Jasper and Eleanor sat awkwardly together in the back of the car with Lizzie sat in between them. Eleanor was trying to ignore that he was there, but it was difficult. She wanted to kill Liam. It had been his idea to reassign Jasper as Lizzie's security detail. He knew full well what that meant- when would her family stop meddling in her love life?
"Only a few more minutes and we'll be there," James said, turning around to look at them.
"Where exactly is 'there'?" Eleanor asked.
"It's a surprise," Lizzie answered giddly, "I spend most weekends there."
Eleanor had a strong suspicion that she knew where they might be going, put played along anyway.
"So where in London did you grow up?" Jasper asked.
"Bethnal Green," Lizzie replied, earning a concerned look from Jasper and her sister.
"That's close to Shoreditch, isn't it Jasper?" Eleanor added.
"Yes, it is," Jasper answered flustered.
"Jasper grew up in Shoreditch," Eleanor said.
"Really?" Lizzie asked in confusion, "I thought he was from America. Jasper sounds American to me."
"Yeah, I've heard that," Jasper answered, "A lot."
James coughed, "We've arrived."
"It's a book shop," Jasper announced unenthusiastically.
Eleanor looked out of the window at the large building, it had six floors and was huge. Of course, she'd expected something like this, but not on this scale. This had to be heaven to Lizzie. Of course, Leni had never been much of a reader herself, it was a misconception that she was stupid because she dropped out of uni. She'd actually got good grades at school and college, she just felt her skills were somewhere outside of academia. She didn't know where exactly, for the longest time her greatest achievement was being able to down ten shots simulatenously without passing out.
"It's the largest book shop in Europe!" Lizzie announced merrily.
Jasper sighed, "Well let's go inside then. I'm sure this will be amazing."
Their chauffeur climbed out of the car and opened the door for them.
Lizzie looked stunned by the gesture. It was becoming clear to all of them that Lizzie's life had shared none of the wealth and grandeur that a royal princess would take for granted. In fact she'd grown up in one of the poorest parts of London. It made Eleanor want to storm back to the palace and yell at her mother for not making better plans for her sister.
Lizzie almost ran into the store, Jasper and Eleanor following behind her, awkwardly walking together.
"You look well, Princess," Jasper began.
"Thank you, Jasper," Leni replied, "You do too. So what do you think of your new assignment?"
Jasper sighed, "Officially, she's a nice kid. Unofficially, I'm going to need compassionate leave. She's already given me a list of book recommendations that I'm never going to get around to reading and asked me if we have any old Soviet coded documents that she could borrow for her crytography classes. Are all fifteen year olds this exhausting?"
Leni smiled, "I was a lot worse. Lizzie's odd, yes, but I'm odd too. Perfect sisters."
Jasper smiled, "Yeah, what was all that about earlier? The whole American thing."
Eleanor sighed, it hadn't been her smartest move, "Look Jasper. I know I told you to stay away. That I needed space. That you're bad for me, and I've let you use and hurt me because I'm screwed up. The thing is, I don't trust you, I want to but I can't trust anyone, not at the moment. But then everyone tells me that we'd be great together. And it's so confusing. I need to know the truth, and I need to know more before I can make any decision. Because I can't keep on getting hurt."
"I know," Jasper said,"I regret what I did. The lies, the attempt robbery, your Mum. I'm so sorry, Len."
"I know you are," Eleanor said, tears forming in her eyes, "But after what happened with Imogen. Her boyfriend could have killed her, and he would have killed me to. At the moment, I'm just not stable enough for guys. I've got shit to sort out. I don't want to end up with a guy who will just hurt me again and again."
"Len," Jasper answered, "It's different now. I'm not going to hurt you, ever."
"I wish I could believe you, Jasper," Eleanor answered, brushing away tears before catching up with her sister.
BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK
Eleanor watched as Lizzie darted merrily from one bookshelf to another, pointing out to her older sister all of the books she'd read (which must be around a thousand or so) and picking out a few that she wanted to buy. Eleanor was happy for her, she only wished that there was something that excited her as much. Now that she'd given up her wild ways she didn't have any proper hobbies. It had been a long time since Leni had done something fun that didn't involve booze, drugs or boys.
