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badchoicesposts · 5 years

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Don’t Dream It’s Over Chapter 1

Summary: Liam and Ali thought that their relationship was perfect, but their whole world came crashing down when Constantine called him back to Cordonia. Four years later they meet again at Liam’s bachelor party, determined to make things between them work even if it isn’t always easy.

In this kind of AU, Liam and MC (Ali Moonessar) dated for a year in New York while Leo was still crown prince. They broke up when Constantine asked Liam to come back to Cordonia, but they meet again at Liam’s bachelor party before the social season. The story will contain flashbacks, which will be italicized, of their relationship and follow them as they try to navigate the season with Ali as a suitor. I’ve messed around with the timeline a bit so that it fits the story better. I’ve also added in a few OCs of my own.

Pairing: Liam x MC (Ali Moonessar), Drake x MC (Platonic)

Word Count: 2,556

A/N: This is my first time ever posting a fic. Please let me know if you enjoyed it and would like to read more. I thrive on validation, lol. Thanks for reading!

Ali pushed her dark curls out of her face for what felt like the millionth time that day and sighed.

“If I do this you owe me,” she said as she watched the bachelor party begin to shuffle towards one of the largest tables in the bar.

She had been on her feet all day, and even though her shift had ended over an hour ago, she had stayed overtime because of under staffing. Her boss was fair guy and typically easy to get along with. But, now she was annoyed, and as her chronic back pain began to get more and more irritated, she cursed him for not hiring a larger waitstaff.

A smile broke out over her co-worker Daniel’s face, and he threw himself forward, wrapping her in a hug.

“Thank you! You’re the best!” he said as he ran off.

“Hell yeah, I am,” she grumbled under her breath.

Ali plastered her customer service smile on her face and took a deep breath as she made her way over to the group. There were about six or seven guys, and she mentally prepared herself for what was sure to be a difficult table.

“Hi, I’m Ali and I’ll be your server toni-,” she began in a fake, peppy voice, before abruptly stopping.

Ali furrowed her brows in confusion, surprised to see the man in front of her.

“Drake?”

The man looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

“Moonessar?”

Ali felt a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. It had been four years since she had seen or heard from Drake Walker, but some things never changed. Like that damn chambray shirt, or the fact that he only called her by her last name.

“It’s so good to-” she began to say.

She was cut off by the strained look he had on his face as he stared at something over her shoulder. It didn’t take long for her to realize what he was looking at, and it suddenly felt as if all the air had been drained out of her lungs.

“Damnit,” she breathed out, already knowing who was behind her.

She could tell by the cologne. That hadn’t changed either. Ali closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the pen in her hand. Her palms were beginning to sweat, and she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart while simultaneously scolding herself for agreeing to cover Daniel’s shift.

She turned around and opened her eyes, biting her lip to keep the tears that were clouding her vision from falling.

“Liam, I don’t want you to leave,” Ali mumbled.

She buried her face further into his chest as their bodies swayed slowly to Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over”. In the days leading up to his return to Cordonia she had done her best to put on a brave face. If she didn’t show him how much he meant to her and how much she grew to love him in the past year, then it would hurt less when he was gone. She tried to tell herself the harsh truths about their situation. Liam was a prince. There was no way their relationship would have become anything too serious anyway. By the looks of things, the chances of his older brother Leo actually taking the throne were slim, and that meant Liam would probably be king one day. There was just no place in his world for her. But, now that there were only twelve hours till his plane left, and she had about half a bottle of tequila in her, she couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth or the tears from falling from her eyes.

Liam pulled away and gently cupped her face in his hands, his sapphire blue eyes looking straight into her brown ones, his own pain clearly evident in them.

“I wish I didn’t have to, my love,” his voice was soft and gentle.

Her tears were now falling freely, and she pulled herself out of his arms, frantically trying to wipe them away. His hands found her waist again and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead gently.

“I love you,” he whispered against her skin.

