"Just talk to her Arthur." Elina says into her phone, frustrated.

She's in her kitchen, peering into the living room where her best friend is sat curled up in soft blankets watching a slasher film. Most people, when heartbroken, watch something soppy, like a romance. But not Grace Roberts. Grace Roberts doesn't like to be reminded of how tragic her love life is. Instead, she likes to watch people getting torn to shreds.

("You do know this is just a fight, right?" Elina told her as she watched Grace pull the ice cream from her fridge, "You haven't actually broken up."

"Shut up," the shorter girl grumbles, flopping onto the sofa, "Let me wallow.")

Arthur lets out a sigh from the other end of the line, "I don't know what to say to her."

Elina rolls her eyes, "Maybe start with an apology?"

"It's bigger than that."

"Pray tell?" She prompts him to elaborate.

"There are more issues involved than just me hurting her feelings." Arthur confesses, "She doesn't believe in us."

"What?! What the hell are you on about?" Elina hisses, mindful of her friend hearing their conversation, "She bloody loves you."

"I know!" Arthur hisses right back, "But it's as if she's willing this to fail. I want us to get married one day but she's just waiting for it all to crash down on us!"

"Can you blame her, Arthur?" Elina sighs sympathetically, "It's an impossible situation. She probably feels like it's not enough for you to love her."

"Well it damn well should be." He snaps.

