#Princess Diaries AU

[sboochi]

It is complete! They move!

Nevermind the character model inconsistencies and the fact that I had no idea of what I was doing most of the time lol

(Based on the fountain scene from Princess Diaries 2,,,, with changes)

[artsylittlebi]

lil duncney fanart based on my princess diaries au idea

it's been a while since i've drawn anything besides school projects so it was really fun! let me know what you think

[pearlypairings]

✨Photocheer Princess Diaries AU ✨

THIS AU IS GENIUS EMPRESSS~

Okay, so....

I think Jonathan would have to be Mia/the secret heir to the Genovian throne. Our outcast emo boy with an eccentric single mom? Works perfectly here~ he'd get a little style makeover (a proper haircut at least lol)!

Chrissy would be his best friend's twin sister, whose been totally crushing on him in secret for years. He's completely oblivious to it because she seems like she'd only be into preppier things since she's in cheer and loves pop music. But she loves his down to earthness, his art, and the way he talks about the world needing change.

Jonathan would really struggle with the transition toward his royal lessons. Having lived on the line of poverty most of his life, the frivolity of these etiquette rules seem ridiculous and out-of-touch with how real people live. This tension would come to a head with his grandmother (Has to still be Julie Andrew bc she's an actual queen, sorry lol) and they'd argue over its relevance.

Joe, the security guard, would still be very paternal and protective of Jonathan. I think it would be actually lovely for him to finally have that male figurehead look out for him rather than always being the responsible one.

annnnd finally back to the romance, Jonathan would have had a minor crush on Carol. Once it gets out there that he's a prince, all the relationship dynamics would shift! He'd have to sacrifice time he'd normally spend with his bestfriend and Chrissy for lessons and events, but also be tempted when his own crush starts inviting him out to parties he's never been invited to before. Carol takes advantage of his position to kiss him on camera for her 15 minutes of fame, upsetting Chrissy and disappointing his grandmother. In the midst of deciding whether or not to renounce his title, he ultimately persuades his grandmother that their country needs royalty that can understand them and relate to them and they host a ball in his honor where he invites the Cunninghams with a sincere apology. Eventually Chrissy does show in a stunning gown where they dance together and escape to a little garden and have a confessional heart to heart about their feelings for each other:))

omg I'm so tempted to smoothen these details out empress....what have you done........

send me a ship and an au

[silverhallow]

Bridgerton drabble: A Princess Diaries AU

Part #1 Sophie’s Choice.

A belated birthday gift for @bridgertonbabe and @sophiebernadotte

Wasn’t life as a princess supposed to be fair? Or maybe not fair, that might be the wrong word. She was privileged, she knew that… even if she had only known she was a princess for a few short years.

Royalty led lives that were in the public eye, normally having been raised in that environment, but here she was… sitting in a country that she’d only known about for 4 years, listening to her grandmother scolding her for jeopardising the wedding that was to take place in a few days time, which would then lead onto her coronation a week after that and it was all Sophie could do not to throw up or cry because she knew her grandmother was right… she had ruined everything.

She’d always dreamt she’d marry for love, that she’d find a man that made her stomach fizz, give her butterflies, that would make her heart skip a beat and her palms sweaty and her feet pop when she kissed him. She wanted the kind of love her mother had told her about, that her mother had experienced but due to the unfairness of her situation, it was an arranged marriage or lose her throne. Those were her options.

A throne that until she turned 16, she had known nothing about.

She had been blissfully unaware that her father had been a Prince… Prince of a tiny country in the middle of the Italian and French sea. Her mother had kept it from her, taking that secret with her to her grave.

Her mother had died 10 weeks before Sophie’s 16th birthday, which was the day her entire life changed.

She’d been stopping with her best friend Kate Sharma and Sophie had been in English when the poshest woman Sophie had ever seen in her life came in and dropped the bombshell of all bombshells on her over a cup of tea…

Which she promptly spat all over her “grandmother's” face.

She was a princess.

A bastard princess but a princess nonetheless, and the only living descendant of the Gunningworth line.

Her father, Richard, had passed away 9 months earlier and to Sarah’s knowledge he had been childless.

It was only after discovering something in her late-husband’s writing desk, did she learn that there was in fact an heir.

Her.

Sophie was saving the country from being taken over by the Cavender’s. Their son Phillip had a terrible temper and an even worse reputation at just 17 years old and had once been rulers of their own lands until the people revolted and won back their lands and banished the Cavender’s but their royal blood was connected to Penwood and now it was Sophie, or the Cavender’s and Sarah was determined that her throne would not pass into their hands.

She had learned that Reginald had sent Esme away when she was pregnant with Sophie, he didn’t want a child out of wedlock and he certainly didn’t want the Crown Prince, only Heir to the Throne marrying a commoner and so she’d been paid off and shipped off back to England. He provided money monthly to keep Esme quiet and Esme had been promised that she and her unborn child would be left alone and the secret of Sophie’s birth went to the grave with her.

Reginald had known about Sophie and he had been working out how to tell his wife that they did in fact have an heir and where they could find her, and what had happened, his own guilt weighing in after he’d pressured Richard into a marriage with a woman that bore no children between them other than two step-children who could not inherit the throne but when Reginald died 3 months after Richard it had thrown a spanner in the works as he’d not gotten around to telling Sarah the truth.

Sophie was dumbfounded.

Sarah was Regent, as they had their heir but she was underage and she was able to prevent Cavender getting his hands on the crown.

Since Sophie was underage she would learn the role, but upon turning 20 Sophie was told she’d have to take over the throne, she would get 6 months post her 20th birthday to marry and be crowned Queen otherwise, Cavender would take over.

So Life changed.

Gone were the days she was invisible, where she could blend into the background with Kate, sitting laughing about Shakespere and just being a teenage girl to…

Being a Princess.

She stayed in school but Kate was almost glued to her side. She worked at her studies, she travelled back and forth between the countries as she learned.

Once she was 18, Sophie moved to Penwood and Kate and her family came with her, they’d been her family when she had no one else and Kate wanted to work with Sophie, for Sophie as part of her staff once she’d graduated from University.

And Sophie knew from the moment she moved to her new home that she wanted to be Queen, that she would do anything to be Queen. Her beautiful country that she was learning to love, the rich culture and history that was hers to protect and nourish and the more time she spent there, the more she got to know the people, the more she knew she wanted to be Queen.

So between her studies, her Queen lessons with her Grandmother and getting to know the country’s leaders, she was starting to look for a husband.

Not just any husband, she needed someone titled, not in line for their own throne, someone who understood her importance as Queen. Someone harmless, inoffensive, who would stand there by her side and be a pillar of strength and a symbol but would let Sophie lead.

She would be Queen, and she knew finding a husband would be hard but she had time… or so she’d assumed. She was only 18 after all, she had two years. How hard could it be?

From the moment the plane touched down, Sophie knew that whatever she’d thought her life was going to be like, nothing compared to the circus it was becoming

.

18 turned into 19 and Sophie had still not found someone that she wanted to marry, any male around her age that would be eligible was not interested in marriage, any man she met at a bar knew who she was and wanted a piece of her as a trophy.

She was to be Queen… Everyone knew that. “Your highness, you must know there isn’t a man on this planet who isn’t interested in marrying you, but it is finding the right person for you who will make your everyday life easier, who makes the mundane fun and who makes you smile” her Prime Minister Edmund Bridgerton had told her as the days got closer to her 20th birthday and she had still not found someone to be her husband, time was running out and she was getting desperate.

“That is all well and good my Lord but I have 6 months, we have 6 months to make this work or everything has been in vain” Sophie sighed during their weekly meeting. Sophie loved meeting her prime minister, They had joked on a number of occasions it was a shame that his title came with his position and didn’t transfer to his children since he had eight of them and the two eldest boys were a little older than Sophie and Kate, she’d yet to meet Benedict who was off travelling and studying and she got on well with Anthony, who was training to take over from Charlie as the Royal Household Chief of Security once Sophie ascended to the throne.

