ALEXA
Sunday 25, November
We were a few minutes away from Kat's country, and the individual herself had spent the last twenty minutes pacing the ground.
"Kat, I think you should buckle in," I warned, patting the plush sofa that was beside my aircraft recliner.
Kat spent no time in lounging around her private jet, a few minutes after we had ascended. She took to rummaging through the bar, snacking from the fridge and sprawling across the plush sofa.
I instead, was still buckled into my seat, considering my fear of flights had not diminished.
"I'm too nervous!" She cried, bouncing on the balls of her feet. I knew the movement would not affect the plane's movements yet the sight of the action made me internally panic.
"Kat! What's the worse that can happen?" I said, suppressing a laugh at my friend's state.
"My whole family hates me, the whole country hates me, the ghost of my father comes back to haunt me-"
"Can you PLEASE stop pacing?" Nate groaned, from his seat.
This was the first time that he had spoken since we entered the jet. He had been so quiet and observant as usual that I had forgotten that he was even there.
His curls were all messy from being tussled under his hoodie, and his lopsided lazy smile that was stretching across his face, meant that Kat had just awakened him from sleeping.
"I didn't invite you on this trip to snap at me Hartley," Kat hissed, narrowing her eyes at the nonchalant boy before her.
He simply shrugged before reclining into his seat and returning his gaze to the window.
"Maybe Nate is right Kat," I said cautiously. She rose an eyebrow and crossed her arms.
"Take a seat and relax," I suggested, "Why fuss over the unknown?"
"Of course I'm right," Nate chirped from across the cabin, and Kat rolled her eyes so far back into her head, I was almost sure she was possessed.
"Now that you guys are official, you guys are going to be even more nauseatingly cute."
Nate straightened up in his seat and turned to face me, his lips curling into a mischievous smirk.
"That sounds like a challenge, right baby?"
Considering that Nate and I had only become official the day before, that was the first time he had called me any pet names.
As expected, my insides warmed at the sound of the affectionate name, although I knew it was only to annoy Kat.
Kat made a disgustingly loud retching sound, while making a gesture that she wanted to puke.
All the while there was a hint of a smile, threatening to form at the corners of her lips.
At least she's not pacing anymore.
"Sure babe, actually, I think you're too far away. Why don't you come over here and cuddle with me?" I teased, smirking at Katherine.
She gagged, and dramatically shuddered, finally plopping herself onto the plush sofa.
"It's a good thing we land in two minutes."
Nate caught my gaze and sent me a wink, making me feel all bubbly inside again.
I completely forgot that we were supposed to be torturing Katherine.
Here we were, miles away from Father and able to spend time with each other without any interruptions.
I couldn't wait to land.
<< >>
"That's your room Nate, Alexa's sleeping with me."
Kat said, as she opened the door to Nate's suite.
His jaw dropped and he clutched onto the doorframe to steady himself.
"Now this is what I call a bedroom," He said, nodding as he scoped the room.
He dropped his duffel bag on the floor and ran towards the bed, kicking off his shoes before he threw himself upon it.
"This is as comfy as it looks, I think I might cry," He said, sniffling dramatically.
"Alex told me that you're a foodaholic, there's a mini fridge in the corner, and ring my assistant if you want any room service." Kat said, smiling at the ecstatic boy.
"For real?" He gasped, sitting up into a cross-legged position.
"For real," I answered, unable to contain a grin at his excitement.
"Maybe I do like palaces after all," Nate said, lying back into the pillow.
"We'd be back Hartley," Kat called out, as she dragged me away from the room and towards her own.
A few pictures on the wall were covered, and it didn't take a genius to figure out whose portraits they were.
Kat followed my trail of sight and sighed, "I still don't want to believe it."
We approached her door and I turned to her, throwing my arms around as I hugged her tightly.
"I appreciate you bringing Nate along, and I hope you know that this doesn't change anything. I'd still be here for you every step of the way."
When I stepped back, she quickly wiped a tear away and cursed, "Shit, I'm like a leaky faucet. I hate crying."
"Crying is good for the soul,"I laughed, as I turned the knob to her room.
The lights were already on, and a figure was already seated upon her bed.
I screamed, throwing my phone in his direction, and he caught it effortlessly with a stretch of his long arm.
Kat rushed in the room to stand beside me, and instead of being startled as I was, her knees buckled when her eyes met the grinning boy on the the bed.
"Surprise?" Harry offered, smiling sheepishly.
Kat made a noise that was a cross between a sob and a squeal and ran towards her boyfriend.
"What kind of shitty boyfriend would I be if I wasn't here to support you?"
Kat answered by throwing her arms around him and planting a kiss on his cheek.
"How'd you even get in here?"
Harry smirked cocked a brow at her, "Your mom let me in, she said I'm the handsomest guy you've been with."
"She's not wrong," I agreed, lifting my shoulder in a shrugging manner.
The couple turned to me, as if now remembering my presence and simply stared at me.
