Chapter 18 – Remember

Being officially done with group dates, Willow could now focus on one-on-one dates, which terrified her if she had to be honest with herself. Sure, she had already been on three impromptu solo dates already, but that was not the same thing. If they hadn't told anyone about the dates, no one knew. Now? Everyone would know and would be looking at her.

She had already survived three weeks with all the Selected in group dates, she could survive solo dates. Right?

She rolled out of bed after Nerissa had given her multiple extra minutes and headed to the shower to get ready for the ballroom/dance lesson after breakfast. A nice flowy dress would be perfect. If the Selected had to be fancy for the lesson, then so would she.

She joined the Selected in the dining room inside, since the sky had decided to rain on her parade. Angeles didn't have much rain during the summer, but it still happened from time to time, making the air hot and sticky, and she loved it.

Or not. She was already sweating even right after the shower, but she tried to ignore the fact. She sat at the royal table with Charlie, Annie, and her family after filling her plate with waffles and scrambled eggs.

"How was your last group date yesterday?" Annie asked. "I saw your dress on Social Media. Beautiful! Did Aidyn really make it himself?"

"Yes," Willow said. "It was really him. And the date was amazing– Honestly, I think it was one of my favorites."

"You say that after every group date," Charlie pipped in. "But at least that means you're having fun." He sipped on his coffee. "So now that those are done? How are you going to choose the Selected for one-on-one dates?"

"Oh, and are you going to organize them, or are you going to let them do it?" Annie asked.

"I think I'm going to let them decide if I organize it or them," Willow replied. "And I'm probably going to draw their names. I don't know how to choose them otherwise."

Charlie nodded. "Good idea. It'll spice things up a little."

The princess snorted. "Why? You think my Selection is boring?"

"I didn't say that," he said. "But these boys – I'm not talking about Jaylen – are starting to be restless. They're looking forward to solo dates."

"Just organize tournaments in between dates," Annie suggested.

"What kind?" Willow asked.

"Well, guys like to test their strength, and we've already seen that several times: impromptu soccer games, tug-of-war over the pool, pool wrestling, and so on." She paused, drinking some orange juice. "You can do a ping-pong or a table football tournament; it will keep them focused for some time. Or," she said lifting her finger, "workout contests work pretty well too. I do that with my guys if they have too much energy to burn."

"I'll keep that in mind," Charlie said. "Thanks."

Willow thought for a moment. It could be fun to see them compete in tournaments on the side while she focused on the Selection. As long as it didn't put them up against each other and didn't ignite violent fights between them, why not?

After breakfast, she joined the Selected in the ballroom for another posture lesson with Camilla Higgins, followed by another hour and a half of waltzing across the ballroom. She went from dancing partner to dancing partner, but she wasn't able to dance with everyone.

"Cal! You improved so much since last week!" she said when she danced with Callum.

"Really?" He chuckled deeply, like thunder in his chest. "Out of ten, I'm a three and a half, now."

"Nah, I'd say a four."

The smile that bloomed on his face was so heartwarming and soft that she blushed furiously. Thank goodness he couldn't see her heat up like that. She chatted with all of her partners and by the end of the lesson, her feet were killing her – from dancing and from some who had stepped on her toes – and she was glad it was over. Charlie had arrived to oversee the last part of the morning.

"Gentlemen, Miss Jackson," Camilla said at the end of the lesson, asking for everyone's attention. "Her Highness would like to say a few words." She stepped aside and let Willow take center stage: all the Selected looked at her, curious.

"Right. So," she said taking, a deep breath. "As you may know, I have gone on a group date with each and every one of you, getting to know you a little better over the past three weeks. So it's only fair that now, I get to know you even better, on one-on-one dates."

Smiles and happy murmurs erupted from the group.

"Finally!" Hayes said, which made everyone laugh.

"After discussing with some of you and with Charlie, I understand that not all of you want to organize a date, and that not all of you want me to organize." She turned towards Annie who gave her two boxes, one black, and one blue. "The Black box will be for those who want to organize a date themselves, and the Blue box if you'd rather I organized it. Don't worry, I have a whole list of activity ideas, and I will be choosing one; so don't come whining if you don't like the activity," she warned. "For those who want to organize a date, you may talk to Charlie for logistics."

