His Fading Mate

CHAPTER 4: Meet Prince William

Chapter 4

William's POV

“Pain can change you, but that doesn't mean it has to be a bad change. Take that pain and turn it into wisdom.”

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My heart aches as I stare at my mate who is crying non-stop while sitting on the grass with her head on her knees. Seeing her cry is the most painful torture I'd ever experienced and never want to experience in my life ever again. It's like my inside and out are being ripped apart as every sobbed came out of her mouth. The smell of her tears felt like poison in my nostrils and not only that, I can also smell her pain and anger that adds to my torture. I grabbed the tissue from my pocket and was about to walk towards her when I remembered something. S**t! This is not the plan. I'm supposed to be watching her from afar and not make my existence known to her. But f**k it! I can't take this anymore. I can't just stand here and watch my mate cry in so much pain. With that thought, I walk towards her with the tissue in my hand.

"Please, I don't want to live anymore. Just take my life, please. I c-can't take it anymore. I-I… I want to die." I grit my teeth and pretend that what she said didn't affect me. But f**k, I felt like someone is ripping my heart apart.

"Here," I said gruffly, looking at the busy city in front of us because even though I badly want to see that beautiful face of hers, I know it will only cause me pain. I can't look at her. I might die. Just hearing her cry is like experiencing hell and back, so I don't think I can look at her beautiful but empty hazel eyes. I felt her gaze on the tissue paper in my hand, then her gaze began to go up, and the smell of surprise and shock welcomed my nostrils. She's surprised to see me or she's surprised because a stranger is standing next to her. I don't know what she's more shocked about. I felt that she still doesn't take the tissue from me and nervousness suddenly creeps inside me. I readied myself to smell her fear, so I waited and waited but a few minutes passed but I still didn't smell any fear or anything besides her previous emotions. Feeling confused, I looked down at her with an emotionless expression, and just like that, I felt my heart stop for a moment when our eyes met and I could also hear her heart racing three times faster than earlier and my hearing did not let the way her breath hitch to be unnoticed.

"Just take the d*mn tissue!" I snapped, pretending to sound annoyed and I saw the surprise that turned to hurt, and soon rage in her eyes. She aggressively stood up and I felt my body froze when her scent reached my nostrils. Her scent, it smells so f**king amazing and very addicting. I suddenly felt the urge to plunge my fangs in her neck and touch every inch of her. All of my thoughts were cut short when I heard her voice laced with hatred.

"Look bad boy, if you are just feeling pity and not completely genuine about giving me that damn tissue, then don't. And if you're just going to snap at me, then, thank you for your fake concern! Just shove that tissue inside your throat and swallow it with your pity because I don't need your f**king help!" She yelled, looking very mad and the earlier thought suddenly vanished from my mind after hearing what she said. I felt my face darken and I took a threatening step forward.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that," I said, gritting my teeth. But instead of being afraid or submitting to me – like what I expected – she actually did the opposite.

"Then don't talk to me if you don't want me to talk to you like this! Because God knows how I am feeling right now. So please bad boy, do the both of us a favor and don't speak to me right now or ever again because I have no control over my very stupid mouth when I'm feeling like this! I felt like s**t right now! And I just want to end this pathetic life of mine so I won't have to feel this pain ever again!" She doesn't even realize that she's crying, and just like that, I felt my face soften and I want nothing more than to hug her and kiss her pain goodbye. "But I can't be selfish. I know I can't be selfish." She whispered but I think she's telling that to herself and not to me.

Every tear that escaped her eyes is like a big stab in my heart. It's a plain f**king torture. So I did the most stupid decision in my life but for me, it's the best I'd ever made in my entire f**king life. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her waist and pressed her petite body against mine. I close my eyes and expect her to shout or push me but she doesn't. Instead, I felt her palms grip my chest like she's clinging to dear life. So I tighten my arms around her and kiss the top of her head.

"Shh, please stop crying. It's alright. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. Please don't cry." I whispered soothingly while brushing her smooth hair. I'm such a prick for snapping at her earlier and I'm not really that happy with myself right now. I know that she's very vulnerable, especially because of what's happening with her life, so I should have been more careful. I've never been so pissed off with myself until now.

"What are you doing?" She finally whispered, her voice calmed that earlier but she didn't pull away. In fact, I think she pressed her face more to my chest. And that made me smile.

