Chapter Text
For what felt like the hundredth time, Simon yet again woke up in the comfort of Willie’s embrace, all too routinely rolling over to check his phone on the bedside table, but not before he pushed back a tuft of Willie’s hair from his face, admiring his princely features. However, the familiarity of it all quickly dissipated when Simon checked his phone to find an ominous message and a missed call from a contact he was sure he had blocked.
Call back ASAP: I have some pretty valuable news about your prince
-Marcus
His eyes locked on the message, the hidden threat causing his heart rate to lurch. Simon gleaned to the boy at his right who currently slept so peacefully, the morning’s light casting a gorgeous luminosity across his features. While the smaller boy hadn’t a clue about what Marcus wanted, it was obviously something detrimental to his boyfriend, and he couldn’t stop his anxiety from overtaking him.
“Mmm, what’s wrong?” Willie’s voice was still filled with sleep.
“Nothing! Good morning, darling,” but Simon was unconvincing, visibly shaking.
Before long, Simon was captured in one of Willie’s infamous hugs.
“Love, I’m sorry, but you’re shaking. What’s wrong?” His words were soft as he matched them with gentle strokes on Simon’s arm.
“I-Can I take this call first? Maybe then I’ll be able to explain…”
“Of course”
Simon decided to call Marcus back in the living room, attempting at some privacy.
The phone rang only once before his ex picked up:
“Simme! I thought you’d never respond!!”
“Could you get to the point?”
“Watch your tone. You really need to watch your back”
“Why Marcus? Last I checked you’re just a cheater.” Simon’s words were laced with venom.
“Listen, I have a video of you and Wilhelm from presumably last night-”
“Excuse me?”
“The two of you aren’t very good at being secretive. How clumsy of the prince?”
“What’s your point in telling me this?” Simon swelled with anger at his words.
“I just wanted to know if you had any reason for me to not post it?”
“Perhaps basic human morals? Oh, wait you don’t have any. What do you want, Marcus?”
“Break up with the prince, Simon.”
“What the fuck?”
“You heard me.”
Panic grew thick in Simon’s throat, “But why? You’re the reason we broke up- you didn’t even want me-”
“Cut the crap. You always act like the victim. In reality, I’m sure you’re just with him for the fame, and I don’t like seeing it.” There was clearly something else there, but Simon was too mad to think clearly.
“How do you think he will react when he hears of this? He is the literal crown prince.”
“Tell him, and I release it. It’ll be anonymous, your word against mine.”
Simon was silent, unsure of how to respond.
“So what will it be?”
“I need time…I can’t just do it now-”
“Well, I'm feeling generous. You have one week, and if you haven’t broken up, it will be released.”
The call dropped, and Simon felt everything hit him at once. He had finally felt worthy and happy, finally had his first date with Willie, and finally began to tackle his trauma, but now he was yet again lost. He couldn’t tell Willie. He couldn’t just break up with him, but he couldn’t let Marcus destroy his life.
“Simon,” Willie called out, “ Everything okay?”
Oh yeah… Simon couldn't imagine facing him right now. He felt so guilty and knew his boyfriend could read him like a book. Standing in the living room wasn't a much better option either, though. He took a deep breath and walked back into the bedroom.
Lingering in the doorway, Simon put on his best act, “Everything’s fine, darling.”
Something in Willie’s face showed that he didn't quite believe him, but he reluctantly let it be, “Come here, love; our morning cuddles were stolen from us.”
Simon’s mind lingered on the word stolen- how much else would be stolen from them?
“Y-Yeah I’m coming,” he sighed inwardly at his faltering words, but soon forgot all about Marcus as he lay in Willie’s arms.
When he fully encompasses Simon, Willie finally admits, “I know something happened this morning…”
Shit …Simon stiffened.
“But I want you to tell me when you’re ready. I just wanted to make it abundantly clear that I’m here for you okay?”
Simon nuzzled in the crook of Willie’s neck, “thank you…”
The two could lay with one another all day, and forgo any studying, royal duties, and coursework either would have, but were sadly interrupted by a buzzing of the prince’s phone.
“Fuck…”
“Just ignore it,” Simon yawned.
“It’s my PR manager; I’ll just take it here.” Willie sat up with Simon’s head still in his lap and picked up the phone, putting it on speaker.
“Prince Wilhelm, I was calling to ensure that you have selected a guest for the gala next Friday evening?”
