Chapter Twenty-Five

ADAM

Adam ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He had no idea where he was going; he was just following after the bear as it went deeper and deeper into the woods and farther and farther down the hill. He was surprised that the bear hadn't tripped over its stubby legs and rolled down the hill yet. He could hear Snow White and Florian yelling at each other as the bear picked up more speed. They were so much farther ahead he wasn't sure where exactly they were, he only knew he was going in the right direction when he found her red cloth and her hat along the way. He had made sure to get them because she would definitely ask where they had gone and continued to run. He had to get to her.

His toxicity level rose with his heavy sweating the more he pushed himself to run faster. His lungs screamed at him as he breathed in his own toxins and as his lungs craved new air from his running. His blood lust was at an all-time new high that craved vengeance. His adrenaline demanded that he go faster while his limbs begged to slow down. He just kept running.

He dodged low hanging branches and vines that lingered in the forest as he came closer to the bottom of the hill. After what felt like hours of running, he finally saw her. Face down in the dirt, as though she had been flung, and draped over tree roots. He saw that the fool was already up and getting ready to attack the bear.

"You foul beast!" Prince Florian unsheathed his sword. "I shall teach you to listen to your master!"

The bear roared and ran at Prince Florian while Prince Florian yelled and ran at the bear.

"That idiot!" He snarled. He made himself run again and in a weird slow motion of events in his running watched as Snow White got back up and flung herself on Florian to get him out of the way.

She yelled at Florian. "No!"

"No!" Adam yelled after her.

They went rolling to the side while the bear began to roll down the hill. She sat up and watched the bear roll to where she had just been, but it skidded in its roll and managed to hop back up and look back at a furious Prince Florian. Adam felt as though time had stopped, like this was all one bad dream, no matter how fast he pushed himself it wasn't enough.

"You, stupid girl!" He watched Florian yell and glare at Snow White. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"You would have killed it!" She yelled back.

"It disobeyed me!" Florian marched up to her and yanked her up roughly by her arm. She yelped in pain and Adam saw red. "You stupid –"

Florian raised his hand up to backhand her. She turned her face in the direction of the bear and saw that it was quickly climbing the hill and coming towards them. The blood lust pushed through him along with his adrenaline high. Before Florian could hit Snow White Adam had raised his fist back and made a full on contact with his nose and sent him flying back bleeding. He held Snow White to him and turned to the running bear that still had his location targeted.

Adam held up his hand and sent a puff of his Apple Poison at the bear and the bear skidded and rolled to a stop before him. The bear dropped into a deep slumber on its side. Adam stared down the bear then turned slowly to a bloody faced Florian who was holding his face as he sat up. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on such a high end that he could not calm down. The only thing that was keeping him from fully killing that fool was –

Her voice was barely a whisper. "Adam?"

He looked down to her immediately, and the blood lust couldn't decide what it wanted. She had a scrape and a bump on the right side of her forehead, but there wasn't an impression of a handprint on her face. Her hair was in disarray but she had not received any major head wounds. Her dress was disheveled and the sleeves were ripped beyond compare. Those doe brown eyes were so full of fear and tears as she looked up at him, pleading him to hold her. He did. He held her securely to himself. He had her in his arms.

He asked and his hand went to her face. He wouldn't touch the scrape directly because he was worried about it getting infected. "Are you all right?"

"How -?" She was so surprised. She looked over to their left. "The bear?"

"Sleeping." He reassured and used his hand to gently guide her face back to him to have her look at him. "Only sleeping, I swear." He looked her over again and made sure her eyes were fine, that they weren't dilated or different sizes. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Her brow creased and she looked so confused. "I'm slightly tired." He stiffened at that. He had completely forgotten about his toxicity levels, and he was holding her. "How did you get here?"

"I ran." He half-laughed at himself and carefully and slowly released his hold on her to where he was holding her by her shoulders. "I came for you."

"Where's Prince Florian?" She tried to glance around him, but he stepped in front of her.

"That fool is fine." Adam growled. "He only got a fistful of what he deserved."

"My face!" The fool began to cry as he held his nose. "My nose! What have you done to me?"