“Liam,” she said his name quietly, reaching up to push her glasses higher up her nose. It was a nervous habit that she had since she was a child.

Her presence had an obvious effect on him as well. He had stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth hanging open slightly, and she saw about a dozen emotions flash behind his eyes before he relaxed again and gave her a soft smile.

“Ali,” he breathed out, eyes never leaving her face.

The two of them stood there for a few moments before Liam, throwing all sense of propriety out of the window, moved forward and wrapped his arms around her small frame, his large body towering over her. It seemed like an eternity had passed since they had last seen each other, but she still sunk into him instinctively. The blond man was over six feet tall while she barely reached five with the right pair of heels, and she had always jokingly called him a giant. But, she had never felt as small in his arms as she did in that moment. As the familiar scent of his cologne invaded her senses, Ali felt a mixture of overwhelming heartbreak and nostalgia. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed in that embrace before the sound of someone clearing their throat brought them back to reality.

Ali had forgotten that it wasn’t just the two of them. Liam and Drake had come in with a group of people, and the fact caused a wave of embarrassment to wash over her. Liam met the gaze of man that was slightly older than the rest of them, and he immediately straightened his posture.

The man had dark hair, grey eyes, and was well built. He wore a three piece grey suit that stood out in comparison to the more casual outfits of the other patrons, and she immediately recognized him as Bastien, a member of the royal guard. He was obviously there to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.

“My apologies. That was completely inappropriate, ” Liam said, quickly glancing over the group before taking his seat.

Ali felt a sharp pain in her chest at his words, but forced a smile on her face nonetheless. She looked over to Drake, who still seemed startled, and he took his seat as well.

“Right, as I was saying before, my name is Ali and I’ll be taking care of you guys tonight. Can I get you started with drinks?”

As Ali turned and basically ran from their table to put their drink order in at the bar, she could feel several sets of eyes on her back and was sure she heard a surprised, “Is that THE Ali?” followed by a disgruntled, “Shut up, Maxwell!”

The bartender, Cole, had been a friend of hers for years and looked at her with concern as he took in her strained expression. She subtly nodded her in the direction of the table, and when he caught sight of Liam, his eyes widened to a point that would have been comical if she wasn’t on the verge of a breakdown.

“What do I do?” she whispered frantically.

“I don’t know! Where’s Daniel?”

“I’m covering his shift!”

The two continued their whispered argument for several minutes before someone clearing their throat caused them to jump apart. Ali moved out of the way so the person could order their drink and retreated to the kitchen to pick up the order for another table.

She dropped off the plates and walked back over to the bar where she collected the glasses and bottle that they had ordered. Ali shot Cole one more panicked look before starting over to the table. She was taking the smallest strides possible but still seemed to arrive there too soon.

“You look good,” Drake said, as she placed their glasses in front of them.

“Wow, that’s high praise coming from you,” she shot back, a smile on her face.

Drake chuckled and grabbed the bottle, pouring some of the dark liquid into his glass.

“You look good too. Especially for someone who hasn’t cut their hair in four years. If you let it grow out a little longer you’ll totally be able to rock a man bun,” she said, with a smirk.

Drake shook his head good-naturedly and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t respond, but Ali could see him suppressing a smile.

“I’ll give you guys a few more minutes to look over the menu,” she said, glancing around at the rest of the group, purposefully refusing to meet Liam’s eyes.

She turned to leave but only managed to make it a few steps away before being stopped again.

“Moonessar, wait!” Drake said, jumping up and grabbing onto her wrist to stop her from moving.

“It really is good to see you,” he said.

Ali smiled up at him and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“It’s good to see you too, Drake.”

“I- I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch,” he said, lowering his voice so that she could just barely hear him over the sounds of talking and the music playing over the bar’s speakers.

He looked down at his feet, and Ali got the impression that he was uncomfortable having this conversation. She smiled sadly, remembering the promise she had forced him to make the last time she saw him; even though things were over with her and Liam, the two of them would still remain friends.

“I understand,” she said truthfully.

