GONE FOR A HOT MINUTE having a quarter-life crisis and deciding all my original projects weren't as much fun as this one. Lots of drama in this chapter, it's me continuing to indulge my writing needs oops. Some parts were really hard to describe but hopefully it makes sense. I love you all so much.

MY BEAUTIFUL REVIEW SQUAD THANK YOU SO MUCH—ladyanj (I stan you too sis hugs), Nameless (tysm babe), Epiccupcake28 (he's keepin them for political reasons and thank you! I appreciate all your reviews!), Doctor Kay Strange (YOUR REVIEW GAVE ME LIFE), mnbvcxz-xx (aww glad you thought so, I was trying to make it funny!) RunawayGirl8125 (girl that's a MOOD), delovies (love you bitch)

-shades

…

Lissa had been expecting the Governess Aesthetic to be a lot more pencil skirts and high heels and adorable kids and singing My Favorite Things to them during a thunderstorm than whatever it was she was currently doing.

"Guys," she said for the millionth time, raising her voice to be heard over Evie and Sophie's incessant giggling as they sat on the sofa across from hers in the Woman's Room. This time, she tried softening her tone. "Remember, we're reading?"

The two quieted down momentarily and went back to the picture books they had on their laps, and Lissa chose to ignore the soft whispers from between them. There were some fights she realized she couldn't win. She had been their governess for two months, and now the girls had a tutor, even though she still had to be with them during their lessons. She had the brilliant idea last night to go downtown to a bar with half-price margaritas with Gracie last night to keep her friend company while Damian was traveling with Colin, and it was safe to say that today, Lissa was hungover.

She tried to look busy as she stared at the pages of her own book, but she hadn't focused on a single word of this book. Being a governess to two kid princesses was too demanding to let herself escape into a book. The only Governess Aesthetic she had currently going for her were her heels and only because after sleeping through her alarm, she had tripped on them from where she had left them on the floor last night—actually probably early this morning. She didn't have time to shower either, and her dirty hair was in an extra messy messy bun and her makeup was reduced to some crooked eyeliner and mascara. All in all, along with her wrinkled jeans and random top that only matched because 75% of her closet was blush pink, today sucked.

"Miss Lissa, I'm bored," Evie complained loudly.

"Me too," Sophie chorused. "I hate reading!"

"It's important to read, especially for princesses," Lissa told them seriously, leaning forward on the sofa. They completely ignored her. Lissa closed her eyes with a sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose. It was the lack of a power outfit, she just knew it.

Both girls had the same idea at once and jumped off their couch opposite hers.

"Let's play hide and seek!" Sophie cried.

"Please, Miss Lissa?" Evie asked, yanking on her arm.

Lissa kept it together long enough to give them permission. "Okay, go ahead, it's a good time for a break anyway." She seized their distraction to lean back and close her eyes for a sec. She was never drinking with Gracie ever again. That girl got serious boyfriend withdrawals.

The Woman's Room was a little weird when they were the only occupants, but Christine had always thought it was a good idea for her to take the girls there after their lessons were done, due to tradition and all that. None of the Selected were here now, which was nice. When they were, Lissa could never help feeling like a judgmental bitch, and being hungover would have only made it worse. She just always found that being around them brought out her bad side. It didn't help that they usually stole Evie and Sophie's attention off her, or that five years ago she had been in the same place, or that they were all so perfect. Not to mention the TV shows and magazines that had them everywhere one looked, usually slathered all over Wesley and probably trending on social media too.

Okay, maybe she was the tiniest bit jealous.

But only because her own relationship hadn't been going too well lately. Apparently, Wesley's had. After doing five dates in 24 hours last weekend, he now was out with one of the Selected every day, if not more. Trips to the beach, to downtown Angeles, walks in the gardens, every meal imaginable from pre-breakfast coffee to brunch to after dinner desserts and cocktails, there were too many dates to count. Lady Veyra seemed to receive a good amount of these dates, Lissa noticed in all the coverage. No one could get enough of her on crutches and Wesley in his sling, it seemed. Whatever.

Lissa sat back up before she fell asleep and tried her best to resume the Governess Aesthetic and at least look like she was reading while she texted Gracie some crying emojis, hiding her phone behind her book. All of the sudden, the careening and screaming stopped, and the Woman's Room went quiet. Too quiet.

"Guys?" Lissa asked, her words echoing off the high ceilings and right back to her. They were playing hide and seek, but that didn't mean both of them should be hiding. She heard one of them shushing the other and quickly sighed in relief. She really cared about them and cared a lot more when she wasn't suffering like today.

She set her book down and stuck her phone in her pocket. "Okay girls, it's almost time for you guys to go back upstairs and get ready for dinner."

