Run Away From The Pain

We've All Fallen Down Once Or Twice... Me More Than Others, Though.

"Are you guys ready to head out to Dogana, tonight?" Joey asked, as we all sat around the breakfast nook.
I couldn't answer. I just sat there playing with the spoon in my bowl of cereal. 

Everyone else was deep in conversation, except for me. 
I couldn't eat either. 
I honestly didn't want to be a part of the conversation, so I got up and left, not caring if anyone noticed or not. 
By the sounds of their conversations, none of them had really noticed my departure. 

I walked out of the kitchen, and through the back balcony, down towards the patio, and straight on until I reached the stables. 
I sighed heavily as I stepped through the doors of the stables, shuffling over towards Spades' stall. 

"Hi, beautiful." I breathed, as I stroked his shining black coat. "I'm sorry I haven't taken you out in a while... It's been a rough couple of days." 
Almost as if he knew, he stepped forward, and put his massive head over my shoulder, hugging me closer to his neck. 

I instantly wrapped my fragile arms around him, and sighed. 
"Do you want to go out?" I asked, feeling his head bob up and down in a giddy responce, while, for the first time in days, made me giggle. 

I instantly tacked him up, adjusting the girth beneath the saddle, and the bridal, to make sure I wouldn't fall off, then I climbed into the saddle, and we rode off. 
We galloped out of the stables, and past the riding ring, blazing off into the unbelievably large area of space the palace grounds allowed for us to roam.

As we neared the small croquet area that was pressed into the soft grass, I whirled around it, having Spades cut up the law beneathe us. 

Due to a storm that happened a few weeks ago, there was a large tree still down in the back of the croquet area, which Spades and I both saw as a challenge we were willing to accept. 
I patted his neck lightly, then spurred him on, galloping towards the mass of bark ahead of us. 

He kicked up, and sent us both soaring through the wind, and over the log. 
As we landed, I lead him back around to circle the pool, and come back around to the croquet area, which happened to be just a hundred, or so, yards from the balcony, where Steven now stood. 

I noticed him, and rode over to him and, which Spades took upon himself, galloped up the steps of the balcony, stopping right before Steven. 

"Hi." He grinned wildly. 
"Hi." I blushed, looking down at him. 

"You seem happy." He smiled as a light sparkled in his eyes, that haven't been there for a few days. 

"I feel happy." I smiled, mimmicking his emotions. 

"That's good." He chuckled playfully, as I held out a hand for him to grasp. 
He eyed me warily, and then took my hand.
I pulled him up onto Spades' back, scooting up in the saddle a bit so Steven has room. 

"Hang on." I smirked, and spurred the beast on, as he broke into a gallop down the steps, and back up towards the stables. 
Half way to our destination, I slowed Spades from a gallop to a trot, then to a walk, just taking in the scenery around us.
Steven felt warm against my back, as his arms encircled my waist, and his plush lips planted a soft kiss on my shoulder blade.
I breathed in and quivered at his touch. 

I lead Spades back into the stable, and Steven slid off of his back with ease.
He reached up, grasping my hips, and helped me down off of the horse, allowing me so slide down, mere milimeters from him; our bodies brushing up against each other. 
He smirked, and leaned in to kiss me.
The moment our lips touched, fireworks like I'd never seen before, exploded around us, and for the first time in a while, I felt happy, and light, and free from burden. 

We broke apart with happy grins plastered on our faces.
I turned on my heel, and led Spades back into his stall, taking off his saddle and bridal, so he could be more comfortable while I'm away. 

"Ready?" I smiled, reaching out for Steven's hand, intertwining my fingers with his. 
"Sure." He kissed my cheek, as we walked out of the stables, hand in hand. 

As we strolled throught the vast gardens of palace grounds, I couldn't help but to feel... well... different. 
"Are you okay?" Steven broke the comfortable silence between us, and peered down at me while we continued our serene walk. 

"Yeah.. I.." I paused not knowing how to say it. "Nevermind, it's stupid."

"No, come on." He pouted, "Tell me."

"Well, now that he's gone, I should feel safe... right?" I paused, letting the rhetorical question sink in. "Well, I mean... I do. But I've spent so long living in fear, and running from him, now that I don't have to.. I feel.. well.. lost. What do I do now?"

"You cheer up." He smiled. "You give your life purpose, now that you don't have to live in fear anymore. I mean, now you can really fuckin' party!" He chuckled, leaning down and kissing me on the cheek. 

