A/N: Would love it if you could vote and comment if you like it, thank you SO much!! This chapter is dedicated to @jpy-sofine, my un-official British dialect consultant (although any and all errors in that department are mine and mine alone!). Do yourself a tremendous favor and check out her incredible story, Lines We Forget!!
http://www.wattpad.com/story/23760480-lines-we-forget
I stayed true to my word to Maggie and maximized every minute with Alex. Sleeping next to him had become my new favorite thing ever. Scratch that, my SECOND favorite thing ever, as the only thing better than sleeping in a bed with Alex was... not sleeping in a bed with Alex.
We resumed our previous schedule of doing little each day, although our beach time was severely limited due to our inability to leave his bedroom for hours at a time. My friends had always talked about the early days of a new relationship, when you were both insatiable and were having sex constantly, and we were definitely in that stage. I was likely even more consumed with it as I was still learning so much from Alex every day.
After a couple days, we gave up all pretense of living separately when Alex told me to just move my stuff over, that it was silly for me to have to go over there to shower and get clothes every day when he had plenty of space for me at his villa. I completely agreed but hadn't felt like I could suggest it for fear that I'd scare him. I knew some guys got really freaked out about girls having so much as a toothbrush at their place and as everything was going so perfectly with us, I hadn't wanted to mess with things.
The day I finally moved completely in, we made plans for another double date with Maggie and Alex, this time to go to one of the open air movies I'd been so excited about, then to a bar for drinks. We'd each have to drive separately as we each only had two seater mules but that worked out fine as no one would want to be in the back seat anyway as it would be harder to see the screen. I ran to my villa briefly to borrow one of Maggie's dresses that she'd left behind, as well as few little things I had found I'd forgotten, then rushed back to be with Alex again.
"Hello?" I said, letting myself back into his villa. As I was essentially living there, I didn't really think I had to knock but I still didn't want to catch him completely unaware.
"Oh, hi," I said to Robert, who was sitting on the couch, "is Alex around?"
"He's on the phone, I'm sure it will just be a moment."
I saw Alex pacing on the deck, talking with his hands although clearly the person on the phone couldn't see him. He looked very serious -- not upset, precisely, but intense.
"That doesn't look so good, does it?" I asked Robert.
He just smiled at me and said nothing, which made me feel a bit guilty, like I was trying to get Alex's guards to gossip with me about him or something. As if it weren't awkward enough knowing there were always security people around, now I've given them a bad impression of me, I thought.
For something to do, I started to head into the kitchen to grab something to drink. "I'm going to get some water, Robert, do you need anything?"
"No, thank you for asking though."
When I returned with my bottle of water, Alex was still on the phone, so I told Robert I would be in Alex's room and went and hopped in the shower, dying of curiosity about Alex's phone call.
After I got all wet, I realized I had forgotten my toiletries in my bag in Alex's room. I looked around for shampoo (I figured conditioner would be an extreme long shot) and soap - I saw a bottle that could be either and picked it up to look at more closely. It was body wash, black peppercorn; I opened the top and took a big sniff. Yep, that was Alex. As it was the only soap in there, I went ahead and lathered up with it, figuring that it was a gender neutral enough scent, plus I was happy to smell like Alex anyway.
His shampoo was from the same company, Molton Brown, but wasn't the same scent -- instead it was something I couldn't even pronounce but it was a nice, light and clean smell. I was right, there was no conditioner, but all things considered, I was fairly impressed with his selections. Although, given who he was, I guess I shouldn't have expected an old bottle of the cheapest shampoo possible and a half used bar of soap or anything.
When I was done getting ready, I walked out into the living room, hoping Alex was finished with his call. I sat awkwardly with Robert for a couple of minutes, talking primarily about the weather, then thankfully Alex came in from the deck shortly after.
"Is everything ok?" I asked.
He crossed over to give me a quick kiss, which made me color slightly. I was really not used to kissing with an audience (while drunk, sure, but not sober), even just little pecks. "Yes, all is well. It was my grandmother."
"The Queen?" I squeaked, and Robert quietly left the room, which I appreciated.
"Yes, Charlie, the Queen. Who is my grandmother, if you'll recall," Alex said teasingly.
I hit him on the arm. "You looked pretty somber out there, are you sure everything is fine?"
"She wasn't exactly delighted about the pictures, if you must know. Said she has come to expect these things from George -- my brother -- but that she was surprised that I had found myself in the news for something like this. She wasn't angry but just reminded me that I'm the face of the monarchy and should hold myself to a higher standard of behavior."
Yikes. "Ah, the old 'disappointed in you' route? What did you say to defend yourself? Or did you just take it?"
"I apologized that I had caused her any stress and told her I would exercise greater caution in the future, regardless of my surroundings. I've found with my grandmother that it's best just to ask for forgiveness and move on from there -- she really doesn't want to hear justifications or excuses, just that it won't happen again."
