Chapter Text
They still sat at the fireplace hours later, not really talking about anything but also not quite willing to leave each other’s company for the sake of going to bed. It wasn’t really an awkward silence that had fallen over them, but to Prompto it still felt somewhat heavy. As though it was charged with the things still left unsaid.
He seriously considered confessing, then. Seriously played with the thought of coming clean about the way he felt, consequences be damned. Noct had always been pretty accepting of him - all of him – so as long as he tried to play it down a bit, pass it off as nothing but a phase, there would be some hope of things not changing too much between them.
Anyways, he didn’t really feel like taking his feelings to the grave. And once the wedding would roll around it would be wildly inappropriate for him to confess, lest he wanted to start some kind of war with Luna.
All of those thoughts were suddenly interrupted though when Noctis spoke again for what was the first time in maybe a bit less than an hour.
“You know,” he was staring into the fire as if in deep thought, “I really hope everything will work out with the wedding. I mean... even before, people were really looking forward to it,” He snorted a dry laugh. “Don’t ask me why they were, but… I want to make them happy Prom. I really do. And even you guys seem to be looking forward to it for some reason… “
He trailed off slowly, still refusing to look at Prompto.
Prompto on the other hand had difficulties breathing all of a sudden. The warm, fuzzy feeling in his stomach had turned into a solid chunk of ice. He could feel a bitter kind of anger burn its way up his throat.
“Yeah,” he said cynically, without thinking, “We’re all totally looking forward to it.”
He and Noctis both whipped their heads up at the same exact moment once the words sank in and they stared at each other in mutual shock.
Prompto was suddenly terrified.
“I-.. yes, I mean! It’s gonna be great!!”
God fucking damn it.
“I also really look forward to seeing Luna again! Don’t you? And just thinking of all the food makes me hungry to be honest... Do you think Ignis is gonna be the one to make the cake? I mean, he’s gotta be, right?”
He laughed nervously.
But he knew it was a lost cause when Noctis just sat there silently, still staring at him, completely unimpressed by his excited (very fake) smile. He seemed… dumbfounded, almost. Then he slowly furrowed his eyebrows.
“Prompto. What the hell?”
“I was- …”
“No wait, don’t even speak right now,” Noctis said and took a deep breath. “Can you just tell me why you’re upset? Because you definitely are. And I mean, the truth. Do you dislike Luna? Or are you jealous? Or is it that-," he interrupted himself. "… Wait. Wait. Is it that you actually like Luna??”
His expression was beyond disbelief.
Prompto just stared at him and felt himself blush. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this now?
‘Ahaha, no, actually, the one I like is you, ahahah.
“I-..uhm..-!”, there was no denying the panicked squeak that accompanied his stammering.
“Oh my god, you do!” Noctis looked shaken, “You should have told me! I mean, if I had known you liked her-“
“No no no! Oh my God, no! It’s not that, okay? I promise. I don’t…like her that way. Just … don’t worry about it, okay?”, Prom awkwardly scratched his cheek and then got up from his seat in a hurry. “It’s about time we went to bed anyways, there’s probably only a few hours left till sunrise! Bye! Good night, buddy!”
And with that he practically sprinted to the tent, not giving Noct another chance to respond.
Noctis just quietly cursed to himself and buried his face in his hands.
What on earth was he supposed to do now?
It was about a week and a half later – they were all sitting in the Regalia on their way to Lestallum where they would hopefully check into the hotel – when Noct dropped the bomb on them.
Gladio had been the one driving for once, with Prom on the seat next to him and Noct and Ignis sitting in the back. Idle chatter had passed between Prompto and Gladio every now and then but for the most part they had all been minding their own business.
Prompto was busy casually taking photos of a flock of birds flying above them in the sky and relishing the weak rays of the autumn sun when suddenly-
“I’m calling off the wedding”
- Noct’s voice interrupted his daydreaming.
A few seconds of silence trickled by and Prompto stared at his friend’s face in the mirror. Then he whirled around in his seat and just looked at him, his eyes as wide as saucers.
Noctis didn’t seem to care.
“Dude- !” Prom’s voice cracked in disbelief, “Where the hell is this coming from all of a sudden???”
Nobody else said anything.
He turned to face Ignis, absolutely shocked and looking for some kind of support but the latter didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. In fact, Prom could have sworn he saw the hint of a satisfied smile flash across his features.
He gasped.
“Iggy! Gladio! Guys, say something!”