No response. A few giggles. And then a few more that only someone who spent as much time with the princesses as she did would know absolutely did not belong to them. "Sophie? Evangeline?" Lissa wondered towards the source of the noise in the corner of the Woman's Room. It was a huge room, dominated by its floor to ceiling windows and yellow accents. She saw movement by one of the windows, the curtains fluttering. Each window had a sort of well, about a foot of space to step into before you got to the actual glass, like a window seat without a seat. The curtain was pulled about halfway across one half of the window, and she saw it move again.

"Is this your way of getting me to play hide and seek too?" she said aloud, approaching it.

"Shhhh!" she heard someone that was not either of her girl's hiss. "She's coming!"

"Be quiet Aidan!" she heard Evie say. Lissa grinned. It wasn't the first time the little prince had snuck in here or was bothering his sisters. She should have known.

Lissa jerked back the heavy curtain. "Caught ya!"

"Hey!" Sophie cried. "Aidan cheated."

"I'm not even playing!" her younger brother retorted.

But Lissa wasn't exactly focusing on the kids.

Wesley, sitting next to Aidan and covered in sweat and wearing workout clothes, gave her a sheepish smile. "Oops?" he offered.

"Uh…what are you doing here?" she asked him.

"We were spying!" Aidan told her, tugging on her shirt. "But it was really boring because no one was in here except you guys."

"Are you serious?" Lissa demanded, directing it towards Wesley. Despite her best efforts to avoid him, he just kept popping up and Hungover Lissa wasn't having it. "Spying?"

He shrugged. "It was Aidan's idea and since we're not actually allowed in here-"

Just then, they all heard the sound of the doors opening. Lissa turned her head just in time to see Ladies Alyex and Ophelia walking in, both already in evening gowns for dinner. Shit.

"And I'll never live this down if I get caught in here!" Wesley hissed. The next thing she knew, Wesley grabbed her around the waist and violently pulled her back into the tiny space behind the curtain. Lissa lost her balance in her stupid shoes and fell straight into Wesley's chest. They both tumbled against the glass and then hit the ground, Lissa falling on top of Wesley, barely avoiding smashing the three heirs to the throne.

Neither of the girls in the room appeared to have heard it as Lady Eleanor ran up behind them, heels clacking.

"Hey guys, wait up!"

They started chatting about their dresses or something, but all Lissa could focus on was the fact that she was hiding behind a curtain that anyone could walk up to and see the five of them, four of which happened to be members of the royal family, smashed into about three feet of space. She and Wesley were face to face on the floor, he still had his arms around her, and she was on top of him.

And with her legs fitting in between his and no room to maneuver, there was absolutely no way to disentangle herself without revealing the entire crew to the Woman's Room.

Oh no, this was not how she wanted this day to go at all. Not. At. All.

They heard the doors open again and more voices filled the room.

"Lillian, I love your gown!" She heard Eleanor say, her voice sugary sweet. Someone else was greeting Alyex, it sounded like Iris.

Wesley released his grip on Lissa and sat up a little bit, just to shush his mini-me, Aidan, who looked way too happy about their predicament. "Stay quiet," he said barely in a whisper. Aidan and the girls grinned. Wesley shifted his gaze to her. "Sorry," he mouthed.

Lissa just shook her head, trying to get her weight off his chest with her hands on either side of him, but all she succeeded in doing was almost motorboating him. He caught her and pulled her to him tightly before she could fall off the top of him and take out the three kids sitting parallel to them.

Lissa was starting to break into a sweat. It was becoming increasingly awkward, as she only had two options, lay her head on his chest, or keep her head up and be in Extremely-Close-Kissing-Proximity. There was also boobage to consider, and where the heck was she supposed to look and put her hands and she was far too aware of his body beneath hers. His workout clothes and sweaty hair indicated that he was post-workout, and as much as she tried to push it out of her mind, there was no denying that physically, Wesley wasn't the sixteen-year-old kid she had known in a past life.

The three kids stared at them with wide eyes when they weren't peeking around the curtain. Lissa could only be thankful for the fact that there wasn't a gap of space between the bottom of the curtain and the floor. She didn't want to imagine what would happen if they were caught like this. Lissa had the horrifying realization that dinner was going to be soon, and she had to get the girls upstairs to change and Wesley probably did too. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried NOT to remember all the times she and Wesley had ever been this close. There had been a few times during their in-Selection vacation to Trentworth when he had snuck into her room for a cuddle session because back then he was basically an actual puppy. Probably when she kissed him in that fountain too. There had been plenty of other times, most of which she hadn't thought about in ages. So much had changed since then.

