#i think barty is a denim guy

[partridge-in-a-pear-tree]

sirius is a leather guy. regulus wears wool/cashmere. remus loves cotton/flannels.

james? james would go his entire life in cargos and sports sweat-absorbent fabric.

#i think barty is a denim guy #sirius black #remus lupin #james potter #regulus black #dead gay wizards #fashion #marauders #wolfstar #jegulus #harry potter

[cordonian-literature]

The Aftermath - Ch. 26

Water Fun

Summary: Everyone does their best to have fun at the Regatta. During the beach party, Liam and Riley spend some time together. 

Word Count: ~3.7k

Warnings:  mention of character death

*All characters belong to Pixelberry, except those that are unique to my story (I’ve also used some characters and fictional instances from Donna Tartt’s book “The Goldfinch”)*

Catch up here!

Tags: @captain-kingliamsqueen @gkittylove99 @lovablegranny @iam-the-kind-and-thoughtful @mom2000aggie @kingliam2019 @queenrileyrose @shanzay44 @cordonianroyalty @hopefulmoonobject @hopelessromanticmonie @cinnamonspongecake @kuladekiwi @twinkle-320 @iaminlovewithtrr @charlotteg234 @amandablink @texaskitten30 @tinkie1973 @louiseingram1208 @queencatherynerhys @pens-girl-87 @missevabean @ladyangel70 @sanchita012 @cordonianprincess @liamandneca @cordonia-gothqueen @pink-diamond13 @queenwalton​

I’m not sure if the tags are working or not, but I hope I got everyone down! If you would like to be added/removed, please let me know, I wouldn’t want to annoy anyone with notifications :)

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

- Maxwell - 

When everyone — except Liam — walked out of the palace, they were glad to see Hana coming along. They understood if she would prefer to stay in her rooms instead of attending her cheating husband’s party, but she walked down the steps and into a car with Riley and Olivia, her face emotionless.

Rowan was coming with the Beaumonts in their limo after Maxwell had asked her to. He noticed that Savannah and Bartie were taking a liking to her, but of course there was Bertrand who always gave them a look when he saw them together. 

At the marina, the colorful boats interrupt the peaceful blue waters. The sun warms the tops of everyone’s heads, but not unbearably. In the crowd of people, Maxwell notices Riley and the children, and waves them over.

“What’s up, baby blossoms?” he says to Gabriel and Eleanor. “You two look fantastic.”

“Thanks!” Ella cries. She was wearing a sailor dress, while her brother wore a matching suit. “We’re sailors! Argh!” 

“That’s the sound pirates make, Ella,” Gabriel tells her. 

“Oh... aye aye, captain!” she says instead. 

“That’s... also what pirates say.” 

The girl’s shoulders slump. “Then what do sailors say?” She looks over at her brother, who shrugs. 

“Oh! What about,” Maxwell thinks aloud before crying, “All hands on deck!”

“All hands on deck!” the baby blossom repeats.

“Settle down, you three,” Bertrand tells them in low voice. He jerks his head towards an approaching cameraman and reporter. “We don’t want them to see foolish behavior, do we now?” He says menacingly to Bartie and the baby blossoms. Noticing that the reporter was making a beeline for Riley, he tries to quickly say, “Lady Riley, please remember—”

“Good morning, Lady Riley, it’s lovely to see you!” Ana de Luca interrupts Bertrand’s harsh whispers. 

“Thank you, Ana!” Riley responds. “It’s wonderful to see you as well.” 

“Just like your first Social Season, you’ve made quite a splash on Cordonian headlines! The people are itching to know how your relationship with His Majesty is going.” 

She shoves the microphone in Riley’s face, but she doesn’t flinch and flashes a show-stopping smile. “There is a lot for both of us to catch up on, but our top priority is giving Gabriel a good support system.” 

“Understandable. But... you said there was a lot for both of you to catch up on? Are you suggesting that King Liam didn’t know you, or your son’s whereabouts ever since you left Cordonia?” 

Riley pauses for a second, but quickly catches herself: “Of course not. King Liam—”

“Then how come Cordonia’s heir is only being presented to the people now?” Ana interrupts her, plastering a concerned look on her face. “Surely you know the threats to the country that arise during such situations?” 

Maxwell understood that Ana wanted answers, both for her story and for the people of Cordonia, but she really didn’t have to bombard Riley like that. 

“My relationship with King Liam ended on a sad note,” Riley picks up again. “You know the scandal that surfaced during his Coronation. He was understandably upset, as was I, and our relationship had to come to a close. And since we couldn’t prove my innocence, he had to choose Countess Madeleine, who I know would have made a great Queen. I found out that I was expecting during the Engagement Tour, and to prevent another scandal and for the safety of my child, I withdrew from court and informed His Majesty.”

Maxwell was taken aback for a moment. Riley was saying all these lies so easily. He knew she had to, but he was still shocked. He looks down at the baby blossoms to find them looking up at their mother.

“Was that the reason he broke off his engagement to the Countess?” Ana asks again.

Riley flashes that smile again. “You would have to ask him that question.” 

“So what exactly happened after he broke the engagement?” 

“Accommodations were made for me to return to Cordonia, but King Liam decided that it was better to stay away for a while longer, seeing that there were many threats to the monarchy and his own safety. The last thing we would have wanted was to put our child at risk.”

Before Ana can ask another question, a herald trumpeting breaks through.

“What’s happening?” Eleanor asks up to Maxwell. 

“Liam’s gonna say something,” Maxwell tells her.

They all turn to see Liam on an elevated platform with Prince Leo near him, smiling out at everyone. A crowd forms around him, and Maxwell notices Liam look in the baby blossoms’ direction and smile. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen of Cordonia, I welcome you all to our Royal Regatta!” his booming voice cries. 

The crowd around him begins to cheer and clap. Ana de Luca follows her cameraman over towards the main crowd, and they both disappear between the bustle of people. 

“This day,” Liam continues, “holds both historical and personal importance. Cordonia, for as long as any of us have known is, has prided herself in remaining a generous nation, even when our neighbors are not as benevolent. The Regatta was also a favorite event of my father, the late King Constantine.”  

Maxwell notices a shadow cross over Liam’s face, but it disappears in an instant. 

“In his memory, we celebrate, and hope for the continued prosperity of Cordonia. So without further delay, let the festivities begin!” Liam concludes. The crowd cheers again, then disperse. 

From the corner of his eye, Maxwell sees Drake and Jessica walking in their direction. Jessica’s bright smile and casual dress contrast with Drake’s expressionless face and his usual denim outfit. 

“I heard a few nobles were gonna race before the actual thing?” Drake asks Maxwell. Jessica greets Rowan and the baby blossoms. 

“Yes, I believe Duke Rashad, Landon, and Hakim are some of the main contestants,” Bertrand answers. 

“And, uh...” Maxwell leans forward — taking a look back at Hana, who was in a conversation with Olivia and Riley, neither of which were paying attention to anything the rest of them were saying — “Neville’s gonna participate, too.” 

Everyone makes a face, giving a quick, pitiful glance in Hana’s direction.

Maxwell looked around and noticed people getting ready for the race. He raises his head, hoping to see Liam somewhere, and sees him in front of the royal yacht conversing with someone. 

“Baby blossoms,” he leans down to them. “You guys should go over to where Liam is.” 

“Where is he?” Ella asks. 

“At the royal yacht,” Maxwell tells them. 

Gabriel grabs his sister’s hand, then leads her away from their group. But after a few seconds, they return, and Gabriel says, “Yeah, I don’t know where that is.” 

“C’mon, ya little blossom babes, I’ll show you.” He begins leading the way to where he saw Liam, then turns back towards Rowan and tells her to follow. 

She blushes, and rushes up to them. 

Maxwell doesn’t see Liam anymore, but he still leads the children onto the royal yacht. When Liam hears them board, his face lights up and the baby blossoms run up to him.

“Daddyo!” Eleanor cries, running towards Liam with her arms out. Liam grabs her and lifts her over his shoulders and onto his back.

Eleanor giggles as she wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso. Liam proceeds to march around the yacht, Gabriel following them and laughing along. 

Maxwell notices a variety of sweets and snacks laid out on the table: fruits pierced with small sticks that had cute animals at the ends of them, and everything from cupcakes to cookies, also in the shape of animals. 

Liam stops when the herald comes onto the boat and tells him, “Your Majesty, it’s time for you to announce the beginning of the races.” 

Gently, Liam helps Eleanor off his back, who pouts. "Wait right here,” he tells her, then follows the herald off of the boat and back onto an elevated platform near the starting line. The herald hands Liam a starting pistol, and he holds it above his head. 

“Racers, ready!” he calls out. Liam pulls the trigger and yells, “Go!” 

The boats take off into the distance, and Liam rushes back onto the yacht to collect Eleanor in his arms again, letting Gabriel enjoy his fresh fruit. 

Liam invites everyone else onto the yacht. While the women engage themselves in conversation, Maxwell, Drake, and Bertrand stand around and talk to Liam, who gives most of his attention to the baby blossoms. 

Maxwell looks around at the activity around him, and is suddenly reminded that barely than two months ago, none of them could have imagined they’d all be together again. Back then, everyone had become accustomed to the boredom that their lives had been put into. But seeing everyone now, Riley talking happily with everyone, a smile on Liam’s face bigger than Maxwell had ever seen — he feels grateful for everything. 

He stares at Rowan for a moment, silently hoping that she would look back at him. When she does, she smiles at him again, and he loves that look in her eyes. She breaks off the stare to glance at the children, and Maxwell is suddenly reminded of Boris. 

He didn’t remember seeing the man anywhere after the Derby. Maxwell stands and looks out towards the docks. There are so many people that he can’t point out any specific person. 

“The boats are back!” Gabriel announces. Everyone walks towards the edge of the yacht. When Maxwell focuses on the two small figures that were beginning to come into view, he tells everyone that it’s Rashad’s and Neville’s boats that are in the lead. 

They all stare at the two boats in anticipation, and they hear cheers from the docks go out when Rashad’s boat passes the finish line first. Maxwell glances towards Hana to see a satisfied smile on her face. She seems glad Neville lost.

Liam walks closer to the shore and begins to applaud, congratulating Rashad. Both men exit their boats and shake each other’s hands, but Maxwell still notices Neville snarl after he turns away.

Once everyone is back on the harbor, Neville tells everyone that his party is beginning, and people begin to board his ship. 

“Aren’t you going?” Olivia turns to ask Liam, who was already walking back towards the yacht with the baby blossoms in tow. 

Liam frowns, then comes back up to the group. “Of course not. I refuse to have such an abhorrent man in my presence, especially one that has—” Liam breaks off for a second to glance down at the baby blossoms “—insulted my children, and a friend, no less. Anyone who doesn’t wish to attend can join me.” 

They all turn to look at Hana, who doesn’t make eye contact with anyone, and stares out at the sea. “Neville said that he expects me to attend,” she tells them in a low voice. 

Riley links her arm through Hana’s. “I’ll go with her.” 

“But, Mama,” Eleanor tugs lightly on her mother’s pant leg. “I wanna go with Daddyo.”

“Go ahead, baby,” she allows, shaking her head and chuckling when Liam smiles at her. The baby blossoms follow Liam back onto the yacht as the rest of them reluctantly pile onto Neville’s boat. 

On the boat, everyone crowds around Neville as he welcomes them. Olivia, Bertrand, Savannah, and Drake (being pulled along by Jessica) break off to mingle. Riley and Hana grab a glass of champagne from a waiter, and Maxwell and Rowan follow.

They go towards the end of the boat and take a seat on the cushions. 

“God,” Rowan comments. Maxwell turns to her, noticing her gaze on Neville. “How did that type of person get married to Hana?” 

They both watch Neville as he speaks to Adelaide, looking her up and down without any sense of modesty.

“Poor Hana,” Maxwell mumbles. 

He watches Neville, whose eyes reach Hana. Still talking to Riley, she seems oblivious when he begins to walk over to her. But before Neville can get too close, Hana stands and walks over to Rashad. She talks to him with a broad smile over his face, and Neville reddens with anger.

They watch the racing boats leave the starting line. After the boats have gone from view, the group walks around to mingle. Once that got tiring — and Hana was tired of continuously walking away from Neville every other minute — they sat back down with new glasses of champagne, this time joined by Drake. 

The five of them sit for hours, Rowan’s head resting on Maxwell’s shoulder, causing his heart to beat faster. Drake watches Jessica in the crowd, while Riley and Hana continue to talk quietly. 

What feels like hours later, Jessica comes up to Drake, her smile gone. 

“I’m leaving, darling,” she tells him. He stands, holding her hands in his.

“Everything okay?” he asks her. 

She shakes her head and lowers her voice. “Papa passed away.”

“What?” Drake breathes. Rowan and Maxwell turn to look, slightly worried.

“He was in the hospital this entire week.” She says nothing else. 

