Chapter 15
Sophia
Lucas pushes open my bedroom door but stops on the threshold. I appreciate that, even though my resolve to not interact with him is well and truly gone. He's here now, and there's a part of me that's relieved to have him close.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asks for the hundredth time.
"I'm fine." If I say it enough times, maybe we'll both start believing it.
I pause, wondering if it's fair of me to ask him to stay for a bit.
I don't like the idea of being alone right now, and I haven't had anywhere near enough champagne to fall into a drunken stupor.
"Will you come in? Just for a bit. I don't want to be alone. "
He wavers. I can see in his eyes that he wants to say yes, but doesn't want to feel like he's crossing some line.
I reach out and put a hand on his chest, enjoying the familiar feel of it, even if I know I'm not supposed to do things like this now that I know the truth about him.
"I've only had two glasses of sparkling wine since getting to the party, I know what I'm asking." And the run-in with Leonard certainly helped sober me up.
"All right, but say the word, and I'll leave."
"Thanks. Just give me a minute to put something more comfortable on?" I ask, already heading towards my ensuite, grabbing an oversized shirt and PJ bottoms as I pass. I don't normally wear so much to sleep in, but it feels like the safest option while he's here.
I lock myself in the bathroom and pull out my mirror. I should have messaged Lottie the moment I left the party so she wouldn't worry about me, but I forgot. I fire off a quick message, reassuring her that I'm fine and back in our flat. I'll fill her in on the details tomorrow.
After changing out of my dress and washing the makeup off my face, I emerge feeling a lot more settled.
The same can't be said of Lucas, who stands in the middle of the room looking as if he has no idea what to do with himself.
"Why don't we sit?" I suggest, gesturing to the bed.
He nods and perches himself on the edge. He carefully wraps his tail around his arm, making it clear that he doesn't want to accidentally touch me with it.
That's fair. He probably has no idea how I'm going to react to anything.
"I'm sorry, Sophia. For everything. If I hadn't hurt you, then you wouldn't have been alone tonight."
"It's not your fault," I whisper. "Any more than it's my fault.
The only person to blame is Leonard." Even as I say it, I realise I need to learn that too.
There's a small voice in my head trying to tell me that it's my fault for being alone, or for going to the party without a bodyguard in the first place.
But that's not true. I wasn't doing anything wrong. I've never met Leonard before, that I can recall. I certainly didn't give him any indication that I was interested in him. All I did was get myself a drink.
A shiver runs down my spine at the thought of what could have happened if Drake hadn't shown up when he did.
I need to talk to him about that next time I see him, so he knows how grateful I am.
While I like to think I can hold my own, sometimes it comes down to brute strength, and compared to someone like Leonard, that's not something I have.
Lucas sighs, and my heart aches for him, though not in the same way it had before the party. It's odd, now I actually have him in front of me again, it's like the past week never happened.
Kind of. I'm still aware of what he did and the consequences it may have, and I'm not about to jump back into his arms, even if part of me wants to.
But that's not really an issue. Even if I'm not out-of-my-mind drunk, I've still had too many drinks for him to be comfortable with any show of affection between us.
And I appreciate that. I'm probably not in the best place to be deciding on things like that again.
"I'm sorry about your shoes," he says.
A short laugh bursts from me. "I don't know what's going on with them. I've never broken so many pairs in so little time before."
"It's like that fairy tale with the princesses who sneak out to go dancing."
"Didn't their father ask someone to follow them and find out what they were doing too?" I raise an eyebrow.
A guilty expression flits over his face.
Perhaps it's best if we change the subject to something more harmless.
A knock on the door pulls me away from my thoughts. "Come in?" I call, not knowing what else to do.
"Ah you're here, good," Lottie says, bursting in.
"Didn't you get my message?"
"What? No, I didn't check my mirror...what are you doing here?" she demands when she sees Lucas.
"He brought me home." It's not really an explanation, but I don't want to get into it while he's in the room.
"Nice to see you again, Charlotte," Lucas says, getting to his feet. "I'm just leaving."
"Good." She glares at him, the anger and frustration I should be feeling coming off her in waves.
He pauses by the door. "Message me if you need anything."
Our gazes lock, but neither of us says a word. I don't think there's anything that can be said between us at this point. Eventually, I nod.
He disappears, letting the door click shut behind him.
"Please tell me you didn't hook up with him?" Lottie asks, dropping onto my bed and making her wings flutter upwards.
"No."
"Why didn't you come to us if you wanted to go home? We'd have come with you."
I sigh. "There was an incident with one of the other party guests. Drake sorted it, and Lucas brought me home because I asked him to." For now, that's all she needs to know. We can talk about it more once she's sober again.
"Hmm."
"What did you want to tell me?" I ask, changing the subject in an attempt to distract her from the fact I let Lucas into my room, something I may be kicking myself about tomorrow.
"Oh, right. Archie asked if I wanted to come visit over the holidays."
"That's great news, isn't it?"
"It's so serious." She sits up, her eyes wide and confused. "I don't know what to do about that."
"Do you want to come visit?"
She sighs. "Well, yes. I like spending time with both of you, and I'll get to do lots of that."
"But..."
"What are the expectations going to be?" she whispers.
"Ah."
She shakes her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be saying any of this. I've had too much to drink, and now it's all coming out."
"That's okay. You can ask me anything you want," I promise, meaning every word.
I grab my water bottle from the bedside table and hand it to her. I have some snacks in one of the drawers of my desk. I should get for her too, but I'm worried that if I move, she'll bolt.
She takes it from me and gulps down the cool liquid. She needs it.
Lottie sighs. "I guess I'm worried people will think this means I'm going to marry him and all that."
"You are mates," I point out. "But even if that's true, my family aren't going to expect anything of you. All of my siblings have dated multiple people."
"It's not your family I'm worried about. It's mine," she admits.
"Ah."
"Well, Mum really. She's always hated that I wanted to come here for an education. She says fairies are too pretty for that. I'm worried that if she finds out my mate is a prince, she's going to be even more sure of that and put even more pressure on me to quit Rosewood."
"Oh, Lottie."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be bothering you with this."
"Yes, you should. You're my friend, this is exactly the kind of thing we should be talking about." Though given how much I've seen her drink tonight, it may be the kind of thing we have to talk about again tomorrow.
"I don't see a solution, though," she admits.
I reach out and touch her shoulder gently. "I can."
Hope fills her eyes. "You do?"
"Don't tell them you're visiting Archie, say I invited you. I can talk to my parents beforehand to make sure our security team is prepped, that way there'll be less chance of anything leaking to the press. Your parents will never find out."
She sighs with relief. "You're so clever."
"You would be too if you hadn't been drinking tonight," I point out. "So let's get you to bed, then we can plan and think straight in the morning."
"That goes for both of us," she counters. "No messaging Lucas tonight."
"I promise, I won't." I may not be anywhere near as drunk as she is, but I still don't want to make the mistake of rushing into anything. Especially when I'm still not sure how I feel about the way things ended.
But right now, my focus needs to be on Charlotte and getting her to bed before she collapses right here and starts drooling on my pillow.