Saving the Stranger Prince (The Stranger Prince Series #2)

Chapter 2: Everything is Fine.

Edgar leaned back, against the frame of the window. His eyes were on her.

"Why would you think that?" He cocked his head.

"It's kind of true." She shrugged, "I came in here one day, and decided to never go away. I came here every single day, knowing this was your place."

"It's not like that." He leaned forward, "I come here to stay away from everything I've had enough of. I come here, to find peace of mind. I come here..." He trailed off, and the next words were almost a whisper, "I come here for the sake of my sanity."

At that moment, she really felt like she shouldn't even be there. But what struck her the hardest was the way the Prince hid everything behind his smiles. The way he kept himself together, without letting anyone catch a single hint.

"But you're not one of those things, Lydia." He said quietly, and her eyes widened.

"Come on. You must be so annoyed of me being here everyday, spoiling your very own quality time." She laughed it off.

His face split in a wide grin, and he did that breath-laugh thing.

"I feel good when you're here, Lydia." He smiled lightly, "I'd probably not like it here anymore if you're not here."

She looked away. That was all she ever did. She always looked away from everything in life.

Maybe, that was why everyone cast her out. Maybe that was why no one wanted to come near her. Maybe that was why no one loved her.

She didn't know why Edgar hadn't pushed her away already.

"How are the nightmares?" He whispered, and she closed her eyes for a minute.

If she'd lie that it was going alright, he'd know. Which left her with no other option but to tell the truth.

"The same old." She said, trying to keep her voice from breaking, "Although, I try to sleep as less as I can. To avoid them, that is."

Edgar was quiet for a long time, looking at her. He then sighed.

"You do know that I want to help, right?"

She blinked. Tears burned the back of her eyes.

"Why would you even want to?" She croaked out.

He shook his head, several times. He let out a long, deep breath.

"Because you deserve it." He finally looked at her, "You deserve it for what you did that day, 9 months ago. You deserve better, Dammit. And I can't even understand why you'd think anything otherwise."

He leaned forward, looking her right in the eyes, "Just because your Father did that to you, it doesn't mean that it's your fault. It's them, who are unlucky enough to loose you."

She stared at him, because his words were strong. His words were words that could change lives, but it didn't surprise her that nothing changed for her. It didn't surprise her how she still felt hollow. Cold. Alone. Sore.

And it wasn't his fault.

It was just because she had made herself believe in everything the opposite to what the Prince had just said. She had become immune. Immune to anything that tried to save her.