"Dear God," James said as he joined Leni, "How many books does a girl need?"
Eleanor shrugged, "It probably works on the same level as shoes. For some girls, they can't have enough shoes, for Lizzie, it's books."
James smiled, "Well as long as she's happy. Jasper looks bored shitless."
Eleanor grinned, looking over at her ex-boyguard who looked miserable. He held about ten books and was trying to look enthusiastic as Lizzie picked out more.
"I suppose we'll be going to that fancy restaurant for lunch," James answered, "At least I hope so. I'm starving and they do the nicest madeira cake in the West End."
"Actually," Leni began, "Lizzie has other plans. She wants us to spend the day seeing her London. So no fancy restaurants, no Knightsbridge or Belgravia, just books and...tesco's meal deal."
"Tesco's meal deal?" James asked, "Good grief. You would have thought she'd have been raised up on something better."
"Yes, you would," Eleanor answered, irritation clear in her voice, "But instead she was raised up in Bethnal Green."
"Your parents must have had their reasons," James suggested.
"You really believe that?" Eleanor asked doubtfully, "Seriously, James, don't give me the official response."
"Apologies, your highness," James answered, "I just thought that you might not like me calling your mother a jealous tosser."
Eleanor laughed, "Jealous tosser?"
"Well, yes," James continued, "Tosser- because she sent your sister to live in one of the roughest areas of London and jealous because, well, we all know that your mum is jealous of her daughters."
"Jealous? Of me?" Eleanor asked disbelievingly, "But I'm a mess. No one who knows me well would envy me. My life's a complete and utter mess. I'm nobody really, just a bitch with money and power, but I have no interests, nothing to be proud of. Why would anyone be jealous of a nobody?"
"Princess," James replied, taken aback by her outburst, "Remember what I said, about how the first steps are the hardest, and how if you know what the problem is, you can fix it? Well, you say you have no interests, nothing to be proud of. Why not try something new? There's books here on foreign languages, art, music, everything, why not get some inspiration?"
Eleanor smiled, "Yeah, I'll give that a go."
Leni walked towards her sister, "Find anything cool?"
Lizzie nodded exuberantly, "Yeah, loads of books! Thank you for letting me buy whatever I want."
"Thank mum," Eleanor said, "It's her money."
Jasper smiled, "Are we nearly finished here?"
Lizzie gave him a frustrated look, "We still have you-know-what to sort out, and I have no idea and I really need your help."
"It's a great idea, Princess," Jasper replied frustratedly, "But I'm not sure I can help you."
"Oh, ok," Lizzie answered giving him a dissappointed look, "Maybe James might be able to help. You could wait with Len?"
Jasper seemed more than happy with the idea but at that moment Leni wanted to explode. Her sister had to be doing this on purpose, and right now she wanted to be as far away from Jasper as possible.
James gave Eleanor a look of defeat, "Sorry, but I can't refuse orders."
"Not you too!" Leni yelled, "FML!"
Lizzie just smiled as she and James walked away to look at more books.
Jasper and Leni stood in awkward silence, not quite sure what to say to each other. Eleanor wished she had a bottle of vodka and something she could take. The day seemed to be stretching out painfully and it felt like this would never be over and she'd be stuck with Jasper forever. She felt sick and shaky and wanted nothing more than to go home.
"So what do you think of Lizzie?" Jasper asked.
"She's cool," Eleanor answered, "In a nerdy way. Which means she's never going to survive at the palace."
"She has you," Jasper replied, "You'll look after her."
"I know," Leni answered, "But-."
"But you're barely holding it together," Jasper said, "I can tell. You look like you're about to throw up, you're shaking and pale. I can always take you back to the palace, if you want."
"No," Leni said, as she felt a headache begin to start, "It's Lizzie's day, I should make the effort."
"She'd understand," Jasper replied, "No one's expecting you to be perfect, Len."
"Would you just shut up?" Eleanor snapped.
Jasper looked surprised, "Look, I know you're scared of being vulnerable around me, and I understand, I'd be scared too. But I'm telling you it's all in the past and you have to start trusting someone, Len, you need someone to help you through this."
"You're the last person I'd turn to for help," Eleanor answered, "God, my head-."
