#choices drake walker sometimes beginnings start with goodbye happy birthday Liz! choices fanfic trr au

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Sometimes Beginnings Start With Goodbye  IX - You

This is a TRR AU fan fic inspired by the Choices book series The Royal Romance All rights and many thanks are given to Pixelberry Studios for the use of their characters. Original characters are mine. The Sometimes Beginnings Start With Goodbye series is written for my friend @tornbetween2loves it started as a birthday fic and today I’m celebrating my awesome friend’s birthday again! Please read these stories in order or they won’t make sense. The series links can be found in my Masterlist. There will be more parts to this series. Featuring: Drake Walker X Meridoc Finn Rating: This part is PG but the story overall is very M             Word count: around 2800

Warnings: none for this part  SBSWG tags: @tornbetween2loves @gardeningourmet @allaboutchoices@stopforamoment  @bobasheebaby @cora-nova @indiacater @ao719@hopefulmoonobject @drakewalkerwhipped@texaskitten30 @darley1101 @furiousherringoperatortoad @emceesynonymroll @princessleac1 @romanticatheart-posts

    It had been one week two days and five hours since he’d seen her. He drank the protein shake he’d made without even tasting it. He washed the blender and his glass and set them in the drying rack before leaving the palace kitchen and heading to the stables. Methodically he fed each horse their apportioned morning feed and marked their charts. He pulled his measured bottle of water from the fridge in the stable and drank the prescribed 8 ounces before doing the prescribed stretches. Slinging the bottle strap around his neck he jogged out of the stable and out to the trail before picking up the pace. He focused on his stride, his breathing, his posture, the burn in his muscles. When he got to the 5k marker he walked around it slowly while he drank another 8 ounces of water before running back to the stable. He filled his water bottle back up and put it back in the fridge. He was toweling himself off when his autopilot disengaged enough that he realized he was being watched.  Drake turned and met the deep blue eyes that pierced him like a knife in his heart. Breandan Finn had the same blue eyes as his daughter and they were currently measuring him intently.  He turned away and hung his towel on a tack peg and took a deep breath before he brought himself to meet the old man’s eyes. “Morning, Mr. Finn. Um, did you need something? Can I assist you?”  “Ach, aye mac, indeed you can. Ni thuigim.” He shook his head and frowned then carefully put his words together. “What are you doing, Drake?”  “I, uh, just finished my run. I need to change before I check in with the King.” Drake rubbed the back of his neck as he purposely misunderstood Meridoc’s father.  Breandan shook his head. “No. You should go to m’inion. Dublin, not here is where you should be.” He pointed a thin finger to the North West. “A man should na be where his heart is no. You run and run but m’inion is there and you will na find her here.”  Drake ran a hand through his hair and dropped his hands as he sighed. “Sir… I…” He shook his head. “Look, I asked her to stay… I… I told her. Sir, I told her I love her. But she left. So I have to respect that.” The old man’s eyes narrowed, “An what did she say?”  Drake shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Ach yer arsewise in this Mac. It makes the world what M’inion said. What did she say?” There was a snap in Breandan’s voice Drake hadn’t heard before.  Drake’s voice when he found it was soft and filled with pain. “She said she loved me. But then she left.” He felt the tears starting. He hated that. Hated that he had no control. Hated the nakedness of his raw emotions. He shook his head and turned from Breandan.  Breandan laid his hand on Drake’s shoulder. “Mac… Son… come here to me, m’inion is very honest, very… smart.” Drake met his sapphire gaze and wiped at his tears. “She would no tell you that lightly. She is a doctor Drake. She can no be with a patient as woman to man. Go to her. She did’na leave because she did no love you. She left because she does.” He saw the truth in Breandan’s eyes and felt his vision tunneling as the enormity of it hit him. She hadn’t been sparing him. She loved him. He bent over bracing his hands on his knees feeling like he was about to pass out.  “I have to go to her.” He managed though he didn’t feel like he had any air. She actually loved him and left so he wouldn’t be her patient. He wasn’t her patient any more. And she loved him. And it was over a week and he hadn’t even called her. “I have to go … now.”  Breandan was grinning when Drake looked back up at him. “Ach, yes. Tis certain ya do.”  Drake pulled the older man into a fierce hug before he dashed for the palace.

