*Nevaeh’s p.o.v*
To say everyone was surprised to see Ben and I at lunch was an understatement.
“Ben! There you are, thank goodness you’re okay!” Exclaimed Audrey, coming up to us with her arm entangled with Chad’s.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay, Auds?” Ben asked, grabbing a tray for the both of us to share.
“Because you’re with HER and haven’t been to classes for the past 3 days!” She cried out.
“Yeah, the coach was also worried since you weren’t at practice.” Chad cut in, his gaze never leaving my figure and causing the hairs at the back of my neck to stand up.
“Creep.” I mumbled while putting a bowl of fruits on our tray.
“Guys, thanks for being concerned and all, but I’m fine. I was with my GIRLFRIEND, helping her with our French Family project.” Ben explained, putting emphasis on the word ‘girlfriend’, as he placed two salad bowls; one had chicken and strawberries in it (mine) and the other had salmon and apple slices (his).
As he did that, I grabbed a medium sized bowl that was filled with mini chocolate chip cookies to put on our tray.
“Just be careful, benny-bear, we wouldn’t want her claws to sink too deeply into you with your coronation so close by.” Sighs Audrey before walking away with Chad and her lunch.
“Little does she know, your claws are already too deep into me.” Ben whispered in my ear hotly.
“And I don’t plan on ever letting go.” I smirked, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Once we got our lunch, we went to our usual table where our friends were.
“OMG! Where have you two been? I haven’t seen you in forever after!” Exclaimed Justine, reaching over the table to hug me.
“Wow, never thought I’d see the day that Ben would wear something not royal blue and yellow.” Joked Elianna, making us laugh.
“Not gonna lie, kind of thought you two eloped, or something.” Nigel said with a casual shrug. Ben and I glanced at each other, which I guess wasn’t the best idea because the action alerted Raelynn as her eyes went wide.
“You did, didn’t you?!” She exclaimed, pointing a finger at us.
“No! Of course not.” I giggled, quickly shooting down the idea before any rumors were to spread.
“I think her dad would kill me if I did that, Rae.” Ben smiled nervously. I picked out a green grape from the fruit bowl and held it to his mouth, smiling when he ate it.
“Oh, yeah! You mentioned your dad on the phone, so spill!” Urged Lonnie, a big smile on her face. It was then that I noticed Evie, Carlos, Mal, and Jay walking.
“Okay, but Evie deserves to be present, too. Evie!” I explained before calling my cousin over. Her eyes widened upon seeing me as a smile broke out on her face.
‘I’m glad she’s not listening to her mom about the whole ‘laughing or giggling can cause wrinkles’ thing because her smile is so beautiful.’ I thought.
“N! It’s so good to have you back!” She squealed, moving her lunch tray in one hand to hug me with the other.
“Okay, everyone sit. I have some explaining to do about where I’ve been.” I ordered. Once everyone was seated, I began to relay my adventures with Ben on the search for my father. I even showed them the ring he would’ve given my mother.
“I’m hoping he’ll come for Family Day so you can meet him in person, E. I know he’ll love you as his own.” I smiled, placing my hands over Evie’s.
“It seems our little family is growing with each day.” She giggled.
"Wait, do you know what this means?” Elianna questioned, making all our eyes turn to her.
“No… what?” Asked Carlos, eating his pudding cup, and since it was chocolate he had to keep it from Dude.
“By technicality, Nevaeh would be crowned princess since she’s the only eligible offspring of King Orion. If he’s already claimed you and accepted you as his daughter, it’s only a matter of time until you’d get a royal ball thrown in your honor. You technically can’t be sent back to the Isle since you’re in line of succession and can one day be queen!” She exclaimed.
Mal’s eyes widened, Evie squealed, Carlos and Jay choked on their food a bit, and I gasped.
“But she’d be queen of a kingdom either way if Ben decides to marry her in the future.” Justine pointed out, making Ben and I blush.
The idea of being married to Ben is both scary and exciting at the same time, however that’s still so far away into the future, so I won’t be thinking about that right now.
