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angelasscribbles · 11 months

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In Your Room Chapter 12: Happily Ever After

Series: In Your Room

Fandom: TRR

Pairings: Leo x Drake

Rating: G

Warnings for this chapter: None, this is fluff

Song Inspiration for the series: In Your Room by The Bangles

Word Count: 1,331

A/N: Well, here we are at the end. I'm going to miss these two, but they deserve the happily ever after. Tagging @choicespride for marriage and found family. Tagging @choicesjunechallenge for weddings. Tagging @choicesficwriterscreations Pride Bingo for family.

My other stuff: Master List.

Drake and Leo, with Helena in tow, made their way back outside to where their friends and family were waiting for them.

“I made some adjustments, your mom is sitting with me,” Bianca told her future son-in-law.

“Thanks,” Leo pulled her into a hug as he whispered, “I still want to call you mom too.”

Bianca nodded as she hugged him back, “I’d love that, son.”

Leo felt a sense of wonder in his chest. This morning he’d had no moms, now he had two.

When he released Bianca, he turned to his best man, “Thank you for coming all the way from Cordonia, Your Majesty.”

Liam shook his head with a grin as he embraced his brother, “Shut up, man. Riley and I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. Besides, I had to return the favor, didn’t I?”

“Wow, I’m impressed. This is more my style than yours, little bro.” Leo let out a low whistle as he took in the moonlit clearing, bonfire roaring on the beach, and lanterns swaying lazily from carefully placed posts. Riley wore a simple floor-length white dress with spaghetti straps while Liam was dressed in slacks and a button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, no suit jacket, no tie. Leo himself had on cargo shorts and a polo shirt, perfect for a casual, and secret, beach wedding.

“Yes, well, after what Dad did to you, I just don’t want to give him the chance to torpedo us the same way.”

“You always were smarter than me. Well, the best man is here, let’s do this thing!”

“I still can’t believe you got married without me!” Drake said with mock indignation.

Liam pulled his best friend into a hug next, “You know I wanted you there, but we had to get married before Leo abdicated and Constantine turned his attention to my love life! It was the only way to ensure he couldn’t interfere in any way. Besides, this guy,” he released Drake and jerked his thumb toward Leo, “was in a hot fucking hurry to get to you, so we were in a time crunch.”

Drake flushed as a sappy grin spread across his face, “Yeah, I know. You’re forgiven.”

Drake Walker was happier than he ever thought he could be. Leo Rys loved him and was about to fucking marry him! The idea that he was about to be someone’s husband was almost surreal, but after everything the two of them had been through together, everything Leo’s father had put them through, it was the happy ending they both deserved. He slapped Liam on the shoulder, “At least you made it to mine, even if your brother did steal you right out from under me to be his best man!”

“Good thing you had a backup best friend I suppose,” Liam teased him good-naturedly.

“Yeah,” Drake laughed, “Where the hell is Beaumont, anyway?”

“I’m here, I’m here!” Max jogged up to the group, a little out of breath.

“What’s got you all out of- oh, no, no, man, you better not have just been making out with my sister!”

Max lifted an eyebrow and threw his hands up in the air, “Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies!”

“Come on, man! That’s just-“

“She is my fiancée you know.” Max reminded him.

“Yeah,” Liam took Max’s side, “and I put up with you making out with my brother all the damn time!”

“Holy crap, we’re all brothers now!” Max blurted out.

“Heh,” Drake laughed, “Who saw that coming?”

“No one!” Leo scoffed.

“But it’s pretty awesome!” Max grinned from ear to ear. When he married Savannah, Drake would be his brother for real and as soon as Drake and Leo said I do, Drake and Liam would be brothers…which made Max and Liam brother-in-laws once removed or something.

“The girls are all here, so we can get this show on the road now!” Savannah called out as she approached the group of men. Olivia, Hana, and Riley trailed behind her.

Olivia made a beeline for Leo, “Is it true? Your mom is here?”

“Yeah, it’s true, Liv, she’s really here!”

Olivia cocked her head to one side as she regarded him, “You seem pretty okay with it.”

“I am!” He affirmed, “She never wanted to abandon me, my father kept her away!”

“I’d like to say I’m surprised, but that’s right in character for him. I’m sorry, Leo.”

“It’s fine. She’s here now and I’m about to marry the love of my life. I’m good!”

“There’s that dimpled smile we all love!” Olivia patted him on the cheek.

“If the wedding party is ready…” the officiant interrupted, “it’s time.”

“Time to get hitched!” Leo yelled.

“Hitched?” Olivia stared at him with wide eyes as everyone else laughed. Turning to Drake she shook her head, “I’m blaming you for this.”

Drake laughed, his chest filled with happiness, “I will take all the blame! Now let’s go get hitched!”

Liam stood beside Leo as his best man with Olivia and Hana as the maids of honor, because why not have both? Maxwell stood beside Drake flanked by Riley and Savannah.

Their mothers were in the audience, and their best friends and siblings were standing by their side but as they stood in front of friends and family, the rest of the world faded away and there was just Leo and Drake.

Leo and Drake running through the palace gardens as children, Leo and Drake channeling their burgeoning feelings into competition and aggression on the soccer field, the polo field, and the fencing piste. Leo and Drake each struggling to make their own place in the world, all the while holding the other in the back of their minds, and the back of their hearts. Leo and Drake standing in the game room at the palace, both eager to give in to Liv’s dare and both denying that eagerness. Leo and Drake slowly giving in to their feelings as the physical attraction between them exploded and grew. Leo and Drake pushing each other away in a futile attempt to protect their hearts. Leo and Drake falling completely in love over the course of one magical year. Leo and Drake fighting to be together, Leo and Drake finally finding peace, love, and acceptance in the heart of the Walker family on a cattle ranch in the middle of west Texas.

And finally, Leo and Drake standing at the altar, ready to entwine their lives with each other permanently, completely, and irrevocably.

By the time they said “I do,” both men were in tears.

In almost no time at all, the ceremony was over, and the officiant was announcing, “Allow me to introduce, for the first time, Mr. and Mr. Drake and Leo Walker!”

Leo had decided to take Drake’s last name. Partly out of practicality. The Rys name was too recognizable. It was also too reminiscent of the years spent in a repressive environment. But mostly because, with the exception of Liam, he already felt more a part of Drake’s family, more loved, more accepted, than he had ever felt at home. Home. Cordonia was no longer that for him. Texas was home. The ranch was home. Drake was home.

Drake had promised not to smear cake on Leo’s face, but he did it anyway amidst cheers from the guests, the camera snaps from the photographer, and Leo’s laughter ringing out across the clearing. Leo returned the favor as Drake tried to dodge him, his own laughter shaking his whole body. He was happy. Happier than he had ever believed he could be.

Both men had overcome their own insecurities to be together. Both men had made sacrifices for love. Both men had allowed their walls to crumble. Both men had reached for happiness and found it, with each other. Nothing would ever come between them again. They had each other, and that was all that mattered. Happily ever after was theirs.

#dreo #the royal romance #trr au #drake walker #leo rys #trr #the royal romance fanfic #choices fic writers creations #angelasscribbles #cfwc fics of the week #choices stories you play #choicespride #choicesjunechallenge

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twinkleallnight · 1 year

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Hii 😍

I saw these pics for fall and thought of you. Maybe they’ll inspire a fic or an edit. Whatever your feel most comfortable with (no pressure 🥰)

I know it's almost Christmas and I promised this one just "tomorrow" ( that was a week ago) but as suggested by few it's fall technically till 19 December and half of earth is still living in that date zone, here's this lovely ask , before it's too- too late.

Thank you @peonierose for these autumn pics that made me churn out a fluff with my OTP.

Previously the things that happened are mentioned in this fic I am thankful for... and Lilith's birth happened in the fic - the Nevrakis-Walker Christmas

It's Fall Y'all...

Book: TRR AU

Characters: Drake x Olivia and their daughter Lilith, Riley and her daughter Eleanor, Bianca. Mentioned: Liam, Maxwell.

Word count: 1,547

Disclaimer: All characters belong to pixelberry except Lilith

Rating: teens

Warning: fluff

Prompt:

1. prompt day 19 , take me home, by @choicesdecemberchallenge2022

2. your OTP takes a holiday trip. Holiday prompts @choicesficwriterscreations

3. Prompt 84. “You said not to buy you any gifts, so I made you one instead.” @choicesflashfics holiday prompt

4. Prompt 3 by @choicesflashfics “Ok, this whole thing you’re doing? I’m gonna need you to stop."

The azure of the sky was speckled with fluff of the white clouds. The winds were calm and often let out a soft breath in the form of a breeze. The trees seemed to be changing their dresses in a shade brighter than last month’s.

On such a pleasant day, Drake was rocking softly in a hammock, tied between the two trees that stood on the way to the barn. The usually quiet ranch home was bustling with activities, this time of the year. The Cordonian royal family was on their annual trip to Texas along with Drake’s family. A feeling of bliss ran through his veins as he looked at all of them.

His mother, Bianca sat nearby on a picnic table knitting a sweater. His wife, Olivia was busy taming the fiery red mane of their daughter, Lilith and his best friend’s wife Riley was entangled with her daughter’s golden curls.

He took a deep breath and focused back on reading Maxwell’s latest release.

A week ago...

{ “You are seriously going to spend time reading this?” Olivia had asked him when they had packed their bags in Lythikos.

“I am curious to read what he has written about our children. I let him be when he wrote a one-sided story about us but I won’t let him do that to my kido.”

“What will you do?” Olivia had raised an eyebrow, challenging him.

“ I… I…I will tell you. You can handle that Beaumont better than me.”

Olivia threw a pillow at him. “Such a marshmallow!”

Drake had just smiled. He knew, the presence of his daughter in his life had mellowed him down so much. }

Now…

He was half way through the story of the Royal heir and it felt a nice walk down the memory lane, as he read about the shenanigans of their little ones described in the book.

A sudden babbling around the picnic table caught his attention. He knew the girls were getting ready for the evening fire pit party, but this time it was his mother’s turn to dress up, it seemed.

Bianca was protesting, squeezed in between Lilith and Eleanor. Her hands were pinned down by both the girls who were engrossed in colouring the nails of her wrinkled hands.

“Girls, I seriously feel this is not a good idea.” Bianca said the umpteenth time.

“Shhh”, Lilith seated to her right, reacted.

Bianca shut her eyes, “This is going to be so awkward. “Ellie,” She coaxed Riley’s daughter seated to her left, “You are the wise one. Can you not reason?” Eleanor just giggled and concentrated back at the work in hand.

Bianca gave a pleading look to Olivia and Riley sitting in front of her but they shrugged and continued scrolling through their cell phones.

“Drake!” She called out to her last resort.

“Have fun, mom!” He replied.

“No use.” Bianca gave out a heavy sigh. She had not indulged in any such girlie acts for years. ‘Since Jackson’ she thought. And now she had to give in to the persistence of the young girls.

Riley and Olivia went to the kitchen to get some snacks. By the time they came back Bianca’s nails were painted bright.

Lilith squealed. “Grandma, isn’t it a beautiful piece of art?”

Before Bianca could respond, Eleanor sitting on the other side affirmed, “It surely is.”

Lilith lifted her arms in excitement, “You are getting ready for Ellie and Lily’s party tonight!”

“For which, we still have few things to arrange.” Reminded Eleanor.

“Oh yes, excuse us please.” Lilith got up. “We need to catch hold of Uncle Liam for our next plan.”

“He is almost done with his meeting. You can meet him upstairs.” Riley informed them.

Lilith pulled Eleanor along with her as they rushed to the house.

“Bye, Uncle Drake.” Eleanor waved.

“Bye Dad!” Lilith screamed.

“See you soon.” Drake waved at them and walked down to join the rest of the ladies at the picnic table, sitting next to his mother.

Bianca rolled her eyes and smiled at their retreating figures, “She never gets tired, does she?”

“And she loves to party.” Drake dismissed.

“Unlike you two.” Riley moved her finger between Drake and Olivia.

“I wonder where she got it from?” Bianca pondered.

“Oh, you don’t know? She was conceived in Maxwell’s library.” Riley snickered.

Olivia glared at Riley while Drake looked away in embarrassment.

“That’s a ridiculous reason. Bianca made light of it, “Anyways, I love how these girls bring all the brightness and joy to my otherwise quiet home. I am thankful to all of you for spending fall with me here, every year. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Her eyes welled up.

Drake reached out to hold her hand and comfort her.

Riley assured her, “Aww, believe me, I and Liam look forward to this time of the year. It’s a nice break from the Cordonian court and a much needed family time for us.”

Bianca dabbed her eyes with her free hand.

“Mom?” Drake sought her attention, still holding and observing her right hand. “Your hands are looking so pretty with this colour. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed.”

Amidst the tears, Bianca laughed and retrieved her hand from his to slap his shoulder.

“Let’s eat.” Olivia tried to distract them. She preferred giving a blind eye to the emotional moments.

The four of them settled down around the table to munch on some Nachos. As they were eating, they discussed their plans for the evening.

“Olivia, what’s on your menu ?” Riley asked.

“Chicken fried steak, Drake’s barbeque ribs, pecan pie…”

“I love the pie you make, Olivia” Bianca chimed in.

Drake and Olivia exchanged a knowing look, some old memories replaying in their eyes.

“When you make it everyday, you achieve that perfection.” Riley stated.

“Everyday? Why would Olivia make pie everyday?” Bianca gave them both a puzzled look while Olivia tried to elbow Riley.

But Riley seemed to be in an elated mood as she explained further. “The Thanksgiving, a year before their wedding, Olivia burnt down the whole kitchen, trying to cook for Drake.”

Bianca gasped and Olivia covered her face with her hand. Drake grimaced helplessly. ‘What’s wrong with you Riley?’ he thought. He knew Olivia won’t like the details spoken out. But what came next surprised him too.

“She decided to make pie every single day for the next 21 days.”

“Really?” Drake and Bianca asked in unison.

“But why?” Bianca questioned again.

Olivia understood that there was no backing off now. She sighed before revealing, “I read somewhere that if you repeat anything for 21 days, the habit gets well ingrained. I didn’t want to repeat my mistakes.

“Oh dear” Bianca sympathized.

Drake got up to sit besides her. He gave her a hug, “I am proud of you wifey. I wish you included me for those 21 days too. I can never get enough of your culinary skills.” He kissed her hair and gave Riley a stare.

“What was that for?” Riley asked innocently.

Drake retorted, “Ok, this whole thing you’re doing? I’m gonna need you to stop. Do you realize, you are acting a lot like Maxwell today?

Bianca commanded, “Stop nudging her, Drake. She is just sharing those childhood memories one has. They are always a bit funny for everyone to hear.”

“Yeah, and a tad embarrassing for the grown up child.” Drake fussed.

Olivia placed her hand on Drake’s thigh and he looked at her. It was her silent way of saying, ‘let it go.’ He smiled at her and leaned down to leave a peck on her cheek.

“Olivia,” Bianca grabbed their attention, “I have something for you.” She dug in her bag of yarn balls to pull out and place a pair of neatly knitted socks on the table. “You said not to buy you any gifts, so I made you one instead.”

Olivia kept looking at her dumbfounded.

“Mom, I hope you remember that Olivia is from Lythikos? More than her, your poor son needs all the wool to survive the Lythikan winters.” Drake made a puppy face.

Bianca waved off Drake with a smile and continued, “I had thought of giving it to you later, but this seems to be the right time. Give me your hands.”

Olivia stretched out her arms. Bianca placed the socks in her open palms and rested her hands over them.

“Olivia, you refined my son into a fine man. You gave me a beautiful granddaughter and you brought us all together. As a woman, I know what it takes to build up a cozy little family. Hope this pair of socks keeps you warm on those awful days when nothing seems to go right and reminds you that you will always be right.”

Olivia was definitely not prepared for this. She felt the moistness in her eyes and feared that it would spill over the brim. She just looked down at the socks in her hands and Bianca’s hands over them. “You know that nail colour looks really beautiful on you.”

Bianca swatted on her hands and they all laughed together.

Tags: @3pawandme @alj4890 @angelasscribbles @bascmve01 @bebepac @busywoman @dcbbw @gkittylove99 @harleybeaumont @iaminlovewithtrr @karahalloway @kingliam2019 @lovingchoices14 @nestledonthaveone @neotericthemis @mom2000aggie @phoenixrising0308 @princess-geek @riseandshinelittleblossom @secretaryunpaid @sfb123 @sillydg @tessa-liam @tinkie1973 @txemrn @walkerdrakewalker @yourmajesty09

#cfwc holidays 2022 #choices december challenge 2022 #trr fandom #drake walker #olivia nevrakis #the royal romance #trr #playchoices #pixelberry #twinkleallnight #holiday

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kaitycole · 4 years

Text

Mono a Mono

Summary: Liam arrives in Montana and takes a visit to the Walker Ranch

Word Count: 3484

Pairings: Drake x Riley, Jackson x Eleanor

Warnings: Mentions of violence, Mentions of character death, Mentions loss of a mother, Mentions of alcohol consumption

A/N: Just a reminder, here’s a link to my character profiles if you’re interested. You learn somethings about a few that won’t be written directly in the series: here.

Song Choice: n/a

Part 17 of WP. To catch up, read here.

Tag List: @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @glaimtruelovealways @bobasheebaby @bascmve01 @burnsoslow @the-everlasting-dream @ao719 @sirbeepsalot @janezillow @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @kimmiedoo5 @choices97 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @lodberg @edgiestwinter @marshmallowsandfire @hopefulmoonobject @iaminlovewithtrr @cordonianroyalty @rafasgirl23415

“It would’ve been less suspicious if we had just picked Liam up!” Riley whines, anxiously bouncing up and down.

“But everyone knows he’s here.”

