Masqueraded Meeting - 2p!England x Reader

ƈɦǟքȶɛʀ 6 - ȶʀʊֆȶ

(A/n) - This is a form of tradition for me by now, writing author's notes at the beginning of my chapters. Though I have a slight feeling that quite a few of my readers simply skip them, not that it matters, they are just me rambling. See there I did it again, anyways as always enjoy...

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When I woke up a strange lightness seemed to have filled my mind, I came to in Oliver's and my bedroom with said man laying beside me, his arm was draped around me, tightly holding me in place. As though he had sensed my awakening Oliver's eyes snapped open, revealing the same blue eyes with pink spirals.

A cheshire grin began spreading over his face and he sat himself up, "Good morning, poppet. Did you sleep well?", I nodded subconsciously and Oliver seemed satisfied. His smile dropped from his face and he narrowed his eyes at me, "You are scared aren't you?", his voice had also dropped an octave. Once again I began to shake, tears cascaded down my face, it was obvious now that I was terrified, who wouldn't be if they were in the presence of a murderer. He let out a near heartbreaking sigh, "I never meant for this all to happen," he started, looked to me and saw if I listened, which I was, "my father was a cruel man, he was the one who forced this on me, it is his fault I am what I am now.", he dragged his hands through his hair tugging at his hair, his eyes wide and frightened as he seemed to remember.

I don't know what compelled me but I placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "You don't need to worry about your father here.", I could have sworn I heard something crack, much like glass in a mirror.

When I looked back to Oliver he held a bittersweet expression, "You are right. However I can't change what has become of me, much more I need to embrace it with open arms, but I can simply not learn to accept it...", by now tears were rolling down his cheeks. Why did I pity him, why did I want to comfort him, possibly not all of my love for this man had disappeared? He looked at me, most likely taking note of the conflicting emotions on my face, "I don't want to hurt you, I don't want you to be scared of me.", wanting to prove himself he wrapped his arms gently around me, in a comforting gesture.

"Prove it." I mumbled from within his embrace. Oliver pulled away looking at me confusedly, "I want you to prove to me, the last time I saw your," I paused, "other, self you were with Victoria.", his blue-pink eyes widened.

He frowned deeply at the mention of her name, almost as though it angered him, "My dear, you mustn't worry yourself about her.", it was my turn to gaze at him puzzled. He chuckled darkly and stood from the bed, "Just wait here for a moment, I will return in a jiff.", and just like that he vanished from the room leaving me alone to ponder in my thoughts.

Why did I so suddenly take pity on Oliver? Why was I capable of empathizing with a murderer, one that threatened me so openly before? I stared at the doorway through which he had disappeared, I wondered what exactly he had to show me that involved leaving the room. I shuddered at the multitudes of thoughts that entered my mind, one more morbid than the other. As I was about to sink into my questions once more, the loud thumping of bare feet on carpet snapped me from my stupor and I looked expectantly at the door. Oliver barged through it easily and entered the room, a small brown sack was in his hand, some dark coloured liquid seeped through the bottom and dripped soundlessly to the floor. I suspected it to be some new poison my husband had created, I vowed to myself that no such trickery would gain my trust.

I narrowed my eyes at the object, "If this is some poison, it will not gain my trust nor lay my worries to rest." I stated firmly, yet Oliver's grin seemed to widen at my statement.

He shook his head and walked towards me, settling on the bed beside me once more, "This is no poison, I find it to be much better." the way he spoke sent shivers down my spine. I now curiously eyed the bag, "You would like to see, no?", he teased, receiving a frown from me. He tugged the bag open and reached into it with both of his hands, slowly he pulled whatever object was inside out. He seemed very pleased with himself, "You see I simply couldn't bear to see her bully anymore.", my eyes grew to the size of saucers as he pulled out Victoria's head from within the bag; the unknown liquid dripping before was her blood leaking from the stump of her neck. Her blue orbs were lifeless and empty, her blonde hair matted and knotted curled around her sickly pale face, however rather than being filled with horror at the sight, I found myself suppressing a chuckle. Oliver seemed to take note of such and his cheshire smile returned "Does this prove my faithfulness?", again his voice held a teasing tune.

I nodded, "It would be hard to deny this evidence.", a subconscious smile spread on my face. However reality caught up with me once more, I was smiling at a death, glad of a death, these were not my thoughts or so I hoped. I shook my head frowning once more, "This does not prove your claim of not harming me, as a matter of fact it does the exact opposite.", Oliver's expression mirrored mine.

Carelessly he tossed aside the head and kneeled before me, clutching one of my hands in between his, "(Y/n), believe me when I say nothing is more important to me than you, my next greatest love are my poisons. I will swear an oath by them, my poison oath if you wish. I swear, by my greatest passion, I shall not harm you in any way, anymore, instead I will cherish you for the rest of my life.", I remained speechless at his words. "Do you accept my oath?", he questioned earnestly. (I honestly lacked any form of inspiration for his oath, so I apologize if it is a little bland.)

I remained apprehensive, "Words cannot prove my safety.", I watched Oliver grow desperate, he was visibly grasping at straws before an idea struck him.

He grabbed my wrist before rushing me out of the room and down into the dinning room, once there he sat me down at the head of the table and told me to wait for a longer while. He left me along again, leaving me curious about what exactly he planned to do in order to prove his harmlessness to me. I doubted there was much he could do at this point after all he had already threatened me multiple times. I sighed and rested my head in my palm on the table, I waited.

~~~

Some minutes later Oliver returned, my eyes widened thought not at him, but much more what he was holding in front of him. Balanced before him was a small plate on which a single cup cake sat, what I could glimpse of the batter was a sandy colour, most of it was however covered in a thick pastel pink frosting, which in turn had multicolored sprinkles embedded in side it. The entire pastry item was topped off with a blood red cherry which was pushed into the frosting at its centre. (I know sprinkles weren't used like this at the time, but please bear with me for Oliver's well known cup cakes, he wouldn't be the same with out them, hmm?)

"If I truly intended to harm you, this cup cake is poisoned. If it is not, will that prove to you my honesty?" he questioned carefully, setting the plate down before me.

I eyed him suspiciously, but decided that I could not escape eating the cup cake, "One of your infamous cup cakes." I sighed gently. Lifting the small food item to my mouth I took a medium sized bite, chewed, swallowed and waited, nothing happened; I took a second bite savouring the taste this time, the small cake was perfectly balanced between sweet and bitter. I released a breath I didn't know I held, "It isn't poisoned...", Oliver grinned at me proudly.

I smiled at him, again I questioned myself why did I trust this man? Oliver leant down and pulled me into another embrace, his grip was gentle on my shoulders. h

He truly did care for me, didn't he?

~~~ 1384 words & 4.1 pages ~~~