Adam gritted his teeth as both he and Snow White looked at Florian. He was sitting up, which was the worst thing he could do for a bloody nose, wailing like a toddler. He had a lot of blood dripping down his shirt, and he was reacting worse than what could have happened to him. He would heal, he would be fine, he just wouldn't be as pretty to sway young ladies' hearts anymore.

"Adam!" Snow White gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

"It's just a bloody nose." Adam said unabashedly. "I'd rather him have the bloody nose than you."

She looked at him with wide eyes, as if she had not heard him correctly.

"He would have hit you had I not punched his nose." Adam spoke as calmly as he could. His entire being was shaking with anger and a lustful blood lust towards Florian. "That was the least damage that I could do to him."

An odd series of faces passed over her face. The first was shock, which he had expected; the next was a wary look at him, which did not surprise him; and a look of acceptance, which he had not expected. He was sure she would have shoved him off and told him never to speak to her again because she either feared him or no longer felt safe with him, or both. She did neither. She instead grabbed his hand and gave it a tight squeeze. It was then that he realized that she was shaking too, but hers from fear where his was anger.

"Thank you." She said almost bewildered. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't –"

"Don't." He hissed with a wince. Thinking about what could have happened had he not made it in time hurt him deeply in his chest.

"O-Okay." She nodded in an odd sort of agreement. She suddenly turned her gaze to the bear. She stared it down and watched as it slowly but steadily breathed contently as though it were in a deep sleep. "How did you make it sleep?" She looked up at him with a scared curiosity in those doe brown eyes.

"Princess Snow White!" Frederick called from afar. Both Adam and Snow White turned to see Frederick and a few other huntsmen running down the hill coming towards them. "Prince Adam!"

She waved them over and they came quickly. The huntsmen stood at the ready in case the bear got up again, but Snow White deliberately forbade them from harming it and told them to let it sleep. Frederick had the other men get Florian on a horse so he could see a doctor about all of the blood. Frederick had them leave two horses behind and sent the other huntsmen back into town. Fredrick stood and waited until they had all disappeared into the forest before turning to them.

He looked between the two of them. "Are you two all right?"

"I'm fine." Adam nudged Snow White forward. "It's her I'm worried about."

"I already told you that I'm fine." She blushed and looked up at Adam. "It's just a scrape."

"Still, even a scrape can do more damage if it's not taken care of." Frederick guided the horses over to them. "You still need to get looked at."

"B-But I feel fine -!" She tried to argue, but Adam merely scooped her up and sat her up on the horse. She flushed a deep shade of pink as she looked down at him. "A-A-Adam!"

"You're going to get seen by a doctor." He told her. "I will go with you, but you are going to see a doctor. I don't want this becoming something." He gently held her head and grazed his thumb near her head scrape. She burned a deeper shade of pink.

"F-F-Fine." She turned her face away from him and grabbed the horse's reins.

Adam looked back so he would take the other horse, but Frederick had already saddled up and was looking at him expectantly. Taking the hint, Adam climbed up behind Snow White and snaked his arm around her waist. Her ears turned red and he could feel her heart rate quickening, but she did not resist nor fight him to remove his arm.

"Well, if you two are ready." Frederick gave him a smirk. "I'll take you two the back way so we don't have to be a display for everyone."

He flicked the reins and the horse began its trot, Adam followed his actions and followed close behind. Although he had his arm around her waist, Snow White was leaning forward closer to the horse's head. Although she sat side saddled, she was making it very obvious that she would look at everything in front of her and nowhere near Adam.

"If you lean too far forward you'll flip over." He said softly and felt her stiffen. "Should I remove my arm?"

"N-No." She sat up suddenly and very stiffly. "That won't be necessary."

"Are you sure you're all right?" he sighed, wishing he could see her face. Even though she sat somewhat closer, she refused to look at him.

"Yes, I'm fine." She squeaked.

"Then why won't you look at me?" He finally asked. He never understood why she looked away from him sometimes. He felt as though he had somehow done something wrong or hurt her.

"I'm just embarrassed. . ." She admitted quietly. "I can't ever seem to do right."

His brow furrowed. "Why do you say that?"