She wasn’t happy that they had fallen out of touch, but she understood that it was probably awkward for him to be stuck in between the two of them. Not to mention, it had been four years. Life went on.

“It just sucked. I lost the man I loved and a pretty great friend all in one day.”

He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but she pulled him into a quick hug before he could. He barely had enough time to wrap his arms around her in return before she was pulling away and walking back over to the bar to pick up another drink order.

As the evening passed, she was faintly aware of the eyes that followed her every move, and she had to continually force herself not to look in their direction. The bar slowly began to clear out, but the group remained rooted to their spot at the table. When Ali finally began to clear away the dishes from their meal, there were only two or three other patrons still there, and Cole had already abandoned her in hopes of making it to some party he had been invited to.

“Hi, I’m Maxwell!” a cheerful voice said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

The speaker had brown hair, blue eyes, and an infectious smile. Ali remembered Liam’s stories about him, and although she felt about as stressed as she usually did during finals week, an odd sense of calmness washed over her. She knew that Maxwell was one of Liam’s oldest friends and that he was the most easy-going and fun-loving person in the world. She had heard of the legendary Beaumont Bashes that he and his brother threw, and although she wasn’t much of a party person, she had to admit that they sounded like a fun time.

“It’s nice to meet you, Maxwell. I’ve heard a lot about you!” she said sincerely.

He seemed to perk up even more at her words.

“You have? Aw, Liam, Drake, I can’t believe you told her about me!” he said, smiling widely and looking back and forth between his two friends

“I’m sure I’ve told her a bit about all of you,” Liam replied, a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

“You should properly introduce us.”

Ali recognized the owner of the new voice immediately. The man shared many of Liam’s features, but had slightly lighter blond hair and his eyes were a deeper shade of blue.

“As if you need any introductions, Leo,” she teased. Leo jokingly placed his hand over his heart.

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended, love. Either way, it’s nice to finally meet the only woman who has ever managed to capture my baby brother’s heart,” he said, not realizing the impact of his words until after they left his mouth.

A tense silence once again fell over the group. Ali cleared her throat, and resumed picking up their plates.

“Yes, well, that was a long time ago,” she muttered, quickly combing through her mind to find a new topic of conversation. “So, who’s the lucky guy getting married?”

However, her question only had the opposite effect on the group as Liam awkwardly tugged at the collar of his shirt before speaking up.

“I am. The social season begins in a few weeks and as the new Crown Prince the people expect me to find a wife,” he said, quietly.

Ali felt as if her heart had stopped beating.

“Oh, congratulations.”

She tried her best to sound happy, but she knew her tone wasn’t fooling anyone. Another voice quickly filled her ears and she almost sighed in relief.

“I’m Charles, but you can call me Charlie,” said the man sitting beside Leo.

He had flaming red hair, bright green eyes, and a sympathetic smile on his face. A smile broke out across her own face as she looked at the shirt he was wearing. The words “Must Be A Weasley” were written across his chest in broad white letters. It was probably hard not to be a Harry Potter fan when you were a redhead named Charlie.

“I enjoy everything about that,” she said, gesturing to his shirt, not at all concerned with hiding her amusement.

Charlie straightened his spine in an exaggerated manner and smiled at her proudly.

“Charlie Weasley was the best Weasley brother,” Maxwell, piped up.

“I always wished there was more content about him,” Ali admitted, prompting a laugh from the two of them.

“That’s Ben and Bastien,” he said, motioning to the remaining members of the party.

“It’s really nice to meet all of you, and to see you again, Bastien,” Ali said.

She had finally managed to calm down a bit, but she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that had developed in her stomach since she had locked eyes on them. Bastien gave her a small but friendly smile which she returned.

“Why don’t you join us?” Leo asked, reaching over and pulling up a chair from a nearby table for her to sit in.

“Oh, thanks, but I should really get back to work,” she said with an awkward smile, only to turn around and realize that the only other person still in the bar was an older gentleman who looked as if he had fallen asleep while nursing a glass of scotch.

