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Chapter Text

WIlbur sat on his chair, chin propped up by his left hand while the other made swirls on the side of his parchment with his quill. His tutor was up at the front of the room, laying out maps and discussing war strategies. Look, he doesn't mean to look bored, but like, its so boring for him, alright? These kind of things are his younger twin's forte. 

"Your Highness, if you would please listen," his tutor sighed when he heard the prince's crown drop down on the desk.

Wilbur gave the tutor a wary smile, "Sorry, it's just, you know."

"I know that to you it sounds boring, but you are 17 and  the crown prince," the tutor started. 

Wilbur rolled his eyes. He's heard of this lecture over and over again that he might as well have it memorized by now. "I'm the crown prince and I should be ready to take over in any case father passes."

"Exactly," the tutor nodded. "Now, shall we get back to our topic?" 

Wilbur let out a groan but let the tutor teach. Soon enough an hour had passed and he was dismissed for a thirty minute break before his next lesson. Wilbur decided that he'd take a walk out in the gardens or something, maybe clear his head for a bit.

When he got there, the place was clear. There was no help going around and watering the plants or trimming the bushes, so it was just him and nature. He walked towards the patio and slumped forward on a seat, his upper body partially laying on the table. Wilbur sighed. 

Look, he wasn't gonna act ungrateful. He has a lovely family, amazing staff, and a high-class lifestyle. Some people don't get to have any of those. But still, there has to be balance. For him, it was all the responsibility that came with royalty. He knows that he has to train to be a great leader because he has a whole kingdom full of people counting on him when he eventually takes over. He doesn't want to be shit at the job 'cause he knows that a single wrong move can spark something big, a war for instance. 

Still though, he wouldn't mind a break from all the lessons he's been taking. All the visiting other kingdoms for treaties, trades or whatever else his dad talks with the other kings while he was spacing out or silently talking with the royal's children. 

Yeah, a break would be nice. 

And so a thought came to Wilbur's mind as his eyes wondered over to a hedge that was against the wall. I can probably scale that wall if I use the hedge. He thought as he stood up, the chair scraping against the ground. 

Wilbur looked around, making sure that no one was around before dashing for the shed where they kept tools and such, searching for a cloak. Lucky for him, there were cloaks there. Probably owned by one of the garden workers. He took it off the hook that kept it hung up and wore it around himself, lifting the hood, hiding his brown hair.  

Once satisfied and convinced that it would be harder to recognize him, Wilbur went for the hedge. He climbed it with ease, those training sessions finally paying off. When he got to the top of the wall, he looked down. It was a long drop.

He searched the area and smirked when he spotted a tree that was close to the wall. He walked to his right and stopped in front of the tree. Well, on second thought, close probably wasn't the right word to describe the distance. He could probably jump to it and grab onto the branch—it looked sturdy enough—and if he failed, he'd have a broken arm at best, but he's willing to take those odds. 

Wilbur jumped and reached for the branch. He didn't catch it, per se, but he managed to slide against the tree's trunk and end up on the ground with a thump. Barely any bruises...okay so his hand was bleeding a bit but no worries, it wasn't bad. He'd just have it wrapped up properly later or something. His handkerchief would do for now. 

Wilbur made his way to the village a bit further away from the castle. He knows that there was one, but it wasn't near any main roads so he never really gotten to see it yet. Hopefully, he won't get lost.

He wandered for a bit and who would have thought that he, Wilbur, Crown Prince of the Antarctic Empire, would be this unlucky. 

"Where the hell am I?" He asked himself as he walked pass trees and emerged at a clearing. 

"In a clearing, obviously," someone said from behind him.

Wilbur whipped his head around and searched the forest for the owner of the voice. "Hey! Come out," he called. 

"Up here, big man!" Wilbur raised his head and found a blond boy wearing a dirty red and white shirt sitting up a branch, holding a small pouch.

"Why are you up there?" Wilbur asked.

"What's it to you?" The boy asked.

Okay, it has been two minutes and the kid was pissing him off. He wasn't used to people disobeying his orders after all. "Come down here," Wilbur said. 

"And why would I do that?" The boy asked.

"Are you really just gonna answer me with questions?" Wilbur asked.

