Fall Into You

19

nothin' lost but something missing

It had been a few weeks since the horrible dinner with the Sutcliffe's. News had gotten out that Matthias was engaged to Candice, and that Tobias Avington was courting Nicollette. At first, neither had talked to the other. Matthias - as much as he didn't want to - began to spend his days with Candice. Nicollette spent more time in the town, doing even more than she did before she became more involved with royal events. She baked more, cooked sometimes, and found herself coming to the town to help clean and fix things that needed fixing. She had realized after spending so much time with Matthias, she was beginning to slack on the thing she loved to do the most.

Truthfully, the townspeople were more welcoming than the palace at the moment. Her mother had comforted her after dinner, but she knew that the older woman didn't know what to tell her. She hadn't known that it had gone that far with Tobias, and although Nicollette could tell that Estella had thoughts, she didn't hear about them.

Charles was even angrier than before. He couldn't even look at Nicollette after hearing that she was courting Tobias. Which, despite the hurt Nicollette felt from that, that much was expected. She still had some of the royals, such as Maria, Atlas, Alayna, Brielle, and Benjamin, but they didn't talk enough for her to go to them about how she felt. 

Even the time she spent with Tobias was very public, and only small outings here and there. He didn't travel to Aradia super often, and when he did, it was for the social events they constantly went to.

Her father hadn't spoken to her for some reason. She felt as if he were avoiding her, too, which she didn't understand why. Even though she acted up at the dinner by walking out, even her mother didn't feel that bad about it. She understood her, so it didn't make sense as to why her father wasn't talking to her as well.

A few knocks on her bedroom door brought her out of her thoughts. "I'm coming, Malia." She called out, looking at herself in the mirror.

The door opened, and her eyes widened as she saw her father standing on the other side. "Hey," He softly said. "Mind if I come in?"

"Yeah," She shrugged, looking back at herself. She adjusted the soft gloves she was wearing, ignoring her father's stare as he walked into the room. "I'm almost done getting ready, if that's what you're wondering."

"I'm not," He shook his head. He sighed as he went over, sitting in the desk chair. He watched as she grabbed her purse, beginning to put her personal belongings in it. "Look, Nic-"

"I'm fine," She said without letting him finish. She didn't look at him, only making it less believable.

Merlin nodded, sucking in a breath. "Right, I know. You're always fine." He dryly laughed, rubbing the top of his head. "Nic, I just... wanted to talk to you real quick about the dinner a couple of weeks ago."

"What about it? I'm not apologizing for walking out. That devil-woman was making me look bad in front of everyone." Nicollette finally looked at her father. Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears, but she didn't cry.

"I'm not asking you to. You had every right to leave. And... I'm glad you stuck up for yourself." Merlin said. "But... I wanted to talk to you about what you said. About marrying that Prince."

"What about it? We're not getting married tomorrow." She scoffed, her movements becoming hasty as she shoved her items into her purse.

"I know, and I'm glad," Merlin responded. "But, Nicollette, you're my only child. My only daughter. I only get to walk you down the aisle once. Are- are you sure you want to marry this boy?"