Chapter Text
WILHELM POV
Since the 'coming out incident' surprisingly I hadn't been chased down by reporters too much, for now. After my official statement on the matter, it wasn't brought up much again. My mother still hasn't forgiven me and honestly, I don't really care at this point.
For the past few weeks I had been surrounded by so many bodyguards it was mental torture, being a prince sucked, to be honest. I felt bad for my brother who was the crown prince, he had so many responsibilities and could just watch me live my life while he was trapped.
It's frustrating how the media always twists the actions of the monarchy to fit their fucked up narrative. Even the recent Instagram post of me coming out as queer, which was clearly made to stop the girlfriend rumours, caused an unnecessary uproar. But I'm not dwelling on that anymore. Today, I turn 18 and finally have the freedom to go places on my own without a swarm of bodyguards following me around all the time.
Of course, my mother hadn't even come to say happy birthday to me and just sent a 'servant' as she called them, to bring the message. I thought it was cruel to think of them as servants, they were normal people with ordinary lives outside of just serving the Queen. Unfortunately, nobody else but Erik saw things from my point of view.
I thanked the woman and rolled out of bed, excited for the day ahead. I was free-ish? My mother couldn't control much of what I said or did anymore which was a giant burden off of my shoulders for now. She'll probably find a way but she was so busy with the upcoming ball she most likely didn't have time for me. I was glad.
I was led out of the castle by bodyguards who all wished me a happy birthday, even Malin did which was sweet of her. She was like a blessing to have as my closest bodyguard I would miss talking to her every day, even if she gave me dry responses in return.
After I was out of the gates, I was really on my own. I suddenly felt nervous and brought my palm to my chest for comfort, walking at a reasonable pace. Nobody had noticed me yet though I was bound to get a few whispers and stares, people could be so rude to someone still young like me and it was overwhelming at times.
I didn't even know where I'd go first, I hadn't had anything to eat prior so maybe a cafe would be a nice place to rest for a while and wake myself up a bit, I had spent a large quarter of my night reading and was exhausted, a nice hot coffee seemed very appealing right now.
As I walked aimlessly, I pulled out my phone and googled the nearest coffee shop I could find, screw going to a cafe. Even though I had lived in Stockholm all my life I had never been outside much to know where the hell to even find a coffee shop.
Why the fuck was the connection so bad in this part of town? I stopped and tried holding my phone in the air to get some signal, but nothing. I sighed and slipped my phone back into my pocket.
That's when I saw it, a small little coffee shop on the corner, it looked cosy and most likely wasn't very busy at that time. I got excited, running over to peer through the glass, there were only a few college students working inside so I was sure I wouldn't be harassed by fangirls. Them girls were intimidating.
I pushed the door open to hear a little bell ring as I walked inside, a few people looked up at me but didn't seem all too bothered to see I was there.
The place was beautiful, fairy lights hung around the place and twinkled beautifully, with posters and magazine pages filling most of the walls to create a sort of homey look. I had never often been in such a place that wasn't coated in expensive items before so this was a big change.
I secretly loved it.
I made my way to the counter and rang the little bell that was placed next to a mini cash register, "ring bell for assistance" was printed on a little sheet next to it.
I chuckled a bit as the bell chimed, it was something I was so unfamiliar with as usually I never had to order my food or drink, it would usually already be placed out for me. I felt almost free.
I waited a few seconds before a short boy with dark curly hair walked out from a small door that read, "staff only" on the front.
As he approached me, I felt my stomach go weak, how could I be this hungry but feel so sick? I stared at the boy as he smiled weakly at me, why was I staring so much?
His eyes were a beautiful golden brown and wore a black apron that had obviously been rolled up to make it seem shorter for some unknown reason. The boy looked like he really didn't want to be here but also had such a charismatic aura to him that dare I say, almost pulled me towards him. What was this feeling?
As I scanned his apron more, I realised his name was Simon by the little tag on his chest accompanied by a small pride pin on the side that read "gay bitch". I was a bit taken aback due to the fact I didn't even know you were allowed to wear something like that to work, and also at the fact he was gay.
I had always supported gay people, I mean I'm literally queer myself and the royal family luckily supported them too. My mother was still very unsure about the situation and constantly scolded me for making that Instagram post. I didn't care.
"You can stop staring now", I was snapped out of my trance by the boy at the counter who was looking at me with a playful smirk on his face. His hands were placed on the counter as he leaned forward slightly to balance himself.
I could feel my face get hot from embarrassment, "sorry I was just thinking", I replied, laughing a little to try to break the bubble of awkwardness.
"You're fine." he laughed, giving me a slight smile which made my heart flutter. What was wrong with me? I could feel myself turning even more red so I just blurted out whatever I could think of.
"Simon". What was I thinking? He looked at me confused before pointing to his badge and stifling a laugh. "Yes idiot, my name is Simon". I felt so embarrassed but tried to keep my cool which was hard due to my heart beating at a million miles per hour.
"Sorry uh- can I get a coffee?" I asked, grinning slightly at him, though he could probably tell how hot I was becoming as I brushed my forehead slightly, why was it so hot in here?
He rolled his eyes at me and passed me a menu, "which coffee would you like?" Somehow I couldn't stop smiling even though Simon probably thought I was stupid.
I scanned the text and pointed, "what's a mocha?" I think he definitely thought I was stupid because he burst out laughing.
I looked at him bewildered for a second, I really didn't see what was so hilarious he felt the need to burst out laughing in my face. "What's so funny?" I inquired, a slight frown on my face from the fact I was being ridiculed.