She turned back to them with a slight grimace on her face and saw that Leo was wearing an amused smile. Her excuse to get away from them had completely backfired.

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badchoicesposts · 5 years

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Don’t Dream It’s Over Chapter 7

Series Summary: Liam and Ali thought that their relationship was perfect, but their whole world came crashing down when Constantine called him back to Cordonia. Four years later they meet again at Liam’s bachelor party, determined to make things between them work even if it isn’t always easy.

In this AU, Liam and MC (Ali Moonessar) dated for a year in New York while Leo was still crown prince. They broke up when Constantine asked Liam to come back to Cordonia, but they meet again at Liam’s bachelor party before the social season. The story will contain flashbacks, which will be italicized, of their relationship and follow them as they try to navigate the season with Ali as a suitor. I’ve messed around with the timeline a bit so that it fits the story better. I’ve also added in a few OCs of my own.

Pairing: Liam x MC (Ali Moonessar)

Word Count: 4,026

Disclaimer: I’ve changed up the timeline of the social season a bit to fit my story better. I’ve based it off of some research I did on the British Social Season.

Taglist: @flowerpowell, @kingliam2019, @ao719, @emceesynonymroll, @hopefulmoonobject, @dcbbw, @qammh-blog, @liamxs-world, @drakesensworld, @i-only-signed-up-for-fanfiction, @lauradowning29

A/N: This is my first time ever posting a fic. Please let me know if you enjoyed it and would like to read more. I thrive on validation, lol. Thanks for reading!

Catch Up: Masterlist

TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of depression, anxiety, body insecurity, and small details of a panic attack.

The next few weeks passed by in a haze of etiquette and diplomacy lessons. Bertrand was by far the strictest teacher that she ever had. He expected her to be awake with the sun and would often still be hovering over her shoulder critiquing her posture and quizzing her until late into the night. Ali was surprised that he hadn’t started rapping her knuckles with a ruler when she got something wrong. She tried not to take his attitude too personally, knowing that he was more knowledgeable about court events and proper behavior than she was, but that didn’t stop her from cursing his existence every time he left the room.

The social season was quickly approaching, and Ali’s anxiety had come back along with it. Ali had struggled with anxiety and depression for so many years that there was a point when she felt as if she didn’t know who she was without it. She was severely depressed for all of her high school years and for the first few years of college. But, she had fought like hell to get past it and had been good for the past few years, and she planned on fighting to get past it now.

Liam had only been able to visit once, so her only true stress reliever was Maxwell. The two would often stay up late watching movies, which only served to make them miserable the next day and cause Bertrand to be more irritated. The had gotten through all eight of the Harry Potter movies, and Ali had even gotten Maxwell to watch some of her favorite Bollywood movies from when she was growing up. Maxwell also had a very impressive face mask collection that they had taken to using every Saturday night.

She watched the trees go by as the limo sped towards the palace and had to remind herself to actually breathe. Bertrand sat next to her, mumbling on about something that she couldn’t manage to take in.

“During your dinner with the king and queen tonight yo-.”

“Wait, my what?” Ali asked, quickly turning to look at Bertrand.

“Your dinner with the king and queen. They have invited us to dine with them this evening. I instructed Maxwell to inform you last night,” Bertrand said, scowling at his younger brother.

“Sorry. It must have slipped my mind,” Maxwell said guiltily.

“Why do they want to have dinner with us tonight? I thought the social season didn’t start until tomorrow?” she asked.

Bertrand, who was previously about to scold his brother, looked over at Maxwell, and the two seemed to have a nonverbal conversation.

“I believe that the king and queen may want to sit down with you beforehand since your relationship with the Prince is slightly… different than the one he has with the other suitors,” Bertrand said with an edge of something in his voice that Ali couldn’t quite place.

She could tell, however, that he was choosing his words carefully.

“So they want to intimidate me and make sure that I don’t cause any trouble,” she said, looking over at Maxwell, who refused to meet her eyes.

