Chapter Text
Agatha was balancing her textbooks on her left arm, while she grabbed a handful of pink fabric from her dress with her right. She was walking out the classroom, cursing at her dress for being too poofy to walk in.
“Hello love!”
The curly haired girl jumped at the sudden voice ringing in her ears, placing her hand over her heart. “What the hell?!”
“Language my love,” Tedros teased, pushing his back off of the wall he was previously resting at, while watching the students roam around to their classes. He gave her a glance over and took the textbooks from her arm in his without a second thought.
“What are you even doing here?” Irritation dripped from her voice. Something Tedros got used to hearing from her very quickly.
“Walking you to your next class, what else?” He answered as if it was the most obvious thing ever. Which it should be, it’s been a week of their fake dating and Tedros found any excuse to follow Agatha around the school for good like a lost puppy. Meanwhile, Agatha found any excuse to push him away, because if she didn’t, her stomach would get this warm feeling she rather not dwell on. She just passed it off as disgust.
“Which by the way,” he says. “How are they going?”
“Um, fine,” she mumbled, crossing her arms, as she began her path down the hallway with Tedros trailing next to her. People around them seemed to make way for them, though Agatha saw it as them kissing up to Tedros which irritated her.
“Are the girls treating you any different?”
“Why do you ask?”
He shrugs. “Well, everyone knows you’re my girlfriend now. You see how they all make room for you when you walk by?”
They make room for you “I guess, they’ve been nicer,” Agatha ended up saying. “They actually brought up the idea of a sleepover, but I don’t really know how those work. I’ll probably bring Sophie if anything.”
His eyes opened in surprise. “Look at you go, making new friends. Next thing you know you’ll be the school’s most popular.”
“I don’t want to be popular. I just wanted them to see me and not through me.”
“That they are,” he mutters, looking around them at the other students who walked around trying to make it to their next class of the day.
“Well, I didn’t mean looking at me twenty four seven,” she rolls her brown eyes and glares at a few people to her left staring them down with no shame.
He let out a breathy chuckle, letting his gaze fall besides him. Learning it was hard to look away from her. “You know Agatha, most princesses love some attention.”
“I’m not a princess.”
“Hmm,” he contemplates, his eyes scanning over her face. He noticed the freckles speckled on her cheeks and wondered if he one day could count all of them and memorize them, memorize every part of her. She was that mesmerizing. “You might not, because I’ve never met anyone quite like you before.”
“What?” Agatha scoffed, finally looking up next to her and meeting his brown eyes. “Because I don’t just smile and bat my eyes at you?”
“Yes actually, and that’s incredibly boring so thank you, for deflating my ego every time.”
Keeping his gaze was turning out to be a bad idea on her end as she grew shy, her cheeks begging to flush. “Don’t want your head to get too big.”
“See?” His smile was so wide, she could see his full toothy grin and yeah, maybe she sees what the others do. She’d take that sentiment to her grave however. “Never a dull moment with you.”
“Thanks, I’ll add you next to my cat on my list of people who don’t think I’m boring.”
“Your cat?”
Agatha’s cheek flushed bright pink in seconds, finally diverting her gaze away from his, embarrassment sparking through her. “Oh, Um—“
“You know what they say, cat are great judges of character,” Tedros said, nudging his elbow to her side making her look back up at him at the touch.
“They do?”
“They will! I’m quite famous around here and now that I said it—“
“Ah, I think when you become king we’ll need to find a bigger crown to fit that big head of yours.”
“Good one!” He points at her with a laugh that she couldn’t help but reciprocate.
“Came up with it on the spot and everything,” she laughed along, and it was so pretty, just like a melody, that Tedros wished he could capture it and listen to it forever.
“So proud of you my princess,” he mumbled, his pinky slowly reaching out to hook around hers in between them as they walked down the hallway.
For the first time this week they shared a conversation that lasted more than five seconds, and that was a huge deal in Tedros’s book.
“Not a Princess.”
“Sure sure, whatever you say.”
Agatha let his pinky wrap around hers without hesitation, letting him sway their hands while they both hid smiles and flushed cheeks from the other. The thought of the other ever finding out about it felt embarrassing at the moment.
“Watcha’ reading?” A familiar voice peeps through the solace Agatha was indulging herself in. She looked up, and of course, there stood Tedros with his smug grin looking down at her, covering the sun from her view with his shadow.
