#pippa & chelsea.

[sentientcave]

Let's Riot!

When the Reader St arena gets bought out from under them by Morgan’s vengeful ex, Pippa Graves, The Reader St Riots suddenly find themselves without a practice space. Pippa may say she’ll play nice, but Morgan knows that she’ll either have to get back under Pippa’s manicured thumb or the whole team will be out on their ass in no time. Problem is, the only other practice space around that’s not booked up to the tits belongs to Jo Price, captain of the Femme41, and well… Morgan has a bit of ugly history with her too.

Still, Jo’s at least a little more reasonable than Pippa, and Morgan may hate to beg, but she’d hate to see the Riots disbanded more. And well, maybe there’s room for a little cooperation, especially when their teams get along so well.

Contains: Lesbians! Almost everyone is a woman (Alex is NB and there are like. A few men mentioned.) and most of them are gay, OCs: Readers and OCs from a bunch of my projects and also Bambi and Bricks who belong to the esteemed @dragonnarrative-writes , Roller Derby!, complicated dating histories, this is just a fun little palette cleanser because I got sad working on one of my other projects lmao, alcohol consumption, cannabis consumption

~3k - 18+ MDNI

“Frank, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

“Come on, sweetheart, calm down—”

“I am calm!” Morgan snapped.

Chelsea quickly put an arm in front of Morgan and dragged her back a step. Calling Morgan sweetheart was a great shortcut to her blowing her top. “You are definitely not calm.” She looked back at Frank. He stood between them and the doors to the arena, a short, balding man that looked a bit sweaty and nervous in the low light. “You couldn’t give us any notice?”

“Look, I’ll return your deposits for the month—”

“That’s not the issue!” Morgan's brown eyes flashed with fury, her jaw tight, like she wanted to bite the man, which would be distinctly unhelpful.

Chelsea dragged her back another step. “It is a little the issue. What happened? We’ve never had any trouble, we’ve always paid on time, there’s no reason why you’d drop us like this.”

“New owners,” he said weakly. “I’m sorry, they cancelled everyone. You were just at the bottom of the call list, and you got here before I could.”

“New owners! Since when was it for sale?”

“Hell if I know. They don’t tell me shit either. All I know is that Gerry came in here with some blond bi—" He thought twice about his wording, giving Morgan another nervous glance. "--Woman and she’s the boss now.”

Morgan walked in a tight circle, looking up at the sky, hands on her hips. This wasn’t happening. It didn’t have to be her. Maybe it was some other blond woman with money to burn. “Fuck.”

The doors behind Frank opened. “Oh, hey sugar,” a too-familiar voice rang out, southern accent distinctive. “Fancy meetin' you here.”

Morgan turned around sharply. “Pippa.”

Chelsea groaned. “Oh here we go.”

“Go back to your office, Frank. I think I’ve got this from here.” Phillipa Graves patted Frank on the shoulder and walked past him. “Morgan, I’ve missed you. You never return my calls anymore.”

“Is that what this is about?” Morgan shifted her grip on her bag, glancing toward the parking lot. Bricks and Doll were lingering at the edge, talking to each other and looking back with worried expressions. They knew the history between Morgan and Pippa well enough to be wary of what might happen next. “You’re gonna steal our practice space because I won’t call you back?”

“Aw, honey, don’t be like that. We’re all big girls. I figure we can learn to share. Why don’t you join us tonight? And early next week we can grab dinner and make a new schedule. I’m sure there’s a way to make sure we’re all… satisfied.” Pippa twisted one of Morgan’s curls around her finger, leaning in close. Even ready for practice, she looked perfect as always, more like she was about to model for a roller skate advertisement than actually practice. Sleek blonde hair swept back in a low braid, a tight pink tank top, leggings that clung to her thighs, pads on, skates off, preparation interrupted by all the fuss she was certainly expecting.

“I’m the one that does the scheduling, usually,” Chelsea interjected. “Maybe it’s us that should get dinner.”

“If you like,” Pippa said smoothly, barely sparing Chelsea a glance. “The more the merrier, of course. Though I do have some personal business to talk over with Morgan too. Suppose it can wait.” She tapped Morgan under the chin with her first knuckle. “Come on, sugar, practice with us. We’re not so bad. And you’re all already here, ain’t you?”

“We’ll have to talk it over.”

“Course. Y’all come on in when you’re done talkin’.” Pippa winked at Morgan and sauntered back inside.

Chelsea sighed, elbowing Morgan as they walked over to the others. The rest of the team had gathered around Bricks, her height marked among the group of shorter women. “You’re gonna have to sleep with her.”

Morgan rolled her eyes. “I’d really rather not.”

“She’s not going to be reasonable,” Billie pointed out. “She’s pure evil. She’s the head of the PTA at Ellie’s school, and she runs that shit like the navy. She’s gonna bend us over a barrel to get what she wants.”

“Have you ever tried not having antagonistic relationships with your exes?” Bricks asked. “Because that’s what I do, and no one has bought a whole arena just to fuck with me.”

“Yet,” Doll said reassuringly. “It could still happen.”

“The whole team is awful,” Bambi said. “One of them works in my office, and she’s a real— Well, I don’t like her.”

“Harsh words, DB.” Bricks propped her hands on her hips. “We can suck it up for one night, a free practice is a free practice. And if you have to flutter your eyelashes at her the whole time, you’re gonna do it.” She pointed at Morgan accusingly. “This is your fault.”

“It is not!”

“It is,” Chelsea said solemnly, fixing her pink bun from on top of her head to low on the nape of her neck to fit under her helmet. “Pussy game is clearly too strong. Maybe try being a worse fuck.”

“She can’t.” Bricks gently turned Morgan around so that she was facing the doors, and nudged her forward a step. “She doesn’t know how.”

Chelsea turned fully toward the others, walking backward. “Alright, drills only, we’re not going to let them goad us into a scrimmage, they’re gonna play dirty as hell with no refs, and we can’t afford an injury this close to a game. Keep it loose, and if anyone hassles you, come to me, or come to Bricks. Do not tell Morgan or she’s gonna punch someone and we’re gonna lose our space for good.”

“I’m not!”

Bricks laughed and caught Chelsea’s arm, spinning her before she hit the edge of the door. “Yes you are, Morgan. Stay on your best behaviour. Maybe even try being charming.”

Bunny nudged Dancer, grinning. “If you’d joined up last year, like I told you to, you could have been here for the whole explosion. It was great.”

“Great?” Billie asked, raising her eyebrows. “Were we watching the same breakup?”

Bricks glanced over her shoulder warningly. “Save it for drinks, ladies, or Morgan’s gonna make us skate line drills till we drop.”

They dropped their bags along the benches and geared up, watching the Shadows zip around the track. The Shadows were mean, not just on the track, but off too, in that sugar sweet way that left you wondering if you were just reading into it. They were a pretty well-rounded team, and coordinated, thanks to Pippa. She did nothing in half-measures. It seemed impossible that she’d be able to raise children, run school events, coach a junior team as well as an adult one, somehow have a job on top, and still have time to run around keeping two relationships secret from each other for nearly eight months, but Pippa was the kind of woman who really could have it all.

The Riots were… A good team. Pippa had poached two of their players during the breakup drama, and Pepper had moved back home to take care of her grandmother, and they were still trying to get back to where they had been a year ago. Kitten Caboodle and Break Dancer were pretty solid for fresh meat, but with a small team and only four of them with more than a few years experience, it was rough going out there. Hard not to get demoralized when Kortac had beaten them 240 to 60 during their last game. No one’s fault really— Bunny and Sweetpea had been out sick and neither Kitty or Dancer were prepared to jam more than a few rounds with players that rough. They’d gotten shaken, so Morgan and Billie had done most of the jams. Nobody and Freddie Kruger had just torn right through their weakened pack while Morgan and Bill tried to wrestle their way past Queenie.

Once Dancer and Kitty got more confident, they’d be hard to catch. Kitty was tiny, and Dancer was agile, but they both needed more time. Doll and Bambi, who had joined a little over a year ago had turned out to be a highly effective set of blockers— Small, but sturdy and hard to knock down. When they were out on the track with Bricks or Chelsea, they were nigh impossible to get past, which would leave their fourth blocker free to assist the jammer, in an ideal world.

The ideal world simply had five more players in it. Maybe more, since no one but Morgan and Bricks made it to every game.

Later on, worn out and sweaty from practice, crammed into the biggest booth at a diner that was roughly equidistant between everyone’s homes and the arena (and the young man that worked the fryers had a massive crush on Sweetpea, which meant everyone got more fries), they debriefed.

“That’s gonna be tricky for me to stomach long term,” Morgan admitted. “I’m gonna sleep with Pip if I have to be too nice.”

“You don’t actually have to sleep with her, you know,” Bricks said.

“No… I’m gonna.”

“We can find somewhere else,” Billie suggested. “I don’t want Morgan and Pip to get back together, it was so annoying when they were. All in favour of Morgan not fucking Pippa, say aye.” She raised her hand to note the measure.

“Aye,” they intoned together, all raising their hands as well.

“Simone says the Femme41 practice out of Jo’s warehouse now. Pippa did the same thing to them eight months ago. I bet they’d let us skate there.” Bricks tossed another fry into her mouth. “If someone behaves herself.”

Morgan scoffed. “It’s impossible for me to date another one of her girlfriends, her relationships hardly last the weekends now.”

Bunny mouthed the word Pippa at Kitty and Dancer.

“Then you won’t have a problem asking her,” Chelsea said. “Maybe bake her something nice as an overture. A pie or something. You make good pies.”

Morgan winced. “We have a game against them this weekend. We could ask her all together.”

Billie shook her head. “No, this one’s on you. Captain to captain conversation. You have Chelsea’s schedule key, you can negotiate for a time that works.”

“And if she says no? She hates my guts.”

“Wear something low cut and bake her a pie,” Bricks suggested. “Maybe just go wearing nothing but an apron.”

“I’ve got one that says Born To Be A Lesbian Housewife,” Doll said. “You can borrow it. It’s very frilly.”

Bambi giggled. “I’ve got one that says Vagitarian.”

Doll laughed too, knocking her head against Bambi’s shoulder. “That’s way better, Morgan, borrow that one.”

"I'm not going to-- Did you people hear me when I said she hates my guts?"

"She still has eyes, Morgan," Bricks said. "And you have nice tits."

"If you don't sort this out, we might have to disband to other teams. And I don't want to. I like you guys." Chelsea looped an arm around Kitty. "We started this team because we wanted to get together and have fun and challenge ourselves without it getting so damn competitive or mean. Bill and I are not going back to the Shadows, and there's no way Bricks wants to go back to Kortac. So put on your big girl panties and a cute dress, and charm Jo into sharing the warehouse with us. Got it?"

"Got it." Morgan sank back into her seat with a groan. I'll talk to her after work tomorrow."

"Good," Billie said, a note of finality in her voice. "Now, did anyone else watch Game of Dragons last night? I have opinions."

By the time Morgan got home, walked Laika, showered, ate cold leftovers out of the fridge and stepped out on her balcony with a joint, it was well past dark, and she was bone tired. Jo was out on her own balcony, feet up, smoking a cigar. She was a thick, barrel chested woman, wearing a tank top and jeans, cigar in one hand, glass of whiskey in the other. Her hair was longer than usual, tucked behind her ears, like she'd been growing it out. It had been a while since Morgan saw her without a hat on.

They acknowledged each other with a curt nod, and Morgan settled into her swing chair, tucking her feet up underneath her. Laika went to the railing to give Jo the biggest, saddest eyes she could.

Jo maybe didn't like Morgan much, but it was hard not to like Laika. The big goofy rottweiler loved almost everyone, and knew exactly how to get what she wanted (big sad eyes, a few pathetic whines, a raised paw, if need be). It was only a minute before Jo was up and leaning over the railing to give Laika a pet.

Usually they didn't speak. The smallest things seemed to spark up into fights between them, and Morgan found it was easier just to keep their interactions to a minimum.

So it was a surprise when Jo spoke first. "Rough night?"

"Yeah. You could say that."

"Want to talk about it?"

“Thank you for pretending to care, but not really.” She grimaced. It really was the perfect opportunity to ask, but it was hard to shake the habit of brushing Jo off.

Jo snorted. “You know, I really preferred fightin’ to this cold shoulder treatment.”

“That’s because you’re a disagreeable sort of woman.”

“That’s the spirit, pet. But you can do better than that. C’mere.”

Morgan glared at her. “No. I’m good where I am actually.” She looked the other way, puffing on the joint. She could ask tomorrow. She wasn’t in a mood to deal with anyone else tonight. Having to smile and play nice with Pippa had been bad enough. She needed a good sleep before she could even pretend to be friendly to anyone else.

She startled when Jo’s thick fingers plucked the joint out of her hand. “Hey! I didn’t invite you over here.”

“Your weed’s better than mine.”

“Probably because I grow it myself. What do you want?”

Jo sat down on the solid little coffee table in front of Morgan, holding her cigar and whiskey glass in one hand. She leaned forward, glass resting lightly on her knee, bleeding condensation into the denim. Mixed drink, then, not straight whiskey. Jo drank the better stuff neat. “Pip called me today.”

“Oh yeah?”

Jo hummed, offering the joint back, blue eyes stern. “Don’t be coy, if you’re fuckin’ her again I’d rather know than get blindsided bumpin’ into her in the hallway.”

“Did she tell you we were?”

Jo’s jaw clenched tight. “She said she was lookin’ forward to seein’ you tonight.”

“Well I’m sure it was super nice for her. She bought my team’s arena. I am gonna have to start fucking her if I want to keep our usual practice slots. She made that… Well about as clear as she ever makes anything.” Morgan handed the joint over again. “So not very, but I still got the gist of it.” She scrunched up Laika’s ears, humming. Laika’s tail solidly thumped against Jo’s shin, bridging the space between them.

“Extortionist,” Jo scoffed.

“Yeah. Pretty much. Bricks said you might take pity on us if I asked nicely. I know you practice out of your warehouse.” Morgan lifted her eyes back up to Jo’s face.

“Is this you askin’ nicely?” Jo leaned forward slightly, her soft stomach spilling over her belt a bit, biceps flexing as she leaned more weight on her arms. “You can do better than that. Not so much as a please.”

“It was not me asking nicely. I had no intention of talking to you until tomorrow, and I’m still not asking until I’ve had at least four hours of uninterrupted sleep.”

“Surprised you’d come to me.”

Morgan looked away first, just like she always did. Jo had an intensity to her that was hard to match, blue eyes drilling into her own like she was looking for faults she could use to crack her open entirely. It was much easier to study the freckles on the top of her shoulder, just above the pinup girl sitting on the curve of a crescent moon that looked rather a lot like her ex wife, Sadie. “I wouldn’t if I had literally any other option. But I have to admit that you are slightly more tolerable than Pippa. Even if you do park half in my spot and fuck squealing college girls at all hours of the night.”

“You don’t need the space. You have a bike.”

“So that gives you the right to park your big-dick pickup truck wherever you please?”

“Sure does, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me sweetheart! We have one conversation that doesn’t make me want to punch you, and you have to ruin it.”

She grinned, shifting back again. “Not being very nice to someone you want to ask a favour from.”

“I’m not asking the favour until tomorrow. I’m too grumpy to be nice tonight. You invited yourself over and plopped yourself down in front of me and started smoking my weed.” This was not helpful. Why did Jo always manage to get her this worked up? She drew in a centring breath. “No, you’re right, I should be nicer.”

"I did bogart your joint," Jo conceded. "That's on me." Rather than hand it back, she took a long drag, the cherry burning bright all the way down to the folded cardboard filter, and dropped the remains in the ashtray. She leaned forward again, cupping the back of Morgan's neck with a strong hand, and blew smoke directly into Morgan's face. She grinned wickedly when Morgan spluttered a bit. "What's wrong, pet? Thought you wanted me to share better."

"Maybe I am better off negotiating with Pippa," Morgan grumbled, swatting Jo's hand away.

"Hm. Maybe. Why don't you think about how you'll ask me about practice space tomorrow, and I'll get out of your hair." Jo stood up, gave Laika another pat, and climbed back over to her side of the balcony without another word.

Morgan ushered Laika inside, fuming again, and furiously got ready for bed.

She was sure of one thing; Jo Price was going to make a truce between them nigh impossible.

Title card made on Canva - Image Credits: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 (Stickers are Canva assets) Dividers by @/cafekitsune

[musedith]

🔛 fr pippa. faith, micah, chelsea

PICK BETWEEN THREE ... make love to, have a quickie with, be rough / kinky with?

pippa wants to make sweet, sweet love to micah. she doesn't have a problem with her and realistically, think's she's fine asf. sorry juli. chelsea? she's heard about lawngate, okay. she knows chelsea's got the need for speed. she's the quickie. as for getting freaky? pippa says faith can do whatever she wants * winks * which probably DOES include whacking pippa. now they can just do it gayly.

[jflemings]

— busted

pairing: jessie fleming x arsenal!reader {piper’s world}

synopsis: sam offers to babysit piper while you go out on a date and decides to drag niamh along. piper accidentally spills the beans on you and jessie’s budding relationship

warnings: none!

୧ ‧₊˚ 🪽 ⋅ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

“y/n!” sam calls as her and niamh enter your apartment. she takes off her shoes and gestures for her teammate to do the same before the sound of small feet pitter-pattering draws her attention.

piper is going as fast as her little legs can carry her, her arms outstretched as she runs towards sam. she’s grinning big and giggles loudly when sam bends down and picks her up, tossing her in the air slightly.

“sammy!” her boisterous giggles bounce off the walls.

“pippa!” sam echoes back

the striker holds piper close to her and points to niamh “you remember niamh, don’t you?”

piper nods and waves “hi niamh”

the defender softly says hi back just as you stick your head around the corner “oh my god thank you so much for doing this” you thanks as you lean down to zip up your left boot “i’m sorry it’s so last minute, i’ll get you both something to make up for it”

“don’t worry about it” sam waves off “i’d do anything to spend time with piper, and niamh here was just sitting at home” you says jerking her thumb behind her.

you pat yourself down and check your purse to make sure you’ve got everything before running a finger under your eye “i shouldn’t be back too late” you assure the duo.

sam nods “tell me again about this date”

you roll your eyes “there’s not much to tell. we met through a mutual friend and hit it off”

“and when can i meet this mystery woman?” she cocks her brow

you pause and bite your lip before shrugging “i’ll let you know”

sam rolls her eyes as you redirect your attention to niamh, smiling briefly “there’s left over pasta in the fridge but i’ve also left money on the counter if you wanna order in, she’s been fed and bathed, bed time is eight thirty, and if she wants a snack there’s a variety in the cupboard” you tell the two chelsea players as you grab your coat “and do not let her bully you into allowing her to stay up late” you point at the both of them.

niamh’s hands go up in surrender “got it. food in fridge, bed at half past eight, snacks in the cupboard, don’t let her bully us” she lists off, earning a nod of approval from you.

“you’re a natural” you playfully wink at her before kissing piper’s head “be good for sammy and niamh. i don’t want any trouble” you say pointedly

piper nods her head “you be good too, mummy” she says as she lays her head on sam’s shoulder.

you usher the two women further into your apartment as you check your phone, your eyes widening at the realisation that you’re going to be late. you blow your daughter a kiss and wave the three of them goodbye, closing the door and leaving them to their own devices.

“have fun on your daaaaate!” sam calls out as you shut the door, smiling smugly to herself.

over her shoulder, niamh and piper share a look “you wan’a colour?”

two hours later sam is sitting on the floor of your lounge room with multicoloured clips in her hair. piper holds onto her shoulder as she focuses on finding a place for a sparkly butterfly clip.

she clips it in the front of sam’s hair and then holds out her small hand ���‘nother please niamh” she says politely.

“of course” the defender says whilst trying to hold in her giggles “another butterfly?”

piper stops to think for a minute “yes please”

sam flicks through the kids section on netflix patiently “what do ya wanna watch, kiddo?”

“turtles please” piper answers as niamh hands her a blue butterfly clips “blue for cheelseaaa” she drags out as she carefully placed the clip in sam’s hair.

sam finds the animated ninja turtle show piper’s talking about and smirks “blue for chelsea because we play for chelsea?”

“no” she says matter-a-factually “blue for chelsea because jessie plays for chelsea”

niamh stills for a moment “you know jessie?”

sam nods her head “i introduced them a—”

“of course i know jessie” piper interrupts dramatically “jessie has sleepovers!”

the two women pause and share a look. niamh raises her brows as sam shrugs her shoulders, the two of them having a wordless conversation.

piper, being none the wiser to it, continues “and colours with me and plays with me” she goes on, holding out her hand again.

niamh’s on auto pilot as she hands the toddler another clip, her unblinking expression identical to sam’s.

“all done!” piper cheers as she claps her hands, holding up a hand held mirror to sam so she can look at her hair. sam takes the mirror and nods her head before turning to piper.

“do you see jessie all the time or just sometimes?”