"Yeah," I smiled "I guess so." 

"So.. are you feeling better?" He asked, almost apologetically.

"No.." I sighed, looking down at my boots as I walked. "I miss Ralph so much.... almost as much as I missed you when you left.." 

"Really?" I could feel him staring at me, but I didn't bother turning my head to look. 

"When you left, I felt this hollow pain in the center of my chest, like.... like there was literally a big black hole in my soul..." I gulped, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Now that he's gone, I feel it again, but this time, it's worse knowing he's not coming back."

"But he's in a better place now, Alex." He smiled weakly. "He's happy now, and I know for a fact, that he loved spending time with you, and he loved being there to protect and help you when you needed him."

We walked through the gardens and the, now cut up, croquet field, making it back up the balcony steps, and through the grandiose glass french doors of the palace. 
We floated through the back hall of the foyer, and into the kitchen/dinning room where we were sitting almost an hour ago, to find the band still sitting at the table.

"There she is!" Tom chuckled.
"Where'd ya go, Princess? Couldn't stand being in the presence of peasants." Brad laughed at his stupid rhyme.

"No," I smirked, "Hey royal highness needed some alone time." 

"Oh, so of course Steven wen't after you.." Joe winked. "I bet he took real good care of you."

"Do you guys always feel the need to bring up Steven's and my sex life?!" I rolled my eyes, and plopped in front of a chair where my, now soggy, cereal still stood.
I got up again, taking the bowl towards the sink and cleaning it out.
I grabbed an apple off of the island as I walked back to the table, taking a big bite out of it, letting the sweet juice dribble down my chin. 

"Seeexaay" Steven sang, mockingly. 
I turned and winked at him, making him chuckle.

"We should all go get ready." Claudia cut in. "Dogana's about an hour, with out traffic, inland from here. What time is the show?"

"7." All the guys chimed in, making me turn towards the grandfather clock in the corner of the kitchen.
It's almost 12 now, so It would be best for us to go shower and prepare for the show.

"Then let's do it." I sighed as I tossed my apple core into the open trash can on the far side of the kitchen.

"Nice shot." Joey breathed, astonished that I actually made it in. 

"Thanks." I chuckled as I got up and headed for my room. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I shut the water off and the stream from the shower head slowed to a small drip, I wrapped a fluffy white towel around myself and stepped out of the pristine, white tiled shower.

The marble tiles on the floor of the bathroom were freezing against my warmed skin, and sent shivers up my spine. 
I walked over to the large counter where an even larger mirror hung.
I brushed my hair, and braided it to the side, getting it out of my way to dry. 
Just as I was staring at my complexion in the mirror, there was a light knock on the door, then a second later, Steven came walking in, closing the door behind him. 

"Well look what we've got here." He chuckled eyeing my towel.
Almost as if we were back in the hotel room in Austin Texas, Steven came up to me, and gripped a corner of the towel that was wraped around me, with two fingers, and swiftly pulled it off, leaving me naked and vulnerable. 

"Unfair." I sighed, closing the minimal space we had between us. 
"What?" He asked, light pooling around in his eyes. 
"You still have all your clothes on.." I smirked.
He leaned down and kissed me passionately, picking me up by my thighs, and carrying me out to my bed, which he abruptly threw me upon, and climbed on top of me, kissing up my neck and jaw line. 

A low moan reverberated out of Steven's throat, which made a delicious tingling feeling rise in the pit of my stomach. 
While he continued to kiss my neck, leaving little love bites in every place he could, I reached down and unbuttoned each little silver button of the silk shirt Steven was wearing.
As he shimmied out of the silk, I unbuckled the belt that was holding up his jeans, which he kicked off instantly, leaving nothing between us. 

"Mmmmm" He moaned as we intertwined ourselves in the silk sheets of the king bed. 
Nothing could make me happier, or bring me as much pleasure and pain as this man could. 

"Steven.." I gasped, as we quickened the pace. "I love you so much."

"I love you more." He grinned and kissed my nose. 
"Ugh... Alex!" He grunted as the churning in my gut rose higher and higher, threatening to push me off the cliff of insanity.

"Fuck! Yes!" I cried out as I spiraled down into the abyss of pleasure, with Steven's arms wrapped around my waist, hugging me as close to him as possible. 

