Summary: Liam vows that this isn’t the end for them. Set after the Coronation.
Note: Not canon.
Two months and eighteen days after his social season came to a screeching, heart-breaking end, the facade surrounding Liam and Madeleine’s engagement and the sense of stability of the royal family comes crashing down. It has taken countless sleepless nights, innumerable late night phone calls to Maxwell and Bertrand, and help from some unlikely sources, but Liam is finally, finally, able to present his father, Regina, and the council with concrete evidence of Madeleine’s deceit and blackmailing.
She’d denied it, of course, smiling that fake pleasant smile at first, asking why in the world she would do anything to jeopardize the well-being of her beloved Cordonia and the royal family, especially when the queen was such a close friend. When she’d realized that Liam wasn’t backing down, her face had contorted into something ugly.
“I deserve to be queen,” she’d hissed angrily. “Leo ruined my chances over some stranger, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let you do the same thing!”
“You lied to your country, to the council, to me. You blackmailed innocent people. Get out of my sight,” Liam had said in a terrible voice, barely containing his rage.
The queen had laid a gentle hand on his arm. “Liam…perhaps we should take our time before making any decisions here.”
Madeleine had smirked at that, settling back into her chair, and Liam had nearly lost it.
“You helped her,” he realized, staring at Regina. This woman, who had raised him, who he considered his mother…had destroyed his chance to be with and lead the country with someone he loved. “Why?” His fists had clenched angrily.
Regina sighed. “Liam, dear. I know you liked Lady Allie, but she wasn’t meant for courtly life. She couldn’t have handled the pressure. You must know that. And she wasn’t Cordonian. And Olivia…she would have made a perfectly fine wife for you if Leo wouldn’t have abdicated. But queen? Her temper would have destroyed any stability we created.”
Liam had been shaking, fuming, in disbelief that Regina would do this. But there she was, regarding him calmly, Madeleine smug, his father waiting for his reaction.
Enough.
“I will not rule this country based on a lie,” he’d finally said. He’d stared at Madeleine, then turned to Regina. “I will not marry her. This information about what she’s done will be released, tomorrow.”
“You wouldn’t,” Regina had said, her normally stoic mask slipping briefly into one of anger.
Liam had shaken his head slowly. “Bertrand and Maxwell will.”
Regina had laughed lightly, which fueled his anger all the more. “Liam. Come now. The bankrupt Beaumont brothers? Who will take them seriously?”
“They have irrefutable proof. Emails. Letters. Witness statements.”
Regina had waved this off. “Liam, please. Enough of this nonsense. This would destroy our image. The people will hold you in a higher regard if you forgive her. Now, let’s-“
“Then I’ll release the information myself,” Liam had replied calmly. He’d held a hand up as Regina went to speak once again, his anger making him feel bold and defiant. “We are through. I want Madeleine out of this palace immediately.”
And he’d walked out.
~~~~~~~~~~
The first week after the Coronation had been the worst. He ate when Drake forced him to, laid in bed at night and didn’t sleep, avoided Madeleine at all costs. His mind was consumed with thoughts of Allie, remembering the brush of her hair against his bare skin, the curve of her body moving underneath him, the way his name sounded falling from her lips as they made love. He couldn’t bear the thought of never being with her again, never telling her he loved her again, not spending his life with her.
One night, Drake told Liam to meet him in the maze. He snuck out, somehow managing to avoid detection, and found Drake in the center of the maze. Before he could ask what, exactly, he was doing there, Drake had disappeared behind a row of hedges and Allie stepped out. Liam froze momentarily, disbelieving that she was actually here and this wasn’t some sleep deprived hallucination.
“Oh my god,” Liam whispered. He was unaware of anything else as he rushed to her and pulled her into him.
“Oh, Allie,” he whispered. She was shaking, tears soaking through his shirt as she clung to him.
