A/N: This is an extra long chapter to thank you all for being so patient.
A million and more thanks to WinterFairy7337 and Anne for their beta help. Happy college life, Winter!
I do not own Austin & Ally.
"Good afternoon, madam. Is Trish here?"
Trish could have sworn that that was Dez's voice. But…it couldn't be, could it?
She peeked over the stair banister and caught a flash of auburn hair. Yeah, apparently it could. The audacity of him! Huh. She had no idea where that came from.
"Trish!" her mom called out for her. "Your classmate's here!"
Trish groaned internally as she dragged herself down the stairs.
"What do you want?" she said bluntly upon arrival at the front door, Dez, standing just outside the doorframe, was looking warily at her mother.
Mrs De La Rosa tutted at her daughter, "Manners, Trish." Said daughter rolled her eyes, but she bit back a snarky reply, knowing it would just get her in trouble.
Dez suddenly cleared his throat to get their attention and smiled cheerily at Trish. "Can we take a short walk and talk, Trish?"
"No," she answered immediately, and firmly too.
"Of course she can, go on Trish, just be back in time for dinner!" Mrs De La Rosa prodded Trish out the door before shutting it, much to her daughter's consternation.
She scowled first at the front door, and then she turned and scowled at Dez. The redhead was smiling sheepishly at her.
Throwing her head back and sighing in defeat, Trish began strolling—more like stomping—down the walkway with Dez close behind her.
"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked when they reached the sidewalk.
"I think that perhaps if you heard from both Austin and I, it would be easier for you to accept what we would like to tell you."
Trish shot a look of both suspicion and confusion at the tall boy, loping aside her. He was looking at her with that strange longing expression again!
"Whatever," she grumbled shortly.
A few odd minutes later, on their way to Mike's house, the duo spotted Austin and Ally standing outside a supermarket. As they approached their respective friends, they could see that they were having some sort of argument, Neither Austin or Ally noticed their presence.
"I'm Prince Austin hailing from the kingdom of Neilaz and you're my princess!"
Well, now that was something Trish wasn't expecting to hear.
Some conversations should come with warning labels. Preferably before one joined them.
"I'm Prince Austin hailing from the kingdom of Neilaz and you're my princess!"
Conversations such as this one.
'Dude's a total lunatic! Trish had been right about them from the beginning!' thought Ally.
"What?"
"I-uh," Austin was unsure how to explain himself.
He decided to go with the truth.
Austin watched as Ally chewed on her bottom lip. He watched as her chewing drew a small spot of blood from her bottom lip as she absorbed what Austin just told her.
He has just explained his whole story, about their past, their engagement, Dez, Trish, Cassidy, Dallas, everything.
And now he nervously stood in front of the one girl he would give up everything for, praying with all his might that she believed him.
But the look on her face as she seemed to reach a conclusion did not give him the hope that he so desperately wanted.
She shook her head to clear it, refusing to believe in the ludicrous fiction that she had just heard.
"Ally, please," pleaded Austin.
Ally shot him a look of apologetic farewell as she turned to leave.
"You're kidding me, right?" a voice piped up from behind them.
Austin and Ally turned around to find Dez and Trish standing there, the latter wearing an expression that was a cross between anger and confusion. Had she heard the whole thing too? Well, her reaction did not seem positive either, Austin concluded.
Dez tossed a stone into the pond at the mall and watched the ripples it caused, as he barely made the effort to skip stones. It had been three days since the 'confrontation'.
Three days of the girls completely ignoring the princes. Three days of the girls avoiding them. Three days of the children comforting the boys. Three days of having to explain to the children's nanny why two almost grown men were staying in the grand home of a minor.
Dez sighed, and almost at once, there was another echo of another sigh. He looked around fearfully. He tried sighing again, and this time a honk sounded.
"Oh, Pickles…" a whisper carried out to him.
Dez shrieked in fright.
"What on earth? Dez?"
Dez stopped mid-scream, the expression on his face priceless as he came face to face with Ally.
"Ally, don't you ever do that again! You scared the heck out of me!" exclaimed the boy as he took breaths to calm himself down. "Well, good evening to you anyway," he continued nonchalantly.
Ally gaped in confusion for a moment, unsure of how to react, before turning back to return to wherever she came from.
"Honk!"
"EEEEYYAAAAHHH!" Ally jumped from the scream that emanated from Dez.
"What are you screaming about?!"
"Did you hear that? That devilish honking sound?"
"You mean Pickles?"
