A/N: And now, back to the regularly scheduled Kinnley kids!

The Thing About Running Away

The thing about running away was, it was hardly ever the easy way to solve a problem.

The morning Elodie Schreave woke up in bed next to Jordan Reinhardt, she didn't plan on running away. In fact, Elodie was very calm. You see, she thought she was in a dream. A beautiful, impossible dream where she got to cuddle the man she'd loved since she was sixteen and ruffle his impossible bed head before rolling out from underneath the covers.

The haze didn't lift until she was half-way down the hall and caught a maid staring. Normally that didn't bother Elodie; her whole life was people staring at her, wanting something from her. But this maid was staring not because she had news of a meeting or a letter to deliver, but because Elodie was sauntering down the hall dressed in nothing other than Jordan's dress shirt. And she had taken off her wedding ring.

That's when it hit her, the reality of the situation. This was not a dream. This was a nightmare.

She panicked.

And then she ran away.

Elodie didn't realize she was running away until she was fifty mile markers down Route 101 with the wind whipping through her hair. It was too chilly to drive with the top down - one of those rare, cool days that wanted to remind everyone that even Angeles could feel the effects of an impending winter - but she did it anyway. Somehow, the cold only made her drive faster.

When they were first married, Felix would take her on trips every couple months. Short stays at beaches along the coast of Angeles where no one knew their names, with private cabanas so no one could see their faces. Every six months, Elodie would take whole weeks off at a time. She was more reckless with her duties then, drunk in love and sick from the high being with Felix gave her. They would hop in the car and drive until they ran out of road. There were so many parks, so many places she could not go now, tainted with bitterness of something she used to have.

Once she was too far along to stop, she had to finish the drive. Guilt kept her on the road, but it also made her want to turn back. There were bad memories in both directions, mistakes made and relationships shattered.

But, eventually, the road ran out and she was forced to turn around. The whole ride back to the palace, she cried. Her phone had been off for days. There were likely messages from everyone, meetings missed and business abandoned and loved ones wondering where she had gone. The temptation to throw her phone into the water was strong, but she kept it on the passenger's seat, a reminder of everything she couldn't avoid.

When she pulled into the driveway early in the morning, a fleet of maids and butlers flocked to her. They fussed over the sand and dirt streaked exterior of her vintage Cadillac. They offered her her usual coffee and to take her bags in (bag, singular, as she only threw a couple outfits into her duffle and nothing else on her way out). Every step she took was analyzed and new solutions were offered.

Elodie wanted to turn right back around.

Instead, she forced herself through the palace doors and into the main foyer. The smell of lemon cleaner and potpourri assaulted her nose, so much different than salt and sea air. As high as the ceilings were, she still felt caged. There were no views to admire, no escape routes to track inside this palace. Just the arboretum in its fall foliage and her parents sitting at the small table in the center of it.

Mom sipped on her tea while Dad read the newspaper. As soon as they saw her, Mom lowered her cup to her saucer and Dad placed his paper down at the corner of the table. It was early for breakfast; her siblings wouldn't be up for hours, but her parents were different creatures. Morning people.

"Did you enjoy your drive?" Dad asked, so nonchalant. As if she'd been for a spin around the block and not MIA for nearly a week.

"How did you - ?"

"I know everything that happens inside and outside this house, especially when it pertains to my children."

Elodie bit back the urge to laugh.

Oh, the things she could tell him about what happened inside his house, to his children. Then again, Elodie didn't try to hide her running away. She just went. She didn't think about Jordan, or Felix, or Essie, or her parents. For the first time since in over a decade, she thought only about herself, and her guilty conscience ate her alive for it.

The King of Illéa pulled a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket. The handwriting on the page was Elodie's own. She remembered writing it in a daze, remembered handing it to the nearest butler and telling them to deliver it to her husband. A simple letter stating that she was leaving and to take care of Essie while she was gone. A letter that should not have needed writing at all, yet was necessary when Felix never prioritized their daughter.

Only now did Elodie remember that Felix was still in Paris. That he had chosen her yet again. And that the letter, eventually, had to end up in the hands of the man in charge.

"All of your meetings were converted to emails, those that could not your assistant rescheduled for the coming week," Dad said. Truth be told, Elodie was amazed she still had an assistant. If it was still the girl with the ridiculous shoes, Elodie might even bother to learn her name. Dad leaned back in his chair, one leg tossed over the other as he let out a long sigh. "Is there any particular reason you went away? Anything you'd like to share?"

