December 24th, 1998
Do you know what happened when someone with a royal bloodline turned 18? The honest truth? Well, in the past, they were accepted into court. They went to the castle, they partied, they found husbands. In this day and age, that was an outdated practice. However, that didn’t mean that a similar event did not take place. In her family - that meant a party… one in which everyone was invited to celebrate the day but really, it was for parents to find suitable matches for their children. Adelaide knew her parents weren’t happy with her for canceling her party… she knew they were upset with her for sleeping with someone… though she didn’t necessarily understand exactly what Leo had said to them to get them off her back. In any case, Leo or not, they still weren’t happy with her decisions.
Despite this; Adelaide Parker was happy. Waking up on Christmas Eve… her birthday, and in the arms of her boyfriend, she couldn’t help but smile at his sleeping features. “Psst,” Addie whispered to the sleeping man, her fingers meeting his cheeks as she caressed them softly. The two had gotten to bed far later than they should have - a bit too busy playing with Holly and the snow that had miraculously arrived for Christmas Eve. The moment they got to bed, both parties had respectfully passed out of exhaustion, wrapped in the warmth of each other. One thing she had realized about Leo over the past few months was the fact that he was the absolute lightest sleeper she knew, whereas, she was very much the opposite. So, even with her soft voice, she found him scrunching his nose as he whispered “Shh” only to pull her body closer to him. His lips now held a smile, knowing what she was about to do. “Nooo shh, love, wakeeee up,” she repeated, wrapping her arms around his neck. Making no effort to open his eyes, she found Leo only continuing the conversation “…and what do I get if I wake up?” he questioned. A soft sigh left her lips as she pushed him, so she was now straddling him. Her lips moved to his, softly kissing him before moving her lips to his neck - though - after a few seconds she stopped, hearing him groan. “Well for one, darling, it’s my birthday so really I should be getting something. And two… how does legal sex with your 18-year-old girlfriend sound? Or are you not interested in that anymore?” She asked, which led to a soft laugh emitting from his lips. Though it only took a second for him to flip her so she was below him - her arms pinned above her. “Does this answer your question, Addie?” The question brought goosebumps to her arms… or maybe it was the way he let his lips trail down her neck a second later, using his other hand to undress her. Either way… it was a pretty good start to her birthday if you ask her… one that wasn’t stopped in bed as they soon moved to the shower.
“Okay… okay… oh my god how do I do this again. Leo… STOP LAUGHING AT ME.” sitting in the driver’s seat of the car, Addie was in an empty parking lot and was freaking out because this thing was MOVING and she had NO idea how to control it and it was not like Leo was any help telling her to press the break which was the left one but where the bloody hell was that my god… oh my god she was going to kill them… “LEO god did not mean for us to get around at such bloody fast speeds” she responded as he chuckled once again. In retrospect, yes, she was driving less than 5 miles per hour because her foot wasn’t even on the grass and it was just naturally moving, BUT IT WAS TOO FAST FOR HER. “Just relax Addie. You’re doing great…” Usually she would have sent the man a soft smile, BUT SHE WAS DRIVING A DEATH MACHINE SO EXCUSE HER FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO SMILE. “Ignore the old lady on the wheelchair, it’s not a race… though she might be winning,” and it definitely wasn’t helping that he was making FUN of her at such a STRESSFUL time like this.
And then the bloody worst thing that could have happened, happened. A DOG WALKED IN FRONT OF THE CAR AND JUST SAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PARKING LOT ROAD WHERE HER CAR WAS HEADED. Okay, fine, it was pretty far away but far away isn’t far enough when she’s driving sooo fast. “Leo, leo…leo…LEO THERE’S A DOG WHAT DO I DO,” Oh she was screwed. The dog was screwed. They would all die. Really god, on her birthday?
