Crowns & Chaos

sixteen

My entire body froze, my mind screaming as he pressed his lips against mine. 

Holy shit he's kissing you. Oh my god, Peter is kissing you holy shit what-

With a jolt, I realized I was kissing him back. To be fair, it was a really good kiss. My stomach was doing gymnastics at an Olympic level. 

Finally, he pulled back, leaving me breathless and him looking smug as hell. 

"Look whose face is ridiculous now," he joked. 

I swiped the back of my hand over my lips, finding the ice cream residue melted there. 

"Oh wow, ha ha ha, you're so clever," I managed to tease back, cheeks flaming. Inside, I was still screaming. 

Don't get me wrong, I'd had boyfriends in high school and university... but that was different. 

The sound of a camera shutter going off reminded me that the kiss was just a photo op, admittedly a great one. 

I used a tissue from Ron to wipe off the rest of my face. 

"Alright," I said, sticking out my free hand, "truce? Because this is really good ice cream and I don't wanna waste it."

He laughed, shaking my hand. 

"Deal."

Hand in hand, we continued walking down the street, as if everyone around us hadn't just seen the giant scene we'd made. To my surprise, Peter didn't seem to mind.

Once we were a little further away, and definitely out of earshot from most people, Peter whispered to me. 

"I'm really sorry. I know I should have asked your permission before kissing you, and I really didn't want to make you feel weird or anything, I just-"

I squeezed his hand.

"No worries. I would have stopped you if I needed to."

He smirked at me. 

"But I'm a formidable kisser, so obviously, you didn't want to."

I shoved him, amazed at the remarkable ease I was already feeling. 

"Get off your high horse, Prince Charming. You were average, at best."

My stomach twinged at the lie. 

He twirled me around to face him. 

"Unbelievable. Don't worry, one day you'll admit that was the best kiss you've ever had."

I rolled my eyes, pushing him away and laughing. 

"In your dreams, babe."

We kept walking, most people remarkably, leaving us alone. 

"I'm kinda surprised people aren't clamoring for pictures of you."

He shrugged. 

"Most people will take pictures from afar than try to come over. Frank does a good job of intimidating them. Also, I don't go anywhere unchaperoned very often, and when I do, it's to the upper-class areas that are used to my parents and me."

"Oh," was all I could say, feeling kinda awkward. I hadn't let myself think about it too much, but the restaurant we'd been at hadn't even had their prices on the menus, and judging by the place, that meal had probably cost the same as a month of rent. 

Not that I was actively paying rent,  I reminded myself. 

"Hey, are you alright?"

I nodded, plastering a smile on my face. 

"Yeah, sorry. Just tired."

"Well, it is getting pretty late. I should probably be getting home soon, I have fencing at five."

"Oh my god, like real fencing?"

He looked confused. 

"As opposed to... fake fencing?"

I held back a laugh, instead patting him on the shoulder. 

"Nevermind."

We walked back to where Ron had a guy pull our car around. I don't know where he came from, but I was relieved to get off my feet and hopefully go watch a movie or something. 

"Well, Evangeline, I had a lovely day with you."

"And I with you, Peter. Thank you."

I leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

"Goodbye."

He opened the car door and I climbed in, giving him a little wave before Ron drove off. The ride home was quiet because I was exhausted. That had been a socially and emotionally draining outing. 

When we pulled into the driveway, I stopped. 

"Hey Ron, do you think we could get a treadmill or something in the basement? I don't wanna go to a gym because people might recognize me and I get the feeling this neighbourhood wouldn't appreciate me running around the block at six in the morning."

He almost laughed. 

"Of course, Lady Evangeline. I'll call Theodore about it today."

"Thank you. Thanks for everything today."

He nodded, so I got out, punching in the code for the new security system they'd installed and opened the door. 

My parents were watching a show in the living room when I opened the door. 

"Hey, guys!"

My mom jumped up. 

"Hi, sweetie! How was it? Was it fun? Was he nice?"

I laughed at her energy. 

"It was good, we had fun, and yes, he was very nice. Did you guys finish packing today?"

Dad nodded. 

"Yep, all set for tomorrow morning. We set you up with an online grocery service while you were out, so you'll be set once we're gone."

"Ah, always the preparer. Thanks, Dad."

I grabbed myself a glass of water from the kitchen as they went back to their show. 

"Oh, I also asked Ron about getting a treadmill for the basement so I don't go crazy."

"Good idea honey. There's a spare bedroom without anything in it that I'm sure you could convert to a home gym."

I nodded. 

"I probably will. Anyway, I'm gonna go shower and change. I think I got ice cream in my hair."

"I'm not even gonna ask how that happened. We'll probably order a pizza or something tonight so I don't know if you're hungry at all, but that's the plan."

I flashed her a thumbs up before going to my room and showering, putting on some of my old sweats and a hoodie when I was done. I flopped on the bed, opening my phone and finding myself tagged in a bunch of Instagram posts with the pictures from today. I found a BuzzFeed article detailing their "inside info" on our relationship. 

For the most part, people seemed happy. Lots of comments were positive about how cute we were, only a few mean ones and thankfully none about my parents.

I screenshotted an article with the photo of us kissing at the top, ice cream in hand, and texted it to Peter. 

E: I'd say we had a successful day, wouldn't you?

P: 10/10. We should get Oscars for that performance.

E: Haha, definitely.

I put my phone away, feeling an odd twinge in my chest. Of course, it was just a performance. I'd gotten so caught up in today that I'd almost forgotten that the relationship was supposed to be fake. 

But if it was all fake, why did that kiss feel so real?