squeezes his hand.

“You know… Liam is devastated. But look, I didn’t tell you all that just so you'd forgive her. Or even invite her, if you don't want to, ok?”

“It’s ok, Drake. I don’t care about what happens in Cordonia, but I don’t hate the people.”

“Yeah, and… about that… this isn’t all… Liam told me Bastien and his crew has gathered all the necessary evidence and maybe they will announce today.” Drake makes a pause. “Madeleine was sentenced to death, for the king's assassination attempt, and all the other damage she had done that night.”

Riley puts a hand in her mouth in shock, and then she looks up and makes the sign of the Cross.

“May God forgive me, I have sinned.”

Drake looks at her in confusion. “For what? What have you done?”

“It serves her right! She deserved! Because of her I almost lost you.” She hugs Drake tightly.

“What?”

“Oh, come on, you are the one who got shot that night, so are you going to tell me you didn’t think the same?”

Drake thinks for a moment. “Maybe I don’t like that bitch for all she has done, but I don’t know if she deserves such a thing.”

“Yeah, and for all the times she has mistreated me in front everyone just for fun. Look, I don’t think this is amusing at all, nor right, but I can’t help if I already thought, ok? I’m asking God to forgive me every minute for thinking such a thing. I’m being a bad person to do so, I know that, but I’m human too. Drake, you almost died because of her ambition and wickedness, just think about all the people she hurt that night. Bastien, for example, who you like so much, almost lost his leg.”

“Brooks, calm down. I get it, ok? But I don't understand why you talk about it so pissed.”

She takes a deep breath.

“Drake… do you know how I really felt when I received the news about you being shot?”

He shakes his head denying.

“I don’t know if it's possible to describe, but let me try. For example, when Liam did that to me, I felt like a sword was crossing my heart, that pain, was like… something was ripping me inside out.” Riley frowns. “But the news about you being shot? That… was excruciating! When I arrived in Cordonia and thought you had died, I felt like my heart was being gradually crushed into little pieces, I could not breathe, It was like I was slowly dying inside... literally, I tried not to show it to Max at the moment, but that is the closest description I can make of what I felt.”

Drake is looking at Riley, speechless.

She sighs. “Yeah, Drake, maybe I didn’t know at the time, but now I can see how much I cared about you even without realizing. And after all that, do you really think I wouldn’t be glad to see justice is being done?”

“Brooks, I… I had no idea!”

“Yeah… now you know.”

They look at each other and sigh.

“Anyway, back to the previous subject, why did Hana go back to Cordonia anyway?”

“She… Ahh… Liam was so lost, not knowing what to do when I talked to him, so I tried to calm him down and advised him to look out for evidence against Madeleine and convince Hana to return to Cordonia, after all, he never loved Madeleine and now, more than never, he couldn’t marry her, she almost killed Hana and other people that day. Not to mention the fact that Hana was expecting their child and they love each other. With the evidence of her pregnancy, Constantine wouldn’t be able to forbid them from being together.”

“Hmmm… You know… After this, I could even wish they can solve everything.”

He smiles. “Look at you, my girl, all grown up.” He wraps her shoulders and kisses her cheek.

Her cheeks turn red and she brushes his lips. “Drake… When I said you could talk to me about everything, I meant it. But now, how about we forget about Cordonia and focus on us, and our wedding plans?”

He kisses her. “I’d like that.”

Riley takes the computer and shows him some pictures of places to the ceremony. After seeing and picking three different places, Drake runs his fingers through her hair. “Brooks, you know I don’t care so much about the place, right?”

“I… I know, baby, me neither. What really matters is both of us standing there, saying 'I do'. I don’t want a lot of people, only the closest ones.”

“Thank God! Nothing would make me happier.”

“So… It’s almost everything decided.” She leans and lays her head on his chest.

“Now we can truly enjoy the rest of my break before returning to college.”

They smile, making plans for their free time, until falling asleep that night.

 _____X_____

Two quarters later, the day finally arrives: Drake’s graduation. Since Savannah, Bertrand and Maxwell couldn’t make it, Riley is his only guest outside college.

Drake is breathing so fast that Riley has to try and calm him down. “Hey, chill out, buddy, all you have to do is just get up there, take your diploma, shake a few hands and come back here. Simple like this.”

“Do you think I don’t know that already?”

She smiles and kisses his cheek. “Good luck, I’ll show everything to Savannah and the rest through video call, ok?”

“Oh, Brooks, thanks for that. We’ll be eternally grateful.”

“Come on, boy, It's almost your turn.” She slaps his butt.

He looks at her with wide eyes and she laughs, but before he can say anything, the class orator calls his name on the mic.

Riley follows his steps with the phone, showing the whole ceremony to his family on the other side. Drake takes his diploma and shakes a hand in the air, celebrating. He says a few words to the audience, thanking Riley for being by his side and for her patience that last quarter, and then sends a kiss to his family on the other side of the screen, returning to Riley’s side, where he stayed until the end of the solemnity.

After that, the couple and a few of Drake’s friends go to a close bar to celebrate their degree. They sing on a karaoke, eat pizza, drink lots of booze, play a few games and are even congratulated by other clients in the place.

In the middle of the night, maybe almost two hours before dawn, Riley and Drake return to his place, take a shower and get ready to sleep when Drake receives a video call from Liam.

Drake looks at Riley, who kisses his forehead. “Answer him, I’ll give you two a moment to talk.” She goes to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. She could hear the conversation from the kitchen, after all, is a small apartment, but she wanted to give them a moment to chat. She waits for some time, lingering until they finish the call.

She returns to the bedroom, sees Drake smiling and sits beside him. “So, they made it, huh?”

“It appears so. Hana was reluctant, but she finally accepted to marry him a couple months ago, and now she is pregnant again. Damn, he seemed so happy.”

She lays down on his chest. “After everything Constantine has done, even I would be reluctant.” Riley takes a deep breath. “Drake, I know we didn’t talk about this for months now, but seeing you like this… Invite him. I just want to see you happy and if this will make you… I can accept.” She clenches her jaw. “But not her.”

He widens his eyes. “Really?”

She nods in agreement.

A few days later, Riley wakes up in her hotel room and starts to pack her things. She just decided to leave, there is no point in staying in Cordonia anymore. She sits on her bed and sighs. What was I thinking when I came back here?

Someone knocks on the door. Good, just what I needed.  Riley stands up to open it.

She opens the door, sees Drake and tries to close it, but he stops her. “Riley, come on!”

“Go away, Drake!” She tries to shut the door one more time, but he resists it again.

He frowns. “We need to talk and I’m coming in!”

When she realizes that he can't be stopped, she sighs. “Fine, I’ll go then.”

Drake stands between her and the door. “For God’s sake, Riley!”

“What do you want, Drake?”

“What do I want? You ran away without saying anything. I’m trying to talk to you for days, and you won’t answer me! What happened after all? I had to escape the hospital so I could talk to you.”

“You know, Drake, sometimes no answer is an answer.”

“Oh, come on, be reasonable, I’m blind here. I didn’t at the time, and I still don’t understand why you left that way.”

“Look, Drake, you kissed me and when I opened my eyes, your friend was there looking at us. What do you want me to think, huh?”

Drake rubs his face. “Oh God! I still don’t get it.”

“Do I have to draw?” She shouts. “You just kissed me to reach him!”

Drake laughs. “What? Are you crazy?”

Riley’s jaw tightens and she crosses her arms. “What’s so funny now?”

“Sorry, Riley, but none of the things I do have anything to do with Liam. And, so you know, I meant every word I said to you that day” He approaches her and gently holds her arms “If I wanted to get to someone, it would be that co-worker of yours! God! How I hate that guy!”

“What are you talking about?”

He releases her arm and frowns. “Come on, are you going to tell me that you never noticed the way he looks at you?”

