Jasper:
It felt like an eternity standing on the balcony for Robert's coronation. He felt more unease as he noticed Eleanor glancing at Sebastian. Sebastian Idrisi. He wanted to hate the Moroccan prince. He had asked for Harper to find some dirt on Sebastian. Alas, his slate was clean. He had to admit that he was glad that Eleanor had a friend while he was away. He would prefer someone like Sara Alice to be that friend though. Sebastian made her smile. He used to be the one that made her smile. Until he screwed all that up that is.
He thought back to what had transpired in her bedroom earlier in the day. Rosie had told him that the Princess wanted to see him and now he knows that it was just a tactic for him to see the Princess. He didn't know why Rosie would want to help him. They weren't exactly best friends. Hell, she'll probably jump at the chance to shoot him. She almost did.
When he entered Eleanor's bedroom, he saw his gift on the table. Sara Alice must have somehow gotten it to her. One glance at the Princess and he knew she had her walls up. She was angry and rightfully so. She had mentioned a letter that had her admitting her love for him. He never received it. He made a mental note to investigate further. He knew there was no use going back and revisiting the day he broke her heart. He was a bastard for what he said to her, on Christmas, nonetheless. So, he did what he did best; he took a gamble. He went all in and told Eleanor that he loved her. Love. Will always love her. She's his first love and he intends for her to be his last. She did not reply after he professed his love. She was still hurt and angry. He understood. So, he was going to give her the space that she needed.
He snapped back to the present as Robert was being crowned as the new King. A crown he didn't deserve. Again, Jasper drifted back to his thoughts. He had found out from Boone that Robert was behind King Simon's murder. He did some investigation of his own and found that Robert did have a hand with pushing Ted Pryce over the edge thus setting forth a chain of events the ended up with a dead king. Robert had sent several reminders to Ted that had it not been for King Simon, his wife would still be alive. In his investigation, Jasper was able to find videos, newspaper clippings, and notes about Mrs. Pryce's death. Jasper was able to trace all those items back to Robert. He didn't want to believe it. It was Liam's and Eleanor's brother. He had extended his vacation for several weeks to look into this. He wanted to make absolutely sure before he told anybody about it. He tried to tell Liam upon his return to the palace. Liam wanted to hear nothing of it so Jasper figured it was best to brush it under the rug. As long as Robert did not bring any harm to Eleanor and Liam, he would die with the secret.
After a series of events, he became Robert's security detail. He only took the job to keep an eye on the soon to be King. He wanted to let Liam know personally that he was now Robert's security detail. He knew it would hurt the Prince but he had no other choice. In order to remain in the palace to protect Eleanor, he had to work for Robert.
He went and met Liam in the tunnels and surprisingly, Liam had demanded to know what it was that Robert was hiding. Liam was more than a friend to him. He had trusted and believed in him when no one did. Jasper did not consider himself as a man of honor as he has had his fair share of shady dealings. However, King Simon deserved justice. He also knew that his friend was going through hell and was about to hit rock bottom. Liam deserved to know what happened to his father. So, he decided to tell the truth to Liam. They made a pact that Jasper will infiltrate from within and Liam will work from outside the palace to uncover the truth. He could tell that the Prince was livid with the information. Maybe it was a good thing that Liam wasn't going to be at the coronation.
Jasper shook his head so he could snap out of his thoughts again of the day's earlier events. He should be paying attention to what was going on at the coronation. As he looked scanned the crowd, he caught a glimpse of Liam out of his peripheral view. What the hell was Liam doing at the coronation? He thought that he was going to be long gone now. He attention was immediately focused on the outline of the gun under Liam's shirt. He reacted quickly and pushed Eleanor and King Robert back inside the palace. Soon, everyone panicked and followed them into the palace.
"Jasper, what in the bloody hell do you think you are doing!", Robert roared. Jasper quickly assessed the room and looked for any sign of Liam.
"Your Majesty, we need to get you to the safe room. Now!", Jasper yelled.
He grabbed Eleanor by the arm. "You too, Princess," Jasper said without making eye contact with her.
"You have lost your goddamn mind Frost!" yelled James Hill.
"Sir, I saw someone with a gun," Jasper replied to James. Gasps were heard around the room.
"Who was it," demanded Robert? He wasn't about to out Liam so Jasper responded, "I couldn't make out who it was your Majesty." Once he had the royal family minus Liam and Cyrus in the safe room, he went over to the computers to look at the security feed before James can get to it. Hopefully, if it caught Liam on camera, he could delete it before anyone say. What the hell was the Prince thinking? They had an agreement that they would plan this out.
"Liam, what the hell is wrong with you?" He heard the King ask in the background. Oh no, Liam was already in the safe room. He rushed out of the security room and saw Liam reaching for the gun. He saw that Rosie was about to draw hers and he knew damn well that she had the safety off this time. Jasper acted on pure instinct and went and tackled Liam.