“Guys, it’s not like I want to cause any trouble. They have to know that, right?” she spoke again after a moment of silence.

“We know your true intentions, and regardless of what they are, it is imperative that you make a good impression on the king and queen tonight. It will be your first time meeting them, so you must show them that you have what it takes to thrive at court,” Bertrand said.

“Yeah, because it’s so easy to make a good impression while you’re throwing up,” Ali mumbled under her breath.

“For God's sake, do not throw up in front of the royal couple,” Bertrand said.

The scowl had once again returned to his face, and Ali couldn’t help but smile despite all of her nerves. Winding up Bertrand had quickly become one of her favorite things to do, and he had quickly realized what she was doing. Even though he would never admit it, she could tell that he was beginning to grow fond of her. She would occasionally see the corners of his mouth turn up in a very restrained smile at some of her comments and always counted it as a personal victory.

“I’m not actually going to throw up in front of them, Bertrand,” she said, rolling her eyes playfully, “I’m just not all that excited for this dinner tonight.”

“At least Liam will be there to run interference if needed,” Maxwell said.

Ali took a deep breath and nodded, feeling slightly reassured now that she knew Liam would be present. However, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

As the car pulled up closer to the Palace, the reality of her situation once again knocked the wind out of her. The only word she could think of to describe the Palace was regal. It was large and elegant, and it was hands down the most beautiful place she had ever been.

“Dinner will be served at 8:00 sharp. I expect you to be ready and waiting by 7:30,” Bertrand said as they exited the car.

“What do I wear to dinner tonight?” Ali asked Maxwell softly so that Bertrand wouldn’t be able to hear.

“I’ll help you find something,” Maxwell assured her.

A few maids came bustling to meet them, leading them up to their rooms, and Ali made a mental note to ask Maxwell to show her around later. When they got to her room she immediately rounded on Maxwell, her hand going up to nervously tug at her black curls.

“Maxwell, I’m freaking out!” she said.

“Don’t!”

“Okay, I love you, but saying ‘don’t’ doesn’t make me feel any better!” she said sarcastically.

“Don’t be nervous. You’ve prepared for this. Everything is going to be fine,” he tried to reassure her. He walked over to her bag and began dumping a few clothing options onto the large bed.

“Will it though? Will it, really? What if everything isn’t fine? What if I say something stupid and fuck everything up? And what is it with you nobles and four poster beds?” she rambled, gesturing wildly to the bed in the middle of the room.

Ali knew she was spiraling and that she was sounding paranoid, but she couldn’t help it.

“Maybe you guys shouldn’t be having this conversation with the door wide open.”

Maxwell and Ali both turned to see Drake casually leaning against her door frame, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Drake! What are you doing here?” Ali asked.

“My room’s next door. I heard paranoid shrieking so I thought I would come see what was going on,” he said, a smirk gracing his features.

“Yes, I know this is so amusing. I’m glad you can get a laugh out of my mental breakdown,” she said.

She glared at him as she threaded her fingers into the hair at the top of her head and pulled roughly on it. Drake immediately stopped smiling and made his way into her room.

“First, you need to stop doing that,” he said.

He grabbed her wrist and gently untangled her fingers from her hair, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze as he lowered it back down to her side.

“Take a deep breath. As much as I hate to say it, Maxwell’s right.”

Drake looked as if that was the most painful thing he could have ever admitted. Out of the corner of her eyes, she was Maxwell perk up at his words.

“You’ve been preparing for this. You’re going to be fine. Wear the navy blue dress. It’s modern but classy. It’ll impress the queen,” he said.

“You know, if I wasn’t freaking out, I would totally make fun of you for describing a dress as modern and classy,” she said, poking fun at his usual fashion incompetence.

The man simply rolled his eyes, but as he turned around and made his way back to the door, Ali felt some of her nerves disappear. It was comforting knowing that Drake believed she would be okay.

“Drake,” she called after him, “Thank you.”

