To say that Mary was nervous was an understatement.
She was apprehensive, restless, anxious. She hadn't been able to rest after choosing her ring, in cold anticipation for her last date. While Eva was on her date, Giavanna had been droning on and on about how she was going to win, which Mary… didn't mind, actually. No matter what, it was up to the Prince, and her prolonged speeches wouldn't sway his decision.
She checked her dress again and again and again. Maybe it was too simple? Mary had wanted to pick a dress that reflected her personality, but maybe Alexander wouldn't like that… Was her hair alright? She had it completely undone, letting it fall down to her waist like a silky black waterfall. But… was it enough?
If only Natasha were here… Maybe she could have helped her. But alas, she hadn't reached the top three, and was probably back home, detailing exactly what had gone on in the Selection to Bernadette.
The door opened. Mary braced herself.
Sure enough, Eva walked in. Her cheeks were slightly pink and she stumbled a bit as she walked in.
"Got a little drink, hm?" Giavanna remarked, looking outside the window. The sun was setting quickly.
"Ugh… what time will the proposals start?" Eva groaned, leaning against the wall.
"After Mary's playdate," Giavanna said.
"And when is that?"
"I don't know. I think we all had two hours, right?" Mary piped in. She ignored Giavanna's signature glare. "So at about ten."
"Thanks, Mary." Eva gave her a pained smile and Mary stood up.
"I'll be going now."
"Good luck, Mary," Eva said politely, though the sincerity was debatable.
"Yeah. You'll need it," Giavanna said.
"Thanks for the… encouragement, guys," Mary said.
She walked out of the door, trying to block out the sound of her heart pounding against her chest.
It was going to be fine. It was going to be fine.
"Hey, Mary."
She curtsied, the fabric of her knee-length skirt flowing off her skin smoothly. "Your Highness."
They walked out of the palace and out to the courtyard, where Coal neighed at their arrival.
"Are we going horse-riding again?" Mary teased, trying to ignore just how loud her stupid heart was. Why couldn't it stop beating?! No, err… Why couldn't it stop beating so loudly?! "I thought we already did this before."
Alexander laughed. "No… well… I just wanted us to be alone for our date. Without a carriage with a coach and servants… just us."
Mary felt her heart warm. "So where are we going?"
A beat.
"Oh. Oh, yeah, I just thought that… maybe you could choose." Alexander studied her face. "Where would you like to go?"
"I haven't been anywhere in the capital except for the palace," Mary said. "What is there?"
"Well, there's the menagerie, I guess…" He thought for a moment. "And the park, we can take a stroll there… or we could explore a cave… oh, I think a museum just opened across the street."
"A museum? Really?" A wide smile appeared on her face. "What kind?"
"Oh, just an art museum, really. A lot of historical artifacts from the whole world. Ethica mostly, though…"
"We can go there," Mary said, taking his hand. "Come on. I'll follow your lead."
It was only the second time Mary had ridden a horse, but she was already comfortable with it. Or maybe it was the fact that she was riding with Alexander, the warmth of his back filling her with zings of contentment.
But still… Something was off. Alexander didn't feel as proud or boastful as before. He was unsure, with pauses everywhere in his speech. Clearly something had changed after their last date, though Mary couldn't make out what.
They rode across the street and right to a large building with a beautiful fountain in front, water spilling occasionally to the sides.
Alexander hopped off, his face as mellow as ever.
"Alexander?"
"Hm?" He looked up at her. She sat on Coal's back, her dress billowing in the wind. "Do you need help getting down?"
She stared into his brown eyes. He looked so small at this angle. So helpless.
"Are you alright?" she asked gently.
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" A loud laugh escaped his throat. "Now come on. We only have two hours."
Mary frowned, but got off of Coal. They tied her to a post and strolled in the large stone building.
It was… huge. The ceiling was higher than even the palace foyer, elegant columns decorating the seemingly endless hall of art.
"This. Is. Amazing." Mary's mouth dropped.
Alexander looked at her and for a moment his eyes brightened for the first time since their date started. "I'm glad you like it. I haven't been here either."
"Well, come on! Let's look at all the history stuff!" Mary dragged him over to the sign that said 'Garrician Era'.
"This is the start!" Mary squealed. Alexander laughed.
"You sound like Annalisa. So excited."
"History is super interesting," Mary said, running to a rusted sword, which was protected under a box of glass. "This was a sword from one of Justin Ares' soldiers! Cool."
"Hm." Alexander looked on from her shoulder. "I suppose."
They went from artifact to artifact, Mary excitingly explaining every piece of background information she knew about the history of Ethica. Era to Era, Ares to Ares. Each room opened up a new world of possibilities.
"Oh, Alexander, look at this!" Mary pointed at a bright porcelain bowl, flower designs decorating the exterior. "This bowl was from Aloia!"
He didn't respond. Mary looked up, concerned, to see that he was staring at something behind her.
She turned around.
Two girls a few years older than her were walking towards them, judgemental expressions on their faces. Mary glanced at Alexander, then at them.
"Are you Mercedes Lopez-Kim?" one of the girls asked.
