The Prince and the Youtuber

Dan Howell is the Prince of England and the first grandson of a late King, and Phil Lester is a famous Youtuber who turns out to be the first grandson of a late King’s Hand, the best friend of the late King. On one night of celebration of their daughters’ pregnancies 18 years ago, the best friends made a drunken pact to marry their first grandchildren to each other the year they both turn 18, completely forgetting to consider that their first grandchildren could both be male.

Notes:

For .

So, I deleted my phan blog recently and all my fics went with it, so I decided to post this one here as a whole fic! The entire thing is in first person POV (a mistake, I know) but I think I actually did pretty well so hey, give it a chance maybe. :)
(Warnings: character death, slight depiction of homophobia)

(See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.)

Work Text:

[18 years ago]

“P-p-Peter! Come here!” King Gerard ordered. He raised his goblet from the table and gestured for Peter, the King’s hand, his best friend.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” Peter asked, walking beside to where the King was seated.

“Stop the Your Majesty crap, you little shit. Come, sit down, and join me. Let’s drink!” The King laughed, and pat the seat next to him. His face was already very red, obviously having already drank half the wine supply of the entire English territory.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Ger—“ Before Peter could even finish his sentence, he was already dragged by King Gerard down to the seat beside the man, and was already being forced to take a goblet from him. “Shut up, Peter, and just drink with me! Join me in my celebration!” The King laughed, happy tears seeping from his eyes.

“Fine, fine. I’ll drink,” Peter didn’t argue anymore. He knew it was pointless, and besides, one drink wouldn’t hurt. “Anyway, what are you on about?” Peter asked, leaving his clipboard on top of the table, then downing the wine from the goblet in one go. It went straight to his head. King Gerard pat his back lightly, and put one arm around his shoulder.

“I’ll tell you later. First, more wine!” King Gerard filled Peter’s goblet with wine up to the brim. Peter stared at it in disbelief and looked back at the king, wide-eyed. “You wanker. Are you being serious right now? Are you trying to make me pass out?” The king laughed and laughed, sputtering out the wine that was in already in his mouth, his face turning even redder.

“I am being serious. And did you just call the King of England a wanker? I could have your head on a silver platter for that, you know!” The king joked, and they both laughed. Peter and King Gerard drank goblet after goblet of wine in the next few hours while exchanging random memories about their shenanigans around the palace on their younger years, laughing at every single one. Good times, good times.

“Soooooooooo… Gerard. W-w-will you tell me now why are we drinking?” Peter slurred, already pretty drunk.

“Weeeeeeeeeell… The princess is pregnant!” The king exclaimed, and he laughed again, more tears falling from his eyes. “My only daughter is pregnant and I’m going to be a grandfather soon, haha!” He dragged Peter off his feet and hugged him, jumping up and down in excitement.

“Oh! That’s great! In that case, w-w-we’re both going to be grandfathers soon!” Peter started, an expression of full drunken delight on his face. “What, Peter? How come? Are we married?”

“No, stupid. M-m-my daughter is also pregnant! 4 months now! We’re both going to be grandfathers!” Peter chuckled.

“Really?! Then they’re both going to give birth next year!” King Gerard said, his face looking as if he’d discovered the cure to the problems of all of humanity. “And so?”

“We should marry them someday, don’t you think?” the man said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. “It’s a good idea, I’m telling you!”

“I don’t know, Gerard, don’t you think it’s a bit much?”

“Nonsense! This is a great idea! Take this and start writing this down,” King Gerard grabbed the clipboard and gave it to Peter. Peter just stared at him, puzzled. “Well? What are you waiting for? Grab a pen and scribble all the shit needed to start a royal order, you know how that goes!” The king’s hand started writing hurriedly.

“Are you really sure about this Peter? I mean, y-y-you’d have my commoner family on your royal family…?” Peter asked, still not wrapping his head around the situation—probably because of too much alcohol.

“I’m really sure! And shut up, you’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to a brother. Don’t be silly. My family would be honored,” the king said sincerely. The two men hugged, smiling at each other after breaking apart. “So, are you done?” Peter nodded. And so, the king started.

“I, King Gerard, King of England, hereby declare that my first grandchild, the child of my daughter and his husband, Princess Annaliese and Prince Douglas, shall be married to the first grandchild of the King’s Hand, Peter Lester, on the year the children both turn eighteen years of age… Did you get all of that?” The king asked, reading what Peter had written after his words. “Okay, you got it. Now, give me it.” He took the paper and put it on the table, and signed his name. Then, he gave the pen to Peter, asking him to sign it, too. Peter signed his name, then shook the king’s hand.

“Write this thing again, on another paper. For your grandchild.” Peter nodded and wrote the whole thing again. They both signed it again and together with the first copy, they put the pieces of paper aside along with the clipboard, and spent the rest of the night drinking and telling stories until they both passed out.

[Present day]

*Phil’s POV*

“Hey guys! How’ve you been? Okay, that was stupid since you obviously can’t answer me since you are a camera.” I laughed, then continued.

“In this video, I tell you the story of how I’m actually… royalty,” I dragged the last word out in a deep voice and with exaggerated hand movements to increase drama.I should add some hard hitting sound effects right there when I edit this.

“Okay, just kidding, I’m not really royalty. But my grandfather sort of was! And I am not making this up. Same with the fact that my mum is a lobster,” I chuckled. “But seriously, my grandfather was the late King’s Hand, Peter Lester. You could even look it up if you still don’t trust me. I’m a totally reliable internet source, you know. Did you know chicken nuggets are actually made from cat meat?!” I widened my eyes dramatically, holding my breath. More intense sound effects.

“Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away 3 months before I was born and a month after the late King Gerard had passed, so I never really got to know him. My mum told me that my grandfather and the King were best friends since the two of them were just teenage boys. So, today, I will tell you cool stories about their adventures as told by my mum to me, and as I told by my grandfather to my mum… Storyception! Apparently they met during…” I droned on and on about the stories my mum always told me. I really liked them because I got to know how great a man my grandfather was even though I never met him. I also liked his and the king’s adventures when they were young which were just so hilarious. What made me like them more is the fact that they sounded like normal misadventures of two teenage boys, although they really we’re stories of the king and the king’s hand.

