Thank you for the reviews. I don't have much to say about this chapter but it does get a bit cheesy. Oh and Lee's really out of character at then end. Sorry.
Lee had spent the next week attending duties and then sneaking out to see Lucy in the evenings after dinner. They'd gone on a couple of more dates, including a night club which Lee had never tried before. Inhibitions flew out of the window that night and the both got drunk before stumbling back to the flat, laughing. When he kissed her goodbye at the door, he was glad Paul was outside waiting for him and then for when he had to try and climb back up that wall. They'd gone to the cinema and kissed in the back like a pair of teenagers and he'd spent some hours with her lying on her sofa, just talking. He only had the chance to stay the whole night another two times.
Now...now he was sat in front of his parents with his head bowed as they glared at him. They'd found out after catching him jumping back into the gardens after spending the evening with Lucy in the park. The palace had also increased security that day. Also, he was keeping the fact that Paul and Toby had helped him to himself. If they found out they were involved they'd be out of a job.
He felt like a child, sitting on the sofa with his parents looking over him. He wasn't sorry. How could he be sorry? He'd found the most amazing woman he'd met and why should he be sorry for falling suddenly in lo-. He couldn't love her. Could he? He couldn't have fallen in love that quickly. Not within two weeks. It was impossible. Was it?
"How long?" Frank questioned with his arms across his chest.
He may be short but the King of Elliel was scary and intimidating and that was without the disapproving expression his mother had on her face. He hated letting his mother down, it made him feel like a failure but he had decided to escape and he would keep on doing it to see Lucy.
"How long what?" Lee knew he was pushing his luck with answering back but he wasn't a child!
"How long have you been sneaking out? How long have you been lying to us about what you've been doing?" Frank spat out as Lee shrugged his shoulders.
Lee's reply was a mumble, "a couple of weeks."
"A couple of weeks!?" His mother squeaked as he kept his gaze on their faces. He had to be strong and stand up for himself.
"Yes mother. A couple of weeks," he replied as he kept his head strong, although he was playing with the cap in his hands.
"Do you know how stupid and dangerous it is to do that!? Did you think about what some of the consequences might have been!? What if you'd have been recognised and then killed!? What if you'd got lost!?" His father shouted as Lee kept his head strong.
Replying calmly Lee said, "no one recognises me with a beard."
"Well, for the parade you're keeping it so people will recognise you," he said pointing at him as Lee's mother stood still, Frank pacing up and down the room as he fumed.
"Why?" His mother whispered.
"I feel trapped sometimes. I don't get to make my own decisions and I get treated like a child. I had to get out so I did," he answered as his mother's gaze softened.
"How could you feel trapped in such a big place!? We've only been here for a month and we're going back in two weeks. That's a short amount of time to feel trapped," Frank ranted back.
"I feel trapped because of you!"
Letting that comment slide Frank needed more answers,"you went out once. Why did you risk doing it again and again and again!?"
"Because I met someone!" Lee accidentally let slip as his chest heaved. He was too wound up to think about the consequences at the moment. At that revelation Lee's mother's mouth dropped open and Franks formed a thin line as he stared at his son.
"You what?" His tone of voice was menacingly low as he neared his son on the couch.
"I met a girl," Lee answered confidently, "and I really like her."
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Toby in the doorway with a sympathetic expression on his face as he watched the seen play before him. That Toby could back Lee up on, he'd never seen him so happy than after spending time with Lucy.
"Does she know who you are?" His mother asked softly as Lee shook his head in reply. If the girl didn't know who he was then that must mean she liked him for him not because of his status but she knew what Frank was going to spit out next and it broke her heat because she knew she'd have to see her son heartbroken.
"You can't see her again!" Frank shouted as Lee's heart dropped. He couldn't spend the rest of his life not being able to say goodbye. It wasn't happening. "You can't even think about courting a silly commoner girl!"
"She's not silly! She's...she's," and Lee couldn't think of another word rather than, "perfect."
"No one's perfect!"
"She is to me! I don't care what you think. I like her and I'm not never going to see her again!" He argued back as he stood up from the sofa, his fist clenched, tears in his eyes and a heaving chest.
"You will do as I say... You'll never see her again," and with that Frank stormed out of the room, leaving Lee and his mother.
Walking up to her son who still stood, she looked up at him and took a deep breath, "I'll help you escape one more time but Toby's going with you. I'm giving you the chance to say goodbye." And with that Jeanette walked out of the room as well.
Lee stood for a few seconds as tears escaped his eyes before slowly falling to his knees and crumpling to the floor. He could usually stay strong but this...this hurt too much.