Jasper put an arm around her shoulders, "You're going to be ok, Len. Let's find James and Lizzie and we'll go back to the palace."
Eleanor shook her head, "I can't, I'll ruin everything."
"God, Len!" Jasper exploded, "I'm not letting you make yourself sick! Stop being so stubborn!"
Lizzie came racing over to her sister, "We've finished now- Len, you don't look well, maybe we should go back to the palace."
Leni shook her head, "I'll be fine in a few minutes. Just a headache."
James and Jasper shared a concerned look, as Leni buried her face in Jasper's jacket.
"She shouldn't be doing this cold turkey," Jasper said, "She hadn't gone a day drug free in how long?"
"Two years, I think," James replied quietly, "You're right, but I don't think the Princess is going to admit that she needs help."
"There's got to be something-," Jasper answered, "Anything. I hate seeing her like this."
"Let's go back to the car," James suggested.
BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK
Somewhere between leaving the bookshop and reaching the car, the dizziness had started with a vengence. Eleanor leaned on Jasper even more than she was already, letting him take more of her weight.
"We are going straight back to the palace, no arguments," Jasper said sternly as he helped her into the car, "And we're calling Dr Cohen."
James nodded, "Sorry Princess, but Jasper's right."
"I'll be fine in a few minutes, I swear," Eleanor protested.
"They're right, Len," Lizzie added, "It's ok. You need to rest."
Eleanor shook her head, "It's just a migraine it will be gone soon."
"Good," Jasper said, "But we're still going back to the palace, whether you like it or not."
BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK
Helena knew something was wrong the moment she saw the car arriving back at the palace. They were supposed to be gone all day- but it wasn't even one yet. She politely excused herself from the dreary conversation she'd been having with Cyrus and raced through the corridors to the palace entrance. She needed to know what had happened. She hoped her girls were ok, Leni had been looking sick for the past few days and Helena wasn't sure if the cold turkey approach was the best idea. But she knew Eleanor would be stubborn and refuse help, and the last thing she wanted was to make her even more upset.
Helena watched in shock as Jasper half-carried Eleanor up the short flight of stairs, James and Lizzie following close behind. She hadn't ever seen her daughter this ill.
"Your majesty," James said by way of greeting, "The Princess isn't well. We thought it best to bring her back to the palace and call Dr Cohen."
Helena nodded, "Yes, I'll call him immediately. Len, it's going to be ok."
Eleanor gave her a tired smile. Helena could tell that her daughter was about to pass out.
"Get her to her room quickly," she told them.
She watched, concerned and scared, as they walked away quickly.
She turned around to notice that Cyrus had seen everything and was grinning exuberantly, "She brought this on herself. This is what happens when you party too hard."
Helena slapped Cyrus hard across the face.
"You can't do that, I'm the King!" Cyrus protested.
"And you're talking about my daughter!" Helena answered, "Have some respect. You could never have her strength, Cyrus. You're weak and pathetic! And this, is all your fault, if you hadn't lied, told them they were illegitimate. None of this would have happened!"
"You really believe that?" Cyrus asked, "Eleanor's been a shit-show for years. Long before I started living at the palace. No, this one is all you, you neglected her and now you're both paying the price."
"That's not true!" Helena yelled defiantly.
"You know it's true,"Cyrus answered, "You always let your children down."
BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK
Lizzie watched worriedly as Eleanor slept. She was feverish now, but still shaking and she looked paler than ever.
"The Princess should have called me first," Dr Cohen said, "There's no way that someone could go from what she was taking in a day to absolutely nothing. No matter how stubborn they are, they always relapse. There are medicines that can help, and she should be seeing a therapist too."
"Leni? Seeing a therapist?" Jasper answered, "She'll never agree to that."
"I think you have too little faith, Dr Cohen," James added, "I've never met anyone so outright stubborn, she won't give in."
"Yes, but we all know how easy it is to get drugs in the palace," Dr Cohen argued, "This isn't a safe environment."
"I'll look after her," Lizzie suggested, "I'll keep her away from anyone who might be trouble."
"No," James replied, "That's my job."
The doors of the room swung open noisely as the Queen arrived.
This was the first time Lizzie had seen her mother and she didn't know what to do or say, so she tried to disappear into the corner of the room, and escape notice. It didn't work.