“Yeah, but…” she flops down on the nursey floor. Drake is trying to once again pick a paint color. They have it narrowed down to Heavy Goose, Moonshine and Gray Owl; all shades of gray that look exactly the same to Drake.

“Seriously? He’ll be here soon, you’re acting like a child.”

“I haven’t seen him in forever!” She huffs, crossing her arms across her chest.

“And if you don’t help pick a color, I’ll lock you in here until you do and it’ll be even longer until you can see him.”

Her jaw drops, “Drake Thomas Walker, you wouldn’t!”

“Two words: Try. Me.”

“Technically that’s four.” She sticks her tongue out at him.

He rolls his eyes, seriously contemplating locking her in the nursery. He just wants to get the room together and really doesn’t’ want to wait until the last minute, unlike Riley.

Riley’s head snaps up when she hears a car heading up their gravel, it’s not until there’s shuffling on the front deck that Drake starts towards the door. She tries to slip out of the door, but Drake takes a larger stride; locking her in the nursery.

Drake opens the door right as Liam has raised his fist to knock. Liam and Bastien are standing on the porch while a few other guards are scattered through the property. The friends stand there before pulling each other into a hug.

“It’s been a while.” Drake moves so Bastien and Liam can come inside.

“Thanks.” Liam looks around, it’s the first time he’s been in their home, “I like the farmhouse décor.” He takes in the nice blend of neutral colors mixed with wooden textures. The only reason he even knows as much as he does is because Riley sent him hundreds of photos and samples while choosing how to decorate.

“She spends more money trying to make half of the décor when she could buy it for less. She says it’s more authentic.”

Liam chuckles, “Speaking of, where is she?

They pick up on faint banging when Liam looks at him through furrowed brows.

“Second door on the right.”

Liam walks down the hall, skeptical. Riley isn’t one to do jump scares, but he’s still hesitant. When he opens the door, he finds a pouting Riley. When she looks up at him, she jumps into his arms; Liam stumbles back into the hallway.

“Drake locked me in here! He’s trying to keep us apart, Li!”

Liam gasps playfully, “Drake! How could you! Trying to keep my Riles from me!”

“He so effortlessly locks his pregnant wife in a room!”

Drake glares at them, “Honestly, you both are two halves of a whole idiot, you know that.”

Riley untangles herself from around Liam as he gently places her feet on the ground. Before they both ask, “But I’m your favorite idiot right!” at the same time.

Drake shares a look with Bastien who holds his hands up, staying out of it before they all walk into the living room.

* * Liam looks up at the ceiling as he lays on the guest room’s bed. He wouldn’t say that he’s nervous but there’s definitely a weight in his chest. He felt confident when he made the plans to come to the states, still felt confident when he got here, but now he feels the weight of the world.

He squints as the room slowly feels with the hallway light as the door opens.

“Li?”

“Riley?”

She sits on the edge of the bed, tapping his arm so he scoots over before she crawls in bed next to him. “You nervous?”

He gulps, he should be used to it now, but Riley has an uncanny ability to just know how he feels, know what’s going on with him. “I’m scared, stupid right?”

She leans her head on his shoulder, “I’d be scared too. This is uncharted territory for almost everyone.”

“I just don’t want to lose those good memories of my mom.” The words get stuck in his throat as he blinks away tears.

“You don’t have to.” She toys with her wedding band, “I mean, yeah you’re going to hear somethings you probably don’t want to, but it doesn’t change the memories you have. Those can’t be changed because whatever Jackson says can’t change that she actually loved you.”

“It’s just hard to feel that way knowing that she left.”

Without thinking, Riley does what she does best; saying exactly what pops in her head, “What if she didn’t want to leave?”

“Huh?”

“I’m just saying, all we know is that she left. We don’t know the why yet.”

“I…I guess…well I never thought about it that way.” He runs his hands through his hair, “I just immediately assumed it was because I wasn’t good enough for her to stay.” Riley sits up immediately and faces her best friend, “Liam Rys, King of Cordonia or not, if you ever think you aren’t good enough again I will punch you. How could you think that?”

“Because she left, Riles. One day she was there and then one day she wasn’t. Then I found out she got pregnant she picked that baby over me.”

“Maybe it’s wishful thinking,” she rubs her hand over her stomach, “but I find it hard to believe she didn’t do this to protect you. I know I’d do anything to protect my child.”

“You’re gonna be a great mom, ya know?”

“I can’t even pick out a paint color, what am I going to do when trying to figure out if they’re hungry or tired?” “I can’t help with that, but I can help you with paint colors.” He jumps out of the bed, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the nursery, “Okay. Pick a number one through three.”

“This is silly.” She looks at his pajamas, “Actually those pants are silly.”

He looks down, they were navy blue pants with apples on them, “They were a gift!”

She just gives him a side look, “Not a gag gift?” “Pick a number before I lock you in here.”

She lets out a breath, “Two.”

“Good choice. Baby Walker will be surrounded by,” he scans over the paint squares on the wall, “Gray Owl.”

“But,” she makes a face; unsure of the decision.

“Nope. It’s Gray Owl.”

Drake walks into the room, mid-yawn, “It’s after three in the morning. Do I even want to ask?”

“Riley picked a paint color.”

“She’ll just change it.” Drake shrugs.

“Not this time.” Liam smiles, sleep washing over him.

Riley smirks, if Liam could face his fears and the uncertainty that comes with tomorrow then surely, she could keep a paint color.

* * Liam and Drake pull up to Jackson’s ranch. Liam is already out the door before Drake has put the truck into park. He storms up the driveway and his blood began to boil when he sees Jackson walking down the stairs to meet them.

His pace increases and he can feel the anger as he stomps on the ground. Jackson has a hesitant smile on his face. He reaches his hand out to shake Liam’s just as Liam’s fists slams into Jackson’s jaw.

“Liam!”

Jackson stumbles backwards as his body reacts to the impact. Liam gives him zero change to recover before slugging him again and he’d have gone for a third if Drake hadn’t have pulled him back.

“Get off of me!” Liam shouts, his body radiates anger.

“Only if you’ll calm down.” Drake tugs him backwards once more, separating him and Jackson more.

“Fine!” Liam shrugs him off before running his hands through his blonde hair. He hadn’t planned on being physically aggressive towards Jackson. He wanted to be civil, he knew that’s what his mom would’ve wanted, but there was something about seeing his face that brought all his emotions to a head.

To him, Jackson was the man who ruined his family and Drake’s as well. While he was pissed that he lost his mom, Drake lost both of his parents and he would defend Drake his whole life.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine, Drake.” Jackson rubs his jaw, “Though I always thought Leo would be the fighter, not you.”

“Because you know me so well, huh?”

“I get it, I understand.”

“Do you? You had to believe your mother died only to find out she ran off with the help!?”

“Liam, that’s my dad.”

“Drake. Let him get it out.”

“Get it out? What? You think I’m going to yell and then we’ll shake hands and swap stories of my mother?” Liam shouts, “Oh, wait! You have more than me.”

“I know that won’t happen. I didn’t expect it too. I can’t imagine how hard this is on you. I just want you to try to understand.” Jackson takes a step towards Liam.

“Understand what!? You’re talking as if you’re telling me that Santa isn’t real. How do you possibly expect me to understand?”

“Li, I know it seems hard to but I understand things, just hear him out.” Drake tries to mediate but to be honest, he’s not sure Liam is even listening. If he knew that Liam was going to be closed minded and violent, he wouldn’t have brought him here.

“It’s not the same for me as you Drake!”

“How? We both believed our parents were dead. Both found out they aren’t.”

“No, Drake, it’s not. Your dad isn’t really dead, but my mom is. I’m sorry if this seems harder for me to understand.” Liam shakes his head as he walks away from the Walkers. He needs space, air to breathe and he feels like he’s suffocating standing here.

Drake begins to walk after him, but Jackson puts his arm out, stopping him in his tracks.

“Let him go. He needs time.”

“But…”

“No, Drake. He’s right. This isn’t something you two can work through together right away.”

* * Liam finds himself sitting outside the barn. His idea to wear khakis wasn’t faring well; could a king even wear jeans? He should’ve stayed in Cordonia; coming here didn’t change anything or make anything better. Part of him thought Olivia would have stopped him, but he knew that he couldn’t depend on her to save him.

“Hey. You must be Liam.”

He looks up and freezes. Drake told him that Luke heavily resembled him, but seeing him in person made it uncanny.

“And you, Luke?”

Liam looks at Luke, they have a lot of shared features of his mother, their mother. But his eyes weren’t hers, they were signature Walker brown eyes. How could this person in front of Liam look so much like him, but make him feel so much anger?

Luke sat next to him, “I know this must be hard.”

“Oh, you do?” Liam spits at him. He didn’t mean to say it so rudely, but no one could understand how he felt.

“I lost her too.”

Liam whips his head to the side, looking at Luke. In all his anger, he never thought of that. Regardless of when, they both shared the loss of Eleanor. The loss of their mother.

Luke wipes a few tears away, “I couldn’t imagine losing her twice like you though.”

It has been years since Luke had spoken about his mother, Jackson always said she wouldn’t want them to dwell on the sadness of her passing, but the joyfulness of her life. Though he wouldn’t really talk about their memories with her either. He only lost her three year ago, but Liam lost her twenty years ago yet here he was crying while Liam remained stoic.

“What was,” Liam’s voice cracks, “was she like?”

“Like sunshine. If that makes sense.”

Liam smirks, he knew exactly what he means. The few memories he could remember clearly, that’s how she was, “It definitely makes sense.”

The two sat in silence, an awkward silence. The person next to them is a complete stranger yet someone they share a bond with. Liam isn’t ready to let his guard down, while they share a mother, he still wears the last name of the man Liam hates the most. But he trusted Drake and he was a Walker.

“Is it rude to say this is awkward?” Luke asks, unsure of what to really do.

Neither of them is sure of what to say. Luke went from being an only child to be the youngest of four while Liam went from being the youngest to the middle child. Or technically an only to the oldest. There was a lot they could talk about; their mother, their childhoods, who they are, but there was still uncharted territory between they that prevented it.

Although they weren’t speaking, there is something comforting about the exchange. Just sitting there next to someone who shares the one person you felt lost without. Luke goes to speak up when he sees someone rushes over to them and begins to panic.

“Your Majesty!” The figure says, standing just a few feet from Liam who seems unfazed.

Majesty? Where exactly is he from? Luke looks at his eldest brother confusingly.

“Yes, Bastien?”

“I turn around for one minute and you run off.” He is breathless, as if he had to run a far distance, “You act more and more like Leo some days.”

Liam smirks, “Oh, Bas. Don’t tempt me.” He looks over at Luke who looks more confused than he’s ever seen anyone look, “I’d like some time with Luke, can we have some privacy?”

Bastien just nods before walking off, but keeping a reasonable distance from the king.

“Why’d he call you ‘your majesty’? That’s a weird greeting.”

“I guess Jackson never told you.” Luke shakes his head and Liam rubs the back of his neck, “Well, uhm…I’m the king of the country that Jackson and Elea…mom, left from.”

Luke feels like he’s going to pass out, he feels dizzy and his face has paled. He had to be joking, right? A king? Seriously? They have those in more than just England? I really should’ve paid attention in history class.

“It’s a lot to take in.” Liam chuckles before Luke jumps up and drops down into a deep bow.

Liam feels a smile twitching on his lips before he starts laughing. Luke looks up confused at his brother’s reaction. Wasn’t this how you addressed kings and queens? Several moments pass before Liam has stopped laughing and if it wasn’t for the fact it was a genuine laugh, he might have felt bad.

“I’m so sorry. That was just so…” he taps his finger to his lip looking for the right word, “Adorable? Innocent?”

Luke stared at his brother, slightly confused that he had just been called adorable. “Did I do it wrong?”

He shakes his head, “Not at all, but you just don’t need to do it. Yes, I’m still a king, but I’m not here on royal or diplomatic business. This trip is a personal one, so please, just treat me like Liam.”

“And who exactly is Liam?”

“Well, I guess he’s your older brother.” Liam lets out a nervous chuckle, “I don’t really know what to say, this is new for me.”

Luke wrings his hands together, there is something that he wants to bring up, but he’s scared. He isn’t sure if it would be pushing too far, if he’d be overstepping a line and even though he’s just met his, he doesn’t want to lose him just yet.

“Something on your mind?” Liam cocks his head to the side, “I might not know you, but I do know people. That look is exactly the kind I see when diplomats wear when they want to address a topic. A topic I might not want to hear.”

“I don’t want to hate my mom, our mom, but it’s hard to still see her like I used to now. Since I know the truth,” he shrugs with a sigh.

Liam understands completely. Though looking back the way he handled the news wasn’t very mature, but he’s done a lot of thinking. He doesn’t have all the pieces to the puzzle, he hasn’t fully come to his own conclusion, but things are becoming more clearly to him.

Luke panics at his silence, “I’m so sorry. I know you must blame me…”

“Blame you?”

“If mom didn’t have me, she would’ve stayed with you.” He clears his throat, trying to mask that his voice is breaking.

“But I don’t.” Liam shrugs when Luke’s head snaps in his direction, “You, personally, didn’t make the decision. Mom and Jackson did.”

“I…wow…that means a lot.” Luke stands up, “I think I need to go process today.”

Liam stands up and nods as Luke walks off, leaving him staring at the ground. This is proving to be a lot harder than he thought, but at least now he knew he wasn’t so alone. Yeah, he had Drake and Riley, but Luke was different. He wasn’t sure why exactly, but with Luke he feels a sense of comfort he hasn’t felt since he mom left.

* * Riley peaks around the corner when she hears the door shut. She’s not surprised when she sees just Liam standing there; she had a strong feeling he’d come back alone. He takes off his shoes by the door before walking to the couch; flopping down with a sigh.

“I have a new bottle of scotch with your name on it.” She walks into the living room with the bottle along with a glass for him.

“Thanks, Riles.” He takes the bottle, opens it and takes a quick swig right from the bottle. Riley stares at him, mouth slightly opened.

“What? Not like you can drink any.” He smirks at her as she just rolls her eyes, sitting down next to him.

“Want to talk about it?” She sighs, she hates seeing the two most important people to her so hurt. This is a huge mess that she isn’t sure anyone can come out unharmed from. To make matters worse, Liam seems to be the one who continuously comes out empty-handed at the end of the day: lost his mom, died dad, found out mom wasn’t dead only to learn she is actually dead now.

“After say,” he pretends to look at his watch, “a few more big swigs.” He tries to laugh, but can’t.

She’s looking at her best friend when she notices his right hand is red, “What’s up with that?”

“Can I get in a few more sips?” He tries to dodge the topic as Riley goes into the kitchen, coming back with a cloth filled with ice.

“Talk.”

“I punched him.” He winces a tad as she presses the ice to his knuckles, “Jackson, that is.”

Riley could say that she is surprised, but she’s not. Honestly, that had been her first reaction too. The way Jackson effortless recounted the story of how he met Bianca, how things were with him and Eleanor, he said it all as if somehow, he was the white knight. As if Constantine and Bianca had gotten in their way to prevent them from being together. It didn’t sit right with Riley.

“I’ll apologize tomorrow.” “I wouldn’t.”

“Riley! That is your father in law.”

She snorts, “Don’t remind me.” Liam raises his eyebrows, “Spill it.”

She lets out a deep breath and tell him how she wasn’t immediately supportive of the idea Drake had seen Jackson. And how now she isn’t sure it’s a great idea to just jump into things. How she understands he wants to get to know dad, but wishes he was more skeptical because who knows what all Jackson is going to say and how that will shift what Drake thinks of him.

“I think I’m ready to talk about it now.” Liam holds up the bottle, now only two-thirds full.

“Then let’s talk about it.”

“I thought I could handle seeing him. That I’d be able to come here and get the answers I’ve been wanting. Then I saw his face and this rage built up, all I could think about was how I grew up without my mom and he got her. He got all those memories that I missed out and I snapped.” He takes another sip of the scotch before shaking his head.

Riley gives him a sympathetic smile, gently placing a comforting hand on his arm.

“But then,” he chuckles, “I met Luke and it might’ve been weird at first, but he’s actually not that bad.”

“Well duh, he’s related to you.” She playfully nudges his shoulder, “Maybe since you aren’t ready to talk to Jackson, you can talk more to Luke tomorrow.”

Liam nods, “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”

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msjr0119 · 4 years

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We Belong

Part 11 -CONTINUED

*Read this part before reading below*

*****

Between Drake and Maxwell they were taking it in turns to babysit their nephew that they shared, whilst their siblings were on their honeymoon.

Since the wedding yesterday, Bianca’s words kept roaming through his mind- she seemed sincere yet slightly spooked. If he hadn’t have already been in the doghouse with Evie he would have berated her forgiving his mother. Spending this time with Bartie, made him think about what kind of father and mother they would have been if things were different. Making his mind instantly linger towards her- the need to talk to her was always there.

Hey, what are you doing? X

Hi, nothing much. How’s babysitting? X

Going better than expected. I’ve managed to bath him without drowning him. I’ve fed him. I’ve played with him. Now the biggest task is to get him to sleep. X

Without drowning him- Oh Drake! Have more faith in yourself. Read him a story. I’m sure he will be tired after his bath anyway. X

He sure is, do you fancy coming over? I mean you don’t have to. It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to. X

Drake waited for a response, but didn’t get one straight away. Regretting asking her, he had hoped that she was just busy and not shutting him out again.

“Come on little man, lets get you to bed.” Placing Bartie in bed, he laid next to him- comforting him before beginning to imagine up a story to tell him. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful woman called... Evie...”

“Eeevie..”

“Yes, Bartie. Evie. There was a handsome Prince who fell in love immediately with Evie...”

*****

After finishing the story, Bartie was fast asleep. Drake looked at his nephew in awe.

