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After Simon had kissed him that Friday at the movie night, it had taken Wille some time to make up his mind but he had finally decided that exploring the feelings he had for Simon was worth it. After all, Erik had told him that he should take his time at Hillerska to figure some things out about himself. So, Wille had decided to do just that, and if that meant that he could fall in love for the first time and try a relationship out of the public scrutinizing eyes, well he wasn’t going to pass up the chance.
Thus, Wille and Simon spend more and more time together, both at Hillerska and in Bjärstad. They made sure to be subtle about the nature of their relationship; they didn’t need all of the attention that came with a prince openly dating someone while they were figuring things out together. The thought of being watched by the public at large while falling in love was more than repulsing. Erik had publicly done so when he had been Wille’s age and it had been difficult for him and his girlfriend. Erik was the crown prince, though, which instantly made the news more important but still, Wille didn’t want the media to ruin his thing with Simon before they were solid.
They only told their friends —Maddie, Felice, Rosh and Ayub— and families. Wille’s mother wasn’t necessarily happy about it at first but it was understandable after the fiasco that had been Erik’s relationship. She had been glad that Wille and Simon had at least decided to be on the down-low about it.
As the weeks passed by, Wille and Simon had started being truly comfortable with each other. They knew what the other’s expressions and body language meant —when Wille was rubbing his chest, he was anxious, or when Simon slightly pressed his lips together, someone was most likely annoying him by acting like a ‘rich asshole’, as he had himself mentioned many times. They also knew what to do in such moments; Simon would press his leg against Wille’s if they were seated, and Wille would make a funny face at him to tell Simon that he agreed with him. They worked week together, balancing each other out and supporting one another.
If people never caught on to the fact that their relationship was more than friendship, well they weren’t looking hard enough; both boys weren’t as subtle as they thought. True, Wille tended to be very tactile with his friends but it had always been different with Simon.
I.
Simon looked at Wille as they walked side by side, their shoulders brushing together. Wille was growing taller as the months passed and Simon now had to look up quite a bit to look Wille in the eyes.
“Are you coming home this weekend?” he asked Wille. He knew there was something about a friendly game of foot between the different houses, but Wille didn’t seem excited by it. Maybe he would rather spend the weekend in Bjärstad; Simon knew he’d rather Wille spent the weekend with him at home.
“Yeah!” Wille told him with a big grin. “Linda told me she would teach me how to cook that good thing we had the other night.”
Wille had started getting cooking lessons from Simon’s mom. He loved it and so did she. Sara had no real interest in learning how to do more than the basics and there wasn’t a lot left to learn for Simon; he was already doing a lot of the cooking at home and he had been doing so for many years now. Simon always felt warm inside when he saw his mother and his boyfriend getting along so well.
“Is she going to teach you how to properly dance too?” he wiggled his eyebrows at Wille. “Or are we gonna have to see you dance like a worm again?”
Wille looked at him as his mouth dropped, shock evident on his face, before pushing Simon into a locker nearby. “Shut up!” He shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t dance like a worm,” he grumbled, glaring weakly at Simon.
“Sure,” Simon laughed, pushing Wille back.
“Not everyone can dance like you,” Wille pouted. “It doesn’t mean that I dance like a worm.”
Simon’s answering laugher echoed through the halls, earning him another shove in a nearby locker.
Wille and Simon were sharing a table at workies when some of the other Forest Ridge boys arrived. Henry and Walter each took a seat in front of them as they put their stuff on the table. Wille felt Simon tense a little beside him, so he pressed his shoulder into Simon’s, hoping he could pass him some comfort that way. He knew that his boyfriend still didn’t like both boys very much. Walter still had clashing opinions with Simon, but Simon was slowly getting through Henry. Maybe they would be less pretentious by the end of third year if they continued spending time with them.
“Wille, did you put your name for the football game this weekend?” Watler asked. “I want to be on your team, I bet you're good.”
Simon snorted, pushing Wille slightly with one of his shoulders. “I wouldn’t if I were you,” he said, looking at Wille with a teasing smile. “He’s really bad.”
“I’m getting better!” Wille scoffed, kicking Simon in the shin under the table.
Simon threw him a slice of the mandarin he was eating, hitting Wille square in the face with it. “I don’t think Rosh would agree with you.”
Wille narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend. He was getting better, thank you very much, and Rosh would agree.
“Well it doesn’t really matter,” Wille said, looking back at the other boys as he ate the piece of fruit. “I’m going to Simon’s this weekend so I won’t be here for the game.”
“Um,” Walter responded, his gaze shifting from Simon to Wille. “You’ve been spending a lot of time in Bjärstad recently,” he said slowly, in a contemplative voice.
Wille saw Simon freeze from the corner of his eyes. He had been spending a lot of time there in the last months. He often took the bus with Simon on Friday nights and only came back before curfew on Sunday. Wille hadn’t thought people had noticed; nobody had said anything before.
Walter looked at Wille, suspicion growing in his eyes with every second that passed. “Your not really subtle, Wille, you know that?”
Wille froze, unsure what to respond to that. He couldn’t admit why he was spending so much time at Simon’s.