Elodie stepped down into the arboretum. Immediately the humidity starting puffing her hair, sticking to her skin. How Mom and Dad didn't mind it was boggling. She stood beside the table, staring at the design on the table cloth.

"I had a lot of thinking to do."

"Did you come back with any clarity?" Elodie remained silent and Dad sighed again, looking all his years. There were too many grey hairs in his head for someone his age. "This isn't like you, Katy-Kat."

Elodie's whole body trembled. Her lips quavered. Tears fell though her voice stayed strong. "I don't think Felix loves me anymore."

Mom reached out. "Oh, darling, that's not - "

"I don't think I love him anymore either." She had to keep talking, had to push through, or she might never get the courage to speak these words again. "I wanted so badly to have what you and Mom have. I wanted it with my whole heart. But I don't think Felix wants that with me...and I've tried so hard to keep this marriage together but everything is falling apart, and I just - "

"What do you need, sweetheart?" Dad asked, desperate to fix any and every problem, even the ones he couldn't. "Have you tried counseling? Or, or maybe seeing a therapist? It's been so long since the two of you took a vacation..."

"I don't know what I need," she cried, holding herself around her waist to keep herself from falling apart. "I don't know, I don't know!"

Elodie Schreave, the woman who knew everything, was now faced with the one thing she could not predict: herself. And it scared her to death to think she never really knew herself at all.

Mom got up from the table and pulled Elodie into a hug. Like a child. Elodie let herself be held, hiding her face in Mom's shoulder and getting snot all over her sleeve.

"You should go talk to Essie," Mom suggested as she rubbed Elodie's back. "She doesn't understand why you left, and she misses her mother. Grandma and Grandpa are only fun for so long."

"Thank you," Elodie mumbled into her mother's collar. "I love you."

.o.O.o.

Elodie felt like a zombie as she walked down the halls. She wasn't ready to see Essie just yet, afraid she would scare her daughter with how she looked, and yet she wanted nothing more. It was only her iron clad will that kept her on her feet, past the nursery and the hall that led to the attic play house, and towards her own rooms.

Inside her bedroom, a woman stood in a pristinely-pressed chiffon blouse and pencil skirt. Her red hair was swept up into a knot atop her head. On her feet, a pair of black patent leather pumps gleamed. There were no blisters in sight.

"It's good to have you home, ma'am," she said, her accent lilting in a way that suggested a home across the ocean.

"It's good to be home."

Elodie's poorly-packed duffel was nowhere in sight, the clothes to the laundry and the luggage neatly tucked away by staff. Instead, a fluffy robe with matching sippers laid on the edge of the bed. The bed which was topped with extra pillows and blankets, including a warming one. It was clear the staff wanted her to take it easy.

She bypassed the spa night and went to her closet. The assistant followed like a shadow, heels clicking on the hardwood as Elodie sorted through her clothes.

"Your schedule is clear through the weekend. The focus is to ease back into royal duties."

"I was gone a few days, not a few months." Elodie pulled a fresh button down over tense shoulders, fingers moving on auto-pilot. "I'll take meetings starting at six tomorrow."

"Of course, ma'am."

Elodie turned towards the mirror. She looked more like a human than before, even if she didn't feel it. In the background, her assistant stood still as a statue. Red lips pursed into a thin line, stylus flying across her pad.

"You have something to say?"

The woman looked up, green eyes widening as if she didn't expect to be called out. It was a brief moment of shock, carefully replaced with neutral obeisance.

"Of course not." A smile spread over her face, not too large to be overly-eager but not too small to be considered false. "Dinner has just ended. Princess Esperanza will be available for visitors any minute."

It was funny to think of her daughter as working royal, someone who had to plan engagements and audiences. But soon enough, that would be her life just as it was Elodie's. That was the curse of being heir.

"I'm not a visitor. I'm her mother."

"Of course, ma'am."

This was the longest conversation Elodie had ever had with an assistant, and immediately she was reminded why. The woman sounded like a broken record. Elodie grit her teeth and bared it, annoyed for no other reason than this woman was unmovable. The picture of a perfect assistant. Any other day and Elodie would be impressed. Now, she was just eager to hug her daughter.

Essie's rooms were close to Elodie's, so it was no trouble to go two doors down and walk inside.

"Mommy!" Essie cried upon seeing Elodie.

Elodie fell to her knees and let Essie barrel into her, pulling her into a tight hug.

