Chapter 3

I decided to call it an early night at around half ten – quite early for a weekend. Normally, I would treat myself and bury my nose into a book and wouldn't head to sleep until that book was finished but the mental exhaustion of crying earlier had got to me. When we got home, I shoved my phone on charge in the bedroom and went downstairs, helped get the house clean and dinner cooked as well as some cakes for the family meal tomorrow. We then decided, after the family lunch that we would all head to the cinema to watch a film that had just been released.

That night, we decided to watch the prequel to the film, and it was shortly after that I called it a night. I got changed into my pyjamas; a vest top and some cotton shorts and got into bed. Only then I decided to check my phone, scared to see more missed phone calls from Ireland. Instead, I saw a text message from an unknown number. I frowned, squinting at the bright screen which contrasted with the darkness. I opened the message.

'Hey, it's Theo. Sorry about earlier x'

I done another triple take on the message before I smiled slightly. I didn't think he would text me. He was the heir to the Throne. He was a prince. He was royalty. He had everything catered for him forever – not to mention he was the opposite of me. I continued to stare at the message, trying to phantom what to reply.

'Honestly, it's okay. It's a tiny bit of drink, it'll come out in the wash x' I replied, hesitating to put a kiss on the end. It seemed like a thing you'd do with close friends, not someone you met once. You wouldn't put it on the end of an office email. It took him barely any time to reply.

'Doesn't mean I won't feel bad about it x'

'It's fine, honestly. What do you want me to do with the hoodie? I can stick it in the post to… Buckingham Palace? X'

There was a good five minutes of silence in the message conversation and I thought I had blown it and then my phone vibrated.

'Keep the hoodie, but if you want to come visit me that's fine too x'

Was… was he flirting with me? I had never been in a relationship so I wasn't entirely sure if this classed as flirting or not. But then I had to take a step back. I was nothing in comparison to him. Why would a Prince, who had access to some of the most famous, attractive celebrities there is. He had access to other royals from other countries. Why would he settle for nothing?

'And how exactly would I go about that? X'

I tried my best at flirting but clearly, I wasn't doing too good at flirting. Never had come in useful before. I was like a toddler who didn't know how to ride a bike, whilst Theo was some kind of Olympic cyclist. I shook my head in embarrassment as the next message came through.

'What time do you finish work Monday? x' He asked and I raised my eyebrows.

'Half five – but you don't know where I work? Shouldn't that be your next question? X' I frowned.

'I'll meet you outside at half five then x' He said.

'You… you still don't know where I work x'

'Will it impress you if I can find out where you work and be outside for half five, Monday? X'

'Kinda, I guess, it won't be too hard though. You have time to do it, so I'll be less impressed x'

'Well, I'll guess I'll just have to prove myself to you half five on Monday outside Drill then x' He said and I put down my phone for a moment, quite impressed. How the hell did he do that? Did he even know my name? I rethought of the conversation and not once did I ever mention my name. How did he then find out? And then how did he find out where I work? I appreciate that my work is done under a fake name. Well, the name I have now was given to me when I was a toddler, after they knew I would survive when I was in hospital.

I didn't know about my toddlerhood. All I know was, at the age of two and a half, I was found half dead in a cardboard box in a delivery yard at a retail centre. The box was from a large sports retail store, put out for rubbish collection three days previous. When the rubbish delivery came, they realised a box still had something in it. The box was taped closed, so they knocked on the door of the shop and said they don't believe the box was for recycling. It was a few more hours from being taken inside one of the shop workers, a sixteen-year-old girl who had worked in a shop for only four days, until they opened the box. The girl cried and called the police – understandable. An ambulance was called as they thought I had died. They realised I was still breathing, somehow, after all that time.

They rushed me to hospital had to warm me up. It took a while – and by that I mean two weeks – and a bit longer until they woke me up. They gave me a name – Ellie Paisley. Then they tried to get me to talk. Like that was happening. Social services were called. I spent a good year in high intensity therapy trying to get me to talk. Once again – like that was happening. And then I got carted off into my first foster home. And they hated me. And then got moved to the second. And then third. And repeat until I ended up at Baile leanaí Crann darach where I learnt to speak through punishment.