"Hey! Don't you dare take this out on me." Elina growls at him. Then she huffs forcefully, "Look, Arthur, just... come over here and talk to her. Grace is the sort of person that needs to be reassured. I know it's tough, and frustrating, but give her time and she'll learn her worth. And when that happens, only then will she accept that you're in it for the long haul."

~~~~

The doorbell sounds loudly, cutting through the tense atmosphere created by the horror flick Grace and Elina had been engrossed in. Elina sighs and untangles herself from her best friend. Grace whines pathetically, tugging the blanket tighter around herself.

Elina stumbles off of the sofa, and heads toward the front door. Yanking it open, she cocks a hip and shoots a knowing smile at the man at the door.

"Come to join the pity-fest?" She asks teasingly.

"I brought popcorn." Will holds his hands up and sure enough they are filled with four bags of delicious sweet and salted popcorn.

Grace, the greedy fucker, straightens up and strains to look over her shoulder at the source of the crinkling noise. She hums, eyes rolling to the back of her head momentarily.

"Why couldn't I have just fallen for you?"

Will smirks, "Because you're not my type, pet. I would have let you fall flat on your face."

Grace rolls her eyes and turns to face the screen again. Will grins and flops next to her, gathering her up in his arms and nuzzling into her shoulder affectionately.

"No, no." She sighs dramatically, "You've wounded me." She frees a hand from the confines of the blanket to rest it on her forehead, acting faint.

"You're both children." Elina laughs, but even so, she makes a show of jumping into their puppy pile enthusiastically.

"Um..." A voice interrupts their laughter causing them all to swivel their heads toward the door, "Should I leave you to it?"

"Arthur." Grace says breathlessly, half from the little tussle she had just had with her friends, and half due to Arthur's mere presence.

"Grace." He smiles sheepishly at her, taking a step inside. Beside him, Rich is staring intensely next to her, at Will. The look on his face is guilty, almost pained.

Grace doesn't need to look at Will to know that he is glaring daggers at the other man.

"Can we talk?" Arthur drags her attention back to him, "Alone?"

She nods wordlessly. It needs to happen eventually, so it might as well be now.

Releasing herself from Will's hold, she gets up, keeping her blanket wrapped securely around her. It's a little childish, hiding behind a blanket, but it's the only thing stopping her from bursting into tears.

The pair walk into Elina's bedroom, taking a seat on the cushion adorned bed. Grace crawls to the top of the bed, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arm around them. She stays like that, eyes on Arthur, watching him get comfortable too.

"Hi." He says finally, fixing her with a soft, loving look. He loves this girl. He couldn't be surer of it. Looking at her, curled up among dozens of cuddly toys, wrapped up in a blanket, looking soft and vulnerable, yet somehow strong and resolute. He fucking loves her.

"Hey yourself." She replies, one side of her mouth tilting up slightly.

Arthur can't help himself. Grace is giving him the sweetest look, filled with regret, love, forgiveness. He surges forward and plants a desperate kiss on her plump lips. His hand snakes up to stroke her soft, dark cheek, marveling at the smooth texture of it. His mouth caresses hers, tender and passionate. His words would fail him if he tried to explain his feelings for her. So, he lets his actions do it for him.

"I love you." Grace says breathlessly when they depart, "And I'm sorry."

"Me too." He tells her, scooping her into his arms and curling around her, "Sunshine, I'm so so sorry."

The two of them hold each other for a few minutes, rocking back and forth slightly.

Then Grace sighs, reluctantly pulling her head away from Arthur's shoulder, and looking into his eyes.

"I'm terrified, Arthur." She says softly, "I don't know what to do."

"About what?" He responds fearfully, his brown eyes darting back and forth between hers.

"About all of this... Us." She admits, then looks down, "All I want is to be with you. But it's not just you anymore, is it?"

Arthur frowns, desperately wanting to find a rebuttal, but coming up short. Grace is right, frustratingly. He's not just a guy anymore, he's heir to the throne. And that means they've got to have a lot more in their arsenal than just a love for each other alone. He casts his mind back to his conversation with Elina.

"It's not enough for you to love her."

His heart sinks.

When they got together, the royalty thing shocked Grace, put her off. But the fact that it wouldn't impact Arthur's life was a nice reprieve for her, it made it much easier for her to stomach such a bombshell. Nothing about her life, or his, was going to change.

But now...

Now it seems like all Grace can think about is how her world will be turned upside down by being with him publicly. It's upsetting that she thinks like that, but he can't say it's unwarranted. It's one thing to be the partner of a low ranked royal, and another to be the prospective queen.

At her boyfriend's silence, Grace elaborates, "I promise, I love you, and right now, I think that's all I need..."

"But?" Arthur raises an eyebrow.

"But I'm so emotionally weak, Arthur. I feel like one strong wind is gonna tear me down. One harsh word, one negative thought. I hate that I'm like this, but I can't change overnight."

"What do you want me to do? I want to help you feel stronger."

"You don't have to do anything." She stares at him, then brings a delicate hand up to stroke his pale cheek, "You're perfect. All you ever do is support me. Just keep doing that."

"I will. I promise. I won't let anything make you feel like you aren't worthy of me." He smiles, leaning into her palm and gazing lovingly at her. More needs to be said. The rest of the conversation is just hanging in the air like a dark cloud, but so much has been said already.

"Have you moved your bed out yet?" Grace asks, changing the subject.

"No." Arthur responds, stroking her braided hair, "Some guys are coming to collect all the big stuff next week."

Grace nods in acknowledgement, then she pulls away from him to look in his eyes, "Can we go to yours? I want to spend time with you before we go back to London."

Arthur understands what she means. They won't be that far from each other, just a few miles, barely an hour's train journey. But they might as well be on different planets considering the life that Arthur has waiting for him back home. Ever since he moved from his family estate in Gloucestershire to the palace in Kensington, his every move has been scrutinised. They can't exactly have picnics in the park anymore. And it's not like he can just sneak over to her house in South London.

"Of course, love."

The couple emerge from the bedroom with calm smiles on their faces. Their three friends are now crowded on the two-seater sofa. However, now Rebecca is sat on the floor on a cushion by Elina's feet.

"Bex? When did you get here?" Arthur asks, his face screwed up in confusion.

"Not long ago." She shrugs, "I came to check up on Grace, but it seems I'm a bit late for that."

Grace smiles gratefully and bends down to give Bex a warm hug and handing her the blanket she was wrapped up in.

"We're headed back to mine." Arthur announces, earning nods from their friends.

"Have fun!" Elina tells them as they walk out of the door, "But not too much! I'm too young to be an aunt!"

"Fuck off, El!" Grace groans, slamming the door behind her.

She and Arthur are in a fit of giggles as they exit the apartment building. Arthur grabs Grace's hand tightly and twirls her around, stopping her so that she is curled into him. The pair stumble down the road on their way to Arthur's flat.

"We should probably have an longer chat... you know, about everything." He suggests with a frown.

"Yeah..." Grace replies dejectedly, "Tomorrow."

Arthur smiles down at her, "Tomorrow."

They come to a stop, standing at the entrance to Arthur's building while he fumbles for his keys. They don't notice the three black cars parked on the street, or the menacing looking guys occupying them.

When he finally manages to open the front door, Arthur takes his girlfriend's hand again, pulling her inside and up the stairs joyfully. With one hand, he selects to key to his flat and sticks it in the lock.

Grace sighs, content, then bumps her head against Arthur's strong shoulder affectionately.

He opens the door slowly, turning his head to stare down at her, then plants a tender kiss on her forehead.

Grace closes her eyes, accepting the kiss gratefully. She doesn't notice Arthur tense beside her as he takes a hesitant step inside his flat. However, she definitely does notice when he makes a choked sound. And her eyes shoot open at his sudden exclamation.

"Mother?!"