The Selection (1x1 with AnnaCat17)

[EchoOfShatteredIce]

Abril found Pavel by the fountain, and she approached him, sitting down on the bench while leaving space between them. She tried to smile faintly at him, but assumed he wanted to be alone and would send her away.

"What are you doing?" Elliott demanded, worried. "You need to stay in bed. You'll open up your wounds." She gently tried to push him back down onto the bed.

[AnnaCat17]

Pavel glanced over at her. Unable to hide the sadness on his face. "My mother said she was going to talk to you. Im sorry if I got you in trouble."

Romeo chuckled at her fierceness. "Ill be fine. Ill go slow I need to check on Pavel before he throws himself into a pit of despair over this."

[EchoOfShatteredIce]

"No, it's fine. We had a pleasant talk. It was nothing bad. I wasn't in trouble for anything." Abril reached out and lightly touched his cheek, aching to be in his arms but hesitant in case he didn't want her touching him.

"I was just with him. He's fine." Elliott wasn't certain if Pavel was fine, but Romeo shouldn't be worrying about him. He needed to focus on getting better.

[AnnaCat17]

He told himself to pull away from her, but he didn't. He couldn't. He was so desperate for her to love him despite everything he had done he couldn't bring himself to pull away from her again. "Im sorry, Abril.." he breathed, his voice breaking. "You deserve so much better than this." he released a shaky breath and pulled away, forcing himself to his feet. "I need to get to work. Im sorry for interrupting your walk."

Romeo hesitated. If she said he was ok he would trust her. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and looked up at he. "Well how are you doing? You were pretty upset yesterday."

[EchoOfShatteredIce]

Abril pressed her hand to his cheek, tears welling in her eyes. "You're a wonderful person, Pav," she whispered. "You're going to be a good king and an even more amazing father. If you're not ready to be with me fully, that's alright. But I'm here, waiting for you. I love you, Pav. Whenever you need him I'm here." She let him get up, her hand dropping into her lap.

"I'm alright." Elliott discreetly tried to wipe the ketchup away. "I just....keep feeling worried whenever I'm away from you, like someone's going to hurt me when you're not there to protect me," she confessed. "I hate being scared."

[AnnaCat17]

Pavel choked back tears and looked down at her. "How can you say that?" He studied her face. He didn't believe her. he couldn't. it was dangerous for hi to believe she loved and trusted him. look at where that sort of faith in him got Romeo. "Abril you don't know I won't end up like him. I've already hit you once. Why risk it happening again or risk your child getting hurt by my hand? I had my best friend whipped on my first day of being king. That doesn't make me a good king. It makes me a terrible person who doesn't deserve the crown i was given. This... this separation has nothing to do with me not wanting to be with you. I feel lost without you and it is killing me to know that the choice I made cost me everyone I care about, especially you. You all hate me and rightfully so." he looked away from her for a moment to wipe his tears away. "As I said last night, its important you hate me so that I wont ever be given the chance to hurt you or your child again."

Romeo rested his hands on her waist and pulled her close, softly kissing her stomach. "No one is going to hurt you. Pavel wont let that happen and once Im back on my feet youll see that. You have nothing to worry about, El."

[EchoOfShatteredIce]

Abril got up, gently setting her hands on his hips and resting her head against his shoulder. "Your mother told me what happened, what the meeting was about. I'm sorry for getting angry at you. You did the best you could. You made the right decision. I couldn't have done better. She also told me about you raising Matteo. You're going to be a great father, Pav. I know it. You just need to believe in yourself. You've done a great job with your brother. You'd never hurt our child. And you wouldn't hurt me again." She gently kissed the back of his neck, her heart aching as she breathed in his familiar scent.

Elliott giggled softly, running her hands through his hair. "I'm trying to believe that," she murmured.

[AnnaCat17]

Pavel hugged her tightly and buried his face in her hair. "I need you. I don't know what Im doing without you. I feel like i've already destroyed everything." He squeezed his eyes shut as he held her. He would scld himself later over this but right now he let himself be selfish. "I didn't mean to disappoint you."

"Do. Because its the truth. Pavel is a great guy who wont let anything happen to you just as he promised." He pulled her down into his lap and kissed her cheek. "I love you. Im happy you are ok."

[EchoOfShatteredIce]

"You haven't," Abril soothed him. "You've done a good job." She held on to him, relieved that he didn't hate her. "I shouldn't have gotten angry at you for anything you did. You had a reason for it, and it was a good one. I'm sorry." She ran her fingers through his hair. "We'll be good parents, Pavel. We'll make some mistakes, but we'll learn from them. We'll be fine because we'll be doing it together."

Elliott snuggled into his lap, wrapping her arms around him carefully. "I love you, too. I'm glad you're healing." She gently kissed him, relaxing in his arms.

Solace went around the palace, trying to find Sutton but trying to be discreet about it. She didn't want it to look too obvious that she was searching for someone.

[AnnaCat17]

Pavel fel himself slowly start to calm down and believe her but he didn't yet release her. "I hope you are right." He softly kissed the side of her head, allowing himself to enjoy having her back in his arms. He slid a hand into her hair and trailed kisses along her jaw as he spoke quietly. "You have nothing to be sorry for. It was a bad situation with no right answers."

Sutton sat a table down in the workers communal area, talking pleasantly with a group of guys. Once the guys walked off he stood up and straightened his suit, eager to get away from having to talk to people. he glanced over to where he saw Solace but didn't approach her. He wasn't sure how she felt about him kissing her yesterday. He had been drunk and wasn't thinking. He knew he needed to apologize to her but wasn't in the mood to do it with other people watching.