“You’re going to break a few hearts when you’re older kid. Uncle Drake loves you so much.” Bending down to kiss him, he wrapped him up- ensuring that he was warm enough.

“So if I’m the beautiful woman.. that must make you the ruggedly handsome commoner?” Her presence made him jump to begin with, as he stood up- a smile crept onto his face.

“Evie? What are you doing here?”

“You invited me over. My phone went dead, and I wasn’t sure if the texting was a plea for help with babysitting duties so I didn’t charge it up.”

“No, I’d have asked for help outright. I’m glad you came. Do you want a drink?” Evie nodded, as he lead her out of the room and into the kitchen. Handing her a cup of coffee, there was silence surrounding them. Neither knowing who was going to break the silence first.

“So. I had a visit from Liam this morning once you had left.”

Hearing a knock at the door, she couldn’t believe that Drake was back again- knowing that he was sincere in winning her trust and love back- he couldn’t keep away.

“Li?” Her smile soon faltered into a disappointed expression.

“Sorry Evangeline, was you expecting a tall dark handsome man instead?” He asked winking at her.

“No. Maybe. Can I help you?”

“Just a quick question. Did you find the present that Savannah left you the other night on your bed?”

“I haven’t slept in my bed for a few days. Why?”

“We all have a surprise for you and Drake, a little break that the two of you deserve. The flight leaves the day after tomorrow. I hope the two of you will go- it’ll do you both some good.”

“What if Drake doesn’t want to go with me? I mean we’re technically not together.” Liam cupped her cheek, he knew that she would use any excuse she could to avoid going.

“He loves you dearly. That dance proved he loves you. His eyes never left you yesterday, Evie the man is totally in love with you. Give him a chance, you two are perfect for each other- again the dance proved that, the interaction between the two of you.”

“Would you be saying all that if you didn’t meet Riley?” Knowing that this was a slight dig at his antics when she had first arrived back in Cordonia- he felt ashamed.

“Evie, I love you. I always will. It’s a different type of love that I have for you compared to the love I have for Riley. Even though you rejected me for my commoner best friend - which I am highly offended with by the way- I am happy for the two of you. As is everyone else. Now go home, and find that surprise!”

“Yes, your Majesty. Li? I love you too.” Pulling her towards him, he held her tightly and kissed her on the forehead before exiting the room.

“I assume you had one from Riley?”

”Yeah I did.”

Hearing a knock at the door, Drake had hoped that it was Evie- they had kissed and cuddled all night but never elaborated from that.

“Brooks?”

“Hey, can I come in?” Drake opened the door wider allowing her in.

“How’s my little niece doing?” Drake rubbed his hand along Riley’s bump, as he did this she noticed tears in his eyes.

“She’s fine, although she wouldn’t want to see her uncle cry though.”

“I’m sorry, I daren’t cry in front of Evie - my heart is breaking, Riley. I lost two of the most important people in my life in the matter of twenty four hours. We’re talking now, we’ve shared kisses, we’ve even slept next together in the same bed. But is that all it’s going to be?”

“I’m sure Evie is feeling the exact same, Drake. I’m so sorry, I keep blaming myself for her defending me all the time. Has she mentioned anything that Savannah left on her bed for the two of you?”

“No. But Li asked a similar question at the bachelor party.”

“Between us all, we organised for the two of you to have a break leaving the day after tomorrow. You both deserve it, and this break could help the two of you. We’ve all done this because we all love you both. I love you, and I want you to be happy.”

“What if she doesn’t want to come with me?”

“She will.. after that kiss on the dance floor, she would be a fool to not go.”

“If she doesn’t want to go then I’m not going either. Thank you brooks, I love you too.” Riley pulled him in for a hug before leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Handing him the letter and the tickets, Drake shook his head after reading it.

Hey you two,

So you are both wondering what is going off? Between everyone we decided that you both needed a break away from Cordonia. Savannah still technically owns the apartment in Paris that I bought her- why don’t you both go to the city of looovvveee? We all love you both so much, and are hoping that you two are going to stop being so stubborn and be together. Please go because if not I’ll have everyone wanting to kill me. Maxi x

“We don’t have to go. I know you don’t want to rush into anything. I’m surprised they trusted Maxwell to write the letter.”

“I... don’t make me feel bad Drake. I love you, I truly do. I don’t want to be heartbroken. It’s always going to be in the back of my mind. What would have happened if I was still pregnant? A single parent Duchess would have caused a scandal.”

“You wouldn’t have been a single parent, I’d have been by your side.”

“How do I know that Drake? You unexpectedly ended our relationship.”

“I was a dickhead for doing that. I regretted it the moment those words came out of my mouth. If we were lucky enough to still have our baby I’d have taken you both away from Cordonia. I’d have protected you both until I died. We’d have been a family even if you didn’t want to be in a relationship with me. This break that everyone has organised, could be the making or breaking of us...” Seeing him begin to cry, she felt awful. Deep down she knew he would do anything and that in his own stupid way it was to protect her.

“Don’t cry, you’re going to set me off. I’m sorry, I just have to explain my worries.. this break is going to be the making of us.”

“You want to go?”

“I told you in Vegas that I’d like to go one day. You’ve already been with court, so you can show me around.”

“I’d love to show you around, I’ve got so many plans for us.”

“Oh really? Care to share them with me?”

“I’d rather not, incase we don’t have time to do it all. I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“You wouldn’t..” Stepping closer to her, he ran his fingers through her hair. Resting his forehead against hers, their lips were inches away from each other.

“Mama. Dada.” Sighing, he knew that his nephew was his main priority.

“I better go and see to him. How long are you staying for?”

“I don’t know? I’ll wait for you to settle him down again.”

“If you want to stay a bit longer, we could watch a film?”

“Okay. I’ll see what’s on.” Evie flicked through the tv seeing what was on. Not really knowing what to watch- not knowing what Drake would chose.

****

“Eeevie.” Drake smiled at his nephew, who was now wide eyed. Knowing he wasn’t going to be going back to sleep anytime soon. He decided to carry him in the lounge.

“He asked for you. Eeevie is his new favourite word. Auntie Evie has a nice ring to it.”

“Auntie?” Drake began to get flustered regretting calling her that. He just said it in an innocent way.

“Yeah, I meant because you are close to Savannah and Bertrand so they would like Bartie to call you auntie. Like with the heir, and Maxwell’s and Hana’s future kids... I meant it like that.”

“I knew what you meant. Do you want to watch peppa pig with Auntie Evie, Bartie?”

“It’s the first time he’s been without Savannah he’s going to be unsettled.”

“I don’t mind cuddles from this little cutie pie.” Drakes heart sunk, watching Evie interact with a child she had only just met recently. After a few episodes of Peppa Pig, he eventually fell asleep in Evie’s arms. “Sweet Dreams little boy. Do you want me to take him to his bed?”

“I’ll do it, Evie. You’ve done enough. I thought he was going to become a night owl.”

“I’m glad he decided to not be one, I don’t think I could go through anymore Peppa pig. She’s an annoying little bitch.” The two of them laughed, before Drake carried Bartie back to bed.

*****

Evie made them both a coffee whilst waiting for Drake to return. Drake snuck behind her, and held her waist whilst snuggling into her.

“Thank you for coming.” He whispered into her ear, his hot breath lingered around her.

“You don’t need to thank me.” Turning around to face him, he lent down kissing her on the forehead. Closing her eyes as he did this, her heart wanted more but her mind still had those lingering thoughts. Opening them, Drake never took his eyes off her- keeping eye contact at all times as he softly smiled at her.

“You’re so beautiful.” Her heart began to flutter erratically- he was a charmer when he needed to be, he had always complimented her. Cupping his cheeks, she stood on her tip toes and forced a kiss on to his lips, beginning slowly it soon became more demanding. Lifting her up onto the table, his hands roamed around her body as they continued to kiss. Breaking the kiss, they were both breathless. “I’ve missed you. I know we kissed at the wedding, and last night in bed but I want these moments back- being able to hold you and touch you. Making love to the woman that I love.”

“Touch me, Drake.” Without hesitating, he placed gentle kisses on her neck and shoulder. Evie pulled his shirt off in a matter of urgency, her hands roamed along his muscled body. Unbuttoning her top slowly, his eyes watched hers for any indication that she didn’t want this. Removing it, he discarded it on the floor along with his top.

Carrying her over to the sofa, he laid her down softly as he hovered over her. Admiring her beauty, he kissed her once more before deciding to spoon her.

“What are you doing?” She asked feeling confused, she thought that this was the start of them getting back to what they once were.

“I want you, I really do. I’ve missed you so much. But...”

“But what Drake?” Sitting up, she knew she shouldn’t have given into temptation so easily. “I should go.”

“Don’t go, I haven’t got any protection. Look at what happened last time. You still got pregnant on the implant. You didn’t want to rush anything and I respected that.” Feeling guilty that her insecurities had taken over again, she realised he was thinking about her wishes.

“Pull out before?”

“It’s too risky, what if I don’t pull out in time?”

“Then we will deal with the consequences. Together.” Straddling him, she thrust against his hard cock- needing him, wanting him. “You’re going to have to remove those tights, Duchess. I’m not superman.” Smirking at her, she stood up and did as he commanded. “Your turn Sir Walker..” Biting her lip, as she watched him remove the remainder of his clothes- he pulled her down onto him. “Fuck any foreplay, I just need to you.” She said, hoping he wouldn’t be disappointed.

“Oh my god... Drake...” Evie panted, as she rode him- taking full control.

“I’ve missed you so much baby.” Placing a sloppy kiss on her, he switched positions- wanting to prevent releasing so soon. Missionary position, he began slowly thrusting in and out but making sure that he did it deep, hitting that spot.

“Drake, don’t stop.” Her words encouraged him to continue pleasing her.

“I love you Evie... Be my girl again? Please.” Not pausing his movements, it felt like an eternity before she answered. “Promise that you wont hurt me again?”

“I’m not going to, if anyone tries to come in between us- we will move away. I want you to be the mother of my children, one day I hope you’ll become my wife. I want a future that includes you.”

“You want all that?” Drake kissed her slowly, as she questioned him. “One day, I want all that. If you do too, Evie.”

“I love you my handsome boyfriend.”

“I love you too baby girl. I’m not gonna fuck up again.” Regaining his movements, he thrust harder and harder, seeing her on a high, moaning his name over and over again. Knowing he was close, he pulled out immediately- Evie watched his hand stroke his length until he finished. Not being able to move due to her body trembling, she passed him her tights to clean up.

“I don’t think you’ll want them back, I’ll buy you some more.” He said as he held her in his embrace. The two of them fell asleep in other’s arms, both content - and hopeful for their future.

****

“Honeyyy I’m home!” Maxwell shouted as he barged through the cabin doors. He was drunk, no intoxicated as a result to the dancing competition that he had won. In his drunk mind, he decided to check up on Drake with his babysitting duties. Noticing some tights and Drakes top on the floor, Maxwell wondered what had gone off- he could only see Drake on the sofa. Maybe he split up with Evie because he’s a drag queen? That would explain why he allowed them to turn him into a girl as kids. Picking the tights up, they felt all sticky- immediately throwing them onto Drakes head due to the shock of what was on them, he was awoken from his slumber.

“Beaumont what the fuck?”

“You allowed me to touch clothing with spunk all over it? Did you enjoy your wank whilst looking after our nephew?”

“I didn’t allow you touch anything! One, Bartie has been asleep for hours. Two, why the fuck are you here? Three, it wasn’t a wank. If you’d open your eyes, you’d see that Evie is asleep next to me.” Peering over the sofa, he saw a half naked Evie snuggled into Drake.

“Ohhh... you two... kissed and made up then? But I don’t understand the tights? Is this some type of new kinky 50 shades shit?”

“I had no condoms. I had to pull out, and she passed me them to clean my dick with. I’m being sensible this time.”

“I’ve got loads in my pocket, here knock yourself out. If she became pregnant it wouldn’t be a problem would it?”

“Yes, it would. She didn’t want to rush things. That went tits up. I asked her to be with me again during sex. So I don’t need anything to fuck it up.”

Climbing over Evie, Drake stood up attempting not to wake her up. Kissing her on the forehead, he placed a blanket over her.

“So you still didn’t answer my question as to why you are here....”

“I thought you’d want some company, obviously someone bet me to it.” Pouting his lips impersonating kisses, Drake shook his head at Maxwell’s drunken pout.

“Do you want me to take Bartie back to Ramsford... you’ve got condoms now, you can both take advantage of being alone.”

“No, don’t disturb him. You wasn’t due to have him until tomorrow anyway.”

“Okay, well I’ll stay. We can celebrate me winning the competition.”

“Don’t you have a girlfriend to celebrate with?”

“It’s a bit late to disturb her...” Drake shook his head again, now knowing that he was now lumbered with the younger Beaumont.

“I’ll carry Evie to my bed, then I’ll celebrate with you if you don’t pass out before then.”

*****

Bastien heard a knock on Olivia’s door, it was now early hours in the morning so he knew it must be important. Slipping out of bed, he attempted to not disturb her, however his plan failed. Feeling her nails dig into him, her eyes were wide- waiting for an explanation about why he was about to leave.

“Someone’s at the door Liv.”

“Fuck them. Ignore it. Now I’m awake, I want to take full advantage of you.” Pulling him back onto the bed, she straddled him. Kissing his bare skin, for a moment he forgot about the disturbance, until the knocking continued.

“What the fuck do you want?” Olivia shouted, feeling frustrated. Bastien rolled her off of him, he had a slight erection so decided to get rid of whoever it was.

“Sir?”

“What? This better be important Glen.” The guard gulped as he saw Olivia provide him with dagger eyes.

“It’s about Duke Tobias. When the guards checked on him a few hours ago, he gave them a letter to pass onto Duchess Evangeline. Usually he would be pleading his innocence throughout the night, begging for the guards to let him free. However, he has been suspiciously quiet tonight....”

“Glen! Just spit out what you need to say. What’s happened?” Gulping, the younger guard began shaking, images of what he had seen were still stuck in his mind.

“Duke Tobias is dead.”

#trr #trr fanfic #trr we belong #drake x mc #drake x evie #liam x mc #liam x evie #liam x riley #drake x riley #savannah walker #olivia nevrakis #liam rhys #drake walker #bastien lykel #olivia x bastien #trr bianca walker #trr evie bruley

49 notes · View notes

lady-nightbloom · 4 years

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Why is my “aunt” Bianca Walker in Bloodbound MC’s clothing

68 notes · View notes

bobasheebaby · 4 years

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Opia- Monsters chapter 4

Pairing: Olivia x Emma (MC); Olivia x Liam

Word count: 2,082 Warnings: Evil Liam, Evil Olivia, child abuse, infected wound, sword (knife) violence, blood, wound treatment Summary: Olivia and Liam take Emma to their hotel. A/N: More evil Liam. This one is severely twisted. This is a collaboration with @sirbeepsalot, so hang onto your seats.

Series warnings: Evil Liam, Evil Olivia, child abuse, character death, abuse, knife violence, blood, unhealthy sexual situations, NSFW content to come. By asking to be tagged you acknowledge you are at least 18 years of age.

Let one of us know if you want on or off the taglist.

Disclaimer: We only own our OC’s, the rest we are just borrowing from PB.

Opia: the ambiguous intensity of looking someone in the eye, which can feel simultaneously invasive and vulnerable.

The trio was quiet as the elevator slowly lifted them to the hotel’s penthouse. Liam glanced at Olivia and Emma, surprised at how put together they looked for having just killed a man.

He shouldn’t be surprised. At this point, they were essentially professionals. They could make a killing off of murder for hire assignments if they didn’t have a country to run.

The elevator stopped and they stepped out into the sitting room of their suite. Emma looked around wide eyed as she took in the room, her swollen lips parted slightly in awe. “This is the nicest place I’ve ever been,” Emma said as she ran her fingers along the petals of a deep red cyclamen. She turned her head to look at Liam and Olivia, who were by the door watching her with smiles on their faces. “You have the whole floor to yourselves?”

“We do,” Liam said as he slipped off his jacket. “Are you hungry? I can order room service while you freshen up. Olivia?”

“I’m fine. Emma, darling, what would you like to eat?”

Emma tapped her fingers on her arm. “I’m not sure. What are my options?”

“We’re at the most exclusive hotel in New York City. They have whatever you want.” Liam paused before turning to Olivia. "I'm going to order you a bowl of chicken soup." He met her eyes, the meaning of his statement clear: you will eat what I order you. He looked to Emma, flashing her a smile. "It's her favorite item on the menu."

“Liam, I’m fine.” Olivia said through gritted teeth. “Order something for yourself and Emma.”

The room was quiet while Olivia and Liam glared at each other. Emma shifted her weight nervously; it was the first time she had seen something other than complete devotion and love between them. Her discomfort led her to break the silence. “Chicken soup sounds good. I need a bath.”

“I’ll join you,” Olivia said before turning and guiding Emma to the master suite. She shot Liam a quick glance; he knew exactly what it meant: don’t fuck this up like you fucked things up with Juliet.

Emma entered the opulent bathroom and turned on the bath while Olivia collected her toiletries from her room. She handed a bag of vanilla scented bath products to Emma before perching her frail body on the sink. “Aren’t you going to bathe?”

“I am. I thought you were going to join me. We’re both pretty gross after … ” she trailed off, unable to say the words we killed Trey.

Olivia looked down before sliding off the countertop. She walked up to Emma and slowly started picking at the buttons on her shirt. “You are an amazing woman to take your life back from that asshole. I can’t wait to learn more about you.”

Emma stepped back from Olivia’s hands and pulled her shirt closed. “I’m not amazing. I’m just trying to survive. I fell for sweet talk once … as much as I like and appreciate you and Liam, I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.”

