"Hey, Hotstuff!" Grace exclaims once Elina opens the door to her flat.

The two of them have a study session planned ahead of their third and final exam. In two days time, they will have completed the final step toward their degrees.

"Hi." Elina says. Automatically, Grace can tell something is wrong.

"Spill." She says matter of factly. Making her way inside the nicely decorated flat and flopping down onto the sofa.

"Huh?" The taller girl says, seemingly on another planet.

"Something's bothering you." Grace tells her, "I know I've been caught up in my own drama, but I can tell when you need some TLC."

Elina sighs heavily, pressing two dainty fingers against her temple, rubbing periodically.

"I think I'm going to break up with, Ben."

Grace doesn't mean to laugh. She really really doesn't. But she can't help the little snort that erupts from her throat.

"I mean it, Grace." Elina glares at her, semi-embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just-"another snort, "hard to trust you, since you've been saying this for 3 years."

"I know..." Elina sighs yet again, and walks across the room to settle onto her armchair. She pulls her feet up onto the seat and hugs her knees. "But things.... Things are different now."

"How so?"

Throwing her head back, Elina stares up at the ceiling. "I-I don't know. I guess... I'm finally ready to see what else there is beyond Ben."

Grace narrows her eyes, calculating. "You want to sample some other goods?"

"Don't be so vulgar."

"I'm right, aren't I?" Grace's mouth turns up in a smile, "Aren't I?"

"Yes... you're right."

"Alright. So who made you change you mind?"

Elina frowns, looking at Grace, "Who said one person changed my mind?"

Grace scoffs, "Yeah, because it totally just came to you in a dream."

"Shut up." Elina grumbles slapping her friend on the side and wrapping her arms around herself, "Smartass."

~~~~

"How do you think it went?" Arthur asks as he, Will, Elina, and Grace exit the exam hall.

"I want to jump off a bridge." Will rolls his eyes.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." Grace argues. Her hand is in Arthur's swinging back and forth.

"Says Isaac Newton reincarnated." Elina jokes, causing the other three burst into laughter.

"How about we get some dessert to celebrate?" Arthur suggests, his head nodding in the direction of the shopping mall.

"My brother," Will clamps a hand into his friend's shoulder, "That's the best idea you've had in weeks."

"Hey!" Arthur says indignantly, but follows his friend regardless.

The group walk for a few minutes until arrive at the dessert place. The colour-scheme is bright and sickly, with pictures of ice cream sundaes and waffles lining the walls.

Elina giggles and leads them to a booth in the corner, plopping herself down excitedly.

"I haven't been here in months." She tells them.

"Seriously?" Will mock-exclaims in shock, "How have you survived?"

"The tears of the weak." Elina winks at him.

Arthur leans into Grace, his arm slung over her shoulder, and he whispers lowly into her ear, "If I didn't know better, I'd say they were flirting."

"I reckon they're practicing." She murmurs back, resting against him, "Might as well improve your skills while you're waiting for the one."

"Smart." He replies, his fingers stroking up and down her arm.

While the other three start a heated debate about the test, Grace starts scrolling through her phone.

She checks her newsfeed, where articles about who knows what show up. In the centre, seeming to pop out at her like a neon sign, is an article with Arthur's name on it.

Grace grimaces. By now, the speculation has been coming thick and fast. To the public's credit, people don't really bother her. Grace assumed it's because, in the grand scheme of it all, things aren't that serious between her and Arthur. People date all the time, that doesn't mean it's forever.

Sure, Arthur got a few looks, even the occasional person snapping a sneaky picture. Even so, everyone is awfully polite, things just seem like usual.

But that doesn't mean people aren't still talking about him... about her.

Grace reads on, out of curiosity, if nothing else, and stops at a section labeled 'Love Life'.

According to sources, before this year, the prince's love life has been fairly boring, with no significant partners on the radar. However, it's since been confirmed that Arthur has been dating one of his classmates since the beginning of the year.

The girl in question is 21-year-old Grace Roberts, a London native. She is of Caribbean descent, her grandparents being from the Windrush generation.

It seems as though her heritage has been causing a stir online, however, as some people are surprised by the prince's choice of partner, considering the royal family's usual preferences.

It's not yet known how serious the pair are. But if marriage is on the cards, then they might have to win over the court of public opinion.

It's nothing new. Grace had been expecting some unease about her background. The average Brit isn't born racist, but if the only thing you learn about black people is that they were once slaves and now go around stabbing each other, then of course it's no surprise if they end up that way.

Grace just wishes people were proactive enough to learn about other cultures for themselves, rather than waiting for the media to shovel 'facts' down their throats.

She scrolls further down, reaching the comment section of the article. She knows this is a bad idea, that nearly every comment section is a cesspool of hatred. But against her better judgment, she still looks. Better the devil you know, after all.

Grace slams the phone face down onto the table, causing her three friends to look at her in concern.

"Hey, you alright?" Elina asks, her soft hand reaching out to rest on Grace's, comfortingly,

"What happened?"

"Nothing.. It was-" Grace is cut off by Arthur reaching over and grabbing her phone from the table, "No, don't-"

Lucky for him, the auto-lock hasn't kicked in, so he immediately sees the page she was looking at.

Arthur sighs,"For fucks sake." Then he hands the phone to Elina's waiting hand. She and Will hunch over the phone as she scrolls with vigour. Both of their expressions grow increasingly outraged, their eyebrows scrunching further and further together.

"Arseholes." Will mutters angrily, before looking at Grace with sympathetic eyes, "Ignore them, bach. They're just spiteful, jealous pricks."

"He's right. The only people that matter in your relationship are the two of you." Elina agrees, gesturing to Arthur and Grace.

"Grace." Arthur says, wiggling his arm free from behind her back to turn and face her, "Sunshine, look at me."

She does, her eyes glistening slightly.

"Grace, I love you. I want to marry you one day." He tells her, bringing a hand to rest on her cheek, "And unless you turn around and tell me you don't want me, nothing, absolutely nothing, is going to stop me."

They're pretty words, and they go a long way towards easing Grace's sadness. But it's not everything.

Grace knows that Arthur would do anything for her. But the more people question his choices, the more she questions them too.