"No, I am pretty sure that pickles do not make sounds. Unless you count the crunching they make when you eat them!" blustered Dez.
Ally arched a brow in disbelief and mild amusement at this strange guy. "Honk!" Dez gasped again as Ally rolled her eyes and bent down, picking up a goose from behind her.
"Dez, meet Pickles."
"Oh. Cool!" Dez beamed at the goose. Ally shook her head in light amusement and smiled for just a brief moment. But when Dez glanced back at her, the smile was gone from her face and replaced by a stony expression.
"Well, goodbye then," she spoke quietly, turning to leave.
"Wait!" he cried out. Ally paused in her steps. "Could we talk?" Dez asked desperately.
"Hello and welcome to Smoothie-licious, where all our smoothies, are delici—oh, it's you."
Austin looked in surprise at Trish's presence in the shop before smirking teasingly. "I had no idea that you were working here. Is that your establishment's motto?"
Trish shrugged. "I wasn't the one who invented it. Now order up or get out."
"Alright, I will have the Banana Cruiser."
"We're out of bananas."
"Uh, the Orange Twister then."
"The oranges have been recently reported to have a higher than safe glycemic index."
Austin furrowed his brows at the innocent smile that the Latina was giving him.
"Pineapple Bliss."
"Known to have caused bad acid refluxes in our customers."
"Apple Supreme."
"The apples are all the way in the back storeroom and I really don't want to walk the distance."
"What do you have?"
"Sorry, you're outta luck. There's nothing for you here. Goodbye."
Before an irritated Austin could even think of a response, another customer walked into the shop. "Miss, I'll have a Banana Cruiser," requested the customer, a bright-eyed girl in her early teens.
Trish gave the girl what actually seemed to be a friendly smile. "Coming right up!" she said, her tone becoming unusually perky.
Austin frowned in indignation at Trish.
"What?" she asked him once the customer left, happily sipping her banana smoothie .
"Why are you treating me like this?"
"You really have to ask?"
"Well, yes! All I want is a Banana Cruiser!" he pouted.
Trish stared at him in disbelief. "Well, you're not getting one. Now leave me alone."
"No."
"No?"
"You heard me. No. Now serve me a banana smoothie."
Trish scowled at him and shot him a glare. "Read my lips. You're not getting one. Goodbye."
Austin gasped in offence and grabbed the entire case of straws off the counter. "Well, your customers will not be drinking anything either."
Trish raised her chin and gaped, not actually believing that anybody was capable of acting this ridiculous. "Are we really going to do this?"
"Are you issuing me a challenge?"
"I'm not issuing you anything."
"How about a food fight?" Austin asked in all seriousness.
Trish suddenly looked as if she had a migraine, and rubbed her temples as she sighed heavily.
"I don't want to deal with this nonsense. I quit."
Austin watched the girl dump her apron on the counter and stomp off in a huff. He glanced down at the case of straws in his hands before quickly placing them back on the counter and chasing after Trish.
"I still wish on the stars as they fall from above…"
"I thought you said you wanted to talk, why are you singing?" Ally interrupted Dez with a deadpan expression. She worried for the mental health of that boy sometimes. And she had only met him less than a month ago!
"Well, I thought we could break the ice with some Disney songs!" He and Austin had earlier watched some Disney shows, courtesy of Donna's epically large collection. He absolutely loved those little love stories. He could've sworn Austin cried when the firefly died in 'The Princess and the Frog' but the blond had denied it vehemently, claiming that there had been something in his eye. Well duh, Dez knew that, that something was tears.
"It's not so much breaking the ice as breaking my patience," Ally replied testily, breaking Dez out of his thoughts.
"Give Austin a chance."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"You heard me." Dez only smiled at her patiently.
Ally was silent for a moment, staring at the redhead who seemed so carefree yet strangely serious at the same time.
"You realise that what you guys were…are implying is totally crazy and out of this world right?"
"And you were talking to your duck—" "Goose." "—goose over there because you were totally convinced that we were insane?"
"I was talking to Pickles because…" Ally began indignantly but then trailed off realising that she had no idea why she had been so troubled. "I-I was trying to figure out how to get Dallas to talk to me again." Yeah. That's why.
"Dallas is evil..." Dez seemed a little unsure of that statement.
"No, he's not. I've known him my entire high school life and he's always been the same." Although she had to wonder why, of all the words that he could have used to describe Dallas with, 'evil' was what he chose.
Dez frowned. "Do you remember your whole life here?"
