This absolutely clichéd sentence used to be followed by the lady in question being presented a small gift, whether it was a flower, or a drawing, or a cup of her favorite coffee (”Iced Cinnamon Almondmilk Macchiato”, he still remembers), after which the knight would dutifully remove his liege’s book bag from her shoulder, as they would slowly make their way through central park, his hand gently holding hers.
A few months later, the same nickname flashed on the screen of his phone, as he was angrily trying to get a hold of a cab, a travel bag filled to the brim resting on his shoulders. He didn’t need this. Not today, and not ever again. Spotting a yellow vehicle making its way towards him through the heavy rain, he quickly opened the door and more or less threw himself in the backseat. “JFK”, he told the driver, his voice rough and his throat sore. Unlocking his phone, he stared at the numerous missed calls and unread text messages, all from the same person. Biting the bullet, he opened them all, his frown getting deeper and deeper with each message he read. God, it was like an episode of some soap opera, he thought as his eyes moved from one message to another, empty sentences like “He meant nothing.” or “Please answer my calls, I can explain.” only making him more and more angry. He was ready to unleash all his pent up frustration when another message, this time from someone else, came in. The words “TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF I LOVE YOU 💞💞💞!!” brought a small, crooked smile to his lips, and he responded with a short “I always take care of myself, don’t worry about me. I’ll be there before you know it. Love ya.”, before switching to airplane mode. Pocketing his phone once more, he stifled a sigh, a weird mix of emotions washing over him. He knew he was being a coward, running to another damn continent to get away from issues he didn’t want to deal with, but at the same time he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. His gut told him he was making the right decision, and if he had learnt anything from the past week it was to trust his gut. He just wished he had done so when she started acting weird. It would’ve certainly saved him from a great deal of headaches.
She was still his princess. Even after all that had happened between them, and all the heartache she put him through, that’s how he was always going to remember her. His princess, that had fallen from grace.