-18-
"Luke what are you doing?" Carrie asks as she and Riley show up into the room I pulled them aside to.
Riley raises his eyebrow and it seems like he has the same questions, "Is everything ok?"
I cross my arms and roll my eyes, "You two need to get your act together. Life's fucking short and you guys are treating this like a marathon"
The two look taken back and I roll my eyes, "You two need to have a fucking conversation about your feelings" I state.
Riley's cheeks flush as do Carrie's, "I- I- I uh- uh- Princess Caroline? Huh?" Riley stutters, looking embarrassed.
"Whaaaaaaa" Carrie laughs, her eyes widening to face the beet red boy, "I- sorry about hi-"
Riley takes Carrie's cheeks and kisses her, making my eyes widen from my spot against the wall. Carrie pulls back and honestly looks so cute at how flustered she is. Oh my god she's so precious. Literal definition of that pouting emoji, "Holy-"
"I- I'm sorry Princess I-" Carrie stands on her toes and softly kisses him, "Ok" He wheezes out once the two pull apart.
"No need to thank me, invite me to the wedding and yes I'll be your child's godfather. Ima go get my girlfriend some lungs" I say, waking out of the room.
"What's something you've never told anybody. Something you kept a secret?" I ask Carlos as we play chess on the palace grounds.
"That's I'm an amazing chess player. Checkmate" He winks, knocking over my black chess piece.
"How'd you- I- HOW?" I widen my eyes as he laughs, resetting the board to play again.
"I played a lot with my parents" He shrugs, "And to answer your question honestly... probably my full story. The fine detailing of my life. Kinda like how there's a... pizza, you see the crust, the toppings and the cheese but that all covers what's under it all. A mess"
"You should be a words smith" I chuckle, making the first move, "Amazing metaphor 'Los"
"That's not how you- ok whatever" He chuckles, moving his pawn. "What about you? Deepest darkest secret?"
"I have survivors guilt" I shrug, leaning back in the metal seats.
"From what, if you don't mind-"
"Everyone dies here. My mom, both of Alex and Reggie's parents, Flynn's mother. Makes me wonder if I become king, will I be next? Will my queen be next? I guess that might not be survivors guilt yet" I shrug.
Carlos pouts and reaches across the table to take my hands in his, "You're not to blame, you shouldn't feel any kinda guilt for being alive. Your mother was sick. Flynn's mother was going through her own things. Alex's parents were assassinated and what happened to Reggie's parents was a tragedy. None of which are related. You can't beat yourself up over these kinda things"
I look from our hands to his eyes back down to his lips- Luke no-
"Stop it" Carlos groans, rolling his eyes with a laugh, "I know what you're thinking"
"What? I'm not allowed to have an obvious crush?" I chuckle, raising an eyebrow.
"Not when you're engaged to be wed" He scoffs, pulling his hands away. "Lucas you need to get your feelings in check"
I let out a sigh and nod, hanging my head low, "Yeah yeah I know"
The grounds fall silent for a moment before... "Checkmate" Carlos snickers.
"OK THAT WAS AN ILLEGAL MOVE"
"Luke! Luke wake up!"
My eyes shoot open as I see Carrie shaking my bare shoulders, a cold sweat lining my forehead and the blankets kicked off my body, "Hey hey, it's ok. It was just a bad dream" She hushes, brushing my hair with her fingers.
This last week has been hard. I never know what to do with myself now that Julie isn't around. I've been assigned a new guard and he's a complete tool. No word on a pair of lungs for Julie and her condition hasn't changed.
"Not bad" I whisper, curling into her side for comfort. "It wasn't a bad dream"
Carrie wraps her arms around me, making my body and soul feel safe, "Wanna talk about it?"
"It was Julie, a flashback from like two weeks ago. Before all of this shit happened" I hold back tears because frankly, I really want to cry.
"Oh Luke" She pouts her lip with the corners softly turned up, "Want me to cheer you up?"
I laugh softly and shrug, "Yeah why not"
She taps her chin with a smile, "Riley met my dad... not as my boyfriend but as my friend instead of guard. It went surprisingly well"
My jaw drops and I smile widely, maybe it's a little bit of a happy front but I'm actually happy for her. "Oh my god. I can see it already, Rarrie" I wink.
"Is it weird that the more we hang out and everything, the more you feel like my older brother" She breathes out, playing around with my hair.
"A brother who you need to kiss occasionally for press and marry?" I look up at her with a creased eyebrow.
"Eww no that's incest" She shudders at the thought.
"Sweet Home Alabama" I chuckle, elbowing her side.
"Alabama... isn't that a place in the states?" She asks, tilting her head.
I chuckle, "I dunno why but some reason there's a stereotype that people from Alabama, which yes is in America, marry their family members. Don't ask me why. Americans are fucking weird"
Both of us burst out laughing suddenly, making me almost cry of laughter, "I love you dork" I push her slightly.
"Awww hate you too" She pecks my forehead before running off.
"YOU SUCK!" I shout as she heads into the bathroom with a giggle. I just roll over in bed and head back to sleep.
-few hours later-
I walk down the halls, trying to find out where I can find Carrie. We need to go out to the town next to the castle and visit the elementary school.