Guilt immediately flooded every pore of Elodie's body, clogging her throat with tears that she shed into her precious daughter's hair. How could she have left this? How could she have been such a terrible mother? Such a terrible daughter? Such a terrible leader? There were people who depended on her, this little girl most of all. This little girl who smiled at her like the sun in the sky, bright and unwavering in her love.

"I missed you!"

"I missed you too, cariña." Elodie stroked her daughter's hair back from her tiny, precious face. Essie's face changed every day - grew a little older, a little sharper. She wouldn't be a child forever. The thought made tears smart in Elodie's eyes, but she pushed them back in favor of a smile. "Did you have a good time with Grandma and Grandpa?"

Essie nodded. Already, Elodie spotted three new toys that were not present last time she was there.

"Grandpa said you were on a trip and that you needed to go away to feel better. But I told him you don't go on trips without me unless it's work, and he said that it was for work but I said that you never left for work without your Blackberry, and he said - "

"You're right. It wasn't for work." Elodie stopped her daughter's tirade before it got more out of hand. It was overwhelming to realize that a child could pay so close attention to her habits and recognize the significance of a work phone. Then again, Essie was an observant child. She inherited that curse from Elodie. "Mommy was feeling a lot of complicated, scary things...and I had to go and feel those things on my own for a little bit."

"Do you feel better now?"

"I feel lots better because I get to see you." Elodie tickled Essie, who pealed out shrieks of laughter as she tried to escape her mother's clever fingers. "Whatever I'm feeling, whatever is happening, you are the one thing that can always make me feel better. Never forget that."

"Did you bring me a present?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't even think about presents." More guilt ate away at Elodie's heart. "But I promise, I didn't go anywhere fun. Next time, we'll both go somewhere - like Disneyland or La Jolla -and I'll let you pick out whatever you want from the gift shop."

"And Daddy will come too."

"Of course," Elodie said with a pained smile. She couldn't let Essie believe that anything was wrong. Everything, everything was for her. "Of course, Daddy will be there too."

"And Jordan," Essie added.

"J-Jordan?"

That was unexpected. The name hit like a blow to her solar plexus. She knew that Essie was fond of Jordan, but to be on the same level as Felix? That was a shocking development. And yet, instead of correcting the behavior or being concerned, Elodie felt...happy? Proud? Relieved? A mix of all three?

And how fucked was that? Her child approved of the man she cheated on her husband with. Parent of the year material. It made Elodie feel like dirt. Lower than dirt. Dirtier than dirt. She needed ten showers.

"I like Jordan," Essie explained, as if that answered everything. "He's funny. He knows all the rules to Exploding Kittens. And he knows how to make toast."

"Sounds like you two are best friends."

"No Mommy, he's your best friend. He should come on the trip!"

Elodie needed to nip this in the bud. Lord only knew what would happen if Felix heard Essie saying that. Felix wouldn't hurt their daughter, but Elodie? Oh, he would take this out on Elodie without a second thought. He would explode. He would drag her through the mud, accuse her brainwashing their daughter against him. He may even go so far as to sue for parental rights, demand alimony on grounds of unfaithfulness. Rationally, she knew he had no leg to stand on, but neither did she. She was just as bad as he was.

"Essie - "

"Where are we going?"

Elodie turned around.

Jordan stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets, the epitome of casual handsomeness.

Elodie felt her heart stop. Her mouth went dry.

She had feared this would happen: this craving for more. She had feared that once she had a taste of what her relationship with Jordan could have been, free from the confines of friendship, she would never be satisfied. After all, she was a Schreave. It was in her nature to want, to take, to ruin. Seeing him now, the long line of of him leaned against the doorframe, her mind flooded with unwanted images. Impressions. Feelings.

Memories of Jordan's hands on her hips, thumbs pressing into her thighs as she hiked them higher. As he reached down and touched her just so. As he pulled her close and whispered filthy, beautiful things into her ear that made her gasp, made her sigh, made her scream.

Highly inappropriate thoughts to be having in her daughter's nursery. But there they were, strung out on a thread of sexual tension, both of them watching and waiting to see who was the spider and who was the fly.

The assistant leaned down and offered Essie her hand.

"Come, Your Highness. Let's give the adults time to talk."

Essie looked between Jordan and Elodie with wide, confused eyes. There was so much she did not know, so much she did not understand. Only that her mother was hurt and Jordan was too, and Elodie hated every single line scrunched upon her daughter's forehead.

"When you come back, we can play pirates," Elodie promised, which soothed Essie enough.