It was Ignis who put him out of his misery.
“I believe we made it quite clear from the get-go that Noctis is in no way obliged to agree to a political marriage such as this, now that the threat of war is no longer upon us,” he said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
Prompto wasn’t buying it.
“Well, yes of course. But he already agreed to it!” He furrowed his eyebrows and looked back to Noct. “And you love her!! And she’s pretty and kind! And…helpful and just… a lot of good things! And so pretty! I mean, wow. Why on earth wouldn’t you want to marry her?”
If he sounded slightly hysterical by then, he didn’t notice.
His best friend didn’t reply at first, only staring at him intently. His expression gave away nothing and Prompto was a few seconds away from ripping out his hair in frustration.
“I never said I loved her,” Noctis then mumbled into his hand, looking out of the window in deep thought. “Of course I care for her, but all these years we barely even talked. We exchanged a message around –what- once a week maybe?”
Here he took a deep breath. “She’s important to me. But she’s not as important as - I mean-.. I don’t think she’s, uh, the one, y-you know?”, with that he suddenly buried his face deeper into his hand and hastily avoided Prom’s gaze again.
The latter took a steadying breath and turned back around in his seat, just in time to see the first buildings of Lestallum in the distance.
This was fine, this was totally fine. Agitated, he used his right hand to comb through his hair and tried to digest the new information.
A tiny speck of hope began to flutter in his belly and he flinched guiltily. He wondered if Noct had already told Luna. If yes, how had she taken the news?
He couldn’t believe it. For the past few weeks he had barely been able to think about anything besides the wedding. Had done nothing but fear the fated day on which Noctis would tie himself to someone else and proclaim his undying love for her.
For hours and hours he had tortured himself with the image of the two of them kissing at the altar, smiling and laughing, maybe crying a bit. He had tried again and again to distract himself, to get over his stupid helpless crush, had tried to find a real interest in Cindy or other pretty girls – without success. And now… nothing.
His biggest problem had dissolved into thin air with only one sentence. The knot of pain and anxiety in his belly had loosened up all at once and it was honestly the most liberating feeling he had ever experienced.
It was surreal.
On the other hand, it couldn’t be that easy, could it?
(First of all, he needed to stop smiling this very instant because best friends weren’t technically supposed to be happy upon hearing news like these.)
What was actually going to happen now? What would they tell the public? Was there still some law about kings having to produce some offspring to keep the bloodline going?? Then again that was kind of medieval but then again Noctis was part of a prophecy and Prompto wasn’t extremely educated about prophecies and what if his great-grandson would also need to save the world and-
And at the end of the day, he realized, his situation hadn’t really changed. Yes, his conflicted feelings about Luna were no longer an issue and he’d no longer have to worry about Noctis marrying someone else and that was…. good, definitely. So good. Gods.
But Noctis had never been his to lose in the first place. He wasn’t getting married anymore, but that didn’t change the fact that Prompto’s feelings for him were hopelessly unrequited. That nothing was ever going to happen between them.
Prompto couldn’t hold back a small wistful sigh as that thought slowly settled in.
For the rest of the drive, everybody was quiet.
“Hey, Prom, you wanna go for a walk?”
Prompto looked up, confused. They had gotten out of the Regalia no more than 20 seconds ago.
“Uhm, sure..? But Noct, shouldn’t we stock up on food first? And check in-“
Ignis didn’t even let him finish.
“Me and Gladio will take care of it. You two be on your way.”
Prom hesitated. He didn’t want to pile all the work onto the other two but at the same time going for a walk with Noctis did sound tempting, especially since he still wanted to talk about what happened in the car. And about whether it had anything to do with their conversation a while ago. Because he’d never meant for Noct to give up on his own happiness just for his sake, so-
“Just go!”, said Gladio while rolling his eyes, “Don’t be back too late, though. You guys should make use of those comfy beds while you have the chance to!”
He winked.
Prompto immediately perked up.
“Aw hell yeah! It’s been way too long since I got a full night of sleep!”
At that, Gladio snorted out a laugh and even Ignis struggled to hide a smile but before Prompto could ask about it he was being pulled away by his wrist.
“You heard them, so let’s get going.”
Prompto was feeling slightly anxious but he gave up on resisting and let himself be dragged away.
They walked in silence for a few minutes and Prompto was just about to ask where they were going when Noctis came to a halt.