The little wrinkle there was Anthony was dating Kate. Kate was working up to the role of Chief of Staff within the palace and eventually they would run the palace between them and despite their prickly start, Sophie thought they were perfect for one another but it served as an almost daily reminder that she didn’t have that and she needed that. 6 months to fall in love, marry to become Queen…

“There are other ways around it, your grandmother is reluctant to bring it up because she knew how much you wanted to find someone the traditional way but there is always an arranged marriage, I am sure between Ms Gibbons, your grandmother and my wife Violet, they’ll be able to come up with a list of possibilities for you. Aim for friendship first, it worked for your grandmother… love everything else, it is lovely but friendship and companionship will hold you in just as good a stead” Edmund explained

“That’s easy for you to say, you married the love of your live and have 8 children” Sophie replied flippantly but sighed “but I shall think about it, it is likely to be the only option”

“Speaking of my children…” Edmund grinned and Sophie rolled her eyes

“Smooth… what are they after this time?”

“It’s nothing actually just Benedict is back from his travels eventually this weekend after being away for the last two years studying and he is on the last portfolio for his masters and I was wondering if perhaps as a small favour we could add him to your official photographers list up to the coronation and allow him to capture some more… candid photos of the next few months”

“Why not, some candid ones will be lovely I guess after all the formal things…” Sophie said “and i’ll make sure there is a ticket to my 20th birthday party for him as well, if he is back in time that is, it would be nice to meet another of your ridiculous brood. but I will give some thought to your suggestion, having some of those possible bachelors come to the party and meet them…” Sophie sighed.

But after the events of her 20th birthday, Sophie had known it was time.

The only person she’d met the night of her birthday party, the only person she’d felt a connection with had been someone she knew she had no chance with.

She’d been walking through the party, trying to get away from Prince Hans and his incessant staring, as well as Lady Rosamund who was making snide quiet remarks about how it should be her that was going to be queen when Sophie had run straight into a stranger stomping straight on his foot, the most handsome stranger she’d ever met.

It was only after she’d danced and flirted with him and spoke to Kate, did she realise that it was Benedict Bridgerton and it had broken her heart almost instantly.

She’d assumed he was one of the many suitors her grandmother had invited for to meet so to realise who he was, that he was untitled, he was, despite being the son of a Lord, not someone Sophie could ever hope to get to know on a more intimate and romantic level… she knew based on the rules that had been set out for her future husband, it was a no go.

So the morning after her party, she’d called Kate, her grandmother, Ann Gibbons the current chief of staff and Mary and said “it’s time”

A week later she was sitting in the palace movie room with the screens up, profiles up as she looked through all the eligible bachelors that would be interested in an arranged marriage.

Two hours it had taken, going through picture after picture before Sophie had spotted one.

Yes he was a second son but he fit the bill where no one else did. He was the second son of a Duke. His older brother was already married and had twins, their line was secure, he was a Sir. He had a title, a ceremonial one but all the same…

Sir Phillip Crane was everything that Sophie had been looking for.

He was the same age as she was, he was academic, he was cute. He was someone that Sophie could see herself being at least friends with…

It was a start.

And it had turned out Phillip was everything that Sophie could have hoped for. He was kind, he was funny and they seemed to have a lot in common and Sophie knew she’d made the best possible choice…

Or she would have thought so if it wasn’t for Benedict being everywhere she went.

She’d forgotten about her agreement with the Prime Minister and being Anthony’s brother, and he seemed to get on really well with Kate. he was always there.

The torment Sophie felt was horrible, she felt attracted to Benedict in a way she knew she’d never be attracted to Phillip but she knew that she could never be with Benedict and have the life she so desperately wanted.

She wanted to be Queen, she wanted to rule this country that she’d learned so much about, that she was so passionate about and she was close to mucking it all up.

Two weeks before the wedding it all came to a head when during the summer party, Sophie had slipped away from Phillip, leaving him with Kate and Benedict’s sister Eloise as she wanted to get out of her head. Cavender’s son had been lurking and making lurid remarks about her and she just wanted 5 minutes.

She’d given her ladies maids the slip, and was just sitting on the edge of the fountain, trying not to hyperventilate.

She’d not seen Benedict at all during the party, he was employed during these events to take photos as part of her agreement with his father and she knew that it was the last thing she needed. Whilst she desperately craved him to soothe her frayed nerves, she knew being around him was making it worse.

They’d had many a spirited debate about Bryon, about poetry and art and she always seemed to know when he appeared, her skin tingled and pricked but he knew as well as she did, that whatever there was between them, wasn’t possible.

With the way the rules of the country where, fate was destined to keep them apart.

But that day… he’d caught her unaware, they’d given into a moment of weakness and kissed.

It was only when Sophie’s beloved dog Bernie, had come running through the fence with voices behind him, that they’d separated and in their shock at nearly being caught, they had tumbled into the fountain.

It had been the start of her downfall.

She’d confined Kate how she felt about Benedict, how she wished things could be different and she knew that Benedict had felt the same and how she couldn’t have him around her anymore because it was breaking her heart.

Benedict had agreed to step away, to leave his position because he knew the country needed Sophie more than he did and he would never have forgiven himself to do anything that would have ruined her dream to be Queen,

But he’d asked if he could see her one last time before he left, before he walked away and Sophie would marry Phillip and Sophie had agreed as long as no one found out.

But someone had found out. Someone had overheard and warned the press that if someone followed the Prime Minister’s son… they would find a scandal.

And whilst it wasn’t as big of a scandal as it could have been, Sophie and Benedict had just talked, shared a kiss or two, they’d fallen asleep under a tree in the grounds of the castle and it was upon waking that they’d been spotted…

And Sophie was sure her life was going to fall apart.

Sarah yelled at her for over an hour about it, about how she should not be sneaking out and despite the fact she knew how her granddaughter felt about him, she could see how devastated Sophie was about the choice.

Heart or country.

It was a choice she’d known all too well but Sophie knew what she wanted.

What was required of her… it was just a matter of if Phillip would still want to marry her.

“Phillip wait, please! Let me explain! Nothing happened” Sophie said as she ran after Phillip a few hours later after he’d arrived at the palace so they could talk.

“Yes but you went Sophie, you still went didn’t you?” he replied, his voice was strangely calm and not angry and Sophie wasn’t sure if she’d rather he’d been angry or not “I don’t think you understand… despite my geekiness as the press back home call it, I am an extremely eligible bachelor” he said, though Sophie could tell he cringed a bit at the words, knowing he didn’t like to big himself in that way. “I really am. I’ve got plenty of friends, lots of lovely… erm women friends” he said gesturing as they looked at one another

“But i… I still think marriage is a good idea.” he said and Sophie looked up at him in disbelief as Phillip’s face softened as they looked at one another,

“Sophie…” he said, before taking a step forward, placing his hands on either side of her face and kissing her.

It was the first time they’d properly kissed, it had been a brief kiss on the lips when they’d gotten engaged, the same on the balcony when they announced their engagement several weeks ago and as kisses went…

It was the most awkward kiss either of them had ever experienced.

It was like kissing a sibling. It was so awkward Sophie was sure the entire world stopped moving and she could hear the cows in the field several miles away Mooing…

Eventually Phillip pulled away and Sophie with her eyes still shut brought her hand to her lip to almost wipe the kiss off as she had Phillip looked at one another again

“So?” he asked “anything?” already anticipating the answer.

“It was lovely… just… there was no…” Sophie said

“Spark?” they said at the same time and Sophie groaned as she knew what the right thing to do was.

“What are we going to do?” Sophie said her voice breaking a little as she felt herself close to tears. The wedding was a few days away, she’d come this far and now she’d thrown it all away.

Phillip sighed and took a step forward putting an arm around Sophie’s waist, rolling his eyes as the security guards shovelled up the stairs behind them

“No privacy…” Sophie grumbled.