Olivia ran her thumbs under her eyes to wipe away stray tears. There was something about Emma that she couldn’t put her finger on but she knew she was different. Maybe it was written in the stars or in their eyes as they worked together to free her from Trey, but it was something special. It was something she didn’t want to fuck up.

“I understand. It is hard to trust others. I’ll leave you to bathe. I should have Liam address this wound on my chest.”

Emma's eyes followed Olivia’s hand as she gestured to her chest, where her right breast had an open bite wound around the nipple. Blood had soaked into what was left of her silk shell as the skin screamed red and angry. She felt heartbroken; Olivia had allowed Trey to violate her and she simply pushed her away.

Her hand reached forward and clasped Olivia’s as she turned to leave. “I need time … just know that I think you are pretty amazing too.”

“Thanks, Emma. I really need to have this looked at. Liam gets worried when I have open wounds.” She looked down and cupped her breast, shifting it up and to the side to get a better look at the damage. “There is a robe in the bedroom. I’ll see you when you finish.” She gave her hand a gentle squeeze before leaving the bathroom and softly closing the door.

She has to be okay.

His feet moved at warp speed as he raced through the halls towards the Walker residence.

She can’t leave me. I can’t do this on my own.

Liam didn’t allow himself to catch his breath before he was banging on the door. He was terrified of what his punishment would be for getting Olivia help; he’d been told she was fine and to stop his constant cries for attention. His parents would be angry when they returned but he didn’t care. Olivia was all he had in this world. If she died, he didn’t think he’d ever forgive himself for failing her so horribly.

It was his fault she was sick. He’d begged until the young orphan was allowed to move to the Palace. He didn’t understand why they had been so reluctant to take her in—she was younger than him and left all alone. She would have been safer by herself.

The first time he was ever physically struck was a few days after she moved in with them. He took it with gritted teeth, believing that as long as she was safe they could punish him however they wanted. It was when he found her sporting the same bruises that he’d learned he wasn’t doing her a favor at all. She had also become a victim of their abuse.

He continued to hammer his fist against the solid oak door, panicked about why no one answered. He knew he didn’t have the luxury of being calm or patient; each minute counted. His foot drew back before slamming into the door. His hands curled into fists as he readied them for another barrage of hits. He couldn’t give up when she really needed him.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the door flew open. Bianca’s brown eyes were wide with surprise as she tried to close the robe haphazardly wrapped around her body. “Liam, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Livvy, she’s worse!” He said as tears streaked down his face. They had promised she’d be fine but she had only gotten sicker. He knew this would likely earn him the worst punishment he’d ever gotten, but he had to do something to try to save her. “She needs a doctor! I think she’s dying!”

Bianca hesitated at the door, her eyes looking back at her sleeping children. She suspected what happened and knew the risk of defying the King and Queen’s orders. She couldn’t turn a blind eye any longer; a child might be dying. She pulled her robe snug around the slight swell of her stomach as she stepped out into the hallway and shut the door. She raced down the marble halls behind the young prince and prayed they could get her help in time.

Bianca gasped as she took in the small girl. Her crimson hair soaked in sweat and clinging to her face. Her pale skin was as white as the sheets covering her shivering form. She knew the abuse was bad, but she never thought it would ever get this bad. Her heart broke as she rushed forward, her hand grazing Olivia’s forehead. She pulled her hand back quickly as though she’d been burned; her skin felt like it was on fire. “How did this happen?”

Liam shifted uncomfortably on his feet. It was one thing to get her help, but another to tell her how she got sick. You have to tell her. Livvy could die otherwise.

“She—she was cut.”

“Cut?” Bianca questioned. Surely he doesn’t mean ...

“Here.” He gestured to a spot on the left side of his ribs. “With a sword.”

Oliva walked across the penthouse to find Liam changing into his pajamas in one of the other bedrooms. He looked up and smiled as she crossed the threshold. “I thought you and Emma were tak--”

“--Three things,” she said, her voice tight. “First, don’t challenge me on food in front of others. You know better.”

Liam watched her quietly while he waited for her soul to settle. “Livvy, I haven’t seen you eat all day. You will eat when I say you eat. I refuse to watch you starve yourself to death after all we’ve been through.”

She didn’t respond and instead sat on the bed and waved her hand over her chest. “This needs attention. It might need stitches.” She laid down on the bed and watched as Liam went to his luggage and pulled out a small leather case.

“Let me see,” he murmured as he snapped on a pair of latex gloves. Olivia bit her lip as he started cleaning the wound with an antiseptic wash. “So … he did this?” He looked over to see Olivia’s eyes closed, a small smile on her face.

“You should have seen what we did to him. I’ll tell you once you fix me.”

Liam’s feet were rooted to the ground in fear as he watched his father take the requested sword from the servant. He wanted to intervene but he couldn’t let his presence be known; it would only make things worse for her in the end.

“You don’t play with swords.” Constantine growled, his eyes shining with rage as he watched the light refract off the edge of the smooth, sharp blade.

“It wasn’t real.” Olivia whimpered. She realized her mistake too late as his palm struck her face. Tears sprang to her eyes as she fought them back. She never cried. Nevrakis don’t cry.

“Fake or not, you don’t play with weapons.” His blue eyes flashed as his hand slashed the blade across her side.

Olivia cried out in pain as her hands clutched her side; she refused to let the impending tears fall.

“Next time I catch you with a sword you will get worse.” Constantine turned to a servant. “Take her back to her room and don’t allow her to change or dress the wound. I want this to serve as a lesson.”

“Yes sir.” The servant gulped as she carefully took the small girls blood smeared hand in hers.

Liam clenched his small hands into fists as he fought to remain silent. She was his to protect and all he ever did was continue to fail her. I’ll do better, I promise.

“I don’t think you need stitches but I’m going to glue it and tape it up. It’s not deep--it just looks bad.” He worked slowly to repair the damaged tissue, gasps spilling from Olivia’s lips each time he touched her. He smirked as he saw her hand travel between her legs. “You like that, don’t you?”

“Shut up,” she said as she stroked herself, her body already overstimulated from Trey’s assault. She focused on the warmth in her pelvis and the cool burn of the wound as Liam cleaned and bandaged her up. She was taking the experience back for herself.

Bianca gulped, her hands shaking as she lifted the sheet and gingerly pulled up Olivia’s nightgown. The air left her lungs as hot tears pricked at her eyes as she saw the large gash covering the small girls ribs. The wound was obviously infected. The skin red, angry, inflamed, with green spreading outward from the cut. She couldn’t believe anyone could ever treat a child like this. She felt like she was going to be sick.

“Please save her,” Liam said, his voice small and childlike and nothing like the prince she knew.

Bianca nodded. “We’ll get her help--she’ll be okay.”

Please, Lord, let her be okay.

"When do I get to hear what happened?" Liam asked as he packed away his supplies.

Olivia stretched as she sat up on the bed. "Depends. You want the short or long story?"

"Hmm," Liam breathed as he walked back to stand between Olivia's legs. He palmed himself as he realized he needed release now. "Short story. I can't wait."

Feedback fuels us, please like, comment or reblog to let us know how much you like it. We can handle the screams, so scream away.

Masterlist can be found in my bio.

Taglist will be reblogged.

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adder-lykel · 5 years

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@ Leona Maybe if you had a fucking country you were passionate about you would know what it takes to run a fucking country but you don’t

#i hate her so much tf #ungrateful yeehaw shit #leona walker #drake walker #walker ranch #trr #trh #the royal heir #mc doesnt deserve this #she deserves to be cozy with her li and preggo #not helping Leona and Bianca run a ranch while Leona still talks shit #tw: language

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angelasscribbles · 11 months

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In Your Room Chapter 11: Oh Mother

Series: In Your Room

Fandom: TRR

Pairings: Leo x Drake

Rating: PG

Warnings for this chapter: A couple of F-bombs, that's it

Song Inspiration for the series: In Your Room by The Bangles

Word Count: 1,163

My other stuff: Master List.

The woman’s voice trembled as she asked tentatively, “You remember me?”

“Yes…” her image was etched into his memory. Her face had a few more lines in it now, but it was still the face from his earliest memories, as well as the face in the well worn photo of her he carried in his wallet. But it wasn’t just her appearance. The lilt in her voice and the faint scent of jasmine that wafted to him on the breeze pulled him back through the years to the palace nursery, bedtime stories and hugs that could make the worst booboos better and the scariest dreams fade into oblivion. Until one day she had just been gone and nothing had been truly okay since. Not until Drake’s love had started to heal him.

His heart began to race, and the roar of his own blood was deafening in his ears. “What are you doing here?” he choked out.

“I…I just wanted to see you…” tears welled up in the woman’s eyes, “I didn’t mean to disrupt your wedding! I’m so sorry!”

“This is your mother?” Bianca’s mouth fell open.

“Yeah,” Leo nodded, his mouth dry. So many emotions fell through him in that moment. Joy, loss, pain, anger, sadness, curiosity, wonder, amazement. He asked the one question that he’d wanted to ask for over twenty years, “Where have you been?”

“I…” she sniffed as she glanced at the people surrounding them, “Can we go somewhere more private?”

“Come on, let’s all go into the house,” Bianca directed as she patted Leo gently on the shoulder.

Leo responded to her touch, and her directions, turning and making his way into the house without question. Bianca whipped her phone out and sent a text to her son. On the way into the house, she sent a server to bring iced tea to the living room.

By the time the tea made it to them, so had Drake. He rounded the corner in a panic, “What’s wrong?”

Bianca intercepted him, “Drake, this is Leo’s mother.”

“What?” He froze in place, gaping at the scene in front of him.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Leo laughed, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Drake Walker at a loss for words before.”

“Sorry!” Drake shook himself out of it and hurried to take a seat next to his almost husband. He took Leo’s hand in his own. His copper eyes traced Leo’s face with concern, “Are you okay?”

“Mm, hm,” Leo nodded as he wiped a tear from his cheek, “Just in shock a little I guess.” Turning to the woman seated across from him, he said, “I never thought I’d see you again. I’d given up hope.”

Helena dropped her head into her hands and started to cry.

Bianca moved to the couch next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” Helena lifted her head to give Bianca a grateful look, “I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry! Today isn’t about me!”

“No, it’s not,” Drake affirmed, “So why did you pick today, of all days, to show up?”

“I just wanted to see my baby boy get married. I wanted to make sure he…” she hiccupped a little through her sobs, “…was happy…”

“I am happy,” Leo assured her, “but I would have been a lot happier a long time ago if I’d had a mother.”

“I know…I’m sorry….your father…he wouldn’t…he said I couldn’t…he…”

The anger whooshed out of him as Leo stared at her, horrified, “Constantine wouldn’t let you see me, would he?”

She shook her head no.

“That fucker! I knew it!” Leo was on his feet, pacing.

“Yeah…but…” Drake looked back and forth between them, “Leos been an adult for a while now. Why didn’t reach out sooner?”

“I tired! When he was at college a few times, but the guards wouldn’t let me through! I sent letters but I…I’m guessing you never got them?”

“All my mail was screened…”

“And your personal number was unpublished.” Drake finished for him.

“I was in the crowd in Paris when you gave that speech about climate change,” she smiled proudly through her tears, “You were so passionate about it!”

“You were there?” Leo felt tears pool in his own eyes again, but for an entirely different reason.

She had followed his career. She had tried to contact him. She had never forgotten him nor abandoned him willingly. And he should have known. He should have looked for her. It was just one more thing his father had taken from him.

As if reading his mind, Drake’s voice cut through his self-recrimination, “You didn’t know, Leo.”

“Of course, I was there!” Helena nodded, “I wanted to be there for so much more, Leo! I never wanted to leave you behind! I made a mistake! I didn’t realize that when I decided to leave Constantine that he would keep you from me! I really thought we would split custody and-“

Leo was suddenly across the room and in her arms. Bianca moved off the couch to give them room as they clung to each other and cried together.

Bianca pulled Drake to the side, “I’ll go let the guests know the wedding will start late. I think they need a minute.”

“Yeah, thanks, mom,” Drake brushed a kiss on her cheek before turning his attention back to Leo, “I’m staying in case he needs me.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, son.”

Leo and his mother spent the next twenty minutes trying to catch up on all the missing years.

“Hey, babe,” Drake finally interjected, “Should we reschedule the wedding?”

“What?” Leo looked up, startled, “Why?”

“Um…” Drake’s eyes traced from Leo to Helena and back again, “So you can deal with this.”

“I didn’t mean to derail your wedding!” she protested, “I just wanted to be here!”

The press had reported his engagement to another man three months ago, but the man had been unidentified and Leo’s location unknown. Drake’s name had been leaked two weeks ago. She’d hired a private detective who had delivered the address of the ranch and the date of the wedding yesterday.

She hadn’t known if he’d want to see her. She thought she could slip in and watch from the back. She hadn’t counted on security at the gate.

“You’re fine,” Leo grinned at her, “I’m glad you’re here. It makes this day even more perfect!” His father was never keeping them apart again. “Please stay after so we can talk some more?”

“I’d like nothing more!” she agreed.

Leo stood and pulled Drake into his body with a smirk, “You’re not getting out of this that easy, Walker! We’re getting hitched!”

Surprised laughter bubbled out of Drake, “Hitched? Did you just say hitched?”

“Yeah…I’m a real Texan now, boy! Yee Haw! Let’s go get hitched!”

Drake swatted Leo on the backside as he followed him out of the room, “Try and fucking stop me!”

#in your room #angelasscribbles #trr au #the royal romance #dreo #Drake x Leo #Leo x Drake #Drake Walker #Leo Rys #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week

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cavillkingdom · 5 years

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So, yeah.. I really think Liam's mom was pregnant and the baby was Jackson's.

The thing is: If that's the case, I guess Drake is going to be crushed to find out his father wasn't the great man he thought he was. I don't know what to think...

#choices #choices stories you play #playchoices #the royal heir #choices the royal heir #TRH #The Royal Romance #TRR #king liam #drake walker #bianca walker #jackson walker #queen eleanor #king constantine

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teamdrake27 · 5 years

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WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!

I don't get all of the hate for Drake and his family. Like what he hell is wrong with you?! His mother is a very kind woman that had shown us nothing but kindness, his aunt is just rough around the edges. I swear I didn't see all of that hate for Hana's parents, even though they were horrible, not just they didn't trust Hana, they also threatened MC. Or Constantine who ploted against us an entire book and didn't give Drake's family what they deserve. I swear it's like Drake's family killed mc's parents or something. Take a chill pill. You won't die if you didn't hate them. Yes, they're making us help them and that's not a crime. You all wanted to spend time away from the palace, well you got it! Take a chill pill and enjoy the freaking book for crying out loud! 😒😑

#the royal heir #drake walker #savannah walker #bianca walker #leona walker #Jackson walker #Calm down #choices game #choices #trr liam #king liam #hana lee #trr maxwell #maxwell beaumont

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argylemnwrites · 4 years

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Fire Inside

Character: ??? 😮 ???

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu) referenced

Book: The Royal Romance (The Royal Heir, various chapters)

Word Count: ~2100

Rating: PG-13 (adult language)

Summary: Doing what needs to be done isn’t for the faint of heart. Sometimes channeling that fire inside will bring out enemies, but only the timid worry about that.

Author’s Note: So, this is something pretty different from what I usually write, but the idea popped into my head and wouldn’t leave me alone. I don’t know if anyone else will like this, but I had a lot of fun exploring motivations of this character. I just wanted to dislike this character for interesting reasons, not hate them for dumb reasons that lack all nuance. So, yeah, not trying to defend this character, just trying to make them a dislikable human instead of a silly, annoying trope.

Inspired by Day 4 of the Choices November Challenge - Rage. Tagging all my TRR peeps, so apologies if this isn’t your thing. Like I said, I know this isn’t my usual style.

How did that old saying go? You catch more flies with honey than vinegar? Something like that. She’d heard it plenty of times throughout her life. She just never really understood it.

It’s not that she didn’t get the intent; she wasn’t stupid. But she just didn’t quite get why anyone would want to catch flies in the first place. Swat those annoying buggers away. Let them live their life while she lived hers. Why would you want to attract nuisances when you could scare them off instead? And no point drawing them in to kill them. There would always be plenty more pests coming after them.

But growing up, everyone seemed to tell her she should be more nurturing, more caring. Buying her dolls for her birthday and for Christmas. Trying to get her to care for the chicks after the coyote got into the pen and ate the hen. Scolding her when she hadn’t held Bee’s hand and wiped away her tears with gentle thumbs and soothing words when she’d fallen from the tree and broken her arm, but instead had carried her back to the house, arm wrapped in her own shirt as a temporary sling. But her practical solution hadn’t been enough. She was supposed to tend to her sister’s emotional pain, not just the physical.

They all wanted her to be sugar, spice, and everything nice. Well, if that’s what little girls were supposed to be made of, it never made sense to Leona that everyone seemed to ignore the middle ingredient. You wouldn’t call two pieces of bread on either side of some sliced ham a bread sandwich. That’s a goddamn ham sandwich. So why did everyone think that girls should be sweet little angels, not spitfires full of heat and intensity?

Leona was never cut out to play the damsel, dependent on someone else. She would fight for herself, fight for what she thought was her due. And she was never going to apologize for being that way. Her fire served her well. It’s how she got out of taking home ec in high school, instead getting herself a spot in shop class. She could live with rips in her clothes that she couldn’t mend well and food that filled her belly without winning a prize at the state fair for its flavors. But if the equipment on the ranch broke down, well being able to fix that herself would save her whole family time and money. And that just seemed a hell of a lot more useful than learning how to be a perfect little homemaker.

Of course, in shop class, none of the boys or Mr. Linvel had viewed her as anything other than a novelty. She wasn’t sure which was worse, the boys who laughed at her anytime she made a mistake, or the ones who assumed she couldn’t do it herself, always coming over to “help” her. What they didn’t understand is that she never needed their help. They weren’t better than her just because their fathers had taught them those skills already. She would do it herself, no matter how many tries it took.