“all the time” piper nods “mummy and jessie go out sometimes so i get to go to stephy”

niamh’s eyes go wide “and mummy and jessie… are they—”

“mummy and jessie are bestest friends” piper giggles as she situates herself in sam’s lap “they say so all the time”

the two chelsea players share another confused look but don’t push it any further with the toddler, choosing to sit back and watch the show she’d chosen instead.

despite the colourful animation on the screen in front of her, sam’s mind was going a million miles a minute. she loved jessie dearly but she knew what you went through when you got pregnant with piper. the internal conflict that plagued your pregnancy had taken a toll on you, as did the fact that your ex wanted nothing to do with you or your sweet little girl, and sam didn’t want a repeat of that happening. hell would freeze over before she watched you get treated like that again.

it only took thirty minutes for piper to be sprawled out in sam’s lap, her little limbs poking sam’s body awkwardly. the striker brushed some hair out of her face before standing carefully, adjusting her grip so that piped was situated comfortably on her chest.

she walks down the hall to piper’s room and tucks her in before turning on her little fairy lights. she stands in the doorway for a minute to ensure that she hadn’t woken the child up before cracking the door and walking back out to the living room.

“did you know—”

“no” sam replies as she sits on the couch next to niamh “i had no clue”

the defender kisses her teeth “are you worried?”

sam pauses for a moment, scrubbing her hand over her face before releasing a sigh “no” she says, dropping her arm on the armrest “not for the reasons you might think, anyway”

niamh nods and fidgets with the remote, the animated teenage mutant ninja turtles show still playing in the background. “so… the issue isn’t jessie?”

“no, god no. well—” sam shakes her head “no” she says firmly before looking to niamh.

niamh smirks “so you won’t be mad at me if i call jessie right now?”

“to do what?” sam asks puzzled.

you and jessie walk with your arms linked, the both of you bundled up and huddled into eachother as you walk to her car. you shake your head and laugh as jessie tells you a story from her ucla days.

“you left her on the front lawn?” you laugh

jessie throws her head back “no!” she exclaims “she told me she was getting her own way back to our dorm so i left early. it was only when i woke up the next morning and she wasn’t there that i ran back to the frat house”

“teagan gets pretty wild” you muse “i can’t believe she got you to go to a frat party”

the canadian groans “more than once, and i ended up leaving early almost everytime”

“almost?”

jessie blushes wildly and looks away from you briefly, clearly recalling a memory she doesn’t want to think about “yes” she says quietly.

you duck your head slightly “jeeesssieee” you draw out teasingly, nudging your shoulders together.

she’s about to answer you when her phone buzzes in her pocket. she stops the two of you and pulls her phone out, frowning when she sees niamh’s name on her screen. the two of you look at eachother and shrug before she answers “hello?”

“jessie!” you hear niamh yell down the other line “how’s your night going? what are you up to?”

jessie’s eyebrows furrow in suspicion “it’s fine, not much going on. why? what are you doing?”

“sam and i are babysitting” she answers, allowing jessie to hear the smile in her voice.

the midfielder’s face drops ever so slightly and she looks at you intensely. you feel your stomach fall and you can’t help but grip jessie’s arm tighter.

“real cute kid, very polite” the defender trails off “how’s y/n?”

all the colour drains from jessie’s face and her eyes go wide. you can see the panic across her face and you wave your free hand about trying to get her to try to explain whatever niamh was telling her.

it’s like jessie’s brain has completely disconnected from her mouth “who’s y/n?”

you drop jessie’s arm and cover your face with both hands as she grimaces. the canadian bites one of her knuckles as niamh goes silent on the other end of the phone and she wonders if she can just hang up now.

“jessie” a thick australian accent says “put y/n on the phone please”

“okay” jessie says quietly before holding out the phone “it’s for you”

you purse your lips and take the phone off her “niamh”

“nope”

you screw your eyes shut “hey sammy, how’s piper?” you ask as cheerily as you can “did she get to bed okay?”

“fell asleep in my lap whilst watching ninja turtles” she answers “how’s your date going?”

“good” you answer whilst nodding “i’ll, uhm, be home soon”

“perfect!” she perks up “tell jessie to come up with you when she drops you off”

you look at jessie who’s biting her nails nervously and watching you like a hawk, looking for any sign that sam’s unhappy with the two of you. you suddenly feel like you’re back in highschool getting scolded by your mother for ending up drunk on your high school’s oval instead of sleeping at your friend’s house like you told her. you frown and pull jessie’s hand away from her mouth before holding it in your own.

“okay” you sigh deeply before hanging up and handing jessie’s phone back to her.

she pockets it and squeezes your hand “is it bad?” she asks nervously.

you squint “i’m not sure” you say huddling into her again “but it’s just sam, so, probably not”

[catherinetheprincessofwales]

James Middleton: Kate, William and the dog that saved my life. The younger brother of the Princess of Wales was so depressed he came close to killing himself. Then Ella, his faithful cocker spaniel, stepped in — and even found him a wife. He tells Matt Rudd about his ‘waste of money’ education, family therapy and the help Prince William gave him. The Sunday Times, 22 Sep 2024.

I’m in a cottage on a farm with the brother of the Princess of Wales and his eyes are filling with tears. He has a cocker spaniel called Luna on his lap and I have a cocker spaniel called Inka on my lap. Both dogs are looking anxiously at their owner as he tries to tell me about the death of their mother, Ella. It could be a bit awkward when a man you’ve only just met starts getting very emotional about a dog that died nearly two years ago. Instead it’s the moment I realise James Middleton isn’t exaggerating. A dog really did save his life.

On a winter’s night in late 2017, Middleton climbed a ladder to the roof above his parents’ flat in Chelsea and contemplated suicide. Overwhelmed by feelings of failure, he had decided that the labour of living was no longer worth the effort. As his thoughts spiralled, it was only the sight of Ella, watching him carefully through the skylight, that gave him pause. How could he leave her, he wondered.

Over weeks and months Middleton had isolated himself from family and friends, ignoring increasingly desperate phone calls and texts. When his sister Pippa came to the door, he would hide in his room. When he tried to go to work, he got as far as the car park and then drove home again.

“I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t sleep, I was constantly agitated,” he says. “If I sat down I had to stand up again immediately. I couldn’t eat because I felt constantly as if I were about to throw up. What was most challenging was that I couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong. It wasn’t living, it was just existing in this awful state of anxiety.”

As his mental health crisis deepened, it was only Ella and the routine of looking after her that kept him going. “I was never alone in a time when I felt very lonely,” he says, stroking Inka’s ears. “I’m surprised there weren’t marks on the carpet from the laps I was doing, but she would sort of get in the way. It was a silent interruption, but for a fraction of a second it would stop the spiralling. “Something was taking over my mind, but not knowing what it was made it very difficult to talk about. And I didn’t feel as though I had a right to be depressed because I’ve had everything, because I am privileged.”

We are meeting today, I should mention, at Bucklebury Farm Park, a genteel sheep-petting outfit plus farm shop (excellent organic pesto) at the more desirable end of Berkshire. It is owned by his sister Pippa Matthews née Middleton and her hedgie husband, James, who is, among other things, the next laird of Glen Affric. Carole and Michael Middleton, parents to James, Pippa and Catherine, live in a manor house a stone’s throw away and Middleton’s own farm, which he bought from the parents of a prep school friend mid-pandemic, is a mile over there. It’s quite the empire.

Now married to the French financier Alizée Thevenet and father to 11-month-old Inigo, Middleton is happy to talk about his annus horribilis and his dog-assisted recovery. He does so at book-length in Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life. But it’s a good question: what does someone born into such wealth and privilege have to be depressed about?

The roots of his 2017 crisis can be found, like most roots of crises, in childhood. Born in 1987, the same year his mother set up the mail-order company Party Pieces, he followed his two older sisters to Marlborough. If the prestigious boarding school demanded academic excellence and his parents expected it, both were to be disappointed. Diagnosed with dyslexia then, and with attention deficit disorder when he finally sought help in 2017, he struggled where his sisters had excelled.

“School is about comparing yourself to others,” he says, recalling how he would avoid friends phoning to compare exam results in the summer holidays. “I didn’t feel despair when I failed because it happened so often, but I was embarrassed. I felt let down because I didn’t think that those results properly represented me.”

In the early chapters of the book he charts his struggles with expectation — his mother is frequently in tears, his father just as frequently exasperated. Even without VAT, it must have taken a large chunk of the trust fund established by Michael’s grandmother, the heiress Olive Middleton, to put his son through Marlborough. When that son had to spend a gap year retaking his A-level chemistry four times, a “humiliating record” for the school, he tells him his education was “a waste of money”.

Although today Middleton studiously avoids criticising his school or his beloved parents — he learnt valuable survival skills at Marlborough, he tells me, and “Mum and Dad just wanted the best for me” — the pressure was clearly intense. He sought escape from that pressure in nature and in dogs. “I was an outcast … alienated from my classmates,” he writes. “But dogs never judged me. Mum asked repeatedly if I wanted to bring friends home to stay at weekends. But truthfully all I wanted to do was to see Tilly.”

Tilly was the family’s golden retriever, but from an early age Middleton was desperate for his own dog. His parents, on the other hand, continued to be desperate for him to succeed. And so, after that long summer of resits, he squeaked into Edinburgh University, choosing criminology, environmental studies and geography modules because he was “pretty certain they would all be multiple choice”. They weren’t, of course, and he failed his first-year exams. More crying from Mum, more exasperation from Dad, more solace from a dog, this time his own.

“For all my reservations, I shall be eternally grateful for the time I spent in Edinburgh because it is thanks to Ben, a university friend, that I find my adored dog Ella,” he writes, introducing us to the dog that saved his life. Despite his best efforts, puppies and student life are not compatible, and when he was banned from bringing Ella to lectures he finally abandoned his studies. “I knew that if I left university I’d be responsible for that decision,” he says. “It was a big step, but I had Ella with me, as my companion and my responsibility.”

Middleton’s story is not exactly Angela’s Ashes. When he announces that he is ditching his degree to become an entrepreneur in London, he is cut off, he tells us, from the Bank of Mum and Dad, but he can still move in with his sisters at the family’s flat in Chelsea. His uncle Gary Goldsmith, he of Celebrity Big Brother 2024 notoriety, is also on hand to invest in his cake kit start-up. Nobody in this story is going to find themselves on the street.

But cynics desist! Don’t underestimate the impact of parental expectation, nor of not conforming to the traditional model of success. Middleton, anxious and increasingly socially uncomfortable, had left his friends in Edinburgh and washed up in London with his dog.

“She was my shield,” he says. “Through her I could enjoy things. I could take her for a walk and see what she was seeing. I process a lot of things in my mind and that can be overwhelming, but she helped me open my eyes and realise everything was OK.”

There are, I’m sure, many advantages to being royal adjacent, but when his sister Catherine started dating Prince William in 2004, Middleton found the level of media interest “shocking”. A young man who used his dog as an excuse to leave parties early was not equipped for the spotlight, for stepping out of the flat into a sea of flashing cameras.

“I’d never seen a royal wedding,” he says, rather sweetly. “There hadn’t been one in my lifetime. Not a big one anyway. I wasn’t aware of the scale or the global interest. I just felt privileged that my sister was asking me to do it, and it meant something to her. I wanted to make sure I did it.”

His description of the intense amount of practice he put in to the reading is like a potted version of The King’s Speech — he stutters, he stumbles, he takes lessons with the voice coach Anthony Gordon Lennox, he reads nervously and then more confidently to an audience of one dog ­— Ella, of course — in Chelsea Old Church. And then it’s the big day. “Really, the build-up to Catherine’s wedding was no different to Pippa’s or other friends’ weddings,” he says, unbelievably. Just the family, 1,900 guests, Her Majesty, an archbishop and a few world leaders. Watching the recording back today, there’s no hint of nerves — Middleton, 24 at the time, gives a bravura performance. Afterwards an American production company wrote to ask if he’d like to star in his own film — their opening offer was $1 million.

“They even ventured,” he writes wryly, “that members of my wider family might like to take part.” Middleton is not unaware of how everything is distorted by his proximity to royalty.

On the surface the next few years of Middleton’s life read like a Hello! magazine special — parties, holidays on Mustique, holidays in the Alps, a blossoming relationship with a glamorous older woman (the actress Donna Air, about whom his parents were hesitant because of the eight-year age gap), weekends at Sandringham (“Did you get my message, James?” the Queen asked the first time he visited. “Ella is welcome to stay in your room.”) But then came the night of despair in pyjamas on a Chelsea rooftop. Long sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy followed with a psychiatrist who was happy for Ella to attend too. She was, Middleton says, the only reason he kept going.

In December 2017, his mental health still fragile, he left London without telling anyone and holed up in a remote cottage in the Lake District. While his family grew frantic with worry, much to his irritation (“I’m a grown man”), he describes three days of elemental existence — fetching firewood and water, heating soup, walking Ella and her two pups. For the first time in a year he enjoyed a deep sleep and, in front of the fire after a wild swim with his dogs, he felt fleetingly happy.

“Dogs are amazing,” he says and all five of the dogs in the cottage with us — three spaniels and two beautiful golden retrievers — look delighted. “They do just sense things. Ella had been with me in every therapy session, she was always with me. I think we can learn from dogs. They’re not thinking about yesterday or tomorrow. They’re not even thinking about the next couple of hours. They’re thinking about right now. I’m here, they’re here, in the moment.”

As Middleton’s recovery continued, he says his sisters understood — they both had friends who had depression — but his parents struggled. “They were uncomfortable with the fact that I’d been labelled ‘clinically depressed’,” he writes. “To people of their generation, I can understand why it was concerning. Society was only just starting to break through the stigma.”

The solution, in the end, was to invite the family to the therapy sessions. “I felt guilty because I knew they were worried,” he says. “They felt guilty because it’s really hard if you’re not able to help the people you love the most. I was finally understanding how I felt but I got nervous trying to translate that to my family without the help of an interpreter. When they came into the sessions they had the opportunity to ask questions that I couldn’t necessarily answer.”

In the 13 years since Catherine’s wedding Middleton’s hair has receded a little, but he now has a beard for balance — a little twirl of his moustaches and he could be a not-too-distant cousin of Tsar Nicholas II. He probably is — this generation of Middletons is not the first to hang out with royalty. He looks less bright and bushy-tailed than he did in 2011, but that might be fatherhood or the weekend with friends he has just returned from in Norfolk. Or it might simply be the passing of enough eventful years.

Whatever it is, he tells me he is now happy, which, given the depths of his depression, he still finds extraordinary. His idea of what constitutes success has changed — he is no longer motivated by money but by the things in life about which he is passionate. He doesn’t even like the word entrepreneur any more.

Having stepped away from Boomf, a marshmallow delivery company (Boomf is the sound a marshmallow makes falling from a letterbox), he started James & Ella, a “premium freeze-dried raw dog food” company in 2020. He clearly finds it easier to be passionate about dogs than marshmallows. But it’s in his personal life that the change has been most dramatic.

“I remember sitting in the therapist’s chair with Ella’s head on my lap, wondering how long it was going to take to get better,” he says. “But within a year I had met my future wife. And we’re now here with an 11-month-old son, living on a farm with six dogs. If someone had told me that would happen, I’d have been annoyed. It would have just seemed so ridiculous.”

He met Thevenet, 34, at a members club in South Kensington, west London, in 2018. Ella, having actively disapproved of several previous girlfriends, broke the ice by going over to her table. They married in the south of France in 2021 (a Hello! magazine world exclusive, naturally) and Ella was a flower girl. And everyone lived happily ever after.

Except, alas, the dog. It is one of life’s cruelties that man’s best friend has a much shorter life expectancy than man. Just asking Middleton about the death of Ella, early one Saturday in January 2023, makes him emotional. Despite being given two weeks to live the previous September, she had made it through Christmas, perhaps buoyed by the thought of one final week in the Alps. Of course Middleton was with her when she took her last breath at 3am. The whole family, including William and Catherine, gathered in his parents’ garden for what sounds like an extensive memorial on the Sunday.

“Saying goodbye to Ella was not just saying goodbye to her as a dog,” Middleton says. “It was everything I’d been through with her. She had arrived just as I was starting out in my twenties and she was leaving as I’d finally figured things out in my mid-thirties. She put me on the right path and I didn’t want another day from her. I didn’t want another hour. I would have loved it but I didn’t need it. “She was sent to me before I even knew I needed her, but she chose me. She was able to transform my life better than any human could have done and then she put me in the capable hands of someone and together we’re now raising our own family.”

Eight days after Ella was buried in her favourite sheepskin, Alizée interrupted Middleton’s mourning to announce that she was pregnant. He is convinced Ella knew and that her death was a kind of passing of the torch. His son, Inigo, was born last autumn. “I hope there’s an Ella who will find Inigo, if there’s a time in his life when he needs it,” he says, as one of the golden retrievers has a long stretch.

If you’re not a dog person, you might find this cosmic canine intervention a bit much. Whether Ella was the ultimate therapist or a very effective placebo, it worked for Middleton. His sisters’ families are also fully invested in the joys of cocker spaniels — Pippa has one of Ella’s sons and Catherine, whose announcement of the end of her chemotherapy treatment comes a few days after this interview, now has one of Ella’s granddaughters — no corgis to date. Middleton himself now regards his mental health crisis as a blessing. “Although I would never wish it on anybody and I would never want to go through it again, I’m pleased it happened. It was an opportunity to recalibrate and to re-evaluate what matters.” Happiness, he says, is what matters. Happiness and lots of dogs. Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life by James Middleton (Radar £22). 

[sassyfrassboss]

So as a daughter of a former courtier, I have some information of such to share.

What Meghan Wants - this wasn’t just about the wedding, as when Harry proposed he proposed with a basic ring and Meghan wanted something more bling so to speak and alongside Harry, approached The Queen and basically demanded that she have the centre emerald of the choker necklace placed into a diamond pavé ring alongside two other large diamonds from the royal collection, which I’ve heard were from the Victorian or Georgian era.

When the Queen said no, Meghan got venomous and is the reason why the Queen said she was evil. When they couldn’t get any further, they apparently approached The Earl Spencer to have him hand over diamonds from the Spencer tiara to place into the tiara, to which he denied. This was among the reasons why he did not attend the christening, the wedding he did attend because of optics.

The hatred of Catherine links back to a time when Meghan got drunk while living in Kensington Palace’s cottage with Harry, and threw a large party that went on for hours. William was apparently away at the time and Catherine was pregnant with two young children living close by. Catherine went down to tell her to stop the partying and the loud music, and Meghan again got venomous towards her. And by venomous, I mean in her face, obscenities falling from her lips and insults right to Catherine’s face. Also Meghan did buy Catherine a set of stainless steel butcher knives and smirked that the blood wipes right off.

Meghan also hates Pippa, because she tried to worm her way into her friendship circle first through the Chelsea society circle but failed as Pippa is very closed off to outsiders and very protective. Harry has had a well known weird obsession over Pippa and Catherine for a long time.

Meghan is behind the Rose rumours, this is a fact known by the family and staff. This is another reason why most have frozen her out and it is indeed due to Rose and Harry being together, and him raving about how “fit” she was to everyone afterwards while Meghan didn’t get to attend.

Meghan didn’t believe Zara had miscarriages and this is a big reason for why Anne, Peter, Mike and Zara hate her guts. Basically what was said is that Meghan didn’t see how an Olympic standard equestrian could have two miscarriages one after another and maybe it was that that caused it.

The racism thing is a nothing burger. Basically Charles and Camilla alongside William and Catherine sat down with Harry, without Meghan there before they married but apparently engaged, and basically brought up about whether he’d be able to cope with racism in the media directed towards Meghan and their child, what I’ve heard is that those shotgun engagement rumours are indeed true. There was a lot of talk about a miscarriage, and it wasn’t about Catherine or anyone else in the family. Which is why his family brought it up, as they knew he wasn’t the strongest mentally or emotionally. But what also was brought up was Harry’s racism and whether he’d be able to handle a biracial child… he had commented on Senna and Tāne Lewis among others.

Eugenie’s engagement announcement and wedding were both pushed back to accommodate Meghan and Harry, and their wedding pushed forward. The Queen apparently wanted a toned down wedding because Meghan was a divorcee and she was pregnant out of wedlock, but then suddenly they were accommodating basically anything she wanted, to which I’ve heard is because she cried wolf over a miscarriage, saying they were the family she never had and really manipulating them as while the Queen and others were strong and smart in the institutional way, they are a soft and supportive family. But she did bring up nonstop questions about Philip’s Nazi in-laws which irked him, The Queen and others massively.

Meghan wanted the Vladimir tiara, but not how it usually looks - basically she wanted to take the emeralds out of it and place those emeralds into the Lovers Knot, which she was told no because it is on lifetime loan to Catherine and its current frame is fitted to her head shape.

That Givenchy anon that was going around? That is basically all true. Meghan hated Charlotte with a vengeance but also Mia Tindall and later Lena Tindall because she like Louis dared to be born in 2018. She hated family members bringing children to events or family gatherings.

Also Meghan kept calling Louis, Lewis instead of the Louey pronunciation because she was jealous of him. Apparently Louis was also the name that she (more so Harry) had approached the Queen and Philip about using for their unborn child.

Doria never got anything. She turned up a few days before the wedding and jetted out a few days later. Jessica Mulroney kept pestering the courtiers and royal staffers to which they ended up blocking her from further communication.

Nobody knew Meghan was pregnant when she announced in 2018 with Archie, everyone literally found out when she posted on the instagram account in the middle of the night in the UK but a good time in California. Nobody got to ask about medical provisions, as the staffers wanted to help arrange the appropriate procedures for her with the Queen’s medical team. But she didn’t take them up, and Harry didn’t know basic things about the pregnancy when asked by family and staff. There is a very very strong case for a surrogate being used, as it was noted that Meghan ate unsafe food, traveled to unsafe places, did unsafe activities, and got basic information wrong about pregnancy when asked like Harry.