Truthfully, he had forgotten all about the event, far too consumed with his boyfriend, “Um- yes, yes I have!”
“Wonderful, her majesty was concerned you may have forgotten about it. Could we get the name on file, so we can prepare security?”
“Yes, just allow me one moment, please?”
“Of course.”
Willie put his microphone on mute as he turned to face Simon, “So I may or may not have completely forgotten about that-”
Simon giggled, knowingly, “I figured as much; who are you bringing, then?”
“I was hoping, if you were free, of course, maybe you would accompany me?”
“You aren’t worried that someone will find out?”
“I…honestly, yes, but I was thinking that I could introduce you as one of my college friends? We could practically act the same, there won’t be much press inside the venue.”
“Okay, then I can come!”
“Wonderful!” Willie sunk back into Simon.
“Aren’t you forgetting something, darling?” He gestured to the phone.
“Fuck-”
He unmuted the call, “Thank you for your patience, I just needed to confirm that they were still available.”
“Not an issue at all, your highness.”
“Yes, so I invited one of my peers from college, his name is Simon Eriksson.”
“Oh…” She sounded less pleased than before, “Okay, then, I’ll take care of it from here, thank you.”
The call dropped abruptly and Simon could no longer contain his giggles.
“She was totally prepared for you to bring a girlfriend,” he laughed.
“Well she’s not far off; if only she knew” Willie faked a wistful expression.
“Come on, you goof, we need to get our day started, or I’ll be drowning in so much schoolwork, I won’t be able to attend.”
“Right away, sir” Willie saluted.
After some clingy goodbyes, Simon returned to his apartment though not in the morning as Wilhelm had promised- oops . Now, he was left alone to process all of the information from this morning. He, now, had until next Saturday to figure out what to do with his stupid ex, and it had to be done solo. Willie was a solidified part of his life, now, carefully comforting him through his issues, and the idea of losing that almost grew to be too much. Simon would also be attending a gala with the prince next Friday which meant that if he did yield to Marcus’s demands it would have to be after that. When had life gotten so complicated? Simon groaned, wholly unable to even fathom working on his homework.
Suddenly, Ayub appeared in his doorway with a quirked brow,” What’s wrong, Simon?”
“Nothin-”
“Simon, I’m not blind. Did Wilhelm do something?”
“God no! I- it's just…” He couldn’t tell Ayub, could he? His words fell as he tried to remember the conversation between him and Marcus.
Ayub stood there, expectantly.
Fuck it Simon thought; his friend wouldn’t let him get away with keeping it a secret as easily as his boyfriend had. “It’s Marcus.”
“What?”
“Marcus,” Simon hated the number of times his name has come out of his mouth today, “has a video of Willie and me.”
“And?”
“And Willie isn’t ready to come out yet. We…we’ve spoken about that, and he needs more time.”
“I get that, Simme. I mean who cares if Marcus has the video? He’s an ass but surely-”
Simon’s expression must have given it away because Ayub never finished his sentence.
“Couldn’t Willie just use his prince powers to fix this?”
“That’s what I thought, but if I tell Willie, Marcus said there’s no proof. He would just release it anonymously.”
“Wait- Willie doesn’t know?!”
“I-no-”
“Simon! Communication, my brother.”
“I don’t really have a choice in the matter, Ayub!”
“Wait, if he’s not going to release it as long as Willie doesn’t know, then what’s the big deal? I feel like I’m missing something here.”
Simon had failed to tell him the actual reason why his brain wouldn’t stop going a mile a minute. “He wants me to break up with the prince.”
“You can’t do that!”
“I know, Ayub.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m losing my mind here.”
“I’m sorry…”
Tears started to prickle in Simon’s eyes before he forcefully blinked them away, “I…I have a week.”
Ayub's eyes fell.
“And to make matters even more difficult, I’m attending a gala with Willie as a “college friend” on Friday.”
“This is so fucked.”
“I know…I hate Marcus so so much.”
“Why don’t we tell Rosh and she-”
“We can’t tell anyone else, Ayub. I don’t think I was even supposed to tell you.”
Willie knew something was wrong with his boyfriend, but he didn't get to know what. It drove him up a wall and wrecked him with worry. Now that they were apart, he felt he couldn’t even comfort him. He truly did try to ignore it, knowing that Simon deserved the opportunity to tell him when he was ready, but if he sat here how he currently was, he would lose it. In turn, he decided to text Felice.