“That’s it for this video, guys! And today’s Draw Phil Naked is…” I wrapped up filming, stood up and stretched. My stomach rumbled. I missed lunch. I got so caught up in filming, I didn’t notice that I was filming from 9 AM to 3 PM. I went to the kitchen and searched the cupboards and the fridge for something to eat, and failed. I need to order from Tesco’s again soon, I noted to myself. I’m still getting used to feeding myself since I just moved out of my parents’ house this year. I’m 18 years old and my mum cooked for me up until the day I moved out. Way to go, self. I chuckled and shook my head. Giving up on finding food anywhere inside my flat, I just got my phone, ordered pizza, and waited on the lounge while browsing Tumblr.

After what seemed like a thousand years of ignoring my stomach’s rumbling, finally, there was a rap on the door. I ran to it clumsily, hastily opening the door, looking expectant. My face dropped when I saw that the man stood outside my doorway was definitely not holding any pizza for me.

“Are you Phil Lester?”The man questioned. Now that I got past his betrayal of making me run for the door thinking he has my pizza, I started to notice what he looked like. He had greying hair, brushed up to the side, and he was wearing a really official looking suit. And when I say really, I mean, really. He was wearing a smart black suit with a logo embroidered on its pocket. I could strangely recognize the logo, but I can’t quite put a solid name on where I saw it.

“Uhm, yes? That’s me?” The last sentence wasn’t really meant to be a question, but it came out as if it is, making the man raise one of his eyebrows in suspicion.

“Are you sure? Do you have ID?” I nodded and asked him to wait. I ran to my room and got one of my IDs from a drawer and ran back to meet the man again. I gave it to him and he scrutinized every single detail from it, looking from the ID and then at me, the ID, and then at me. I started to get anxious and nervous with the way he’s looking at me and my ID, as if there is an intense need to confirm my identity. Finally, he nodded at me, handing me back my ID. I let out a breath of relief that I didn’t even notice I was holding in. Before I could even stop myself, I started blabbering.

“So… What is this about, sir? Is anything wrong? Am I arrested? I swear I didn’t do anything!” The man stared at me, looking at me like I was crazy. Then, he did the most unexpected thing… He laughed.

Now, I was the one left staring at him stupidly, while he laughed at me. It took him a while to recover, but when he did, he got a letter out from the inside of his coat and handed it to me.

“No, sir. I was just ordered to give you this letter. It’s said to be top secret so I just had to make sure that I was not handing it to the wrong hands. I was sent here by the palace.”

“The p-p-palace?” I inquired nervously.

“Yes, sir. The Buckingham Palace.”

*Dan’s POV*

Contrary to popular belief, I’m not actually the hottest bachelor in England.

All the magazines and newspapers seem to say so, making me seem perfect. For instance, they make me look like I’m great at golf when I get photographed every once in a while I’m out in the golf course with my dad. They take pictures of me which seem to make people think that I’m good at the sport, when in reality, I can only hit the ball on my fourth swing or so, hitting the grass plenty of times before actually sending the ball to the air. Hell, I can’t even putt the ball on the first try even if it’s like 4 inches from the hole. I’m that bad.

I don’t even know how they even benefit from all this, building up a great character for me. Or maybe I do? I’ve been told that girls had posters of my face on their bedroom walls. Apparently, I’m a heartthrob of some sort to the eyes of a lot of girls, and magazines and newspapers sell a lot when they cover things about me, even when they’re almost always lies that contradict who and what I really am. I can’t really complain, though. After all, the Prince of England must maintain his good image all the time, and apparently, making me seem super cool and attractive and sporty equals the good image thing—or so the PR team of the palace says. They say that people won’t admire a prince who’s into a lot of video games and making funny short films. They say people admire a prince who’s good at sports, on piano, and has every cliché characteristic of a Disney prince that you could think of.

A bell rang, and suddenly, I was separated from the mess that was my thoughts. I looked at the time on my ancient clock that was hung between my Muse and My Chemical Romance posters which were framed on the wall. It was 12 PM.

There was a rap on the door. “Your highness? Can I come in?” I sat from my bed, fixing my appearance and grabbing a book, to seem as if I was reading, and not mindlessly staring at my bedroom’s ceiling for 4 hours straight.

“Yeah. Come in.” The lady came in and curtsied. “Your highness, the king and the queen request for your presence in the dining hall for lunch time.”

“Okay. Tell them I’ll be right down. You go on ahead.” I smiled at the lady, and she smiled back. She backed away until she reached the outside of my room and hurried to go back to the dining hall as soon as she did. I stood up from my bed and immediately checked my appearance on my full length mirror. I was wearing a grey knit jumper, with a collared shirt and a blue necktie inside, and some black slacks. I noticed that I wasn’t wearing any shoes, and so I walked into my closet, and chose to wear a random pair of black leather shoes amongst tons of choices. After deciding that I looked decent and casual enough for my parents’ taste, I headed down.

Towards the end of our lunch, my mother whispered something to my father while she was looking at me, and he let out a chuckle. I raised an eyebrow at them questioningly, and they just smiled at me, and proceeded on finishing what’s on their plate. Curiosity made me lose my appetite and I failed to finish what’s left of my dessert, and just settled on just waiting for my parents to speak up.

“So… Daniel.” My mother started, bringing her right arm up the table, resting her chin on her hand after our plates were all cleared up, a knowing smile planted on her face, her eyebrows wiggling up and down. My dad laughed at her gesture hysterically, completely forgetting he was supposed to be prim and proper as he was the King of England. He caught himself after a while, ending his laughing fit with some awkward coughing.

“Yes? Do you have something to tell me, Mum?”

“Actually we do.” My father answered for her. “And it’s more like we have something to give you.” He rang the small bell on the table, and suddenly, one of the maids were coming out with a covered silver platter. My dad opened it, and revealed a single unopened letter inside it. He took it and gave it to me.

“It’s from your grandfather, King Gerard. It was one of the things he left for you. It was given to us by the old ladies who keep track of palace records. We didn’t know about it until this morning. Apparently, the king gave them strict orders from 18 years ago that this letter should only be given to you, his first grandchild, and strictly on this particular day, which is the 1st of August, 2014. Nobody knows what’s written on it except the king and the king’s hand.”