“Sophie… you chose me… and I accepted” he said pressing an almost brotherly kiss on her head “I accepted and so we’re going to stand up in the church next week and say “I do” and become man and wife… and then you’re going to be crowned Queen of Penwood and make the most amazing Queen in the history of this great country” he said tenderly, honestly and a smile on his face that made Sophie feel like perhaps everything could be okay.

“Thank you” she whispered as she kissed his cheek as she smiled back at him.

This was it. Her choice had been made. Country and Duty over her heart. Phillip was a good man and she could do a lot worse…

[touchoffleece]

Supergirl Mayhem 2024 Entry

[steddieas-shegoes]

A THOUGHT HAS JUST HIT ME MID SENTENCE ON MY PAPER

PRINCESS DIARIES STEDDIE ???

ANYONE??? EVERYONE??? SOMEBODY!!!!

EDIT: @delta-piscium sent the link for one that’s based on princess diaries 2!!!! AND APPARENTLY @henderdads inspired it???? So anyways I’ve put away my computer and I’m going to read this right now immediately

[wlwinry]

woooo zinejam everyone say woo zinejam woo!!!!! i finally get to share the princess diaries thistlecaster au oneshot and i am. so happy. anyways go check out the bundle its great. its so cool so many amazing people worked on so many amazing projects and we're donating to the United Nations' Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund this year! highly recommend y'all explore some amazing fanwork this fine monday evening

Crown Prince of Dunefort Gorgug Thistlespring has a lot to worry about before his coronation as king: his upcoming wedding to someone that he's not in love with, the constant attempts of the council to prove that he isn't ready for the throne, the weight of Roz's expectations and the overbearing presence of his adoptive parents. Right now, though, the main threat to all of that is his total inability to shoot an arrow through a hoop. The guy he absolutely, one hundred percent should not be in love with has some helpful advice. ... It's the archery scene from the Princess Diaries 2, but with thistlecaster!

please read and comment also bc i am. starved for comments and positive feedback <3 ily all

[rippeanuts1950-2000]

nuzi princess diaries au(I prefer the book, so we’re going book version baby! but also not exactly like the books)

Uzi: Mia, obviously. But Uzi is like WAY more pissed about being a princess than Mia was

Khan: Helen(Mia’s mom) but he’s still not over Nori unlike Helen when it comes to Phillipe. Also he doesn’t date Uzi’s algebra teacher and he is an artist who does cool designs with doors

Nori: Phillipe. She’s the current ruler of Copper-9 and is amazing at her job. The country would be in shambles without her. And she’s still in love with khan

Alice: Grandmere, but on top of princess lessons she’s teaching Uzi to become a mechanic for some odd reason. And she doesn’t have a hairless toy poodle, she has her son Beau who is Uzi’s age but doesn’t want to rule and just wants to be a mechanic so Alice let’s him not be a prince

N: Michael, but he’s still V’s brother and they both have to deal with a body guard. I can already hear Uzi say he only is nice to her because she’s his twin sister’s friend

Lizzy and Thad: They’d both be Lilly but Thad would be Lilly’s positive traits and Lizzy would be Lilly’s negative traits(she’d still be an okay friend to Uzi tho)

Doll: Boris but Uzi wouldn’t think she was a loser, just annoying by constantly playing the violin in gifted and talented

V: Tina Hakim Baba. She keeps her mansion personality but still can be her after the mansion self when she needs to be

J: Lana. That’s the only person i can see her as

Chad: Josh Richter, idk someone needed to be him

This would not leave my mind, and now on top of all the wips I currently have, I want to write this. Let me know if I should.

[arsoneywrites]

so you remember that spirk royalty au i’ve been working on forever? chapter two now up AND i have a writing sideblog now! look at me!

[thewalkingmeepa]

And now for a guilty pleasure, I give you this.

Mirandy Princess Diaries Au where Andrea, Mia's alias, finds the love of her life in none other than Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, who apparently returns her feelings and willingly gives up the crown in fashion for a real one.

The Genovian Royal wedding, when both Queen and Queen Consort appear before the masses for the first time as wives. Andy is wearing the traditional military garb (as commander-in-chief of the Genovian troops) and Miranda the usual bridal gown, simple, elegant, and the tiara Amelia used in her very first Embassy ball.

[tennessoui]

Princess Diaries au my beloved! Endless sniping! Misunderstandings! Making out in closets! Royal weddings! Secret gays! *clasps hands under her chin* It's so beautiful 🥹

Here is a short little sneak peek of the princess diaries Christmas fic 🤭 because I just love a Christmas ball

When the sky over the palace begins to darken with the promise of first snow, Anakin begins to hear the first rumblings of a Christmas party. Apparently, Genovia throws a famous Yuletide celebration every year. It’s the very first Anakin’s heard about it, but it’s like he goes to bed one night in an empty palace, and wakes up to fifty evergreen trees scattered around the dining room.

“Well, you were in school,” his grandfather tells him, carefully breaking open his breakfast egg and dipping a stick of toast into the liquid yellow. Anakin, like a normal person, stabs his fork into his scrambled eggs and takes a suspicious bite.

“I was on winter break,” he points out. “Every time. Because it’s Christmas.”

Qui-Gon makes a big show at fixing his tea to perfection, even though Anakin knows the kitchen already does that for him. “Well,” he says. “Your mother requested you spend Christmas with her.”

“Well,” Shmi says when Anakin calls her a few hours later, “you had that awful haircut during university, didn’t you? We decided that it would be better if you stayed in America until you had a diploma. And a visit to the barber.”

Anakin splutters. It had been a cool haircut. He had looked cool. “You’re not invited anymore,” he tells his mother.

“You can’t uninvite me to the announcement of my own son’s engagement,” Shmi says, and she’s laughing a little bit which is good because the words wipe any smile off Anakin’s face.

“I–oh,” he says. “I hadn’t realized that that’s when…when we’d do that.”

Christmas Yuletide royalty ball 🤩🤩 with added duke obi-wan shenanigans and some MORE linen closet making out

[sboochi]

"I loathe you!"

Another snippet, this time ~in motion~

Sorry for the giant ass watermark, I didn’t realize it would show up until I exported the first draft *siiigh*

[artsylittlebi]

damn just watched the princess diaries 2 and realized it would make a great au setting for a duncney fanfic 🤔

[silverhallow]

Bridgerton Drabble: Princess Diaries AU

Part #2 Broken

“What do you mean you’re still going through with it?” George sighed as he looked at his brother exasperated a couple of hours later.

“Well just that, Sophie assured me it was a one off, that it would never happen again and I believe her.” Phillip argued back.

“George, it is his decision at the end of the day…” Marina said as she walked into the room, Amanda wrapped in a blanket as she went to place her in the cot next to her twin brother.

“It’s a stupid ass decision that is what it is. Come on, the entire country has seen the Bridgerton bloke sniffing around her for the last month, it’s clear to anyone with eyes that whatever that was wasn’t just a one off… and besides you said it yourself, there isn’t a spark there! You see her more as a sister! And I’ve seen you pining after that Bridgerton girl…”

“Eloise and I are just friends…” Phillip said going red and George laughed

“I didn’t say which Bridgerton… but come on, you’re going to be stuck in a loveless marriage and it will eat away at you” George said

“She picked me, we’re doing this. She can’t marry anyone else and if she doesn’t marry by the end of the week then the country goes to the Cavenders” Phillip argued

“And that has nothing to do with you, you can return to England, back to your plants and forget about this entire mess” George said “I am sure you can persuade Eloise to come to Oxford or Cambridge for University since she’s due to start next term” he teased raising his brows suggestively.

Phillip threw a grape at his brother who laughed.

