When The Stars Align

chapter thirty one | hey, you

I turn to Atticus. Do you want to leave? I mouth to him. He nods, beginning to stand up. But Mikayla makes him sit back down and moves into the booth beside him. My thigh hits the wall, suddenly feeling squished. Oh, my gods.

"Don't leave yet, babe, Annie and I just got here." Mikayla runs her hand through Atticus' hair. She's trying to win him back. She really does have to play the jealous ex before moving on.

"Funny, I thought I'd be the last person you'd want to see in a long time," Atticus laughs nervously. Under the table he grabs my hand for comfort. I squeeze it. "I really don't think it would be a good idea for us to stay. Vera needs to go... um... babysit, yeah, for her nieces and nephews. I offered to help."

It was a weak lie, I know Mikayla wasn't going to fall for it. "Her sister is the queen of Noatra, I'm pretty sure she can find someone to watch over her kids. And on that note-" she moves her hand down to Atticus' chest. "I can't believe the royal guard makes you go on all those missions, you've already been shot twice this month."

"They're voluntary, Mickey." I don't know why, but my heart leaps when Att calls her with a nickname. "You know I need the money-"

"Another lie, Atticus. We both know Queen Victoria and Sir Lysander treat you like a little brother, they won't let you and your mom fall into debt." Mikayla turns to me for the first time. "Some members of the family actually care about you and care about your safety."

I open my mouth to say something, but Atticus jumps in instead. "Vera never puts me in those situations, Mikayla. I'm the one that goes with her. I put myself in those situations. Vera's the one that makes sure I make it out of them alive."

The girl rolls her eyes in disgust as her and Anne's order arrives. I don't even remember them ordering. Maybe the boys actually did order them something. "One of these days, you won't be that lucky. Then what, Atticus? You're just going to leave your widowed mother alone? She's going to spend nights, thinking about her son and how if he didn't follow that murderer of a bitch Vera, he might be alive. Atticus, you're making a mistake."

Avery sits her back in her seat as she began to stand up. "Mikayla, you're causing a scene. Chill."

She stepped on his foot, making him yelp in pain. Suddenly I find a butterknife in front of my face, with a crazy girl holding it. "Who do you think you are, waltzing into our lives and stealing my boyfriend? The world was better off with you dead, you know that, Vera Carmicheal. You're a bitch."

I'm not going to overreact. I am not going to overreact. I am not going to overreact.

I grab her wrist in one hand and pull the butterknife our with the other. "You don't want me here? Fine, I'll leave. I had no issue of doing that when you first got here. You want your boyfriend back? Last I heard, he's not mine. This is between you and Atticus, Mikayla." Since the girl was blocking my way out, I stood onto my seat and climbed over the booth seat. Luckily, no one was sitting behind us.

I walk to the counter and pull out my wallet. Tori let me borrow some money from her, and I decided to pay the group bill for breakfast.

Damn it, I didn't finish my stack of waffles. Another time, I guess.

"I could pay, if you want." Atticus finally makes it out of the hellhole.

"Too late." I take the receipt from the cashier. "Good to know that you made it out of there alive." We begin to walk out of the restaurant. I notice the boys following us as we walk out. I wave goodbye, they wave back.

Atticus sighed. "I'm so sorry, Vera. I didn't expect that to happen."

"I don't think any of us were prepared for that shitstorm," I said with a small laugh. Atticus puts his arm around me, pulling me closer. "What did you say to her after. I guess I kind of tuned you guys out."

"She just went on a tangent and when she moved, I took my opportunity and left," Atticus said. "I thought she understood when I talked with her. She said she saw it coming, I just didn't expect her to go crazy."

I shrugged. "That's what love does, it makes people go crazy. I mean, look at yourself, you went crazy the second you lost me."

He shoved me away, playfully, with a smile on his face. The people were finally leaving their houses for school or work or wherever they were heading. People didn't stare - I guess they were less scared now that it was revealed that I'm a member of the royal family.

Atticus' phone rings. He stops and picks it up. Then he hands it to me. "Your sister."

I take the phone from him. "Hey Tori, anything wrong?"

"Where'd you go?" she asked. "Gosh, I really need to buy you a cell phone, now that we don't consider you a convicted criminal. Maybe I'll get you one for your birthday."

"Atticus and I went for a walk this morning-"

"Oh, right, can you please yell at Atticus for being out of bed when he's not supposed to. He was released by doctors on orders that he'd stay in bed for at least a couple days."

"I already screamed at him this morning, you're welcome. I'm sorry I didn't let you know, I figured you could always call Atticus or that one of the staff members would let you know."

There's shuffling in the background. I could hear a baby cry, followed by a "Michelle, can you check on Annalise for a second, I'm on the phone."

Her attention turns back to me. "Sorry about that, Vera. I guess, after what happened so long ago, I kind of get paranoid if I can't find you when I need you. Anyway, I need you to come back to the castle. You have a dress fitting."

I'mm not sure I heard that right. "A dress fitting? Tori, you can't be serious. I don't wear dresses."

"Lies, Vera." Jeez, what's with everyone being able to pick out lies today. "You wore a dress when Lysander and I first granted you freedom and we went home for the first time in ten years, remember that?"

"Yes, I do but-"

"We have your measurements from then, but you've probably gained, like, an extra ten pounds since-"

"Hey!"

"I'm only speaking the truth, Vera. You finally started having regular meals for the first time in ten years-" She really likes pointing that out, doesn't she? "But Pheon's birthday is in three days, the palace is getting ready for the ball-"

"You're going to have a ball?"

"Yes, obviously, it's tradition and I know you know that because you came to them all when you were a kid. For fuck's sake - excuse the language - I got engaged on the last one you attended. Anyway, the party goes until past midnight, as in, your birthday. I don't care if you didn't want a party, I have to introduce you to everyone that night. I need you to look presentable."

I groaned. "You can't be serious, Tory. You couldn't have let me know in advance? Like, more than three days in advance?"

"Vera, please, I beg you. The kingdom still knows you as a villan, a criminal. I don't care whether or not the name of the royal family is clean or not, but I don't want you to be associated with actions that you were probably forced into, and I don't want you to suffer in the future because of it. Mom and Dad would've killed me."

I closed my eyes. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll be there in twenty minutes. Is there anything else?"

Victoria paused for a second. "Um, yeah actually. Lysander called and he wants you to meet him in Roselake later - and I told him it has to be after your dress fitting. After, Vera Carmicheal. If you aren't in my bedroom in twenty minutes I'll bury you. But year, he wanted to show you something."

That couldn't be good, if Lysander wanted to see me in Roselake. But, it probably wasn't so serious if he could wait. "Yeah, okay, I'm coming to you first and heading to Roselake after. See you in twenty, Tori."

"Bye sis." She hung up.

I hand the phone back to Atticus. "So, a dress fitting? Should I match with my suit?" He has a goofy smile on his face.

I punched him in the arm. "I'll make sure to put you in a bright, neon pink suit, if you aren't careful."

He laughs, kissing my forehead. "We're going to be the best dressed couple then, I'm sure of it."