Grace is pulled out of her daydream by the harsh ringing of her mobile phone. She huffs in annoyance and picks it up, checking the caller ID.

Grace gulps and takes a deep breath. In. Out. She would have to speak to him some time. It's not like she could just avoid him forever.

Unless...

No. She had to answer. At least to get some clarity. She presses a button and puts the phone on loudspeaker.

"Hello?" She says timidly, resting the phone on her bed and getting up to pace around her room.

"Hey Sunshine," Arthur's smooth voice says through the phone's speaker, "How are you feeling? Hungover at all?"

"No, no. I feel okay, just a little tired."

Arthur laughs, short and sweet, "Yeah, I'll bet. You were out cold when I left this morning."

Grace blushes. She lets out a short, nervous laugh, a little uncomfortable at the mention of Arthur's presence in her bed. She wasn't ready to explore the consequences.

"Sunshine?" Arthur questions, his voice laced with concern, "What's up? Are you feeling okay?"

She doesn't know why she's surprised by Arthur's concern; he's always so in tune with other people's feelings, and this is no different. But it still fills her with warmth. He cares about her at least.

"Yeah. Yeah." She says, and goes to look outside of her window, carrying the phone in her hand.

"I don't believe you." He replies, still sounding worried.

"Well believe it," She snaps slightly, then stops herself to amend her tone, "I'm alright. I promise."

"Open the door and let me see for myself."

Grace's head whips around and she looks at the door. Slowly, she approaches it, taking long, calming breaths. Shit, shit, shit. She wasn't ready for this. It was a Friday; she had hoped that she could just skip today's lectures and use this weekend to sort out her head.

Looks like that plan is out the window.

"Grace, I can feel your stress. Just let me in before you pop a vein." Arthur's voice comes through the door, slightly muffled.

Grace glares at the wood, swinging it open without a thought and quips, "Prick."

Arthur, the gorgeous bastard, just grins cheekily. Grace notices for the first time, the faint dimple in his right cheek. She's breathless again.

Without warning, Arthur swoops down and gives her cheek a short peck, "Hello beautiful."

He steps past her, rests his coat on the back of her desk chair and sits on it.

"You alright?" He says, staring at her still standing where he left her facing the door, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"What are you doing?" Grace rushes to say and spins around to face him. She hadn't meant to say it like that, but now that it's out, the air is thick with tension.

"What?" Arthur's pretty face is marred by confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Why..." Grace tries to start, but she huffs in frustration. She didn't understand him. Why was he always so nice to her? What was he getting out of it? "Why are you acting like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like you like me!" Grace's words burst out of her in a louder than normal voice.

Arthur just stares at her, lips ever so slightly parted in shock, eyes blinking, slowly.

Grace's gaze suddenly can't focus on one thing in the room, and most definitely cannot focus on the boy sat in her chair, "S-Say something then..."

"I-" Arthur lets out a choked laugh, "I do!"

"What?"

"I'm acting like I like you because I do!" He exclaims, "For fucks sake, Grace, what did you think I was doing?"

"Stop lying!" Grace yells back immediately. She's breathing deeply, tears in her eyes.

"I'm- I'm not..." Arthur says hopelessly, confused as to where the outburst came from.

"Yes, you are." Grace stops trying to hold back the tears and lets a few escape, "You could have had what you wanted," she whispers, voice cracking with emotion. She stares down at the floor as she continues, "I was right there, in the bed, ready to give you what you wanted. And you said no... So why are you still pretending?"

Arthur freezes, starting to piece together what Grace was saying, "You... You think I just want you for sex?"

"Don't you?!" Her brown eyes snap back to his, glossy with tears and filled with accusation, "I know your type, Arthur!"

"My type?!" He challenged incredulously.

"The charming, gorgeous rich boy. The type of guy that just looks at a girl and gets what he wants. Let me guess, you've had a girl of every ethnicity? Collecting us like Pokémon?" Grace spews out, barely stopping for breath. She knows she's being emotional, irrational even, but she couldn't stop herself, "Am I next, Arthur? Huh? Gotta catch 'em all, eh?"

Arthur is silent, watching her on her tirade. His mind is racing, trying to pick out, from the barrage of information, what part to hone in on.

"'A girl of every ethnicity'?" is what he chooses to say. Repeating it makes him angry. Angry that she thought that of him, angry that that's even a thought she has in general... Angry that something had made her feel that way. "Who put these ideas in your head?"

Grace scoffs, "Who didn't?" She says quietly, "How many times have you seen a girl like me with a guy like you? In movies, in books? When you go on nights out, how many times do you see guys like you with leggy blondes or classy brunettes?"