"I don't know, am I?" The kid smirked, throwing a pebble that he got from the pouch at him.

The pebble hit him on the head, but he didn't react to it. "You know, what?" He raised his hands in the air in surrender before turning around. "I'm not even gonna bother."

Wilbur began walking away and smirked when he hears shoes hitting the ground from behind him. "Hey! No one just walks away from me and my greatness!" The boy yelled as he went after Wilbur.

Wilbur rolled his eyes, "And what greatness are we working with here, exactly? Great child annoyance?"

He must've hit a nerve when the boy sped up and was suddenly in front of Wilbur, g;aring at the said prince. "I am not a child," the boy said with a glare.

"Oh yeah? You look like one," Wilbur said.

"I am fourteen!" The boy exclaimed.

"Fourteen? That's literally what a child is!" Wilbur laughed.

The boy only glared at him harder, though it holds no anger nor threat, "At least call me a teenager!"

"Yeah, well mister big guy," Wilbur started, "Do you know where the village is?" He asked.

The boy tensed, "Why do you want to know?" He asked.

"I'm going to visit it," Wilbur said.

The boy frowned at the comment, "Well, tough luck bud, no clue where this vill-age is."

"Why did you pronounce it like that," Wilbur couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, fuck off," the boy said. "I don't question that dodgy cloak of your's do I?" 

Wilbur shrugged, walking around the boy, "Fair enough," he said. He walked aimlessly for a bit before turning around and facing the blond. "Why are you following me?"

"Uhh," the boy's eyes darted around as he tries to find an excuse, "I'm going the same way?" He said, unsure of his answer.

"You literally have no clue where I'm going," Wilbur said.

"Well, neither do you, from the looks of it, so I say we're going the same way," the boy gave him a determined look as he spoke. 

Wilbur knew there was no way that this kid wasn't gonna go around following him, so he might as well let him, "If you're gonna be tagging along, a name would be nice," he said, "or would you rather that I keep caling you kid?" 

That earned himself another glare, "Name's Tommy," the blond said. "What about you?"

Wilbur thought about it, "Wil," he said, "just call me Wil." He decided. The cloak must be hiding his identity very well if the kid, Tommy, couldn't recognize him. 

The boy looked at him skeptically before shrugging, "Alright then, big dubs, where are we going?" He asked as he continued to follow the older male.

"I told you, I'm heading for the village," Wilbur said. 

"And I told you, it's probably not around here," Tommy said. 

"No, you said you don't know where the village is," Wilbur said.

"Same difference," Tommy said.

"No—Tommy, it's really not," Wilbur said.

Tommy let out a sigh, "You know what, instead of walking around not knowing where we're fucking going, why don't we go to the meadow!" He exclaimed.

"Meadow?" Wilbur questioned.

"Yeah," Tommy smiled, "There's one near here, it's kinda cool if I do say so myself."

It wasn't like Wilbur had anything else to do, well he did, but he wasn't going back to the castle any time soon. Besides, Tommy looked really excited, might as well give this meadow of his a chance.

"Alright, lead the way then," Wilbur said. "Don't get us lost, or I swear," he added, only for Tommy to mock his words.

They walked for quite a bit, and—of course—ended up in a meadow. It wasn't like, huge or anything, but the flowers that were present within the grass made the place pop with color. Not to mention the stream that was running in the middle of it all, its water sparkling underneath the sun's rays. 

"Pretty neat, eh?" Tommy asked as he made his way down. 

"Yeah," Wilbur agreed as he followed the blond, still in awe of the place. 

"C'mon, Wil," Tommy called to him, "There's a spot beside the stream where a breeze goes by a lot." He hurried down, but stumbled, nearly rolling down.

"Yeesh, that would have been a bad fall," Wilbur commented with a chuckle as he pulled Tommy up from the back of the collar of his shirt. 

"Why do you have a handkerchief wrapped around your hand?" Tommy asked.

"No thank you?" Wilbur asked.

"I could have easily stopped falling," Tommy claimed as he continued walking.

"Ahh, yes, fight against gravity," Wilbur said, "let's see where that'll get you. I'm guessing that's where you got all that dirt across your shirt."

Tommy glared, this time, heavier than before, "It's not dirt," was all he said.

