Cream Puffs and Courtship

Chapter 48- The Speech

Evie tried to ignore the stares that she was getting as she sprinted down the hallways of the palace. However, it was quite hard to ignore the stares of the loaded machine guns that each guard held. Still, Evie's feet continued to pound relentlessly on the carpeted palace floors. She could feel the rug slip as she took sharp turns down the familiar corridors.

Finally, she reached the door that she was looking for. The same door that she had arrived at the first time that she had ever visited the palace.

The large mahogany door loomed over her, it's intricate carvings staring at her as if daring her to enter. She remembered looking at this door for the first time all those months ago when she brought cream puffs to Tina for the first time. She hadn't been able to breathe as Tina pushed the door open and she felt her heart pounding when the inside of the tea room was revealed to her.

Now, that same anticipation filled her veins but, instead of cowering away from the door, Evie exhaled quickly and stepped forward confidently, giving the large door a shove and strutting into the room.

The thud that the door made when it was thrown open startled the occupants of the room. Devon's eyes shot up and took in Evie's flustered yet confident appearance while the Queen gave her a once over and then narrowed her eyes.

"You're supposed to be waiting in a separate room," The Queen said cordially.

Tina, still sitting in her lush loveseat, glanced anxiously between her mother and her best friend.

"I have something to say to you," Evie said bravely, swallowing her fear and rolling her shoulders back. She walked up to the Queen who eyed her with her nose turned up in the air. Evie never broke eye contact with her. She never let her posture slip. Her steps were sure and steady.

"I'm not a princess, not a duchess, I don't have any sort of title," Evie said, her eyes never leaving the Queen's face. "I'm just a college student, trying to raise her sister, barely scraping by with a job at a bakery. I'm nothing like the people that you want your children to hang out with. I'm a mess."

Her eyes finally glanced away from the Queen to briefly look at Devon and Tina who both wore confused expressions and looked like they wanted to step in and disagree with her. Evie sent them a hesitant smile and then turned back to their mother.

"But I love them," She said, her eyebrows scrunching together as she tried to convey how much she cared for the other two people in the room. She looked at Tina while keeping her focus on the Queen. "From the day I met her, your daughter has been my best friend. She's smart, kind, hilarious, and hardworking." Now, Evie switched her full attention back to the Queen and took one more step forward. "I thought that nothing could compare to the happiness that your daughter made me feel. And then I met your son."

Evie walked away from the Queen and walked up to Devon who was standing on her right side, unsure of what to do. Evie looked up at his hazel eyes and smiled brightly before turning around to face the queen.

"Your majesty, when I'm with your son it feels like an entirely new world has opened up to me. He makes me feel safe and comfortable and loved. I gave all that up in hopes that it would make things easier. For him. For me. For everyone. But it only made things harder. I kept wondering about the 'what ifs' in our relationship. We were only together for a short time and it was the happiest time of my life. I can only wonder what would've happened if we hadn't called everything off when we did."

Evie's eyes looked down to where her hand was slowly reaching out towards Devon's. His calloused fingers intertwined with hers immediately although his eyes stared at her, confused.

"I can't keep wondering about the 'what ifs' of our relationship anymore," Evie continued, ignoring the Queen's look of disdain when she saw the couple's hands together. "I want to know what would happen if Devon and I spent more time together. I want to know what would happen if we continued our relationship. And you know what? You might be right. It might not work out. It might end in heartbreak for me or a messy publicity campaign but I don't care. I would risk all of that for a chance to be in a real relationship with your son."

Evie turned her body fully towards Devon and squeezed his hand tightly. He grinned down at her, his eyes alight with surprise and excitement. Evie gave him her biggest smile, looked at his hazel eyes through watery eyes, and instead of directing her last question at the queen, she spoke directly to Devon.

"I'd risk it all for one more shot at us. That is, if you want it too?"

A/N- :)

I posted an announcement detailing why I was gone for so long on my profile. If you have time to read it, that would mean the world but if not, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thank you for your continued support and for reading, voting, and commenting even when I wasn't updating.

-Maddie