Charlie handed out small squares of paper with a pen that was passed out from one Selected to the other. "Write your names on the paper, fold it in four, and place it in the box you want. Princess Willow will draw a name from either box every time before a date." He paused. "If you need more time to organize a date, then by all means, start now and we'll get it going when she picks your name."

A few minutes later, all the remaining twenty-seven names had been put into the boxes, and Willow was positively surprised to see more names in the black box than in the blue one. That meant less work for her.

"For the first date this afternoon," she started, "should I pick a name from the black box or the blue box?"

"Black!" most of them said. Some "blues" came out too, but she decided to go with the majority.

"Alright. Just remember that it's raining outside, so it'll have to be an indoor activity." Charlie handed her the black box after shaking it a little to mix the papers and Willow pulled out a name. She unfolded the little piece of paper. "Domenico."

Everyone turned around to look at the former Prince of Spain, who was standing at the back of the group with his arms crossed over his chest. "Alright," he said. "What time, Highness?"

"You decide," she said. "Either this afternoon or this evening."

"Oooooh," some of the boys said, others whistled in good sport, patting him on the shoulder. Some others were clearly jealous that he was the first one. Willow didn't tell them that she'd already been on dates with Aidyn, Weston, and Jaylen. Better they didn't know. Or maybe they already did. She doubted Weston told anyone, he was too loyal and discreet for that. Aidyn? Probably not either, though by now, everyone knew he had made that dress for her, so he would have needed some time with her… And as for Jay, well, it was just a girl's night. No one would be jealous of this if she had said anything…

/ / /

It turned out Domenico wanted to plan his date for the evening, so Charlie and Annie set up two tournaments at the same time in the Men's Parlor so the Selected had something to do since it was still raining a little.

"During the next few days or weeks, depending on how long it will take you to complete these," Charlie said, "You will be competing in two tournaments if you want to participate. You can also watch and not put yourself out there, your choice."

"Spill the beans, man," Archer said, keeping his eyes on his phone. For some reason, this guy didn't know what a vacation was and he was always receiving e-mails, writing e-mails, or doing phone calls.

"There are twenty-seven of you," Charlie continued, "but I'm sure Annabeth, the royal siblings, or some other people could step in to make it an even number–"

"Or Willow could eliminate someone," Conor Dominic Adventis mumbled, and everyone chuckled.

"Sure, you want to be the next one?" Annabeth asked, already pulling out her phone to text Willow.

"No. It was just an idea." He paused. "And Cal can't play anyway."

Charlie sighed but some of the guys took the responsibility to whack Conor behind the head for that comment. It wasn't wrong, but it was rude. "So, as I was saying, you can participate in one or both of these tournaments. The first one will be ping-pong and you're going to play solo, making your way up to the finale. You lose a game, you leave the tournament. You win a game, you play against another winner." He paused. "Any questions?"

"Can we choose who we start playing against?" Easton asked.

"No, that will be randomized," Charlie replied. "The second tournament will be table soccer and you sign up with a partner because you'll be playing two against two." He picked up a large piece of paper separated in two with a line in the middle, showing it to the Selected. "On the right is the ping-pong list, on the left, the table soccer. You can put your names down for these tournaments. If you already have a partner for table soccer, put both names together. If not, we'll pair you up with someone else who's also alone." He left the paper on the table with a couple of pens and the Selected rushed to fill in their names.

"See?" Annie said as they walked to the side to give the Selected space around the table. "I told you it would work. Guys always like contests and tournaments, anything where they can prove their worth or their strength. "And on nice sunny days, we can pull out the two tables on the terrace."

Charlie nodded. "Good idea. It might get cramped and loud in this place after a while."

They stood to the side, watching the lists growing longer and longer. "Are you going to sign up for one of the tournaments?" she asked.

Charlie shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. If there aren't enough people I might."

"You can always pair up with Henry for table soccer," she whispered, elbowing him playfully.

