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LEAH WOKE EARLY, THOUGH NOT as early as she normally would.
No servants knocked on her door. No breakfast bell rang through the halls. As much as a pampered life was superior in some ways, it couldn’t hold a candle to waking up next to Marcus.
She watched his chest rise and fall. This wasn’t their first time sharing a bed, but it was the first time they’d actually spent the whole night together.
Her happiness wavered. Had she placed all her happiness on him? Did she lean on him too much? His reputation, now his money? His kindness? Was she just using him again?
What had he told her two years ago when they’d broken up? ‘I’m not your crutch.’
Closing her eyes, she pushed out those memories. She’d deserved his anger. And she’d done her best to make her own way, right? She’d become studious, without needing him to keep her on track like he had in high school.
Though ... now she might become the equivalent of a college dropout.
She breathed deeply, restoring her smile and focusing on his face. Leaning over, she gently pressed her lips against his. It took him a moment, but he soon kissed back, sliding his hands along her back to pull her in. He moaned, deepening the kiss.
After a minute or two of kissing, he gazed into her eyes, smiling wide. “First time being kissed awake... That’s something I could get used to.”
She agreed.
His hand trailed to her hip. “There’s something else we haven’t had a chance to do in the morning.”
It wasn’t like she needed to worry about birth control tonic anymore. “I vote we give it a try.”
They lay under the covers, sharing a smile. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you too.” They were good at this. She’d slept with enough guys in high school to know the difference, and what Marcus lacked in experience, he made up for with passion and sweetness.
He tickled her exposed shoulder, his mouth agape for a moment. “Please marry me.”
Something in her tightened, and she looked away. Each time someone brought up marriage now, it was like a vise in her chest gripped a smidge tighter. And with each addition of pressure, an anger rose in her, a part of her that fought harder to push back.
Maybe she was emotionally claustrophobic. Was that a thing?
It was probably just the stress of trying to prove herself in the Green Lands, and attempting to follow all the rules laid out for her. If people would stop bringing it up, she wouldn’t push back. Right?
Part of her feared that wasn’t the case. Perhaps she’d met her limit long ago. After an entire childhood of being lied to, of having zero say in where they would live, or when they would move. Of living moving box to moving box, town to town. Of not being allowed to have social media accounts like every single kid her age did. Of losing her friends and being forced to cut ties every time they relocated.
“No,” she said softly, getting out of bed and grabbing a towel. He should understand that he needed to be patient with her. He should understand her by now.
Hadn’t she been clear—crystal clear—years ago when they’d danced together for the first time at a ball, that she would never be the girl Ivy royal society wanted? She’d be herself. She’d dress the way she wanted, and act the way she wanted.
But she’d given in on so many things. And maybe he’d come to love that Leah too much.
She made a beeline for the solar-heated shower.
He got out of bed, following her to the bathroom, stopping her from shutting the door. “Come on.” He frowned. “You act like we’ve never talked about this.”
Sighing, she leaned in the doorway. Was this what he wanted? To get married so they could have sex all the time? To get married to appease the kingdom and his family? To keep his name less tarnished?
Or was he just that nice of a guy? The stay-with-the-girl-you-knocked-up-no-matter-what kind of guy? All obligation?
“We never did talk about this, Marcus. This version of things. Of me getting pregnant years before I was planning to start a family, and then having everyone in the realm pressure me into getting married.”
“I’m not asking because you’re pregnant. I’m asking because I love you.”
In the back of her mind, a voice rose from her childhood, that of a woman in prison. You did this on purpose. You were afraid he would leave. You just don’t want to admit it to yourself.
She swallowed as another voice took its turn. You were always a slut. This was bound to happen. You only exist to burden others.
“Maybe I’ll consider it when people stop pressuring me into it.” She forced the door closed before she began to cry. She spent half her shower doing exactly that—quietly sobbing into her knees.
Leah stepped out with a towel around her. Marcus still waited in the hallway, his head on his knees in a similar fashion to how she’d sat in the shower.
He looked up with a cautious expression. “I’m sorry ... if you feel pressured, okay?”
She averted her gaze. “Thank you.”
Standing, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and took a turn in the shower while she dressed.
They made breakfast together—an apple salad similar to a Waldorf salad, but with a different dressing. They juiced some kittlefruit and oranges to accompany it. Only the repeated thud of the knife on a wooden cutting board really sliced through the thick silence between them.
“I don’t want to fight,” he whispered.
“Me either.”
She took the bowl from his hands, setting it down, and pulled him into a long hug.
It was much needed, as was their refreshing meal. Afterward, they enjoyed some downtime playing a card game.
Leah laid down a card. “Would you mind going back to the market today? At the very least, I do need some new underwear of my own.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah, guess you’re not wearing Cam’s, huh?”
She grimaced. “No. I’ll wash the pair I wore yesterday, but,” she shifted in her seat, “jeans and commando—not so fun.”
Marcus’s grin was mischievous. “If we’re going to share a place, and you’re going to go without wearing those, then I don’t see why you need to wear anything at all.”
He was getting way too comfortable with this lifestyle already. He rarely made her blush, but he’d succeeded. “Stop it.” She pursed her lips. “Does that mean you’re not wearing anything under those pants, either?”
He squinted playfully. “Wanna find out?”
She giggled, throwing a card at him.