“I’m sorry, what!? You’re going to believe some random, old stranger that you just met? You don’t even know if he’s telling the truth or not, or maybe your mom tricked you into following her little clues to see if you’d really be so stupid, and fall for it,” Mal breathed, her tone sounding harsh.
“M, calm down.” Raelynn softly spoke, as she gently tugged on the fae’s arm, Snatching her arm back and ultimately ignoring the hurt look on Raelynn'sf face, Mal stood up with her things, and looked me in the eyes, her own glowing a vibrant, malicious green.
“News flash, Nevaeh! You’re a VK! He’s a powerful king! HE WANTS NOTHING TO DO WITH US, WITH YOU, OR YOUR MOM!” Exclaimed Mal, who was practically seething at this point.
‘Wonder what ruffled her feathers? Just because her dad can’t be in her life, doesn’t mean that the rest of us have to live like that as well. Bitch needs to dial her attitude down and take a chill pill.’ I thought to myself, mentally rolling my eyes. The quiet that took place was eerie as I kept a pierced gaze at Mal.
“Breathe. Ma reine, you’re not breathing.” Ben whispered in my ear. I let out a breath through my nose that I didn’t know I was holding in.
“Shit’s about to go down.” I heard Jay whisper to Nigel.
“My money’s on Nevaeh.” Nigel and Jay said in unison. Holding eye contact with Mal, I let my eyes flash blue before a small giggle escaped my lips. Turning to my friends, I gave them a small smile.
“Ben and I will see you guys later. I believe I promised a second date, mon roi, so let’s go.” I offered him my hand, to which he gently kissed before grabbing it.
Waving my hand, I magically boxed our barely touched lunch- because I don’t like wasting food- and placed it in a bag. Casting a smug smirk at Mal, I waved goodbye to my friends before walking away with Ben.
XXX
“Is it wrong or bad that I was kind of looking forward to you…” Be trailed off, rubbing the nape of his neck sheepishly. I raised an eyebrow, teasingly.
“What? Beat her up?” I asked, amused.
“I was going to say put her in her place, but that works, too.” He chuckled, making me giggle.
“You’re unbelievable, beasty.” I smiled, to which he casually shrugged his shoulders before wrapping an arm around my shoulders. We continued to walk until we were in front of the school where a limo was waiting.
“So, my beautiful girlfriend, where are you taking me?” He asked as we got inside the vehicle.
I pulled out my phone, going to the address of the place I had in mind, and showed it to the driver without Ben noticing. Once the driver placed the address in the GPS, he rolled up the partition before driving off.
“It’s a surprise, one I hope you’ll like, but you can know that afterwards we’ll have a mini picnic before going for some ice-cream.” I explained. He smiled at me before giving me a kiss on the lips.
“Sounds like a great second date.” He smiled, making me smile. It wasn’t long before the limo stopped at our destination. Getting out, I couldn’t help but grin when Ben’s jaw dropped and his eyes went wide.
“Ta da!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands out for dramatic flare.
“I-I don’t know what to say…” He stated as he looked at the big open-sign in neon letters. We had arrived at Lancelot’s Laser Tag Arena, a place I came across a few days after Ben and I’s first date, when I was looking for possible date ideas and locations to try out that I thought he might like.
This place came up and I thought it was a good idea, not to mention it can easily be a good stress reliever, something I know he really needs, especially with his coronation coming up.
“Do you like it?” I asked, nervously.
Glancing at me, then at the building, and then back at me again, my nerves vanished when he scooped me up in his arms, and twirled us around, a laugh bubbling out of our lips.
“I love it! I can’t even remember the last time I ever went to one of these, it’s been so long.” He confessed after setting me down. Cupping my cheeks, he leaned down to give me a sweet, passionate kiss, one that I found myself smiling into.
“Fuck, I love you so much, ma reine. Thank you so much.” He whispered against my lips.
“And I love you, mon roi. Now, let’s go blast some people!” I cheered, taking his hand in mine as we went inside.