"Wha–"

"Why not? You run with him every other morning. Try doing something different with him."

"How do you–"

"I also wake up at dawn," she reminded him. "I've got a workout routine to keep up with, even when off-duty."

"Right." Charlie took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping it would make his face cool down a little.

"Good afternoon, Gentlemen," Willow said, walking into the room. "What are you all up to?"

Mikey grinned when he saw her. "Charlie's organizing tournaments," he said. "You wanna pair up with me for table soccer?"

Willow laughed. "Hell, yes," she said. "We're going to be unbeatable."

"Of course," Mikey said, giving the pen to Willow so she could put her name next to his. Charlie and Annie shared a glance but tried not to laugh. Mikey and Willow were excellent together at table soccer, and Charlie was genuinely curious whether anyone would beat them.

"Is that a challenge?" Domenico asked. "I'm pretty sure I can beat you, either alone or with a partner."

"Who's your partner?" Willow asked, looking at the list of names. Charlie was also curious and came to look over the Princess's shoulder. But Dom was alone for now. And so was Henry.

"Why don't you pair up with Weston?" Charlie suggested since he too was alone for now.

Dom and Weston shared a look and shrugged. "Yeah, okay," Weston said. "I'm not great at it, but I'm not bad either."

Domenico nodded. "Fine. I can work with that."

"Ooooh," Aidyn said. "Do we have the first game, then?"

Charlie took the list. "No, I need to set up the order of the games, first." He sat at the table and started drawing the pyramid with Annie's help. "But be my guest and start a warm-up game."

The four volunteered players all looked at each other and nodded. Charlie kept an eye on them while Annie took the pen from him and finished drawing out the tournament. Mikey took the goalie side while Willow took charge of the striker side. Across from them, Dom took the goalie and Weston the strikers. Everyone else gathered around them to watch. Only Callan didn't join and just sat on a couch, listening.

Charlie kind of felt bad for him and joined him. "Hi," he said.

"Mr. Finley," Cal said, recognizing Charlie's voice. The planner hadn't talked a lot with the blind man, but his voice surprised him every time, especially since his was much higher.

"Hey," he said. "I'm sorry you can't play– I didn't even think about that and–"

Cal chuckled softly. "It's perfectly fine," he assured him. "I can do other things."

"Still…" Charlie said, slouching on the couch next to him. "What would you like to do that you could participate in? I really want to include everyone…"

Cal thought for a moment. "Hmm, let me see," he said, fiddling with his stick. "I can play bord or card games as long as the others are honest about the game and the cards." He paused. "I've got a braille stack of cards in my room. With the normal drawings on them, too, I think."

"Hmm," Charlie said. "So any game with a regular stack of cards. Poker?"

Cal nodded. "I've played once or twice and–" Willow and Mikey squealed in delight as she scored yet another goal, making the boys around them cheer. "Seems like the princess and Mikhail are winning," Cal said.

"Yes, sounds like it," he replied.

"All right, I'm done," Annie said, bringing the paper to Charlie. "You can set up the teams and names as you want."

"Thanks." He took the paper and pen from her and then turned to Cal. "Would you like to help me set up the names?"

"Sure!" he said, smiling. So, Charlie and Cal spent the next twenty minutes setting up the ping-pong tournament. He left an empty spot in case Matty, Lolly, and Zeke wanted to join, and put down his name next to Henry's for table soccer, inconspicuously. He decided to fill in the table soccer sheet later, once he had asked his cousins if they wanted to play as well

While they were doing that, Willow and Mikey won the first game, but Dom and Weston asked for a rematch, which they lost as well, but it was much closer than the first game, with 10-7 instead of 10-4 the first time.

"Okay, I bow down to your supremacy," Dom said sarcastically, shaking their hands.

"Are we sure we want to let them play together for the tournament?" Haakon said.

"You're just jealous because you don't have a cool partner," Aidyn said.

"Who doesn't have a cool partner?" Zeke asked, strolling in as if he owned the place. Well, he kind of did, Charlie thought, but that was beside the point. "I heard there was a tournament going on?"