Nobody has seen him or Lili, they were not in the UK for the jubilee or any other time. The Queen did not visit them at Frogmore Cottage.

Breaking this down:

So as a daughter of a former courtier, I have some information of such to share.

What Meghan Wants - this wasn’t just about the wedding, as when Harry proposed he proposed with a basic ring and Meghan wanted something more bling so to speak and alongside Harry, approached The Queen and basically demanded that she have the centre emerald of the choker necklace placed into a diamond pavé ring alongside two other large diamonds from the royal collection, which I’ve heard were from the Victorian or Georgian era.

-So around this time Meghan’s PR was insane. It was clear that she intended on making “emerald” her stone/color like Catherine had “sapphire.” At the time, her PR was claiming that the emerald stone was going to come from a necklace of Diana’s and that Harry was going to take diamonds from the famous sapphire chocker for the rest of the ring. The problem that I always had with this rumor was that the emerald Meghan wanted wasn’t really suited for a ring. Unless she wanted to have it recut.

When the Queen said no, Meghan got venomous and is the reason why the Queen said she was evil. When they couldn’t get any further, they apparently approached The Earl Spencer to have him hand over diamonds from the Spencer tiara to place into the tiara, to which he denied. This was among the reasons why he did not attend the christening, the wedding he did attend because of optics.

Rumor was that Meghan asked for the tiara for her wedding, hence why her veil was scalloped to resemble the tiara.

The hatred of Catherine links back to a time when Meghan got drunk while living in Kensington Palace’s cottage with Harry, and threw a large party that went on for hours. William was apparently away at the time and Catherine was pregnant with two young children living close by. Catherine went down to tell her to stop the partying and the loud music, and Meghan again got venomous towards her. And by venomous, I mean in her face, obscenities falling from her lips and insults right to Catherine’s face. Also Meghan did buy Catherine a set of stainless steel butcher knives and smirked that the blood wipes right off.

It was also said that the Gloucester’s complained as well. Loud drunken behavior and at one point there were fireworks. But it was more than one occasion. Apparently Meghan made some rude remark regarding them about how they needed to move and it got back to TQ who relayed to Meghan she needed to keep her mouth shut. This is also why William stopped any potential move by them into KP.

Meghan also hates Pippa, because she tried to worm her way into her friendship circle first through the Chelsea society circle but failed as Pippa is very closed off to outsiders and very protective. Harry has had a well known weird obsession over Pippa and Catherine for a long time.

I remember there being a rumor that Meghan tried to make friends with Pippa to actually turn Pippa against Catherine. I also remember Meghan putting out PR that she was super close with Pippa and it was causing issues because Pippa was taking her side against Catherine.

Meghan is behind the Rose rumours, this is a fact known by the family and staff. This is another reason why most have frozen her out and it is indeed due to Rose and Harry being together, and him raving about how “fit” she was to everyone afterwards while Meghan didn’t get to attend.

Amsterdam SOHO is where she spilled the rumor because some people were willing to out her for her “extra party activities” so she started the rumor.

Meghan didn’t believe Zara had miscarriages and this is a big reason for why Anne, Peter, Mike and Zara hate her guts. Basically what was said is that Meghan didn’t see how an Olympic standard equestrian could have two miscarriages one after another and maybe it was that that caused it.

Yeah, Meghan believes that she is the only one to have ever suffered from a miscarriage…

The racism thing is a nothing burger. Basically Charles and Camilla alongside William and Catherine sat down with Harry, without Meghan there before they married but apparently engaged, and basically brought up about whether he’d be able to cope with racism in the media directed towards Meghan and their child, what I’ve heard is that those shotgun engagement rumours are indeed true. There was a lot of talk about a miscarriage, and it wasn’t about Catherine or anyone else in the family. Which is why his family brought it up, as they knew he wasn’t the strongest mentally or emotionally. But what also was brought up was Harry’s racism and whether he’d be able to handle a biracial child… he had commented on Senna and Tāne Lewis among others.

He felt the conversation was awkward because he knew how much they all disliked Meghan and she knew it as well. So she twisted the conversation to suit her narrative.

Eugenie’s engagement announcement and wedding were both pushed back to accommodate Meghan and Harry, and their wedding pushed forward.

Stole her wedding date from what I heard. Also another rumor, Meghan was FURIOUS because she wanted the tiara, after she had been denied others, that Eugenie wore and her announcing her pregnancy was retaliation.

The Queen apparently wanted a toned down wedding because Meghan was a divorcee and she was pregnant out of wedlock, but then suddenly they were accommodating basically anything she wanted, to which I’ve heard is because she cried wolf over a miscarriage, saying they were the family she never had and really manipulating them as while the Queen and others were strong and smart in the institutional way, they are a soft and supportive family. But she did bring up nonstop questions about Philip’s Nazi in-laws which irked him, The Queen and others massively.

TQ really had an issue with the veil as well. I remember when it was said PP might not make the wedding because of health issues and I always wondered if he was going to use that as an excuse to stay home because he hated Meghan. He also retired when he knew Meghan was coming on board…which is very telling.

Meghan wanted the Vladimir tiara, but not how it usually looks - basically she wanted to take the emeralds out of it and place those emeralds into the Lovers Knot, which she was told no because it is on lifetime loan to Catherine and its current frame is fitted to her head shape.

It was the Vladimir and the Fife emerald tiara that was on display at the time at KP. At least that is my theory.

That Givenchy anon that was going around? That is basically all true. Meghan hated Charlotte with a vengeance but also Mia Tindall and later Lena Tindall because she like Louis dared to be born in 2018. She hated family members bringing children to events or family gatherings. Also Meghan kept calling Louis, Lewis instead of the Louey pronunciation because she was jealous of him. Apparently Louis was also the name that she (more so Harry) had approached the Queen and Philip about using for their unborn child.

Yeah I heard she was furious that W&C went for Louis because she had called dibs on the name prior to there even being a wedding, let alone a baby. She was also furious because she felt that Charlotte should not have been named after TQ and Diana.

Doria never got anything. She turned up a few days before the wedding and jetted out a few days later. Jessica Mulroney kept pestering the courtiers and royal staffers to which they ended up blocking her from further communication.

Doria was literally trotted out to remind people Meghan is bi-racial.

Nobody knew Meghan was pregnant when she announced in 2018 with Archie, everyone literally found out when she posted on the instagram account in the middle of the night in the UK but a good time in California. Nobody got to ask about medical provisions, as the staffers wanted to help arrange the appropriate procedures for her with the Queen’s medical team. But she didn’t take them up, and Harry didn’t know basic things about the pregnancy when asked by family and staff. There is a very very strong case for a surrogate being used, as it was noted that Meghan ate unsafe food, traveled to unsafe places, did unsafe activities, and got basic information wrong about pregnancy when asked like Harry.

Nobody has seen him or Lili, they were not in the UK for the jubilee or any other time. The Queen did not visit them at Frogmore Cottage.

So I did the math and according to Meghan’s timeline, she was still heavily drinking and partying around the time she became “pregnant” with Archie. There is a lot of questionable behaviors surrounding all of this. I did find it odd the left the “kids” at home for the 2022 Jubilee/Trooping because I figured she would at least try to get a photo with them looking out a window.

Thanks for all of this BTW!

[pupsmailbox]

LOVECORE ID PACK

NAMES ⌇　adelaide. admirer. adora. adoraten. adore. ai. aiko. amadeus. amara. amor. amora. amore. amorette. amorie. amour. amoure. amourette. amy. angel. annabelle. aphrodite. arrow. atuf. bambi. bastet. bear. beau. bes. bliss. blossom. bow. bunny. caleb. candy. carwyn. ceri. charity. chelsea. cherie. cherria. cherrill. cherry. cheryshe. claire. clarissa. claudia. connell. connor. cordelia. crimson. cupid. dahlia. dante. david. delphine. desiree. desyre. dhalia. doll. dove. dylan. eldad. eros. esme. esme.cara. euphor. flower. freya. frill. garden. harp. hart. heart. heartstring. heretic. honey. honeybee. hubert. hugh. ingrid. iris. julia. julie. juliet. juliette. june. kalei. kara. kevin. kiss. koramor. lennon. lev. love. lovebird. lover. loverboy. lucinda. luvbelle. luvia. lynn. mabel. mabel.mila. mai. mars. may. maya. melody. milo. milos. mona. obi. ophelia. paramour. paris. passerine. passion. pearl. phillip. pippa. pippi. raymond. red. reed. reese. ren. rhett. rhys. roma. romanciel. romeo. rosalyn. rose. rosetta. rosette. rumor. sky. sugar. tahlia. teddy. thalia. theo. tyas. val. valen. valentina. valentine. valentino. valerie. vanessa. venus. vera. vincent. violet. vivian. vivianna. vivianne. yua. ásta. éowyn.

PRONOUNS ⌇　<3/<3. ado/adore. adore/adore. ae/aer. am/amour. bli/bliss. bouquet/bouquet. bow/bow. bud/bud. charm/charm. che/cher. cher/cherish. choco/chocolate. chu/chu. co/cora. coo/coo. cu/cupid. cu/cute. cupid/cupid. cute/cute. dar/darling. date/date. de/dear. de/devote. dear/dear. desi/desire. doe/doe. doe/dove. er/ero. ero/ero. eternity/eternitie. euphor/euphoria. fle/fleur. flower/flower. fri/frill. friend/friend. gift/gift. he/heart. he/hymn. hea/heart. heal/heal. heart/heart. hon/honey. hope/hope. hug/hug. hx/hxm. hy/hymn. h♡/h♡m. kie/kiss. kiss/kiss. kyuu/kyuu. lae/lace. lav/lavender. lo/love. love/bug. love/love. love/lovely. love/lover. lu/luv. lust/lust. luv/luv. myst/mystic. pass/passion. pink/pink. plu/plush. pray/pray. prince/prince. re/red. red/red. ri/ribbon. ro/rose. rose/rose. royal/royal. sacri/sacrifice. shx/hxr. shy/hyr. sh♡/h♡r. smitten/smitten. soft/soft. sweet/sweet. tear/tear. ted/teddy. thxy/thxm. th♡y/th♡m. tu/lip.| val/val. val/valen. val/valentine. valentine/valentine. ve/venus. vei/veil. veil/veil. vir/virtue. xo/xo. xoxo/xoxo. ye/yearn. yearn/yearn. ❤️ . 🌹 . 🍓 . 🍫 . 🍯 . 🍰 . 🎀 . 🏩 . 👑 . 💋 . 💍 . 💌 . 💐 . 💒 . 💓 . 💘 . 💝 . 💞 . 🤍 . 🦢 .

[sunshinies]

⋆ฅ Kirara inspired names/pronouns/titles ! 𖦹⋆

art by x! rq by @confeqttis and @cocajimmycola !

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🐈 names: allie , astrid , billie , birdie , bobbie , calico , callie , catrine , chelsea , chloe , cici , clio , coco , cori , cricket , elsie , emmy , felina , imogen , ivy , jaclyn , joy , kat , katie , kayla , kiana , kimber , kimmy , kira , kit , kyra , mimi , nikki , penny , phoebe , piper , pippa , poppy , rosie , scout , sunny , tabbie , tabitha , tortie , zoe

🌱 pronouns: hop/hops/hopself , mew/mews/mewself , purr/purrs/purrself , scratch/scratches/scratchself , dash/dashes/dashself , nya/nyas/nyaself (jp excl) , mrrp/mrrps/mrrpself , cat/nip/catnipself , yarn/yarns/yarnself , play/plays/playself , paw/paws/pawself , soft/softs/softself , kit/kits/kitself , nip/nips/nipself , fluff/fluffs/fluffself

any other variation pronouns of these may be used , of course !

✉️ titles: the speedy nekomata , the cat upon the eaves , the charming courier , she who bounds through the city , the courier of the komaniya express , the fleet-footed feline , the two-tailed mailwoman

prns and gendered terms may be replaced.

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additional tags: @eternoelle @hauntingidol @delusielle @puriette @the-astropaws @ladyth

[marigoldwriter]

Okay! I need a little help! I saw that a lot of people are mentioning the plot "child goes to the past and meets their parents", a plot that I love, and I wanted to think about it with GlassHeart.

Their eldest daughter already has a name and that name has a really cute meaning! But I can't decide on the second child

[katefiction]

Those eyes II: Chapter 8-Epilogue by @a-lifelessface [English]

Thank you so much to @clmarelich0824 for the translation!

Chapter 8

“The key to chaos.  Part II”

Chelsea, London

In less than 10 minutes, Catherine parked her car and took the bag and the two folders from the back seat to enter the house, in a few more minutes Matt would arrive as agreed, but she was already sorry from the moment she hung up the call. What would you say to Matt? Why did you call him? She just wanted to vent, get the attention of someone more understandable...

On the way to the apartment, he thought of other possibilities, he could have called August, Pippa or even his mother, but the first person who came to his mind was Matt.

In order to put something more comfortable, Catherine took a quick shower before Matt arrived, the folders with the drawing notebook were placed on the dining table and as much as she wanted she still could not have an opinion about it, obviously the drawings with an obscene content made her very embarrassed, they were too specific, full of intimate details that caused her disgust.

John was very talented, this was a fact, but his drawings were somewhat disturbing because they showed an intimacy with Catherine that she did not want, an intimacy that made her uncomfortable and lost. Since yesterday, when he arrived at Kensington Palace he had not stopped to think about it, he ended up being distracted by Natalie and Mary, the official appointment - which thank God happened perfectly - although she did not like the answer he gave to the reporter and then a new discussion with William.

Now sitting on the couch, wearing wool socks and sweatshirt, Catherine stopped to think that since the day that the damn photo of William with that Catarina - name that William made a point of informing - went viral, things got cold between the two, they were not a couple to fight a lot, but last week this started to get very frequent.

Catherine felt more and more distant from her boyfriend, she felt that love had diminished and in her view he seemed too accommodated with their relationship and this made her lose her charm involuntarily. With that, she admits that she began to notice other men around her, Matt was one of them. With John's departure from the National Gallery, Matt was hired and soon became friends with Catherine, but she had not noticed him otherwise, until a few weeks ago and obviously it was not something she would like, but for some reason she was attracted to him.

The doorbell rang and Catherine jumped off the couch to open the door, afraid she walked to the entrance.

“Hi. ― said Catherine.

“Hi, how are you?” said Matt, leaning against the door frame.

“Come in here.” replied Catherine, pulling him by the hand.

The intimacy between Matt and Catherine was very limited, they had long conversations about all kinds and any kind of subject, but they rarely had any kind of physical contact, except for the last meeting where Matt took her by the waist causing a wave of electricity in her body, but now due to the latest events, all he thought of doing as soon as he closed the door was hug Matt. A strong hug that left him surprised, Matt surrounded his waist while she supported her head on his shoulder.

“I think I screwed up with Will.” she whispered.

“What do you mean?” he asked letting her go.

Catherine took him to the sofa in the living room, Matt already knew that they had fought a few times because of John, but she told everything again, talked about how she felt distant from William and how his self-indulgence bothered her, talked about being upset by his talk to the reporter... Matt listened to her carefully, making some comments from time to time.

“But what about you, Kate? You said that William is accommodated, don't you think you are too?” Matt asked cautiously.

“What do you mean?” Catherine looked at her confused.

“In my opinion, you are accommodated, why don't you talk to William about it? Maybe he's not even noticing... You should tell him if something bothers you, if you really like him it's worth trying…" said Matt.

“Do you think so?”

“You like him, don't you?”

“I love William…" she said looking into Matt's eyes. “but sometimes I feel like it's cold... I can't explain…"

“I know how it is…" he replied softly.

“Matt…"

“About what happened in your living room…" Matt started and Catherine immediately red. “I'm sorry, I don't know what happened to me…"

“No need to apologize! Nothing happened.” Catherine replied by getting up.

“I said that about the drawings, but it was in reference to the ones you were wearing. You are beautiful, Kate! And he was extraordinary in the details of his eyes, in the shape of his mouth... The way you sit…"

“Matt, no…" Catherine swallowed it dry. “Don't tell me those things.”

“P-Why?” asked Matt, getting up too.

“Because John hurt me a lot and the fact that he captured all this, turned it into drawings and still had the courage to hurt me the way he hurt me makes me confused. I don't know how to deal with it.” replied Catherine.

“I get it, I'm sorry…" said Matt taking her hand. “Maybe we should change the subject, do something else... What do you think?”

“A movie, maybe? We can order something to eat…” suggested Catherine, gently moving away from him.

“Great idea. Shall we order fish and chips? I know you love it.” said Matt, making Catherine immediately remember William, he would have said exactly the same thing.

“Okay.” Catherine replied, going to the kitchen, Matt took the cell phone to place the order.

The food arrived very quickly, so Catherine and Matt turned off the lights and sat on the sofa in the living room to watch a suspense movie, chosen by her, while drinking a glass of wine and eating her favorite food.

William took a few minutes to reason that Catherine left his house, but immediately did not want to give his arm to twist, before he would cool his head and then go after her to try to solve the situation.

While taking a shower, I was thinking about the possibilities I had to please Catherine, maybe I could suggest that she send him an email or even a letter, William could request that one of his security guards deliver the correspondence if that was her wish... William could promise to be more tolerant on issues involving John and even Matt.

Of one thing he was sure: he was not willing to give up his relationship with Catherine.

Stoping to think, these fights are nothing compared to the love he feels for her, just as he is sure that she also feels the same, the tension between them needs to end once and for all. Determined to put an end to these fights and disagreements, the prince rode his motorcycle and went straight to Catherine's apartment.

William left his motorcycle and helmet in the parking lot and walked to the entrance of her apartment, it was all dark so he decided to pick up his cell phone to call, but it was at that moment that he realized that he had forgotten his phone at home.

He assumed that Catherine was sleeping and his only alternative at the moment was to ring the doorbell, approached the door and can already hear the noise of the television... Well, that's a good sign, after all I wasn't going to wake her up.

Stopped in front of her door, William took a deep breath and with his left hand pressed the doorbell and waited.

The doorbell rang and Catherine's whole body froze, added to the tension of the film she was startled when she heard the noise and took a few seconds to act.

“Kate? Love, it's me.” called William from the outside. Catherine got up in a jump. Matt turned white like paper and didn't dare move.

“I think you'd better answer the door.” said Matt swallowing it dry. Catherine ran towards the door without saying anything.

With fear, he unlocked the door and turned the handle slowly, opened the door and had the vision of William leaning against the door frame with his hand in his pocket.

“Will... ― said Catherine feeling guilty.

As much as he hadn't done anything too much, he didn't know how to explain to William what Matt was doing in his house right after their fight.

“Hi, beautiful!” said William already entering the apartment and picking her up by the waist. “I came to apologize, I want to solve everything with you... I don't want to be like this with you…" he said leaning her body against the wall of the living room.

“Ah, Will.” she replied, swallowing dry and looking in the direction of the sofa where Matt was standing looking at both of them.

The lights were off and William turned his confused head towards the couch and his heart jumped, his whole body became rigid. His gaze alternated between the television, the standing figure staring at him, the glasses and the bottle of wine on the coffee table.

“What the fuck is this?” William shouted, releasing Catherine's body.

“C-calm down, I can explain…" said Catherine with her hands on her chest.

“CALM DOWN? ARE YOU ASKING ME TO CALM DOWN?” shouted William, tapping his hand hard on the light switch to be able to see clearly.

Matt got up pale white, but still stared at William without saying anything.

“Will, love... I called Matt here because I wanted to vent, I was sad.” said Catherine desperately trying to take his hand.

William started laughing. Laugh at despair, hate, hurt.

“You can only be kidding me! Is this a prank? We argue and you just leave and call this asshole to your house? What the fuck is that!?” said William with bitterness.

“Relax, man! It's no big deal.” Matt intervened, walking towards William.

In two steps, William caught up with Matt and with only one hand caught him by the collar pressing him on the window wall. Catherine screamed desperately.

“AH, YOU BASTARD!” William shouted angrily. Catherine grabbed him screaming for him to release Matt.

William lifted Matt off the ground, making him run out of air.

“HAVE YOU LOST your VOICE NOW? LET'S GO! DON'T YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH TO DEFEND YOURSELF? RETAR, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! REVIDA!” William was screaming and now his two hands were on Matt's neck who had no strength to push him.

“William, stop! Please stop it!” begged Catherine, uselessly trying to get William to let him go. Matt had his whole face red.

“W-williamm, ― tried to speak Matt. ― please. ― only a thread of voice came out of his throat.

“Will, no.” the panic in Catherine's voice. “You're scaring me.” William let go of Matt who coughed and tried to breathe.

“Get out of my face, before I break you whole. Come on, get out!” William shouted, catching Matt by the arm and threw him out of the door. Matt looked desperately at Catherine.

“Go, Matt! Go!” said Catherine, grabbing William's hand because she was afraid that he would fly on Matt again.

“William, please calm down.” whispered Catherine. William got rid of her arms.

“I can't even look at you.” said William looking away from her with both hands on his head.

“Love…"

“Don't call me love... You me…" he took a deep breath. “Kate, why did you do this to me?”

“William, that's not what you're thinking about.” she said desperate. “Let's sit down and talk... I, I can explain everything, there was nothing, I swear. I love you. I would never do that.”

“There are limits in which a man can accept to be rejected and humiliated, you have already extrapolated.” said William crossing his arms, he looked everywhere but at her face.

“I didn't kiss Matt! I didn't betray you.” Catherine said vehemently. William put his hand on his stomach because he felt nauseous.

