As we arrived at my house, I realized that I made an awful mistake. My house was nothing in comparison to their castles and I immediately felt embarrassed that I lived there. Slowly, I got out of the car waiting for their judgmental comments.

"Melody! Your house is so cute!" Catherine said as she got out of the car. 

I blushed and invited everyone inside. After giving them the quick tour, Kai spoke. "I love your house Mel." He said smiling. Sehun and Taemin also nodded and I blushed once more. Soon the house was filled with cousins and funeral goers. Sehun and Catherine were talking to one of my cousins and Taemin had gone off with Layla to play. I looked around and couldn't find Kai. In my own small house, I lost him. I shook my head and started to feel claustrophobic due to the amount of people in the little space. I found my way close to the door when someone grabbed my hand. When I saw that it was Kai, I was immediately grateful. He squeezed my hand and followed me outside. 

"You all sure know how to have quite a party. A lot of people must surely love your family." He said smiling. 

"Yeah I guess. I was just feeling kind of squished so I thought I'd come out here." I said taking in a deep breath. 

"Would you like to go for a walk?" He asked sweetly. I nodded and we started walking down one of the forest paths. As we were walking along, I felt his hand brush up against mine. I blushed slightly but held out my hand for him to hold. We interlaced our fingers and kept walking in silence. I knew he was just giving me the space that I needed and I couldn't have been more thankful. 

After some time, I decided to speak. "Thank you for coming out here with me." I said squeezing his hand a little. 

"How many times are you going to thank me today?" He asked with a laugh. I bit my lip and he squeezed my hand back. "I'm just kidding. You're welcome." He said softly.

"How's Sarah?" I asked quietly. 

"Gone. Thankfully." He said running his free hand through his hair. 

"How was your last date?" I asked.

"Dreadful. Miserable. She tried her hardest to get me to kiss her." He said. I stopped walking and then continued. I didn't know what to say so I hoped he would just keep talking. "But I didn't." He said finally.

"You didn't?" I asked stopping our walking once more. 

"No. I couldn't." He said slightly smiling at me. 

"So what does this mean?" I asked quietly.

He wrapped one arm around and pulled me close. "It means I'm free. If you want me." He said with a wink that sent shivers down my spine.   

"I do want you. But not like this." I said looking into his eyes.

His confidence fell and he looked kind of stunned. He let go of me. "What do you mean not like this?" He asked sadly. "I'm finally rid of Sarah. I'm available. You're available.... Unless you aren't available?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"I want you to ask me to be yours." I said with a giggle. 

He took a deep breath and started "Melody will you--" Quickly, I cut him off.

"No. I want you to actually ask me. When the time is right. Not just because I told you I wanted you to." I said trying to explain myself.

"So what you're saying is, you want me to ask you formally." He said trying to make sense of what I said. 

I nodded. "It doesn't have to be all romantic or anything." I said giving him a small smile. 

"Oh trust me. It will be." He said smiling back at me. 

"So you will ask me?" I asked hopefully. I'd never had a guy actually ask me to be his girlfriend and I just wanted it this once.

"Will you say yes?" He asked.

"I... I can't tell you that! It will ruin the surprise!" I exclaimed.

"I can't ask you if I don't know you're going to say yes, Mel." He explained. 

"Kai..." I said slightly whining. "You know I'm going to say yes." I said quietly.

"You promise?" He asked. 

"I promise. I lo-" I tried to speak but he kissed me. "Kai. I... Why did you do that?" I asked flusteredly. 

"To make sure you remember to say yes." He said as I giggled.

"I'll remember. But that's the last kiss you get! Until you ask." I said with a nod.

"Fine. So when are you coming back?" He asked.

"In a week. I have to get my shoulder checked out first and then I'll be good to come back to work." I said with a smile.

He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a hug. "I can't wait." He whispered. 

I hugged him back and whispered "I can't either."

He smiled at me and we began walking back to the house. Suddenly, it started to rain. We started walking back faster but the rain came down even harder. We kept walking when I stepped into a huge mud puddle. "My shoe is stuck!" I yelled as I found myself unable to move. 

Kai took one look at the puddle and then one look at me. Before I knew it, he has swept me up in his arms bringing me and my muddy shoe out of the puddle. I smiled at him and he carried me all the way back home. We got into the house and everyone turned to look at us. "My shoe got stuck." I said extending my muddy foot a little. Some people chuckled and then returned to their conversations.

I looked up at Kai and realized that we were both dripping wet. "Put me down. You're going to catch a cold." I said with concern. "I'll be fine." He said sitting me down in a chair. He took my muddy shoe off and then asked my mom where he could clean it off. She pointed towards the sink and then looked back at me with a knowing expression. "Later" I mouthed and thankfully she nodded and went back to talking with some of the guests. Soon after, Kai came back with a clean shoe and a wash cloth.

He got down on one knee and proceeded to clean my foot. "You don't have to do that." I said in amazement at how sweet he was being. He just smiled and continued as if it were nothing. After my foot was clean, he put the shoe back on me, just like I had always imagined it happened with Cinderella. My heart pounded fast and I felt like I was going to faint. He then kissed my foot and got up. "Thank you." I said with a sigh. He nodded and then took the washcloth to where my mother had said to put it. 

