Chapter Text
In time for his 21st birthday, David had returned to Genovia for a special occasion indeed. Queen Moira was to step down from the throne, and it would soon be David’s time to become king.
To celebrate his birthday, his mother was throwing an elaborate party at the palace, and in true Genovian tradition, every eligible bachelor and bachelorette in the kingdom was invited. Unfortunately, this meant David had spent the majority of his birthday so far dancing with people he had absolutely no interest in, and sneaking off for food whenever he could. Of course, sneaking off anywhere was kind of hard to accomplish due to the fact he stuck out like a sore thumb in a bright red velvet suit and a crown.
On his way back from one of his food runs, David was darting his head around trying to make sure that no one was trying to intercept him for the millionth time tonight. Because of this, he wasn’t actually paying attention to where he was walking so he ran straight into someone and watched in horror as the man fell on his back in front of him.
The man made a sound as he fell to the ground after their collision , and David was mortified. “Oh my god. Are you okay? I am so sorry.”
The man on the floor shook his head and then looked up, eyes filled with wonder. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Can you help me up though?”
David scrambled to help, grabbing onto the other man’s arm. “Of course, of course.” It was only after he assisted the man to his feet that he realized a weight was missing from his head. “Oh, shit.” He reached up, frantic, finding that his crown was missing.
“Here.” The man reached out his hand and gave the crown back to David. “I believe this is yours.” His honey eyes sparkled as he spoke.
Feeling much calmer, David placed the crown back on his own head and stuck his hand out in appreciation “Thank you…”
The man accepts his hand, shaking it. “Patrick.”
David found himself smiling warmly.“Well, thank you Patrick. I’m David--”
Patrick laughed slightly. “David Rose, Prince of Genovia. I know.” His eyes did not move from where they were trained on David’s face, and David took a few seconds to check out the man in front of him.
Patrick looked absolutely stunning in a black dress tux, some kind of medal with a purple ribbon peeking out from underneath his jacket. His face was handsome, but more importantly it was also kind--a trait his other partners throughout the night had lacked. With this in mind, David decided to take a leap of faith.
“Do you want to dance?” David couldn’t help but smirk because he knew that no person at this party would be able to say no if he asked.
Patrick simply smiled back, appearing filled to the brim with confidence. David liked that. “Of course; consider it my apology for running into you.” He put out his arm and David took it happily, leading the two of them back to the dance floor.
David had no idea how long the two of them remained there, almost entirely pressed up against one another, just moving to the music. All he knew was that he wished it could have lasted longer. Dancing with Patrick was easily the best part of the night; everything was just fun with him. They talked and teased and just had a wonderful time before David got pulled away for some godforsaken princely duties later in the evening.
It was Patrick and their dance that David just kept thinking about as he drifted off to sleep that night.
The next morning, everything changed. David was sneaking around the castle, just trying to explore without everyone pulling him in a million directions, when he accidentally stumbled upon the Parliament chamber, in which a heated meeting was taking place.
The prime minister began yelling for order before looking at Moira, “I am sorry ma’am but we are not going to end a thousand year old tradition. The boy must marry before he can become king, that is the law and it is not going to change. If he is unwilling to make this sacrifice for his country than we have another young man, the nephew of Mr. Brewer, who is also in line for the throne and has agreed to an arranged marriage if necessary.” David could hear his mother responding but he couldn’t even begin to comprehend what she was saying. He slid down the wall he was up against and pulled his knees to his chest.
David felt like he was going to be sick. He couldn’t just let someone else rule Genovia; he had a duty to his mother and the people of this great nation. So he had no other choice: he had to get married in the next 30 days. He went back to his room and fixed himself before his mother came in to inform him that they would be inviting this mysterious, throne-eligible nephew to stay with them in the palace.
David couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you insane? Why are you inviting the throne thief into the castle?” He motioned around the room for emphasis.
Queen Moira simply waved him off, “Oh come now, David, calm your nerves. If there is any duplicitous behavior occurring, I want to be able to monitor it. That will be most efficiently accomplished if the nephew is here in the castle where Johnny and his team can keep an eye on the little fink.” She just smiled as David huffed. “Now get ready, we are greeting him in an hour.” With a flourish of the cape she was wearing, Moira left David to ponder how the heck he got into this situation.
David pulled himself together enough to put on a pink suit with white detailing that made him feel at ease. That ease stayed with him as he stood by his mother waiting for this mysterious nephew to arrive.
It left the second he saw his face.
Moira shot a questioning look at David but didn’t question his reaction, instead she went to greet the man in front of her. “Oh Patrick, I am so glad you were able to come stay with us for a while. I truly hope you’ll be able to feel comfortable during your stay here.” She put on the same smile that she used in all her meetings, it was the charm of a queen.
When she stepped back, David knew it was his turn to greet Patrick so he approached the familiar man with a wicked smirk. “I agree with my mother wholeheartedly, I really hope you make yourself at home!” He punacted the last word by stomping on Patrick's foot before turning on his heel and heading for the kitchen to go shame eat.