"I'm hugging you," I said like it's the most obvious thing in the world. She looked up – her face still red and puffy from crying but she's not cryin' anymore – then glared at me. I furrow my eyebrows. "What?" I asked, feeling confused. Her expression forms into a scowl.

"Yeah, I know that, you dufus. What I meant to say is why are you hugging me? Earlier, you snapped at me like I'm the most annoying person in the world and now you are hugging me like I would break any minute from now." She looked at me blankly and I did the same.

"I'm not a dufus, In fact, I am a very handsome, fearless, and strong man, so don't call me dufus and I'm sorry for snapping at you. I didn't mean it, okay? Forgive me." I said, looking at her beautiful hazel eyes that stare right through mine and I'm actually feeling uncomfortable because of her gaze at me. I felt so bare. She's looking at me like she can see right through me. Even my deepest and darkest secret and that scares me.

"Wait, this is weird. I'm literally hugging a stranger." Her eyes widened like she's just now realizing it. Then, she harshly pushed me away, making me take an involuntary step back while staring at her now horrified face. I felt like she just slapped my face and twisted my heart because of the pain I suddenly felt because of what she did and said.

A stranger. She's hugging a stranger.

And that brought me back to reality. I shouldn't have been doing this. Heck, she's not even supposed to know of my existence and now I just hugged her like a boyfriend should do to soothe his sad girlfriend. But in this case, I'm not her boyfriend nor a friend of hers. I'm just a stranger. And with that thought, I turned around and left without saying anything. And you know what the worst part is? It's that she never bothered running after me or even made an effort to call me. I'm always going to be just a stranger to her. To my mate. Nothing more. I want to tell her what she really is to me and what I am to her but I don't have the courage to do that. I can't ruin her life. My love for her won't allow me and I won't allow myself either. I tried telling her when we're in school and I was watching her sitting with her best friend Lily but looking at her there, living normally, I realized that I couldn't ruin that life she have. I couldn't be that selfish and drag her to my very f**ked up life and messy world. She'll hate me forever. So, I'm willing to endure this longing I felt for her and carry on with the first plan and that's watch her from afar.

****

Rosalie's POV

I blink in shock and stare at William's retreating figure with my mind still can't comprehend what just happened. Did we just… hug? William? That bad boy just hugged me? The man that always ignores my presence and pretends that I don't exist? The man who's always causing trouble at school and sometimes bullying my best friend Lily? That tough guy just freaking hugged me! I exhaled in disbelief, still looking in the direction where he left. But I did not push him away though, what is wrong with me? When he was hugging me, I felt at peace and I felt like I wanted to stay in that position forever and never let go of him. He was so warm and freaking tall and muscular. And his manly scent almost knocks me off because of how addicting that smell is.

Wake the hell up, Rosie! What the hell are you thinking! That man is bad news and I'm telling myself that I don't want to let him go forever? What am I thinking?

I shook my head and took a deep breath. This needs to stop. Whatever this crazy thing he put inside of me needs to stop. What did he do to me? Why am I suddenly acting like this?

I sighed.

William Kessler, what did you do to me? It's the first time he actually spoke to me since I first met him. He never glances at me, never bothers to talk to me and I bet he never really knew that I existed until now. He's always with his friends, Jason, Drake, Owen, and Kaiden. I know them all. Everybody in school knows them all, especially the girls. They're always sitting and flirting with them. But there's no label like it was just for fun. And I despise them for that. He never really paid attention to me even though we have all the same classes and our tables in the cafeteria are not really that far from each other. So it really is a shock for me to realize that he just hugged me. But I'm a little bit confused because he just walked away without saying anything. After I pushed him away because of so much shock and fright, he just walked away with a dark expression on his face. I scoff and shook my head, the realization dawning on me now.

It's because he realized that he's hugging me. A nobody girl. He was disgusted with me and even though I can't admit it aloud, that thought hurt me. Not my pride but my heart, my feelings. William the infamous bad boy is not used to being with someone like me. He likes blonde girls with sexy bodies. Like the Queen bees or popular beautiful girls at school. And that's far from me. That's a fact and that hurt like a b**ch.

I sighed, feeling like someone just stabbed my heart, and sat down staring at the busy city. The sun is almost setting but I won't go back home yet. Even if I want to, I can't. I don't have the courage to face them all. I felt embarrassed about my actions earlier. The way I acted was very impulsive. I should have talked to my mother about it before going on a tantrum. Now, I have no face left to show.

