Chosen

Chapter Sixteen

              ~Adrian's POV~
     I pace around my room thinking about what I could do to get Arabella to forgive me. My mind is blank. I have absolutely no idea what to do and it's killing me. I can't live without her in my life, couldn't she at least be my friend so I could be around her? The idea hits me out of nowhere. Friends. If I got her to give me a chance as her friend, maybe I could get her to fall for me again. I need help with this. I walk out of my room and down the stairs to the room with the one girl that could help me. I knock on her door and wait for the maid to answer. The door opens and Marley's maid greets me with a smile.
     "Hello, Your Highness, what can I do for you?" I smile at her, kindly.
     "Hello, Abbie, is Marley here?" She nods her head and disappears into the room, returning a second later with Marley. She looks confused when she sees me.
     "Adrian? What are you doing here? I thought you were on a date or something." I laugh quietly. I haven't been on a date since Arabella left, I haven't felt a connection with anyone but her. It's only been three days, but I need her in my life. After I talk to Marley, I'm going to have to talk to her brother and sister, who are still here, about what Arabella likes and her hobbies. That means I'll have to tell them that she's gone. They've thought that she is recovering from what happened with her dad. Every time her dad goes through my mind, my blood boils, remembering how he hit her. I shake my head, clearing those thoughts from my mind and look at Marley.
     "I need your help. And we both know that I haven't been on any dates lately." She laughs and nods her head in agreement.
     "Yeah. So what do you need my help with?" I smile slightly when we start walking down the hall.
     "I found her." She gasps and turns to me, eyes wide.
     "You did? Where is she? Is she ok?" I sigh.
     "Yes, I found her, and yes, she is ok. She went home." She furrows her brows in confusion.
     "What? But she said that she wouldn't go there." Realization dawns on her face. "Oh, she said that so that we wouldn't look there and find her. But why did you look there if you didn't think that she was there."  I laugh, shaking my head.
     "I didn't really expect to find her there. I was just there to see if anyone knew her well enough to know where she would go. I was walking down the streets and I saw her go into a diner. It was the same diner we met at." A small smile makes its way onto my face as I remember the first day we met. "I went inside and sat in the same place I did the first time and waited for her to come. I thought she would be happy to see that I had come back for her. But she was angry and wanted me to leave." Marley rolls her eyes. "What?"
     "You expected her to be happy to see you after you had yelled at her and kicked her out of the castle?" I sigh.
     "I knew I shouldn't have expected her to be happy, that was my mistake. Anyway, I apologized and asked her to forgive me, and she told me that it would take a lot more than an apology for her to forgive me." Marley is silent for a while before speaking.
     "Wow." I nod in agreement.
     "Yeah. But I think I have an idea of how to get her to forgive me."
     "Ok, what is it?"
     "What if I try to be friends first? Instead of going back to being engaged to be engaged. I could get her to fall for me again. Do you think that would work?" She thinks for a minute.
     "That's a long shot." My shoulders slump. "But it might just work." I look up, hopefully to find her smiling at me.
     "Really? You think it could work?" She smiles and nods.
     "Yeah, but you'll have to be a really convincing friend, and that means you'll probably have to go on a few dates with some girls. You might also make her jealous, which will speed this all up." I nod.
     "Ok, thank you Marley, you have no idea how much you are helping me." She smiles and shrugs.
     "It's not problem, that's what friends are for." I smile.
     "Ok, I'm going to go talk to her brother and sister now. Have a good night, Marley." She smiles at me.
     "And to you too, Adrian, good luck, I really hope she forgives you." I smile and walk away. It's time to see her family.
~Arabella's POV~
I take a deep, shuddering breath, sitting up in my bed. I take another deep breath, trying to forget tonight's nightmare. I've had one every night since I left the castle. Every time they get worse and worse. This one has been the worst of them all. It started off in the castle.
I walk down the castle halls, smiling at the maids and guards as I walk. I'm on my way to see Adrian in the gardens. I've never been happier than when I'm with him. I turn the corner and stop dead in my tracks. In the middle of the hall, I see the worst thing I could possibly see. I see Adrian pushing someone up against a wall, kissing her. They turn and I see who he's with, and who it is makes it even worse. Marley. My best friend and my boyfriend are making out.
"Adrian?" I call out in horror. They pull apart and look at me, aggravated.
"Can't you see we're in the middle of something?" Adrian calls out to me.
"But..." He laughs at my horror-stricken face.
"Did you actually think I was in love with you? How could I love someone like you when I have people here like her?" He gestures to Marley, who giggles and clutches his arm.
"Come on, babe, don't we have something to finish?" She says, suductively. Tears fill my eyes as I stare at them. He looks over to me and laughs again.
"Yeah, let's go, I don't want to be in the presence of a peasant anymore." He wraps his arm around her waist and they walk away, laughing.
