Royal Ever After

chapter twenty-one

I know what I must do. I must be the one to break us up. I must end it because it's gone long enough. So that's exactly what I'll do. Tomorrow. As for now, I'm treated with the luxury of one more night's worth of sound sleep before chaos breaks loose.

I don't wake until noon pours in through the partially open curtains. I must've overslept. My stomach confirms it, snarling by the time I reach the cafeteria. Surprisingly enough, she's still there. It almost feels like she was waiting for me, except I know that it's only a mere coincidence. I'd have to tell her one way or another, and I'd rather not let this drag on into something too grand to surmount.

"Brynleigh!" I call for her once I reach her table. She greets me with an infinitely wide smile, which only makes the announcement I'm about to induce far worse. She willingly follows me to the aisle where we can have some much needed peace and quiet.

"We need to break up this fake relationship of ours. I'm calling it off," I declare.

"But I thought we were just getting started," she counters, looking more startled than annoyed. She scrunches her nose in what I can only assume is confusion.

"I think it's served its purpose, wouldn't you say so?" I justify, intentionally omitting the complete truth. Although it has served us both well, me in particular, that's not why I'm ending it. It goes far beyond that, but I think she can already tell by the look on my face. She ponders my words and for a few seconds, everything is silent. Even the black-and-white clock on the wall seems to have paused for this moment in particular. It only resumes when she starts talking again.

"Yeah, I guess," she nods in agreement. "You're right. I'll change my status on social media so that others are aware, then."

"Thanks. Thanks for helping me with this and with everything. I'm really lucky to have you as such a great friend."

"Aww, you're going to make me blush. It was my pleasure being your girlfriend, even if it was all pretend. You're the best fake boyfriend I've ever had!"

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only fake boyfriend you've ever had."

"Actually you're the only boyfriend I've had, period, but that's besides the point."

"Alright, alright, I'll catch you later."

"K, cya."

Next on my agenda is Sander. It's always him. It's always been him. Everything I do revolves around him. He's the Earth to my Sun. And now I must find him. The hospital bed is empty, which means he's recovered enough to leave. That's a promising sign. I bike to his house and knock on the front door. No answer. There must be no one home. That's awfully strange, considering I can see the lights turned on from outside the window. I reposition myself back on my bicycle, but before my foot can hit the pedal, I hear him.

"Nicolas," he croaks. His voice is like sweet heaven. I want my name to be permanently attached to his tongue. I want to hear him call me by my name a hundred more times because he says it perfectly. Every syllable that crosses by his lips sounds euphoric. I face toward him to see a wide open window to his room, almost as if it's inviting me in. Conveniently, there's a ladder propped up against the wall that seems sturdy enough to climb. As I go up the steps, I imagine myself as an alternate version of Flynn Rider, climbing up to save my beloved princess. Or in this case, my prince. Fairy tales are memorable for having happy endings, and I know that he's going to be mine.

"Sander," I murmur his name the instant I land on the carpet, side by side with him. I inch closer until our noses are centimeters apart from touching. He doesn't back away. He stays there. With me. It's only when I reach out to touch him that he pulls away. And then, like a light switch, he reverts back to his other self, the one that seems to have forgotten what we had. His change in demeanor is more apparent now. Stiff, uncomfortable, lifeless. It's as if all the light is being sucked out of my eyes, to the point where he can see nothing but darkness; the murky, hollow pits of the endless void. And that void is Kaiden.