When I got hired at Drill, Joel was assigned to me, my mentor. Most journalists will have a fake surname to keep their business work and their personal life separate. Joel sat me down and asked if I wanted my user tag to have a fake surname – and I knew it was the best way for Him not to be able to find me. So I agreed, and my user tag was Ellie Cole. Plain, simple, and 100% fake.

It was unlikely Theo managed to find me through work, then. I had to give it to him – that was impressive how he did that.

'Okay, fine, that was impressive. See you Monday, then. X'

I put my phone down and fell asleep happy, compared to the normal, nervous cold wreck I am at bedtime.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

The next day passed relatively quick - a mixture of texts from Theo, even though I was still confused why he was messaging me – and a lovely family meal. It got to half nine and Joel was driving to the train station to drop me off, ready to go home.

'You can stay tonight and we can go to work tomorrow together?' He asked and I shook my head. I didn't have any clothes anymore to wear in my bag and I needed a shower.

'It's fine… can I talk to you for a minute, though?' I asked as he pulled up. He frowned and looked at me.

'What's up?' He asked me gently.

'Um, you know when we want to Nando's and I went to the toilet for a while. You assumed I was crying?' I mumbled and he nodded. 'I wasn't. I was waiting to get a drink and this guy turned around and spilt some of his drink. I was still quite upset and he thought I was crying over the spill and he gave me his hoodie and asked for my number. But I realised – you won't believe this – that it was Prince Theo.' I mumbled and he frowned.

'You sure? Like… you recognised him?' He asked me.

'I spend forty hours a week writing about him, yes, I am sure,' I mumbled. He frowned.

'Then what? Did he text you?' Joel asked me and I nodded.

'Yeah, he's meeting me outside of work tomorrow.' I asked and he nodded.

'Right…' He simply said. 'I'm a bit sketchy about this, like, you 100% sure it was him?'

'I know it is. It was him. I dunno why he was in Nando's in that town though,' I said, taking a moment. Perhaps it wasn't him.

'I know Grace's brother lives around here somewhere, I have seen him around. He works in one of the hospitals around here, too. It's possible Grace and Luke was visiting them and Theo tagged along? They've mentioned they're all very close?' Joel said and I nodded.

'Possibly. I'll go, my train is due. Thank you for this weekend, Joel.' I said and he hugged me.

'Been a pleasure,' He said. 'I'll see your normal time for our coffee,' He mocked as I got out the car. I smiled as I walked to the platform. He waited until I had bought my ticket before he done a U-turn and drove off and I sat on the bench by the platform. Four minutes until my train arrived. I held my phone and it lit up. Theo.

'You heading home now, then? X'

'Yeah, trains due any minute now x'

'You should have said you were getting the train, I would have driven down and picked you up x' He text me and I frowned. We had only met yesterday – why would he offer to drive down and pick me up from Joel's house? Why exactly did he care? I had yet to work that out.

'It's fine, it's not too far from the station x'

'How far exactly is it? X'

'About a twenty-minute walk x'

'I'll pick you up from outside the station, then. Twickenham, yeah? X'

'No, honestly, it's fine! x' I protested, getting a bit iffy about meeting up with him again. What if it wasn't the Prince – that would be better, I guess. It would be a hell of a lot better, I wouldn't have to do much extra work and I could almost start to like him. He was extremely kind and nice to speak too; he wasn't too pushy but he kept up a constant stream of conversation. But what if I was correct and it was the Prince? I couldn't like the Prince! I couldn't get myself into that situation.

Theo didn't reply and I sighed. Perhaps I was thinking too much into this. The train stopped at the platform and I jumped on, my bag over my shoulder and the few things I couldn't manage to fold back in was in my hand in a drawstring bag. It took an hour to get to Twickenham station and by the time I arrived it was completely dark outside and it was freezing. I forgot my coat and just had a thin cardigan over my shoulder.

I got off the platform, tucking my phone into my pocket and left the station – sure enough, Theo wasn't outside. I wrapped my cardigan around me a bit tighter and made my way down the street.