"I-uh. I'm leaving now. Gotta.." I trailed off, as I couldn't think of a proper excuse.
I spun on my heel and ran out the room, giving the couple their privacy.
I skidded to a stop before my room, and decided to head to Nate's own instead.
He was sprawled across the bed, munching on a sandwich when I appeared in the doorway.
"Why is this not surprising?" I snickered to myself. Nate rose his head at the sound and smiled at me before continuing to eat.
"Get dressed, I'm taking you on a date Hartley!" I called over my shoulder, as I stalked off towards my room.
"What?" I heard him cry from within his room.
I stifled a giggle at his childish antics and continued on my way to collect my suitcase.
~
"Can you stop staring at my butt!" I chuckled, kicking water in Nate's direction.
We both were sitting at the edge of the pool, with our feet submerged under the freezing water.
His gaze flitted away and landed on the water.
"Why'd you bring me to the pool? To humiliate me?" He huffed, pouting for extra effect.
It was near evening now and Nate and I- actually I-, decided to come to the pool for some relaxation after a long day.
Considering Kat was with her family for most of the day, handling arrangements for both funeral ceremonies, Nate and I spent most of the day around town on a date.
"I vote for round two of the theme park!" Nate suggested, pointing in the direction of the pool's exit.
The majority of our evening was spent in Durlia's famous carnival.
Nate and I hadn't walked with much money, so after walking around and watching the locals have fun on the rides and mini-games, we decided to try one game-mini golf- which ended with me whacking a random guy in the eye on accident with the stick.
"I rather return to Avoinne's," I shivered, wincing at the memory of the guy's swollen eye at the carnival and him ranting away in a foreign language.
"This is why I love you, I'm all for returning to Avoinne's! We get to make our own pizza and eat it too!" He sniffled dramatically, and clutched his chest.
"Nice try babe, but I'm staying in the pool." I swam across to the edge of the pool, and reached for my duffel bag.
While Nate was busy huffing and pouting, I discreetly slipped Kat's water gun out of my duffel bag and dunked it in the water.
The sound caught Nate's attention, but I quickly submerged the gun under water, and played the sound off as me splashing the water with my foot.
He shrugged before propping himself against the pool chair, and staring up at the sky.
He looked so peaceful and innocent.
I almost felt bad about what I was about to do. Almost.
When I resurfaced the gun, Nate caught the action in his peripheral and his eyes widened.
"Lex... Princess, baby? I'm not armed. This is unfair!" He whined, attempting to scramble to his feet.
I ignored him and dived into the water, squealing in delight at the cold refreshing temperature.
When I resurfaced to above water, Nate was glaring at me, although still wary of the weapon in my hands.
"Show off," He grumbled, splashing water in my direction with his foot.
"The water's not that deep, you can come in!" I suggested, motioning for him to climb in.
"I rather meet my fate with the water gun," He scoffed, with a wave of the hand.
"Is that so?"
At the sight of my devilish grin, his smile dropped and he scrambled to his feet.
I tried to climb out of the water while holding the gun, but to no avail. I eventually gave up after a few seconds of struggling, and Nate's snickering and taunting and threw the gun over the edge and climbed out of the water.
Nate was quicker. He dived for the gun and held it out of my reach by the time I had gotten out of the water.
"No fair!" I yelled, stretching for the gun, he held out a hand restraining me from moving forward.
"The shoe's on the other foot now, isn't it shorty." He taunted, dangling the gun above my head.
"Yo Hartley! Alex!"
Nate and I paused our play-fighting to peer through the darkness to find the source of the voice.
There was only one person that called me Alex.
"Look! Up there!" I pointed upwards towards the third-floor balcony, where Kat and Harry were both standing.
"Come on up! We have food and wine!" Kat yelled. From where I was standing, I saw that she and Harry were both in silk robes.
Nate dropped the gun at the mention of food and instinctively started shuffling towards the exit.
"C'mon Lex!"
I stooped to collect my towel and duffel bag and shouldered them, leaving me with free hands to handle the dropped weapon.
"Lex?"
He peered over his shoulder to see if I was close behind and a look of resignation crossed his face at the sight of the water gun.
I smiled devilishly at him as I began to follow behind him.
"Run."
He wasted no time in sprinting off, darting towards the Pool's exit, and I wasted none in following close behind, completely soaking him with water.
We continued like that, chasing each other while he protested and I squealed, both seeming like crazed little children, until Kat came downstairs and dragged us both inside like naughty children.
"Now go catch change your clothes and meet me in my room," She ordered, pushing us towards Nate's room.
We were both soaking wet and shivering and I was certain I resembled a drenched rat.
We nodded, unable to defy Kat's wrath and silently entered Nate's room to change; I claiming the bathroom, while he, the bedroom.
The next day, Kat told us that when she and Harry returned to drag us out the room for taking too long; they found us both cuddled up against each other fast asleep, in warm clothes.
