Anabella:

I ran down the hallway, not paying attention to where I was going. I vaguely remembered taking a couple right and left turns, so I knew I was lost. I stopped, panting, and heard running steps behind me. I shrieked as the figure fell onto me. I was trying to kick and hit whoever it was.

My assaulter grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
“Anabella! Listen to me! It’s me, Wes!” he yelled. I opened my eyes and looked up at him. He had pinned me to the floor, and I saw that one of my punches had made contact with his lip, which was bleeding. I relaxed, and started crying. I never meant to hurt Wes, and now I had been acting like a maniac against him. Wes rolled off of me, and pulled me up with him. He held me against him and rubbed my back.

My hair was in tangles, and part of my dress had been ripped off. I was too tired to pull away from Wes, so I just mumbled into his shoulder that we had to find our carriage to get home. Wes pulled back to look at me.
“What did you say?” he said raising his eyebrows.
“I said,” in exasperation, “that we have to find a way out of this palace to get back to the Order, and alert them that we had been discovered.”

Wes held me at arm’s length, and looked at me.
“I think that we’ve proved enough to the Order tonight, now we should just get home.”

I nodded and took a step to walk in an unknown direction when I heard a pair of feet coming around the corner. I panicked, grabbing Wes, and dragging him in the direction I was heading. Wes tried to shield me as we hid in the shadows, but we new saw the queen emerge from around the corner, we both relaxed and stepped into view.

She stood there looking at us, and then blatantly asked for the story.
Later…
Wes:

I looked out to the window of the carriage as we were heading home. We had to stop by the cottage to get back into our regular clothes. Anabella had fallen asleep as soon as her body hit the chair, and she now sagged against me. Her face bore the troubles of the night, and yet she looked peaceful. We passed over a bridge and I admired the stars above our heads. Anabella stirred and stated mumbling about birds. I listened to her murmurings, and grew amused. I hadn’t heard her talk in her sleep for a while, and I was lost in her subconscious monologues.

And then she said my name, so loud and clear I was startled out of my dozing and looked at her. Yet she was still sound asleep. Then she said it again, and then smiled to herself. She snuggled closer to me and stopped talking.

We were fast approaching the woods now and I politely asked the driver to stop. He looked a little surprised, but promptly let us out. I didn’t want to wake Anabella, so I gently picked her up and carried her through the woods. She was surprisingly light, and I cleared my mind so that we could get to the cottage safely.


Anabella:

I woke up in Wes’ arms. We were walking somewhere in the forest. I took in my surroundings, and then looked up at Wes. He was stronger than I had thought, and he carried me easily.
“Wes,” I said drowsily, “you can put me down now.”
“Well good evening Sleeping Beauty, how did you sleep?” He asked. I shrugged, my dream fleeting from my mind the minute I tried to call on it. I sighed and looked at Wes again.
“You can put me down now, you know.” I said again. He just smiled at me.
“But princess!” he exclaimed, “Your royal feet must never touch the ground!” I laughed and kissed him on the cheek before I hopped out of his arms and walked beside him.

We arrived at the clearing and I skipped around with newfound energy and twirling in my dress. Wes ran after me and picked me up, spinning me around in the air. We both fell to the ground and laughed. I turned towards him as he turned toward me. Our eyes met, and a feeling of static rang through both of us. I rolled closer to him until we were hugging.
“I never got to thank you properly.” I whispered in his ear. I breathed in the scent of Wes and the wildflowers around us. My forehead rested against his cheek and he turned his head to the side to kiss it. I thought about all the feelings I had ever had about Wes, even from when we were kids and it all made sense. I turned my head toward his and our lips met. That’s when I truly felt like a princess.
Later…

Wes and I walked back from the cottage, dressed in our regular clothes. Our hands were clasped and we were making our way back to our homes. As we arrived at my house, which was the closest, I wrapped my arms around Wes’ neck and we met for a slow kiss. Then we started to move in our separate directions, when we both looked back at each other, and ran into each other’s arms. When we finally let go of each other, we started making out way, for the second time, to our houses, making unspoken promises to each other along the way.