The Princess and Me

BONUS CHAPTER

THE ALTERNATE ENDING

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It took Katelyn two whole years to take care of everything she needed to take care of in her life. It wasn't like she really "fixed" everything, so to speak. It was more like she had come to terms with everything she did in the past. She had come to accept that things happened and that there was no way she could actually change them. She had come to accept herself in the process too, and that for her, was the best thing that had happened during the last two years.

It was only fair. After all, to find this "acceptance", she had to give up the best thing that ever happened to her.

Because after everything else, after deciding not to run away anymore, she discovered that she was too late anyway. After deciding to come back for HER because, after all, she did promise to wait for her, she discovered that there really was nothing for her to come back to.

Nothing but a royal wedding anyway.

...

Kate made a stop in Britton in the middle of her trip from Bangkok to New York to visit Beth and Harrold but it was all over the country. The flags. The banners. Everything spoke of a royal wedding happening in a few days. One could practically taste the tension and anticipation in the air. The mood was supposed to be cheerful since a member of the royal family was getting married after all. But she just couldn't find it in herself to smile.

It was painful.

Oh-so-very-painful.

She supposed it was only reasonable. After all, even if Abbie did say that she was going to wait, it really wasn't fair of her to hold the girl to that promise. She was the Crowned Princess after all. She had duties to fulfill. Wasn't that the reason why she didn't accept her proposal in the first place? Abbie couldn't really count on a promise she made when she was just nothing but a common. It was silly of her to think that the Crowned Princess would never forget about some girl she met and supposedly fell in love with two years ago.

Damn. It had really been a while.

Still, it hurt. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that it was only logical, even beneficial, there was always that irrational part of her brain that refused to accept that she wasn't hers. Perhaps she'd never really been hers in the first place.

So she had no choice but to retrace her footsteps. After all, that was the only thing she could do now. She came here in hopes to win her back but apparently, that wouldn't be happening. All she could do now was to say goodbye properly. To let go of everything she had ever held dear in her heart. Perhaps to return the ring she had given her. And then move on, like so many others who had their heart broken do.

Her feet brought her first and foremost to the lake at the university where they first met. She sat down on the familiar bench, noting that not much had changed since she left.
This was the lake where so many things happened. It was where she first met Abigail, and perhaps where she first fell in love with her too. This was where she proposed as well and where she turned her down too.

She wondered what would have happened if she had accepted her proposal then. Maybe they would have been married and they would have run away together. Maybe they would have even been happy. But she knew, like so many other fairytale stories, that it wouldn't have lasted long. Eventually, the princess come to resent her for what she had to give up to be with her.