“It’s not that simple. I won’t see this entire country be wrecked by some imbecile because I wasn’t prepared to help where I can. Sophie is the best thing that ever happened to this country, even if she only found out about it a few years ago, she cares so deeply about everyone, she wants to make it a better place, a better country and I can be a part of that, I can help her achieve that and I can do my botany work anywhere. She chose me, we are seeing this through. I do not need any more lectures about it George, I just need you to be supportive please. Like Marina is being”

“Marina is being supportive because she knows she has little choice” Marina laughed “you were supportive of us when we found out about the twins and helped us with the press and your father’s rage”

“Yes, like dad would be happy about you doing this…” George scoffed

“What? The idea of me marrying someone who is going to be Queen of a country. It’d probably be the only thing in my life i’d have done he would have approved of… thinking i could seize control for the family or something… but even if he didn’t approve, it’d have been something i’d have wanted to do even more to get away from him” Phillip said shaking his head.

“Point taken…” George said before looking between his brother and his wife and heaving a deep sigh “fine, I shall continue to be supportive of this stupid endeavour and I shall be the first to either congratulate you on becoming Prince Consort, or to say “I told you so” when it goes tits up” he grinned

Marina swiped at her husband who ducked it and laughed “i promise, i’ll be on my best behaviour, I just want Phil to be happy and if being married to the Queen of Penwood will do that… then I shall be the supportive big brother”

“Thank you, that is all I ask…” Phillip said, walking over to the drinks cabinet to pour himself a drink

“And maybe keep him away from Eloise” Marina whispered into her husband's ear who nodded glumly.

They knew there was no changing Phillip’s mind when he’d set it to something that it would take a lot to change it…

He’d been adamant that when Marina and George found out she was pregnant, that to avoid the scandal of the unplanned pregnancy, the unwanted attention in the press and their father’s fury, he had offered to say he was the father and take the brunt of everything from their father…

But given the news of Marina falling pregnant by one of his son’s out of wedlock, had caused their father to have a heart attack… that lie hadn’t been required but for George, as much as he liked the Queen to be and knew that on paper this was a good match and that his brother and Sophie were friends and very similar in personality, he couldn’t help but feel that this was not the end of the matter and that the saga with the wedding was just starting…

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Over at the houses of parliament, Edmund Bridgerton was pinching the bridge of his nose as he looked over the documents finalising the plans Andrew and Roger had sent over for the new orphanage to be built as per the Princess’ request.

It had been a morning of putting out fires and dealing with the broken heart of his 24 year old son.

Benedict had come back from the palace and his sneaky yet innocent night with the Princess completely broken.

He had never seen him like this before and he had no idea what to do about it. The rules were the rules. They had been set well over 200 years ago by men who didn’t think that a woman should rule period, let alone on her own and therefore they forced through ridiculous rules.

Some of them they’d managed to abolish over the years but the marriage law… that was something that they’d never seen to rectify and he had no idea if it was even possible for the Lords of the country to make such a decision as any decisions around the crown had to be set by the King or Queen.

The marriage law as it stood now had been passed in 1812 when the then King George only had legitimate daughter’s and wanted one of his bastard sons to rule instead and he’d made it as difficult as possible for his eldest daughter Sophia Charlotte, to take her rightful place as Queen once he passed away.

He’d forced through the rule that said in order for her to rule she had to marry and be over the age of 20, before she could assume the throne but also made it clear that whoever they were to marry, would not have any power over the throne, as he was sure it would have made her whole position less fanciful, why marry a Queen if you get no power… which all men married for, power and position and for 100’s of years… that law had been enforced.

Sophia had managed to outwit her father and married a simple Lord and went on to be one of the country's greatest ever rulers.

“It’s a stupid rule” Benedict had wailed so many times into his hands that Edmund was sure it was all he was going to think about when he slept that night. He knew his wife would be the better person to calm their second son down, she always had been but there had been some sort of drama with Eloise so he’d been left to deal with Benedict.

It broke his heart that there was nothing he could do, he personally didn’t have the power to change it, he couldn’t even make the motion to change the rule that could only come from the sovereign or sovereign to be, and then parliament could decide on whether or not to back the motion…

And given half of the men that sat on the benches of parliament, he wouldn’t put it past them to not pass it and being so close to the wedding now…

Edmund hated this. He hated that he hadn’t learned more earlier, when he first got to know their future Queen, he’d assumed that she’d have found a way out of it, or been happy but he’d not anticipated the connection that seemed to form almost instantly between his son and the Princess.

It had been even quicker than that of when he met Violet when he’d known by the end of the dance… he’d seen the Princess run into Benedict and stand on his toe and he’d seen the sparks fly…

And knew that they were in trouble.

“I know she’s the best thing for this country but it’s not fair… it’s not fair” he wept over and over in his hands, his eyes were red and swollen, as was his nose from the hysterics. It didn’t matter that he was a grown ass man of twenty four years old.

Benedict knew he would never find anyone that compared with Sophie and living in this country meant he was going to be forced to see her face every single day, it would be everywhere right down to the money he earned and spent.

Her life would be broadcast, he’d have to see her pregnant with another’s baby, on the arm of another.

Or he will have to leave the country, never to return, never to see his family unless they came to see him…

He wasn’t going to be strong enough to endure seeing the love of his life thriving in that capacity.

It took Edmund several hours to get his son to stop breaking his heart, to stop his son from the weight of he guilt he felt after the rumours had briefly flown that Sophie and Phillip were not to marry and it was being called off after the “incident” but they’d received communication from Anthony and Kate that the wedding was still to go ahead, which of course set off another round of tears in Benedict.

Eventually he managed to persuade his son to go home and not do anything drastic or dramatic. Edmund had an idea on how he could get the information to Sophie about it could be stopped, how it could be changed and challenged but it would be a risk.

If parliament didn’t back her… then everything could be a disaster.

[sentimentalslut]

so. so intrigued by the image of gwen and duncan in private school uniforms. disturbing. fascinating.

okay and now imagine her rolling up to princess lessons looking like this. where would u even start.

anyways yeah they have so many dress code violations at this point it’s basically their bread n butter. but neither one dares shred the uniform top bc it’s so expensive and would break their ma’s heart

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

A Recipe for Disaster (Chap. 10)

Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3 | Pt. 4 | Pt. 5 | Pt. 6 | Pt. 7 | Pt. 8 | Pt. 9 | AO3

AAHHH!!!! I've had the majority of the wedding scene written since i started planning this AU, so you get two chapters in a row 😈 next chap will be the last and will include the coronation and a bit of an epilogue

Steve wakes up uncomfortable, but warm. 

He nuzzles his face into his pillow an–why is his pillow scratchy?

Blinking his eyes open, he sees Eddie looking down at him. “Good morning, sweetheart.” Eddie says, his voice low and raspy with sleep.

Steve smiles sleepily, pushing his face back onto Eddie’s chest. “We stayed out all night.”

“We did…” Eddie’s voice has a smile to it, and his arm tightens around Steve’s shoulders..

Wait.

Steve throws himself upright “We stayed out all night!” Eddie’s hand is rubbing Steve’s back as he has his short panic attack, and Steve turns to look at him. 

Steve catalogs the other man; He cannot be comfortable, and he stayed like that all night? His upper back and head are propped up on the trunk of the tree behind him, and from the look of the roots around him, he must have a big chunk of one digging into his lower back right now. Eddie doesn’t seem phased by that though, he only looks concerned for him.

Steve smiles, his panic settling into tired laughter as he hunches forward and puts his head in his hand. Eddie sits up beside him, crossing his legs and pulling Steve into his side. He feels more than hears Eddie's chuckles, and definitely feels the brush of what could only be his lips against the shoulder of his hoodie. 

Steve rubs his eyes clear of their sleep gunk and looks out around the lake, seemingly glowing in the soft pink light of the sunrise, the fog catching the rays as it rolls over the glass-smooth water. 

He stops on an odd sight though, There is a man rowing a boat a good ways away. Steve squints. “There’s a man on that boat.” he says aloud.

“Hmm?” Steve feels Eddie turn his head to look, keeping his cheek pressed to his shoulder. “Probably just a fisherman.” He turns back to place his lips on Steve’s shoulder, sending a thrill through him.