“A book,” she replied dryly, deciding to pay him no mind and look back down at the words she was previously reading.
“You think you’re so funny don’t you?”
Agatha sighed, knowing she wasn’t going to get any reading done with Tedros around. Resorted to watch him bend over and take a seat next to her on the grass, placing his back on the tree trunk just like her. “ It’s a book Sophie gifted me once.”
“Ah yes, so I’m guessing it’s some sort of fairytale then?”
“Precisely.”
“Hmm,” he hummed, letting his head fall back. It was serene sitting outside in the garden under the heat of the sun. The sky was so bright, yet not as bright compared to Agatha, Tedros thought. Even when the girl was nothing more but gloominess, to him she shined. Even in all black in the shadows, his eyes still followed hers.
Even when they didn’t speak he felt content, like he could spend hours with her in silence and never get bored. Her presence was enough for him, and he wondered where she was all this time. Why she would ever hid herself in a graveyard when her presence is dignified of a castle, with the most intricate gold to match her sharp edges and dark hair.
Somehow, she carried serenity with her and he couldn’t help but drown in it. Though, he couldn’t understand why, because she hated him and he hated her (or so he said) and he yearned to have her yell in his face until her lungs gave out just to feel her closer. The thrill of their supposed hatred was enthralling, more intoxicating than anything else.
“It’s just a bunch of nonsense though,” she murmured under her breath.
“What?“ he snapped his head to her side. “You don’t believe in fairytales? May I remind you where you are right now! This for sure isn’t Gavaldon you know,” He proceeded to gesture around him with his hands. “But, can I just say, you have one of the most interesting life’s I’ve ever heard of. I mean, you don’t meet many people who live in graveyards around here. Castles, small kingdoms, sure but—“
“Yeah, because your life is so common. Literally old news.”
“I think you’re being sarcastic with me.”
Agatha scoffed with a roll of her eyes, a common reaction from her by now all due to him. “Look, obviously these places and people exist, but I’m not sure I believe them in these fairytale love stories they try to shove down our throats.”
The boy paused, taking in her words before letting a frown overtake his lips. “I know what you mean, but I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I don’t want to believe that.”
“And why is that?”
“For some reason, I want to believe that, when you meet the right person, they can change a lot about the way you think.”
And there it was. Those moments that scared Agatha. The moments he looked at her so intensely she wondered if it meant something more. If behind those eyes he felt the same, but she knew it couldn’t. Those feelings were hard to admit even to herself. She wondered it they were to him too. Wondered what they even truly meant to begin with.
“Tedros?!”
“Quick!” Tedros hissed, quickly placing the book in her lap over their faces to cover them, scooting even closer to Agatha. So close he could feel her ragged breath over his face. So close, his nose brushed hers and their skin felt like it was on fire. Perhaps that’s all they’ll ever be. Fire that burns at first but dies out.
“Oh, am I interrupting something?”
Slowly, Tedros dragged the book away from their faces. The blush on both their cheeks was clearly visible under the light gleams of the sun.
“You think?” Tedros’ voice seemed bothered at the interruption. As if he wanted that moment to last longer. He’s a good actor, Agatha thought.
“Sorry, I, never mind,” the blonde shook her head. Beatrix stood in front of them, her hands holding her umbrella keeping her safe from the sun. She cleared her throat, one of her gloved hands patting down invisible wrinkles in her purple dress in an uncomfortable tack. “I’ll talk to you later, Tedros. I didn’t mean to interrupt your—“ she stopped speaking, gesturing to them with a fake smile plastered on her face, but the curly haired girl didn’t miss the distasteful look Beatrix sent her.
“What do you need to talk about?” Agatha spoke up, taking both Tedros and Beatrix by surprise.
“Just about the ball,” Beatrix replies, waving her off.
“You can talk about it now. I will also be going, I wouldn't mind hearing about it.”
Beatrix paused, blinking back at Agatha’s sudden sharp words before shaking her head. “It’s okay, I’ll just, ask someone else about it. It’s not important.”
“Okay,” Agatha said, ending the conversation. Watching as the blonde hesitated before grabbing a fistful of fabric of her dress and turning around, almost stomping in her step.
Tedros’ mouth was slightly ajar, impressed, and looking at the girl beside him with a glint in his eyes.
“What?” She snapped, furrowing her brows together.
He shook his head, the starstruck look on his face failing to leave however. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Everything,” he smiled at her, and she hated the way her heart skipped at the sight. She couldn’t fall for Tedros, no way, she would never fall for him; or at least that’s what she told herself.