“Addie just step on the break sometime in the next thirty minutes and I think we’ll be fine,” OKAY MISTER STOP WITH THE SMIRKING AND HELP. “Which one’s the break again?” she asked with slight fear in her voice. “It’s the one on the le-” “YOU SAID THAT BEFORE LEO I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO…” and so she randomly started pressing buttons and the radio came on. Oh god… OH GOD and he was STILL laughing, asking her why she turned on the radio. Wow… say. goodbye to your blue corvette and YOUR girlfriend Leo, because if she came out of this alive, she would DEFINITELY consider breaking up with him. “WHAT DO I DO LEO WE’RE GOING TO DIE,” “Relax Addie, take a deep breath,” OKAY NOT HELPFUL LEO. She found herself twisting the wheel to miss the dog that was still a distance away, and the curb ended up stopping the car for her. “Oh my god… oh my god I’m alive,” Addie whispered, putting her hands all over her body to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. “You. Are. A. Bloody. ARSE,” Addie stated, hitting Leo in the shoulder as he burst into a fit of laughter. “Who said learning how to drive was a good birthday present.” “You were the one who kept asking me to teach you how to drive, Addie,” “WELL YOU SHOULD HAVE BLOODY TOLD ME I’M CRAZY”
Did they stop there? Did they FINALLY switch sides and go home. NOoooo apparently it wasn’t enough torture for Leo to watch his girlfriend struggle, he wanted to do it for another 2 hours. Though, by the end she got pretty good - even driving with the gas pedal pressed. Though then he had to teach her about the different shifts and how you had to move it when you got faster. This was bloody hard. Could we go back to carriages? Please. It seems easier.
sigh
Though finally, he switched sides with her when it started snowing again - because apparently driving in snow was different? Or something like that, but in either case, they soon ended up at a little lake and she found him walking to the trunk of the car and pulling a picnic basket before coming to her side and helping her out. A gentle smile met her lips as he led her to the edge of the lake - laying on the blanket and pulling out what he brought. The two spent most of the day together, from driving to the picnic, to taking an adorable photo of them kissing by the lake, to coming back to the warmth of their home.
Currently, Addie’s lips were on his, settled into their couch as Holly barked for attention. Though, what finally pulled her away from him was a ring on his pager. “Fck…” Leo sighed, looking at the device. “I’m so sorry Addie… it’s a 911 from my dad’s company which means I need to go figure out what’s happening,”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “It’s okay love, go. I’ll be here playing with Holly since she clearly wants a little attention,” And there he went, disappearing into the night again. Addie had the radio playing in the background, simply wanting some background noise as she played around with her puppy. It was about an hour later that she heard the gentle buzz of her own phone - soon followed by a knock on the door as it often was with Blue Royalty. Great… just… great.
A sigh left her lips as she finished cutting up the chicken bits and placed it on the floor for Holly to eat, before heading over to the door to figure out what it was this time.
Christmas Eve Task:
I hope you didn’t forget about us Addie, because we definitely didn’t forget about you. Don’t forget, you’re currently in 6th place right now and this task could be the make it or break it for you - but we will warn you it’s time-sensitive meaning you must complete it in the next hour. Outside the door, we have left a wrapped present for one of your classmates. Do us a favor, and go deliver that at Cassandra Darren’s Door, and once you do, 20 points will be yours. Just for some extra incentive, if you don’t finish this task… there may be a not so friendly gift delivered to Natalia about your brother’s little crush on Dana Sloane. Good luck.
-Yours Truly, Blue Royalty
Okay… her heart was racing. She had heard about these threats from her fellow classmates, but until now, she hadn’t received one herself. Honestly, she had happily ignored tasks in the past and wouldn’t mind this one either… but… her brother’s… she didn’t want to involve him. Checking her watch… she knew there wasn’t much time since Cassandra lived about 20 minutes away… oh my god she was going to have to drive wasn’t she… okay… it’s okay Addie… take it slow. Leave a note for Leo… it’s okay.
Taking a deep breath, Addie went to the counter leaving her boyfriend a note that she had to go do something and she’d be back within the hour, and accidentally left the note from blue royalty near it. Tentatively, she grabbed his extra keys for his other car - working up the courage to even… drive. Perhaps if she had stayed even a few seconds later, she would have heard the news with the weather warning.