He glanced at his watch as he ran to his room starting to strip even as he opened his door. He didn’t wait for the water to warm up before he stepped into the cold shower quickly rubbing himself with soap gritting his teeth against the sting of the icy water. His mind was racing as he sluiced shampoo into his hair. He would ask Liam if he could use the royal jet just to get him there.  That would be the fastest. He needed to call her. He needed to talk to Breandan. He had her address but he didn’t know her schedule. He would send her flowers and ask her out. He would need a hotel room in Dublin. He would take it slow, no pressure. He had a diplomatic passport but he wasn’t sure what he would need to be able to get a job. He stepped into the warming water letting it rinse the shampoo from his hair and the soap from his body then shut the shower off and grabbed a towel drying himself quickly just enough not to leave a puddle as he went into his bedroom and grabbed clean boxers and a tee-shirt from his drawers before going to his closet.  It may have been the first time in his life that his wardrobe seemed insufficient. Mr. Two Suits, he shook his head and put on the suit that Maxwell had helped him pick out over a year ago. He grabbed his lone suitcase and his gray suit and went back to his bedroom. He would have to pack after he talked with Liam. Quickly slipping on a pair of deck shoes he left to go meet Liam for lunch.  Mara was standing by the king’s office door when he got there. She shook her head at him as he approached. “Mr. Walker, His Majesty is currently not available I’m afraid. He asked if you might speak with him later?”  Drake was brought up short. He frowned. “Is everything okay?”  Mara looked at the door and shook her head then turned back to Drake. “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say. I’m certain his Majesty will wish to speak with you later.”   Drake frowned as Meridoc’s words came back to him.  “Everything you do is for them. It’s on their time table. It’s with consideration for them. You have to figure out what you want for you, Drake. I’ve been here for five months working with you and studying all the dynamics of this place. It’s a fine place. But I don’t think you can grow here. And I can’t stay here anymore knowing that.” He shook his head. “I’m leaving.”, the words just fell out of his mouth. “Um… Please let his Majesty know I came by. I’ll call him later.” He turned without waiting for Mara and called the airport as he went back to his room to pack. He looked at his one suitcase and carefully packed his grey suit, his dress shoes, he tossed in enough undergarments for a week and a couple of pairs of jeans and denim shirts then grabbed the ring box with his grandmother’s ring. Checked his watch for the time and saw his flight to Dublin was only a couple of hours from then. Grabbing his suit case he headed for the palace garage. He asked Demetri, one of the palace chauffeurs if they would drive him to the airport. As soon as they were on the road he called Bastien.   “Ela, Drake!” Even in his distracted state he caught a strange, joyful note in Bastien’s tone.  “You sound good, Bastien. I.. I just needed to call you and let you know that I’m going to Dublin.” There was silence for a moment on the line.

“For Doctor Finn, yios?”  “Yes. I, I took her advice. Thought about what I actually wanted. It all kept coming back to her, Bastien.”  “Then you should go to her.” Bastien chuckled. “I also have a bit of news. I’m going to be a father.”  Drake dropped his phone and had to unbuckle himself and fish around on the floor for it. He heard Bastien calling his name as he picked it back up. “…. Drake? Are you there?... Did we lose connection?”  “Sorry. I’m here. Just dropped my phone. Damn. I mean. Wow. How did that happen? Damn, singariteeria, Bastien!” Bastien was laughing. And Drake heard the joy in his deep chortle. “Yios, it happened in the usual manner of such things happening. It is a strange moon Drake. I asked the king for time off and permission to court Her Grace, Lady Olivia. And he decided to knight me. Then I came to see her and found that she was expecting our child. Then you called me that you are going after Dr. Finn. How did Liam take you leaving?”  “He was busy and I was going to miss my plane if I waited for him. So he doesn’t know yet. I’ll try to get him before I get on the plane but if he’s still busy I may already be in Dublin before we speak.” Bastien’s voice was very serious, “Drake you do what you need to do. I love you, Yios. Liam will be well. You deserve to be happy.”  “Thank you, Bastien. And I’m really happy for you and Olivia. I’ll let you know more as soon as I know more…. Bastien se agapo.” “Se agapo, Yios. Safe journeys.”                           *********************************