When we got inside, we got out guns and vests before we were told that we were going up against four other teams; purple, red, green, and orange while we were team blue. It wasn’t long before we were allowed inside a dark, black room with objects and LED lights outlining the walls and the obstacles we’d have to face.
It wasn’t long before the game began, and let me tell you that being able to shoot people with lasers and get away with it is so much fun! We were practically running high on the adrenaline rush and excitement of the game.
Ben and I ended up separating to cover more ground. I’m not going to bore you with the gaming details, but just know that at the end of the session Ben and I won, and the prize was a free gift card to Tiana’s Palace!
“I’ve never laser-tagged before, but that was so much fun!” I exclaimed as we left the place.
“I know, right!? I totally forgot how much fun I used to have coming here. And we got a free gift card to Tiana’s Palace.” He smiled before smirking at me towards the end.
“I’m assuming that’s our 3rd date?” I asked him, only for him to shake his head.
“No. 3rd date is when I’m taking you to the observatory my castle has.” He smiled, making me blush.
“Come on, let’s go have our picnic, and then it’s ice cream time!” I cheered. Chuckling, he helped me into the awaiting limo before getting in himself, and with that we were on our way back to campus.
XXX
“Can I ask why you didn’t last out at Mal earlier at lunch?” He asked as he watched me magically set up our picnic on the grass and in the shade.
“I could’ve, but I guess I was just in too good of a mood to let her words bother me.” I sighed with a shrug while pouring some lemonade into a cup for Ben before making one for myself.
“That’s good. She was way out of line for talking about it like that anyways. She could’ve tried being more supportive about everything.” He stated, making me pout.
“I know, right!? I’m not going to turn my back on the people of the Isle simply because of the new information I’ve received, but finding out about my other half, my heritage, that’s a big deal.” I said.
“It is. Everyone else was happy for you, I don’t why she lashed out like that.” He pointed out, eating a forkful of his salad.
“And did you see the way she treated Rae when she was only trying to calm her down? That was so mean.” I sighed, thinking about Hood’s daughter.
“Okay, enough about her. Let’s just enjoy the rest of our date.” He suggested, cupping my cheeks, and kissing my forehead.
After eating our food and playing grape toss (he threw a lot at me and expected me to catch them all in my mouth! Rude!), we just laid on the picnic blanket that I had conjured up, and watched the clouds, trying to find shapes in them.
“Should we skip the ice cream?” He asked after what seemed like 45 minutes, as my head laid on his chest.
“Why?” I questioned, feeling my eyelids begin to drop. He gave a light chuckle.
“Because you’re getting tired, mon fleur. You’ve had a long couple of days, time to get some rest.” He hummed as he stroked through my hair.
“Yeah, well, stroking my hair isn’t helping, beasty. Admit it, you just want me gone.” I yawned.
“Never. I want you by my side for forever after, however, right now I want you to get some sleep. Come on, I’ll take you to your dorm.” He said as he started helping me to get up.
He rolled up the blanket and took my hand in his as we made our way to the dorms.
Once we got to my dorm, he pressed his body against my own which was against the door and began peppering kisses on my neck to my shoulders, then down to my chest where the necklace he gave me rested before going back to my neck, and ending at my lips.
“What was that for?” I asked, sighing in contentment. He smiled at me.
“Because I love reminding you about how much you mean to me, ma reine.” He explained, making me blush.
“I love you, too, my future king.” I smiled before entering my dorm. Sighing, I looked in my dresser for some lounge/pajama clothes, soon settling on a gray satin combo before heading to the bathroom.
XXX
Stripping off her clothes and heels (quite surprised at herself for being able to wear them all day) she prepared a nice vanilla and hibiscus scented bubble bath, stepping into the bathtub, and sighing once the warm water coated her body.
After about an hour, the water began to get cold, so getting out she wrapped a towel around her body before draining the tub.
Once she had put lotion on her skin, she changed into her pajamas, wrapping her hair in a messy bun before flopping back, face first onto her bed; she made herself comfortable before falling asleep.
( Her pajamas, but gray instead^^)