Across the Pond (Prince Harry #2)

Chapter Thirty-Five

It was hard to count down the day, but now it was coming to an end. Tomorrow Meredith and Harry said good bye again. Summer wouldn't be able to come fast enough. Each of them would count down the days until they would meet again, but it would be at least another six months. Hopefully time slipped quickly by.

As for now, it was just them. Gray clouds hovered above as the two stood on the dock. It threatened to snow in a bit, and the wind had already picked up. It was only a matter of time before they were forced to go back inside. Meredith knew Harry was already cold; he didn't like being on the dock, anyway.

Harry laughed. "How are Rachel and Chloe still friends with you after that?"

Meredith had finished telling a story. "They're Hufflepuffs."

He arched an eyebrow.

"They let you get away with anything." Meredith kissed him on the cheek and then led him inside the mansion. It was warm inside. The fireplace started to go as Meredith brought hot chocolate over and sat down next to him on the couch. "What will you do when you get back to London?" she asked.

Shrugging, Harry admitted, "We usually take the first weeks of January off. I'm not sure what I'll do."

"Perhaps some events." Reaching forward, Meredith handed the newspaper to Harry. "You're going to need it."

He flipped it open. On the front page rested the face of Prince Harry and his girlfriend, Meredith Rogue. At least her name was spelled correctly. The picture was taken New Years Eve. Neither of them paid attention to the fireworks that danced above them. Lovingly, they looked at each other.

"Damn it," he muttered.

"I think it's a good picture of us."

"But we weren't supposed to leave the house. We weren't supposed to be seen."

"They thought we could stayed cooped up in the mansion for a week?"

"Yes."

Meredith scoffed. "I love you, Harry, but a whole week, just you and me, it could have serious consequences."

Harry stilled, yet a smirk rested on his lips. He knew she joked. "Like what?"

"What if we run out of condoms?"

Harry didn't know how Meredith did it, but she kept a perfectly straight face. A grin broke across his face. Laughter rumbled down in his chest. "I see you have your priorities in order."

"Yep, your body and then your mind."

"The money and title?"

"My apologies. The correct order is your body, your money, your mind, your title."

He shook his head. "Title is last. Don't you want to be a princess?"

"I was born to be a queen. Princess will do fine enough." Meredith took a drink from her hot chocolate. "I am Meredith Fucking Rogue after all."

"Of course." Harry, too, took a drink. A warm feeling spread through him. "You spiked it, didn't you?"

Meredith nodded. "Bailey's. It'll warm you up faster." She took another drink, finding it hard to stop. Setting down the glass, Meredith looked at the picture of Harry and her. "It is a good picture, though. We look happy and in love. People have to understand that, right? They must see it."

"I thought you were one not to care, Mere?"

"I don't, but I'll have to care eventually, won't I?" she asked. "At some point, if our lives continue like this, I'll have to care about what people say and think of me. My life is in their hands after all. They could chop off my head if they wanted."

Harry snickered. "What will you do when you get back?"

"Work, work, work, work, work, work," Meredith listed. "And college, then more work, college, college, college, college, work, work, college."

Letting out a groan, Harry held her tightly. "That sounds like a lot of work."

"You remember those days, don't you?"

"I do, but that seems like such a long time ago."

"Didn't you retire, like, two years ago?"

"Yes, but two years can be a long time, Mere."

"Two years ago, I was in high school. I went to Italy that year. I was graduating." She sighed. "Two years ago, to my very short life, Harry, is not a long time ago. I can remember things like they were yesterday."

"It's sad to say, but it'll all fade. The days will turn into months that will turn into years. It will all be grouped together."

Meredith shook her head. "I don't want that." Sliding away from Harry, Meredith stood tall, challenging him. His eyes stayed on her as she walked to the desk and came back, sitting opposite of him. Brought back from the desk was a pen and paper. She began to write. Harry tried to look over, but she pulled it away.

"Mere," Harry whined.

"No." She scribbled down words that turned into long sentences against the white piece of paper. Meredith's handwriting was already hard to read, but it didn't get better as Harry tried to read it upside down. As well as she tried to cover most of it with her arm.

"Mere, what are you doing?"

"Writing."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"What are you writing?"

"A letter to you."

"I'm sitting right here."

"But I'm not with you every day, am I?" she asked. "Don't say you'll call me every day, because that won't make a chance." Meredith flipped her hair back, looking at him straightly. "Even the days that I spend with you, I'll write to you, because there are things that I don't want to forget. I don't want to forget this moment, or this kiss right here. I don't want to forget how the ocean looked today. I don't want to forget what you said to me today and how you said it.

"I don't want the days to blend together. I don't want months and years to go by, and I don't know what happened. Suddenly I had less time. Suddenly we moved on and we forgot to live. I don't want that. I want you." Meredith went back to writing.

Harry swallowed. "I thought you said these letters are for me."

"They are." She paused. "You may never read them, Harry."

"What?"

"I'm private on my writing, you know."

"Which is why you share it to the world?"

She smirked.

"I know," Harry said. "There is so much people don't see. It's a secret. It's kept close to this chest. This will be the same?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Meredith gulped. "You'll only get them if I die--"

"Mere--"

"Or we break up."

"Mere--"

"I want you to know Harry what you mean to me. I can't always say it aloud. I don't always admit it. I don't always trust myself. Sometimes words tumble out that I don't mean or something happens. But at least you hear my voice and you know what I mean," Meredith said. "But with these letters, you'll know that I loved you every moment of every day."

"Even when you're angry at me?"

"Especially when I'm angry at you." Meredith put her nose to the paper again, writing profusely. After a few more sentences, she sealed the paper, not allowing Harry a look. Meredith rejoined him on the couch, curling into him softly. Harry held her.