#hello i have to admit with shame that my breakfast today was: energy drink. a protein bar. and nicotine.

[gayjunebug]

does your life ever go immediately downhill once the school year starts

[camillemontespan]

this heavy crown: part eight [drake walker x mc]

Part Seven if you want to catch up.

Uggggh, this chapter. It was easy to write, the words flowed, it followed my timeline but god, I don’t like it. I’ve tried to tweak it and make it better, but something feels off. I got sick of it sitting in my drafts being lifeless, no matter how hard I tried to fix it, so here we go. Hopefully I haven’t put you off reading! Anyway, we’ve got one chapter left after this one and that chapter is going to be much better!

@jovialyouthmusic @tacohead13 @drakesensworld @moonlightgem7 @pug-bitch @sirbeepsalot @tacohead13 @katedrakeohd @drakewalkerisreal  @be-still-my-aching-heart 

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Drake stared at Liam, frozen in surprise. 'What do you mean I did exactly what you wanted me to?'

Liam smirked and leaned back in his chair, stretching casually. 'Did you notice that I barely said anything throughout that meeting? That was all them. As soon as you sat down, they had made their mind up about you. They're like that, Drake. Narrow minded, despite how forward thinking and open Joelle claims to be.'

Drake frowned. 'But how did you know what I would do?'

'Olivia told me you have been drinking yourself into oblivion. I knew you wouldn't be expecting a meeting so it was great timing that Kiara's parents arranged to start discussions today. I needed you to be hungover and not really in the mood, to be honest.'

Drake gaped at him and stood up quickly, before feeling like he was going to collapse, so he sat down again. 'You needed me to be hungover?'

'Yup. I had to get you out of the marriage somehow. The way it panned out was just how I wanted it. I wanted her parents to decide they didn't want the marriage to happen.'

It clicked. 'They would see me and make their decision. So rejecting the marriage is all their idea,' Drake said, realising.

Liam nodded. 'All I did was say what I can offer Kiara. I was a generous King. They can't say I didn't offer anything and they certainly can't say that I have rejected the marriage. They rejected it themselves. They're still my allies. They wouldn't have been if I was honest and told them that there was no way in hell I'm making my best friend marry their daughter. '

Drake cast his eyes down. 'You're too good to me, Liam. I betrayed your trust. I took Camille and made you look like a fool. I'm so sorry.'

Liam smiled sadly. 'No, it wasn't our greatest friendship moment, was it? But you never took her, Drake. I've done a lot of thinking the past few days and I have realised that Camille was already yours.'

Drake's eyes widened. 'I don't understand..'

'I was never around, Drake. You were right, I hardly saw her and I left her on the sidelines while I was entertaining Olivia or Madeleine. You were always on the sidelines at court too, so it shouldn't have been be a shock to me. Of course you would get to know each other. For God's sake, you've both got American blood, there would have been an affinity already! I was blind. The only issue I have is that you continued the affair while she was married to me. That hurt a lot.'

Drake reddened, feeling a wave of shame. He clenched his fists. 'I'm sorry. We just got way in over our heads.. I know that's not an excuse and I should have left her alone, but it just changed.'

Liam looked at him quite wistfully. 'Drake, in all the years I've known you, I've not once heard you declare your feelings for a girl. With Camille, you blurted it out in the ballroom. You really love her, don't you?'

Drake nodded. 'More than anything,' he admitted. Liam smiled weakly. 'Then who am I to stand in the way? You have my blessing.'

Drake exhaled, relieved. He hadn't been expecting this at all. 'Have you forgiven Camille?'

Liam winced. ‘Not yet, but I will.  I don't bear grudges, its not my style.'

Drake prepared himself now, ready to bite the bullet, to speak to Liam about something that had been on his mind for a while, unable to be spoken about. 'Well, can I ask you something?'

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That night, Drake opened his laptop and started a Skype call to Camille. He figured it was about time he actually said hello to her.

She answered. 'Drake!' She looked overjoyed to see his face on her screen. 'Finally! I've missed you,' she told him. Drake ran his hand through his hair, embarrassed. He felt guilty for leaving it so long to speak to her. He settled back against the headboard. 'I'm sorry I haven't been in touch,' he said quietly. 'I let the whiskey take over and forgot what was important. I'm so sorry.'

