WE ARE SO BACK

My inspiration straight up died, so ty to itfeelslikeheaventome on ao3 for allowing me to revamp their fic Promises and Things Forgotten. Not sure if I totally did it justice, but it was fun, and there WILL be more to this collection. I just forgot what I had planned. KEADLYN RENAISSANCE PART 10 BABYYYYYYYYY

My time was valuable. Every day was tightly scheduled; it seemed I was always stuck in a cabinet meeting or writing up legislature that would better the lives of my citizens, at the cost of my sleep schedule. Even when I had "time off", someone from the board was always hounding me, demanding more of my time and attention.

And yet, despite all that, Kile Woodwork was late for our date.

My frown deepened with every passing second. He should have been here ten minutes ago, and I was losing faith that he was just moments away from bursting through the door with an apology on his lips. He must have forgotten. Or decided he didn't care enough to show up.

It wasn't just rude. It was insulting. It was embarrassing! I'd put my heart on the line, and he'd just cast it aside, like a cat knocking a glass of water off the table. What was wrong with him? I'd never been treated this way; I had no idea how to act about it.

Well, I certainly wasn't going to keep waiting around for him. It was humiliating enough to be stood up in the first place; I refused to just sit and watch the candles burn down, like Kile's attention was something I had to beg for. That wasn't how it worked. That had never been how it worked.

I ordered the staff to clean up the untouched food and drink- that would make it easier to pretend it had never happened- and I stormed out of the room. Chasing after someone was arguably even worse than waiting around for them, but it was very important that I give Kile a piece of my mind. How dare he forget about me! I was the queen of Illea, the most powerful woman in the world! Making me anything less than his first priority was basically treason, and I wasn't going to let him get away with it.

Kile wasn't in his Selected room, which only made me madder. By the time I stomped to his original room, I had more or less worked myself into a frenzy, and I banged my fist on the door with more force than necessary.

I heard shuffling from inside the room and something that sounded like "just a minute". Too bad, didn't care. I knocked again, harder. "Let me in!" I ordered. "I need to talk to you!"

Kile didn't answer. I made an executive decision to open the door myself, and I was immediately greeted with Mostly Shirtless Kile Woodwork fumbling with the buttons on his top. "I didn't forget about you!" he blurted out, because my staring had kept me from yelling at him immediately. "I'm so sorry, Eady! I had this idea in my head- I just wanted to get it down on paper- and I lost track of time. I feel like such an idiot; I'm so sorry."

I made a conscious decision to stop staring. I was here because I was mad at Kile, not because he only had half a shirt on. At this moment in time, I would not be giving in. "You're serious? You stood me up because of a drawing?"

"I didn't stand you up!" he insisted. "I was this close to being on my way, and believe me, I would have sprinted across the castle to meet you."

"You'd still be twenty minutes late," I grumbled, although I could feel myself softening despite my worst intentions. These days, it was so hard to stay mad at Kile. Something about those blue eyes, or maybe the way he'd clearly been getting ready at top speed, had me convinced his absence was an honest mistake. It was still a huge deal and he owed me big-time, but I understood he hadn't ripped my heart out and stomped on it on purpose.

Kile finished buttoning his shirt- a sad day for me- but left the hem un-tucked and the cuffs flopping around his elbows, so he still looked a mess. He grabbed my hand, and I raised my eyebrows. "You know I'm still mad at you, right?"

"Just let me show you what I was working on," he asked gently. "You'll understand; I promise."

In general, I was not known for being understanding, but saying no to Kile was almost as difficult as staying mad at him. I allowed him to pull me towards his desk- which looked like it had been hit by a tornado, by the way- and unfolded a massive sheet of paper. "This is for you. I couldn't stop thinking about it; I had to draw it. I hope you like it."

At first, I wasn't sure what I was looking at. The shapes he'd drawn were labeled, but I couldn't read them. "Kile, you have the worst handwriting in the world. You know that, right?"

He was looking over my shoulder- anxious, like he so desperately wanted me to like it. Or maybe he just knew I could have him hanged if he'd missed our date for no good reason. "It's a pool. I know how much you love to swim, but you never get to go to the beach, so I thought maybe you could have something here."

My heart dropped- like falling down the stairs, but in a good way. "Kile."

He reached over me, pointing to his carefully-drawn lines. "I was thinking we could put it near the fountain in the garden- that'll make the plumbing easier and keep the budget down. On this side, there'll be a wooden deck- I know how much you love to tan- and on this side, it'll get deep enough for diving."

The majority of Kile's rambling explanation went over my head, but I wasn't concerned about the best type of tile to use or why he'd chosen to shape it a certain way. I was just touched that he'd gone out of his way to design this for me, and I could already see myself lounging on a pool float while Kaden and Osten did cannonballs off the side. Maybe Fully Shirtless Kile could also make an appearance.

"This was worth being late for," I admitted eventually. He was looking at me so nervously, as if there was a chance I wouldn't like it. Obviously I liked it. "I've wanted a pool for ages, but Dad always said no."

"Well, you're the queen now," Kile said helpfully. "I don't think he can legally tell you no anymore."

"I think he was going to have it built as a wedding present." In my mind, that had always been the same as a hard "no", but the idea of me getting married wasn't such a stretch these days. There were things about it that appealed to me beyond just having a pool.

In fact, one of them was standing right next to me.

I gently took the sketch from Kile's hands and set it back down on his mess of a desk. "Listen, I may have had our dinner thrown out, but I still want a date with you tonight."

Kile shrugged. "I wasn't that hungry anyway."

I kissed him, fully intending to keep it PG but not all disappointed when Kile pulled me close to his chest. The way he kissed me, like I was air and he'd been underwater for far too long, that trumped any dinner date. I didn't know why we'd bothered planning a date outside the bedroom, and I definitely didn't know why Kile had wasted so much time buttoning up his shirt. That was coming off if I had anything to do with it, and I started unbuttoning without pulling away from the kiss.

"Now are you still mad at me?" he asked as he shrugged it off his shoulders. His hands got caught in the cuffs. It was not sexy.

"I'm actually even madder now." I kissed him again, even though he was still struggling to free his left hand from that stupid dress shirt. "Don't forget about me again."

"I really didn't forget about you!" he insisted. That was the problem with Kile: too much talking, not enough action. "I forgot about dinner. I was thinking of you the whole time."

"I guess that makes it a little better."

"I won't forget again," he promised, and judging by the way he kissed me after that, he really meant it.