He turned and shot her a half smile before walking out and closing the door, leaving her to get ready with Maxwell. She quickly slipped the dress on before taking off her glasses and settling down for Maxwell to do her makeup.

“How did you get so good at doing eye shadow?” she asked, her body still shaking as he gently ran the brush over her eyelid.

“I like watching makeup videos on Instagram,” he said absentmindedly.

“Well, I’m glad you’re good at it. I was always hopeless because I can’t see when I take my glasses off,” she said, grateful that Maxwell decided to take up this particular skill.

“That’s why I’m here, little blossom,” Maxwell said.

Ali smiled at the use of the nickname he had given her.

“That and because Bertrand doesn’t trust me with anything else,” he finished, motioning for her to put her glasses back on.

He had done a simple look, blending two soft brown shades onto the lid and outlining her eye in dark liner. She smoothed down the fabric of her dress as she stood and squared her shoulders in an attempt to feel more confident. She tried to push the fact that she was about to meet the king and queen of a country in a $25 dress that she had gotten from Forever 21 out of her mind.

“Let’s go,” she said, taking Maxwell’s outstretched arm as he led her down to the large dining room.

They met Bertrand outside the dining room, and he nodded at the two of them in approval before Bastien and another guard opened the doors for them. Upon entering the room they were met with the sight of King Constantine, Queen Regina, Liam, and a tall woman with short, blonde hair. Liam met her eyes and broke out into a wide smile.

Bertrand immediately stepped forward to greet them, pulling Ali along with him. She curtsied in greeting, a polite smile on her face.

“Lady Alison, it’s a pleasure to meet you. This is my niece, Madeleine. She will be joining the season as a suitor as well,” Regina said.

Madeleine had an easy smile on her face that Ali could tell came from years of political training. She knew that Madeleine had been engaged to Leo when he abdicated the throne and was trying her best to hide her shock at finding out that the woman would be a suitor once again.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Madeleine,” Ali said.

Madeleine gave her an appraising look and her smile only became wider.

“The pleasure’s all mine, Lady Alison,” she said.

The way she stressed the word “lady” did not go unnoticed by Ali. She fought the urge to say roll her eyes and say something sarcastic as Liam approached her.

Liam took his hand in hers and brought it up to his mouth, gently kissing her knuckles and letting his lips linger against her skin.

“It’s lovely to see you again, my lady,” he said.

Ali felt her cheeks flush slightly and curtsied when he released her hand.

“It’s always a pleasure, Prince Liam.”

The two missed the look Constantine and Regina gave each other, but Bertrand, who had been silently watching the scene, discreetly cleared his throat. They moved apart and a blush crept up Liam’s neck, something that happened when he became too flustered or embarrassed.

“Shall we sit?” Constantine asked and motioned towards the large table.

She immediately noticed that she was seated directly across from Liam and Madeleine and was almost positive that Constantine had done so on purpose.

“Lady Alison, have you been enjoying your time in Cordonia?” Constantine asked as dinner was being served.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ve only had the chance to see Ramsford, but the Beaumonts are very gracious hosts, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of the country during the season,” she replied.

He was starting off with easy questions, and she was grateful. She was having an internal battle with herself as she eyed her glass of wine, the butterflies in her stomach moving nonstop. She was tempted to down the whole thing in own go, but she knew that it would be inappropriate. She instead opted for the glass of water right next to it and tried sipping the cool beverage in hopes of calming her nerves.

“Yes, the Beaumonts are very kind and generous. Not every noble family would think to sponsor a foreigner who knows so little about the country. Even if they believe it to be for love,” Madeleine stated, taking a sip of her own drink.

Ali quickly decided that she wasn’t very fond of Madeleine. However, she kept an easy smile on her face. The nerves that she previously felt were replaced with the need to show not only Madeleine, but also Constantine, Regina, Bertrand, and everyone else who felt that she couldn’t survive at court what she was capable of. She kept her body relaxed and made it a point to show the other woman that she wasn’t affecting her. Madeleine may have had political training, but Ali had a few tricks of her own too.

