#4

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FOUR

'I drink to make other people more interesting.' - Ernest Hemmingway

That evening, I was so consumed in my own mind that I hadn't caught onto those sea green eyes staring at me from beside the door.

"You're not daydreaming about me already, are you?"

The husky whisper of James' voice jolts me out of my own head and I whip around to see his tall figure looming beside the door. I swiftly drop my eyes and try to focus on something – anything else. I am in no mood for an argument and James is almost always two words from starting one. Not every prince is charming.

"You want some?" He offers when I don't respond.

I glance again at the bottle hanging from James' fingers. It's dark in colour and I can't make out the brand from here, but the bottle is almost half empty. James doesn't make a move to come inside the room, but he equally doesn't seem to want to leave either.

"What poison have you laced it with?"

"My undeniable charm," James replies.

I turn the tv up louder. "How long have you been standing there, anyway?"

"Longer than you'd like," he says moving from his leaning position and further into the room. He crosses it in a flash, throwing himself onto the sofa next to me. It's now that I note he is dressed in nothing but a pair of grey joggers and white socks. His blonde hair is wet and is curling onto his forehead as if he's just stepped out of the shower. He is also practically laying on top of me, so I shuffle further away.

James unscrews the lid and pours the amber liquid in the bottle down his throat. I try to not notice the way his fingers wrap around the bottle, the subtle way his veins seem to flex with the movement. I try not to notice the smell of his shampoo or the way I can see droplets of water splash onto his shoulder.

It is within my trying not to notice position that I clock onto James staring at me as he drinks.

"Stop looking at me like that, Prescott. I wear heels bigger than your dick."

His lips curl.

"Cat got your tongue?" I taunt as he remains quiet.

His silence makes me more uncomfortable than it should. "I don't know what game you're playing. Either say something or bugger off."

"I don't play games, Eva, I make the rules," he smirks, "but maybe I like to provoke you. Maybe I like the way you can't decide if you want to strangle me or if you want to kiss me."

"I can assure you, the last thing I want to do is kiss you, Prescott."

James narrows his eyes and takes another swig of drink. "That's right, the last Prescott you kissed ended up dying."

There's a beat of silence as if James' words have gotten sucked up in the air and churned back up. I see his lips part, but I can't bear to hear another vile thing from his mouth.

"I can't believe you've just said that." I whisper.

I abruptly stand up, wobbling on my legs as if the earth is moving from beneath my feet.

I need to get out of here.

"Eva," James exhales as I start to move. "Shit, Eva, wait."

I walk fast, trying to get as far away from him as my legs can possibly manage. I'm trying – and failing – to stop myself from crying, but all I can see is the clouding vision of the tears that fill my eyes. I can hear James' footfalls behind me but I only try to speed up.

"Wait, Eva!" he bellows but I don't stop moving. If I stop now, if I face him, I will cry. I can't let him see me cry.

"Eva, please."

Maybe it's the sound of his voice, maybe it's the shaking, burning anger I feel every time he opens his mouth, but I do stop. I stop and whirl on my feet just as James catches up to me and we go barrelling into each other. His arm reaches out and clutches my waist and we trip and fall back into the wall, his body pressed up against mine as my back connects to the wall. I shove him away, blinking back the falling tears.

"I can't believe you," I practically spit at him as the words tumble and burn from my lips. "Did you ever realise your words...that you are hurting me? Or do you just really not care?"

James watches me but doesn't make a move to respond. He opens his mouth, once, twice, three times but he just stands there like a blithering fish and it only enrages me further.

"Your best friend," I draw in a sharp breath. "Your best friend."

My chest is heaving, my body is breathless. He seems to do this to me; completely expel any air I have from my body. I feel like a year's worth of pain is pouring out at this very moment and I want to collapse onto the ground and sob.

I dare to meet his eyes and what I find staring back at me is a reflection of my own pain. I can see it in his eyes. I can see it in every crevice of his face.

It hurts to watch it almost as much as it hurts to experience it.

And suddenly I'm no longer staring at the man in front of me but at the boy I used to run around the grounds with chasing our brothers. I see the boy who came to me the first time he kissed a girl. I see the boy who used to play dress up with me when his brother called us babies. I see the boy who held my hand when I buried my grandpa.

But most of all, I see him. I see Luke. I see him in his eyes, in the same curl of the single ringlet that falls in front of his eyes. I see Luke in the way he stands and the way he parts his lips. I see his twin brother; I see his best friend. I see the man I loved in the monster who stands in front of me.

When I look at James and I see his twin, the brother who was the rightful heir to his throne.

But most of all, I look at James and I see the twin that lived.

I feel as if I'm suffocating. A year's worth of unresolved pain comes flooding back and I reach out and snatch the bottle of amber liquid from James' grasp and take a large gulp. The liquid burns my throat, and I can already feel my stomach rejecting the unfamiliar drink. I pause for breath and then swallow more of the alcohol. I keep chugging it down until the bottle starts to drain.

At some point, I must have collapsed onto the floor, the empty bottle of alcohol sitting between us. I pick it up to bring it back to my lips but there is nothing but a drop left.

"I have more of that,"

I meet his eyes for the first time in a while. "Then why are you still sitting here?" I move to stand up. "Go and get it."

Thank you for reading! x

Thank you for reading! x

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