I scanned the envelope. It was old and brown, and the paper was already crisp. The flap was stuck with rubber—the red royal seal. The outside read, “To King Gerard’s first grandchild, to be given on the 1st of August, 2014”

I looked up to my parents, and both of them looked expectantly, nodding their heads at me in encouragement. “Go, open it.” The queen said excitedly.

With my hands shaking in nervousness, I fumbled with the envelope and gently opened the flap. I pulled out a folded piece of paper inside it, making a smaller folded piece of paper fall on the table.

“Should I read it out?” My parents nodded. I opened the small paper on the table first, leaving the bigger paper in its place.

“Have a great and happy life, my grandchild. Love, grandpa,” I smiled.

“That’s adorable, Daniel,” My mum said in awe. I picked up the other paper, and held it up for my parents to see. “So, this then?” They nodded, and I started reading aloud again, more confidently this time. This couldn’t be worse, right?

“I, King Gerard, King of England, hereby declare that my first grandchild, the child of my daughter and his husband, Princess Annaliese and Prince Douglas…” My breath hitched, my eyes reading the rest of the paper silently. My eyes started to prickle with tears.

“Is anything wrong, Dan? Are you okay? What does it say?” My mother said, already panic stricken with my state. I continued, my voice breaking, my body shaking.

“S-s-s-hall be married to the f-first grandchild of the King’s Hand, Peter Lester, on the y-y-year the children both t-t-turn eighteen years of age…” I choked.

“…I-I-I’m getting married.”

*Phil’s POV*

The man with the greying hair handed me the letter. It looked old. To emphasize things, it looked even older than me. I scanned the envelope and found red rubber stuck on the flap with a logo stamped on it, the very same logo on the man’s coat. So, that’s why it’s familiar. It’s the logo of the Buckingham Palace, I thought.The outside said, “To Peter Lester’s first grandchild, to be given on the 1st of August, 2014”

The letter looked really legitimate, but I still can’t wrap my head around the situation. Someone must be trying to prank me.

“Am I being pranked? Did Joe Sugg hire you to prank me? Caspar Lee? Chris Kendall? Who sent you?” I poked my head out of the doorway, looking around for hidden cameras out in the hall. Nothing. “Come on now, let’s not be silly.” I started to laugh nervously, and the man started to tilt his head to the side, concern written all over his face.

“Sir, are you alright? I’m afraid to say, this isn’t a prank. This letter came straight from the people in charge of the Palace records and I was ordered to deliver it to you, personally. Apparently, it’s super important. Nobody knows what’s in it, only your grandfather and the king did.”

“But why does this concern me? I didn’t even get to meet my grandfather.” My forehead creased in confusion, still not getting what’s happening.

“I don’t know, sir. But maybe you’ll understand when you open it.” The man put his hand on my arm and gave it an assuring squeeze, smiling. I nodded and smiled back.

Suddenly, a man in a cap appeared behind the man from the palace, and the two of us looked at him. He looked at the two of us, startled and confused with the attention, and coughed awkwardly.

“I, er… Pizza for Phil Lester?”

MY PIZZA, OH MY GOD.

“That’s me!” I pulled the money out of my pocket and paid him and took the box of pizza from his hands. With a ‘thank you’ and nothing else, he left and I was alone with the man from the palace again.

“Do you want to come in, sir? Come and eat some pizza!” I asked politely.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, sir. I’m on a tight schedule, and I think you’d do better finishing that pizza by yourself,” he chuckled. “Anyway, I’ve got to go now, sir.” He gave me a small nod and turned to walk away. “Hey, thank you for this, sir!” He looked back one last time and grinned, then started walking away again. With that, I shut the door, and went back to the lounge, putting the box of pizza and the letter side by side on the coffee table. I sat on the sofa and excitedly opened the box. PIZZA, GET INSIDE ME, I screamed inside my head as soon as I saw the contents. My stomach rumbled, as if agreeing to my thoughts.

After gobbling two slices in a record time of 36 seconds, I noticed the letter again. I decided I should open it later after finishing the whole pizza, but my curiosity got the best of me. I wiped my hands on my jeans and picked up the letter. I tried to open the flap carefully since the paper looked so old, but I still ended up tearing the flap messily as soon as the thought of late Hogwarts letters arriving crossed my mind. I laughed at the mess that is the envelope I tried so hard not to tear apart. Finally, I was able to pull out a folded piece of paper, a smaller piece of folder paper falling on my lap in the process. I opened the larger piece of paper and read.

““I, King Gerard, King of England, hereby declare that my first grandchild, the child of my daughter and his husband, Princess Annaliese and Prince Douglas, shall be married to the first grandchild of the King’s Hand, Peter Lester, on the year the children both turn eighteen years of age.” What.

I read the words over and over again until it sunk in, but it still didn’t. What is this? Under the words, the letter bore the signature of my grandfather, and wait— is this an actual signature of the king?

What?

Now, this must really be a prank, I thought. I bet whoever’s pranking me is going to tell me so on the other piece of paper. Shaking my head amusedly, I opened the smaller folded paper.

“Welcome to our family, child. I am honored to have one of Peter’s in my family tree. With great regards, King Gerard of England”

Again. What?

Reading the words on the smaller piece of paper, I started to get anxious. But, I still kept in mind that this must be a prank. I mean, I can’t be actually engaged, can I?Is that still a thing nowadays? And more impossibly, I can’t be actually engaged to royalty? I shook my head and chuckled to myself. I picked another piece of pizza, leaving the pieces of paper on the coffee table.

On my fourth slice, I started to think of the royal family. I knew for a fact that the late King Gerard had two children, the older being the Princess Annaliese, who is now the queen, married to the now king, Douglas, and the younger child being Prince James, who isn’t married to anyone. Halfway through my fifth slice, I thought of Queen Annaliese and King Douglas’s children, and realized that they only had one—the only royal child of the new king and queen, the only grandchild of the late King Gerard. Prince Daniel.

Upon realization, I started to laugh. This prank has Chris Kendall written all over it. He’s the only one who knows that I have a massive crush on the hottest bachelor of England and oh, this prank is gold. I decided to ring Chris, still amused of all the effort my best friend has gone through just to prank me. Chris picked up on the third ring.