Placing her card on the correct pile, he cleared his throat. “No, I had a couple pairs of spare clothes over here already, in case I ever wanted to crash here when we had guests over.”
Lucky for him. He had a stash of clothes at the palace for his visits too.
“I don’t mind going to the market. Though it might be as odd picking you up underwear as it was the...”
The birth control tonic.
“Well, anyway...” He looked at his hand, rearranging his cards. “I’ll pick you up some. Since I only have a couple of pairs here, I’ll swing by my place to get some of my own clothes.”
She internally groaned. Couldn’t they just avoid family? Boycott the rest of the world and live in a reality where it was only the two of them and no pressure? No conflict?
But it would be a waste of money for him to buy new clothes when his parents’ place was only a mile away.
“I’ll try to just slip in and out if I can, okay?”
She nodded.
***
Marcus returned a few hours later, hands full of tote bags holding clothes. Luckily, neither of his parents had been home, so he’d been able to grab some of his own things without any conflict.
Leah rifled through the things he’d gotten her. She couldn’t help but smirk. He was like a kid in a candy store, having bought her a wide array of colors. “Interesting choices,” she commented. “Was there a discount for less fabric?”
He busted out laughing. “That’s what you get for letting me pick.”
She kept smiling, putting them away in a drawer. They honestly weren’t all that different from what she’d often worn in the human world, and she’d felt too awkward to buy that style as the ward of the queen and king. “I’ll let it slide this once.” She winked.
Marcus continued hanging up his clothes, putting a few pieces up on the shelf of the closet. “And if you want more clothes of your own instead of borrowing Cam’s, let me know.”
She perched on the edge of the bed. “I’m fine.” She’d never liked taking charity. Granted, borrowing Camry’s clothes was also accepting charity, but it wasn’t wasteful...
“You are fine,” he said playfully.
It was moments like these that gave her a glimpse of who they used to be amidst the chaos of the last couple of days and weeks. It was almost even better in a way, because they were legitimately sharing a room, and so far, she didn’t hate it in the slightest. As an only child, she’d been worried about having to share.
“What in the?” Marcus reached above his head in the closet, pulling out Leah’s passport. “How did Tobias and Cam get back to the human world if they forgot—”
Leah swallowed, frozen as he flipped it open to read her name.
He looked at her, confused and obviously hurt. “When you were heading to the cave by the palace, you were going to the human world? I thought you were just going to rift to... Well, I guess I didn’t know where...”
She gingerly took the book from his hands, frowning. “I wasn’t going to... Not necessarily... Honestly, I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t know where I was going, either.”
He weakly nodded, but it was clear he didn’t believe her.
“I swear. I wasn’t going to leave you.” She wasn’t going to. Except she kind of had... But it wasn’t like she’d planned on actually leaving him, on breaking things off.
But maybe he thought she was lying again. Because that certainly had never happened in their relationship before...
She set the passport on the bed and stood, taking his face in her hands. “I wasn’t going to leave you.”
He searched her eyes. “Okay.” His voice didn’t hold much more conviction than it had before.
She stole a peck on the lips, and he gave her a half-smile. So she kissed him again and again, hoping to lighten the mood.
“Alright. I get it.” He wore a more convincing smile this time. “Do you want me to put that back up there?”
“Um, don’t worry about it. I’m kinda starving already.” She held him by the waist. “Would you mind fixing a snack for us?”
He stole one more glance at the passport. “Sure.”
Once he left the room, Leah stared at the passport, her heart pounding. The way he’d looked at it made her worried he’d take it so she couldn’t leave.
Picking it up, she ran her thumb over the gold embossing—a blossom surrounded by an ivy leaf resting on a handprint. An old impulse came to visit—one she’d long since tackled and overcome. Stealing, and then hiding the plunder in her bedroom.
It was ridiculous, really. It wasn’t stealing. This passport was hers. But the need for secrecy, for hiding, for keeping herself safe, for relying on herself, came so naturally in the moment.
As more chopping and stirring echoed from the kitchen, Leah scoured the room for a good hiding spot. She ended up tucking it away in Camry’s underwear drawer, assuming Marcus wouldn’t have the guts to search through his sister-in-law’s private things.
She then closed the closet door, and since it had taken her a while to decide on a hiding spot, she busied herself with making the bed.
No sooner had she replaced the pillows than Marcus came back into the room, stirring a large bowl. He glanced at the closed closet, no doubt wondering why it had taken her so long to join him.
She smiled. “I guess I’ve gotten too used to a tidy bed at the palace.”
“Yeah.” He nodded for her to join him. “Come with.”
The rest of the day was spent peacefully. There was a slight bit of anxiety and tension between them, but they were just settling into new circumstances. It was reasonable to assume it would take some adjusting.
She was surprised when they headed to bed that he didn’t want to do more than cuddle, but she wasn’t terribly in the mood, either. It had been a weird day, to say the least.
She didn’t sleep the best, her mind running through all the problems with no solutions in sight. But she did eventually nod off.
Only to be awoken bright and early by a knock on the front door. She stilled, making sure it was actually a knock and not something from her dreams.
Another knock.
“Marcus.” She shook him awake. “Someone’s at the door.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Someone’s at the door.”
Rubbing his face, he groaned. “Yeah. Let me get dressed. I’m not opening doors in boxers anymore.”
He stood, grabbing a pair of pants.
“Marcus?” a male voice called from a distance.
Leah froze. “Is that your dad?”