  It may have been the hardest six hours of his life, the time between going through the gate to get on the plane in Cordonia International and getting off the plane in Dublin. It was the first time he’d flown since his hospitalization and the only time he’d flown since he was an adult without the assistance of good alcohol. He didn’t think of himself as an anxiety prone flyer. And maybe it was the overwhelming sense that he was truly starting a new chapter in his life. Or maybe all the mind games he was playing with himself as he planned and then discarded plan after plan on how exactly to contact Meridoc. Each scenario playing out in his head as more disastrous than the last.   He thought he’d bring her flowers then imagined he would pick something that she hated or was allergic to.  He thought he would surprise her then envisioned her answering the door expecting dinner for her and her new boyfriend.  He imagined her gently and patiently explaining to him how this was all a mistake.    He wanted a drink so damn badly it hurt. And he couldn’t just run or exercise to squash it. So he drank four ginger ales and four bottles of water and suffered the embarrassment of having to ask out of the middle coach seat twice to go relieve himself. He still remembered The Rules. Meridoc lancing him with the deep sapphire of her gaze before she wheeled him out of the hospital to start his rehab at the palace.   “Three things.    You must try. No giving up, playing hooky, taking shortcuts.    No alcohol. No beer, hard cider, or liquor, not in drinks, not uncooked in food.    And lastly, You must communicate honestly. No silent brooding. No lying even by omission.   Do these things and I’ve got you, every step. Break them and I’m on the next plane.”   He supposed in someway he had broken the third. He knew long before his cock woke back up and declared it that he had fallen in love with her.  He just couldn’t figure out how to tell her and not lose her. And here he was.   His plan as he landed in Dublin was to get a reasonable hotel until he could get an apartment and find a job. He had some savings and investments that would get him through a few months as long as he was careful. Bastien had insisted that he save and invest. And while he had almost resented it when he was in school and much younger, today he was grateful for the options it gave him.  He had checked his only bag and with one flash of his diplomatic passport he was through customs in almost no time. He did ask the customs officer what he would need to do if he decided he would like to try to find a job in Ireland and the official shook his head and told him that as a member of the royal household of Cordonia he wasn’t eligible to work in Ireland. He was welcome to stay as long as he wanted but unless he was a student or possessed certain Critical Skills he wouldn’t be permitted to work. Drake nodded but was undeterred. If he had to pull strings he would.

  Coming out of the customs area he stopped, stunned as a beautiful, tiny torpedo ran to him and hugged him fiercely. “Chaill mé an oiread sin. Ah Drake. I missed you.”  He dropped the handle of his suitcase and wrapped her in his arms holding her tight. He buried his face in her hair inhaling her scent and feeling like his heart had found home. His tears were falling and his throat was tight and all he could manage was “S’agape, Meri. s’agape.”  She pulled back smiling through her own tears and met his eyes. “Ach, aye, I love you too.” She gently stroked the tears from his cheeks then chuckled. “See what you do?” She dabbed her eyes. “Come on. Let’s go home.”  Drake felt sort of dazed as she led him out to the Taxi stand explaining that with the lunch rush and his luggage it would be better than trying to take the train or the bus. If he wasn’t so enchanted by the lilt of her voice he might have realized that she was a bit nervous. But her voice nourished and comforted him in ways he couldn’t explain. Finally he realized that she was looking at him expectantly and he had no idea what she had asked him. “Pardon? I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting you to meet me. And now I’m waiting to wake up drooling down my shirt.”  She squeezed his hand that she’d been holding on to. “I asked how your flight was?” She stroked his hand and smiled. “Da called and told me you were coming.” She looked down at their clasped hands and her voice got soft. “He said you wanted to talk.”  Drake stared at her delicate hand in his for a long moment. “Yes.” He nodded and looked in her eyes. “Your dad talked to me. And I realized something you told me. I thought about what I really wanted…” The taxi stopped then in front of a rather oddly shaped building that looked like an imperfect stack of triangular shaped floors that rose five stories constructed out of repurposed archaic bricks, rusted steel, and glass. Drake realized the offset of the floors allowed for every apartment to have a balcony. And he was certain the rent was high. But the curbside esthetic had him shaking his head.  Meri saw his look and chuckled. “I know. Trust me it’s better on the inside. It’s two bedrooms and two bathrooms, close to work for me, and accessible for Da.”  Drake stopped her as she started to climb out. “Meri… I don’t want to impose. I was planning on renting a room somewhere until I could find a place.”  She looked down a minute at their clasped hands then looked in his eyes. “What do you want, Drake?”  His chestnut gaze locked with the deep ocean of her eyes and his voice was a silken whisper, “You.”  ---- To be continued…..