"Haakon," everyone said.

Zeke grinned. "Well, you've got yourself a partner, now."

Charlie snorted, but wrote the prince's name next to Haakon's. "Annie? You want to play, too?" he asked.

"Sure! Put me with whoever needs a partner," she said. So Charlie put her with Archer: ever since she had arm-locked him that first day she was here, Archer had been avoiding her. But now it was time to make them work together– or kill each other. Either way, it was going to be entertaining.

"Okay," Charlie said, grabbing their attention. "I'm still waiting a little for the table soccer teams, but I've got the ping-pong sheet ready." He hung it on the wall with a piece of tape he had prepared earlier in his pocket. "The first to reach 11 points with a 2-point difference wins. The semi-finals and final will be played on three 21-point games with a 2-point difference." He paused. "Any questions?"

"Can we start now?" Pierce asked.

"Yes."

And so started the first tournament within the Tournament also known as the Selection.

/ / /

Domenico Montero had sent a message to Willow to be ready at 7 o'clock for their date. His note also stated that she didn't have to dress fancy if she didn't want to. They would just be having dinner together.

Of course, Willow didn't wear some old sweatpants to her first official date, especially since Jesse Flynn had specifically asked for pictures of each one-on-date. She didn't go with a full ball gown, but with a nice black strapless sheath dress that fitted her curves to the middle of her thighs before flaring out a little. With that, she had picked a golden pair of heels, and she was ready to go. She went down the stairs and saw Domenico waiting for her on the second floor.

"Princess Wilhelmina Schreave," he said, bowing. "Thank you for joining me."

"I couldn't really stand you up, since everyone knew I was going on a date with you."

Dom laughed. "I like your humor, Wilhelmina. Shall we?" He offered her his arm and headed downstairs.

Willow nodded. "You can call me Willow, you know?"

"I know," he said. "But my name is so long, it's only fair we use your full name, too.

"Right. The name that takes ten whole seconds to say." Willow smirked and Dom chuckled. He led her to a small boudoir, down the hall on the first floor, and held the door opened for her, letting her go in first. Willow had to admit that he had excellent manners.

"Milady," he said, pulling the chair out for her and helping her sit.

"Thank you."

He then sat too and popped open a bottle of red wine. "Pinot Noir des Charentes," he said in almost perfect French. "A little bird told me it was your favorite, correct?"

Willow nodded, impressed. "It is, yes." Domenico filled her glass à la française, meaning only halfway up. While an official photographer working for Jesse snapped a few pictures of their date, they both kept on the charade, behaving perfectly as a footman served them the first dish. Once he was gone and the photographer, too, Willow breathed a little easier.

"They're gone," Dom said. "We don't have to play pretend anymore."

Willow looked at him from under her lashes and smirked. "Good," she said. "As a fellow royal, you know how exhausting it is to always keep appearances."

Dom nodded and sipped on his wine. "Bon appétit," he said, inviting her to start on their smoked salmon and avocado on toast. That's when Willow noticed it– she had never really looked at his hands and never had had a reason to, but the mark was unmistakable.

"You've taken off your wedding band only recently," she commented.

Dom looked at his right hand. The ring was gone, but he still had a thin white line where the skin around it was tanned. "Yes," he simply said. "I thought it would be better for the Selection."

Willow didn't reply right away, her mind racing. So if he had still worn the ring right before the Selection, maybe it meant that he still loved her? So maybe he hadn't killed her after all?

"If you're wondering why I kept it this long," Dom said between two mouthfuls, "It was for her father's sake."

"Trevino?" Willow said, frowning. "Why?"

"He made it look like he had moved past her death pretty quickly, but I know he was devastated. Why do you think he's buried himself in work at your father's side? Exactly," he continued, answering his own question. "He needed to focus on something else."

"But why did you keep it for him, then? I don't understand."

"To show him he was not alone." He paused and leaned back on his chair, putting his knife and fork down now that he was done with his first dish. "This stays between us, Wilhelmina. But I may not have been in love with her, but I did care for her a lot."

