Chapter 29: Fading

~Malia~

We had spent the entire rest of the afternoon laying on the green grass on a riding blanket that Louis had laid out for us and just enjoyed each other's company, relishing the rest of the late afternoon sun as it crested over the clouds and cast beautiful golden rays across the rest of the field.

We hadn't kissed again the entire time we were 'alone' in the field, he just held me in his arms in a beautifully comforting silence and it was the most intimate thing I had ever done, just allowing him to hold me while we listened to the bugs slowly chirping away and the horses whinnying and snorting.  I was the most relaxed yet the most nervous anytime I was in close proximity with him, almost as if my head couldn't catch up to my heart.

The only dampener of the day was when we had to leave, and that was when he gave me a chaste kiss on my lips that still tingled from the feel of it.  Mar had been waiting at the door of course expecting a play by play but I had been tight lipped as my grandparents were in the sitting room and could probably hear everything we were saying and I really didn't want them privy to my romantic life, but Mar was a different story.

She reminded me so much of my mother that it almost physically hurt every single time that I saw her, but it was a good pain, one that reminded me I was still human.

So when she showed up to my room the next morning as I was getting ready for school, I didn't skimp on the details.

Dressed for the day in a jade green blouse and tan dress pants, she looked even more like my mother than she ever did considering she was wearing my mom's favorite color.

"Alright, so what's going on with you and the Prince now, for real this time?"

She leaned her hip against the jam of my door and I bit my lip as a treacherously large smile threatened to break my entire face in half.

"Honestly...I think we're dating, but he hasn't really said the words yet...but he holds my hand in public, so I think that counts?  I don't really know, but he makes me happy Mar, and I told him everything."

Her eyes widened in surprise at my last admonition.

"Wow, everything, huh?  That's a pretty big step, are you sure you were ready for that?"

I pretended to think about her question for a moment before responding in earnest, "Yes, I do.  It was time to get it out there and finally tell someone who isn't family or a therapist or social worker.  I needed to confide in him about it."

She blew out a breath of air that puffed a piece of dark hair away from her face, an action that my mom used to do all the time and it was so unexpected that it brought fresh tears to my eyes.

"What's wrong?"

She rushed forward to place a comforting hand on my arm, blue eyes filled with concern.  Same blue eyes, same dark hair, same freckles, even.

I sniffled.

"Nothing, its just something mom used to do all the time when she was frustrated or annoyed or something, what you just did with your hair.  Just brought me back is all," I conceded, hoping this wouldn't make her think I needed weekly therapy sessions like they wanted me to take when I had first arrived.

"Oh honey, I miss her so much too.  I think of all of those years that I missed out on when she was in America raising you, dealing with that scumbag husband for so long.  I wanted to reach out but I couldn't get anything past our parents.  By the time you were fifteen, it seemed like they were ready to bury the hatchet but she wasn't having it.  I reached out to her but she practically laughed in my face.  The last thing she said to me was that there was no hope for us, that she'd never forgive me for what we did to her, abandoning her the way we did..." Mar trailed off her words and I could see the tears that threatened to fall and ruin her perfect makeup.

"It's kind of sad, but I can't remember the last thing we said to each other.  You know most people would have that memory ingrained in their minds forever, but I can't seem to call the memory to my mind.  I'm sure it was something mundane like me saying goodbye to her in the morning when I went to school, but I don't remember the last time we said 'I love you'."

She wrapped me up in a hug that I desperately needed in that moment, silent tears making the short trek down my face and onto her beautiful green top.

"It will fade, right?  This horrible pain I feel every time I think about her?"

Mar pulled away from me, her face a mess of mascara.

"I hope so, sweetie.  I feel it too, but we have each other to lean on when it hits hard like this, okay?"

I nodded, wiping my eyes and smiling a bit through the pain.

"Oh gosh, now I've made you a mess for school.  Here, let me do your makeup, we can deal with mine later," she told me, and for a moment I could pretend that it was just me and my mom, her doing my makeup for a regular day at school.

But then I realized that thinking Mar could take her place was wrong, so I just let my aunt do my makeup in beautiful perfection, foundation and concealer hiding any imperfections and blush making me appear more colorful and vibrant.

When it was time for school, I felt like I looked almost like a different version of Malia, a more polished version ready to face the world.

We hugged and I left for the town car sitting out front, half wishing Gordon was the driver and Louis was in the front but remembered he wouldn't be at school that day since his agenda was full of meetings and press conferences pertaining to the recent bombing.

A royal's life was always complicated, and I wondered if he had room in his life for someone like me...

*******

~Louis~

He absolutely dreaded the meetings where he had to sit outside like a petulant child who was awaiting punishment for an immature deed.

"You don't have the clearance level needed for this one, why don't you sit outside and I'll brief you once its over on a need-to-know basis," his father had told him, walking into the meeting behind his grandparents, the King and Queen.

He couldn't stop his mind from wandering to Malia, and how she was doing at school.  He wished he could've deepened their last kiss, allowed his mouth to explore hers and his hands to do the same to her fragile body, but he knew more than one person was watching their exchange goodbye, and he didn't want her to get into anymore trouble because of him.

He glared at Henry who sat across from him, and should have been thanking his lucky starts that his other guard, Daniel, was on a different shift that day, because Louis would have loved nothing more than to wring his neck with his own bare hands.

After hearing the truth of what had happened between him and Malia, Louis went home and looked him up, trying to learn everything he could about him.

And then he searched her step father, the worthless, evil excuse for a human that had escaped from prison for abusing his own step daughter, the same girl that had been in his life since she was a baby.  Louis couldn't understand what would make him do such terrible things to her, one of the most compassionate and beautiful souls he'd ever met.

She was the complete opposite to Louis, a boy attempting to turn into a man with no guidance but flocks of paparazzi and screaming women that made him choose the wrong path on more than one occasion.

Malia was good and light, and Louis was filled with a darkness that he didn't understand or know how to control.

He had to be careful with her, to not let her see just how broken he really was on the inside from the ghosts of his past.

A high pitched ringing sounded off from someone's phone nearby and he almost shouted at the owner of the cellphone to knock it off, until he realized that it was his own phone in his back pocket ringing relentlessly.

He didn't remember setting such a strange ringtone.

His eyebrows furrowed when he glanced at the number, realizing with a start that it wasn't already programmed in.  That wasn't supposed to happen, especially with a line as secure as his own.

Gordon had made sure that the only people with access to it were immediate family and anyone deemed extremely important, which obviously included Malia.

Gordon always had his other phone with the other number that he would give to less important people and once random girls started calling the line they threw it away and got a new one, which usually happened about once a week.

The number calling him at that moment, however, was an unknown number with an unknown area code.

He gulped slightly before answering, "Who is this?  How do you have this number?"

"Louis?" It was Malia.  Her voice sounded terrified, and thick with tears.

"Malia, what's wrong?  What's going on?"

He was up to his feet in an instant, his free hand shoved in his hair in anxiety.

"I need you to come to the school, or send Gordon or something.  I need hel-"

Her voice cut off as the phone call ended, and obviously he hit the redial but the line was disconnected.

"Gordon!"

He was at his side in a moment.

"Take this phone and trace that number and see who it belongs to.  While you're doing that, we need to get to the school.  I think Malia's in danger."

********

Author's Note:

And so the plot thickens again!!!

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Until next time my lovely readers,

Kristen :)