The King and a Dance
1130 Words
“I love you too.”
Saying the words out loud and towards Aislin’s face felt as if Avery had shed a million-pound weight that he had not known he’d been carrying all this time. It was like a catharsis of sorts, like shackles freeing him from letting the truth out and finally letting them see the light of day.
Well, it was night, but you get the idea.
Truthfully, when Aislin said ‘I love you’ to him earlier, he thought he had heard wrong. After all, the music playing was rather loud, the crowd even louder still… He could have heard anything over the din! But no, he hadn’t been mistaken. Before absolute horror gripped Aislin’s expression as she realized what she had said, he could see the emotion already reflected in her eyes. It was unmistakable and no amount of drunkenness could dispute it, even if she did take that sobering potion.
But then Aislin left. He started second-guessing himself all over again and wondering if she was leaving because she did not mean what she said or if she regretted saying it to him. That, for him, was the most difficult part. It took a long time for Avery to decide that purposefully or not, Aislin had already said it and he was not about to let her off the hook. He needed her to hear it from him; to give her no doubt if her feelings were returned.
It seems, though, that perhaps he had wasted too much time. Now, Anaïs had gotten her crazy all over his fiancée who seemed to be scared about something that she had said when he had important things to discuss with Aislin.
For the moment, however, Avery saw that his admittance had triumphed over everything else in her mind as he saw Aislin’s midnight-blue eyes twinkle with such clarity. He saw her shoulders relax, her jaw released with tension, and when he took another step towards her, she did not take a step back like she did earlier.
“Do you mean that?” the princess asked, her voice wavering slightly as if she was fighting emotion.
Avery cupped both of her cold cheeks, ducking down so he could match her eye level. “I do,” he swore. “I would never say it unless I know it to be true, and it is.”
Tears started to pool in her eyes, making his chest tighten awfully. He really disliked it when she cried, feeling even more helpless when there was nothing he could do about it.
Aislin sniffled. “But— how?”
The question made him smile. “You are pretty lovable, you know? I didn’t even have to try that hard.” She stomped her foot in complaint, making his smile grow wider. “Exactly. Cute mannerisms like that are some of the ways of how you managed to wiggle your way into my heart.”
“Avery!”
He chuckled. “I think I have known it for quite a while now,” he admitted, sobering up. “It just took me a bit of time to form the realization on my own. So, when I tell you that I love you, it is not because I am simply parroting the words back. I mean them— with all my heart.”
“When?” she asked.
Avery frowned, his hands gliding down to her arms. “Does it matter?”
Aislin sighed. “Of course, it doesn’t. I just want to know how long you have felt that way about me.”
“Well, if I answer, will you too?”
She nodded. He took a deep breath and gave her a small shrug. “Yesterday, at our engagement party,” he replied. “I wanted to tell you immediately about what I felt, but things kind of got hectic and then I didn’t want to make moments awkward throughout the course of the night by telling you. I thought I could just let it be for the moment, but then…”
Aislin smirked without mirth. “But then I accidentally said it.”
“You mean you already knew beforehand?” he asked kind of nervously. Aislin frowned at him.
“Of course I did.” A deep blush bloomed on her cheeks. “Kind of right around yesterday, too.”
He grinned, feeling his own heart flutter. “Guess we both can’t keep our mouths shut.”
“That’s one way of saying it,” she muttered, rubbing her forehead. “Look, that was not how I wanted you to find out about my feelings for you. I did not mean to just blurt it out carelessly. I was looking for the right time to say it to you but it was definitely not while we were dancing a one-two step dance move that you created on the spot.”
Avery smirked. “Why don’t you just admit it was my dance move that made you say it in the first place?”
She rolled her eyes and Avery pulled her closer to his chest. He relaxed as he rested his chin on the top of her head. Her proximity washed away the tang of fear that he could still taste on his tongue when Aislin ran from him and he had to admit that it scared it more than he would like to admit.
“Don’t do that again, all right?” he murmured into her hair. Aislin made a noise of confusion. “Running. Please don’t do that again. We can always talk about things, no matter how difficult the conversation might be. Just don’t run.”
“All right,” he heard Aislin agree. “I was just so embarrassed and I was convinced you did not feel the same.”
He gently pulled back, showing his surprise. “Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m not!”
“Have I ever done anything to make it seem like I don’t have strong feelings for you?”
Aislin paused, seeming to think really hard about it. “No, but—”
“Nuh-uh. No buts. And we are done talking about this, too. You love me, I love you— that is all that matters now.” Avery took her hand and started pulling her along.
“Wait, where are we going?”
“We,” he said, “are going to dance. And we are going to do the Aislin-Avery Dance and you are going to love it as well.”
“Are we really calling it that?”
“Do you have any other ideas?”
“Thousands.”
He grinned. “You are in luck. I have all night to hear them.”
- Writer
