[RE-WRITTEN IN A NEW BOOK] "May I have this dance?" || SkepHalo (Royal AU)

Chapter 17 - Francis

"Wait, so you're in love with someone else?" Zak had his mouth slightly hanged and his eyebrows were raised.

"Nah, you misunderstood...yes! I am, that's literally what I said." Zoid said in a half-joking pissed off tone.

"Okay, okay. Wait, then why did we get in an arranged in the first place?"

"My father agreed to let you marry me since I was always scared of running a kingdom. I guess he thought that having someone to help can, well, help." She sighed.

"Well, if you don't mind me asking, what about Queen Devynn?"

"I don't know. Mom is too busy with her books, I doubt he even knows about the arranged marriage. Its probably because they're almost done with it, but I still wish she'd come out of her room."

Zoid had her head on her hands, slouching too.

"That sounds hard, I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault."

"It's not yours, either. You shouldn't have to pay the consequences." Zoid looked up to him, giving a sad smile before returning to her previous position.

"I'm here for you, okay? You can write to me anytime. I'm here for you." Zak promised.

"Thanks, Zak. I appreciate it, I really do."

Zak nodded, giving a smile even if she wasn't looking at him.

"So..about Francis, how did you meet?" He changed the topic, sensing that she didn't want to talk about her situation, at least not right now.

"Well, he's in my self-defense class. He was diagonally in front of me. Didn't think much of him at first, I didn't really want anything to do with him since everyone said he was a bad influence. I sorta believed them at first."

Zak nodded, not judging her or Francis in any way and just listening. He didn't want to judge someone just from a few words.

"But yeah, he was pretty rude at first. Always wanting to be on the top of every class, and pushing down anyone he sees as a threat."

"I'm not saying he's a horrible person in any way, but that is a terrible thing to do."

Zak didn't really wanna joke now. Although he has a bad sense of when someone's serious or not, but it was clear to him that this was not the time.

"I agree. I love him, but that doesn't mean his actions are justified." Zoid made it clear, her hands emphasizing what she said using her hands. "He does have reasons for the things he did, but that's not my place to tell. He warmed up to me after a while. I tried to be nice to him, and it was worth it. I didn't become a doormat for him though, but I did treat him in a way that would make him know that I mean no harm, but that he can't use it against me to harm me. If that makes sense."

"Yeah, yeah. It does."

They both stayed quiet for a while. Zak focused on the garden, taking in the view for the first time, while Zoid just thought about her situation.

The garden barely had flowers, but instead had leaves. All of them were different shapes and sizes. Zak wasn't into gardening, but he could still know when a garden is a nice one.

"How about you?" Zoid asked, her curious eyes looking at Zak as he looked hesitant.

"What about me?"

"How about you, do you like anyone?"

"Well...its complicated."

"Do you want to talk about it-"

"Yes. Yes please. Thank you."

"No problem, dude." Zoid was honestly a bit worried at that reaction, he really looked like he needed support.

"So, there's this guy. Let's call him...Halo."

"Halo? He must be a good guy then."

"Hah, yeah. He definitely is. He's just.. I don't know why. Why I like him so much. Why do I want to be with him. Why do I feel so vulnerable whenever I'm with him." Zak was honestly just having a conversation with himself while Zoid was there. His eyes were glossy and he looked like he was about to break down right there.

"Well, I'm sorry. That sounds like its hard."

"Yeah, it is."

Zak took a few breaths to calm himself down, for him and to not accidentally hurt the pretty girl beside him in some way.

"Thanks for not judging me."

"You did the same for me, y'know. Thanks for that too."

"Oh, and phew. You have no idea how glad I am that you weren't someone too formal for my preference."

"I gotta admit, I was pretty scared. I reread the letter I sent you so many times, I was so scared it was too formal or too casual. I had my friend read it for me instead, and they were the one who sent it since I was too scared." Zoid admitted.

"Really? It was only, like, a few sentences." Zak teased, he was leaning on the bench and using his hands as pillows.

"Oi, shut up."

~~~

~844 words~