"Well," Ally said in a duh voice. "Of course I do. I remember my nursery days, elementary, middle and high school!"
"Who are your parents?"
"Lester and Penny Dawson. What's with the interrogation?" Ally furrowed her brows, annoyed at the boy for probing and even more annoyed at herself for actually answering him.
Dez pursed his lips in confusion. "But—" Dez looked at Ally who had spoken, seeming hesitant as she nervously twirled her hair.
"I've never seen my parents before…"
"Trish!"
The brunette spun around crossly to face Austin.
"For a—pant—small girl like you—pant—you sure walk fast."
"What do you want?"
"I want—pant—you to give—pant—Dez a chance."
"You guys are ridiculous." Trish declared after a beat and walked off, leaving a despondent Austin looking glumly down on the gravel behind her.
Then the sound of Trish's footsteps halted. "You're gonna give up just like that?" Austin looked up, surprised. He then beamed and skipped up to Trish. "Does that mean you're willing to listen?"
"You've got five minutes to plead your case, boy."
"So!" beamed Dez, clapping his hands together. "We are all gathered here today to—"
"This isn't a wedding solemnisation, get on with it. Wasn't easy for Blondie to convince me here," interrupted Trish with obvious annoyance.
"Actually, it was easier than I thought it would be."
Trish scowled at the prince and raised her hand with every intention to smack his shoulder, when he ducked behind his ginger friend who was still beaming at her.
"You guys did say that you wanted another chance to explain yourselves," added Ally.
The guys looked at each other and nodded, each splitting up, bringing their respective 'fiancées' with them.
"Some days I realise that I am, at best, only cleverly disguised as a responsible adult," began Austin.
Dez turned to Trish with a small smile. "Your heart and my heart are very, very old friends."
"You and I were meant to be." A snippet of Austin's conversation was overheard.
"I believe in destiny."
"I believe in love."
"I believe in love."
"Please try to remember!" both boys pleaded desperately with the girls.
Ally and Trish looked back at the boys, their foreheads creased in concern and brows furrowed in confusion.
What were they supposed to remember?
The boys looked hopefully at the girls while they glanced at each other.
"Sorry?" Ally gave them an apologetic smile while Trish shrugged.
The boys' shoulders drooped in disappointment.
Ally felt torn between her known version of reality and her suddenly very instinctual gut feeling about the boys when a sudden flash of images jarred her thoughts and she clutched her head in pain.
"Ally?!" cried out Austin.
Voices started crowding into Ally's head as she fell to her knees; Austin rushed over to the girl and held her close as she whimpered while Dez and Trish looked on concernedly.
"Momma, you know I will be fine. Please tell Papa that I will be safe there." Ally pleaded with her mother as she begged to venture out beyond their lands to the kingdom of Neilaz for their arts festival. It was after all, renowned worldwide. "I will even bring some guards with me. I am not going to be all alone."
Queen Penny gave her husband a look to which he reluctantly sighed and nodded his consent. "Thank you Papa!" The excited girl hugged her parents and ran off to pack for her voyage.
"Prince—Miss!" one of her guards called out as she weaved animatedly through the crowd, her dark brown waves bouncing on her shoulders. The Mid-Autumn Festival was in full swing in the village on this crisp October day, and currently, everyone was peeking at every single stall.
Coming across a rather quiet stall, the young princess noticed that it was a paintball game booth but there were hardly any customers around. They were all attracted to another booth further down from which emanated cheery music.
She noticed a solitary old piano next to the booth owner, who was staring blankly into space.
"May I?" She asked the owner and gestured to the piano with a tiny hand. The young freckled man with sandy hair started, having not noticed her before. "Uh, sure, 's not like anyun cares about whut's going on down 'ere anyways. Twas supposed to be a pianist here but he got sick or sumthin'. Mayb I shoulda gotten sick too." He eyed his empty booth.
Ally smiled softly as she sat down on the piano bench and lightly swept the dust off the keys.
A gentle melody started as her fingers flew over the keys, light as a feather and nimble as a cat. As the notes flowed perfectly out of the piano, weaving an enchanting melody, she lost herself in the tune. When the song ended, she was surprised to find a small crowd around her, applauding her performance.
She blushed as several onlookers cheered. "Thank you, everyone. For your kind words."
"Would you play another song, miss?" a young boy called out. Several others nodded their assent at his request too.
Ally gave another smile and started on a new harmony.
"That was wonderful."
The mini performance was over and the paintball booth owner had been very happy with the resulting crowd.