Helena looked at her daughters. How had she managed to fail so badly? Cyrus was right, maybe it was a little too late now. She looked over at Lizzie. How she wanted for her to be a princess and to enjoy her life here! But the young girl looked afraid, she was still wearing the cheap t-shirt and jeans she'd arrived in and clutched a well-read, and probably second-hand, book to her chest tightly. She looked so out of place here. She'd hoped that a day with his sister would help her settle in. Eleanor might not have thought of herself as warm and friendly or charismatic, but Helena saw all these qualities in her and knew that she would be the best person to introduce Lizzie to this crazy new world.
But now Eleanor looked so ill, and Helena felt guilty.
"She needs to rest," Dr Cohen announced, "No more trips out for the next few days. And she needs to eat more."
I know, Helena added silently, she'd heard it enough times from her doctor. She wondered how he hadn't realised that Eleanor was just naturally skinny, especially with Lizzie standing there for comparison. Helena knew the drugs had mostly taken away Eleanor's appetite, but she also knew that even after a week of all-you-can eat buffets she'd be no bigger.
"And I'll be arranging for a replacement drug and therapy sessions," Dr Cohen added, "If this is what the Princess wants then she needs all of us to support her."
"We will," Jasper said, "We definitely will."
BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK
Eleanor woke up to sound of someone swearing. An old style TV sat at the edge of the bed, and Jasper appeared to having great difficulty sorting out a DVD player.
She grinned, noticing that Lizzie was asleep already, curled up next to her, holding a well-loved teddy bear in her arms.
Leni had no idea what time it was. Her phone was dead and she couldn't be bothered to get up and charge it. She guessed it must be late. She felt exhausted and her limbs felt heavy and achy, but the fever had dropped and she just felt warm, and hungry. She'd forgot that she missed lunch.
Lizzie began to wake up, blinking a few times, before smiling as she noticed that Leni was awake too.
Jasper cussed as the TV still remained fuzzy and admitted defeat as he gave the remote to James.
The sisters watched as Liam walked into the room, holding a bowl of popcorn and a plate full of bacon. He grinned as he saw that both of his sisters were awake.
"Hey, Len!" Liam said as he sat next to his sister, "You remember our famous movie nights, when we were younger. Popcorn, chocolate, bacon, ice-cream. You, Robert and I, fighting over which movie to watch. Well I thought Lizzie would like that."
Leni grinned, "It's a great idea, Liam! I wish Robert could be here."
"Me too," Liam added, "But then there'd be less bacon for you."
Lizzie smiled, "I wish Robert could be here. He sounds like a great big brother."
"He was," Liam answered, "He'd know how to fix everything."
LIzzie smiled, before jumping up suddenly and racing over to the small coffee table.
Leni and Liam shared a puzzled look.
"I missed your birthdays," Lizzie said, "So I got a little something."
"The surprise!" Eleanor exclaimed, "You really didn't need to- thank you, sis."
"Sis?" Liam asked, earning an eyeroll from Leni, "Thank you, Lizzie."
Lizzie passed them their presents- one wrapped in blue for Liam, and another one wrapped in sparkly purple for Leni.
"She knows you too well," Liam said to Eleanor.
They unwrapped the presents. Both of them were books. Liam's was on USA travel destinations, because everyone knew he'd soon be going on a tour of the US and Canada. And Eleanor's-
"I loved the fashion show," Lizzie said, "The dresses were so pretty."
Eleanor smiled, as she looked through the book on fashion design. She'd loved planning the fashion show and sorting out the outfits and designers, but she hadn't made any clothes herself. Lizzie had misunderstood what fashion week involved, but Eleanor didn't mind. It would be fun and maybe it might be a hobby that she'd really enjoy.
"Thanks," Eleanor said.
"Dr Cohen said you have to rest for the next few days," James announced, "And he's got it in his head that you're going to see a therapist and decide not to go cold turkey."
Eleanor laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea, "That last part is absurd, I promised to give it all up, and that's what I'm doing. As for the first part, well, we have a fashion show to plan!"
Lizzie grinned and Liam rolled his eyes.
None of them noticed the figure standing by the door, holding it open slightly, watching them and smiling.