Another Love Story (Book 2.5 of selection fanfics)

Chapter 6

The next week and a half passed quickly. Since the arrival of the Italians, I'd barely seen Genevieve, who likely occupied much of her time with the Italian prince. I'd tried to avoid Samuele as much as possible, but it had begun to feel like he knew my schedule before I even did. Every night I'd tried to cook in the kitchens, he was there, smirking as usual. He would always try to coax me to stay, but I refused to work in the same kitchen as him. Even if everything he made smelled delicious, though I'd never say that to his face.

This morning at breakfast, I felt awake and actually found myself socializing with the other girls. I didn't have many friends back home from school, so it was nice to actually talk with girls my age. The only girl who wasn't so talkative today was Erika, who instead poked around numbly at her food. Her eyes were red, almost as if she'd been crying, and her gaze flitted towards Audrey and the Royals every few seconds.

I frowned, baffled by her behavior. Erika wasn't exactly a social butterfly, but she'd at least participate in our breakfast conversations. It was her eyes that bothered me the most, which looked sad and troubled.

Some of the members of the Royal family stood to leave, finished with their meal. Abruptly, Erika pushed out her chair, mumbling a quick "excuse me" before dashing out the door.

Intent on finding out what was bothering her, I quickly excused myself and left the room, right on her heels. Her heels which, conveniently, snagged on the floor and would have sent her crashing to the ground if I hadn't yanked her back.

"Erika. What on earth is wrong?" I asked as my friend righted herself. She looked at me for a moment before her eyes seemed to freeze on something behind me. I gripped her shoulders, about to shake an answer out of her, before someone else spoke.

"Are you two alright?" Derek looked between us, his brow furrowed in worry and confusion. Erika only stared at him, as if she didn't quite know what to say or do.

I followed her gaze, glaring as I stormed up the Prince of Illéa. If he'd hurt her in any way...

"Oh, hell no. What did you do?" I snapped, ready to rip him a new one.

"Liana-" Erika managed to speak before a strong pair of hands wrapped around me, gently but forcefully moving me away from Derek.

"Now, that's probably not a good idea," Samuele cooed, glancing between Derek and Erika. "Let's let these two chat, shall we?"

He looped his arm through mine, pulling me away from them while I protested. I didn't even know what to say as I tried to fight his grip, but he didn't budge one inch. I could hear Erika's voice breaking and I managed to make out a hurt expression on Derek's face before Samuele turned a corner, bringing us to a completely different section of the palace.

"Let. Me. Go!" I gritted through my teeth, yanking my arm away just as he let me go. I shrieked as I almost landed on my ass, but Samuele caught me before I could fall.

"Think you can stand on your own?" His eyes peered into mine as he helped me regain my footing, a hint of a smirk and something else on his face.

I squinted, trying to think of some sort of retort, but the look on his face made me shut my mouth. In the time that he'd been here, I'd never seen such a serious look cross his face.

"She's your friend?" Samuele asked suddenly, and it took me a moment to realize he was talking about Erika.

"Yes," I cleared my throat, straightening my dress awkwardly. "My best friend, probably."

"Hm. I guess that puts us in a bit of an awkward position," he chuckled to himself.

"How so?"

"Well, I suppose our best friends are having a bit of a lovers quarrel, now aren't they?"