Story of Us

Chapter 12 : Amber

The cold breeze moved her dress as she stared at the horizon from the balcony in the north wing of the palace. The firework display had eased her tension away a little bit yet a dreadful feeling still sank at the bottom of her stomach.

Someone knocked on the glass door, making her turn to them.

"How long have you been there?" she asked.

"Not too long," Damien smiled at her, "I was worried, so I came to see if you were okay."

"You know? The last couple of days I've heard that question more than I can count. But I'm fine, it just felt a little too crowded in the room, and I needed to breathe."

"I get it," he muttered and she knew there was a deeper meaning to his remark but decided to not ask, at least not yet.

No one said anything for a while. They just stared at the sunset in silence with the faint music in the background.

"Do you remember that one time, I spent all afternoon looking for you in the woods but you were laughing at me all along?"

She was stunned he remembered that. When they were kids, they used to play hide and seek in the woods, and one day she pulled a prank on him; he spent hours looking for her, thinking she got lost.

"You remember that?"

"I remember everything," he said, "I know you don't trust me and it will take time before you do, but what you say if we get out of here... Just like old times?"

She must've been insane to even contemplate the idea but, at that moment, she chose to forget everything else and follow her heart.

He matched her smile and pulled her through the corridors, taking their shoes off and running outside; their feet hitting the grass and hair moving with the wind.

"You're going too fast," she laughed.

The next thing she knew, she was being pulled down and fell on top of him. They stared intently at each other; her heart pounding and her breath hitching at the back of her throat at their closeness.

His warm hand brushed her cheek and tucked her hair behind her ear, closing the distance between them with a kiss. Her mind went blank and sparks shot through her body as his lips moved against hers.

"I caught you," he whispered when they broke away, pressing his forehead on hers. She was stunned but quickly steadied herself, taking a big breath.

"I should go back–"

"Stay," he pleaded, "I think we should... uh... talk?"

An awkward silence set between them as they sat on the cold grass, looking at the starry night above them and only one question kept repeating itself in her head.

"Why didn't you say goodbye?"

"After I told you we couldn't see each other anymore, I didn't think you would've listened to anything I had to say."

"But what happened, Damien? Why couldn't we be friends anymore and why did you go away? I still don't get it."

"You have lots of questions, huh?" he laughed lightly, "you already know that I barely talk with my father or Philip... well, I was jealous of you. I wanted a family, a relationship like yours and your father."

Amber couldn't believe what he was saying. Nonetheless, it did make sense; he was a stranger in his own house, and to see her and her father have such a close relationship it had to hurt him somehow.

"After our picnic that day," he continued, "my father came to me and told me that I had to stop seeing you and I thought that if I stopped being around you for a while, he would somehow pay attention to me for once."

"And that's why you told me we couldn't be friends? because your father asked you to."

He nodded before continuing, "But my father, being him, didn't make any effort, so I decided to leave and finish my studies abroad."

"If that was the case, why didn't you call me after you left?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't answer any of my calls."

She couldn't blame him for what he did because she would've done the same thing in order to keep her family together, no matter the consequences. 

The next couple of hours, they talked and laughed like old times.

She woke up cuddled up to a sound asleep Damien, and she took a moment to look at him; his long eyelashes resting together, his even breathing, and the strands of hair that had fallen onto his face during the night. Not too long after, his eyes opened and focused on her with a smile spreading across his face.

"Morning," he whispered huskily.

"Morning," she smiled, "I have to go back to the bakery."

"Sure, I'll go with you."

It was too early for anyone to be outside or for any shops to be opened, luckily, she found the spare key to the back of the bakery.

"It's been a while since I've been in here, but it sure smells the same," Damien said.

"Yes, it smells like sugar, vanilla, and bread; the perfect combination."

Amber went to the front to see if somebody was there but neither her father nor Avery was there. When she turned around, Damien smirked weirdly at her, and out of nowhere, a handful of flour was thrown to her face.

"Very funny," she wiped her face off, walking towards the powdered sugar, and in a swift motion; she threw it at his face.

She laughed at him but soon stopped when two eggs were cracked on the top of her head and the yolk running down from her face to her dress.

"Damien, I missed you so much, give me a hug."

He was taken aback at her sudden gesture until he realized what she was trying to do, "you are not getting near me like that."

"But I missed you, didn't you miss me?" she ran to him and wrapped her arms around him, making sure she smeared the rest of the egg on his face.

"I did miss you a lot," he said, tightening his arms around her.

Someone cleared their throat behind them, and they quickly let go of each other. Her father stood in the doorway, amusedly looking at their romantic exchange; Amber felt herself going bright red, while Damien chuckled next to her but she elbowed him.

"I'm definitely not surprised, although, I expected Damien to make a move way before."

Now it was Damien's turn to blush. She knew exactly what her father was doing; he was trying to make them as uncomfortable as possible.

"I... uh... I mean, we were not–" Damien stuttered awkwardly.

"No explanations please," he joked, "I don't want to hear about you and my daughter–"

"Okay, Dad, we get it," she stopped him before he could embarrass her any further.

"By the way, both of you should go change," he said.

"Sure, either way, I have to deal with my father's interrogation... Uh, bye, Tom."

"What was that?" she asked after Damien left.

"Don't worry about it, I love that guy like a son," her father said.

"Okay, I'll go home and take a shower, see you later," she kissed him goodbye.