"Where are we going?" I ask, taking Brooke's hand and walking with her down the hall.

"You'll find out," she says innocently, hiding a smile. I grin, shaking my head. "We'll be there soon."

I follow her lead. Looking out a window, I realize it must be later than I thought. "If we're going somewhere outside, we're going to need guards-"

"Shh," she whispers, looking over at me. "There are probably already guards there."

My heart pounds. Where is Brooke taking us that guards are already stationed at?

"Is it safe?" I ask.

She laughs. "Why would I take you to a place where it's not safe?" Squeezing my hand, she says, "You're worrying too much. I'm taking you to a beach. Or a beach-ish thing. I don't really know what it is."

A wave of realization washes over me. On one side of the palace there's a small area covered with sand, giving it a feel of a beach, since it wouldn't be safe to actually be next to a body of water. The area has exotic looking flowers and trees, adding to the feel.

"Oh," I say, embarrassed. "Sorry."

She laughs and kisses my cheek. "It's okay."

Soon, we reach a set of doors leading outside. I shiver at the cool summer air, and when I see Brooke shiver too, I wrap an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder.

"Do you come here often?" I ask, leading her towards the sand.

"Only when I need to think."

"About what?" As soon as the words leave my mouth, I want to take them back. Too nosy.

She stops walking, causing me to stop too. Looking into my eyes, she whispers, "About you."

I can't help the smile that breaks out onto my face. Not hesitating, I lean down to kiss her. The only kisses I've shared with Brooke were small and short. I decide to change that now.

Wrapping one hand around her waist and placing the other hand on her neck, I pull the kiss deeper, and she doesn't resist. Her hands travel up my back, until they reach my neck. She runs her hands through my hair, still kissing me. I begin to cup her face in my hands when she pulls away. And she doesn't just pull away; she takes a few steps back.

"Are you okay?" I whisper, worried that I did something wrong. Gwen didn't seem to think so- does Brooke not have that big an interest in me anymore?

"I- I just- Well, I-" she stammers, looking around, eyes wide. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay," I reply, reassuring her. "We don't have to..." My voice trails off, and I let it. Brooke's plain look of sadness leaves me speechless. I've never seen it before.

"It's not you," she murmurs, sitting down on a nearby bench. Not knowing what else to do, I sit down next to her. "It's my mom," she says as I sit.

"Your-" I pause. "What?"

"She always told me that if I ever kissed a boy before I was eighteen she would ban me from ever having a boyfriend again," she says, her eyes rimmed with tears. She laughs softly. "I knew she was joking, but... Oh, I don't know."

"What happened to your mom?" I ask softly, covering her shaking hands with mine.

"She died when I was fourteen. Cancer. It's been three years, but I still can't move on. It's like this emptiness that I feel whenever I'm alone. Even during the Selection, though I always seem to be surrounded by people..." She wipes her eyes. "I should be moving on my now. But I can't."

"I'm so sorry," I say, now upset myself. "That's horrid. You're brave."

"What?" she says, looking up at me.

"You're brave, to wake up every day and not let anyone know you're hurting. It takes a lot of courage for someone to do that, you know." I kiss her forehead. "I'm here for you."

I shouldn't have made that promise. What if she isn't the one I end up picking? That wouldn't be a promise I could keep very well.

"Thank you, Gerad. I'm here for you, too." 

"Well," I say, a change in voice. "This is depressing."

"Much more depressing than I planned it to be," she agrees, nodding her head and laughing. Yawning, she continues, "It's late. You should be going to bed- big day tomorrow." She pauses. "Well, every day is big for you, so I'm assuming tomorrow will be, too."

I kiss her one more time, and she kisses me back. When we part, I take her hand and help her up. "I'll walk you to your room," I offer.

"That would be great."

The whole way to her room, we don't say a word. But even in this silence I feel comfortable. When we get to her room, I plant a quick kiss on her forehead and she smiles, walking into her room and closing the door silently.

I let out a sigh. I don't know why- because I didn't enjoy my time with Brooke? Because Gwen is more fun? Because I did have a good time?

No.

Because this decision is going to be much harder than I thought.

-

As I walk down the hallway to my own room, I start to hear loud voices. More than one. Cheering. And there are some clapping in there, too. 

I turn the corner to see Gwen flipping one of our guards on his back. Ashlyn, Amberly, and Logan are lined up against the wall, laughing. Ashlyn sees me first, and whispers something to Amberly, who whispers something to Logan. When all three of them become silent, Gwen turns to see what they're looking at. When she sees me, she grins.