Yeah, that could make sense. They are a ways off from the palace, so this could be a random citizen, or maybe a palace worker getting in some early fishing before going into wo–

Steve watches as the man hastily sets the oar handles down into the boat, and fishes around for something at his feet, not taking his eyes off the two of them as he does. Steve’s stomach starts to tighten as he waits, starting to lean away from the man on instinct even though he must be at least 50 yards away.

The man finally gets a grip on what he was looking for and lifts it into Steve’s line of sight.

His stomach instantly turns to lead and drops down into his feet. Past his feet. And his heart is quick to follow.

Steve gulps. “With a video camera?” a legit video camera too. One of the big ones that are usually reserved for members of the media.

Eddie freezes beside him, doesn’t look up when Steve turns his head to him. 

That’s all he needs. 

“You’re pathetic.”

Steve throws Edmund off of him and stands, yanking the rest of his blanket out from under the dazed man.

He can hear Edmund scrabble in the dirt to get up behind him as he stalks off toward Sandy. 

“No, Stevie, wait! I have no idea–”

“You know, it’s really a shame you didn’t get me naked last night, huh? You motherFUCKER.” Steve turns halfway and throws his wadded up blanket in Edmund’s face, leaving him to struggle with it as Steve jogs the rest of the way to Sandy. Seeming to know the exact mood he’s in, Sandy is also ignoring Danny beside her, and nips at him when he gets too close to her.

“Steve, wait, I have nothing to do with this! Stevie, please, hold on!” Steve hears his voice crack.

It’s the most coordinated he’s ever been, throwing his foot into one stirrup, the other over the saddle, and giving Sandy a nudge forward in one fluid motion.

“Steve, you have to believe me, that’s not my boat!”

“You know what, Edmund? Have a nice life.” Steve doesn’t look at him, can’t look at him.

He nudges Sandy with his heels twice more and she takes off, running hard and fast back to the stables. Lucky for him too, because the tears that betray him and fall on their own either fly off his face or dry out almost instantly.

Everything between leaving Edmund under that tree, to him bursting back into his room is a blur.

There were trees rushing by him in one second, then he was handing over Sandy’s reins to a very confused Gustav in the next, and now he’s here. 

And so is Joyce.

And Robin (Who is pulling herself out from under his covers).

“Steve? What is going on?” Joyce asks, looking him up and down.

Steve opens his mouth to say…something…but is cut off by Murray coming into the room.

“Prince Steve, I think you should see this.” Murray goes straight to his TV and turns it on.

Oh no.

“After years of boring royals, Genovia finally has a world class scandal!” the voice of that god awful woman from the local morning gossip channel filters through the TV and into Steve’s ears.

He feels like he’s going to pass out.

The whole screen is dedicated to the view that the camera man had, showing everything. Realizing the camera was there, Steve throwing himself from Eddie’s embrace, and onto Sandy’s back. 

The whole time the video is playing back, that woman’s voice is narrating “What will Princess Nancy have to say about this? Will she stay or will Lord Muñoz be Genovia’s new King? Maybe we'll see the continued reign of Queen Joyce!”

The footage stays on Eddie a for a good second or two before it cuts back to the hostess and Steve kicks himself for feeling a pang in his heart from how heartbroken and dejected Eddie looked after he left.

“No matter what, it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for Prince Steve. Keep your eggs sunnyside up!”

Steve crumples to the floor head between his knees and arms over his head. 

His ears are ringing.

Someone is rubbing his back.

He hears Robin’s voice beside him “I’d like to tell her what she can do with her eggs.” she must be the one rubbing his back.

Her ministrations pause for a moment.

Robin’s hand leaves and Steve feels a presence sit down beside him. 

“So?” It’s Joyce.

Steve lifts his head and rests his chin on his arms, now crossed over his knees. “I got played.” He sniffles, his face is wet. 

“Uh huh.” he can see Joyce nodding in his peripheral. “The real question is, do we still have a wedding?”

If that question didn’t alone make a new flood of tears threaten to spill over, seeing Nancy bursting into the room absolutely did.

Steve can’t even register that she doesn’t even look mad before his vision is blurred out and his face is scrunched up. “Nancy! Nancy, I am so sorry.” She touches his shoulder, but he jerks away and snaps up to his feet as fast as he can, backing away from her. “Please Nancy, please know I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I am so sorry, I hope we can still be friends after I leave Genovia–”

“Steve, wha–” Robin sounds concerned but Steve can barely think, barely function, he just keeps backing up until he hits the wall.

“Please, Nancy, I promise it wasn’t all bullshit, I really do care for you,” he just needs to shuffle a little faster.

“Steve I care for you too, what are you–”

“I’m sorry, so sorry, you can be happy with Jonathan now..” he bolts to his ensuite and locks the door behind him. Sliding down the back side of the door and just dissolves against it.

You ruin everything. 

“Steve?!” Robin’s voice is muffled through the door, she sounds concerned.

You’re Pathetic.

“Steve, please come out and talk to us! I still think this marriage is a good idea.” Nancy’s voice is next, calmer, but she sounds bored, like she is talking to a child.

You’re disgusting.

“Steve, darling, please come out.” Joyce’s voice comes last, she sounds so disappointed 

You think these people really care for you?

He can’t take this anymore. He lets out a noise that’s more scream than anything, and suddenly the tile floor seems like a great place for a nap. 

—-

“Lady Sinclair? What are you doing outside Lord Muñoz’s room?” She hops up on her feet and pulls Hopper around the corner.

“He didn’t do it.” Erica looks up at Hopper; she has a shocked, somewhat sad look on her face.

“I’m sorry?”

“Eddie didn’t do it, he’s been yelling to his dad about the lake thing since he started packing. His dad called the paparazzi..”

Hopper processes that information, and files it away. “I’ll make sure to tell Steve. You are not to tell him yourself, promise?” He sticks out his pinky to her and she looks at it incredulously.

“What do I get?”

“I’ll tell you a secret of mine.”

“I already know you and the queen have something going on.” she crosses her arms. “That’s what happens when you slow dance in an empty ballroom in a palace full of people.”

“Fine, you’ve got me there. Tell you what, you don’t tell Steve about Lord Muñoz, and you can tell him about myself and her majesty.”

Erica grins and locks his pinky with his.

Once she runs off, Hopper moves to knock on Edmund’s door.

“Yes dad, I’ll be home later tonight. Bye.”

Hopper knocks as soon as he hears the call end.

“Come in?”

“Hello Edmund.”

“Hopper.” Edmund looks scared seeing him in the doorway. He puts his hands up and takes a step back “I swear it wasn’t me, I would never want to hurt Steve, I promise! He’s so important to me, I just wanted a taste of the life I could’ve had with him and–and–” He’s stopped by his own throat choking him up. He clears his throat and continues on “Genovia will still have their rightful king, he’s going to marry Nancy…and I’m so in love with him.” Eddie finishes softly, looking at the floor.

Hopper steps forward and Eddie flinches, looking back up at the other man “I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed in you.” Hopper says, clapping a hand to his shoulder.

“Edmund, you absolute motherfu–” Robin bursts in behind Hopper, Nancy at her side.

“Oh good, Hopper’s already here. Now we don’t have to explain anything.”

“Explain what, Your Highness?”

“Why you may or may not have found Lord Muñoz dead in his quarters.” She shrugs and Robin stalks forward toward him, a baseball bat (‘Where did that come from??’) in her hand.

Hopper, bless him, doesn’t react. He just puts a hand out to stop her from closing in on Eddie.

“He’s leaving today.”

Eddie looks at Nancy. “Nancy, I’m so sorry for the grief this’ll cause you two; I’m sure Steve won’t have anything to do with me after this so you won’t have to worry about seeing me around anymore.”

“Good.” Robin turns around immediately, hefting the bat onto her shoulder and waltzing back out the door. 

“I told you nothing good would come of it if you were spotted together.” Nancy scolds, and he nods. “We were all rooting for you Edmund, no matter how weird that sounds. We were. We told you as much.” She takes a deep breath. “Goodbye, Eddie.” and with that, she too leaves.