Ally had been preparing to leave when a cheerful voice spoke to her. She spun around and was immediately lost in the warm brown eyes that she came face to face with.
"I-uh." She was at a loss for words. Oh, how embarrassingly inappropriate for a supposedly refined lady such as herself.
The man with the warm brown eyes and blond hair chuckled. "My name is Austin," he introduced himself.
She bowed with the grace and etiquette that she had been properly taught. "Good afternoon sir, my name is Allyson. You can call me Ally."
"Surely you jest."
"No, I am not joking. Dez did indeed do that in front of the entire King's council." Austin gave Ally a resigned look as he spoke about his best friend's misdemeanours.
Ally laughed. Austin smiled, for he very much favoured her laughter.
"Miss," one of Ally's guards interjected. "I apologise for the interruption but your father is expecting us back by tomorrow morning."
"Aww." Ally pouted. Time had passed so quickly today. She had enjoyed the rest of the festival with the gentleman she had met earlier and she would have loved to stay much longer, but she had promised her father that she would only visit for a day.
"You are from the land of Cinos, am I right to infer?"
Ally looked up, surprised. "How did you know?"
"I recognised the land's coat of arms on your men's sword hilts. Pardon me if I sound impudent, but, I would like to invite you to my home to spend some time in our kingdom."
"That…does sound rather impudent. I cannot accept a man's dubious invitation to his abode, sir," sniffed Ally.
Austin replied with a smile. "My name is Austin Moon."
Ally looked at him confusedly while her men's eyes lit up in recognition. She wondered what had she missed, that they knew something she did not.
"Good evening, sir. Forgive us for not having recognised you," her men bowed respectfully to the blond.
"Please rise. I would like one of you to guide one of my own men to your King, with a message from me."
Austin shot a charming grin at Ally who still had not understood the situation yet. "Tell him that I am officially extending my courtship to his lovely daughter, Princess Allyson Dawson."
The men bowed and one of them left with Austin's men.
Ally blinked. "You are being foolish!" Austin merely smirked back at her in response. "My father is not going to accept some random man's proposal and, how did you know who I am?"
"Only guards of direct family members of the royal family of Cinos would bear that coat of arms. And it is known that the King has a daughter named Allyson…Just put them together and…"
"That…actually makes sense. Wait, you are Prince Austin Moon?!"
"Yes, yes I am." Austin smiled proudly.
"Well, you totally fooled me. Great disguise."
"Thanks! Wait, I was not wearing a disguise."
Ally giggled.
A month after Austin had submitted his offer of courtship to King Lester and he had accepted it, the prince was preparing to surprise Ally with their first official unchaperoned date.
The first few chaperoned dates had frankly, been disappointing and in short, disastrous. How was he supposed to have known that they were sitting under a bee hive during their picnic? And that that opera was supposedly for mature audiences only?
Austin smiled at Ally.
Ally smiled back.
'This is not awkward at all…' thought Austin sardonically to himself.
Dancing. Austin had chosen ballroom dancing. He was currently chiding himself on his poor choice, worried that the princess would end up feeling bored, what with her extensive attendance to such dances and all.
Meanwhile Ally was silently panicking in her seat as she watched the multitude of glamourous dancers swish around the floor. She had definitely learnt how to ballroom dance as her role of a princess, but she was only adequate at best and was thus terrified that the handsome prince would find that part of her pitiable.
"Do you-" Austin was interrupted by another voice. "May I have the next dance, miss?" A striking stranger with dark hair and grey eyes bowed to Ally, requesting her permission for the next dance.
"Oh! I am sorry, but I am here with someone else," Ally turned the man down and turned back to find Austin pouting.
She giggled at his expression and he smiled at her carefree expression.
He held out his hand to her; an invitation to dance. She looked a little nervous but accepted readily.
"I am so sorry!" Ally hissed softly as she once again stumbled slightly into Austin.
Austin smiled down at her, not really caring about the pain in his foot, though it had already started hurting by the 5th time Ally stepped on it.
"I am not a very good dancer," she confessed apologetically.
"Well, then you are in luck." She looked up at him questioningly.
"I am a great dancer!" Ally smirked slightly at Austin's proud grin.
"Well then, you would be able to teach me how to dance?"
"It would be my pleasure, Miss Dawson," replied Austin pompously as he twirled her around perfectly and she gasped slightly in surprise as he caught her perfectly. "I promise to never let you fall, because I think I am falling in love with you."
Ally smiled up at him softly. Everything felt right with the world at that moment. "I think I might be falling in love with you too."