"Jasper! You fucking let me go right now! That is an order!" Liam cried out.
"Calm down Liam. Goddammit, you idiot calm down!" he whispered to Liam.
"Put him down, Jasper," Robert said coolly. He heard a chorus of Nos and cries from both Helena and Eleanor. In the meanwhile, he was still trying to take control of the situation. He had training for this but emotions and adrenaline will give you strength that you can't even image. He noticed that James and Rosie had their guns drawn and pointed at the Prince.
"There's no need for that. He's just had a shitty day," Jasper gritted from the ground.
"I told you to shoot him, Jasper. That is an order from your King. You will have immunity if that is what you are worried about," Robert ordered. Jasper was still entangled with Liam and heard him cry out. He had another surge of anger and they struggled some more. He was trying to block out Eleanor's cries to Robert and all the other commotion going on in the room. Then a shot rang out. Both Liam and Jasper stopped struggling. The room was silent. Jasper looked at Liam apologetically. He considered him a friend. A brother even. They parted and he looked around the room. Shock, sadness, anger a range of emotions.
"Shit, Jasper," Liam croaked. He dropped the gun and was instantly by his side. Eleanor was also at his side in an instant. He looked down at his shirt and saw that the blood was starting to seep through his white shirt. He slowly sat down. Waiting for his brain to catch up with his body. He's been shot. He could hear Eleanor crying out his name. Liam kept apologizing. James was calling the medic.
"I'm ok. It's ok. It's not that bad," Jasper said. He said it to reassure Eleanor more than anyone else. The wound wasn't near his heart so as long as he didn't bleed out, he should be fine.
Robert walked over to the gun and picked it up. "You were going to try and kill me brother?" Robert asked? "And you disobeyed a direct order Jasper," Robert added shaking his head.
"Fuck you," Liam responded. "No, fuck you," Robert responded as he pointed the gun at Liam. It was a trained response for Jasper from working as a security detail for so long. He jumped in front of Liam and this time he definitely felt the bullet. This time, he wasn't going to be able to get up. Jasper fell to the ground as James and Rosie subdued the King.
Eleanor' face was the first that he saw. "Hey baby, have I told you how much I love you?" Jasper gasped you. Eleanor nodded. Tears were falling down her beautiful face. He wished they had more time together. He wished he had done things differently. Trust a little more. Maybe they wouldn't be in this predicament.
"I do, you know, so much, love you. I didn't think I was capable of loving someone. I love you though Princess. No matter what." Jasper continued to gasp for air. He was having trouble talking, let alone breathing.
"Stop talking Jasper, you can tell me later ok?" Eleanor cried. Jasper shook his head. There may not be a later for him.
"Promise me something Princess. Promise me that you will be happy. You'll find your happily ever after. I was hoping it would be with me but even if its not. I want you to be happy. I want you to love and be loved. Promise me Len," Jasper whispered.
He was starting to cry now. He's starting to realize that this may be the last time he gets to see her beautiful face. Everything was starting to dim out. Eleanor's face was starting to fade. He heard James yell that the medic team was here.
"Jasper, stay with me. I love you. You told me we're going to find that happy ever after together. You promised. Don' break my heart again. Please. I love you." With that, she kissed him. He knew in that instance that he was dead. The feeling of her lips on his was pure heaven.
Eleanor
Beep beep beep. That was all Eleanor heard for the last four days. Jasper still hadn't come to. He was wheeled into the hospital pale as a sheet from blood loss. She hadn't left his side since he came out of surgery. It was bad. The bullet from Liam hit his abdomen. The bullet from Robbie hit him in a chest and had done damage his lung. They had to remove the left lung. He also needed a blood transfusion. The complication was that his blood type was the rarest blood type: Rh-Null. Then began the chaotic search for Jasper's blood donor. It was non other than the other Mr. Frost. She admit that she was a bit surprised that Jasper's father sounded worried about his son. She expected a monster.. They sent a private plane for him and as soon as he arrived they started the transfusion. Eleanor was waiting for what Alfie Frost was going to demand in return for saving Jasper's life. At this point, she was willing to give him whatever he wanted. In all this, she realized how deep her love for Jasper was. She knew that she was in love with him and was her greatest love. When he went down the second time after Robbie shot him, her world stop. She felt her life leave her body and she wasn't even the one dying. She wanted to be with him in the happy times and the painful times. She quickly wiped her tears when she heard the door open.
"I am not leaving him," she said sternly.
"Princess Eleanor, may I have a minute with you. " She turned around and saw it was Jasper's dad. This was the moment that he was going to ask her for payment. She was ready for it. She turned to look at him, eye to eye. He was a handsome man. She now knew where Jasper got his looks from. He looked much harder than Jasper though. Where Jasper was a mixture of hardness and softness, every inch of this man showed hardness. May it was from living the life he did.