Hopper places a big hand on his shoulder and Eddie looks up at him. “I will have your uncle come down to see you off if you’d like.”

Eddie’s throat tightens up so completely he can’t breathe.  All he can do is shake his head. 

Hopper nods. “I will come collect you in ten.” he pats Eddie’s shoulder and he too takes his leave. 

As soon as the door is closed behind him, Eddie sinks to his knees, to his elbows. Crumpling up into a ball, hands on the back of his head, tears slipping silently off his nose and into the carpet. 

—-

Steve finally gets himself under control a good five hours later.

He immediately wants to go back into the bathroom at the sight of the four people still there after his tirade. They all turn to face him.

“Steve,” Robin is the first to him, moving so fast it was like she’d teleported straight to him. “Can I touch you? I want to give you a hug.” She asks, searching his face.

If there were any tears left in him, they would’ve sprung forth at that. But he was empty. 

He nods and she pulls him down to her immediately and holds on tight. He holds onto her and looks over her shoulder. Joyce, Nancy, and Dustin are all there, the former two looking at him in pity, and Dustin looks– “Dusty, have you been crying?”

Steve removes himself from Robin and moves to Dustin, holding out his arms. Dustin’s face scrunches up and he throws all his weight into Steve “Steve I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I’m related to that asshole.” Steve hugs him tighter “Wayne told me last night, and now he does this shit? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, Dustin, buddy, it’s not your fault. It’s mine.” He pulls back and Dustin lets him clean off his face with his sweater sleeve. Steve rubs it all over his face, making Dustin huff out a laugh and back away with a sad smile. 

“Steve?”

He turns his attention to Nancy and his stomach shoots up from where it’s been in his feet since this morning, only to shoot back down again. 

“I don’t know if you heard me before, but I am still here for you, for this.”

He thinks back, “I thought you sounded bored, like you wanted to be literally anywhere else.” He looks around, everyone around him is silent. “That was just me, wasn’t it.”

“Yeah, I think it was just you, Dingus.” Robin comes up from behind him and rubs between his shoulder blades. 

“Steve, honey, we are all here for you.” Joyce assures him. “No matter what you decide to do.”

Nancy steps up to him, taking both of his hands in her tiny ones. “Listen to me carefully, Steve. If you’ll still have me, if you still want this,”

“More than anything.” Steve says immediately.

Nancy smiles softly at him, “Then we are going to stand up in church and say ‘I do.’ and tomorrow we will be husband and wife.” She squeezes his hands. “And you are going to make an amazing King of Genovia.”

He looks around at the four most important people in his life…and nods. He pulls Nancy to him and kisses her forehead. “Thank you, Nancy.” he murmurs into her hairline, “You’re very welcome, Steve.”

Robin, Dustin, and Joyce all crowd in around him. 

“I really am sorry, I shouldn’t have been so stupid. It could’ve cost us everything.” he directs the last at Joyce, once they all pull away.

“It’s not all your fault, Dingus. I think we were all rooting for you and Eddie, even though it couldn’t really happen.”

“Is he–He’s gone then, isn’t he?”

“Left this morning, not before we threatened him a little bit.”

Steve sputtered at that, “You threatened him??”

“Yep! I brought your bat with us, hope you don’t mind.”

“Ohmygod, Robin!”

“And Nancy too, she was there too!”

Nancy just giggles in response. Actually giggles.

He looks at Joyce and Dustin, who aren’t reacting “And you guys knew this too?” his face is threatening to break out into a smile.

Joyce nods, and Dustin says “You were in the bathroom a long time, dude.”

—-

Hopper, bless him, doesn’t make a fuss about having the car drop him at Chrissy’s, and not his dad’s.

He goes to the back entrance to her apartment above a boutique on main street, and knocks loudly. 

She’s there lightning fast. She had to’ve known he’d come here. 

“I am so mad at you.” She hugs him close and pulls him in the door.

“I’m just gonna wallow on your couch, okay Chris?” he trudges up the stairs behind her.

“Anything, E, you know that.” he drops his duffel and himself onto the couch, face first, and doesn’t plan on moving from this spot until…well he doesn’t know until when.

“I take it you aren’t going to be going to the wedding tomorrow?”

Eddie moans into the cushion.

“Thought not.”

—-

The next morning, Steve wakes less than rested. He’d really thrown himself for a loop with his impromptu bathroomfloornap yesterday, then last night, could barely sleep with the added nerves because,

“I’m getting married today.” 

He says the words and they still don’t feel real. 

He dresses in comfy clothes while he can, knowing he’ll be stuffed into a suit sooner than later, and heads to join everyone for breakfast.

When he gets to the dining hall, he’s surprised that when Joyce’d said everyone will be at breakfast this morning, she really meant everyone. She, Robin, and Nancy, Mike, the Hendersons, the two younger Sinclairs, Will and El, Max, even Jonathan, all seated along the dining hall table.

No one says anything, no one really acknowledges he’s joined them, they all just continue on with their meal, and Steve wants to thank whoever it is that told them all to not mention it. Though Wayne does level Steve with a look that he thinks says ‘I’d like to talk to you later, but if not, know that I am sorry.’ Steve nods at him, and he returns it, placated.

After breakfast, he goes with Nancy and Robin to Nancy’s suite, planning on lounging around and judging while she gets her hair done for the ceremony. They’ve got a chair set up for her in front of a mirror, but the chair is facing the wrong way.

“The stylist they are having come in is a bit…eccentric.” Nancy explains when he asks why not have her facing the mirror. “He likes to do a reveal to himself first before he lets you see.” She shrugs and before Steve can say anything, the man himself waltzes in.

“Ah, Paolo.” She greets. He’s a rounder man, with a shiny bald head and multiple shiny rings. His coat is hastily taken off his shoulders by his two assistants before he reaches both of his hands forward for Nancy’s, giving each set of knuckles a quick kiss in greeting.

“Buongiorno Principessa, ah! And Principe Stephan! Wonderful to see you, are we getting you done for the ceremonies too?”

“Ohhohoho, no. I am all good, I know exactly how to take care of mine just fine. Thank you, Paolo.” Steve waves his hands (probably a little too much) fending off the stylist.

“Ah, good man, good man, knows his angles, his features!” Paolo seems to only talk with his hands. “Let us get started then Principessa.” He waves Nancy back into her chair and gets right to work.

Steve and Robin lounge back on Nancy’s bed, scrolling social media, scrolling faster past any mention of he-who-must-not-be-named, and waiting to react accordingly to each style Paolo attempts to wrangle Nancy’s hair into.

Once the first attempt is finished, Paolo does, in fact, do a reveal to himself. His assistants covered Nancy’s face from his view with headshots of previous clients and pulls them apart from each other at his command. Strange, but okay. 

Nancy turns to him and Robin first, and they both have to stifle laughs “You should definitely look first, Nance.” Robin tells her.

She does, and her eyes go wide. “I look like a moose.” Paolo had split her hair down the middle and twisted the gathered strands on each side upon themselves to twist up off the top of her head. “I have antlers.” She sounds absolutely mortified.

“Yes, but a very cute moose.” Paolo defends, “Make all the boy moose go HWAAAAH.” Steve and Robin lose their shit at his exaggerated attempted moose call, both of them also bursting out in their own moose calls.

He attempts a more floofy, curly look next. This time all Nancy can manage when Paolo spins the hand mirror to her is a strained “I look like a poodle.”

She really does, and Paolo knows it. Doesn’t even try to defend it. Just dives back in with a “Here we go again!”

“She really does look like a poodle.” Steve comments from his new seat on Nancy’s couch. A poor choice, really, because he’s within arms’ reach of Paolo. Who grabs his spray bottle of water and spritzes him directly in the face.

“I like it.” Robin comments idly, not looking up from her magazine in the chair on Nancy’s other side. 

This time, Paolo reacts much better, lifting Robin’s hand from the arm rest and kisses it reverently. Then gets back to work on Nancy’s hair. Robin’s still reading her magazine like nothing just happened.

