Her Prince (A Sequel to "His Princess")

25. Huh...?

The drive back home was filled with a comfortable silence. I rest my head against the cool glass of the window and close my eyes as my mind drifts back to everything I've found out during this little trip.

It was nice knowing my dad was okay. It was nice knowing that I wasn't the reason he left. He had a lot on his mind, I get that. I can't be mad at him forever, and although I only stayed with them for a day, it was one day closer to fully forgiving him. My dad promised to check up on me with mom.

My mom and I went through a rough time with the whole, "Your dad isn't dead," thing. I was hurt mostly by her. Hurt by the fact that she knew. Hurt by the fact that she didn't tell me. However, at the end of the day I realized that I can't keep all my anger bottled up. I simply had to let go. So I did. It was a hard thing to do, but I knew that things would never be the same if I always had anger flowing through my veins.

I smile and look over at Ryder. I don't think he realizes how grateful I am for having him in my life. Ryder sneaks a glance my way.

"Hey Ave, I love you and all, but you're kinda creepin' me out right now. Why're you staring at me?"

I chuckle, "I don't know, you just make me happy."

Ryder smiles and looks over at me. "Fair enough."

I turn on the radio and hum to the song quietly.

"CAUSE YOU KNOW I'D WALK A THOUSAND MILES, JUST TO SEE YOU-"

"Are you kidding me Ryder? Not this again!"

"Don't judge!" Ryder whines, his cheeks turning bright pink from his sudden outburst.

I shake my head and roll down the window, taking the time to enjoy the calm breeze.

"Hey Ave?" Ryder asks, snapping me out of my tranquil state.

"Yea?"

"Have you ever thought about your future... Like, what you want to do after college; who you see yourself with?" He asks, mumbling the last part.

I let out a breath. "Honestly, yea. Sometimes at night I sit in my room and think, 'Wow, I'm not some high school kid anymore,' that I need to really think hard about my future... Why, do you think about it?"

Ryder clears his throat, "I do actually."

"What do you see yourself doing in the future?"

"Well, I do want to start my own company..."

"Didn't your dad want you to take his?"

He sighs. "Yup, that's the problem."

I take his hand gently, "Don't worry... We'll figure this out together, yea?"

Ryder looks over at and gives me a gentle smile, "Yea."

• • •

I huff and plop down on the couch, making sure to pull Munchkin onto my lap.  I groan remembering that I have school tomorrow.

"Ryderrrrr," I whine, shoving my face into a pillow.

"Yes?" He calls from the kitchen, where he is currently making dinner.

"You should totally press pause on making the food and cuddle with me."

He chuckles, "Sorry love, it doesn't work that way."

"Well it should," I pout.

"Maybe we could cuddle after dinner..." Ryder suggests.

"I don't know... I'm a very busy woman, I'll check my schedule."

Ryder chuckles, "You do that." 

"I will," I huff, crossing my arms while standing up and heading towards my room.

I go over to my closet and look for a pair of fuzzy pants. I rummage through some of my pajamas and find a pair of my old Nemo pants. I frown, tears forming in my eyes. I miss him... I feel like every good memory of mine always had Nemo in it. It's weird to think that all my new memories will be missing something, him. I wipe a stray tear and shove them into the back of the closet before pulling out a different pair of PJ's.

I shrug when I realize that I didn't even pick a pair of fuzzy pants and head back into the kitchen. Ryder is hunched over the stove and I sneak up behind him. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I press a gentle kiss to his back.

"So, it turns out that I don't have any plans after dinner," I mumble, a small smile playing across my lips.

"Wow, lucky me... I'm able to cuddle with the Avery Hart. It's such an honor," Ryder teases, putting the chicken cutlets onto plates.

I chuckle and help set the table, "It's also such an honor to be able to spend time with the Ryder Slade... Oh, and by the way the food smells amazing."

Ryder bows, "Glad you like the smell. Hopefully you'll like the taste just as much."

"I bet I will."

• • •

Ryder and I are currently laying on his bed watching, "The Mortal Instruments," and throughout the whole movie Ryder kept making jokes about how I looked like Clary. About halfway through the movie, the teasing stopped and we were both fully focused on the movie. I shifted and rested my head against Ryder's chest while he put a strong arm around my waist. Once Ryder started rubbing my arm, I found my eyes start to droop shut.

I slowly started to drift out of consciousness when Ryder said one thing that made sure to keep me awake the rest of the night.

"God, I wanna marry you."

A/N:

Hello my fellow fishies! Again, sorry for the long wait... plus one hell of a cliffhanger. You all probably hate me right now, but the book is slowly but surely reaching it's end. Honestly, I'm not quite sure where I want to end it, but it's not here so don't worry. I'll try and write another chapter this week... I'm actually feeling quite inspired so maybe I'll have one done by Wednesday. No promises though. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! THE FIRST BOOK IS AT LIKE 23K AND IM FLIPPIN OUT MAN, FLIPPIN OUT!!!

LOVE YA'LL

Xoxo - Batman