"Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol’ days,
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out."
- Twenty One Pilots
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The bell rings as soon as I finish writing the last word. I take a deep breath and turn over my paper to the invigilator. Finally, my exams were done and I could relax for a bit.
Oh who am I kidding? I can't relax! Ever since Phil told me about the choice he had to make, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Only God knows how I studied for my exams.
I pick up my bag from the floor with some difficulty, thanks to my bulging stomach. Almost seven months pregnant. Oh, how time flies. Two months more and my life will change completely. I walk down the hallway, followed by a trail of people who were staring at me, the 18 year old girl with the huge belly. I got used to that long ago.
I unlock my phone to see a text from Madison. 'Picking you up in 10' it read. She sent that message six minutes ago. She would be here soon. I sit on a bench and sigh. I still couldn't get Phil out of mind. We were pretending that everything was normal when we were together, but obviously that wasn't the case.
I smiled at a familiar tree standing next to me. It was the spring season, and everything was lush and green, including the tree. Liam and I had a tree just like this in our backyard when we were young. I patted it's bark. So many memories were attached to that tree. I keep on staring at the tree until I decide to call Liam. He would definitely know how to calm me down.
He picked up after four rings. "Hi Amelia. What's up?" "Hi Lee. Not much, I guess. What are you doing?", I ask. "Getting ready for school.", he says. "How are your studies going? Are you catching up?"
"Kind of. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Now tell me, what's bothering you?", he asks. "Uh, it's just that Phil and his mom had a fight a few days ago. And it got ugly.", I say slowly. "What was the fight about?", he asks.
"About how he was paying more attention to me more than his studies. And his duties too. He's becoming King in six months, and he isn't preparing for it in any way. And the Queen thinks it's because of me. Which it is, definitely.", I say, while I draw patterns on the bark of the tree.
"Excuse me? How is it your mistake? You both are going to have a child together! You are his responsibility and even though I agree that he is going to be a king blah blah, but what matters more is that his child is coming into this world in two months!", he argued.
"I don't know, Liam. And worse, his fight ended with the queen giving him a choice." "A choice? What kind of choice?", he asks. I let out a breath.
"A choice between me and his own family.", I say sadly. Liam goes silent on the other line. "Are you kidding me right now? What is wrong with her? She is literally telling Phil to choose sides and families? What happens if he chooses you?"
"If he chooses me, he'll lose everything. His Royal life, his kingdom and his family. If he chooses them, he'll have to lose me. As in, he can be with the baby, but not with me. We'll have to do some co-parenting shit.", I say and put my hand on my head.
"This is so stupid! What is wrong with her? Can't she see her son is happy?", he shouts. "I don't know what to do.", I say, exasperated.
"Listen, Ames. I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I trust Phil. After all you both have been through, I know he will not just let you go like that. Amd I'm not saying that he'll choose you or something. He loves his own family as much as he loves you. He'll figure something out and in the end you'll be one big happy family. Okay?"
I sigh in relief. That did make a lot of sense. "Mia, I would love to talk, but Jaden is here amd we need to go for class.", he says. I freeze at the mention of Jaden's name. "Uh, Liam, how is he?", I ask.
"Who? Jaden? He's... fine. He's okay.", Liam says uncertainly. "Good.", was all I could reply to that. "Okay, now I really need to go. Call me later, okay? And keep me updated. Bye, love."
I say bye and end the call. I realize that Madison isn't here yet. I call her. "Bitch, where you at? I'm so hungry, and so is the baby!", I whine. "Stuck in traffic. Be there in a second. How was your exam?"
"Fine. Now come here fast.", I demand. I spot her car coming towards me and I cut the call. She reaches in a second. I sit in her car and she drives to our favourite fast food restaurant. We park the car and order something after we are seated. "You don't look relaxed for someone who's exams just got over.", she remarks.
"Madison, my boyfriend has to choose between his family and me. Should I be relaxed?", I ask. That shuts her up. The waitress serves our order, and we silently eat. "I'm going to Eric's. You wanna come?", she asks. I shake my head. "I think I'll just go to sleep. Better than worrying, I suppose."
After our meal, Madison drops me to our dorm and then goes to Eric's. I walk towards my dorm and sit on the bed. With nothing else to do, I slip into my pajamas and go to sleep.
I am woken by my ringtone. I check the time, and I've been asleep for three hours. I pick up my phone. "Babe, are you okay? You weren't answering my texts for a long time.", Phil's voice says.