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Sometimes Beginnings Start With Goodbye - Part VI - Awakening

This is a TRR AU fan fic inspired by the Choices book series The Royal Romance All rights and many thanks are given to Pixelberry Studios for the use of their characters. Original characters are mine. This fic is written for my friend @tornbetween2loves it started as a birthday fic and has expanded. Please read these stories in order or they won’t make sense. The series links can be found in my Masterlist. There will be more parts to this series. Featuring: King Liam x Queen Giselle, Drake Walker, Dr. Meridoc Finn Rating: M - Erotica and Mature themes, Serious illness, Hospital setting              Word count: close to 2300 Warnings: erotica 18+ only please, depictions of depression, hospitalization, and life threatening illness Tagging: @tornbetween2loves @gardeningourmet @kennaxval @stopforamoment @bobasheebaby @cora-nova @indiacater @hopefulmoonobject @drakewalkerwhipped @texaskitten30 @darley1101 @furiousherringoperatortoad @emceesynonymroll           Liam was pacing agitatedly in their quarters when Giselle got in from her last meeting. “Li? Are you okay?”  He turned and looked at her a frown etched on his features before going to her and wrapping her in his arms and burying his face in the dark silk of her hair. He held her tightly for a long moment before confessing, “I’m… struggling.”  She stroked his back feeling the tension in him as he held her. “I love you.” she murmured before she kissed the center of his chest. “What happened, Love?”  “Drake responded to the new doctor.”  Giselle was confused and she nuzzled into Liam. “That’s great! Isn’t it? Isn’t this what we’ve been hoping for?”  His tone was definitely subdued as he murmured softly, “Yes.”