“Liam,” she sobbed quietly. “I didn’t-those pictures aren’t-“
“I know, I know,” he soothed her, running his hands through her hair. Pulling her head back, he kissed her, softly at first, then with more urgency, hands running down her sides and around the small of her back. He couldn’t get enough, was like a man starving for her as he lowered them to the ground, kissing down her neck and pushing her shirt aside to kiss her shoulders.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he whispered between kisses.
Her hands roamed across his back, into his hair, under his shirt, arching against him, until she suddenly pushed against his chest with a gasp.
“Liam, we can’t,” she whispered.
His face fell, and she immediately pulled him back down, his weight pressing her into the damp grass.
“I want you,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “But I don’t think I could take having to leave you after.”
He took a shuddery breath before pressing one last, lingering kiss to her lips. “I understand,” he whispered, standing and pulling her up. He cradled her face in his hands, trying desperately to memorize the gray-blue of her eyes, the curve of her lips, the way she felt pressed against him.
Seeing her, all the exhaustion and defeat of the past week gave way to a determined anger to do anything, everything, to be with her.
“Allie,” he said fiercely. “I’m not marrying her. I know you were set up. I know Olivia was set up. I swear to you…I’m getting to the bottom of whatever is happening here. This isn’t the end for us. I won’t let it be.”
She smiled sadly, reaching out to touch his cheek gently, and he felt a sense of desperation.
“I have no right to ask you this,” he said quietly. “But…will you wait for me? I can’t…I can’t lose you again.”
“I have to go back to New York,” she whispered. “I can’t just stay here anymore.”
“I’ll come to New York when this is figured out.”
She didn’t respond, but started crying again, noiseless tears running down her face.
“Please, Allie,” he begged, unable to stop himself.
A shaky sob escaped her mouth, and he reached for her automatically. “I love you,” she whispered, stepping away from him.
He called her name as she turned from him, but she was gone. Liam wasn’t sure how long he stayed in the maze, lying on the ground and staring up into nothing, but eventually Bastien pulled him up and ushered him back to the palace.
~~~~~~~~~~
Liam wakes with a start, his neck stiff after falling asleep leaned up against the window in the jet. He checks his watch. They should be landing within the hour. He fidgets impatiently, adjusting his watch band and undoing and redoing the buttons on his sleeves until one nearly comes off. The New York City skyline comes into view against the inky night sky, and he smiles at the sight of the Statue of Liberty.
But then his nerves kick in, doubt filling his mind. What if she’s with someone? What if she tells him to leave, or says she doesn’t love him anymore? He hasn’t seen or spoken to Allie since the night in the maze, wanting desperately to only have good news when he talked to her again. Every night when he felt like they’d hit a dead end, when Maxwell and Bertrand had no news, the thought of her kept him motivated.
And in the days after the news about Madeleine’s blackmail is released, and the press has a field day with the information that Regina had been helping her, memories of Allie keep him calm and grounded. When he’s asked what he’ll do next, or if he’ll be proposing to someone else immediately, per Cordonian law, Allie’s face always flashes into his mind, but he keeps his answers purposely vague. She’s dealt with enough; he’s not going to drag her into any of this again without knowing what she wants. He just hopes she still wants him, and what a life with him entails.
She doesn’t answer when he rings the buzzer to her apartment, and he sinks to the front steps. After an hour with no sign of her, Bastien suggests they go to their hotel until the morning, but Liam stubbornly refuses.
At nearly 2:30 in the morning, he sees her approach from down the street and stands, heart pounding and feeling a little like he might pass out from sheer nervousness.
He sees Allie slow as she approaches, then, “Liam?” she says. She looks stunned. “What are you doing here?”
The passionate, heart-felt, pleading speech he’d rehearsed a hundred times while he waited for her went out the window.
“I ended my engagement,” he blurts out.
“You…oh. Okay. I don’t…how?” Allie seems as at a loss for words as he is, which calms him some.
Liam sighs, stepping closer, relieved when she doesn’t back away. “It’s kind of a long story. Madeleine was blackmailing and paying people to ensure I had to propose to her.”
He frowns and clenches his teeth. “Regina was helping her.”
