“Let’s do this!”

A chorus of woo’s follows the pep talk that Ash and I just gave. Without hesitation we exit the bus and head towards the entrance to the conference center. Another team, the Division 1 champions from last year, see us and wave. The friendliness only extends to teams that aren’t in our division—Division 3, large varsity.

After checking in, we head to our usual dressing area. Since we’re already in our uniforms and warms ups, all we have to do is makeup and hair.

“Anna,” Marianne appears beside me as I’m doing my makeup. “They’ve approved your ring.”

For a second I’m confused, but then I remember what happened at regionals. My engagement ring had to be approved to be worn. We’re all supposed to look identical, and that includes jewelry and makeup, and hair.

So, in order to not cause an international incident I submitted a contest to be able to wear it. Looks like I succeeded. And why wouldn’t I? Gabe must have talked them into it.

“Great,” I give a nod and get back to work. She rushes off to go talk to her fellow coaches, leaving Ash and I in charge of the group.

Once we’re all set with makeup and hair we gather into a circle and discuss the entire routine in depth; who needs to make sure they straighten their leg; who needs to watch their timing. Singling each other out right now is a one-time deal and no one takes offense to it. We know that this is stuff we need to acknowledge, with no drama attached.

Take for instance my leg kicks. They’re usually a bit too high so I need to really watch it today.

“We can do this guys,” Ash assures everyone, glancing over at the cameras lurking in the distance. ESPN is covering the competition. Add that to the other news crews that are here reporting on my prescience here and you’ve got a ton of cameras.

Every time they get even remotely close as we’re stretching and getting ready, the girls get tense. It’s not helping us at all.

“Marc,” I lean towards him as I stretch my left leg on a nearby bar. “Can you kindly ask those photogs to keep a distance? They’re freaking out the girls, not me.”

He nods, “Sure thing… don’t wander off while I’m gone.”

Okay so maybe he’s still a bit bitter about last night.

Gabe wanders over to me as I’m doing my usual meditation on the floor and says, “Someone wants to speak to you before you go on deck.”

My brow creases as he crouches down beside me and holds my phone out in front of me. Ben’s face is taking up half the screen, while Victor nosily tries to squeeze in beside him.

The smile on my face widens. “Hey!”

Ben looks so much better than the last time we video chatted. There’s a lot more color in his face and he isn’t grimacing from pain as much.

He switches to Slavic in order to have a more private conversation. With all the people surrounding me, I switch over too.

“We just wanted to wish you luck,” Ben says.

Victor nods in agreement, “Your uncle, aunt and cousins send their well wishes too. Oh, and your mother’s side of the family.”

“Thanks,” I answer, taking the phone from Gabe.

“I can’t wait to see you in Sweden,” Ben says as Victor creeps himself out of the frame. 

Only then do I remember that I only have one day home when I get back from this trip. Then, I have to go to Sweden and meet Ben at the palace in Stockholm. He’s been named a godparent to the new twins in the Sweden Royal family. I have to be there to pose for pictures with all my distant relatives. You know, fun stuff like that.

“I know, it’s been a long time… I’m sorry I’m not there for you.” I’ve felt guilty about not being there for him like he was for me ever since I left Vladesvya. The guilt just follows me everywhere. Hopefully after I spend the two days in Sweden with him the feeling will go away.

His smile dims a little. I can tell he’s trying his best to seem okay. But I know he’s not. You don’t get over assassination attempts that easily. It took me two months to be able to sleep alone again. Ben is having the same trouble.

“I’m fine… but I’ll be ten times better once I get to see you,” he glances off to the side and speaks quietly. I can tell there must be others besides Victor in the room. “I’m going to watch through face time. Marc said he would hold your phone.”

“I know,” I glance over at Marc, who’s back at his usual position just a few feet away from me. “He told me. Make sure you stay on so I can talk to you after.”

With a nod he says, “Of course. Now go out there and kick some ass. We’ll be rooting for you.”

“Oh, don’t worry we will,” I chuckle, glancing over at the girls, who are getting ready to go on deck. “I love you.”

To this day he still looks surprised when I say those words. I guess it’s always going to be a big thing for him. After all, it took me long enough.

“I love you, too. Have fun,” he waves and I say one last goodbye before handing the phone to Marc. I hear him say something to Ben but am too distracted by the girls to really listen. I have to get to the front of the formation.

In the minutes that we stand there on deck, waiting to go on, I push everything to the back of my head. Everything going on right now disappears for just the few minutes we’ll be performing… the cameras, headlines, everything; gone. I zone out of reality and into what Avery calls the ‘dance mindset’.

And as our team is announced to the crowd and they roar in applause, I know that we’ve got this locked down. I’ve never felt more confident in my team.

When we hit the starting position I block out everything but the music. The smile that stays locked onto my face, for once, isn’t faked. I feel alive. Dance always has that effect on me.

Our kick line is perfect; every hit is timed precisely. I’ve never seen the girls this on point.

And then it’s over. As quickly as my last competition began, it’s over. Two minutes and fifty seconds of dancing feels like thirty seconds right now. I barely have time to breathe before we have to run off the stage, waving our poms in the air as we go. 

The first thing Marc does is shove the phone in my face. He whispers, “It would crush him if you didn’t talk to him now.”

