Apricots - Ruel Van Dijk

Chapter 12 - a fucking mess

Ruel's POV

So listen up you kids
And here what I say
Don't listen to your brain
And follow your dreams

I took a deep breath as I prepared to walk into the hall to meet my father. The driver had forced me to meet my father, leaving me with the guards to make sure I wouldn't escape. I didn't protest, for I knew that this is where I would end up.

I knew this wasn't going to be a 'I missed you so much son, where were you? I was so worried!'. My father wasn't like that. He didn't care about anyone. Not mum, not Stella, not me. Nobody. All he cared about was our reputation, and how people perceived us. So naturally, he treated us like shit.

"You must go in now your highness," a guard said quickly, the wait staff opening the doors. I sharply exhaled, briskly walking into the huge throne room. I'd been in this room a fair few times. Mostly for my father yelling at me. It was a grand room though. High ceilings, beautiful artwork showering the walls, white floral trim everywhere. It was a shame I had such horrible memories in such a beautiful place.

And in the very centre of the room stood my father, seemingly tall and grand in his shimmering gold suit, but hiding a dark expression. Fuck. This was not good. I'd seen this expression many times before, but it was never this deep, never this scary. I was in for a ride, and not a fun one shall I say.

"Ruel Vincent Van Dijk," he hissed, turning to face me. I bowed before him, disguising my wet, unruly appearance. It was considered very offensive to meet a royal in an informal manner. And right now I was doing exactly that. I kept my bow low for a few seconds before looking up, avoiding his gaze.

"Father," I replied simply.

"Where do I even begin..." he chuckled, but not lightheartedly, more so evilly. He began to pace as he continued. "Sneaking out, escaping responsibilities, then returning to me in a state like this after realising it was too much!" he stopped pacing on the last line, pointing a finger directly at me.

"No I didn't come back for that...I came back for-for..." I trailed off, realising I couldn't tell him anything about the real reason I came back. To protect her. He raised an eyebrow at me, seemingly amused by my loss for words.

"Well then I suppose I am correct. Now..." he closed his eyes as I squinted mine shut. I knew this is where the yelling began. "How dare you!" he started, looking me straight in the face. "Running away? Do you even know how much damage you have caused to our reputation? There are pictures of you in the street on the covers of magazines and news articles with titles of: 'Prince on the run!' or 'Are the king and queen bad parents?'," he boomed, pure anger crossing his face. I forgot about those pictures... I looked down, away from my father's angry glare. "Look at me when I'm speaking to you!" he snapped, making me whip my head up. "What you did was selfish and completely stupid! It's put our reputation at risk for frankly nothing! And now you are soaking wet and the jacket you borrowed from me is gone!" he continued to yell. The jacket. Fuck. It was still with Teliah. "You better know where it is. Your mother's wedding ring was in the pocket."

My eyes widened. Oh shit. That ring was possibly the most valuable thing we owned. If I had lost it, I didn't even know what would happen. But I did know the punishment would definitely be very very bad.

After yelling at me for a few more minutes about my stupidity, he dismissed me with confinement to my room 'after I retrieved the jacket'.

I just went straight to my room and flopped on my bed, my sopping wet clothes staining the sheets.

There was absolutely no way I could get that jacket back. I couldn't tell anyone where Teliah was, that would endanger her. And I was not going to be allowed to leave the palace, and even if I could, she would not want to speak to me. And I can imagine after I told her I was the prince of England and I had to give the jacket I gave to her back to my father, the king of England, she probably wouldn't want anything to do with me. Or maybe she didn't even have the ring anymore. Anyone in their right mind would sell the ring as soon as they found it, especially someone in her situation. It was easily worth millions.

I sighed. My father was right. What I did was stupid and useless and completely messed everything up. I should've just stayed here, in the palace, where I didn't have all of these problems that I couldn't solve. I mean, now I was in love with someone who hated me and I'd lost a piece of jewellery worth millions of dollars and had no way to get it back. I had no idea what I was going to do. My life was turning into a fucking mess and there was quite literally nothing I could do about it.

a/n

i apologise for the short chapter i have reaaaallly bad writers block😃👍

neways treat yourself like the queen you are ily bub byeee

- Bri <3

10/1/22

Word Count: 932