“Ayo, what’s up, gay boy?” I just broke out laughing upon hearing his voice. “Hey, is everything alright? Why the hell are you laughing?” He asked, his voice sounding concerned.

“Oh, just drop it, Chris. You know what I’m talking about!”

“I actually don’t?” I started to laugh again, waiting for Chris to tell me about the joke already. But he never did, so I just stopped laughing. “Hello, mate? Are you still there? Phil?”

“Are you being serious right now, Chris? Because I thought you just gave me the funniest pranking I’ve experienced in my ent— Wait, let me put you on hold.” There were two beeps from my phone, signaling another incoming call. Unknown number.

“Hello?”

“Is this Phil Lester?” A woman spoke.

“Yes? Who is this?” I bit my lip as I waited for her to answer.

“This is Katherine Adler, from the Buckingham Palace. You are invited by the royal family to come to the palace tomorrow for dinner. We will send people to pick you up at exactly 4 PM. Please wear formal clothing,” she spoke fast, not even messing up a single word.

“Uhm, what?” Chris got so into this prank, he practically asked someone to call me while I was calling him about the prank. Typical. I heard the woman sigh at the other end of the line and I could just imagine her rolling her eyes at my stupidity.

“Okay,” I said, prolonging the sound of the ‘o’. “Thank you.” I chuckled.

“Alright. We’ll be expecting you tomorrow,” she said indifferently.

“Sure. Bye.” I hung up, and put Chris on the line again.

“Phil? Is everything alright?” he inquired, a hint of concern in his voice again. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve believed him. I shook my head lightly in amusement.

“Yes, everything’s alright. You got me! And you got me good, man.”

“Phil, I swear on your dad’s porn stash I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said innocently. He’s so great at acting and changing his voice.

“Sure you don’t. Anyway, bye man! Just tell me when you need to talk about my reactions to the prank for your video!” Chris never fails to make me laugh.

“Wait, Phil, I don’t—“ I hung up before he finished talking. I bet he was recording the whole of our phone conversation.

After all that, I decided to watch some TV while finishing my pizza. I carried on doing that until night fell. I felt a little sleepy around 7 PM and just settled on mindlessly browsing the internet again and editing my new video on my bed until I fell asleep at around midnight, the face of Prince Daniel being the last thought in my mind.

“Hey, Phil. I think… I think I like you,” Prince Daniel said to me, before he closed his eyes and leaned in for a kiss.

*Dan’s POV*

I couldn’t believe what’s happening.

I wished it was just some kind of a sick joke but I knew it wasn’t. The letter, everything in it, it’s legitimate. The silent tears were falling uncontrollably, and what’s worse is that I was crying in front of my parents, and everyone else present in the dining hall. If I wasn’t feeling so grim I would be embarrassed, but right then, I just didn’t care anymore. Suddenly, I felt my mother’s arms around me, and I just lost it. I cried on her chest and sobbed, as she soothed me by drawing patterns on my back with her hands.

“Now, now, Daniel. It’ll be alright. I’m sure you’ll like her. She’s chosen by grandpa, and grandpa could never go wrong, okay?” She just kept on reassuring me. Releasing me from her grasp, she lifted my chin and she stared at me lovingly. “Why don’t we go upstairs to your room and let’s talk about it some more, alright?” I smiled and nodded. Giving one last nod to my father who looked worried, I allowed my mother to take me back to my bedroom. When we got there, we both sat on my bed. At first there was nothing but comfortable silence, her hand rubbing my left hand with her finger soothingly. My mind was filled with thoughts and they were all over the place. When it got too much, I blurted out what was bothering me the most.

“Mum, I haven’t even experienced falling in love yet, and now this happened,” I sobbed. My heart felt empty. She pulled me in for a hug, and we stayed like that for a while.

“Shh… It’s okay. You’re okay. You hear me, Dan? You’re okay. Let’s just see how this works out first, alright? If you don’t like her, we won’t force you to marry her. Just give it a shot. For your grandfather.”

“Alright, mum,” I mumbled, my head still buried in her shoulder.

“I have an idea. Let’s invite her to dinner tomorrow? I’m pretty sure your grandfather had two of those darned top secret letters so she probably knows about this by now, too,” she giggled. I managed to do it with her, surprisingly. “Sure, let’s do this.”

“Alright, I’ll go on, then. We need to do some preparing!” She looked pretty excited, and I just had to smile. She shuffled out of my room and I could literally hear her heels clapping on the floor as she probably ran out to talk to the first palace employee she could find.

I hope this all works out, I thought. I removed my shoes and laid back on my bed, letting one last tear fall from my eyes before I closed them and drifted off to an afternoon slumber.

I could only hope.

*Queen Annaliese’s POV*

My son’s engaged! I thought.

Although I didn’t show it, I was actually pretty excited about the whole thing. I’ve always imagined my little Daniel getting married to a nice little lady when the time comes. I’ve always wanted to have a daughter. I hoped this person my son’s engaged to was the one princess we’ve all been waiting for. I was a little nervous about the whole thing, but I am more thrilled about it. My father never went wrong, and I have faith that this won’t go wrong, too.

As soon as I saw a palace employee, I immediately approached her.

“Lydia!” The maid looked at me, startled, and she immediately curtsied. “Your Highness… How may I help you?”

“I’m pretty sure you know about the prince’s… Thing, right?” I inquired.

“Yes, Your Highness,” she nodded. “So, there was another letter just like his which was sent out there today, I assume?” She nodded again. “Yes, Your Highness. The old ladies from the palace records were the one who sent it out.”

“Oh, alright. One last thing, then. Do you know who it was sent to, then?” I smiled at her, eagerly waiting for her answer.

“Yes, Your Highness. Almost everyone in the staff knew the name as soon as the letter was ordered to be sent out since almost all of us were instructed to find information on Peter Lester’s first grandchild.”

“Okay, then! I assume Katherine knows about the information, too?” She nodded. “Tell her to invite the Lester family tomorrow for a formal dinner.” She nodded in compliance. “Yes, Your Highness. I will pass your message on.” With a smile, she turned to the direction of the palace offices, and started to walk. But then, I remembered she hadn’t told me the girl’s name.

“Wait, Lydia! Wait!” She turned around again. “Yes, Your Highness?”