“I... I’m so sorry.” Drake brings her hands up to his lips. “Want me to come with?”

She shakes her head, gives him a peck on the cheek, then leaves.

Maxwell thinks that Jessica’s neutral face is odd, but considers that it would be even weirder to break down in front of the entire court. 

More time passes, during which Maxwell itches to get up and dance. But there was no chance he was going to have fun at a party whose host had hurt Hana so much. He wishes he can apologize to Rowan; he wanted her time in Cordonia to be fun. He never asked her when she’d be leaving to go back to New York, but he feared that it was probably soon. 

When the boats finally come back and reach the finish line, he leads their little group off of the boat, Rowan under his arm. 

“Beach party time!” he cries. 

- Liam - 

Once the races were finally done, Liam leads the children towards the beach. Gabriel and Eleanor were reluctant to leave the yacht, and Liam was glad that they had enjoyed it so much. 

He was worried about them lately, and how they were adjusting into their new lives. Not only that, but Liam was also concerned about them missing Theodore. He wanted to ask them about it, but thought that it was better for him to be a fun distraction rather than bring up things for them to worry about.

Thankfully both the children had on swimsuits under their outfits. They leave their things in the limo and race for the water, where some nobles have already begun partying. 

Liam laughs with the children as he watches them splash around, but then remembers that he forgot to tell them to put on sunscreen. He wonders for a moment if it really matters, then decides to call them back. 

While they get out of the water, Riley and everyone else appears, all of them wearing swimsuits already, except for her and Maxwell. Riley holds a little bag, from which she produces a tube of sunscreen. Once enough is applied to each of the children, they run back into the water towards Hunter and Heather, with Bartie following behind. Liam notices his brother in the water as well, then sees Drake start swimming towards him. 

Bertrand proceeds to talk to other noblemen under the shade and away from the water. Hana and Savannah both find towels and sit on the sand under umbrellas. Rowan walks towards the water, then calls out for Maxwell, who still has his shirt on. 

“Actually, Rowan,” he says to her. “How about we eat first?” 

“Don’t you wanna have some water fun?” she says to him, the water up to her ankles.

Maxwell hesitates, and Rowan grabs his arm to pull him towards the water. 

“I promise we can eat later,” she says to him. “But what’s a beach party when you don’t even have fun in the water?” 

He seems like he wants to pull back, but Maxwell allows her to guide him. 

“You can take off your shirt if you want?” she tells him when they’re almost knee-deep in the water.

Maxwell takes a second to stare at her, then quickly removes his shirt. Once Rowan sees the tattoo, she cries out, “Ohmygod, that’s so cute!” 

“Aw,” Riley sounds, still standing next to Liam. “I’m glad they’re getting closer.”

“As am I,” he says. “Though Maxwell being romantically involved with anyone is the last thing I expected, it’s nice to see my friend happy. Especially after everything he’s done for me.” 

Liam looks pointedly at her, and smiles when she turns to look at him. “And what has Maxwell done for you?” There’s a sense of joy behind each of her words.

He leans as close to her as decorum will allow to whisper, “He was the one who sponsored you to come to Cordonia, and he was the one who planned for us to have moments alone during the Social Season.” 

Liam notices her look at his lips. “Hm,” she mumbles. When Riley looks back at his eyes, her gaze is playful.

“Will you accompany me somewhere?” he asks her.

“Of course.” 

Liam looks around to check if anyone was looking at them, then takes her hand and leads her down a trail. 

After Riley had left, he had returned to the Forgotten Falls multiple times, but only to stare at it. Only to remember the time alone they had spent together. 

He helps her climb up, worried about her leg. When he pulls himself up after her, Liam sees Riley stare at the waterfall. He hoped that the smile on her face was in remembrance of their love, instead of thoughts of what could have been between them — such were the thoughts that were running through Liam’s mind right now. 

“Do you want to go for a swim?” Riley asks him. 

He knew they weren’t going to climb up to the waterfall like last time, and was elated that she still wanted to get in the water. “You don’t have a swimsuit,” he reminds her.

“So?” She laughs at him, then begins to take off her clothes. Liam quickly averts his gaze, then questions why he even did that. 

He takes off his own clothes, but before he can get his shirt over his head, Liam hears a splash. Riley’s clothes are on the ground next to him, and there are ripples in the water. He shrugs the rest of his clothes off in a hurry, then jumps in. 

Liam opens his eyes under the water, and sees her legs swimming away from him. He pushes his arms and legs to go after her, slightly mesmerized by how she gently kicked to keep herself afloat.

He lets himself fall to the bottom, then pushes himself up, grabbing her hips in the process and raising her above the water. She cries out, clearly doing her best not to laugh.  

He holds onto her, keeping half of her body above the water. She holds his shoulder and looks at him while Liam spins them both in the water.

“The court will be going to Applewood tomorrow,” he tells her.

“I know,” she responds. “I don’t need Maxwell to tell me which event is next. Thankfully, I know it all by myself now.” 

He looks up at her, refusing to let her go, and almost brings her down to kiss her, but catches himself. 

“Do you think we could leave for Applewood early? You, the children, and I?” Liam asks. 

“Why?” 

“I want to show them around. It was one of my favorite places growing up. The royal family was rarely bothered at Applewood, as it was mostly kept away from the spotlight. Before the rest of the court arrives, I want them to enjoy that.”

He looks up at her to find Riley staring at him. There’s a smile on her lips, and she slides down to kiss him. 

At first it takes him a little by surprise. Liam felt that he forgot what her lips felt like, but like second nature, one of his hands travels to her hair. He runs his fingers through it and relishes in the warmth that radiates off her body. He wants to bring her closer to him, but she pulls away and gives a little laugh. 

“What’s so funny?” he asks her, expecting an answer. 

She doesn’t give one, but swims over to the edge of the water to pull herself out. He follows her, then pulls her back towards him, pressing their lips together again. When she gently pushes away a second time, Liam wants to almost scold her, but the smile on her face is too contagious. 

She lays on the ground and he sits next to her, wanting to touch her again. For now he consoled himself, basking in her presence. Lying next to him was a woman who was not phased by time; even after ten years she never failed to make his heart race, make him want more of her. 

They stay like that for a while, her head on his shoulder. He tells her that Applewood is where he’ll announce that the nobility will have their belongings searched. Liam says that he’s concerned about their reactions.

Riley tells him how bad she feels for Hana, and how she wants to help her friend get out of that marriage. Liam mentions that Duke Rashad might be able to assist, and Riley says she’ll try to speak to him. 

When Liam wonders aloud how the children may be doing, or whether they ate or not, Riley states that she thinks they should return. 

They put on their clothes and share one last, lingering kiss before making their way back to the beach, where the children had just finished eating and said that they wanted to go to sleep. 

Liam insists that they go back to the palace in his limo, and knows Riley cannot deny the children’s persisting. On the drive over, Eleanor falls asleep. Liam carries the girl to her room, and after putting her to bed, steals one last kiss from Riley before leading Gabriel back to their quarters.

#the royal romance #choices trr #choices the royal romance #choices trr fanfic #king liam #king liam x mc #trr king liam x mc #trr king liam #liam x mc #trr liam x mc #trr fanfic #trr fandom #trr fanfiction #trh fanfic #trh fandom #trh liam #the royal romance fanfic #choices stories you play #the royal heir fanfic

[katedrakeohd]

The Lake (A)

Author's note:

**Dear Reader, if you have come across this post accidentally on your dashboard out of context I apologize. This is one of two possible endings for The Lake, so feel free to start at the beginning or totally skip this conclusion post and read something else.

If you followed the link to get here then 'keep reading' and enjoy**

--

 Kate is startled awake by the sound of her phone buzzing and the chime of a notification. Next to her Bartie is curled up into a ball and whimpering, his face is wet with tears. 

Kate sits up and pulls her drowsy two year old into her lap and kisses her on the head before reaching over to rub Bartie on his back. "What's wrong, Bartie? Why are you crying?"

Bartie wipes his tears and turns his face to peer over his shoulder at his Aunt. "I..I had an accident. And a really bad dream."

"That's ok Honey, accidents happen, and don't worry the dream is all gone now."

Bartie sits up, hugging his knees to his chest, "But the dream was so scary and it felt so real."

Kate's phone buzzes again and she glances at it, "It might help to talk about it? Make it a little less scary."

They climb out of the playcastle and Bartie looks up at Kate with wide eyes as he takes her hand, "There was a monster in my dream! A monster in the lake!"

Kate gives his hand a gentle squeeze,  rubbing the back of it with her thumb. "Oh sweety, monsters aren't real. They only put them in fairytales to make the story more interesting, and to give the hero something to do." 

She leads him to the bathroom nearby to get cleaned up. "But are you sure monsters aren't real? Uncle Max told me.."

Kate chuckles as she stops in the doorway, "Your Uncle Maxwell is a big silly guy, and likes to tell make-believe stories just for fun. Never take them seriously unless he can show you pictures to prove it."

Bartie glances up at Kate with a sheepish expression, trying to sound brave and forget the scary images in his head, "Yeah.. they're just stories. Silly Uncle Max."

Kate waits outside the closed door while Bartie gets out of his wet clothes. She smiles as she watches Brooklyn toddle over to play with her toys. Thankfully the monster talk didn't bother her.

Her phone buzzes again and she picks it up with a sigh. She's surprised to see the text is from Maxwell. 

>> Help! Our boat has sprung a leak and we're sinking! 😱

Kate shakes her head, feeling that Maxwell is being over dramatic. She responds back,

>> Oh Max, what did you do now?

She's just dropping her phone down to watch Brooklyn move onto something new to play with when her phone starts ringing. Frowning with concern, she realizes the call is from Preston, their head of security. She answers,

"Preston, what's going on?"

"There's been an incident out on the lake and we're mobilizing a rescue. Stay with the children and we'll update you when we have more details."

Kate feels her heart sink down into her stomach, realizing that Max's text was serious. "But Preston.."

He doesn't respond because he's already hung up.

"Mommy, why do you look so scared?" Brooklyn picks up her stuffed unicorn and hugs it. "What did Mr. Preston say?"

 

Kate rushes over to the window and pushes open the curtains. Through the trees she can just make out the sight of Preston in the speedboat as he exits the boat house and then disappears from view.

…

Like a few hours earlier, Kate and the children are standing in the courtyard. But this time they're watching the speedboat arrive at the dock with the three men in it. Kate feels a tremendous sense of relief at seeing both of her guys looking mostly dry. But her relief fades when she sees Maxwell and Preston help Drake get out of the boat. 

His denim shirt is in tatters and covered in rusty looking stains, and his right leg is streaked with fresh blood. He leans heavily on Preston as he limps forward, scowling at Maxwell and shoving him away. "I've had enough of your help today. Now go on you silly bastard."

Kate scoops Brooklyn up in her arms as she hears her start to cry.  She hides behind her hands and turns her face into her Mother's shoulder as she whines and sobs, "What happened to Daddy?! Why is his leg all red like that?"

Preston helps Drake over to a wooden deck chair.  He sits back and lets Preston take over first-aid as he tends to his bullet wound. Undoing his ruined shirt, he tosses it aside. The pain etched on his face is all too familiar.

Kate aches to run over to Drake to give him hugs and kisses, seeing the pain he's in, but holds back for Brooklyn's sake. She can't help the tears that burn at her eyes though as she looks between Drake and Maxwell.

"Maxwell what happened? What did you do?"

Bartie runs over to hug his uncle's legs, "I'm so glad you're okay Uncle Max."

Looking down at his feet, Maxwell mumbles, "I..brought a..pistol with me on our fishing trip."

"You did what? But why?!" Kate gasps with horror.

"For protection, right Uncle Max?" 

Bartie looks up at him and smiles as Max lays his hand on his nephew's head and looks down at him sadly, "That's right little Buddy, but I wasn't smart about it. I should have told Uncle Drake before we got into the boat."

"Ya think?" Drake grumbles and hisses as Preston wipes the blood off with an alcohol wipe and then wraps a gauze bandage around his leg.

"Protection from what?" Kate asks, getting more and more impatient at the lack of details.

"This will have to do, Your Grace. Until we can get you to the hospital." Preston insists.

Mara moves from Kate's side to stand next to Maxwell. She looks down at Bartie and then back up to Maxwell, "I'm sorry, Lord Beaumont, but I must ask your nephew to step aside."

"But why?" Bartie cries, as Maxwell kneels down to his level to give him a hug.

Maxwell looks between Drake, Preston, Kate and Mara. "They need to take me into custody, Bartie."

Bartie cries harder as Maxwell stands up again. Mara steps closer and grips him firmly by the arm and leads him away. 

"But he was just protecting Uncle Drake from the monster in the lake!" Bartie cries out indignantly, stomping his foot. "He didn't mean to shoot the wrong one!"

Kate walks over to try to console Bartie, but he backs away. "No! Uncle Max was brave, he was supposed to be the hero."

