Royal Misfits

Chapter Twenty Two - New Perspectives and Old Habits

*Tate’s P.O.V*
Twelve hours later and, Tate was absolutely drained. “I don’t want to fly anywhere for a very long time.” He yawned and stretched out in the backseat. He could practically feel Lizetta roll her eyes, but decided not to comment on it. He knew she was tired as well. “I’m sorry, Tate. You wouldn’t be here and so tired if it weren’t for me,” she sounded so defeated, but just as he was about to say something he noticed the hotel’s lights falling over her face. “Hey, we’re here already.” He nudged her in the side. She simply nodded with a small smile, and got out of the car. Tate followed her silently into the hotel, and watched as she approached the reception desk while he helped the porters with the luggage. She looked like she was negotiating with the receptionist before dragging a hand across her face and nodding and walking back towards him. She sighed deeply as she came to a stop, and ran a hand through her hair, “So, there was an error in our booking,” she looked everywhere except at him as she spoke, “They booked one room under my reservation, instead of two.” Tate raised his eyebrows, “So, we’re sharing?” he burst out laughing, “What is this? Some sort of romantic comedy?” As he laughed, he could see a ghost of a smile forming on her face, “Okay, drama queen, let’s go to our room.” With that, she turned on her heel and left the reception area, and Tate happily followed. They entered the suite they were given and walked around, admiring the finishes. Tate blew a low whistle, “You sure know how to pick rooms,” he said, examining the view from the large window. Lizetta tipped the porter and let him out before turning to Tate, “I didn’t. This was the only one available at such short notice. We’re lucky to have gotten one at all.” She said as she flung herself onto the king-sized bed. Tate raised an eyebrow, “So, am I taking the floor or something?” he asked, feeling awkward for some reason. They’d shared a bed before, but not under these circumstances. “I don’t see why you should sleep on the floor when we have a huge bed over here,” she sat up and patted the spot beside her, “We’re adults and can control ourselves, right?” Tate swallowed hard and nodded, he didn’t want to ruin the steady relationship that was growing between them by rushing into anything. He took a deep breath and sat beside her, “Yes, we are and we shall behave as such,” his sudden change in speaking got a giggle out of her and the sight of her smile drew one out of him as well. As he leaned in, her smile faded, “Tate.” She said, her face looking a little hopeless. “What is it?” Tate asked. “I have to find a dress for tomorrow,” she said with a whining tone in her voice. Tate simply laughed and stood up before taking her hand in his, “Well then, we’d better hurry before all the good stuff is gone” he put on a fake pout, and jumped up and off the bed. “Good point,” she said. Tate smirked as he placed a hand on hers, “I know.”
The hotel had a boutique in its shopping district, so they decided they were better off getting what they needed from one place. Also, Lizetta put a sheepish smile and told Tate that she was too tired to venture out. His best bet was on her actually being more lazy than tired, but he didn’t particularly feel like getting his head ripped off so he kept his observation to himself. He’d been sitting in the change area for twenty minutes before Lizetta came back with an armful of dresses drowning her. Tate lounged against the backrest of the couch and gave her a taunting smirk, “And, here, I was thinking you didn’t like dresses.” Lizetta’s answering glare made him want to run away and towards her, simultaneously. He winked at her, but she rolled her eyes away from him and went into a changing cubicle. She emerged five minutes later in a blue gown, she looked at him and gestured to the dress. Tate looked at her more than the dress as she twirled around for him to get a good look at the dress, and that’s when he decided that he wanted to see more. Wanted to see more of her being this carefree and not overthinking things. So, he rejected the dress. He made up something about it making her arms look fat, and with a loud gasp, she ran back into the cubicle. His conscience worried him a bit, she looked perfect in that dress. He felt a bit selfish for making her do this, but she needed to let loose as well. She’s been under constant stress lately, and this would do her some good. Yet another five minutes passed and this time as emerged in a satin deep emerald gown. It had spaghetti straps, which showed off her slender shoulders and a plunging neckline which went deeper than he was comfortable with. The slit along the side went up all the way to her thigh, and Tate’s mouth went dry at the sight of it. He supposed he would have been drooling, given her wide-eyed stare, “What? Is there something wrong with it?” She turned around, and the back showed off even more than the front. The material draped itself all the way down to her lower back, showing off smooth skin. After seeing this he didn’t know if he could, indeed, control himself in a room with her. Tate cleared his throat and sat up straighter, “It’s very… it’s something alright. I mean, you look amazing, but… I…” his damn mouth just wouldn’t work and his brain was pretty much up in flames at this point. Lizetta must have taken his reaction to be a negative one, because she practically ran back into the cubicle. Tate exhaled deeply, trying to get some air back into his lungs. Lizetta stepped out once again, this time in a red gown. It was sleeveless, with a bodice that had delicate and intricate work all over it. Tate felt his breath leave his body all over again. It was perfect on her. She twirled around in the dress and then did a mock curtsy, “Well, what about this? Not gonna gawk?” she laughed as she admired the skirt of the dress. Tate simply stood up and offered her his hand, “Will you dance with me?” he asked. She gingerly took his