"Why marry her, then?" Damn, this guy was so mysterious.

"For political reasons," he said. "And don't lie to me, Princess," he continued. "This is exactly why Fredrik is here, isn't he?" He sipped on some wine. "Illéa and Swendway are planning a marriage alliance."

Willow tried not to give anything away and continued eating. "That's ridiculous," she said.

"Don't lie to me," he said again. "We're on the same page, you and I. I know how this game works."

Willow sighed and put her cutlery down. "Yes. And no," she said. "It was a concession we proposed to King Magnus: he wanted a marriage, we didn't. But we suggested he joined the Selection to see if something would be arranged."

Dom snorted. "This is just a big fancy scam, isn't it? You're not planning on marrying Fredrik."

Willow leaned on the table, resting on her elbows. "There is more than one princess in this family," she said. "And Lolly can do whatever she wants."

"Hmm."

Willow sipped on her wine. "Hey, did you take pictures on our group date and sent them out?"

"What? Of course, not!" Dom replied, slightly offended. "I value privacy way too much to stoop so low. But I do know pictures of Fredrik the Prince of Swendway leaked to Europe. My sister told me."

"The one who's in Swendway?"

"Yes and–" just then, two footmen entered to take the plates away and give them the second dish. It didn't take long, but it was enough to cut their conversation and their momentum. They ate in silence, sipping on their wine from time to time. This was not how she had expected her first date to go.

The silence was heavy around them, and by now, both had had two glasses of wine. It didn't help, though, and by the time they finished eating the second dish, not a single word had been exchanged. Then dessert arrived with a new bottle of Champagne. That was the last time the footmen would come.

It was Willow's favorite: salted caramel ice cream. "How did you know this was my favorite?" she asked.

"I asked around. Willow, I–" he sighed. "Do you want to dance?"

"Dance?" the princess said. "What ever for? I don't feel like you like me that much."

"That's where you're wrong," he said, standing up and offering her his hand. "I like your quick comeback, and you look gorgeously sexy in that dress, so I want to hold you close to me."

Willow wasn't sure if she was supposed to slap him or take the compliment and giggle, so she did neither. She simply took his hand and let him lead her in the middle of the room. "We don't have any music," she said. Maybe it was the wine and the champagne, but she felt bolder with him, even if he was a little bit intimidating…

"That is easily arranged," he said, pulling out his phone from his pocket. He typed something on it and then some kind of Spanish music came on, he put the phone on the table before turning up the volume. "Do you know how to dance Salsa?" he asked with a sly grin.

"Salsa?" Willow said. "I might have done that once or twice, a long time ago."

"Excellent," he said, taking her hands in his and starting to move his feet in beat with the music. "You know the basics, so just follow my lead."

Willow nodded and gasped as he pulled her very close to him with a grin. The music was getting to her, and so were the basic steps she had learned when she was in high school. She kept her eyes locked on Dom's brown eyes, and she had to admit that she was having fun – thanks to the wine? – and that he was a really good dancer. Ballroom Waltz or Salsa, he could do them all.

A laugh bubbled out in her chest as he twirled and swirled her around, following which side he was tugging and pulling her. Dom just kept his dangerously sexy smile with his dimples, his eyes sparkling with excitement as they danced around the small parlor. Willow felt powerful and admired and desired and she had rarely felt that way in such a short time. And she honestly couldn't think of anything or anyone else as they danced.

At the end of the song, Dom tipped her backwards and she could feel his arm muscle flex to make sure she wouldn't fall, and found that extremely sexy. He pulled her back up slowly, his eyes locked on hers.

"I understand, now, why you said you were a lady killer," she breathed out once she was back on her feet. "I think I'm a little dead right now."

"No," he said. "You're very much alive, Wilhelmina Schreave. I can feel your heart beating against me."

Willow took a step away from him as well as a deep breath to try to calm down.

Domenico picked up his phone from the table and changed the music. "What do you say about a little Tango?"

"Oh gosh, I've never done that before," she said, turning her back to him

Dom came right behind her and put a hand on her waist. "Do you trust me?" he whispered in her ear.