Because the world was a harsh place. It never made sense to Leona that she was expected to stay soft. She didn’t understand how anyone could. But all the girls around her seemed to manage it just fine. Cathy and Linda and Susie braided each other’s hair and shared lipstick. They giggled and gossiped and swooned over Chip and Bobby and Kenny. They hugged each other and passed around hankies when those same idiot boys all fell head over heels for the new girl, Patty, with her bleached hair and bell-bottom jeans. They all cried over their Dolly Parton records, moaning about how “Jolene” was their song. Leona didn’t get it. Why waste any time on some boy who was inevitably gonna let you down?

But one by one, she watched them go off, get married, start their families. Cathy caught the eye of some traveling salesman, Linda finally got Bobby to put a ring on it, and Susie moved to Houston to go to secretarial school, but quit and got married 4 months after her first posting. And one by one, she watched them get broken, by bills and mortgages, by baby after baby, by unfaithful and cruel husbands. And as they cried on the front porch, wondering how they got to that point, a not-so-small portion of Leona kept thinking, “I told you so.” She didn’t feel bad for thinking it either. Because she knew what they thought of her. Bitter. Cold-hearted. Bitch.

But she took it all, because she knew that life wasn’t a fairy tale. It’s a series of hardships you just had to face head on. She told her sister that everyday, not wanting her to make the same mistakes that so many of the other girls made. And for a long time, it worked. It was just the two of them and Dad, taking care of things on the ranch. But eventually Bee wanted more. She wasn’t content, always dreaming of something different. She saved her money. Traveled. When she came back, she was full of stories. But she was different every time. Still could pull her share around the ranch, but she was teasing her hair. Had new blazers with shoulder pads in addition to her practical work clothes. Talked about some fancy-ass coffee drink she had at some restaurant. And then she saved enough to go overseas, coming back a few months later, holding hands with some fancy European asshole. Told Leona she was moving to some country called Cordonia to marry that man. Left the ranch without a backward glance, leaving Leona and Dad to manage it all. She made promises of coming back in a couple of years after Jackson’s service requirements were complete, but first a son came along, and then a daughter. And each year that went by, Leona knew that Bianca was never coming back. Sure enough, phone calls promising a move back next year soon became phone calls promising a vacation. The life they had known together was now a novelty, an escape, not a reality. She only did make it back to the ranch once with the kids.

Those two were lost causes, as far as Leona was concerned. Brought up in a world of gold and diamonds, parties and designer clothes. Hell, the boy was best friends with one of the princes. And when she was the one who had to bury Dad in the orchard all by herself, six feet down, right next to Momma, she knew she was the only one left in the family with any common sense or perspective. She just hoped that Bianca remembered a little bit of the toughness she’d tried to teach her when those ass-kissing, stuck-up nobles she’d surrounded herself with inevitably screwed her over.

Leona was surprised that Bianca lasted over there as long as she did, nearly two decades before it all came crashing down with Jackson’s death. But she did crash, hard. Her life fell apart. And who did she call up, but the sister she’d abandoned, left to carry on the family business all alone. And once again, she wanted Leona to be softer. To offer sympathy and comfort. Well, she offered a roof over her head and food in her belly when her so-called “friends” somehow couldn’t be bothered to spare a dollar. That would have to be comfort enough.

She’d heard Bianca crying many nights. At first, she knew it was over her husband, a man who gave his life for some over-important royals, leaving behind his own goddamn family. And after years of watching her sister struggle to finally heal from that, the crying started again when Drake called, frantic, saying Savannah was gone, asking if by any chance she’d come to Texas. She recovered faster that time, though. Leona hoped that she was finally learning, that she was tougher. Stronger.

But that all came crashing down one fall morning, when Bianca bounded into the barn, telling Leona that not only was Savannah back in their lives, but that she had a baby. Baby Bee was a grandma. Not only that, but she was going back to the hellhole of Cordonia to see this baby and to watch Drake marry some fancy duchess of some sort. She was optimistic and energetic. It was as if she’d learned nothing from her first time there.

They’d fought, Leona asking her sister how many times she was gonna get her hopes up about that place. Bianca saying that things would be better this time. Yeah, right. Leona had seen enough to know how this would end. Bianca brought her kids up in the world of posh nobles and fancy rich people. It was only a matter of time until they decided they were too good for her again.

But Bee ignored her warnings, not only flying out there for some pompous hoighty-toighty wedding, but offering to host Savannah’s wedding to some frickin’ Duke of snobbery, the same man who knocked her up and then neglected her and the baby not two years earlier. Amazing what you could get away with when you had money.

To make matters worse, Bee invited some motley crew of royals and nobles to come stay on the ranch for this wedding. They weren’t outwardly disdainful, so maybe they did learn some manners from their fancy pants educations, but still. Leona had a ranch to keep afloat. The last thing she needed was to babysit a group of rich kids playacting at being cowboys.

She felt a little guilty selling info on Drake and his wife to the press. He was the most helpful of the group, and he was family, after all. He seemed to remember a few things from his visit as a child, seemed to have kept a handful of practical skills. But his wife was overeager, annoying, and seemed to think that she had something in common with Bianca and Leona just because she used to wait tables. That growing up in a fancy city like New York was somehow equal to hard, physical labor because she hadn’t been born with a silver spoon in her mouth. If he had chosen to marry someone like her, then he probably wasn’t much different than the rest of them. The fact that they were orchestrating some bizarre political move to get their kid onto the throne just sealed the deal for Leona. So she did what she had to do. Granted, they all ended up being much kinder than she’d guessed them to be. But their kindness wasn’t going to keep the ranch going long term, keep the hands hired and the electricity on. So, Leona kept on selling any info she had. Morality was all fine and dandy when you were privileged, but it had no place in the real world.

It wasn’t until Riley was screaming at her, yelling about how she would never forgive Leona, hand protectively placed across her very pregnant belly, that she saw something more than kind but spoiled little princess. She saw pure anger, fire-forged and intense. She saw rage and hunger. She saw someone that maybe had been hardened by life, but kept that intensity hidden away, covering her true strength with silliness and laughter.

Leona couldn’t be sure, of course. She barely knew the woman, and she had no illusion that she and this woman would be bonding as in-laws going forward, so she probably wouldn’t get the chance to find out. She had never been naive, after all. She knew that bridge was burned. But she wasn’t one for regrets. She’d made her choices, and while she’d hoped maybe her nephew would understand her reasons, calm his wife down, she wasn’t surprised when that didn’t happen. So she went back to Texas, to her parents’ ranch. To her ranch, really. What was done was done.

She hadn’t anticipated her sister’s anger. Bee had never been the overly-protective, Momma-bear type, after all. But she’d yelled, alright. Told her off about betraying the family. Selling out her own nephew. Making it so that Drake and Riley were never going to be willing to bring the grandbaby to visit. Bianca expected grovelling, contrition, regret. But she wasn’t going to get that. Leona had the fire raging inside of her to keep moving forward; she would never apologize for that. And if anyone took issue with that, well that was just their own damn problem. No one else was going to solve it for them. Certainly not Leona. Anyone who expected such a weakness could just go fuck themselves.

Tags: @choicesnovemberchallenge @dcbbw @mfackenthal @yaushie @jovialyouthmusic @iplaydrake @gibbles82 @drakewalkerisreal @riley–walker @thequeenofcronuts @notoriouscs @butindeed @octobereighth @ao719

#choices november challenge #the royal heir #the royal romance #trr #trh #trh fanfic #trr fanfic #leona walker #bianca walker #choices #choices fanfiction #choices stories you play #playchoices

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kaitycole · 4 years

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Kryptonite

Summary: Jackson thinks back to their last few months in Cordonia.

Word Count: 3620

Pairings: Constantine x Eleanor, Eleanor x Jackson, Jackson x Bianca

Warnings: Mentions of s*x, Mentions of adultery, Mentions of cheating, Betrayal, Mentions of divorce, Mentions of unplanned pregnancy, Mentions of panic attacks

A/N: Thanks to @sirbeepsalot every time I reference a flower I now check the symbolism. This is the site I’ve used if you want research the flowers mentioned :https://www.almanac.com/content/flower-meanings-language-flowers

Song Choice: They Don’t Have to Know by Tri Starr

Part 16 of WP. To catch up, read here.

Panted breaths come from within the study, both Eleanor and Jackson stilling clinging to each other. They had originally planned to wait longer before sneaking around in the palace, limiting their interactions for at least a month, but both caved within two weeks of returning. Most of those two weeks were spent apart while Jackson was away from the palace, but it proved hard for the two to stay apart. The pull is practically magnetic between them; it’s clearly obvious by the clothing littered from the closed door to the desk.

There’s a faint salty taste as Jackson kisses her neck, the scent of arousal surrounds them as they both slowly come down from their highs. A cold chill runs down her spine and he pulls her closer into his bare chest.

“I missed you.” She whispers into his ear, running her fingers through his hair. It’s gotten a little longer and she’s loves it.

“I missed you too, El.” His hot breath lingered on her skin as he mumbles the words in the curve of her neck. With a final kiss, the two pull apart and begin gathering their clothes from the floor.

“I could stay here all night,” she says as she finds herself in his arms again. Pulling on his shirt, she drags him back into her for a kiss.

“I agree, but I think we’d both be missed.” He chuckles as he kisses her back.

She lets out a sigh before giving him a small smile. They both look at each other, silently agreeing it was time to part ways. She squeezes his hand one last time before he slips out of the study.

As she stands there waiting, the reality of it all comes crashing down on her. That no matter how long you played pretend, eventually you have to go back to reality.

* * Before the king had gone to Portavira, he contacted several contractors to possibly work on Eleanor’s garden idea. It was originally an act of love, but now it was just another palace project to him. Just another way to leave a mark of his reign on the palace.

A few weeks after her return from Valtoria, Eleanor is finally working with the contractors to get the plans started. She welcomes the work load, anything to keep her mind off of her current situation.

“I think the hedge maze would look nice,” she spins around and then points, “over there.”

“There you are, dear.” Constantine comes up behind her, kissing her on the temple before wrapping his arm around her waist. “How are things going?”

“They are going fine.” A few of the workers notice her change in attitude and how she tries to slip out of his grip. It doesn’t go unnoticed by Constantine but he doesn’t speak on it.

“Which types of flowers are you thinking of adding?” He asks, walking over to see which design she picked.

“Yellow roses to the east, facing our suite and gardenias to the west. I haven’t figured out the rest.”

“Any particular reason for the type or location?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Blame it on my mood, I guess.” She shrugs before directing her attention back to one of the workers. No one in the palace has been safe from Eleanor’s sharp tongue; at first everyone chalked it up to being normal monarch stress, but lately she is entirely out of character. Usually if and when she ever snapped at anyone, she’d quickly apologize, but now she would publicly snap and then just walk away without so much as a second thought.

Constantine stands closest to Timothy and Bastien, the latter has been assigned to watch over the contractors in case of any accidents as Eleanor continues to rattle away demands.

”I prefer the Cherry Laurel for the hedging detail. Is that an option that we have?” She asks the man in charge of writing down the plants needed to be ordered.

“Yes, your majesty.” He quickly nods his head towards her.

She catches a quick glimpse of a shaggy brunette-haired guard walking into the courtyard. A quick blush covers her cheeks as she clears her throat to prevent a smile from spreading across her lips. The obviousness is caught by only the senior staff, who also try to discretely look at the king. His face is stoic and the only motion he makes is when Timothy leans down and whispers something; causing the king to just nod.

Jackson quickly scans around the courtyard, biting the inside of his cheek when he sees the king; the one person that he didn’t expect to see. He knows that he’s treading on thin ice, especially considering that he’s nowhere near his stationed spot for the day, but he wants to see her. She’s the only thing that has been on his mind as of late and he struggles to show restraint when it comes to staying away from her.

While rumors and gossip spun around between the servants and guards, it wasn’t reported to higher up as somewhat of an unspoken rule. So typically, Jackson didn’t have to have a reason for wandering around the palace until he found Eleanor since no one too important was around. However, right now he needs to find a reason, but he can’t.

“Walker, fancy seeing you here.” Timothy hits the back of Jackson’s shoulder. He hadn’t seen much of his friend lately, but that was mostly due to assignments. Timothy has recently been in charge of training a few new guards to take over positions within the king’s guards. But he isn’t convinced that’s why he and his friend have been running in different circles.

“Ah, yeah,” Jackson nervously rubs the back of his neck. “Just looking to get some fresh air.”

Timothy scrunches his brows, “But this is in the opposite direction from where you’re stationed today?”

“A bit of exercise never hurt anyone.” He’s getting annoyed with Timothy real fast.

“You sure it wasn’t just to see the queen?” He nudges Jackson’s arm with his elbow.

“You really need to get a girlfriend.”

Timothy rolls his eyes as he walks back towards the palace. A quick look around shows that during his talk, the king had walked back over to Eleanor, who is looking in his direction.

“Officer Walker, afternoon.” She says, waving him over.

“Your highnesses,” he bows in front of Eleanor before turning to Constantine and bowing to him as well.

“Officer Walker.” Constantine says with a straight face, masking his irritation. He’s not oblivious at how one of his guardsmen is looking at his wife and what really pisses him off is at how he doesn’t seem to try and hide it. Constantine isn’t so out of touch that he didn’t know men’s eyes wander and he knows his wife is beautiful, but the lack of decorum is what eats at Constantine.

“Say, do you have any flower recommendations?” Eleanor looks over at Jackson, not seeming to care about whose eyes are watching.

“Me?” He looks around, making awkward eye contact with Constantine.

“The queen does seem to value your opinion. Surely you have some ideas for her flower garden.” For the first time Constantine shows his hand by giving Jackson a once over with a slightly disgusted look.

“What about Honeysuckle? The kids would enjoy it,” Jackson just shrugs. He really wasn’t sure if that was an appropriate choice, but he loved eating Honeysuckle growing up and felt the children would enjoy it as well.

“That’s a wonderful idea!” Eleanor smiles, turning to make sure the man wrote the suggestion down. Jackson couldn’t help but feel a small blush creep across his cheeks as she looks at him with her bright smile.

One of the newer guards walks up and whispers something to Constantine who then address his wife, “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Of course.” She smiles at him, but it doesn’t reach her eyes like the one towards Jackson does.

Constantine walks back towards the palace before stopping right next to Timothy, who has been standing near the entrance, “I take it everything is in place, Timothy?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Then I trust you know what to do.” Constantine takes one last look at the courtyard before heading to his office.

* * At first, the Walker-Rys affair is contained to their usual meet-ups on Fridays in the west-winged study of the palace; allowing their guilt to stay at bay. But as the weeks slip pass them, their courage grows and soon they both find themselves wanting variety. Eleanor begins to monitor Constantine’s schedules, aligning his meetings with times she can slip Jackson into her suite. There’s been several days where Jackson volunteers to pick up overnight guard shifts, allowing him the opportunity to sleep in the guards’ suite. That arrangement allows Eleanor to sneak over in the middle of the night without worry of being caught.

With Constantine away on business, Eleanor finds herself alone in the courtyard. The project is taking a bit longer than she originally thought it would, apparently being a reigning monarch can’t get you everything you want when you want it. She’s sitting on the same bench Constantine had sat on when he confessed he wanted to start fresh. Part of her felt guilty for what she was doing, she knew it was wrong. Not only morally, but also ethically. Yet and still, here she is, waiting for Jackson.

The sound of a small twig snapping brought her from her thoughts and she smiles. Jackson steps closer to her, holding something behind his back.

“What do you have?” She quickly gives him a kiss, trying to peak behind him, but he swiftly turns.

“You are awful when it comes to surprises.” He smiles, kissing her again.

It’s late, so she’s already taken her hair down, make-up off and is wearing a pair of jeans with a sweatshirt. This was the Eleanor that Jackson prefers, her just being her; not dolled up and on show.

“I am not.”

Rolling his eyes, he hands her the red tulips from behind his back. Instantly her face lights up and she throws her arms around him. He stumbles backwards a few steps before he’s able to regain his balance.

“I take it that you like them.”

“I love them.” She holds the flowers close to her face, “And I love you.”

“I love you too.”

It’s not the first time they’ve exchanged those three words, in fact it was after the first time that Jackson realized Eleanor is his soulmate. After that revelation, it became clearer to him why the affair was so easy for him. He knows that it’s wrong and that Bianca deserves better, but if he divorced her it could cause suspicious. Suspicious was the last thing that the palace needed and as selfish as it was, he didn’t want to risk losing what he and Eleanor had.

They find themselves in each other’s arms; a rush of adrenaline and arousal overtakes them both, caution thrown to the wind. They’re desperately tearing the others’ clothes away and pawing at bare skin. He gently lowers her to the ground; the cool evening grass sends goosebumps across her skin.

It’s not long before they are completely lost in the moment, lost in each other; forgetting all about their surroundings. It’s not until a flash appears that they both freeze, Jackson quickly pulling the queen into his chest to shield her.

“What was that?”

“Shh.” He places a finger on her lip before rolling her off of him. He sits up slightly, trying to look around when he sees another guard. He throws his shirt back on and sits up just enough, his lower half hidden behind some foliage.

“Everything okay?”

The man with the light turns, it’s Michael, “Walker? What the hell are you doing?”

“I just needed some air.” He discreetly pulls Eleanor’s sweatshirt to her.

“Did you hear anything? A few maids reported some kind of noise disturbance around here.”

Eleanor covers her mouth so she doesn’t laugh and Jackson just shakes his head.

“No, must’ve been some animal.”

“Alright, well I’ll head out.” Michael nods before turning and leaving. When he’s a safe distance away, Eleanor bursts out into a fit of laughter.

Quickly they finish dressing, speed walking hand in hand back to the palace.