hand and allowed him to pull her close. He didn’t care that they weren’t alone or that the music was not appropriate for dancing. No, Tate just wanted to see Lizetta move around in that dress and in his arms. They spun around the room for what felt like hours, until the manager had politely asked them to leave for closing time. Tate and Lizetta ran all the way back to their room, giggling like little children. Lizetta arranged for her dress to be brought up to her room the next day, he could tell she was much more relaxed after that task was completed. Upon their return to their room, Lizetta had hopped back onto the bed and got her phone out. She was calling Amelia, he had completely forgotten about checking in with them. From the expression on Lizetta’s face, it seemed as though she had forgotten, too. Lizetta winced as Amelia’s voice exploded from the other end of the call. The younger princess was not impressed with her sister’s timing. Lizetta apologized profusely to her sister, trying to explain their predicament, but Tate could still hear rampant shouting from the other side. Lizetta winced at him and shrugged, listening quietly to the verbal beat down. And then, suddenly, the voice subsided and Lizetta took a deep breath in, “Okay, so, how are you?” she asked her sister, as if the screaming didn’t happen at all. The voice replied, and Lizetta’s jaw dropped. She scratched at her eyebrow for a while in silence before replying, her voice high with what seemed like fake interest, “Lia, I’m so happy for you.” Lizetta sniffed, wiping at her eye. “Are you happy, Lia? And you’re absolutely sure about this?” Lizetta fidgeted with her hands as she said it, “I mean, with the accident and losing your memory.” The voice on the other side got louder, “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I can see that you’re happy, so I shall be as well.” Tate tried to get her attention so that he could learn what on earth was going on, but she simply held up a finger, indicating to him that he has to wait until she was done. Lizetta had gone quiet for the rest of the call, only murmuring responses occasionally. After a while, she cut the call and put the phone down on the bed. Lizetta looked up at him, looking so sad. He thought she was going to tell him that Amelia and Ethan had broken up or something. He sat down next to her and took her hand in his, “Hey, tell me what happened.” Lizetta shook her head, “It’s not what you think,” she said. “Well, tell me. I have no idea what to think so I’m going for the worst case scenario here,” he said, trying to plead with her. Lizetta inhaled deeply and then spoke, “Amelia and Ethan got engaged again.”
*Lizetta’s POV*
Tate looked utterly dumbstruck. Lizetta didn’t hold his reaction against him, as far as she knew, her face must have conveyed a different message. “Wait, he proposed again and she accepted, again?” he asked her. Lizetta nodded in response. “I’m sorry, why do you look like someone died?” Tate asked her, and she could feel his eyes searching her face for any further reasons. Lizetta sighed as she ran a hand down her face, and she could still feel his worried gaze on her. She lowered her hand and looked him in the eye, “Look, I know Ethan is like a brother to you and you cherish each other just as much as Lia and I cherish each other,” Lizetta shifted uncomfortably where she sat, “But I think they’re making a mistake moving so fast. Ethan shouldn’t have put her in that position again so soon. There’s no rush for anything, so I really don’t understand why.” She held on tightly to her wrist as she waited for his reply. Tate was pensive, he stood up and paced around the room, and Lizetta watched him. His repetitive movements were setting her own nerves on edge, and she wanted to just demand an answer from him, but she knew she had to give him the time and space he needed to think this through thoroughly. That’s just how Tate was. She smiled to herself as she realized how well she knew him, how she had learned his ways by observing him so often. He finally stopped pacing and looked at her, “Ethan must have taken all of those things into consideration when he planned to ask her again,” he started pacing again, “I mean, he knows how much she’s been through, and he cares about her. He wouldn’t put her in a tough spot on purpose.” He turned on his heel and looked at her, “Right?” he asked. Lizetta stood up and held his arms, “Wait. He didn’t tell you? Why wouldn’t he tell you first?” she asked, her heart beating fast for some reason. Tate nodded slowly, and took one of her hands, “Lizetta, it’s going to be okay. They’re adults and are responsible enough to know what it means to be engaged. They did it once already. I understand that you are worried about Amelia, but you have to let her make her own decisions and not use you as a crutch all the time.” He stared into her eyes, and his expression softened as she nodded in agreement. He then pulled her into a tight hug, “It’ll all be okay.” He idly stroked her hair. After a while, Lizetta pulled away, “We’ve got an early start tomorrow. We should sleep.” She smiled at him, a weary expression on her face as she pulled away completely and walked away. “But we haven’t eaten yet,” Tate tried to say. “I’m not hungry.” She stopped at the bathroom door, “You’re welcome to go eat if you are.” She went into the bathroom without saying anything else. When she emerged, she found Tate fast asleep on top of the sheets. She slowly pulled away the covers and got under them, so many thoughts flooded her mind as her head hit the pillow. Ethan went through with something so serious, without informing Tate. Was it planned at all? Or did he just take advantage of my absence and use Lia’s confused emotions to entrap her? No, Ethan isn’t like that. Tate said he cares about Lia. Lizetta turned over, and came face to face with the sleeping Tate. She clamped down on the urge to touch his face, and closed her eyes, where countless theories flooded her head, until sleep finally claimed her.