“Your crush is starting to get noticeable,” Walter added, his voice heavy from how light he clearly had meant to keep it.
Wille looked at Simon with wide eyes, completely lost at what to do. They had never been so near to being caught. It couldn’t happen now; they weren’t ready for that, hadn’t thought about how they would do it, and PR needed to inform them of the plan to follow. They had only been dating for a few months.
“Wait, Wille, you have a crush on Sara!?” Henry asked him loudly, getting the attention of some people nearby. Wille heard Simon choke on the water he was drinking, coughing to get it out of his lungs.
“What?” Wille asked, looking at Henry with wide eyes. Out of all the things he could have said, this was not one Wille had expected.
“I don’t think she cares about you that way,” Walter told him.
“She really doesn’t,” Simon snickered. Wille turned to look at his boyfriend who was already looking at him with an amused expression. “Anyway, my sister’s way out of your league. You wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Excuse me?” Wille asked him, bewildered. He knew that Simon was just making fun of him but still, when your boyfriend tells you that you wouldn’t stand a chance with someone, it stung a little. But, well, maybe he was right. Sara would be way out of his league. Not that he would go for her, he only had eyes for Simon.
Simon shrugged, unaffected by Wille’s offended tone. “I told you many times now, your crush on her will always be unrequited,” Simon said, feigning a sorry expression. The little shit. Wille could see how much fun he was having at his expense and it wouldn’t do.
“I don’t have a crush on Sara,” he said loudly, crossing his arms in front of him. It turned out to be a mistake, as he got the attention of many more people by talking so loudly. Many more people who now started whispering excitedly among them.
Fuck.
It would surely start a rumour, it always did.
Henry punched him in the arm. “Good luck mate, it’s tough crushing on someone who doesn’t like you,” he told him with empathy. Wille could only nod slowly at that. If only they knew the truth.
And so the next two weeks went by with everyone sending knowing glances at Wille, especially when he was in Sara’s company. Simon had had a fun time telling his sister the new rumour going around and kept teasing him every time he had the chance. Sara, for her part, had started hugging him at random times, playing along —being a little shit was apparently a family trait. The traitors. At least, their relationship hadn’t been discovered yet.
II.
Simon had spent the night at Hillerska with Wille. They had always been subtle about it but this time it hadn’t gone according to plan, even if they had thought they were pros by now.
Simon would arrive through Wille’s window during supper when all the boys were eating together, as to not be seen by anyone. He would wait there for Wille, who would bring him back something to eat like the great boyfriend that he was, and they would spend the night together. The next morning, they would make sure to wake up early enough for Simon to go outside before anyone would be out and he would come to eat breakfast with everyone as if he had just taken an early bus. One of the good things about Hillerska was that even as non-res, they had access to food for each meal of the day. They would sit in front of each other, like at lunch, and would go on with their day as if they hadn’t spent the night pressed together in Wille’s small bed.
It was a very good process —one they had successfully completed numerous times before— unless they didn’t wake up and, for the first time since they had started doing this, they woke up late.
Simon groaned when he heard the incessant beeping noise near his ear. He pressed his head more firmly in the pillow and pressed back against the warmth behind him, seeking all of the warmth and comfort he could. Wille let out a soft sigh and squeezed Simon tighter in his arms before going lax against him, still asleep. Simon felt the hot puffs of his boyfriends breath against his neck and smiled. He loved waking up like this.
It was only when someone started banging on the door, calling out for Wille to wake up, that Simon registered the meaning of the beeping sound. He grunted something unintelligible to the person in the corridor to let them know that Wille was awake —nobody would be able to tell the difference between their morning voices through a door— before grabbing the phone under the pillow and looking at the time.
Simon jumped out of bed, swearing, when he saw how late it was; it was still early but it would be much more difficult to get out of there with everyone awake now. He blindly grabbed clothes off of the floor and quickly put them on as he tried to wake up Wille, who only furrowed further under the blanket. His face was squished against the pillow and his hair was messily sticking out on different directions on his head. There were freckles on Wille’s neck that Simon loved so much and he couldn’t help himself. He took time he didn’t have and kissed them sweetly. Luckily, this finally woke Wille up.
“Hey Simme,” Wille said in a soft voice.
Simon ran a hand through the sleepy boy’s hair. “Wille, come on, get up,” he said hurriedly. “We woke up late, breakfast is now.”
Wille sat up abruptly, swaying as the blood rushed to his head. “Fuck,” he murmured as he rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up properly.
“Get dressed, I’ll meet you soon in the dining hall,” Simon said as he pecked him on the lips.
Simon took his backpack and put on his coat before getting out through the window, walking through the little forest in the direction of the bus stop.
(Wille knew that he would then walk back towards Forest Ridge through the right path as if he had spent the night at his own home instead of in Wille’s arms.)
Wille searched through a pile on the floor for clothes to wear for the day. He picked a random cozy feeling sweatshirt and put it on, as well as a pair of jeans. When he was dressed, he got out of his room, checking the time on his phone. He had a text from Simon telling him that he was near the residence and would be waiting for him near the dining hall.
Wille rubbed his eyes again, willing the sleepiness he was feeling to go away. He looked back up from his phone and made eye contact with another boy, who looked at him with a weird look. Wille frowned, but soon forgot about it when he spotted Simon —some things were more important than others.
