Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Looking back, the week after the interview was crazy, but not entirely in the way Wilhelm expected. Everyone at Hillerska already knew the truth, that it was Wilhelm in the video and that he lied, so weird comments and general cruelty were not really a problem. Actually, despite their general feeling of shock about him telling the truth, most people were surprisingly nice.

He got way too many hugs from random people that week–not that he didn’t appreciate it; it just felt weird. He had always been someone who people only wanted to talk to because of his status, but suddenly people wanted to talk to him because they thought he did something amazing. Being seen as human was a feeling that would take some time to get used to, he thought.

Of course, there were a few people who gave them weird looks as they walked down the corridor holding hands, or when they kissed each other in public, but it was mostly just out of curiosity and a little bit of lingering shock. On the rare occasion someone started to say something, they would get death stared by Madison, who had for some reason declared herself their personal protector despite Wille reminding her of Malin’s existence. His security didn’t seem to mind, though, and Wilhelm caught whoever was tailing him smirking a few times when Madison got overprotective.

“We should go on an official date,” Wilhelm said as they ate lunch together one day in that first week. “We haven’t had one yet.”

“Clearly there is something to be said about all of those etiquette lessons if it’s taken you this long to ask me out,” Simon responded, smirking mischievously. “The Queen would be very unimpressed.”

Wilhelm blushed, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend. “That’s not a no…”

Simon grinned back at him. “Of course I’ll go on a date with you, Wille,” he said, giving him a quick kiss before he dragged him to their next class.

They ended up at a small, cosy restaurant in Bjärstad which Malin insisted on checking out before they showed up, despite Wilhelm’s insistence that it would be fine. They were having a strangely nice time, feeling like normal people on a normal date. They had just finished their garlic bread starter and were laughing about how their breaths were going to stink of garlic now when Wille noticed Simon freeze up and then the first flash went off.

The paparazzi had found them.

They were both out of their seats in an instant, grasping the other’s hand as they retreated into a corner and out of the line of sight. Before any of the photographers could get inside the restaurant, Malin was outside and chasing them away. Wille couldn’t really see or process what was actually going on; he’d started panicking as soon as they were away from the windows, but he gathered that Malin did something dramatic or impressive when Simon, who was running his fingers through Wille’s hair to calm him down, said, “Shit, Malin is scary.”

Both of them decided that they didn’t really feel like staying much longer, so, after paying the bill, Malin escorted them back to Simon’s house. “I’m sorry that happened,” she said, noticing Wille’s pale face and the fact that he had been leaning on Simon for support the entire walk back. “I promise that no harm will come to either of you. You’re safe as long as I’m here.”

Wilhelm found the strength to offer her a weak smile back and offered a weak, “Thank you,” before the three of them stepped into Simon’s house.

Dealing with the press actually became easier after that. It wasn’t so scary after it had already happened once. Simon did most of the talking when the press were around, clearly having taken lessons in charisma from Alex. Wille spent large amounts of time talking to Henry about coping with the press. He was getting better over time; he slowly started agreeing to more appearances as long as Simon was there with him. Gradually, he started to feel more confident in his own decisions and words. Having his mother finally agree to getting him a therapist helped massively. He really couldn’t thank Henry enough for that.

He initially started speaking to Elle, the therapist who he met in New York, but they both decided it would be better for him to see someone he could meet in person. His anxiety was still there, but he was sure that once he knew how to deal with it better it wouldn’t rule his life so easily.

It was a really big adjustment getting used to not having to hide anymore and they have had a lot of conversations about this weird change with Alex and Henry. There was a bit of discomfort to start with; everything they did felt forced and it took a while for them to start acting like a normal couple. Well, as normal as one can be when one half of the couple is a prince.

To this day, the four of them still have a group call at least once a week and their group chat is constantly full of messages. They definitely don’t see each other as much as they’d like, but Henry has been visiting Stockholm semi-regularly over the last two and a half years to help set up the youth shelter. The meetings Wilhelm has about the shelter were and still are undoubtedly his favourite of his royal duties; he guesses that is because in a way he chose this part for himself.

The shelter was officially set up by the end of Wilhelm’s first year at Hillerska and is now functioning and thriving. He makes sure to visit as much as he can, following in Henry’s footsteps by going in when he isn’t allowed and working when he isn’t supposed to.

Several weeks have passed since Wilhelm and Simon finished their final year at Hillerska, and they have just recently moved into an apartment in Stockholm. It took a lot of arguing with Queen Kristina to let them live outside of the castle, especially in such a cheap apartment, but Simon insisted that he wasn’t going to let anyone else pay for him, and Wilhelm couldn’t help but agree: “It’s our home, Mamma, not just mine.”

So here they are, having just unpacked the last of their stuff a few days ago, getting ready to start the next chapter of their lives at university.

Wille has been waiting for Simon to come to bed for almost an hour now. He is currently sitting under the covers in their bedroom, phone in his hand while he responds to Henry’s latest message.

Henry had offered Ezra a part time job helping him with the youth shelters after they graduated high school and they took it immediately. It means that sometimes Henry will drag Ezra around the world with him to make his job a bit easier. It also means Wille is always trying to get Henry to bring them to Sweden, a plan which works about fifty percent of the time. Henry has always had a soft spot for their friendship.

Hearing a noise, Wille looks up from his phone to the door to see if Simon is finally coming to bed. After staring at the handle for a minute he decides he is hearing things and turns back to his phone.

