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Sunset

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Chapter 26: Sunset (Ronan's POV)

The next day when I woke up, she was still sleeping beside me. I closed my eyes again letting out a soft sigh while rubbing my eyes and then pressing down on my temples.

"Are you hungover because I made you drink?" 

I turned to look at her when she spoke. 

Her eyes were still closed, but obviously, she's awake. She opened her eyes while she lay on her stomach, hugging the pillow that was under her chin. 

"You didn't make me drink. I ended up wanting to drink," I replied, staring at her while she closed her eyes again. "Are you hungover?" I asked. 

"A little. Not really." She propped herself up on her elbows and looked at me. "Please tell me you remember everything." 

I scanned her face before feigning confusion. "Bits and pieces, what... what happened?" 

She rolled her eyes, not believing me. I blinked once, twice, not reacting until she genuinely seemed concerned. "Do you really not remember?" 

"No. Remind me." I inched closer to her. 

She sighed, giving me a push and lying back down, turning her face away from me. 

I bit back a laugh and put an arm around her waist, pulling her closer until my chest was pressed against her back. "Grace," I mumbled. 

"I'm sleeping," she said monotonously. 

"Okay," I said slowly, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. She rolled back over about a minute later, scooting closer to me while she slowly fell back asleep. It was barely seven, we had plenty of time, so I went back to sleep as well. 

We woke up much later. I woke up at eleven-ish and she woke up at none, by then I had already showered and freshened up. I was making brunch when she came downstairs, wearing a pink sundress with her hair thrown up into a ponytail. "Hello," she sang, walking around the counter and standing beside me, looking at what I was cooking. 

"Hello," I mumbled, turning off the stove as I finished up before turning to face her. 

She stared up at me, smiling. "Can we take some snacks for the picnic?" 

"Hmm, of course," I nodded. "I'll make some things later, would you like to help?" 

"No, I'd like to watch," she chuckled. 

"Okay," I laughed softly, grabbing two plates and putting our food on the counter. Neither of us moved to sit and eat it though, we just stood there staring at each other. "Morning," I smiled. 

"Morning," she beamed at me while going on her toes. 

I leaned down, kissing her slowly while placing a finger under her chin and tilting it up. We broke away after a while and I pecked her lips once before we sat down and ate. "Let's leave at three, does that work?" I asked while we lingered in the kitchen. 

She nodded slowly, staring at me. 

"What?" I asked, tucking her hair behind her ear. 

"You're not wearing your uniform, that's all. I'm just taking more time to observe that." 

"And is that something to observe?" I chuckled, holding either side of her face while leaning against the counter with her standing right in front of me. 

She nodded, pulling my hands down and holding onto them. "You look handsome in it, this is different. Good different," she sang, glancing at my clothes, her eyes raking me up and down. 

I looked down at my black v-neck and jeans. "What do you like better?" I lifted a brow at her. 

"I feel like I shouldn't answer this, it seems like a trick question." Her eyes narrowed. 

"It's not a trick question. More to just figure something out about you." 

"Figure out what?" 

"What you like, how you like me better." 

"My preference on your clothes only tells you what I think you look better in. And you shouldn't change it just because I say either, which I know you won't.  But you act the same. I know you'd probably think you don't, but I know you enough to know that the same thoughts run in your head," she replied, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the sink across from me. "You're letting me in while we're here, I know that. But I feel like you're still thinking about the mess we left behind in the palace. Are you?" 

"I'll answer you if you answer me," I shrugged. 

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "As much as I love you like this, I like the uniform," she whispered, while I tugged her closer. 

"I knew it," I smirked. 

"Now answer me," she chuckled. "Are you still thinking about it?" She brushed my hair back. 

"Hmm," I nodded. "I'm thinking about who's trying to hurt you, what we can really do about it. I'm thinking if stepping down is really the solution, where you'd go once you do that. I'm thinking about what's going to happen to us when we go back to the palace in a few days." 

"That last one is the worst," she mumbled. 

"It's really not, Princess. I'm trying to figure it all out before we get back so once we do, we have a plan." 

