The Heart Knows
By Misha
Disclaimer- Not mine. Just borrowing them for a while and not making any money off of this.
A.N- This one is based on the line “some souls just understand each other upon meeting” and I’ve come up with a Rules of Engagement fic that deals with MC trying to decide between her three love interests. I personally prefer the businessman, but my muse loves the Prince and demands I write stories focusing on him. Maybe because there’s more potential for drama, but also for exploration since the effects of the abdication are far-reaching.
Pairing- MC/Leo, MC/William, MC/Dean
Rating- PG
Words: 1766
Summary- While trying to decide which proposal to accept, you are torn between logic and a connection that you can’t explain.
You’ve never believed in true love or soulmates. Never bought into the idea that you could meet someone and just know that they were the right person for you. You believe that relationships take time to develop.
Maybe that was why you didn’t see the warning signs with Trent because you believe if you kept working at it, that it would all work out. He wasn’t your soulmate, but you loved him. And then he hurt you and left you in a position where you had to find love, or something like it, fast and you still weren’t quite sure that you believed it was possible.
Oh, you believed that you could find someone, but one true love? You knew that didn’t exist. And then when it did happen, when you met someone and instantly recognized the connection between you, it terrified you. So you clung to your other suitors, to logic and reason.
Which is what lead you to your current situation and the fact that three men have proposed to you. You know Mikayla thinks it’s great, but you never intended to be in a position like this and you hate the idea of hurting anyone. And you know that regardless of the what happens, two people will get hurt.
You let the situation get to this point, the point where all three men felt deeply enough to propose, despite the fact that you’ve known for weeks that two of them have no chance and it’s all because of your refusal to acknowledge the possibility of soulmates. You don’t want to admit that your soul recognized something special in one of your suitors from the moment you set eyes on him. Didn’t want to admit that there was a deep connection between you that couldn’t be put into words, but didn’t need to be.
You still refuse to accept it, to just acknowledge that maybe some souls just understand each other upon meeting and that that’s what happened to you. Instead, you tell yourself that you need to make your choice based on facts and logic, not attraction and the idea of soulmates. You force yourself to consider your other two suitors and give them a fair chance.
The practical side of you thinks you should marry William. He’s handsome, charming and he is willing to offer you the world. He’s willing to cut back on his business commitments for you, willing to make sacrifices to include in his life and he’s not afraid of the practical discussions. You’ve discussed where you would live and the fact that you both want children. You have a clear picture of what life with William looks like and it’s pretty amazing.
Or at least it would be at the beginning. Part of you feels like just another acquisition to William, something that he’s determined to acquire and that eventually the novelty will wear off and he will go back to his old habits. Rashad’s not your favorite person, but you have to acknowledge that he has a point. The life William is offering sounds perfect, but you can’t help feeling that in a few years you’d be left wandering alone in a beautiful house with a few kids and a husband you never see.
Besides, you don’t love him. If you did, then you would push aside the doubts and convince yourself that you can make it work. After all, love made you try and hold on to things with Austin even after they were starting to crumble. However, as much as you might wish you did, because he really is the logical choice, you don’t love William. You’re attracted to him and you enjoy his company, but you’re not in love with him.
At first, you managed to convince yourself that you were falling in love with him, but you were just swept up in the romance and the grand gestures. It’s hard not to fall for a man who whisks you off to Paris for your second date. But sometime after Napa, you start to come down to Earth and realize that while you have fun with him when you’re together, you don’t ache for him when you’re apart. The separations should be tearing you apart, but instead, you rarely think about him between phone calls and grand romantic gestures. And that is why you know you have to turn him down, ignoring that voice in your head that tells you that if you want security, he’s your best bet.
If William is the practical choice, Dean is the safe choice. He is a good friend and you know that he would be a wonderful, supportive husband. However, while you enjoy his company and you think he’s attractive, you don’t feel any real pull towards him. You slept with both William and Leo within hours of meeting them, caught up in the rush of romance and intense attraction, but have held back from intimacy with Dean and you know it’s because your feelings don’t run that deep.