Austin twitched slightly under the stern gaze of King Lester.
Ally shot her dad a reproachful look and he softened his glare.
"You have some nerve, sending your man with a simple notice and simply expecting my full approval to this coupling. You are lucky that I know your father, and it was only merely out of respect for the King that I acquiesced to your…insincere request."
Austin bowed deeply. "I apologise if my method of notice had seemed overtly casual. I was then too mesmerised by your daughter's skills, beauty and personality to have checked myself properly. I promise that I will use my entire life to show you my sincerity in loving Ally."
Lester raised a brow in surprise. "Love?"
Austin nodded firmly, purpose set in his eyes. "I love Ally."
"How could you possibly know that? You two have known each other for no more than a few months," asked Lester sceptically as he frowned down at the prince.
"Because she makes me feel at ease," began Austin. "When I come home from work, she greets me with her energetic voice. It makes me forget what a tiring day I had. And as we drink during dinner, she's always smiling so happily. And that makes me want to work that much harder to keep her happy because her smile makes everything right again. Ally is the source of my energy and motivation. I cannot imagine life without her.
Lester remained silent as he observed the determined young man, now blushing at his own confession, standing before him, his hand firmly clasping his daughter's as she showed the same resolve in her eyes as well, albeit with a blush.
"You have found a good man, Ally." The couple's eyes switched over nervously to Queen Penny's as she smiled at the two, pleasantly happy with this confession.
Ally smiled. "I know."
Lester sighed at his wife's words, his eyes noticeably softening into crescents of laugh lines.
"Ally's a good girl. She would always pour my drinks for me ever since she was a little girl. Her hands were so tiny, yet she tried so hard for me."
Austin smiled. "I bet she was so cute." Ally blushed even harder at their conversation.
"What do you mean 'I bet'? Of course she was!" Lester scowled at the prince.
"Pardon me."
"She went through a rebellious phase in her mid-teenage years and would not pour any drinks for me anymore," Lester said with a sad expression. "But her attitude got a little better as she grew and started talking to me again. She went out to earn her own keep for the first time and bought me a bottle of wine with the money. I could not bring myself to drink it at the time because it meant so much to me. I only drank it at her coming-of-age ceremony. I drank it bit by bit as I looked through portraits of her since her childhood." Ally looked at her father smilingly, her eyes slightly moist.
"She must have been so happy."
"I wonder…"
"I think so. I know that both you and her mother are very important to her."
Lester's smile widened. "You are indeed a good man. Let me ask you, why did you choose Ally of all the young girls you could possibly have? I feel that you still do not know my daughter all that well."
"…"
"What, are you unable to answer me?" Lester raised a sceptical brow.
"…Yes, I can."
"Then tell me ten things you love about her."
"Only ten?"
"Of course there is more than ten, so choose carefully!"
"…She is sweet. Anyone can pretend to be sweet, but she is kind all the way to her core. Her kindness is all-encompassing. She is cheerful. Whenever we are in a crowd, it is like a flower is blooming. Everyone loves her so much that I almost get jealous at times. And…"
…
"Alright. Number nine."
"Her determination. She works hard at everything. For example, cooking. She does not have to cook, yet she tries to cook as much as possible for me. I always come home early because I am so eager to eat her cooking."
Lester scowled at Austin.
"Do you think Prince Austin is going to win over the King?" Austin could hear the whispered conversations by the servants and guards watching the confrontation. "They might just fight it out eventually!"
'Um…is this really okay…?' thought Austin.
"Number ten! And it cannot just be anything! It has to be something amazing!"
"I love how much she values her family."
"Huh?"
"Ever since I asked her to marry me, she has been concerned about family a lot. She wants you both to accept us and give us your blessings especially since she loves you so much. She does not talk about it, but I know she is thinking it. That is how strongly she feels about her family."
"…."
"Oh, the King's expression changed!" another hushed whisper sounded. "He is giving in!"
Lester scowled. "Alright next one!"
"Huh?"
"You said that there were more than ten reasons. Were you lying?"
"No…Number eleven…"
"I think we have heard enough," Penny intervened. Ally was blushing so hard she could pass out at any moment.
Lester pouted at his smiling wife before he turned back to Austin with a small smile himself. "I entrust my daughter's happiness to you, son."
"Ally?" Austin called out to the girl in his arms.
"Austin?"
"Are you OK?" piped in Trish.
"Trish...," Ally whispered. "They're telling the truth."
"What?"
"They are telling, the truth."