"Uh… yeah?" Mary said, blinking in confusion.
"Oh! That's cool. You're on a date with His Highness?" the other girl said, looking at Alexander and waving cutely.
"She is," he said sharply. "And we would like it if we were undisturbed."
"Oh, sorry!" cried the first girl. She took a step back, feigned submissiveness in her eyes. "I'm Ashley of House Vasilia. This is my friend Queenie. We just wanted to say hi."
"Well, you said hi, and now I expect you to leave us," Alexander commanded, his eyes narrowing.
Ashley shrugged, but Queenie approached him, batting her eyelashes. "Oh, but why, Your Highness? Why waste your time with a commoner when you can be with us?"
Not going to lie, these two people reminded Mary of a certain someone back in the palace…
Alexander pursed his lips. "I know you're smarter than to defy the direct orders of the Crown Prince."
Ashley panicked. She whispered to Queenie with a terrified look in her eyes and they both nodded to each other.
"Our apologies, Your Highness!" Queenie squeaked. "We'll be on our way."
They scurried away, frantically arguing as they left.
Alexander scoffed. "Serves them right."
Mary smiled up at him, looking into his deep brown eyes. Her heart fluttered for some reason. No. Mary knew why. And she was scared, so scared.
"Come on," Alexander said, taking her hand. "Let's find somewhere we can be alone."
They walked across the museum, admiring anything from exquisite sculptures to ancient books on the way, before Alexander quite angrily ordered a museum staff member to direct them to a romantic, secluded place.
They had obliged, bringing them up the stairs and to the rooftop, where ice cold air stung at Mary's face. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Thank you," she said to the staff. They nodded and ran back down.
Mary turned back towards Alexander and gasped. The view was... stunning. She had known the museum was tall, but she hadn't been so high up before, not even at the palace. The lights of torches lit up the bustling city underneath them, the sun glistening with a beautiful orange, it's rays dimming with every moment to reveal a gradient of dark blue. Stars twinkled above, hesitant at first to try and outshine the sun, but bold and bright as soon as the orange rays subsided.
"I guess stunning views are becoming a motif in our dates, huh?" Mary teased. Alexander laughed.
"Come. Let's sit over there."
They walked towards the short wall, barely high enough to reach their waists. But Alexander didn't seem to mind. He swung his legs over the wall, letting them dangle over the edge.
She gasped. "Be careful!"
He glanced at her. "And I thought you were the daredevil."
She followed him, albeit a lot more cautiously. The wind swept through her legs like a hurricane, sending shivers down her spine.
"The palace is beautiful, isn't it?" Alexander said, staring up at the large building right in front of them.
Huh. Mary had been so busy admiring the sky and the city that she had forgotten all about the luxurious palace towering over everything else. "Yes..."
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"What about the sunset? Isn't it pretty?"
He looked up. "Hm. Don't you get tired of staring at the same thing every day, though?"
"What if the sky were to disappear tomorrow?" Mary asked, scooting towards his side. "Would you admire it then?"
"Yeah," he said.
"See? What you just did was take things for granted." Mary realized that she wasn't staring at the sky anymore. She was staring at him.
"But it won't disappear tomorrow." He frowned.
"It might," Mary said. Her eyes darkened. "I... I lost everything. And I keep losing everything. It makes me appreciate what I have a lot more." She looked back up at him. "Because I know that what I have can be taken away without warning."
She could be eliminated right now. Her father could succumb to his illnesses. Her family could lose the little money they had. So many ways it could all go downhill.
"I'm sorry that happened to you." To Mary's surprise, his voice was genuine. No, not just genuine—empathetic. How he could relate to her little speech, Mary didn't know. "And I guess you're right."
She felt his fingers clench her hand, power and encouragement flowing to her through that connection. She squeezed back.
A moment of silence. The wind blew gentler, now, and the streets beneath them filled with shouts and laughter.
"You must have explored the entire museum," Alexander said.
She laughed, her voice singing in the wind like an angelic chorus. "You mean 'we'. And no, the museum is huge. I don't think I'll ever explore it all."
"Hm." Maybe it was the setting sun, but Alexander's eyes glinted. "Maybe one day we can come back. And we'll explore until we drop dead."
Mary laughed again. "Do you think your wife would let you?"
His smile dropped. "What?"
Mary gasped, covering her mouth in an almost dramatic fashion. "I... misspoke. Sorry."
He looked away. "It's alright."
Stupid! Why would she say something like that? She had to fix this!
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.
To her surprise, he didn't immediately deny it like last time. "What do you mean?"
"I mean... you seem a lot more... dejected, maybe."
"Oh, I..." His hand flew up to his shoulder. Mary bit her lip. Wasn't that the one he hurt on their last date?
"You won't tell anyone this, right?" His voice was strangely vulnerable.
"Of course," Mary told him.
"Julia... she wanted to quit the Selection." Mary gasped. "And I told her not to, but she... she stabbed me."
"What?" Mary breathed. "Are you okay?"
"Honestly? It still hurts." Alexander looked at the floor. Well, the floor that was thousands of feet below them.
"I'm sure she had her reasons," Mary said quietly.
