Cinderella vs. Happily Ever After

Chapter 52

           Valerie took another, deeper breath and kissed Darren again. Still he remained motionless. Panic tickling the back of her throat, she tried for quantity, rapidly kissing him again and again, ignoring her lips that were going numb with cold.

            She felt tears prick her eyes as she stared down at his motionless form, one hand still cupping his face. “Please,” she whispered, voice almost breaking. “Please wake up. Don…don’t leave me.”

            Nothing. Just icy immobility. The welling tears overflowed her eyes, sliding down her cheeks to splash her legs and his shirt. She covered her mouth with one hand, fighting back the body wracking sobs that threatened her, her shoulders already shaking. One hiccupping sound escaped her, followed by another. Soon the sobs were rushing out of her, making her whole body shake.

            She buried her face in her hands and surrendered herself to tears as she hadn’t done since her father’s death. It was several minutes before her crying slowed enough that she could move and her grief wore itself out enough that she could think of anything besides it. Her first thought was of finding someone, anyone, to free Darren.

            She stood, rubbing the tears off her face. She took one ragged breath, then another, her hands opening and closing at her sides as she worked to calm herself. She couldn’t afford people not taking her seriously even if she felt like falling to pieces in the corner. She was still the army’s leader and she still had her pride.

            She managed one step before she was brought up short by one hand. She looked down her arm to see what had her hand and found herself staring into Darren’s face. He was frowning at her, bits of frost flaking off or melting as he levered himself into a sitting position. “You-” was all he managed before she struck, slamming herself into him.

            “You bastard,” she shrieked, punching his shoulder then the other one then repeating the process, all the while glaring at him. “You absolute moron! Drugging me? What the hell is wrong with you? Then-then you get yourself put into an enchanted sleep and let the whole palace be taken. I had to raise a fucking army to get to you!”

            Darren winced as her blows connected, trying to dodge the worst of them. She stopped him by grabbing his shirt and holding his face only inches from hers. “You…Do you have any idea…I…You…” She trailed off as tears began to fall again, and she collapsed onto his neck, sobbing her relief.

            He went still, looking around the room for help. He saw the broken bits of icicles and shattered ice shields, the scorch marks on the floor and the debris that had been blown about the room. He looked down at Valerie who was clinging to him like she thought he would disappear at any second. He decided to prioritize and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head.

            She didn’t cry for long, most of her tears having been used up already, but it was long enough that Darren was glaring, looking for someone to make suffer for making her cry. When she finally did raise her head, her eyes red and puffy from tears, she glared at him.

            “I’m never going to forgive you for this.”

            He winced. “Look, I will apologize for drugging you but not for sending you away. You were in danger and I feared the worst would happen. And from what you’ve said and what I can see, it did happen. I couldn’t stand the thought of you in danger.”

            “And how the hell do you think I felt? I come back and find that the palace has been taken and no one’s heard anything from those inside. I didn’t even know if you were still alive,” she hissed, though she didn’t move from the circle of his arms. “And I wasn’t talking about that when I said I’d never forgive you.”

            He choked a little and tried not to think so hard about how she was probably right. She’d only rub it in. He focused on the rest of her words instead. “What do you mean? Have I done something else?”

            She looked away then, a flush creeping up her neck to stain her cheeks. She muttered something he couldn’t hear. He grabbed her chin with two fingers and raised it so he could see her face. “Valerie?”

            She met his eyes, the pink colour deepening to red. She grabbed his head in her hands and said “I’m not going to forgive you for making me fall in love with you, you stupid prince charming wannabe.” The she kissed him on the lips again.

            He returned the kiss in a daze, breaking it quickly so he could stare at her. “Did you just say…?”

            She glared, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not saying it again. And don’t get smug or I will hit you. Still never going to forgive you, stupid idiotic bastard.”

            The grin that overtook his face was wide and bright. He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her into a kiss that was far deeper and more passionate than the previous one. Their tongues met with equal fervour and before she could really register what was going on, Valerie found herself in his lap, her legs wrapped around him just like how her arms were wrapped around his neck.

            When they finally broke apart, both of them were panting and flushed. If she hadn’t known that they still had an army to lead and a palace to free, Valerie wouldn’t have let him stop. But they did so she sighed.

            Darren misinterpreted the sigh and kissed her neck. “I promise I’ll make it up to. I’ll spend my whole life doing it. How does that sound?”

            She rolled her eyes but smiled. “I’ll hold you to that.”

            “Is this happily ever after then, like your books?” He asked, grinning back.

            She snorted. “No. But it’s as happily ever after as we’re going to get.”

The End