I looked down at my foot in amazement and felt lightheaded. So this is how Cinderella felt. No wonder every girl dreams of being a princess. And the fact that an actual prince just did that for me and that it was Kai, my mind was blown. I was brought out of my thoughts when Catherine approached me. "No. He's not in love with you. Impossible." She said in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes. Yes he is." I said as I watched him stop to talk with Layla and Taemin. It finally had hit home. He really is in love with me. I looked up at Catherine and said, "He loves me."

"Finally you get it." She said with a laugh.

How did I never actually feel like this before? Why should I have worried about Sarah? Kai loved me and that's all I needed. He didn't want her because he wanted me. He thinks I'm beautiful because he loves me. I sighed happily as I watched him leave Layla and Taemin. When he approached my father, I instantly got nervous. What could he want to talk to my father about? I watched for a few minutes in horror and was shocked when my father smiled at him. After he got done talking to him, he came back over to me.

"Mel, you ok?" He asked rubbing my arms up and down in case I was cold. 

"I... You were talking to my father." I said quietly.

"Yeah, I'm kind of in his house. I should talk to him." He said smiling. "Don't worry. Ok?"

I knew in my heart I should trust him. After all this is the man who loves me. "Ok. I won't." I said smiling at him.

After an hour of more mingling with guests, my friends were all that were left to say goodbye to. They said goodbye to my parents and I walked them outside. It was no longer raining which I was thankful for. 

"Bye Taemoon!" Layla called from the door waving at her new crush. 

"Bye Layla!" He said blowing her a kiss.

She gasped in shock and then turned into a giggly mess before going inside. "You know Kai, usually girls act like that around us." Sehun said in bewilderment.

"I guess being royal isn't all that impressive anymore." Kai said rolling his eyes.

"You two are just jealous because she loves me." He said with a wink. Immediately he was slapped in the back of the head by both of them. "Hey! I was kidding." He said with a laugh.

Sehun looked towards the sky and then back at me. "We better get going before it rains again." He said.

I hugged him, Taemin, and Catherine goodbye. "Thank you all for coming. It meant the whole world to me. I mean it." They all nodded and walked to the car.

"Do I get a hug too?" Kai asked sheepishly. 

I took him around to the other side of the house where nobody would see us. "You get just a little bit more." I said before crashing my lips onto his. He wrapped his arms around me and lightly pressed me up against the wall of the house continuing the kiss. 

When our lips parted, he said, "I thought I don't get any more kisses until I ask you." 

"You love me." I said kissing him once more. 

"Well yes. That's kind of been established." He said with a chuckle.

"You love me and I know it." I said kissing his cheek.

"Wait a minute. You're starting to believe me?" He asked as his eyes widened. 

I nodded and he picked me up and twirled me around. "It's about time." He said putting me back down. "Tell me again. Say it again. Say you believe me." He said excitedly.

"I believe you. You love me and only me." I said confidently. 

He kissed me again. "You just make sure you remember that." He said with a wink. 

I nodded. "They're all waiting for you. You should probably go get in the car." I said sadly.

"They can wait." He said as he held me close. "I've missed you so much." He murmured into my hair. 

"I missed you too Kaikai." I said rubbing his back softly.

"When you left, I didn't know where you were. It was torture. I thought the worst." He said as I felt him collapse in my arms. 

"Honey, it's okay. I'm right here. Okay? You found me." I said holding him tightly. 

"I'm always going to find you." He said quietly. "I love you." He said looking deeply into my eyes.

"I know. And I love you too." I took one of my hands and cupped his face as I kissed him softly. "We are going to be together soon. You just have to wait a little while." I said smiling.

"I'd wait an eternity if I had to." He said wholeheartedly. I leaned in and pecked his lips.

"I know." I said smiling. Suddenly we heard thunder rumble in the distance. 

"I better go." He said looking up at the sky. I nodded and we started walking back to the car hand in hand. We let go once we were close to the car and he started to get in. "I love you." He mouthed to me as he got in. I smiled and nodded. I waved as Sehun pulled out of the driveway. 

When I got in the house, my mother was waiting. "You. Tell me everything." She said pulling out a chair for me at the kitchen table. I sat down and told her everything beginning from the first moment that I ever met him. 

" That's about it and now I'm waiting." I said.

"Waiting for what?" Mom asked happily.

"Waiting for him to ask me officially." I said with a small smile. 

Mom smiled and got up. "And what will you say? Are you sure he's going to ask?" She asked with a yawn. She walked over to her bed and I knew she was tired. 

"I'd be crazy if I said no and I'm positive. We've already talked about it." I said laying down.

Suddenly, Dad spoke up. "So if you two were together and got married, you'd be in the royal family." He stated. 

"Well yeah, isn't that a good thing?" I asked with a laugh.

"Yeah sure. Good thing. Goodnight everyone. Love you." Dad said. "He's a good guy, Mel. Nice and respectful. I like him." Dad said before falling asleep.

"Our little Melly is in love. As long as you're happy..." Mom said with a smile. As Mom and I said our goodnights, I looked out the window before closing my eyes. Imagine: me in the royal family. Married to Kai of all people. The thought sent shivers down my spine. Spending every day with him for the rest of my life would be a dream come true.