Normal POV
"Frederick did you know Aria was 17?", Lady Annissa asked as they all sat at the breakfast table that morning. They had already talked about the fashion- don't- show and agreed that she was to always arrive with someone to avoid future situations.
"Yes mother, we came to that understanding rather quickly.", he responded, lip turned up in a grin as he ate a spoonful of egg.
The older woman swatted her hand in his direction, making a face at him, "Don't be a twat at the breakfast table, young man." Aria almost choked on her juice and it didn't help that Eleanora and Evangeline looked as if this was the first time such vulgar words violated their "innocent" ears.
Annissa rolled her eyes at the two, stirring her tea, "As I was saying, she is 17 years old, perfect time for her coming out party.", she suggested eating a piece of whatever the hell that was on her plate. The entire table went silent for a moment; only a moment.
"You know what? Dare I say, that's a splendid idea mother!", Frederick exclaimed, clapping his hands together happily.
Eleanora however, didn't seem too keen on the idea, "Dear are you sure that would be a good idea?", she asked wearily, giving him a 'Is something wrong with your head?' look. They just met her and he's already trying to bring her into their lives, "You should really think this through", she pleaded not so discreetly, her fake smile growing more and more forced as the days went by.
Frederick seemed to ignore her pestering, looking over at Aria once more, "Nonsense, I don't see why we shouldn't, Evangeline had one and it's only right seeing as she's of age", he explained offering a smile which she returned with an orange wedge in her mouth.
Earning disgusted looks from those seated across her, she spit of the peel, wiping the juice from her face. "Uh question?", she said, raising her hand as if she was back in preschool, "No offense, but what am I of age for exactly?", she asked the table, honestly clueless of the topic at hand, "And I'm coming out as?"
Frederick could help, but snicker at her confusion. Of course she wouldn't understand all of the customs and traditions here; he made note to have Evangeline give her a few pointers and help steer her in the right direction.
His grin fell upon catching the pointed look his fiancée shot him, "A coming out party is when a young girl uh preferably around your age has a ball of some sort to announce that she is become a woman and can now be approached by possible suitors", he explained.
As simple as he made it sound, Aria was still having a hard time grasping it, "So it's kinda like an auction of girls, like in Taken?", she asked, before cocking her head to the side, "Isn't that illegal?"
Aria and everyone jumped when Frederick started coughing, spitting out his tea. He slapped his own chest while simultaneously trying to wipe the mess from his clothes, "W- wha- no no no!", he croaked through fits of coughs. Aria thought he was dying for a second, "n- not trafficking it- its...", he was visibly struggling to get his words together, the tips of his ears going bright red.
"Oh get your knickers out of a twist
Freddy", his mother finally stepped in, saving him from his embarrassment. She turned to Aria, putting her hand over hers, "It's just a big party to announce that you're coming out as a women for possible suitors and such, kind of like a birthday party", she explained kindly, "No marriage is required or anything", she explained patiently to the girl, "at least not anymore", she added.
Realization appeared on Aria's face, "Oh", she said quietly, nodding her head. That sounded way better than what she thought it was. She couldn't help but feel foolish and embarrassed.
Evangeline snickered from where she sat across from her at the table, "Who would wanna stand near her let alone marry her", she giggled with her nose in the air.
Aria glared at the blonde, "I'll have you know I met a guy my first day here", she bragged, oblivious to Frederick's shocked looked. Was he feeling, dare I say, protective of Aria?
However, Evangeline snorted in reply, "He probably wanted you roasted over a fire pit for his luau", she sneered.
Everyone jumped when Aria slammed her fists on the table, standing up in her chair, "I warned you about calling me fat again", she growled, popping her knuckles, "I'm about to have you swallowing your freakin' teeth!"
The debutantes eyes went wide at the threat, "Mother!", she called in fear as Aria moved around the table. You could see her life flash before her eyes. Before Aria could lay a finger on her, Frederick had stepped into action.
"Girls!", he yelled, trying to hold her back from harming his stepdaughter, "Behave the both of y- ah!", she almost knocked him over in her struggling. Frederick looked at his fiancée for assistance, "I- I'll talk to Aria here and I'll see you all later on today?", he decided with pleading eyes.
Eleanora held her trembling daughter, glaring at Aria who glared back full force, "Fine", she huffed, collecting Evangeline like some little baby, "we have things to do anyway, don't we dear?"