When the two finally reached the stream, Tommy sat down, patting the seat beside him, prompting Wilbur to sit beside him.

"So, the handkerchief?" Tommy asked.

"Oh, hand got scratched by a tree," Wilbur said, "it was bleeding a bit earlier, so I wrapped it up."

"You didn't clean it then?" Tommy made a face and a disgusted sound, "you're gonna get that infected." 

"It's not gonna get infected," Wilbur rolled his eyes as he unwrapped his hand, "it was barely a scratch."

"You said it was bleeding," Tommy said.

"It's a cut, of course it's gonna bleed."

"Yeah, well it's a cut, it's gonna get infected," Tommy said grabbing the handkerchief from Wilbur and dipping it into the stream, washing it until the dirt and dry blood was gone. He then grabbed Wilbur's hand and dabbed the wet handkerchief on it.

Tommy turned an grabbed something from his pocket, a red handkerchief. "My shirt may be dirty, but this definitely isn't," he said. 

"Why would you say it like that? Now it sounds sketchy," Wilbur said. 

"Bitch! I'm trying to help here," Tommy said, unfolding his handkerchief and pushing it to Wilbur's face, "See?! Clean as fuck," he declared. "And to think that someone would disrespect the great, big man, Tommy," he said as he began wrapping Wilbur's now cleaned cut.

"So," Wilbur started as he watched Tommy work. "Why're you out at the forest?"

"What are you? A knight?" Tommy asked, finally finished with wrapping Wilbur's cut up. He then switched to picking on the flowers around them.

"No, but you knew what I was doing out, so I think this is fair," Wilbur said.

"You willingly told me that you were looking for a village," Tommy continued to fiddle with the flowers. Wilbur frowned at the movement Tommy's hands were making, not knowing the point in it. "But," Tommy continued, "it's not like I was doing anything big. Just out playing around, doing kid stuff or whatever."

"And here I thought you said you weren't a child," Wilbur teased.

"I'm not!" Tommy exclaimed before going back to whatever his doing.

The two spent the next few minutes in silence, but it wasn't awkward or anything—it actually surprised Wilbur that it wasn't, considering that he had met the kid, maybe an hour or so ago. 

Wilbur basked under the sunlight. It was nice. Being outside the castle, that is.There was a steady breeze that tickled his face, and then came a harsh blow of wind, which threw Wilbur's hood back, but luckily he was able to catch it in time so it wouldn't reveal his face fully. "What's up with you and that cloak anyway?" Tommy asked him.

"I just like it, what's it to you?" Wilbur asked.

Tommy shrugged, "You could be a wanted mercenary out to kill someone, but hey, that's none of my business, is it?" 

"...Yeah, alright, I'll give you that," Wilbur said. Now that he thinks about it, Tommy's a reckless, reckless child who just went off with a stranger. 

"C'mon then, off with the hood," Tommy said. 

Wilbur hesitated, but what's the worst that can happen anyway? It doesn't look like Tommy recognizes him, but even if he did, it's not like Tommy could do anything to him. Well, apart from be all formal and just leave him where he is, claiming that he didn't mean to bother royalty. Finally deciding, he fully pulled down his hood and the next thing he knows, something was on his head.

"There!" Tommy exclaimed as he placed the flower crown on Wilbur's head, "Now you don't look like a gloomy arse motherfucker."

Wilbur rolled his eyes at the comment, it seemed like Tommy really didn't know who he was. Judging the fact that he just called him a motherfucker. Who in the right mind would call a person form the royal family that? "I am not gloomy," he defended.

"So you are an arse and a motherf—"

"I'm not that either," Wilbur sighed. "You're an odd kid, you know that?"

"How so?" Tommy raised an eyebrow.

"You literally threw a pebble at me earlier," Wilbur reminded, "and now you're giving me a flower crown."

Tommy shrugged, "It just seemed right," he said. 

Wilbur raised an eyebrow at the comment but thought nothing of it, "Well, the sun's gonna set soon," he started, "shouldn't you be, like, skedaddling back home or something?"

"Not really," Tommy picked on the short grass, "my house's pretty near."