She had years of waitress experience under her belt. She had spent countless hours listening to and “sympathizing” with rude and obnoxious customers. At the bar, she was often put in charge of the rowdiest and most difficult tables because she was able to handle them better than the other servers. It wasn’t that those types of people didn’t get under her skin. She was just able to hold in her anger in front of them.

“You’re completely right, Lady Madeleine. I can understand why some people would think it risky to do what they have for me. I wasn’t born or raised in Cordonia, so I’m not as well versed in its traditions or culture as someone who was. But, I made it a point to learn as much as I could about its history five years ago, and, although I’m slightly embarrassed to admit it, I’ve been keeping up with its politics since,” Ali said, her cheeks heating up.

“You have?” Liam asked.

He was pleasantly surprised to know that she had done so and felt pride swelling in his chest at the fact that she had been able to talk her way around Madeleine’s snide comment. He also couldn’t help the feeling of happiness that washed over him when he realized that she had undoubtedly been thinking about him over the past few years as he had done for her.

“Yes, I have. I know that it’s not the same as experiencing it firsthand, but I have been developing a love and appreciation for this country for a long time, and I’m extremely grateful to have the opportunity to expand my knowledge and be here now.”

“You mention that you started learning about Cordonian history five years ago. Am I correct in assuming that was after you first met Liam?” Constantine asked.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Lady Alison, I’m curious. What was your reaction upon hearing that Liam was a prince?” Regina asked.

~~~

Ali and Liam moved around the kitchen in a comfortable silence as they prepared dinner. Well, as she prepared dinner. Liam was mainly observing, helping out here and there when she instructed him to. Ali wasn’t eager to have a repeat of the spaghetti incident and wanted to make sure they had something edible tonight because he had insisted that they stay in.

The two had been dating for three months, and he was Ali’s first actual boyfriend. She was crazy about him and glad that she could experience so many of her “firsts” with him.

“You’re staring,” she said, as she began to carve the chicken that she had just taken out of the oven.

“You’re beautiful,” Liam said, with a smile.

Ali tugged anxiously at her top. She had always been self-conscious about her body, and even though she had been working towards loving herself, she would still feel insecure from time to time. Especially when she compared her body to Liam’s. Liam was tall, broad shouldered, and muscular while her body was all curves. She wasn’t overweight, but she definitely wasn’t considered thin, and she often agonized over the stretch marks she found all over and her slightly chubby stomach. She knew that besides dealing with her other issues, one of the main steps in her mental health recovery was learning how to be kinder to herself. Regardless, hating yourself could be a hard habit to break when you’ve been doing it since you were thirteen.

Liam moved to stand behind her, pressing his chest to her back and burying his face into the side of her neck.

“I mean it. I think you’re so beautiful,” he said, pressing small kisses to the skin there.

“I know you do, Liam,” she mumbled, a smile forming on her face.

They ate in a comfortable silence, sharing small smiles. However, Ali could feel the anxiety coming off of him every time she caught him staring at her.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong now?” she asked when they were finally done with their meal.

Liam sighed and pulled her down onto his couch. He kept one arm tightly around her waist and began to gently play with her fingers with his other hand.

“There’s something that I need to tell you,” he said softly.

“What? Are you married or something?” she joked.

The smile quickly left her face when she realized that he wasn’t laughing with her.

“Oh, my god! You are!” she said. She was completely shocked and went to pull out of his arms, but he tightened his grip on her body.

“No, I promise I’m not married.”

“Then what is it?” she asked, relaxing into him and placing a hand on his chest.

“I haven’t been completely honest with you about who I am. My father isn’t actually a diplomat,” he said.

He took a deep breath before his next words.

“My father is the King of Cordonia. Ali, I’m a prince,” he said, holding his breath as he waited for her reaction.

Much to his surprise she began to chuckle.

“That’s funny. You really had me going there for a second,” she said with a smile.

She pulled away from him and grabbed her glass of water from the coffee table in front of her, taking a large sip.

“Love, I’m being serious,” he said.

“What? Liam, I’ve never even heard of a place called Cordonia,” she said, still smiling.

“It’s a small country in the Mediterranean. Most people haven’t heard of it,” he said.

Ali raised her brows and Liam, still smiling.

“Okay, Liam, you’ve had your fun,” she said, resting her glass back down and leaning into his side.

“My love, please. I am being serious,” he persisted.

Ali rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone.

“Fine, you’re being serious,” she said, quickly typing in the words “Cordonia” and “Prince Liam”.

Her jaw dropped as a picture of the man sitting right next to her came up.

“Oh, my god! You’re being serious!” she exclaimed.

She jumped into a sitting position and looked at him, her mouth hanging open. Even though a million things were going through her mind at once, none of them were good. She wasn’t going to fool herself into thinking that just because he was a prince she was going to get a happily ever after. If anything, she saw their relationship completely fall apart before her eyes.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner. I needed a chance to get to know you without worrying about that getting in the way,” Liam said.

Ali could tell that he was still nervous.

“Is anything I know about you even true?” she asked.

“I’ve told you the truth about everything except for my title. I needed you to know me as Liam, not Prince Liam of Cordonia,” he said, reaching for her hand.

He could tell that she was still uncomfortable by the fact that she didn’t lean into him the way she usually did.

“I know that this is somewhat of a shock, but, if you’ll let me, I would like to tell you more about my country and who I am,” he said hopefully.