“No…”

“Yeah, but I saw it every time I was there with you.”

“You are seeing things.”

“No, I'm not. You should see how he looks at you. Every time I saw that I wanted to punch him” He sighs “But look, I don’t want to talk about him or anyone else. I came here to talk to you” He looks at her bed, her clothes and bag over it “I was afraid you were already gone.”

“I just start to pack. You know how I feel about being here.”

“I know… sorry for making you come here, especially under this kind of circumstances.”

She sighs. “It’s ok… You’re fine now.”

He grins and approaches her. “So… you’re admitting you came here for me.”

She opens her mouth but no word comes out of it.

“Oh, come here” He cups her face with his hands and looks deep into her eyes “Riley…  Right now, I don’t care about your colleague and even less about Liam. I care about you, and only you… Maybe more than I should, but I came here to ask you to be with me.”

She looks at him with confusion in her eyes. “I… I’m not following…”

He releases her face and takes her hands instead. “So, Liam indicated me to be honored on a ceremony this year… It’ll be only in a few months from now, but I would really like if you could be there. By my side.”

“Oh! Is this… because you got shot?”

“Yeah, but not only that. It's because I protected the king’s life with my own, probably the entire court will vote for me to receive the honorary thing.”

“Oh, I didn’t think about that, but you, more than anyone, is the one who deserves this!”

Drake smiles. “So, what do you say?” He puts a hand on her face and caresses it with his thumb. “Do you… wanna be there… as my girlfriend?”

Riley’s eyes open wide. “Dra… Drake… I…”

“Yes, yes, I already told you, I meant it, Riley. I was afraid before, thinking you wouldn’t be ready yet and I didn’t want to push you, but now I almost died without telling you how I feel. Maybe I took a long time to realize, but I really want to be with you and be more than friends, whenever you say that you accept me.”

“Drake…” She takes a deep breath, not knowing that she was holding it. “I really don’t know what to say…”

“You don’t need to say anything right now...” He slowly puts a hand on his chest and sits on the bed, making a strange face. Riley gets scared.

“Oh, my God! What are you feeling? You're going back to the hospital now!” She takes her phone and calls a cab.

When they arrive at the hospital, a nurse hosts them. “What were you thinking, Mr. Walker? You had no permission to leave.”

Drake smiles. “I know, but I had to take care of this girl over here. She was leaving and I almost lost her, twice.”

They carry Drake to his bed and a doctor comes to check on him while Riley leaves the room and finds Maxwell, who has just arrived and comes to talk to her.

“What happened? Why did you leave and didn’t come back for days? He was so worried about you. He tried to escape so many times and today he finally made it!”

“Oh, God! Seriously?”

“Yes. Believe me, Riley, he forced me to give him the address of the hotel where you're staying.”

The doctor gets out of the room and approaches them. “You can come in now.”

Riley nods and Maxwell pushes her. “Go, he wants you there.”

She slowly enters the room. “So, what did the doctor say?”

Drake is lying on the bed and looks at her, extending his hand. “Come, sit here.”

She approaches but doesn’t take his hand. “Seriously, Drake, you were in pain!”

“Nah, I just got scolded by the doctor. I’m ok now.”

The woman takes a deep breath and looks at Drake for a while. She is confused as hell. Riley actually traveled as fast as she could to see him and the pain in her chest when she thought she had lost him, nothing had ever hurt so much in her life and… When he kissed her, it seemed so right at that moment. But what if she was mistaken about her feelings for him, who has always been by her side since they met, with some romantic feeling? What if she was just needy? And now that he revealed his feelings... and what if she hurts him? “Drake…”

“Yeah, I know. Look, I can see in your eyes how you are struggling with your feelings… and, like I said before, you don’t have to answer me now. But all I ask is a chance.”

“I’m just afraid…”

“Of what?”

“If you really like me as you are saying and I hurt you in the end.” She looks away.

“Look.” Drake sits and takes Riley’s hand in his “I know where I’m getting myself into, and when I thought I'd die that night, my worst fear was never having a chance to tell you about my feelings, and now I finally did. Take your time to decide. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Actually, Drake… I want to apologize for the other day… When I saw Liam looking at us, I was afraid you could think that I accepted your kiss just because I’m not with the king and kissed his friend… And I ended up cashing on you.”

“What? Of course not, Brooks! He had his chance and wasted it, and I know you wouldn’t do this.”

“I don’t see it like this. He is going after someone he truly loves. He has the right to do this.”

“Anyway, I don’t want to talk about them.”

“Yeah, it is better this way. So… before I answer…”

“I already know what you’ll ask. No, I don’t intend to move and live in Cordonia again…”

Riley smiles and they spend the rest of the day and the days later together until Drake is discharged from the hospital. They start to debate about his invitation and what will that decision mean for them.

_____X_____

After almost six months in NY, Riley and Drake return to Cordonia. They are in a hotel room in Cordonia, getting ready for the ceremony to honor Drake and a few other people. They are wearing matching blue outfits, but it isn’t planned so when they realize the coincidence, they look at each other and smile.

“Come on, are you imitating me now, Brooks?”

She laughs. “You wish, Mr. Walker!”

He pulls her close by the waist. “And if it's on purpose, I don’t care. You know that, right?”

She smiles shyly. He smiles back and kisses her.

“Don’t you dare to start this now, or we’ll get late. Come on.”

“Ok… ok…”

They leave the room and when Drake closes the door behind him, he whispers in her ears. “I won’t forget this.”

She blushes and playfully punches him. “Just go, Drake, or you’ll be late for your own ceremony.”

Moments later, they arrive at the palace and the first person Riley sees is Maxwell, who runs to hug her. “Oh. My. God! My favorite person in this world came!”

Riley embraces him back. “Oh, Max, I’m so happy to see you too! I can even risk saying that you are my second favorite person!”

Maxwell opens his mouth in shock. “Second?” He makes an angry face “Who's stealing my place?”

Drake laughs.

“Oh, how dare you?” Max asks.

Riley laughs too and hugs her friend one more time. “Don’t be jealous, Max!”

“So… you guys are really together now, huh?” He grins.

Drake pulls Riley close, wraps her shoulders and kisses her forehead. “I was afraid she wouldn’t accept me, but I got lucky and a few days after I left the hospital… She said “yes” to be my girlfriend. And now here we are.”

She looks at Drake, smiling, puts her arm around his waist and the other hand on his chest, her eyes shining. “Maybe the craziest decision I’ve ever made.”

“Regretting already, Brooks? Because I’m one hundred percent sure I’m living the happiest months of my life!”

They laugh.

“Any chance you guys move back to Cordonia?” Maxwell asks, hopeful “I really miss you.”

“Nah, not a chance Max, you know how I feel about this place, and now I have my life back in NY. Actually, I could say that I’m starting a new life as well” Riley looks at Drake, who blushes.

“You heard my girl. As for me, I’m close to finish college and finally get my degree.”

Max puts on a sad face and sighs. “Yeah, you are both right.”

Liam approaches the group, smiling. “Welcome to the palace. I’m glad you could make it.”

“Of course I’m here” Drake pats Liam’s shoulder.

“Too bad that you will not stay in the palace, I would like to have you here my friends. You know that your rooms are still available to you, right?

“I know, Liam” Drake rubs the back of his neck “But, you know… It’s better this way. Don’t worry, we are good in the hotel.”

“And I’m not your friend.” Riley says, giving him a fake smile.

Liam opens his mouth in shock and looks down. “Oh! I… I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” He bows and leaves.

“I’m sorry about that, Drake. I couldn’t help it.”

Drake rubs her shoulder in understanding and consolation.

“So, how is he doing, Maxwell? I know him and I could see that he’s not happy like he tries to show.”

