Crowns & Chaos

twenty-one

Lillian was looking at me strangely when I stood up. 

"What's wrong?"

She glanced pointedly down at my dress. I looked down to find that my white dress had become practically see-through with all the water, leaving my bra and underwear very visible. 

I flushed beet red, panicking a little. 

"What do I do?" I hissed. 

Peter looked back at us. 

"Is everything okay?"

I crossed my arms across my body, trying to minimize what was visible. His eyes flicked down for a second, an unreadable emotion flickering across his face for a split second before realization hit. 

"Yeah... um..."

"Hang on," he said, before jogging away. 

Alec looked at us in askance, to which Lillian was quick to shield me from her brother's view. 

"Don't worry about it."

He threw his hands up in defeat. 

"This is why I don't ask questions."

Peter reappeared a moment later, blazer in hand. He was quick to wrap it around my shoulders, thus effectively blocking my body from view. 

"Thanks," I whispered. 

He smiled warmly at me, planting a soft kiss on my forehead before catching up with Alec again. I did my very best to ignore the way my stomach flipped at the sweet gesture. 

"What?" I asked Lillian, who was smirking at me. 

She looked away innocently. 

"Nothin'. "

"Do you guys wanna dry off and get changed before I take Evangeline home?" Peter asked as we headed through a back door. 

"Take her home?"

"Yeah Lil, I have a house I have to go back to."

"We should have a sleepover!"

"You literally met me a few hours ago."

"All the more reason for us to bond!"

Alec shrugged. 

"We're staying in the palace for a few days while my dad's here working."

I looked at Peter. 

"Is that okay with you, though?" I asked, looking into his eyes. Was this still okay? Were we crossing the boundaries of the contract with this?

"You can stay with Lillian. It's all good. Besides, this way you get to avoid the ghosts."

Alec looked intrigued. 

"Ghosts?"

I sighed. 

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that my house is haunted."

"Awesome!"

"Yeah as awesome as seeing your dead grandma in front of your face while you're trying to sleep."

Alec's face changed from excited to slightly concerned. 

"Oh. Fair enough."

I laughed at his worried expression. 

"Anyway, I'll just have to talk to Ron and we should be good to go."

Peter nodded, leading us through a back door.