Arthur starts to speak, but Grace continues, "Yes, I know there are exceptions. But how many? And of those exceptions, how many of them are genuine love stories, instead of a guy looking at a black girl like some sort of sex object?" Her eyes start to tear up again, "I have never had a man want to sweep me off my feet. And nothing... absolutely nothing in society gives me any indication that that's something I'm allowed to have. I've never been an exception. I've never been an option. And I've never had a love story."

"But you deserve one." Arthur says, his heart breaking with every sentence she utters, "Fuck. You deserve one."

"Why?" her voice cracks, "Why do I deserve one? I'm not like them. Those other girls. Black women are treated like the bottom of the barrel... I'm treated like the bottom of the barrel."

By the time Grace finishes her rant, she's sat on the bed, gazing absentmindedly at her wooden floor. The two are sat in heavy silence for a minute or so, just stewing in her words. Then, Arthur finally opens his mouth.

"I want to give you your love story, Grace." He says sincerely, searching her face until she looks him in the eyes. Then he holds her there with his intense gaze, "I want to change everything you're saying."

Grace raises a cynical eyebrow and looks away, "And how are you gonna do that, Arthur? What's so special about you that all of society is going to change how they see little girls that look just like me?"

Arthur tilts his head, eyes moving to linger on a random spot of the room. He looks as though he's contemplating something intensely, as if it's as important as life or death.

"I am special." He says, more quietly than Grace has ever heard him speak.

"What? How?" She says, beyond confused.

"I need to tell you my name." He tells her seriously.

Grace rolls her eyes, "I know your name. It's Arthur Edwards."

"I... I mean my full name." He takes a deep breath, "Arthur James Edward Louis... Windsor."

Grace squints, "Windsor?" She pauses, then lets out a comical gasp, "Like, the royal family?"

Arthur just nods, embarrassed, though Grace has no idea why. She grabs her phone, typing in the ridiculously long name. And there, in the search results, is a photo of a young boy, maybe 9 or 10, with dark blond hair, and big adorable brown eyes. She studies the photograph and looks up at Arthur. It's the same person. She then clicks into the Wikipedia page attached to the photo.

Grace reads the paragraph over and over again. Holy shit.

She turns her attention to Arthur, who sits quietly, anxiously watching her reaction.

"Holy shit." Is all she says.

"Is that a bad 'Holy shit', or a good 'Holy shit'?" He tries to joke, but he comes across as desperately nervous.

"It's-" Grace struggles to form the words, "Arthur, you're a prince."

He rubs at his neck awkwardly, "It seems so." He looks intently at her.

She furrows her eyebrows, then shakes her head, "Why did you tell me this?"

He sighs, deciding to just out with it, "Because after university, I'm going back to royal duties. My father asked me to, and I didn't really have any plans."

"So... you just wanted to rub in how unattainable you are, or...?" Grace says, slightly annoyed.

"The opposite, actually." Arthur eyes her warily, "I'm telling you because I want to make it clear. If you decide to give me a chance... I'm not letting my title stop us being together."

Grace's eyes widen, "Arthur, think about what you're saying. What does that even mean?"

"Do you really want me to spell it out for you?" He says, anxiously, "If this goes anywhere, then you'd join my family."

"The royal family." She states dumbly.

Arthur just looks at her with his head slightly bowed, and nods shallowly.

"Fuck." She takes a deep breath, "That's heavy, Arthur. I don't know if I'm ready-"

"This isn't a marriage proposal, Grace. I just want you to know what would happen. I don't want you to start something with me and realise you don't want the ending." Arthur tells her plainly, then the look in his eyes softens, "I don't want you to be blindsided. And once you know what it means, then I want to be with you."

"Arthur-"

"Sunshine." Arthur is looking at her with pleading eyes. He takes both of her small hands in his large ones, then presses his lips to her palms.

"Arthur, I'm not princess material."

"Why?" He says defiantly, "Because you're black?"

She sighs, "Precisely."

"Fuck that."

"Arthur-"

"No!" he stands abruptly, "No, Grace. Sunshine. I want you to think about this... about being with me. And if you don't want this, then I'll respect it. I'll be your friend, I'll try to let things between us go back to normal."

Grace sighs in relief, "Thank you."

"However," he starts, "What I won't accept, is you thinking that your race makes you not good enough for me. That's my call to make. Mine alone."

"But-"

"No buts!" He shushes her, "Promise me you'll consider it. Without, questioning my feelings for you. Please. Just promise me?"

"Okay." Grace concedes. Her mind is spinning, she feels like the world's filling up with water and she's barely staying afloat. But the look in Arthur's eyes is tugging at her heart strings. "Okay".