"That sounds like a good plan for dealing with anyone, really," I said. I was somewhat hurt that he didn't defend me to her but what he said was reasonable. As if sensing my disappointment, Alex continued, although his effort to make me feel better had the opposite effect.
"I did tell her that you were a lovely person and what a good time we were having together. She said, 'I know, I saw the pictures.'" I gaped at him, aghast, while he continued, with a chuckle, "She's much funnier than people realize."
"The Queen thinks I'm slutty." I moaned and Alex pulled me into his arms laughing.
"Of course not, she was joking. That's a prime example of British humor. She doesn't think you're a slapper, I promise you. She said she was glad I was having fun, that I deserved it." Changing the subject, Alex said, "Enough about that, are you ready to go? We're not too far off from the start of the movie, right?"
"Yep." I decided to just shake off his conversation with his grandmother as zero good would come from overthinking it. "Good idea, we should totally go a bit earlier to make sure we get a good spot!"
"Is this your first drive-in experience?" I asked him, after we'd parked in a great central location, not too close but not too far away. Maggie and Jack had pulled in beside us, although they were slightly closer to the screen. Other mules were slowly arriving, but by showtime, there were only about five other couples there.
"It is. Are these fairly typical in Nebraska?" He motioned for me to come closer so I slid across the bench seat, and he put his arm around me.
"No, not any more, sadly. But there was one in the small-ish city I went to undergrad in so we went a few times, with my sorority sisters."
"Well, I'm happy to have my first time be with you," he said with a wink, to which I, of course, rolled my eyes.
I was glad I had seen the movie before, as we made out for a large portion of the film. No one was particularly close to us, and it was dark by that time, so I didn't feel too bad about it. Plus it was a romantic comedy, weren't people supposed to make out during those?
After the movie, we all headed to Basil's Bar, which was pretty much the only night life on the island, to get a few drinks. Much like everywhere, it wasn't particularly crowded and we found a table off to ourselves, out on the veranda that was on stilts above the Caribbean Sea.
"I have to use the lady's, come with me, Charlie?" Maggie asked shortly after we ordered our first round of drinks.
We left the guys happily talking about the World Cup, a topic I would have had nothing to contribute to anyway. Once in the restroom, she bent down to check if there was anyone else in there, then said, "So yeah, they got your name."
"Shit, shit, shit!" I cursed.
"Tell me how you really feel, Charlotte," Maggie said dryly. "I'm kidding, I know this is terrible. On the bright side, they seem like they're only saying good things about you, things like 'brilliant' and 'driven.'"
"God, just wait until pictures of me and my drunken antics get out."
"They might not," Maggie said optimistically, ever my cheerleader.
"Well, I can hope anyway, right?" I couldn't really wrap my head around the fact that now that anyone who wanted to know, any where in the world, would know that I kissed Prince Alexander. It was too bizarre for words.
"Right. Anyway, just wanted to let you know. I'm surprised Alex's people haven't found out about it already -- you think they'd be all over this stuff."
"I think he told them not to talk to him about any of that stuff, unless it's urgent he just doesn't want to know. Although maybe now that there's been so much coverage of it, it might be rising to the 'urgent' level, I don't know," I bit my lip, stressed about having to bother him with this. I also needed to call my parents now and give them a heads up. That sounded like a really fun conversation. "Although, come to think of it, Alex was talking to his grandmother when I came to his place tonight, so maybe he already knows and just didn't want to say anything to me about it."
I leaned against the bathroom wall and put my hands over my face. "God, we couldn't have made it just a couple more days? We're so close to leaving, I could have told my parents in person, although I don't know if that would've been any better."
"I know, I'm sorry."
"Eh, it sucks but it's not your fault at all. I'll talk to Alex about it and call my parents, then try to pretend I'm never really going to have to deal with it. I imagine the media's interest in me will only as last as long as Alex and I are together, once we go home and never see each other again, they'll see it's not really all that interesting. Oh, and before I forget, I've pretty much just moved in with Alex -- if you and Jack want to have a place to yourselves, not that you'd want to be deprived of seeing his amazing friends every day, but you could totally move back in."
"Oh, I'll talk to Jack, that's a great idea. We're only here for another three days and he leaves in four, but that sounds really nice. Not that we do anything with those guys anyway, but it would be lovely to just be able to walk to the kitchen without putting a bra on, you know?"
Maggie and I talked a few minutes longer about everything and she gave me a few more details about what exactly was written online about me and Alex. We hugged briefly, then headed back out to the boys.
The rest of the evening passed enjoyably -- we all got along so well, it was effortless to keep the conversation going. I was really impressed with Jack; he clearly doted on Maggie and he was so much fun to be around. He was super funny and he really listened when you talked to him, which sadly wasn't something I'd come to expect from guys. He had his arm around Maggie whenever he could and I'd never seen her so comfortable with a boyfriend before, she was completely herself around him and completely happy as well.
We said our goodbyes and both headed to our respective homes.