I want to blame my father for everything that's happening in my life but I'm not like that kind of person. I couldn't even blame God for my very unfortunate life. Yes, I admit that I'm a bitter woman but despite that attitude of mine, I'm not like the others who blame someone for the things that are happening to them. That's not me. My mom taught me enough to be anything but that.

"If only my life was not like this," I whispered as I stared up at the sky, wondering if God could hear me speaking down here and if yes, would he grant my wish? "I wonder what my life would be like if I didn't get this freaking tumor? Would my father still be with my mother? I bet I would not be this bitter if my family was still complete and happy. Like how it used to be when I was still young. When everything was fine. No tumor, no divorce, and no death." I whispered, a single tear falling from my eyes and I did not bother to wipe it away. Sometimes, if you can't handle the pain anymore, you need to do something to let it out. Shout, cry, run, punch things, climb mountains, anything, just don't keep the pain inside, because one day, it might destroy you. Keeping the pain inside could break a person. It could take your emotions away. It could turn you into a rock and in my case, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

To feel something even if it's always just pain or to feel nothing at all. I don't know. Sometimes when I think about it, I wonder if it would be good for me to be like a rock and feel nothing. But I also wonder that if I shut my emotions, that means no happiness as well. And I still want to feel happiness. I still want to be happy, I just don't know how to, especially with all the things that have been going on with my life right now. There's no time for me to be happy at all.

And sometimes I thought, when will God send someone that can and will make me happy? Or did he send me that someone already and I just don't realize it?

Thinking that my mind suddenly wonders to William.

****

William's POV

"You're home early, man. Wait, you don't look so good today, something happened?" Drake, my best friend with brunette hair said as I entered the house. I choose to ignore it because I know that he's being sarcastic again, as always. I walked directly to the couch and flopped down with a sour expression, as always.

"You asked? Will always go home looking like that." Owen, my dirty blonde-haired best friend, spoke, walking towards the couch across from me. And the other two walked into the living room as well, Jason and Kaiden, the twins. They probably heard my arrival and decided to tease me about my day, as always.

"Yeah, I know that but look at his face more closely. It's worse than the previous days. Maybe something bad really happened today." Replied Drake, sitting beside Owen and the twin sat next to me with a bored expression. But that's not unusual for us to see them like this. The twins are the kind of vampires who's always looking bored and serious most of the time. Always looking for fun and that means killing or causing distraction. It's been so long since they do that kind of stuff. So, they are always looking bored.

"So, how's your day?" Kaiden, my dark-haired best friend and the oldest and most mature among us five asked. I heaved a sigh and shrugged my shoulders.

"As usual," I stated simply. He rolled his eyes and blew a bored breath.

"Still the same? Just watching her from the distance?" He said, but like the typical Kaiden, he knows something about everything. He is the smartest and most observant among us five.

I sighed and shook my head. "No, I… I talked to her –"

"Finally!" We all glared at Drake and he immediately shut up.

"– and hugged her –"

"The f**k?!" They all yelled in unison, even the twins looked shocked. "Man, what happened to the 'never knowing my existence' speech you said to us." Owen, the first one who recovered from the shock said.

"Yeah, man. You looked so confident that day when you said that. I still don't forget the 'it's for the best' that you said. You seemed so sure and now? What the hell man? What happened to you?" Jason, my dark brown-haired best friend said while looking at me curiously.

"I don't know, okay? My arms just move without my consent." They look at me like saying 'really? You expect us to believe that?' I scowl. "My mate, I made her cry and I can't just ignore it, so I hugged her. There, I said it." And just like a snap of a finger, they all act like I don't exist. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. And thankfully, Drake decided to take notice of my presence.

"You need to practice more, man,"

"Practice what?" I asked confusedly. He rolled his eyes like he's talking to a kid. I glared at him and he immediately raised his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay." He sighed and gripped his chest like he just runs for hours. "Gosh, that's what I'm talking about. You need to practice on being nice and also with using your words because your mouth can sometimes be a swearing machine because of how much you swear in just an hour."

"And also, you need to learn to stop snapping and glaring at people," Owen added and I scoffed.

"I'm not that bad." Four heads snapped in my direction with four eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Yes, you are," They all said in unison with their voice sounding low and bored. I look at them blankly feeling like s**t and stood up to walk towards my room without saying anything.

"Fuckers," I whispered when I'm at the bottom of the stairs but before I could take a step upward, I heard them yell in unison.

"We heard that!"