Drake sighs, shaking his head, "I'm sorry, Bartie. There was no monster, but Max was scared enough to think there was. He dropped the pistol and it went off accidentally. I got hit in the leg and the boat ended up with a hole in it too. He should've been brave enough not to take the pistol with him. Now he has to face the consequences."

Off in the distance, a siren can be heard. Bartie covers his ears, and runs back toward the manor. 

 "Kate," Drake says, waving her over to him.

Kate looks between Drake and the retreating back of her distraught nephew, she rushes over to give her husband a hug and kiss. Brooklyn wraps her little arms around his neck and hugs him too, before Kate has to pull her away. 

The flashing lights of the ambulance wash over everyone as it pulls into the yard. Drake looks between the ambulance and Preston and then nods to him. The security guard turns to Kate,

"Please go back to the manor, Your Grace. I'll go with the Duke to the hospital and report to you on his condition. He's in good hands, he'll be fine." 

Kate gives Drake one last kiss, and then carries a whimpering Brooklyn back inside. She finds Bartie sitting on the bottom step of the grand staircase, his little face in his hands, crying. When she sits down next to him he doesn't pull away as she wraps her arm around his slim shoulders. 

Through his sobs, Kate hears him ask, "Is Un..Uncle Drake...go..going to be okay?"

Kate nods, "I think so. He's been shot, stabbed and wounded many times and keeps on going. He's made of tough stuff, your Uncle."

Bartie wipes his eyes on his sleeve, "And Uncle Max?"

"Well, for now, he'll probably be kept in his room under armed guard until Preston gets back with your Uncle Drake. And then we'll contact your Uncle Liam, the King and ask his advice on what happens next."

"Real life is so much scarier than fairytales sometimes," Bartie mumbles.

Kate leans down to give him a kiss on the forehead, "That's very true, sweetheart."

...........

//So what did you think of this ending? If you're curious you can try the other. The Lake (B) Or you can go back to the original post to leave your comments. //

Thanks for reading. 😊

[flowerpowell]

Unexpected (Drake x MC)

PART TWO

A/N: Can you believe I wrote this part the same day I published the first one? Me neither. I hope you’ll like it, I know it takes ageeees before the actual point of this fic happens but bear with me, it’s coming! Feedback always makes me super happy so feel free to leave some if you want to! Characters belong to Pixelberry.

Rating: PG-13 for now

Word count: 1278

Tagging: @gardeningourmet​ @delightfullypinkglitter​ @choicessa​ @hopefulmoonobject​ @akrenich​ @blackcatkita​ @cora-nova​ @client-327​ @desiree-0816​ @jlpplays1​ @dcbbw​ @kingliam2019​ @the-soot-sprite​ @mskaneko​ @thequeenofcronuts​ @dr-ethanjramsey​ @missameliep​ @maxattack-powell​ @badchoicesposts​ @mymandrake​ @butindeed​ @burnsoslow​ @annekebbphotography​ @alesana45​ @addictedtodrakefanfic​ @speedyoperarascalparty​ @walkerduchess​ @ao719​ @texaskitten30​ @lodberg​ @cordonianroyalty​ @emichelle​ @sirbeepsalot​ @siriusxxvideos​ @i-bloody-love-drake-walker​ @samihatuli​ @choices-lurker​ @i-miss-trr​ @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld​ @nikkis1983​ @innerpostmentality​ @msjr0119​ @bascmve01​ @mind-reader1​ @edgiestwinter​ @drakesensworld​ @queenjilian​ ♥

“Oh no.”

Riley groaned when she saw Drake walking into the bar. It was the day after their little babysitting adventure and she hoped for at least one day break from seeing him.

“Whiskey?” She asked him not even bothering to take out her notebook.

“And ice,” he added.

“It’s cold outside, your throat is gonna--” she stopped herself. “You know what, nevermind. I’ll be right back.”

Drake only nodded in response and mentally got back to the conversation with Savannah and Betrand from last night. Clearly, Liam made a decision already. And his sister seemed happy. So why did Drake feel so weird?

He spent his whole life in the shadows. He liked it there. And now his nephew would be the heir. That sounded almost unreal, almost--

“We ran out of ice. Can I get you ice cold water instead?”

“What?” He looked at Riley as if she was crazy. “Do I look like a person who adds water to his whiskey?”

“Well, ice is also water,” she shrugged. “I thought I’d ask so you won’t think I’m rude or anything.”

“Too late for that. Can I have my drink now?” Riley’s eyes narrowed as she placed the drink on the table. Without glacing at her, Drake took a mouthful of the whiskey and took out his phone. Riley rolled her eyes but took a hint and left Drake alone.

She sat down on a stool beside the bar and looked at Drake. Why would his sister think she was his girlfriend. No, not just a girlfriend. A secret girlfriend.

He didn’t look bad, she would assume he had many girlfriends but the way his family talked about him finally dating made her think maybe she was wrong.

“With that personality no wonder he’s alone,” she murmured to herself, still looking at him.

“Admiring the view, I see?”

“Whoaa, what? Him? The view? No? I was just thinking how annoying he is,” Riley answered, ashamed to have been caught staring at him.

“Riiiiight,” the bartender said winking at her.

“Why does everyone think I have a thing for him? You, his sister and her husband, that’s so--”

“Hoooold up! You met his sister? And you’re saying there’s nothing between you?”

“Nothing but hatred. He’s the most annoying grump I’ve ever met. He can’t even say thank you. Or act like a decent human being. And I met his sister only because I was in his house when she came.”

“You were in his house?!” His eyes widened. “Now that’s getting intersting. Maybe you also visted his bedroom, huh?” He teased her and Riley’s cheeks reddened. If he only knew...

“Yeah, like, what for, pfft!” She mocked taking a sip of water.

“I don’t know, there are many possibilites. Maybe to see what’s underneath this denim shirt or maybe--”

“Ahem,” Riley turned around to see Drake standing behind them with an empty glass. “Can I have another one?”

“Sure,” her voice wavered a little when she took the glass from Drake’s hands.

“I have a white tee under the denim one by the way,” he said before walking away. Riley’s eyes widened in horror as her friend covered his mouth trying not to laugh.

“Stop it! I hate you! Now he’ll think I talk about him!”

“But you do,” the bartender laughed dodgding her smack. She stuck out a tongue at him and glanced in Drake’s direction. Here’s to hoping he doesn’t think I think about him. We can’t risk his ego getting even bigger.

~~~~

“Can you imagine my grandson will be the King? Bertrand, you’re living my dream life!” Barthelemy beamed holding Bartie. Drake rolled his eyes and took a swig of his drink.

He hated social gatherings per se, but what the hated ever more were the gatherings that involved Barthelemy. He decided to throw a little party celebrating his grandson offically becoming the heir to the throne. He invited many people but somehow forgot to say a word to Bartie’s grandmother, Bianca.

“Yes, yes, it’s truly an honor!” Godfrey agreed and Madeleine nodded. Why these two were invited, Drake had no idea. And judging from Betrand’s and Savannah’s reactions, they didn’t know either.

“It is indeed,” Madeleine said bitterly. “Congratulations.”

Drake looked around to see people chattering and felt as if his ears were about to fall off. He excused himself even though no one cared and left the party. As much as he was happy for Bertrand and Savannah, there was someone else who wasn’t so happy about it. And Drake meant it when he said he was going to be there for his friend.

~~~~

“Riley!”

“I’m coming!!!” she yelled back and ran to the manager’s office. “Please, don’t tell me Drake left his wallet here again.”

“No, but it’s good that you know his address. He needs to sign these documents today, can you please take them to him?”

“Excuse me, what?” Riley blinked a few times to make sure it was real. Did her manager just asked her to go to Drake’s again?

“Take these documents,” he explained slowly motioning a pile of papers, “and bring them to Drake. You know the address.”

“And why on Earth would Drake need to sign any documents?” she asked confused.

“Maybe because he owns the place? And he needs to sign them so we can get our salary?”

“He what?” Oh boy, oh boy. Oh boy.

“He’s the owner of this bar. His best friend bought it for him a few years ago but Drake prefers to keep it private. Now please, get these documents to him.”

“On it!” She took the papers and ran out. Did that mean she was rude to her boss? And did that mean her boss thought she was talking about what was underneath his shirt with her friend?