Trish stared at Ally with an indiscernible expression while the boys looked on, somewhat confused.
Trish took a deep breath. "Ally, I think you might have a headache or something. I'll talk to you tomorrow, OK?" the girl said rapidly before leaving without another word.
"Erm…what?" Ally turned back to Austin with a small smile…
Trish was extremely confused. Her thoughts were jumbled as she paced her room.
She had been told a completely different thing by them! But Ally seemed to have regained…her memories?
"That doesn't even make any sense!" Trish groaned as she kicked her desk. She never remembered Ally ever having any sort of amnesia.
A sudden wave of dizziness overcame Trish as she attempted to get a grasp of reality…
Trish stared out at the horizon. A solid line demarcated the border where the sun kissed the sea. There was a soft breeze about, playing with her curls and the hem of her dress.
"Princess, we ought to get going," one of her guards prompted.
The girl rolled her eyes as she spun around to face the man. "Get going where?"
"Um…back to your cottage?" the suddenly nervous man said tentatively.
"Ugh! This place is so boring!" Trish suddenly flared up causing the man's eyes to widen momentarily.
The princess was touring the countryside of Neilaz as requested, or rather, forced, by her parents. They had decided that she was too stressed out by their city life, and had made her take a compulsory vacation away from the smog and grease of their own metropolis.
"There are only alpacas and llamas and sheep and goats and…how could there be so many animals in one place?!"
"We could uh…" the guard faltered slightly as Trish glanced up at him. "There are a few shops in town which sell handcrafted fabrics, clothes and shoes made from the fur of these animals. Would you like to visit them, princess?"
Trish contemplated for a moment before nodding excitedly. Her men all let out a secret sigh of relief.
As they began their stroll towards town, they failed to notice a rampaging animal charging towards them.
"Look out!" Trish veered sharply towards her right as the hooves of a horse thundered past, nearly landing on her. It was so close that she shrieked, tripped and fell backwards onto the floor.
"Princess!" her men called out.
"Oof!" Something heavy landed on the brunette and she felt the wind knocked out from her before finding shocking blue eyes staring back at her.
Other than those eyes, the next thing Trish noticed was that this person on top of her had vibrant red hair. And for some reason, he was not making any attempts at getting up. Trish, already irritated, started to poke at him. "Get off of me!"
The redhead hurriedly scurried up once he realised that he was on top of a lady and bowed deeply, his face flushed with embarrassment. "I apologise deeply for this, miss! Bartholomew got spooked by a snake and I did not see you in time. Please forgive us."
Trish, who was still on the ground, glared at the ginger until he realised his mistake and quickly gave her a hand up.
"Who is…Bartholomew?" she huffed as she brushed herself off. She didn't see anyone else but him.
"The horse of course!" The man beamed and patted the beast next to him. His horse was a young Fresian, lean and finely built with a brilliant mane. Trish thought that it looked as handsome as its name sounded, even though it did almost trample her to death.
She forced a smile. "Of course."
The man looked confused as the girl then just stomped off without another word to them (him and Bartholomew).
"Why are you following me?" The curly haired lady shot a glare at the man who had walked after her.
"Allow me to make amends for our mistake. My name is Dez and we were helping the farmers herd some animals and-"
"Go away!" whined Trish as she not only found him strange, but a terrible nag as well. He spoke of his horse like an actual person.
Dez frowned at the girl. She was such a difficult person! But the gentleman in him refused to let him give up.
"Miss, please. Just let us know what we can do to help you."
Trish scowled at the man blocking her way as one of her men whispered in her ear, reminding her of etiquette in a foreign land and she bit her lip. Dez wondered what the man had spoken to her about.
Trish sighed before speaking. "Dez, was it? You and uh, Bartholomew, do not need to make any amends. I have to go now. Thank you for your kind offer." She did a perfect curtsy and left swiftly with her men, frankly leaving Dez quite stunned at her sudden change in behaviour.
"Prince Dezmond!" a pair of elderly men ran towards the group.
"Are you all right?" they asked the redhead.
'Prince Dezmond? This guy. Was a prince?' Trish raised a sceptical brow at the ginger as her men quickly apologised for not recognising him and bowed politely. But they were bade cheerily away by Dez.
"Yes, I am fine. But old Bart and I did give this lady a terrible scare," replied Dez to the farmers.
The trio turned to Trish who Dez was pointing to.
"Oh no, miss! Are you hurt?" asked one of the elders.
Trish smiled politely. "No, I am fine too. Please, do not worry about me."
