Not Everything Is What It Seems

Warnings: fluff and angst

Summary: More of your past comes rushing to the surface, reminding you that if you're not careful, you're not the only one who will get burned. Relationships are formed, bonds are made, and trust is tested. Not everything is what it seems.

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Then

It's taking everything in you not to break down in tears right now. Your wedding is coming up in less than three months and you're completely dreading it. Most women look forward to their wedding and see it as a day of happiness and celebration. Your wedding is a day of sadness and fear that all you're ever going to be is Y/N, the wife of Henry Harrington. The Queen of Yacleira.

"Lift your arm."

You look down at the tailor who is fitting your wedding dress to you. You do as you're told and she slides a pin into place to make the dress more form-fitting. It's a beautiful dress made only with the finest fabrics money can buy. The dress is a pinkish-beige color instead of the traditional white most dresses are. The strapless bodice has golden swirls and diamonds are placed sporadically along the spiral lines. Extra fabric was sewn onto both sides of the dress to give it a more full and voluminous look. Those pieces of fabric start from your waist and go all the way down to the ground to meet the bottom of the dress. The fabric is curled over each other to create a sort of wavy look that looks natural. The bottom of the entire dress has fluffy ruffles and a train flows behind you.

If the circumstances were different, you'd be happy to wear it. Instead, you feel disappointed and empty inside. The door opens and your mother walks in alone to see the progress of the dress. Besides the tailor, the only other people in the room are a few seamstresses, Benjamin, and two other guards.

"My, look how beautiful you look," your mother grins.

"Don't flatter me, Mother."

"Y/N. You need to start having a better attitude. This is the best for our country."

You look at her with hints of tears in your eyes.

"What about what's best for me?"

"Leave us," your mother orders. Immediately, everyone drops what they're doing and starts to shuffle out of the room. Benjamin is the last one out and he looks at you with a sorrowful look before closing the door. "You know, I got married when I was your age to your father, and look where I am now."

"But you two were in love. I do not love Henry."

"You need to marry, Y/N. It's not only tradition but required. That is what it means to be Princess around here."

"You'd really sacrifice your daughter's happiness for the sake of this country?"

Your mother stiffens at your question. She sees how unhappy you are to be marrying someone you do not love only to be a housewife for the rest of your life. The only purpose of a princess is to marry a prince and become the queen of her country. If you had a brother, the responsibility would fall on him instead.

"Yes."

Now

You look at yourself in the mirror and run the beauty blender over your face to fix a spot of your makeup. Perfect. You're ready to go. Spencer is almost here to pick you up for your date. Don walks out of his bedroom and closes the door before noticing you in the hallway by the front door.

"Don't you have work today?"

"No."

"Where are you going?"

"Spencer is picking me up. We're going to hang out."

"You mean date?"

"If that's what you want to call it, sure."

Don sighs and opens the hallway closet to grab his jacket.

"I don't like you dating someone from the FBI."

"There is nothing to worry about. I've given him no indication of who I really am. He doesn't know about Yacleira. It's barely on any map."

"That doesn't matter."

"It's going to be fine."

"Fine," he sighs. "Look, I have to go out of town so you'll be alone tonight. I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"For what?"

"Just making sure you're safe and not found out. Don't worry about me."

Don slides his jacket on and grabs his briefcase before leaving the house. You look back at your reflection and fix your hair. You don't have time to change into a different outfit because Spencer is already here. You swipe some lip gloss on your lips before grabbing your purse which only contains your driver's license, some cash, and your phone. What else are you going to need? Spencer smiles when he sees you leave your house.

"Wow, you look beautiful," he grins.

"Thank you." Spencer leans in and kisses your cheek which causes them to heat up. This is technically your second date if you count the lunch he took you to when you first met him. He opens the passenger side door for you and closes it when you're safely inside the car. He almost stumbles over his feet trying to get to the wheel which makes you smile. "So, what are we doing? Where are we going?"

"I don't normally do this for dates but my friends are going mini-golfing and invited us. I figured a date with friends might be more comfortable for you."

"I think that's a fun idea," you smile, "but what's mini-golfing?"

"You've never been golfing?"

"No. I haven't done a lot of things."

Spencer is confused since he remembers seeing a post on your Instagram that Penelope swiped over. It was of you and your family on a golf course. Maybe you watched a game instead of playing it but it's certainly weird. Still, he's not going to let that ruin a potential good time with you.

"Don't worry, you're going to love it."

The car in front of your house has Spencer's friends inside of it. His FBI friends. Everything is fine, Y/N. They're not going to find out who you are. Your secret is safe. For now. You and Spencer climb into the backseat.

"Everyone, this is Y/N. Y/N, these are my friends. Derek, JJ, Emily, and Penelope."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you all."

Derek sets off and arrives at the place in thirty minutes. The group walks inside and the two men pay for a game for everyone along with two arcade cards that they can enjoy. You walk away from the group to admire the many arcade games inside. There must be hundreds on the first and second floors of the building. People are enjoying them on both levels, and different sounds from the games rush at you like a freight train.