Oh boy.

~~~~

“Can’t a guy have at least one moment for himself?” Drake groaned as he heard someone knocking on the door. He walked to the door and opened it to reveal Riley. “Oh no, not you again.”

“Heyyy! How’s your evening? You look cozy! I have a few documents for you from my manager and I’m leaving you alone, don’t worry!” She smiled at him as he frowned.

“Are you ill? Why are you nice to me?”

“Ha ha! You’re so funny! Can I come in?” She asked and he nodded moving aside.

“You know,” he noticed and Riley nodded hesitantly.

“And I’m so sorry I was rude to you, I swear it’ll never happen again! Please don’t fire me, I need the money!”

“Fire you? I only own the place, your manager can fire you, not me,” he shrugged as he realized why she was so nice to him a few moments before.

“So, it doesn’t matter if I was rude?”

“Not to me.”

“Oh, good.” She shoved the papers on the table. “I wasn’t sure if I could keep on being nice to you, it felt so unnatural.”

“Yeah, I could tell. Please don’t do it again. It was scary.”

“Ugh! This is exactly your problem, you’re so annoying and--”

“Are you seriously offending me again? In my own house?”

“See? Natural reaction!” She explained and before Drake could say something back, his phone rang.

“Yes, Liam?” he answered and Riley rolled her eyes.

“Drake? I-I need to talk to someone. Madeleiene just called off our engagement.”

#the royal romance #drake walker #drake x mc #drake walker x mc #trr #choices #choices trr #choices the royal romance #playchoices #my fic

[dukedrakes]

The Strawberry Room (AU)

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Rose)

Rating: PG-13

Words: 2.7K

Summary: An AU where Drake drops his nephew off at pre-school and meets Rose, his teacher.

I got this idea when I was trying to fall asleep and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since so obviously I had to write it because it was so damn cute.

Don’t forget to tell me what you think, Reblog and Like! Enjoy!

Find my other work here.

Taglist: @carreraleigh @emceesynonymroll @beneath-the-ancient-sign @saivilo @sibella-plays-choices  @drakeswalkers @maxwellshippo @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @drakewalkerwhipped @butindeed @choiceslover-24-7

(I curated the tag lost by adding people who wanted to be tagged + people who interacted with any of my posts of or about my fics and/or are mutuals/friends, so if you’d like to be added or removed, let me know!)

Drake Walker had no idea what he was doing. All he knew was that his 4-year-old nephew starts pre-school in T-minus 45 minutes, and he hasn’t even fed the child yet. Savannah and Bertrand had trusted their son in Drake’s care for a week to have a much-needed break from running the Beaumont estate, but Drake was beginning to think they had made a terrible mistake as Bartie ran through the living room in only underwear with a pirate hat on.

It wasn’t even 8 am and Drake was already more stressed than he had ever been in his life.

“Bartie! Get dressed, you need to go pre-school!” Drake said as he stood at the edge of the living room, watching Bartie climb up on the coffee table with a make-shift sword and pretending to swing it.

“But Captain Lionheart’s ship is under attack from man-eating fish-monsters!” Bartie protested, lifting the constantly falling pirate hat off his brow.

“It may be time to call a truce, kid.” Drake crossed his arms. “At least until this afternoon.”

Bartie thought for a moment before shouting; “Never!” and jumped off the table before thrusting his sword at Drake who had to jump back to avoid being hit.

“Hey! Bartie!” Drake shouted as Bartie ran off down the corridor laughing. “Get back here you little—”

Drake took off after him, skidding on the floorboards as he turned to enter Bartie’s room. Drake saw him jumping on his unmade bed, cackling. Drake bolted to the bed but was too late as Bartie had already jumped off the bed and taken off down the corridor again. Drake ran a hand over his face muttering, “Does he do this every day? How was Savannah deal with this?” before running back out to the living room, which was now silent. Drake sighed, as he looked around for where Bartie was hiding.

“Come on out, Bartie.” Drake carefully walked around couch pillows that have been thrown on the floor. “Your teacher isn’t going to like it if you’re late. Neither will your mom.”

Drake was met with silence as he finally spotted Bartie’s feet peeking out at the bottom of the curtain. Drake crept up closer as quiet as he could before he shouted. “RAAH! Got you, you little rascal!” He scooped Bartie up in his arms and the child laughed hysterically. Drake tickled him as he carried him to the bedroom.

“Stop! Uncle Drake, stop it!” Bartie giggled as he squirmed in Drake’s arms.

Drake laughed and tickled him one last time before he sat him down on the bed and crouched in front of his nephew.

“Alright, buddy. Now, we’ve got to get ready to go so can you do something for me?” Drake asked.

Bartie nodded enthusiastically, his pirate hat falling over his eyes.

“I need you to put on some clothes whilst I make you some breakfast so we can so to pre-school, okay?” Drake said as he removed Bartie’s pirate hat and placed it in his small hands.

Bartie nodded. “When I get back, will you play pirates with me?”

Drake smiled. “Sure thing, little guy. But only if you be a good boy and get yourself and your bag ready.”

“Okay!” Bartie exclaimed and slid off the bed before running to his dresser and rummaging through for some clothes.

Drake stood up slowly and watched his nephew with a small smile on his face as he exited the room to go to the kitchen and throw together some store-bought pancakes (he hadn’t worked out how to use the stove yet) with fruit and Nutella. He finished spreading some Nutella on the pancake as he looked at the time on the oven.

“Shit!” He muttered to himself before calling towards Bartie’s room. “Bartie we gotta go! Pre-school started 5 minutes ago!”

Drake unbuckled Bartie from his chair seat and lifted him out of the car, grabbed his backpack and Bartie’s hand before running to the pre-school door with him in tow.

“Uncle Drake, you’re going too fast!” Bartie complained.

“Sorry, little guy, but we’re running very late.” Drake said as he slowed a little. “Your mom won’t let me hear the end of this if she finds out” He muttered under his breath.

Drake entered the pre-school building, puffed out and frazzled. “Hi,” He said to the person at the front desk, running his free hand through his hair. “I’m Drake Walker, I’m dropping my nephew Bartie Walker-Beaumont off?” He spoke it more like a question. “This is my first time here and my sister told me the room he was in, but I can’t remember it and I know I’m very late, but can you tell me which room he’s in?” He asked, more embarrassed than ever before.

“Hi, Mr. Walker. Don’t worry about being late. Bartie is room 104, the Strawberry Room. Just head down the corridor and it’s the second room on your right.” The person at the front desk smiled at him and gestured to Drake’s right.

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Drake replied and tugged Bartie down the corridor until he reached a door with a large smiling strawberry on it. And it also appeared to be scented.

Drake knocked on the door and opened it, being met with 25 chatty children at desks, making what looked like pasta necklaces.

“Hi! Can I help you?” Said a melodic voice and Drake turned his head to the only adult in the room. She walked forward, wearing a white t-shirt under some denim overalls with a paper tiara on her head, her long ponytail swinging behind her.

“Oh. Um. Hi.” Drake stammered. “I’m Drake Walker, Bartie’s uncle.”

“Hi.” She went to say more when Bartie let go of Drake’s hand.

“Miss Clarke!” He exclaimed as he ran out to hug the woman – who appeared to be Miss Clarke’s – legs.

“Bartie! It’s good to see you, running a bit late today, are we?” She smiled as she bent over to rub his back.

“Sorry about that…uh…Miss Clarke.” Drake said sheepishly. “We’ve had a bit of a hectic morning.”

“I was fighting with the man-eating fish monsters!” Bartie cheered.

She gasped and feigned shock. “Were you?! How terrifying! Did you win?”

“Nope, we called a truce until this afternoon, Uncle Drake is going to help me defeat them!” Bartie explained with excitement.

“Very diplomatic of you. Now,” She said and crouched down to his level. “I’m going to need to you put your bag on its hook and sit at a desk because we’re making pasta necklaces today.”

“Ooh! I can make one for Mommy and Daddy and my uncles!” Bartie said with a grin.

“That’s a fantastic idea! Off you go, I’ll come and see you in a minute.” Miss Clarke said before Bartie ran off.

Drake cleared his throat, not realising he’d been watching her interact with Bartie with a smile on his face. “Again, I’m so sorry for being late this morning…uh…?”

“Oh! Sorry, I’m Rose. It’s nice to meet you.” She said, holding out her hand that was faintly covered in glitter. “And don’t worry about it, things like that happen with 4-year-olds”

“Right.” Drake shook her hand as he smiled at her; she was kind of beautiful.

“So, you’re Bartie’s uncle?” Rose said after a beat of silence.

Drake blinked as if he was manually registering her words before replying. “Uh, yeah. I’m looking after him this week.” He scratched the back of his neck.

“He’s a good kid. Very imaginative.” Rose looked over to where Bartie was sat and enthusiastically gesticulating an, no doubt, engaging story.

“Yeah, I think he has too much of his uncle in him.” Drake said with a smile as he watched his nephew put pasta on his fingers like claws and show the kid next to him.

Rose raises an eyebrow at Drake before he hurriedly clarifies; “His other uncle. Maxwell.”

“Ah, yes. The infamous Uncle Maxwell. I’ve certainly heard a lot about him from Bartie.” Rose smiles.

“I’m sure you have.” Drake replies.

“Lots of bizarre squid stories.” Rose laughs.

“That’s Maxwell.” Drake smiles.

There’s a comfortable silence between them as they watch Bartie together before Rose cleared her throat. “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing more of you then?” Rose asked with a smile.

“Looks like it.” Drake confirmed as he shoved his hands in his jean pockets.

“Hopefully Bartie will defeat the fish-monsters with enough time to get to school tomorrow.” Rose winked as she walked away to help some kids who had spilt pasta everywhere.

“Uh! Of course!” Drake stammered out with embarrassment.

“See you at 3pm, Mr. Walker.” Rose called out, a grin on her face. “Don’t be late.”

“Ah, good morning, Mr. Walker. Right on time I see.” Rose teased as she stood in the doorway of the Strawberry Room greeting the parents and kids as they arrived.

“I said I would be here on time.” Drake said as Bartie threw his arms around Rose. He didn’t want to tell her that he got up an hour earlier to decider the kitchen stove manual and make sure he had a nutritious breakfast ready for Bartie and had organised his bag the night before. He also didn’t want to tell her that he had had a little talk with Bartie before bed explaining why they couldn’t be late tomorrow.

“Uncle Drake said we had to be on time today so we could impress you.” Bartie grinned.

Drake’s eyes widened. He had been betrayed by a 4-year-old.

“Did he now?” Rose looked up from Bartie and eyed Drake with a sly smile.

“He’s kidding.” Drake quickly said.

“No, I’m not! You said—” Bartie protested before he was cut off by Drake reaching for him and pulling him into a hug.

“Have a good day, buddy! Don’t get into too much trouble!” Drake said as Bartie squirmed against him. “See you at 3 o’clock!”

Bartie pulled himself from Drake’s grasp and ran into the room. Drake stood up and scratched the back of his neck as Rose crossed her arms with a grin on her face.

“Uh…I should probably get going. Errands to run, you know.” Drake deflected as he took a few steps backwards.

Rose just kept grinning that stupidly cute grin that made his heart beat a little faster. “Okay.”

“Right. Bye, Miss Clarke” Drake waved as he turned and scolded himself for being so ridiculous.

“Mr. Walker!” He heard Rose call out from down the corridor. He turned towards her. “For the record, I’m impressed.”

Drake waited in the corridor outside the famed Strawberry Room with the other parents and guardians. He kept checking his phone for the time just for something to do. It was Friday and the last day of pre-school for the week. Savannah and Bertrand would be back on Sunday night, so this was Drake’s last school pick up for the time being.

Aside from that Monday morning, there hadn’t been any other real dramas this week. Drake got the hang of things pretty quickly and Bartie was more than happy to have his uncle around to play pirates or cowboys or pirates vs. cowboys.

But Drake couldn’t lie and say he didn’t enjoy dropping him off and picking him up from pre-school. And it wasn’t because he had a few hours to himself. And it also wasn’t because Bartie would bring him a macaroni picture that looked like an octopus, shamefully. But because of his pretty and playfully teasing pre-school teacher. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. With her grin and teasing banter that simultaneously made him embarrassed and gave him butterflies. It didn’t help that she seemed to love Bartie as much as he did.

Every morning and afternoon Drake and Rose would chat for a little bit. He tried to keep the conversations as nonchalant as possible, but Rose’s banter would always surprise him and make him stammer a little. She seemed to enjoy making him flustered, but he wasn’t sure if her teasing was flirtatious or not and this point, he was too afraid to ask. There had been times where she had said something, and Drake had to do a double take in his head as to what it meant. Sometimes it was paired with a smile that was less amusing and more soft and genuine, making him second-guess the encounter entirely.

The one thing he did know, however, was that he liked her.

The door to the room opened suddenly, bringing Drake out of his thoughts. Kids streamed out of the room and ran to their respective parents. He waited for Bartie and it wasn’t long before the little boy came running out of the classroom. Drake crouched down and scooped up Bartie in a hug.

“Hey, buddy! How was your day?” Drake asked as he held him.

“Good! We did painting!” Bartie recounted excitedly.

“Oh, yeah? What’d you paint?” Drake asked, setting Bartie back down on the ground.

Bartie shoved a rolled-up painting in towards him with a grin on his face. Drake took it with a smile and opened it up, seeing a poorly drawn but colourful drawing of one tall person and one little person that were unmistakeably him and Bartie. Bartie had draw his uncle in his classic denim shirt and had put himself in a pirate hat. Drake couldn’t stop the smile that grew on his face.

“That’s awesome, little guy.” Drake complimented.

“It’s you and me!” Bartie pointed out excitedly.

“I can see that. We’ll have to put it on the fridge when we get home.” Drake replied, handing Bartie the painting back.

“The resemblance is uncanny, Mr. Walker.”

Drake looked up and saw Rose leaning against the doorway. She took his breath away even dressed in a pink tutu and fairy wings; another paper tiara adorned her head.

Drake cleared his throat. “You know you can me Drake, right?” He said, putting his hands in his jean pockets, a nervous tick.

“I know.” Rose smiled. “Is this your last day?”

Drake frowned. “What?”

“Your last day picking up Bartie.” Rose clarified, putting some loose hair behind her ear.

“Oh, yeah. It is.” Drake said. “Nice outfit.” He nodded to the sparkly get up she wore.

