Her Runaway Prince

“Figured we could use some soup. Made sure there’s enough to last us a bit. It seems we’ll be here quite a while. Rain is coming down hard and the wind is absolutely insane outside,” he remarked.

Peter placed the pot on the rack affixed to the fireplace and sat down next to Amanda. He let out a soft sigh and tightly wrapped his arms around her.

“Please don’t ever scare me like that again,” he whispered.

“I’m s-sorry, I prom-promise that I’ll t-try my best n-not to,” Amanda replied with a soft laugh, still shivering slightly. She softly stroked his back as he continued to hold her. Peter pulled back and stared at her with tears in his eyes. Amanda felt her heart melt as she continued to realize how much he cared about her. He brought his hand to her face. When his fingertips met her skin, a fresh look of despair painted itself across his face.

“You’re burning up, Amanda. Oh God,” He exclaimed with panic.

“Oh don’t worry, I feel fine,” she reassured him, but she knew she was lying. She felt beyond dizzy. The room was spinning. Suddenly she felt herself fall sideways. She tried to stop herself but she couldn’t. Nothing wanted to work. She just simply collapsed as the darkness took her. She could hear Peter as he called her name in a panic, but then everything went black.

The next day went by in a haze. When she finally awoke, the first thing she saw was Peter. She could see he hadn’t slept at all.

He immediately sat her up and gave her water along with some medicine. He made sure she was feeling okay, concern all over his voice.

He fed her some soup. She was too drowsy to even taste it properly, but she still appreciated it more than she could describe. After only a few spoon-fulls of soup, she lay down and passed out again.

Every now and then she would wake up. Every single time she would be greeted by Peter staring at her intently and then he would rush to get her whatever she needed. He made sure there was always water, medicine and a wet cloth nearby. She noticed by his expression that he was exhausted. She wanted to thank him for everything. She wanted to tell him to get some sleep. But her words kept failing her. As she woke up, she would pass out again just as suddenly.

She woke up once more to be greeted by utter darkness. Another day had passed and she had completely missed it. This was supposed to be a fun getaway with Peter but her cockiness had absolutely ruined it. The only saving grace for her was when she noticed that Peter had finally fallen asleep. He’d made her feel so safe. She honestly didn’t feel any fear with him beside her. The rain was still falling and the wind shook the windows of the cabin. She was finally feeling better, but even when she hadn’t been she’d still felt so secure.

Deep down she knew that he would never let anything happen to her. In her drowsy state she didn’t have the strength to fight her feelings. So, for once, she let her heart feel what it wanted to. She fell back into a slumber whilst imagining being in Peter’s arms.

The next morning when she woke up she felt much better. The fever had broken and she was feeling like herself again.

“Good morning sleeping beauty,” Peter remarked with a smile.

“Good morning Peter. I saw you also got some sleep,” she smiled back at him.

Peter scratched the back of his head in an embarrassed fashion.

“Yeah well, I just couldn’t help myself anymore. It just sorta happened.” He laughed shyly. He handed her a bowl of soup and sat down next to her.

“Come, eat up. Once you feel like yourself again, we can see about making our way back. The storm has cleared and it’s nice and sunny outside. Well, as sunny as a freezing winter can be, I suppose,” he chuckled softly.

Amanda managed to finish all of her soup. It was the first time she could properly taste it and it was surprisingly delicious. She had no idea that he could cook. Once again, she started wondering what mysteries he was hiding.

Amanda was able to walk again and by the afternoon, she was feeling like herself again. They boiled some water and took turns bathing themselves. Amanda was getting closer to one hundred percent again when suddenly her legs gave way.

Peter was quick to catch her and lay her down, immediately feeling for her temperature. She’d developed another fever. Thankfully it wasn’t as severe.

Peter dropped all humor from his expression and immediately went back to nursing her. Giving her water and medicine to break the fever.

Amanda remained conscious and tried her best to reassure Peter that she was fine, but he still continued to worry.

Night approached when her fever finally broke, much to Peter’s relief.

“See? I told you I was fine,” Amanda said as she sat up and smiled warmly at Peter. Peter sighed and collapsed next to her.

“Yeah, I know. Still, just… I care so much about you, and the thought of something happening to you… It’s more than I can handle,” he admitted to her, hanging his head.

Amanda felt butterflies in her stomach. Thankfully she was strong enough to push them back that time. She realized that she herself could no longer even understand why she didn’t want to face her feelings.

“Hey,” she said as she placed her fingertips on his chin and lifted his head up. She stared deep into his eyes and felt herself get lost in the never-ending blue.

“I appreciate you caring so much about me. I honestly do. But I’m a tough gal, I’ll be fine,” she reassured him with a smile. She moved in closer and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

When she finally pulled back from the embrace, Peter held her close so they were nearly face to face. They stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments. It felt like time froze. Amanda’s heart was wrestling with all the feelings she’d tried to bury. As she stared into his eyes, she felt safer than she ever had before.

Finally the silence was broken by Peter.

“Forgive me if this is too far, but it just feels so right,” he whispered softly.

Amanda wondered what he meant for a few seconds before finally understanding when he leaned in.

Her eyes went wide with surprise when Peter pressed his lips against hers. She was in shock for a few moments before she felt her own eyes close and her arms embrace him.