Two Princes

5. I Love You, You Know?

Midnight finds Elizabeth awake in her room, with the door closed and the curtains drawn, and the lamp beside her bed bathing the room in a soft, warm, golden glow. The house is very quiet, with her father somewhere downstairs, and her sisters probably in their bedrooms, and Elizabeth is dressed for bed, in a fluffy robe over a short satin nightgown. Cross-legged on the window seat, she stares blankly at the open diary in her lap, torn between her desire to forget entirely the events of the day, and an overwhelming urge to pen every word. A very confusing place to be.

Her cell phone vibrates on the cushion next to her foot, and she reaches for it automatically but snatches her hand back as soon as she sees Arthur's name and face on the screen. She dithers. Yes? No? Yesnoyesnoyes—

She hits ACCEPT and brings the phone to her ear in one swift, breathless motion. "Hello?"

"Elizabeth, it's me! I just wanted to call and check in on you after today." Arthur's sweet, cheerful voice twists her stomach into a knot. "You seemed distracted today, and I wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Yeah, no, I'm fine," she answers automatically, and takes a deep breath. I'm not hiding anything. I didn't do anything. I have no reason to feel guilty.

Feeling a little better, she tells him she was busy after school—technically not a lie—and never had the chance to call him. "How was your afternoon? Do you have a lot of homework for the first day back?"

"Probably not as much as you do!" he laughs. "I heard about the project Mr. Z assigned today. Pretty big, huh?"

She stills. "Oh. Yeah."

"Did you at least get to pick partners? King said he picked Ban, though I can't imagine why, unless Elaine pressured him into playing nice, you know? Can't wait to see how that plays out."

"Well, not exactly..." And she lets the truth tumble out. "Remember that guy my dad introduced us to, Meliodas? Apparently he goes to school with us and he's in my class, so Mr. Zaratras asked that I work with him, since he had to sit next to me since that was the only open desk in the room, and share my book because he doesn't have one yet, and Mr. Zaratras suggested that we pair up because he's new and probably doesn't know anyone else. And you know how important this project is for my grade, right, so he and I are going to have to spend lunch tomorrow in the library to work on it because we don't have a topic or anything yet..."

Arthur is quiet, and she nervously nibbles on her bottom lip as she waits for the response he is no doubt carefully considering. "Well. Are you okay with that, Ellie? Does he make you uncomfortable? Because you know if he does, Mr. Z will probably let you change partners."

She stutters out a rather unconvincing, "N-n-no."

"...I'm not sure how I feel about him, Elizabeth. He might be an all-right guy, but we don't really know him. But I trust you, and I just want to make sure you're okay. Do you want me to come to the library with you tomorrow?"

She sighs. "No, Arthur, that's okay. It's only an hour lunch period, and we're going to be working, anyway, so, you know. It's gonna be fine. I'm gonna be fine."

"Okay, Ellie. But you let me know if he makes you uncomfortable, okay? If he says anything, or tries anything. I bet between Diane, Ban, King, and me, we could straighten him out." He chuckles at this last bit, but she knows it's a very real threat, and she always appreciates this protective side to him and all of her best friends.

"I know, Arthur, I will. Thanks."

He hesitates. "I...I love you, Ellie, you know?"

Her heart stops. "W-what?"