She bit her lip. 'Hana and Olivia told me you had been shut in your room for days. We all deal with shit in our own way, I was just worried you had given up on us. After everything we’ve been through, I thought you had given up at the final hurdle.’

'I told you, I will never do that,' he told her, his voice clear. 'I would be a fool to give you up, Camille. I've made some pretty bad decisions in my life but loving you is not one of them.'

She smiled at that and wrapped a blanket around her. 'So I have news,' Drake said. Camille paled. 'Oh god. Bad news? Good news? Earth shattering news? What is it?'

Drake chuckled at her worried expression. 'I'm not marrying Kiara. Liam made sure of it.'

Camille's mouth dropped open in shock. 'But he was so set on marrying you off to her!'

'He changed his mind. He has given us his blessing.’

Camille jumped up and down on the sofa with relief and excitement as Drake watched her through the screen and laughed.  'Can you come to LA?' she asked, finally settling back on the sofa. 'Please tell me you can come to LA.'

Drake winced. 'Liam thinks I should wait a few months. Wait for the scandal to go away and then I can come visit. I promise Camille, I will definitely come to LA.'

'So this will have to be long distance then, huh?'

Drake nodded. 'Afraid so.'

'You know the only good thing about long distance relationships?' she ventured, smirking. Drake shook his head.

She leaned towards the screen and began peeling her sweater off. Drake’s eyes widened as she stripped, before throwing her underwear at the screen.  'You down for this?'

Drake unbuttoned his shirt, grinning. 'You have no idea.'

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Two months had gone by.  Liam had phoned her a week after her first Skype call with Drake and they had spoken for an hour, hashing it out.  ‘You loved him all along,’ he told her. ‘You should have been honest. Please don’t lie to me again.’

He had forgiven her, but her presence at court wasn't a good idea. He had warned her to keep her head down in LA but it was only a matter of time before she got a little stir crazy. She craved company and Skype calls with her faraway friends only helped so much. She kept up to date with Cordonian news and annoyingly, the headlines were still tearing into her. Luckily, they didn't know where she was.

Camille knew to avoid people her age - they would know who she was just by the articles about her going viral. No. She decided to make friends with slightly older people, ones who would not really care about tabloid gossip. So, she had joined a hiking club for over 60s (with space for younger people, though young people never joined up. Camille was the first one.) They hadn't cottoned on to who she was and she had become good friends with a lady called Rose. 

LA had a great selection of hiking trails and the vibe of the city was a chilled, healthy one. She had started to make her own fruit and veg smoothies and exercised more. It gave her some positivity, some meaning to her life, which was nice considering she missed Drake everyday. 

They Skyped daily. She would call him when she was having her breakfast, so she always caught him at 4pm. He would have a bowl of cereal while they talked, just to pretend they were in the same timezone.

Camille had also adopted a golden retriever puppy, who she called Maxwell. He was a bundle of energy and had a happy personality, much like her friend himself. Maxwell had met the puppy over Skype and had been so excited.  ‘He has my eyes!’ Olivia had stared at him in disgust. ‘That is a dog. You are comparing yourself to a dog.’

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'Maxwell! I’ve told you a hundred times - don't eat your own shit!' Camille shouted, running down the path to drag her puppy away.  She picked it up and bagged it, retching. This was the only downside to having Maxwell.

They were getting close to the house now after spending the morning hiking. Camille had tried to Skype Drake earlier, but he hadn't picked up. She decided that a hike would make her feel better so she had grabbed the dog and they had spent three hours up in the hills.

Maxwell barked and started to run down the path towards the house. Camille groaned. She ran after him, her legs still aching from the climb.

She stopped dead when she saw Maxwell jumping up enthusiastically at a figure at her door.  Camille thought that if it was a photographer or journalist, she would dropkick them in the face. She squinted, unable to see properly from the bright sun, so she wandered down the path towards the house.

'Hey buddy, looks like you're running your mom ragged!’

It was Drake. Real, in the flesh, Drake. He was wearing a green henley shirt and ripped blue jeans and boots. More importantly, a suitcase was beside him. Camille screamed in surprise and Drake let out a throaty laugh, running down the front steps to her. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around him, hugging him tightly. 'Oh my god, oh my god..' she murmured, unable to believe he was here.  Tears spilled down her cheeks as she took him in. 'I'm not hallucinating from exhaustion right? You're real? ' she asked. Drake laughed and kissed her gently.

'I'm real.'

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The next chapter is the FINAL chapter!