Maxwell makes a sad face. “You really know your friend, Drake. He’s miserable! Constantine is forcing him to marry Madeleine, since Hana… you know…”

“Oh!” Riley gets surprised. “So, is it really confirmed that she is sterile?”

“The doctors didn’t give her much hope, even after all the exams and tests. Poor Hana.”

“Oh, God. So, Madeleine finally got what she always wanted, huh?” Drake rolls his eyes.

“Apparently. They announced the engagement a few weeks ago.”

They hear a sound in the other room and a host calls Liam to start the ceremony.

“So, it’s time. Let’s go find our seats.” Maxwell leads them.

Everyone sits and looks at Liam, who is going to the mic in the center of the room.

Riley realizes how nervous Drake is. “Hey.” She whispers and intertwines their fingers.

He squeezes her hand and looks deep into her eyes. “You know, Brooks, I’m nervous as hell, but I’m really, really happy that you are here with me today.”

She puts a hand on his face and whispers next to his ear. “I don’t know if it helps, but I’m happy to be here with you too.” She looks him up and down, biting her lips “Aaaaand you are so damn hot in this suit, I could rip it out of you right here.”

Drake looks deep into her eyes. “Oh, come on, Brooks! Why do you do this to me?”

She laughs but tries to cover it.

Liam speaks in the mic. “Good night, my good Cordonians, today we are here, reunited, to honor people who stood out this year on their own way for our country and deserves our special attention…”

After the speech, everyone applauds the king and his father goes on stage to say some words.

The ceremony starts and Liam calls one by one of the people in the audience to climb on stage to receive the honor, a title and a medal.

When he calls his friend's name, Drake gasps and Riley holds his hand in reassurance.

“Go, go!”

Drake looks at her and takes a deep breath before standing up and walking to the stage.

“Mr. Drake Walker, for your service to the crown, risking your own life to protect your king’s. As thanks for this, now receive the honor to be part of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Cordonia Empire, and this medal.” Liam encrusts the medal on Drake’s suit. “From now on you will be known as Sir Drake. Congratulations! I’ll be eternally grateful to you, my friend.”

Drake, clearly touched by his friend's words and the merit, tries to show how grateful he is, not by the medal or even the title, but for Liam’s friendship all those years. When he is almost embracing Liam, he remembers that in front of court all of them should demonstrate the minimum of emotions, so he just shakes Liam’s hand. “Thank you, my king and my friend.”

Liam grins and they bow to each other.

Drake leaves the stage, sits by Riley’s side and holds her hand.

“You were great! You, more than anyone, deserved this.”

“Yeah...” Drakes laughs.

“What?”

“I think you’ll not like this, but now you’ll be called a 'Lady' again…” He puts a hand on his mouth, trying hard not to laugh too loud.

She looks away. “Let’s not talk about that, ok?”

“Sorry, Brooks!” He kisses her forehead. “But it’s funny. Just admit it!”

“As long as we don’t have to live here… Yeah… I think it is kind of a little funny…”

“Of course not, the title doesn't make me live here or anything else.”

She takes a relief breath. “Thank God.”

“Hey, what did you said about ripping a suit off… I don’t know if I’m right…”

Her mouth curves into a mischievous smile.

"I don't know about this.” She approaches him and whispers slowly in his ear. “But I do remember something about our old rooms being available. If someone by my side is up to sneak out before the ceremony is over, I wouldn't mind..."

He tries to play along. “Which one of those is closer?”

“We could find out… But… Wouldn’t it be disrespectful to leave the ceremony before is over?”

“I don’t know, I don’t care, and there are only a few people left to finish it.”

She looks to both sides and whispers in his ear. “Meet me...” She stands up and leaves the room.

Drake grins. He couldn’t resist to follow her with his gaze, watching her curves on that blue dress while she goes along the room to the stairs. In the distance, she looks at him with an inviting smile. He couldn’t hold on anymore so in a quick movement he stands up and follows her, without looking back or knowing if anyone notices he is leaving in the middle of the ceremony.

When he approaches the stair, Savannah comes up and hugs him.

“Oh, Drake, congratulations, my brother! I knew it! I knew someday you’d be recognized for your efforts in this place!”

“Oh! Thanks, sis!” He hugs her back but his look never leaves the stairs, trying to follow Riley.

“I didn’t see you before the ceremony, only when you climbed on stage. But where are you going in all this rush?”

“Uh… I’m going…” He tries to put a proper response together, but he can't find the words.

“Oh, do you need to use the bathroom? Go! Go, I won’t hold you here.”

“Thanks. Thanks, sis. See you!”

He loses sight of Riley and, with a bit of despair, he climbs the stairs as fast as he can and, in the hall, he catches a glance of her entering a room. He runs and follows her.

She is there, leaned over a window, with a beam of daylight touching her skin. My angel. He smiles and approaches her, circling his arms around her waist and kissing her neck from behind.

She envelopes his hand with hers and throws her head back, giving him space. “Hey. I thought I would be here in this bedroom alone.”

“Brooks…” He turns her and looks deep into her eyes “Have I ever let you down?”

She looks at his mouth. “No. Never.”

He smiles and tilts her chin to kiss her and she responds with hunger, as if her life depends on this, then she starts to rip out his suit and opens the belt of his pants.

He stops kissing her and holds her wrists above her head. “Brooks, what happened to you today?”

She bites her lips. “I’ve told you. You are so damn hot today in this blue suit!”

He chuckles and with a quick movement he sits her on the desk next to them, putting himself between her legs, his hands caressing her thighs and he starts to pull her dress up.

“This blue dress of yours…”

His hands are almost touching her center when someone enters the room in a rush. “Drake…”

Drake and Riley retract in surprise and when Liam sees the scene, he puts a hand on his eyes. “Oh God! Oh God!” He quickly closes the door and shouts outside “Forgive me!”

Riley looks at Drake with an angry face. “Drake, didn’t you locked the door?” She stands up, locks it and returns to the same position she was before. When she sees a pale Drake in front of her, she puts her hands on his hips and pulls him close “Come on, Drake, it looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

With the warmth of her breath on his skin, he looks at her, the color coming back to his face.

“Liam… just caught us.”

“So? Where is the man who told me he doesn’t care about Liam? Because I don’t. Not anymore.”

With relief in his eyes, he smiles and blushes. “Are you serious?”

“Oh, come on, Drake, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t care about you. You know how much I hated this place once, and if I’m here today, you are the reason. The only reason.”

He smiles and kisses her. “This is music to my ears, Brooks!”

She breaks the kiss and cups his face with her hands. “Just to be clear, Drake, you worked hard to steal my heart in the last months, and you did it! Never doubt that I am not with you as some consolation prize for being the king’s friend or anything you can think of. If I'm with you, it's because I really like you, got it?”

He hugs her so hard that it almost breaks her in the middle. “Brooks, if I already told you how happy I am for you being with me, now certainly I could die and say that I am the happiest man on earth!” He releases the hug and lifts her, carrying her to the bed, where he lays and kisses her with hungry and so much passion.

“I… should say this… more often apparently…”

He takes off her dress and begins to kiss her neck, while she lowers his pants; he slowly goes down to her breasts, taking his time when sucking and giving her a slight bite. She moans under his body so he takes off her panties and starts to caress her clit. With her gasps, his touch becomes stronger against her center and he slips his finger inside her, closing his eyes in pleasure when he felt her so wet for him.

“Oh, God!”

She strongly grabs his arm with a hand. “Stop teasing me!”

He licks his fingers and looks at her. “Your taste is so good!”

With a quick movement, she turns and straddles him. “I told you to stop!”

He gets surprised. “Oh!”

She takes his length in her hands and starts to move up and down, teasing him in the same way he did with her, and then fits it in her sex. He grabs her thighs and tries to match his movement with her rhythm until a wave of pleasure goes through their bodies and between his moans, he lets out: “Riley… I love you… so much!”