Willow took in a sharp breath and nodded even though she only trusted his dancing skills, but not him as a person. Yet. Dom turned her around and held her even closer than before, their faces mere centimeters from each other. Without saying anything, he started leading her into the dance, one step after another, but her dress was blocking her leg movement. Tango dresses were usually shorter and wider for bigger movements. But Dom took that into consideration and led smaller steps. Her shoes were not the best tango shoes ever, but they managed to do with that, too.

The music was enthralling, a real turn-on, and both were breathing a little faster by the end of the song. They froze in their dance when the music stopped, staring at each other, and before Dom or Willow could lean in even closer for a kiss, she quickly stepped away and grabbed her unfinished glass of Champagne that she downed in one gulp.

"You're a good dancer," he said, his voice a little husky.

"Years of Ballroom dance lessons where we learn to let the guy lead," she replied. "I guess you went through the same thing, in Spain."

He nodded and picked up his glass of wine as well. "Yes. But I've danced with my fair share of partners, and you're one of the best, I have to admit."

She snorted. "That seemed very hard to admit," she said. "Did you not think I'd be any good?"

"I saw you dancing in the Tuesday lesson," he said. "But seeing and doing are two different things." He paused. "Who did you learn to dance with?"

"It depended," Willow said. Most of the time it was Mikey or Charlie, but it was always fun and silly. With Dom it had been everything but that– maybe the Salsa in the beginning, but definitely not the Tango. Her heart was still beating fast, and the Champagne wasn't helping. Maybe she should put an end to this date before it became too steamy and too late to back off from anything. She looked up at the clock on the wall and it was already almost midnight! How much time had they spent dancing? "Already midnight?" she said.

Dom looked at his phone. "It seems to be," he said. "Dancing always takes us out of time." He took a few steps in her direction and took her hand in his, kissing the back of it. "Milady, may I escort you back to your room?" he asked. "Unless you want to dance some more, in which case it will be my pleasure."

"I think it would be wise to end this date here," she said. "I had a great time."

He looked down at her with a smirk. "So did I, Highness." He escorted her out of the room and up the stairs, but he stopped on the second floor. "I'm afraid I cannot come farther with you," he said. He kissed her hand again and bid her good night, watching her walked up the stairs.

/ / /

The next day, Willow was still a little flustered from her date with Domenico and she decided not to draw a name this time, and just enjoy the day with everyone. The sun was back and the ping-pong and soccer tables had been pulled out on the terrace, leaving some space and silence in the Men's Parlor. Willow and Mikey had already played a game against Feighree and Comoe and had won. Of course, they had. Duh.

But now they had to wait until the whole first round was done before they could play a second game against the next winner. Some of the guys had also pulled out a couch and some chairs from the parlor on the terrace and were lounging and watching the games at the same time. Some footmen had brought cool drinks to survive the humid heat of the afternoon and Willow was now sipping on some colorful mocktail, the straw pinched between her lips and sitting on a couch on her own. Her couch partner, Jaylen, had been called to play her soccer table game with Aidyn.

"Hey," Julian greeted with a smile, sitting next to her with his own drink. "Mind if I join you?"

"Nope," she replied, smiling. "Did you already play? Who's your partner again?"

"Xander, and yes we played and won against Elliot and Jeremiah."

"Nice."

"Thanks."

There was a moment of silence as both sipped on their drinks and watched Haakon and Easton focused on their ping-pong game. Willow didn't know who was winning, but it seemed to be pretty intense.

"Can I ask you something?" he said, bumping her shoulder with his.

"What? You want to go on a date?" Willow smirked and sipped on her drink.

"That's– not what I was going to say…"

"No?" Willow was genuinely confused. "You've been asking when I would start the solo dates. I thought you'd be eager to get yours–"

"That's not why I meant," he said. "I just wanted to ask you something totally unrelated to a date."

"Oh." She shifted on the couch, facing her shoulders to him. "I'm listening."

Julian chuckled awkwardly. "Do you, uhm… still have– I mean, it's okay if you don't, but do you, by any chance, still have my navy-blue Angeles High hoodie?"