They could hear the sounds of the Selected talking right outside their awful hiding place. It didn't sound like all of them, thankfully, but there was a good amount. After a while, the only thing to do was to listen to their conversation and hope they left soon.

"But what did you guys do?" Eleanor was demanding. "Did he kiss you?"

"What? No!" that sounded like Iris. "We barely know each other. We just went to the zoo in Angeles."

"Did he say anything?"

"He said a lot of things, Eleanor," Iris said. "What is with you and having to know every detail?"

"Probably because she's the only girl left who Wesley has never taken on a date." This came from Dresden, Lissa was pretty sure. Beneath her, Wesley grimaced. They made eye contact for a second before Lissa looked away.

"And you haven't been since everyone played polo," Eleanor shot back.

They heard Dresden chuckle. "Not necessarily true. We had drinks together last night, I just didn't tell anyone about it and he didn't have all the cameras there."

"Lucky," this came from Lillian. "When we went hiking, they followed us the whole time. It was so annoying."

"I'm so jealous he took you hiking," Alyex said to Lillian. "I've always wanted to explore more of Angeles, it's so different from Hudson."

"Aw, I know what you mean. I don't think I've ever felt like heat like this before!" Lillian said. Ophelia started asking Iris about the trip to the zoo, and it was nice to hear that not all the girls were fighting over dates. Lissa had many fond memories of hanging out in the Woman's Room with girls she was still friends with today. Of course, there were a few of them that were bitchy back then too.

As Ophelia told them about her brunch with Wesley that morning, Lissa got a first-hand account of all the latest Selection drama she had been avoiding in the all the press about it. Maybe if she could sit up without kicking the curtain hiding them or any of the heirs to the throne, there was a slightly dangerous chance she could not be locked in an embrace with Wesley anymore. There was also the slightly dangerous chance she was just going to motorboat him again, so Lissa decided to stay put, and prayed that the girls would leave soon.

"It was just a really nice brunch, Eleanor," Ophelia was saying just a few yards away from where they were hiding. "I'm sorry but I don't understand what you gain by knowing everything he said to me."

"Did you guys have mimosas?" A new voice asked. It took Lissa a moment to run through all the girls to identify her as Vera. "Because I feel like he'd get totally drunk off of those before noon if he could."

Ophelia laughed. "We both had one, but they were pretty weak. He said so many times."

Wesley cringed again underneath her.

They heard the door open again, but it only brought a new arrival, not salvation.

"Are you guys going to have a gossip fest every day before dinner now?" Georgia said, presumably having just come in. "Because it's getting annoying."

"Are you going to sneak around and pretend that you don't smoke outside when we can all smell it on you?" Dresden sneered.

"Oh, come on, Dresden, don't be rude," Ophelia said.

"I wasn't sneaking," Georgia said as if it was totally obvious.

"Just spying on the monarchy again?" Vera accused.

"Come on, guys." Lissa was pretty sure Iris said. "Can't we just have girl time?"

"I never spied on the monarchy," Georgia didn't respond to Iris. She spoke quietly so that you had to strain to listen to her. Total power move.

"Oh, sure. You keep saying that, but somehow, I don't believe you," Vera said back. Lissa couldn't see, but she was willing to bet Georgia was rolling her eyes.

"If we're saying things that we don't believe I don't believe Dresden went on a date last night," Eleanor piped up. Georgia and Vera ignored her.

"Believe what you want, Vera. I really don't care."

"I think you would care if the whole country found out you were a spy."

They heard Georgia sigh deeply. "Everyone already knows that."

"I think she means like not a hero spy girl but like a traitor spy girl. Still a badass though," Ophelia offered.

"Thanks," Georgia said.

"I still think you're a rebel, and you just lie about everything," Vera said, getting into yelling territory now. "I lost everything because of people like you." There were loud footsteps, not high heels though because Vera never wore them, and then the door slammed.

"Okaaaaay," Dresden muttered. "Well, I guess I better get dressed for dinner." The door opened and closed again, but Iris, Lillian, Alyex, and Ophelia went back to talking about their dates and helping each other craft social media posts. Eleanor occasionally chimed in for more details, but mostly turned her attention on grilling Georgia about her dating life with Wesley and getting one-word answers. Two down. Six to go.

The three kids were now looking at their uncle and governess with wide eyes, getting more anxious about hiding as the minutes wore on. Lissa's arm was falling asleep from laying on it in vain attempt trying to keep her tits off Wesley as best she could, and her watch told her that if they Woman's Room didn't clear out in twenty minutes Queen Christine was going to come to the royal nursery and find her kids missing. It sounded like Georgia and Ophelia may have left at one point, but there were still other girls to worry about.

