We ended up sharing two slices of cheesecake that day. He showed me the picture he had drawn of me two days after that, and since that day, a week has gone by. My parents had arrived back from wherever they went the day after Ian showed me the picture, but they hadn't ushered us into any royal duties. They actually laughed and smiled when they saw us together, and didn't question when they saw me being hung over Ian's shoulder as he walked in from the garden.

"What way would you like me today, Picasso? I believe you asked for my modeling-" I striked a pose and made some duck lips, making him laugh before he snapped a picture with his camera. "-yesterday. Hey! No pictures!" I quickly ran to him, laughing as I covered the camera with my hands. "I already get enough pictures taken of me by the press. Don't make me get my guards on you too!"

He set his phone down and continued to laugh as I went back to my original spot. "Anyways, name it."

"I change my mind. I want to do something else."

I pouted for the shortest of seconds as I brought my hands down from my face and sighed, "So what do you want to do today?"

"I want to take you out on a date."

My foot got caught on thin air and I went forward, about to land on my face if he hadn't caught me.

"Excuse me, what did you say?" I gasped once he released me.

He kept a small, even smile on his face as he repeated the same words. "I-" he pointed to himself. "Want to take you-" he pointed to me. "On a date."

My mouth was opening and closing, no words coming out. I quickly closed it, gulped loudly, and then forced out two words. "But why?"

He shrugged and grabbed my hand, pulling me out from my trance. "Just cause I want to, that's why. So will you?"

"Will I what?" I whispered through unmoving lips as he continued to stare at me.

"Go on a date with me." He stared at me with a small smile on his lips. His fingers began to play with mine, and I looked down at our intertwined hands.

"Okay," I finally breathed, still staring at our hands, and squeezed it. He mimicked my action, and I looked up to see his once before small smile was now full blown out. A smile spread across my lips, but I quickly looked away, my cheeks flaming when I caught his sight. "What time?"

He thought about it for a few seconds. "Mmm, give me two hours."

I nodded. "Casual or fancy?"

"Comfortable. I don't think we will be leaving the grounds so soon without any proper warning to the guards. I'll pick you up by your room."

I raised an eyebrow at him and joked. "You're going to drive a car in the hallway?"

He threw his head back and laughed, shaking it as he brought it back down. "You know what I mean. I'll be back soon." Without much thought, he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of my lips and released my hand, walking away with a small hop to his step. I stared at his retreating back until he disappeared around the corner, and I didn't realize a stupid grin was plastered on my face until I relaxed.

I stood in the exact same spot for more time required to do so, so when I realized he was long gone and I was still there, I palmed my face. Picking up the heels I had discarded a few feet away when we first entered the room, I zoomed to my room, dropping them in a corner of the closet. I made a wide circle, finger in my chin as I looked at everything I owned. Arlene was on vacation, so she wasn't there to help me, but that didn't mean I was out there looking like trash. I was actually trying to look decent; I guess all those years of her dressing me like a princess, it rubbed off and I was doing it automatically.

"Comfortable... well shorts are comfortable... but so is a dress...." I spoke softly to myself. "This is a date... so a dress."

I turned to another corner, where all my plain dresses were located and immediately eyed the one I was going to wear. A cute, but simple checkered, elbow length sleeved dress with a thin black belt. My hands automatically grabbed the black ballet flats on the bottom shelves of the shoe rack, and I nodded at the choice.