'Ellie!' Someone called but I kept my head down. 'Ellie,' I went to turn around as Theo placed a hand on my shoulder and I jumped back.

It was the Prince. It was clear as day. He was in a long formal, expensive looking coat and had the hood up but I could see it was him. He frowned as I jumped back. 'You alright?' He asked softly.

'Yeah… yeah, I'm okay,' I whispered even though my heart was beating too fast.

'I said I'd pick you up at the station,' He said, frowning softly but he looked incredible. I knew he was the same age as me – we were born in the same year but he seemed way more mature than I did.

'I didn't think you would, I told you not too,' I mumbled and he came a bit closer, taking my gym bag from my hand. I looked up at him.

'I wanted too,' He said softly and sincerely, meeting my eyes. He smiled slightly, a dimple appearing in his cheek. 'It's dark and cold and raining, you need to get home safely,' He said, his arm going around my waist and he started walking.

'You really didn't need too,'

'Stop protesting,' He told me softly and I froze. That what He used to say to me when…. Yeah. But Theo said it very softly. Theo wasn't him, I had to keep reminding myself. I had to learn to trust people's innocent and caring gestures. It was dark and cold, and he was making sure I made the trip home safely. There was nothing more to think about, Nothing at all. He just wanted to make sure I was okay, and more importantly, I got home safe too.

'Fine,' I said and he smiled. 'But why? I'm not protesting anymore – I just want to know why.' I said and he frowned at me. 'That's a fair question, isn't it?'

'I want to make sure you get home okay,' He told me, repeating my thoughts. 'I care about you. I don't know why I met you just over twenty-four hours ago. But…. I care about you,' He said softly, very softly. I looked over at him and he looked down at me. He was extremely cute. His hair that was always quite fluffy bit but he had very bright blue eyes as he looked down at me. He was cute. 'That's a fair answer, isn't it?'

'Yeah,' I mumbled and he smiled gently.

'Then this is sorted. I am walking you home because I care.' Theo told me as he put his hand on my back as I stopped by a road suddenly. But even when crossing the road he didn't take his hand off my waist. 'I mean, my car is over there – we can drive?' He said and I stopped. 'Don't stop in the middle of the road, you muppet,' He said, gently pulling me out the road as I tripped up the curb and into his chest. He caught me. 'Careful,' He mumbled as he hugged me slightly. 'Come on, I'll drive you home. You look exhausted,'

'Thank you,' I said and he grinned.

'Come on,' He whispered as he held my waist and he gently showed me over to his car. It was on the other side of the station. We hadn't got too far from the station. I started shaking as it started to drizzle. Theo stopped and said something to me and I frowned having zoned out. He quickly shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around my shoulders, before he went back to holding my waist.

It took about three minutes to walk to his car; a very large black fancy shiny car that was high up off the ground. In the process, it pissed it down. I made it into the car as Theo held the passenger door open for me. I slid in and he made his way into the driver's seat, turning on the engine as he closed the door and putting the heating on.

'You sure you're okay, Ellie?' He asked me gently and nodded. 'Because you're being very quiet and non-responsive. Luke always says that's never a good sign.'

'It's just weird, Theo.' I said and he smiled.

'Why?' He asked, rubbing his hands together.

'By complete mistake, you bumped into me in a Nando's after a spill. Most people would have left it there, Theo, they would have apologised and moved on with their lives. A select few would have given their hoodies. No one would be doing what you're doing now. No one would just drive from… who knows where just to come and pick up someone.'

'I am a gentleman, I wouldn't allow you to walk home in the dark, Ellie.' He said.

'How did you find out my name? I never told you that.' I added and he smirked. 'You said you care, but why? Why me?'

'You really don't get it, do you?' He asked me softly as he looked at me for a second. What was he on about? 'If I say the word Savant to you, anything comes to mind?' I said and I shook my head. What was that on about? He smiled softly as he nodded, leaning behind my chair and grabbing a blanket, gently putting it on me.

'What does it mean?' I asked him and he shook his head.

'Not now, I'll explain it tomorrow.'

'No – now,' I said and he smiled.

'Tell me about your parents, your family,' He said and I took a juddering breath.