“What’s her name, then?”

“Phil Lester, Your Highness.”

“Phil? Well, that’s a peculiar choice of a name for a girl. Is it Phil for Phyllis?”

“No, Your Highness, it’s Phil for Philip. The first grandchild of Peter Lester is a boy, Your Highness.” She nodded and smiled one last time. Before I knew it, she was gone, and I was left dumbstruck.

Looks like we’re not getting a princess anytime soon.

*Phil’s POV*

I woke up with a smile on my face.

What a great dream, I thought. I’ve never actually had the prince in my dreams before, so when I woke up from one hell of a dream about him, it set me in a good mood. It was 9 AM, and I decided to get up and start my day. I ate cereal, watched an episode of Breaking Bad on Netflix, and then took a shower. Before noon, I remembered that I have almost nothing else to eat for the next few days so I just settled on getting the groceries from the shops myself this week, instead of ordering online. I felt particularly in the mood today for a trip outside my flat, and so I went. It took me an hour to get everything I needed and at half past noon, I was sat back in my lounge, eating burgers and chips I bought from Nandos for lunch. After that, I decided to change into my pajama bottoms—and just my pajama bottoms—knowing I won’t be coming out of my flat for the rest of the day and no one else is coming over so I might as well just keep it comfortable.

For the rest of the afternoon, I just continued editing and putting the finishing touches to my latest video, exporting the file at around 3 PM, uploading it on YouTube around half past 3.

“MY GRANDFATHER IS NED STARK. :o Watch my video to find out more! RT for hugs <3” I tweeted the link to my latest video like I always did, and tweeted a few random retweeters. Finally satisfied with the amount of people I have tweeted, I decided to just read and reply to the comments on my latest video. I was about to reply to my third comment that day, when suddenly, there was a knock coming from the door. So, I shut my laptop, then walked to the door, opening it to see whoever it was.

It was the same man with the fancy suit bearing the palace logo.

“Oh hey, it’s you again! Where’s Chris?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in knowing suspicion because I’m already in on the joke.

“Who’s Chris, sir? Anyway, there’s no time. Why aren’t you wearing a suit? Didn’t someone call you yesterday? Let’s just go. I’m sure we could find you a nice suit when we get to the palace. Just come with me.” He said everything in a hurry, then pulled me across the hall, my flat’s door automatically locking behind me. Before we reached the lift, I got to my senses, just realizing then and there what was happening.

“WAIT!” I loosened his grip around my arm. “Where are you taking me?!” I almost yelled at him.

“I already said. We’re going to the palace, sir. The Buckingham Palace.” He took my arm again and pulled me towards the lift.

“This isn’t funny anymore! I’m not even wearing a shirt, for crying out loud!” With that, he stopped. For a second, he looked confused, but then, it seemed like he understood.

“I know everything’s a bit surreal, but just trust me, Sir. Let’s go. We don’t have time.” I nodded, and asked one last thing. “Can I at least go back and get a shirt and put on some shoes?” He shook his head.

“No, sir, I am assuming you left behind your keys inside your flat and we have no time to get a spare from your landlord. Besides, you’d be provided a nice suit in no time.”

As if on cue, the lift reached our floor and we went in and down in silence. The man still held my arm, as if I would try to escape from his grip. To be honest, I was thinking of attempting that but I thought, let’s get real. I mean, even though the man was probably already in his fifties, he could still probably take me down with one punch assuming that he was pretty muscular under his suit which was hugging his body, and I was pretty scrawny.

We went out the building and he guided me towards a sleek-looking black limousine. Another man in a suit opened the door for us, and I went in first, the man with the greying hair following behind. I sat in silence as the car drove, and the man talked into his radio with words I couldn’t make out. If they were talking in code, they were certainly succeeding in making it unintelligible and not understandable. So, I just concentrated on my surroundings. The inside of the car was fancy, with expensive bottles of champagne present and various kinds of sophisticated-looking finger food on silver plates on one corner of it. Wow. With this observation, the facts started to sink in. This is not a prank. Chris wouldn’t splurge all his money on renting something as expensive as this just for a laugh.

I am actually headed to the Buckingham Palace right now, oh my god oh my god oh my god.

For the rest of the journey that seemed to take like forever, I zoned out, getting lost in my thoughts, still unable to wrap my head around the whole situation. But then, our not so little car ride came to a halt.

“We’re here, sir. Welcome to the Buckingham Palace.”

Bloody hell, I was inside the Buckingham Palace, sitting on a very expensive-looking couch, wearing just my pajama bottoms and nothing else.

I felt like I’m in that episode of Sherlock, but my situation was way more embarrassing. I’m a pale and scrawny 18-year-old boy, wearing nothing but my pajama bottoms which were by the way, Sesame Street ones. Heck, I wasn’t even wearing boxers underneath them. Oh, and I was barefoot, too. Just great.

I was told by the man with the greying hair, his name’s Stephen apparently, to just stay and wait right there in what he called a lounge, but in my eyes, it was the huge lobby of a five-star hotel.

Finally, after a few minutes, women entered the lounge—two of them pushing racks of clothes, four others holding towers of boxes of what I assumed were shoes, and an old woman who looked terrifyingly strict. They walked near where I was sitting, and stopped just before the wheels of the racks reached the carpet. There was silence and a lot of gawking in awe from my side, which was broken by a cough.

“What are you still doing sitting there and doing nothing?” the old woman said, sternly. I immediately shuffled to my feet and walked over to her. “Sorry,” I mumbled. Then, it started.

The other assistants put suit after suit in front of me for what felt like hours, shuffling all over the place to find clothing the old woman would approve of, until at last, she settled on a sleek, all black tuxedo, with a black vest and black shirt and all—and paired it with a white bow tie. “Go there. Put this on,” she instructed, pointing to a door at the end of the room. I was about to go, but then it hit me.

No boxers.

“Erm… Ma’am? I sort of have a problem?” I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me already. It was already embarrassing as it was. I cringed at what I was about to ask her. She raised her eyebrows questioningly, and I continued.

“I, uhm… I don’t actually have any underwear on, underneath, er, these.” I fiddled with my fringe, my face already turning bright red with shame.

The whole room was silent—all the women, including the terrifying old woman, stuck staring at me.