When Simon heard him walk towards him, he turned around, ready to greet Wille as they always did. However, when Wille stopped in front of Simon, he found the other boy staring him up and down, before letting his gaze fall on Wille’s face. Simon was looking at him with big eyes and a blush that made Wille frown. Granted, Wille wasn’t unused to Simon checking him out but he normally didn’t react that way, especially at school.
“What’s wrong?” Wille asked his boyfriend.
Simon pinched his lips as he looked around before looking back in Wille’s eyes. He was being unusually shy, a sight that Wille would appreciate much more if he knew what was the reason.
“You’re wearing my sweatshirt,” Simon said as he slightly pinched Wille’s shirt between his fingers.
Wille looked down at his chest and saw that he was indeed wearing Simon’s purple hoodie. No wonder he felt so comfortable and warm right now. Simon wore his clothes until they weren’t wearable anymore, something Wille’s stylist had never let him do. Wille liked wearing Simon’s clothes because of that; worn-in clothes were the best.
He looked back up at Simon and his gaze locked on the logo he hadn’t noticed on Simon’s shirt, under his jacket. Simon had also taken the wrong hoodie; he was wearing Wille’s blue one. “Um,” Wille stuttered, feeling heat crawl up his face. “You have mine on too.”
Simon looked at his shirt and blushed even harder. He opened his mouth but before he could answer Wille, they were pushed into the dining hall as some other boys arrived for breakfast. Having no choice but to stay there and hope no one would notice, Simon put his backpack down on the floor and met back with Wille, making his plate too.
They quietly made their way to the table and sat in front of each other, as per usual. Before Wille could take a bite out of his food, Walter sat down beside Simon, narrowing his eyes at both boys. “You are wearing each other’s sweatshirt,” he told them, talking loud enough for other people to turn and look at them.
Wille passed a hand through his hair and looked at Simon. He was staring at him with wide eyes and his mouth open, his fork still hanging in the air. They both turned to Walter without saying anything, their silence loud in the room. They couldn’t really explain how they had mixed up their shirt this morning when nobody knew Simon had stayed the night. Telling them so would not be subtle at all.
Before they could say something stupid and reveal their relationship when they weren’t yet ready, Walter’s eyes widened in an understanding way. It made Wille’s stomach drop; they hadn’t talked about going public yet.
“Oh! Is that a new thing?” Walter asked, looking from one boy to the other. “Are we all switching shirts with everyone now? That’s a new prank we do?”
Wille looked at Simon and found him already looking at him with a dumbfounded look in his eyes. “...yes,” Wille answered, not sure how this could be considered a prank. Still, it was better than anything he could have come up with on his own.
As soon as the affirmation left his mouth, he saw the other boys around him all switching shirts with one another. Without them knowing what was happening, the second and third years found themselves enrolled in the prank and soon enough, nobody had their own shirt on their back.
Wille looked back at Simon, who was quietly laughing to himself, shaking his head in disbelief at the situation. It really was a little ridiculous. The other boys should really stop trying to copy Wille any time they could.
When Simon arrived at his locker, he saw students from other houses change shirts in the middle of the hallway. It seemed that the prank was going around and people were going on with it. He couldn’t believe how the other students would do anything Wille did, eager to follow the prince’s actions. It was all a bit stupid to Simon, but at least nobody was questioning them anymore and their secret was still safe for a while longer.
He picked up his book, made his way to his English class and sat beside Maddie. She was clearly wearing a shirt that wasn’t her own; it wasn’t colourful and crazy enough for her normal taste.
When she saw him beside her, she wiggled her eyebrows at Simon. “Had fun last night?” she asked him quietly, aware that there were other students around them.
“Shut up,” Simon told her, a flush rising on his cheekbones. He would take all of the teasings their friends would give them if it meant that Wille and Simon could stay on the down-low for some more time, but he wouldn’t go down without a little fight.
III.
Their second year had started a few weeks ago and things between Wille and Simon were still going well. They hadn’t had the chance to spend much time together that summer but that was to be expected with Wille going back to living in the Palace for those couple of months. They had been able to see each other in person at least once every two weeks, but most of their communication had been done through text messages or video calls.
Wille hadn’t been used to spending so much time away from Simon. He had missed being physically close to him and he had trouble finding some of his much needed daily dose of physical contact in the Palace —other than Erik, even though it wasn’t prince-like to cling to his brother like a koala as Wille had been told. At the Palace, he was Prince Wilhelm while with Simon, he was just Wille. Getting used to his growing responsibilities had gone better than he had expected but he’d still wished he could have taken breaks more often. Simon was good at treating him like he was normal. Together, they could just goof around and be their age without having to worry about reputations and being a dignified representative of the nation and other bullshit of the sort.
On a night where Wille had been feeling particularly lonely —Simon had been spending the night with Rosh and Ayub, and Wille hadn’t wanted to disturb them— he had decided to look at the photos on his phone to create a folder with all things Simon-related. He was always looking back at his boyfriend’s Instagram when he missed him but maybe he could also look at a photo album on his phone to spice things up —not that kind of spice; Wille knew better, as a public figure, than to have that sort of picture in his phone.