Her eyes go wide but she doesn’t stop until they both get there, together.

When they recover, Riley sits and stares at Drake.

He smiles and kisses her. “What?”

“Drake… what you said… are you serious?”

“About… loving you? I've never been so serious about anything in my life.” He looks at her mouth and kisses her one more time, turning her on the bed and getting over her again. He kisses her neck, gently sucking her skin, but suddenly he stops and looks deep into her eyes.

“Brooks… marry me!”

“What?”

“Maybe you think I’m crazy, but I do love you, and this past year by your side, as a friend, and now as your boyfriend, made me realize how much I want to be with you. I… can’t offer you a kingdom like Cordonia, but I’m offering you the most precious kingdom I have: my heart.”

Her eyes sparkle with emotion, excitement and tears. “Oh. My. God. This is the sweetest thing I’ve heard in my entire life! I think I'm melting!” She kisses him, never leaving his mouth.

He breaks the kiss and sighs. “Oh God! I thought you would make fun of me!”

“What? Who do you think I am?”

He gets down from her and looks away. “Aaaaand you didn’t answer me.”

“Oh! It’s true, sorry about that.” She puts a hand on his face. “Drake, look at me.” He turns to her but looks down. “Come on!” She starts to kiss his entire face. “Of course I’ll marry you, If accepting to be your girlfriend was the craziest decision I’ve ever made, but the one that makes me so happy, why wouldn’t I accept to marry you too?” She laughs.

Hearing her words, his expression lightens and he kisses her with so much happiness like she's never seen before and when he lays above her, she feels his erection growing against her hips again…

After they make love one more time and change back into their clothes to leave the palace, Drake asks.

“Baby, can you wait for me one moment before we leave? I’ll talk to Liam, see if he wanted to say something important.”

“Sure.” She gives him a quick kiss and goes down the stairs.

He finds Liam in his office.

“So.” Drake puts his hands in the pockets of his suit. “What did you want to talk?”

“Oh, nothing…”

“Come on, Liam, you wouldn’t come in my old room that way if it wasn’t important.”

Liam sighs. “Oh God, I’m so sorry Drake. It wasn’t my intention… I didn’t know you two were together… If I did, I wouldn’t have entered the room that way.”

“I’m the one who didn’t lock the door.”

“So, I saw you leaving the ceremony and, when it was over, Bastien was in the gates and he said you hadn’t gone yet. So, I imagined you were in your old room. I just wanted to talk to someone I trust outside this place.”

“So, what is it?”

“Bastien and his crew found who was responsible for the attacks.”

Drake’s eyes go wide. “Who? Who did that?”

“You wouldn’t believe it, but it was Madeleine.”

Drake makes an angry face. “What? How could she? Constantine knows about this? Because Maxwell told me he is forcing you to marry her.”

“Exactly, and what hurts me most is that you and Hana got caught in the middle of her wickedness, just because she wants so badly to be a queen.”

“Bitch!”

“And it does not stop there. Last month, when Hana was leaving to her country, before the engagement announcement, we had one last moment together. In addition to all that, yesterday she called me, telling me she is pregnant! Can you imagine how my mind is?”

Drake opens his mouth in shock. “Seriously? Oh! This is great news! Congrats, my friend!”

“Thanks, but I just don’t know how to handle all of this right now, this is why I looked for you.”

“I don't see any trouble here…”

Drake continues on his talking with Liam and, after a while, he comes to the living room and finds Riley speaking with Savannah and Maxwell.

“Hey guys.”

Riley puts her arm around Drake’s waist and looks at him, smiling.

“Before we leave, can we tell them the news?”

“Oh! So soon, are you sure?”

She shakes her head with excitement.

“Come on, spit it out!” Maxwell demands.

Drake and Riley look at each other and announce at the same time.

“Daydreaming now Riley?” Someone taps her in the shoulder.

Suddenly Riley comes back to reality, where she is just looking again at the park through the window at her work.

She rubs her face and looks up.

“Sorry, Daniel.”

“No problem. So, I was nearby and decided to say 'hi' and see how you're doing.”

“Oh, you know, same old, same old.”

“So… tell me, what were you looking at so focused?” Daniel approaches the windows looking at the park, as if he is trying to see the same thing as Riley.

Riley puts some hair behind her ear and looks again at the park. “Just… remembering some random afternoon out there with Drake.”

Daniel laughs. “Riiiiight! But you aren’t missing him, like you told me the other day, huh?”

She blushes and tries to change the subject. “So, Daniel, how is it going with your jobs?”

“Same madness as always, you know our old boss, right? Now he decided to expand, meaning more job for me. I don’t know if I can handle it much longer.”

“If he is mistreating you, more than before, it’s better to just get out of there.”

“Naah, I still need the money until I find something else… you know. But tell me, why did Drake come back to Cordonia anyway?

“Savannah’s engagement.”

“Oh, really? So Bertrand finally admitted that he likes her?”

Riley laughs. “Look at you, talking about them like you know everyone there.”

“Come on, Drake could only talk about her and when Bertrand finally met his son.”

She sighs. “Yeah, you are right.”

“But… you do not seem happy. Why?”

“I don’t know, something feels off, you know? Drake traveled about two weeks ago and this week, radio silence. Maybe I’m just too worried and it’s probably nothing.”

Daniel pats her shoulder. “Relax sis, maybe he is just busy with his sister.”

Riley’s phone rings. “Sorry, Daniel.” She takes the mobile from her pocket and sees Drake’s number on the screen, smiling as she shows it to Daniel.

“See? I’ll give you two some privacy, I got to go anyway. Bye.” He kisses Riley’s forehead and goes to the door, waving before vanishing.

Riley takes a deep breath and answers the phone. “Hi, Drake! How is it going back there?”

“Riley, please come to Cordonia! It’s urgent!”

Riley is confused. This isn’t Drake’s voice. “Who's talking?”

“Sorry, Riley, it's Maxwell. But seriously, you need to come back to Cordonia, I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t urgent…”

They talk for a while and hang up. Riley goes to her boss's office and gets a license, then runs to her home, packs a bag as fast as she can and takes the first flight to Cordonia.

Feeling like a lifetime later, in Cordonia Riley drops her bags in some hotel and goes to find Maxwell.

He hugs her so tight that she runs out of air. “Oh Riley, how I've missed you! Sorry about all that happened to you, and now this.”

Riley, with tears in her eyes, asks: “What? I did not arrive in time, did I?”

“No, no! It’s not that! I’m just apologizing about before, Liam and all of that.”

“Forget about that now, Max! For God’s sake! I wanna know about Drake! You told me he got shot! If he’s not dead, where is he? Take me to him! I need to see him!”

“Oh, fine! Come.”

Maxwell brings Riley to the hospital where Drake is and as she enters everyone in the waiting room looks at her as if they are seeing a ghost.

“Max, why is everyone here?” Riley whispers to Max.

“Didn’t you hear nothing?

“No. What happened?”

Max sighs. “Four days ago, after Savannah’s engagement announcement at our house, we came back to the palace for the dinner where Liam and Hana would announce their wedding. He and the rest of the court were returning from the engagement season, but there was an attack and almost everyone got injured. Hana was stabbed in her belly, Bastien and Drake got shot.”

Riley shakes Maxwell. “What? How did this happen to Drake, Maxwell?”

“He jumped in front of Liam and got shot, the bullet was too close to his heart and he underwent surgery, but…” Max looks down “The doctors are not hopeful. They took the bullet out but… They say now is waiting for a miracle.”

Riley starts to cry. “Oh my God! Why didn’t you tell me all of this on the phone? Why he did this? Why?”

A nurse gets out of the room. “Just one person at a time, please.”

“Please, Max, let me see him!”