And then the old woman burst out laughing.

“You silly boy,” she said, wiping a tear from under her glasses. “Girls, go back to the closets and find this boy a pair of boxers.” They all complied, giggling as they did. After a minute, they found me boxers, and the old woman handed them to me.

“There you go. Now go and put some clothes on and come back out again so we can fix you up. Hurry up or you’ll get cold. Or worse.”

“Or w-w-worse, what?” All emotion left her face and she just raised her eyebrows and gave a glance towards my… crotch.

“Oh! Yeah, okay! Thanks for these!” With my face even redder, and everyone else laughing, I kept my head down, half running to the door she told me to go to. After reaching the inside of the room, I immediately put the clothes on. I took a few minutes to do some breathing exercises before I went back out. The women fixed me up in a matter of minutes, and at last, it was over.

“Well!” The old woman clasped her hands together. “Don’t you look nice?” Her face softening into a smile. She pulled me in front of a mirror that was on one of the walls of the lounge and damn.

I smiled upon seeing my reflection. Boy, these women knew what they were doing. I was never one to bathe in self-adoration but damn. I looked hot.

“Thanks, ma’am! I really appreciate all this.” I gestured to myself.

“No problem. And call me, Martha. I have a feeling we’d be seeing you here quite a lot, sir.” She smiled. “Now, please excuse us as we were just instructed to help you get dressed. Just sit and wait back there on the couch.” All of them gave me small nods that I all returned and once again, I was alone.

I sat back on the couch and sighed.

So, this is really happening, huh, I thought. I leaned back and closed my eyes, thinking about everything that’s happened so far. So, all of this isn’t a prank, I finally accepted that, and I relaxed a little. But realization hit me like a very fast train. And my eyes shot open once again, my body frozen.

OH MY GOD, I’M ENGAGED TO THE ACTUAL PRINCE OF ENGLAND.

*Dan’s POV*

I slept in for the rest of the afternoon, only to be awoken by the dinner bell. I asked the maid who woke me to send a message to my parents that I’m skipping dinner. Luckily, no one came back to force me to eat downstairs and a tray of food was just left in front of my door instead. I took it inside my bedroom and ate as much as I could with the little appetite that I had. I felt like throwing up, but I also felt weak so I told myself that I had to eat.

At around 10 PM, I tried to sleep again, but I physically couldn’t. The fact that there are a lot of things going inside my head didn’t help, too, and so, I decided to sneak out—well, not actually sneak out. I’ve always had some help from the leader of my set of bodyguards, who is Matthew. He’s the closest thing that I have for a best friend and an older brother because he always helps me out with my constant need for freedom, even though he knows that he could lose his job in the time we get caught. And so, I rang him.

“Are you going out, sir?” He immediately asked as soon as he picked up. He was whispering, and I assumed he’s probably stuck with my other bodyguards.

“Yes, I am. Please wait for me in the usual place?” I walked over and looked below from my bedroom window. Luckily, no one was on the lawn.

“Yes, sir. I’ll be right there.” There were shuffling of chairs and I heard him make up an excuse to go out. As I waited for him to arrive, I changed my palace casual clothes to the clothes I preferred wearing which were black skinny jeans and a black shirt with an eclipse on it. I put on rubber shoes and a zip-up hoodie, stuffed my money and phone into the pockets, and went back to waiting by the window. Within five minutes, Matt was already below on the lawn, looking up my window. I opened it, and started to talk.

“Did you bring it?” I mouthed, my voice just a little louder than a whisper. He nodded, and held up a key. “Go get it, then!” He was gone for a few minutes, walking back slowly with a thick rolled-up rope ladder in his arms. The drop from my bedroom window to the lawn was only about 20 feet, but unlike cliché bedrooms of royal people in movies, my bedroom didn’t have a balcony, nor thick vines I could climb down.

“Throw it now, Matt!” When he did, I caught it with my hands, nearly missing it. We did this often, so I was already used to the weight of the thick rope. I immediately worked my hands with hooking the ladder to my bed, which was the most stable thing inside the room that could hold my weight. After securing the ladder, I looked below the lawn again and gave him a thumbs up. Matt held onto the ends of the rope and pulled it downwards, stretching it for more stability. I started to climb down and reached the end immediately.

With that we cautiously ran across the lawn, hiding behind bushes from time to time to avoid getting caught, and reached the small gate that opened to a narrow tunnel that lead outside which was long forgotten by everyone else except me and Matt. No one used it anymore because it was so narrow and dark so the gate was always locked. I asked Matt to steal the keys from the security personnel before, which he gracefully did, and they never even noticed they were missing. He opened the lock for me and went ahead of me to go inside the dark tunnel. The tunnel stretched for about for about 4 meters, and Matt unlocked the second gate. The gate opened to an alleyway and I said goodbye to my friend.

“You know what to do from here. Thank you.” He nodded at me and smiled.

“Keep safe, Your Majesty.” He ran back inside, already knowing our protocol, locking the gate that said “KEEP OUT”. He was going back up to my room and pull the ladder up, and put it back down again and open the gates for me when I get back.

I pulled my hoodie up and walked out of the alley and embraced the freedom.

It was nearly midnight, and I was sat alone on a sofa in a corner of the little coffee shop that was inside a thrift bookstore, hunched up with reading. I bought an old copy of Chuck Palahniuk’s Rant and I was feeling contented. Reading and drinking a Caramel Macchiato together never goes wrong. Fortunately enough, I never got recognized by anyone so my stay in the corner was peaceful.

At a quarter past one, I decided to go back. It only took me a few minutes to go back to the alleyway with the gate. I was about to call Matt, only realizing that my phone isn’t anywhere on me.

“Shit! It must’ve fallen off my pocket when I was in the coffee shop!” I ran back to the coffee shop as fast as I could, stopping just outside it to catch my breath. I stepped inside and walked to the corner I was sat in, only to realize it was already occupied by a boy, who had my phone in his hand. He was examining it, his forehead creased with curiosity, as I was standing there, just watching him awkwardly. I pulled my hood up, almost covering my eyes, and decided to just cough to get his attention, without drawing much attention to my face.

“Yeah?” He looked up, and spoke. His voice sounded like he just recently hit puberty. “Do you need anything, mate?”