Willow's mind went blank for a moment. "You signed up for the Selection to ask me for your sweater when you could have just texted me?"

"No, no, no!" Julian replied. "That was not the reason, and you know it."

"Do I?" she said. "Why did you even sign up? And don't tell me it was just because you didn't want to go through all the protocol."

Julian turned the glass in his hands, making the blue liquid twirl in it, the ice cubes bumping into each other and making little clinking sounds. "I had three reasons to sign up, he confessed– can we talk somewhere else?" he suddenly asked.

Willow nodded and she walked away with her drink, Julian on her heels. Some people noticed them walking away together, but she didn't care. She needed to get things straight with her ex-boyfriend, and soon. They went inside through the Men's Parlor, down the hall, and up the stairs.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked, a little confused.

"My room."

"…What? I thought I couldn't go on the third floor."

"Do you want your hoodie or not?" she replied a little more coldly than she wanted. She knew she still had it, somewhere. How many times had she worn it and cried in it when he had left for South Africa, always trying to find remnants of his scent in it? She had stopped when his perfume had faded from it, or when hers had replaced his. But she wouldn't tell him that. They walked to the third floor in silence. "Why are you smiling like that?" she suddenly asked him.

"Because this brings so many memories," he replied softly.

"Good ones, I hope."

"Yes, very good ones." Julian reached to grab Willow's hand just as they rounded the corner to get to her apartment, but she only let go of his hand to push open the door and to let him in. "You changed the decoration, I see." He chuckled. "everything used to be very… pink."

Willow laughed. "Don't tell me about it. It was absolutely hideous."

Which made Julian laugh. "But I like the teal, now," he said.

"Hmm," she hummed. "Come on." She crossed to her bedroom, very aware of the big bed right there, the same one where they had had their first time in Senior year, following their homecoming dance in October. She tried to ignore all that and headed straight for the walk-in-closet. She took a deep breath. "Okay, so it should be somewhere around here."

Julian stood next to her, his arms crossed over his chest, looking around. But obviously, he wouldn't see it hanging just casually from a hanger in a corner. Instead, Willow headed to the gown section and split the hangers in two, pulling half on each side and creating an opening against the wall. There, there was a small nook with a door closing it. She opened it, revealing a box taped closed.

"Do not open?" Julian read out loud. "That bad?"

Willow shrugged. "I did that several years ago," she said. "I was hurting."

Julian sighed. "Hey, before we open this box, I need to tell you something," he said, putting a hand on her arm. Willow turned around and looked at him curiously. "One of the reasons I signed up was because I didn't know how to apologize. Showing up at your door seven years later just to say I'm sorry would have been a bit weird, out of nowhere." He paused but didn't let her speak. "So, I signed in the hopes of doing that. Apologizing, I mean."

"I see…" she said.

"I know my excuse to leave was that I had wanted to go to that school forever, and that was true, but I should have said more…" he trailed off and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "I loved you, I really did. And leaving like that broke my heart just as much. But it needed to be done. I had to go to that school."

Willow nodded. "I understand," she said softly. "I was probably more broken-hearted than you, but I know it had to be done. I can see it now. But it did hurt, back then…"

"I know…" He took a big breath and sighed.

"Anyway," she said, offering him a warm smile. "Thanks for telling me this, and apology accepted." She looked at the box in the nook. "Are you ready to go down Memory Lane? There's a lot of stuff in there…"

"A hundred percent ready," he said, nodding. So Willow reached forward and grabbed the heavy box. She placed it in the middle of the closet, on the plush carpet on the floor. "Hey, you still have the dress from Homecoming," he said, running his fingers over the pink fabric.

Willow kept her back to him so he wouldn't see the matching blush creeping on her cheeks. "Yes. I don't fit in it, anymore, but I couldn't bring myself to donate it with the rest of my smaller size clothes." She paused. "And it didn't fit in the box."

Julian ran his fingers on the puff sleeves, the dozens of little buttons on the front, smiling. She could still feel his fingers on her skin as he had unzipped that dress that night, letting it fall to the floor. Julian quickly put his hands in his pockets and sat across from her on the flood with the box in between them. She looked up at him, and he nodded.