Whatever you were expecting certainly wasn't this.

"Hey, I got us both an arcade card. It should be enough to last us an hour or so."

"Thanks."

Derek and Penelope go to the air hockey machine and Emily and JJ go to the Dance Dance machine to show off their moves. You nervously fiddle with your fingers and Spencer notices your slight anxiety. He pulls your left hand away and holds it to bring you some sort of comfort.

"What game do you want to play first?"

"I don't know. You pick."

"Okay." Spencer leads you to the second story where the older arcade games are located such as Pac-Man, Galaga, Space Invaders, Centipede, and the pinball machines. The first floor has more modern games such as racing games, ice hockey, VR games, and a bunch of shooting games. "I prefer strategy over action. My favorite game to play is Pac-Man. It's essentially all math. Once you memorize the movement pattern of the ghosts, you'll beat every level."

Spencer takes you to the machine and starts a new game. He plays first while you watch over his shoulder. He continues to talk about the history of the game but you tune him out. You don't mean to but you're a bit overwhelmed, if you're being honest. You never had any of this back home. You were never allowed to go into crowds because someone could either kidnap you or hurt you. You weren't allowed to have friends outside of other royal families because they could use you and hurt you. All of this is brand new to you and it's making your head spin.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Spencer abandons the game to join your side by the railing.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to this. I'm not a crowd person and I've never heard of any of these games before. Is mini-golfing like this?"

"No, it's much more calming. Would you like to start a game outside?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. This isn't for everyone. I get it. Come on."

Spencer takes you downstairs and to his friends who are all gathered by the ice hockey table.

"Spencer! Want to play winner?" JJ asks.

"Y/N wants to start the golf game. Want to do that instead?"

"Yeah, sure."

Spencer has such great friends for understanding that not everyone enjoys the arcade. Derek grabs a pencil and a score sheet while the attendant passes out clubs and balls to everyone. You don't want to look like a total loser so you'll watch the first few people go to understand how the game works.

JJ is the first one up and she ends up making it into the hole on the first try. Derek is up next and gets about halfway before the ball bounces into the wall and stalls in the middle of the course. Penelope is next and her ball joins Derek's as she made the same mistake as he did.

"Y/N, you want to go?"

"Sure."

You bite your lower lip nervously and set your ball on the small indent located at the start of the course. You're not holding the club right, your stance is too wide, and Spencer knows if you hit the ball, it's going to go flying off the course.

"Do you want some help?"

"Yeah."

Spencer walks up behind you and wraps his arms around you to grab the club over your hands. Your cheeks immediately heat up from the contact, and Penelope smirks at Derek who just chuckles.

"When you hit the ball, just remember that the more force you use, the more likely it will bounce off the course." He grabs your hands and slides them to the handle of the club where it's supposed to be. "You want to have your hands here so you're not straining your back from bending over all the time." He nudges your feet to have them move closer to each other. "You want your feet closer because if you were to keep them where you had them before, you're more likely to use a harder swing."

"Okay, I understand."

"Now, we go on three. Ready?"

He counts down before moving the club back, with his arms still around you, and hitting the ball gently. The ball races down the course past Derek and Penelope's ball all the way to the hole where it sinks in.

"Look at that! Hole in one!"

"Hey, that's not fair! You had help!" Emily gasps.

"She's right," you chuckle and retrieve your ball.

"Nah, that was all you," Spencer grins and winks.

Again, your cheeks heat from the attention. Henry could never make you feel like how Spencer is making you feel. You're getting used to the game the more you play it but you do miss the way Spencer's arms feel around your body. You miss his warmth. The group moves to the tenth hold which is located on the edge of the entire course where the parking lot is.

Derek is taking his turn when you notice an older couple by the front talking with an employee. They seem upset so you walk closer to the railing that separates the parking lot from the course. The older couple speaks to the young man in German but he doesn't understand the language. To you, it's like they're speaking English. Your mother made you take courses in many different languages at such a young age. The Princess of Yacleira needs to be fluent in a lot of languages for when she visits those countries. One of your good friends just so happens to be the Princess of Luxembourg and they border Germany.

"Excuse me, is everything okay?" you ask.

Spencer, JJ, Penelope, Derek, and Emily look over when they hear you speak and see the older couple and the golf course worker approach you.

"Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" Do you speak German?

"Ja, das tue ich. Was scheint das Problem zu sein?" Yes, I do. What seems to be the problem?

"Danke schön. Mein Mann hatte gerade einen Schlaganfall und der Arzt sagte uns, dass er sich nicht in der Nähe von lauten Geräuschen oder blinkenden Lichtern aufhalten dürfe. Er liebt Golfen und wir wollten wissen, ob dieser Platz diese Eigenschaften hat."

You nod and put a finger up so you can translate what they said to the attendant.

"He just had a stroke, and they were wondering if this course had any flashing lights or loud noises."