She looked down at her clothes. “Oh! Uh, thanks. We were playing fairies and elves. I was the fairy queen.” A rare light blush spread across her cheeks.

Drake smirked. “You certainly look like one.”

She blushed again. “Thanks.” Rose scratched the back of her neck. “So, I guess this is the last time I’ll see you for a while.”

Drake scuffed his shoes on the linoleum floor as he said, “Looks like it.”

Rose nodded. “Well, I won’t keep you. It was great meeting you. Take care, Mr Walker. Drake.”

She backed into the room and closed the door, Drake heard it click shut before he let out a breath.

“Can we go get ice cream, Uncle Drake?” Bartie asked, craning his head to look at Drake.

“Hang on, buddy.” Drake said as he walked forward and knocked on the door before he could stop himself.

Rose opened the door a few seconds later, now missing her tiara. She seemed surprised for a second but before she could say anything Drake said; “Do you want to go out sometime?”

Rose blinks in surprised before she smiles genuinely. “That depends. Where would we go?”

“Uh!” Drake stammers, not prepared for a response other than yes or no. “Dinner, maybe? If you’d like. I know this really cool dive bar with great food and drinks as well as this old jukebox that only plays really bad 80’s music and pool tables.” He rambles.

Rose purses her lips. “I’ve never been very good at pool.”

“I can teach you.” Drake smiled back.

Rose smiled again, giving Drake butterflies. “I’d love to.”

Drake beamed. “Oh! Great!”

Rose turned to the shelf next to her and grabbed a bit of paper before scrawling with pink pen something which seemed to be her address and number in cursive script. “Don’t be late.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

I hope you all enjoyed it! I certainly enjoyed writing it!

Remember to Reblog, Like and let me know what you thought! 

#playchoices #drake walker x mc #drake walker #the royal romance #the royal heir #larissa's fics #larissa's drabbles #the strawberry room #choices fic #playchoices fic #choices oneshot #playchoices oneshot #choices au #playchoices au #drake walker fic #pixelberry #choices: stories you play #choices

[lizzybeth1986]

Quick Thoughts on TRH Book 1 Chapter 6

• It's YEEHAW time everyone!

• And also raise a middle finger to logic as we see the MC wear something that she should have probably lent to the Platinum MC for a country performance, rather than for farm work.

• There's also the bit where she randomly takes a pregnancy test coz she feels nauseous (yes I know. It's plot related and is probably done to show a false negative. But you need to time these things, MC! The best time to look for a double line is closer to the time you're supposed to be having your period, if your period is regular).

• Screenshot Credits:

Hana: @pixieferry

Drake: @thefirstcourtesan

Maxwell: The Abhirio YouTube channel.

• These are the tags you can block if you don't want to see these posts: #long post, #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs.

• Drake has an AUNT? Please don't give me any more family members, I'm done dealing with the ones he already has.

• I'm wondering if Leona exists so that PB can do some serious retconning on Bianca's behalf. After all, when she appeared in the Drake playthroughs of Book 3, there wasn't much of a positive reception for her - with some players even saying that the MC should have a few choice words to say to her - and for good reason.

• Title: Home, Home on the Range

So whatever little knowledge I do have about a place like Texas is from films and pop culture, so this might not be new information to you but it is to me! 😁 So I'm probably going to be a gazillion times more excited about sharing it than you guys might be to read it! Bear with me for a sec.

From what I'm reading, "Home, Home on the Range" seems to a western folk song that's so popular it's considered an unofficial anthem in that region. Its origin was from a poem called "My Western Home" from a Kansas native called Dr Brewster M Highly, in 1872 (it was even made Kansas' state song in 1945?). The lyrics are very...Drake:

Where the air is so pure, and the zephyrs so free,

The breezes so balmy and light,

That I would not exchange my home on the range,

For all of the cities so bright.

Mostly a very idyllic, glorified portrait of country life. You find similar sentiments in Drake's diamond scene this chapter.

• Alternative Title: We Just Needed An Excuse to Use the BSC Soundtrack Twice.

• So we meet Bianca, Drake's mother, this chapter. If you married him this is the second time you're seeing her, and if you married anyone else this is the first time and you have no clue who she is until Drake introduces her to you. She also mentions in the Drake playthrough that this is not the kind of welcome she was hoping to give her son and daughter-in-law.

• We also meet Leona, Bianca's older sister and Drake's aunt. She's extremely unimpressed with this group of nobles and largely seems to blame the nobility in general for whisking away her younger sister, leaving her alone to manage the ranch?

• She pretends not to listen much to Cordonian news while talking to Liam, but seems to have the time to keep up with Cordonian gossip while talking to us - and luckily you can call her out on it too.

• She seems the type that likes a rebellious Duchess/Queen, going by her responses to the more sarcastic options from the MC.

Hmm. This scene does two things: one, it establishes that the ranch is facing financial problems, in terms of money and staffing, and two, it possibly may build up to why Bianca had to return to the States. Both I think might become important points in the coming chapters.

• Bianca seems intent on not letting her children know anything about the fraught situation at her ranch, but Leona is having none of it. You either do your work and do it well, or she will put you through your paces. Which is exactly what is happening with Bertrand now.

• The whole theme of "we need to get pregnant, and fast" returns with the presence of Savannah, who greets us with a very excited, sociable Bartie in tow. You can choose to either pick him up and pay attention to him, ask Savannah to figure out what he wants, or ignore him completely. Whatever you choose, the topic of you becoming a mother will come up (either she comments on how you're a natural, or she will tell you that you'll eventually be able to read your own baby's signals). Savannah now joins a long, long line of people who will talk to us as if we're already pregnant (her fiancé will join this list in a couple minutes too, don't worry).

• Speaking of parents, the sole dad of the (extended) group - Bertrand - is nowhere to be found. Bianca is all praise, Leona is Unimpressed™, and Maxwell is shocked that the guy who swore never to touch fowl again after witnessing a flooded peacock enclosure is now chasing chickens. The group overall can't believe it.

• Bertrand is, in fact, chasing chickens.

• So here's the other issue that will come up. Having eventually convinced Savannah that he is serious about her and Bartie, he now wants to win the approval of the family. Bianca is more than ready to accept him, Leona is...Unimpressed™.

• This sets stage for Problem 3 of the Goings On at The Walker Ranch: Bertrand is desperate for approval and Leona seems pretty set on not giving him that. So I'm pretty sure getting her to realize that Savannah's fiancé means business and there is actually something for her to respect about him - if not love - is pretty much one of the loose ends we will have to tie up in the course of the Texas chapters.

• Savannah's laid out some clothes for everyone, so everyone gets a 'country' look and a cowboy hat.

• Like always, the outfit options come with different reactions based on the LI you're romancing:

Liam's looks nice I think, Hana is pretty (I haven't the foggiest idea of what would on a ranch so I wouldn't know how feasible - or not - these two outfits would be), Maxwell looks like he's dressed for the ranch AND for winter and Drake looks okay (like...there's a theme or something with his outfits, like he needs to have a LOT of a particular colour. Denim on denim, brown shirt brown hat).

• While Liam and Esther collectively swoon over each other, Savannah is all shocked and like "you both know we're still here, right?". Uh huh, you had no problem fangirling over Bertrand's "stern but sexy eyebrows" in public but suddenly me flirting a little with my husband is too much for you 😑

A little too much??? Listen, Esther has worn a hat that looked like it swallowed a hundred smaller hats on the way and cried in JOY at the sight. She has COMFORTED a widowed grieving Queen Mother and STARED DOWN Hana's awful parents, all with that honking big hat obscuring her face. How does a tiny puny cowboy hat with a bracelet thingy around it even compare??

• In the kitchen, Bertrand continues his woeful attempts to make conversation with Leona by revealing just how little he knows about running a ranch. Leona is Unimpressed™ (Betrand: How are the crops? Leona: We have cattle 😑. Bertrand: Who...ate the crops? Leona: 😑😑😑)

• Leona's like the adult version of the Unimpressed Sikh Child in Bollywood Hogwarts:

• We get darkly roasted coffee to help us gear up for the day's work at the ranch, and it's quite...the mouthfull. If you succeed in drinking it, you get high on coffee, and if you react to the strong taste, Leona makes a smart-alec comment about how "her highness must have wanted a chilled latte" (I forget which drink she mentioned but something similar) or something. Wish there was an option to tell her "Bertrand didn't tell me about the stick up your ass" (callback! From which book? Guess!)

• You feel slightly nauseous on the way, which is a bit of a set up to the end of the chapter.

• We split up into teams. Liam and Maxwell help with getting the hay for the horses, Hana and Drake help with sorting the tack.

Liam is a quick learner (and learns stuff just by observing), Maxwell is confused between the interests of horses and dogs, Drake is even more confused at Hana's speed, and PB has forgotten that Hana has actually ridden actual horses and would actually have at least a working idea of what actual tack with an actual horse would look like. Sure she may not have MADE tack for those horses, but you can miss me with that "imaginary horse friends" bullshit.

• See Team TRR, this is what happens when you focus on nothing else but Hana's skills. Even you fail to keep track.

• We feed the chickens (and I can see what I think are shades of Hana's upbringing in the way she says "wait your turn! one at a time!"...with chickens).

• ...there was a "no royal pets" policy in the palace that Liam waived?? No wonder we could get a corgi and Penelope could bring her poodles to court as soon as Liam became King!

• Re: Liam talking about having stuffed animals rather than pets and stating that he and Hana were on the same boat. Et tu, Liam? HOW MANY TIMES DOES HANA HAVE TO TELL YOU GUYS SHE NEVER HAD TOYS.

• I'm imagining poor young Maxwell realizing that peacocks don't like hugs and now I'm sad ☹️

• So the set up to the group scene is that none of these characters have truly experienced the joy of cuddling cute pets. It's not much even by way of a group scene, just a cute scene where the MC can direct Tiny the little calf to cuddle all these sad sad people (pushed into embroidery lessons and diplomacy sessions as children!) and cure Bertrand of his cow-suspicion (cowspicion?). The more pets you have with you the cuter it is, coz the two corgis go about acquainting themselves with everyone - the cat, the cows, everybody.

• ROE REFERENCE! We see Jess and Blake spearheading a successful business as caterers and wedding planners (did Jess take coaching from Chaz's sister-in-law Carmen? 😁) and they leave it vague (as expected, since Jess' romantic relationship with Blake is determinant - as is the possibility that Liam and Jess could be related by marriage if the RoE MC chose Leo lol) whether they're romantically involved or not, but at least this way I know they're happy with their jobs!

• Apparently they'd catered at enough disaster weddings that they decided they could do a better job

• I have two questions:

1. Did Leo ever recommend Carmen? I'm guessing not since based on whether the RoE MC married him or not, he'd probably feel more comfortable recommending family/friends than someone who - in a different playthrough - probably never really met him.

2. Why is Liam helping Bertrand and Savannah with contacts for their wedding when we ended up doing most of the searching and finding ourselves?? 🧐

• BertVannah seem to want a mix of local and Cordonian traditions: Savannah wants to recapture her parents' wedding by riding a horse down the aisle, and Bertrand asks Liam to officiate, as a royal. Maxwell and Hana will be in charge of entertainment and decorations...and the MC should not move a muscle because Bertrand has already decreed us pregnant.

• Savannah's ex Chuck is a buff ginger, and an already insecure Bertrand is made even more insecure at the sight of him. Another on the list of things PB expects us to fix in the Walker Ranch. Drake owes me both in cash, fancy hats and a lifetime supply of free smoked BBQ ribs after all this. The kind of shit a pregnant royal is expected to do...

• Time for Drake diamond scene - which is a mostly fluffy scene that takes place close to a river nearby which has a great view of the sunrise and sunset, and a ride atop a kayak.

• Here's the important stuff you can get from this scene:

- Drake knows how to build stuff (we knew this already, but here Drake talks specifically about how he and Savannah would build rafts)

- Drake sucks at taking compliments, but Drake stans who saw their MC's intro to TRH already knew that 🤭

- You get to flex your paddling muscles. Drake is...Impressed™

- Lovely sunshine

- A cute story about how Drake and Savannah had a canonball contest at this river, and happy memories of his Dad being just their dad for once, not dad + King Guard

- Drake gets to talk about the mark his father left on him, and how carefree he used to be before Jackson's death

- You can revive the cannonball contest with Drake before you head back to the estate, and if you're married you share a passionate kiss. The writers went to great lengths to describe how passionate the kiss wasqqq

If you're married to Drake, this spot is described as 'romantic' and 'private', the MC makes a joke about being the "First Mate" of Drake's heart, the usual variations. Drake also mentions that he hopes to emulate his father's way of parenting once he himself becomes a father. I'm also guessing the story of how his father and mother used to visit this lake before they had children would have an implied added importance to a married Drake trying for a child.

Funny how the assassination attempt on Liam always ends up revolving more around what it did to Drake than what it did to Liam. Both in the original Book 2 Italian Restaurant Scene where it was first referenced, and here (Drake's restaurant scene is also the only scene that highlights how that particular attack affected Liam - if you don't buy this scene, the attacks are mentioned in a more offhand way by Constantine when we confront him, and Liam still doesn't have a word to say). Stop. What happened to Liam happened to him. Stop making it all about Drake.

• Also why does Drake keep insisting the MC helped him find Savannah? She didn't. He spotted the envelope. He saw the address. He deduced where in Paris it was and tried to check it out. The only help we could provide was convincing him to stay and listen to her, and even that was optional.

• The MC wakes up wondering if she's going to feel nauseous, which then leads to the realization that it could be morning sickness. That's the most random race to use a pregnancy test I've seen.