“I can’t believe we almost got caught!” Eleanor says between laughs.

Jackson shakes his head once again, “You’re gonna be the death of me.”

* * Bianca lets out a deep sigh as she tightly grips her coffee mug; the heat radiating from the mug reddens hers palms as the morning sun warms her skin. Her mind is full of doubts and second thoughts regarding her husband. While the ball seems like just a distant memory, what she was told by a Duke is fresh in her head. Jackson had told her that he wasn’t sleeping with her, that it was just his job, but his words have lost their comfort.

At first, it was easy for her to believe him because in all their years together he had never given her reason to distrust him. His fluctuating attitude wasn’t helping put her to ease. For a while after the ball, he walked around al doom and gloom causing her to walk on eggshells around him. He acted as if something terrible happened, but nothing had changed on their end. Then when he decided to take a vacation he acted like a totally different man; he was an attentive husband and father.

But ever since her Texas trip, she can’t help but feel something was up. Maybe it was the gossip she heard about how the queen and king were sleeping in separate chambers or how Jackson was the only guard that went with the queen to Valtoria. What really didn’t help was Tonya’s projection of her situation on Bianca’s. Yes, the Walker marriage wasn’t ideal or originally an union of love, but it worked and that was mattered. But Tonya didn’t agree, saying that since Cash was Jackson’s friend there was a chance Jackson would do the same as Cash.

Bianca knows that she should just confront Jackson about her thoughts and fears, but she has seen him maybe a handful of times since he came back from Valtoria. First, he was sent to Applewood for a few weeks which she couldn’t fault him for but since then, he seems to never come home. Saying that it’s easier to just stay in the guard’s suite due to late night patrols which would’ve made sense, but Constantine had given Bastien and Michael the overnight shifts after Savannah was born to allow him to be home more. And the longer she tries to think about it, the more she tries to make sense of it, the more jumbled her thoughts become and the worse her headache gets.

She clicks the pen in her hand repeatedly; a divorce is an option, but the fine details make it more complicated. She wouldn’t want to stay at the cabin or even in Cordonia, but it isn’t just her feelings and wants that are to be considered. She has Drake and Savannah to think about, but remembering how happy they were running through Texan fields made her think moving just might be a good idea.

Over in the palace, a certain king is also clicking the top of a pen as he debates how to handle a very similar situation. He too has picked up on not only Eleanor’s but also Jackson’s attitude and behavior. At first, Constantine wanted to believe that maybe he was just being paranoid. That maybe he wanted to believe something was up so he had a reason to keep his heart closed off. Then another guardsman came to him with suspicion and everything became clear to him.

Unlike Bianca, Constantine couldn’t just file for divorce; there’s certain things that the royal family couldn’t just indulge in, divorce being one of them. They have been together too long for an annulment. Plus, if word of the queen’s less than discrete behaviors got out, Liam’s legitimacy could be called into question and he refuses to allow his wife’s choices to tarnish his son’s reputation. With all that said, he also wasn’t so sure she’d act as Liana did and leave her son, which would leave the throne unstable and Constantine in the same predicament as before.

Opening the third drawer on the right side of his desk he pulls out a thick manila envelope. He has a pretty good idea of what’s inside there or more so what’s on those photographs. He isn’t sure if the thickness and weight is from diligence or there was that much to report. He’s had it for weeks now, part of him hoping that he’d never have to open it; hoping that things could go back to before when they were both happy.

* * “Oh, do we have any of those sour lemon candies? The ones shaped like lemons?” Eleanor asks one of the servants placed the royal family’s dinner in front of them.

“If not, I will get some immediately.”

“Thank you.” She smiles sweetly as the servant bows.

Constantine snickers at the other end of the table, taking a sip of his wine. The boys and Olivia seem unfazed, going about their dinner as if the room is silent.

“What?” Eleanor cuts her eyes at her husband.

“It’s just the only time you ever wanted sour food or candy was when you were pregnant.” He stops, the weight on the word sitting on both of them, “Wait, are you?”

It feels like she sits there for hours, trying to do the math but failing. Time has nearly stopped completely, trying to see if there’s any way she could be. If there was a chance that it was either an heir or…or the product of adultery.

Constantine picks up on her hesitation, but remains stoic. With Liam, there wasn’t this kind of hesitation, she instantly knew the answer, but here she just sat; almost horrified. Had their intimate affairs been within the window needed? He had asked her once before to explain how she kept track, but when she said to counted certain days and excluded other, he became lost.

Eleanor sits there, “I...” Could I be?

“Are you okay, Momma?” Liam asks, picking up on her unease.

“Of course, sweet boy.” She scrunches up her nose, making a funny face at her son, “I’ll be back in just a moment. If you’ll excuse me.”

The king watches as his wife all but runs out of the dining room. Before when the prospect of an heir was mentioned, he was all but full of joy. The idea of more children was never what he planned, but he warmed up to the idea. Eleanor warmed him up to the idea, but now, he has a sinking feeling there won’t be much joy this time around.

There’s a wave of sickness that washes over her as she rushes down the halls. Her head starts to spin and ache as she feels sick. She wasn’t sure if it was sudden morning sickness or if the queasiness came from her fear.

Quickly, she ducks into her suite; rushing into her bathroom. When her and Constantine became intimate, long before her trip to Valtoria, she had her servants to buy a couple pregnancy tests. Her hands tremble as she rips open the pink foil, the plastic test in her hand feels heavier than she remembers.

* * Jackson steps out of the guards’ suite and quickly sees the queen pacing just a few feet away from the door. He’s unsure why, the watch on his wrist tells him that she should be at dinner.

“El?” His voice is barely above a whisper, but she hears him.

“Jacks—” She can’t finish before she’s in tears; her eyes raw and red. She rushes over to him, throwing her arms around him as he rubs his hand across her back.

“What’s wrong?” He tries pulling her back so he can look at her, but she clings to him. Her tears soaking the fabric that covers his shoulder. All of her actions are out of character for the queen, but he knows something is seriously wrong. She has never clung on to him like this, in such an intimate way in a very public setting.

Eleanor tries to speak but all that comes out are half choked out sounds. She’s practically shaking like a leaf, he’s never seen her this shaken up or scared before and he is panicking. Jackson knows that they aren’t safe there, there’s nothing stopping anyone from walking in on their embrace. Carefully he walks backwards and pulls her around the corner, secluding them from prying eyes and concealing them from potential scandal.

“El, I need you to talk to me. You’re scaring me.” He walks closest to one of the couches, pulling her off of him and helping her sit down. She’s finally leveling out her breathing when she looks up at him, tears pooling heavily in her eyes.

“Two…two lines…” Her breathing picks back up and she’s a mess all over again. Wringing her hands together as she tries to catch her breath.

“Two lines? Eleanor, you aren’t making sense.”

With shaking hands, she pulls the tests out of her pocket and hands them to him; she had taken four of them. He looks at them, unsure of how to act and he feels himself unable to breathe. The unsureness of what this meant left him with a mixture of fear and unease.

**A while ago I wrote some character profiles, you can read them here.

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msjr0119 · 4 years

Text

One Temptation

Part 8

*This series is based on The Royal Romance characters who belong to Pixelberry - AU Plot switch*

Riley Brooks moves back to New York after leaving five years prior- struggling to get by in life she wanted to go home. After getting mugged, a woman and man come to her rescue and offer her a job at their strip club. A rich business man Liam Rhys is forced to visit the club as part of his bachelor party. What will happen that night?

Tags-if you want to be removed let me know 😊: @pedudley @kacie-0156 @loveellamae @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @drxkewalker @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @kozabaji @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @whenyourheartskipsabeat @jovialyouthmusic @nz1091 @yukinagato2012 @seriouslybadchoices @rainbowsinthestorm @cordonianroyalty @dcbbw @qammh-blog @jared2612 @princess-geek @desiree---1986 @indiacater

Finally started this series back up- sorry for the hiatus! To refresh your memories click the link for Part 7. This part is set a few days after the last part ended- showing POV’s from the main characters; Drake, Riley, Liam and Leo. Part 9 will lead on straight from the ending of part 7.

Warnings: Swearing, mention of rape, affair?

*****

Drake walked through the ranch, hoping that Riley had just gone for a stroll- waking up without her this morning made him think back to all that happened in New York as well as their few days in Texas. The thought that had constantly kept crossing her mind was if she was having second thoughts about their relationship. On the road trip down to Texas, she showed a genuine smile- excitement to have a break from New York City and all the drama that had occurred. As the days went by she suddenly became distant with him, every time he asked her what the matter was- she would just respond with the one word answer ‘nothing’.

Returning to the ranch, the coffee aroma flooded the kitchen- he saw his mom and aunt look at him with the same expression- disappointment.

“What?” He questioned the two of them, feeling unwelcome for the first time since he had returned.

“You can do better than her Drake. She left this morning.” Not really comprehending what his mother had just said, he wondered what had happened whilst he hadn’t been around. On occasions he would check the animals, do chores around the ranch, get food in from the shop- leaving Riley to bond with his family. Possibly her future family, in his mind.

“Left? What do you mean?”

“She’s gone back to New York. You obviously don’t mean a lot to her. Or she would have said goodbye.” Leona just shook her head, excusing herself from the situation- knowing that her nephew was about to blow his top.

“Why didn’t you fucking stop her? I’m going.”

“Drake! Stay here. You don’t need her. There’s other women, or should I say another woman.”

“I do need her, and she needs me. I love her. Goodbye mom.”

******

Riley returned to New York, not knowing what her plan was- all she knew was that she needed a new job, that she needed to avoid her friends for a while. The Walkers unknowingly to Drake made her feel unwelcome at every given opportunity.

Are you using my son for his money? Sluts like you will never be loyal partners.

My nephew can do so much better than a stripper. You was probably just lust for him, nothing more.

Thinking about the word slut as Bianca labelled her, made her think about the day after the rape. Did she deserve all that had happened to her?

The day after waking up in Liam’s penthouse, Riley kept watching the video- grimacing every time. The tears wouldn’t stop forming. Assuming Liam didn’t use protection, she knew she had to pay a visit to the hospital or the local clinic but also to the police station. At first she didn’t want to go and report the crime, it was still trying to sink in what had happened- hence why she put herself through the torture of rewatching it.

Walking to the clinic, she wished she had the guts to tell her friends and Drake what had happened. Feeling ashamed, she believed that they would judge her. Not listen to her. Possibly blame her. Would they ask personal questions? Would they ask why she couldn’t stop him, prevent it from happening? Drake. What would he think? Their ‘relationship’ was complicated to say the least. Deep down, Riley was utterly in love with him but wouldn’t admit that anyone- only her drunk drugged mind spoke the truth to her abuser.

Giving her name to the reception, she turned around to sit down- her jaw was agape seeing the ghost from her past gulp at her as they locked eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m going for a swim, what the fuck do you think I’m doing in a clinic you bimbo?”

“You’ve not changed one bit have you Riley? Still the sarcastic, stubborn little bitch. Did you enjoy your night the other night BELLE?”

“Go away Madeleine, I assume you’re here because you can’t keep your legs closed for more than a second.”

“I’m not a slut, who has a ‘sleepover’ at my house then mentions the word rape infront of my daughter.”

“He raped me Madeleine. I didn’t realise that Alice was there when that word slipped out....I just want to thank you, for everything that you did to me. See you around.” Leaving the clinic, she headed to the police station- hoping that they would believe her.

“I’d like to report an incident. My ex boyfriend raped me and he and my boss drugged me.” The police officer led her into the room, after the interview in the back of her mind she believed that it would be a waste of time. Due to the fact that she wasn’t a reliable witness because of the affect due to the drugs and alcohol- she held on to the hope of the video. Hoping that it would be enough evidence.

“We will arrest Mr Rhys and bring him in for questioning. You was very brave reporting this type of incident, many people are too afraid to do this.”

“Could you wait? His company has a charity event- could you wait until after that? Or do it during that?” The police officer looked at her confused not knowing the reasoning behind the unusual request.

“This could delay court proceedings, you do understand that Miss Brooks?”

“If you arrest him now, he may suspect it. If you do it unexpectedly- he won’t have time to come up with excuses.”

“Very well, but if this backfires it will be your fault. If you change your mind let us know. We will arrest your boss now though.”

If it wasn’t Liam trying to split them up, or Madeline- there was now Drakes family. Whenever Drake walked back into the room, the two women would act differently- as if they were happy that Riley was there.

Walking the streets of New York, she entered every bar asking if there were any vacancies. With no luck, she felt like giving in and just moving out of New York completely.

*****

Over the last few days Leo had become like a sloth, not having the motivation to do anything. Feeling guilty that he had allowed his brother to hurt his friend yet again.

“Why did you do it?” Leo held Liam against the wall, out of the way of prying eyes. At this moment in time, he wanted to kill his brother or at least inflict a slight bit on pain on to him. No pain would be as much as the pain he had put Riley through the years.

“I love her Leo. I fucked up losing her.” Attempting to remove his brother’s hand from his neck, Liam failed as Leo’s grip became tighter every second that went by.

“You don’t fucking rape someone you love!”

“You don’t shag someone who’s your friend. Don’t lie to me, you have feelings towards her too.” Leo released his tight grip knowing what he was referring to. His fling with Riley in Florida.

“It was just sex! If I did have feelings for her, don’t you think that I’d have brought her back. Made us an official couple. Hell, if I was lucky enough to call her my girlfriend I wouldn’t have let her go.”

“So you do like her more than a friend. Why am I surrounded by betrayers? Who’s next? Maxwell? Riley is mine. No one else’s.”

“Yes I do love her. Possibly more than a friend. Happy now? But she doesn’t love me back that way. She loves Drake. Let her be happy- she isn’t yours!”

“And this is why you’re defending her. Acting like the knight in shining armour- hoping that she would fall for you. What would you do? Dump Olivia? I’m glad I raped her, money buys you everything. I’ll get her back.”

“You bastard!”

Beating his brother to a pulp that day of the charity event, Leo felt guilty not informing Riley about the truth. Knowing she would berate him for stooping so low.

“Leo... who’s blood is that on your hands?” Fuck. Leo looked at Riley as Drake held her protectively on the bed. Gulping, he knew he probably shouldn’t have reacted the way he did. Realising that they all need to just ignore Liam’s existence instead.

“It’s my blood. I was so annoyed with Liam- that I punched the wall. Please don’t ever talk to him again. You have all of us. He will pay for what he’s done. I hope you two are very happy together- you deserve it Ri.” Riley looked at him, jumping out of bed- she hugged Leo. Cupping his cheeks, her eyes searched his hoping for some truth and answers.

“You’d tell me if you’d hurt him? Right?” Leo gulped as he nodded, knowing that she possibly had some inkling as to how he had received his injuries.

“He won’t hurt you again. Stay with Drake, he’s a good guy.

*****

Liam had decided to work from home ever since the disastrous charity ball. Losing trust from his clients, this time at home made him think long and hard about his actions. I didn’t want to rape her. I love her.

“You love who daddy?” Not realising that he said those words out loud, he couldn’t lie to his daughter. Even at such a young age, the girls mind was as bright as a button.

“Daddy loves Belle.”

“Is she going to be my new mommy? She was angry with you the other day. I don’t think she loves you.” Kneeling down, he held his daughters hand as he spoke the next words.

“Belle used to love daddy. Before you was born, daddy and Belle lived together.” Thinking back to the times that they shared, they was happy- like love struck teenagers. If it wasn’t for Alice’s existence, he would go back in time if he could. Save his relationship.

“You need to say sorry daddy. That’s what Miss Parkins says at school. She said if you upset someone, you say sorry. See you later.” Taking in Alice’s words, he knew she was right. But he would never admit to anyone that he was in the wrong. That he had gone too far. There was a knock at the door, Liam ran his fingers through his hair as he stood up to answer.

“Come in Gordon, thank you for coming.” The lawyer sat down, sighing at Liam.

“So you’re on bail. I need you to be truthful. Did you rape Riley? And did you harm Leo before you was arrested?”

“You bastard!” Liam didn't know how Leo threw the first punch, all he remembered was feeling that pain suddenly slamming into his jaw. It happened so quick. Blood pooled in and around his mouth as Leo backed off. They was only apart for a brief moment - possibly to catch their breaths before lurching back towards each other, both sets of baby blues narrowed - both determined to not surrender. Leo has dodged a few fists that Liam threw towards him- until he aimed for his ribs. Falling to the floor, Liam hovered over his brother- pining him to the floor with no escape route.

"Is that all you’ve got big bro? Or can we call it a draw? End it now?” Leo was about to raise his knees to knock Liam off him, as he was feeling like he was being suffocated.

“Liam Rhys I am arresting you on suspicion of rape. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence".

Everyone at the event, gasped. The echo filled the room, as did a crowd around the puddles of the brothers blood on the floor. Bastien shook his head, not knowing what to do. Not knowing if the press had managed to catch wind of what was happening.

“Leo! Why would you call them? I’m innocent!” Liam shouted as the police dragged him away.

“I didn’t! Maybe the woman you hurt did that! Rot in hell Liam!” Leo held his ribs, the relief that Liam was about to get some comeuppance was over riding the pain that was lingering.

“Would it sound bad if I admitted to both? You know I love Riley, you have been our families lawyer all my life. I went the wrong way about it all. When she returned, I called off my engagement to Madeleine- all of my feelings for Riley resurfaced. I lost her Gordon.”

“We will work this out Liam. But you need to admit to Riley what you did and apologise. She may drop the charges if you’re truthful with her. Possibly try and rebuild the relationship with your brother. I’ll see you in court. Remember, the truth.”

*****

Drake arrived back in New York, hoping that Riley was going to be in his apartment that he shared with Max - hoping that she was going to jump out from somewhere and shout ‘surprise’. Possibly jump into his arms. Walking through the door, Maxwell just shook his head, sorrow in his eyes. Pulling Drake in for a hug, they both decided to look for her.