I sat down with Alex later that night to tell him about the press getting my name, and to 'confess' all my sins. Everything bad I've ever done in my entire life flashed before my eyes as I sat there in front of him.
"So, you might already know this, but Maggie told me the press found out who I am. I guess someone on the island took pictures of us when we were at dinner at The Cotton House the other day and in a few other non-private areas we've been -- I guess it must have taken the people a few days to sell the pictures, so that's why they're getting out now?" I can see him getting angrier and angrier at this invasion of our privacy, "I know, I know, it pisses me off too. But back to the press, I guess knowing that this wasn't a one day, or one time thing like they likely thought it was before made them want to have a name to go with their stories. Maggie said all they've said about me was that I'm a recently graduated law student. They must have talked to one of my classmates that liked me, because the articles only had nice things to say. You're welcome to look but I think I'll just pretend it doesn't exist for the time being."
"I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm so sorry about this. Little did you know when you gave in to my skilled seduction," he smiled at me as he said that, "that you'd have to deal with people rooting through your personal history."
"'Your skilled seduction?' Don't you know? I seduced you, baby," I teased, giving him a deep kiss.
I pulled back and said to myself, out loud, "Enough of that, focus, Charlie," causing Alex to laugh.
I took a deep breath and started talking, "I know you jokingly asked me the other day if I had anything to confess and I basically brushed you off, but there are a few things that might get out that don't make me look good. It's nothing terrible, but, as you know, I was a pretty big drinker so they are likely all sorts of pictures of me drinking or doing shots -- I've even danced on a couple of bars in my life. It's not something I'm ashamed of, really, so it didn't even come to mind when we talked about this all, but thinking about how it would look in the paper, they might really be able to paint me as some kind of party girl."
I felt a bit ill as I thought of something else. I continued as I stared off at nothing, not wanting to make eye contact with Alex, "Ugh, also, well, I've also kissed a few guys in bars. I don't think there are any pictures of that, but there certainly could be; there were times when I wasn't super discreet about it."
I peeked over at Alex once I was through. He looked less than happy but not angry or disgusted or anything.
"Charlie, it's fine, it all sounds like stuff everyone our age does. I've even done most of it -- not the kissing guys in pubs part -- but most of the drinking things," he joked. "I can't say I love the thought of you kissing other people and I really don't like thinking about seeing pictures of you doing it, but it would be ridiculous of me to be upset about things you did before we even met. Thank you for telling me though, I can pass the information along to our media people so they know what to expect. Anything else?"
I wracked my brain, thinking of any and all embarrassing things that might be lurking in my past. "Alex, this is terrible, I played Cinderella in the fifth grade musical -- what if they latch on to that like I'm hoping to be a real life Cinderella?? I, I, I..." I blanched, remembering something even more horrendous.
"Bloody hell, what is it, Charlie?" He finally looked concerned about what I might say.
"I had your calendar in high school. My mom got it for me as a joke because I was so obsessed with historical romances set in England but --"
"My calendar? What you mean?"
"I had a calendar full of pictures of you hanging on my wall when I was 15!" I shouted hysterically, jumping up. "You know how crazy that's going to make me look? They're going to think I've been stalking you for almost a decade!"
Alex pulled me back down to sit next to him. "Charlie, relax. I doubt they'll dig that deep, they just wanted a name to put with the pictures. Now that they have that, I'm sure they'll get a few more cursory details and stop at that. Plus, who's going to tell them about what you had in your bedroom as a child? Unless one of your siblings has a serious grudge against you, I think you're going to be ok," he joked as he wrapped his arms around me.
"You sure that isn't experience speaking? You seem pretty sure about how this is going to all play out," I accused, irrationally hurt by the thought of him having this same conversation with other girls in the past.
"I alluded to this earlier regarding my conversation with grandmother, but as you may know, or may not, I suppose, as this has been in more recent years in which you were apparently without access to any outside communication," he said, giving me a teasing look, clearly not at all put out by my accusation, "my younger brother is a bit of a ladies' man, so I've seen this sort of thing play out with women he dates."
Well, that sounds reasonable enough, I thought, but wait... "Are we dating?" I blurted out.
"I don't know," he said carefully, clearly trying to feel out my mood. "It feels like we are, but I have no basis for comparison for something like this -- any other relationship I've been in hasn't started so organically. For one, the women I've dated -- and there haven't been many, and nothing terribly serious, I can see on your face you want to ask --," I seriously needed to work on my poker face, "all knew who I was before so they knew what they were getting into. A couple of them I'd known, or at least known of, since I was young. I suppose you could call them family friends of a sort."
"At the risk of scaring you off," he continued, taking my hands in his, "none of those relationships felt half as real or as substantial as this time with you has. So yes, Charlie, I would say we're dating. Is that ok with you?"
Knowing words would fail me, as they always seemed to do when I spoke to him, I decided that leaping on him and giving him a long, deep kiss would get my point across much more eloquently.