EXPLODE

nineteen

The next day was a flurry of events.  Evan demanded my ceremony be moved to the day after tomorrow, where I would make the speech.

As most of the population had now figured out that the King was dead, there wasn't such an immediate pull on the speech. There was a bit of leeway, which was being used to prep my home into a place meant for a large celebration.

Our photos of the past Queen were dusted off and hung around the house, and artifacts salvaged from the palace were placed around strategically.

The main entryway glimmered with artificial light and a path of rose petals led to a makeshift ballroom that used to be our third living room. It had towering ceilings and windows that showed the lights of the city outside, which is why I figured they must have picked that specific room.

Our dining room had also been transformed, and our dining table meant for six at most had now been expanded for a table of twenty.

Each room had changed in its own special way until I barely recognized the home I had spent my whole life in. They had made my house unrecognizable in a matter of days.

But what took me aback the most was what they did to my room.

Our guest rooms were being occupied by the families of the people lost; the Jamine family, who lost their son-in-law and their daughter, the Murrs family, who lost all their family but the father, the Peony family, who had lost a child, and Gaby's family; completely out of respect to what happened to Gaby.

So that meant Evan had to sleep in my room, and the workers had to upgrade my room for his accommodations. My queen bed was made into a king, with new sheets, and they hung many photos of us around the room that I had no idea anyone had taken.

Evan was just as uncomfortable as I was on the subject, so when he climbed into bed next to me the night before the ceremony, we were both on complete opposites of the bed, ready to fall off if we rolled too far.

"Why are we doing this?" He asked after an hour of laying still in complete silence.

"Doing what?" I responded, rolling over to face him. My eyes had long since adjusted to the darkness and I could see both the uncomfortableness and the confusion on his face.

"Acting like complete strangers." He told me, looking me in the eye. "I've never been in love before, and  I have no idea what it could feel like, and I'm going to be married in a few weeks."

"Being in love is the best feeling in the world," I whisper into the darkness, though I realize the depth of my words immediately.

"You're in love?" Evan states in shock, and I can see the whites of his eyes expand in the darkness. My cheeks heat up and Evan recognizes my embarrassment. "What's it like?"

"You wake up each day not knowing what to expect. You're heart speeds up whenever you're around that one person and when they make you feel like you're the only one that matters...," I trail off. Evan gives me a small smile.

"Who are you," he pauses, "in love with?"

I toy with the fringes at the end of my new sheets, wondering whether or not to tell him. We had become strange friends, but had we really become close enough to confess a love for someone else to one another?

My thoughts are interrupted as his hand, so cold compared to the heat of my room, touched my arm, and I realized that we had unconsciously rolled closer to one another. I could now see exactly what Evan was feeling in his eyes; he looked concerned, but a wondering look filled his eyes.

"I can't tell you." I said after a few moments of silence. He frowned, but nodded in acceptance.

"Would you ever think it possible to," he pauses for what seems like an eternity as he waits to say what's coming next, "to fall in love with me?"