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“Do you know how beautiful you are? It’s truly distracting.”
The raven haired girl gave a high pitched laugh and ran her hand over Brandon’s chest teasingly. He answered with his most practiced smirk, the one that said ‘I’m the hottest guy around and I know it’. That charming smile had been the main culprit for the long trail of broken hearts he had left behind him throughout the years.
The fund raiser concert was well underway, and Red Fountain was overflowing with activity and excitement. The new open arena had been adapted to host the event. Mouthwatering aromas were saturating the air from countless food stalls, and millions of little fairy lights were illuminating the grounds, giving the whole place a rather casual and almost romantic atmosphere.
“Come on Faye, all I want is your number.” It had been three weeks.
Girls usually gave him their number within minutes of talking to him. But the tall dark brunette had been dragging it on, refusing categorically, all the while flirting with him outrageously. And the more she refused the more determined he became that yes, he would get it eventually.
“Aren’t you enjoying the chase Brandon?”
Faye ran her fingers lightly down his torso, stopping to play with the hem of his burgundy polo shirt, and it’s only then that Brandon realised the whole thing might be getting slightly out of hand.
///
The crowd cheering, the intense spotlights, the thin layer of sweat covering her body from the adrenaline and the dancing; Stella felt so alive it was unreal.
Weirdly enough it had been something to overcome. Singing was not her strongest suit, and despite knowing from the few times she had taken lessons back on Solaria that she had a nice voice, it was something else entirely to perform in front of such a large crowd.
She was immensely proud of herself and she would have to thank Musa again later, but right now she could not wait to celebrate with Brandon.
Stella walked around looking for the brunet, stopping at one of the food stalls to buy herself a slice of pizza. Disappointment was starting to creep in slowly, as she thought he would have been waiting to congratulate her as soon as she came off the stage. Now she was the one running around to find him, and Stella had never run after anyone in her whole life.
She continued her search, going further towards the back of the arena. She took a bite of her food while marvelling to herself about Magix’s warm weather despite being in the middle of January as she scanned the area in front for her. That’s when she spotted them.
Her blood ran cold and the rest of her pizza flopped to ground grotesquely. What a waste of a perfect slice of margherita.
She took a second to gather her thoughts before making a decision. Right now the idea of blasting that girl out of the school was entirely appealing but she did not want to ruin the concert.
She watched as her schoolmate said something to Brandon while she played with the hem of his shirt. Something snapped in her. Stella had never really been taught how to share, and she did not feel like practicing that skill today.
She charged towards the unsuspecting duo as fast as her heels would allow.
She was so engrossed in her indignation that she missed Brandon removing Faye’s hand from his top and gently claiming his personal space back. She reached them at that point, grabbed the specialist by the arm with a vicious grip, and looked at the dark haired girl with venom.
“Hands off, slut.”
Stella pulled Brandon away before the outraged fairy could even respond to the insult.
The corridors leading away from the open grounds were empty, giving the couple an ideal space to settle their issue. Once they had turned around one last corner, the solarian princess spun on her heels to face the disconcerted brunet.
“What?!”
Stella glared at him for having the audacity to pretend like he didn’t know what he had just done.
“Seriously? You had a girl almost take your clothes off in public and you are playing dumb?” She knew that he had probably only started talking to the girl because of that silly competition between them, but it still did not make any of this okay.
Brandon let out a deep laugh that only managed to hurt her even more. What was so funny about making her look like an idiot?
“Faye was not going to take my cloth-“
“How can you be so naïve Brandon?” She rolled her eyes exasperatedly. Her arms seemed to naturally cross over her chest defensively, both in anger and in an attempt to bring her a small sense of comfort.
This whole situation was starting to make her feel inadequate, and inadequacy was rooted so deep within her that her chest started to tighten at the mere thought of not being good enough for yet another person that she loved.
He frowned, leaning back against the wall and mirroring her posture.
“You’ve got this all wrong Stell. I was only trying to get her number, not sleep with her.” He paused. “I actually never intended to do anything with her!”
And he really hadn’t. First of all, he wasn’t that stupid. Seeing someone else would dramatically decrease his chances of getting Stella back for good. Second, no one compared to the Princess of Solaria in his eyes. She had left her mark on his heart a long time ago.
He extended his hand to gently stroke her exposed shoulder but she swatted him away harshly, earning a sharp exhale on his part.
“Faye has been spreading rumours all over Alfea that you two were about to become official.” His whole face dropped, making her snort drily.
“What the fuck?”
“Yes Brandon. And considering literally everyone knows about us, you can imagine how that makes me look.” There was no more anger in her voice, just weariness.
He ran a hand over his face, frustrated. He felt like she was blaming him for a situation she was partially responsible for, and he didn’t know how to justify himself without antagonising her.
“You are the one who wanted us to stay casual Stella…” He sighed.
The weariness was immediately replaced by sheer indignation again. “Yes because you lied to me for two whole years and I needed to know that I could trust you again 100% before I-“ She was shaking with anger, her hands now balled up in fists along her sides. “Never mind. I never actually thought you would try to fuck someone else.”
Brandon considered turning around and punching the wall behind him repeatedly until he could calm down and deal with this ridiculous situation with rationality and composure.
It was always the same between them. Ever since the day of the Royals, whenever things started to get better between them, the identity switch would always come back somehow and tear them apart.
They had made up. They had become friends again. They had started having sex again. They had even professed their love to each other when she had jumped off a cliff after him. Yet here they were again. Torn.
“I. Was. Not. Going. To fuck her.”