“Meathead,” she murmured under her breath, taking the book and opening it to a random page to busy herself in between the lines instead of his eyes.
The moment Agatha stepped inside their shared room along with Sophie for the godforsaken sleepover, the girls have been staring them down, and an awkward silence has been swimming around them.
They were all sat in their pink and lace trimmed pajamas, sat along the edge of their beds facing each other. The small light coming from the chandelier on the ceiling illuminating their faces.
“So nice of you to bring a never,” Beatrix broke the silence, taking a sip of her tea.
Kiko who held a porcelain kettle, serving everyone a teacup from her golden cart, nodded in agreement. Though her face contrasted the blonde’s with a genuine smile on her face. She served two more cups, handing them over to the pair of best friends. “It’s usually just evers during our sleepovers. We don’t really know much about the never side. You’ll have to tell us all about it.”
“Don’t be silly Kiko, they don’t have sleepovers. They have witch conventions or something,” Beatrix said, making the rest of the girls let out giggles.
“Yeah, don’t speak too much or Hester won’t show you mercy,” Sophie giggles along, then bends slightly over, closer to Beatrix, her words coming in a whisper but sharp. “She could kill you.”
The blonde cleared her throat, thrown off at the dark comment and turned to the side to indulge in small talk with Reena instead. It was clear Beatrix wasn’t a fan of the duo. Much rather them fall into a ditch and never come back to the school so everything can go back to the way it was. Back when Tedros would pursue her and not the girl who was currently sitting awkwardly, trying to balance the teacup Kiko gave her. Agatha was cold and odd, and Beatrix could not fathom why Tedros found her intriguing.
Agatha wanted nothing more but to leave. To sneak Sophie to the kitchen, steal some snacks and talk about anything and everything without feeling a judgment in the world.
However, she stayed put, letting Sophie make small talk with Kiko who was now looking for nail polish and was the only one willing to indulge in conversation with them without snide comments. They were deciding on what shade of pink to use when the curly haired girl heard a familiar whistle coming from outside the door. Her eyes instantly grew wide, jumping off the bed and tumbling forward in her lavender nightgown trying not to trip. “E-excuse me, I’ll be right back!”
With all eyes on her in utter confusion, Agatha simply ignored them and sprinted towards the door. Then was immediately pulled to the side by a pair of strong arms.
“How’s the sleepover?”
“You’re not allowed to be here,” Agatha panicked at the sight of Tedros grinning at her. Half because she was scared of someone seeing them, and the other half because he was right in front of her, their chests touching and she felt like she could hardly breathe.
“Did they give you tea? Kiko makes the best tea.”
“You need to go.”
“You seem stressed, did they not give you tea?” Tedros ignored her words and tilted his head to the side, a hand going up to press upon her forehead because as he said, she seemed stressed. Couldn’t have her get sick within days of the ball.
“Someone’s going to see you,” Agatha hissed through gritted teeth, swatting his hand away and he exaggeratedly whined in pain. It hardly hurt at all, he just lived for the theatrics.
“I can’t believe they didn’t offer you tea.”
“Enough about the tea!” She bursts. “Tedros, you just can’t show up unannounced.”
“Yes I can, I just did,” he replied, with a shrug. “I’m your boyfriend.”
“Fake boyfriend, and we only pretend in front of people. You don’t have to be here, we don’t have to pretend right now.”
“I just wanted to check up on you because I knew you were hesitant about this sleepover,” his voice was soft and timid, something unusual. “We’re friends right?”
“Friends?”
“Well, I just thought we were getting closer y’know? You want to rip my head out less—or at least it seems so.”
“Maybe less,” she nods, her words slightly mumbled, along with a tentative look on her face.
“See, friends check up on each other.”
“I never really had friends outside of Sophie.”
“Well, consider me one,” Tedros smiles at her. “You’ve become very special to me.”
“And is this where I say something back along those lines?”
”I mean, I’d appreciate it, but if you don’t want to be my friend that’s fine, I understand. I must of gotten the signs wrong, I’ll just go.” He sent her a sad smile, taking a step away from her, and the absence of his warmth made her want to reach out to him almost immediately.
“Tedros,” she spoke up, and he quickly halted in his step, listening to the words being whispered from her lips. “You’re special to me too…I guess.”
