Hello everyone! Enjoy!
Chapter 3
Puck turned around and came face to face with Rachel. As soon as he laid eyes on her, he forgot how to breathe. Sure, Rachel was beautiful when they were sixteen but now that she was grown up, she was gorgeous.
"Hey Rach," he replied, calling her by her old nickname.
"What are you doing here?" she asked before becoming flustered. "I-I mean I did not think I would ever see you again."
He shrugged. "You should know better than anyone that things change."
Sensing the tension in the room, Maria quickly stepped in. "Rachel it's so good to see you again." She went to hug her. "You've grown up beautifully."
"Thank you, it is good to see you as well."
Sara walked over to her. "Do you remember me?"
Rachel looked at her and smiled. "Of course I do, Sara. You've grown up beautifully as well."
"Thanks. I can't believe you live in a place like this. It's amazing."
"Wait until you see your room," Daniel told her. "Come with me, I will show you where it is."
Sara looked at Maria for approval and after Maria nodded, she walked away with Daniel as Rachel looked at her parents.
"I am confused, what is going on?"
"Well we thought it would be a good idea if we invited the Puckermans to attend your coronation," Hiram explained. "After all, they were a big part of your life. They are the reason you are able to have such freedom."
Rachel shook her head. "But my coronation is not for another month."
"Wait a month?" Puck interrupted. When he gave in to coming on the trip he thought he'd only be there for a weekend. Not for a month. "No one said anything about the coronation not happening for a month."
Shelby pretended to be shocked. "Really? Daniel must have forgotten to mention it when he was completing the invitations." She turned to one of the servants. "Would you show Maria and Noah where they will be staying? We will handle their lack of clothing later."
The servant nodded and motioned for them to follow him. After they left, Rachel turned to her parents. "Why did you not inform me that Noah was coming?"
"We thought it would be a fun surprise," Hiram answered. "Seeing someone you were once so close to after such a long time apart can be a happy occasion."
"Did you see the look on Noah's face? Clearly he is not happy at all. It was a horrible idea to even think of inviting him to something like this."
Shelby frowned. "Rachel do not be so dramatic. Like your father said, Noah and his family are a big part of your life. It is only fair to share this occasion with them."
Rachel frowned and nodded, knowing that her mother was right. Whether she liked it or not, Puck was a big part of her life and as hard as she tried, she couldn't erase him. She would just have to figure out a way to get through the next month with him around.
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When Puck got to his room, he sat down on the bed and tried to think of how he was going to get through the next month. He couldn't believe he had been tricked into staying in the same place as Rachel for a month. This was a nightmare.
While he was thinking, Sara ran in. "Can you believe this? We're staying here for a whole month. This is about to be the best summer of my life."
"Lucky you," he replied, clearly unhappy with the circumstances.
She frowned at her brother's unhappiness. "Look this might end up good for you too."
"How? How could staying with my ex for a whole month and watching her look for an eligible prince to marry be good for me?"
"Maybe you can work things out with her. I mean, it's pretty clear everyone knows you still love her and they're trying to help you."
"What makes you think everyone knows?"
Sara stared at him. "Daniel and even her parents tricked you into coming. I think they have some type of idea."
"Everyone just needs to get it through their heads that Rachel and I are over. Being stuck here for a month isn't going to change anything."
She rolled her eyes and walked out. She knew Puck was stubborn and wasn't going to listen to anyone so she decided to let whatever happens happen and if it turns out that they get back together, she could be the first person to say "I told you so."
As she was walking, Sara found Rachel sitting on the nearby staircase writing in a journal and walked over to her.
"Hey Rachel. What are you doing?"
She looked up at her. "Oh I am just writing in my diary. Princesses typically need something to write their thoughts in otherwise they will go insane. Are you satisfied with your bedroom?"
"Satisfied is an understatement," Sara smiled. "I'm so excited to be spending the next month here. Wait until my friends at school find out that I stayed at a princess's mansion."
"Well soon-to-be queen," she corrected before frowning. "I am so sorry for never telling you about my true identity and simply disappearing. I am sure you must have been confused when you found that I was gone."
Sara frowned at the memory. "I'll admit, I was pretty disappointed. I didn't really even get a chance to know you because you spent all your time with Puck."
Rachel sighed. Ever since she returned to Mercier she couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that she had for leaving and never giving Sara an explanation. "Well I apologize for that. If you like, we can get to know each other while you are here."