“Even if you didn't kiss, you betrayed my trust.” he said looking at the table. Two notebooks caught your attention.

‘Don't see that…” she said shaking from head to toe. William took a step towards the table, Catherine tried to stop him but it was too late. To Catherine's bad luck, he took the second notebook and opened it.

Catherine didn't move anymore, it would be useless.

“Kate?” said William with a choked voice. He couldn't distinguish what he felt.

“I-I, I, I can explain.” whispered Catherine next to him. William threw the notebook on the table.

“I'll make it easy for you…" said William looking deep into her eyes. The blue in the green. “It's over. Today. Now.”

“How did it end?” Catherine replied, grabbing him.

“My coming here was very enlightening. I hope you are happy and free now.” said William, letting go of Catherine's hug and walking with great strides out of the house.

“No, no, no, no!” begged Catherine, running after him. “William come back here, let's understand each other, let's talk.”

William got on the bike, put on his helmet and left accelerating as much as he could without even looking back, leaving Catherine crying copiously as the icy wind beat rudely on his face, his body was cold and his heart shattered.

The prince seemed in a state of shock, all he did was accelerate, accelerate and accelerate. His mind turned into a white figure and disconnected words appeared in his head, he drove aimlessly along the city's highways, the strong wind beating against him, it was all so intense, but at the same time so meager.

He felt betrayed and humiliated, how was Catherine able to do that to him? What had you done so wrong that you deserved such suffering? Did Catherine want to take revenge because of a photo? Did she fall madly in love with Matt and will stay with him? Just thinking about it, your stomach would wrap it up. His whole body was tingling and he felt as if his head was going to explode.

He never imagined himself breaking up with Catherine, it was like he was in a nightmare and couldn't wake up.

2 weeks later

August:

You promised you would come to Luke's welcome party. Even if you and Kate are no longer together, it does not mean that you are no longer our friend.

William:

I'll be there, my friend.

It's been two weeks since the end.

Two weeks when Catherine didn't eat and didn't sleep properly and William felt anesthetized, it was as if they had pulled something from him and he didn't know how to react.

Catherine didn't dare go to his house, William didn't even look for her. She tried to call, sent messages, and as much as he missed her a lot, he didn't have the strength to answer, he didn't have the courage to try to understand what happened.

The media didn't even dream of the breakup of the two and his team did everything to make things stay that way, just as it was William's will. Natalie and Mary did everything to cheer you up, from their favorite foods to playing tennis or some card game. The prince didn't want to see any of his friends, so he pretended to have some appointment or meeting to avoid leaving, his father also had no idea of the breakup.

Catherine was the personification of repentance, she cried for three days in a row and didn't want to see anyone. She walked away from Matt, and was practically forced to tell August and her mother, she had to beg her not to tell her father. At first, she didn't want to hear any advice, but after a few days, she wanted help to win back William.

York, England

It was a beautiful winter afternoon, the open sky practically all blue, it was a rarity even more at that time of year, the icy wind was present when William got out of the car for the reception at Arthur and August's house.

He wore a black overcoat and a red scarf wrapped around his neck, walked slowly to the entrance door of his friends' large and cozy house.

Already at the entrance was hung a banner written "Welcome, Luke" and some balloons in silver, blue and white colors, next to the door there was a gift box, where William left his bag.

Arthur was the first to greet, then August who was with the little and smiling Luke on his lap. William can't help but smile as he contemplates him.

Luke surprised his parents and especially William, when he threw himself into his arms, making everyone smile even more. William took the baby on his lap and started talking to August and Arthur, other people passed by them and greeted him as well.

The moment the prince was going to deliver Luke to August again, the boy grabbed his scarf.

― Don't you want to leave me, Luke? Did you like uncle's lap? ― William joked, holding Luke in the air carefully, making the baby laugh.

Catherine was in the kitchen when she heard William's voice and went out in a hurry to the entrance of the room and when she saw him her heart raced.

He was so beautiful in his black overcoat, smiling. He looked happy with Luke in his arms, it broke his heart even more, but she couldn't turn her eyes away from him.

There were more than 30 people present in that house in the afternoon to celebrate Luke's arrival, Catherine had only eyes for one person: her prince.

That when he noticed his look at him, he looked back at her, but for the first time he didn't feel anything.

Chapter 9

“We look forward to those who taught us to be strong and at the same time showed us how vulnerable we can be.”

York, England

August and Arthur were delighted with the arrival of Luke who came to complete and make this family even happier, the party was organized by Carole, Pippa and Catherine. The decoration was impeccable, as was the food.

All the guests had fun, but no more than the star of the party: Luke.

He adapted so quickly with the house and with his parents' friends, but for some reason his favorite person at the party was the Prince of Wales, even if he passed from lap to lap and everyone gave him attention, Luke looked everywhere.

William was loving the party and especially Luke, but he didn't feel well. He was forced to talk and play with the guests, including Carole and Pippa who treated him well, despite recent events. The only person he didn't talk to was Catherine, they just exchanged looks and dull smiles.

As much as Catherine wanted to come back running into his arms, she didn't want to run the risk of being rejected and breaking another piece of her heart, William's coldness was totally understandable and she knew she deserved it, after all she betrayed his trust and thinking rationally she knew she would do the same thing if it was the other way around, but she wasn't willing to give up this love, she just didn't know for sure how to get it back.

Now Catherine was sitting on the couch, drinking an Italian soda just watching the prince play with Luke on the opposite side of the room, he talked non-stop to the boy who smiled openly. William was beautiful, as always, but he looked paler and couldn't stop running his hand over his belly.

“Go there and talk to him.” said Pippa, sitting on the couch and giving Catherine a slight scare.

“Will it be?

“Of course, Kate. Did you hurt him and still want him to run after you?” Pippa said sincerely. Catherine closed her face. “It's no use looking at me like that... He may have misinterpreted it, but I totally understand his side.”

“I'm not going to discuss this with you.” Catherine replied.

“You never want to talk to anyone about it... It's no use crying afterwards.” replied Pippa, taking a sip of the drink in his glass.

Catherine looked at her sad and got up to leave the glass on the table, taking a deep breath began to walk slowly in the direction of William.

“Hello.” he said timidly.

“Hi.” he smiled weakly.

“It looks like you've got a new friend.” she smiled interspersing her gaze between William and Luke.

“It seems so.” replied William, playing with the baby's little hands.

“I know it's a stupid question, but are you okay? It looks pale, do you want me to get you something to eat? I noticed that she hardly ate anything.” said Catherine worried.

“I'm not hungry, thank you.” William replied, noticing Arthur approaching.

“Luke, my love! Come here with dad, let's take some pictures with grandma?” said Arthur smiling, and taking the baby from William's arms. “Thank you, Wills.” he completed it, leaving them both alone.

William was going to leave, but Catherine was quick and held him by the arm.

“I'm worried about you.” she said caressing your arm. William stood still.

“You know you don't have to stay.” he said looking at her hand. She was still wearing the ring.

Catherine was slowly sliding her fingers down his arm with the intention of picking up his hand, but William noticed what she was going to do and walked away.

“Will…" she whispered.

“No.” he said softly.

Pippa arrived in a hurry and slapped William on the back.

“William, can you take Kate home? We came only with a car and I will need to take my mother running home, my father called saying that one of our uncles went to visit us, we need to come back quickly.” said Pippa looking at William, totally ignoring Catherine's presence.

“No, no... You don't have to do that.” interrupted Catherine.

“All right.” replied William.

“Thank you!” said Pippa, kissing his cheek. ― Bye.

“Bye to you too.” said Catherine watching her sister walk away. “Will, I'm sorry about that, you don't have to take me, okay?”

“It's the way to my house, unless you don't want me to take you without problems.” said William putting his hand on his stomach because he felt a slight pang. ― Excuse me.

Catherine watched William walk away and then went to say goodbye to his mother.

“Daughter, I'm going because your uncle Simon got home, but tomorrow I'm going to your house. We need to talk, don't you think?” said Carole hugging her daughter.

“Send a kiss to Uncle Simon for me.” she said and put a kiss on her mother's cheek. “And yes, mom... I think we need to talk.”

William went to the bathroom and closed the door behind him, leaned with both hands on the countertop and looked at the mirror, he felt horrible.

He was pale and very nauseous, he could hardly eat, even though all the guests praised the food, he was not hungry.

In an attempt to alleviate the malaise he opened the tap to wash his face, the cold water made him shiver from head to toe, but this made him feel a little better, William stayed a few more minutes there looking at himself and thinking.

The more I thought, the more angry I felt... He wanted to forgive Catherine, he wanted to run back to her, he wanted to have her in his arms, he wanted to kiss her, love her... but he couldn't. Two weeks ago he thought about everything that was said and what was not said and came to the conclusion that Catherine is right to feel trapped, she came out of a troubled and abusive relationship and soon they started a relationship and had problems because of the same unnameable. The truth is that she did not have a phase, a period to feel free and well with herself, maybe he has trapped her in her crazy world, no one more than him knows how difficult it is to live surrounded by photographers, reporters and other people saying what he Should or should not do it, maybe he did it to Catherine. Maybe it made her adapt to a reality she didn't want, no matter how much she loved him.

But would it be selfish of you to want to have Catherine in your life? Want to love and be loved by her?

And the question that remains, if Catherine who until a month ago seemed to be fine with it, why has she changed so much? Why did she do this to him?

William would rather repeat these questions in his head than the image of Catherine talking or worse kissing Matt, just thinking about it feels a twinge in his abdomen, making him want to moan loudly in pain.

A knock on the door makes William return to reality, fixing his clothes and washing his hands, he goes out looking for Catherine to leave.

William sees Catherine from afar, talking to Arthur's mother and walks to her, gently touching her back he whispers a ''can we go now?'' Close to her ear causing a wave of energy to pass all over her body, she does not respond, but almost involuntarily takes her hand, he does not retreat. He just politely says goodbye to you and they go hand in hand.

Catherine didn't want to let go of his hand, but they needed to say goodbye. After kisses and hugs on the other guests, they approached Arthur, August and little Luke who was now very sleepy. Both thanked for the day and promised to come back soon, after putting a kiss on the baby's forehead, they were leaving right at the time August exclaimed:

“Wait!” he said taking the camera from the table. “Have you already taken pictures with Luke, but would it be too much to ask for one of you 3?”

William looked at August suspiciously, but it would be rude of him to deny it, even more so that it was with Luke and with... Catherine. Despite everything, she is the love of his life.

Catherine turned red and with no reaction, she didn't dare say anything, for fear of rejection, until she heard it.

“For my part it's perfect.” he said taking Luke in his lap. Catherine accompanied him and they went to the photo panel, the baby scratched his eyes and laughed at her.

“Ah, Luke! You are the cutest and most smiling baby in the world.” said Catherine caressing his cheeks. William looked at her and she lost her breath.

“Very well! Smile! Luke, look here at Dad.” said August pointing the camera at them, making everyone look in his direction.

Photos taken, farewells made, they would finally have their moments alone to her house. Catherine was willing to try a rapprochement during the long journey.

“I didn't know I would come back with you, I didn't bring your favorite candy to eat on the trip.” she said as soon as he started the car.

“No problem.” he answered without looking at her, one hand on the steering wheel and the other on his own leg. Catherine looked at him and immediately missed his touch, William always directed a hand on her leg.

“Luke is so cute, isn't he?” said Catherine trying to start a conversation.

“Yes.” said William and they were silent for a while. He had his eye on the road and she kept moving, looked at his face, at his hands and then at the window, then repeated everything again.

“William, for God's sake! Don't give me an ice like that, I won't be able to stand this long journey with you treating me coldly, let's talk about anything.” Catherine spoke desperately. William looked away at her and smiled.

“You never had a hard time talking.” William replied caressing her leg, but when he realized his act he soon took his hand.

“Tell me about Aston Villa... How are you in... Premier League?” said Catherine and William started laughing.

William admired her effort to try to get closer to him, she knew he loved to talk about football and especially about Villa. He couldn't keep ignoring her, so he started a conversation about football, talked about the situation of his team in the championship and about the transfer window, what his expectations were.

Catherine listened attentively and made several comments, William was entertained saying that he almost did not realize that she caressed the back of her neck, the connection between them had returned to normal.

“Don't you think?” asked William, as there was no answer he looked to the side and saw Catherine sleeping, all clumsy on the bench, one of her arms still stretched towards her, he took her hand and deposited a kiss then fixed her arm close to her body.

They had already passed halfway and Catherine had slept, William decided to turn on the sound quietly so as not to wake her up. From time to time I would look at her, trying to resist the immense desire to touch her.

It occurred to him that Catherine could feel cold, because she always felt, her blanket was still in the trunk, so he stopped the car and took the blanket.

William fixed Catherine's body and covered her, as he always did on trips with her, before starting the car again he felt a twinge in the abdominal region, making him feel nauseous again. He just took a deep breath, practically took a bottle of water and continued the journey.

After the long trip, the prince finally parked in front of her apartment.

“Kate, we arrived…" said William, caressing her face. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

“My God, I slept.” she said, seizing herself on the bench and noticing the blanket over her body. “Thank you.”

“You don't need to thank me.”

“No, seriously... Thank you for bringing me, for taking care of me…" she said caressing his shoulders and looking into his eyes. “I want to be a better person, less confused... I don't want to lose you.”

“Kate, no…"

“No, no... Don't say anything, I'll kiss you on the cheek and enter my apartment... I want to keep the memory of you coming to bring me and waking me up with affection, please don't take it away from me, I've already lost everything else.” she said with tears in her eyes. William nodded.

Catherine approached slowly and gave him two kisses, one on each cheek and got out of the car. William didn't say anything, nor did he dare to move, he just followed her with his eyes, so she closed the door of his apartment, he began to cry.

Everything seemed too exhausting, too painful. His body hurt so much, his stomach seemed like his biggest enemy, as soon as he turned the key, had a sudden urge to vomit and had to act fast, turned off the engine again and opened the car door.

William vomited on the sidewalk, his whole body was sweating and his vision was blurry, he had to take off his coat because he felt a huge malaise. I didn't want to run the risk of someone seeing him in that situation, he turned on the air conditioning at a very low temperature and inexplicably drove to Kensington Palace.

Chelsea, London

The day dawned completely different from the day before. Wetter, colder and more gray.

Carole arrived early at Catherine's apartment and both enjoyed a hot tea in front of the fireplace in the cozy living room.

“Kate, I'm here as your mother and as your friend, I want to know what's wrong with you, I want to help you, daughter.” said Carole.

“Oh, mom... I can't take it anymore... You know I don't like to open up very much, but I need advice.” Catherine replied timidly.

“I won't judge you.” said Carole holding your hand. “I just want to help you.”

Catherine told her mother that she lied to William the day he called to tell her about the photo, on the call she said that everything was fine, that it didn't mean anything, but it was a big lie... She tried not to care, but when she saw the photo viralized, she couldn't. After the photo, he was disappointed and William's reaction didn't help at all either, he wanted to continue as if it were no big deal. Things were getting cold between them, she felt as if the William who looked for her in the National Gallery and surprised her in various attitudes was no longer there, causing her to begin to be interested in the way Matt treated her. John's appearance caused even more confusion in her head and all she wanted was William's support, but all she received was reprimand, unlike Matt, he didn't want to hear about John, he always told him about protection, but Catherine didn't feel protected. She loved William too much, but she felt that the passion was over and hearing him saying that she didn't want to get married soon left her disappointed. It was clear that they were not well and she didn't know why William didn't seem to care about it, she just went on with life quietly, because whenever he called or showed up at her house or at her work, she would leave everything to stay with him. And she was already fed up with so many fights, in the heat of the moment she couldn't express in words what she was feeling, it never crossed her mind to betray William or break up with him, she doesn't know why she called Matt to her house, she just wanted a friend and understands that she could have made another choice at that moment or better yet, not have left William's house.

Carole listened to everything with compassion and attention, Catherine cried a lot as she spoke and her mother waited for her to finish talking before anything else.

“You know Kate, listening to you speak, I think that after John and everything you suffered with him, you began to have a different view of men... Daughter, you were raised by a caring and loving man and you deserve to be treated exactly that way, maybe you have confused your feelings because in addition to William, Matt came treating you well, but dear think... You are surrounded by men who treat you well, that's exactly how you need to be, like Arthur, August and even Matt... John is the exception here. He should never be the ruler of measuring affection. And dear, William loves you and is in love with you. Your father and I have been married for more than 20 years... I love your father and he loves me, there comes a time when the passion, that burning fire has diminished, but it does not mean that it does not exist. Love needs to be nurtured, cultivated... You and William need to learn this if you want to be together. You said you feel he was accommodated, maybe you should also take initiatives, surprise him, conquer him... As I said before, love needs to be nurtured and this is a two-way street. And daughter, one last thing, you need to forgive yourself to move on... John, he served his sentence, even if we agreed or not and getting closer to him would not be a good idea, I'm sure his intention is good, but John has psychological problems and is unstable, you also have to let him move on, start his life again... I'm telling you all this, because I want you to be happy, you are amazing, beautiful and responsible... It deserves to be happy and it breaks my heart to be so sad and lost. Understand, daughter... A relationship doesn't need to complete your life, you can't make it your goal of living, but something or someone who disappears with you.” Carole said tenderly. Catherine didn't answer anything, just hugged her mother and cried.

A cry to wash the soul, because Catherine finally understood.

There are days when only the affection and embrace of a mother are able to heal us, to bring us light and wisdom, that morning Catherine can feel as if a weight was taken from her back... She needed this, she needed someone to listen to her and advise her in a direct way, to show her the obvious and to welcome her.

Catherine realized where she made a mistake and was willing to learn from her mistakes, was William willing to forgive her? He wanted to drop everything now and run to his apartment, but he wanted to do it right, so he sent him a message.

Kate:

Will, I know I screwed up, but I want to fix it. Maybe we can talk, can I go to your apartment or will you come here? What do you think? As one day you told me that you were willing to do anything for me, I also tell you: I am willing to do anything for you. I miss you.

Kate:

I look forward to hearing from you.

Catherine spent the rest of the morning with her mother, Pippa arrived for lunch and the three Middletons spent the rest of the day entertained talking and enjoying a special family moment.

Announcement from Kensington Palace

His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London on Monday night. The prince's admission is due to a malaise. His Royal Highness underwent exploratory laparotomy surgery.

Chapter 10

“I had to remake myself away from the touch of your hands so as not to run the risk of completely shattering me again.''  THE END ― PART I”

William was at the entrance of a bridge, leaning against the handrail just looking at the river, when Catherine approached.

“William?” said Catherine getting closer and closer to him.

Upon hearing her voice, he looks in her direction and her face turns pale, her expression of terror scares her, but before she could say anything, William begins to run to cross the bridge. Catherine stranges her reaction and starts running after him, her heart beats fast and her body hurts, she screams for William who doesn't even look back, just runs desperate.

“WILLIAAAAAM!” screams Catherine desperately. The moment he finally looks back, Catherine loses the ground, as the woods of the bridge crumble under her feet and to her horror both she and William fall off the bridge. His eyes contemplate the horror of William's eyes before waking up from this terrible nightmare.

Catherine jumps on the bed, her body is completely cold and wet, just like her sheets. She puts her hands on her chest to feel her heart beating fast and sits on the bed to calm down, still confused about the nightmare, picks up her cell phone to look at the time: 07:00 am. There has still been no return of the messages she sent to William and her nightmare with him made her even more worried. And he looked so scared and fragile, it broke his heart to watch that look of panic as they fell off the bridge. She decided to call him, maybe telling about the dream could be the kickoff for a reconciliation dialogue.

The brunette got up still with her body sore and cold, locating William's contact, with trembling hands squeezed to call... She called, called, called... P.O. Box. Well, maybe she was still sleeping, after all it's 7 o'clock in the morning. One more attempt. Nobody answered. P.O. Box.

Walking slowly to the kitchen, her bare feet felt the discomfort of the icy floor, holding her cell phone with one hand, she used the other to move the curtain away from the kitchen window while trying to call William one last time, the rain fell torrentiously outside, loaded and gray clouds covered the city, proving that the storm was far from over.

“William, my love, I just wanted you to answer me.” he whispered softly and put water to warm up.

Catherine had a bad feeling, the last few weeks have been horrible for her. Being without William and knowing that he was sad that she hurt him left her heartbroken, having seen him on Sunday and knowing that no matter how much he was smiling and being nice to everyone, he was in pieces. Catherine just looking knew that he was not well and knew that something was wrong and felt even worse for thinking that she was the reason to let her feel that way, but now that her mother opened her eyes, maybe it was the right time to solve this.

Recognizing that you made a mistake and where you made a mistake is the first step and this fortunately Catherine has already achieved, now the time has come to put into practice, she was willing to forgive herself for everything that happened to John, finally she understood that she is not and will never be guilty of his behavior and that both have the right to restart their lives, now her head was finally getting rid of these confused thoughts about John. Another important point that she was also willing to recognize that she made a mistake with Matt in confusing her feelings, it turns out that Catherine had the view that she was not worthy of affection and respect and that all men approached her precisely with ulterior motives and her weak and confused mind was treacherous and needy too, confusing a genuine friendship with something totally wrong just to praise her ego. Catherine was finally recognizing that she deserves to be treated well by everyone, not just to have something in return and this may even seem crazy, but John moved so much With his head that something as simple as this, caused him a gigantic mental confusion.

