(I know, right? But, you know… personality can be very important. Although looks can be a factor, too…)
"I can imagine." Holly smiled lightly, finally nibbling on a sandwich. "And no, you haven't. Not many, anyway, although I think he and Lacey were talking about it the other day." She giggled at the memory. When he made eye contact, her cheeks turned pink, but she didn't look away. She needed to learn how to look at him without blushing… although it might be impossible.
(Very true, personality is the selling point but looks can help)
"He's gotten into less trouble as he's gotten older," He said, thinking for a second before his eyes lit up again, "Did you hear him mention the time we turned my bathroom into a pool?" Sam grinned at that and shook his head, laughing, "That was fun…though I don't think anyone else thought it was as creative as we thought it was." He met her eyes as he talked, surprised to see that he didn't blush while doing so.
(Very much so.)
"He did?" Holly looked startled and amused. "How did that work? Did you just let the tub overflow, then? Or what happened?" She giggled at the thought, and couldn't help but notice how his eyes lit up when he was thinking about Alex. She gave a soft smile. And then he looked her in the eyes again, as if he had noticed her looking at him, and turned pink with embarrassment.
Sam nodded, then shrugged, "That's pretty much what we did yeah…we shoved towels at the bottom of the door so it wouldn't leak as much, and then we pretty much started up the bathtub and added way too much bubble mix." He chuckled, "It wasn't long before one of the maids came by and saw water pouring out of the bathroom. But we had already gotten it pretty deep by that point and were goofing off." Sam shook his head, looking at her and tipping his head to the side. Apparently reminiscing was enough to give him enough confidence to spark conversation again, "Did you do anything troublesome with your brother? Or just on your own?"
Holly laughed at the image. "Did you guys get into lots of trouble, then?" She couldn't imagine how extensive the mess would have been. The maids who cleaned it up must have been not happy about the mess… unless they were the kinds of people who loved kids so much anything was cute to them. She shook her head at his question, and a sad smile crossed her face. "No, not really. My brother is 6 years older than me, so we didn't hang out a lot, but there were some times when we got to be weird together. Like one Christmas, when he bought me a pack of those soft cloth balls made for babies, that are about the size of my palm, so I would throw those at him instead of tennis balls."
(What do you think Holly's response to her brother showing up at the palace would be? definitely not for any reasons involving Sam arranging that to happen..)
"Yeah…lot's of trouble," He replied with a laugh, shaking his head, "Alex wasn't allowed to play with me for about a week and a half, and we were both majorly grounded besides that." Sam loved his caretakers as a child, but they had been strict, and flooding the bathroom had definitely gotten him scolded at, not just by them but by his parents as well. "That sounds really fun," Sam said, listening to her story with a gentle smile, "I suppose me and Alex will have to help you make up for lost goofing off time if you want that is?"
(Of course he would never do that… honestly, she complains about her brother, but she loves him so much, and would be so happy… there might even be a hug or a kiss on the cheek for Sam.)
Holly shook her head with a smile. "I'm sure you were so sad that you couldn't be with Alex. How old were you when this happened?" She brushed a little strand of hair from where it was tickling her cheek and shrugged. "Well, it does sound like something I'd enjoy doing, and watching. Just make sure you don't get in too much trouble this time." She smiled teasingly at him.
(Mwahahahahha ok :) definitely not taking that into consideration as a present later on…)
Sams shrugged, smiling, "I think he was just as sad, but I can say that I did get a considerable amount of my schoolwork done in that time. We were probably seven when we did that…maybe eight. I can't remember exactly when in the year we pulled that stunt." He paused to take another bite of his sandwich, grinning playfully at her once he spoke again, "We won't get in trouble, don't worry. A royal title is quite good at getting me and Alex out of trouble, It'll work for you as well. But, in return, what are some things you want to do?"
(Pff, no, you would never do such a thing… never…)
"I can imagine that a royal title would be very useful for that kind of things." Holly laughed slightly and looked at him for a moment, meeting his eyes and returning his smile. He was lit up slightly from behind, and his eyes seemed to glow, which made her stare for a moment before she blushed and glanced away. She shrugged, smiling at her hands. "I don't know. Anything that would make people laugh, but subtly."
"It does come in handy, though that's about the only perk," He replied with a soft laugh, watching her with a gentle smile, "We can work out specifics later, no need to worry about what to do right now." Sam found himself caught looking at her as he finished talking, amazed by the way the sun was shining down to illuminate her face. Truly she looked amazing, though she always did. "Do you want to go walk by the water with me?" He asked gently as he finally glanced away, smiling again, "We can eat desert in a little bit, there's still plenty of time before we have to leave anyway. If not…that's perfectly fine though, don't feel pressured."