“Of course Riley, this is exactly why I called you here. I know he would want to see you.”

Riley turns without knowing how to act, so she asks the nurse. “Can he hear me?”

“I don’t know, miss…”

“Riley. Call me Riley.”

“He is sedated. He should be awake by now, but… I’m sorry.”

Riley slowly enters the room and sees Drake lying on that bed, breathing through a tube with the help of machines. She tries to control her tears, but the damn things insisted on getting out uncontrollably. She approaches his bed, sits beside him and holds his hand.

“Drake…” she starts to sob. “Please… don’t die! Your sister needs you… Bartie needs his uncle. I… I need…”

Liam enters the room and when he sees Riley he freezes. “Ril… Riley… What….”

“What… am I doing… here? I came to see Drake, obviously!”

“How… did you…”

“Max called me, and here I am. And please, the nurse said one person at a time.”

“Of course, I’ll give you a moment.” Liam walks out the door and closes it.

Riley looks again at Drake and stares for a while.

“Come back to us, please. It’s not your time yet! Did you hear me? Don’t be stupid again!” She sighs. “Sorry Drake, but you need to hear this.” She kisses his forehead without letting go of his hands and sits on the chair by his side again.

Sometime later, Maxwell enters the room and sees Riley staring at Drake with tears in her eyes.

“Riley, you need to rest too. You are here since you arrived in Cordonia.”

She looks at Maxwell without realizing how much time had passed. “Yeah… I could use some water.”

When she closes the door, Liam is waiting outside. “So, how is he?”

“Probably the same like the last time you saw him. No thanks to you, of course!”

Liam flinches. “I… I think I deserved that.”

“Yeah. So… I heard Hana was injured too…”

“Yeah, she is in her room now, but…” Liam do not seem to have words in his mouth.

“Max said on the phone she was okay.”

“Almost, she didn’t know yet, but the doctor said to me that the stab pierced her uterus…” Liam makes a sad face. “So… she may become sterile.”

“Oh my God!” Riley brings her hand to her mouth, in shock. Not even Hana deserves this, Riley thought.

Liam rubs his face. “I have no idea how to tell her this.”

Riley sighs. “Liam, if you are going to linger to do this, it’s better to let one of the doctors tell her. You know by now how good you can make to a person for not telling the truth, right?”

Liam shocks with Riley’s words, but he knows she is right, he had done this before and it makes no good to anybody.

“Send my regards to her.” She says to Liam and leaves to find Maxwell.

Riley finds him on the phone but he waves at her, making a sign for her to join him. “Ok, ok, Bertrand.” He hangs up and turns to Riley. “Bertrand said Savannah and Bartie are ok in the safe house.”

“Thank Goodness, Max… I didn’t say it before, but thanks for calling me. As you could imagine I didn’t want to come back here. Like never. Even under this kind of circumstances.”

“I know, Riley, but the way how Drake was talking about you the whole week, I couldn’t not call you. Sorry if I didn’t do it sooner, but I don’t have your number, I had to search through Drake’s phone and, as I imagined, you didn’t want contact with anything related to Cordonia, so he saved your number by other name... you do the math.”

Riley smiles at the same time she has tear in her eyes, realizing how Drake protects her. “It’s ok, Max. I’m glad you called me.” She hugs him.

“Oh!” He embraces her back.

Riley finally releases him. “I need something to drink, I’ll be right back.”

She leaves to find some water and when she looks through a door, Hana is lying on a bed while the former king talks to her. She seems pale and tired, and Constantine smiles by her side, as if trying to comfort her.

Riley keeps walking and goes back with a bottle of water in her hands when Constantine, leaving Hana’s room, looks at her and open his mouth in surprise. “Lady Riley?”

She curtsy. “King father.”

“I didn’t know you were still in Cordonia.”

“I wasn’t.”

“I see. Look… Since you are here, may I have a word with you?”

“Is it really necessary?”

“Please.”

They start to walk and Constantine seems thoughtful.

“Lady Riley, what really brings you here today?

“Max called me and told me that Drake had been shot, so I came as fast as I could.”

They are approaching the waiting room when Constantine indicates a different path. “Could you?”

She nods and follows him.

“Lady Riley, as I imagine, you are aware of Lady Hana's condition, right?”

“And…?”

“At this point I think she’s the only one who doesn’t know yet. As you can see, I can’t allow this engagement to go further. A king and a queen must provide an heir to their kingdom.”

She rolls her eyes. “So? I’m so sorry for Hana, but none of this is my business.”

He gives her a fake smile. “Actually, it is exactly why I asked to talk when I saw you just now.”

She frowns. “What do you mean?

Constantine sighs. “Lady Riley, since you are already here, in Cordonia, and came back to court, we can make the arrangements and announce your engagement with Liam.”

Riley narrows her eyes. “First of all, I’m not coming back to court. Second, are you listening to yourself right now?”

He gives another fake smile. “Please, My Lady, Liam didn’t even announce his commitment to Lady Hana. So it would not be that difficult since he broke up with Madeleine and is single. We can say that you were solving personal business and now is back.”

Riley looks at Constantine in disbelief. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Lady Riley, think about it. This would be mutually beneficial, you would be with Liam, and I know you love him. You are renowned and well seen by people in Cordonia. With the biggest bonus: being a queen.”

Rage starts to consume Riley, who looks him up and down in disdain, and shouts: “Constantine, I won't slap your face right now in respect of your age, not your title! Be aware of this!” She turns and leaves him talking alone.

Riley approaches Maxwell in the waiting room.

“Oh my, what happened Riley? Your face is red like a cordonian apple.”

Riley tells him what she heard from Constantine a few seconds ago.

“Can you believe him? If Hana was dead I could say that he didn't even wait for her body to get cold.”

“Jesus! I can understand his concern about the heir, the throne and all that, but this was too cold, even for him.” Maxwell makes a sad face “Poor Hana.”

Riley shouts. “Unbelievable!”

“Don’t take it personally. Honestly, I think Constantine is more desperate than ever to propose something like that.”

“I don’t think so, Max, after what he did to me before, I'm not surprised by anything else that comes from him.”

Maxwell sighs. “Let’s forget about this right now.”

“Yeah, of course. I should be with Drake now.”

“Sure, I called you here for this. Go girl.” He kisses her forehead.

She returns to Drake’s room, sits by his side, holds his hand again and stares at him. “Oh, Drake, you don’t know how much I hate you for making me go through all of this again.” She looks at all the devices that are holding his life, tears coming back to her eyes. “Oh God, what am I even saying? I’m sorry, Drake! I’m sorry, you don’t deserve to hear this right now!” She rubs the back of his hand on her face and falls asleep.

________X________

A few days later, for the first time, Riley sleeps in her hotel room. Savannah stayed with Drake that night and Riley didn’t even realize how much she needed to rest until laying down on the bed.

In the next morning she wakes up and quickly goes back to the hospital.

Drake has been getting better and everyone is feeling hopeful now.

“Morning, Savannah” Riley gently wakes her up.

Savannah yawns. “Oh. Morning, Riley. You look better. I told you! You needed to sleep.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t want to leave him alone.”

Savannah holds Riley’s hands. “You don’t know how grateful I am for you being here with him these days.”

Riley blushes. “It’s nothing. I know you would be here too if you could. Go home to rest too, stay with your baby.”

Savannah hugs Riley and whispers in her ear: “Thank you so much!” After this, she leaves the room.

Riley sits in the chair beside Drake’s bed and holds his hand. “Drake… you know, it’s a really beautiful day out there.”

She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, and after a few minutes Drake squeezes her hand. She gets scared and quickly looks at him. He is opening his eyes and starts to choke, so Riley gets up and runs to the hall, screaming: “Help! Somebody help!”

