Stay

Chapter 38

"I'm scared of the unknown future."
~Bethenny Frankel

Will

After going through what I could only describe as the five stages of grief over losing my friendship with Annalise, I hit the ground running. I set my sights on the horizon of the ever-looming future when I'd be King. Our timeline for my ascension was pushed forward after the news about my father leaked. It wasn't by much, but it still gave me less time than I had before.

Charity events.

Television appearances.

Meetings with foreign dignitaries.

Cabinet meetings.

Over the next three months, I did it all. I never gave myself a break, fearing if I did, I'd start thinking about my failures and the echo of Annalise's last words.

God help us when that happens.

Annalise had been right about everything. It scared me to think she'd be right about my reign as King.

I still checked my phone with the hopes that one day, she'd reach out. I doubted it, but hope was all I had left.

I never told Lorraine I continued reaching out to Annalise because she still believed Annalise ratted out my father. I didn't, and the argument was an elephant in the room for us.

Otherwise, Lorraine stayed by my side through everything, and I leaned heavily on her for support. I never realized how much I relied on Annalise until she'd left, and James too. He'd distanced himself from me after the scandal, and I couldn't blame him. He wasn't rude to me, and it's not like he wouldn't talk to me, but our friendship was different now. On top of that, Everly, the cousin I'd always been closest to, now only spoke to me when necessary. She hit me a while back, completely out of the blue, but I knew what it was for.

Treating Annalise like shit that day.

Now all I had was Lorraine.

It wasn't a bad thing, having her. She was a godsend. But there were things I didn't want to tell her. It wasn't like when I had Annalise, James, and Everly in my corner. If I couldn't tell one of them, I could tell the other. I missed having them around. Worst of all, my feelings for Lorraine weren't what they used to be. I loved her for being there for me, but my romantic feelings were rapidly disappearing. Our relationship had run its course, but I couldn't bring myself to dump the one person who still believed in me.

Finally, and unfortunately, my schedule opened up. I used the time to work out. I hadn't been out of shape, but I sure as hell wasn't in shape either. I figured it'd be hard to focus on anything else when I was trying to focus on breathing and not dying from exhaustion.

For two hours, I worked out, doing anything and everything I could to keep my mind occupied. But once the two-hour mark hit, I finished. I was bored, tired, and thirsty.

Pushing myself up from the mat, I made my way to the kitchen where, to my surprise, I found Everly and James chatting merrily away.

My cousin's face fell when she saw me, but James smiled and said, "Hey, man."

"What are you two gossiping about?" I asked.

They shared a look at each other, neither able to hide their giddiness. Finally, Everly said, "I'm-"

"Will?" Lorraine spoke up from the doorway, fiddling her hands nervously. "Can I speak to you?"

"Of course. Ev, hold that thought. I'll be back, okay?" I said. She sighed and nodded. I knew she didn't like Lorraine, so there was that tension too. I'd been meaning to ask Everly about her dislike for Lorraine, but feared it'd turn into an argument. I'd run off enough people in my life, and I was already on thin ice with Everly. I didn't want to risk making it worse.