Evangeline hummed in aggreance, her cockiness returned as if she wasn't about to piss herself seconds ago. The two women gathered their things and left the dining room.
He turned to his mother next, who was making no attempt to hide her laughter at the snobby girls expense, "Mother can I have the room for a moment?"
"Of course dear", the older woman nodded her head, wiping a tear of joy from her eye, "Go easy on her Freddy, the twit had it coming." Those were her parting words before leaving.
Once they were alone, Frederick let her go, guiding her back to her seat. He sighed, popping his shoulder loudly, "You're strong just like your mother", he commented, groaning in relief.
Aria hardly glanced at him, "I got her temper too", she muttered, forking at her breakfast. She knew what was about to happen; Frederick was gonna chew her out even if Evangeline started it.
The older man sighed, placing his hand over her own, "Listen Aria", he started in a soft voice, "I know this has been hard for you...for both of us really, but I want this to work", he admitted honestly, "I meant it, when I said I wanted you to stay for the summer. I know we have a lot of time to make up for and I want to fix it if you'd like to?"
Aria slowly raised her head, nodding at him. She would be a fool to come this far only to give up because of some spoiled wannabe princess.
It was worth putting aside her pride to see the joy on his face, "Fantastic!", he clapped his hands together. This was exactly what he needed to build the bridge between them; it wasn't much, but he was trying.
"You know the Baron, correct?", he asked only to receive a confused look from Aria.
"Well no matter", he said, shrugging his shoulders, "You see, his daughters, Coraline and Caroline are having their coming out party tomorrow and I was wondering...if it wasn't too much of a bother...if you would like to...well mind-"
"Are you asking me if I want to go?", Aria asked, seeing as he was struggling to say the words himself. She was positive that if she didn't, his brain would short circuit at the table.
Frederick froze at being called out, but nodded, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble", he asked quickly, trying to hide the flush that had took an refuge on his cheeks. "These types of things are usually drab and ass numbingly boring but it's good for shaking hands with the big wigs for my campaign", he explained, now returning to his normal self.
Aria contemplated for a moment, looking down at her plate, "That actually sounds nice, it'll be our second outing together aside from the incident." She thought they deserved a second try after the last fiasco.
The older man chuckled, "Yes, only better I assume", they both shared a laugh at that. Aria was surprised to hear it. It wasn't like he hadn't laughed before, but this laugh was different. Genuine.
"Promise to be on my best behavior", she swore, trying her best not to laugh as she held up her hand, crossing her heart, "Scouts honor."
Frederick couldn't help but laugh at her, "God you sound just like your mother", he huffed between chuckles, "I remember the time we-", whatever he was about to say was lost as he caught himself fantasizing about the past.
It was silent for a long time before Aria decided to speak, "I'll think about it", she whispered, breaking him from is daze, "the whole coming out party thing." She didn't understand the traditions here, but she would make an effort to find out. Maybe she'd take notes from the one the Baron was throwing?
Just like that, Frederick Henry Leopold the politician was back, erasing the man she was conversing with before, "Excellent, I'll leave my card so you can get anything you need shoes, dress and the lot. You have a good day", he said quickly, getting out of his chair to leave.
"Wait", Aria suddenly called making him stop in his tracks, turning back around to her. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, suddenly shy, "Thank you", she said quietly, looking down at her hands.
Frederick rebooted for a moment, not prepared for that. It cause an overwhelming wave of emotion to flush over his body. He just stood there blinking, swallowing the lump in his throat. He cleared his throat, offering a half smile, "You...you're quite welcome, Aria", he told her with as much feeling as he could at the moment. He felt accomplished when her eyes shined at his word.
"You enjoy you're day. Good-bye", with that, he turned on his heels, heading off to meet Johnston.
Once he was gone, Aria finally was able to breath again. She blinked wildly, pinching herself as to see if this was a dream. She wasn't just overreacting and reaching, was she? They had had a moment, albeit strange but still one nonetheless.
She fumbled to pull out her new phone, unlocking it and going to Ralph's contact on WhatsApp to tell him the good news. She brought the phone to her ear, waiting for him to pick up the phone. She would start getting ready when she got off the phone. She bounced in her spot, waiting almost 2 minutes from him to answer.
"Call not answered..."
She frowned before hanging up, "Guess he's busy", she shrugged it off, finishing her breakfast before going to get dressed. She had a long day ahead of her.
Endnotes: A double update? I shouldn't have lol. Enjoy