In other words: don’t screw up this perfectly good relationship, Anna.

And so I look down at the screen as the rest of the team runs to our spot in the dressing room. His smile hasn’t been that big in a long time.

“You were amazing!” He shouts. I hear Victor yell something in Slavic in the background, but can’t hear him clearly enough. “Dad agrees.”

“Thanks… I hope we win this year,” I say, walking closer to the group. 

“If you don’t then the judges are blind,” he scoffs. “I’ll let you go, love. Promise you’ll call me before you go to bed?”

The sound of him calling me love in Slavic makes my cheeks redden. “I promise. I love you—and make sure you wake up for me.”

And when he says he loves me it only makes my cheeks burn hotter than before. I know he’ll be waiting for my call. Technically it’s his morning call and my night call, due to the time difference.

Handing the phone back to Marc, I hurry over to the girls to join in on the group hug.

We only have fifteen minutes to spend huddled together and hoping for the best. It seems more like fifteen seconds though. We’re heading back to the stage what feels like minutes after we were just there.

Taking our seats in one corner of the large, cushioned stage, we listen as they start at the twenty-third team and work their way up. 

When the announcer hits fifth place—that’s when we lock hands and hold on tightly to one another. We placed third last year, and fourth pretty all the years before that.

Fourth place is announced. Not us.

Third place. Not us.

I think Ash is going to crush my hand as the announcer says, “And in second place… breaking their record score for the first time in four years… the East Creek High School Falconettes!”

We jump to our feet, and scream so loud I swear my eardrum might burst. Ash grabs my hand and we jump over bags—not to mention other people—in order to go fetch the trophy from the honorary award presenters.

They seem a bit flustered when I reach for their hands.

“Uh, congratulations, girls,” the president of the UDA says as I shake his hand firmly. I’ve gotten some good practice shaking hands on those rounds with Ben back in Vladesvya and Chirnova.

The smile is still plastered on my face as I reply, “Thank you!”

The girls are still screaming as we stumble back towards them with the trophy that’s easily as big as me. It takes both of us to lift it a couple of inches off the ground.

I can’t contain myself anymore. I don’t care about the cameras, I’m going bat shit crazy jumping up and down as they announce our previous titles.

But then we have to settle down and watch as our biggest competitors win first place… for the fifth year in a row.

Not letting that get us down, we pose for our formal picture behind the trophy. Then, we take all sorts of informal pictures on our phones and the parents that came with us swarm around for more photos.

I immediately send the pictures in a mass text message, to my parents, brothers, cousins and of course the long list of new royal family members—and lastly, Ben and Victor. I even forward some to Garret, Bryan and Valencia. They haven’t seen me since I left Vladesvya, so that should cheer them up.

As for social media, I see to it that my Instagram is plastered with pictures, along with my Twitter account; my Facebook page and my Tumblr blog. Hell, I even upload a few to my actual royal webpage—er, Kassy does as soon as I email them to her.

@HRHPrincessAnna: 2nd place win at Nationals! Great way to end my senior year of dance! #goingoutwithabang

Everything seems like a blur, even as we celebrate with dinner at some fancy restaurant at the resort. All I want to do is get back to the room so I can call Ben—but the girls are insisting that I can sneak out with them again.

I highly doubt that’s possible with Marc and Gabe being glued to my side—ever since that incident last night. And I don’t want to piss them off anymore, so sneaking around is out of the question.

Instead of going back to the pool with them, I open up FaceTime and spend an hour talking to Ben. For once it’s just him; no Victor or nurses trying to pop into the frame to tell me how he’s doing. We can just speak like any normal couple would.

“I’m back at the palace now, at least,” he points out when I ask how he’s really feeling. “I still feel like I’ve been run over by a truck but now I can feel that way in my own bed.”

A long pause is accompanied by him shifting in his place, propped up against the pillows. When he winces, I wince too. 

“How are the nightmares?” I ask quietly. I know he doesn’t like to talk about them. He says it makes him look weak. I say it makes him look like a normal person.

His face freezes in a grimace and he talks lowly. “Still going strong.”

With a soft sigh, I prop my head up on my hand and say, “Are they letting us share a suite at the palace in Stockholm?”

The corners of his mouth twitch upwards as he replies, “Yes… I requested it… said it would help me sleep better.”

“You mean I’ll help you sleep better,” I rephrase. 

With a half-smile he nods, “That’s exactly what I mean… but for now you need to get some sleep of your own. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

Surrendering to exhaustion, I reply, “Alright. ‘Night… I love you.”

“I love you too,” he says, his half smile breaking out into a full smile. It makes me feel a little better, seeing him like that. A small smile is better than a grimace.

There’s only one thing I that leaves me feeling a little sad as I lay down in bed—the fact that we leave tomorrow evening after our short trip to MGM Studios.

—————

**this chapter isn't fully edited**

Hi there readers :D how’s it going? Sorry this is slightly boring but I needed a connecting chapter lol so I apologize. Aaaaanways, the next chapter should be more interesting because it’s going to feature Ben and Anna together again! *squeals* I’m so excited to write it!

As always, I am begging you guys for your comments; thoughts; opinions! I very much appreciate your votes as well and thank you so so soooo much for reading my story in the first place <3