Lizetta’s eyes flew open to the sound of knocking on the bedroom door. She groggily rolled out of the bed and approached the door. She opened it to see her dress being held up in front of her face, and that was when realization hit her. She had overslept on her graduation day. She took the dress and hastily thanked the person delivering it before closing the door again. She hung up her dress and then got to work on waking Tate up, she shook him, “Tate, you need to wake up. We overslept!” She shook him again, and he groaned, “Five more minutes, Liz.” he pulled the duvet over his head. Lizetta didn’t know when he climbed under the sheets, she was so thoroughly tired that she didn’t feel him shift in the middle of the night. Lizetta was unrelenting, she continued to shake him until he got out of the bed and onto his feet. “Okay,” she said, as she paced around, “We don’t have much time. I’m supposed to do my hair and make-up. I’ll never have enough time to do it all and make it on time.” Tate yawned, “What does this have to do with me?” he asked. Lizetta lifted an eyebrow, “You have to get ready as well, you fool. We’re going to have to take turns,” She said. Tate shrugged, “Okay, you first, then.” He gestured to the bathroom, but Lizetta sat down instead. She went through everything she had to do to get ready, and she did not have the time to do it all properly. She felt Tate sit down next to her and take her hand, “Hey,” he said, “What’s wrong?” Lizetta looked up at him and sighed deeply. “People will expect a princess to go all out with her preparations, you know? Have amazing hair and make-up. I don’t have the time to do anything intricate. Sure, I don’t mind, but the public…” she drifted off, thinking of all the times she’d been scolded for being different. For not being what a princess is supposed to be. Tate turned her to face him, “It’s your graduation, Lizetta. Not anyone else’s. You needed sleep, and you got it. No use beating yourself up because you’re human. As for getting dressed, I’ll help you. We’ll do it together. We’ll keep it simple just the way you like it, and people need to accept that this is what you prefer. They cannot expect you to be anyone except yourself.” Lizetta blinked at him. She was in awe of him, and couldn’t stop herself. She launched herself onto him and kissed him. She kissed him with all the emotion that was building up in her as he spoke, because that’s all she ever wanted. She wanted someone to see who she really was and accept it. Amelia knew her, so well, but the way Tate knew her was just so different. And so, she pulled away and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” she said before heading to the bathroom. She didn’t look at his face or wait for his reply, because she knew they wouldn’t move from that spot for a while if she did.
Lizetta had done it. With a little help from Tate, she had made it to her graduation ceremony looking presentable. She felt comfortable in her simplicity. She sat there and waited for her name to be called, as she watched everyone else walk onto the stage and collect their degrees. To think, three long years amounted to this. She couldn’t believe it was all over for her. No more classes, assignments or exams. She was free. Well, not quite. The promise of her ruling the kingdom still stood. She tried to not think of that problem as her name was called. Murmurs went through the crowd at the mention of her title, she tried to ignore this as well. She was merely a graduate collecting her degree. She bowed, shook hands and thanked everyone in the order she was instructed in. And then, finally, she descended the stage. Her heart was racing in her chest as she clutched the piece of paper in her hand. She walked out of the building absentmindedly to see Tate standing there, and smiling at her. “Well done, Demon Princess.” He took her in his arms and kissed her passionately, and Lizetta could not think of anything except his warm embrace in that moment. He stepped back, her hand in his and smiled, “Ready to go home?” he asked, and Lizetta nodded, eager to start this next chapter of her life for some reason. Not sure what to attribute this sudden excitement to, she decided to blame the piece of paper she now had. Maybe it was necessary to receive for her to really feel accomplished. Whatever the cause, Lizetta now was excited to see her family, and get started on really living the rest of her life, but behind all of the excitement sat a nagging feeling that something was off. She tried to clear it away, but her sister's engagement still poked at her anxiety constantly. Lizetta shook her head, and decided to focus on the positive and she laughed at Tate tripping over an uneven piece of ground. Things were about to change and Lizetta would be ready for it.