He opens his messages with Ezra and they have a quick conversation about seeing each other soon and Wille makes them reluctantly promise to lay off Henry for the flight.

As if realising that his name was mentioned, a very flustered Simon finally stumbles into the bedroom with a huge smile on his face. Wille opens his mouth to ask why he took so long to come to bed but Simon speaks first, “I did it.” His boyfriend literally looks like he is about to burst if he doesn’t get to tell Wille what he did immediately.

“Did what?” Wille asks, smiling purely because Simon’s expression is infectious.

“Wille, I finished the song.”

Simon’s follower count blew up after their relationship became official, and he has been using his newfound platform to talk about LGBTQ+ rights as well as to post song covers. Over the summer, he has been working really hard on writing the music for the first original song he is going to release to the world.

After literally an entire year of begging, he finally convinced Wille to let him use his poem as lyrics for the song. Wille was very against this at first; the poem feels like part of his soul because it is so personal to him, but Simon said the moment he read it he knew that it would make a perfect song. How could Wille ever say no to that?

He climbs into bed, propping himself up next to Wille and plays him a voice note of the finished song. They’re both crying after it finishes. “It’s perfect,” Wille tells him, still sniffling. As soon as they recover, they are out of bed in an instant, deciding that they need to record the song immediately, despite being in their pyjamas.

The next day Wilhelm helps to film a video of Simon singing the song at the piano–he’d managed to save up some money for lessons over the last few years and actually became very good–and they decide to release both the song and the video that evening. It’s all very exciting and they both feel a lot like children again, heads buzzing with restless energy. They phone Linda and Sara to play it to them before the official release as well as sending the video to Alex and Henry on the group chat and getting a string of rainbow hearts mixed with crying emojis back, along with a ‘save some talent for the rest of us 🙄’ from Alex.

“I’m listing you as the lyricist when I post it,” Simon says as they sit at the kitchen table, getting ready to upload the song.

Wille shakes his head. “No, no it’s okay. You deserve all the credit. This was all you.”

Simon turns away from the computer screen to look Wille in the eyes and grabs both of his hands tightly. “I couldn’t have done this without you, Wille. You deserve just as much credit as I do. You’re the love of my life. This song is ours. It always will be.”

“I’m like, one hundred percent terrified to expose myself like this,” Wille replies, resting his head on Simon’s shoulder, “but you’re the love of my life, too. And I am proud of this song.”

They take a picture for the YouTube thumbnail of the two of them doing heart hands with their two pride flag pins resting in the centre and click upload before heading to bed.

“Hi, everyone, my name is Simon Eriksson and this is my first original song, ‘Courage’. The music is written by me and my amazing boyfriend Wilhelm wrote the lyrics. This song means a lot to us both. I hope you like it.”

Whatever Wilhelm and Simon were expecting when they checked their phones the next day, it definitely wasn’t this. The song has completely blown up. Actually, blown up is an understatement. It’s everywhere. Both of their inboxes are flooded with people telling them how amazing the song is and how much it means to them. The video they uploaded to YouTube already has over two million views and is climbing at a crazy rate, and #courage is trending everywhere.

Wilhelm decides he needs to get some fresh air. He has spent the last 4 hours on his phone and he knows it is far from healthy. Simon, however, clearly doesn’t have the same concern. Wilhelm waves to Linda, with whom Simon is currently on a video call, before kissing his boyfriend on the forehead and leaving their apartment with Malin to go for a walk.

When he arrives back at the apartment half an hour later, he is feeling a lot less anxious. He never liked all the attention he got as a prince, despite getting more used to it over the last couple of years, and the unexpected viral success of their song brought back some unwelcome memories from the video being leaked.

He walks back into their living room to see Simon on the phone. His boyfriend holds a hand up at him to stop him from speaking before replying to whatever the person on the other end of the line has just said. “Thank you so much,” Simon says, hanging up and then instantly launching himself into Wilhelm’s arms.

“So, what was that about?” Wille asks, noting the stunned expression on Simon’s face.

“That,” Simon replies, clearly still trying to recover from whatever happened, “was a record label.”

Wille’s jaw drops. “Seriously?!”

Simon nods, shaking with nervous energy. “Yeah, seriously. They want to sign me and produce the song officially.”

Wilhelm doesn’t think he could be smiling any wider if he wanted to. “That’s amazing!” he practically squeals.

He feels like the proudest boyfriend in the world as he kisses Simon before wrapping him in another hug. A hug that feels like home and safety. And courage.

Courage

I was told to have courage
He told me I was brave
But I didn’t have the knowledge
Only warned to behave.

Never been anything but afraid
Anxious thoughts pounding in my head
Better keep up this charade
That’s what they always said.

Perhaps it would calm down
If I could catch my breath
Maybe I could remove her frown
And stop feeling like death.

Courage is strength
In the face of pain and grief
Keeping everyone at arm’s length
You cannot find relief.

Love is not a choice
We should not have to hide
I want to be free to use my voice
But hands and vocal cords are tied.

It’s hard to have courage
In the eyes of a world where
Lineage is not a punishment but a privilege
And hands show thoughts as they run through hair.

Words I have to juggle
Cannot get in trouble
How can I be courageous
When being so is dangerous?

Sometimes the fear is just too much
Clouding vision of what’s real
But I can’t live without his touch
This part of me, I won’t conceal.

Courage is the ability
To do something that frightens you
Also known as bravery
For me it comes in a rainbow hue.

There may have been a royal decree
But you have really taught me
This is not a delusion
It is time for a revolution.