"Hey, Gerad," she says casually, as if there isn't a knocked out guard on the floor behind her.

"What are you doing?" I ask, not sure whether to be upset or start laughing.

"Logan told this guard that I could beat the crap out of him, and he challenged me." She laughs. "I won."

"I can see that," I reply, raising my eyebrows.

"Come on, don't be mad," she says.

"Who said I'm mad?" Laughing, I walk up to them. Looking down at the guard, I add, "I saw you throw him to the ground." She looks at me, her expression asking for my opinion on what she did. "And it was amazing. How do you do that?"

"Would you like me to show you? I could always do it to you." Her eyes are playful. The way she says it in her British accent clashes with her tone- she's trying to sound threatening, but the accent makes her sound polite and proper.

"Yeah, no thanks. I'll pass." I wait. "But you could always do it to Logan."

"Hey!" Logan says, furrowing his eyebrows and smirking. "You wanna go?"

I almost burst out laughing at Logan's attempt at intimidating, but I compose myself.

"I will when you learn how to look aggressive." As I say it, heat rises to his face and he crosses his arms.

Gwen laughs, putting her elbow on my shoulder. She's not that much shorter than me, so it works.

"They really love you," I say, gesturing towards Logan and Amberly who are laughing with Ashlyn.

"They're really cool," she replies, looking at them. "Ashlyn is really enjoying her stay."

"Does she know what's happening in Britain?" I ask.

"No, and I don't plan on telling her. You shouldn't either."

"Wasn't planning on it."

I watch as Ashlyn walks over to me; almost bouncing. "Hey, Gerad," she says, her accent even thicker. "Which of your siblings is your favorite?"

Taking a moment to look over at my siblings, I put a hand to my chin, pretending to think about it.

"Right now?" I ask, laughing. "Neither."

Ashlyn laughs, and Logan and Amberly both start yelling at me.

"Come on Gerad, you know I'm your favorite!" Amberly shouts.

"No, Amberly, don't kid yourself. I'm his little bro. Automatic favorite!" Logan protests.

"How could I pick a favorite? You are both so delightful," I say, shaking my head. "Okay, I'm going to bed."

"Wait, Gerad." I turn around to find Gwen next to me. "Can I come with?" 

"Uh-"

"I didn't mean with you to bed. I just want to talk for a bit," she corrects herself.

"Okay."

We both disappear into my room. Who knows what our siblings are thinking.

"Who cares about our siblings," Gwen says. I whirl around, surprise plastered on my face. She just read my mind!

"It was just a guess at what you were thinking." She shrugs. "I know that's what I was thinking about."

I nod, making my way to my bed. She follows, flopping onto it after me. We've been sitting together like this at least once a day, now that I think about it.

"Is there anything specific you wanted to talk about?" I ask, looking over at her.

She hesitates. "Okay, what did Brooke want? Where'd you guys go? I mean, you were gone a while."

"We were?" It only felt like a few minutes.

"Yeah, like an hour!" she exclaims, pointing to the clock.

It's eleven o'clock already? 

"Wow," I mutter. "She just wanted to go somewhere with me."

"Where?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I just-" she looks down awkwardly. "I want to know where you stand with her."

If it was any other girl, they would've made something up- something that didn't sound so intrusive. But it's coming from Gwen's mouth, so I don't press it.

"We went to that place with all the sand."

"I hope you had a good time," she whispers. "Okay, I need to tell you something."

Judging by the nervous look on her face, it's not good. "Yes?" I say, my voice wavering.

"I think me being here is hurting you more than it's doing any good. When I was sent here, I wasn't aware of the fact that you were in the middle of a Selection. To be honest, I had a plan to fall in love with this mysterious prince I was going to be staying with."

I suppress a laugh.

"I guess I thought you weren't going to have anyone else here with you. Brooke is an amazing girl... and she would be an amazing queen. She's perfect for you, Gerad. She makes you happy-" She stops.

She pauses, swallowing hard. "I don't want to hurt you. So... It would probably be better for me to go back to Britain with my sister."

-

What did you guys think of this chapter? Hope you enjoyed it :)

I've been on winter break all week, and I have to go back to school on Monday. NOT EXCITED FOR THAT.

I should probably write another chapter of The Second Choice. Haven't done that for a while.

Bye,
Eve