“Glad we’re on the same page,” he says. “I’ll walk you to class tomorrow?”
”Like always.”
With a wink, he walked away. Perhaps his step a bit more giddy than normal, but Agatha didn’t really notice, because she was turning around with the biggest blush on her face and a storm of butterflies invading her stomach. Something she would later hate herself for, because it was Tedros of all people. Why did it have to be him she felt this way for?
“Agatha!” Chadrick grinned down as he bent over her. In his hand he held a red apple, shiny and ripped. “The guys dared me to give something to the nicest girl in the room so—“
He gave her the apple, his piercing blue eyes sending her a wink that would probably have anyone else gushing, but Agatha only cared about a certain shade of brown lately.
“Hey man, get lost,” Tedros scoffed, shooting the blue eyed boy a glare. He then placed his hand over Agatha’s on the table. His calloused fingers threaded through hers and she tried to ignore the sparks shooting up her veins as she sent the blonde boy a smile.
“Thank you,” she told Chadrick, taking the apple in her other hand. She felt Tedros’s grip on her hand tighten, and she simply placed the apple down on her tray.
“Don’t worry Tedros,” the blonde rolled his eyes. “She’s madly in love with you, unfortunately.”
The four letter word seemed to make Tedros's smile grow. Turning his head to Agatha with a playful smirk. “Is that true Agatha?”
She knew he was teasing her, his smirk so smug she wanted to wipe it off his face.
Everyone around the table now had their eyes on the pair, and Agatha swallowed a lump in her throat unaware on how to respond.
“Of course she is!” Sophie stated, waving her hand around in dismissal and instead looked at the blue eyed boy with fluttering eyelashes. “You know Chadrick, maybe you and I can be the next couple to rule the school, don’t you think?”
Besides Sophie, Hort snickers. ”Seems like a horrible plan.”
Sophie jumps, unaware that he sat beside her moments ago. “What are you doing here?!”
”Sitting next to the most beautiful girl in the world,” Hort replies, grinning and showing the food still in his mouth making Sophie gag in disgust.
“Get lost!”
With a frown the boy takes his tray and departs from the table, Sophie glaring at him go. “Who does he think he is?! You know, I actually don’t want a boyfriend anymore. The only people from this table who’ll ever get married one day are Agatha and Tedros, not me.”
“Our next queen and king,” Tristan said with a chuckle, nudging Tedros with his elbow. It was a joke, something to laugh at, but both Tedros and Agatha wondered why they didn’t hate the sound of that.
“Mhm, I like the sound of that,” Tedros grins to himself and Agatha wondered if he meant it or if it was just for show. “My queen.”
Agatha rolled her eyes at his words, ignoring the blush from her cheeks. What’s the problem with her cheeks lately? she pondered, they’ve been burning unwarranted because of a stupid prince with stupidly fluffy hair.
“I’m not a princess and I’m certainly not a queen.”
The Prince bends over to her ear, whispering his words making the hairs on Agatha’s neck stand up. “You are to me.”
You know in fairytales, the ones who speak about love like it’s the most beautiful experience you could ever feel? How it claims to make you feel alive? What they fail to mention is how deeply the other person consumes you. So much so, that when you look at the most mundane things it immediately reminds you of that person. How they loved leaning on the walls you walk by everyday with a smug expression. Or the fork they used to sneak over to your plate to steal your grapes. When did a fork mean nothing and then everything? When did a wall get tainted with memories?
As Agatha watched Tedros sneak his fork to her plate to get some of her fruit, she knew then, what that four letter word meant.
“The ball is tomorrow,” Agatha acknowledged, her fingers fidgeting with the fabric of her purple flowered printed dress, as she took hesitant steps towards the boy standing in the middle of the main hall alone. His eyes looked up at her voice, dark brown eyes clashing with honey and he smiled immediately at her presence. “And I don’t know how to dance, not properly.”
He stood up straighter, inkling closer towards Agatha like a magnet. The edge of his lips stayed perked up as he spoke. “You want me to teach you how to dance?”
“Don’t sound so cocky, or I’ll just ask another.” She crossed her arms looking to the side, his gaze was too much for her to handle. She didn’t need him to know how he made her feel with just one look.
“Another?” The words came from his lips almost in disdain. The thought of someone else by her side besides him something he refused to fathom. “As your boyfriend, I don’t appreciate that.”
“Fake boyfriend,” she corrected.
“That’s what I meant.”