 "Well, I have to go," Wilbur stated, standing up. It wasn't like he wanted to go, it was nice spending time with someone who wouldn't fuss over him 'cause he's the prince, but if he doesn't his dad would probably send out every guard and knight he could find to go looking for him. 

Tommy hummed, "See you soon, I guess," he looked up at the brunet.

Wilbur raised an eyebrow and smirked, "What makes you think we're gonna be seeing each other soon, you gremlin?" 

Tommy pointed at his hand, "You have my handkerchief, stupid," he said. "You're gonna have to give it back," he stood up. "You know where to find me," he gestured to his surroundings.

Wilbur hummed, looking around, letting out a chuckle of amusement, "Until next time, Tommy," he said with a fond smile.

"See you soon WIlbur," he faintly hears Tommy say.

Chapter Text

True to his word, Wilbur headed to the meadow once again after a day has passed. The place was still as beautiful as he remember. He removed the hood of his cloak and began to search for a familiar blond, which was quite challenging, he must admit. Tommy was laying down on the grass, and his yellow hair blended in with surroundings so well that at first, Wilbur thought it was a bunch of flowers crowded together if it weren't for the bright red on the boy's shirt. 

"Tommy," Wilbur called, making the fourteen year old visibly perk up.

"What's up bitch!" Tommy sat up and looked behind him, waving slightly at the brunet. "You actually came back."

Wilbur took a seat beside Tommy, their feet dangerously close to the stream, and to that, Wilbur moved back a bit, not wanting to be walking around with drenched boots. "Well, I did say I was coming back."

Tommy hummed, "I didn't expect you to be back so soon though," he mumbled, looking away from the older.

Wilbur furrowed his eyes, "What do you mean?" 

Tommy just shook his head dismissively, "Nothing, just thought you'd be a busy person," he said. "...Seeing as how old you are," he added to change the topic.

"Old? I am literally seventeen!" Wilbur exclaimed. "You fucking brat, do I look old to you?"

"Yeah, could've fooled me," Tommy shrugged, "I mean have you seen your face?"

"I will literally punt you," Wilbur threatened. 

"Oh no, what ever will I do," Tommy feigned fear, "I'm six foot three, bitch. I can easily take you down."

"Six foot three?! You're six foot one at most," Wilbur countered. 

"Fuck you, fuck you, you are bitch," Tommy cursed him out, resulting to Wilbur laughing his arse off, and Tommy following his lead soon after. 

Once their laughter died down, they settled in a comfortable silence. Wilbur shivered when a breeze swept against his skin. It was understandable as fall was nearing and soon winter. It's gonna be a cold one. Wilbur thought. He glanced at the younger who was once again, picking on the grass. "Are you wearing the same shirt?" He asked.

Tommy looked at him with an offended look, "I'd have you know that I have seven of the same red and white shirt because they are awesome like that."

"Yeah, sure, and it has the same dirt from before?" Wilbur raised an eyebrow. 

"No, it's different," Tommy said. "And again, it's not fucking dirt. What do you take me for, someone who eats mud?" 

"Now that you mention it," Wilbur said trailing off.

"That was rhetorical, bitch!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Ohh, big words," Wilbur chuckled, "If it's not dirt then what is it?" He asked, before making a disgusted face, "Don't tell me it's shit."

"It's not—why, why would you think that?" Tommy asked him with a deadpanned looked. "It's fucking ash or something."

"Ash? Are you burning shit?" Wilbur asked. "You do know that's illegal right?"

"I'm not burning anything," Tommy defended himself, "I got it from a burned thing."

"But it's a different shirt?" Wilbur asked. 

"Yeah," Tommy nodded. 

"Okay?" Wilbur didn't really understand how Tommy got ash on both the shirt he has on today and the shirt he had last time, but he wasn't gonna push for an answer. "Do you have a cloak or something? It's starting to get cold you know." 

Tommy went silent. "I do...I just don't like wearing it."

Wilbur hummed. Maybe he'll bring Tommy a cloak next time he visits. "Anyway," Tommy broke the silence. "Enough about me, what about you, Wil? What's going on with you?"

"Nothing much," Wilbur answered. "Just...studying, reading."

"That's boring," Tommy said. "What about your family?" 

