It took quite a bit of convincing but - within that month - Mason and Ana were on a flight back to Pennsylvania. Only this time, she would be attending as Princess Anastasia Paris Middleton.

It was easy enough to explain the situation to the dean, whether or not she actually believed it was an entirely different story so the queen was traveling back with them to prove that it was true. And to meet her friends, or so she'd claimed when Ana asked.

"How is it that you found out her identity exactly? Not many Americans know of our kingdom," Ana's mother looked thoughtful.

Mason seemed to be taken aback at the fact that she was addressing him and he straightened in his seat as his grip tightened on Ana's thigh. "To be honest, it was because of an assignment my history professor gave us." Her eyebrows furrowed at his response, "We were supposed to research something random, and I happened to get Mysteria. It was pure coincidence really," he shrugged.

The queen nodded thoughtfully, "I see."

"Wait- mother, how is it that you arrived so quickly after I was locked in the closet? You probably arrived barely an hour after it happened." It was something that had been on Ana's mind for a while now. It was truly baffling as the flight itself was eight hours, so it was practically impossible for them to arrive so soon.

Her mother abruptly gasped, her hands reaching up to cover her mouth as she stared at Ana with wide eyes. "You were locked inside of a closet?"

Ana bit her lip, realizing she probably just revealed something she definitely shouldn't have. "Me? Locked in a closet," she forced a scoff, "No way. Why would that ever happen?" She glanced at Mason with panicked eyes.

"Anastasia." Why did it always feel like she was being scolded? "You better not be lying to me again."

"I'm not-," Ana sighed with clear frustration. "Okay. So I got pushed into a closet, but if you weren't there because of that, then what were you there for?"

"Why did we not hear of this before we got on the plane, Anastasia? This is a serious matter, and you will not be attending a school with a person who locked you inside of a room-."

"She's in prison," Mason interrupted and Ana looked over at him. He swallowed as he met her eyes and she gave him a comforting smile; she was so proud of him. "The girl who did it- she's in prison."

The queen hesitated, "What?"

Mason exhaled shakily and Ana leaned over to rest her forehead on his shoulder, lifting one hand to lightly scratch the hair at the nape of his neck and resting the other on his hip, just over where his tattoo was. "Mother, there's no need to pry into personal things. All that matters is that she's gone."

Her boyfriend leaned his head back, trapping Ana's hand between the headrest of the seat and his neck. The queen's gaze moved between the couple, lingering on Ana's fingers and how they were toying with the hem of Mason's shirt.

"If you must know, Lili alluded that someone might know your real identity." She seemingly ignored what was said earlier and Ana let herself relax. "We decided that it would be best for you to leave before you actually got hurt. Although, it seems that we were still too late."

"Of course," Ana lightheartedly rolled her eyes. "I should've known she would let it slip," she giggled. "But," she paused, "Don't worry, Mason was there to protect me."

She lifted her head slightly just as said man turned his, and she softly kissed his lips, smiling at the feel of him so close. He was so warm and his taste was so comforting, like safety and home.

"He always is."

~~~

"You didn't." Ana laughed as she set that bag down on the floor just outside her dorm's room.

Mason chuckled, pressing himself against her back as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her head. "Technically, you're right; I didn't."

"What exactly am I expected to do with these?" She grabbed a single balloon for emphasis, absentmindedly tugging at the knot on the bottom. She tilted her head back - forcing Mason to lift his chin - to look up at him.

"Fuck if I know," he kissed her then and she couldn't resist a small giggle at the feel of his facial hair brushing her nose. It was a bit strange as his lips were upside down on hers and didn't feel as they normally would. So she released the balloon, turning and placing her hands on his cheeks to tug his face down for better access as she pressed her lips on his once more.

It had been a few hours since they'd landed, and they'd met with the dean not that long ago. She was in complete shock at seeing Ana's mother (the queen) and she had no choice but to believe them then.

They still had a few things to go over, but her mother insisted that she would take care of all the lesser details so Ana and Mason would be able to settle it. She hadn't expected Mason to prank her before they'd even walked into the dorm, and - to be honest - Ana had completely forgotten about the prank war in the first place.

It was safe to say that her boyfriend hadn't.

Her entire room was filled with balloons, her furniture was completely covered and there were so many stacked on top of one another that it was taller than Ana.

"No but seriously," she pulled away to look at Mason with raised eyebrows. "Should I just pop them all? Or maybe untie them? Oh- should I just wait until they deflate?"

A thought suddenly dawned on her, "Oh my gosh. Do we have a composter nearby? If not, then what are we supposed to do with all this latex?"

"Hey, hey." Mason suddenly tugged at the end of a curl and she felt it bounce back up and hit her shoulder. "Stop stressing, pretty girl. First, yes let's just wait for them to deflate. You can just sleep with me until then," he winked and she rolled her eyes with a small smile. "Second, there's a composter just a few miles away so we're also good on that."

She waited only a brief moment, eyes widening when he lifted her shirt slightly to caress her bare stomach, "And third-."

They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and he groaned, his hands falling to his sides as he turned in the direction of the noise with a glare. "Why can't we just live alone again?"

The thought had merit (a lot of merit actually), but that was a conversation for another time. Plus, "Because we miss them."

"I mean-," she gave him a look and he paused to give her a sheepish smile.

"And they're our friends."

Mason pouted. "Fine," he huffed, "Doesn't mean I have to like it though." He placed his hands back on her skin underneath her top, and she gasped as his thumbs skimmed the underside of her breasts. "Or that I can't do this."

"Mason," she grabbed at his hands as they tried venturing upwards. She glared at him, "I don't exactly want a repeat of last time; Josh already teases me enough as is."

"Who the hell-," Mason removed his hands from her skin at the sound of Josh's voice and she gave him a pointed look. "No way!"

Their roommate jumped onto Mason's back then and her boyfriend groaned as he fell to the floor from the abrupt force. "Dude-," he coughed as Josh roughly hit him just between his shoulders. "What the fuck? You don't have to jump on me like that, you asshole."

Josh only laughed and Ana giggled as he roughly ruffled his hair. "Carly!" She watched Mason wince at the sudden yell and she felt a bit guilty when he coughed again, clearly struggling from the weight on top of him. "They're back!"

"Get off," Mason struggled to push him off.

"Hey, Josh?" Josh paused in his aggressive movements to look up at Ana curiously. "Mind getting off of him for me?"

He glanced down as if only just realizing that he was currently sitting on his best friend before giving her a sweet smile. "Oh yeah, sure thing." He gave Mason one last pat on the back before standing.

"Oh okay so you'll listen to her but not me?" Mason sighed as he adjusted to sit up, running a hand through his hair.

Josh grinned, "Princess versus random guy I met in high school." He hummed, pursing his lips as he pretended to think over the question. "Oof- I don't know. Tough call, man."

Ana was a little stunned to hear Josh so casually state her real identity, before she remembered that Mason said he'd told them who she really was. She hadn't been upset at all, but he had still explained that he felt there wasn't any reason to lie anymore after everything that happened.

She couldn't agree more.

Mason opened his mouth as if in preparation to say something before he shook his head with a laugh. "I can't even fucking argue with that."

Ana giggled and sat on the ground beside Mason, gasping when he lifted her to move her onto his lap. She bit her lip, burying her face into his neck to hide her reddening cheeks. She wouldn't usually feel so bashful about sitting on her own boyfriend like this, but considering what Josh knew - and what he'd heard - it was a bit more embarrassing than it normally would be.

Just then there was the sound of footsteps and Ana turned her head slightly to see Carly in the entrance of the hallway.

"Why are you guys sitting on the floor?"

~~~