Agatha let out a long sigh. “Will you just teach me how to dance or not? I won’t have any problem with not dancing with you at all tomorrow if that’s what you wish.”
“Our agreement was until the ball, you have to.”
“Who’s even going to this ball anyway that you care so much?”
“Let’s redirect the attention as to why you care so much about dancing well tomorrow,” he said, taking her hand in his. It fit perfectly in his, like it was meant to be there. Her skin was soft against his calloused fingers and he wished he could hold it forever. She was comfort and warmth; and being in her arms felt like home.
Her breath spiked when he placed his other palm on her lower back pulling her closer. He was so close and smelled of creamy musk and sandalwood, it felt intoxicating.
“Seems like someone cares,” he proceeded to whisper in her ear, his nose brushing along her hairline. The goosebumps running along her skin were hard to ignore. If she moved her head just a smidge her own lips could touch his. So she fought her inner battles and stayed still, taking a sharp breath in order to form words.
“About you?”
“If that was your conclusion, then I’m delighted to accept it.”
Agatha let out a slight giggle. Trying not to shake too much in case she moves and her nose brushes his, and then she’d do something reckless. “You sure think very highly of yourself. If anything, maybe I wanted to practice to dance with another. You’re not the only Prince in this school you know.”
Furrowing his eyebrows, he let out a pout, but still led her in a sway around the room. “And who may it be?”
“Why would I tell you?”
“Fourth rule, no secrets.”
“I’m not keeping secrets. I just choose not to tell you right now,” she says, letting him move back and spin her right back in his arms. She was saying that to test him, to tease him, to know how much she had him wrapped around her finger.
“Is that not a secret?”
“Not to me.”
Tedros moved his hand to place it under her chin and titled it, making her smug smile face him. “You’re a handful, Agatha.”
“Keep up,” she teased, watching as his eyes took her in, his gaze moving all over her face and she couldn’t help but flush entirely red. Especially, when his thumb under her chin began to caress her skin sliding up to her lower lip in a gentle motion and suddenly the world stilled. He looked at her lips and wondered if they tasted how they looked, cherry or plum, and Agatha wanted him to close the distance and run away all at once. It was so confusing. Or perhaps, she was just trying so hard to deny the truth that spelled across her heart.
She feared he could tell. That he could see how much she felt for him.
“Hello?”
The couple jumped in each other’s arms, snapping their heads to the side where the sudden voice came from.
Sophie was standing there with her hands clasped together. “Sorry for the interruption. I was just getting Aggie here to pick out our dresses for the ball tomorrow.”
“No worries,” Tedros said, removing his hands from where they still laid on Agatha’s waist. “Got to get my suit ready too. By the way, I’m wearing white and baby blue.”
“Then I’ll make sure to wear black,” Agatha playfully teased with a laugh which he reciprocated.
“Funny Agatha, very funny.” He then takes her hand and kisses the back of it. “See you later princess.”
Agatha watched him walk away, passing by Sophie with a warm smile until he was out of sight and she could finally breath again.
“Oh wow,” Sophie shrieks, walking closer to the brunette. “You two are like, getting serious now. You both look so in love.“
“Sophie, you’re exaggerating.”
“No no, I’m being serious! I’ve read way too many fairytale books Aggie. I should know.”
“Whatever you say Sophie,” Agatha laughed, throwing her curls back from her shoulder and making her way out the main hall. The shorter girl followed right behind her, still eager about this new revelation and conversation.
“How does it feel?”
“How does what feel?”
“Love Aggie! How does it feel like to be in love?”
The brunette hesitated at the word, her step almost faltering, but then shrugged, regaining her step. “I don’t know.”
The blonde threw her head back in frustration. “Come on! How does Tedros make you feel?”
With a sigh, Agatha finally gave in, her hand creeping up to hold the necklace around her neck as she answered. “He’s irritating, conceited, and extremely delusional.”
“I don’t—“
“And no matter how insufferable he may be, I still let him hold my pinky.”
“You need to calm down Tedros. It’s not like you’re asking her to marry you,” laughed Nicholas from where he sat, putting his shoes on. “It’s just a dance.”
“It’s an important dance,” Tedros replied, fixing his tie now for the tenth time in the span of ten minutes in front of the mirror. The ball was just half an hour away and he has spent almost all morning trying to get ready, nervous for when he sees Agatha. Wanting to look his best for his princess.