*****

It was late at night, Riley was exhausted walking the streets. She believed that her luck was in when she stumbled across a dive bar which was advertising for bar staff. Walking in the stern looking man at the bar, asked her if she wanted a drink.

“I’m here about the job. I’ve worked in a str- bar.” The man looked up and down her body, then focused his eyes on the blonde stood behind her. The top she was wearing flaunted her assets, and the man immediately offered her the job over Riley. Ordering a drink, she gulped it in one. Leaving the bar, she felt defeated- the heavens had opened up and she was now drenched. Continuing to walk down the street, her phone rang constantly. Maxwell. Her heart wanted to answer to answer it immediately, but her stubborn mind refused to acknowledge the importance of the call. Ignoring it, as she pressed reject the phone slipped out of her hand and smashed on the concrete. For fuck sake. Sitting in a puddle, the tears from her eyes were uncontrollably flowing matching the weather- not giving a damn that her clothes were now soaked to the rafters, she believed that karma was hitting her right in the face - not expecting any good luck to appear anytime soon.

“Hey, don’t cry. What’s up?” Looking up at the woman, Riley softly smiled as the woman helped her stand. Wiping her tears and her clothes, she felt like an idiot.

“Thank you.”

“Are you okay?”

“I just need a bed, a job. Is that too much to ask? I’ll do anything. I’m desperate.”

“Well I have vacancies. I own this club.” Looking towards the club entrance, Riley sighed. Great another strip club.

“Can you dance?” I can, it doesn’t mean that I want to though.

“I used to work at Wildcats. I didn’t dance though.”

“The offer is there if you want it. I also have a spare room in my apartment. Look after yourself honey.” Riley stared at the building, not knowing how long for until a decision was made. “Wait!” The woman turned around, smiling at her.

“I’m a fast learner. I’m labelled a slut anyway. I only have $200 to my name.” Laughing at Riley, Gill hated it when people described dancers as sluts- it was a common nickname. But not in her club, the local punters knew that if they took advantage that Gill would possibly place their bodies in a body bag.

“My names Gill. What’s your name?”

“Riley.”

“Come on Riley, come inside before you catch pneumonia.”

*****

Drake pressed the button in the elevator, taking him up to the highest floor. Walking towards the desk, the receptionist looked Drake up and down- wondering who he was and what his intentions were.

“I’m here to see Mr Rhys. Before you ask, no- I haven’t got an appointment.”

“Name?”

“Just tell him his worse nightmare is paying him a visit..” panic was written across the woman’s face, leaning closer towards her desk- her hand hovered over the security button. “Just tell him, it’s Drake.”

Hello Mr Rhys, you have a visitor. His name is Drake.

Hanging up, she explained that Liam would be with them momentarily. Sitting down on the leather chair, Drake was unsure how Liam would react to seeing him- would he throw him out? Would he play mind games?

“Drake. It’s nice to see you.” Not. “Follow me into my office.” Drake followed his instructions, as the two men walked into the room. Liam poured them both a drink, however Drake politely rejected. Not knowing if Liam could have potentially added poison to it as revenge.

“What can I do for you? I never thought I’d see the day that you’d pay me a visit voluntarily.”

“Trust me, I don’t want to be here. I despise you. Have you seen or heard from Riley?”

“No. Why would I hear from her? She wanted to send me to prison for raping her.” Hearing that word, Drake grit his teeth- knowing that Liam was still in denial with his past actions.

“Well you did do that. Listen, you probably know her better than any of us. We need your help. She ran away, she left me in Texas.” Liam laughed in Drakes face, just picturing Riley riding off into the sunset wearing a cowboy hat.

“What did you do?” He asked Drake, assuming he was the reasoning behind her disappearance- from past experience he should know how her mind ticked. She did the same when he hurt her.

“I did nothing, my mom and aunt Leona spoke to her. Then she went cold towards me, and was gone. Do you know anywhere that she could have gone?” Liam now knew the reasoning behind her departure- he was the reason why. Instead of acting like a dick, he felt empathy towards everyone who was looking for her- guilt for his past actions.

“Bianca, this is Liam Rhys- a friend of Drakes.” Bianca recognised the name immediately- clearing her throat, she provided a fake posh accent.

“Hello, Sir. How may I help?”

“Has Drake arrived in Texas yet? His flatmate was just wondering but he’s broken his phone.”

“No not yet. I assume he should be here shortly. I’ll get him to ring you once he arrives.”

“Okay, thank you Mrs Walker. I hope the prostitute he is in a relationship with doesn’t ruin your families reputation. Have a good day.”

“I don’t know where she is Drake. I’m sorry I can’t help you. I’m sorry for everything.” Fuck what have I done? What if she’s gone for good? What if she’s in danger? I’ll have blood on my hands. I knew I shouldn’t have interfered, twisting the truth to Bianca.

“Cut with the shit Liam. You are not sorry for anything that you’ve done. Don’t worry, we will find her, and when we do I hope she has some answers. Liam, stay away from us all.”

“Drake... I’ll get a private detective to search for her. I’ll come to your apartment tomorrow with any updates.” Drake just wanted to punch him for his past actions, however if this was the only way they could find her he would be civil for now.

“Can I trust you?”

“Yes. I swear on Alice’s life. We all love Riley. If she’s in trouble, she will need you. I now understand that I’ve lost her and that she loves you. I’m sorry Drake.” Placing his hand out towards Drake, he wasn’t sure if Liam was being sincere. Not being able to trust him just yet, he just turned around and left the building.

*****

The day after, Drake and Maxwell began pacing the room- both frustrated that they hadn’t found Riley. Both frustrated that her phone kept going immediately to voicemail every time they attempted to ring her.

“Will you both just sit down. You’re both going to injure yourselves somehow.” Leo said, watching the two of them. There was a knock at the door- the three of them all ran towards the door, hoping that it was Riley. Drake knew if it wasn’t Riley it would be Liam, as he promised. Opening the door, he pushed Leo away- not knowing how he would react, not wanting another fight to break out. He understood Leo’s anger, but at this moment in time they all needed to hold the anger back.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Leo questioned Drake and Maxwell as Liam walked through the door.

“I come in peace.” Liam said sarcastically, holding his hands up in the air.

“Get the fuck out of here before I kill you!”

“Leo, leave him. Have you got any news Liam?” Leo looked at Drake confused, wondering if he had forgotten what Liam had done to the woman that Drake loved.

“She’s working at another strip club. Downtown. The Phoenix.” Liam sighed at he waited for the men to respond. Drake grabbed his coat, whilst searching the clubs details on google.

“I swear to god if you’re lying Liam, you won’t need to worry about Leo killing you....”

“I’m not Drake. The limo is outside. Bastien will take us all.”

*****

There was silence in the limo on route to the club, Maxwell tried to break the silence with stupid jokes until he realised that no one was interested. Walking into the club, they was greeted by Gill who assisted them to a booth- followed by a tray of shots.

“If you need anything else gentlemen, the girls will be walking around - just ask them for anything that you may require. You’re just in time for the main event. Enjoy.” The lights dimmed, and music began to play. Men, who they assumed were regular punters gathered around the stage- all retrieving their wallets out of their pockets. As the woman strut down the stage, she gripped onto the cold steel pole, climbing up on the pole- she immediately spun around gracefully. Sliding down and eventually coming off the pole, she walked closer to the older men- removing her dress, she stood in front of them wearing just her lacy underwear- her breasts in full view, as well as her high heels. Teasing them, she provided sexual movements as they threw money towards her.

“Erm, Drake?” Leo narrowed his eyes realising who it was. They all looked towards the stage- Seeing their friend degrade herself. Noticing one man try to unclip her bra, Drake stood up abruptly. Pushing through the crowd, he stood on stage and carried her over his shoulder. Liam noticed Gill run over, distracting the woman with money as bribery- he explained why Drake did what he did, causing a riot between the punters. Gill refused to take his money and suggested to take Riley out into the back room.

Drake put her down, surrounded by men ‘booing’- potentially about to cause a fist fight with him for ruining the entertainment. Before that could happen Liam grabbed Riley’s hand and dragged her into the back room, with the others following. Folding her arms, they all surrounded her scowling at her- covering her body up, she was unsure as to why she was doing this. All of them have seen me like this before, three of them have slept with me. Fuck I am a slut. Why do they look so pissed? Two of them have broken my heart, the other two are just my friends.

“What?” She snapped at them all, after coming out of her thoughts- leaving the lingering questions roam through her mind.

“Care to explain what’s going off?” Leo asked in a stern tone of voice, knowing that Drake was in a state of shock once his adrenaline rush had deteriorated.

“Well I’m a slut. So may as well act like one.” Shaking his head, Drake wondered why she was talking about herself in such a manner- looking at the other men he could read that they was probably wondering the same.

“Why did you leave me in Texas?”

“It was too hard to say goodbye, your family hate me. They said I was using you for your money; they called me a slut, they said I was a stripper- which at the time I wasn’t, I’m not good enough for you. So I made their words become a reality.” Empathising the word slut, until the morning that she left Texas she was sure that they had a future together.

“Riley, you have three men stood in front of you who love you. Quit, and make at least one of us happy.” They all faced Liam as he said this, only Leo and Liam knew who the third man was. Leo. Hoping that she assumed the third man was Maxwell, Leo needed to change the subject- change his sheepish expression that was brewing into something that wouldn’t expose his secret.

“I think, Riley and Drake need to talk alone. Don’t you think Liam and Max?” Riley’s eyes pleaded with Leo for them not to leave- she would rather have four men berate her than be alone with the man who she abandoned without saying a word to prior to leaving.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” She whimpered, as she made a move towards the door Drake put his hand on to her bare skin.

“Oh no. You are not running away from me again. I need answers. I love you, why is that so hard for you to understand?”

“I was just going to get dressed Drake. I love you too.”

“Then come back with me. Please.”

“I can’t Drake. Your mom and aunt.. they... they told me to leave you and to never see you again. Somebody rung them and told them that you was dating a prostitute. They offered me $10k to leave that morning I left but I didn’t accept it.” Ten grand? They haven’t even got that type of money. Drake knew exactly who had that type of money, someone who wanted Riley all to himself. Was all of his ‘sincere’ words that he mentioned fake? Did Liam actually pay his family off as he threatened to do all those months ago. “They said that I wasn’t good enough for you, and that you would eventually forget me, forget about New York and return to Texas. Before I left they introduced me to someone. I’m a slut, I’m Madeleine. You’re Liam. Go back to Texas Drake, go back to your fiancée.”

#trr #trr fanfic #trr au one temptation #drake x mc #drake x riley #liam x mc #liam x riley #leo x mc #leo x riley #drake walker #liam rhys #leo rhys #riley brooks #maxwell beaumont #trr bianca walker #trr leona

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likethetailofacomet · 5 years

Text

The Broken Bits, Chapter Four:

Been Gone Such A Long Time

A/N: Who is V the bartender????

Word Count: 3,465

Tunes: Missing, The XX

Vanna bumped the door open with her hip as she hastily tied her long brown hair in a ponytail. The bell above the door jingled, but the noise of Saturday night swallowed the sound of the bell. Someone was very drunkenly singing “Don’t Stop Believing”, a small group of equally drunken fans gathered near the stage to cheer him on. Ugh, that’s right, it’s karaoke night, she thought as she finished her pony tail and hurried toward the bar. She was only ten minutes late, but the backup had already started at the drink station, and she winced at the look Jay shot her from behind the mixing tin he was shaking furiously- far more vigorously than a martini called for, he was bruising the gin on purpose by the look of it. He shook the container in one hand and haphazardly garnished a long island iced tea with the other by plopping a lemon wheel in it, the dark liquid sloshing out over the top of the glass and onto the rubber spill mat below. Vanna slipped past a group of bachelorettes and lifted the trap door to enter the bar area, an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry, Jay, the baby was-“

“Yeah, yeah, it’s all good, V, just get over here and start pouring beers.” Jay rolled his eyes before giving her a wink to prove that his 5 minutes of hating her were up. He wasn’t really mad at her, it had just been a long night and Kayla, the opening bartender, had all but evaporated as soon as the clock struck ten having been at The Hippo since noon. She was supposed to wait for her relief to get there, but she had a date and Jay’s pleading did nothing to guilt her into staying past her shift time. Vanna smiled at him as she reached into the mug chiller for three cold glasses and began pouring Brooklyn Lagers, expertly tilting the glasses to create the perfect head of foam before sliding them down the bar to Jay at the drink station. The two worked seamlessly with Jay calling out beers and wine for Vanna to pour as they dug out from under the mountain of orders. When the crowd around the drink station had dispersed, the patrons properly plied and ready to make fools out of themselves on stage, Vanna helped Jay get things back in order before the next wave hit.

“So, everything good with the kid?” Jay asked over his shoulder as he replenished the lime wedges from a container he’d pulled from a cooler under the bar.

Vanna laughed and shook her head. “Yeah, he’s fine.” She gestured with the towel in her hand. “Just at that age where everything is a fight, there’s always a tantrum to be thrown, and he seems to have a sixth sense for when I’m leaving. Kid was passed out, asleep and snoring, but as soon as I said goodbye to the babysitter and grabbed my keys he was awake and screaming.”

Jay chuckled. “Yeah, I remember when mine was like that.” He laughed again, using tongs to refill a jar of maraschino cherries. “Fiona used to switch” he snapped his fingers with a loud crack, “like a demon possessed her when I’d have to leave for work. Now?” he blew air through his lips and raised his tong hand. “Now I’m lucky if I get a “later, dad” It’s a phase, V, no worries.”

Vanna leaned against the shelving behind the bar and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well don’t tell me that.” Jay laughed. “Is it too much to ask for something in between tantrums and indifference?”

“Yeah, that doesn’t exist.” Jay finished filling the garnish bin and moved to lean against the shelving next to her. He wiped his hands on his apron before crossing his arms and gently nudging her with his shoulder as the group of bachelorettes took the stage for “Dancing Queen”. “So, uh, you hear from the kid’s dad recently? I know he was here to visit a few months back and then…I uh…I know that whole… attack thing happened and you said you had family there and…I’m rambling now. If you don’t want to answer just tell me to shut up.” He turned his head to smile sheepishly at her.

She felt her chest tighten at the mention of the attack, at the thought of him…at the thought of her family. He’d finally gotten in touch with her a full two days after the attacks, those two days passing like months while she waited to hear about the people she cared about. But it had been a quick, curt conversation that hadn’t made her feel much better at all. She sighed, ran a hand over the top of her head and grabbed the end of her ponytail, tugging and twisting it around her fingers. It was her nervous tic, and Jay noticed. “I…no, I haven’t heard anything since...”

Jay leaned over and gave her a one armed hug. “Sorry I brought it up, V, just…I care, that’s all. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“Thanks, Jay,” she leaned into his hug without uncrossing her arms. She knew that he was just trying to show interest, show support. He didn’t know all the ins and outs of her situation. He didn’t know the history of it…and he didn’t know she had a brother. As the group of cosmopolitan drowned girls on stage wound down their song, another wave of patrons started approaching the bar and their moment of reprieve was over. They resumed their positions at the drink station and in front of the taps, and Vanna was glad that she didn’t have to do much thinking to pour beers; she was at The Hippo, her mind was anywhere but.

She went on auto pilot, muscle memory taking over to pour the perfect 8oz servings of wine, her wrist tilting at the same angle each time, arm pulling upwards at the same point of each pour. This way her mind was free to wander from person to person, starting with Bertrand. He’d been the first man she’d fallen for, wide eyed and oblivious, like a deer caught in a hunter’s sights. He was serious and dignified, he stood for all of the things she admired about the nobility, all of the things she wanted but could never have. He’d promised her nothing, and they’d never talked about what their relationship meant if it meant anything at all. They hadn’t done much talking period, if she was being truthful with herself, spending their time alone with their hands roving under each other’s clothing, their lips leaving hot trails and little marks all over one another’s skin. She’d sighed his name into a kiss more frequently than she’d said it in any other manner; he’d pinned her to a wall, a bookcase, a door, more often then he’d stood before her and had a conversation. There wasn’t love to have been lost. He was the father of her child, and it had hurt that he didn’t want to give it a try, to see if they could be a family, find love where they’d found pleasure. He’d said it had been due to familial duties, and that was when she learned that she’d never be good enough for these people, and she didn’t want her child to live that way. She didn’t tell Bertrand about the baby because she didn’t want his pity, didn’t want him to see his son as a burden. She always planned to tell him someday, but someday when she could rightfully refuse any monetary aid he’d try to shove at her to assuage his guilt. She didn’t love him when she left Cordonia, and she didn’t love him now that he’d found her, now that he knew about Bartie. He’d said he wanted to be part of their lives, that since he’d found them he’d felt that he was missing half of himself. But she felt nothing other than relief that he wanted to be involved in Bartie’s life in a real way, and not just by writing a check. Since the attacks though, she’d heard nothing from him, and again, it hurt that this time he’d lied about wanting to be a part of their lives. Two strikes against him and he’d started off down in the count; That night, as she mechanically poured a glass of house red, she decided that she was done considering Bertrand Beaumont family.

Her thoughts went next to her mother. Before leaving Cordonia it had been almost ten years since she heard from Bianca Walker. She was vaguely aware of Jay calling for a Sam Adams and two Amstel Lights, and she poured them as she recalled the last time she’d spoken to her mother on the phone -on her 17th birthday. She hadn’t given any clue that it would be the last time they spoke, simply wished her daughter a happy birthday, told her she missed her, like always, and that she hoped she was doing well, that she was happy…like always. When Christmas came and went followed by New Year’s Eve without a call or card, she and Drake had started to worry. They’d reached out by phone only to find that Bianca had changed her number. They’d sent a letter that hadn’t been returned as undeliverable, so they knew that she hadn’t moved, knew that nothing had happened to her…she had simply just stopped being involved in their lives. The visits had stopped 2 years prior, the invites, 3, and she remembered the painful jumble of mixed feelings she had; my mother wants nothing to do with me, did I do something wrong? How could she just... she remembered the hot tears boiling in her eyes. She remembered Drake’s reaction when he saw how it was affecting her.