'I… I don't have one. I was found in a cardboard box when I was two and a bit. No one came forward to pick me up. Then they played pass-the-parcel with me from care home to foster homes in Northern Ireland until I was old enough to move out and go to university,' I said and he looked over at me in shock.

'Why would someone just give you up?' He asked me shocked and I shrugged.

'Dunno, shall we attempt to find my birth mother and find out?' I joked and he smiled sadly.

'Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up,'

'But you did – I wanna know why you did after mentioning this Savant thing,' I asked and he smiled gently.

'God, you don't miss a thing, do you?' He said. 'You cannot report this though, Ellie, I know you won't, but please. This is a massive family secret on massive proportions. I am trusting you a Hell of a lot here,' Theo said softly and I nodded. 'So, a Savant is a… type of person I guess you'd say. It's genetic, and it would allow someone to have some extra gifts, like access to a certain part of the brain that no one else, or hardly anyone else, can access. It allows everyone to have a certain gift, we call it. A little extra in life.' He explained. 'I believe you are one,' He said.

'Probably not,' I said, trying to let him down gently.

'I'm not done,' He mumbled and I nodded.

'My bad, do carry on,' I said.

'I believe you are one because of you, I dunno if this seems weird, but whenever I'm around you, I'm a completely different people? It's almost like you can filter emotions?' He said and he shook his head. 'It is weird, I know it is, but I'm not the only person who's noticed it. My sister in law to be, Grace, she's very sensitive to things like this. It's her job to notice slight changes in… I can't go too much into that but she's very good at what she does and the second she walked in, she noticed the room seemed so much happier.' Theo said and looked over at me and I just looked at him like he was high on drugs. 'You might not believe it, but has anyone been angry around you.'

'Yup.' I said, flinching about what happened in Ireland. 'It seems ropey, Theo.' I said and he nodded.

'Oh, oh I know.' He said. 'It does sound like ropey bullshit, I know it does. There is a way to prove it but I dunno if you'll be willing to try it,' He bit his lip as his hand found mine and I frowned. Right – why was he holding my hand?

'No, before that, what do you do?' I asked him. 'If everyone has this gift that you were born with, or whatever it was, then surely you'd have one like you claim? So, what can you do?' I said, thinking I caught him off guard. But he replied softly.

'Oh, I can see emotions. Like I know at the moment you're confused, really confused, but you're happy too. And cold. But you're also lowkey really sad, and I don't know why and I don't think you do either.' He said softly, resting his head against the headrest but looking at me. I looked down at my lap. 'That's why I think you are a Savant because you filter emotions. I can see your emotions changing when you're around people. Like in Nando's, the women you were with didn't like her food or something, I could tell she was disappointed. And then you almost absorbed that disappointment and suppressed it.' Theo said and I nodded.

'Okay – you said to test it? How?'

He looked at me. 'So, when you're conceived and you're a Savant, another child is conceived around the same time. It's called Soulfinders. It's like… soulmates but more intense and true, you're destined to be with each other and you make each other better and… yeah,' Theo said softly and I pulled a face. 'Ropey bullshit – I did say it sounded like ropey bullshit,' He joked. 'But everyone who is a Savant is telepathic. They can hear conversations in your head, we would be able to talk to each other telepathically. And if we were Soulfinders, then it would just be incredible and... I can see you're having a hard time believing this, so we will stop it here.'

'Ropey bullshit.' I said and he nodded.

'Humour me and just try – but when we get back to yours.' Theo said as he turned back and turned his car on, which happily purred. I started shaking, pulling the blanket around me before I frowned. The blanket itself was pink and fluffy with small cats on it.

'What a nice blanket for a Prince. Really brings out your status.' I mocked and he laughed, shaking his head as he looked at me with a certain look before he pulled away from the curb.

'It's my nieces, I keep it in the car for her.' Theo said softly.

'Lila?' I asked and he nodded.

'We went to the zoo yesterday, she fell asleep in the back. It's almost a comfort thing, the blanket to her. She gets quite nervous in the car so she has the same blanket. She doesn't release they're all different blanket of the same pattern.' Theo said, shaking his head. 'Easy to fool children,'

'Bless her,' I mumbled. 'How old is she now?' I asked, knowing full well she was three years and four months.