This was their last day of their fake dating contract (how they pulled it off was beyond him) and he had decided he needed to tell her how he felt. Thought that became scarier by the minute.
“Just be normal or you’ll scare her away,” he says, not knowing he just drained all the color from Tedros’s face.
What if he confesses and she runs? What if she’s not his true love? What if he’s in love but she isn’t? What if she leaves him for someone else? Flashbacks of his parents haunted him, and he coughed loudly, shaking his head from the awful memories that weighed him down heavy.
“Nicholas, aren’t you scared? You’ve been dating your girlfriend for some time now. How do you know she’s the one?”
“No,” he answered, standing up. “I don’t live in fear. It leads to regret.”
“Well, we live in fear because, what if something hurts you?”
“Then let it,” Nicholas shrugged, meeting his eyes through the mirror. “If everything was always good, then there won’t be any evil to fight right?“
“What does that have to do with—“
”How could you know what love is if you’ve never been broken?”
“Okay Nicholas, you’re speaking to me in riddles now and as much as I appreciate your intelligence, I don’t need a literature lesson right now.”
The boy laughed at him, then sent him the best advice he could understand. “Tedros, tell her how you feel or you’ll regret it.”
There she stood by the staircase. Baby blue ball gown, hair in beautiful curls cascading down her back adorned in pearls that shined in the right light. A sparkly glitter coated her eyes and a cheer gloss dressed her lips, making her look captivating. In that moment Tedros wished he had a crown to place on her head.
“You look stunning,” his mouth hung upon, enthralled at the beauty taking steps closer to him. He would be lying if he said he was breathing properly.
“Thanks,” Agatha smiled, so picture perfect he engraved the image in his head. She scanned her eyes down his baby blue suit and hummed. “I suppose you do as well.”
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
He chuckled, placing his hand on the back of his neck nervously. He felt quite embarrassed that he, the future king of Camelot, was an absolute mess in front of Agatha. “I have something very important to tell you.”
“If this is another one of your agreements then—“
“No,” he quickly denied, his hands reaching out to hers. She froze under his touch, before melting all at once. “It’s not an agreement, it’s a statement.”
“Okay?”
She waited for his statement, eyes eager, almost pleading, sort of hoping, that he would say her wildest dream. Wondered if they both shared the same dream.
Tedros clears his throat, licking his dry lips out of nerves. Agatha gave his hand a squeeze of encouragement, however before he could get a single word out a distinct voice called out after him.
“Tedros!”
The school’s most popular blonde made her way towards the couple, her heels making a clicking sound at her steps against the marbled floor. Beatrix was dressed in a deep purple ballgown and soon enough stood between them, separating the fabrics of baby blue’s. Her gloved hand reached for his forearm as she spoke. “Sorry to steal him from you Agatha, but I thought we could share a dance?”
The brown eyed girl nodded, ripping her eyes away from the prince. “No problem, go ahead.”
At that response Tedros furrowed his brows, immediately pulling her back to his side and whispering in her ear. “Why would you say that?!”
“Tell her how you feel Tedros, that’s the only way,” she whispers back in his own ear, before sending the blonde a smile and walking away. Tedros tried to reach out for her, but Agatha was quick in her step. The bundles of chiffon dragging along the floor farther away from him.
“The witch left us alone.” Beatrix pulled on his arm to get him to look at her and not where the brunette had retreated. Jealousy coated her eyes at the way Tedros concentrated on Agatha like she was the only person in the room. As if she had him under a love spell. “How nice of her.”
“She’s not a witch.”
“Hmm,” Beatrix hummed. “So, I see you and Agatha are real close then.”
“We are dating.”
“Well, you seem to throw flowers at lots of girls here. Doesn’t mean they last, now do they?”
”Agatha’s different. She means everything to me. Don’t tell her I said that though, because then she’ll use it against me in an argument. She just has to win all time and I don’t even care. I just love being around her so much I’ll let her win anytime.”
Her heart sunk hearing his words, and it was shown all over her face. The way the edge of her lips dropped downwards made him feel guilty. “You’ve never said that about me before.”
“Beatrix—“
“We were going to be everything, Tedros.”
Tedros took a deep breath. “Your true love is out there Beatrix. I promise you someone will love you, better than I ever could.”
“And Agatha, do you love her?”
He looked down to the floor and his silence was enough of an answer to Beatrix.
“I hope you two are happy,“ she finally said, grabbing the ends of her dress in her palms and strutted away, leaving him with a sense of relief he hasn’t felt in a while.