"Can I help?" 

"Just tell me if something comes into your head. And don't do anything stupid when we go back like pissing off the wrong people." 

"Can we postpone the engagement again?" 

"Probably not. But we could delay the wedding. We should definitely delay the wedding," I murmured the last bit. It's selfish but I could use the extra time if I really want to stay with her after all this. If I see a life with her, if I want to really be with her, despite all the trouble we would probably get in. Maybe we'll run from her wedding. That's not what the problem is, the problem is what would happen after. 

I know for a fact that her parents and maybe even the James family will send people after us, to bring her back and to probably kill me on the spot. I just have to figure out how we can escape and manage not to be hunted down. If they bring her back, there's no doubt in my mind that she'll be forced to marry Lucas, even if they have to drag her to the altar. And I won't be alive to protect her. And that situation needs to be avoided at all costs. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

We couldn't risk being followed down to the lake, so we borrowed my grandfather's old car and now we're here. We settled at a spot by the water where I put down the blanket and she held onto the food basket we brought, both of us sitting down. 

"It looks so pretty, Ronan. I haven't been here in so long," she sighed, looking around. At the water that sparkled, the sunlight bouncing off of it, at the flowers and berry plants growing nearby. She pulled her knees in, resting her arms on them. While she stared at the view, I stared at her. She looked so beautiful. She really looks like a princess. Textbook definition, the kind little girls want to be when they grow up. 

Looking at her, being around her, I can see that she doesn't hate being a princess and that's not what she wants to give up. It's all the risks that come with it, all the unfair aspects of it. I still don't know if giving up her birthrights would be the solution, but she claims to genuinely want to quit royalty. 

I hope we can find a loophole. A way for us to be together without her title and family and situation interrupting. 

We talked for a long time. We ate the chocolate strawberries we made earlier and we had some iced tea. After a while, she put her head down in my lap, staring at me. I looked down, twirling a strand of her hair around my finger. "What if someone saw us here?" she asked softly. 

"Then we'd be in a lot of trouble, with a lot of explaining to do." 

"Would we run?" 

I sighed, just watching her silently. "Grace, do you really think running from a problem is always the right solution?" 

"It's not the right solution, it's the easy solution. And life isn't meant to be so hard. I just don't think it's a bad thing to take the easy way out sometimes. And I've had my fair share of trauma, I want it to be easy now." 

"Everything? You want everything easily?" 

"Hmm," she nodded. 

"That's not possible, is it, Princess?" 

"That's the part I hate. I don't know. I don't understand why nobody's ever on my side. Nobody is. It's always been me against everybody else and I don't even know what I did wrong, I don't why I'm treated like this." 

"You didn't do anything wrong. And it's because you've held out for so long and because you're a good person, everything will work out for you the way you want it." 

"Really?" She smiled. 

"Hmm," I nodded. I hoped so and I don't believe in God but I pray for it too. 

She turned her head, still smiling, and stared at the water. In her soft pink dress, with her hair pinned back on two sides, and a natural blush on her face, she genuinely seemed happy today. Maybe that's what makes her such a princess. That when she's happy, it's genuine. She's just kind and sweet to the bone. People see it as a weakness, but Grace makes it her strength. And that's why she's the adored princess of Astella. Because she's so incredibly her. 

She turned to look at me, a new, excited look on her face. "Do you want to swim?" 

"What?" I laughed. 

"We have time until sunset. Let's swim."

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Chapter 26

I know this book is fast-paced and I've started making my books a bit shorter, but the next will be long, I swearrrr. It's been a while since I wrote a book I was SUPER invested in and hopefully Love Me Never will be like that.

This book will probably be finished by 32-35 chapters.

And I'll update Consumed when I feel like it y'all I'M SORRY but it's hard to go back to a book once you move on from it yk.

Hopefully, I do finish it lmao

I probably will, it'll just be slower than I did Sweet Disaster

also pls tag me if you see any of my books being mentioned on Instagram, thank you <33

next chapter: you