"Don't worry, I was just asleep. Is something wrong?", I say, groggy. "Nothings wrong, its just that Eric just texted me that his dad wants to meet him at his house. Can you get ready in say, twenty minutes?"
"Yeah. See you in twenty." I say and cut the call. I get up lazily, and wear a pair of leggings and a full sleeved t shirt. I don't even bother to comb my hair, just put it in a bun. I check my feed until Phil comes to pick me up.
"Wow, someone put a lot of effort in their look.", Phil says as soon as I sit in the car seat. I give him look which shuts him up. He still bends down to give me a kiss, which I gladly accept. We drive in silence, with his one hand on mine.
We reached Eric's house. I got down and felt warm air on my face. Summer was almost here. Phil took my hand and we walked till the front door. I knocked twice.
We were greeted by Eric. He smiled at us, but it wasn't his usual smile. It was different somehow, as if he had something else in his mind. He welcomed us in and took us to the living room where we were greeted by his father and Madison.
"Good evening, Mr. Deveraux.", I politely said, to which he smiled and wished me back. I sat down on a chair opposite to the sofa, where he and Mads were seated. She smiled at me.
"I apologize for the short notice, but I needed to talk to the both of you. It's a matter of urgency.", he begins. Phil and I look at each other, and Phil nods at him to continue.
"I need you both to run away together."
What? Run away? Is he serious? Ofcourse he is. I furrow my eyebrows and look at Madison in confusion. She nods at me determinedly. "Mr. D, what are you talking about? Run away? Where? Why?", Phil says, voicing my confusion.
Mr. Deveraux nods solemnly. "Yes. Run away. To where and when, we'll decide now." "But why? Did something happen?", I ask, concerned.
He looks at me. "No. Not yet. But I don't want to wait for something bad to happen. I know what Her Majesty is thinking. She doesn't like Phil with you, Amelia. She wants to separate you both. Do you know about the choice he has to make?" He pauses, and I nod.
"Well, I don't want him to choose between you and his own mother. So I thought about it, and I decided that I will help you run away. I will send you money every week, and you can work too. And I can help you change identities. Everything is going to be fine.", he assured.
"Will all due respect Mr. Deveraux, why are you doing this for us?", I ask slowly. He smiles. "Because I like you, Amelia. I know you and Phil love each other, I see it in both of your eyes. And I know that you don't mean to disrupt Phil's life and that you want what's best for him. He is just like my son, and I think you are right for him.", he replies.
My eyes fill with tears. I never thought he thought such good things about me. And his concern moved me. Just like a father would have been concerned. Suddenly he was not only a father to Phil, but to me also.
Phil takes my hand, but he wasn't looking at me. He looks at Mr. Deveraux and says, "I agree that something should be done before things get from bad to worse, but Mr. D, I believe this is not right thing. Running away from our problems won't solve them."
Mr. Deveraux sighs. "I know, Phillipe. But we can't do anything else. Your mother is a very headstrong woman. You know she won't take no for an answer."
"But she has to! I'm not going to choose between my birth mother and the woman I love!", he shouts. I grip his hand tightly, signaling him to calm down. He looks at me and I give him a look.
Eric purses his lips at his tone. "Phil, buddy, I get it. But you know you're mother won't listen. She always gets her way remember?" Phil runs a hand through his hair.
I chime in. "Eric, I understand. But we can't just leave, you know? We have a life here. I have to complete my studies and Phil has a fucking kingdom to run. We can't run away, not now, not when the situation is this bad."
"Mia, but what's the alternative? You both break up? Raise the baby as co-parents? We all know that's not possible. So are we left with any another choice?", Madison tries to explain.
She was right. We weren't having a lot of options here. I looked at Phil in despair. He looks at me helplessly. "Think about it. You know you can't do anything else about this. The arrangements will be made. What do you say?", Eric's father asks us.
"Mr. Deveraux, I appreciate and respect your love and concern for us. But Amelia is right, we can't just leave the life we have here. We have to try to talk to Mother. Maybe, she'll listen to what I have to say and she will change her mind. I'm not saying it is definitely going to work, but we need to atleast try it.", Phil says.
Mr. Deveraux thinks for a second, then nods. "Okay. I hope she understands. But if she doesn't?", he questions.
Phil clenches his jaw. "Then Amelia and I run away."
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A/n: Hiiiiiii!!!! I missed you guys so much! So sorry for the delayed chapter, something came up. But now that I'm back, I'll write the last chapter quickly, don't you worry.
Next chapter will be the last one, so obviously it will long. And a bit complicated too, but I really hope you'll like it :)
Until then, bye! ♡
Love,
Drish. ❤