Facade

Chapter 27

    It was odd how without your family or the life you were accustomed to, you could be happy. Simply, freely happy when you knew deep down, you shouldn't be. You should feel lost and lonely, but that wasn't how I felt. As days passed, I felt nothing but lightness.

    Days had passed by and living with Alex felt normal. It felt like I had been there for months as Alex and I made routines for each other, cleaning and spending time together, making sure to also give each other our alone time too. Being with him was different. It was different because where Mother had held me on a leash, Alex allowed me to do whatever made me happy. He always listened to what I had to say and he made sure to make me feel welcomed.

    As Alex and I walked down the field near his house, looking for the hill we had once sat on, staring at the stars, I looked at him. He was staring straight ahead and I watched as the sun illuminated his eyes. I watched as his eyebrows furrowed, giving him that look I knew meant he was deep in thought. Seeing something as simple as that made my heart stir, and I looked away. Every day these feelings were becoming more and more frequent, but now, I wasn't sure if it was necessarily a bad thing.

    Soon we spotted the hill and we climbed it, panting as we reached the top. Alex dropped the picnic basket he held onto the ground and he pulled out a blanket, lying it flat on the ground for the both of us to sit on. We both did, sitting near each other. Lately, we seemed unable to bare a bit of space between us.

   Alex set the basket in front of us and pulled out the sandwiches he had made. He handed me one with a smile and I smiled back, noticing that his smile was as radiant as the sun that shone down on us. It was dazzling.

   After taking out his own sandwich, he said, "It's beautiful outside."

   "It is," I agreed, looking around the empty field in front of us.

   Bare land stretched a mile away and there was a forest at the ending. It was the forest we'd been to I realized, immediately flushing at the memory. At the thought of the intimate moment Alex and I shared, my heart began to race.

    "It's great to be away from home," Alex said suddenly.

   "Yes and no," I said, bringing the sandwich to my mouth. "I like your home. It's... Homey."

   I took a bite out of the sandwich as Alex looked at me, surprised. It was peculiar to see him so caught off guard for something so small.

   "Really?" he asked, still surprised. "Don't you find my - our home too small? Too suffocating sometimes?"

   "No. Compared to my castle, it's perfect. At your home I don't feel all alone, trapped in a home too big and filled with nothing."

   Alex blinked. "Sometimes I forget about how different we are."

   I stared at him for a second, wondering what he meant by that. His words were more like a comment to himself than to me. It felt private, so I ignored it.

     "I know not to judge so easily now," Alex said suddenly, his eyes softening. "But it constantly amazes me that you're not the stereotypical princess."

   "What is this stereotypical princess you speak of?" I asked, curious.

   "A princess who is selfish and only cares about riches and looking beautiful. A woman who thinks she's above everyone and that she's all that matters in this world." The corner of Alex's lip turned up suddenly. "They are in love with the idea of being royal and believe that everything should be handed to them on a silver platter."