Steve’s still stunned from the whole water to the face thing and stands to leave. “I need to go get ready, I’ll see you there Nance?” He questions as if he doesn’t already know the answer.

“Of course, Steve, I’ll be the one in white.” She gives him a wink and Robin belts out a singular loud “HA!”

On his way back to his suite, who should he run into other than Lady Applejack herself.

“Hey Erica, you look great!” she’s in a puffy-sleeved, pastel pink/peach colored dress, pristine white Converse high-tops, and an expensive-looking bag on her shoulder. 

She rolls her eyes, “I know I do. But thank you.” she nods “It’s a Selkie dress.”

“I have no idea what that means, but good for you?” he starts walking away, “I’m heading up to get ready myself, can’t be late!”

“Oh, wait!” Erica calls, and he turns back to her in the hall. “I forgot to tell you about Joyce and Hopper!” she sing-songs as she skips up to him. “Me and Ed—SOMEONE ELSE saw them slow dancing all love-y with each other in the ballroom the other day, AND I have it on good authority that he proposed.” She crosses her arms across her chest and smiles smugly up at him.

With everything else going on with him recently, he’s completely missed this whole thing happening between Hopper and Joyce? Well not really, there’ve always been vibes between the two, but still.

“That’s…actually that makes a lot of sense. I hope she said yes.”

After a couple seconds, her stance softens and she drops her arms, looking a bit sheepish.

“Hey, Steve? I know we all really like..him. But we’re all on your side if you'd like us to be. Even Will seemed ready to kill him for that, and Will is definitely more tame of all of us.”

Steve huffs out a laugh at how easily he can imagine both Will and Ellie, somehow with some sort of psychic powers, lifting Edmund off his feet and exploding him into tiny bits. 

“Thanks Erica, I’m really lucky to have you all.” He pulls her into a short hug and sends her on her way, telling her he’ll see her at the chapel.

—-

The rest of the morning is a blur, and suddenly, Steve is standing with Hopper on the opposite side of the chapel’s heavy wooden doors.

He’s in the black version of his (what must be trademarked at this point) pear tree print suit, maroon bowtie, and a silver version of his grandfather’s crown set atop his hair.

“Hey Hop, I want you to know that I’m 100% in support of you and Joyce.” he looks up to meet Hopper's eyes.

Hopper stares down at him. “Erica knows everything.” Steve says with shrug as a form of explanation and turns back to face the doors.

After a moment, Hopper heaves a long sigh. “Highness, before you go in there, you should know,” He pauses. “Eddie did not set you up at the lake.”

Just that one sentence and Steve’s thrown off his axis, the most overwhelming feeling of hope floods his senses. He snaps his head to Hopper once more. “Are you sure?” he manages to whisper out.

“Erica knows everything.” Hopper echoes with a smile, then leans over to whisper: “She happened to overhear him having a very heated and incriminating phone call with his father yesterday.”

Steve gives him a shaky smile, but then he can hear his cue play from behind the double doors, and a moment later, they open in front of him.

Steve and Hopper walk through the doors, Hopper stopping at the pew at the very front to take his seat beside Joyce. Steve takes his spot next to the bishop in a daze. That really wasn’t Eddie? Does he dare to hope that Erica is telling the truth? That damn father of his…. Steve feels like an idiot. He’s planted his feet where they are supposed to be and looks out at the people in the pews.

Well. Here he is.

At the last step he needed before he’d be able to become King.

Standing in front of the world’s most important people, the only thing Steve could think was that there was one face missing from the crowd.

The only face that mattered. 

Steve turns to Robin (his best man) and by his look alone she says, “Take a right, third door on the left. I’ll tell them you’ll be right back.”

Minutes before Nancy was to walk down the aisle to him, Steve was walking the wrong way back up it, and out the door.

He doesn’t register the murmurs and tittering of the crowd, doesn’t register Hopper telling Joyce “It’s alright, he’ll be back.” and sitting her back down at the front of the church, doesn’t register what Robin is announcing to the crowd, the only thought on his mind was ‘Find Nancy.’

He found her exactly where Robin said she’d be, Chrissy helping her with the last couple things.

“Steve?” She sees him enter in the reflection in front of her, and turns to face him in the doorway.

“Nancy..” He has no idea what to say. No idea how to explain to her what he wants, what he’s planning on telling everyone.

Nancy hurries forward and closes the door behind him before she takes him by the hand and sits him on the bench in front of the vanity. She crouches down in front of Steve, a hand on his shoulder, face level to his. Steve’s focus is halfway between the present and completely faraway, and she knows.

“So, do you think I should change out of my dress then?”

Steve blinks fully back to the present, searches her face and only finds determined honesty. Steve laughs until his eyes let loose a couple of tears. “Only if you want to, Nance.” He looks down at her, “You look beautiful.”

She pulls him into a hug and Chrissy rubs his back comfortingly.

“Steve,” Nancy pulls back, “do you know what you are going to say?”

He thinks for a much shorter moment than he thought he’d need, and says “Yes.”

“Do you know that if you do this now, even if it works, Parliament will find a way to get you back for this later? Even if they seem to agree now?”

“Huh?”

“Exposing them to the whole world at once may not bode well for you in the future.”

Steve hadn’t thought about it that far ahead. But he knows this is what he needs to do. “Will you be there to help me when it bites me in the ass?”

She smiles, “Of course I will Steve.”

“Then I’m good.”

Nancy wipes his eyes clean with the handkerchief Chrissy holds out for her, and studies his face for a moment. She must’ve decided something, because she nods, pulls him up from the stool, and heads out the door to lead them both back to their ceremony.

They get to the doorway, hand in hand, and Joyce is there with Hopper, having been waiting for them. 

“Aunt Joyce I–” Steve’s cut off as Joyce hugs him tight. He releases Nancy and embraces the Queen, wondering to himself how she knows.

Joyce pulls back and cups his face. “You’ve got this honey, remember, I am on your side no matter what.”

Steve smiles and grabs her hands from his face, gives them a squeeze, then turns back to Nancy. They give each other a nod and start down the aisle together. The orchestra starts up with the bridal march as they were told to, and everyone stands to face them. 

—-

The second Steve appeared in the chapel doors on his screen, Eddie bolted up. He had to get there, he had to be there. Steve looked gone. Confused. It was a pull he hadn’t felt before.

He ran to the bathroom, and changed into his suit as quickly as he could, thanking Chrissy with all his soul that she’d thought to have it set up for him in case he changed his mind about going.

“No one’s going to want to see me there, Chris. I can’t do that to him.”

“Well then, if you decide to torture yourself, it’s ready to go.”

He didn’t even get his tie on, just shirt, pants, jacket, and shoes. He didn’t need to look like he was getting married, just not like he’d been wallowing the last 24 hours at least.

He’s pulling his shoes on when there are gasps and tittering from the gathered crowd in his phone. He snatches it up and watches as Steve marches back down the long aisle of the church.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” He crams his feet the rest of the way into his shoes, throws himself down the back stairs of Chrissy’s apartment, and out onto the nearly deserted main street.

He doesn’t have to go far to the chapel, it being just around the corner at the end of Main street, but when he does round the corner, “Jesus H. Christ.” 

Duh. Of course there’s going to be crowds outside too.

He manages to sneak down a side alley to the back side of the church, and where there should be legions of guards, there is only...

“Dustin? Dustin please, I have to see him.” Eddie calls to him, jogs the rest of the way to the teen.

Dustin glares back. “Eddie, I don’t know how you think I’m going to let you in after what you did to Steve.”

“Please, Dusty, you’ve gotta believe I didn’t do this. Look, Wayne may not have told you already but–”

“No, he did.”

“He did.” Dustin nods, and Eddie forces himself to recover from that. “Okay, so you know exactly why I am now trying to get away from this damn family. I swear Dustin, I had nothing to do with it, my father was trying to set me up–Steve up– to fail. And I don’t know what else he’s going to try and pull, but I need to be there when he does.”

Dustin’s eyes squint closed even more, but he says “Swear on my mother.”