"Oh, no. The only lights on the course are the ones marked on the path and to light up some of the displays. I'd steer clear of the arcade, though."

You translate what he said back to the older couple in German who are grateful to have someone who speaks their language.

"They'll pay for one game of golf but not for the arcade." The older couple thanks you again before leaving with the attendant. You smile and turn back to Spencer and his friends but pause when you see the shocked looks on their faces. "What?"

"You speak German?"

"Yeah. I learned it in school. I can also speak French, Spanish, Arabic, Swahili, and Japanese. I'm working on learning Sweden and Mandarin." Again, they all continue to stare at you. "I had a lot of time on my hands when I was a kid. Shall we continue playing the game?"

The rest of the game went by smoothly but the fun didn't stop there. Everyone wanted to play more arcade games so you and Spencer decided to eat something outside while they went and played. He got two orders of hot dogs and fries, something you have never had before. Spencer takes a bite of his hot dog and you do it exactly how he did it. Mustard and ketchup get all over your face but the food is delicious.

"You're not like other girls. You're so full of mystery but I can tell you're a good person. Is that weird to say?" he chuckles.

"No." You wipe your face and finish eating before speaking. "I've always strived to be the best I can be. I treat everyone with kindness."

"Not everyone thinks that way."

"There was this one time when I was younger, and I was walking the streets outside my home. I came across this family of two on the ground underneath the shade. They were homeless and hungry. I bought all of them food and blankets and stuff they might need to not only survive the night but for a couple of weeks."

"That's very noble of you."

You don't say it but you had to be. The Princess of Yacleira can't be seen being rude to anyone. You were punished if you even said one thing out of the norm or did something that everyone else might perceive as bad.

"This isn't as noble as that but one time I donated a bunch of books to libraries who didn't have a lot of books to begin with."

"That's very kind of you," you smile. "I love reading especially to children and the elderly. It brings me joy."

"I agree."

You and Spencer talk about your favorite books, the food long forgotten. Spencer has moved closer to you with every sentence, not that you mind. You lean in slowly for a kiss but the door opening makes you jump back in surprise.

"Did we interrupt something?" Derek smirks.

"No," Spencer shakes his head.

"We better go. I have to get home. Henry won't stop throwing up."

"Who's Henry?" you ask.

"My son," JJ grins.

Your house is the first stop since everyone else lives closer than you do. Spencer gets out when you do so he can walk you to the front door.

"I had a fun time," Spencer smiles.

"Me too. Maybe next time, I'll take you on a date and invite you to my world."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

You and Spencer look into each other's eyes, the tension rising with each second. You're not sure if you should kiss him even though you want to. Spencer wants to kiss you but he doesn't know if you want to do it in front of his friends.

"Oh, my God. Just kiss her already!" Derek shouts from the car.

His friends laugh and giggle but Spencer isn't paying attention to them. He meets you halfway and kisses you like how he wanted to since the first date. You've never experienced anything like this before. Such raw emotion like you are meant to be kissing him. It doesn't matter if a building is on fire or something, this kind of kiss makes the entire world disappear.

"I'll call you, okay?" Spencer smiles.

"Okay."

Spencer waits until you're inside your house before allowing Derek to leave. You close the door behind you with a wide smile on your face. You'll tell Spencer who you are eventually. You just need to make sure he's the one before you do. You kick off your shoes and head to your room to turn in for the night.

******

James gets out of the car once he arrives at the safe house located on a farm in the middle of the woods. He and his friends chose this location to keep their activities hidden from local authorities. He grabs his briefcase and heads inside where his friends already are hanging out. Ryder, his best friend, is sharpening his knife collection. Kellen and Jacob are sitting on the couch drinking beers. Macy is on the computer checking to make sure their online activities stay hidden.

On the wall behind Macy are pictures of you as the Princess of Yacleira and as of Y/N, the barista, and weapons and other gadgets cover almost every surface.

"There he is," Ryder grins. "I thought you were coming out two days ago."

"I got held up."

"And how is our Princess doing?"

"Doesn't suspect a thing. Ben really did a terrible job putting her here. He didn't even bother showing her a picture of what Don looks like. It's cute knowing she thinks I'm pretending to be her uncle."

"Anything else you'd like to tell us?" Jacob asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Spencer?"

James knew his friends would find out about Spencer sooner or later. Maybe that's why he stalled coming back here.

"Everything is under control. I'm taking care of it."

"He's the fucking FBI. One wrong move and everything we've worked for goes crumbling. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?" James snaps.

"So, what's the plan?" Macy asks. "When can we start this? I already have three offshore accounts waiting for the money and safe houses in the Bahamas ready for us."

"Soon. I have to get a few things sorted and contact a few people in Yacleira before we can go after Y/N. I have a few men on the inside who will tell me what Calliope and Elliot know. We can just go storming in and demand for money. That's how we get caught. Don't worry, we'll get the money we deserve."

"Yeah, even if it means killing the Princess of Yacleira," Jacob grins.