“Actually, yeah. That’s sort of, uhm… my phone. I left it here just now.” I was starting to feel uncomfortable, my hands starting to clam up.

“Oh, yeah. Here.” He handed it to me, smiling. “I was just about to open it and find clues on how I could return it but I guess that won’t be necessary anymore. You’re sure this is yours, yeah?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure. You’re a lifesaver. I thought somebody had stolen it by now.” I chuckled. “Anyway. I better get going. Thank you...?” I held out my hand for him to shake.

“Troye.” He replied and shook my hand. “No problem…?” He asked, his voice trailing, obviously asking for my name. Oh no. I immediately racked my brain for a fake name.

“Err… Rant. I’m Rant.” My hand immediately found my fringe, guilt taking over me. I forced a grin, and gave him a small nod. His eyes widened. “I better get goi—“

“Hey, wait a minute! I think I know you! Aren’t you—“ His hand started to reach for my hood but fortunately, I was able to turn around immediately and ran out the door. I kept on running, never looking back, until I got back to the alleyway with the gate. I urgently rang Matt and in a few minutes, I was back inside the confinements of the palace, stuck staring at my bedroom’s ceiling again. I looked at the clock. 1:46 AM. I should already be sleeping, but my mind keeps telling me that I still had a lot to think about.

First, I still had the mess which is the fact that I was apparently engaged, thanks to my grandfather, and I just found out today. I didn’t really want it at all. I wanted to find love and get married in my own time, but I promised my mother that I would give it a shot—for grandpa. I just hoped whoever I’m engaged to… I just hoped she’s nice. I wished I had a few more days to condition myself about this whole ridiculous thing before I met her, but I guess that wasn’t possible because she was already invited to come over for dinner that night.

Second, I got recognized for the first time in my late night adventures. I hope the boy won’t tell anyone. And if he does, I hope nobody believes him. I don’t want to get in trouble. And more importantly, I don’t want this little piece of freedom taken away from me, too. I guess I won’t be having any more late night sneak outs soon, just to be safe.

And with that, I finally let the exhaustion take over, and fell asleep.

I dreamt of drowning in an ocean of deep blue eyes that night.

And I was actually pretty happy about it.

Everything around me was shaking. I’m shaking.

“Sir?”

I started to stir and squint, the light from outside blinding me. The maid was holding my arms with both her hands. Oh, she was just shaking me awake, I figured.

“Sir, are you alright?” I sat up and tried to rub the sleep from my eyes. It wasn’t working very well. I still felt so tired.

“Yeah, don’t worry. Uhm… What are you doing here?”

“The queen instructed me to wake you up, “whatever it takes”, sir,” she answered, making quotation marks with her fingers exaggeratedly. I chuckled. “I’m sorry for waking you up, sir. I was just following orders.”

“That’s alright. What time is it, then?”

“Oh, it’s 3 PM. You overslept, sir. We tried to wake you up for breakfast and lunch a while ago, but you wouldn’t even respond to anyone who tries to talk you awake. The queen let those pass, but she obviously isn’t letting you sleep more now.” She giggled.

“What’s that for then?” I inquired, noticing a bucket of water beside the maid’s feet.

“Oh. That. Your mother told me “whatever it takes”, right? So, I was going to use that if you weren’t going to wake up when I shook you.” My eyes widened and I immediately stood up from my bed. “That’s better, Your Highness,” she teased.

“I hate you all, you know,” I joked. I put on some bathroom slippers. “I’ll go down now and grab something to eat. Let’s go.” I was already at the doorway, but she just shook her head.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible at the moment, sir. We’re already running late.”

“Running late for what?” Huh.

“The dinner, sir. Don’t you remember?” CRAP. I totally didn’t remember, I thought.

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry.” With that, she held my arm and pulled me in the hallways, passing a lot of doors, until we stopped in front of one.

“Why are we in front of Martha’s office?” I asked, the maid knocking at the door.

“She’s going to be in charge of dressing you up as usual, sir, as it is a formal dinner.” The door opened, revealing the old woman. She smiled and nodded at us. “Good, you’re here. We were waiting for you.”

She let me stand in front of a large full-length mirror, while a few other girls put up suit after suit in front of me, waiting for Martha’s approval. After what seemed like hours, she finally gave a thumbs up at an all-white suit, pairing it with a silk black neck tie. “Put this on, Your Highness. You could change over here, we’ll wait for you to come out so we could do the finishing touches,” she said, guiding me to a door. When I entered, it surprised me that the small door led to a large bathroom I never knew was there. I put the suit on quickly, and come out. They immediately worked on me, fixing my tie, and everything. The finished product was amazing, as usual.

“Thanks, Martha. You guys killed it.” She shook her head. “We’re not yet finished, Your Highness. You’re still wearing your slippers, look.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just put on shoes when I get back to my room. I’ll go now, alright?” I glanced at the clock on her table. It was already 4:38 PM. I said thanks to everyone and went outside. I ran downstairs to the kitchens, luckily there wasn’t anyone there in the moment—they were probably setting up on the dining hall, I thought—grabbing anything edible enough to satiate my hunger, careful not to mess up my suit. It was nearly 5 PM when I finally felt full, and so I ran back upstairs to my room.

I put on my all-white Chuck Taylor’s. Formal dinner, my ass.

At 5:54 PM, there was a knock on my door. It was my mum. She gave me a quick hug and talked.

“Are you ready?” I nodded, and we went to the dining hall together, glad she didn’t notice my shoes that obviously violated whatever formal meant.

When we reached the hall, there was nobody at the table yet except for the king. There were seven plates set up, making me raise an eyebrow at my mum. “Seven plates?”

“Yes, we invited the family, too.” We stood up in front of our seats and our table out of courtesy, to wait for the guests to come in. I started to get nervous, my hands starting to sweat. My mum, the queen, who was beside me noticed, and she held my hand. “It’ll be fine.”

At exactly 6 PM, the set of double doors from the far end of the hall opened. There were two maids guiding what I assumed was the family my mum was talking about. There was a lady who I assumed was in her fifties who had beautiful ginger hair, and she was with who I assumed was her husband, gripping his hand tightly. Behind them, there was a girl with beautiful ginger hair like her mother. Is that her? All of them had worried look on their faces although they were smiling. Of course they’re nervous.