I guess it was well deserved after a long day of excitement.
<< >>
I hated funerals.
I was yet to find a single person that didn't dislike them, but I however, defeated them.
The somber, depressing aura, the equally morbid music, the dozens of people with similar grimaces, who all seemed to whisper the same attempt of an encouragement to the mourner.
"Stay strong, they wouldn't want to see you cry,"
It was all so mentally draining.
Uncle Max's funeral was no different.
Thankfully it was a small congregation, having being the private ceremony.
"Thank you Katherine," The priest said with a weak smile. He approached the podium, and attempted to help Katherine descend, but Harry beat him to the task.
He was a perfect gentleman throughout the entire morning. He was right beside Kat as she was forced to socialize with well-wishers, and right at her side as they opened the coffin.
Katherine had to be the bravest girl I knew, I had always admired her strength, even since were we little girls.
The confident defiant way she used to defend herself whenever scolded, or whenever doubted.
I can count on one hand the number of times, I have ever seen Katherine cry.
This funeral was not one of them.
Katherine greeted every well-wisher with a smile, swallowed her pain and unblinkedly stared back at her father when the coffin was opened, and beautifully delivered his eulogy with Harry and I at either side.
She was incredibly strong and I loved her for it, the crazy thing about it all was the fact that she wasn't feigning the strength.
If Kat wanted to cry, she would have. She was amongst family and close friends, she really was holding up all on her own.
Harry and I led her back to our seats, and Nate took my hand in his when I returned to my seat.
"Forgive me if this is inappropriate to say in a funeral, but you look absolutely gorgeous Princess," He murmured in my ear.
I dramatically gasped and nudged his shoulder, "Nate Hartley, are you flirting with me in a funeral?"
He shrugged, not tearing his eyes away from the podium where the priest was continuing his sermon.
"This isn't uncomfortable for you right?" I whispered, suddenly conscious about the intensity Nate was observing everything around him.
He shook his head before ducking slightly to whisper in my ear, "I've never been to one before. A depressing thing this is huh?"
He's never been to one?
At my bewildered expression, he ducked his head again to clarify, "That asshole of a father of yours never returned dad's body to us. There was never a funeral."
I covered my mouth with my free hand to suppress a gasp. Nate wasn't even allowed the decency of closure.
The body was never returned to the Alexanders to say their formal goodbyes.
Everyone around us began rising from their seats. The funeral was over. I couldn't move from my seat, I felt too ill.
"Lex? Ceremony's over." Nate said, tugging on my arm in attempts of waking me out of my thoughts.
I scanned the hall for a slim brown-skinned girl and found her nestled under Harry's arm as they sat in the front pew.
"Lex," Nate called again.
I slowly met his eyes and he took my other hand in his, "What's wrong?"
"I really don't get it. My dad's been an absolute prick to you. He destroyed your childhood. How can you possibly bare to be with me? To even look me in the eye?"
I felt guilty by association, my household caused him grief.
I tried to retract my hand from his but he tightened his grip.
"Alexa, we've been over this. I could never hate you. It wasn't you that did the crime. Sure, it's difficult knowing I'm dating the daughter of the guy I hate most, and some days it's difficult to even stomach the sight of the palace... but it's all worth it."
"You understand me, you understand me and you never tried to fix me or change me, you love me for me. You're a good person Princess," He assured me, before kissing my temple.
I snuggled into his chest and looked on as Kat and her mother embraced each other before the King's coffin.
The sight of the bond triggered a thought and then the words were out my mouth before I could have stopped them.
"Nate?"
"Yes Princess?" He let go of one of my hands, only to stroke my hair soothingly.
I bit my lip, contemplating whether or not I should have asked the question.
Nate was super sensitive and the last thing I wanted was for him to shut me out at that moment.
"What is it?" He prompted when a few minutes of silence went by.
Ah, screw it.
"Have you ever thought about reaching out to your mom?"
Surprisingly, he didn't freeze up or even flinch.
"I have actually, a few weeks after you returned to the Palace. I went to the Ministry to get some answers."
"And?" I shifted in my seat so that I could have seen his face.
He smiled down at me and I was so bewildered by nonchalant he was about this topic.
"Yeah I know where she went," he admitted.
"No I'm not telling you," he said mid-chuckle, when I opened my mouth to speak.
"I know you Lex, you'd find yourself in your fancy jet to harass her."
"It's not harassment!" I whined, "I was just going to ask her a few questions!"
Like how on earth you could have given birth to such a precious child and abuse him, and abandon him when he needed you most.
"It's okay. I don't need the answers. I'm content with not knowing,"
I nodded and returned my attention to the front of the hall. Kat and her siblings were all embracing their mother. The coffin was gone.
"Do you think you'd ever try to find her?"
"Maybe, when the time seems right."
<< >>
🌚
#Nexa dates!!!
Here's another cute yet sentimental chappie!❤️
Favourite part?
Love you guys!!!!!! 💋
~Sierra