No Explanations - ONC24

Chapter 14 - September

"Now, December found the love that we shared in September. Only blue talk and love, remember the love that we share today." - September, Taylor Swift

"Do you remember the 28th night of September?" I asked Arora while the sun was going down. As we drove our carriage to freedom.

"Was that Dave's birthday party?" Arora asked.

I nodded. "As we danced that night, remember how the stars stole the night away. Say that you remember, dancing in September. There never was a cloudy day, the golden dreams and shiny days."

"I remember that night, I see now that I already had fallen in love with you that night," Arora said.

"It's been a beautiful experience, falling in love with you," I said. "Love was changing the minds of pretenders, while chasing the clouds away."

Arora nodded. "Our hearts were ringing in the key that our souls were singing."

"My thoughts are with you, holding hands with your heart to see you. To see you for what you really are, deep inside," I said.

"And that is?" Arora asked.

I smiled. "In love with me."

"Only blue talk and love. There never was a cloudy day."

"Remember how we knew love was here to stay."

"Yes, I remember," Arora said. "Now, November, we found the love that we shared in September. Remember the love that we share today."

"I will never forget."

"I'll never forget we were dancing in September."

"Do you remember the 28th night of September?"

"Yes, I remember."

I laid my head on Arora's shoulder while she led the horses on the way. We had no idea where we were headed. To freedom, to the edge of the land, wherever we could start our lives again.

"We should find a place to sleep sometime in the future," Arora said.

"We should," I answered. "I have no idea where. We really planned this poorly, didn't we?"

Arora chuckled softly. "Yes, we did," she said. "But we'll figure it out, eventually."

"We will," I agreed. But I didn't want to think about that, so I just closed my eyes and I let myself slip away, just for a little bit.

But when I opened my eyes again, alarmed by the sound of a fast approaching horse, it was a lot darker. I must've slept longer than I wanted.

"Do you hear that?" I asked Arora, meaning the approaching horse.

"Yes," she said. "I can't see who it is."

The rider was on my side of the path, so I looked behind the carriage. The horse was closer than I thought, because I looked right in the face of Damian galloping towards us.

"It's Damian," I said to Arora, a surprised look on my face.

"What is he doing here?" she asked.

"I have no idea," I admitted. "We'll have to wait until he gets here and tells us."

"I'll slow down for him," Arora said and she pulled the reins until the horses were walking at a slow pace.

Damian catched up with us in no time and pulled on the reins of his horse so it was walking the same speed as us. Sweat was shining on the flanks of the horse, Damian must have come galloping from the palace to catch up with us.

"Damian," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to get to you, I needed to tell you something," he said. "When you two left I was confused and a little bit shocked, I didn't have time to think before you left."

"I'm sorry about that," I said.

"No, no, don't be. It's alright," Damian quickly said. "It's just that I now have had time to think about it and I thought of something."

"Tell us your thoughts," Arora said.

"What are your plans for now? Where are you going to sleep? Where are you going to live?" Damian asked.

I looked at Arora and she looked at me. "We actually have no idea. We were just thinking of finding a place to sleep for tonight. I admit we didn't really think this through," I said.

"I completely understand that," Damian said. "You both got disowned today and needed to leave immediately. Of course you didn't have an escape plan ready."

"I never thought I would leave the City of Night," I admitted.

"But now you aren't allowed to come back, correct? You're banned from the city," Damian asked me.

"Correct, and Arora is banned from the Golden City," I answered.

"Yes," Damian said. "And that's a problem."

"Correct," I responded.

"And I have a solution for that problem." Damian had a big smile on his face.

Arora and I both looked at him, eager to find out what kind of solution he had.

"I'll give you your own city - my city, the City of Dreams," Damian declared.

I looked at him with shock in my eyes. "Really?" I asked.

Damian nodded. "I will inherit all my parents' cities, so I can miss the City of Dreams," he said. "And you two deserve it more than anyone else."

"You're kidding," Arora said.

"No, I'm not," Damian answered. "We can be there by midnight and I'll get all the paperwork ready tomorrow morning."

"Thank you," I said to Damian. "You already were my favorite man in the world, but this made your place even more solid."

He smiled. "Oh and I also can get your stuff from the palaces you lived in so you can pick up your royal lives where you left off," he added.

"I really don't know how to thank you," Arora said.

Damian only smiled. "Just invite me to the wedding."

"We will," I promised. And so we rode the night in, toward the City of Dreams, soon to be the property of Arora and I.

~
A/N: I'm completely aware that September is not a song off reputation. However, I personally associate it with rep. I decided to add this song to the story, because it's perfect to connect the last links in the story. I won't add in other non-album songs.