Ever After

Chapter 26

On a scale of one to ten on how scared I was to confront my parents, I was probably a two hundred.

Confrontations weren't my greatest skill. Especially when it came to my parents. I always got way too angry and frustrated. For example, the conversation we had before I proceeded to run away from home.

I called when I landed at Heathrow, so I could only assume they were waiting in the front foyer. I assumed correctly. When I opened the door and walked into the palace, I was immediately trapped in a double hug.

"Rosie!

"Oh, Rosalie! You're home; we missed you so much!"

"Mum," I chuckled, "I was only gone for a day."

"It felt like eternity. I was worried I would never see you again. And bloody hell, what did you do with your hair?"

My cheeks went pink. "I'll dye it back if you want me to, and it will grow back. I'm sorry for it. And I'm sorry for leaving and making you worry so much."

"As much as I want to punish you for scaring the life out of us," my dad started, "I'm really just elated that you're home safe."

"Mum, Dad, can we please just talk for a minute? About the future and everything." For what seemed like the hundredth time in the past day, my heart was racing.

"We would both like that very much," my mother replied.

The three of us walked into the lounge. While my dad sat in one of the chairs, my mum pulled me over onto the two-person seat with her. She wouldn't let me free of her embrace.

"Look, guys, I'm really sorry for leaving, but at the same time, it was amazing over there. I visited University of Pennsylvania and it was incredible. Please, I'm begging you to let me go."

My mum grasped my hand, interlocking our fingers. "Your father and I talked, and we may have overreacted slightly before. We are serious about you becoming queen one day, and you do need to maintain a good public image. That being said, we don't want to hold you back from what you truly want to do. We know you want to go to Penn, but," she paused, looking down at our entwined hands, "we were just afraid of losing both our children in a matter of months. We can't stand the idea. It's just because we love you more than anything."

My father continued on for her. "But we won't let that stop you from living your dream. Going away for University isn't going to change the fact that you're going to become queen, and a damn good, educated one."

Pity and regret washed over me. I didn't even realize what it would do to them if I went away in the fall. I didn't even stop to consider that just after losing their son, their daughter would be leaving too. I was selfish and forgot to think about their feelings. "Do you think, maybe it would be easier if I took a gap year? I could spend time at home and do whatever you want me to do with my public image or whatever, and I could wait a year before leaving. We could spend time together and maybe even take a vacation or something."

My parents shared a glance at each other, smiling, before my mum responded saying, "We would love that."

And I grinned because this was one of the most successful confrontations I had ever had.

I spent the next hour telling my parents every single detail about Penn. I told them about Liz, how beautiful the campus was, and how much I learned from just the snippets of classes that I sat in on. Of course, I left out the part about the partying and drinking and dancing and kissing.

In the back of my mind, I couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. Not because it was extremely special, but because I thought it could be considered cheating on Louis. Was it? I mean, technically we were broken up. Right? Plus, I was completely drunk. Did cheating count if you were intoxicated? Would Louis understand? Well, that's if he ever wanted to speak to me again.

It would be better and easier if he didn't. It would spare me that confrontation. I knew seeing him would hurt, especially if I had to tell him that we had to end our relationship. Why couldn't things in life just blow over? If you didn't think about it, it would just go away. Like a plant. If you didn't water it, it would slowly deteriorate.

Why was it that I couldn't just neglect my problems and let them deteriorate?

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Sorry it's so short, but there's only four chapters left! (I think I should be sad but I am so sick of this story and so happy) The next chapter will make up for this one...kind of.

Anyways, please comment & vote!! Thanks for reading! :)