By doing so, he had found one of his favourite pictures of Simon. He had forgotten he had ever taken it and that was a crime. Simon was wearing his usual purple hoodie with the hood up and was grinning widely at the camera. Wille had been able to see Simon’s two slightly pointy upper teeth through the crooked smile. It was probably Wille’s favourite smile of Simon's. He had decided that he should see this picture more often. Simon looked soft —he had just woken up from a nap when Wille had snapped the picture— and Wille hadn’t had the chance to see much of this version of Simon that summer. Thus, he had put the picture as Simon’s contact photo.
It was then that Wille had realized that Simon’s name on his phone was just Simon and that certainly wouldn’t do. He didn’t have a habit of putting nicknames as contact names —he didn’t think it would be dignified for him to put nicknames for other royals or parliament members no matter how funny it would be— but he had to make an exception for his boyfriend.
He had first changed it to Simme. Then, he had thought better of it. Sure, it was a nickname people used for Simon, but that was the thing, it wasn't a nickname only Wille used. So he had changed it to Baby. But that hadn’t been enough either. After careful consideration, he had decided that it had to be Baby <3.
Simon was sitting at workies with a couple of people in their grade. He apparently had a friend group at Hillerska now, which was not something he had ever expected to happen after the disastrous first months he had spent at that school. Still, it was pretty nice to have people to talk to other than his few choir "friends".
There was Wille, of course, with Sara, Felice and Maddie. Those were his closest friends of the bunch, and also the ones who happened to know about Wille and Simon. Then, there was also Stella and Frederika, and Henry and Walter, from time to time. They were still as pretentious as they had been during their first year, but they seemed to start having their own personalities; a personality that wasn’t just following Wille around and agreeing to everything he and their rich parents say. It was refreshing, to say the least. Also, with August now graduated from Hillerska, it meant one less loud, annoying voice talking shit about class differences and money and bullshit like that. Hillerska was so much more agreeable without that boy.
Simon was working through his math problem when Wille asked for the link to the youtube video they had chosen for a team project in their English class. Simon sent him the video through text message, before going back to his homework.
“Wille, who’s that?” Henry asked Wille in a curious voice. Simon looked up to see Henry pointing at Wille’s phone. Everyone else at their tables was looking at the exchange with interest, Henry's tone of voice insanely more intriguing than their homework.
“What?” Wille asked Henry, brows scrunched together. Simon wanted to kiss the frown away.
“Who’s texting you?” Wille looked back at his phone at Henry’s question. “Who do you call baby-with-a-heart on your phone?”
Henry’s question created three distinct reactions. The first one came from Walter, Stella, and Frederika, who all started gossiping about Wille’s baby. The second came from all of their friends who knew about their relationship and who looked between the two boys with stress clearly written on their faces. They knew they weren’t ready to announce anything yet. The third reaction came from Wille and Simon, who locked eyes in panic.
Fuck.
Simon hadn’t even known that it was his name on Wille’s phone. If he wasn’t filled with that much panic at the idea of being caught, he would definitely be teasing Wille right now. He hadn't known his boyfriend was such a sap. Simon loved it and he loved him.
Wille broke their prolonged eye contact to look back at Henry, making Simon come back to the present moment. They were in crisis mode now, they needed to think fast.
“Um,” Wille stuttered. He swallowed thickly. Simon followed the movement of Wille’s throat before snapping his eyes back to his face. Focus. He needed to focus. It was a crisis mode. “...it’s Simon,” Wille said as he passed his hand through his hair. It instantly fell down in front of his eyes again, as it always did.
Four pairs of eyes blinked at Wille. Henry, Walter, Stella and Frederika certainly weren’t expecting that answer. They then turned their gaze on Simon, who pinched his lips together, unsure how to save the situation. How could they explain why Wille called him that without revealing everything? Sure, they would eventually tell them that they were together, but telling those four meant telling every student at Hillerska. They were the worst blabbermouths Simon knew.
It was Maddie who saved the situation. Well, saved, that was certainly a big word. She managed to embarrass Simon in the process but that was expected of her.
“Oh, funny story!” she told them excitedly. “Wille found out, I don’t know how, that Simon blushes like crazy when someone calls him baby. So now we all do, you never heard us?” Their four friends shook their heads. “It makes Simon blush even harder to see it written as a contact name for him, so that’s why Wille did it. You should try it!” She shot Simon a wink. He narrowed his eyes at her. He wasn’t too keen on having his friends call him baby. That was a Wille thing, thank you very much.
Unfortunately, Simon saw Wille’s eyes illuminate at Maddie’s recommendation. That meant nothing good for Simon. “Oh yeah! It’s so funny,” Wille said, a grin making its way on his face as he watched his boyfriend. “Right, baby?”
Simon fucking blushed.
He blushed hard. Like he always did. This wasn’t fair. And it was even more unfair when he saw grins similar to Wille’s appearing on his friends’ faces. All of them. Even Sara, who was his sister and was supposed to be on his side.
“Oh my god, it works!” one of his friends exclaimed, as they all started to laugh. Simon groaned as he dropped his face on his hands, eager to get the attention off of how red he knew his face was.