~~~

Ali took a breath. She had not been expecting Regina’s question and had no idea if she should answer truthfully or not. Bertrand was shifting uncomfortably in his seat beside her, and she could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on her. She looked up and caught Liam’s gaze momentarily, before quickly turning her head away.

“May I speak freely, ma’am?” she asked.

“Please do.”

Bertrand was now looking at her as if he believed the world would come crashing down once she opened her mouth.

“When Liam first revealed to me who he was we were still in the early stages of our relationship. I don’t know if you could say that we were in love yet, but we were well on our way,” she said, looking up to see him smiling at her.

“But, if I’m being completely honest, when he told me who he was, I believed that our relationship would inevitably fall apart. He was a prince and that came along with certain responsibilities. There were events and situations that he had been trained for his entire life that I had never even entertained the thought of experiencing. I was crazy about him at the time, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up for a long-term relationship with him when I wasn’t sure that there was a serious future for us.”

Everyone was hanging onto her words now, interested to hear what she had to say. She made it a point not to look at Liam. She had never shared these thoughts with him before, and she wasn’t sure if she should even be sharing them now at all.

“But, every time I worked up the courage to end things in the months that followed, Liam would do something. Something small that would remind me of how… good he was, how big his heart was. He would try to make me dinner because he knew that I had a rough day, or he would help me babysit, and I would see how great he was with children. As time went on, I realized how lucky I was to be loved by someone as amazing as him, and I stopped wanting to end it. I stopped caring about those differences that we had and realized that I loved him too much to just let him go.”

“I saw the love he had for his country and through that I felt myself beginning to love it as well. I started learning everything I could about Cordonia. I studied its politics and culture. I learned about its history and the noble families. But, in the end, Liam still had to return home, and, until about a month ago, I believed I would never see him again. I never had a fairytale picture in my head. From the beginning I knew that things wouldn’t be easy. But, I quickly realized that it didn’t matter because I was willing to fight for him, and I still am.”

Liam was beaming at her from his seat, and Constantine was looking at her curiously. There was a small smile on his face, but she couldn’t tell if that was good or bad. For all she knew she had very well embarrassed herself in front of the king and queen.

“Romantic sentiments, Lady Alison,” Madeleine said, casually placing her hand on Liam’s arm.

The action itself seemed almost territorial, but Ali didn’t let it bother her. Not while Liam was looking at her with so much love in his eyes.

“Yes, romantic indeed,” said Constantine, who was now smiling widely.

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