Nothing But Bad

Thirty Seven

Arden
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I was signaled. I don't know how they managed to do it, but a servant came in giving me a note. Told me it was from the prince.

I hadn't recognize this man before, that was the first read flag. He had knocked on my door, a few times waking me. The second one, was that this was not Will's writing.

I get dressed quickly, only putting a robe on over my night dress and slipping on some shoes. The note had said,

It's time to take a walk in the garden. Meet me there.

It wasn't signed by anyone. That was the third red flag. Will had signed his note before. I head out my room, down the hallway. Not to the garden, but to Christian's room.

I knock quietly and only a few seconds later, he cracks open the door. "Arden?" He whispers in surprise, quickly taking a nervous look behind him. "What are you doing here? In your robe?" He says the last part even more quietly.

My cheeks blush. I didn't think about this. If anyone saw me, they would think something that isn't true. That I'm sneaking to my fiancé's best friends room while he's sleeping peacefully in ours. It was scandalous. "Can I come in?" I whisper, looking around to make sure there's no one in the hall.

He gulps, "Arden, I don't know..."

"Will told me he was sleeping in here." I state, "Is that not true?"

Christian sighs in relief. I wanted to laugh, he must've thought I was about to confess my love or something even worse to him. "Yes," he cracks the door wider, I slip in. The room is dark, lighted simply by a small lamp and the fireplace.

I scan the room, it's smaller than ours. Not small, but small compared to ours. There's an unmade bed, and a couch facing the fireplace. I walk towards it. I smile a little, seeing the sleeping prince. It surprises me that he hadn't woken up. It surprised me even more that he was sleeping on the couch. I bend down, examining the sleeping man. The fire crackled, causing waves of light to hit his face in different directions.

"I'm going to put something on." Christian whispers, heading into a room filled with his clothes. I hadn't even noticed he was wearing nothing but a pair of pants.

I couldn't help but stare at the sleeping prince. He was so nice to stare at. I couldn't help myself from taking my finger and tracing his sharp jaw line. Couldn't help tracing his jaw, to his lips, to his neck, then to his chest. I stand up abruptly, what was I doing? This is weird, more than weird. Creepy even.

I go to turn away, when a hand snatches mine pulling me to a stop. I look down at my hand, seeing it was Will's who had stopped mine. My eyes jump to his face, his eyes open lazily. Their staring at me, dark and glazed. He pulls me down, and I have no choice but to comply.

I don't say anything as he takes my face in his hand. Didn't say anything, while it was his turn to trance my lips with his thumb. Didn't say anything as he pulled my face in closer. "Arden?" His voice was low, hoarse. It made something in my stomach swirl. It made my face blush. A lady should never have a man speak her name like that. Not unless they were wed. "Say something, or I might think this was a dream. Say something or I might do something we both will regret."

"You," I curse myself for talking. "Something you would regret."

His hand drops from my face. So fast you would have thought my face was fire burning his hand. I stand up, brushing my dress. Not showing the disappointment on my face. He sits up, the blanket dropping. Like Christian, he was wasn't wearing a shirt. Unlike Christian, I noticed right away.

"Don't stare at me like that Arden." He says it as a beg, a plea. "Don't put me through this."

I look up, meeting his eyes. I do nothing but hand him the note. "I was told this was from you."

His eyes drop to the words, and his brow furrows as he reads them. "No, it wasn't from me."

"My father's here." I say nervously looking away.

Will was smart. Not because he always knew how I was feeling, but because he always pointed out things other might look past. He always thought ahead. "They had sent you a note, knowing I wasn't in the room."

Him saying it out loud, scared me even more. The beat of my heart quickened, my palms sweat. "He knows somethings wrong."

Will stands, "You could create up a lie. He could believe it."

"Are you going to meet him?" Christian voices sounds from the other side of the room. I had completely forgotten he was there.

"I have to."

"We should get guards, to surround the perimeter incase something goes bad." Will suggests.

"No, I need to go on my own." I was scared. So scared. I like to act like I'm tough, that I can handle anything. But I can't. My father scared me more than anything. Especially since I didn't know where he drew the line.

"You don't have to be alone." Christian word's cause me to look at him in surprise. There was something in his eyes I didn't understand. Something that not only I saw, but seemed to catch Will's attention as well.

"I'll be fine. I just wanted to tell you guys, so you wouldn't think I was doing anything behind your back."
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