February 28th, 1999
The Honeymoon Phase is defined as the period in a couple’s timeline where everything is… blissful. Usually, at the end of said… phase comes the shocking realization that maybe that couple… wasn’t so perfect after all. Maybe everything that was going right was simply a fluke… hidden due to the rose-colored glasses both parties were wearing and when those glasses came off… well… it usually wasn’t a pretty sight.
Did Adelaide Parker think that was where her and Leo were? No…no look… maybe Addie had never been in love before… but she knew what she had with Leo was more than just a bloody honeymoon phase. If anything… maybe if they were in a honeymoon phase, it ended with what happened in London… because what was present now was just them… right?
Adelaide truly believed that… with her entire heart… so tell her why she was day drinking in Leo’s kitchen after crying for the last hour. Or don’t… no seriously don’t… Addie didn’t want a recap of what she had just fcking realized about her boyfriend and instead, she simply found herself opening the bottle of vodka in her hands and drinking yet another big gulp trying to forget.
A few hours earlier…
A smile graced her lips as Addie put her homework down ran walked towards the front door - expecting her boyfriend to be standing on the other end. She had heard someone walk towards the door moments earlier and wanted to beat the man to opening it… though, as she opened the door, it wasn’t her boyfriend on the other side. Instead, there was a man wearing a ruffled suit who looked startled by her appearance - his hand holding a package with a letter attached to it. “Oh…oh I’m so sorry… I wasn’t expecting anyone to be home… I was… instructed to just leave this at the door but…”
“I can take it,” Addie smiled gently, “Do I need to sign or…”
“No… oh no I"m not the delivery man… I work for Mr. Azure… I was just told to deliver this ASAP and… so I rushed over… I’m just an intern… they told me that it was from his father and… decisions for Blue Royalty… well you know… but… yeah… decisions needed to be made and… it’s probably safer for you to have it inside so here.”
Addie’s eyebrow perked up, confused by his statement as the intern placed the small package in her hand with the letter sitting on top. Before she had a chance to say anything else, the… intern ran off, and there she was… all alone.
“What the fck?,” Addie whispered, closing the door as she brought the package to the couch - confused by the intern’s words. Blue Royalty? Why would Leo have anything to do with… what? Nothing could describe the confusion Addie felt as she opened the package, expecting it to be some sort of prank. However, within the package, she found something labeled - “Blue Royalty Student Non-Disclosure - Version 5.66” and a sticky note on top noting “Please have a look over this version for any final changes before it is placed into effect. - Stephanie”
It was… a contract that looked highly similar to the one she was required to sign when enrolling at Cerulean High…did that mean… no… no… Leo wouldn’t want anything to do with Blue Royalty. After all… Leo knew… after her accident… no he just wouldn’t. This was a joke. It had to be.
Placing the package aside, Addie opened the letter - honestly not caring about the fact that this was Leo’s personal business. Right now… Adelaide just needed to know what the actual hell was going on. Imagine her surprise when she found the letter to be from her boyfriend’s father… noting… “Prove to me you’re ready to take over Blue Royalty” is written at the end. Take over… as in… Leo was in charge of the whole fcking game… he was part of the reason… Addie has threatened… her brother… why would he… was everything just a fcking game to him?
Adelaide’s mind raced as she sat frozen in place… unsure of what the fck to do… or think… who the hell was Leo Azure?
Drunk… yep… Adelaide Parker was absolutely plastered. Drunk… angry… annoyed… sad… honestly… drinking wasn’t fcking helping because as numb as she was, everything still fcking hurt. And… well… it didn’t help when the reason for that pain walked through the door, prompting her to take another long drink of the liquid until her throat burned.
Did he say her name? Did he say anything? Honestly, she didn’t know as her senses dulled due to the nature of how much she had been drinking. After a long time, she pulled the bottle from her lips to drunkenly look at her confused boyfriend who was now standing right in front of her with his hand on her arm… oh did he pull the bottle from her lips? That would make sense, because why in the hell would she want to stop drinking right now? “How was… work… I imagine it’s difficult making sure you ruin the lives of everyone at my fcking school? Or is it just a fun little pastime for you now darling?”