They were on one of the parking spaces along the main road. There were no people in the direct vicinity and it was starting to dawn on Prompto that Noctis was also planning on more than just a quick walk around the block with his friend.
The anxiety inside him grew but at the same time he had to force himself to not let the slight tug in his chest (that he refused to acknowledge as hopefulness) get out of hand.
Okay, focus!
“Listen, Noct… I, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Maybe it was rude to bring up his issues when Noctis clearly had something he wanted to get off his chest as well, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Oh sure,” was the easy reply, “What is it?”
There was an interested gleam in Noct’s eyes.
“Man. ‘What is it?’? Are you seriously asking that? Dude, you…you cancelled your wedding. And I- … if it’s anything I said, if it’s because of that stupid talk we had last week, I take it back ‘kay? It was really nothing, I’m sorry. I don’t want you to cancel your wedding. Because of me”
He did, but that was besides the point.
Immediately, Noctis’ expression shifted but he still hesitated before speaking.
“…That’s not it. It’s not because of that evening. I mean- it kind of is, I guess. But also not really. Just… not in the way you think? Damnit. Just- just listen to me for a sec, okay?”
Prompto was about to open his mouth again but Noct didn’t let him.
“You know when I said that I don’t think Luna is the one? The truth is, that’s not really the reason I cancelled the wedding,” he awkwardly scratched his neck, “Or, uh, not the only one.”
After that he fell silent again but there was something about the way he was looking at Prompto that made his heart do funny things.
“What’s the other reason?” Prompto asked, cringing at how scratchy his own voice sounded. The slight tug in his chest had suddenly become a lot stronger and he cursed himself silently. The reason could be any number of things, honestly. Hell, for all Prompto knew Noctis would admit to loving Ignis. Or Iris. Or literally anyone. Or maybe he’d come out as aromantic or whatever the hell else.
But who was he fooling. He was an idiot. A hopeful, naïve, stupid idiot. And he knew exactly what answer he was hoping for.
Noctis looked at him firmly, though the subtle blush on his face betrayed him.
“It’s you.”
His face practically went up in flames after he said the words but he kept talking anyways.
“Okay, this is hard. Alright, here’s what’s up: I can’t marry Luna because while I only see her as a friend there’s someone else who I do see as more than a friend and that someone is-… well, it’s.. you,” he trailed off, unsure of how to continue.
Prompto stared.
“…what.”
Noctis huffed in mild frustration.
“You heard me”, he said and kept looking at the blonde intently. He also looked like he was waiting for some kind of answer.
An answer that Prompto should probably give him right about now.
Speaking. Talking. Any minute now.
Go, you loser.
He started rambling.
“I… no? I mean yes! I mean, are you sure? More than a friend as in.. best friend or like …romantically ahah- I mean-“
“Prom, I want to kiss you. A lot”, Noct grimaced.
Prompto felt his own face and neck flush a bright red colour in response and attempted to stammer a few more incoherent sentences before giving up.
Noct seemed to realize then that his friend was currently unable to form a proper reply. But apparently he deemed the reaction to be positive anyways and Prompto was blessed with a short, wry smile.
“It’s okay”, Noct said, “Just…If you want me to stop, punch me?”, he chuckled awkwardly.
Honestly, Prompto couldn’t have punched him even if he had wanted to because before he even fully managed to comprehend the sentence, Noct was already right up in his personal space. And only the fraction of a second later, he was pressing their lips together.
Oh god.
He barely even realized the surprised squeak he produced because his head was suddenly wiped clean, not a single thought registering anymore as his brain tried to make sense of the situation.
He had just been kissed. By Noct. By his best friend.
Oh god.
Said man had already pulled away again and was studying his expression carefully. Prom’s face must have been mildly amusing at best and downright hilarious at worst because after a second of looking at him Noctis laughed, absolutely delighted.
“So what do you say?”, there was a mischievous grin on his face, “Again?”
Prom’s eyes grew even wider and he nodded before he even realized it.
“Gods, yes plea- mph..!”
He didn’t get to finish the sentence.
This time Prompto let his eyes fall closed, though he couldn’t stop his body from tensing up.
It wasn’t quite like the movies; his legs didn’t turn into jelly and there weren’t exactly fireworks or butterflies either.
It just felt like a strong gust of wind had swept through all of his body, turning his thoughts into a jumbled mess and making his head feel almost empty with just how full it was.
No, it really wasn’t like the movies at all. But it was still oddly magical. Exhilarating even.