If Simon wished that that situation would be dropped soon, he had no such luck. His friends had found a lot of pleasure in teasing him with this, calling him baby when he wasn’t expecting it. But the worse of them was definitely Wille, who had decided to use this opportunity to call Simon baby in public. And other pet names, as he argued that he wanted to see if he could have the same results with other names. But maybe it wasn’t the worse, having Wille call him that in public. Maybe they found that they both enjoyed doing a couply thing in public, even if people thought it was a joke. It was a feel for what they could be, sometimes in the future, and both Wille and Simon liked testing out the waters without the pressure of a public relationship with a prince.
IV.
It was nearing the end of their second year and nobody had yet realized that Wille and Simon were together, even if they were less and less subtle as time passed. It was always best, for people of the royal family, to wait until you were absolutely sure of your relationship before announcing it —as well as wait until you were a bit older. Both boys were sure and the Queen and King Consort approved of the relationship but Simon and Wille didn’t feel the need to make a big deal out of it yet. They could pretty much act like a couple —minus the very obvious stuff like kissing, they weren't sure they could pass it as bros being bros, and they weren't sure if they wanted to— and nobody batted an eye. Granted, they didn’t seem to think that it was more than a friendship, more than bros being bros; maybe that said a lot more about the other students than it did about them.
So, Wille and Simon decided to just be themselves and see what would happen. This was how they found themselves cuddling with a lot of students around them.
They were having another movie night in Manor House and it was a rom-com movie night. It wasn’t unusual to be pressed to one another on movie nights, there wasn’t enough place for everyone to keep a respectable distance. So, friends and couples tended to cuddle together to make sure everyone could see the screen correctly. Of course, that included Wille and Simon. They were obviously going to take advantage of the situation and enjoy themselves.
Wille was sitting between his boyfriend’s legs, his back pressed against Simon’s chest. They were on the floor, with Simon leaning against one of the couches on which Stella and Frederika were sitting. Under the blanket, Wille had Simon’s hands in his, keeping Simon’s arms tight around him. He could feel Simon’s breath on his hair tickling his scalp and everything was warm, and his eyes were closing by themselves even if he wanted to watch the movie, but he was so warm and sleepy and everything was dark.
Simon felt the moment Wille fell asleep in his arms. His grip on his hands relaxed and his head fell a little bit to the side, pressing against Simon’s neck. It wasn’t unusual for Wille to fall asleep halfway through a movie, especially when he was cuddling with Simon like that. It made Simon smile to think about how trusting Wille now was with him. He had always been, to a certain level, but when you grow up as Wille had, you still needed to be careful with others. Simon also had some trust issues with everything that went down with Micke, but seeing Wille open up to him and wanting to take care of him had made Simon more trusting as time went on. It was refreshing to be taken care of, for once.
Simon pressed Wille against his chest, tightening his arms around his boyfriend. He looked to his left and found Sara smiling at him, amused at the situation in front of her. She was used to seeing the two boys affectionate with each other, especially when they were watching movies at home, but Simon knew she still found it weird that the prince was just like them. Sure, they had very different upbringings and opportunities in life, but it had made Sara realize that maybe she wouldn’t be much happier just by climbing the social ladder. Simon was glad he had gotten his sister back.
Wille stirred in Simon’s arms, making him look down at his boyfriend. Wille let out a soft sigh and curled on his side, grabbing Simon’s left arm in the process. He pressed his face even more in the crook of Simon’s neck, hiding under the blanket. Simon could feel his boyfriend’s breath on his collarbones now. He pressed a soft kiss on top of Wille’s hair as he continued to watch the movie, happy and warm.
Wille woke up to the sound of loud chatter and a hand going through his hair.
“Wille,” he heard Simon murmur in his ear. “Wake up now, the movie is finished.”
Wille let out a small whine and furrowed more under the blanket, blocking the light from his eyes. Simon was all warm against him and Wille just wanted to go back to sleep.
He felt something, probably a foot, kick him on his leg. “Comfortable there, Wille?” Maddie snorted.
Wille answered her with an annoyed groan, which only made her laugh harder. It was too loud, everyone was chatting amongst themselves. Wille just wanted to sleep, couldn’t they go alone and leave him here with Simon?
“Shut up Maddie, I’m sleeping,” he mumbled, lips moving against Simon's warm skin.
Wille felt Simon move behind him and tightened his arms around his boyfriend, not wanting Simon to move. “Wille, come on,” Simon told him with a chuckle. Their faces were so close together that the puffs of Simon’s breath were tickling his face. He scrunched his nose, annoyed. He really wanted to sleep. “Get up. Mama’s there, I need to go home.” They both knew that was a lie, Simon was staying to sleep with Wille, but they still had to keep their little game.
“Noooo,” Wille whined again, trying to sound as annoyed as he was feeling; he needed Simon to understand that he was not to move. The effect was probably ruined by how big he yawned.
He heard other laughs around him and looked up, glaring at whoever was making that much noise. It turned out to be more of their classmates, who were clearly enjoying seeing the prince act in such an undignified way.
“Wow Wille,” someone said. It was probably Henry, Wille guessed. Not that he really cared who it was; he just needed them to stop. “Didn’t know you could be such a baby when you are tired.”
