The Vampire Prince returns to High School (Book 2)

To the Future

Rin's POV

Wait for me, he had said. 

That was two days ago. Sighing, I looked up at the ceiling. It was half-past eight. I had had dinner with my parents an hour ago. They seemed to be enjoying their stay here a little more than myself. They were also not as well informed as me but that didn't matter. What did matter was the fact that Alexander hadn't returned.

I will fix this, he had told me.

Sighing, I rolled over to my side, pulling the covers closer around me. It wasn't like I didn't believe in Alexander. I had so much faith in me I didn't know what to do with the excess amount. It wouldn't feel so bad if I could just do something, anything. 

Considering how I was overworking my brain, I didn't realize when I fell asleep. One second I closed my eyes, the next, I was waking and it was morning. My head felt unusually warm and fur ticked my forehead.

Wait a minute, fur?

I sat up quickly and spotted a black kitten lying on my pillow. The kitten yawned, exposing his belly. 

"Alexander?" I asked.

The kitten rolled over and stretched. 'Who else?'  he asked.

Feeling my vision blurred, I scooped him up and held him against my face. He started purring.

"I missed you," I muttered.

And suddenly I was in his arms, being held tightly. Alexander rubbed my back as I tried to stop myself from crying. I couldn't be like this.

"But how did the meeting go?" I asked, drying my eyes. 

If I could concentrate on something else . . . But Alexander didn't speak. My stomach dropped. Our eyes met.

"What happened?" I asked. "What did King Caldor say?"

Alexander looked away. "It was difficult," he muttered. "It's why it took a few days."

Had he failed? Just the thought made my chin tremble. Were the two kingdoms going to go to war? What could I say to cheer him up? Was that even possible at the moment?

"He agreed," Alexander said.

"Huh?"

Alexander grinned. "King Caldor agreed to a treaty without marriage."

I found myself grinning back. 

"Seriously?" I asked.

He nodded. 

Screaming in delight, I hugged Alexander. Chuckling, he hugged me back. 

"I had you panicking there for a moment, huh?"

I smacked his arm. "Jerk."

He laughed and kissed my cheek. "I told you, didn't I?" he said. "I got this."

Pressing my forehead against his, I kissed his nose. "Yeah, you did. I'm so proud of you." 

This time, I did cry. With this, things would start to go back to normal. After the treaty was signed, Alexander would officially be the Crown Heir and he would go on to become King.

"I'm happy to hear that from you," he said. "If anything, I'm just glad we'll be able to put this behind us. Hopefully, this will change everyone's mind about you and accept you."

Frowning, I wiped the tears from my eyes. "Accept? Accept me for what?"

"Being with me, silly," he replied. "We won't have to hide our relationship anymore."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. He wasn't saying what I think he was saying, was he?

"What's wrong? Do you not want to be with me?"

His face fell and his grip on me tightened. My heart lurched, uncomfortably.

"I still want to date you," I whispered. "But that's all I can do."

"Rin, what are you talking about?"

I looked down at my hands. "You're going to be King. You'll eventually need a Queen and . . . an Heir. A-and I can't do that for you."

I forced myself to stop. It was embarrassing and awkward to talk about this. We probably weren't even on the same page. Maybe all he meant was that we could just date without anyone harassing me.

"Sorry, it's stupid," I quickly said.

Alexander took my hands. "It's not stupid, Rin," he said gently. "I just thought we had more time before we talked about this."

I glanced up at him from underneath my hair. He looked almost sad, defeated even.

"It's not like I don't want to be with you," I said. "But what's going to happen to us when you take the crown?"

"Who says I'll take it?"

"You've always wanted to be King," I reminded him. "Let's be real. You're not going to give that up. You want to improve life for your people and you can do that as King."

"Are you saying you'll break up with me once I become King?"

I pulled my hands from his and hugged myself.

"Please look at me." His voice sounded broken.

"Wouldn't that be better?" I asked, meeting his gaze. "I mean, I simply can't date a King. It wouldn't be right."

"Says who?"

"Alexander," I began.

"You say you want to be together and yet the only thing I'm hearing is that you want to break up."

"Then how are we going to make it work?" I asked. "Even if no one cares you're dating a human, I wouldn't be okay with it. A King should be with someone who can help him rule and that's not me. We both know that."

"You're more capable than you give yourself credit for," he said quietly.

I rubbed my face. We weren't getting anywhere. It's not like I wanted to have this conversation.

"You can just marry me," Alexander suddenly said.

"What?"

He shrugged. "I'm not asking you to rule. I'm just asking you to be at my side. If we . . . as my wife, no one would ever say anything about it. They wouldn't dare. You would just take it easy and-"

Tears blurred my vision. "Then should I do that?" I asked. "Should I live out the rest of my life with you?" I rubbed my eyes. "It's only 70 or 80 years, right?"

"Rin," he began.

I leaned against him, exhausted. "Let's just stop here," I whispered. "I don't want to have this conversation anymore."

"I wasn't joking Rin. I meant it. About marriage -"

"Just stop."

I couldn't handle this anymore. Why was I such a mess? This should have been a celebration and yet I had made it into this. I supposed, deep down, I had thought that I would only stay with Alexander until he took the crown. It was only fitting to let him go so he could rise to new heights. I didn't think I'd be allowed to stay at his side.

And he had to go and say it, huh? Just marry me. How could he say that just like that? Even in my wildest dreams, I had never thought about marrying Alexander. Marriage had never even crossed my mind. Of course, it'll be in the way future like ten years or something, but it was still too sudden. Besides, would his father let him marry a human? That had never been done.

"I should go," he said. "I'll sign the treaty in a few days so I must prepare. Usually, it takes longer but we don't have that luxury. I won't be able to visit much either."

Without a kiss or goodbye, Alexander left. Alone, I curled up in a ball. The tears didn't come. There was only numbness. Gosh, I was stupid. Alexander was going to be King. It was up to him to decide who he wanted to be with. I had nothing to worry about.

"So, why?" I whispered, with a sob. "Why did I have to go and say that?"