Enough so that he could feel the pounding of his own heart against his rib cage.
A warm feeling was slowly spreading through his belly and he squirmed, pressing himself closer against Noctis without thinking, who in return wrapped his arms around his waist.
He could feel the other breathing softly against his face, could feel the muscles in his arm shift as he moved one of his hands a bit further up, could hear the pleased hum Noct made at the back of his throat. For a long blissful moment the whole world was made up of nothing but Noct and it made Prompto want to melt.
After a few seconds Prompto gently pulled away again, opting instead to press their foreheads together and letting himself look at Noct’s face from up close. Noctis seemed to be doing the same and he found himself staring into the blue depths of those eyes.
Somehow it felt a bit more awkward than he would have expected it to, just openly looking at someone for so long, but it made him giddy all the same. Even more so when Noct suddenly moved to press a small kiss to the tip of his nose.
A warm and fuzzy feeling exploded in his chest and it was a feeling so foreign and new that he felt like his smile probably did a horrible job at expressing it.
But Noct smiled right back at him and for the first time in a long, long while he allowed himself to believe that maybe his friend actually knew exactly how he was feeling. That he was actually feeling the same.
God, how was this even really happening.
“You’re absolutely sure you like me, yeah?” he couldn’t really help but ask, “This isn’t out of guilt? Or a… spur-of-the-moment kind of thing?”
Noct looked almost offended.
“Please. I’ve been wanting to do that for years,” he snorted, “I really like you, so stop questioning my feelings already”
“Yeah! Yeah, of course! It’s just…,” for a second Prompto felt himself choke up and he swallowed visibly, “Gods. I’ve wanted this for so long. I’ve liked you for so long but it just never seemed…possible, y’know?”
It really hadn’t. Not with Noct’s obligations, Prompto’s own insecurities, the fact that Prompto was very much a guy - and not even the most attractive guy in Noct’s direct vicinity - and of course the fact that he had assumed Noctis was in love with Luna.
He buried his face into Noct’s shoulder, his hands clinging to the fabric of his jacket, and exhaled shakily. He was not going to cry, no way. He was so not going to cry over this. Not now of all times.
He felt absolutely ridiculous.
Noct slowly began peppering small, comforting kisses over the side of his face, “Yeah, I know. But it is. Gods, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted this.”
If Noctis heard the small sniffing noise Prom made after that (that was really only slightly muffled by his shoulder) he didn’t say anything.
They stood like that for a good minute or two before Prom hesitantly broke the silence again, mumbling into Noct’s jacket.
“We should probably get back, shouldn’t we? I’m not sure people will be too happy about seeing you make out with me. Especially since they still think you’re marrying Luna”
What the public was going to think once they’d find out about the change of plans, Prompto didn’t even want to think about.
“Pffh, we weren’t making out, thank you very much”
Prompto had to forcibly bite down on the “We could have been” that almost burst from his mouth but the suggestion hung in the air between them anyways.
Maybe the implication of that was also the reason why Noctis quickly took him by the hand and really did start walking back towards the hotel- assuming a pace that wasn’t quite slow enough to be casual.
The blonde chuckled helplessly as a fond feeling settled in his stomach but he chose to ignore the questioning look Noct gave him over his shoulder.
Somehow, the walk back to the hotel took considerably less time than the walk to the parking spot had just a short while ago and Prompto felt a weird mixture of excitement and apprehension settle in his bones.
Just how far was this going to go today? How far did he want it to go? He wasn’t even sure they’d be able to act like a couple at all, considering the fact that they had yet to tell Gladio and Ignis about what happened.
So were they going to do nothing? Were they going to share a bed? Hug? Kiss?
God, he wanted to kiss Noct again.
But the hotel was already coming into sight and Noctis didn’t seem like he was going to slow down any time soon so Prompto sighed and resigned himself to the fact that they’d soon join their friends in their room and then go to sleep like they would on any other day.
What he was not expecting was for Ignis to open the door after he knocked and casually hand him a key to a separate room without a single word, not even trying to hide the smug smile on his face.
Looking back at Noctis and his decidedly not-surprised expression however, Prompto realized there was apparently a lot he had missed.
For a moment he felt almost embarrassed but then he shook his head, berating himself.
Instead, he then snorted a small laugh and grabbed the prince by the arm, pulling him along towards their room.
He was going to have to thank Ignis in the morning.