Agatha and Tedros did it. Their contract worked and Beatrix will no longer look his way. But now what?
When Tedros finally spotted Agatha after his talk with Beatrix, she was walking towards the exit.
“Hey hey, where are you going?” He ran to catch up to her, pushing past people on his way with not much of a sorry. His mind was too occupied on not letting Agatha go.
Thankfully she stopped, turning to look back with a sad smile that made his heart break the moment he saw it. “Beatrix is off your back now. Our agreement is over.”
“You promised me a dance.”
“One dance?”
“One dance.”
Everyone was staring, as they all have been this past month, but Agatha didn’t really care anymore. Not when Tedros’ brown eyes were gazing into hers like she put the stars in the sky.
He took the initiative to place his hands on her back, pulling her in like he did the day before.
Placing her own hands on his broad shoulders she cleared her throat, trying to cut the tension somehow. “Should I give you back the necklace after this?”
”No, keep it. I wouldn’t want anyone else to wear it but you.”
She nods, choosing to look away from him before she melts in her spot. She wishes he didn’t say stuff like that to her, so leaving him wouldn’t hurt her as much.
“We’re a great team,” Tedros mentions.
“We didn’t rip each other’s heads off this entire month. We did pretty good,” Agatha agrees. She feels his thumb make patterns on her back, only separated by the chiffon fabric and feels goosebumps traveling up her spine.
“We work well together. Turns out I need someone like you in my life to keep me on my toes.”
“Glad to be of help.”
After a long pause he speaks again. “Agatha, I have something important to tell you.”
She turns to look at him again at the way his voice suddenly dropped with worry. “Yeah?”
“I—“ he gulps, looking nervous than usual. Which Agatha found quite endearing. “I’ve been thinking about telling you this for some time now.”
“Oh boy, is it bad?”
“No, not at all. Well, I don’t know how you feel about it.”
“Tedros,” her voice dropped. She reached up to hold his cheek in her hand, with so much tenderness he felt so cared for. Lately he realized she was the only person who understood him, who saw right through him. “What is it?”
“Promise me you won’t laugh?”
“Well if you say something stupid,” she jokes, and her nose scrunched that way he loved. He used to deny that fact, because he couldn’t accept the idea of loving Agatha. They used to hate each other. Oh, how past Tedros would mock him for feeling so flustered before Agatha now.
“Agatha, no one has ever made me feel the way you do. You make me a better version of myself, like an upgraded Tedros with silkier hair.”
She giggled at him, her head tilting as she kept eye contact with him because something in his eyes didn’t allow her to look away.
“And you made me realize that, I love being around you. I-I love you, Agatha.”
“You love me?!” She gasped, dropping her hand from his cheek as if it burned her.
“I know I say a lot of crazy things Agatha, but I finally understand what those fairytales talked about when it comes to true love. I can feel it!”
He tried to reach for her hand, but she stepped away, feeling too overwhelmed.
“You’ve said that twice now!”
“Because I do!”
“That wasn’t in our contract!”
His face falls, eyes fighting waterworks because now he knows what heartbreak feels like, and the way his heart is currently aching is the worst type of pain he’s ever felt.
“I-it’s okay. I don’t expect you to feel the—“
His words got caught off by Agatha’s lips on his, grabbing his face in her hands, fingertips setting up fireworks on his skin. She made his brain all fuzzy and knees so weak, like he would fall any moment to worship her.
Suddenly his heart wasn’t breaking anymore. He was completely enamored as Agatha kissed all his worries away with such softness he couldn’t get enough. He whispered her name on her lips like a prayer and she finally let his lips go with a smile.
“That wasn’t in our contract,” he mumbles under his breath. His eyes were still closed, taking in the moment, engraving the feeling, hoping it’ll never leave him.
“Seems like we both didn’t follow the rules,” she whispers, her forehead falling on top of his, fingers threading through his hair, not wanting to make any space between them yet.
“New rule, kiss me and never let me go.”
“I hate you,” she said. Though by the way she bit her lower lip to hide her smile he knew what she meant, and it made him feel warm all over.
“And yet you’re still going to kiss me.”
“And yet I’m still going to kiss you,” she replies as they close the gap between them once more. His arms on her waist holding her tightly closer to him, if that was even possible, never wanting to let go. It was everything he could’ve dreamed of and more. His own fairytale.