"It is boring," Wilbur agreed. "As for my family,t hey're...home," he answered. "I don't really know much about what they're doing. My dad's usually with my younger twin brother, so yeah. I don't really know."

Tommy tilted his head, "Why don't you hang out with them if you find it so boring?" 

"It's kinda complicated," Wilbur said. How does he explain that he's training to be the next king without revealing that he is in fact royalty. "Let's just say I have a really bright future ahead of me and my dad's making me focus on it. It's really shitty sometimes, since I have to be serious and shit."

"Doesn't he invite you to relax and stuff?" Tommy asked. 

"He does," Wilbur said. "I mean he's a good dad, he's trying his best, I know that. But like he kinda has this whole dynamic with my twin that it'll feel like I'm imposing if I do join them."

"So, what? You sneaking out or something?" Tommy smirked when he saw a flash of guilt on Wilbur's face. "Ohh, you're gonna get in trouble," he teased.

"Oh fuck off, you gremlin," Wilbur rolled his eyes. "It's nice to be out every once in a while you know. I actually was planning to visit the village last time 'cause it's the last place they'd think of looking at if they look for me."

"Huh, so that village's kinda unnoticeable, is it?" Tommy asked, bitterness laced in his tone.

"I wouldn't say that," Wilbur said, picking up on the tone. He'd ask, but it seemed personal and he didn't want to pressure the kid. "It's just it's near the kingdom's boarders and more prone to attacks and all that. I've been wanting to visit it 'cause I heard it's really pretty village."

Tommy hummed, picking up a rock and tossing it to the stream. "Is everything alright?" WIlbur asked. 

"Yeah, yeah," Tommy said. "Just, like I wish I could've showed you where it was, but I told you I had no clue."

"Oh, no, no, it's alright, Tommy," Wilbur said, shaking his head. "I kinda like this place more."

"Well of course you do, I showed it to you," Tommy said, proud of himself. 

Wilbur rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure." 

"Why do you sound doubtful?" Tommy narrowed his eyes at the older. 

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are. I can see it on them eyes, Wil."

"I'm not—"

"—You are!"

The two of them continued to bicker and talk and just hang out for an hour or so, eventually ending with them in a laughing fit. Wilbur sighed as he stared at the stream in front of him. "Oh yeah," he said, remembering something. Digging through his pockets, Wilbur pulled out a red handkerchief. "Here." He offered the item to the blond. 

Tommy looked at him, his eyes flashing a hint of...sadness? But immediately lighting up again. "I thought—I thought you forgot about it," he said with a uncertain chuckle.

Wilbur frowned, "Is—What's wrong, Toms?" He asked, the nickname slipping out, hoping that he'd sound more comforting.

Tommy perked up at the use of said nickname, "I just," he trailed off, subconsciously bringing a hand to his arm and rubbing it slightly as an act of self-comfort. "Will you still come and visit?" He asked. 

Wilbur tilted his head in confusion when it struck him. 

"See you soon."

 "What makes you think we're gonna be seeing each other soon, you gremlin?" 

 "You have my handkerchief, stupid. You're gonna have to give it back."

Their previous conversation echoed in Wilbur's head. The brunet gave Tommy a smile, "Of course I will," he said. Tommy stayed silent, obviously still on doubt. "Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll keep a hold of this handkerchief for now. That way, you know that I'll always come back."

Tommy hummed, "You have yourself a deal, big man," he said, the corners of his lips tugging up into a small smile. "Make sure you give it back to me, yeah? Or I'll fuckin' hunt you down!" 

"Will do, chief!" Wilbur pocketed the fabric and gave a salute with Tommy saluting back.

And just like that, Wilbur finally has something to do that he actually wants to do. So everyday, he makes sure to come back. For his own amusement, as well as a reassurance to Tommy. 

Everyday, the two would hang out, doing nothing in particular. Sometimes they'd just talk, other times they'd be running around, with Tommy screaming bloody murder 'cause he splashed Wilbur with water from the stream. 

This day in particular, they had something to do in mind for a change. They've been planning it for quite a while, so Wilbur was excited. Nothing special really, but it seemed to make Tommy really happy, which in turn made him very happy.

