Chapter 6 – Talking

Author's Note:

Hi, first of all thank you for all the nice comments:) Life has been a bit stressful and I'm quite busy, which is why I couldn't upload and write as much as I want to, sorry. But I try as much as possible, not just with this story but also with other stories that I'm working on.

Also I should mention that I have no clue how marriages and divorces actually work so I just made my own rules for the sake of the story, I hope you don't mind too much:)

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of this new chapter

„What do you mean two weeks? How difficult can it be to print out some papers and let us sign them? Do you have any idea who you are talking to you little…"

Jasper pulled Eleanor back into her chair before she actually might leap over the desk and strangle Mr. Meyers.

"What she is trying to say is are you sure there is no way this could go any faster? We are a little bit under pressure here."

"I am really sorry but you asked us to be as discreet as possible and until we have all the forms we need, such as your marriage license, which we need to find first, there is no way we'll get this done in under two weeks. Most likely it will be even longer."

Mr. Meyers was a capable lawyer with a great reputation but they were not the only as-fast-as-possible-divorce in Vegas.

Jasper could understand why Eleanor was furious.

The longer they stayed married the bigger was the chance the media or, even worse, her mother found out and this would be an absolute disaster.

But besides that Jasper was quite happy even though it didn´t show on his face as he didn`t want to make Eleanor even more angry.

Two more weeks by Eleanor's side was like a dream come true. He wanted to make sure their time together was a happy memory for both of them just as the last two days had been.

Eleanor was not as delighted about their situation.

Her first thought when Mr. Meyers announced the waiting period was that she could wake up in Jaspers arms for a few more nights, which was kind of a nice thought.

Her second thought though was how hard it would be to see him leave her again once this was over and she did not know if she'd be able to continue her life as if nothing happened.

"We need to get through with this as soon as we can."

"I can send you the papers as soon as they are ready so you can sign them."

Eleanor sighed loudly.

"They will get suspicious if I stay in Vegas for such a long time. I need to go back to England."

That's what Jasper was scared of.

The first time it was him who left her, as much as it pained him, and a miracle was what brought them back together. There was no chance he'd give her up once again. As long as she allowed him to be with her, he would be.

"Could you send the papers to England, Mr. Meyers?"

Eleanor looked at her still-husband in shock. Why's he not trying to convince her to stay with him? Does he really want to get rid of her already?

"Of course, Mr. Frost. If you leave me the address we will send it to you and once it is signed you only need to send it back to us and after a short waiting period your marriage is over."

Jasper grabbed a piece of paper and a pen Mr. Meyers handed to him. Eleanor watched as he wrote the address of the palace on it.

No.

Not the palace.

The address was none Eleanor knew but certainly in London.

She didn't say anything to Jasper or Mr. Meyers about it, trusting Jasper to know what he was doing. It also made sense to not send it to the palace so no one would accidentally ready it.

Jasper handed the paper back to the lawyer and all three of them said their goodbyes.

"So how are we going to do this then? I go back to England, sign the papers, send them back to you and you send them to the lawyer's office?"

Eleanor tried her mask to mask her disappointment by staring out of the car's windows instead of looking at Jasper, who had to keep his eyes on the street anyway.

"That's one option."

"You have a better idea then?"

"There is a second option."

She knew he was just teasing her by not instantly telling her what was on his mind.

"How about we go back to England together as my old apartment is still rented under my name for one more month until the period of notice is over. I gave Mr. Meyers my old address so no one at the palace will notice anything, just how you wanted. And when this is over you have to never see me again, Princess. Except you want to of course."

There was a moment of silence in the car.

The thought of him going back with her didn't even cross her mind.

"You'd come with me then? What about your apartment here? You know it will appear suspicious if we fly to London together, people will ask questions?"

"Probably, but that never bothered you before."

"Yes but it was never about something like this. I don't care what the tabloids write about my parties, my drugs or my one night stands. But me secretly getting married will cause a much bigger scandal than just a hook up or some cocaine."

"Stop lying, Eleanor. You're not worried about what the media will say, you are worried about how the queen and your brother will react."

Eleanor didn't know what to say.

Of course he was right.

Her father's last words to her were still haunting her.

How much she had disappointed him and how she could never redeem himself, never see him smiling proudly at her ever again. Her entire existence was a mistake and even though no one would ever say it to her face she knew that it was true.

"I don't get along with my mother and since dad is gone even Liam is distancing himself from me. I know he is mourning but I can't be in this alone. We are still a family and I don't want to disappoint them. If they find out what we did... They won't understand, especially mom. She will tell me how I failed and how I could be so stupid…"

Tears were streaming down her face. She closed her eyes for a second and didn't notice how Jasper pulled over into the next parking lot which was nowhere near his apartment. Only when he shut down the engine she looked at him in surprise.

Before Eleanor could say anything he turned towards her and grabbed her hands.

"That won't happen. Liam would never be disappointed in you to the point where it would change that he loves you. I'm not saying he would approve what we did but he wouldn't detest you or anything. Your mother would be furious, that's for sure, but that doesn't mean she doesn't love you. Both, your mother and Liam, love you so much, how can you not see that? And even If they don't understand you sometimes, if they are not okay with your decisions and actions they still love you and that will never change."

His hand rose to her cheek and she leaned into his warm touch as it was supposed to be.

"How do you know? How can you be so sure about this?"

Jasper wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"For the last four years I had no contact to my sister at all. I've done some things I'm not proud of, you know that, and I thought she would never want to see me again, that she couldn't love me because of what I did. But when I returned from England and I had seen how important family is even if it's messed up… so I called her and as it turned out she missed me just as much as I missed her.

All the mistakes that I've made…she not okay with them by far but that doesn't mean she loves me less. And it's the same with Liam and your mother."

For the first time Eleanor could see tears in Jaspers eyes. Softly she placed her hand over his, soothing him.

"God we are so messed up."

Jasper smiled and so did Eleanor.

"I promise you, it will be alright."

Eleanor took his hand after he restarted the engine.

"And I almost believe you."