Royalty Undercover

Under the Stars (Pt. 2)

Katherine's POV:

I wanted to put my hands on my heart to calm it down as it was pulsing crazily right now, but refrained as I knew that Nate was watching me. What the hell is this about?!

'This is your heart beating for your i***t husband who refuses to see how madly in love you are with him' my inner self mocked and as much as I wanted to disagree with myself, I couldn't because this is the most true thing my mind ever said to me. Sadly.

"Katherine!" as soon as I heard Nate scream my name, I snapped back to reality 

"What did you say, I didn't hear you?"

"I can clearly see that" he said chuckling "Anyways, I was saying that we should go"

I nodded, so hand in hand we walked into the planetarium "What were you so lost in back there, beautiful?" Nate asked as he pulled out the chair for me

"Beautiful, really?" I asked as my nose wrinkled. 

Such a cliche nickname.

Nate shrugged as he took his seat "I just said what came into my mind, but since you seem not to like it then I'll go back to calling you my queen" I smiled 

"And I'll go back to calling you my rich snob" I said cockily as he chuckled

"Damn, it's been a while since you called me that. I know the meaning behind it isn't something really nice, but when it comes from you, it feels like a nickname made just for me by you. I like it so call me that all the time" I nodded

"You want to know why I call you that?"

Nate narrowed his eyes "I know what you're trying to do, but it won't work on me. Now tell me what were you thinking of back there"

I pouted then sighed "Fine I'll tell you, but then I'll tell you the story behind your nickname" he nodded in agreement while smiling

"I was-"

"I'm sorry to bother you, your majesties" the waited interrupted as he put everything I asked for on the table "If you need anything else, please let me know" both Nate and I thanked him telling him that we no longer need his service, so he left.

"I hope you don't mind me choosing our course, I didn't want to ruin the surprise by asking you what do you prefer" Nate shook his head 

"No problem, it seems like you already know what I like since you got it for me" he teasingly said and I nodded not knowing what else to say.

For some reason, I've taken interest in knowing his likes and dislikes ever since we've been in America, now I know that I did that because I'm in love with him, but I can't tell him all of that. Not just yet. 

We spent about a half an hour eating in comfortable silence, but Nate interrupted it all of the sudden as he cleared his throat and gave me a look telling me that now is the time I should answer his question that he asked before the waiter interrupted us.

"I was lost in my thoughts thinking whether you liked the surprise or not, I'm not really used to preparing surprises and I was nervous the whole time thinking you might not like these kind of surprises" I lied

I couldn't really tell him that I am in love with him and I was thinking whether he could love me back someday or not.

"Honestly, I loved it. No one has ever done something like that for me" I looked at him shocked as he said that

"No one?!"

He shook his head "People have tried doing surprises for me before, but not one bothered to put time and effort to make it this special"

"Then I'm glad I'm the first" I said smiling, which we both happen to be doing a lot today "Now back to the story behind the nickname" I grinned while Nate faked a groan but still had a grin that was just as bright as mine.

"The first time I met you, or rather bumped into you, at the airport, the first thought I had about you was that you are a rich snob. I mean you can't blame me, you were wearing fancy designer clothes and you had a stern expression plastered on your face. Ever since then, I thought of you as a rich snob, but you proved me wrong, yet the name stuck so it kind of ended up being a nickname for you instead of an insult"

The expression he gave me was something close to love and as much as it should make me happy, it bothered me. I know he doesn't do love and relationships so I'm afraid this expression might give me some hope, and the moment I find out I misread things, I'll be crushed.

So I did the best thing I could think of, I pretended I saw nothing and avoided looking into his eyes "If you're done eating, then we should go"

"Sure" he muttered quietly as if sensing what I'm thinking of and how I'm avoiding eye contact with him.

I took his hand and dragged him out of the planetarium, but to the opposite side of where we came from "Where are we going? I thought we are going back to the car"

I shook my head and smirked "Who said we're done?"

Once we were a bit far from the planetarium and the trees surrounding it, I stopped walking, letting go of Nate's hand, and laid on the grass. Nate looked at me confused so I patted on the spot next to me signalling him to come lay next to me, which he finally did.

"Stargazing" I said out of nowhere.

