Landing in London felt different this time. I felt more anxious about everything, especially about seeing Arthur. I lied to myself that my actions were reasonable but they just seem selfish right now. With our relationship being public, I can't just up and leave anymore.
"Where are we going?" I noticed that we were no longer on the apartment route. George turned with a smile.
"You're going to see Arthur."
"What?! I just landed!! I'm tired!"
"Exactly, it paints a picture of urgency."
"It's 3:34am! I can't barge in on him by this hour!"
"We'll see about that."
***********************Arthur's POV********************************
"Arthur....."
"Mhmmmm." I moaned softly in my sleep. I knew that I was in bed with someone but I couldn't remember who it was. I opened my eyes lightly, ignoring the hangover that was starting to take effect.
"Wake up." I opened my eyes fully and stared at the girl who had given me a good time in bed..... seriously, what is her name?
"It's almost 4am, what could you possibly want?"
"Do you think that Her Majesty will like me?"
"What are you talking about?" I rubbed my head lightly as I tried to comprehend her words.
"As your new girlfriend and future Queen. Do you think she'll like me?" Wow! Enjoy a night of sex with a lady now and now, she's your girlfriend and future wife. Crazy!!
"You do realise that this is never going to happen again." The look on her face was priceless!
"But Arthur.."
"No buts... Look, I don't even remember your name. You should be with someone who an remember you name, at least." I softly removed her head from my bare chest.
"Arthur...." One of my security team members knocked on the bedroom door lightly. I stepped out of the room to see what was going on.
"What's going on?" He looked at my head of security cautiously before proceeding.
"There is someone here for you Sir."
"It's almost 4am, tell the person to wait till it's officially work hours.... I'm assuming that this has less to do with Arthur and more to do with His Royal Highness, Prince Arthur of Wales?"
"I'm not sure about how to answer that Sir." I sighed slightly as I sat down on the sofa.
"Who is it?"
"Princess Victoria Schelswig of Denmark." I tried to believe that I heard him wrong but after making him repeat it four whole times, I realised that I had to actually see her again.
"Let her in...and please, let the lady in my room out through the back. I would hate more unnecessary drama this early into my day."
"Yes Sir." As my head of security got that stranger out of my apartment, the other guard let Victoria in. She looked different. She looked tired. She was wearing a plain black tee with grey joggers and black Nike trainers. Her hair was packed into a messy bun and frankly, she still looked good!
"Clear the apartment. I want to talk with the Princess, alone." They all left and she finally sat down. She seemed uncomfortable around me. That's good.
"Arthur...."
"Why are you back Victoria? Why now? Why here?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's because your security team just tried to sneak a lady in the most inappropriate outfit, out of your apartment by four in the morning." She paused when she saw the look on my face. It was anger. But then, she continued. "It could also be because you're hungover by this time. You never drink to this point...especially during work days. You also don't smoke but apparently, things have changed." She eyed my pack of Cuban cigars and turned back to me.
"Yes, they have. That means that you can't tell me who I can sleep with, the time when I'm allowed to drink and get drunk. You also have no right to judge my smoking. It's my body and mine alone. You lost the right to do all these when you walked out on me in Denmark." I could see how much my words hurt her, but I didn't care. She hurt me too.
"Arthur... Please don't be like this." She reached out to touch my hand but I got up from the sofa before she could reach me.
"What did you think would happen Toria? You would just walk in here and play the caring girlfriend and we would be fine again?! This isn't a movie Tori." I walked to the drink cart and poured myself a glass of liquor.
"Please don't drink that." She looked at me pleadingly, begging me not to drink more alcohol but oh well. I gulped down my drink and poured another and then another and just when I was about to pour the fourth drink, she got up and grabbed the glass.
"What the hell Victoria?!!!"
"Vil du holde op med at opføre dig som et barn?! Jeg gik! Og jeg er ked af, at jeg sårede dig Arthur. Det er jeg virkelig. Men hvis det er det, du er blevet til, så var det måske en fejl at komme tilbage hertil." (Will you stop acting like a child?! I left! And I'm sorry that I hurt you Arthur. I really am. But if this is what you've become, then maybe coming back here was a mistake.) She dropped the glass on the table and made an attempt to leave. I grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving.
"It wasn't supposed to hurt this much Toria. I wasn't supposed to become this." My sudden sobriety made her resolve soften. She turned to me and placed her palm on my cheek.
"I know. But, I should've never left. You trusted me to stay and I didn't." She was hurting again and I didn't like it. She was just trying to deal with the loss of her sister, why couldn't I understand that?
I pulled her into a hug as she started to cry. She didn't deserve any additional pain, especially not from me.
"Are we okay Arthur?" I couldn't lie to her. I wanted nothing more than this for months, but her presence didn't change anything. I was still hurting.
"No." She looked up at me through teary eyes.
"Will we ever be?"
I missed this. I missed her. I was a mess now but if she were to leave again, I would become worse. But forgiveness is not easy. I can't just make the pain go away.