• The result is negative, and the LI wakes up to the MC telling them about the result of the pregnancy test. The reactions to the news are identical. They follow roughly this template:

I can headcanon that Hana is actually feeling and understanding the MC's pain when she says "that's not silly at all", but I won't. I refuse to do the heavy work for the writers.

• In any case, there are some guests, and only Hana seems to know who they are.

• My face as it goes from seeing Kiara, Olivia, Penelope and Madeleine (yes, in that order):

• Sooo it looks like this week we're going to have a clash of the country and the courtly. Uh oh. I don't see this ending very well...unless there's a deus ex machina coming our way.

• General Thoughts:

- This chapter is filler, as expected, but it's the kind of filler meant to set up the major problems in that place. And there's plenty hinted at in this chapter alone: solving the financial troubles of the ranch, the clash of cultures that will come with the court ladies being guests, winning over Leona, learning about Drake's and also Bianca's past, Bertrand's insecurities. It's going to take a couple chapters to untangle all that!

- My guess is that the MC is possibly pregnant, but got a false negative (esp if she's nowhere near her expected time for her period), and will probably find out during Bertrand and Savannah's wedding? IDK. Most people I know will wait to see if they get their periods first (I did that too, waited a couple days after the expected day just to be sure), because that's when your hCG levels are high enough to show in your urine sample. That was a waste of a perfectly good pregnancy test, MC!

- The variations are very few, besides the scene where they all get new outfits and references to the MC and her spouse by different people including Blake and Jess. Perhaps there may be an LI scene coming soon.

- I mentioned earlier that Leona may be there as a way for the writing team to retcon Bianca's departure, since in the original series all we are told us was that she "was...struggling" after Jackson's death and left for the States at some point, leaving her children behind. Not a lot of people were very happy about this and though she was portrayed as a positive character in Book 3 (Drake's playthrough), it wasn't convincing enough. Leona is possibly there as a way to soften the audience to Bianca, and perhaps to get us a plausible reason for her leaving without her children. I'm not sure what could justify not taking them along, but okay.

- So Drake in his scene tells us that they came to the ranch as kids, but there is that matter of Savannah having been there long enough at some point to have had a boyfriend. I'm wondering if she spent some time on the ranch while Drake had gone to college.

- Also...if that's what happened, why was France even an option for her to bring up Bartie if she'd been in touch with her mother. Why did France, a place where she had very few contacts or living experience, win out over a place she was familiar with and where she had family?

- Leona's very Drake-like...but with an actual job that she's probably good at.

- Leona's also going to be Unimpressed™ for the most of her time in this book, with her probably becoming a little more impressed towards the end. Told you she'd be The Unimpressed Sikh Child (if you still have trouble with this meme, it's a character from a Bollywood film about a magical school called Aabra Ka Dabra. Here's some additional context from desi comedians and former Pretentious Movie Reviewers Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath to illustrate why Unimpressed Sikh Child is so awesome:)

"Stop trying to impress people. Impress people with how unimpressed you are." If that isn't what Leona is doing. One wry expression and that's all it takes for all of Cordonia's royalty and nobility to fall over each other to prove themselves to her.

- Leona is an ass but you've got to respect the way she plays that game.

- I hope the writers don't forget that Kiara and Savannah were...yknow...good friends. Given how badly she was treated in Book 3 (and the narrative treated her really, really badly. Like I'm pretty sure some of you might have no idea just how badly she's been treated), I have serious doubts.

- Will we get a Hana or Maxwell diamond scene next? A good one or mostly just fluff? Let's see.

- Will we get another flashback scene? Maybe. It's possible. Bianca would remember something.

- One thing I do know for sure is that there is going to be more of Perfect Angel Savannah and Bumbling Bertrand. I'm not looking forward to it.

• Next: I'll be doing TRR Book 1's QT for Chapter 6 as well! Hopefully it will be ready by Friday. As for this series...until next week, folks!

#long post #the royal heir #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #king liam #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #drake walker #texas walker ranch

[bbrandy2002]

Two Men and a Baby Part 7

Not your typical Royal Romance series....crazier.

TRR/TRH gang.

Warning: Language

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Part 5 Part 6

@carabeth @emceesynonymroll @katedrakeohd @sirbeepsalot @romanticatheart-posts @rafasgirl23415 @drakensword

[[MORE]]

Part 7

" 911, what's your emergency?"

"Yeah, um, I have a guy in the back of my carriage who got his trouser snake caught in his zipper."

"Sir, is this a joke?"

"No, but, this guy sure wishes it were"

"How serious is this?"

"Let's just say, it was the 'frank..and...beans', then something popped, now its just the frank."

Poor Bertrand, all he wanted was to give his sweet Savannah a wonderful birthday. Now he's stuck in the back of a carriage with his manhood on the line.

He is aware of the news reports of a wild boar attack on Contess Madeleine earlier tonight and that said boar is still holding itself hostage inside his estate. He has no idea if his son is okay, but, has no doubt his brother is somehow responsible for the carnage that has taken place this evening.

Hospital ER

Riley and Olivia sit in Maxwell's room, waiting for him to return from radiology. They had only seen him for a few seconds before he was taken for x-rays, but, he appeared in good spirits; then again, when is he not.

They were both intriqued to find out what he meant by "the demon pig", that supposedly caused his predicament. It was surprising to hear Maxwell describe any animal with such disdain, but, apparently he met one he wasn't prepared to describe as a "life changing experience" in fond terms.

Riley jumped up from her seat, "Maxwell, you're back!"

Maxwell was wheeled back into his room on a stretcher, but, he seemed to be uncharacteristically subdued now.

"How is he? Is it broken?" Riley asked the nurse.

"He has a hair line fracture and will be down for several weeks, but, we don't expect complications. Someone will be in shortly to put a cast on him. Also, congratulations on the baby your majesty", the nurse stated before exiting.

That was the fourth time today a random person congratulated her.

"Why does everyone keep congratulating me on a baby? I wonder if it was the bean burrito I ate for dinner last night?", she questioned while patting her bloated tummy.

"You do look a little puffy today." Olivia observed.

"Thanks", Riley said while rolling her eyes, "I have been trying to drink more water and..."

"HELLLLOO!!" Maxwell interrupted in an annoyed tone, "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm here."

"Oh, I'm sorry Maxwell, how're you feeling?", she asked with concern.

"Like a demon pig attacked me, without warning, without cause, out of no where...it was a sneak attack Riley." he began to shake his fist furiously and yelling, "damn you demon pig.....damn you to hell!"

Olivia and Riley tried to calm him down. "Maxwell, Maxwell, shhhh, you've got to calm down." Riley pleaded, "you're going to disturb the other patients."

"Yes you are", Madeleine chimed from a wheel chair at the door with an icy stare.

All three turned their heads in her direction simultaneously. To see Madeleine sitting there with a neck brace on, a black eye, messy blonde hair and a ripped green dress; it was shocking and amusing to say the least.

"What the hell happened to you? Olivia asked with her signature scowl.

"Oh, what happened to me?", Madeleine asked with a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes while patting her chest, "ask Maxwell and his quote 'damn demon pig'."

Olivia and Riley turned to Maxwell trying to make sense of what both were referring to as the demon pig.

"Maxwell, I'm two seconds away from breaking your other leg. What happened?", Olivia spat out.

Maxwell took in a deep breath and recalled the events of this evening.

"Okay...Okay, so, yesterday morning, I was attending Zeke and Penelope's outdoor animal exhibition in the capitol.  Zeke was giving me kind of a private tour before all the guest arrived. We came upon a stall that he said had a wild pig. I thought he meant it was a party animal, wild like me, which, would be an awesome addition to the next Beaumont Bash. I asked if I could have it and he said no, that it was just too wild for me. I thought, nonsense, nothing is too wild for me. I just had to have this pig. So, when I seen Penelope a little later, I offered to buy it from them. She was a little hesitant at first, but, she agreed after I forged a letter from Bastien saying Liam requested this particular pig at the next Beaumont Bash. In exchange for her cooperation, he would emcee her next Dog Fashion Show."

"Maxwell! That's sick", Riley blurted.

"Yeah Maxwell, what made you think she would just go along with that?" Asked Olivia.

"I wasn't sure she would, but, she does seem to respond well to requests from Bastien, so I assumed it would work this time too", he replied.

Madeleine spoke up, "so let me get this straight, Penelope, can't stop talking about her poodles, Penelope, just gave you a wild boar?"

"Oh, no, I had to pay for him", he said.

"How much?" Olivia asked.

"A box of dog treats", he replied.

Riley bent over in her chair, arms resting on her knees, covering her face while shaking her head, "Unbelievable....I'm afraid to ask, but, how did you get him out of there and to the estate?"

"Well, that part was tricky. Penelope told me I had to keep him enclosed or he would go wild. Well, I wanted to make sure I kept his wildness in until the Beaumont Bash. I figured it would just build up inside of him and he'd really let loose at the party",  he chuckled, "anyway, I saw Gladys there and thats when I got the idea for her to cause a disruption..."

"Hold up, Gladys...my majordomo, Gladys, helped you with this?" Riley asked stunned.

"Kind of, see I knew she had cleared the hallways when Anton and his minions kidnapped you and Olivia. I also knew she had the hot's for Bertrand, so, I told her if she would create a distraction for me, I would set her up with him".

"Maxwell, your brother is engaged", Riley stated.

"You are a lot more evil than I ever gave you credit for Maxwell; this is really elaborate for you", Olivia remarked with astonishment.

"Well, Im not proud of myself, but, greed causes people to do evil things" he replied.

"Hold up" Madeleine would interject, "So Penelope knew about this? That little....I just saw her not more than an hour ago at the Beaumont Estate, she interviewed me and everything, she never mentioned her hand in any of this".

Maxwell replied, "I would say not, Penelope's a master at keeping secrets while seemingly innocent of her involvement. She's a sweet girl though".

Riley just continued to shake her head.

"What happened next Maxwell?" Madeleine asked.

He took another deep breath, "Okay, well Gladys started screaming and running around the exhibits. Then she unlatched the pen holding the ducks. They started to scatter. Zeke and his assistants started to chase after the ducks and security went after Gladys. I grabbed a large cage and Gertrude ran right in. Penelope helped me carry him back to the limo and I took him home."

"Okay, how did you break your leg?" Riley asked.

"Welp, the driver helped me unload Gertrude and get him in the backyard. I knew I had to build an enclosure to keep his wildness in, so, I started building a small barn for him to live in until the bash. It didn't take very long to build at all. When it was finished, I opened the cage door to let him inside his new dwellings, but, he ran inside and immediately jumped out the window."

"You put a window in it?" Madeleine questioned.

"Yeah, but, I must've not built it high enough and I didn't put a covering over it. Jumped right out of it" he said while use his hand to motion the jump, "I started to run right after, I swear, I heard it say 'kill Maxwell'. It attacked so quickly, I never had a chance. I stepped on a rock and my foot went sideways, causing me to fall. It rammed me a few times, before running off. Then Drake came out to help me, but, it attacked him also. Let's just say, demon pig-2, Maxwell and Drake-0."

All three women sat in silence. There were no words they could think of in that moment to express what they just heard.

"Does Bertrand and Savannah know about this?" Riley asked.

"I don't think so", he replied.

Riley took out her phone and sent a text, letting them know Maxwell was in the hospital and Bartie was there with Drake.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom....

Drake and Liam were still locked in arms, literally, fighting over an ascot.

"Let go of my ascot Drake."

"Liam, he has to have something covering his bottom until we get a diaper."

"Then give him your denim shirt!"

"What?" Drake gasped, "take it back Liam."

Bartie, who was still lying on the changing table naked, took this opportunity to settle the issue once and for all.

"What the hell!" Drake shouted as his denim shirt was getting soaked.

"Sir Walker, I do believe you have a spot on your shirt", Liam said with a British accent and a laugh.

Drake looked at Liam, "I hope you're happy now. He just pissed all over my good denim shirt."

Liam raised an eyebrow, "Drake, that's the only denim shirt you have, or wear for that matter."

"Why do you think it's my favorite?" he remarked sadly.

Bastien cleared his throat, "Your majesty, need I remind you, we can't leave this bathroom with a naked baby. It may be in everyone's interest for you to hand over the ascot."

Liam thought about Bastien's words for a moment, then looked around to see if there was anything else that could be used as a diaper. Wadded up hand towels, too flimsy, Drakes white shirt, no, he would just be shirtless in a hospital, his own socks, no, too small. He let out a loud huff, reached up and removed his ascot.

Drake reached out to grab it, but, Liam continued to cling onto it. Drake pulled harder, Liam pulled back even more.

"Give me the fucking ascot Liam!"

Liam pouted then handed Drake the ascot.

Drake looked Liam in the eyes and said, "Dude, you need therapy."

Drake began fashioning a diaper out of Liam's ascot. "Aha, perfect fit".

"What do we do about that disgusting car seat?" Liam asked.

"After all this, just leave it in here. When Bastien opens the door, we make a run for it."

Drake picked up Bartie and he and Liam stood at the door, readying themselves for the getaway. The bathroom was absolutely disgusting, shit was on the floor, the walls, the trash can, not to mention, the sink had an exploded diaper full of diarrhea in it. Liam couldn't risk someone seeing the King of Cordonia coming out of that room.

"Alright, on my count, Bastien will open the door and we will run as fast as we can."

"Hang on", Liam said as he removed his suit jacket and covered the top of his head so no one would recognize him. "Okay, ready".