Wesley caught her eyes and jerked his head in a vague attempt to communicate. Lissa shrugged a little, having no idea what he was on about.

"Roll over," he mouthed. Lissa shook her head, but Wesley ignored her and started to sit up. Since she was laying on her stomach on top of him Lissa had no choice but to roll over, getting her weight off Wesley and onto the floor. A few very tense seconds passed, but they finally managed to both sit up, though still almost on top of each other in the small space. She had to practically sit on his feet and his knees were pressing into his back, but at least they weren't how they were. From the happy chatter from the remaining Selected about the movie stars they had met at the Victory Ball, no one noticed the slightly wiggling curtain.

The minutes wore on and on, and Lissa was ready to do half-price margarita night with or without Gracie all over again to celebrate the fact that she was probably about to lose her job. She should have Evie and Sophie in the dining room like right now, and she still had to take them back to the nursery and get them ready and she was so dead.

"You guys ready to head over to the dining room?" Eleanor asked, finally. "I'm going to see if I can talk to Wesley before dinner."

"Yeah sure, why not," Alyex said, and there was the rustle of evening gowns and high heels on the marble as they hopefully, hopefully, were leaving. The doors opened and closed, and then there was blissful silence.

"Is everyone gone," Wesley whispered. He practically shoved Aidan aside to look out of the crack in the curtain.

"This isn't fun anymore," Aidan proclaimed.

"They are. Let's get out of here." Wesley said, standing up. He held out his hand to Lissa, but she ignored him and got up on her own.

"I am so dead. I'm probably going to lose my job because of you! What were you thinking?" she demanded, getting the princesses up. "I had a perfectly valid excuse to be in here, and you have to pull me into your hiding place like it's a game? Seriously?" She ran her hands through her hair angrily.

Wesley grimaced. "Oops?"

Lissa rolled her eyes and somehow managed not to say "you're so childish," as much as she wanted to, it was kind of a mean thing to say.

"You need a shower. Come on girls," she said, taking Evie and Sophie's hands and marching out of the window well. Of course, Wesley and Aidan had to follow her. "What are you doing?"

"Uh, going to take a shower?"

"Well…can't you, like—"

"There's only one door, Lissa," Wesley reminded her.

"Whatever," Lissa turned her back to him and practically dragged the girls with her. She was so not in the mood for anything right now. The possy of heirs to the throne, their uncle, and one pissed off governess left the Woman's Room pretty suspiciously. There was no one in the Main Hall, though the dining room was occupied by the sounds of voices.

"I'm so sorry about that," Wesley said as Lissa continued to ignore him. "I just panicked. I shouldn't have been there in the first place, but I was coming back from the gym and Aidan ambushed me and I couldn't let my favorite uncle status slide."

"Just don't make a habit of it," Lissa tried to be casual. She was not at all acknowledging how it was maybe kinda a tiny bit nice to be held by him, to feel his heartbeat, and—

Memories. That's all they were, she told herself. Good memories.

Wesley flashed her some finger guns and grabbed his nephew and they both headed towards the dining room, despite their extremely casual dress. Lissa rolled her eyes at his retreating back, so not in the mood to be nice. She was going to have to haul ass to get the princesses back to the nursery and come up with a good cover story for why they were so late. She started towards the stairs with Evie and Sophie in tow, but she was stopped.

"Hey, wait!" It was Eleanor, coming out from the dining room Wesley had just disappeared into. "It's Lissa, right?"

Lissa turned around, gritting her teeth, already imagining the search parties that were going dispatch any second now. "Yes?"

"You were in the Woman's Room just now? With Wesley?" Eleanor smiled sweetly. "I saw you all come out together."

"Uh…" Lissa stammered. "No, I was just getting the girls from him. He was in the royal family's sitting room with all the kids."

"I'm pretty sure I saw you guys leave the Woman's Room. Their sitting room is quite a way from there." Eleanor's fingers brushed over the necklace she always wore. Yeah, that necklace that used to be Lissa's until Drunk Wesley had decided to give it to the girl from her same province.

Lissa smiled sweetly right back at Eleanor. "Well, you saw wrong. Excuse me, Lady Eleanor."

Without a backward glance, Lissa grabbed the girls and dragged them up the stairs. Christine was waiting for them, already changed for dinner, texting Lissa on her phone trying to figure out where her kids were. She accepted the excuse about losing track of the time in the Woman's Room and how the Selected were fawning over the girls, and Lissa just hoped she didn't feel the need to verify the story. She felt bad lying to Christine, because not only was she the queen, but she was also really sweet, but she couldn't exactly tell her she was hiding from the Selected and just so happened to be lying on top of Wesley.

Today had been wild.

…