Wilbur perked up once his tutor had dismissed him, signaling the time to sneak out once again. He'd made the mistake the first time he did this to leave before the entirety of his classes was done, but lucky for him, his tutor had forgotten that they had somewhere to go and had to cancel their class last minute. He wasn't aware of it until the tutor mentioned it the next day, to which he responded as if he knew the whole time. 

Like before, Wilbur took the coat and climbed the hedge, this time sticking his landing for he'd been doing it for so long. He had quickly made his way to the meadow and when he saw that Tommy was staring out to the horizon absentmindedly, he decided to do what most people would do in that scenario.

"BOO!" 

Tommy let out a scream, scrambling to get away, tripping on the coat that Wilbur had given him as he did. When he had realized that it was just Wilbur, he let out a brigade of curses, "Fuck, shit, fuck you man!" Wilbur couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. 

"You are such a child," Wilbur said. "Who even gets scared of 'boo!'s nowadays?" 

"Oh shut up, you prick," Tommy said. "You'd be pissing your pants if someone did that to you. I'm betting on that hair of your's."

"Why are you using my hair, exactly?" Wilbur asked, shaking his head fondly as he lowered himself to the ground. "So! How are we doing this?"

"Well, I got a bunch of flowers here," Tommy said, laying the said flowers on the space between them.

"Aww, are you flower boy now, Toms?" Wilbur asked, teasingly. 

Tommy's ears redden in embarrassment, "I just didn't want you choosing shit flowers," he said. "Besides, what's it to you if I did pick the flowers?"

Wilbur chuckled, "Nothing, I just find it very endearing."

Tommy let out a sound of disgust, "Stop it," he whined. "You're being all sappy and I'm not having that."

"You say that as if you teaching me how to make flower crowns wasn't your idea," Wilbur said. 

"Whatever," Tommy said, dismissing the conversation. "C'mon let's start. Knowing you, you'll be shitty at this." He grabbed two flowers.

"I'll have you know that I'm a fast learner," Wilbur said, following Tommy's lead and grabbing two flowers himself.

"Mimimimi," Tommy mocked him. "We have to twist the stem of this flower to connect with the other," Tommy instructed, showing Wilbur how it was done.

"Like this?" Wilbur asked, showing Tommy his work.

"No, more like this," Tommy grabbed Wilbur's hands and guided them.

"Then we repeat that adding another flower," Tommy said, continuing his flower crown.

"Is this good?" Wilbur asked.

"Yeah, but like mine's clearly better," Tommy said, finding Wilbur's handiwork a bit sloppy, which is understandable since this was Wilbur's first time making them.

"Just wait 'til the finished product,"Wilbur taunted.

Yeah, he really shouldn't have taunted. "Oh my—Wil, it's all crooked!" Tommy laughed.

"Still better than any flower crown in the world' cause mine has pizzazz," Wilbur crossed his arms across his chest stubbornly.

Tommy chuckled, "Let's make another one!"

And so they did. They ended up with three flower crowns each. Two made from daisies and one from dandelions.

"Here ya go," Tommy said, standing up and placing all three flower crowns on Wilbur's head.

"You know, at this rate my room's gonna be filled with flower crowns," Wilbur said. "You give me one like every other day."

"They wilt," Tommy pointed out. "If I give you one every other day, that just makes sure that you have a fresh one everyday."

Wilbur smiled, "Look who's sappy now."

Tommy narrowed his eyes at the other before pushing him down with no hesitation. "Die, bitch!"

"Oh no, he took me down!" Wilbur exclaimed, rising up and knocking Tommy over.

The two laughed as they rough housed. Wilbur being careful as Tommy was significantly weaker than him. The boy was fit, but man does his stamina suck.

Soon enough, the sun was starting to set again. "I'll see you soon, yeah?" Tommy asked hopefully.

"Of course," Wilbur said, moving aside a part of his cloak to reveal the red handkerchief peeking out of his pocket.

The way back to the castle was as peaceful as ever, that was until he reached the village that was next to the castle. Guards roamed, which could only mean one thing.

"Wilbur!" Phil exclaimed as Wilbur walked through the double doors, guards escorting him inside the castle. "Where have you been? Do you know how worried I was when your tutor told me you didn't attend your special class this afternoon?!"