And finally, she would fight to get her love back. Yes. Catherine loved William, only William. As much as she recognized that she confused things with Matt, no attraction or feeling for anyone she has ever related reaches the feet of what she felt for William and no matter how much the relationship had cooled, she knew they were there, even if hidden they were there... And she would do everything for the flame to light up again... On Sunday, she already had a glimpse of this feeling, no matter how much William was cold and distant, her small gestures, his look, his smile even if not directed at her were the fuel that kept everything there... And At the end of the night, when he woke her up from the nap during the trip, for a moment it seemed that everything had returned to normal, his touch, his voice and his affection directed at her... A crumb that Catherine decided to hold on to. Maybe it was weakness, but it seems so unfair to let it pass. She didn't like to lose.

While waiting for her tea to cool down a little more, Catherine was sitting in the kitchen messing with her cell phone and received a notification. A notification that made your world stop.

Announcement from Kensington Palace

His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London on Monday night. The prince's admission is due to a malaise. His Royal Highness underwent exploratory laparotomy surgery.

“NO.” Catherine screams throwing her cell phone on the table. Your eyes fill with tears, your body freezes and your vision becomes blurred. How can this be happening, my God? That can only be a lie. No, no, no. It's fake news. William didn't answer the phone because he was sleeping.

Catherine doesn't know what to do, her head can't process what she just read, the panic paralyzed her and after a few minutes of pure terror, where all she did was cry, her phone rings waking her up from this state of torpor.

“Hi, Kate. Are you okay? I just read the palace note.” August said as soon as she answered the phone.

“August, I don't know what to do... Tell me this is a lie, please? I just read this, I texted him yesterday, he didn't answer me... I tried to call him earlier today, I had a nightmare and now he doesn't answer me... Did I do that to him? Did I make him sick?” Catherine said between tears.

“You need to calm down! You're not to blame for anything, okay? Let's do it like this... I can't go to your house now, because I'm too far away, but calm down and get in touch with Natalie to understand what happened... Then we'll meet in a little while, okay?” August spoke slowly in an attempt to calm Catherine.

“Natalie... Okay... I'll call her right now... I'll talk to you.” she replied by hanging up the phone.

As soon as she hung up, Catherine located Natalie's contact and went straight to the mailbox. Her heart was beating fast, it was desperate. Catherine located Rob's contact.

“Kate?” said Rob on the other side of the line.

“Rob, for God's sake, tell me what's going on... I just saw a note from the palace, is that serious? Tell me it's a lie.” said Catherine desperately.

“It's not a lie, Kate... William was sick all day yesterday and we were only able to convince him to go to the hospital at night when he fainted. He had surgery, we still don't know for sure what happened to him... Maybe the appendix or something... The doctor didn't give more details, he's still in the operating room, I'm here with Natalie waiting.” said Rob in a serious tone of voice. His concern was clear.

“Oh my God! I'm going there.” replied Catherine holding her tears.

“I don't think that's a good idea.” said Rob, but Catherine didn't even listen because she had already turned off the phone.

Sunday night

William parked in his parking space at Kensington Palace, his body dripped with sweat and his vision was blurry, he doesn't even know for sure how he managed to get home and his body begged for a bath and rest.

Still dizzy, William walked to the entrance of his apartment, it was already dark and very cold, but his body was not even feeling the cold wind and the fine drizzle falling on his body. There was no one, not even Mary was at home that night, as soon as he came in he didn't even notice the note she left on the table. He went straight to the bathroom and this time filled the bathtub.

His belly hurt so much, it was as if someone had given him several kicks in the mouth of his stomach, William took off his clothes slowly and entered the bathtub, the hot water at first relieves the pain in his body for a while, making him start thinking about the day he had.

Seeing Catherine today was already in his plans, in addition to seeing Luke and participating in a special moment of his friends was the main reason he went to York today, but it was obvious that he wanted to see her, be together with her even if he was not yet ready to talk and much less to come back, but he was surprised by the fact that he did not feel anything when he saw her. 2 weeks ago you felt apathetic towards her, it hurt too much to have seen her with Matt and then those drawings... What was Catherine thinking? They had just fought and she calls another man to her house? He really felt as if someone had punched his stomach about 25 times. As he himself said to her, there are limits in which a man accepts to be rejected and humiliated and at the moment William did not want to give his arm to cheer and simply come back with her without first healing this wound. He felt hurt, betrayed and resentful for everything she did, he really wanted to talk and let her talk, but he still didn't feel ready to listen.

When he saw her earlier, he didn't feel anything... but coming back with her caused him a confusion of feelings, feeling his despair for feeling the distance between them made him realize how much she was sorry and was suffering too. Having her sleeping in his car almost made him bring her to his apartment, just as he did several other times, but this damn abdominal pain got in the way of his plans. Feeling Catherine kissing her face instead of her mouth was a new kick in the stomach, watching her move away she burst into tears and he doesn't even know how this happened. A mixture of feeling and emotions, William still did not believe that he was suffering this way because of her.

Now standing feeling the hot water covering his body, he felt a new twinge in the abdominal region and a wave of pain invaded his body, William got up in a jump and ran to the toilet to vomit again. What the hell was going on? Would you throw up every time you thought of Catherine? That's a nightmare. Wiping his forehead on the towel, William brushed his teeth and finished his bath.

He felt weak and nauseous, mentally thanked Mary for not being at home, because she would be desperate to see him in this situation, so gathering all the energy he had left, he went to the couch and lay down only in his pajama shorts. His body was on fire, but he had no idea about it, he just fell asleep wrapped in Catherine's blanket.

Monday morning

Around 8 a.m., Mary entered the prince's apartment through the side door of the kitchen and soon surprised the temperature of the house, it was much warmer than usual, a huge contrast of the temperature she was outside. The lady walked to the living room and came across a scene that made her heart accelerate with fright.

William was lying on the couch wrapped in the blanket, only his head uncovered, he had an expression of tiredness and his few hair was wet and his forehead dripped with sweat, Mary approached slowly because she thought he was dreaming, but when she stopped in front of him she noticed that he mangled meaningless words, then sat next to him on the couch and touched his forehead. The prince burned with a fever.

“William, William... Wake up, son.” said Mary very worried. She began to discover her body that dripped sweat.

“Kate?” asked William with his eyes closed. Trying to cover yourself again.

“No dear, it's Mary... William finds out you're burning with fever... Wake up, let's call the doctor.” said Mary and got up in search of the phone, but stopped as soon as she heard Natalie's footsteps entering the apartment. “Nat, help me here!” Mary said in a higher tone.

Natalie heard Mary's voice and increased the step towards the voice and got scared when she entered the room and saw Mary trying to pull William's body.

“What happened?” asked Natalie almost running to them.

“I don't know, I just arrived and found him grumble while sleeping here on the couch.” replied Mary kneeling next to the sofa, running her hand over William's forehead.

Natalie ran to the pantry to get a box with a first aid kit, quickly came back with the thermometer.

“My God, 38º.” Natalie murmured right after touching the digital thermometer on the prince's forehead. “Let's take off this blanket and take it upstairs.”

“Why the hell are you messing with me?” William grumbled opening his eyes.

“You have a fever, William... I'll call the doctor, okay?” Natalie pulling the blanket and revealing his naked chest.

“Hey, why are you discovering me, I'm naked, you know?”

“We are trying to take care of you…" replied Natalie smiling and taking off all the blanket. “You're not naked, you're wearing shorts, thank God.” Natalie pulled him by the hand with some difficulty, because William was heavy and seemed drowsy due to the high fever.

“Here, take it!” Mary sat next to him and stuck a pill in his mouth, then gave him a glass of water. William obeyed.

“I feel so nauseous, I remember I arrived and took a bath and then lay down here.” said William softly running his hand over his forehead.

“Did you drink?” asked Mary.

“No.”

“I'll call the doctor.” Natalie said again and unlocked the cell phone.

“For what doctor? It's just a fever and nausea... Maybe it's something I ate. I've already taken medicine, it will pass.” he said holding Natalie's hand.

“Go up and take another shower, you're all sweaty.” said Mary and pulled him by the hand. William saw stars because with the tug his abdomen felt a hook and a sharp pain hit him.

“Are you in pain?” asked Natalie worried. William denied it.

“Don't worry about me.” William replied and with difficulty walked slowly to his room trying to disguise the pain he was feeling as much as possible.

William took a practically cold shower and lay down again under the covers, now in his bed, the fever seemed to have gone down but he felt very cold, but Mary did not let the temperature of the air conditioning rise and did not let him stay so covered. With all the affection, she prepared a breakfast, but William barely touched the food, the half toast and the little tea he drank went out half an hour after he ate it.

Nothing stopped in his stomach and the only position that made him a little more comfortable was with his legs flexed towards the abdomen. William felt like a helpless child and insisted that they not call the doctor, because he claimed that it was no big deal, he even fought with Natalie to stop meddling in his life.

William felt ashamed to be sick, he thought that being too depressed was what caused him to be like this, he didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone. Mary didn't care about his opinion and went into the room every hour to see if everything was okay, William pretended to sleep, but it was all a big lie because every hour his pain increased. His malaise and persistent fever did not subside, every time he tried to move in bed he felt an intense pain that made him dizzy. He didn't feel hungry and didn't even try to eat, because he knew he would vomit, time didn't pass, the hours dragged on and everything seemed like a nightmare.

The prince was no longer reasoning right, he read Catherine's message.

Kate:

Will, I know I screwed up, but I want to fix it. Maybe we can talk, can I go to your apartment or will you come here? What do you think? As one day you told me that you were willing to do anything for me, I also tell you: I am willing to do anything for you. I miss you.

“NAAAAAT!” shouted William. “NATALIE! MARY! MARYEEEEE!”

The women appeared panting and frightened in the room and found William crying lying down.

“What is it? William, you're scaring us, let's go to the doctor, please.” said Natalie and they both went to the edge of his bed.

“Kate is coming here, I need to get well... My God, she will never want me again if she finds out that I got sick with sadness and threw up on the sidewalk of her house.” said William with his hands on his head.

“Sick of sadness?” asked Mary confused.

“Yesterday she was so beautiful, am I so weak for wanting her back?” grumbled bitterly.

“You're not weak, William.” Mary said in a maternal tone.

“She will come here, I need to get ready. ― said William and taking a deep breath, put his feet out of bed, in an impulse he got up, a sharp pain like never felt before hit him in full, his vision became dark and he simply went out.

William fell to the ground, fainted and Natalie even tried to run to hold him, but couldn't. Mary ran out of the room screaming for help and then five people appeared to see what was happening. Mary was desperate, didn't know if she called an ambulance or if she told someone to take William to the hospital, but before she concluded the reasoning Natalie was already calling the emergency room, while holding William's head trying to wake him up.

Natalie was panicked to see William like that, she had never seen him so fragile, he seemed to feel so much pain, his skin was very hot and sweated a lot, she felt her heart beating hard and whispered to William that everything would be fine, in an attempt to calm him down. William didn't say anything to something, he was delirious with so much pain, he just held Natalie's hand as if his life depended on it.

The rescue arrived in less than 07 minutes and they forced Natalie to let go of his hand so that they could take care of him, then took him into the ambulance immobilized on the stretcher, made an access to his arm and took all the information about his symptoms with Natalie and Mary.

Some of William's security guards stayed with Mary to calm her down, while Natalie accompanied William inside the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Although she was very shaken by everything that happened, she needed to work, so she already called Rob, who was on his day off, but didn't even care and both have already started the protocol for cases of when a member of royalty needs medical attention.

Rob was in charge of warning William's family, because it was a more delicate subject he asked the King's secretary to pass on the information, he has already advised the entire team on the announcements, but has already been warned that nothing would be published before they had concrete news and information about William's diagnosis. He decided to go to the hospital to get more information and also to stay with Natalie.

Monday night

King Edward VII's Hospital, London

The ambulance parked at the King Edward VII hospital and before they opened the vehicle door, William called for Natalie.

“Nat, are you here with me?” he asked.

“Yes, William. We brought you to the hospital, everything will be fine.” she replied holding your hand.

“You have to go back, Nat... Kate is going home. ― he said desperate, now trying to get up from the stretcher. “I need to go back to Kate.” the rescuer opens the ambulance door and Natalie had to let go of his hand.

“Hey, William... Look at me, I'm sure Kate will wait for you, won't she, Nat?” the second rescuer said calmly, while fixing the serum bag to get him out of the ambulance. “Let's go to the hospital and soon everything will be fine, okay?” William nodded.

Four people pushed William's stretcher in an attempt to hide who the patient they were carrying was. Natalie got out of the ambulance and went straight to the area that the rescue doctor advised her, with the intention of not causing any unnecessary turmoil. Fortunately, that night the hospital was not so full, but to prevent it from being recognized, it was the wisest option at the time.

Prince William was taken into the hospital, where he was received by a specialized medical team, the person in charge was Dr. Daisy Wilson. The doctor received William's file; high and constant fever, nausea, vomiting, malaise, stomach pain. Emergency was called because the patient fainted. According to the physical examination, the abdomen is rigid. Diagnosis: Appendicitis.

The Diagnosis was given in minutes by the doctor after reading the clinical history and performing the physical examination, they referred William to perform an abdominal tomography and confirm the diagnosis before referring to the operating room and performing the procedure as less invasive as possible without running the risk of rupture of the appendix, but as soon as they entered the examination room William began to get sick, the air lacked and his pressure began to rise rapidly. Change of plans, they took him directly to the operating room, possibly the appendix broke.

The surgery would no longer be the same, but an exploratory laparotomy. Fortunately the Surgical Center was already fully prepared, the prince was sedated and then received anesthetic medications that kept him asleep and without feeling pain throughout the surgical procedure, The muscle tone and the contractile activity of the musculature are abolished through curarizers, he received an endotracheal probe through which the anesthesiologist, dr. Benjamin Smith, needed to maintain proper ventilation, since William was no longer breathing on his own. Dr. Daisy Wilson performs the vertical incision directly in the inguinal region and the dr. Wilson was right, it was an inflamed appendix, which broke just when they took him to the examination room. William now had an abdominal abscess, due to the ruptured appendix, the pus accumulated around, causing the appearance of a pouch filled with pus. The doctor and her team did everything they could to perform the procedure calmly and masterfully. The case was now risky, William's life was really in danger.

What was supposed to be a quick procedure lasted hours, all professionals wanted to be absolutely sure that they removed any and all remnants of infection from the abdominal cavity of the future king of England, after the scheduled intervention, the abdominal wall was closed and sutured with appropriate threads. William's blood pressure was still fluctuating a lot, so he was taken to the intensive care unit at 4:00 am.

Rob arrived at the hospital when William was still in surgery, Natalie and he were waiting in a reserved waiting room. The blonde had her head leaning against his shoulder, Rob didn't even like coffee very much, but he held a glass now empty, he ended up taking two of that due to anxiety for the lack of answers. It was around 4:15 a.m. when Dr. Wilson entered the room, she explained that William was stable and that the operation was a success, detailed everything that happened before and during the procedure, and was very frank when she reported about a possible infection due to the rupture of the appendix, but said that they were doing everything possible so that nothing got worse so now he was in the ICU and they could visit him when he woke up. Both thanked the doctor and her entire team and now with the information they gave authorization for the rest of the palace team to release the statement.

Around 07:00 am under an intense rain that fell all over the city, Charles and Camilla accompanied by their secretaries arrive at the hospital and everyone is taken to a reserved room to wait for William to wake up, Dr. Wilson explains again everything that happened, but this time to King Charles. He was distressed and very quiet, he limited himself to looking at anything other than his hands. Natalie and Rob also enter the room, but the deadly silence inhabits the room, no one has the courage to say anything... Everyone only thinks of one thing: when will William wake up?

The silence of the room is interrupted by Rob's cell phone, causing everyone to look at him, he gets up quickly.

“Kate?” said Rob answering the phone.

“Rob, for God's sake, tell me what's going on... I just saw a note from the palace, is that serious? Tell me it's a lie.” said Catherine desperately on the other side of the line.

“It's not a lie, Kate... William was sick all day yesterday and we were only able to convince him to go to the hospital at night when he fainted. He had surgery, we still don't know for sure what happened to him... Maybe the appendix or something... The doctor didn't give more details, he's still in the operating room, I'm here with Natalie waiting.” said Rob in a serious tone of voice. His concern was clear.

“Oh my God! I'm going there.” replied Catherine holding her tears.

“I don't think that's a good idea.” said Rob, but Catherine didn't even listen because she had already turned off the phone.

“Why did you lie to her?” said Natalie looking at him with an ugly face.

“Natalie, didn't they tell you that it's ugly to hear other parties' conversations?” he replied by saving his cell phone.

“Even uglier is lying. Why did you do that?” said Natalie crossing her arms.

“They broke up, didn't they? Maybe it's not appropriate for us to keep talking about it with third parties.” he said quietly scratching the back of his neck.

“What's wrong with you? Kate would never leak any information about William. Whether they're together or not.” said Natalie touching his arm.

“You're right, Nat.” he said pulling her by the hand until they entered an empty room.

“What is that? What is it?” asked Natalie surprised looking at his face.

“I'm desperate, Nat. I confess that I'm afraid that something will happen to him, since he broke up with her, I realize that he was bad and I didn't do anything... I should have done something. ― Rob confessed quickly, gesturing non-stop.

“I'm scared too, but it's not our fault. He had a broken appendix, Rob... This has nothing to do with sadness, we couldn't predict it.” Natalie replied holding his hand.

“Thank you for being the best work partner, without you I couldn’t." said Rob pulling her for a hug.

“Without you I couldn't do it.” Natalie whispered while hugging Rob.

Buzz and movements could be heard from inside the room reserved for royalty, while waiting for some news from the Prince of Wales, the private secretary of King Charles left the room to walk a little and came across Catherine leaning over the information desk.

“He's my boyfriend, ma'am. I just want information! Can I please look for Natalie Barrows or Rob Dixon, they know me.” Catherine said almost crying.

“I'm sorry, we can't pass on information to third parties. Even more so when it comes to members of royalty.” said the lady already getting impatient.

“Please! Rob told me he's here, just show me the direction I'm going to look for myself.” Catherine insisted.

“Please don't insist! There is a protocol.” you said coldly.

“Please!” said Catherine almost screaming and hitting her hands on the counter. You looked at her angrily.

“Miss, this is a hospital, please, without scandal.” said the lady, pointing to the exit door.

Catherine decided to pick up her cell phone and dial Rob's number again, when Clive Alderton touched his shoulder.

“You are Ms. Kate Middleton, isn't it?” he asked softly.

“Yes.” she replied with her head. “Why?”

“Come with me.” he said he pointed to a corridor in the eastern area of the hospital.

“ Are you from William's team?” she asked and began to follow him, while the hospital employee looked at them in disbelief.

“No, I'm on his father's team.” he replied softly.

“How is William?” she asked.

“I'll take you to Natalie and Rob, okay?” said Clive.

“Just tell me if he's okay, please.”Catherine insisted

“Maybe you'd better talk to Natalie, but don't worry so much. He's being treated.” he said stopping at the door of a room. “Wait here, please.” Catherine nodded and waited.

Less than a minute, Natalie appeared at the door and Catherine practically jumped on her lap, both hugged.

“Nat, what happened? How is William? Have you finished the operation yet? Don't you dare say you can't tell me, please.” said Catherine in distress.

“Ah, Kate! He's already had the surgery…" said Natalie.

“And is he okay? Can we see him?” she said squeezing the bar of her coat.

“No, calm down... It's complicated... He had appendicitis and the appendix ruptured, in the surgery they removed everything they could, but he was referred to the ICU to contain a possible infection... The surgery ended at 4 a.m. and he went there and so far he hasn't woke up. ― Natalie tried to sound as calm as possible.

“Oh my God!” said Catherine crying. “What time does he wake up?”

“We are waiting. The doctor said they are evaluating every hour. His body needs to respond to medicines, you know?” Natalie replied drying her tears. “Calm down, Kate.”

“How did this happen, Nat? Sunday we saw each other, he took me home, I asked him if he was okay and he didn't want to answer me... I should have noticed, brought him to the hospital before” Catherine cried on Natalie's shoulders.

“William disguised it for everyone who was in pain, he didn't want to go to the doctor, he was sick all day... It's no use trying to find a culprit now... There is no one.” Natalie caressed her back when the door opened.

“Catherine?”

“Oh!” Catherine let go of Natalie's hug and wiped her eyes. "Your Majesty," said Catherine, looking in the direction of Charles.

“Hello, my dear!” he said extending his hand to her. Catherine shook her hand respectfully.

“Hello, sir.”

“What are you doing out here? I was even surprised that you weren't here when I arrived.”

“I was warned this morning, sir. They weren't letting me in.”

“Enter right now and I will ask Clavis to let you know that you can have access at any time you want.”

“I can do that, sir.” said Natalie.

Charles led Catherine into the room, she greeted Camilla and the other people present in the room, the king began to tell in more detail what the medical team had reported and what the concerns were.

It was past 11:00 a.m. and no change in William's clinical condition, the king and queen's team wanted them both to go home and pass the updates by phone, but no one wanted to leave the hospital. Harry sent messages all the time, even though he knew there was no new news. Catherine had already cried and prayed that everything would be fine and that William would wake up but she felt that everything was in vain, the hours did not pass and everything was a nightmare.

Each time the door of the room opened it was a new expectation, but all disappointing because the doctor had no positive updates. Always the same thing: fluctuating pressure, constant fever.