Everyone laughed.
“I’m not a baby,” Wille pouted. They were all disturbing his sleep even longer.
“Need help escaping, Simon?” Probably-Henry asked, ignoring Wille. He felt Simon’s —normally sweet, but right now it wasn't because it was at his expense— laughter against his side and heard the soft sound of it against his ear.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to escape,” said Simon. Wille could hear Simon snort. He normally liked his boyfriend’s laugh and would do anything to hear that sound at any given time, but right now, he just wanted to sleep, damn it. It wasn’t too much to ask. “He tends to turn into a koala when he’s sleepy.”
More laughter came at his boyfriend’s comment. How dare Simon be funny right now.
Wille, annoyed that everyone was keeping him awake, sat up and dropped Simon’s arm from his grip, disentangling their legs. He tightened the blanket around him and glared at Simon, who was looking at him with an amused expression. Traitor. Wille then turned to the other students to glare at them.
They laughed at him even more.
It wasn’t funny. Wille was very annoyed.
Wille looked back at his boyfriend and narrowed his eyes, looking intimidating. He wasn’t looking intimidating, Wille could tell by Simon’s expression; he only raised his brows at Wille, his amusement evident.
“You’re the worst,” Wille pouted. “I’m never sleeping near you again.” Wille got up, tripping on the blanket around him. Simon —and everyone else— laughed. Again. “You’re not my friend anymore,” Wille said with as much dignity his sleepy self could muster. It wasn’t much. He went back to his room, ready to pass out in his own, non-laughing bed.
The first thing Simon saw when he entered Wille’s room through the window was his boyfriend laying on the wrong side of the bed. He still had his slippers on and he wasn’t even under the blankets.
Simon chuckled to himself, remembering the earlier conversations that had happened after Wille had left the room. The other students had never seen Wille so sleepy and act so unprince-like. They hadn’t been expecting Wille to have a side like that. It was dumb, Simon had thought, that they were still not expecting him to be a normal teenager like themselves.
When someone had asked Simon how often Wille was like that, he hadn’t been so sure what to answer. Sure, they weren’t being so subtle anymore about their relationship, but he didn’t want to admit to anything without Wille’s consent.
Luckily, Felice had said something about how Wille had always been like that, ever since they had been in pre-school together. If anyone had been suspecting anything between Simon and Wille, Felice’s comment would hopefully steer them in another direction for the time being, until they could talk a little bit more about it between the both of them.
Simon approached his boyfriend quietly and shook him awake. Wille let out a whine before looking up at him. When he saw Simon above him, he dropped his head back on the bed.
“No,” Wille groaned. He pressed his face in the bed, scrunching his face. “I don’t like you anymore. Making fun of me like that,” he mumbled. “You’re supposed to be on my side.” He turned his face away from Simon.
Simon chuckled at his boyfriend’s reaction, before taking Wille’s slippers off of his feet. He went back to Wille’s head and drop a kiss on his cheek, feeling Wille scrunch his face up again. “Come on, you’re laying on the wrong side. We need to put your head where your feet are.” Simon tried to get Wille to sit up, but the boy wouldn’t move.
“I’m staying like this,” Wille told him, whining like a child.
“Wille.”
“No.”
Simon took one of Wille’s arms, pulling on him. Wille wouldn’t move. Damn his rowing practices, it had made him much more strong after two years. Simon should have kept going too.
He sighed and stood up, looking around the room. He grabbed a blanket that had been thrown on Wille’s chair and wrapped it around his shoulders. “Fine,” Simon said with a sigh, trying to sound as resigned as he could. “I guess I’ll have to sleep on the floor then.”
He didn’t have the time to sit down before Wille turned around, throwing his arms around Simon’s middle. “No,” Wille grumbled. He let out a big sigh and sat up. Simon smiled, knowing he had won. Wille was so predictable, he wouldn’t pass up a chance to sleep pressed to Simon. “Fine, I’ll move.”
As soon as they got under the covers, Wille manhandled Simon into being the little spoon and pressed himself against Simon’s back, pulling him into his chest.
Simon let out a satisfied sigh and closed his eyes, always feeling so comfortable in Wille’s hold. “G’night Wille.” He felt Wille drop a kiss against the back of his neck.
“ 'night, baby,” Wille mumbled before falling back asleep.
V.
Wille was sitting at the table, trying to eat his breakfast in peace. He was a little hungover and a headache was threatening to make his day hell. Last night had been the initiation of the first years. It had been their turn, as third years, to plan the initiation. Wille had been happy to see that he wasn’t the only one who wanted to make it a more pleasant experience. A lot of the other third years hadn’t liked how humiliating it had been for them, just like Wille.
So, they had spent the night partying, and Wille had maybe drunk a little bit too much. But it hadn’t been his fault. Everything was fun, and everyone wanted to take a shot with him, and Simon was there to look after him anyway, as he never drank.
Talking about Simon, Wille looked up to see his boyfriend laughing at the story of the boy that was up on his chair. It was a first-year, talking about his makeout story of the night. Simon looked much better than Wille felt and it was making him a little bit jealous. Maybe he should tell Simon to monitor his consumption the next time; not that it was his job, of course.