Shit. Wilbur cursed in his head. He had completely forgotten that his tutor had rescheduled a class for earlier that afternoon. It had slipped his mind and he snuck out at his usual time. "I—I forgot."

"It isn't the class I'm concerned about, Wil," Phil sighed. "I had the guards search the entire castle for you and to escort you to your class and the next thing I know one of them is running up to me to report the my son's missing."

The more Phil spoke, the more irritated Wilbur became. "Oh, so now you notice?" He asked. "Now when the guards and my tutor had told you that I was missing? You couldn't have noticed on your own?"

Phil furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you talking about?"

"I've been sneaking out for nearly three weeks now!" Wilbur exclaimed. "I thought maybe you were just turning a blind eye on it 'cause you wanted me to enjoy myself out there, but no, you just hadn't noticed."

"You could've told me you wanted to go out the palace, bring guards with you," Phil said. 

"Do you know how annoying that is? People could easily see me as the prince," Wilbur said. "I can't even have normal conversations with the townsfolk 'cause they think they'll be arrested if they do."

"I'm just trying to look out for you Wil," Philza said. "There are dangerous people out there and I don't want anything happening to you. I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner. I was—"

"Busy, I know," Wilbur sighed, walking closer to his father and lowering his head to the other's shoulder. Phil gave him a hug, a hand combing through the brunet's hair. 

"I really am sorry, Wil. I promise I'll make more time," Phil said. "I'll be placing more guards around the castle and the town though. I can't have you sneaking out all the time, it's really dangerous."

Wil sighed but nodded nonetheless.

So he got caught, but will that stop him from visiting Tommy at the meadow? Hell no! Well, maybe not his father, but more royal guards following him around might be a problem. Okay, maybe I wouldn't be able to go back tomorrow, but sometime soon. He promised himself.

And true to his predictions, he hasn't found any opening for him to leave the castle, and it's already nearing a week. Wilbur groaned in annoyance when he realized how long it was. He wonders if Tommy was worrying as to why he wasn't visiting. Wilbur stirred on his bed, opting to lie down on his back, staring at the ceiling. 

The ticking of his clock echoed throughout his room, followed by a soft chime indicating that it was already 5 am. Wilbur hummed, is eyes glancing over the window. I could always...His brain trailed off. Set on his idea, Wilbur stood up from his bed, opened his closet and took out a cloak and blankets. 

So he'd only heard about tying blankets together to sneak out from stories, but he'd been longing to go back to the meadow for days to the point that he's willing to see if the stories are true. 

Wilbur tugged on the knot of the last blanket, making sure it had a good hold on his balcony's banister. He dropped the rest of the pseudo rope down, and lucky for him, it reached the ground, a whole blanket lying useless at the bottom. Wilbur hummed, contemplating what he was going to do. He could fall, but like the hedge, this fall could do some cuts and bruises.

Unless I fall on the ground wrong and maybe break something. He thought as he grabbed hold on it and began climbing down. It'll be worth it. 

Surprisingly, his training still hasn't failed him for he had successfully climbed down with no casualties. Smirking, Wilbur hurried to his escape route—he's been studying the guards patterns and if he was right, he has a small, very small, opening around this time when the guards would swap shifts . If he was quick, he could probably be back before his first class and it'll be like he never left. 

That is if Tommy's even at the meadow this early. Maybe he didn't think this plan through enough.  Hopefully Tommy'd go to the meadow before 9 am. If not...he'd figure it out.

When Wilbur reached the meadow, the place definitely looked a whole lot different when you visit at the break of dawn. He scanned the area, already prepared to see no one around when his eye caught something bright on a branch of a tree.

"Tommy?" Wilbur called out, eyebrows furrowing, wondering what the hell Tommy was doing up in a tree at fucking 5 am. "Tommy!" He called for him, a little louder this time. 

The blond visibly flinched at the sound, groggily sitting up straight, rather than slouching with his limbs dangling dangerously on the side of the branch. Tommy rubbed sleep out of his eyes and narrowed them in search of whoever called his name. 

"Down here," Wilbur said. Tommy looked down and made eye contact with him. The blond's eyes widen in realization, then slowly made his way down the tree. 

"Hey, big dubs," Tommy greeted nervously. 