I find Julie's room and stick my head in. Everything thrown into boxes, probably by some maid or a security guard.
I sit on the bed and sigh, looking around and thinking back to the memories I have with her. The conversations and looks shared. Man I miss her.
I shake my head and sign before getting up and walking down the hallways. Maybe she's in Riley's room? They've been super close... you know why.
I find the room that has the tag 'Riley West'.
Without thinking, I open the door. "OH MY GOD" I shout, closing the door as my eyes see something I STRONGLY wish I hadn't. Oh my god-
I lean against the wall beside the room as Carrie pokes her head out of the door. Her hair is a mess and the lipstick on the corner of her lip smudged, "Heyyyy" She strains her voice.
"Nope. No we aren't- no no no" I shake my head and rapidly blink my eyes.
"I'd just like to say that-"
"Care- No" I raise a finger in the air as she steps out of the room. Her pink gown messily thrown on in a rush.
"I am not doing this today, we gotta get going anyways" I shake my head, hand on my forehead.
Carrie and I link arms and walk towards the main foyer, "So you and Riley..."
"We are not doing THIS Lucas. No way. I'm not giving specifics" She groans, rolling her eyes.
"I'm just saying, it's been a week and you two seemed to be... having a good time" My eyes widen as I shake and shudder.
Carrie rolls her eyes, "Like you're a virgin" I stay quiet, "Oh... you're a virgin"
"Not like I get much time to myself" I scoff, bumping her hip with mine in a soft giggle.
"Watch it jackass" She scoffs as she slides into a limo out front, "I'll see you there... hubby" She winks as I go around to another car.
"Good morning!" Carrie smiles widely, waving softly as we walk into the schools library. She looks gorgeous while I just wear a suit and tie.
I wave softly at the children as we are guided to where we will be talking. Anywhere between eighty to ninety kids sit in the room between the ages of six to nine.
Carrie sits down and a little girl runs over to her, giving my 'fiancée' the hugest hug I've ever seen. Carrie embraces the child before placing the girl on her lap, "What's your name little one?" She asks with a giggle.
"Lilah" The girl smiles.
"And how old are you my little flower?" Carrie asks, taking the girls hair and pulling it into sections to braid.
"Six" Lilah answers softly.
Carrie smiles and I stand up with a smile, "Hello everyone!" I exclaim into a mic that was handed to me with a huge (fake) smile.
I get a chorus of hellos and hi's in response which makes me laugh softly to myself, "If you don't know, I'm the Crown Prince Lucas of Amaranth and this is my fiancée, Princess Caroline of Evander" I gesture to where Carrie is sitting with the girl still in her lap.
"Hi everyone" She smiles with a proper wave.
"Now" I kneel to the ground, which is quite difficult in dress slacks, to be level with the kids, "Do any of you know about the Monarchy?"
Do I wanna teach this? Nope. Ever since I was around thirteen, I'd come to the schools around the country and teach the kids about my family's history and the way it all works. With the wedding coming up, everything is kinda different. It's dumb and my least favourite thing in the world... besides broccoli and my father.
Some kids say yes, some say no, "So I'm what they call the Crown prince. That means I'm going to become king once my father, King Mitchell, steps down or passes away. The crown Prince is always the oldest son in the family. Whether or not he has older sisters, only a boy can be in my position" Stupid ass sexist rules.
A hand shoots up and I point towards them, "What if you don't wanna be the crown prince?"
I shrug my shoulders and sigh, "Nothing I can bud, I just have to accept the part I was given to play"
For the next while, Carrie and I explain the nobility ranks, how the merger will work once we wed and answer a few questions. I love coming down here but at the same time, absolutely hate every second of it. Don't get me wrong, the kids are sweet, I just have to put on that stupid royal front.
"Yes, in the back" Carrie points out, picking from the sea of hands.
A guard walks over and hands a small girl the mic, probably around eight or nine, "Are you guys having kids?" I try not to throw up at the idea of having sex with Carrie- ew.
"One day. After we are married and probably a little older than seventeen" Carrie laughs, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I look over at her and smile. It's just an act, you don't have to actually love her. Just convince them otherwise.
I lean over and softly kiss her lips which makes the kids go berserk. I laugh into her lips softly as I pull away. I wish they were Julie's- eww I need to like wash my mouth with bleach or rat poison or something. "What was that for?" Carrie whispers and I shrug.
"Y'a know" I clench my jaw and my phone starts ringing, "Sorry I gotta take this" I announce and walk off down the hall to answer.
"Hello? Who is this?" I say into the phone. Only a few people have this number.
"Sir Prince Lucas? It's Doctor Kumar" Julie's doctor.
"Is everything ok with Ju- Ms. Molina?" I ask, feeling my chest rise and fall.
"About her... we got a match"
~~~~~~~
You can thank unsaid_divya for the cliff hanger. It wasn't gonna end like this but eh, she convinced me
Anyways so... filler? Luke and Carrie's platonic relationship is so fucking cute... not when they kiss tho.... Ew. BUT THEY HAVE TO! #Rarrie4ever
Anyways uh idk if you've read it but Inseparable (the first book I ever wrote) hit 100k a few days ago. I'm still in shock tbh.
Anyways, Julie's not dead... yay.
-Kaitlyn 🤍