“Liar.”
Aaarrgghh. “What the hell do I need to do to convince you?! I promised you I would never lie again, and I will uphold that promise with my dying breath!”
In her heart she knew he was telling the truth. She could tell how devoted he was to her, despite the boundaries she had placed between them. But she was proud, and she was scared.
“It doesn’t matter Brandon, you can go with whoever you want. You are right, it was my decision to stay casual, you are a free man.”
He sprung off the wall and grabbed her by the shoulders, eyes wide with disheartenment.
“For crying out loud Stella, I’m yours. You have my heart!” He shook her slightly, as if he was trying to knock some sense back into her.
She did not make any attempt to push him away, instead just looked at him with misty eyes “Well you can take your heart back, I don’t want it!”
“Sorry princess but it’s non refundable.” Brandon had spoken softly, with the ghost of a smile on his face.
His hands cupped her face gently, and with the pad of his thumbs he tenderly wiped off the fresh tears that had started to break free.
Very slowly, she uncrossed her arms and hooked them under his own, hands fisting the back of his shirt as she pressed herself against him, desperate for warmth and comfort.
He encircled her shoulders with his strong arms and all the anger she had felt towards him vanished in an instant.
“You are mine?” She needed to hear it again.
“I’m yours sunshine. I love you.”
“So you didn’t just say it to make me feel better after we nearly drowned in Downland?”
The first and last time to date they had admitted their love for each other. They had almost died down there, multiple times, and when he had woken up on that beach next to her and she had weakly told him she loved him he had obviously reciprocated.
“What?” His laughter was laced with disbelief. “Of course not, I have loved you for so long Stella.”
“You never said it again after that.” She reproached, giving him a soft pout and a frown.
“Because I was waiting for you to say it again! I didn’t want to impose!” What if she had said it in a moment of delirium or desperation…?
“Looks like we could have been waiting for a while..”
She teasingly peppered some kisses along his jawline, but then stopped and suddenly slammed her small fist against his chest, effectively breaking their embrace. “You didn’t watch me sing!!”
Without even registering her hit, Brandon effortlessly pushed her arm away and snaked his own around her waist to pull her into him once more.
He smirked down at her in a way that made her swoon uncontrollably. “Of course I did.”
She had never been able to resist him and his charming ways. It was unfair really, like she’d never had a chance to begin with, always destined to fall.
“And you were incredible.” His deep brown eyes shone with admiration. He brought his thumb up to her face once more, this time to caress her perfectly painted lips. “Beautiful, talented, sexy.” Then he remembered how she tripped over a wire at the beginning, chuckling softly. “And really cute.”
Stella rolled her eyes, but deep down his words were mending the old wounds that had started to reopen. That was the thing with Brandon. Whenever she truly let her guard down around him, he made her feel safe, he made her feel loved and seen.
“But you weren’t there when I finished.” She nibbled his thumb playfully, a sign that she wasn’t truly mad at him anymore.
His features softened even more. “I’m sorry babe. My ego got the best of me. I won’t talk to Faye again.” Especially not after learning that the fairy was spreading those ridiculous rumours about them.
She took a deep breath, inhaling his intoxicating signature scent of sandalwood. The earthy and rich aroma- like him- had always been incredibly grounding to her, and no doubt one of the first things that had fired up her attraction to him.
“I’m sorry too. I might have kinda overreacted a little or whatever.”
Brandon beamed before planting a sound kiss on her lips, which she deepened immediately, eagerly. The brunet responded to her fervour in kind, turning them around so he could pin her against the wall behind him.
A few moments later, they broke the kiss to come up for air. Feeling dangerously dizzy, Stella was grateful for the sturdy wall behind her and the even sturdier man in front of her who was gripping her waist tightly.
While she took some deep breaths, her head resting back against the wall, Brandon began kissing her neck tenderly. The blonde moaned quietly, before coming to a sudden and immutable realisation.
“I’m done.”
Brandon’s head shot up in panicked haste, fear and dread flooding his body uncontrollably. “What?!”
Her resolute smile confused him even more.
“I’m done Brandon.” And she gave him a quick kiss before continuing, unable to resist the lost puppy expression on his face. “I’m done keeping whatever distance I am pretending there is between us, I’m done being casual. I want to leave all the hurt behind, I want everything with you.”
She still cared what people thought, and she knew people would judge her for choosing a commoner. She knew the Solarian High Council, and maybe even her parents, would wholly disagree with her decision. But they could all be damned. Because she was done running away from her happiness.
Brandon was still dumbstruck by Stella’s statement. He had dreamt about this moment for so long that he wasn’t entirely convinced it wasn’t his imagination playing some sick trick on him.
“Do you mean- you forgive me?”
“I forgave you a long time ago. I just needed to get over my fear and my wounded pride.”
Her smile was so bright it took his breath away, and gradually, slowly, he started making sense of her words.
“So you are saying that-“
“You are mine and I am yours Brandon.” She cupped his bewildered face. “If you’re still up for it that is.”
“Am I-“ He shook his head, giving her the biggest, warmest, happiest smile ever. “Am I still up for it?!”
Stella squealed as Brandon swept her up, carrying her down the corridor bridal style. Giggling uncontrollably, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hold. “Where are we going?”
“To my room. I’m gonna show you just how up for it I still am.”
Her giggle turned into a wholehearted and carefree laugh. For the second time that night, securely held within the embrace of the man of her dreams, she felt more alive than she had ever been before.
“I love you so much Brandon.”
“I love you more Stella.”