"Why the hell were you sleeping on a tree? Shouldn't you be home? It's like 5 am," Wilbur scolded. 

"Could ask you the same thing," Tommy said, crossing his arms.

"I'm nearly an adult," Wilbur countered. "You're fourteen. Do your parents even know where you are? C'mon, I'll walk you home."

Instead of leading the way as Wilbur had wanted to, Tommy only looked down—eyes nearly burning the ground at the intense stare. "Toms?" 

Tommy mumbled something under his breath. "What was that?" Wilbur asked. 

"I don't—" Tommy gave up on what he was saying and started walking. Wilbur raised an eyebrow but followed anyway. The walk was silent, and not the comfortable one that they were used to. At the corner of his eye, Wilbur noticed Tommy shivering slightly. He let out a sigh and removed the cloak covering him and placed it around Tommy's shoulders. 

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked, making the motion to remove the cloak. 

"Keep it," Wilbur said, "I came from somewhere warm, you're practically freezing."

Tommy hummed, wrapping the cloak closer to himself, "Thanks."

They continued to walk, and what seemed to be a couple of minutes, Tommy pushed aside a low hanging branch. "We're here," he announced.

Wilbur was...in shock, to say the least. In front of him was a small village—well, the remains of it that is. The area was surrounded in ashes, pieces of wood and house items scattered on the ground. "Tommy, what—" Wilbur looked back at the blond. 

Tommy was looking at the ground, his foot kicking the ground lightly as he spoke, "You know the village you wanted to go to? Well, this is it. It burned down like four months ago. You said it yourself, it's prone to attacks. It was a peaceful night but one of the neighbors started screaming and woke everyone up. The head of our village managed to drive away the attackers, but we weren't able to stop the fire," he explained. "That's my old house," Tommy gestured the the house near the edge. "It's four houses away from the start o the fire. My parent...they uh, you know." He didn't want to say it. "Everyone else moved away and I was...stuck here."

Wilbur could feel his heartbreak. He approached Tommy, arms open. The blond looked at him for a moment before diving in for the hug. Wilbur held Tommy in his arms, chin resting on top of Tommy's head. He could hear soft sniffles from the boy, but didn't mention it, only rubbing Tommy's back in circular motions for comfort. Wilbur swayed them side to side, tightening his hold on the younger whenever he thought of how Tommy probably had to scavenge for his own food and water, live out in the cold, for a whole four months. How did they not notice that a whole village burned down? It was pathetic. What kind of rulers were they. 

Wilbur could feel Tommy start to calm down, "Hey Toms," he started. He didn't exactly wanted to reveal anything to Tommy, but there was no way he was leaving him out here again. "Do you want to stay at my place?" He asked. 

Tommy immediately separated from him. "I'd rather not," he said, his tone sounding angry. 

"Tommy, it's literally fall, you're gonna freeze out here," Wilbur tried to reason with him. 

"Well I don't want to stay in that castle filled with people who ignored the fact that my village burned down," Tommy exclaimed. 

"Wait, you knew?" Wilbur asked. Their village is so far off and never visited that he honestly didn't think anyone from here knew what he looked like.

"Of course I knew," Tommy said. "We waited for help, but you guys didn't come. I've learned about you guys from all the discussions while waiting. When you were looking for the village...I was angry and didn't want you to find is 'cause why would a royal want to see it now. But, after spending time with you...I couldn't stay angry. I genuinely enjoyed your company."

Wilbur's eyes soften, "I'm sorry, I am so sorry we didn't notice earlier. I know that we can't undo what's already done, but I'll talk to Phil and we'll be more alert and will provide more security to vulnerable areas in the kingdom so this won't happen again.

You don't have to stay, but maybe just come along long enough for me to help you find somewhere better to stay? Help you get back up on your feet. Please, Toms," Wilbur said.

Tommy contemplated for a bit, "You'll still visit me?" He asked. 

"If we're lucky I might be able to find you a place close enough to the castle to visit you everyday," Wilbur smiled. "I still have your handkerchief, don't I?"

Tommy hummed, "Alright big man," he said. "We can still go back to our usual spot sometimes though, right?"

"Yeah," Wilbur nodded. "In the meadow we spent time in."