A few nurses and a doctor run to Drake and start to remove his tube while Riley cries tears of joy. When the doctor finishes taking out the tube from Drake’s throat, he desperately looks at Riley, in shock: “Am I dead?”

She runs and holds his hand. “No! No! You are at the hospital, but you are not dead. And don’t you dare to die!”

Drake is still stunned and confused. “What? What happened?”

The doctor looks at Riley and pulls her by the arm to the other side of the room. “Look, it’s completely normal after what he's been through to not remember some things, but he probably will in the next few days, or hours. It depends on his brain.”

“Ok, Doc. But tell me the truth, is he still in any danger?”

“He seems fine now. It is a miracle! He just needs to rest, and he can’t make any physical work for now. Is that clear?”

“Perfectly.”

She turns to Drake again and sits by his side in the bed. “Just rest, Drake, we can talk later.”

Drake touches her face and looks deeply into her eyes. “Oh God! I’m in heaven.”

Riley laughs. “No, Drake, you’re still on earth. I’m real, and you are in a hospital.”

He looks around, soaking in the reality of the place.

She smiles and takes her phone. “Let me call Savannah. She needs to know you are awake.”

Not too long after, Savannah arrives with Maxwell and they try to hug Drake, but it still hurts so they give up. Riley puts herself aside and let the sister and his friend commemorate with him. Soon, Liam arrives too and Riley immediately leaves the room.

“I should give you guys some privacy. I’ll grab something to eat.”

Riley buys a sandwich and sits in the waiting room, looking at them happy and trying to celebrate in the way they could while being at a hospital.

When she is almost finishing her snack, Liam approaches. “Lady Riley, can I join you for a moment?”

She nods. “Why did you leave the room? You stayed with him since the day you've arrived, and now that he is awake…”

“I’m aware of my place here, Liam. You’re his oldest friend, Savannah is his sister and Max is close to him too, and I…” She sighs. “I am just a friend he has known for almost a year and spent some time in NY.”

“That isn’t what it looks like to me. You should had seen how pissed he was back in that day. He even hit me to defend you.”

Riley’s eyes open wide. “Drake? Hit you? Why?”

Liam smiles. “You really don't know? Anyway, he is one of the few people who doesn’t treat me different just for being royal.”

“I get it, but if you'll excuse me…”

Liam holds Riley’s arm. “Wait, actually that is just one of the things I want to talk about.”

She looks at his hand in her arm with fury in the eyes. He quickly drops it.

“Sorry… but I knew about my father’s proposal… and I’m really sorry about it. That was unacceptable. I don’t even know what to say. Please… Forgive us.”

Riley rolls her eyes. “I know that, and I made myself very clear to him. Now, if you'll excuse me.” She turns without looking back and knocks at Drake’s door. “Hi guys, I just want to…”

Savannah interrupts her. “Come on, Riley, come in. You should be here too, especially you. Right Drake?” She looks mischievously at him and he blushes.

“You’re family, and I’m not…” Riley says shyly.

“Nonsense, join us.”

For almost an hour, they happily enjoy their time even if it's in a hospital room, but nothing could really express how exciting that was.

“It’s time to go, Max, we should let Drake rest. He just woke up after almost a week. I need to sleep as well. So, bye guys!” Savannah kisses Drake’s forehead, hugs Riley and leaves the room.

Drake stares at the door and when he finally sees himself alone with Riley, he looks at her. “Is it truth?”

“What?” “Savannah told me that you have been here… for days?”

Riley opens her mouth but can't form any words. “I… I…”

“So, it is truth.”

She sighs. “Max called me and scared the hell out of me. Dammit, when I arrived I thought I was late and you were gone.” Tears start to come out of her eyes. “Dammit Drake, what the hell were you thinking?”

“I… didn’t… Actually I didn’t think at all, I just jumped in front of Liam.”

“Exactly!”

He gets surprised with Riley's concern about him. “If it's worth, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you would be so worried about me.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She tries to clear her tears.

Drake tries to stand and Riley, seeing that, quickly runs to help him. “Are you out of your mind? Go back to bed!”

“Oh, come on! Look at that sun! I just wanna go to the balcony.”

“Oh God, it’s not my fault if you die! Are we clear?”

“Just help me get there.”

Riley helps him walk to the balcony and when the sun touches his skin, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Thanks, Brooks. I needed this.”

She stares at his, now pale, skin under the sun.

He opens his eyes and looks at her. “You know Brooks… I think I had a dream…”

“Oh yeah? About what?

“About an afternoon when I had to convince you to go out and enjoy the day…”

Riley laughs and looks away.

“What’s so funny?” Drake looks at her with narrowed eyes.

“I think… you weren’t exactly dreaming…”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because this actually happened a few weeks ago.”

Drake opens his mouth in surprise.

“Oh God! So that was an almost death experience, when you see a movie of your life before going away?”

“Maybe… we will never know for sure.” She laughs and shrugs.

He turns to Riley and smiles. “Look, I just wanna say thanks. It means a lot knowing you have been here these days, even if I wasn’t conscious.”

She smiles. “No need to thank me, I was just being a good friend like you've always been to me.”

He approaches her. “Brooks… about that…” He gently touches her arm and closes the gap between them, never leaving her eyes.

“Dra… Drake…”

He puts two fingers on her lips, trying to silence her so he could finish what he had to say.

“I don’t wanna waste time anymore.”

He closes the distance she tried to put between them and leans in, his lips softly touching hers, that are shaky at first. His hands brings her close by the waist and she shivers as he smiles against her mouth.

“I’ve been wanting to do this in a while now.”

“But… but Drake…” She has uncertainty in her eyes.

“Nooooo!” Hana screams and approaches Liam “Are you out of your mind?” She gives him a furious look.

“Ah, come on! Not you too, Hana! How could you do that to someone you called your friend for months?”

“Like I said to her Drake, it wasn’t our intention!”

“And yet here you both are, planning your wedding, right?” He asks with sarcasm.

“It’s not true, Drake!” Liam interrupts.

“Oh no? I just left a lost and grief Riley after your betrayal. She didn’t even looked like herself anymore. I never saw someone in so much pain, Liam! And I come here and find you too together! For God’s sake!

“Drake… as you see, we weren’t doing anything, and no, we weren’t going to release this to the press right now. It’s too soon.”

“Oh right, after months letting the press think Riley was your favorite, or during the engagement tour making her your mistress!” Drake screams in Liam’s face.

The King looks at Drake, analyzing his face and his words.

“Look Drake, I get it, ok? I know Riley is hurt and upset right now, but you have to believe me. It was never my intention to hurt or to play with her.”

Drake sighs.

“Ok, Liam, I see you and Hana will maintain this same speech when you are asked about this. Go on, keep messing with us commoners. It means nothing anyway to any of you court people.”

He turns and approaches the door.

“Drake, come on!” Liam shouts “It’s not like that and you know it!”

Drake looks at him with disdain and leaves the room.

Liam starts after his friend but Hana holds him. “Let him go, Liam, you won’t be able to talk to him like this. You both need to calm down first.”

Liam sighs. “Later then.”

Hana nods in agreement and he kisses her hand. “Later.”

________X ________

The next morning Liam takes a deep breath and knocks at Drake’s door. When Drake opens the door and sees his friend's face, he frowns. “What?”

“We need to talk and you know it Drake. Let me in.”

Without saying anything Drake turns and leans in his bed, folding his clothes.

Liam enters the room and opens his eyes wide with the image. “What are you doing?”

“Exactly what you are seeing. Do you want to talk? Fine. You have ten minutes” Drake says as he continues to pack his things.

“Look… I’m here because you’re my fri- my best friend and I don’t want you thinking the worst of me.”

Liam looks at Drake, but he says nothing.

“I don’t understand Drake, why are you so upset after all?” He asks with narrowed eyes.

Drake turns to Liam with a furious look.

