DISCLAIMER: I do not own Choices. This fun game belongs to Pixelberry! :)

Chapter One: The Coronation

By the time of his friend Prince Liam's royal coronation, Drake was in deeply love with Riley in that stupid, sappy way you see in romantic movies where the guy wanted nothing more than to swoop in and get down on one knee and propose, diamond ring and all… despite the fact that unlike most people, if his friend yelled, "Off with his head!" there were actual palace guards who could swoop in themselves and actually take said head.

And Drake needed his head.

More importantly, he was hesitant to put himself, Riley, or Liam in that position because Liam was his best friend. You didn't try to get together with your friend's girl. No way. That was Rule Number One in the bro code.

But did Riley even count as Liam's girl? Did Liam count as Riley's guy? The whole point of the competition was to decide who would the best wife for Liam and the best queen for Cordonia, which meant that until there was an official decision, Riley and Liam technically couldn't be considered "together," just like Liam wasn't technically "together" with any of the other women in the competition.

So there was still a chance, and Drake had to take that chance, and find out how Riley felt about him, before any official decision was made.

Except - maybe he shouldn't take the chance. Riley, while failing at first at those tests about social graces and formal etiquette due to her lack of training compared to the other women, had showed her true self in the competition.

But, putting his personal romantic feelings aside, out of all the women in the competition, Riley, with her creativity, compassion, and wisdom, had shown herself to be the best candidate to be the queen of the kingdom of Cordonia. Even at a distinct disadvantage, she took the responsibilities of rule seriously, studying Cordonian law late into the night and asking for help when she needed it, occasionally impressing even the king and queen with her dedication.

This competition wasn't just about Liam. It was about who would be the best queen for Cordonia. And Riley had the intelligence and compassion that showed that she would be the best co-ruler with Liam for their people. If Drake and Riley ended up together, she wouldn't be the queen.

Could Drake really do that to Cordonia?

He couldn't. He shouldn't.

But it wasn't all about him. Riley was equally important in this, and in the past months, with all the conversations they had and how they had slowly opened up to each other, Drake had reason to believe that maybe, just maybe, she felt the same way he did - that she was in love with him, too. If he didn't even at least try talk to her about this tonight, they might both walk away never knowing what could have been. Could he really do that to Riley?

And could Drake really do that to himself?

(End of Chapter One.) (Originally posted on T-01/05/17.) (F-17/06/18.)

Chapter One notes: (B01-C01.) This takes place during Book One, Chapter One. Drake is thinking all these things before he sees Riley for the first time at the royal coronation. I decided to take the bull by the horns and write the very first MC/Drake fanfic for the Choices fandom, haha! (At least, I think it's the first? Please correct me if I'm wrong, though!) Even though we know so little about him right now (since The Royal Romance has only three chapters at the moment), I think the MC/Drake pairing has potential because of the things he said during Prince Liam's coronation.

About my main Pixelberry fanfic: Hello! :) If you like Pixelberry's Hollywood U or Pixelberry's Red Carpet Diaries, then I encourage you to read my MC/Hunt fanfic "NYTMC 1: Not Your Typical Meet-Cute." It currently has 219,000 words (64 chapters), and it is written from Thomas Hunt's perspective :D

(Thanks for reading! :D Reviews make me smile! ^_^)