"There's no turning back now. 1...2...3...Go!"

What hijinx await in Part 8?

[riseandshinelittleblossom]

Hoping for Home Ch.2~ Friends

Summary: Sixteen years ago Libby Scott was supposed to become Queen of Cordonia, but Fate had other plans.

chapter one 

Disclaimer: I don’t own the TRR characters, they own me.

Song rec for this Chapter: “Friends” by Ed Sheeran

Taglist: @fullbeaumonty @cocomaxley  @ao719@leelee10898@speedyoperarascalparty @hopefulmoonobject @katurrade@indiacater @choiceswreckedme @ritachacha @noey718-blog@carabeth @daniv2278 @cosigottahavefaith @gibbles82 @innerpostmentality @blackcoffee85 @perfectprofessorherokid @darley1101 @jovialyouthmusic @liamxs-world @thequeenofcronuts @blznbaby

    “This is it. This is home.” Libby said gesturing around her living room as they all piled in. Will quickly took McKenzie by the hand, leading her down the hallway.

   “Door stays open, Casanova.” the ginger woman called as she hung up her coat.

  “Don't worry, Mom. I'll keep an eye on them.” Emma winked, shooting her mother double finger guns before disappearing down the hall as well.

   Drake hung his denim jacket on the hook next to Libby's and scoffed.

   “I didn't know people still did that. Except Maxwell, that is.”

   Libby faked a smile. “Follow me in here. It's not often I get help in the kitchen. You still know your way around one, I assume.”

 Drake nodded.

   “There are pots just there. We need one to make pasta.” She told him pulling spaghetti noodles and a jar of sauce from the cupboard.

    Drake grabbed the large dish and began filling it with water.

   There was a silence between them and, although it had been years since they were alone together, it was still companionable.

  Libby pulled two long neck bottles from the fridge and twisted the tops off, sliding one down the counter to where he was leaned. She pressed the bottle to her lips, taking a long pull because if she knew Drake he wouldn't sit much longer without…

   “So,” he began to address the elephant in the room. “You wanna tell me what's going on here, Scott?”

    She rolled the bottle between her hands, focusing on the chilled glass as it glanced over her fingers. She was quiet for a few more beats before she licked her lips, the memory of that night rushing over her.

************

      Las Vegas, Nevada 16 years ago

     Downstairs in the lobby, Libby had joked with Liam that a final fling would be the only way to make their combined doe/stag party complete. She never guessed in a million years that he would tell her to actually have one, so now as she laid tangled up with Maxwell in the sheets of her hotel bed she couldn't stop her head from spinning.

   It wasn't from the sex, although moments ago she came harder for Max than she ever had with anyone in her life. It was the fact that, after all they had been through together, she had finally given herself completely to the Cordonian man that had stolen her heart.

   They could never be together, that much had been made clear during her extended stay at the Beaumont estate before Liam and Madeline's engagement party. Libby was here to win the King's hand and restore House Beaumont to its former glory, so no matter what they felt for one another they'd vowed then to see that goal through to the end.

    She bit her lip as she peered up into the young Lord's eyes from her place nuzzled against his chest.

   “I should go.” He told her, though he made no effort to move.

  “Can't you stay? Just a little while longer? I don't want to feel like your two-bit whore.” She giggled.

  “Never, little blossom. I would never, ever think that.” he smiled down at her as he absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair. “I'll stay until you're asleep. But Liam will not like it at all if I'm here in the morning. Permission given or not.”

   She hated the way the words made her feel, as if she were a toy the king had loaned him; but even more she hated that he was right.

   “Maxwell, I...before I marry Liam, I have to tell you that I-.”

  “Please, Libby, don't. I already know and you've already shown me here tonight. But to hear you say the words….I don't think I can handle it.”

   She tucked her lips inside of her mouth, nuzzling deeper into him to hide her tears. They were silent for a long time, and finally she knew that Maxwell believed she was asleep. She listened as he slipped out of the bed, dressing quickly. He placed his lips to her hair before he whispered, “I love you too, Little Blossom.”

   When she was sure he was gone from her doorway, Libby dressed herself and curled into the armchair of her suite sobbing until the morning.

************

     Present day

    Drake was silent as he watched Libby drop the noodles into the boiling water.

   He popped the lid on the jar of sauce and slid it over to her. He finished his beer, still mulling over her words.

   “So Liam gave you a hall pass. You cashed it in on Maxwell. And then...poof! You're gone in a cloud of smoke?”

    She stirred the sauce, adding in a few of her own seasonings to the store bought brand.

   “That's the shortest version ever, but yes.”

  “So when did you... the twins…?”

  “It didn't take long. When I left I headed somewhere I thought you guys wouldn't look for me. I had barely put a bed in my apartment when I took the test.”

  “Why though? Why didn't you tell anyone?”

  Libby tucked her lips inside of her mouth, gnawing at them briefly. If she was honest with herself she wasn't really sure why she never said a word-to anyone but Hana, that is.

   “Fear? Embarrassment? Drake, take your pick. I knew that I couldn't face them both and tell them that I was pregnant. Being pregnant was never why I left, and I guess facing them meant admitting to them both that I really screwed up.

    I played with everyone's emotions-including yours. Stole Liam's heart and shattered it. Then I slipped off like a thief in the night because... I'm a horrible person.”

   She'd raised her voice by now, her breathing coming in short bursts.

   “When I saw that positive test I had every intention of doing the right thing but then the days turned into months and the months to years and now...now here we are, Drake. I have no idea who's kids they are! I messed up Liam's life, Maxwell's life and the worst is I've messed up my kids’ lives too. When Will turned twelve, for months all he would talk about was finding his dad. His dad, Drake! I didn't know what to tell him…” Libby's voice trailed off and Drake covered her hand with his, both resting on the counter. She looked up at him and he wasn't sure how to read her expression.

   “You were never in love with Liam, were you?” He asked flatly.

   “At first I thought I was. I do love Liam, Drake. Even today I love him. But somewhere over the social season it morphed into...a friend's love. I said yes to Liam's proposal because it's what I was brought to Cordonia to do. And being married to a wonderful kind, loving man in order to unite a country I'd fallen in love with...well there were worse fates. But in love with him?” She stirred the pasta, breaking her hand from his grip.

*************

   “Will, are you okay?” McKenzie asked. She rose from her spot on his beanbag chair and sat beside him on the bed. Emma wrapped her arms around her brothers shoulders, pulling him into her as his body stayed frozen in place.

  “Guess what? Mom's human. She isn't perfect.” She told him, resting her chin on his head.

  “You're right. I've always thought she was a whore. But this? A love triangle?” Will snapped, bolting from the bed to pace in front of it.

  “That's not fair. We only heard a piece of things.” Emma tried.

  “Because she won't tell us! We're hearing what she's telling a stranger!” Will raked his hands through his hair. “No offense. I mean I'm sure your dad's nice and all.” He told McKenzie. She held her hands up as if to say “none taken.”

  “Maybe tonight she will. Maybe tomorrow. I mean she has to know we just heard her.” Emma reasoned as their mother appeared in the doorway. “Spaghetti is ready kids.” She said, her voice void of any emotion. She shot McKenzie a half smile, knocking her knuckles on the door as she headed to the dining room.

*************

     “So I've read that Liam married Olivia. Do the people accept her as queen?” Libby asked as they sat around the table.

   Drake nodded as he finished chewing.

   “Liv's a great queen.”

   The tension in the room was thick now as Libby pushed her pasta around her plate.

   “Well tell me about how everyone is from back in the day.”

   “Everyone?” Drake asked taking a swig of his beer.

   “Yeah. Savannah, Bartie, Bertrand..I wanna hear it all!” Libby beamed.

   Her friend rubbed his hands together as he thought.

   “Well you know. Savannah and B got married. Bartie's about to be 17. He's head of his class. Um, they have another kid now, a girl named Claudia, after Bertrand’s mother. She's 10.”

   Drake reached in his pocket and pulled out his smartphone, sliding the device across the table. Libby picked it up, the screen displaying a picture of McKenzie and a handsome brunette boy holding a darling little blonde girl on his back.

   “That was last summer. We all go camping every summer. The Beaumonts, Mack, and I.”

    “She’s gorgeous. And Bartie looks so much like…”

   “Like Uncle Max! Doesn't he? I tell him that all the time.” McKenzie piped up.

   Libby reached for her glass, gulping her red wine as she slid Drake his phone.

  A thick silence filled the room before Drake cleared his throat.

  “I guess you know how Hana is.” His tone was clipped and he looked at her pointedly.

   Emma and Will sat in bewilderment as they watched their mother's entire demeanor change. She squared her shoulders the way Liam had shown her years ago in Portavira, though that fact was lost on the twins, and suddenly she went from their mother to a woman almost regal in appearance despite her flowy tank top and blue jeans.

   She flipped her hair over her shoulder, looking at Drake squarely. “I have kept up with Lady Hana, yes.”

   Libby folded her hands neatly as Drake dropped his fork with a loud clang.

   “Don't. Don't go all Duchess on me, Your Grace.”  He spat as she quirked a brow at him. The children sat silently, heads cast downward.  

   “Someone had to run my duchy, Drake. Despite everything I do care about what happens to the people of Cordonia. That part was never a show.”

   “You're the Duchess of Valtoria?” McKenzie questioned, eyes going wide.

   Libby smiled and nodded, Emma and Will's faces were so dumbstruck you'd have thought their mother had lobsters coming out of her ears.

   “And what about you, Drake? I've told you all about me. What have you been up to all these years?” Libby pressed on, employing yet another diplomatic skill she'd learned from Liam.

   Drake sighed, spotting her training right away.

   “Well I got married not long after you left. Her name was Pam. We had McKenzie and, well..”

   “She died.” Drake's daughter said flatly.

   “I'm sorry.” Will blurted out,unable to sit still any longer, his knees beginning to bounce wildly. McKenzie shot him a grateful grin.

  “May I be excused?” He asked.

  “And me?”  Emma chimed in.

  “I actually think that's best.” Their mother told them. McKenzie rose from her seat.

  “I'm gonna-.” She began and her dad cut her off with a knowing nod. “I'm sorry, kids.” He said.

  As the teenagers left the room Drake fixed Libby with a burning stare. When they were alone once more he reclined in his chair pulling his beer with him.

  “Well are you going to ask me?”

  “Ask you what, Walker?” Libby leaned forward with her elbows on the table.

  “We all knew that whatever was between you and Maxwell was more than friendship. So I wasn't surprised when you told me about the hall pass. What I am surprised by is that you haven't asked about him yet.” He chuckled.

   “Of course I want to know. How is he?”

  Libby chewed the inside of her cheek, wanting but not wanting to hear about the love of her life. She'd imagined a million times over the years how time had or hadn't changed him. Did he have wrinkles now in his early forties? Laugh lines or crows feet? Gray hair? Any hair? Had he gotten soggy in the middle or kept his lean, athletic physique?

  She was brought from her daydreams as Drake answered. “Well, he's not exactly the Maxwell you fell in love with anymore. He's still impulsive and has his rowdy side, but he's grown up a lot, too. He stays kind of distant, reserved. A little more like B, actually. He got married.”

  He paused , cruelly and selfishly enjoying the pained look that Libby gave him before he continued. “Then he got divorced. Twice. No kids. But he went back to school after you left. He got himself a master's degree in political science. He's been teaching classes at Cordonia University in the capital for a few years now.”

   Libby's head dropped staring into her lap. Of course she only ever wanted the best things in life for Maxwell, but somehow actually hearing how well he'd moved on felt like a punch in the stomach.

   After a few moments Drake stood up and cleared the dishes from her table. When he was finished he came to stand in front of his old friend.

   “I'm so happy to have gotten to see you again, Drake. I'm sorry I've missed so many moments in between.” Libby said standing and wrapping her arms around him.

  He pulled from the embrace after a moment with a sigh. “I don't think I need to tell you this, and maybe it's not my place to anymore, but I think you need to tell them. It's the right thing to do, Scott.” Libby bit her lip angry that he was right.

   “So just uproot our lives to fly off to Cordonia, then? That's what I should do? I have kids to think about, Drake. This is their home.”

  “You keep saying that word to me. Home. But, Libby, who are you trying to convince? Me? Or yourself?

   I should get me and Mack back to the hotel, but we're here a couple more days. If you change your mind, I'd be happy to to pause my life and take you back to your real home.”

   Libby looked at him incredulously, her jaw dropping slightly and Drake quirked his brow. “We both know that Cordonia is where you really belong, Scott. And your twins? No matter which way you flip it their dad is there so that's where they belong too. Just...say you'll think about?”

   Her eyes danced around the room, almost as if she were mourning a life she hadn't given up yet.

   “Alright, Walker. I'll think about it.”

#hoping for home au #trr fan fic #trr fanfiction #drake walker #maxwell beaumont #king liam #duchess of valtoria #olivia nevrakis #bertrand beaumont #savannah walker #hana lee

[choices-myworld]

A Change in Plans (Drake x MC)

Pairings: Drake x MC

Summary: Drake is having second thoughts on the big fancy wedding and Riley can see that too. Will Riley do something or let Drake get swallowed by his disapprovement of a fancy wedding?

Words: 2 885 (11 mins reading time approx.)

Warning: Nothing serious, just a bit of kissing here and there.

Notes: This takes place before the wedding, after they went to Kiara’s estate in a hotel somewhere (and also my first fan-fic so it’s not that good)

All rights owned by Pixelberry

It was a nice sunny day, but an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. After going to Kiara’s estate even the bright and confident Riley was having doubts about this big fancy wedding. Especially after how she found Drake hanging back looking hopelessly into the stars of the cool night. She knew Drake didn’t like this idea of their wedding as soon as she announced it, but he went along with it anyway, because he loved her, she thought and so did she. But this big wedding was a way of showing strength in the face of their enemies, even if she didn’t really like having this fancy wedding either. If it was her way, she would have their most important family members and the comfort of each other, but not in this case.