“Don’t you see, Liam? I warned that girl since her first day at court, and yet I had to see this all over again.”

“Drake… If I didn’t know you so well…” He runs a hand over his jaw, remembering the punch “I would say that you are in love with her…”

Drake opens his mouth in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“Think about it, Drake.”

Drake gathers his thoughts and frowns. “Are you trying to change the subject now? If you don’t remember, you are running out of time here.”

“Drake…”

“I’m tired, Liam. I’m tired of all this crap at court.”

“Drake, once again, I was not playing with Riley.”

“No? So, what were you doing then?”

Liam sighs. “Look, you know I had to spend time with all the ladies in the social season, right?”

“Yeah, when everybody saw Riley was your favorite, don’t deny that.”

“I’m not denying it Drake, just listen. At that time, I was dazzled with everything about Riley, her beauty, her fierceness, her passion, her courage… I can spend all day saying the things I admire about her.”

“Liam, don’t bother to…”

“Drake, just let me finish, goddammit! She… she was inexplicable. Therefore, the other ladies were just polite or were there because of their families. And then was Lady Hana, that was one of them, but she was different. Even with all her family problems, she listened to me all the times we had to spend time at the court’s eyes. She became a true friend.”

“Oh yeah? And after this, Liam? You were just about to propose to Riley at the Coronation!”

Liam looks down. “Yes… I was.”

“So what is your excuse now?”

“Look… When we all were at Madeleine’s estate and Riley arrived, by the end of that night we talked and I apologized for everything that happened to her, but in the next day, when I saw Hana… I…I don't even know how to explain. My whole world illuminated and for a few minutes I could forget the whole Madeleine situation. At first, I just thought it was because I felt that a friend was there. A friend that I could really talk in those days.”

“A friend… right.” Drake says sarcastically.

“Don’t take it personally Drake, but is different with her… Not to mention every time I looked for you, you were with Riley.”

“Liam, it’s no excuse. You know if you had talked to me, I’d listen to you.”

“I don’t know… Every single time I saw you two talking, sometimes you both were laughing, or sometimes you both seemed so busy that didn’t even notice me.”

“That’s not true. Look, Riley just helped me with the whole Savannah-Bertrand thing, I was a mess and you were busy with the engagement tour. I wouldn’t dare to bother you with commoner stuff.”

They looked at each other, realizing how much they were distant in the last months. They didn’t even know what was going on with each other.

“Anyway, as the days went by, more Hana was there for me, more I needed her, while I realized that I didn’t even feel jealous of you and Riley! At first, I just thought it was because you are my friend and I trusted you both, but it was not long before I realized how much I was expecting to see Hana instead of Riley.”

“This still does not explain why you continued to invite Riley to meet you.”

“After the engagement we met and just talked for a while, then returned home early, that's all. I felt the necessity to see her, now I think it was just because we were familiarized with each other already. Then one day she kissed me and said she was tired of all that, and didn’t care about my engagement with Madeleine, that she could see I didn’t like her and that she missed me. One way or another she was right, I missed her too and wasn’t in love with Madeleine.”

“I still don’t understand, Liam. Hurry, I’m almost done with this bag.”

“Drake, shortened version, I realized the magic fade away and I couldn’t tell Riley. Every time I invited her after realizing this I wanted to tell the truth, but I looked her in the eyes and saw all the things I had already said and how much she loved me... How was I going to say that? How was I going to hurt her?”

“And you really think your delay didn’t hurt her even more?”

Liam rubs his face. “I know that now, Drake! I just… didn’t know what to do!”

“And Hana? She pretended to be Riley’s friend all this time!”

“Hana did came back to court for Riley, she had already gone home and decided to stay there, but came back as soon as she heard about Riley’s return. When I talked about my feelings for her she denied hers until the last moment, because of Riley, I’m pretty sure of that. I had to push her so many times because I knew how she felt, even when she tried to hide. I could see the way she looked at me. Hana even threatened not to talk to me anymore. She was convinced that I loved Riley and was just confused by our friendship.”

Drake sighs. “Look, time’s over. Just so you know, I’m not going back with you and the court to Cordonia, I’m staying in NY.” Drake closes his bag and stands up, going to the door.

“Come on Drake, I just explained what happened.”

“Like I already said, I’m done Liam. I was in court because of you, but I’m tired. First Savannah, now Riley. Do you know the worst part? See this coming from you. I’m done, Liam.” Drake opens the door but turns and looks at Liam again “You should say what you just told me to Maxwell. He is pissed too.”

Liam nods but doesn’t try to stop him. He knows Drake is right. He is a tough guy and went through a lot at court. He needs a time away.

________X ________

A month later, Riley is working at a library. She got this job with the help of her old coworker, Daniel.

This is the perfect place at this moment, since she wants to be out of the radar of the press, or anyone else who could recognize her. She has been spending the last days arranging books on the shelves and reading them whenever is possible, in her breaks or taking them home to read before sleep.

Finally it seems like the storm in her life has come to an end, and the calm is returning when it should have never been taken away. What was she thinking? She’s been alone and doing fine since always. Her fewer old friends now are married with kids, her parents have died in the past. She have made peace with the loneliness expected for her future a long time ago, and in the last few months this has changed. Someone seemed to be the perfect one to occupy this place by her side, just to bring her again to the same point in her life: she and the loneliness, but this time with a broken heart.

Riley is collecting her things on her desk to take a break. That half an hour of the day that she spends observing animals and people in the park through the window of the top floor. She's starting to climb the library stairs, going to her favorite spot of the moment, when she hears someone calling her name. What? Who the hell would recognize me at this point?

With this thought, Riley speeds up climbing the stairs faster, trying to mislead whoever called for her. A few seconds later a breathless guy approaches her.

“Riley?”

She freezes for a little while.

“Oh my God, how are you?” The man puts a hand in her shoulder “I was so worried about you. Where have you been?”

Riley turns to look at the man and his eyes are wide open, looking at her as if he is seeing a ghost.

Riley sighs. “How…How did you find me?”

“Actually I wasn’t here looking for you.” The man rubs his neck “I…I looked for you for a few days after what happened, but I didn’t want to force you into anything, so I stopped and assumed that you didn’t want to be found.”

Riley looks away. “And guess what? You were right.”

“So… You haven’t answered me yet.”

“Drake…” Riley crosses her arms embracing herself. “What are you doing here?”

“Look, I wasn’t stalking you, if this is what you are thinking. I… I’m just looking for some books. You…?”

“I work here now.”

Drake opens his mouth in disbelief.

“Yeah… yeah… Nothing royal as you can see.”

“That’s not…”

“No need to say anything.” Riley interrupts him and approaches the window.

“Riley, can we met somewhere? We aren’t in the best place to talk.” Drake looks at the shelves on the floor below.

“How is Maxwell?” Riley looks straight through Drake.

“How do you think? He’s pissed too. He calls me almost every day to know if I heard from you.”

“Don’t tell him where you found me, ok? Just say that I’m fine.”

“Riley, he is worried. He tried so many times to contact you, but it seemed like you had vanished from the face of the earth.”

“Yeah… Yeah… you could imagine why.”

Drake sighs and looks down. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.”

Riley turns without saying anything, going down the stairs, when Drake gently holds her arm. “Riley, please don’t go this way… met me later, I want to talk to you.”

She hesitates for a moment but orders: “Give me a pen.”

Drake shakes his head. “Sorry, I don’t have it.” He takes his cell phone out of his pocket ”Add it here.”

“Meet me at this place at 8PM, and don’t tell or bring anyone with you.”

“Don’t worry, Brooks, I’m in NY alone.”

Distrustful, Riley looks at Drake. “I have to go back to work now.”

He nods and holds some books in his arms. “Until tonight, Brooks. And don’t vanish again.”