“Is he in pain?” asked Catherine interrupting the doctor.

“He's sedated. You don't feel pain. We are monitoring so that when your body responds to the medicines we can remove the sedation little by little.” replied Dr. Daisy.

“Our forecast is to leave another day in the Intensive Care Unit and tomorrow after new exams, we will wean from sedation and ventilation to see how his body reacts. I advise you to go home and any news I will make immediate contact.” added the doctor.

King Charles asked a few more questions and even dissatisfied his team advised him to leave, Camilla had to convince him to go home with the intention of resting so that when William woke up, he would be fine to pay attention and take care of him.

William's team also organized to leave, all hospital contacts were up to date, the only person who did not move from the chair was Catherine. She felt unable to move, it seems that now she was finally realizing that William was sick, that he was unconscious and with an infection considered worrying.

The way the doctor spoke sounded calm and confident, but if you analyze it well, it's desperate. Everything seemed inaccurate, they were counting on luck and Catherine became aware of it at the very moment when everyone began to get up to leave.

Catherine did not want to leave, because she simply did not want reality to knock on her door, she was aware that from the moment she stepped outside the hospital she would feel the guilt invade her heart. William was admitted to the ICU and she still hasn't had a chance to talk to him, she can't apologize and can't say she loved him, at least one last time. William couldn't die. Catherine couldn't leave him here. I just couldn't. It may even be selfish, but after so many promises and everything they lived together... Ending up like this is not an option.

“Kate? My friend, come here!” August said hugging her.

“August! What are you doing here?” she said relieved to finally see him.

“I met Natalie at the hospital door and she authorized her to come here, everyone is already going. We have to go too…"

“No, August! I can't... I can't leave him here... What if the worst happens?” she said starting to cry on August's shoulder.

“No, no, no! That's not going to happen! Kate, listen to me.” August said and holding her by the shoulder to make her look into his eyes. “We need to think positive, okay? Send him positive energy... William is strong, you know that! Let's go home, okay? Rest... Eat a little and tomorrow when we have news, maybe we'll come back here. It won't do any good for you to sit in this room. Will wouldn't want that.”

“I can’t." I said in the midst of tears “I feel so guilty, he's there and I couldn't even say how sorry I'm, I couldn't say how much I love him, he felt so much pain and I couldn't even help him…"

“He knows, Kate! He knows you love him. Let's think about the things you will tell him after he wakes up. You'll be able to apologize and start over, okay? Let's think positive.” said August kissing her forehead. Catherine hugged him again and he took the opportunity to drive out of the hospital. They walked slowly to her car, it was already dark and a very cold drizzle was falling on the city.


“How did you come?” asked Catherine.

“Arthur is there!” replied pointing to the red car. Arthur waved.

“What about Luke?”

“We left it with my mother.”

“Very kind of you to do this!” she replied by hugging again.

“Friend, we are all here for you and William. Your mother, your sister, everyone is very worried... Natalie did everything, kept us informed so as not to overwhelm you... Even Harry called me. Come on, let's go to your house, it's very cold here.” August completed and got in the car. August drove to Catherine's apartment, Arthur followed them.

Catherine had the best friends in the world, as soon as they arrived at her apartment, Arthur prepared something for dinner, August began to set the table, while she went to take a shower and change her hospital clothes. The worry did not leave her for a minute, but being with her friends and feeling the love of her friends and family through messages helped her put up with everything.

Wednesday

At eleven o'clock in the morning, Catherine received a call from Clive Alderton, informing her that King Charles would go to the hospital to visit William and asked if she would like to join him. The answer was obvious and as soon as he hung up the phone he started to cry.

At first, she thought that William's father would not include her in the group of people who had access to the prince's clinical condition, but fortunately he made her aware of everything. Charles loved Catherine and it was clear that he had no idea of their breakup, at the same time that Catherine wanted to tell the truth every time he hugged her yesterday, she was afraid to say anything and the king would take her out of the room because she would no longer be ''part of the family''. No employee or friend of William even mentioned any fight or breakup of them, but it was very clear that everyone was faithful to the prince.

Catherine arrived at the hospital at the time she was instructed and was taken directly to the same room as the day before, the King along with his private secretary and Rob arrived a few minutes later.

Everyone greeted her and she noticed how dejected Charles looked, she can't help but give him a tight hug that he gladly accepted, soon Dr. Daisy Wilson arrived with the news that everyone was waiting for.

“Fortunately, His Highness has been progressing, the body is accepting the medicines well and the fever has ceased, we have already started weaning from sedation and ventilation and until then his body has been reacting positively. The forecast is that he will wake up by the end of the day. There are still signs of infection, but we are well advanced in the recovery process, so there are not so many risks... We can release a person to enter the ICU to see him, a friendly presence known to the patient usually helps in recovery.” said the doctor with her calm and angelic tone of voice.

“That's good, isn't it?” said King Charles.

“That's great news! He is evolving very well!” answered the doctor.

“And when will Your Majesty be able to see you?” asked Clive. Catherine sank into the chair.

She knew it was obvious that it would be his father who would see him, not her... But she felt that William needed her.

“In a few minutes.” the doctor smiled gently.

“I'd like to come in too.” said Catherine looking at the doctor.

“Unfortunately we can't, it can only be one person. William has an infection and we also have other patients, we can't fill the ICU. ― replied the doctor. Catherine nodded, arguing wouldn't solve anything.

The doctor withdrew informing that soon a nurse would prepare Charles for the visit. Catherine sat in the armchair and didn't say anything else, she didn't even raise her head, her eyes were fixed on the ring that William had given her. As soon as the nurse entered, she silently said goodbye to the king with a smile and a discreet nod and began to walk aimlessly through the hospital.

Catherine was not of the religious type, she attended church only on commemorative dates, but when she came across in front of the hospital chapel, she did not think twice before entering. The chapel was small, only 8 wooden benches fit in that space, a small and rustic altar in front of a large cross, some lit candles deposited on the candlestick on the left side, she entered and sat on the second bench.

Everything was so peaceful inside that place, Catherine looked at the cross and allowed herself to empty her head. His heart was distressed and looking at the cross, even though he didn't know for sure how he mentally did his most sincere prayer.

''Sir, everyone deserves a second chance, make William feel good. Maybe it's not our destiny to be together, but William deserves to live, the world won't be the same without him. The Lord knows his heart, the Lord knows how good he is, make her well, please.''

Catherine made her prayer in the midst of tears, and has no idea of the time she stayed there crying in silence, because she completely lost track of time. She was interrupted by Rob sitting next to her, she leaned her head on his shoulder and were silent for a while until Rob said ''He didn't wake up'', she squeezed his arm and closed her eyes. Everything seemed like a nightmare.

“I wanted so much to see him. I feel... I feel deep in my heart that I need to talk to him.” she said softly with her eyes closed.

“Catherine, come here.’ said Charles at the door of the chapel. Upon hearing his voice, Rob and Catherine looked back scared, they were not waiting for him there. They both jumped up. “You'll see him!”

Chapter 11

“'Aying myself to be yours again would be to give myself to this bond so strong and so intense that my heart created for you.''  THE END ― Part II”

Catherine was preparing to enter the Intensive Care Unit, a nurse gave her a proper outfit and gave her all the necessary information according to the protocol. Her heart beat hard and she controlled her breathing, she would finally see him. Obviously it was not these conditions that I wanted to find him, but just having the chance to talk to him was already a great advance... There's so much to be said, things that maybe he wouldn't have the courage to say if he had looked into his eyes.

The door opens and Catherine is allowed to enter bed 01, William was lying on a hospital bed, covered by sheets as white as snow, surrounded by machines and the only noise in the room was from the devices that controlled his heart rate and blood pressure. His face had a calm face and his chest went up and down calmly. His body no longer needed the use of any help from mechanical ventilation, although the air mask was there in case he needed it. It was like William was sleeping, but why didn't he wake up? Why didn't you open your eyes? It wasn't supposed to be like that.

She approached walking slowly, sitting on the chair next to the bed. First he touched William's face, his soft skin was warm, she made a slight caress with her fingertips the way he always said he liked, after that she took his hand, caressing lightly. Catherine looked at William's sleeping face and took a deep breath to create courage. William's heart beat slowly, calm and calm. Tum-tum. Tum-tum. Tum-tum.

“Oh, my love... I know you can hear me, and maybe I'll finally be able to tell you everything I couldn't before... William, I want to ask you for forgiveness! Forgive me for breaking your trust, forgive me for neglecting our love, I even thought that love had cooled, but now I know that I drowned you myself with my confusions, you have always been there, being you... In the little things showing your love and you never feel as much love as in a situation like this. You love yourself with that desire to love more and more... And I love you, I love you so much... I've planned a life with you, we've talked about it several times, haven't we? I'm willing to do anything for you and I want to learn even more by your side... So I need you to fight! You still have a lot to live, a lot to teach, make a difference... Work on your projects, be the prince that everyone expects you to be and that I know you are... Love, you've always loved the ways I wake you up, how I wanted to hear you say that again... How I wanted to look into your beautiful blue eyes, feel your touch, hear your voice and feel your love... Fight, William!” said Catherine still caressing William's hands, as the words came out of his mouth William's heartbeats increased, he actually felt her presence.

Catherine looked at William's face again and a tear ran down his face, Catherine got up quickly and touched his face with her free hand.

“Oh my God, did you hear me? I'm here, my love... I'm here with you, William.” Catherine whispered and the tip of her finger retraced the path of his tears, from the eye to the ear. “I was sure you would listen to me, get well soon, my love. I love you, William... I love you so much. ― she felt very subtly William move his hand in an attempt to squeeze hers.

A light touch was able to make Catherine's heart take a leap, she looked in the direction of his hand clinging to yours.

“Did you move? Do it again, William.” she said without detaching her eyes from his hands. And very subtly, he moved his hands again. Catherine smiled, a smile of relief. Never before has such a small and simple gesture had so much meaning.

Catherine walked away from William and rang the bedbell and promptly a nurse opened the door, she reported what happened and even behind the mask you can see the smile of both. The brunette kept talking to him, while the nurse evaluated William.

“His blood pressure is great, no fever and his heart rate is very good. Notice here,” the nurse pointed to a monitor. “that he is doing everything alone, we left the air mask just as a precaution. The medications make him more sleepy, they may have been a factor that contributed to his delay in waking up... It's a matter of time for him to wake up.” added the nurse.

“Come on, William... All that's missing! We're all looking forward to seeing you.” said Catherine.

“I'm sorry to say that the visiting time is over, but you can come back tomorrow, maybe by then he wakes up. He's been progressing very well.” said the nurse. Catherine nodded.

“Bye, my love. Get well soon so we can go home.” said Catherine and slowly she leaned in the direction of William and put a kiss on his shoulder. And slowly let go of his hand.

The moment she walked away, William opened his eyes. Still a little confused and sleepy. Catherine could not contain her tears, the nurse next to her signaled for Catherine not to say anything, just let him get used to the environment, maybe his mind was still a little confused after everything that happened.

“Hello, William! Do you know where you are? I am nurse Carly, we are taking care of you here at King Edward VII Hospital. Can I take this mask off your face? You don't need her anymore. ― said Carly looking into William's eyes. He nodded a little confused.

“I'm going to take off the mask and then I want to surprise you.” said the nurse winking at Catherine. “I'm sure you'll love it.” The nurse gently approached William and removed the oxygen mask from the prince's face, measured his pressure again and fixed the serum support. William was very quiet and looked at the nurse. “Very well, now I'm going to give you my surprise that you were an excellent patient... Look what a beautiful girl I have here…"

Catherine turned around the bed and stood next to the nurse, as soon as William put his eyes on Catherine, he opened his mouth but did not make any sound, her beautiful eyes lit up and all she did was cry.

Four days later

Announcement from Kensington Palace

After a detailed evaluation this morning, the Prince of Wales' medical team discharged him from King Edward VII Hospital, but remains under medical supervision.

The prince is comfortable at rest and recovering from the surgical procedure at Kensington Palace.

Kensington Palace

“Kate?” called William.

“Hi, angel.” replied Catherine.

William raised his head and saw Catherine sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed, she scribbled a notebook.

“What are you doing?” he asked curiously.

“I'm finishing drawing you.” she got up and sat next to him on the bed. “You and Luke, actually.”

“You are so talented.” he said and Catherine smiled in response.

Since the day Catherine visited him in the ICU bed and he woke up, she practically did not leave his side, went to visit him on the days that followed and accompanied him on his way home, but they did not talk. Catherine wasn't sure if William had listened to everything she said and he didn't even touch on the subject.

Catherine visited him every day in the hospital and there they were always surrounded by people, now that she was discharged from the hospital to continue with the recovery at home they would have more privacy to talk about, they just lacked the courage to address the subject. William was still digesting everything that happened, after all the pain he felt, surgery and postoperative he felt physically weak, but at the same time he felt renewed and waited for an opportunity to talk to Catherine.

“Do you know what I miss?” asked Catherine putting the notebook on the bed and caressing his face.

“Of what?” he said closing his eyes when he felt the touch of her hands.

“To kiss you.” she replied softly. William opened his eyes to face a pair of green eyes looking with expectation.

“Do you know what I miss?” asked William without turning from her eyes.

“Of what?”

“To have you.” he replied softly. Catherine looked at him confused.

“But you have me, I'm here.” said Catherine squeezing his shoulder.

“Will things go back to the way they were before?” he asked. William moaned in pain as he got up to lean his back against the head of the bed, Catherine got on the bed and sat in front of him.

Catherine could not be more relieved that they finally talked and felt grateful that he had taken the initiative to bring up the subject. Maybe she didn't take the fate she wanted, but she could never say she didn't try.

“No.” said Catherine smiling. “I don't want you to come back like before... I want it to be even better... William, I don't know if you heard everything I told you in the hospital, but if you have to, I'll say it all over again…"

“I heard... Well, in parts... I can't explain it…" said William quietly. Catherine smiled.

“Will, I don't want to neglect our love. I now understand that love needs to be cultivated, nourished and preserved and that this does not depend only on one of us, but on both... Together. When you were in the ICU, first they didn't let me in... It was your father who went, so I started walking through the hospital until I got to a chapel... I made a prayer... For you.” Catherine spoke looking into his eyes. “I asked you to have a second chance, even if it wasn't our destiny to be together. You are so good, an amazing human being and you are the man of my dreams and know that I would open my hand to be with you if that is the reason for you to stay alive, I can't imagine a world where you don't exist, you know?”

“Kate... You are the reason why I wanted to stay alive, I wanted to wake up because I heard your voice, I felt you. You inspire me, give me strength and make me want to live, make me want to be a better person, even though I don't deserve you... I want you, because you are everything to me.” said William holding her hand.

“I love you.” they said at the same time and started smiling. A smile that turned into a laugh.

Laugh that made William's belly hurt and made Catherine pull the blanket to caress his abdomen his chest, Catherine got even closer to his body and when she raised her head, her face was very close to his, she touched her lips with the tip of her tongue and in a subtle movement, he tilted his head slightly, rubbing his lips on hers, contoured with his tongue his mouth, his eyes closed, eternalizing in the memory every word spoken by both. She breathed deeply, anticipating the sweet and tender kiss that was reciprocated and both felt the weeks they spent distant dissolved in a passionate kiss.

As Catherine anticipated her vacation to stay with William, Matt was covering her demands, the friendship between them remained intact even with everything that happened, everything was just a misunderstanding and both knew how to separate the differences to keep the professional environment a pleasant place. Keeping friendships does not mean acting in the same way, both Catherine and Matt changed some attitudes and established some limits and when Matt learned that William had been hospitalized he was the first to make himself available to replace her at work, although the prince does not feel as much affection for him as She was equally grateful for her kindness. Elisa, Mr. Newton's secretary, finally found the courage to open up and confess her attraction to Matt, who wasted no time in investing in a new relationship and Catherine's absence was contributing to the unfolding of this relationship.

Catherine's first official engagement with William representing the crown was a success, there were several articles and photos about the engagement at Liverpool University Hospital and when John saw the news related to that day, when he saw the photos of her and the way she behaved next to William he realized that he would never have her back and even if she did not stay with the prince, she would never look at her that way, so he finally decided to put an end to that obsession. After serving his sentence in prison, John never intended to do anything to hurt her again but still kept a lot of interest in her life, Catherine was like a drug to him, addictive and destructive. He decided to start his life again, he no longer wanted to feed this interest in her, because he knew that everything could cross the line, as has happened before, but he would never be able to start over by seeing her face every day in newspapers, magazines and tabloids... The labor market was scarce and his reputation in London was not the best, finally he decided to restart his life away from everyone and left for France. John no longer had friends and many family members no longer talked to him, so he just had to say goodbye to his parents.

Catherine did not look for him and this was a great relief for everyone, including John. The great irony of fate is that on the same day he embarked for France bound for the city of Avignon, she burned the two drawing books. In a way, this marked the end of the story.

1 month later

Chelsea, London

The small shapeless and white forms falling lightly over almost all of London slowly but incessantly causing the streets and roofs to be covered by a thick layer of ice. The temperature was very low, to say it was cold was an understatement, but none of this was a problem for the occupants of the Old Church St Street apartment.

“Unfortunately it's snowing a lot, I won't be able to go home.” said William with a smile on his face.

“What sad news.” Catherine replied smiling too. “You'll have to sleep here.” William took her hand and pulled her closer to him and opened the curtain.

William and Catherine were stand in front of the window of her apartment, the snow fell slowly, the pole light dimly illuminated the small blocks floating slowly, a delight for the eyes.

In the corner of the room there was a large Christmas tree, decorated with small golden balls and bows of the same color. Small lights around the tree blinked in a lively rhythm illuminating everything. On top of the fireplace and on the shelves several and Christmas ornaments made the environment even more cozy and special.

“We can turn our Christmas Eve into something special, since you're going to Sandringham tomorrow.” said Catherine quietly leaning on his chest.

“Excellent idea, my love.” said William kissing her shoulder.

“I have some ideas in mind.” said Catherine turning in front of him.

“I love your ideas, you always end up naked and that's perfect.” said William smiling kissing the tip of her nose.

“William…" said Catherine.

“Love, it's been more than 2 months.” William replied leaning his forehead on her shoulder. “Damn appendix. I miss having you like this.”

“I miss it too, love…" said Catherine caressing the back of his neck. “We can have all this today, but let's first celebrate our early Christmas, what do you think?”

“I think it's perfect.” said William.

Catherine pulled him by the hand and took him to her room.

“Sit here.” Catherine said and pushed him to sit on the bed. William obeyed. He didn't lie when he said he loved her ideas, because she always made the best surprises, regardless of whether there would be sex or not, he loved to be surprised by her.

“What are you going to do? ― asked William when he saw her enter the closet. "Wait a minute," she said opening the closet door. William waited anxiously.

“Close your eyes! ― said Catherine entering the room with a large box in her hand. William obeyed her as usual. She approached stopping in front of him and put the box on his lap. “You can open your eyes.” she smiled in expectation. “It's kind of silly, but it will be a moment of our own.”

William opened his eyes and saw a very beautiful red box and smiled now looking into his eyes, she motioned for him to open the box and he promptly undid the loop and removed the lid revealing the contents.

There were two hand-knitted wool sweaters in red, two pairs of colored socks, a small picture painted by Catherine, another wrapping and an envelope.

“Oh, my love!” exclaimed William taking the gifts out of the box. First the sweater.

“One for me and one for you... Just like the socks... So we can watch movies. I was going to give it to you another day, but we can use it today, what do you think?” said Catherine sitting next to him.

“Of course we can, I love you in red.” he replied by looking at the details of the sweater and socks. He carefully put them on the bed and took the envelope.

“The letter I prefer you to read it alone.” she said timidly.

“Did you know that I also wrote a letter to you?” he said touching her face. Catherine smiled. “I'll read it later.” he put the envelope inside the box again and took the painting. A painting of the 13 shields of the Aston Villa from the first to the current shield. “How perfect, I loved my beautiful. Thank you.” said William in amaze, putting a peck in her mouth.

“I think you like the latter more.” she said smiling. William opened the package and can't help but laugh.

“I can't believe it!” he said lifting a retro Aston Villa shirt. “Love, how did you do it? I've been trying to find this one for years.” he analyzed all the details of the shirt, his eyes shone with excitement and Catherine looked at him in love, seeing him smile like that confirmed how it was worth all the effort to get the gift.

“I have my contacts…" she smiled. “Did you like it, Wills?” he took the box off his lap, got up and pulled it to himself.

“Kate, you're perfect, I loved everything.” he said kissing her hands. “Thank you.”

“I'm glad you liked it.” replied Catherine. William pulled her gently and deposited several kisses on her face and lips.

William couldn't stop smiling while keeping his shirt, painting and envelope in the box. Catherine took her sweater and her pair of socks to wear. The prince took off the sweater he was wearing to dress his pair.

“Love, come here…" called Catherine. William went behind her into the closet and saw her standing in front of the mirror and stopped behind her. “We're so cheesy, but I loved it.” she said laughing.

“You look beautiful.” he hugged her from behind and put a kiss on her neck. “What else do you have in mind?” Catherine smiled looking at the image in the mirror.

William and Catherine wearing the same sweaters and wool socks prepare a small dinner together, drinking wine and talking about various subjects. He had the gift of turning a casual conversation into something unforgettable and every time he made her smile, she felt something warm inside her.

Now there, sitting on the living room floor while watching a Christmas movie, William and Catherine were able to experience once again the nuances of love.

Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom

William took off his scarf and sat on the chair as he opened the envelope and removed a small handwritten letter.

Dear William,

This year I learned that in this life things change very quickly, one day everything is great, the next it's not good at all, I learned that it's too easy to fall in love, but it's not that easy to stay in love. I learned that love is a daily choice.

I chose you, William.

And I want to choose you every day.

Merry Christmas, my love.

With love,

Catherine

West Berkshire, England

Catherine was sitting in her room at her parents' house and held a small golden box with an envelope addressed to her, it could only be William's. She smiled as she removed a small handwritten card from inside the envelope.

Catherine,

I love the way you look at me and how you care, I love your ideas and your advice.

I love being with you and I miss you when you're far away.

This year was intense and I thank you for spending a good part by my side, especially in the moments when I needed it most,

You inspire me and enchant me, I love the story we are building together so much.

I love you.

Merry Christmas!

Lots of kisses,

William

She couldn't help but smile, kept the envelope and undid the noose from the box to open it. William presented her with a beautiful pair of green amethyst earrings with diamonds. The prince made the right choice, Catherine loved the gift and without thinking twice took the phone to call him. William answered right at the first touch, she thanked for the gift and wished again a merry Christmas, they talked briefly about how great the day was being and how much they missed each other. The prince had to end the call, because he had some royal duties, but promised to return calmly later. They both spent an excellent day in the company of their family members.

At the end of the night, William returned by FaceTime.

“Love, I found out that you didn't receive the complete gift.” he said leaning over the office desk.

“Really?” she said curious.

“Yes, they forgot to take it to another box.” he said head down.

“And what's there?” she asked curiously.

“Try to guess.” said William smiling.

“Is it a shoe? A bag? A bracelet?” Catherine began to say everything that came to her mind. William started laughing.

“My God, you'll never guess.” he replied laughing a lot, holding a gift box where a pair of binoculars were wrapped.

“Tell me what it is, then.” said Catherine pretending to be angry.

“I prefer to surprise you, tomorrow I'll give it to you.” he replied by opening the drawer to store the gift and the black velvet box caught his attention. Without her seeing it, because he had the camera on in a video call, he opened the box revealing the blue sapphire ring that belonged to his mother Diana.

“What are you doing?” she asked confused. William closed the drawer and smiled looking at her.

“Love, what do you think about taking a trip to Kenya? I know a chalet there that I'm sure you'll love to visit.” said William making Catherine smile once again, having no idea of the surprise he was preparing and that this trip would change the whole trajectory of his life.

Epilogue

“Christmas Eve Eve.”

The film was already in the credits, when William leaned his elbow on the improvised mattress in the living room to check if Catherine was sleeping.

“I thought you were already sleeping.” said William looking at Catherine who smiled at him. She ran her right hand over his face.

“Of course not, we still have more things to do, don't we?” she replied and ran her index finger through William's lips.

“Hummm…" that's what William just said when he felt the touch of Catherine's finger in his mouth. He gently turned Catherine's body so that they were facing each other and slips one of his hands down her neck, making her sigh. They haven't had sex for a little more than 2 months because of the breakup, surgery and recovery. During the recovery they had some intimacies, but it was very limited because William could not make any kind of effort on medical recommendation. “I miss you so much... I had to lose you all this time to find out that I can't lose any more day, you are all I want.”

No other man was like William, in Catherine's view. No other man knew how to touch her and knew her body like him and upon hearing that statement, a little reluctant Catherine moves away from the prince's caresses and kneels on the mattress looking into his eyes.

“Take off your clothes.” she said softly. William doesn't say anything, he just smiles without ceasing to look into her eyes.

William sits on the bed and takes off his sweater, when he was going to throw it on the couch, she takes the blouse from his hands and inhales it to feel his perfume, he also takes off his shirt, she does the same and then throws them on the couch and approaches him again. Catherine touches William's neck and slowly goes down her fingertips through the hot skin of his abdomen, his body shivers all over when he feels her delicate touch.

His hand reaches the waistband of his sweatpants and William gets exciting, but he raises his hand again to his shoulder and pushes him lightly so that he lies down. He obeys and as soon as he lies down she approaches again kissing his shoulder, then his naked chest, his belly and when he gets down there again, she caresses his waist and with both fingers on each side makes the mention of removing the fabric. William understands the message and takes off his pants.

“I want to see you too.” said William caressing her waist. Catherine smiles.

“You like red, don't you?” she said taking off her pants. William laughs devilishly.

“I love it.” said William massaging her thighs. Catherine slowly removes the sweater revealing her cropped lingerie in red tulle, the bra has no bulge, only a rim held the lining with strappy details drawn on the bra valued her small breasts emphasizing and leaving them flashy. Her marked silhouette made the color and shape perfectly adjusted to the brunette's body, her tiny lace panties provided the sensuality and pleasure in the right measure to enchant William even more, who when contemplating the body of his beloved loses his breath and already felt the pleasure inflate for her. “What a wonderful sight, you are perfect.”

Catherine seeks the words again, her green eyes fixed on the blue of William who kneels on the mattress next to her and descends her left hand slowly behind her back, stopping at her waist. That seems to have awakened her, giving Catherine the ability to speak.

“I need you.” Catherine could, but she didn't want to resist anymore. His whole body longed for him. Catherine climbs her hands through William's wide and strong chest, where she loves to let herself stay after making love to him. She continues the path of her fingers through her neck, reaching the face she loved to kiss so much. William delights in her touches and does nothing to interrupt or rush her. He's there. She's there. May everything happen in the time it takes to happen. The prince turns his face a little and kisses the palms of her hands, making her smile. Catherine slightly scratches the back of her neck, bringing her face closer and closer to his. William loved the way she looked at him and as soon as he felt her lips press his, he wrapped her around the waist and kept her stuck next to him as they kissed. A kiss of longing, of despair, of hope. A kiss of all the nuances of love.

“You drive me crazy.” Catherine sits William's words reverberating in her heart. All her senses are awake, she takes a deep breath. She loved him. A lot. She wants him by her side, sharing the days, the afternoons, the nights, the smiles, the tears and everything else that comes along the way. It's his smile that she wants to find at the end of the day. It's his hug she wants to receive after a difficult time.

“Happy Christmas Eve.” she whispers with sweetness and horniness. In the right measure to drive him crazy. She closes her eyes and puts her head on his shoulder, hugging and letting herself be hugged.

“Happy Christmas Eve.” he responds affectionately, very close to her ear.

When she feels a caress on her neck, she raises her head and opens her eyes, come across William's blue. Catherine finds certainties there that she didn't even know she was looking for.

“I missed you so much, love.” he confesses while kissing your neck.

“Finally let's kill this longing.” she replied and kissed him again.

Her kiss makes him sigh. Her kiss makes him forget everything. The intensity of the kiss increases, the two want each other a lot. Their bodies miss each other, they keep kissing until he sits down and accommodates her on top of him. Catherine throws her head back as she feels William's mouth sliding down her neck and going to her shoulder, going through her skin with kisses and caresses. His hands walk through every curve of the slender body and feeling the smooth and fragrant skin burning with desire. As her tongues dance, Catherine scratches his shoulders pulling a loud sigh from him. She starts kissing his face, going down his neck, reaching his collarbone, one of his weak points. Rehearses a bite there and makes him take a deep breath by letting out a small moan.

William can't resist and takes his hands to her small breasts, his fingers feeling the bristly nipples, perfect in the red lace causing a reaction already visible in his box underwear. The prince soon gets rid of that beautiful lingerie that was preventing him from feeling it. When Catherine kisses him again, he fits her breasts in her hands, caressing her nipples, feeling them harden between her fingers. She moans, leaving her lips half-open and moving her hips on his lap, feeling him on his thigh.

Their looks date each other's bodies. Her fingers touch William's defined chest, her nails scratch the way to the nape of the neck, making the two sigh together. With his fingertips, the prince slides through Catherine's traces, touching her nose, the cheekbones that jump when she smiles wide, going down to the soft lips that he loves to kiss so much. Without taking that little distance anymore, she intertwines her fingers through her long and voluminous hair, pulling her into a devastating kiss.

They press their lips against each other and the bodies at the same time. Languages involve your desires. William walks his hands on Catherine's back, making her gasp and moan against her mouth. He always thought her way of surrendering was beautiful, the way her whole body trembles at his touch, how he can feel her skin goosebumps.

Without hesitation, the prince slightly scratches her firm buttocks back and forth on her back. Catherine feels her pleasure hurt, squeezing her mouth even more in William's and her fingers on the back of his neck, biting his lips hard. William firm her with his hands on her back and lay her on the bed, staying on top of her. He for a moment with kisses and caresses just to admire her.

“You're so beautiful and hot.” He smiles. “I can't help but say that.” He takes your hands and kisses each of her fingers.

Catherine holds the prince's face, staring at him, as if wanting to keep in new memories each of those traits, every little detail. In a discreet movement of the lips, a subtle smile adorns her face. A small smile, but full of meanings. A smile that William loves and can't resist. He lowers his eyes to Catherine's mouth and kisses her once again, savoring those soft lips he loves.

The prince makes a trail of wet kisses going down her chin, reaching her neck and letting himself be inebriated by her smell. Once again, she moves her head back, leaving her lap free. William goes down distributing kisses and hickeys, going further down, going through the little valley between her breasts. Catherine pulls the back of William's neck and looks at him in a mute request. He knows what she wants, he knows what she can't resist, but decides to play, climbing a little, walking with his tongue down her shoulders and leaving hickeys at points that make her shudder, marking her in places that only he would see.

“Oh, William.” Catherine moans as she feels his lips taking her breasts.” She grabs his back, moving her body to meet him. He sucks, licks and nibbles on his already bristly and sensitive nipples. The brunette pulls his nape harder, making him stop with those delicious caresses or she would surrender before he even touches her sex.

Seeing Catherine already with altered breathing and reddened cheeks, William smiles. He seeks her lips for a slow, cove and calm kiss while her hands soon get rid of his box underwear. He helps to lower the fabric and now there were only her panties between their bodies. William presses his hip against Catherine's body and sighs, looking at him, asking for him.

The long fingers of the Prince of Wales run along the side of his beloved's body, shivering her and making her almost lose her senses with the sensations of that caress on her skin. With affection, he slides her panties, dragging the fabric to her feet. In a moment of amazement, William goes all over it with his eyes, admiring the woman he has there, so close, so close to him. You would never get tired of looking at her, such a woman in her natural beauty. But her mouth thirsts for that skin. He then holds her right leg and starts kissing her delicate and small foot, goes down her calf, reaches her knee and slowly runs down her thigh. As soon as he finds the groin, he passes with an affectionate breath, provoking it and going to the left leg, kissing it for its entire length as well. Catherine moves, anxious for him, already knowing herself wet with desire.

“Will... William…" he smiles as he faces her, loving her name said in that tone of lust and pleasure.

William positions himself between her legs, kissing her sex, sucking her clitoris, making her bend her body and close her eyes, trying to seek strength to resist and prolong her pleasure, biting her lower lip so as not to moan so loudly. The sounds that come out of her throat make William give up on teasing Catherine, he really wants to satisfy his desire to have himself inside her. Upon noticing the prince's movements, she prepares herself excitingly, holding his penis, playing with him in her agile and skillful hands.

“Fuck, Kate…" it's his turn to gasp. Catherine's caresses almost take him to heaven. He crawls over her and fits, looking her in the eye. She guides him between her legs. His eyes say so much, they talk so much and his lips are hungry, thirsty. Her tongue slides down his lips and then sucks every bit of your man's lips. The faces walk by each other, the noses touch each other with affection.

Catherine lets go of her hands and gets lost in her prince's blue eyes, finding there the same adoration as when they gave themselves to each other for the first time. The two stare at each other as he slides slowly into her, letting her feel every inch of her penis, a contact that makes the two dive so deep into each other that not even fear can reach them. The lips seek each other and meet again, they delight in each other's taste as intense as they can, while their bodies cradle at a slow and strong pace. Every time William enters it, Catherine moans between the kisses. The two are ecstatic, dizzy with pleasure, marked by love. Skin on skin. It's hard to hold back the ecstasy with each other's desire so much.

The desire is so much that the two stop the kiss and just stare at each other, with their faces very close, mixing the breaths. Their bodies guided by pure instinct, moving faster and faster, seeking maximum pleasure, allowing themselves to be guided by desire. Catherine squeezes William against her and slides her legs through his body until she lands them both on her waist, allowing him to go even deeper inside her. His nails scratch his shoulders and back. William moans a little more panting than her, almost reaching orgasm. She smiles when she sees him feel so much pleasure in satisfying himself with her.

“Will…" Catherine calls him and he opens his eyes, staring at her.

Catherine wants to dive even deeper into that blue as their bodies indulge in the magical pleasure of orgasm, squeezing it in her intimacy and feeling it squeeze her back, the way she loves it. Although small compared to his size, she was never fragile. She shuffs her fingers around the back of her neck, squeezing it. The breaths mix even more panting as their bodies collide and surrender, prolonging the pleasure of having each other. The two kiss seeking to appease their tremors and spasms. William turns on the bed and takes Catherine's body on top of his, squeezing it against him, wanting to make sure that what had just happened was really real, that she is really in his arms.

As if guessing his thoughts, the brunette sits on top and kisses him slowly, telling him of her passion while his tongues seek and meet. William lets his fingers run through his long hair, removing some messy strands that stuck to his sweaty face.

“Did you like it?” he asks with a full smile.

She contemplates him, walks her fingers through his face, skirting his lips. The man she loves is naked under her, in her house, in her life. William exists and that makes her smile. The fact that he is there inspires her to want to live every day with more commitment the duties that await her, makes her want to make small and large trips, to discover other reasons that make her have that beautiful and sincere smile.

“I loved it, William. I missed making love to you so much.”

“I am and will always be in love with you. I'm so happy that we did this again, you know?” he squeezes her even more against her body and sighs when she laps her head on her wide chest. William kisses her hair, paying attention to her every tiny reaction, which only better wraps her arms around him and closes her eyes.

“I love you.” Catherine declares herself and the prince distributes smells through her hair.

“I love you, beautiful.” A smile dances on his face.

“This is the best Christmas Eve of all.”  Catherine raises her face and raises her body a little, getting closer. “Even if improvised, it's being one of our best moments this year…"

“You always have the best surprises…"

“And you…" she puts a finger on his lips and gets a kiss. “she has the most beautiful eyes in the world.

The prince smiles and is moved to hear her. Without words that can convey to Catherine the size of his love, he carefully wraps her in his arms and kisses her until they both lose their breath.

Catherine lies down again on his chest, looking for the pulse of that heart. The two are silent, enjoying each other's presence. Slowly, the fingers come together and intertwine.

The snow was slowly falling outside and everything always seemed to fit together. Christmas is magical and it's more than a date, a party... It is the celebration of a new beginning full of peace and love... And lying there, together. Catherine and William felt that way, because everything in life gets even better when you have someone to love.

[redundant2]

Mystery Solved! Pippa Middleton and James Matthews have purchased Sir Terence Conran's previous estate in Berkshire: Barton Court.

Reports about the Princess of Wales' sister Pippa's new estate in Berkshire have been quite vague, but today I finally found the planning permits.

The Matthews paid £15 million for Barton Court, located in Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire.

"Barton Court was built in 1772 for Admiral Lord Dundas: a typical, red-brick, early Georgian house of five bays with a projecting central open-pedimented entrance front, enhanced by round-headed windows in the upper storeys."

The top yellow star in the right part of the above map is the estate where Michael and Carol Middleton live in Bucklebury, and the solid red dot on the left is the location of James and Pippa Matthews' new estate. Close enough for a short car drive to visit, but far enough apart to allow each family some private time.

The planning permit request is for "Relocation of an outdoor swimming pool and construction of a tennis court within the walled garden, and conversion of a potting shed to associated changing room and plant room."

Below is the celebrated walled garden that will be replaced with tennis courts and possibly a very large swimming pool:

Sir Terence Conran was a famous British designer who passed away in September 2020. He founded the Habitat and Conran shops. He was also renowned for designing restaurants, office buildings and stores. Conran ran several restaurants and wrote more than 50 books about design.

House and Garden UK did a nice feature on the property with many color photos taken by Princess Margaret's ex-husband, if you're curious about the interior of Pippa's new home.

From the article: "In earlier days a stone-flagged hallway ran from the door to the stairway between the enclosing walls of adjacent rooms. These rooms have now been gutted to provide a combined hall and living room of vast area: over a hundred feet in length." Looks like the original tile is still in place.

Apparently, some of the family of Sir Terence Conran was very upset that his estate was sold, as it was said to have been his dream for the estate to remain in the family.

"Both the house and the estate, according to one visitor, were to be 'overseen by the Conran family'. But no longer: I can reveal that the house has been sold for £15 million, despite Conran's vision, which included selling fruit and vegetables from greenhouses and a massive walled garden.

Members of the family appear to be in the dark about quite why the sale has gone ahead. One tells me that it is the executors of Conran's will who are selling the property, not his widow, Lady Conran.

The interior designer Vicki Davis married Sir Terence in 2000 at Chelsea Town Hall. His children — Sebastian and Jasper by his second wife, Superwoman author Shirley Conran, and Tom, Sophie and Ned by his third, cookery writer Caroline Herbert — only learned of it later.

That was no accident: Conran's children, it was playfully said, needed an appointment to see him.

The executors of his will decline to comment. But I can disclose that Vicki has already left the house and a new family has moved in."

Little did we know in June 2022 that it was Pippa Middleton and her family who bought the estate!

But here is another article interviewing Conran's widow, Vicki. She felt the house was too much for one person to maintain, and that none of his many children would want the upkeep. Conran apparently did not die of Covid either. It's a good article, detailing his vast collections and giving you a better idea of what he was like. After living there 50 years, Conran's widow was given 8 weeks to pack up everything and move out by the new owners...

Here is the planning application map showing the property outline:

Interestingly, the large buildings to the left of Barton Court are actually a very large custom furniture workshop and retail store. The owner, Sean Sutcliffe, "met Terence Conran and a firm friendship was made over a shared interest in making, wood, design and sustainability. They founded Benchmark together and our workshop and showroom are situated in the grounds of Terence’s country home."

That should prove very interesting for Pippa and family - perhaps those who are royal watchers might plan to do some furniture shopping in the near future! I'm sure, however, that the Matthews family will have plans in place to secure the perimeter of their new estate - or perhaps Mr. Matthews will just buy Benchmark Furniture outright and have its premises moved. Pretty sure he can afford it, since they recently sold their Chelsea mansion for £22.5 million, £5.5 million more than he paid for it.