"Please, allow me to make amends," Dez raised a hand to his chest. "Were you on your way to town for some shopping? Bartholomew and I could help you with the menial carrying."
Trish chewed on the inside of her cheek as she knew she could not possibly reject a prince, in front of his subjects no less. Even though she had more than enough men with her to carry her stuff, and she found it odd that he kept referring to his horse in third person
"Sure, I would love the help."
"How do I put this politely…You are an idiot," stated Trish.
"Well, that was mean. And rude."
Trish shrugged. "I only speak the facts."
The duo was looking down at a mess of leather. How Dez managed to reduce a pair of shoes to strips of leather escaped her. But he also had the help of the neighbourhood dog, whom he apparently wrote to quite often?
Trish shook her head. Anyway, the point was that this…prince…was a complete waste of her time.
"Dez!" A feminine voice pierced the air.
The duo turned around to find a beautiful fair lady waving from outside the entrance to the store. She was with a blond man, very tall and princely-looking.
"Ally, Austin." Dez nodded at them in acknowledgement.
"Who is this?" the blond man, Trish assumed that that was Austin, queried curiously as he noticed her next to his ginger friend.
"Oh! This is…" Dez paused for a moment, realising that he hadn't gotten her name. "Sorry for being impolite, miss. I had forgotten to obtain your name."
Reminding herself to be genteel, she replied softly, "You can call me Trish."
"Princess Trish, if you will," interjected one of her man, wanting the due respect his princess should receive.
"Wait. You are a princess?" Dez asked in an incredulous tone. He had on an expression of total and absolute astonishment as he gaped at the scowling girl.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Trish narrowed her eyes at him.
"Well, you are not exactly…princess-y…"
Trish kicked Dez in the shins before he could finish his sentence, causing him to keel over as all their men surrounding them looked on unsurely. Austin and Ally meanwhile were looking rather amusedly over the scene, very much entertained by this newcomer and were looking forward to getting acquainted with the young lady.
"Ally Dawson!" Trish shouted at the shut wooden door before kicking out at it. "Ow!"
After their first encounter, Trish had become very much attached to Ally and had extended her stay for a few months under the pretext of touring Neilaz. Anyway, somehow, the girl's best friend had convinced her to check out their supposedly new stock of spun silk…well there was nothing but hay in here! Enough hay to feed all the horses in the kingdom! What was that girl up to?
Trish frowned at the massive bolted door before a voice interrupted her schemes of breaking out.
"Trish?"
Trish raised a brow as she turned around and came to face Dez. She was not amused.
"And what are you doing in here?"
Dez shrugged, confused as well. "Austin said that a horse was giving birth and his men needed help, but the horses in here are all happily eating hay…"
Trish stared at him, annoyed and pretty much understanding the situation that her 'friends' had created.
"Why are you glaring at me?" Dez clearly had no idea what the situation was right now.
Trish turned back towards the door, trying to figure a way out. Perhaps she could use a horse and crash out of the barn? Like in one of those romance literatures Ally was always reading! Yes, that could work.
Dez stared blankly at Trish who was clambering onto a horse. "Uh, what are you doing?" he asked, slightly concerned as he knew how clumsy she could be at times. Seriously, it was like she always got into some kind of trouble and he had to be there to guide her, coaxingly of course as she always acted like she would rather rip his head off than listen to him.
"Getting out of here," Trish replied firmly, her gaze unwavering and seemingly rather confident. And Dez's eyes widened at her response. Both her and the animal were not going to be able to get out of this unharmed if she were to continue with her…abrupt plan. How could he stop her from doing something unwise? Oh! He knew what he could say to make her freeze in action.
"I love you."
Trish stared down at Dez surprised and baffled. She was completely caught off guard with his sudden unexpected declaration. What- How…How was she supposed to respond? Whoa!
The stallion that Trish was on suddenly bucked up, having been startled by Ally's sudden rapping at the door to make sure the two were still in there.
Dez panicked as he watched the princess struggle to stay atop the equine beast. He tried to grab onto the breast collar of the harness as a hoof clubbed him sharply on the shoulder. He winced but held on tight as Trish would be hurt worse if she fell off during this mayhem.
Whispering soothing words and firmly reining in the horse, Dez managed to calm the steed momentarily before it gave one last hard buck and Trish slipped off the saddle causing the redhead to release the leather strips and catch her.
Dez grimaced as his injured shoulder felt the brunt of the impact of the floor.
"Dez!" Trish cried out. She started enquiring after his well-being as he did the same.