Riley looks at him, trying not to smile, and waves shyly.

________X ________

At her place, Riley takes a shower and sits in her bed, looking at her clothes, thinking if she should met with Drake. Maybe this isn’t the best idea. She has spent the last month trying to hide from anyone and everything related to Cordonia and now her past hits in her door, reopening what she thought it was already closed.

Riley looks through the window and takes a deep breath. Drake isn’t guilty of what happened, he doesn’t deserve to be left waiting. Ah, Drake, I hate you.

She stands up from her bed, wraps a scarf around her hair and neck and picks an outfit, a little annoyed, putting a few things in her bag before going to her meeting.

A few blocks after, Riley sees the place where she told Drake to meet her. She approaches the door and puts a hand in it, thinking. When she realizes she is blocking the entrance, Riley slowly enters the place, looking around, hoping Drake isn’t there and she could just turn around and leave.

She looks at the opposite side and finds him, sitting in the counter with a glass in his hand, drinking whiskey, head down. She slowly approaches him. “Drake?”

“Yes?” He answers without looking, but when Riley doesn’t say anything, he looks up and his eyes open widely “Riley?”

“Drake… Do you mind sitting in the back tables instead of here?”

“Not at all!” He stands up and talks to the waiter, asking for a table, and he leads them to a secluded table.

Drake and Riley sit at the table and she looks around them one more time taking the scarf off.

Drake looks at her, curious. “Do you mind if I ask about the…?” Drake points to the scarf.

Riley looks at it and it seems like she’s thinking about what to say. “I… I think it became a habit by now. You know… trying to go unnoticed on the streets.”

“Sorry that you have to go trough this…”

Taking the menu in her hands, Riley says straight. “It’s not your fault, Drake.”

“So… I thought you had given up on meeting me tonight.”

“No… Just fashionably late.”

“Riiiight…” He takes the menu in his hands too.

Riley takes a deep breath. “Ok, Drake, I really thought about not coming. I was not sure if this was a good idea, but after all, none of the things that happened is your fault, and you didn’t deserve to be left waiting.”

Drake gets surprised. “I…I…”

“Relax, you don’t need to say anything. So… you said you want to talk…”

“Before anything, are you OK, Brooks? Really ok? Because you are different… if you know what I mean…”

Riley sighs and looks away. “I know exactly what you want to say Drake. I lost weight. I tried to change, so I cut my hair…”

“Yeah… Yeah… I just didn’t want to be indelicate.”

“Cut it out, Drake, you know there is no such thing between us.”

Drake laughs. “I like what you did with your hair.”

Riley smiles. “Thanks. But you still haven't said what you want to talk about.”

“Actually, I don’t know where to start… but Maxwell, I called him and said that I found you and that you are ok. He is so relieved. You don’t know how much he was worried about you during all this time we didn’t have news of you.”

Riley sighs. “As you can imagine, I changed my phone number… I changed my address…All I wanted was to be left alone, in peace, but some paparazzi discovered those things and I had no choice but to move away, disappear from social media…So… please don’t tell anyone that you found me, only Maxwell.”

“Oh, Brooks, what a mess. Thinking that you had to go through this all by yourself.”

“It’s ok. I lost a few days crying, but I cried all I had to. Slept all I needed. Then one day I called Daniel and he helped me to find a new job, the most discrete as possible. Until today at least.”

“Like I said, I wasn’t following you or looking for you when I went to the library today.”

“So… What were you doing there today? Actually, what the hell are you doing in NY in the first place?”

Drake sighs and takes a sip of his whiskey. “You know, Brooks, I’ll tell you the same thing I told Liam. I’m done with all the court crap for so long, so I decided to stay in NY and not go back with them to Cordonia. Maybe it wasn’t an easy decision, but it was the best, I couldn’t handle it anymore.” He takes a deep breath and another sip of his drink. “I was out of there once, and Leo asked me to come back, and I did, for Liam, but I was not happy at all. I never liked how fake people can be around you. They pretend to be your friends but stab you in the back. Always. I’m done this time, first Savannah, now you… It was just… the last straw. And the worst part? To see this coming from Liam.”

Riley looks at Drake deep in the eyes and holds his hand. “Drake, you don’t have to end your friendship with Liam because of me.”

He holds Riley’s hand in return. “I know that, Brooks, don’t worry, we didn’t broke our friendship because of you. I’m just tired. I want to live a normal life, or at least have a chance to do that.” Drake rubs the back of his neck. “So… I’m back to college. That is why I was at the library today.”

“Ohh, a big change!” Riley beams.

Drake smiles and orders a drink to Riley.

“You know, Riley, this is the first genuine smile I saw coming from you today.”

She blushes. “I didn’t have a reason to smile these days.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Just stop, Drake.”

“Stop what?”

“Apologizing every time you say something like that. I already told you the worst days are behind me now. I won’t say it’s easy, but let’s forget it, ok?”

“So… Ok, I don’t know what to say… but ok, Brooks.”

“Drake Walker speechless? That’s new!”

The waiter serves Riley’s drink and leaves. She takes the glass in her hands and Drake smiles.

“Brooks? Let’s toast!”

Riley's eyes open wide. To what now?”

“To new beginnings, of course!”

She shakes her head but agrees. “Ok, ok.”

They eat, drink and chat for a couple of hours when they realize is almost midnight and the staff is cleaning the place. Drake asks for the bill and the waiter nods.

“It’s late, Brooks, I’ll walk you home.”

“No need, Drake, I live near by. It’s ok.”

He gives her a serious look. “Don’t be stubborn! I’m not letting a girl walk home alone at this hour. Specially when I live near by too.”

“Drake… don’t start. I know my way home, it’s my city!”

The waiter brings the bill and hands it to Drake, but Riley insists in splitting.

“No way you gonna pay, Brooks!”

“Come on, Drake! Who is being stubborn now? I work, I can split with you.”

“Sir, don’t listen to the lady here, charge on this card.” Drake says to the waiter, who charges the bill in the credit card and quickly leaves.

Riley rolls her eyes and stands up, picking her purse and going to the door. Drake follows her.

“Don’t be such a baby, no way I would let you pay, Brooks. Tell me the truth: when was the last time you got out of your house in the last month?”

Riley stares at Drake and quickly looks away. “Fine, Drake!” She takes a deep breath. “This is the first time I leave my house without being to go to work. Satisfied?”

“Actually, I am Brooks. It’s not healthy to isolate yourself this way. I know, I know… but this ends tonight, ok?” Drake offers his hand “Deal?”

Riley tries not to smile and shakes his hand. “Fine. Deal. Let’s get going. It’s late and I have to work tomorrow.”

Drake smiles and approaches Riley, touching her arm. “Come on.”

A few blocks later, Riley stops. “I’m here.”

He looks at the small building. “Ok, Brooks, sleep well.”

Riley sighs and touches Drake’s arm. “Drake?” She looks him in the eyes. “I… I just wanna say thank you.”

“Brooks…”

Riley interrupts him. “Seriously, Drake, thank you for making me go out tonight, I think I had forgot how it feels not being home all the time, go out, see people and people see me, I was so scared that I’ve been hiding and thinking I’m being followed all the time.”

“It’s ok, Brooks, no one knows how you’ve been feeling, specially the press. They just care about their articles.” Drake tugs some of her hair behind her ear and looks deep in her eyes “Don’t worry. You’re not alone, not anymore. I’m here now, by your side.”

Riley tries to hide the tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Drake.”

He kisses her forehead and smiles. “Good night, Brooks.”

Riley tries to smile, turns away and starts to climb the stairs.

Drake observes while she enters her home, thinking about how strong this girl is and doesn’t even know that. She is better than the last time he had been with her a month ago, but clearly still broken. She is moving on in the best way she can. A way he doesn’t know if he would be capable to do.