Breaking News:
“Hello listeners, we have just received word that there has been a shelter in place order that was just placed for Beryl and various other parts of California. It seems the winter blast has just turned into a winter storm. If you aren’t currently home, we highly suggest you pull over to the closest location and get inside as soon as possible. Stay safe listeners.”
Okay… OKAY she wasn’t doing bad. Adelaide Parker was behind the wheel of a different car that her boyfriend owned, slowly driving on the road - the present sitting in the passenger side She had been driving for upmost of 5 minutes, finally getting comfortable enough to drive a little faster, but before she knew it, she found the snow getting stronger. It was okay… it wasn’t bad… right? She kept on… not really noticing that there were no longer any cars on the road. At this point, Adelaide Parker was too distracted in trying to drive straight without going into another lane… the issue was that the snow had slowly gotten to a point of becoming overwhelming. Adelaide Parker could barely see the road anymore… or the windshield… and she knew instantly that something bad was going to happen. Do you ever have that feeling… that gut-wrenching feeling that something was going to happen? That you were no longer in control… well… that was the foreboding feeling currently in the pit of Addie’s stomach as she continued to drive.
Her heart started racing as she kept trying to clean the windshield with the water wiper thing but every time she added water, it seemed to just freeze the windshield and she could see absolutely nothing… well… less than before. Oh god… She needed to stop. Addie started hyperventilating, similar to how she was on a plane. She needed to calm down… to breathe… but Leo wasn’t there to calm her down this time so she did the only thing she could: she slammed on the breaks. She didn’t… expect the car to start skidding on the road because of that… and then, another car driving from the other side hit the back of her car and in an instant, she knew it was over. A gasp left her lips, as everything started moving in slow motion - the car turning and spinning. Addie’s body jerked in the car - through the seat belt kept her in place. She didn’t know how many times the car flipped, but glass exploded in her face from all sides as she lost control and then… she couldn’t remember anything. The last thing she knew was she was upside down, blood dripping down her arm from a piece of glass cutting her arm.
Shouting… she could hear it. “FIVE UNITS OF BLOOD STAT, WE’RE LOSING HER. SHE’S LOST TOO MUCH BLOOD,” Her eyes opened, seeing a flash of movement. Her eyes closed again. It was getting hard to keep them open, and her head was pounding. “HER VITALS ARE DROPPING, GET THE PADDLES READY,” her eyes opened again, seeing someone in blue scrubs looking at her with blood all over her arms. Her blood? Was that… her… blood? And this time, when her eyes closed… they didn’t open again.
Pounding… god her head was killing her. She struggled to open her eyes, and the first thing she realized was that she clearly wasn’t home. There were tubes all over her arms, connected to… so many machines. What… what had happened? Her mind was hazy and the headache wasn’t… helping her. Looking beside her, Adelaide found her boyfriend asleep on a chair beside her: his hand holding her’s tightly. He looked tired… “L…leo,” she whispered, though even that pained her to get out. With a gentle movement, she found his eyes opening - looking at her with a sense of relief. “You’re…thank god you’re awake,” he got out - worry dripping from his voice as he restricted himself from wrapping his arms around her, though did move to kiss her. A few seconds later, she found her brother walking in with two sandwiches in his arms - though he dropped the items when realizing she was awake. Unlike Leo, however, he immediately wrapped his arms around her - tears coming down his eyes as he kept repeating You’re awake… oh my god… thank god… thank god,.
She was awake, and apparently, it was a late Christmas Miracle because, with her injuries, she was supposed to be dead - according to the doctor who came in a few minutes after her brother ran out to go get him. And yes… she said late Christmas because apparently, it had been two days. “I’m…sorry Leo… your car… I didn’t…I shouldn’t have,” she started, though he didn’t let her finish. “I don’t care about the car. Addie. I care that you’re awake… and alive…”