Eddie breathes a hesitant sigh of relief. “I swear on your mother.” raises his hand in pledge just for an added measure.

“Okay, you can go (“Thank you!”) but you better go fast,” he turns his own cell to show him, “They’re walking down the aisle right now.”

“Oh fuck!”

–

Steve and Nancy reach the front row of pews and Steve lifts a hand to stop the bishop as he opens his mouth to speak.

Nancy places a hand on Steve’s shoulder and holds something out to him, he opens his palm and she drops his grandmother’s ring into his hand. The two of them smile broadly at each other as the whole place gasps at once. She releases his shoulder and moves to stand beside Jonathan (who should be snapping pictures at the moment, but is just standing there staring at her as she slots into place next to him at the wall, his face beet red).

He moves to stand in front of the microphone and podium off to the side, clears his throat, and speaks.

“Good afternoon everyone. I know you are all wondering what this is, what is happening.” he takes another steadying breath. “I am not going to be getting married today.” The crowd breaks out in a wave of startled whispers, and Steve continues. “I am standing before you today because one month ago, someone else decided for me that one half of any possible group of people I could fall in love with one day, was too much of a risk for Genovia. A risk of what? I am not sure. But I was given an ultimatum. Marry an eligible noblewoman or forfeit the throne.” Another round of titters and gasps wash over him and he can only imagine how wild the chat is on the palace’s livestream right now.

“I am not going to lead this country in a loveless marriage like my father would have before his death. I know very well that his ascension to the throne would not have been a welcome change to the majority of people in this beautiful country and I mean not to have the people of Genovia be led into that with me.

“I love Nancy. She has been an additional rock to me in this whirlwind of a month, and I will forever be grateful to her and I will always be her friend. All this to say that I believe I have proven myself as a leader, and with Nancy’s continued support, the support of my aunt, and with the support of the people of Genovia, I will continue to prove myself over and over if I need to.

“So I ask the members of parliament to reconsider their ultimatum, and if they still do not deem me worthy of being your King, I will concede, and Lord Muñoz can take my place.”

“I won’t,” Eddie calls from the chapel entrance, this time, Steve joins the gasps of the crowd. “I refuse to be King of Genovia. Steve has proven himself more than worthy.” The crowd dithers and chatters amongst themselves, and Steve can see Viscount Muñoz stand up sharply from his seat. ‘Oh boy..’ Steve thinks

“He does not need anyone on his arm for him to shine. And just imagine how handsome he’d look on our postage stamp.” Steve likes to think he knows Eddie well enough to know the exact smirk and wink he just gave before turning and marching back out the way he’d come, even though he can’t see it from where he is.

“Handsome on a postage stamp?? You would look handsome on a postage stamp!” Steve watches as Viscount Muñoz struggles out of his seat, over the fabric barrier at the end of the pew, and hobbles off down the aisle after Eddie, Hopper stepping fully in front of Joyce as he passes with lackluster bows her way.

The chapel doors are closed firmly behind him.

Wayne steps up to Steve’s podium then, “Your highness, you should make a motion for a vote.”

There’s suddenly a huge pit in his stomach. This was not a good idea, what parliament members are going to vote to keep him on the throne after this??

“You will be alright, my boy. Trust me.”

Steve gulps, but turns back to the microphone, casting a glance to Robin and Nancy, both of whom give him encouraging nods, and Robin gives him a sly double thumbs-up.

“Prime Minister Henderson, I move for a vote. To overrule parliament’s previous decision on Viscount Munoz’s contest to my right to the crown.”

Wayne nods, and calls across the gathered guests to all the members, wherever they may sit. “I will also be adding the amendment that any current and future member of the royal family may marry any person, or persons, of any gender they wish.” Steve is floored, gaping at Wayne. “All those in favor, say ‘Aye’.”

Silence. Too long of a silence. 

Steve can feel his resolve crumbling with every passing second, but he holds strong.

“Aye!” Steve whips his head to the voice, not a parliament member, but Erica Sinclair. She’s stood herself onto the seat of the pew, arms crossed, and Steve feels like crying.

“Apologies, Lady Ap–Lady Sinclair, you aren’t a vote we nee–” Waye starts.

“I don’t care. ‘Aye!’ He’s the best person to be King and everyone here knows it.”

There's another, shorter stretch of silence, and Lucas stands beside his sister (not on the seat, but still). “Aye.”

“Aye!” Nancy steps forward from the wall, grinning at the other two (and holding tight to Jonathan’s hand).

“Aye!” Chrissy this time.

Steve feels like he’s going to combust when he realizes what they are doing; they’re using their own pull, their own royal and royal-adjacent power to show everyone else who is going to be on Steve’s side here, no matter what the actual decision from parliament will be.

It’s another slap to the face of parliament when the to-be King, and current Queen of one of Genovia’s closest allies stand with a joint “Aye!” Steve thinks Mike is actually being sincere and not nearly as embarrassed as he could be, standing tall with his mother.

Then Lord and Lady Sinclair stand in agreement, seeming spurred on by Karen taking the leap for him.

There is another beat of silence, with Wayne coaching Steve in his ear (“Stare them down, nope, not that hard, gentler. There you go. Show them you aren’t going to back down on this.”) before that one oldest member of parliament stands shakily with his cane. 

Steve braces himself internally.

“I have young grandchildren, Your Highness.”

“Lord Palimore?” Wayne urges when the man does not continue.

“I believe they will be in excellent hands with you as King. Aye.” he nods sagely and his face crinkles up into a smile. 

Steve sucks in a breath, forcing his heart to slow it’s jackhammering.

After him, there is a slow trickle of agreement, ‘Aye’s come from the three members Steve admittedly gave a bit too much shit to when he proposed his idea of converting the winter palace into a children’s shelter, then there is a flood of ‘Aye’s after them, as if the others aren’t about to be outdone by the others, or maybe they just don’t want to be seen on the wrong side of history.

Either way, “The ‘Aye’s have it!” Wayne calls, and there are cheers from the majority of the crowd, and listening over them, there’s a booming cheer coming from the people outside the chapel as well. “Congratulations, your highness.”

There’s a brief moment of celebration and Steve has a thought, “Murray!” he calls the man toward him, “Give me your earpiece and mic?”

Murray grins at him and hands them over. “Oh, don’t act like you know what I’m going to say.” Steve shakes his head at him, then holds the earpiece to his ear and speaks into the mic.

“Hop?”

“Your Highness?” His voice is tinny, and Steve can see Joyce turn when he addresses him.

“Might as well not let all this go to waste, huh?”

Hopper is silent in the earpiece and Steve can see him standing stock still at the other end of the church. “That’s something you’ll have to ask Her Majesty.”

“Oh come off it, that’s your job isn’t it?” he drops the earpiece and mic at the same time, showing his hands to Hopper ‘Hah! Can’t hear you!’ He thinks at him.

He gives Nancy a whistle and tilts his head to the end of the aisle ‘Hop’ he mouths at her. She has no clue what he’s trying to say. Robin shoots up “I’ve got it! Bouquet please, Nance?”

She passes it over, and Robin power walks down the aisle just in time, Hopper is removing his mic and earpiece, and holds his arm out for Joyce. She’s beaming when Robin passes the bouquet into her hands, and she’s still beaming as she addresses some of the crowd (“Sorry for the short notice, but you were already dressed!” she jokes), and beaming brighter still when she reaches the bishop.

Steve takes back Nancy’s bouquet from Joyce, and she gives him a loving pat on the cheek.

“My lord archbishop,” she faces forward again, “I would like to take this man as my husband, if you please.”

“Finally.” he says, smiling at his queen and Steve hides his laugh behind a flurry of coughs. “We are gathered here today for a different wedding.”

Joyce and Hopper exchange short vows, all they need, a simple ‘With this ring, I thee, finally, wed.’.

“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.” the bishop tells Hop, and he wastes no time pulling Joyce to him in a crushing, loving kiss.

Last part here!!!

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