Two Princes

9. I'm Glad You're Alright, 'Cause That's What Really Matters To Me

The ride out of town takes about forty minutes, even with Meliodas flying at incredible speeds down the highway, but to Elizabeth it feels very short, over very quickly, though the emotional toll of the evening has left her exhausted by the time he slows the bike and pulls it into a small garage at the back of a building Elizabeth has never seen before.

"Elizabeth? We're home."

"Home?" She raises her sleepy head, assesses her surroundings: "Not...home..."

He chuckles. "Not your home, Elizabeth."

"Okay..." She yawns and attempts to climb off the back of the bike on her own, but the potent effects of the wine from dinner have fully settled in, and she stumbles in her shoes, lurching about on the pavement.

"Careful!" Meliodas grabs her waist to steady here, and she turns to look up at him...

"Meliodas..."

"Yes, Elizabeth?"

...and just as quickly twists in his grasp and vomits.

"That's not gonna be much fun to clean up," Meliodas muses, looking over the soiled motorcycle. "Come on, Elizabeth, let's get you inside."

The world lurches out from under her feet once again, then, and just as quickly rights itself as Meliodas scoops her up in his arms, bridal-style. Thoroughly spent now, Elizabeth lets her head loll against his shoulder as he carries her through a few doorways, up a few narrow sets of stairs, and finally sleep steals her away...

❤︎

Silver beams of moonlight slant across a polished wood floor and creep across a bed covered with clean white sheets, upon which Elizabeth tosses and turns and finally opens her eyes. She sits up. "W-where am I...?"

"Mornin' Elizabeth!"

She squeals and gathers the blankets tightly around her form, even though she is wearing a green cocktail dress. Wait, why is she wearing a cocktail dress in bed? Why don't the blankets feel like satin against her skin...? This isn't her bed. THIS ISN'T HER BED! And who just spoke to her!?

"Where am I? What am I doing here!?" She squints as a light is switched on and the room is flooded with a golden glow. "Meliodas?"

"Yo." He grins at her.

As her eyes adjust to the brightness, she slowly releases her death grip on the sheets and glances around the room. Small, modestly furnished, with a large bay window through which shines a full moon. "Where are we? What happened? Why am I dressed like this?"

"Well, let's see." He comes to sit on the edge of the bed next to her, and hands her a cup of something hot. She sips: Mmm, spicy chocolate...

"You called me during your fancy dinner, said you were trying to call Margaret, you were crying, and I picked you up and brought you home with me." He pauses, glances ceiling-ward. "I think that about sums it up."

"Home...with you?" She looks up from her cup in surprise.

"Yeah. Welcome to the Boar's Hat Tavern, Elizabeth." He spreads his arms wide in a gesture of show and welcome. "Well, the upstairs, anyway."

"The...the Boar's Hat? This is your bar?"

"Yup."

Realization then hits Elizabeth and she searches frantically for her phone. "My phone—I have to call my sisters—oh, Father must be furious with me, and no one has any idea where I am—"

"It's right here, Elizabeth—" he hands it to her, "—but I already texted Margaret for you."

"You—you what?" She gapes.