Runaway Love

Fraud

"Kyra. Kyra." I heard Prince call through my sleep. I opened my eyes.

"Kyra."

I raised up and propped myself on my elbows to find him standing in the doorway of the bathroom. He had a wife beater on with basketball shorts. His hair was dripping onto his shoulders.

"Shower's open." He started to walk towards the door. "I'll have your clothes on the bed by the time you come out." He opened the door and closed it.

I got up and walked towards the bathroom.

I began to undress myself without looking in the mirror.

I ran the water to a temperature more hot than cold, and stepped in.

I wonder how long he's going to keep up this charade. No man has ever played nice this long before.

He just wants to gain your trust. That's all. He just wants to gain your trust until the point where you slip up and he can make his move.

He's just waiting for the right moment.

I grabbed the bar of soap before noticing the Summer's Eve on the rack.

I grabbed the bottle, looked down at my lower lady areas, then at the door.

PRINCE

"How's your rescue mission going?" Charles asked as he prepared dinner.

"Well, I wouldn't call it that, but it's smooth. She let me get a foot closer to her since I met her."

"And how long has that been, sir?" He drained the meat.

"By now...probably a month. Bout a month." I nodded, focusing on the tv.

"A month with her and she let you get one foot closer." He said in sarcastic excitement. He dumped the meat into a huge pot of noodles.

"It's progress. She's been through a lot. How's the spaghetti coming?"

"Almost done."

I looked behind me to find her walking down the stairs.

"You look so healthy." I complimented. She stared at me.

"He means you've gained a couple pounds." Charles translated.

"Charles!" I called, then looked at her. "There's nothing wrong with being-"

"I know. I've seen women all sizes and shapes. This was actually my goal." She sat down on the other end of the couch.

"Your...your goal?"

"Yeah. I never wanted to be skinny, but I had no control over that, considering my situation with food."

"Speaking of food, sir, your spaghetti is ready."

I got up and walked towards the kitchen, along with Kyra. We both made our own plates and sat at the table.

"What do you think of my parents? Honestly?" I asked her, causing her to look up at me. She slurped up the dangling pieces of spaghetti.

"Do I have to explain? Do my actions not speak loud enough?"

"Yes. Volumes. I just want to know what runs through your mind when you see them." I twirled my fork around in the pile, looking at her.

"I'm not sure you'd want to hear that. They are your parents, after all." She raised an eyebrow.

"I think we somewhat relate on some level."

"Well...I think they're stuck up. Insecure. Frauds. Flexers."

"Frauds? Insecure? How would you think-"

"Everyone in your family is that way. Everyone at that Thanksgiving table was too worried about being better than one another; being on top. Making it seem like they were happy. Your parents are included. They are not in love." She finalized, looking back down at her fork.

"My parents...of course they  weren't in love. At first. They were picked by their parents for each other. And so on and so on. And that's what they're trying to do to me." I looked down also. We both took another forkfull of spaghetti. "But they said that love will come. Throughout the relationship, it'll come."

"So basically your whole family got that whole 'royalty marriage' bullshit going on?" She sipped her Sprite.

"Nah," I chuckled, grabbing my garlic bread. "It's more like tradition. It's to ensure that the family never falls into poverty."

She rolled her eyes and finished her food.

"Even if love does come to some relationships like that, your parents have yet to see it. I know what love looks like, and that's not it." She stood up and pushed her chair in, walking towards the dishwasher.

"And how do you know what love looks like?" I questioned.

She paused, turning to look at me. "You can figure out the answer to the answer to that fucking question." She squinted. She continued to put her dishes in the dishwasher.

"Kyra, I'm sorry." I sighed, standing up.

"If you we're sorry, you wouldn't have said it." She hissed, glaring at me.

"I'm not rushing you, but sooner or later, you're gonna have to open up to me-"

"NO I DON'T!" She yelled, pissed. "I'm not opening up to you. You're just trying to get information, aren't you?" She chuckled and shoom her head. "You're just trying to get me to trust you, but I'm not."

"You've been with me long enough to know I'm not like that! Listen to yourself! Why would I plan to kidnap you and suck information out of you if I introduced you to my family and friends? I know you've been through some fucked up shit in your life, but please believe me when I say I'm not going to hurt you! I'm not going to hurt you and I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you!"

She stared at me before breaking her gaze.

"I think I'm going to go to sleep early." She looked down before scurrying out of the room. When she got to the stairs, I saw her wipe her eyes. She continued to jog up the stairs until I could no longer see her.

I sighed, placing my dishes into the dishwasher and starting it before plopping down on the couch.

After about an hour of watching tv,I turned it off. I walked upstairs and opened the door to my room.

She was lying in bed, sleeping peacefully.

I quietly closed the door and slid into bed with her.

She jumped up.

"Whoa whoa, chill. It's just me." I held my hands out. She glared at me before scooting to the edge of the bed and turning her back to me.

I lied back and closed my eyes, drifting off into a much-needed sleep.