“Hey...Savvy,” he hadn’t used that nickname since they were much younger. Hearing it had made her eyes flick up to his as she exhaled slowly. “Screw her. You got me. Always.” She knew Drake must have been hurting just as much, knew he was probably angry and confused just like she was. But he was putting it all aside to take care of her. That’s what Drake did for the people he loved.

She’d given Bianca one last chance when she came to the states. She’d figured, even if they hadn’t spoken, or seen one another, even if Bianca hadn’t tried or even made it seem like she wanted to try, Savannah thought she’d want to know that she was going to be a grandmother. When she’d showed up at Bianca’s family ranch in Texas, she was struck first by the joyful resonance of the wind chime that hung from the porch. She watched, mesmerized as the thin metal rods dangled, swaying in the breeze and catching the sun as they clinked together. The sound and the shine of the sunlight hurdled her back in time to a visit nearly twenty years ago. She was 7, Drake 9, and they were bursting with excitement over the gift they’d made their mother, with Bastien’s help, of course. Bastien had cut the pieces of metal, letting Drake help him punch holes so that they could be strung from a small wooden disk that Savannah had painted. Their mother had beamed and carried on about how gorgeous it was and how lucky she was to receive such a beautiful and thoughtful gift, promising that it would grace her porch forever. The paint was faded and chipped, the wooden disk cracked and nearly split in two from years in the unrelenting Texas sun. But there it still hung. So she hasn’t forgotten about us… That thought and the dilapidated wind chime gave her the courage to walk up the porch steps and knock on the red screen door.

When her mother answered, however, that courage evaporated. The look on Bianca’s face was one of mixed fear, anguish and regret, swirled with a touch of defensiveness, and Savannah wished she could take back the knock, take back her trip to Texas, and go back to New York where it was easy to disappear into the crowd. “Savvy…” she gasped, but quickly regained her composure. “What are you doing here?” the woman asked her, propping the door open just enough to speak, not enough to be welcoming. She crossed her arms over her chest as her graying hair danced on the breeze.

Savannah didn’t know how to answer, so she blurted out, “Just thought you’d like to know you were going to be a grandmother. Just thought you’d like to know that your children are still alive.” She heard the venom in her voice and it both surprised her and didn’t- she was hurt, again, let down, again, by the woman before her. “But I was wrong, I guess, huh?” Bianca said nothing, but Savannah caught her eyes flick up to the wind chime. “This was a mistake…” she followed Bianca’s gaze to the chime before crossing the porch and reaching up to remove the chime from the hook that had been screwed into the porch’s wooden roof. Without a word, she took the chime and turned her back on her mother, climbing into the cab of the truck she’d rented. She drove and drove, tears falling and curses flowing. Bianca Walker wasn’t family anymore.

Vanna was pulled back to the present as she realized that she had overfilled the glass in her hand, cold amber liquid flowing out of the tap and over her fingers. “Shit,” she muttered as she closed the tap and wiped her hand on the rag hanging from her apron. She cleaned off the rim of the glass, poured out a bit of liquid and topped it off achieving the perfect 2 inch foam head before sliding it down to Jay. She let her mind go to one last person- Drake. Drake would always be family. He would always be one of the most important people in her life. But she would always feel a twisting, burning feeling of regret for the way that she’d left him; just a note, but he deserved so much more, and she’d always regret not giving it to him. At the time, she thought she was doing him a favor, leaving before he found out about her child. She remembered, painfully, how destroyed her brother had been when he heard of the loss of his own child- a child he never even got to hold- and she thought that watching her go through a pregnancy, watching her raise a son on her own, would bring things up for him that he’d worked hard to bury. She thought, at the time she left, that she’d be doing him a favor-that he’d be better off without her to worry about, to try to take care of. She knew, now, that she was wrong. Every day she woke up full of missing him. Every day she woke up and knew in her heart that he missed her, too. But every day she woke up in New York City was one more day longer that she’d been away, and as the days turned to years she became embarrassed and anxious to reach out to him, knowing that she’d hurt him with her sudden departure. She wanted to but couldn’t.

When she’d spoken to Bertrand after the attacks, she’d gotten an update that had chilled her very soul- Drake had been shot. She’d sobbed and cried herself to sleep that night, despite Bertrand’s assurances that his surgery had been successful and that he was expected to make a full recovery. The only thing that had made her feel even remotely better is that Bertrand had told her that he was seeing someone, and that she hadn’t left his side, that she would be there for him in his recovery, would be there to help him in whatever way that he needed. Her brother was loved, and from the sound of it, loved fiercely. It was the only thing keeping her from complete devastation, and as much as she wanted to fly back to see him, to beg him to forgive her and to hug him more tightly than she ever had before, she knew that now wasn’t the time- that he needed to focus on healing and having her show up to tear open old wounds wasn’t going to help. She may have lost Bertrand. She may have lost Bianca. But she’d never really lose Drake, and she knew that. Drake Walker and her son were the only family that she had left.

That’s not true, said a voice in the very back of her memory. You have Bastien…you have…there was someone else, someone she knew was there for her, someone she knew had loved her very much as a child…someone she couldn’t quite remember, but she couldn’t completely forget, either. I wonder where she is now…I wonder if she remembers me… Her wondering was cut short as Jay called for more drinks and she pushed all the memories down to focus on the task at hand.

The night wore on in waves as it tended to on karaoke nights, until the clock struck 2am and Jay’s shift came to a close. He helped her restock a few items before she shooed him out. “Go home, Jay, I was late, you’re exhausted. Get home to that adorable little brat of yours.” She gave him a good-natured shove.

“Alright, ain’t gotta tell me twice,” he grinned. “Have a good night, V, hope the last two hours fly for ya.”

Jay lifted the trap door and exited the bar just as the bell above the door jingled, and two more customers walked in. Vanna lifted her gaze from the tap to the door and smiled as she saw one of her favorite regulars. She overheard him greeting Jay amicably before leading the girl he was with over to the bar. Who’s that? She wondered about the girl. Usually he comes with…

“Hey, V…” he said, the tone of his voice slightly off. She let the towel she was drying her hands on fall back down to her apron as she pulled the tap to pour Dan’s beer.

“Hey you, long time no see…where’s-“

“V, we need to talk…”

. . . . . . . . .

Two days before they were supposed to leave for the Council’s trip to New York, Claire was perched on the back of the couch behind Drake, gently kneading the tense muscles of his injured shoulder. Her right leg was draped over his other shoulder, his fingers grazing her shin as he closed his eyes , leaning into her touch. “How’s that feel?” she asked, applying pressure to his shoulder blade with her thumb, rubbing in a circular motion.

He winced and let out a low hiss, but he responded with, “Feels amazing, Berkley, don’t you ever stop.” His eyes squeezed even more tightly shut.

Claire grinned. “Ever?” she craned her neck to look down at him, mischief sparkling in her clear blue eyes. “But if I never stop, how can we-“

Without warning, he gripped her leg and pulled her down and around his shoulders and into his lap, his right arm coming around her, his left hand sliding up to cup her cheek. Surprised laughter bubbled from her lips as he absently brushed his fingertips along her arm. A spark of mischief to match hers was reflected in his dark eyes, and a slow smile spread across his face. “In that case, you can stop now,” he said, voice low and full of intent. He dropped his head to catch her lips, but before the kiss could deepen, a buzz interrupted the moment as the phone in Claire’s pocket rang. “You don’t have to get that, do you?” he groaned.

“No way,” she breathed, kissing him back, bringing her hands up to tangle in his hair. But the phone continued to buzz, even after the caller had left a message. “Ugh…maybe I do,” she whined, reaching for her pocket without pulling away from his lips. She waited until she absolutely had to to pull apart, pressing the answer button before checking the caller I.D. “Hello?” she answered, eyes still locked on Drake’s as he continued to brush his fingers along her arm.

“C?” There was alarm and excitement and news in Dan’s voice, and it made Claire sit up straight.

“Dan?” The way she greeted him drew Drake’s attention.

“C…I just left The Hippo…I think I know where Drake’s sister is…you’re not going to believe this…”

. . . . . . .

Tagging: @ooo-barff-ooo @sleepwalkingelite @zaffrenotes @brightpinkpeppercorn @mind-reader1@jovialyouthmusic @endlessly-searching-for-you @notoriouscs @endlesstaylormckenzie @agent-bossypants@andy-loves-corgis @akrenich @nekkidmolerat @indiacater @thequeenofcronuts @the-everlasting-dream @the-whiskeywife@roonarific @stopforamoment @mfackenthal@mkatschoicesblog @drakewalkerisreal @drakesensworld @gibbles82 @iplaydrake @speedyoperarascalparty @bobasheebaby @carabeth

#the broken bits #trr #the royal romance #ltla follow up series #drake x mc #drake x claire #bastien x annabelle #bas x belle #bastien x oc #savannah walker #bianca walker #vanna #jay and v #choices fanfiction

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bobasheebaby · 5 years

Text

Wake Me When It’s Over- Learning to Breathe chapter 1

Pairing: Widow Riley (Drake x MC), no pairing yet

Written for @badthingshappenbingo

Fandom: Choices (The Royal Romance Book)

Square filled: Flashbacks

Word count: 1,715

Warnings: angst, mention of character death, grief, depression

Summary: Life goes on.

Song inspiration: Wake Me When It’s Over by Willie Nelson

A/N: Apparently my muse has a thing for angst and heart wrenching stories cause this story kept needling me until I caved. I have not personally lost a partner but I was my dad’s support system when he lost his ‘husband’ (it wasn’t legal yet). I have some experience in a deadbeat MIL, and know what it’s like to lose a close loved one even if it’s not my partner. I’m pouring a lot of emotion in this as always, please read with care. It should be noted that Riley made a clean break from Liam. As she grew closer to Drake she stopped meeting Liam on his ‘dates’ and she did not have a fling in Vegas.

Series warnings: This series will follow Riley, Liam and Bastien after Drake’s death. It will deal with the grief and pain of losing a loved one. Possible NSFW content to come. Possibly dark. If you click read more you acknowledge you are at least 18 years of age.

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Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters, I’m simply borrowing from PB for a bit.

Gettin' tired now gotta get some sleep now Guess I've been worried much too long And don't wake me till it's over When the need for you is gone I was so happy before I loved you I'm gonna be like I was before And don't wake me till it's over When I don't want you anymore

Riley refused to speak to Liam. She wouldn’t even step foot anyplace she knew he would be since burying Drake. Liam knew she was grieving but he hoped she would eventually forgive him and let him back in. The last moments she spoke to him firmly ingrained into his memory. Riley’s body shook as she sobbed against Drake’s slowly cooling body. Liam felt appalled and ashamed at himself as he knelt frozen in place watching as she cried. I had no choice. I had no choice. He would have killed them both. He repeated the words over and over in his head like a mantra only he could hear. Liam had wished there had been another way. Why wasn’t there a way that didn’t leave either of them dead? He wanted to let them both live, but that wasn’t possible. He never expected Anton to make him choose. He had snuck to the meeting hoping to negotiate a deal for both and only managed to fail them, fail himself. When he phoned Bastien to request assistance he couldn’t bear to tell him the truth of what happened. Telling him to his face would be hard enough, having to look him in the eye and tell the man who raised Drake from a teen that he was the reason that Drake would be returning home in a body bag. Liam felt a dull ache in his chest, but he didn’t deserve to ache, to hurt. He was the one who chose but how could he have stood by and done nothing and lose them both? Even so he felt like an imposter. The guilt would eat at him for the rest of his life, this he was sure of. He wouldn’t get through a day without blaming himself for her pain. Liam was unsure how much time had passed until Bastien arrived. All he knew was Anton and his men had vacated shortly after ensuring Drake was truly dead. He wouldn’t want to risk getting caught would he? “Duchess Riley.” Bastien exclaimed. Liam silently watched as Bastien approached and tried to pry a crying Riley off of Drake’s body. Riley let out an ear piercing screech as she fought off Bastien and gripped Drake tighter, clearly unwilling to let her husband go. “Riley, look at me, what happened?” Bastien demanded. “A—Anton made Liam choose and he made the wrong choice. He should have saved Drake or let us both go. It’s because of him I’m a widow the same day I was married.” Riley sobbed as Bastien managed to pull her free only for her to collapse in his arms. Her sobs wracked her body harder as she separated from Drake’s body. Liam closed his eyes at her words, her truth. For her it would be easier for them both to be gone, for him it would be a far worse fate. Liam listened as Bastien gave orders for the removal of Drake’s body. The thought of his best friend as nothing more than a corpse sent a shiver down his spine. He can’t be gone. This has to be a nightmare. This can’t be real. Liam knew when he opened his eyes that he would be met with the cold truth, that he was the reason that they would be burying his best friend. “Sir, it's time to go.” Liam slowly opened his eyes to a guard whose name he could not recall. He was lead to the SUV were he slid in next to a still sobbing Riley. “I’m sorry.” His voice a hoarse whisper. He wasn’t even sure she heard him until she spoke. “You should be. You should have let us both die. Why? Why was it better for him to die and me to mourn him? I hope you’re happy, cause I won’t ever speak to you again.” Her voice raw with emotion. Liam looked out his study window, glass of Scotch in hand, he hadn’t even looked at Whiskey since losing Drake, the memories of laughing and talking with his lifelong friend far too painful to bear. He had walked the palace grounds numb for months, guilt weighing him down. Riley avoided him and anywhere he’d be and he ignored his only remaining friends in turn, he couldn’t handle their looks of disgust or worse, pity. The last he saw of any of them was the day they put Drake in the ground. He had wanted with everything in him to stand to the side and just blend in, but as King and best friend he was pushed front and center, by the side of the grieving widow. He felt like a fraud, someone who was mourning for show. Inside he was broken since he said the words, making what he felt was the best choice, no matter how much it hurt. Liam stood off as far to the side of Riley as he possibly could. Her occasional glances that would surely mark his death if looks could kill did not go unnoticed by him. Only those closest knew the truth, the running story was that Anton had shot Drake before a rescue attempt could be made. Riley had screamed at Regina until her voice was hoarse, not looking, let alone speaking to Liam, treating him like a piece of furniture. No she took out her anger about the false story on Regina instead, only making the guilt gnaw at him even more. “What the hell are you doing here?” Riley spat with such vile and hatred he thought the words were meant for him. Did she change her mind? Did I step to close to her? Liam turned following Riley’s hot gaze, his eyes falling on a wide-eyed Bianca. “I’m saying goodbye to my son.” Riley let out a joyless laugh. “Your son, that’s rich coming from you. Where the hell were you the last eighteen years of his life?! Where was your care or love for either of your children when they were grieving the loss of their father? You were nowhere! They were raised by their fathers mentee who didn’t have to step up but he did anyway. Drake grew up to be an exceptional man without you, so please tell me why you finally dained to come back for his wedding? I know he sure as hell didn’t invite you, so why did you think he needed you there?! And now you think you have a damn right to come to his funeral when you have no clue as to the man he’s become without you! Get the hell out and don’t you ever come back!” Liam wanted to talk to Riley, calm her down, but he was powerless to move, not wanting to upset her further. Olivia stepped forward, her emerald eyes narrowed. “You heard his wife, I think it’s time for you to leave.” Olivia stated as Hana tried to console Riley who had once again broken into a fit of tears. Bianca blinked. She finally turned and walked away. Liam watched as Olivia and Hana led Riley back to the waiting limo once the grave was covered. He silently pleaded with the universe to turn back time, allow him to make this right. He never wanted to lose them both, yet he clearly did anyways. Was it really kinder to save her, doom her to this life? He had lost them both the day he chose her over Drake. He wasn’t sure how he could possibly move on without them both by his side, but now he had to try. He was pulled from his thoughts by the familiar knock . “Come in.” He called out. He closed his eyes momentarily as he heard the door clicking shut. “Any word on Anton or his supporters Bastien?” “I’m confident that we are closing in sir, but I didn’t come by to give a report.” Liam turned from the window, he took in the guards sullen face, though he kept the same hard posture. “I understand, please sit.” He gestured to the seat across from his, taking his own. “What can I help you with?” Can I really help anyone? Can I really rule after what I allowed to happen? “I want to switch out Riley’s protective detail.” Liam looked at him quizzically. “You don’t need my permission to make changes like that.” “I’m afraid I do sir, I want to take the position myself.” Liam sat back in his chair. “I see.” “I’d also like to step back as head of the guard.” He paused. “It’s clear Anton learned much when he assumed the identity of Justin, I feel if we want to take him down changes need to be made and that means my stepping down.” He blames himself for Anton getting close. “Of course.” He set his glass down on the desk, clasping his hands in front of him. “I just have one question.” Bastien nodded his head. “Do you blame me for Drake’s death like Riley does?” Bastien swallowed, he’d been expecting this question. “I understand why you made the choice you did. Drake would have wanted you to make the choice you did, he would want her to live, he took a bullet for her before, he’d rather die than live without her.” I blame myself more than I blame you. Anton shouldn’t have been able to get to them. You shouldn’t have been able to meet him alone. Liam nodded his head. A perfect diplomatic answer, I shouldn’t have expected anything less. “Take care of her.” “Of course.”

My mind is gettin' weak now gotta get some sleep now I gotta rest my achin' head I just want to lay here just let me stay here Till the blues get up and leave my bed Good night, darling Good night, darling Good night forevermore And don't wake me till it's over When I won't want you anymore My mind is gettin' weak now...

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