"Coexist.What a romantic word.I should embroider it on a pillow.'Welcome to our home, where we coexist.'"
"This was never supposed to be romantic."
"No, you're right.Romance would have required honesty, and we've established that's not really your thing."
His pen tapped against the armrest three times before he caught himself and stopped."I've apologized.Multiple times.I know it doesn't fix what I did, but I'm not sure what else you want from me."
"I don't know either."The admission slipped out before I could stop it."I don't know what I want.Except maybe a time machine so I could go back and not develop feelings for my lying riding instructor."
Something shifted in his expression."You developed feelings for me?"
"I developed feelings for Peter.The jury's still out on Prince Archibald."
"They're the same person."
"Are they?Because Peter made me laugh and listened to me complain about croissant torture and looked at me like I was a person instead of a political problem.Prince Archibald lied to my face for days and let me stress about meeting him while knowing the whole time that I already had."
"Fair point."He was quiet for a moment."For what it's worth, Peter liked you too.Very much."
"Peter doesn't exist."
"Peter is who I am when I'm not being the prince.He's the version of me that gets to have opinions and make jokes and care about things that don't involve treaty negotiations."He leaned forward slightly."Peter is real.He's just not the whole picture."
I didn't have a response to that, so I went back to staring out the window.
The silence stretched between us, thick with all the things we weren't saying.I was acutely aware of every sound he made, every rustle of paper, every shift in his seat.The cabin suddenly seemed much smaller than it had when we'd boarded.
"Can I ask you something?"he said after a while.
"You can ask.I reserve the right to respond with hostility."
"Noted."A hint of something that might have been amusement crossed his face."At the reception, when we were descending the staircase, you smiled at me.Just for a second, before you remembered you were angry.It looked real."
"It wasn't."
"It looked real."
"Fine.Maybe for one second I forgot that you were the worst and remembered that you were..."I trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.
"That I was what?"
"Someone I liked.Someone I thought I could maybe learn to love, given enough time and enough lattes."I turned to face him properly."That's what makes this so hard.I was actually looking forward to meeting Prince Archibald.I'd convinced myself that maybe he'd be decent.Maybe we could make this work.And then I walked into that library and discovered that the only person in this whole ridiculous situation who'd made me feel hopeful was the same person who'd been lying to me all along."
He was quiet, processing that.When he spoke again, his voice was softer."I didn't set out to deceive you.I just wanted to see who you were without the complications of titles and expectations.By the time I realized I was falling for you, I'd already dug myself into a hole I didn't know how to climb out of."
"You could have tried honesty.Revolutionary concept, I know."
"I tried.Multiple times.Something always interrupted."
"That's convenient."
"It's the truth."He ran a hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration that was entirely too attractive."I know you don't believe me, and I know I don't deserve your trust.But I'm asking you to give me a chance to earn it back."
"Why should I?"
"Because I think we could be good together.Not just as political partners, but as actual partners.And because whether you want to admit it or not, you felt something for me in those stables.Something real."
The annoying part was that he was right.I still felt something real, even now, even furious, even trapped on a plane with a man who'd made me feel like an idiot.