There was spite in her voice as she looked the man in his eyes, hurt filling her own as she pulled her hand away from his. “Do…Don’t ever fcking touch me again,” she added, before moving the bottle to her lips again - probably trailing on getting alcohol poisoning, but who even cared?
But he didn’t let her, this time, pulling the bottle from her fingers - which resulted in the bottle falling and smashing on the floor of the kitchen. Addie’s bare feet were covered in glass and maybe if she was a little less drunk, she would have felt it.
Addie uncaringly moved away from him, back towards the living room where the stupid contract sat waiting. Picking it up, she threw that toward him, though his voice soon cut through the static in her mind.
"I’m not trying to ruin anyone’s life. You don’t understand, it’s what my family has done for years.”
Addie let out a hysterical laugh, throwing the letter this time as she looked in his direction. “Right… because I don’t go to fcking school every single day with another fcking person crying over something Blue royalty made them do… or did to them. God… did to me. You threatened me? I thought… what am I to you Leo? A joke? A game?”
“I never threatened you Addie, and you’ve never been a game or a joke to me. I was trying to protect you, to make sure you never got hurt.”
As he walked closer towards her, Adelaide backed away - up until the wall hit her back and he was once against standing in front of her.
“Oh cut the actual bullshit Leo… you never fcking cared. You… never did because if you did you would have bloody told me but you lied… every fcking day to my face you lied over and over again. That’s… probably what you were doing when I told you about what was going on in school… you knew… you always knew about the tasks… god… who… even are you?” Addie’s hands met his chest, and she pushed him away before walking towards the suitcase she had packed tearfully hours earlier. Addie heard a scared bark from Holly, and only regretfully looked in the puppy’s direction before making her way towards the door.
“I’m… we’re done… we’re fcking done…” And with that, she attempted to make her way out… attempted because the arse was blocking the exit.
“I couldn’t tell you Addie. I lied about not knowing what was going on, but I’m still the same person you’ve known this whole time. I never lied about that. “
Her eyes met his, as she leaned into his touch for a second before pushing him off again. “I’m not… you’re not… I don’t… know you… fck Leo… we’re done… we’re done.”
Let’s just say, going downstairs was fcking arse when you were 1. drunk, 2. being followed by an arse who was saying blah blah blah… excuses. Fcking excuses… he knew… Leo knew this entire time… and he just lied to her face. In what world would Addie be able to forgive him for that? God… no… never.
“STOP FCKING FOLLOWING ME LEO,” Addie screamed in the middle of the street as she walked with her suitcase in hand, away from the man following her. She just… needed to leave… so much so that she found herself texting someone a few minutes before Leo had gotten home to pick her up… well… drunkenly text that is. Addie barely knew what she was typing, all she knew was she clicked a name, asked them to please pick her up. She didn’t even really care who she was texting… only that she wanted an out… and there he was.
Derek Freyer - a student from her Biology class was standing on the street with his car, his eyes perking when he saw Adelaide. Walking towards him, Addie wrapped her arms around him. “Can you take me home? Please?” Addie mumbled before letting go and letting the man put her stuff in the car.
“Addie… just talk to me,”
But she didn’t. Addie simply got in the car after Derek told Leo to back off because she clearly didn’t want anything to do with him. Though Leo stayed next to her window, as her eyes remained closed trying to blur him out and soon, she didn’t even have to do that as her friend started driving away… thankfully not asking any questions.
There it was… the end of whatever bullsht phase Addie has allowed herself to be sucked into. Leo was dead to her… and he would stay that way if she had any say in it.
The “Something Old” - 2031 - Part 6 continued
As Jess sat in the water, her eyes glanced over the pages of her mother’s diary. Parts of the diary were smudged… crossed out… hell, ripped out and it seemed that whenever her mom was writing this, the anger and frustration… and betrayal peeked through… but now here was the problem. As much as her mother was likely shocked by reading this, Jess felt the hairs on her skin rising due to two words… Blue Royalty.
“Sorry, she wanted me to read two bedtime stories… or I assumed that because she kept pointing to Sally gets a Wagon after I read her… hey are you okay?”
Jess closed the journal, looking back up at Dorian with a confused look… unsure of what she had even read.
@Littlefeets
@astxrism - dori slightly mentioned