The first year dropped down on the floor, and another boy, a second-year this time, got up on his chair. Wille wasn’t listening, but from the cheers coming from the others, he could guess that the boy had gotten with the person he wanted to.
They made their way around the table until Walter called out Wille’s name. “Wille, we couldn’t find you for a long time yesterday,” Walter told him with a grin that did not mean anything good. The situation reminded Wille a lot of the morning after his own initiation when August had said something similar to him. Wille didn’t mind it, this time. He was amongst friends now. “Maybe you should get on the table,” Walter told him, wiggling his brows.
The other boys started to chant. Wille on the table! Wille on the table! resonated in the room. As they banged their fists on the table, Wille looked at Simon. They had been talking about going public soon and they had agreed, along with PR, that the first step could be to tell people at Hillerska. Simon seemed to understand what Wille was thinking. He gave Wille a little smile, silently giving him the green light to say something if he wanted to.
Wille got up on his chair.
The boys went wild.
“So, where were you, yesterday?” Henry asked him.
Wille could clearly remember that part of the night. He had gone outside with Simon, much like that time two years ago. Wille wanted to take a break and sober up a little. They had sat outside behind the little wall, pressed against each other to stay warm. Simon had been signing a song for Wille, at his request. He loved when his boyfriend sang. His voice was both soft and powerful and the same time, and it still made his stomach swoop and warmth spread through his chest. Simon had been signing a ballad in Spanish, and there were few things Wille loved more than his boyfriend signing in Spanish.
He had felt warm everywhere Simon had been pressing against him and Simon’s voice had been low and Spanish and Simon’s cheekbones and lips, full, pretty lips, and Wille had felt sober suddenly and had leaned forward and they had been kissing. There had been cold hands wandering on warm skin, soft lips and teeth and little sounds filling up the air around them. They had stayed there for a long time. When they had finally moved when it had gotten too cold outside, Wille had gone inside to say goodbye to everyone. When he had opened the door to his bedroom, Simon had been there on the bed already and they had kissed again, had spent the night together.
Wille looked at the expecting faces around him. He could do this. “I was outside,” he said, answering Henry’s questions. There was a chorus of oh’s, making Wille chuckle.
“Okay,” Henry said, unimpressed. “With who?”
Wille looked at his boyfriend. Simon seemed totally at ease. He could do this. He could tell everyone about this. They had been together for quite a while now and even Wille’s mom was okay with it. He looked back at Henry. “Simon.”
Everyone stayed silent.
Wille saw, from the corner of his eyes, that Simon was rolling his lips together, visibly growing stressed at the lack of response.
“Wille,” said Walter, slowly. “When you go on the table, it’s to tell everyone about your hookup.” Wille blinked at him, unsure how to respond to that. He knew how that worked, he didn't need Walter to explain it to him.
It was Simon who broke the silence this time. He chuckled, his hands on his red face, before full-on laughing, seemingly unable to stop. His face was pressed on his arms, which were now crossed on the table. Soon enough, everyone was laughing with him; except Wille, who had no idea what was so funny. And then someone said something about how oblivious to the game Wille was and of course, he was with Simon, why did they ever think he was making out with someone? Those two were always together.
Wille sat down, bewildered. He had told everyone about him and Simon, and nobody had caught it.
Simon was laughing, there was no other choice. Wille had looked stressed but proud going up on his chair. He had told everyone how he went outside for a long period of time with Simon, and the boys thought it was in a friendly way. Maybe that’s what you get when make people think your relationship is just a really affectionate one but in a best friend way.
Simon looked at Wille who seemed a little lost, sitting back down on his chair. They really hadn’t been affectionate in a friendly way last night. Simon had waited for Wille to sober up enough before doing anything —consent was sexy— but if they had seen them yesterday, Simon didn’t think the boys would be laughing at Wille right now. He had gotten very lucky, they both had when they had been back in Wille’s room, thank you very much. Simon couldn’t believe Wille had told them and nobody had caught on.
Oh well. It would be a funny story.
Simon looked back at Wille who gave him a small smile and shook his head, now laughing too. They had done it. They had gone public, even though nobody knew. Simon felt good about it and he could see that Wille did, too.
I.
It was Wille’s last parents’ day at Hillerska and his family had come this year. The Queen and the King Consort were there, and even Erik had come. Wille thought that maybe there were some perks to being royal, as siblings were normally not allowed to come with; there would be too many people if they did.
The royal family was shaking a lot of hands and Wille went through the motion like he usually did: bored out of his mind. He didn’t care about shaking hands with his classmates’ parents and he certainly didn't like feeling like an animal in a zoo. Still, it had to be done.
Simon was with Sara and Linda, talking with Felice and Maddie, and their respective family. Simon and Wille’s family had met a few times now, and things were going well.
Simon and Erik had developed a weird relationship that consisted of making fun of Wille. Wille pretended that he didn’t like it, but he was secretly very pleased that his boyfriend and his brother got along so well. It made family dinners at the Palace much more awkward, especially at first. It wasn’t so bad now. Simon got along well with Wille’s parents. Kristina was cold at first, but she had warmed up to Simon after a while. At least as much as she could possibly do; she had never been a very friendly person, but she had approved of Simon in her weird way last year.
