I'll Protect You (Re-Edit #2, 2016)

Breaking News: Park Sparrow is Finally Tied Down

"Vincent Blackewell?" she gasped.

"There's so many people here," Vincent half-laughed. "It makes me feel a little less lost."

Without a moment's hesitation, my fingers pulled off the red wig, allowing my braid to fall over my shoulder. Vincent blinked, gawking at me for a moment before a jubilant glimmer lit up in his eyes. 

"Park!" he grinned, surging forward to pull me into a hug. I thought back to when we were little and how he'd always embrace me at the oddest moments, always out of the blue and for no other reason besides the statement, "You looked like you needed one."

We pulled apart, and while Vincent hadn't wiped away that smile, I was on my guard. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "How did you even know where to find me?"

"I haven't seen you for two years and you can't even say a proper hello," he joked. 

"Vincent, you're putting me in a very compromising situation, showing up out of the blue. Who sent you?"

Finally, that happy-go-lucky attitude began to easy away. Vincent sucked in a deep breath and ran his fingers through his blond hair. The strands used to fall in curls down to his eyes, making him ridiculously clumsy. Now it was trimmed neatly and gelled upwards, allowing the blue of his eyes to shine. The baby fat he used to have had been erased, allowing strong cheekbones and a chiseled jawline to shape his face, and his skin now had the perfect California surfer tan.

But despite how handsome he'd grown, all I could remember was the little boy who tripped over Liliana Whitepine's cat. 

"You grandmother sent me."

"Say what again?" I said. "Why would my grandmother send you?"

"She'd figure you'd take the news less angrily if it came from me," he explained, coughing after his sentence. 

Then it dawned on me--there was only one reason why I would be seeing Vincent under such sudden circumstances. "Great." I blew out a breath. "What does your mother want now? We're already promising her an extension of the Blackewell land as well as a really big portion of my uncle's stocks."

Vincent bit his lip and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he delayed whatever he was going to say. Finally, he looked me in the eyes, an apologetic look about him, and said, "She wants to move the engagement up."

The silence that blanketed the office was almost stifling.

"How far up?" I finally asked, already fearing the answer. 

Vincent rubbed the back of his neck. "I have to propose to you this December."

"December?" Minnie cut in, her tone resonating anger. "That's a month after her eighteenth birthday. That's a month of legal adulthood and she'll have to wear a ring on her finger that fast?"

"When was it supposed to be originally?" Alec asked, looking over at me. 
"When my father became king," I answered, an anger brimming below the surface as I thought about how soon the engagement suddenly was. 

"I don't understand," frowned Catarina. "Why does Abigail want to move it up so soon?"

Vincent shrugged. "I wasn't told why, I was just told I needed to tell Park. You know my mother, Lady Cross. It's not like she's known for being logical."

"This entire betrothal is illogical," Zen muttered. 

"Did my grandmother send you here to get my permission? Like hell am I going to agree to this," I stated in a steel voice. This was utterly insane, and much too soon for my comfort."