"I don't know." She nodded lightly as she got her bag and left. I walked back to the room and called the only person who could tell me what to do.
"Do you want her back?"
"Of course I do."
"Then why didn't you just tell her that?"
"I don't know."
"Oh brother. You are really bad at relationships."
"I know that.. now." I sighed frustratingly as he stayed silent. "What should I do?"
"Just let me talk to her."
"She doesn't even know you. I'm not sure about how she'll react to you involving yourself in our relationship."
"She'll appreciate my help. Trust me on this one."
"Fine. How are you going to do it?"
"Let me worry about that. Just meet me at George's place later by 11am."
"Ok. Thanks Vince."
"Anytime bro."
***********************Victoria's POV*******************************
After an exhausting flight and an even more tiring talk with Arthur, I came back home and passed out instantly. I woke up later that day, took my bath and got dressed. I started unpacking my bag from the trip. While I was cleaning my room, I found the shirt that Arthur forgot at my place on the day of our trip to Denmark. It still had his scent. I sat down on the bed and just wrapped the shirt around me. Why would I throw everything good away because of one bad thing? Yes, I loved my sister but Arthur didn't deserve to suffer because of my pain. My thoughts disappeared when I heard a knock. I kept the shirt on the bed and walked to the door. I definitely wasn't expecting this.
"Prince Vincent. Isn't this quite the surprise?" He had a small smile and a big bottle of Chardonnay.
"Please, Vincent or Vince works perfectly for me. May I come in?" I moved aside and he walked in. He analysed the place as I took the wine from him.
"Can I get you anything?" I asked from the kitchen.
"As surprising as it may sound, coffee would be perfect."
"It's really not that surprising. I would've gone with coffee too." I poured two cups of coffee and headed back to the living room. I handed him his cup as he sat down. When he got comfortable, I spoke again. "Now, Vince, what can I do for you?"
"It's about Arthur."
"Yeah, I figured." I waited for him to continue. I didn't see the need for this conversation. His brother has said all that had to be said.
"He's a mess Victoria. He needs you back."
"If this is true..."
"It is."
"Then why didn't he say all this earlier? I won't lie. He is a mess. But I can't help him. He won't let me."
"You guys were engaged Victoria. Are you willing to throw all that away because of a minor issue?" He had a point. We came so close to spending the rest of our lives together and now, we can't even spend a minute together.
"What do you want me to do Vincent?"
"Talk to him. Don't let him get away." While we were talking, there was another knock on the door.
"Excuse me." I got up to open the door and it was him. They set me up. While I stood at the door staring at Arthur, Vincent quickly left and went into George's place.
"Are you going to let me in or....." I moved aside and he walked in. I went back to where I was seated and he just stood there.
"Feel free to sit whenever you're ready."
"I'm perfectly fine standing." I sipped my coffee and stared at him. When he didn't speak, I decided to say something.
"All I ever wanted for you was your happiness. Not hurt or pain or sadness. Just your happiness. I was finally happy and I wanted that feeling to go round. But when I became broken, I knew that I would not be able to keep you happy, not when I was devastated. I left because I had to. And every night, I cried at the thought of living in a world without Freja and even worse, one without you. I never stopped hurting Arthur. I'm still hurting. It's just worse when I think about what this has turned you into." I wanted room to gather myself so I wouldn't cry but it wasn't working. I couldn't just cry here. I got up to excuse myself and he let me.
When I stepped into the bathroom, I broke down. I spent months running away from Freja's death and somehow, I forgot to heal. I had this huge hole in my heart and now, without Arthur, I'm just blank. This realisation made me cry.. badly. When I raised my head, the person in the mirror irritated me. She was weak, sad, unhappy, always running from her problems. That lady wasn't me.
Feeling angry at the image, I grabbed a bottle of lotion and threw it at the mirror. As the bottle connected with the glass, the mirror shattered. I let out a pain filled scream as my tears ran freely. I had been trapped in this pain for months and being able to finally let it all out felt refreshing. Just when I was starting to feel weightless, I felt those arms around me. He was holding me against his chest as I cried freely on him.
"Why won't it go away?" I asked between sobs.
"You can't run away from the pain Toria. Believe me, I know a thing or two about trying to run away. It never works. Sometimes, we need to be broken down to have a better version of ourselves rebuilt."
"I can't do this Arthur. Not alone."
"I know." He placed his chin on my hair and tightened the hug. "I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere... and I won't let you go anywhere either. No more running." His words were calm. Soft. But they were filled with pain. Pain that I caused. And I couldn't make it go away.
"No more running. I promise." Standing in that position brought back the best memories. Just his presence made me feel better. The feeling of breathing well came back. He made me feel complete again. But while I would've loved to live in this moment, I had to clear something up. "Where do we stand on our engagement?" He looked down at me and smiled calmly.
"What do you want to do with our engagement? Because I would marry you tomorrow if I could." His words made me smile. We were back and hopefully better than we were.
"I think that we should take some time for ourselves just to get everything back and then we make the engagement press official."
"That sounds perfect."