"Okay." Holly smiled and nibbled another bite of her sandwich. She didn't seem to notice the stare she was getting from one very attractive prince, which was just as well, because she would have probably embarrassed herself if she knew. She glanced at him at his words and nodded. "Sure, that sounds nice." She didn't have much of an appetite anyway, but she forced herself to finish her sandwich before standing and brushing off her dress.
He stood as well when she did, a gentle smile on his face. Offering out his arm, he glanced around, making sure that the beach was still empty. The last thing he wanted was for his promise of no paparazzi to be broken just by them taking a walk on the beach. "I would ask if you wanted to wade in the water, but I have a gut feeling getting a dress as pretty as that one dirty isn't going to make the gown designers very happy."
Holly took his arm, after a moment of standing there. She turned pink, but smiled up at him. "It's okay, I can hold the skirts up a little bit. (if this was Lacey and Alex that would have meant something very different lol) I think the water looks very warm and beautiful."
(That would definitely be taken a different waayy)
"If you'd like, we can do that," He replied with a smile, leading her away from the rock table and towards the water. It did look quite warm, and he really did want to wade in it, but it was up to Holly. He wasn't going to force her to join him, or even walk near the water if she didn't want to.
(Feel like there should be a scene between the two of them about a situation like that… lol)
"It sounds nice, so sure." Holly smiled up at him, realizing, with their close proximity, that he was really warm… which was awkward and embarrassing to think about, but it was true. His warmth was… comforting, somehow, and it made her feel content. She had originally been really nervous with the Selection, but now, she was happy with the prince. He was kind and sweet and handsome, the whole package.
(Oh most definitely lmao)
His smile grew and he nodded, happy to be even walking alongside her. Yes, he was still quite nervous around her, but it was fading the longer he spent time with her. Hopefully, it would feel this natural to spend time with all of the girls. If not, at least he knew he liked one of them, and he hoped the feeling was mutual. "Is it too early to ask what you think of the other ladies in the selection?"
"I-I don't know," Holly said with a nervous giggle. "I wouldn't want to influence you at all in any way." She realized what she had said, and immediately corrected herself with a stammer. "That was a joke." She was getting more and more nervous as time passed because how was it possible for one person to be so hot? She tried not to think about it, so of course that's what she did.
"I want to know your opinion, don't be afraid to influence me," He said with a laugh, studying the water as they got closer. Sam didn't bring them close enough for the waves to wash against their shoes, but they were quite close to that point, and he highly considered taking off his shoes so he could walk in the water. He did want to feel the water, and he wasn't really worried about the bottom of his pants being wet, but his shoes were quite nice, and he really didn't want to wreck them. If Holly wanted to go closer to the water he supposed he would take them off then.
Holly responded to his remark with a tiny, relieved smile before speaking. "Um… some of them are okay, but some of them worry me. Like Lacey's twin sister. I don't feel comfortable around her, but that just might be because I'm not good with people." A wave crashed against the water a few yards away, spraying them with tiny droplets of water, and she laughed. She tasted the spray on her lips and suddenly, desperately, wanted to go wading, but… well, she should try to act like a lady, at least.
Sam nodded, listening as he led them along the edge of the water, "What about her makes you feel uncomfortable?" He smiled when he heard her laugh and his own was audible as the water sprayed his shirt. "Do you want to walk in the water?" He asked with a chuckle, flicking away droplets that landed on his free hand, "I can carry your shoes."
"I don't know," Holly admitted, wiping some of the drops from her cheek. "She just doesn't seem like my kind of person." He laughed, and it did a weird thing to her, and she flushed. "Sure, that would be nice," she said with a nod, trying not to think about his voice. "But I can just leave my shoes here. What if you drop them?" She smiled gently at him, to let him know she was teasing.
Sam smiled a genuine smile, though there was a playfulness in his eyes as he replied, showing he understood the joke, "I give you my word as the heir to this kingdom that I will make it up to you if I drop your shoes." He slowed to a stop and unhooked her arm from his before bending over and starting to slip off his own shoes and socks. If she was going to go into the water, it seemed rude not to join her. And he really did want to join her.
Holly simply laughed, and removed her own shoes, which wasn't too hard to do. Her bare feet sunk pleasantly into the warm sand, and she smiled blissfully. "We could just leave our shoes on a rock or something," she said, with a smile to him. She waited until his shoes were off before moving over closer to him, so that they could step into the water together.
He tied the laces of his shoes together and tucked his socks inside before scooping up her own shoes and placing both of them up the shoreline well away from the water. Sam jogged back to her with a smile, nodding, "They should be safe there. Now, are you ready to see how warm the water is?" He rolled up the bottom of his pants as he spoke, leaving them cuffed up as high as they could, even if it did look less neat.
"Yes, I am." Holly smiled at him and watched as he rolled his pant legs up slightly. She couldn't help but notice how the muscles in his arm moved while he did so… her cheeks warmed, so she looked instead out at the water. "Let's go." She held her skirts up a few inches above her ankles and stepped into the water.