A/N: I don't own The Royals...though sometimes I wish I did. Read/Review/Enjoy!

Eleanor sat in her bedroom, looking at the stained walls where she had violently spray painted over everything. She had gone into a fit of rage when she did that and part of her deeply regretted it now. A lot of things she had done since her brother's death she regretted. And a lot of things she had done since her father's death too. But at least some of that would be put to rest now that their killer was brought to justice. Ted Pryce would pay for what he had done to her father and brother, which satisfied her.

Now the most pressing topic on her mind was Jasper. She had told him to leave once this was over because he had hurt her, but he had pushed the button for her to show the video of Ted, and she had held his hand at the stadium and he had been the one to get her through the crowd of paparazzi. In those moments, she realized that he was a man who had a single mission…to protect her at all costs. And she saw a different side of him that she had not seen before as he held her and got her through that crowd. He brought her back to the palace and had disappeared, but according to Mr. Hill had not left the palace grounds yet.

"James?" she called. Her bodyguard peeked his head inside the door as she stood up from her chaise and grabbed her phone.

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Can you tell me where Jas…Mr. Frost is, please?"

"He was packing the last I saw of him," he replied. "The Prince was arranging a car for him to leave the palace around seven tonight."

Tonight. He was leaving tonight and never coming back, just like she'd asked him to. But the thought of him walking out and never coming back sent panic rippling through her. Why would she feel like this after all he had done? He had lied to her, intended to steal from her, and used her. But at the same time, he had done nothing but be honest with her since coming clean about the con. He had been the one to bring Ted to justice and find the truth when no one else could. And he had been there to help her through some of her hardest days, even when she shut him out and pretended he wasn't there. He had followed her around the world to keep her safe when she had no security detail, which was something he didn't have to do. Jasper Frost might have been the most infuriating man she'd ever met in her life, but he cared. Even if he had a funny way of showing it sometimes, he cared about her.

"James, I need you to stay here…trust me," she said. "I'll be in the Palace, so no need to worry about me."

"If you need anything, call me," he instructed.

Eleanor nodded and took off down the hall. She knew what she had to do and her stomach was in knots thinking about it. Everyone always said that she was the confident one, but that was a façade that she put on to make people think she was confident even when she was scared as hell, like right now. She was terrified of opening her heart to someone after all the hurt she'd been through with Jasper, then Beck, and lastly Mandy or whatever the hell her name was. But her mother had said to choose love, even if it scared the living hell out of her. People moved out of her way as she came through the servant's corridors to reach her destination. She knocked three times and waited. When the door opened, Jasper stood there in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Your Highness," he greeted formally.

"You always call me Princess…" she said, sounding disappointed. She had grown used to his mocking tone, which she knew now was playful.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"No…" she answered, looking up at him. Nothing was alright because he was leaving and she couldn't spit that out right here and now because she feared what he might say or if he would reject her.

He opened the door for her to come in and she stepped inside his small, but clean room. She turned around and looked at him.

"Jasper I…" she paused, looking at her hands, suddenly afraid to say the words she had come to say. Opening herself up again seemed impossible given all the heartache she'd had, but when she looked at him again, it was like it clicked. "I want you to stay. I don't want you to leave."

Forgiveness was a difficult thing to come by for Eleanor, especially given that she had been hurt so much before. Jasper had lied to her, blackmailed her, slept with her mother, and was going to con her before he came clean. But since then, he had been doing everything he could to prove to her how he was sorry and that he did care about her. And even though she wanted to ignore it, she'd noticed.

"I don't want to go…but I have hurt you and you don't deserve that hurt anymore," he said, looking at her.

"You also healed part of me and gave me peace about my father's death," she replied, looking at him with tears. "You made mistakes and did things that were awful, but so have I."

"You haven't done anything wrong…not to me the way I have to you," he said.

"I forgive you." Her words surprised even her as she had never said them to Jasper before about anything he had done. But she had seen the changes and knew that he was trying to do right by her. "Please don't leave me."

Everyone left her. Her father and brother were taken from her before she was ready to ever say goodbye to them. Beck had tried to change who she was before she was ready and then let her walk out into the chaos of the paparazzi alone, moving on with his life without her. But Jasper…he met her where she was and saw her for the broken and damaged girl she was, giving her reason to go on by just accepting her as she came to him.

"I won't leave…so long as you want me to stay," he said, looking at her. His steel expression had softened tremendously as she was completely vulnerable to him.

She nodded and moved to close the space between them and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. His heartbeat was soothing as he wrapped his arms around her and brushed one hand through her hair, holding her close to him. Eleanor had no idea what this would mean for them or what the future would hold, but she knew that at least he wasn't leaving. And if that was the only answer she had tonight, then she was okay with that.