"I couldn't stop Florian." He watched as she pinched the inside of her elbows. "I couldn't defend myself; I couldn't stop the bear."

"Those are things you couldn't have done yourself." He admitted. He watched as she stiffened again. "That's why I'm here. To do the things that you couldn't."

Those doe brown eyes finally met his. They were brimming to the rim with tears, and despite how puffy her face was getting as she tried not to cry, he found her adorable. She turned into him and buried her face in his chest and wrapped her little arms around him tightly. He merely wrapped an arm around her shoulders and his hand on her head and held her close. It felt so good to have her in his arms where he could keep her safe and to know that she was safe. She whispered into his chest, "Thank you."

"Always for you, my dear Snow White." He rested his cheek to his gloved hand. He enjoyed these few precious moments when he could because he was never sure when he would ever get another chance to hold her like this.

They rode in silence back to the town, and just as Frederick promised he took them around the back to avoid the public eye. Adam knew that they were close because he heard the distinct wailing of Florian as he was being examined.

"Are you sure all you did was give him a bloody nose?" Frederick called over his shoulder. "It sounds like you broke his nose."

"I shall leave it up to the doctor to determine the state of his nose." He couldn't hide the smirk on his face. "Whether or not it is broken will be told after the blood has been cleaned up."

"Did you have to hit him?" Snow White asked as she sat up, her doe brown eyes looking into his own eyes.

"Yes." Adam nodded his head with a very serious face. "It is what he gets for raising his hand at you as well as for putting your life in danger." His hand slid from the crown of her head to her cheek. "I will prevent any and all who will try to hurt you, Snow White. I will protect you."

A blush instantly flushed her face and there was a certain hazy look in her eyes. Despite the fact that he could tell that she wanted to look away, she didn't as if she needed to search his face for answers. The look that she kept giving him was very hard to look away from and he felt the strongest urges to lean down and kiss her. He felt his own face heat up and forced himself to look away to abstain from the temptation.

"Before I forget." He cleared his throat and pulled out the red fabric from his inside pocket. "I believe this is yours."

"My silk!" She began to pale and go back to her natural color as she accepted her fabric back.

"And this." He smiled and placed her hat on her head. "I found them on my way to you."

"Thank you!" More tears leaked from her eyes and she hugged the fabric to her. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"If it's important to you," He smiled and reached his hand to her face to wipe away the tears, "it's important to me."

"We're here." Frederick called and pulled the horse to a stop. Frederick had kept his back to them the whole time and he sounded either jealous or annoyed after hearing them the entire way. He slipped off his horse easily and didn't bother turning to look at him and tied his horse to the horse post.

Adam got off of the horse first and then assisted Snow White off before escorting her inside. Frederick stood waiting for them at the door with his arms crossed and a knowing smirk on his face. Adam pointedly ignored him and followed Snow White in just as Prince Florian let out another howl of pain. Snow White released his elbow and grabbed his hand and led the way to the room where the doctor was cleaning Florian's face. The doctor was dipping a cloth into a basin of warm water and touched it to Florian's forehead when the fool screeched again. Snow White stopped leading the way and instead followed Adam into the room. Florian yelled. "That son of a –"

"For someone who fought a dragon and received terrible burns," Adam tactfully reminded him. "You seem to have very little pain tolerance."

"You." His eyes were blazing and he pointed a finger at him. "You bastard!"

"Prince Florian I will only tell you this once." Adam narrowed his eyes. "Speaking curses and foul language in front of a lady and princess is most unbecoming and unsightly. Perhaps you should calm yourself so that you can think rationally before you just spout whatever comes to mind."

"You – " Florian began to charge up again, but the doctor merely placed the warm cloth on the fool's face and wiped the blood and snot from his face while looking at Adam.

"Young man, if you're here to cause trouble, I advise you leave." The doctor frowned at him. "The prince here makes enough noise without you instigating something." He removed the cloth for Florian's face and dipped it back into the basin of water. "So unless you have business with me, I advise you leave so I can take care of my patient."

"I do." Adam said bluntly. "I have a much calmer patient that you should check up on."

"You certainly don't seem to have anything wrong with you." The doctor looked him up and down.

