Will burst in through the front door of the Middleton's home. "Kate," He cried after the figure that was disappearing up the stairs, "Wait, please." He was begging now, emotions playing havoc with his head.
Kate just sobbed louder as the sound of her bedroom door banging shut echoed throughout the house.
Will stood motionless at the bottom of the stairs, Otto's lead trailing loosely from his hand. He couldn't lose Kate, he just couldn't. He needed her; last week has shown him that. He was never truly happy when he wasn't with her, and he wanted to be with her for the rest of her life. As he felt the familiar tingling in the back of his eyes, he noticed Mike standing at the doorway staring at him accusingly, hate for this man who had dare made his daughter cry visible in his eyes. William couldn't take it anymore; he turned back on himself and left the house.
Kate lay on her bed, sobbing into the pillow. Realisation struck her hard; she may have just lost the one person she had ever truly loved, and this time it would be her fault. But he couldn't expect her to wait forever, could he? Maybe he could, a little nagging voice in her head told her, you are Waity Katie after all. A fresh torrent of tears came again, shaking her body. What seemed like an age later, Kate was aware of a hand rubbing her back. She turned her head, and through her blurred vision managed to make out her mother sitting gingerly on the edge of the bed, looking worriedly at her grown up daughter. Kate buried her head back into her pillow, she felt like such a baby.
"Did he hurt you?" Carole asked quietly, whilst smoothing down a lock of her daughter's hair.
Kate just shook her head in reply, not trusting herself to speak as her sobs still shook her body. Carol stayed with her daughter, not wanting to leave her alone.
"That's good, because your father is down there waiting to murder him for you," Carol smiled at her eldest child, whom her husband would always be protective of. She stroked her daughter's check, before gently turning her head to face her, "Now don't do anything you might regret tomorrow. William's a good guy, I'm sure he wants the best for you."
Carole was looking Kate straight in the eye, and Kate felt her reading her emotions, her words more relevant then she could know. Carole bent down and gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead, before leaving the room.
'I'm sure he wants the best for you.' The words echoed in Kate's ears. He doesn't though; he just wants what's best for him. What looks best for him, what works best for him. I will always be second in his life. However, as Kate told herself this she knew deep down it wasn't all true, that wasn't the Will she knew. As she pulled herself up into a sitting position, the various photos on her bedside table caught her eye. Photos of her and Will, their arms round each other's waists, were scattered across the surface, a stark reminder of the love he had so often demonstrated for her. But the photo which struck her most of all was the photo Will had given her of him as a child. In the photo the small boy was grinning shyly into the camera, clinging onto the hand of his mother.
It hit Kate slowly, but with no less guilt or pain because of it. "I was doing this for you Kate." William's words came flooding back to her. She remembered the first time he'd talked about his mother to her, the promises he'd made to protect her and keep her safe, the times he'd come back angry and swearing because of something the media had said or done and the stress the royal duties he had to carry out had brought him. Kate thought of all the royal duties she'd have to attend if she married Will, the pressure which would be double that she faced now. Kate looked back at the photos of her and Will, perfectly happy in each other's arms. She couldn't believe she'd let something the media said affect her so much, after all the time's she'd promised herself she wouldn't.
She couldn't believe what she'd done.
Will drove furiously around West Berkshire, a mixture of anger and fear surging through his veins. His blue eyes were struggling to focus on the road, as his mind kept drifting back to the conversation he'd had with Kate and the unfair glare of her father, of someone he'd thought had trusted him. As Will had to slam on the brakes to narrowly avoid hitting a squirrel, he realised he probably wasn't safe on the road. He pulled over and stopped the car, glimpsing the security car do the same behind him. Will swore loudly, couldn't he ever be alone? It was like they were taunting him, this was one of the reasons he hadn't wanted to marry Kate. It was hell, couldn't she see that? Will banged his broad fist on the dashboard, an action which provoked a cry of pain to escape his lips.
As he lay back in the driver's seat, his eyes resting shut as he clutched his throbbing hand in the other, images of Kate flashed through his mind. These weren't the normal pictures of her laughing, radiance shining off her face, but of an exasperated woman plastered all over the tabloids. Will thought of all the suffering and attention she'd had to endure for him, just to be labelled as his ever waiting girlfriend. He thought of how long she must have been bottling this all in. Suddenly Will just wanted to be with her, tell her he understood, comfort her. He took the handbrake off, put his foot on the acceleration and turned back towards his girlfriend.
As Will drove up the drive, he was filled with apprehension. What if she didn't want to see him still? He slowly stepped out of the car and straightened up. Before he had time to so much as turn around, Kate's body was thrown against his as she ran into his arms.
"I'm sorry," Kate whispered into his chest, "I didn't mean any of it. You're worth waiting for Will."
Will looked down at the top of her head, his eyes full of love and adoration. He ran his hands through her knotted chestnut hair until they came to rest in the small of her back.
"I love you," Will replied simply, "With all my heart." He gently lifted her head up so she was looking at him, "And if you want to get married then we will, I'd do anything for you."
Kate lifted her index finger and placed it on her boyfriend's lips, "No Will, we'll wait until its right. Let's just pretend today never happened."
Will smiled down at her, dazzled by her brilliance. "Ok, but I will marry you someday, you know that? I've never wanted to spend my life with anyone else."
Kate brought her lips to meet his in reply.
Mike and Carol stood in the doorway, their arms round each other as they observed the look of pure happiness on their daughter's face.
"They make a beautiful couple, don't they?" Carole said, turning her head to look at her husband.
"So did we, once." Mike joked in reply, "But yes, they do."
Carole smiled at her husband, her own true love, "If our daughter's anything is lucky as me, then I'll be happy."
And as Carole looked at the two figures, locked in an embrace on her driveway, she knew that she was going to be incredibly happy.