Linda had also met with Wille’s parents a few times, especially in the last few months as they needed to tell her about how things would work once Wille and Simon would go public. It was a very long and detailed process, especially after Erik’s fiasco. They needed to do this right this time and that meant helping Simon’s family by telling them what they should do in great detail. Especially because they had never been in the public’s eyes.
They had most recently met because of the morning after the initiations. Wille had told his family that they had told the boys of his residence, but that he wasn’t sure everyone had understood. He had been vague when he had told them though, as there were some things he wasn’t particularly ready to talk about with his parents. Like the fact that he had told everyone he was making out with Simon —he certainly had no desire to talk about what he hadn't told the boys, what had happened back in Wille's room.
Once they had greeted most people, Wille saw that there was a photographer taking pictures in front of the steps leading to the main entrance of Hillerska. Like each year, he was taking pictures of each family; people liked that kind of tangible memory. Simon and his family were the ones photographed now. Wille smiled at the sight. His boyfriend looked good in their uniform. And they had switched ties, too, just because. Wille liked seeing Simon in his clothes and it was the only thing they could switch without it being too noticeable —it would be very apparent if they had switched anything else, Wille had grown much taller than Simon in this last year. Scrap that, Wille had grown, Simon hadn’t.
Soon enough, it was the royal family’s turn to take some pictures on the step. As they went, Wille felt more and more pairs of eyes settle on them. It was always shocking to him how everyone liked to look at everything they did, no matter how mundane it was. They were only taking pictures as everybody had done.
The Queen and the King Consort were in the middle, with Erik standing next to their mother, and Wille next to their father. Wille smiled at the camera like he was supposed to, even though he wasn’t feeling at ease with everyone watching.
They took more pictures than every other family, to Wille’s dismay, and then the unthinkable happened.
The Queen talked.
“Wilhelm,” she said while raising a hand to tell the photographer to wait for a little. “Where is that boyfriend of yours? We do need pictures with him, too. We might as well do it now”
Wille looked at his mother with wide eyes, feeling the heat going from his neck to his face. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Simon frozen next to his mother and sister.
“Ah, there he is,” Kristina said, looking in Simon’s direction. Everyone else around them followed her gaze, Wille included. He locked eyes with Simon who smiled at Wille tentatively. Maybe Wille should have been clearer when he told his mother that people hadn’t seemed to understand. He didn’t think that she knew she was basically announcing it like that, for the first time. “Come along,” the Queen told Simon impatiently, who came out of his stupor and walked the short distance towards Wille.
As soon as Simon was near enough to Wille, he grabbed his boyfriend’s hand, pressing himself against Wille. Wille could feel how nervous Simon was, he could see it in his smile. “Hi,” Wille told Simon quietly, hoping it would make Simon relax a little.
“Hey,” the other boy answered him, visibly relaxing as Wille had intended.
Wille heard Erik chuckle on the other side, and then their mother was telling everyone to be quiet and smile, they didn’t have all day now, be responsible for once. And so they smiled, Wille and Simon still tightly holding hands, as the photographer took a picture of the royal family. And in the pictures was Prince Wilhelm’s boyfriend.
Simon let out his breath when they finished taking pictures and dropped his head on Wille’s shoulder, laughing in disbelief. Well, that was one way to do it. For all the talk they had had with the Queen and the PR team about the right way to come out, she had done it in a not-so formal way herself. Simon was glad for it though, they didn’t need something big.
Simon felt Wille press a kiss against his head and looked up. Wille was looking at him with a soft expression, blush still apparent on his face. Simon leaned up and gave Wille a peck on the lips, happy that he could finally do so in public after two years of dating. It felt good. It felt freeing.
Their friends joined them on the steps, ready to go back inside for lunch.
“Well, that was one way to do it,” Maddie snorted. They laughed with her, still a little shocked at what had just happened. Most parents were going inside now, but a lot of the students were lingering around, probably hoping to hear what the couple would say.
“Why have you never said anything?” Walter asked. Simon looked at him incredulously. They had.
“We have!” Wille said in a high-pitched voice. “That morning after the party, I went on the table!”
Chaos erupted as the other students realized that they had indeed been told. Wille answered the questions that were thrown their way, but Simon wasn’t really listening.
He was looking at his boyfriend, who was blushing wildly, but who also had a big grin on his face and eyes that shined. He looked free, happy. He looked proud to be telling everyone about him and Simon and how long they had been together and who had kissed who first and was Simon slipping in Wille’s room at night? Was that why the boy with the neighbouring room to Wille could hear another voice sometimes? He thought he was going crazy and nobody had believed him when he had talked about the ghost in his room.
Simon was looking at his boyfriend and thought that kissing Wille at that horror movie night had been one of the best ideas he had ever had, and taking their time before telling everyone had been a good thing, but now he was ready to be with Wille, at all times. And he knew it wouldn’t be easy. Their friends knew right now and it was great but soon the whole nation would know. The first few months would be an invasion of privacy and Simon would have to follow certain very strict rules, but if it meant he could have Wille like that whenever they wanted, he would do so without any hesitation.