[alexlesuagz]

Conversations With Your Drug Dealer [Part 1]

Characters: Vicky Lopez, Julian Ramis, Pippa Goldfinch, Dana Lopez, Chelsea Bloom, Edward Ramis (mentioned), Freddy Stewart (mentioned) Warnings: Teen angst, emotional abuse from parent to child, early spoilers for S5, underage drug use, canon divergence Relationship(s): Vicky Lopez & Julian Ramis, Chelsea Bloom/Vicky Lopez, Julian Ramis/Freddy Stewart (mentioned former one-sided crush on Julian’s side) (pls don’t hate me) Synopsis: Vicky, stressed out over recent issues, decides to buy drugs to relax. There is only one person she knows who has them. (Please note: I am aware the characters’ interactions in this fic are not canon. I just merely did some…divergence, if you will.) Feb. 13, 2018 10 more minutes until lunch. Vicky raps her pinky against the desk repeatedly in anticipation. Come on, damn clock, go faster! She grabs her paper and scribbles some more answers onto her worksheet. It’s science, a subject she gave zero shits about, so she doesn’t care whether her answers are correct. Once she finishes, she scratches her left cheek as she glares up at the clock, now continuously tapping her foot against the floor like it’s some belated kind of morse code. 8 more minutes. She lets out a loud exhale through her nostrils as she puts her head down on her desk, her hands running through her wavy black locks. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Chelsea, her best friend, giving her a small look of concern from the other side of the classroom. Are you alright? Chelsea mouths. Vicky nods quickly. I’m fine, she bullshits silently. Chelsea looks back at her worksheet, and Vicky looks back up at the clock. 5 more minutes. Fuck this. If she had to last another unbearable 5 minutes in Miss Goldfinch’s class, she was going to lose her fucking mind. Also, it was 5 mere minutes, so why not just ditch? She thinks as her hand shoots up. “Yes, Vicky?” Miss Goldfinch asks. “CAN I USE THE BATHROOM?” Vicky exclaims in her best I-am-in-pain-and-I-must-piss voice. Miss Goldfinch glances at the clock. “Vicky, dear, it’s 4 and a half more minutes until the end of lunch, can’t you just hold it in?” Welp, that didn’t work. Time for the Trump card. “I DON’T THINK I CAN, MISS GOLDFINCH.” Vicky says through clenched teeth. Miss Goldfinch looks back at her and frowns. “What do you mean by that?” Vicky walks up to Miss Goldfinch and whispers some words into her ear. “Oh…OH…okay, then. Do you need anything?” Vicky shakes her head rapidly. “...Well, alright, then, go right ahead to the bathroom, and take your backpack with you if you must.” “Thank you, ma’am!” Vicky shouts as she grabs her bag and power walks out of the classroom. Great. Now that period 4 torture time’s basically over, now all I need to do is wait for…wait, what’s his name? She pulls out her phone and checks her notes. Julian Ramis “The Murderer Kid” …Ah, yeah, him. According to reports, the kid was arrested for murder around five years ago, which is why people tend to avoid him. However, she did not know everything that happened, and even information about the crime wasn't exactly what she wanted. What she wanted was cannabis. “Who’s that?” Vicky asks, pointing to the boy sitting alone at the less crowded side of the bleachers, typing on his laptop. “Oh, him?” Chelsea asks. “Yeah, beanie boy.” Vicky replies. “Is he a transfer or something? I haven’t really noticed him before until now.” “Oh, no, he ain’t a transfer.” Chelsea responds, shaking her head. “That’s Julian Ramis. Apparently, dude, uh-” Chelsea’s hesitating now. “He what?” “He, uh, ‘game over’-ed someone, like 5 years ago.” Vicky could feel her eyes widen and her jaw drop. “Are you, like, serious about this?!” “Yeah, like totes serious!” Chelsea exclaims as the two girls walk down the bleacher stairs. “Why else would he be so emo-looking?! Constantly smells of weed, too. I feel kinda bad for him, but at the same time, he’s like, really scary. Last time I tried talking to him, he immediately started getting high and mighty, calling me a ‘ginger, rat-faced bimbo!’” She shudders. “Jeez, he seems pretty bad.” Vicky replies. Of course, a guy who constantly smells of weed would have weed in his general vicinity, right? Vicky rehearses her plan in her hand once again. Alright, once the bell rings, find Julian, drag him over to the gender-neutral bathroom, and force him to fork over the drugs. And if all else goes to absolute shit, then remember that one self-defense acronym!...What was that one acronym again-? BBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNNG!!!!! Oh yeah, ‘solar plexus’, ‘instep’, ‘nose’, and ‘groin’. Alright, I’m ready. When lunch comes around, the whole school grounds are open, so Vicky knew she had a lot of searching to do. However, considering where she had seen him the first time, she had a good idea on where he was going to be. Sure enough, as Vicky clambers onto the bleachers, she spots Julian in the relatively uncrowded corner, eating what seems to be a meatloaf sandwich with one hand and typing on his laptop with the other. He’s also hidden in the shade, like a true emo. Vicky takes a deep breath in and exhales. Fuck it. Just introduce yourself and try not to get into trouble. She walks over to Julian, who’s still too invested in his laptop to even acknowledge her. What is he even doing, anyway? Writing fanfiction? As quietly as possible, she looks over his shoulder to study his screen. Oh. Oh. First of all, Chelsea was right, he does in fact smell like weed. Second of all, what the hell is he even trying to type? “Rejected and despised by all, I walk a dark and tormented path, leading to despair…” Julian suddenly shuts his laptop. “You know I know you’re behind me, right?” Shit. “I-uh-” She’s stammering now, trying hard to form words in her mouth. She then points at his backpack. “WEED. NOW.” It doesn’t take a genius to process what Vicky’s asking for. Julian takes 2 seconds. “...no.” “What?!” Vicky sputters. “But WHY?!” Julian slams his hand over her mouth and shushes her. “Jesus Christ, at least whisper!” In response, she removes his hand and hisses through gritted teeth, “...but WHY?!” He waves his free hand at the surrounding people. “Are you SERIOUS?!” He seethes. “Who KNOWS what the fuck you’d might say if I give it to you, you absolute dumbass!” Vicky whispers, “Come ONNN, Julian, just one ounce! Socializing and school’s been so hard for me lately! I bet you can relate!” The moment the last sentence leaves her mouth, she notices Julian’s eyes widen and his mouth hang open. “You-” He hesitates. “You-” Oh, fuck, I really screwed up big time, didn’t I?

Julian’s free hand is curling into a fist. …Oop, yup, I really screwed up big time. The hand that she’s clutching is shaking exponentially, like the boy’s about to explode at any second. She closes her eyes, bracing for the punch… BBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNNG!!!!! …but the punch never comes. Julian lowers both of his hands, glances at the crowd going towards the school doors, then looks right back at Vicky. To her surprise, his shoulders sag, and he lets out a huge sigh. “You know what? There’s no point in arguing. Meet me in the alley behind the building after school today.” “B-but I got cheer practice today-” “Fuck it, tomorrow.” He turns around and follows the crowd as they’re entering the building. “And bring the money!” The rest of the day had gone by in an absolute blur, and eventually Vicky found herself in the girl’s lockers with the rest of the cheerleading squad. “Yeesh, that shit was TOUGH!” One of the girls groans as she puts her stuff into her bag. “Tell me ‘bout it,” Chelsea grumbles. “Well, at least we had each other, right?” She gives a playful elbow jab in Vicky’s direction. “Oh, yeah, yup, mhm!” Vicky instantly replies, nodding. Chelsea buttons up her shirt and smiles at her. “Alright, I’m gonna wait for you outside, is that okay?” “Yeah, sure.” Vicky watches as Chelsea leave the locker rooms. “Oh, hi, Coach Kirk!” Chelsea exclaims. Sure enough, once Vicky leaves the school building, she notices Chelsea waiting for her in the courtyard. After they greet each other, they settle into their classic routine that is walking in complete investment with each others’ day. “Yeeeaaah, that test was TOTES unfair. I mean, why the FUCK were there apparently 3 Bs in a row?!” Vicky hisses angrily as she kicks a pebble on the sidewalk. Both girls watch as it hops and skitters down the road and onto the street. Suddenly, the pebble manages to hit a passing squirrel on the head, causing it to screech and hop away into a bush. “…Whoops.” The girls then continue to walk in silence. Vicky has no idea on what to talk about, and as far as she can tell, Chelsea didn’t know what to say either. That is, until she spoke. “Y’know, Vick…” Chelsea said as they stopped at a crossroad, “…what date is it today?” Oh, shit, I kinda forgot about that, Vicky chastises herself as she pulls out her phone. “Oh, it’s February 13. Why’d you ask?” “…what’s the signa— sigmi— eegh!” Chelsea shakes her head as she corrects herself. “SIGNIFICANCE of tomorrow?” She fidgets with her fingers as the two girls make eye contact. “Tomorrow’s February 14.” “Yeah, and what’s also tomorrow…?” Chelsea’s hands are waving slightly. Vicky can feel a slight uncertainty in the back of her mind. Then it hits her. “Tomorrow’s…Valentine’s Day.” “Y-yeah, I was originally hoping to do this tomorrow, but I think it’s better that I do this today.” Chelsea puts her backpack down in front of her and opens it. “Hold on, wait just a second-” Vicky feels herself standing completely still as she watches Chelsea continuously shuffling through her bag. What is going on?! As much as she loved Chelsea as a friend, something begins stirring in the back of Vicky’s mind. Oh, God, what’s gonna happen? Is Chelsea gonna give me a “Fuck you” card??? Wait, what did I even do to deserve it, then- “Here, I found it!” Chelsea stands up, one of her hands clenched around something. What even is it? “Uh, Vicky…” Chelsea’s now tapping her pointer fingers together, her hand still holding something. “You know we’ve been friends for a while…and being by your side for all these years has made me realize something.” Wait, is this going where I think it’s going- “…I…like you. Like, really, really, like, like you.” Right as the words leave Chelsea’s lips, something in Vicky’s heart stops. What that something is, Vicky doesn’t know. Is the feeling in her chest anxiety? Excitement?? Horror??? “Oh, shit, I forgot the card-” OH, GOD, THERE’S MORE?! Chelsea digs through her bag some more and pulls out a small pink card folded in half. To Chelsea’s credit, the card didn’t look bad — Vicky herself spots the amount of effort that was put into the paper hearts, the origami butterflies, and the pop-up rainbow. But something still is twisting Vicky’s stomach into two, and she doesn’t know what. She can’t even pay attention to what Chelsea was saying until the last part. “So, uh…Vicky Lopez…will you be my girlfriend?” Chelsea says as she opens the palm  of her hand to reveal what was in it. A heart locket necklace. Shit. On one hand, Vicky knows how incredibly sweet Chelsea is being right now, and she herself does care for Chelsea. But does she care for her that way? Do I like girls romantically? Do I like Chelsea romantically?! Hell, what would Mom think?! Smiling uncertainly, Vicky tentatively takes the necklace out of Chelsea’s hand and puts it around her own neck. It’s Vicky’s exact size. Vicky then takes the card from Chelsea’s other hand and skims through its contents. “I…” She finally stammers out, “I-I don’t know what to say…” Even Chelsea at this point looks anxiety-ridden — she’s fidgeting with her fingers and one of her knees is knocking against the other. What should I say? Vicky thinks. What should I do?! Throughout all her 18 years of living, she’s never even thought about love. Her mom would’ve probably set her up with some rich dude, anyway! There are two options she can take now — either she lets Chelsea down as gently as possible, or she accepts the confession and possibly puts her and Chelsea into a fuckton of shit. Fuck it, one option is safer than the other. This is for both her and Chelsea’s good. “I’m sorry, Chelsea…” She mumbles, “…but no, I don’t like you that way.” Chelsea’s expression drops into what can be best described as “well-hidden dismay instead of disappointment”. Shit, this isn’t very “let her down gently-” “I…” Chelsea hesitates, probably unsure of what to say. Vicky closes her eyes, getting ready for any violent outburst. What Chelsea does next isn’t what can be described as “violent”, but it still catches Vicky off guard. Out of absolute nowhere, Chelsea’s expression morphs into anger as she exclaims, “Well, I guess you don’t want this, then!” and grabs the necklace like it’s Vicky’s collar. “Chelsea, what the fu-?!” Just before she could finish her sentence, the necklace’s clasp breaks into two, causing it to get wrenched off her neck. Both girls are now standing at the crosswalk in stunned silence, Vicky with a Valentine’s Day card and pain in the back of her neck, and Chelsea with a necklace with a broken clasp and shock engraved into her facial expression. Chelsea speaks first. “Vicky, I-“ Chelsea’s words breaking the heavy air between them are what Vicky needs to talk. “I think I have to go.” “Vicky, I’m-” “Look, I’m so sorry, I think I have to go!” Vicky exclaims as she turns around and dashes across the street, leaving Chelsea in the dust. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit. If things can’t get any worse, Vicky’s mother Dana is the one to greet her at the door. “You’re 10 minutes late, Victoria.” She drawls dryly. “I know.” Vicky lowers her head sheepishly. Dana scoffs. “‘I know’ won’t cut it. Be glad I don’t feel like arguing right now, young lady, because I’m NOT happy with your behavior today!” “Wait, what?!” Vicky protests. “What do you mean by that?!” Wordlessly, Dana reached inside one of her pockets and pulls out her phone and presses play on an audio file. It’s a voicemail. From Miss Goldfinch. Of course it’s fucking Miss Goldfinch. “Uh, hi, Mrs. Lopez, this is Vicky’s teacher speaking. I just want to talk to you about my concerns regarding your daughter’s recent behavior.”  Vicky’s eyes are glued to the phone in Dana’s hand, but through the corner of her eye, she notices Dana shaking her head and mouthing, Disappointed. I’m so disappointed. “Now, she’s not in trouble, but I’ve noticed she’s been increasingly more anxious over the past couple of days. Is it alright if we schedule a time and date to talk about it? Thank you.” The voicemail stops, and Vicky lowers her head to the floor. “Like I said before, be glad I don’t feel like arguing with you today. Just…just go to your room. You’ve embarrassed me enough.” Ashamed, Vicky walks past her mother and heads up to her room. Once she enters, she closes the door behind her and sighs as she leans against it and slides down. Oh, wait a second, I still have Chelsea’s card! Luckily, this time Vicky isn’t driven by her anxiety, so she actually decides to herself to read it and not skim over. Hey Vicky, If you got this card, then this means that either you accepted my confession or rejected it but were nice enough to take the card anyway. Either way, happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a little thing I wrote: ”I cannot fathom my lust for the stars, because the world taught me to always look at the ground. When I look at you—my sun—I know I’d have to relinquish you from my sights, yet I wouldn’t mind if you were the last person I’d see before my eyes burn out from your beauty. I’d rather stare at you for 100 seconds and go blind than spend 100 years without you by my side.” …Okay, I stole that off of someone’s FriendNet profile, but you know I’m not great at expressing my feelings through words. Either way, I just want you to know that no matter what happens, through all the challenges we’ll face in our lives, I will always be by your side. <3 - Chelsea Right next to her name, Chelsea had drawn a rose. Vicky sniffles and blinks back tears as she closes the card and checks her phone. 3 unread messages from Chelsea. 4:25 PM CB: Hey CB: I’m sorry about what happened 4:30 PM CB: Vicky? [Read 4:50 PM]

[AUTHOR’S NOTE] YIPPEE-KY-YAY, IT’S FINALLY DONE! Sorry if the writing’s kind of rusty n’ sloppy, I’m still trying to develop my writing style- Either way, I hope you enjoyed! :D Also, the “conversation with the drug dealer” comes in during Part 2 because Part 1 is just Vicky Lopez angst lol-

[sentientcave]

Hey friends! I'm Charlie (He/They). Writer, occasional artist, always just some guy. Doing my best, and hoping to get better.

Blank and Ageless Blogs will be blocked.

Requests tentatively open? I should be working on my longer fics but I've been real burned out lately, hoping to spark things back up. I'm lowkey vanilla so don't ask for anything too wild or I'll faint like a scandalized Victorian.

Twitter - AO3 - Ko-fi

~Master List~

Two Graves - Phillip Graves is haunted by the memory of his older brother

Fuck-ass Mohawk - Johnny likes it when you're mean to him (And Ghost does too)

Pompeii//Good Grief - Dealing with loss during a mission gone wrong- Or maybe gone right.

Please, Mommy - A little gender fuckery with everyone's favourite Captain. (FtM Reader, read contents for kink warnings)

And They Were Roommates

Fem!Soap x Fem Reader - You're looking for a roommate, and Jaime Mactavish figures she's the right woman for the job.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Heavy Weighs the Crown

Fantasy AU - A princess in self-imposed exile is forced to come home to face the man who took her father's crown and the life she left behind. 141 x Reader.

Chapter Index

Retirement Party

Price has retired from Military life, and he's not handling the change well. But on the one year anniversary of him hanging it up, his boys bring him something special to help keep him busy. You. (Dark fic! Read the content warnings)

Chapter Index

Honey It's Alright

Slasher AU with some of my OCs. Dark fic!! Read the warnings

Part 1

Sadie Blackmoore-Price in

Nobody Does it Better - Sadie and John reconnect for a night

You Only Live Twice (In Progress)

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

When Rory "Scout" Price moves in with her dad after a rough break-up, she's looking forward to reconnecting while she gets her feet back under her. But unfortunately, a post-divorce Kyle Garrick is moving in too, and he seems determined to be a pain in the ass. But then again, he is kind of hot.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

Please Say Yes

Starting fresh after a divorce, Chelsea really only has one thing on her mind: Starting a family. But going through the process of dating and marrying another man that could very well be lying about wanting kids, just like the last one, she's determined to make her family all by herself. She only really needs a man for one part of the process, and she has a particular man in mind, her neighbour, one John Price.

Part 1

Let's Riot!

When the Reader St arena gets bought out from under them by Morgan’s vengeful ex, Pippa Graves, The Reader St Riots suddenly find themselves without a practice space. Pippa may say she’ll play nice, but Morgan knows that she’ll either have to get back under Pippa’s manicured thumb or the whole team will be out on their ass in no time. Problem is, the only other practice space around that’s not booked up to the tits belongs to Jo Price, captain of the Femme41, and well… Morgan has a bit of ugly history with her too.

Still, Jo’s at least a little more reasonable than Pippa, and Morgan may hate to beg, but she’d hate to see the Riots disbanded more. And well, maybe there’s room for a little cooperation, especially when their teams get along so well.

Part 1

Sparrowverse

Fics in an extended original character universe. I'll get around to posting Sparrow one of these days.

Cherry Bomb - Nikolai meets one of his Aunt's old school friends and tries not to fall in love.

You Drive Me Wild - Nikolai and Helena meet again three years later

WIP WEDNESDAY BAYBEE

Snippets and previews of things in the works

Rugby - Rugby Again - More Rugby - The Righteous Hand - Impound - More Impound - Sparrow - TNT - Lucky Bunny - Daddy's Girl - Sparrow Again + Retirement Party

#Cave Writing for unlinked works and me complaining about writing

Image credit - Banner made in Canva

[lena-rambles]

Salut! So asking (💤 SLEEPING) for Aurore for the ask game is a little too on the nose, but I really want to know XD. Also (🎵 MUSIC NOTE) for her and for pippa (and for Erin if you're up to it) because I love asks about music and I know you have impeccable taste in music ^^

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

fair question for aurore lol

i would think that aurore has never had any trouble falling asleep due to the curse. it hasn't yet taken effect, but it still lingers in her, waiting until the right time. there are trace influences of it that worry her parents; this is one such example.

she doesn't need anything, really, to help her fall asleep. that being said, she enjoys and is comforted by her thick heavy blankets and sheer bed canopy. it makes her feel protected and safe.

🎵 MUSIC NOTE - what is their playlist like? their favourite artists? do you associate a particular song with them?

ooh yes!! thank you for this question!! glad you enjoy my taste in music :) i don't have a fantastic handle on aurore and pippa yet but i will do my best

i've spent the last couple days listening to my liked songs on spotify and adding entire albums to x's playlist. it's honestly been a great way to understand them in a different way.

btw even though their canon is in the fantasy limbo era, this question is all assuming they're in modern times

aurore —

aurore mostly enjoys either light whimsical songs or bright pop songs.

her playlist, ironically, has some disney songs, especially i see the light, for the first time in forever, and love is an open door. there's also indila's mini world album in her playlist. her favourite artists include cosmo sheldrake, the oh hellos, taylor swift, abba, and louane — i'd love to put more french artists but i don't know a lot 😥

a song that i associate with her is once upon a dream, which should surprise absolutely no one. it's where i got this entire series idea, the soulmate trope for aurore and pippa, and it's a sleeping beauty song. there are two versions specifically that i listen to: lana del rey's cover and tchaikovsky's original sleeping beauty orchestra piece.

pippa —

i feel like pippa's favourite artists are hozier, brandi carlile, maren morris, and zaz. they love anything with a beautiful voice and lyrics — a homage to how prince phillip was immediately drawn by aurora's voice in the disney movie. their music taste is also in more grounded? songs than aurore likes? i.e. cosmo sheldrake's music is quite whimsical and aurore loves it but pippa prefers hozier's solid style. if that makes sense.

some songs on their playlist are any jeremy zucker and chelsea cutler collabs, hozier's in a week, and pentatonix's say something.

the song i associate with them is etta james' at last:

at last my love has come along my lonely days are over and life is like a song

on a completely unrelated note, pippa totally read the ranger's apprentive over and over when they were younger. it's their comfort series well into new adulthood too.

erin —

erin's playlist has some softer/lighter music, like clairo and harry styles. lifehouse's entire no name face album is on there, too — both her taste and it's what her father listened to when she was younger. taylor swift's lover album is also on there because taylor has a flavour of music for everyone lol

a song i associate with her is i saw you in a dream by the japanese house — the version with the lowercase title — because i added it to my wip playlist immediately after hearing it for the first time. so i've always associated it with her, even if it doesn't completely match up anymore.

EDIT lol i forgot she canonically has a favourite song: woodland dance by radomir kafka. i wouldn't try to find it though; kafka is from one of vallera's neighboring countries and the song doesn't actually exist. though i imagine it with similar vibes to danse macabre or antonín dvořák's no. 2 dumka.

thanks for the questions! it took me,,, a while,,, to answer but i really enjoyed them :D

[sassyfrassboss]

Pippa’s brother in law Spencer is part of the Made in Chelsea set who Meghan associated with, so Pippa would’ve had Meghan’s number from the start as it’s obvious that Spencer and his now wife, Vogue who have three children now, didn’t agree or align with Meghan as Vogue and Spencer actually do reality television, adverts with their kids etc.

Yes! Thank you!

I do remember there being something about Meghan bonding with Pippa because of her previous friendship with Spencer...or something along those lines.

[emmashouldbewriting]

I agree with Anon, except doesn't Pippa have an annoying brother in law too? One that also does reality shows, just like Kate's? 😂😂😂 Annoying family members happen regardless of social status!

I don't know. I watched the OG seasons of Made in Chelsea, and it was a looong time ago lol, so I'm not sure we can say he's an annoying brother-in-law. Then again, I don't pay much attention Spencer and Vogue unless Vogue is on my tele in the Fairy washing advert telling me to close the box so my kids don't eat the pods.

[charlotte-of-wales]

if William openly supported Red Bull and was wishing Max good luck every weekend, I (a McLaren and Merc fan) would most definitely consider becoming a republican so 😂 but honestly, while I don’t think it would cause serious discussion, it would definitely be a thing an opposing fanbase would constantly bring up. Like right now it’s “aww he supports Aston Villa this team that’s gone through ups and downs and he didn’t go for the most famous team like most rich people do” whereas if he was at Arsenal matches I could definitely see Chelsea fans complaining about it. Not in a way that would cause serious PR harm but still. It’s why I thought (before Pippa’s husband got involved with them) they should support Williams. Being a fan of a big team gets you scrutiny you don’t need, being a fan of the underdog gives you credibility and positive points!

that's the thing, sports make people so irrational (myself included). I see WA and Maxima congratulating Max and it gives me the biggest ick known to man, if William supported say Man City it should honestly make me irrationally side-eye him for eternity

hence why this convo was even started by me in the first place