"What?" he turned to his side shifting all his attention to me while laying his weight on one elbow with his cheek resting on his palm as he looked at me confused "This is the last part of my surprise. Stargazing" I pointed out to the stars.

"Can I ask you something?" Nate said after a couple of seconds of complete silence. Comfortable silence.

I nodded "Sure"

"What happened with your ex?" Boom! Never, in a million years, thought he'd be asking me this right now.

"What made you think of this right now, out of nowhere?"

He shrugged "I don't know, it just came to my mind. If you're uncomfortable with answering it, then forget I asked"

I shook my head "You deserve to know, you're my husband after all"

He gave out a guilty look, but I shook it off by starting my story. We don't know each other that well and we haven't been on best terms, so I don't blame him for not telling me all his secrets.

"College was the only time where I got to spent some time away from the palace and it's drama, so I thought why not give love a chance, and that's where Philip came into the picture. We got out on a date one time and at the end of it we decided that we liked each other and wanted to try being together. I know it seems rushed, but it was my first time experiencing this and I had no idea what I was doing. So we spent about six months dating, but the whole time I knew I wasn't in love with him and probably that's why it didn't hurt much when we ended things. The only thing that hurt was how it ended"

"You don't have to tell me if your uncomfortable" Nate interrupted as he saw that I was breathing hard and been quiet for a while but I shook my head no.

"No need, I'm just trying to gather my words" I took a deep breath and continued

"You know, he never abused me, not physically nor mentally. The only thing he did, was use me for his own financial benefits. The day he wanted to break up with me, he came to my dorm and told me he wanted to speak to me. He then started telling me in all honestly how he just wanted money from me since I'm a princess, but still liked me and that's why he choose me. I know I don't get to say it hurts because he never cheated on me or did something worse, in fact he was completely honest with me, but it still hurt. I felt used, like no one would actually like me as me and not for my money"

"It doesn't need to be abuse or cheating to be able to get hurt, you have every right to be hurt" he muttered.

I nodded and looked up at Nate as I finished the story expecting pity from him, but I did not. He had a small smile on his face that told me he got me and he knew exactly what I was talking about. But as much as I liked not having his pity, I disliked the fact that he's been through it too.

"What did you do when he ended things with you?" he asked softly as if worried that his mere question would break me.

I let out a cold chuckle "I threw the money he wanted in his face and told him to never show his face again. He took the money happily and replied 'Gladly'. What an arse!" I scoffed at the last part.

I turned back my focus to the beautiful scene above us, but then I heard Nate mutter something, so I turned back to him again.

"Why did stay with him if you weren't in love with him?" he asked again, this time clearly, realising that I didn't hear him the first time.

I shrugged "I guess I felt safe. I didn't want to risk losing a safe relationship just to find love, so I ended up letting my comfort zone take over me and stayed in the relationship. I was probably afraid of getting hurt, yet that's all I ended up getting" I muttered the last part to myself sadly.

"You know how did I find out that I was never in love with him?" I suddenly said in my still sad voice. Not waiting for his reply, I continued "I never shed a tear for him when we broke up, I only felt hurt, but never because he left me" 

"You know what?" Nate said all of the sudden as he got off the ground and extended his hand to help me up too "I know the perfect way to end this perfect evening"

I raised an eyebrow at him as I brushed off the dirt on my trousers "What is it?"

"Dancing under the stars!" he screamed-sang mimicking the tone I used when we first arrived at this place.

I knew he said that to change the subject since it was bothering me, and to be honest, I'm glad he did so.

I chuckled at his excitement, but nodded anyway. He offered me a hand as he slightly bowed "May I have this dance with you, my queen?"

"You may, my rich snob" I said between giggles as I took his hand.

He led my left hand to his shoulder and clasped my right hand with his as he brought me closer to him and started slow dancing us to a song he was humming. All of the sudden, the hand on his shoulder let goes as he twirls me under the bright stars.

He then brought us back to our previous position after a couple of slow twirls. Feeling comfortable with him, I gently laid my head on his shoulder as he brought his face closer to mine so that our cheeks were sticking.

He moved his face back a bit to look at me and gave me his sweetest smile, then went back to sticking his cheek with mine, though this time I could feel his breath on my ear. He took a deep breath, then all of the sudden whispered,

"I would never do what he did to you"

...........................