He looked up at me and his face turned serious, "you're not joking?" He smirked a little, probably still finding the whole thing amusing to him. I shook my head.
"Well it's like- coffee and chocolate, how do you not know what a mocha is?" He stared at me dumbfounded and I could feel my cheeks go red under his gaze.
"I don't know- I always get my coffee brought to me though a mocha sounds good, I'll have that". I could feel myself getting nervous under his gaze and bit my thumbnail for comfort, looking at Simon in embarrassment.
He laughed a little as he pulled out a cup and began making my coffee, "You get your coffee brought to you huh? Wh are you? The prince of Sweden?" He laughed at his own joke as I realised he really didn't know who I was. This would be amusing.
"I mean- yeah I am." He stopped what he was doing to stare at me again, his face hardening but he still managed to keep his cool. My stomach was churning now and I felt strange, the boy was pretty cute which I'd never really realised before.
He smiled at me for a second as his eyes softened, "I didn't recognise you at first, I'm sorry". What was he sorry about? Why was he apologising? He did nothing wrong. As this encounter took place, another employee walked out of the staff room and began to serve another customer beside me.
"What are you sorry for?" He started on making my drink again though still looked up at me from time to time. "I mean it must be hard- the media and stuff you know?" He really got me?
How could some ordinary boy know exactly how I felt? I could feel butterflies in my stomach again and this time it hit me. I had a crush on this boy.
I mean who stares at someone like that in a normal way? Had I acted weird and blown my chances with him? He's really kind to me I don't want to seem weird.
I nodded my head at his remark and soon realised I was ridiculously hungry, I hadn't eaten all day and it was 10am. "Oh could I get a slice of red velvet cake too please?" He rolled his eyes at me and went to grab some from a display on the counter but I could tell he wasn't actually annoyed, it was something else I couldn't quite make out.
I was nervous but spoke up, "so how old are you?" It was quite a stupid question to ask but I was plucking at straws at this point, just wanting to find an excuse to stalk this Simon boy.
"I'm 18" he replied, smiling up at me as he wrapped my cake in a green paper to keep it safe. How could someone's smile be so attractive?
"You're quite short for 18", I replied in a playful manner, laughing a little as I could see him get embarrassed.
"Just genes I guess", he shrugged it off but honestly his height was sort of cute. I could feel myself blushing while he fumbled around with the cash machine for a moment.
"Here you go that will be 4.79 SEK". He announced as he passed me the cake and coffee cup over, I felt a bolt of electricity as our fingers gently glided over each other. I blushed a bit and I looked down at Simon to see him looked very embarrassed.
I realised I had forgotten to give him some money so I quickly fumbled around in my pocket for a 20 SEK note and passed it to him. He looked at me confused as this was obviously way too much money.
"Keep the change", I winked and walked away as he stood there dumbstruck, I couldn't tell if it was because I had tipped him or the fact I had winked at him. I really hoped it was the second option.
I made my way over and sat down in the closest booth to where Simon was and scrolled on my phone, sneaking glances at him every once in a while. It seemed he was doing the same thing as I caught him looking at me a few times. Did he like me too? Did he even know I was gay? I mean, it was all over the news after all.
After a few minutes of staring at Simon, he caught me again. I blushed a lot and turned away but then I saw Simon walk over to his co-worker. What was he doing?
He whispered something in her ear while looking in my direction, she smirked a little and nodded her head. From here I could see her name was Maddison due to the tag on her chest, she had dark black hair and also wore a pride badge. Was everyone here gay or something?
I glanced back at Simon who was now taking his apron off and humming to himself, and my heart dropped. Had his shift finished? I turned my attention back to my phone in utter defeat, I'd probably never see this boy again.
A few second later I heard someone clear their throat and sit down across from me. I looked up from my screen to see Simon grinning at me, my heart almost jumped out of my chest seeing him so.. close.
"It's rude to stare you know" he laughed, placing his elbow on the table and resting his hand on his chin, tilting his head to stare at me. His cheeks were flushed and he still looked exhausted. Shit he noticed I was staring.
I blushed, this was my chance, "I just like looking at you". Did that sound creepy or flirty? I wasn't very good in situations like this but Simon just chuckled.
"Oh really now?" He smirked mischievously and I felt myself get hot again, I nodded my head and smiled at him sweetly, not wanting to break eye contact.
"I didn't know the prince was such a romantic", Simon smiled lovingly at me and I honestly nearly died right there, how could he look so beautiful while teasing me?
This was my only chance with him so I had to go for it, "would you be interested in going on a date with me?" I held my head in embarrassment to prevent Simon from seeing my red face. I don't know how long it was until Simon replied since I was in my own world, I was shaking.
"If you actually look at me I might consider it", I could hear the hint of playfulness in his voice, and my heart began pounding, my winter jumper suddenly becoming uncomfortably hot to sit in.
I could feel Simon grab my wrists, his hands were so soft and felt so.. right. I slowly removed my hands from my face to stare at a now-blushing Simon, he knew I was embarrassed and would probably tease me for the rest of my life about it.
I felt his fingers lace between mine as I just stared at him, I was so in love with this man it hurt deeply. "So?" I asked, almost silently pleading with him to say yes, to love me.
"Hmm I guess I could spend some of my oh-so-precious time with you", it took me a while to process what he had just said and when I realised he wanted to, I smiled brightly at him.
In pure excitement, I got up and launched myself on Simon's side of the booth, pulling him into a hug, his head now resting on my shoulder.
I could get used to this.