I laid there on top of Steven, with my head against his chest, listening to the soft thrumming of his heart beat.
I must've fallen asleep like that, because what seemed like seconds later, he was lightly tracing up my spine with a soft finger. 

"Alex..." He chuckled lightly, my body moving up and with with the pattern of his breathing. "Ace, baby we gotta get up and get ready."
I moaned and dug my face further into the crook of his neck, refusing to get up from my save haven. 

"Princess Alexandra Anastasia Cecil-"

"Okay, Jesus Christ, I'm up." I groaned and sat up so I was straddling him. "Enough with the ridiculously long name..."

He laughed as I rolled off of him, and hopped out of bed, walking towards my closet. 
I spent a few minutes rumaging through the drawrs and hangers spread out across the walls of the room, unable to find something to wear. 

"I have an entire room filled with clothes, yet I can't find something to wear..." I groaned. "Why is that?!"

"Maybe because you're so picky.." Steven snorted and picked out a cut up maroon sweater that was hanging up. "How about this?" 
I whirled around to look at him, with a pair of black jeans in my hand, and instantly smiled.

"You've got style." I grinned, slipping on the jeans that were in my hand. 
I walked over to him in my jeans, and a bra, and slipped on the maroon knit fabric over my head. 
"Wait... isn't it going to be hot today, though?" 

"Go look outside... does it look like it's gonna be hot?" He scoffed, as I raised a questionable eyebrow.
I walked out of the french doors of the closet, and peeked out of the grandiose wall length windows to find puffy white flakes of snow, gracefully falling to the ground. 

"Why is this weather so fucking bipolar?!" I gasped. "I swear it was like, 80 degrees yesterday!"

"Yeah, it's pretty weird." He chuckled, pulling me into a kiss. 

"Ehh... c'est la vie." I smiled and kissed his nose. 
I strolled into the bathroom, sat myself down at the vanity, and began to do my make-up. 
I paired a simple brown smokey eye, with a dark brown liner, and curled my already long lashes. 

I looked simple, yet elegant. 
I loved it; the simplicity of it all.
Right about now, that's what I need in life. Simplicity. 

"You look incredibly beautiful." Steven smiled, as I took the braid out of my long chocolate hair, letting the waves cascade down my head, framing the sides of my heart shaped face. 

"Thank you." I smiled, then sized up Steven's appreance. 
He was wearing the same black jeans, and white silk shirt as he was before.
"And you look incredibly sexy." I winked and blew him a kiss.  

Suddenly, there was a knock on my bedroom door.
Before I even bother to answer it, Joey, Brad, Tom, Joe, and Claudia all came bounding into my room; dog-piling on my bed. 
One by one, they turned their heads to peer into the large bathroom, where Steven was leaning up against the door frame, and I was still seated looking in the vanity mirror. 

"You two love birds ready to go?" Tom gasped for breath, as he was being crushed by 4 other people.

"Yep." I smiled, bending down to lace up my brown leather combat boots. 
When I finished tying up each boot, I stood up and waltz over to where Steven still stood, watching me. 
"Let's go," I chuckled, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Move it, slow poke." 

"As you wish," He giggled, and wrapped his arms around me, stepping backwards out of the bathroom as he did so. "Your majesty."

"Oh, shut up." I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

We all made the long walk towards the front foyer of the palace where my parents, and brother Nick, were waiting for us. We crossed the bridge, which was filled with the afternoon day light; illuminating the tiny specks of dust that danced around the hall. 
Eventually, we made our way down the winding staircase, and met the rest of the family just before we walked out the marble doors. 

"Please, Anastasia." My mother sighed, obviously worried. "Be careful, this time." 

"Nothing's gonna happen, mom." I giggled, hugging her tightly. "I've got Nick with me, this time." I winked over her shoulder, at my big brother, who had a cheeky little grin on his face, as if he was still the happy 8 year old from my dreams. 

I pulled out of the hug, and gave my father a kiss on the cheek.
"Ready to go?" I asked, grabbing Nick's hand and pulling him out the door. 

"I guess I don't have a choice." He laughed, stumbling behind me. 
We all made our way down towards the stretched limo that was waiting to take us on the hour and a half trip to Dogana. 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authors Note:
Hey guys! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! 
Alot is in store for Ace and Steven, so buckle up and get ready for  bumpy ride!

Speaking of buckle up... Today's my 17th birthday, and I'm about to go take my road test!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! I'm so nervous! Wish me luck!

xoxo
~AeroHead25
10/1/2013