Now, only to wait for the time to come...

~~~~

"This is so stupid!" I argued as I waved my hands in front of me. I could hear him laughing softly, but still guiding my blind ass to the destination he had placed as our date. "Why am I blindfolded again? Why did I agree to go blindfolded?"

"So you can get the full experience. You already know your place by memory, but you haven't and won't see what I did until we get there." He paused as my fingers skimmed a wall, startling me. Behind the ribbon that was over my eyes, I glared at him. "Besides, bonus for me, making you look silly."

"Asšhole..." I muttered under my breath but he heard it. I heard his laughter as the air around us raised by a few degrees, and the soft hum of the ac being replaced by nature's air.

"We are outside..." I exclaimed as I dropped my hands to my side.

"Yes. Do you know which doors we came out of?"

I grinned at his playful manner. "No smart ass. I can automatically cancel out the main doors, and some side ones as those have steps. I haven't fallen down on MY-" the floor suddenly dipped down, and I yelped as he cursed.

"Fück, sorry!" He grabbed onto my elbow as I stood back up, and wobbled down the last two steps. I knew exactly where we were now.

"That wasn't very nice." I rubbed the elbow he was holding. "That hurt."

"Sorry. I forgot and wasn't paying attention."

I turned my head towards the sound of his voice as we continued walking. "Then what were you looking at?"

He didn't answer. I felt his grip tighten for a few seconds, before he relaxed and paused. He moved me a few feet to the side, and then stood behind me.

"We are here. Ready?" I nodded and he quickly untied the ribbon. As soon as I felt it loosen, I opens my eyes, and blinked rapidly as they tried to get accustomed to the sudden change in light. When they did, they widened at the scene, and my head snapped towards his figure, —he had moved to my side as soon as I could see.

"A picnic?" I raised an eyebrow up at him. "If I remember correctly, our last picnic didn't end up so great."

He grinned as he remembered. "But that wasn't a date. This is." My heart soared at his words. "This time, I won't push you into the water, pinky promise." He held out his pinky and I laughed.

"The water part was bad, but the deal wasn't. Want to make a bet again?" I asked as we sat down on the blanket that was laid down on the perfectly cut grass next to a tree.

He was rummaging through the basket, pulling out assortments of crackers, cheeses and fruits. He pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses, and winked at me as I stared at him in disbelief. "Sure. What do we have to do?"

I thought about it as I popped a grape into my mouth. I relaxed, my elbows resting on the ground as I stretched out and stared into the clear blue sky.

As my eyes darted to the tree, I grinned and pointed to it with my head as I sat up. "Tree climbing."

He looked surprised. "But you're wearing a dress..."

"And? Afraid to get beat by a girl wearing a dress?" I taunted and he glared at me.

"You're so on. How high?"

"As high as you can. I would have said both of us at the same time, but the branches aren't evenly separated and it won't be fair."

"Done. You or me?" He stood up, clapping his hands together to get rid of any crumbs.

"You're already up. You can go." I flickered my fingers up at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Lazy woman. Don't eat my cheese!" He pointed to his plate as he walked away.

"I make no promises!"

He managed to make it a third of the way up before he lost his footing and almost fell down. He managed to grab himself with one hand on a branch, giving me a heart attack at the same time my mind said, "That's hot and impressive!"

"Are you ok?" I screamed up at him as I stood right underneath the spot he was at.

He pulled himself up with one hand, and safely sat in the branch. He wiggled his right hand, frowning at something in his palm before he looked down at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Coming down." He managed to climb down safely, and once he was in front of me, I grabbed his hand to inspect it. He had a few splinters, and a few scratches, but nothing bad.

"My turn. Don't look up or you'll see my underwear."

He laughed as he sat down. "You didn't wear any shorts?"

"You can see the outline of shorts through this dress, plus I didn't really plan on climbing a tree." I huffed as I pulled myself up. Since I wasn't doing stuff anymore, I was finding it hard to pull myself up, and I wasn't liking it.

"Gaining a little weight there?" He laughed as I sat on a branch and it groaned.

"Shut your mouth and stuff it with a cheese!" I yelled as I carefully stood up. When I tried to take another step up, my foot slipped, but I managed to grab onto the side, so I didn't move.

"Damn it! Get down here before you fall!"

"No!" I took off my shoes and dropped them, —well more like flung them towards his destination— and smiled in triumph when one hit his head.

"Ouch! That hurt!"

"Payback hurts, huh?" I chuckled as I climbed even higher, now easier to get a hold. When I my head was below the branch he slipped, I gulped and noticed it was higher than I could reach. Even on my tiptoes, I could barely reach it, but I couldn't get a good grip on it. I could try and find another way, but that wouldn't be fair since he had done the exact same thing.

"Damn it..."

I heard his laughter from down on the floor. "Shorty. Get your butt down here!"

"No! I can't let you win again!" I knew I had lost, but I didn't want to admit it.

I heard him sigh. "Please come down here Charlotte. Don't get hurt."

I looked up at the branch one more time before I sighed and began to climb down. When I was a few feet away from the floor, I jumped the remaining way, and grunted as my ankles took all my weight.

"Charlotte! What the fück!"

"I'm fine." I rubbed my ankles and winced slightly, but ignored it. They werent sprained or broken, just a bit sore.

"We will see here in a few hours. If they turn purple, your mother will kill me."

"She doesn't need to know. Now, what do you want?"

He frowned as I ignored his hand for help, but rubbed his chin as he thought. "I don't know. I'll tell you when I think of it." He grinned and I couldn't help but smile as well.

The rest of our date, we spent it throwing grapes into each other's mouth, and getting a bit tipsy with the second bottle of wine he went to go retrieve. By the time all the food was gone, we were starving for a real meal, and the sun was beginning to set.

I stretched as I stood back up, giving him my back, and slipped my shoes back on. "This has been one of the most relaxing days I've had in years. A wonderful date."

"I know what I want." I turned around, only to freeze when I saw he was a few inches away from me. Instead of moving away, I stopped breathing as one of his hands went around my waist, while the other one wound around my neck. "I know what I want as my payment," he whispered as our eyes locked.

No one moved. We stayed in that position for another ten seconds, both of us still not breathing, before he slowly, oh so slowly, inch forward. When his nose skimmed mine, and his eyes flickered down to my lips, I managed to whisper, "And what is that?"

"A kiss," he murmured as he pressed his lips upon mine.

And this time, I did kiss him back.

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Not edited.

Just a warning, I am ending this book soon (like the ending is approaching.) Maybe 5, 6 more chapters, but that's it!! I already have the next chapter ready for y'all, but I won't post it till next week.

Hope you enjoyed this one, and I can't wait to read your comments. See you soon!

-Gris ♥️