Crimson {COMPLETED}

CHAPTER XLIII

JACKSON'S POV

NOVEMBER 19
2:02 p.m

I WATCH as Emily talks to Alice.

I hear heels behind me and know who it is as she rests her manicured nail on my shoulder.

"That was so sweet of Alice to make Emily the maid of honor." Mother smiles, following my eyes. "Are they actually close or was that your doing?"

I look over at her, confused.

"You do know that they're sisters, right?"

"What?" She whips her head around.

"Yeah. Alice is Emily's little sister."

Mother brings her stare back over to Alice and Emily in the field before she frantically turns back to me.

"Jackson, do you realize what this means?"

"Um-"

She starts to shake me. "Alice is going to be crowned princess tonight. Emily is a vampire that will one day marry into a high class family."

"So?"

"So she'll be recognized as a princess." She whisper shouts.

I scoff. "Hardly."

"Jackson, the last time a mortal married into the royal family and also had a sibling marrying into the realm, that sibling was just as much royalty." Her voice shakes.

"Why do you even care?"

"Because if Emily is considered a princess then as her husband you'll be considered a prince!"

"But I'm not her husband."

"Not yet." She smiles. "You have to marry her. ASAP. That's an order."

"If I propose she'll say no. She doesn't want to live here, let alone settle down." I mutter.

I've been working on an engagement ring but I always figured I would propose the day Emily graduates in May.

"Then you can always do what your cousin Leo did." She straightens up. "And you can buy her love."

I roll my eyes. "The only way that'll happen is if you're willing to reimburse her college funds after all."

"Ask her how much her parents paid to send her for four years and I'm sure we can figure it out." She grins slyly. "And I'm sure our good friend at Tilwood wouldn't mind letting Emily sit in for some of his classes."

She turns to walk away, probably to tell father of her vile plans.

I sigh and turn back to look at Emily. Yeah, sure I'd love to propose to her. And yeah, I'd love it if she agreed and said yes.

But I know that at this moment in time, those two wishes aren't interchangeable because Emily will say no.

She's just not ready to settle down and I've come to respect that.

But mother said it herself.

That's an order.
__________

5:11 p.m

I didn't think Alice and Christos could anymore cheesily happy until we watched them cut the cake.

They almost were acting like they've know each other for years.

At first I insisted I didn't want any cake, but I immediately regret my decision after Emily sits down with her slice.

I've never had much of a sweet tooth but the cake looks good.

I grab my fork and quickly grab a piece of her cake, making her look up at me with murder in her eyes.

She swallows the bit she was chewing and regains her composure. "I don't know if you missed the memo, only the bride and groom share a slice."

She points over her shoulder as Christos feeds Alice a piece of cake. They're going through wedding traditions quicker than they rushed their relationship.

Not that I haven't see relationships go at a faster pace. Xander and Natalia married after a week together.

"No, I surely got the memo, just don't care." I shrug.

"Rude." Emily mumbles.

I cup her chin and bring her face up to look at me. God I would love to propose to her.

"Can I go back to eating now?" She grips my wrist.

"Only if you agree to share."

She grumbles. I slide my hand up to her cheeks and squish her face.

Alice walks up behind me and slips a slice of cake in front of me.

"Aw, Thank you Alice that's so sweet of you. But how did you know I changed my mind?"

She looks at me confusedly. "I didn't? I knew you didn't want a slice but figured Emily wouldn't mind having two."

I look back over and see Emily stealing a piece of my cake.

"Hey." I snatch my plate back, too late as she's already eating the stolen piece.

"That's payback." She smiles smugly.

She stays smugly smiling until the crowing ceremony, which she's disinterested in for some reason.

We crane our necks to the balcony that the royal family stands on, Alice clumsily curtsying as Queen Octavia and King Vincent place a tiara on her head.

"What's wrong?" I whisper to Emily as she looks up in distaste.

"I love Alice to death but god I'm remembering just how stupid all of this is." She mutters. "If Christos wasn't a prince he wouldn't have been able to sweep Alice off her feet like he did. She loved the idea of running off with her fairytale prince. She loves the idea of Christos, not Christos."

"Yes, you're in fact right." I wrap an arm around her. "Relationships take time, time that was not taken in their relationship. One blowup and their relationship could fall a part."

She looks down, glumly. She knows it's true how weak their relationship is. Even though she knows their relationship breaking into shambles would be a big fat 'I told you so' for her, it would break Alice's heart.

And Emily is still the overprotective big sister she was when they were younger.

Emily applauds with the rest of the crowd, seeming lost and unsure of what she's clapping for.

"I need a drink." She mumbles, turning to push through the crowd.

I grab her hand, ready to follow after her. "Me too."

As we push through the bowing crowd I look behind us and stare up at the balcony at a smiling Alice and Christos.

Emily notices I'm moving slower than her and looks back to see what's holding me up.

She looks up at them too, almost sadly.

Giana has a new princess.