"Not me." Adam stepped aside to show Snow White. "She needs you to check her head."

The doctor froze as soon as he saw Snow White.

"The princess is hurt?" He blinked rather confused.

"She hit her head very hard after being thrown off of a bear." Adam supplied. "She's got a scratch, but it needs to be cleaned and checked for a lump."

"A bear?" The doctor blinked then turned to Florian. "Is that how you messed up your face?"

"No he - " Florian roared to life again.

"No, I had to scold him for putting the princess's life in danger." Adam answered over him. "He's the one that rode the bear in the first place and dragged the princess down with him."

"Oh, well then let me get cleaned up." The doctor went to the sink and began to wash his hands. Florian sat up wide eyes and mouth gaping.

"But what about me?" He whined.

"You're fine!" The doctor snapped. "You only have a bloody nose it's not even broken!"

"Then why does it hurt?" He whined back.

"I could always check to make sure it's not broken." Adam offered and took a half step towards Florian, his hand at the nose level to grab Florian's nose.

"Don't you dare touch me you bast – "

"Don't waste your time with him." The doctor groaned and wiped his hands clean. "Let's just get her taken care of. Sit over here, Princess Snow White."

Snow White did as she was instructed and sat up on the small examination table. She placed her hands in her lap and almost seemed to shrink herself to an even smaller size. The doctor very gently cleaned the head scrape and further examined her head. Seeing as there were no bumps or lumps or anything to be too concerned about the doctor turned to Adam.

"Her dress is in worse shape than she is." He smiled confidently. "She's a lot stronger than she looks and is perfectly fine. If she has any headaches or she has fainting spells, bring her back and I'll do further examination."

"Yes sir." Adam nodded respectfully and passed on some gold coins to him. "This should be enough to pay for her checkup; I can't say the same for your ears after dealing with him."

"Thank you sir –" The doctor gratefully took the coins and pocketed them and eyed Adam, trying to figure out what to call him.

"He is Prince Adam." Snow White spoke up. "T-The Queen's nephew."

The doctor's eyes widened. "Prince Adam?"

"Thank you for tending to her." Adam said flatly and went over to Snow White. "We will be taking our leave now."

"What about me?" Florian whined and stood.

"I'll get him," Frederick heaved a sigh and looked even more moody than ever. "You two saddle up and wait for us. I have to bring you both back to the castle."

Adam said nothing as he escorted Snow White out of the doctor's office and back outside. He made sure to get out quickly, but to remain gentle with her so as not to jar her. When they got outside He assisted her onto the horse, but he remained standing on the ground. For some odd reason he did not like the fact that Snow White told the doctor he was a prince; and a nephew of the Queen at that. He did not mind acting gentlemanly or princely towards Snow White, but it was not something he wanted the rest of the Realm to know about; especially since he was not meant to be in the Realm for very long or at all for that matter. With her calling him a prince it made him realize that he truly has spent far too much time in this Realm.

That was the conflicting part. He loved Apfel, he loved the sun, he loved . . . the people; oddly enough. There were things here that he could only experience here that he would never be able to experience in the Anti-Realm. In fact, that was what had made it so hard to go back each time. Adam was now at a point where it felt overly natural to be here and becoming more unnatural for him to be in the Anti-Realm. He couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not. It wasn't like he could just simply stay in Apfel forever; especially since he had a mission, a job, to do. A mission that required him to ensure that the Evil Queen got her Happy Ending. Her Happy Ending required not having Snow White in it which meant –

"Adam?" Snow White cooed softly. "Are you all right?"

His head snapped up to hers and worry was written across her face. Even with the tiniest of scratches on her forehead she still looked like a vision in the sunlight.

He smiled for her; that was strangely becoming easier to do. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." She frowned and her brows creased more. "You've said you were fine all day, but you look far from it."

A yawn actually dawned on him at the word of sleep, "Just the lack of sleep."

Her hands balled up into fists. "I think this is a little bit more than just sleep."

"Whatever could you mean?" He raised an eyebrow at her and tried to keep his voice even.

"Adam," He loved the way she said his name, "why don't you like being called a prince?"

"I'm sorry?" He could only blink at her. He could hardly comprehend the question she asked.

