Chapter Text
1.
EVEN
If you would've asked any Norwegian man or woman about Even Bech Næsheim, they would've known who he is. A kind generous boy. Very wise for his young age. Great future leader. National treasure.
You see, Even is a well-known prince of Norway. With his golden smile and friendly blue eyes, he is very loved by his people as he also behaves pretty much as he is one of them. He loves sitting and drinking coffee in public coffee shops, walking through the streets of Oslo, shopping in vintage and antique stores, talking to any citizen who approaches him, attending music concerts and eating in public restaurants. His simplycity and charming personalty made him a role model to a lot of young boys and girls all over the country.
Speaking of restaurants, his grandparents, king and queen of Norway, who Even respects and loves with his whole heart, set him up with their good business friend’s granddaughter, Lady Vilde Lien Hellerud, beautiful girl with big curious eyes, who is now sitting opposite him in a fancy restaurant in the center of Oslo.
Even has met her before and they became good friends, always hanging out and attending events together, but Even has never thought of dating her. Sure, he feels comfortable with her, loves her sense of humor and loves her boldness, but there was never a spark or a thought of this friendship becoming something more. But he eventually said yes to his grandparents just to make them happy.
They were sitting facing each other, waiting for their food and making small talk. It felt awkward for both of them. Vilde was hard to keep eye contact with and it seemed like she wants to say something important but doesn’t have the courage to say it just yet. Even didn’t blame her, so he kept the conversation going.
“You look really pretty, Vilde. Is that a new dress?”
“Yeah, it is. I actually designed it myself.” The dress was pastel pink with a pastel blue bow tied around her waist. It looked nice on her.
“Wow, that’s amazing! Maybe you could design something for me then,” Even jokingly said just to cheer her up a little.
“Yeah, maybe,” Vilde smiled, but her smile disappeared in a moment. She went back to her thoughts and Even had let her.
He started looking around the restaurant. There were a few people there. One older couple, eating their meal in silence, one younger couple, sharing a dessert, and a small group of businessmen on their business dinner. It wasn’t full, but yet again, it was Wednesday evening after all.
Even noticed that this restaurant had long see-through glass wall, where you could see into the kitchen and watch the chefs preparing and decorating your dinner. It fascinated Even, the whole process chefs have to go through to prepare not just delicious, but also mind-blowingly out of this world beautiful plate, that you eventually take pictures of and show it to your friends. Even has great respect for these people, who he even calls artists.
Even watched an older chef decorating someone’s plate, when a new figure joined to help. It was a figure of a young tall boy, and when he turned around to face the glass wall, he had the prettiest face Even has ever seen. Even froze at the sight in front of him. The boy’s focus was on the older chef’s plate, listening and nodding while she showed him the procedure. Even couldn’t stop staring at his pouty lips and his focused eyes. Then the boy nodded, took his own plate and started to decorate it just like he saw it earlier with the older chef. Even figured that he was a new trainee in the restaurant and that made his heart melt a little.
Only when Vilde coughed quietly, he looked away from the pretty trainee boy and focused on her instead. Her eyes were frightened and her hands were trembling. Even watched her as she took a deep breath and looked at her hands.
“Even, there’s something I need to tell you but I’m scared it will ruin what we have between us.”
There was short silence, when evntually Even touched her hand, encouraging her to continue. She still didn’t look up from her hands.
“You see, there’s nothing wrong with you and I think you’re an amazing, handsome guy…” She held her breath: “But I – I like…I like girls?” she breathed out. Then Vilde looked up at Even’s smiling face and her expression changed. There was a spark in her eyes. Her confidence grew.
“I like girls. I like girls! Wow, that’s the first time I said it out loud!” She smiled widely: “And it feels so good.”
Even’s smile grew even wider when he stood up from his chair, went to Vilde and hugged her tight. He was so so happy for her.
“Vilde, you can’t even imagine how proud I am of you! This is amazing and I’m so glad that you told me. And you should know that I’m perfectly okay with it!”
That brought tears to Vilde’s eyes. Her mascara will definitely smudge on his shirt, but Even didn’t care. He really was proud and he needed for Vilde to realize it too.
After the longest hug was over, Even assured her, that he also only saw her as a good friend, and Vilde was very relieved after that.
After all of this happened, they both completely forgot that they are actually in a restaurant on a so called “date”, when a waitress with their dinner arrived. Food looked tasty and wonderfully decorated.
Then Even remembered the beautiful boy behind the glass. He looked up, started searching for him and finally found him standing in the corner of the kitchen, his eyes already looking at Even. Even offered him the brightest smile he can make and when the boy noticed Even looking back at him, he ever so quickly looked down and averted his gaze on the empty plate in front of him, nervously mouthing “shit” and quickly starting to put random food on it. Even noticed his cheeks have gone red and the sight made him all soft in his bones.
Vilde watched the whole thing happening in front of her, also looking at the flustered boy and then turning to face Even, smiling knowingly: “Speaking of me liking girls…”
It was time for Even to blush, averting his gaze from the busy boy and kicking Vilde under the table. “Shut up.”
He smiled to himself and dared one last look towards the kitchen, noticing the boy was already gone.
After dinner he decided that he will do anything just to speak to this beautiful boy he saw once in a restaurant.