I shake my head, getting rid of the dream. That never happened. But it could be happening right now. Adrian and Marley could be together right now and you would never know, a voice in my head reminds me. I shake my head, getting rid of it. It doesn't even matter anymore, Adrian isn't coming back, he's probably at home, on a date with some girl. I sigh and look at the time, deciding to go down to work.
I get out of bed and start getting ready for the day, there's no way that I'm going to be able to get back to sleep now. I get ready and walk out the door and down the stairs to the diner, greeting Em and Raymond with a smile.
     "Good morning." I say, making some coffee to have with my breakfast. They smile at me.
     "Good morning, sweetie, you're up early, the diner doesn't open for hours." I smile at them.
     "I couldn't sleep." She nods sympathetically. She doesn't know about the nightmares, no one does, but she does know that I haven't been sleeping good.
     "Well, I'll make you a good breakfast to give you your energy." I start to protest.
     "No, I can make it myself." Em shakes her head and keeps on working.
     "No, you sit down and rest, you'll need your energy, it's our busy day and you'll be working all day." I relent and sit down, resting my head on my hand. I close my eyes for a few seconds and fall asleep within seconds.
     I feel someone shaking my shoulders and open my eyes. Em is standing in front of me with a plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon.
     "Thanks, Em." I say, groggily, taking the plate from her. She looks at me, concerned.
     "Are you ok, Ara? You don't look too good." I shake my head and start eating.
     "No, it's fine, I'm just tired. Don't worry, I'll go to bed extra early." She still doesn't look convinced, but doesn't say anything more. I eat my breakfast and wash the plate. The diner is going to open soon. I must've been asleep for a while if it's almost time to open. I put my apron on, grab my pen and notepad, and walk out of the kitchen to change the sign on the door from 'closed' to 'open'. Almost immediately people start to come in and I get to work. I take orders and deliver food and checks for hours before its time for my lunch break and Em goes out to take orders. I make myself a sandwich and sit behind the counter, watching out the window at people walking outside. They have such normal lives, it must be nice. They don't have to worry about princes. I sigh and look down at the table I'm sitting at. I see a shadow go over the table and someone sits down in front of me. I look up and my eyes widen. Adrian.
     "Adrian?" Butterflies erupt in my stomach at the sight of him and the realization hits me. I'm still in love with him. I thought I was over him the minute he told me to leave the castle.
     "Hello, Arabella." His voice sends shivers down my spine.
     "What are you doing here?" I ask quietly, looking down at the table. I don't want him to know I still love him.
     "I wanted to talk to you." I look up at him, curiously. He's looking at me with a loving smile on his face. It falls as soon as I look up at him.
     "Ok." I say, waiting for him to talk.
     "Why don't we be friends? I need you in my life, Arabella. Even if it doesn't have to be in a relationship. We could just be friends if that's what you want. But I'm still working on forgiveness. I want you to forgive me, Arabella and I'm not going to stop trying until you do." I look at him, speachless. Disappointment floods through me when he says 'friends'. He doesn't want to be with me anymore.
     "Friends?" I try to keep the disappointment from my voice, but I'm not sure if it worked. He smiles at me and nods. His smile is so beautiful.
     "Yes, friends. So what do you say?" He asks, hopefully. I push the disappointment away and smile at him.
     "Friends it is then." He beams at me, happily and my breath hitches in my throat. I love him so much it hurts and I can't do anything about it anymore.
     "Thank you, Arabella, for giving me another chance." He says, smiling. He stands up and looks down at me, smiling lovingly. "I'll let you get back to work, now. But I was wondering if you wanted to do something after your shift?" He asks, hopefully. I smile and nod.
     "Sure, be back here at 6." He nods and smiles again.
     "I'll see you at 6 then. Have a good day, Arabella and I'll see you later." I smile.
     "Have a good day, Adrian." He walks out the door and back onto the streets. "I love you." I whisper quietly, knowing that he definitely can't hear me.
                ~Adrian's POV~
     I smile as I walk out the door. I love her so much it hurts. I'm so happy she agreed to be friends. I could hear the disappointment in her voice when she said it. This is going to be easier than I thought. I smile again, thinking about what we could do tonight. Maybe we could have a picnic like our first date. I nod my head to myself, deciding to do that. Where's a good place to have a picnic? I walk around the town for a while before I find the perfect place. It's in the middle of a park, a giant oak tree, with a small pond beside it. It's the perfect place. I start walking around again, looking for a store to get stuff for a picnic but can't find one. I ask around and find that it's in the middle of the town, a supermarket. I walk into the town and find the supermarket. I buy stuff for sandwiches, fruit, drinks, and a dessert. I'm going to make this perfect. I'm going to her her to fall for me again.
         
          YAY! The happy couple is well on their way to being back together. Hope you liked it! Please vote and comment, I love the support! Tell me your favorite part! Love ya! And it would mean a lot to me if you would check out my other book The End is Near, I would love the support!