'Three and a bit,' Theo said. 'And their wedding is in a few weeks,' He added. 'But you probably know that doing what you do.' He sighed, looking forward and I flinched.

'Theo, I wouldn't if I had a choice.' I mumbled and he nodded.

'I know you wouldn't. I could tell you felt bad and guilty about it.' Theo said as he put his hand on my knee. 'I don't care about it, nor does Luke. Grace really doesn't care, she has a bet with her brother how many times they can find fake news articles about her.' Theo added, probably knowing I felt uncomfortable. 'A job is a job at the end of the day, Ellie.'

'I feel bad, though.' I said then immediately wondered why. If I cared, it meant I liked him enough to actually care and I had to take a second to think about it. I had to admit to myself that I had always a small crush on Theo – but so did the majority of the UK. He was kind, hilarious, and incredibly good looking and very photogenic. I looked at him as he focused on the road. He was biting his lip gently and a dimple appeared. His blonde hair was quite messy and was very fluffy like he had washed it in the last few hours. I smiled gently – yeah, an understandable crush. But it was more of a celebrity crush than actual feelings. It was a bit more… weird when he was in the car with you driving you home and you had no idea why.

'Don't.' He said ever so softly as he turned around a corner leading to my block of flats.

'Okay – how do you know where I live? And where I work?' I asked.

'Impressive, isn't it?' He said and I just continued to look at him until he gave me the answer. I just stared and he sighed. 'Grace.' He then added softly.

'What about her?' I shot back.

'She found out where you work and where you live for me – so not really that impressive on my behalf,'

'How did she find out?'

'She works in law enforcement, if you're on a watchlist she is legally allowed to track any data that is submitted. I realised I didn't ask your name – which was fine as you added yourself under your name to my phone. Well, you added yourself as Ellie. So she searched your number, requested subscriber details which gave a full name and a billing address. From that, she found where you work. Took her about fifteen minutes on her laptop in front of the television.' Theo said and I looked at him in shock. 'You're not on that watchlist anymore, she took you off when she found out where you live for me.'

'Bit extreme for a hoodie,' I joked and he grinned.

'You can keep that hoodie.' The car went silent for a good five minutes until he pulled up outside my block of flats. He looked out the window and I could see the disdain as he looked at what I called my home. 'This is the correct place, yeah?' he said softly.

'I know it's shit, thank you.' I said and he looked over and shook his head,

'I didn't mean it like that Ellie.' He mumbled.

'I know you didn't.' I said. 'Thanks for the lift.' I said as I unbuckled the seatbelt and pushed the blanket onto the floor with a sharp realisation as to what has happened. I couldn't do this. I couldn't just flirt with the future King of England. I wasn't ready for any kind of friendship with someone of that status. That kind of media and published my face in every single paper would put me at serious life-and-death risk from Him. I knew I wasn't acting rationally but fear took me. If He was at any risk of anyone finding out what was happening, it would be like handing me a death sentence. They all knew where I lived. They could kill me easily. I was small and of a slim build. I wasn't muscular and I didn't know self-defence. They could kill me in seconds, like child's play. I started to panic and shake as I tried to get out the car but got caught in the fabric. I kicked out against it.

'Ellie.' Theo said sharply, turning off the car and getting out as I got out the car, taking my bag. I wanted to escape before then but he grabbed my elbow – only gently – to try and get me to calm.

But I was in a panic; I didn't know it was him. I elbowed him in the ribs as he bent double. Oh, perhaps I did know a bit of self-defence.

'Oh my God, I am so sorry,' I said, covering my mouth with my hands as I backed away. I then pivoted on my heels and ran into my apartment block, up the stairs and with shaking hands I managed to unlock my bedsit and ran straight over to the window – which didn't overlook where Theo had parked.

I made my way over to the bed, a cheap tacky frame that had broken slats under and provided little to no support, and sat on the edge as it creaked. What had I done? Theo had done nothing to hurt me. Really, he did the opposite. He did all he could to try and help me. And all I did in return was elbow him.

What kind of monster had I become?