One in a million (Prequel to 'Bad Blood')

Chapter 18: 'Cheer me up' cake

Cassandra's POV

I was in my room. I was seated on the bed and looked down at the floor. It was done. They hated me. They sent me away, they had never done that before.

I sniffled.

It's all my fault, I shouldn't have told them. I knew it was a bad idea. But I valued honesty in any relationship, I wanted to be open and honest with them. I shouldn't have come here in the first place. I should've stayed in my castle.

Why does it hurt so much? They're not my family, my family's in my castle. Yet, when I fight with my brother, it doesn't hurt half as much as the pain I was feeling right now, after the fight with Alden and Louisa. They're my family. I love them. I care about them. And I hurt them.

I sniffled as tears were streaming down my face.

I guess I better go. They wouldn't look at me the same way anymore. They thought I chose my people over them. Did I? Wasn't it my duty to do so, as a ruler? Shouldn't I have my people's best interest at all times?

I let my head fall more.

Suddenly my bedroom door opened. "Your Highness," Footsteps walked to me before he knelt in front of me. "What's wrong?"

I shrugged.

James carefully reached for my face and made me look at him. He wiped away my tears as he kept looking me in the eyes. "It's going to be alright, Your Highness."

I shook my head. "I ruined it all, James."

He looked so worried. "I'm sure it's all still going to be alright."

I looked down.

"What happened?"

"I had a fight with Alden and Louisa," I sniffled. "I had to leave because of an emergency meeting with the Crown," I sniffled once more. "Apparently, 4 of my people were attacked, robbed and raped by Northerners," I looked at James again and, despite the possible insult towards Northerners, his facial expression remained worried. "They felt personally attacked, but I didn't mean to, I swear." I then started crying.

"I know," He kept caressing my face, wiping away my tears. "And I'm sure they know too. They're not really themselves lately because of the lack of sleep."

I looked at him and sniffled. "You think so?"

He nodded. "They wouldn't ask you to be Felicity's godmother if you didn't mean a lot to them."

I sniffled and slowly calmed down. Maybe he was right...

"We can go talk to them together," He said, gaining my attention. "If you want."

"No," I wiped away my remaining tears. "I'd rather let them be, for now, I don't want to anger them."

"So what will you do then? Avoid them?"

I shrugged.

James frowned before he got up. "Come." He presented me his hand, which I took. He led us out of my room. 

"Where are we going?" I asked as I looked around.

We eventually ended in the empty kitchen, as at this time no one would cook.

I looked at him again. "Why are we here?"

He smiled. "When I don't feel that well, my dad makes me a cake to cheer me up," He then pulled me closer to the worktable. "So that's what we'll do."

I looked at him and saw him taking all kinds of ingredients. "A cake?"

"Yeah," He had placed many ingredients on the table. "We'll make it together," He then looked at me and smiled. "And I assure you, you'll feel better afterwards."

I didn't know how to bake, I didn't know how to handle myself in his presence but I didn't fight his suggestion. Because he cared. He cared about me and he tried to help me. I smiled at him. "I can't wait to taste our cake."

"Neither can I," He smiled. "Come here," He motioned to the worktable. "I won't be making the cake on my own."

"I wouldn't want you to."

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Sometime later, the cake was done. James pulled the cake out of the oven and gently placed it on the table. "Here you go, Your Highness."

I looked at the cake and licked my lips. "It smells amazing, James."

He nodded. "We made a great cake," He then took the cake and sliced a piece for me. "Here you go, Your Highness."

I smiled as I looked at the beautiful piece of cake in front of me. I took it and took a bite from it. I then smiled.

"See," James smiled at me. "You're smiling already."

"You were right," I put my piece of cake down again. "This is amazing," I smiled at him. "Thank you for this."

"Hey, thank yourself," He took a bite too. "You made it."

"We made it," I leaned in closer to him. "We did an amazing job."

James looked at me, a look in his eyes. "We did," He seemed to think about something. I could see he was in thoughts. "I'm happy you're feeling better."

I nodded.

When we had both finished our slice of cake, we got up and left the kitchen. We walked to the garden again where we sat down in the grass again.

James started pulling out grass again. I chuckled at that, gaining his attention. "It's good to see you smile again, Your Highness."

I smiled a bit and looked down. "Thanks to you, James," I then looked at him. "I enjoy your company, I like the time we spend together."

He smiled shyly. "Me too."

I looked down again, blushing. I gulped. "But every time you talk to me, I'm reminded of our boundaries," I paused and gulped again. "James," I looked at him and noticed him look at me. His eyes were focused solely on me. He made me feel like a queen, like I was all that matter right here and right now. I gulped once more. "Call me Cassandra, please."

He gulped too, it was clear there was something here. Was he feeling the same things as I was? Or was he just uncomfortable because of what I had said? "W-why?"

I kept looking into his eyes. "Because I hate the distance my title brings. I don't want any distance between us, James," I gulped before looking down. I can't believe I'm saying this. "James, I..." I took a deep breath before looking at him, and all I saw were his loving eyes.

"Yes?"

And I couldn't fight it anymore. I couldn't and wouldn't fight it anymore. I caressed his face before planting my lips onto his.