"Don't you have a lot of stuff to do to get prepared for your coronation?"
"Yes but I do have spare time and I would like to spend it with you. I can take you someplace to get more clothes since you are not prepared to stay for a month. What do you say?"
She smiled. "Yeah of course."
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Puck laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling thinking about the fact that he was stuck in the same place as his ex for a month. He hasn't set foot in the castle since he came to save Rachel all those years ago. Now it seems as if that happened in another lifetime.
While he was thinking, Puck heard someone come into the room. He looked and saw a younger looking man standing in the doorway.
"Oh sorry," the young man quickly said. "I didn't mean to interrupt your thoughts or anything, I was just checking to make sure you were okay and didn't need anything."
Puck got up and walked over to him. "Relax it's okay. It's not like I was doing anything anyway." He held out his hand. "Name's Puck."
The young man shook it. "Ryder Lynn. I'm Daniel's nephew."
"Oh cool. So you stay in the castle too?"
"Yeah, my mom sent me here to keep me out of trouble. And considering how I'm staying in the same place as the royal family, it's pretty impossible to get in trouble. So to earn my keep, I'm playing assistant to my uncle."
"Well I have to say it'll be great to have another guy around since I'm stuck here for the next month. Your uncle likes to trick people."
Ryder nodded. "He kept talking about some big plan to get the princess back to who she used to be but I never knew what he meant. I guess you had a pretty big impact on her."
"Obviously not big enough," he mumbled.
"So you and the princess…dated? Like, seriously dated."
Puck nodded. "Yeah."
"Wow, I didn't think that type of thing was allowed. How did you swing that?"
"Long story short she stayed with me and my family for a while, we fell in love, she got taken back here, I came to save her, then we agreed that I would come back when I graduated high school to be together but it never happened."
"Why not?"
He shrugged. "Things changed. But now I get to watch her pick a husband from a bunch of princes. All thanks to your uncle."
"I think he had good intentions. You never know, you might end up thanking him. But until then I just remembered, I'm supposed to tell you that dinner is at six so be properly dressed. There should be something in your closet for you."
"Thanks," he said as Ryder walked out. Puck sighed and tried to think of how he was going to get through dinner with Rachel tonight. He knew it was going to be filled with a lot of awkward silences but hopefully they wouldn't last for long.
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As predicted, there was a lot of awkward silences. Puck and Rachel tried not to look at each other and their parents tried to ignore the elephant in the room.
Shelby cleared her throat. "So Noah, what have you been up to?"
"I work at my friend's stepdad's tire shop. It's not much but it pays the bills."
"Really?" Rachel asked. "I thought you wanted to work in construction because you were good with your hands?"
"Well I could've been doing something else," he replied with an edge to his voice. Puck didn't think Rachel had a right to question his career choices. If it wasn't for her, he would've been in Mercier with her helping to run everything.
Sensing the tension in the room, Hiram changed the subject. "So Sara how old are you?"
"Just turned twelve."
"And to think, next year I'll be raising another teenager," Maria added. "Hopefully it'll be easier keeping tabs on her than it was with Noah."
Puck shook his head. "Hey I was a pretty good kid. I just enjoyed getting in trouble from time to time."
"A lot of the time," Maria joked as everyone laughed.
Shelby smiled. "Well I'm sure he's grown out of that sort of thing by now. Right Noah?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I think a little trouble here and there is pretty good."
Rachel laughed. "I guess you haven't changed a bit."
"Yeah at least one of us stayed the same," he replied.
Everyone went silent before Shelby decided to speak up. "Why don't we ask one of the servants to bring us dessert? I think they have prepared-"
"Noah if you are so hostile towards me why did you bother to show up?" Rachel asked, cutting Shelby off. "I am sure no one forced you on a plane."
"No but Daniel had me thinking I'd only have to pretend to be okay with you for a weekend. I didn't think I'd be stuck in the same place as you for a whole month."
"Believe me if I had known, I would have told him to not even bother. I would not want to spend my time concerning myself with what you think of me rather than what my country will think of me when I am crowned queen next month. Maybe everything would be better if I provided transportation for you to go back home."
Puck nodded. "Please do. It's what you're best at anyway, isn't it? Sending me away and then forgetting I even exist."
Rachel stared at him before excusing herself and leaving the dining hall. Everyone stared at each other, not knowing what to do next before Puck finally had enough and walked out.
When he was gone, Hiram tried to ease the tension. "I think now would be a good time to bring out the dessert."
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