Forever Us

Chapter 5: Avery

Avery tossed and turned between the soft silky sheets, struggling to put her mind at rest. She had been to a handful of dinners and afternoon teas at the palace, but try as she might, they had made it perfectly clear to her that she would always be an outsider looking in.

Tired of staring at the ceiling, she got up, tied her robe around herself, and made her way to the kitchen, careful to not make too much noise that could've woken Nick, who was probably still tired from the eventful day he had.

She turned the kitchen's light on, took a mug out of the cupboard, and scooped the cookie dough that she stored in the fridge from the day before.

"Avery?" Nick called from the top of the stairs, making her slightly jump at the sound of his voice against the pure silence of the night.

"Oh no, did I wake you?" she asked guiltily as he came downstairs.

"It's okay," his gaze traveled from her to the glass bowl full of cookie dough over the countertop, "what are you– okay, tell me what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Unless you developed a habit of waking up in the middle of the night to eat cookie dough, there's something that's bothering you."

"It's nothing, Nick, don't worry about it. You should go back to bed."

"Something's clearly bothering you, Ave, tell me what it is," he insisted.

Clearly, he wasn't going to let it go, so she gave in and walked to the couch, plunging into it, looking directly at the dissipating flames in the fireplace.

"It's just that– well, I have tried many times to get along with the people within the royal circle but clearly I'll never be one of them, and I don't know what to do anymore, tomorrow Philip expects me to–"

"Hold on, does he know about this?"

"No, he thinks everything is fine and before you say anything or do anything, I'd like it to stay that way. I don't want to create any more problems; he's had enough dealing with his father for me to add another thing to the list."

"Who would've thought you'd end up dating a Prince of all people? What's going to happen when he becomes King?"

And that was the question she was trying to avoid.

"I... don't really  know, we haven't really talked about it yet."

She was so caught up in taking the relationship one step at a time that she hadn't thought about what would happen when he became King or if there was any future at all for them or if he even wanted to have a future with her.

"Hey, I'm sure it'll be fine, and if they're giving you a hard time, you should tell Philip about it," he paused, "do you remember when you and I got into those awful arguments, and then grandpa would send us on a hunt for that plastic crown and the loser had to apologize first?"

"Yeah, that was a brilliant idea from grandpa," she reminisced.

"Well, yeah! because I was always the one who had to apologize first."

"Not my fault you never found it first."

"I beg to differ," he laughed.

After talking to Nick and finishing her cookie dough, Avery went back to bed feeling slightly better and slept for a few hours before her alarm went off. Now that she was at the bakery, Amber was trying to convince her to go to the afternoon tea even if she dreaded it.

"All I'm saying is that I think you should go," Amber insisted.

"I can't leave you to do everything by yourself, we just opened back up yesterday after leaving for two whole weeks, and tomorrow is the big event and–"

"And I'll be fine, I have everything under control here, Damien's coming tonight to help me pack everything up for the inauguration, and you're just looking for an excuse to not go."

"Okay, fine! I'll go," she gave in and following Amber's advice she went back to her house, put on the dress, and made her way to the palace.

When she arrived, Joseph kindly showed her towards the drawing-room where everyone was already at. The sage green walls were lined with gold panels and large portraits, in the back, three tables were assembled with stacks of finger sandwiches, scones, and all types of bread, tea cakes, and macaroons for anyone to taste.

Small groups of people scattered around the room, making small talk with one another, then moving to another group and repeating the same process.

Philip was in deep conversation with his father, his private secretary, and two other men whom she didn't recognize, so she walked to the quilted sofa and sat down, feeling the stares of the people on her back.

The palms of her hands started to sweat, and the lump in her throat became bigger.

"Can I sit?" Sophia asked, looking graceful in her ivory dress and her hair beautifully pinned back with delicate pearls.

"Sure," Avery smiled, thankful for the company.

"I'm not a fan of attending these events either," Sophia whispered as she looked around, "but if I didn't attend, they'll think me ungrateful."

"They would definitely prefer if I didn't attend at all."

"Well, lucky for you they don't get to decide that."

"Can I steal Avery for a second?" Philip asked, extending his hand out to her with a smile on his face, the room had grown silent and the tension around could be cut with a knife.

"Sure," Sophia said.

Before they left, Avery turned to her and thanked her for her company and she replied with a genuine, "no problem."

Philip wore a blue suit, which made his green orbs pop out even more than usual.

She could imagine Philip's portrait starring back at her in one of the palace's many portrait halls, yet she couldn't imagine herself in one of them, it had been a whirlwind since they started dating, people loved her and the fact that she still led a normal life but behind closed doors, it was no secret to anyone that the King disapproved of her.

Upon reaching the balcony hall, they stopped to look at the full view of the gray sky and the cotton snow that spread all over the rolling hills around the palace, and the black iron gates that stood out now more than ever against the white landscape.

"I'm sorry if I've been a little distant, I have a lot on my mind, but I promise I'll make it up to you."

"It's okay, Philip, I just have a feeling that you're not telling me something."

After a long pause, he turned to her saying, "I promise everything's fine, you don't have to worry about anything... I just don't want to lose you."

"Hey," she looked at him and caressed the side of his face, "I'm not going anywhere."

She felt like he was holding something back, but not wanting to press on it, she smiled at him knowing that whatever it might be, he'll tell her when he was ready to do so.