Allie’s head snaps up. “What? What a… I’m so sorry.”
He shakes his head, stepping close enough to touch her and reaching out hesitantly to brush his fingers over the back of her hand. “No. I’m sorry. For what they put you through.”
Allie shivers slightly in the cool fall air, wrapping her coat around her more tightly. “Can you…do you want to come in?”
“Yes,” he answers immediately. When they get inside the quiet dark of her apartment, he can’t stop himself from wrapping his arms around her, burying his face in her hair and relishing the feel of her against him again. She hesitates for a second, then slips her arms around his back.
When she pulls back, he has a hard time letting her go. He’s never felt so desperate for someone before. It’s like she’s consumed him, and he scolds himself to relax before he scares her off.
“I just want to get out of my work uniform,” she explains. “Some drunk asshole dumped a beer on me.”
Liam smiles as he releases his grip on her. “I can’t imagine that ended well for him.”
“My boss threw him out. He’s done this before. A few times, actually,” Allie comments as she disappears into her room.
She returns a few moments later in soft flannel pajama pants and a tank top, ushering him to her couch. Allie tucks her stockinged feet under a blanket as she turns to him with a serious look. “Tell me what happened.”
~~~~~~~~~~
As Liam fills her in on the events of the last several weeks, Allie wishes she could say she was surprised, but she’d known all along how determined Madeleine was to become queen. She is surprised, and disgusted, at Regina’s involvement.
“And then you just…got on a plane here?” Allie asks as Liam finishes explaining.
Liam looks at her with such love and longing in his eyes that her breath catches in her throat. “I told you I would come when I had this sorted out.”
She smiles faintly, recalling his words. “You did.”
She bites her lip, fidgeting with a string on her blanket. “What happens now?”
He seems to consider his words carefully before continuing. “Cordonian law says I must select another bride, ideally immediately. But I’ve informed the council that given the circumstances, I’ll take as much time as I feel I need.”
Allie nods slowly. “And…do you know who you’ll be choosing?” she asks in a near whisper.
Liam slides closer, taking her face gently in his hands. She feels her heart pound as his gaze travels across her face, dipping to her lips, and then she shivers as she feels his mouth, warm against her forehead as he presses a light kiss to her skin.
“Yes,” he whispers. “I want you. I love you. I never stopped loving you and wanting to be with you.”
Taking a deep breath, Liam continues. “But I just want you to be happy. Even if…even if that’s not with me. After everything that happened, and what you were put through, I understand if you don’t want this anymore.”
Her head is telling her to say no, to stay here, to live a normal life and avoid the ridicule and scorn she could face if she returned to Cordonia, but her heart…Oh, her heart. Her heart is screaming at her to tell him yes, to throw herself into his arms and hold on for dear life. She loves him, couldn’t stop even when she tried. She thinks about him leaving, never seeing him again, and she nearly starts sobbing.
“I still want you,” she whispers shakily.
“I tried to stop thinking about you,” she confesses. “But I couldn’t.”
Liam’s eyes are red and he’s shaking as he tugs her into his lap, and she lets herself sink into him. She inhales his familiar scent, relaxes into his embrace, and the unhappy weight she feels like she’s been carrying around since she left him starts to lift.
“Can you stay tonight?” Allie asks in a whisper.
“Of course.”
She rises to her feet, twining their fingers together as she leads him to her bedroom. She can’t help but watch as he strips out of his clothes, giggling when he wiggles his hips playfully as he slips his pants off.
They slide under her covers, Liam rolling onto his side and sliding her back against his chest, twining their legs together and threading his right hand with hers. Allie presses a kiss to the back of his hand.
“I love you,” she whispers into the dark of her room, feeling him smile against her.
“I love you too.”
There will be so many things to figure out come tomorrow, she knows. She loves Liam, wants to be with him, but she’s not sure she knows how to be a queen anymore, or how to deal with people who believed something untrue about her so blindly.
But for now, she’s content to feel Liam wrapped around her, his breath soft and warm against her neck, as she drifts off to sleep.