Wilhelm : BESTIE I desperately need your help
Felice : what did you get yourself into this time?
come over?
Wilhelm : Please! I’ll explain when I get there :(
Wilhelm quickly prepared himself to face his best friend when he remembered that he didn’t even tell her that he had a boyfriend. To say he was nervous was an understatement. She knew he was queer, but he knew that she would feel a little betrayed that he overlooked telling her…Regardless, he hopped out of his car and knocked on his friend’s door.
“Willie! It's been ages,” she pulled him into a tight hug which he was entirely grateful for.
“I’ve been…busy” He looked to the side, avoiding her gaze.
“Oh you are so explaining what that means, but first, come on in!”
He caught her up to speed - not without Felice losing her mind that Willie finally managed to pull- and paused before revealing the true reason why he was here.
“So you’re dating my friend’s brother, where’s the problem?”
“I…I’m not exactly sure about that one. It's been absolutely wonderful- you have no idea. He doesn’t care about my title and I feel like he truly likes me for me. AND he’s so hot. Not to mention-”
“You’re rambling, dear.”
“Right, um so…there’s something going on with him, and usually, he tells me everything, but this time he didn't, which is fine of course, I just think it's something serious.”
“Willie…”
“He was weird when we woke up this morning, and then, he had to take a call. After that…he was definitely shaken up. I just want to be there for him, Felice.”
“Come here,” she pulled him into a hug, “I can tell that you really like him, but if I know anything about him from Sara, it is that he is strong. If he needs you, you have to trust that he’ll tell you.”
“You’re right…”
“I usually am!” The two giggled, “Now it's time for some much-needed self-care! Can I call Mads?”
“Absolutely, I’ve missed y’all!”
“Crazy idea, but what if I also invited Sara?”
“Oh-”
“I can literally see you overthinking”
“We just haven’t told her about us yet…”
“That’s totally fine, Mads should be here in ten!”
When the third of the group finally joined, Willie took a moment to just feel at ease. He sent a text to Simon to let him know that he’d be with friends, but not before ensuring that Simon knew Willie would drop anything to be there for him.
“Who is this simp, and what has he done to our princey poo?” Madison laughed at Wilhelm’s messages.
“Love does some crazy things I guess,” Willie responded with playful vigor.
“Shut the fuck up,” they all laughed.
They all decided to wash their faces and put on some face masks before sitting in a circle with Felice’s crate of nail polish.
“Want me to do your nails, Willie?” Felice gently offered.
“Yes! Are you going to the gala this weekend? Maybe we could do a color to match what I’m wearing?”
“Mhm! Your mother invited me,” she chuckled, “But you want to wear it to the event?”
“That's a pretty big step,” Madison added.
“I’m really trying to get to be able to go public with Simon…” Willie offered his hands to Felice. “I don’t want to do anything crazy yet, but I think nail polish is subtle enough, anyone can wear it after all.”
“Hell yeah!”
“I’m still pretty offended you waited so long to tell us if he’s that serious!” Felice falsified a look of anger.
“I genuinely was so caught up between PR and meetings that my brain couldn’t process anything but Simon.” Willie looked at his friends, “But now, I think I finally have a healthy balance of everything.”
“Thank goodness for that, I can’t lose my best friend just yet.”
“Wait, you never did tell us, how’d y'all meet?”
Madison’s question caused Willie’s face to erupt into flames.
“Oh, there is so a story there,” Felice chimes in.
“I- I'm so embarrassed, why are y’all like this?”
“It was an honest question, Willie, go on and answer..”
“Yeah go on, Willie”
“Y’all are teaming up on me!!”
Felice smacked him with a couch cushion, careful so as to not mess up his nail polish.
“Come on!!” Madison urged him.
“Fine. It was at a nightclub.”
“No way…”
“I- he…I can’t do this” Willie attempted to hide his face on the couch.
“He’s all grown up, Fe”
“I can’t believe it…”
“So did yall have se-”
“That’s quite enough! And I’m a gentleman, so I’m quite offended that you assume I would do it the first night!”
“So y’all have, just not that night? Madison tilted her head as if she were genuinely asking an important question.
“Ye- NO!”
“HE DID, FEEEEEE!!!!”
“Okay, Mads, let’s give him a break”
He glared fondly at his two friends, “ How are you two both the worst and best people in my life at the same time?”