Essie took the woman's hand and turned to leave with her. Over her shoulder, Elodie's assistant flashed her a sympathetic wince to which Elodie only nodded. Gratitude and grief flooded her in equal parts. Whoever this woman was, no matter how much she annoyed Elodie earlier, she deserved a raise and far more appreciation than Elodie had shown her so far.

But that was a problem for another day.

Right now, the problem was facing her. Was walking towards her with open arms that held her tight, just like she always wanted.

"Where did you go? Everyone was so worried. I was worried." Jordan pulled Elodie into a hug. She breathed him in, the scent of him so comforting and safe. And yet...

Elodie stepped away.

"I just...I needed to think."

"About?"

"Everything. My job. My marriage. Us." Even the word felt strange in her mouth. Us. Too big and yet too little to describe whatever had happened the night before she ran away and all the years that led up to it. "Everything just came crashing down and - "

And what? There was no next step, no moving forward. Not when she was still buried under the wreckage.

Jordan bit his lip, studied his shoe like it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen. "I woke up in the morning and you weren't there. I, uh, I actually thought I might have dreamed you up."

"It was real. That's part of why I freaked out so badly."

He looked up, his brown eyes sparkling. "It hurt, Ells."

"I know. I'm so sorry. The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt you. That's why I didn't want - "

"Didn't want what?"

"Jordan...we can't keep doing this." She gestured between them, unable to say the words. It was so hard to have adult conversations. Her cheeks flared red just thinking about that night and speaking it into existence made it even worse. "Whatever happened, it can't happen again."

"Why not?" he asked, arms crossed over his chest. He sounded a little belligerent, clearly unhappy.

"Why not?" Elodie repeated, flabbergasted. A bit manic. A bit mean. "How about my marriage, to start. I'm married to Felix. I can't be caught cheating."

"He sure as hell doesn't care about being caught."

"So I should stoop to his level?"

"You don't have to put up with that shit!" He shouted, angry. Any louder and Elodie was afraid the guards would hear. "You can get a divorce. There's nothing stopping you."

"There's everything stopping me," Elodie argued, begging him to see things from her perspective. "I can't...I can't do that to Essie. She loves her father. I won't tear her family apart. Felix is all she knows. He's stable - "

"He's abusive!" Elodie flinched, but that didn't stop Jordan from poking at that wound. He ripped it right open and let it bleed. "And I...I'm stable, Ells. You know me. I have a job and it pays well. I'm respected. I'm going places."

"And all of that will go away if we stay together."

"Don't be like that - "

"It's true!" It was her turn to shout, to pace, to poke at all his sensitive places. "Jordan, you are the Governor of Allens. Elected by the public, for the public. The whole point of this trip to Angeles was to have you sworn in, something that should have happened weeks ago. People are already accusing you of nepotism because our parents are friends. Newspapers are knocking at your door. If you confirm the rumors, then what does that say about the system? About your ability to govern? They'll say you only got the job because of me. Your time in politics will be over. They'll drag your dad into scrutiny. All that good work he did...I can't do that to your family."

"Ells, please..." he pleaded, desperate. He held onto her hands until their knuckles went white. "I love you."

"Don't, Jordan. Deep down you know I'm right." She studied their hands, how perfectly they fit in one another's. "This will only end badly."

Part of her didn't care about that. Part of her wanted to go down burning and take him with her. A small, unstable part of her that she beat down with a stick every chance she got because the Crown must always win. The Heir must always come out on top. It wasn't her place to be selfish or self-destructive. Plenty of Illéas and Schreaves had done that in the past, and she couldn't place herself in that legacy. She wouldn't. She thought Jordan understood that.

"You're right." He pulled away, his hands slipping out of hers and leaving a void in their place. He scrubbed those hands over his face, weary and worn. Defeated. "I...I will approach the King about the swearing in ceremony. If we put something together quickly, I can gather the family together and be out of your hair by the end of the week."

Gone? By the end of the week?

"You don't have to do that." It wasn't fair, she knew. She couldn't have her cake and eat it too. It wasn't fair, but she didn't want to say goodbye. Not like this. Not this way. She would do anything, anything to fix that. "Having your mom here has really cheered up Dad."

He looked at her like she was crazy.

"After everything you just said, you can't expect me to stay."

Tears fell from her eyes.

"I never wanted to hurt you."

"Well, you did." He shrugged, shaking off all his affection with it. What was left was a hollow copy of the man she knew and loved, one with vacant eyes and a stony face. He bowed at the waist. "Goodbye, Your Highness."

Then, he shut the door and left Elodie utterly alone.