"so... that dress." josh started, looking towards andie and the beautiful, puffy, gown she wore.
"is it much?"
"no! no, it looks amazing on you!" he complimented.
the two were outside in the castle garden, sitting on a stone bench as they stargazed. the ball was still going, but they decided it would be a nice idea to sneak off and spend time together instead.
at this point, andie took her hair down from the bun, feeling the ache from all the pins and hair ties used.
"you don't look too bad yourself, josh." andie giggled, ruffling his hair.
josh laughed as he swatted her hand away, "i have something for you."
"for me?" andie smiled.
josh revealed a small jewelry box from his pocket, holding it out on his palm, "it isn't much but..." he opened the box, revealing a necklace with a crystal pendant. "merry christmas, meda."
a rose quartz crystal pendant to be specific.
"josh..." andie awed. "it's beautiful, i love it."
josh lifted the necklace by it's thin chain, "do you mind if i..."
"not at all."
andie turned the opposite direction of josh, allowing him to situate the necklace around her neck.
josh lifted her hair up slightly, realizing the girl was already wearing a necklace, "what about your current necklace, is it alright if i take it off?"
"oh! no, sorry, josh. this necklace is very important to me." andie immediately responded, holding the necklace pendant close to her chest.
"that's alright, i'll layer over it, this chain seems longer than that one, so it wouldn't get tangled at all." he smiled, lifting her hair again, allowing him to clip the ends of the necklace together. she let the shining jewelry drop down before looking at the two pieces of jewelry that complimented each other on her neck.
the two held eye contact for a few minutes, the tint of blue rays hitting their skin complimented their features well.
josh started to lean in before clearing his throat.
he was so close.
he stood up to dust himself off, holding his hand out to andie, "join me for a walk?"
andie smiled and nodded, taking his hand as she stood from the bench as well.
the two began to walk down the stone path, not knowing where they're going or what to talk about.
"so..." andie began, "you're going to be king soon." she smiled, giving him a playful nudge.
josh chuckled, "yeah! um... i'm nervous."
"i get that, just give it some time. deep breaths and all, you know?" she suggested, looking towards the worried, brunette boy, "something's stressing you out, is it being king?"
"a little bit... i mean, everyone thinks that being king is everything a man wants, but it's not. ruling this kingdom is very interesting and all — but i'm just not ready, meda. i'm not ready at all."
hearing those words made andie feel some sort of sympathy. she wanted to give him the biggest hug she could, but she didn't want to invade his personal space without permission.
"think about it this way, josh; you could change anything. you could change any unnecessary laws like — like how royalty isn't supposed to join the festival, or how you're not supposed to visit the village unless it's a special occasion, the possibilities are endless. all you have to do is use that power for good, just don't let it get into your head."
andie had a point, he could make positive changes to the kingdom. after all, no future royalty should have to deal with such strict laws. however, it doesn't change the fact that josh wasn't ready to be king at all.
"what if — what if i'm not good enough to be king, meda? what do i do then?"
"no. no, no, no, don't say that, josh! i'm sure you're going to be a wonderful king. like i said with power, don't let those negative thoughts get into your head. believe in yourself."
to josh, it felt nice to know that someone had faith in him. no one has ever encouraged him to do something as much as andie did, not even his father believed in him that much.
"you are too good for this world, meda." he spoke, tracing his eyes over every feature on her face.
"that's sweet of you, josh." she blushed, looking up at him, "but i'm just doing what i do best."
"and what is that?"
"giving people the encouragement i've never gotten."
the two seemed to be going deep into conversation during their walk. after all, having deep talks during the night is very calming.
andie's feet began to ache in the middle of their 'journey', which led the two of them to sit by the familiar tree on the short hill. despite her feet aching, the two continued talking. the topics began to lift into lighter topics, hopefully lifting their spirits.
"one time, evan and i were dancing in a room, and he knocked off an expensive vase that was mine... so, i made him do whatever i asked for three months." andie laughed, replaying that memory over and over again in her mind.
"that is a good punishment." josh joked, sharing a laugh as well, "so... tell me, why don't you and evan have that many friends?"
"it's hard to explain... i had these friends—or 'friends'. and they just — they did me very wrong." andie breathed out, twiddling her thumbs.
"how so?"
"they manipulated me. they told me many things i only wanted to hear and lied to me a lot. like i mentioned before, evan and i have been best friends for the longest time. but these 'friends' harassed him to the bone. and, every time i spoke out about it... they disregard my feelings and continued."
andie was clearly still upset about that whole situation, and that happened years ago.
"and they got away with it?" he asked, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.
she sighed, looking down at the skirt of her dress, watching the glitter shine from the moonlight. "they got away with it. and every time they did i felt so stupid and i always ask myself; why do i do this to myself? but i figured out the reason eventually."
"what was the reason?"
"i would be nothing without them."
silence fell. the two had heal from that conversation, it was a lot to take in.
"i'm feeling so... tired, josh." her lips wavered, looking up towards the meadow, trying to stop her tears from forming, "i feel like i'm going to snap.. like there's going to be one more thing then just..."
andie couldn't cry. not now. that would be too embarrassing. she couldn't cry in front of people, let alone josh. he might laugh at her!
but he didn't laugh. he scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her, keeping her close as held her tears.
josh could tell andie wasn't fully recovered from the situation, and he understood that.
it took awhile for andie to recover from that conversation itself. usually, she'd expect many people to leave due to the awkward energy. but he didn't. he stayed with her the whole time.
fortunately enough, no tears fell.
suddenly, their eyes met, the tint of blue light from the moon complimented each of their features, noticing even the smallest details.
both of them leaned in.
was this it? was it finally happening?
as the two inched closer, josh's stomach began to fill with butterflies.
and it happened... their lips connected.