You want to give him a chance because he is a really nice guy and after Austin, you could use a nice guy. Plus you know he’d always be there for you and ok, you like the way he makes you feel. With Dean, you would always feel loved and cherished, but you couldn’t offer him the same level of devotion and that’s fair. His proposal caught you off-guard, you hadn’t realized he cared so much, and it made you feel guilty because you really should not have let him down gently before it got to this point. You know you are going to hurt him and you hate yourself for it. But you know you’d hurt him even more if you married him.
You are in such a weird situation. You have one summer to find a husband. It’s a situation that seems designed for disaster, after all, who can really know a person that quickly? Or maybe it’s a situation designed for leaps of faith and following your heart and that’s where it gets hard because you don’t want to listen to your heart. You don’t want to believe in true love and soulmates. You’re afraid if you do, you’ll get hurt.
You should be able to talk yourself into ignoring your heart and making a different choice. You’ve never been for romantic whims, so why start now. Why not listen to one of the more reasonable sides of your personality? The ones telling you to ignore what your heart is telling you and make a different choice. Of course, even then you are conflicted with the part of you that craves security is telling you to choose William and the life he can give you, while the little-lost girl that wants someone to take care of her thinks Dean is the best choice. And then, of course, there is what your heart is telling you.
Your heart wants Leo.
Your brain keeps telling you that he is a bad choice. There are so many complications with Leo, so many warning signs. What if one day he resents giving up the throne and blames you? A little voice in your head also points out that a man who spends his life running away from responsibility probably won’t make a good husband and father.
Plus you worry that you won’t be able to trust him to be faithful once the novelty of the romance wears off. You know how much it hurt when Austin cheated… You don’t think you’d survive it if Leo cheated on you. You want to have faith in him, but you can’t forget that he cheated on Madeleine with you. Oh, you can tell yourself it wasn’t really cheating because it was an arranged marriage and that he never loved her, but you’re not sure you believe it. Plus there’s the fact that he was ready to propose to you (before the Austin mess) without saying a word about her.
In fact, you wonder if he ever intended to tell you about her or if you only found out because she showed up in his bedroom that morning. It’s a troubling thought and just one of many. That logical voice in your head tries to point out all the ways in which Leo has the potential to hurt you. But you don’t want to listen. Your head might be trying to make you choose a different suitor, but your soul understands that there is no other choice.
You think you’ve known that since Greece. You took a chance that day in Athens when you decided to explore with him. You were supposed to be concentrating on finding a husband and a brief encounter with a sexy foreigner didn’t really fit the bill, but you knew you’d regret it forever if you didn’t go with him. As much as you told yourself you didn’t believe in destiny or soulmates, you still recognized him the second your eyes met.
You were right to trust your instincts because that one night turned into so much more. It turned out he felt it too and he joined you on the cruise and then he told you he loved you. You didn’t really believe him in Santorini, you thought he was feeding you a line until the sincerity in his eyes convinced you otherwise.
His eyes have always been your undoing. You can see so much in them, so many emotions and possibilities. When you look into Leo’s eyes, it’s easy to ignore all your doubts and all the reasons why he’s not the right choice. When you look into his eyes, you know he’s the only choice.
There’s no amount of logic or doubt that can take away from the fact that the moment you and Leo first locked eyes, your souls recognized one another. You’ve been fighting it ever since, telling yourself that you are imagining things, that fate and soulmates don’t exist, but you know it’s a losing battle. Your brain might tell you that choosing Leo is a mistake and that you will get hurt, but you know you are going to accept his ring anyway.
Maybe he’s not the safe choice or the logical one. Maybe all your fears are valid and one day this will end in disaster and heartbreak, but you really don’t think so. Deep down, a part of you knows that you were meant to meet this man, meant to love him. Maybe he’s not the best choice, but he’s the only one your heart will accept.
- Fin