Drake walked into their five-star hotel room, which had a mini bar and fridge to accompany their late night drinks. Riley was staring at the floor deep in thought about whether this wedding was what they wanted when Drake interrupted her thoughts.

“Hey Brooks,” he said coolly. When she didn’t respond, Drake went and sat next to her on the bed and put a hand around her shoulders.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“Drake, you don’t want this wedding do you?”

“Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?”

“It’s just...it’s just...this big wedding, I know you don’t like it--”

“I know I might be a bit grumpy about it,” he interrupted, “but it’s the right thing to do, and at the end of the day it’s the fact that I’m marrying you that matters, not where.” 

She knew it. He was trying to sugar coat it. She knew he was never happy, and his tone explained it all. But right at that moment, a light bulb lit in her brain. She had a perfect idea, maybe they can two weddings, one for the people and enemies, and one for themselves.

…

The next day Riley made a few phone calls and a bit of convincing to get her master plan to work, while Drake was with Liam doing investigations on the assassins. He had done so much for her, and she wanted to do something to not only make him happy but her too. She met Madeline and talked to her about the plan brewing in her head. Surprisingly, Madeline didn’t decline, but instead huffed, rolled her eyes and agreed.

The next part of her plan was pretty easy, convincing her friends to come along was a piece of cake.

Within the next few days, everything was ready, now she just had to get Drake, without telling him her master plan.

…

Drake was sleeping when she woke him up, he wasn’t really a morning person, he was grumpy most of the time. 

“Come on Drake wake up!” Riley shook whispered to him and gently shook him. When he grunted and turned to the other side, she decided to take serious action. She went to the end of the bed and pulled the covers from him.

“Uggggg,” he grunted, “Brooks, what the hell? It’s 7am in the morning, let me sleep.”

“Good Morning to you too Mr Grumpy,” she chirped happily.

“It’s not good if your not in bed with me.” he opened one eye and smirked at her.

“As much as I LOVE spending time with my fiance in bed, I’m afraid we have to board a plane, so chop chop.” 

“Fiiineeeee. But where are we going?” he still sounded annoyed but got out of bed anyway. Riley but her lip thinking of what to say.

“We are going on a trip!” she said in a hurry.

“And where is this trip leading us?” he came and stood in front of her and lifted his eyebrows in question. 

“I’m actually not sure, Liam just said pack smart casual clothes.” she thanked her brain a million times over for thinking of a good excuse she just hoped he would take the bait.

“Ok. My denim shirt will work right?” he loved his denim a bit too much, he pretty much loved it the same amount as her. That is quite a lot. 

Riley laughed and shook her head, “Sure, go for it.” He gave her a cheeky smile and she started to leave to pack her own things. 

“Brooks wait!” he called after her. She turned swiftly on her heel to face Drake and he planted a soft slow kiss on her lips. “Now it’s a good morning.” She smiled a huge smile and he smiled back. “See you soon Drake.” she headed for the door, this day is going to be amazing!

…

They boarded a plane with Liam, Maxwell, Hana, Bertrand, Savannah and Bartie. They were all wearing smart casual clothing as instructed and had huge smiles on their faces. 

“Oh my god! Today is going to be amazing!!” said Maxwell struggling to contain his excitement on his seat.

“I know right! I can’t wait!” squealed Hana.

“I agree with you two today is going to be amazing,” said Savannah.

“Would anyone explain to me why today is going to be so amazing?” Drake frowned, he knew something was up, something no one is telling him. Everyone immediately turned quiet. “Brooks I know that you know exactly what’s happening. Care to explain?” Drake was so cautious about everything that he was beginning to become suspicious.

“I told you! I don’t know either! Ask Liam.” Drake turned to Liam, but somehow he had fallen asleep whilst they were taking off. Drake gave up, shook his head rested his head against the seat trying to sleep. Riley felt really bad about keeping Drake in the dark, but when the time comes, he’ll be glad, she knows he will. 

…

“ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS! WE ARE ABOUT TO LAND IN TEXAS, PLEASE FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS AND GET READY FOR LANDING. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.”

Drake opened his eyes and frowned. Texas? He thought, why are we in Texas? He looked around him, there was quiet chatter amongst everyone and before he knew it Liam announced, “Ok guys as soon as we get off the plane, we get onto my private jet for about 1 hour and we’ll be at our destination.” he smiled and looked at everyone.

“But Liam, where is our destination?” Drake frowned, he was beginning to get annoyed, he didn’t like whatever this was. He didn’t like being surprised, he liked being in control of situations. 

“Have patience, Drake. Patience.” Liam chuckled while Drake just grunted, as they were getting out of the plane, Riley and the rest of her friends stifled a laugh at Drake’s annoyance. They soon got their laughter under control and boarded the second plane. Riley’s stomach started getting butterflies and she started to fidget with her clothes and took deep breaths to settle her nerves. It’s going to be ok, he’s going to like. Drake looked over at Riley and she looked like she was nervous, really nervous. He took her hand and squeezed it, and she put her head on his shoulder. 

“Thanks, Drake,” she said quietly.

“Anytime Brooks.” 

...

The short flight ended and as soon as they got out of Liam’s private jet, it suddenly hit Drake. This was his mum’s and dad’s ranch. He recognized the gravel road and the horses grazing in the fields. He remembered the big barn and the house in which they all once lived in, happy and filled with joy. He particularly recalled the door on the barn which was covered in ribbons all over. A common tradition in the Walker family, where the married couple will tie the ribbon, symbolizing the strength and tie which they both share for the rest of their lives. I wish we could do this instead of the big fancy wedding. He smiled to himself for a second, before reality hit him, he looked around and all his friends had wide grins on their faces. Drake saw everyone but his fiance, who was nowhere in sight.

“Where’s Brooks?” 

“Here Drake,” she called him and next to her he saw a woman all too familiar. Riley was smiling and so was this woman.

“Hello Drake,” she said, “I haven’t seen you in a while.” Just then Savannah ran forward and gave her a hug. “Hey, Mum! It’s so nice to see you!” the two ladies hugged and she greeted everyone with a smile until she came across Bartie. “Well, who have we here?” Barite stared at her for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. “This is your grandson mum,” she smiled and handed Bartie carefully over to her mum, “Bartie this is your Grandma!” Bartie looked confused and then responded with pure glee, “randma? ‘Randmaaa!!” Everyone laughed, everyone but Drake. As she started walking forward, Bertrand walked in front of her and politely  greeted her, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs Walker.” she smiled before replying, “The pleasure is all mine Bertrand, and please, call me Bianca, all of you.” Bianca started to walk towards Drake and everyone else, feeling the tension, stepped away to give them much needed privacy. 

“Aren’t you going to say hi?” 

“What’s left to say?”

“Drake I know you’re still mad at me, but I really am sorry for leaving things the way they were.”

“You could have said something, anything. But no you abandoned us.”

“You don’t understand Drake, everyone has different ways of handling grief,” she took his hand and when he didn’t pull away, she continued, “mine was coming here.”

Drake pulled his hand away abruptly, “So everyone else wasn’t going through grief? Your the only one that was wasn’t it?”

“No, your right, I was selfish but I lost someone I loved,” she wiped a stray tear sliding across her cheek, “grief does that to you, makes you go mad. So don’t you dare say that you didn’t handle it that way too Drake, you drink whiskey push people away.” Bianca stared at his face and he averted eye contact by looking at the ground. “You pushed away Riley too didn’t you?”

“I--”

“And you care for her deeply, don’t you”

“Yeah of--”

“It’s the reason why you were so selfless to protect her from a bullet.”

“I kno--”

“And so if anything happened to her, you would deeply blame yourself and drown yourself in whiskey and grief.” Drake looked down, she was right. He would do all of those things. 

“I’m sorry too mum.” he said in a whisper, “I guess I was drowned by the loss of dad too.” Bianca smiled and pulled Drake into a hug.

“You’d better thank Riley a hundred times,” she whispered into his ear.

Drake pulled back from the hug and frowned, “Riley? But it was Liam who brought us here.” Bianca laughed, it felt like all the tension had melted away and they were both glad to be on good terms again. “Well, you’ll find out later,” she paused looking at his clothes, “Nice clothing choice.” Before he had a chance to speak Bianca dragged him to the barn and opened the doors. The great big doors creaked open and behind them were neatly lined chairs and a beautiful white arc with a small platform at the front of the barn. Behind it, all were bails of hay and other equipment used for horses. There was a red carpet leading towards the back of the farm.  Everything began to make sense. Drake smiled, “I think I know what you guys are up too.”

“About time!”  Maxwell cheered.

Drake studied the setup, everyone but his fiance was there

Everyone take your places!” Bertrand commanded at the top of his voice. Drake was rushed to stand and Hana stood behind him. 

“Don’t tell me, you can perform wedding ceremonies too?”

“Of course! My parents made me take a course just in case.” Drake chuckled and Hana beamed.

Just them Riley emerged in a beautiful peachy-pink coloured dress holding a blue and white bouquet of flowers. Her dress trailed behind a little bit and she had curly hair with an amazing white gem-encrusted headband. She had an enormous smile on her face. She took her place on the platform next to Drake and placed down her bouquet.

“You look stunning.” they joined their hands together.

“So do you.” Riley winked at Drake and he grinned openly.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Drake Walker and Riley Brooks. I’m going to keep this short and sweet as nothing more needs to be said. It is a symbol of strength and a symbol of unity for the rest of your lives. Nurture and cherish your relationship as it will only grow in the future. You may now perform your vows.”

“Riley Brooks. I knew you were trouble when I first met you, I just didn’t know how much. I’ll never know how I could be worthy of you love, and wonder many times if this is all a dream. But I can promise you, I will always love you, cherish you, protect you, until my dying breath.”

Drake squeezes your hand and gives you an overwhelmed look of joy before Riley recites her vows.

“Drake, I’ve always admired every part of you, your loyalty and humour. So it was easy to fall in love with you. I always promise your friend, your partner, and promise to never ask you to change yourself. I promise to always love you no matter what.”

“Beautiful.” Hana nods at Bartie and Savannah and they come forward with two rings. Bartie hands Riley and Drake a ring. “Thank you, Bartie,” Riley whispers. Savannah and Bartie go back and sit on their seats.

“Drake Walker, do you take Riley Brook as your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.” Drake beams with joy and there’s a slight shine in his eyes.

“Riley Brooks, do you take Drake Walker as your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.” she couldn’t contain her excitement and a happy tear slipped down her cheek. 

Drake holds his hand out as you slip the wedding band she chose on his finger. He beams at her and slips the wedding ring in Riley’s hand in return. 

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you as husband and wife!” Everyone cheers and Riley and Drake beam at each other with joy filled in their eyes.

“The groom may now kiss the bride!”

Drake leans in and Riley wraps her arms around Drake’s neck, one hand comes down to her hips, while the other on the small of her back as he dips her back into a passionate kiss. All their friends and family stand up and cheer. They all move towards the barn door and Hana hands them a baby blue coloured ribbon. Both Drake and Riley tied it and shared another small kiss. They both turn and face their small audience.

“Thank you guys for helping me organize this all!” Riley beams.

“No problem Riley!” answers Liam.

“Congratulations to you both!” says Bianca

“We’ll leave now so you two can have your moment.” Maxwell winks and laughs

Everyone leaves the barn and leave Riley and Drake alone.

...

Riley takes a deep breath before talking, “I hope you liked the surprise.” she smiled at Drake and he smiled twice as much.

“Damn Brooks, this is probably the best surprise ever!” he grins down at her, and when she least expected it he lifts her and spins her around. Riley grasps his shoulders for support.

“Woahhh! Drake!” He puts her down and leans his forehead into hers.

“I’ve literally never seen you smile this much. I take it, you enjoyed that?”

“This wedding is exactly like I imagined it, actually it’s even better. Thanks Brooks, for giving me the wedding I’ve dreamt off. Thank you so much, Riley, for sharing this Walker tradition” He kissed her forehead and smiled.

“I’m glad you liked it. I was almost scared that you’d think that this was too much.”

“No way Brooks. Nothing with you is ever too much, everything is just right. Besides, thanks to you, me and my mum are on good terms again.”

“I’m glad to hear that. But there’s one problem.” she made her face as serious as possible, Drake frowned. Then self-doubt was quick to take over. I’m not good enough am I? She probably thinks this was all a mistake. Did I do something wrong?

“Wh...what? Did I do something wrong?” 

“Yes you did something very wrong Mr Walker.”

“What did I do?” Drake frowned deeply.

“You should call me by the right name!” she burst out laughing, and Drake sighed with relief.

“Oh, I’m deeply sorry Mrs Walker.” Riley got butterflies in her stomach and her heart felt like it was going to explode with joy. “Whatever can I do to earn your forgiveness?” Riley swatted Drake’s arm and leaned up to kiss him. Drake deepened the kiss and cupped her cheek. After pulling away Riley placed her head on Drake’s shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I love you Riley Walker, forever and always.”

“I love you too Drake Walker, I can’t wait for tomorrow.” she smiled and squeezed Drake as he squeezed her back. All they needed was a change in plans, a break from their busy lives and she knew, that tomorrow was going to be a whole new adventure.

#Drake Walker #fanfiction #choices #TRR #wedding #barn #America #texas #Riley Brooks #marriage #Bertrand #Bartie #Savannah #Liam #Maxwell #Family #Bianca #Hana #talent #First fanfic #excited #nervous