Atlas (A Selection/Hat Films Fanfiction)

~ Thirty Nine ~

CW: Mild sexual themes discussed

I heard Alex sigh and I glanced up to see him lean back in his chair and run a hand through his hair. I hadn't been able to see him for two days after the attack, not even at meals. He had been working, but I couldn't guess what kind of planning and documentation needed to be completed after a rebel attack, I just knew there was a lot of it.

We now had guards posted at every room, so there was no sneaking out at 2 am to go see each other. Anywhere I went, at least one guard followed, and right now every exit was covered by two guards each now that the prince had arrived at the library. I had been waiting for him here, having sent a note, but I was almost convinced he wasn't going to come until a series of guards burst into the room and did a full sweep of the area.

There was nothing inherently wrong with us meeting; everyone already knew we saw each other often, but I was nervous that guards would start talking if they saw us doing anything. We hadn't touched at all, let alone kissed. The rational part of my brain knew we shouldn't be physically involved with each other, but my body ached for him. Even just sitting next to him, I wanted to pull him into my arms.

Half an hour ago, an officer came to give Alex a note, and I didn't want to press him, but whatever was on it was very upsetting. I took his pause in work to ask him.

"You alright?" I asked lightly, looking him up and down.

He rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, sniffing hard and shaking his head to wake himself up, "We just had another supply line sabotaged on the way to the front in New Asia. I don't know where we're going to get the resources to replace all of it."

"No one in Europe can help?" I offered.

He looked down at his papers, shuffling them. "Maybe, if I could get Chris to talk to Princess Adalene. . ." he muttered, looking back at the door.

"The French princess? What would Prince Christoph do?" I asked, propping my head up on my hands. It was late, but I wanted every moment with Alexandre.

He looked around for a minute, eyeing the guards. "He kind of has a. . . thing for her," he whispered, "or. . . more like a thing with her."

"Right," I nodded, "I remember that."

"Yeah, only Ross, Princess Adelicia, and I know," he continued quietly, "if it got out that they. . . It's not a good look when he is supposed to choose a wife from the Selected."

My heart broke for him, I had no idea. "And you can't. . . make an exception?" I asked, "You could ally?"

He shook his head. "It's not that easy. No prince has ever married outside of Illea," he explained, looking around again to make sure we weren't being ease dropped on, "That goes against everything the Selection stands for."

I sat up, looking around arbitrarily. "Forbidden love," I sighed, "how tragically romantic." My eyes slid over to look at Alex, biting my lip to keep from smiling too hard.

He smirked at me, and I could see the blush dusting his cheeks. He looked up towards the second-floor balcony and then stood suddenly to walk over to me. "Let's go somewhere where we can have a modicum of privacy," he whispered next to my ear, leaning over and placing his hands on my shoulders.

I wordless got up, my stomach dipping as he offered me a hand. Every guard snapped to full attention, but when two approached us Alex raised a hand to them. "We're just going to upstairs," he assured, looking down to lock eyes for a moment.

"Your majesty. . ." the one on the left started.

"You'll stay at the bottom of the stairs," he replied more authoritatively. I couldn't help but bite my lip again, enjoying the confidence that permeated him like an aura. I could definitely see a difference in him; even with all the new stress, his shoulders didn't droop as much and the circles under his eyes weren't as dark.