35. Nick
NICK
Well, this is not the romantic entrance I had planned.
Hank extends his hands and helps me up. I’d almost forgotten how handsome he is. His hair is combed to the side, and he’s wearing a blazer. He cleans up very nicely.
“You’re back…in Sourwood.”
“I flew out on the royal jet. I didn’t want to miss opening night.”
“You got here fast.”
“I took the toll road for you.”
Hank’s big-eyed smile threatens to melt me on the spot.
I check my watch. “Isn’t the show starting? Where were you going?”
“I was going to catch a flight to Ardenia.”
Silence settles between us, warm and fragile. Every cell in my body has never felt more alive and alert.
“What do you think you’ll do now that you’re leaving the monarchy?” he asks.
“I’m not.”
His eyebrows jump up.
“I’m not renouncing my rights to succession. I’m going to be king when my father…”
“I heard. I’m so sorry. Watching a parent…it’s not easy. I’m here for you.”
“Thank you.” We stand there for a moment, snow dancing down from the clouds.
“So you’re going to be king?”
“I am. And I want you by my side.” It’s the first time I’ve said that aloud, and God, it sounds perfect.
“But what about—”
I shake my head, refusing to get bogged down in what ifs again. For once, I’m choosing to live in the moment.
“We will work it out,” I say. Our fingers find each other in the cold air and lock together. “I still want to be your boyfriend.”
His fingers curl gently, like he’s checking I’m real. “Me, too.”
“I love you, Hank,” I say suddenly, my voice steady despite the vulnerability in it. “I tried to be noble. I tried to be responsible. But every place I went, every room I entered felt wrong without you in it.”
“I love you,” he says. “Never stopped.”
His grip tightens as he leans in for a kiss—
But he stops an inch from my face.
“Your nose.” He points.
I touch my fingers to my nose and come away with blood.
“That door really got you,” he says with a nervous laugh. “There should be a first aid kit backstage. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
I press my nostrils together to stop the bleeding. He takes my free hand and leads me inside the high school past rows of lockers. The faint sound of the musical pours into the hallway.
“Hank, you need to know that my life is complicated. Public. Chaotic. Multiply that by a thousand once I’m crowned king. I cannot promise you ease.”
He huffs a quiet laugh. “I’ve been through a messy divorce, raising a child on my own, and dealt with some of the grossest pipes you could imagine. I’m up for the challenge.”
“I mean it. Ardenia is far away. Different. You would be giving up everything familiar.”
“I’ve spent my whole life here. Same streets. Same bars. Same everything. Maybe I’m ready for someplace new.”
We round a corner past a trophy case for the hockey team. I grab his hand, halting us. “Is that you?”
I point to the chubby teenager in the group photo hoisting a trophy cup in the air. I recognize the other team members from the Comebacks. Bill still has the same angry stare. South Rock High - State Champions reads the caption.
Hank’s hair was much thicker, cheeks fuller, but that twinkle in his eye is ageless.
“Guilty,” he says.
“Cute!” I exclaim. I totally would’ve had a crush on Hank in high school.
“Let’s keep it moving. Keep pressing your nostrils together.” He pulls us around a corner.
“So you’re amenable to living in Ardenia?” I ask.
“I’d like to try,” he says. “We’ll figure it out as we go.”
He opens a door with a red light above it, BACKSTAGE written across the wood. Once inside, the music of the song “Skid Row” swells. Seymour sings about being poor and sweeping floors. Hank leads us against the back wall, behind the curtain at the back of the stage.
“I used to hide my stash here back in the day,” he says.
The comment reminds me that we’ll have to do a vetting process and lots of media training for Hank.
He stops at the white first aid kit hanging on the wall, removes a piece of gauze, and shoves it up my nose. After a few seconds, the bleeding stops. I pull out the gauze, now half-red, and toss it in the trash. Hank checks out my nose.
“Doesn’t look broken. Just a hard bonk. How does it feel?”
It’s hard to determine because I’m transfixed by this gorgeous man staring at me in the face.
Instead of an answer, I kiss him. I flew halfway around the world and got my nose bashed in to win back the man of my dreams. I’m not waiting a second longer.
When our lips touch, I’m reminded of everything I was missing. His warm mouth coats mine, calming all my fears and nerves about the future. As long as I’m with Hank, it’ll all work out.
He pulls me in, returning my kiss softly at first, like he’s relearning me. Then deeper, warmer, familiar in a way that settles something restless inside my chest. His hands slide into my jacket, gripping tight, like he’s afraid I might disappear again.
When we finally pull apart, we’re both smiling.
As is everyone on stage and the entire audience.
We quickly realize that during our kiss, the curtain had been pulled back. Hank and I have found ourselves center stage, light shining on us.
“Maybe they can’t see us?” Hank whispers to me.
As a born-and-bred royal, I lean on instinct to get us through this moment. I lift our clasped hands in the air.
“Smile and wave,” I say through gritted teeth.
The audience breaks out in wild applause, not unlike the studio audience when Chandler and Monica had sex in London in the Friends season four finale. Our Comebacks teammates give us a standing ovation. In the wings, Brody gives us a thumbs up.
It’s awkward and so utterly perfect.
Hank turns me and plants another kiss on my lips, sending the audience raving all over again.
“This is just like in Love Actually,” I say to him.
“The porn scene?”
For the first time since all of this began, the future doesn’t feel terrifying.
It feels wide open.