"Pandora's Box," she mumbled as she ripped the old tape off, "here we go…" Once the tape was off, she lifted the lid and opened the tissue paper. On top was a big envelope with PHOTOS written on it.

Before she could put it aside to reach for the sweaters at the bottom, Julian had taken the envelope and opened it. "Oh! This was our Prom picture!" he said, taking the first one out. Willow sighed. Why had she kept all of that? "Ooooh, Homecoming," he said, taking another. "I remember this date! Ah, our first Christmas together. Aw, our first anniversary!" And on and on it went. Each time he pulled a photograph out of the envelope, he stated the occasion if not the date itself.

"You have a really good memory," she mumbled, not looking up at him. On one hand, she really enjoyed going through all those photos with him, but on the other, it was a little painful as well.

Julian looked up at her from the envelope in his hands and put it aside. "Hey, I'm sorry, we can just skip–"

"No, it's fine," she said, taking another object from the box. "Look! Remember this necklace you gave me?"

Julian smiled and held out his hand for Willow to put the piece of jewelry in it. "I can't believe I actually gave you this. This isn't even silver!"

"But I wore it every single day," she said. "It was worth more than diamonds for me."

Julian smiled and they continued to pick up things from the box. Presents he had given her over their two years together, more photos, and by the time they reached the two navy blue hoodies neatly folded at the bottom, Julian was sitting next to her, their thighs touching. They had come closer like two magnets, impossible to fight the attraction.

"Ah, the sweaters," Willow said, pulling out the first one. "I think this one is yours." She handed it to him after checking the tag for the size on it. "Not that I could fit in it anymore, anyway," she snorted.

Julian held it out in front of him from the shoulders. "I'm not sure I could either," he said.

The princess let out a high-pitched laugh as she held hers in front of her, even smaller than his. "It's tiny!" she said. "Did I really fit in there?" Of course, 60 pounds ago, she could. But not anymore. Before Julian could comment something about it, she said: "Why do you need your sweater, anyway? Seven years later?"

Julian shrugged. "I don't know if you saw, but there's a High School Reunion in August. And I wanted to go, just to see how everyone turned out, you know?"

"Hmm, yeah," she said. "I think I saw something about that on Facebook or Instagram, but I didn't pay it any mind." She paused. "When is it exactly?"

"Monday, August 3rd," he replied. "In two weeks." They sat in silence their thighs and shoulders touching. "You wanna come?"

"To the reunion?"

"Yeah. We could sneak out," he said, grinning slyly, "just like we used to."

Willow snorted. "As if I could 'sneak out' during the Selection…" she trailed off. "Though I have to admit that it's very tempting."

He reached for her hand. "Come on, it could be fun."

Willow looked at his magnificent teal-colored eyes and suddenly she wasn't the twenty-five-year-old princess having a Selection and trying the play the Big Political Game. She was the seventeen-year-old teenage girl who was madly in love with her gorgeous boyfriend. The seven years were gone. The heartbreak was gone. The miles separating them were gone.

She noticed Julian's eyes were looking at her lips, but knowing him and his integrity and good manners, he wouldn't dare kiss her: not in the middle of her Selection. Past and present mingled around them as she leaned in and placed her lips on his, and kissed him. Julian didn't seem surprised and kissed her back eagerly, slipping his hand in her hair, his thumb stroking her cheek– just like he used to do! It made Willow's heart go faster and all she wanted was to feel him and only him against her; his heartbeat, his skin, his breath, his–

But Julian pulled away and locked his eyes with hers. "So are you coming with me?" he whispered. "For old time's sake?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'll come."

Julian smiled again – damn, that smile! – and leaned in again to kiss her. There was no Selection, no separation, no past. Nothing. Just them, now, kissing in her walk-in closet among all their memories scattered around them on the floor.

Hiii! thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed the tournaments and the dates! Which one was your favorite? Let me know ;)

I'll see you next week with another chapter and another 1-1 date! :D