  Giselle pulled back so she could look up into her husband’s face. She studied his handsome countenance as his frustration had his jaw clenched and etched creases between his brows. She reached up and gently stroked the frown lines between his brows then kissed him softly. “It’s okay for you to want him to have responded to you, Liam.”  He pulled her tight to him and fought against tears in his eyes.   “They practically kicked me out. Virtually told me that he wasn’t responding because he didn’t want to respond to me.   He’s my best friend, my best friend. I’m…   I don’t know what to do, Giselle. What if he hates me? What if all this is my fault?”   She shook her head, “It’s not Li. Don’t do this to yourself. Drake doesn’t hate you. Drake has always loved you. Just as you have always loved Drake.”   “I took you from him. Don’t you see? You were the only woman he has ever loved and I took you from him.”   Giselle leaned back so she could look into his eyes and huffed.   “Stop it! You didn’t take me from him. I wasn’t his. It was my decision.    Drake is a great friend. I will always love him as a dear friend. You are my husband because my heart is one with yours.     I love you Liam. You are my husband. You are the one I want to have babies with. I want to wake up to you snoring in my side. I want the chafe of your morning beard on my neck. I want to sing and dance and share every smile and every tear with you for all my days.” She kissed him gently.    “I really hope that someday Drake will find someone who loves him like I love you. But that’s not me. And it was nothing you did.    I believe we were meant to be. I felt you in my heart the very first time I kissed you on that boat before the Statue of Liberty. You Liam, not Drake, it was always you.”   Liam groaned and scooped her up in his arms carrying her to their bedroom. His voice was filled with aching need, “Giselle,… please my love… I need you so much.”  Desire radiated from him as he laid her on their bed then fumbled to release himself even as he reached under her skirt and found her thong soaked from her passion.    Giselle gasped as his finger stroked through her passion slicked folds before plunging into her. Her back arched with her need and she gasped, “Take me, Li… I’m yours. Only yours.”   The Mediterranean blue of his eyes barely showed around the depths of his passion blown pupils as he pulled her thong aside and buried his achingly hard length deeply in her welcoming passage.    She moaned her pleasure even as she reached to pull his shirt out so she could touch his skin.   His mouth met hers their tongues dancing even as he thrust vigorously into her hot core. He adjusted slipping his arm under her left leg to lift it just enough he could tell she was getting the perfect stimulation. Then her back arched and her inner walls were contracting around him milking him. His body answered releasing so hard it was an ache in his balls and belly. He gasped her name at last finding his voice again.   He held her tightly to him still shaking and rolled to his side, murmuring soft I love yous into her hair.     She kissed him tenderly and smiled gently stroking his tousled curls. “Hey.”        He smiled and rested his forehead on hers. “Hey.”    “Feeling better, my king?”        “Mmmm, hmmm.” He kissed her nose.    “I’ve got an idea…”     He kissed her mouth before she could finish, finally breaking the kiss and smirking at her. “I do too.” He started unbuttoning her blouse.    Giselle giggled. “Great minds think alike I’ve heard.” She started unbuttoning his shirt, then yawned. “I was actually coming up here with designs on a nap before dinner. How’s your schedule?”    “Clear for a few hours. I wasn’t sure how long the hospital would take.” He deftly slipped her blouse off then reached around her to unfasten her bra freeing her from it’s confines then nuzzling the firm globes of her breasts before gently suckling a pert nipple.     “Oww! Careful there. I’m tender.”     At once Liam let go and kissed her sensitive nipple. “I’m sorry Love. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He stroked her cheek tenderly.    She kissed his palm and nuzzled him. “I love you, Li. But I really am so sleepy. And you are waaay over dressed. Can we just nap a bit and I’ll be ready for dinner. I mean wake me for dinner?” She smiled and yawned again. Her eyes drifted closed as he got up to remove the rest of his clothes; and by the time he returned to the bed she was curled up asleep.    Liam looked at his own sleeping beauty for a long moment his heart swelling with his love for her. How he wound up so damn lucky he would never know. And she was right. Drake responding was cause for celebration even if it wasn’t to him.    He chuckled looking at her softly snoozing with her dress pumps still on. Her blue jersey dress skirt bunched up exposing her garter belt and thong.  She was radiantly, effortlessly beautiful to him. His queen.  He gently removed her shoes and she sighed softly but didn’t wake. He undid her stockings and rolled them down her legs kissing her ankles. He loved the way the corners of her mouth lifted even in her sleep as he pressed kisses down her legs undressing her.    Finally when they were both bare he set an alarm on his phone for an hour and pulled a blanket over them spooning around her with a feeling of deep contentment settling over him.                                                    ****      Meridoc woke up with her back and shoulders cramping and the distinct feeling that she was being watched. She had a moment of disorientation with the steady beeping of the heart monitor, the dimmed resting lighting in the room, and the periodic soft burring of the pump on the NG feeding tube. Her hand was still clasped in Drake’s hand as she lifted her head off her asleep arm and groaned softly from her muscles aching in protest from being in the same awkward position for too long.    She blinked, focusing and realized that she was in fact being watched by a pair of very aware dark eyes. She yawned and gave him a soft smile. “Ach, well, hello there Mister Walker.”    “Wha?” his voice was painfully dry and raspy as he tried to ask the woman holding his hand what had happened. He didn’t recognize her. Yet she was holding his hand when he woke up shackled in the hospital bed. He presumed it was the hospital. God in heaven he hurt. At least he felt a little warmer now.   “It’s grand to see you awake. I’m doctor Finn, Meridoc Finn.” She stood with another groan and found the nurse call remote. “Maith liomsa, ach, I’m going to get you some assistance and beg your leave for a bit.”    He squeezed her hand and blinked at tears. He didn’t want her to leave. It was silly and he knew it at some level. But her hand comforted him. Her voice was like a soothing balm that eased him. He knew her voice. It pulled him from the cold darkness that had consumed him. The idea of her leaving wrenched his heart. He moaned and squeezed her hand. “Plea…” He managed a soft raspy whisper that tore at his painfully dry, raw throat.    A middle aged nurse in apple print scrubs came to the door. “Dr. Finn, you called?”   Meridoc smiled at the dark-haired nurse. “Aye. Mister Walker is awake. And I’m in serious need of some relief. Could you please bring me a cup with ice chips and see if there is someone in the waiting room who might come say hello and sit with him for a bit?  Ah, and can you turn up the lights just a notch? Not too bright.” She continued to hold his hand even as she tried to stretch and roll her shoulders to relieve some of the kinks.    Deep compassion shone in her eyes as she looked down into his. “I wager you’re dry and wondering about how you wound up here?”    The nurse brought in a plastic cup of ice chips and Meridoc thanked her. “Mister Walker I’m not leaving but I thought you might like a little moisture. So I’m going to need my other hand for a wee bit.”    His eyes locked with hers and he let her hand go. Tears rolled down his cheeks as her hand left his. He felt foolish as panic washed through him and he curled his empty hand into a painful fist.    She reached out and gently wiped the tears from his cheeks. “Ach there, now. Here.” She ran an ice chip over his lips holding onto it letting it melt and drip into his mouth. “I can’t give this to you with you flat. So I’m going to raise your head a smidge once you are finished with this chip.”   The cool moisture was like heaven to his parched mouth. He didn’t know why her presence comforted him so much. He just knew she was his savior, his angel, giving him strength, making him whole again through all the pain.    After the last drop of the melted chip ran from her finger into his mouth she nodded then went and raised the head of his bed before returning to the head of the bed. She pulled her handkerchief from her pocket and put an ice chip in it then held it a moment to dampen the handkerchief. “Now I’m going to wipe your eyes if you wish and give you this ice chip in your mouth; but you must not try to swallow the chip. Do you understand?”    Her eyes were blue. Heaven blue. And freckles like pixie kisses dusted across her nose and cheeks.  She was telling him that she was going to adjust his bed so he could have some ice. But she didn’t want him to swallow the ice. He understood. “Ye..” It hurt to speak. His voice was a bare whisper but he wanted her to know he was trying.   The nurse led Bastien in as Dr. Finn was carefully wiping Drake’s eyes with her damp handkerchief before she slipped him a piece of ice.     Bastien saw Drake’s look of adoration when he opened his eyes again and watched Meridoc. Bastien noted Dr. Finn’s gentle smile and complete focus on Drake as she slipped him an ice chip then carefully ran the pad of her thumb over Drake’s bottom lip. Bastien blinked the tears that threatened. “Drake! Gie, mou.” He went to the bed as Dr. Finn stepped back. He leaned down taking Drake’s hand, opening it and squeezing it gently.     Drake reluctantly looked away from Meridoc and into Bastien’s love filled face. He blinked feeling the tears run again and squeezed Bastien’s hand back.    “Mr. Lykel, Mr. Walker has been awake for a bit. He’s responding nicely. If you wouldn’t mind sitting with him while I find some food and call my Da I’d be most grateful. I got him some ice chips and he can have one at a time as long as he just lets them melt in his mouth. Only one at a time as long as he’s responsive.”   She looked back at Drake her voice was firm but gentle. “No swallowing ice chips, Mr. Walker. We don’t want you choking around your feeding tube. I’m going to see about getting you some lip balm. You’re doing very well.”    He tried to nod but it made him gaggingly aware of the NG tube down his throat and his eyes widened and watered.    She squeezed his foot through the covers. “Hey, none of that. You two have a nice chat and I will come back soon.”   “Mr. Lykel you might want to tell Mr. Walker how he wound up here. And about all the nice friends waiting for him to get better. With that feeding tube in place he’s going to have a terribly sore throat and possible problems trying to speak but he’s giving good effort. I expect he’ll be needing some rest soon. He seems to rest better when you hold his hand.”    Bastien watched Drake follow Dr. Finn out of the room with his eyes before his gaze came back to him. Bastien knew he was crying and he just didn’t care. For the first time in a week he had real hope. He leaned over and kissed Drake’s forehead. “I was so afraid I was going to lose you, son. You can’t imagine the gray hairs you’ve given all of us. Liam and Giselle flew back as soon as I told them. Liam has been making arrangements for you to be able to recover in the palace. Doctor Finn is part of that. She’s a world renowned physical therapist who’s here to work with you. She was recommended by Doctor Ardes.”    He tried to listen to Bastien, he really did but he was so tired his eyes drifted closed as the comfort of Bastien’s voice and hand holding his lulled him to sleep.