"Look, I know you think I'm the devil incarnate and you're almost right," Alfie smiled. "I'm a lot of things Princess Eleanor, but I do love my son. There's only one thing that I love more than him and that's my wife. I would sacrifice my son in a heartbeat if it meant saving my wife."
Eleanor turned and looked for the service button. Is he going to try and kill Jasper too? Even after he just saved him?
"Please wait. Let me explain. My wife is the love of my life. She is the most important person to me. Yes, above me son. When we had Jasper, he took a little of her love away from me. I was no longer her whole world. We had this kid that demanded our love an attention. As soon as he becomes and adult, he will find someone to be his whole world. As you can see now, Jasper has found the love of his life. I mean you, Princess. My wife and I will never be the most important person in his life. You are. I am also sure that my son will sacrifice me if it meant saving you. Don't look at me like that. You need to walk a day in my shoes before you judge me. Love is a very powerful thing. You see, my wife, Jasper's mother, fell ill a few years ago. Cancer that is progressing rapidly. I never told Jasper because I was selfish. I wanted whatever time I had with my wife to be just us. A few weeks ago, your brother, the new King, called and told me that there was a possible cure or at least give her a few more years. The only condition that he had was that I provide a reporter every detail of Jasper's past. Trust me, honey, his past is not pretty but I'm sure you know all that already. I was a desperate man who just wanted a few more years with his wife. Am I wrong? I don't think so. I would do it again if I had to. Even after the call I got from my son on Christmas, disowning me for making him lose the love of his life." Alfie turned and looked longingly at Jasper after he was done with his speech.
Eleanor was in a head spin. There was just too much to digest. Robbie had called Jasper's dad asking him to spill on Jasper's past? Jasper's mum had cancer and he doesn't even know? Jasper disowned his father? She also remembered that this was a con man that she was talking to you.
"How do I know that you're not lying to me?" Eleanor asked?
Alfie chuckled and took his phone out. "I knew my words were going to be shit if it was to go against the Great King of England so I recorded it."
He started the recording and just as Alfie said, it was Robbie's voice. She couldn't believe it How devious her brother could be. Everything was started to make sense now. Sebastian at the met gala. Jasper never getting her letter. Jasper's father coming back in their lives. It was all Robbie's doing. Maybe Liam was right. She sent a quick text to Liam saying that she needed to see him.
"Thank you, for saving his life," Eleanor said quietly.
Alfie shook his head, "Trust me, I'm not the good guy here. My wife said she would never forgive me if I didn't try and save him. I admit, I hesitated when you called me. I was weighing my options. What if something went wrong with the transfusion and I died. Who would take a care of my wife. Who would love her." Alfie laughed and shook his head again.
"Well, I'm off now to go back home," Alfie said turning towards the door.
"You're not going to stay until he wakes?" Eleanor asked. "Shouldn't you tell him about his mum? He has a right to know. He should also know that you were the one who saved his life."
"It doesn't change anything, Princess. I will also be the nightmare that haunts him. I was not a good father to him. I would like to ask that you not tell him what we talked about."
"No, no more lies. Jasper and I have had more than enough lies in this relationship. I refuse to lie to him," Eleanor stated.
Alfie gave her the Frost smirk and walked out the door. She went back to Jasper's bedside. She grabbed his hand and gave it a kiss. "Come back to me Jasper Frost. Let's go find our happily ever after," she whispered. She started to cry again until she felt a pair of warm arms pull her back. It was her twin. The twin that she had refused to believe and side with. She threw herself at Liam.
"Shhhh. It's going to be ok Len," Liam whispered. He pulled back so that he could make eye contact with her. "I'm so sorry Len, it was my fault. If I hadn't lost control of my emotions, this would have never happened."
Eleanor stepped back and shook her head in disagreement. "The only person to blame is Robert Henstridge."
"What the hell is going on Liam?! Our own brother tried to sabotage us? Why?! Why would Rob….."
"Len…Len…." Eleanor froze. Wanting to make sure she wasn't hearing things. "Len…" She went quickly to Jasper's side and gently held his hand.
"I'm here Jasper." She kissed his forehead. His eyes were still closed but he was calling out for her. "I'm here Jasper. Please baby, open your eyes," she cried.
Slowly but surely, his eyes began to open. She had never been happier to see those arctic blue eyes looking at her. She kissed him lightly on the lips with tears and all. He just smiled at her.
"Hey," he said to her.
She laughed and cried at the same time. Typical Jasper Frost. He had almost died on her and the first thing he says to her is , Hey.
She didn't know what to say to him so she said what she had always wanted to say and what she had always known, "I love you too, bodyguard."