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Emery: A Prince's Adventure novel Chapter 23

Emery

My eyes wander around to find Daniel, my friend since I started studying here in Melbourne. As soon as I see him heading towards me with a smile on his face; I begin to smile back at him.

''Man, it's been awhile. How are you?'' He asks.

Before I can answer, he continues to speak, ''Wait. Don't tell me. You're the prince of England who left Australia in order to get married with the current princess, Emma. What a surprise,'' He adds.

Well, the truth is, I've never told anyone about my title or about anything that goes on in my country. It's because I don't want them to know; I want to live the normal life where I'm able to blend in without them treating me differently just because of my title.

''I'm sorry I didn't tell you,'' I reply.

''We were shocked at first. Hannah was shocked. You didn't tell us shit. We found out that the prince of England was getting married so yeah, of course everyone would change the channel and watch.'' He chuckles for a bit while I just smile at him.

''Guess what? We found you saying your vows. Imagine our faces. Holy crap,'' He adds.

''I don't find things like this were necessary, honestly. It's just that—I came here in order to live a normal life so I didn't bother bringing my background with me,'' I say, trying to make him understand.

''No worries but you should've told Hannah,''

''Why should I?'' I ask, frowning in confusion.

Daniel looks back at me with a frown. ''I thought you and Hannah were dating? The times you two spent together. There must've been something going on,'' He states, somehow saying the obvious.

Hannah and I have been hitting it off for the past few months before I left but I have never thought of her more than just a friend—yes, we spent countless nights together that people would assume us dating but both of us know better. I don't have feelings for her nor was I serious about our thing that we had.

It was for fun. She agreed too.

''We weren't dating. She knows that too,'' I reply before adding, ''We've been spending a lot of nights together, yeah, that's true but there's nothing more than just being friends with benefits. I don't even have feelings for her that way,'' I try to clear out any misunderstandings so that it'll be fine.

''I'm guessing she feels more than you think,'' He says.

''Then, she should stop. I'm married. We're not going anywhere and whatever fling I had with her, I left it all behind when I left here. Just tell her that,'' I say, looking down at my wrist watch for a few seconds.

Daniel chuckles, ''Okay, man. You hungry?''

We start to walk side by side as we head towards one of the restaurants here in the airport. As we eat, we talk about what has been happening in life especially for him—what has been going on ever since graduation because life has been great for me.

Once we're done eating, he drives me towards my apartment—where I used to stay when I was here.

''We're hanging out tonight. You should come. I'm pretty sure they all missed you too,'' He says, turning to look at me—wanting to know if I'll be there or not.

''Sure, see you tonight.'' I answer, stepping out of the car after picking up my backpack and enter my apartment; seeing that the things here haven't changed, obviously. Why would it change?

I look down at the floor as soon as I enter.

Letters. Letters scattered on the floor. As I close the door behind me, I crouch to pick up the letter before placing them all on the kitchen island; sighing.

With another sigh, I drop my bag onto the couch before slowly heading towards my bedroom; dropping myself onto my bed—immediately closing my eyes in tiredness. The amount of fatigue I feel is just insane.

As I look up at the ceiling, I am reminded of the memories when I was here in Melbourne. Memories with my friends, they were all good times but I have left some of it behind; in order to start fresh.

I turn my body to the other side, staring at the painting on the wall before closing my eyes again; images of Emma come into my head immediately. Truth be told, she's perfect. Beautifully perfect.

Right now, I miss her more than anything.

If only I could bring her with me here but I couldn't. Yes, I have to settle about my education here at the university but I also have to settle things nicely with my friends and I don't want her to get in between.

I want to get back home with everything settled.

Then, I wouldn't be bothered by my past life here.

Without me realising, I have already fallen asleep just by thinking about her; mixing with the amount of fatigue that I feel due to my flight from London and straight to Melbourne—one hell of a flight.

My eyes open wide as I hear the doorbell ring.

Within seconds, I find myself grabbing onto my phone near my head and see that it's already six in the evening; I've fallen asleep for three hours. Just like that, I sit up straight before heading towards the door; wanting to see who's at the door right now.

I pull the door open to find Hannah, smiling at me.

''Hey. Daniel told us that you're back,'' She says.

It takes me a few seconds to respond but I smile back at her slightly, knowing that she's my friend. ''Yeah. You didn't have to come here though because I'll be there tonight to meet you guys,'' I reply.

She nods her head before glancing at my fingers.

It doesn't take me long to realise that she's looking at my wedding band—which is obvious but I don't bother to pull my hand away from the door, just letting her see the ring so that it'll clear things out.

''I just wanted to come and pick you up,'' She says.

I stay still only looking into her eyes before pulling the door open a little, enough for her to walk in

I stay still only looking into her eyes before pulling the door open a little, enough for her to walk in. Her lips are curving up into a smile as she stands in the middle of the living room as I close the door behind me.

''I'll just get ready,'' I say, entering my bedroom.

After taking washing my face and fixing my hair so that I'll at least look presentable, I head towards my walk-in closet to change into a shirt and a leather jacket before changing into a different pair of jeans.

Once I'm done, I step out of the bedroom with my phone in my hand as she just sits on the couch; waiting for me to get ready—then, she smiles.

We both look at each other before I break the gaze, ''Right. Let's go,'' I say before heading towards the front door and waiting for her to exit which doesn't really take me long—then, I close the door.

We enter the car and she starts to drive down the road after glancing at my direction for a few seconds. My eyes are only focusing down the road; not really bothered to turn and look at her. Yes, we're friends but I can't let her think that we're still the same.

We're friends and nothing more now. Just friends.

''You know, you left without telling anyone. Then, one day we found out that you're actually a royalty; who is now married. You should've told us,'' She breaks the silence between us as she continues to drive.

''There was nothing to tell, Hannah.'' I look at her.

''Nothing? There was something to tell! I mean, yeah, great timing because you left after graduation but you couldn't just leave us like we were never your friends in the very beginning. Especially me,'' She mutters.

''Especially you?'' I raise an eyebrow at her before turning to look at her so that I'll get a better view, ''Hannah. We're still friends and I know that we've been treating each other differently before I left and I know how I must've been leading you on but I didn't and don't have feelings for you. Not more than just a friend because I didn't want a serious relationship,''

''Yeah. Sure. Now you're married,'' She looks away.

''That's my choice,'' I reply after sighing deeply.

''What we used to have, I want you to forget about it. We didn't have any special relationships and I want you to keep that in mind—I don't want to lose you as my friend and the only reason I came back here is to settle things about my degree and settle things with you guys so that we can still stay the same,'' I add.

She presses onto the brakes and I turn to see that we are already here which makes me step out of the car immediately; not liking the tension between us.

As soon as I enter the bar, I start to see my group of friends; friends that I used to have a lot of fun with. The type of friends that would really risk something in order to achieve another—that's who they are.

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