"You're very handsome." Her cheeks tinted a shade of pink. "You're very well-mannered, you're kind, you're honest, and you have every quality of a royal prince. I just don't understand why you don't like being called a prince."

His mouth was dry like he had swallowed too much poison and it took all the moisture from his mouth. There was an irritating thudding in his chest that flooded his ears and drowned out other noises. He wasn't kind. He wasn't well-mannered. He only had enough princely qualities to impress her when it was necessary. He was least of all honest, not as honest as she thought he was. If she knew why he was here, what his purpose was, what he was told to do to her she wouldn't look at him the same way.

Looking up into those watchful doe eyes Adam could see she was being serious in her questioning. She literally saw him as that, a prince. A knot began to form in his stomach. She wasn't gullible, she was just overly friendly. She wasn't stupid, she was very observant. She wasn't silly, she took everyone else into consideration before herself. She was the beautiful one. She was the kind one. She was the one that had every quality of being a royal princess. She deserved better than what he could provide her. The knot tightened to the point it hurt.

He did not deserve to be near her. He had no right to be anywhere near her. He wanted her, he wanted to protect that light, but he also wanted it for himself. His hands were poisoned, dirty, filthy, bloody, tainted; he had to keep them gloved so as not to taint her. His head ached and the thudding in his chest made him fear that his heart was going to burst. She placed her tiny hand on his gloved one, "Adam?"

He stiffened, "I do not deserve to be called a prince."

He kept his gaze on the saddle where she could see the top of his head but not his face. He was overcome with the odd sense of wanting to vomit, to want to run, to want to hide, to wear a mask. This was a shame. This heavy grievance of burden that intensified gravity was the utter shame. The shame of wanting her, but knowing he could never have her. The shame of having blood on his hands, but keeping them gloved so he could be beside her. The shame of knowing there were growing feelings that he could not understand, but knowing that he was supposed to kill her.

"I am not of royal birth." His hands balled into fists at his sides. "I am of hatred and everything dark. I am not a man that should have that entitlement for more than reason. I am not a prince, I'm not even a good pretend one. I don't even have the right to enjoy hearing you call me a prince."

"But you are a prince." She placed her hand on his hat and gently tipped it back so he would look at her. Those doe brown eyes were so sincere, so full of things he couldn't understand. It intensified the thudding and the gravity. "You don't have to be of royal birth. You're not full of hatred or everything dark; there is light in you."

"No." He grabbed her wrists and shook his head. He couldn't allow him to get sucked in and believe her. He hoped he could convey that message to her by looking at her, but her eyes never changed. Every so gently and slowly she slipped her wrists from his grasp and held his gloved hands.

"Adam, you are a prince." Her tiny hands shook as they held his large gloved ones. "You are my prince."

He could only stare at her as her words echoed back in his ears. The thudding turned into hammering. He felt hot, his face was burning. He couldn't look away from her, he didn't even want to look away from her. He wanted to touch her face and press his lips to those captivating red ones.

But he couldn't. He would never be able to. Not as he was. He was a danger to her and her kingdom. He stayed in place, for once not knowing what to do, where to move, where to go. Whether Snow White knew what her words actually did to him and made him feel or not, whatever he did or said at this moment could affect absolutely everything in their relationship.

"Hey you two, I didn't think you'd actually be waiting on us." Adam had never been so thankful to hear Frederick approach. He turned to see him carrying a less bloodied and messy Florian over his shoulders.

"You said you had to escort us back." Adam cleared his throat and though he still felt anxious, felt as though he could breathe easier.

"Well, get on the horse, it's time to go." Frederick put Florian on the horse and grabbed the horses reins to walk with it. Still not sure what to do about Snow White, Adam also grabbed the horse's reins and walked in step with Frederick. Frederick gave him a look and a raised eyebrow, but said nothing as they made their way back to the castle.


Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you're enjoying it so far!

Man is Adam killing me right now. He has not made this chapter nor the chapters to come very easy, but I think in the long run it will be just fine. What do you think? How did you feel about those doki doki moments? Let me know what you think!

Thank you for coming along the journey with me, stay tuned for more!

Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter.