Runaway Princess

Chapter 11: For the first time in forever, I am not alone.

"It's a rare sight to see you in your bunk,"

I looked up only to see Ashton leaning toward the bunk across mine, smiling at me.

After my nightmare episode in their bus, I quietly crept out the next day and busied myself at the hospital in Stockholm, avoiding the band during that time in order for me not to face questions about my nightmare.

Of course, Luke was pissed with me after he found out about my absence in their bus so I didn't really show myself to them even after they had performed in Stockholm and is currently situated in Oslo, Norway.

"And why is that?" I asked him, not averting my attention to him since I was typing up reports about some incidences and about the band's over all health back to my boss in Los Angeles.

He shrugged. "You're always in different hospital and outside," he stated. "Even Elena and Jeff commented that they never see you anymore."

The typing ceased as I turned to look at him. "I am a busy person," I told him. "This is why I don't have too many friends. They can't complain to me when they know that I came here for my job." I said.

He sighed. "No wonder you're reserved," he mumbled before looking up at me. "But how come you have three best friends? Luke had told us that he had met your best friend back in Copenhagen." He said whilst displaying an expression that states he is in a deep thinking mode.

"I was forced by my father to make friends with his associates' children. I wasn't happy at first but when we were forced to be with each other, we realized that we were simply thrown in the same predicament thus we had come to an understanding that we should stick together no matter what." I explained to him. "I'm not really understood by many people seeing as I was advanced as they say."

"But Luke said he is a jerk?" Ashton voiced out his thoughts. "You hate jerks."

I rolled my eyes. "He isn't a jerk, Ashton." I sighed. "He's never been a jerk so I wouldn't trust Luke's judgement if I were you. Barbie was the one who provoked him in the first place."

He studied me before grinning widely.

I turned to him. "What?" I asked him to which he just shook his head to.

"Hey," he nudged me after a lap of silence. "I heard it's your day off today. Would you like to roam Oslo with me or are you too busy?" He asked.

My eyes lit up as I excitedly put my laptop away after I saved my report. "You wanted to roam the city with me?"

He shrugged. "Why not? I'd like to know you better since you'll be working with us for months." He said as he eyed me, amusement is dancing on his eyes. "I take that as a yes?"

I nodded at his question as I took his wrist and gently directed him out of the bus.

-/-

"Amsterdam is known for their rich culture," Zach said as he flipped through the magazines in front of him.

"Would you like to get married there or do you want to spend the honeymoon there?"

I looked at Nathan who had rolled his eyes at Zach's question. "You do realize that you guys are just marrying for the sake of your companies right?" He asked. "You're not actually marrying out of love."

Carlo looked up from his laptop. "Yeah, Zach. I think all of our mums are involved about planning the whole process. No need to be involved." He said with a smirk. "Unless you really want this marriage to happen...?" He teased.

Zach looked away from us.

We all knew about his not-so-subtle crush on me and we all knew that I can't reciprocate the feelings for I have never seen him as a romantic partner.

I scoffed with a smile displaying on my lips.

"I do not want this marriage to happen!" Zach defended himself in which the other two were prompted to continue their teasing.

The three of them began to wrestle as I silently grabbed one of the magazines and skimmed through an article.

"Norway," My voice stopped them from bringing wrestling into another level. "I want to go to Norway." I repeated when the silence became deafening.

The other three shared a look before Nathan's face broke into a soft smile.

"I don't think that's a decision you get to make, Arianne." He had said. "But I'm sure that you'll get to go there." He assured me.

I looked at him, skeptical but I merely shrugged the subject off.

-/-

"You haven't been to Norway before?" Ashton looked at me in disbelief as I handed him a piece of bread, Norwegian delicacy and shook my head. "But you're rich!" He exclaimed. "You can go anywhere you want,"

I raised my eyebrow at his argument. "Is that it then? Just because I'm rich I can go wherever I want?" I repeated his statement.

"Well yeah,"

I shook my head. "Unless I have some sort of business with Norway, but sadly, I don't have a point as to why I should go here." I told him.

"Surely, you've got a reason now since you graduated as a doctor. Your parents must've been really proud of you because you're such a genius," Ashton said as he glanced at the unsuspecting people.

"They haven't been exactly proud of me," I told him, making him turn his head towards me sharply that I thought he might get whiplash.

"What did you just say?" He asked.

I shrugged.

"They weren't proud of you? But you're a genius! You're pretty, and you got riches..." his voice trailed off making me sigh.

"It's a dream come true to be born from a wealthy family, isn't it?" I asked him as I looked over the ocean, stopping us from walking. "To be blessed with such knowledge and looks..." I said wistfully. "But the price for being so is very high that will leave you to wonder what it's like to be a normal person." I told him.

"Sure, there are such advantages like being able to travel different places, buying whatever you wanted without worrying about tomorrow, getting privileges that you cannot even imagine. But the thing is, you'll always want for more. To crave for more power, more wealth... But what's the use when your parents aren't constantly there? What's the point when you're always left to different nannies, and tutors?" I asked him, leaving him speechless.

He looked away in shame. "I'm s-sorry," he finally said, earning a shake of head from me.

"Don't be," I said as I reached up to ruffle his hair. "You didn't know. Besides, we're out here to soak up the sun and not the sadness," I said as I tugged his wrist gently and steered him towards the national museum.

-/-

"For the first time in forever," I hummed under my breath as Ashton and I walked towards our respective buses.

He turned to me with a smile etched on his face. "Thanks for the awesome day," he said.

I looked at him. "I should be the one expressing my gratitude towards you for accompanying me on my day off. It's really fun," I told him.

He then engulfed me into a hug. "I know you've had a lot of brotherly figures in your life but I want you to know that I'll be here for you whenever you need it,"

I tensed as to how he hugged me. I'm rarely the ever so affectionate when it comes to other people but after a few minutes, I let myself softened and hugged him back.

My brothers and best friends may be far from me, but at that day, I gained another one.

For the first time in forever, I am not alone.