His eyes narrowed. "To stab me?"
She sighed. "I know Julia. She wouldn't do something like that unless you did something really wrong." She looked up to meet his eyes again. "... Did you?"
His eyes shot up, a million thoughts seeming to run through his mind. "I…"
She waited for his response.
"I don't believe I did anything wrong."
There was such a profound honesty in that statement that Mary almost recoiled back. It felt so wrong for him to have said such a thing for some reason (though Mary didn't know why) but it was still yet so beautiful at how honestly he thought he had been right.
"Alexander…" She felt words slip out of her tongue, falling down onto the streets below them.
He coughed. "Let's stop talking about heavy stuff like this, shall we?"
She stared at him.
"You really like history," he said. It was weird, how on their first date it was Mary that was trying to break the silence, but now it was Alexander who was reaching out.
"Nice attempt at small-talk."
He snorted. "Ahem, your Prince is speaking." She crossed her arms. "I'm glad that we went to the museum. You seem at home here."
"I'm glad we came here, too," she replied. "You… are very kind to have let me choose this date."
"I didn't want to manage everything," he said softly. "I wanted you to have a choice."
The sun had more or less disappeared by now. Though the west sky was still tinted blue, darkness crept in from the other side.
"Thank you," she whispered. They were so close together now that she didn't even have to raise her voice against the din of the city.
"You know, if you ever want to study history," he said. Mary felt her heart beating again, but this time she didn't try to push it away. "You don't have to come here."
"Reaaally," Mary said, a hint of a smile on her face. His eyes seemed to shine even in the darkness, almost like stars.
"You have me."
Him. She had him. Direct descendant of all of the kings she had idolized and studied. The mere blood that ran through his veins was probably worth more than any sculpture or book that was preserved in the museum below them. The ring that he wore held centuries of rich history, so much unimaginable power that anyone else would burst.
And she had him.
"Then you have me, too."
Mary knew just how hollow that statement was. Compared to him, compared to Giavanna and Eva, she wasn't worth anything at all. But she hoped that whatever Alexander saw in her at least gave that statement some weight.
He smiled.
And before she knew it, their lips connected.
Okay, this admittedly wasn't the first time Mary had kissed someone. But that was an accident! The last time she had kissed someone was back when she was twelve and tripped over her friend Emmy's huge pile of books and landed on Emmy's poor, poor little brother.
THAT DID NOT COUNT, THOUGH!
So, technically, this was Mary's first real kiss. And boy did it feel good. Her heart fluttered once more, and this time Mary embraced it. She wasn't scared anymore, no. This felt too right, too perfect, like Mary had known all along that this is where she was supposed to be, with this boy in the moonlight.
For years Mary had seen everyone else kiss in the hallways, sing sweet words to each other on the streets. She had never been the one to love, only the one to see her friends love. Mary knew just how strong it could be, but she had no idea how beautiful it felt before this moment.
For the first time in Mary's life, she felt true, requited romantic love.
Then they parted, his hands against her waist, warmth erasing the shivers of the cold night. She placed her hand on his chest, feeling the soft beating of his heart.
Ba-thump
Whoa. There was a heart in there. Mary felt slightly embarrassed that she had thought otherwise, but… For so long, Alexander had been this untouchable being, a god walking amongst puny humans. Now she could feel his chest rise and fall, his heart beat against his chest, and Mary finally realized that he was fully, truly, human.
They looked into each other's eyes, breathless, disbelieving laughter filling the night.
"You know," he said. "I've kissed many people, many times in my life, but… that kiss was better than any of them."
Mary's head spun. "Heh. Imagine if we never went on this date. Then you'd never get to experience the best kiss of your life."
He laughed even harder, then coughed. Mary patted his back. "Yes."
Ding
Somewhere in the distance, bells rang.
Ding
On and on it rang, until it reached ten.
Ding
"And so the clock strikes ten," Alexander said, taking her hand. She took a breath. "Let's go back."
Mary didn't want to leave. She wanted this moment to last forever, up on the roof of this museum, overlooking the world.
"Can we stay?" she asked. She gasped, clamping her hands on her mouth.
"I wish," he said, swinging his legs back to the roof-floor. "It wasn't my idea to have the proposals right after all of the dates. I'm already exhausted."
She laughed. "Were the other dates that bad?"
His eyes narrowed. "You don't know half of it."
Her heart soared, much to her surprise. Why was she so relieved that Giavanna and Eva's dates had went poorly? Usually she'd be quite upset.
"Well, I hope that this date was a bit of a refresher," Mary said, joining him as they walked back towards the staircase.
"It was," he said. "I'm glad I didn't kill y- err, the vibe."
She couldn't help it. She leaned in and kissed him again, this time on the cheek.
"You didn't," she said.
They walked out of the museum and galloped back to the palace, their hearts light and their souls freed.
A/N I, who has never actually taken a romance seriously until very recently, and I, who has never been in a relationship and actually still has a bit of that childhood disgust towards kissing, writes a full romance 'arc' and a kissing scene. Why do I put myself through this and my poor readers who probably can point out 1000 inaccuracies? I don't know.