"Why did you do something so silly? The horse could have kicked you in the head!"
"Well, I could not see you get hurt right?" Dez rolled his eyes as if his answer was perfectly normal.
"Well. Erm." Trish blushed slightly, it was still embarrassing for a lady to have been caught in such a distressing moment and besides, what was with that confession of love earlier?
"Why did you say that before?" Trish asked softly.
"Say what?" Dez was focused on looking for injuries on Trish as he held her arms.
"You know…that you…loved me…?"
"Oh! That was just to distract you from doing something stupid," replied Dez honestly.
Trish rolled her eyes at his answer, thinking herself stupid to have thought those words meant something. Although…she had felt a flutter in her stomach when she heard them…
"Oh good! You seem to be uninjured," declared Dez as he finished his inspection of Trish.
"Of course I am fine! You are the one who got kicked by it!" Trish cried out, frustrated.
"Relax, I have been had my share of altercations with animals before. My shoulder is fine, it is probably just bruised. I was more worried about you.
"Why do you care so much anyway?"
"Well, of course I care! You are my woman."
"Huh?!"
"I mean, I only said 'I love you' because I knew you would be so stunned as this was our first time being so…intimate," Dez babbled nonchalantly. "I had been preparing to say that for the longest time. This was seriously not the scenario that I had expected."
Trish could only gape at him.
"Since…since when were we in a relationship?" Trish shook herself out of her reverie.
"Obviously since I sent your father a notice of courtship."
Trish's brows were furrowed as she stared at the infuriating ginger prince who seemed to have not answered a single question of hers. What kind of situation was this now?! Did Austin and Ally know too? Probably not, otherwise they would not be in locked in here in the first place.
"I am almost certain that I was unaware of the notice you mentioned."
"Oh? Did I not tell you? I thought I told you, along with Austin and Ally."
"No…that never happened," Trish replied, slightly annoyed at how this man could possibly be that unaware.
"In that case…Trish, be my woman?" Dez asked light-heartedly, almost seemingly carefree-like, but one could see the nervousness in his eyes.
Trish glowered at Dez; surely he was not expecting her to accept? But…had they been in a relationship this entire time? All their bickering, outings…darn, she was the oblivious one. Was she going to reject him?
Trish looked into Dez's hopeful eyes as she felt warmth in her heart. She did not feel like rejecting him…in fact, she felt…happy.
Trish returned a small smirk, "Okay."
Trish couldn't believe it. She had been tricked! All these foolish betrayals and incessant planning for nothing! To think that she had believed the ones who were supposedly the closest to her.
Knock, knock! The door creaked open as Mrs De La Rosa peeked into her eldest child's bedroom. "Trish?" she called out.
"Hi, mama," Trish greeted while maintaining a calm façade.
"Trish dear, how's your progress with the strange boys? You do remember our plan…right?" Her mother's voice turned threatening with the last word.
"Of course, mama."
"Good, then you might want to quickly get on with the plan."
Trish swallowed hard and nodded. Her 'mother', satisfied by her response, smiled as she left the room, shutting the door softly behind her.
Trish had to talk to someone. She'd probably freak out right there and then if her phone didn't just ring.
It wasn't long before the two best friends were sitting on a bench underneath a tall sycamore tree, situated right in the middle of the park in Trish's neighbourhood.
"I don't know what to do, Ally!"
Ally held up a hand in protest. "Hang on, Trish. I still do not understand what you are talking about. Did you…get your memory back?"
"Yes! I did!"
"You did?!" Trish jumped as two boys jumped out from behind the tree. She glared at the redhead who had spoken but then her gaze softened as she recalled how much she loved him.
"Dez!" Trish ran up and threw her arms around Dez, who caught her easily, and the couple hugged each other tightly.
Austin went up to Ally and held her in his arms as they smiled at their friends' joy.
"How sentimental."
Unfortunately for all of them, that joy only lasted a mere minute before a sickeningly sweet voice decided to interrupt.
The couples jumped apart and whipped their heads around. The voice came from one of the mid-level branches of the sycamore tree. And on that branch, sat a very familiar young woman with long blonde hair.
Cassidy.
And she was smirking.
-end-
A/N: The song that Dez was singing to Ally was 'I Still Believe' by Hayden Panettiere. It played a part in inspiring this whole story too. (:
Parts of their conversation were cut out to allow imagination.
FYI, Cinos is actually Sonic backwards. Wanted to go with Sonic Boom but Moob sounds like man boob so…heh. XD
We're almost at the end!