They reached the table, and everyone exchanged simple greetings, compliments and regards, shaking hands here and there. I was about to ask about who was the last person we we’re waiting for, seeing that nobody sat between the older ginger-haired woman and her husband, when the double doors opened again. Everyone fell silent, and stared at the person stood at the double doors.

It was a boy. He was wearing an all-black ensemble, except for a white bow tie. He had jet black hair, cut into a side fringe, almost like mine. He kept his eyes down the whole time he walked to the table, taking a stand in front of the seat beside the older ginger-haired woman—the seat in front of me. He hugged the other family, and I assumed he was also part of it.

“Hello everyone. King Douglas, Queen Annaliese,” he nodded and held out his hand for my dad and my mum, shaking their hands and smiling, although I noticed that he still seemed to keep his head a little bit down. Finally, he held his hand out for me.

“Prince Daniel.”

The moment our hands touched, I fought the urge to draw my hand back out of surprise. Both of our heads shot up, our eyes wide, staring at each other.

There was a spark, and I could tell he felt it, too, judging by the way his hand loosened its grip for a split second, before holding it properly again. We shook hands, and my father asked everyone to take a seat, but I can’t look away from the boy’s gaze.

His eyes we’re blue, and I couldn’t decide what kind of blue it was. One second it’s like the ocean, deep and calming, and another, it was sort of electric, sending shivers down my spine. His hair and his eye colors were in perfect contrast with each other, the black bringing the blue out of his eyes more. I started to notice that among his family, he was the only one who had black hair. He must’ve dyed it that way, I assumed. Further into our little staring contest, I noticed that his eyes had specks of yellow and a hint of green in them, making them more unusual, compared to the boring kinds of blue I’ve always seen from other people. But, I feel like I’ve seen his eyes before. Where have I seen them before? I didn’t care about that anymore, though, because I think I liked what’s in front of me.

They were beautiful, his eyes.

He’s beautiful.

*Phil’s POV*

I’ve started to get anxious and uneasy.

When Martha and the girls left me, I’ve been waiting for 8 minutes and 43 seconds. 44. 45. Not that I counted, really. 46. 47. It was the only thing I could think of that time that could possibly distract me from the distressing fact that I just then realized.

I’m engaged to the Prince of England.

TO THE PRINCE.

OF ENGLAND.

I tried pinching myself a ton of times, but I wasn’t snapping out of the dream. This is real, this is real, oh my god, this is fricking real, I thought.

To be honest, I had no idea what to feel. I wasn’t too happy about it, but I wasn’t too against the idea as well, I’m not gonna lie. I mean, hello? Prince of England? Uhm… Duh? I’ve been crushing on him since who knows how long. Even if I was straight, I would still have a crush on him. He’s that good-looking. He was like… The hottest bachelor in the country. And he was royalty. And I’m engaged to him, thanks to my grandfather and his best buddy. Thinking about all that, it made me want to throw up out of the overwhelming anxiety. My head started to pound, the nerve wracking wait already messing with my sanity.

There was one small cough, and I took notice immediately. I looked up at the person, straightening myself out and seating more properly. It was Stephen. I didn’t even notice him come in.

“You look pale, sir. Do you want some water?” He offered, looking rather concerned. I shook my head politely and turned his offer down. “No, I’m alright.”

“Well, come with me now. It’s time for dinner, sir.” I stood up way too fast upon hearing the statement, adrenaline rushing. I almost toppled over, Stephen getting a hold of me before I did.

“Whoa there. Are you sure you’re alright, sir?” I gave one small nod, and he guided me out the lounge, walking through a bunch of hallways, only stopping when we reached a set of double doors. I took a deep breath and fiddled with my fringe out of pure apprehension.

“Do I look okay, Stephen?” I asked, pulling on my sleeves.

“You look fine, sir. Ready to go in?” I gave him a nervous grin and nodded. He opened the double doors for me, and immediately, there was a maid by my side, pointing me to my seat. When I looked to where she was pointing, I was surprised to see my family. Even Emily, my little sister, was there. They’re here, too?

I walked to my seat, keeping a normal pace, not too slow and not too fast. It took a lot of effort since my knees were basically shaking, but I kept a soft expression on my face. When I reached the front of a seat in between my parents, I gave my family little hugs—an attempt to ease my anxiety.

“You’ll be fine, love,” my mum whispered in my ear as we were hugging, giving me a light squeeze of assurance. I kissed her cheek and let go. And that’s when I fully faced the matter at hand.

The royal family was in front of us, and they were all looking at me. I could already see Prince Daniel looking at me, which made me more edgy. I tried hard to ignore his gaze, and focused on the king and the queen, first.

“Hello everyone. King Douglas, Queen Annaliese.” My voice didn’t fail me, and I thought I did a great job on sounding confident. I held out my hand to shake their hands, and smiled at them, although I still wasn’t confident enough to face them full on, so I let my head fall a bit. I just shook hands with the King and Queen of England. Did that just really happen? I looked at them again. They were smiling at me, and they looked sincere. It did. Oh my god.

I held my hand out again, this time, directly in front of me. The Prince.

“Prince Daniel,” I said clearly, not a hint of nervousness in my tone. Thank God, I did YouTube, I thought. Doing YouTube for years helped me in concealing nerves and being more confident when I spoke. Thank goodness.

The prince took my hand and I almost let his hand go.

Electricity.

Our heads both shot up at the same time, his eyes wide and staring, almost as if we mirrored each other. I shook his hand and let go of it, but I didn’t let my gaze break away from his. It’s not that I didn’t want to—it’s just that I can’t.

“Take a seat everyone.” The king said, and we all followed—my little staring contest with the prince still going on. His gaze at me was intense and I felt so scrutinized, but for some reason, my nerves weren’t there anymore, disappearing as soon as I looked into his eyes… Or maybe I just went numb of shock. Oh his eyes.

His eyes were a beautiful shade of brown, which reminded me of chocolate and coffee, and they matched his brunet hair and his tan skin perfectly. His eyes looked a lot better in real life, compared to all the pictures of them I’ve seen in magazines. Much, much better. They failed to capture the slight twinkling which was present in them that I already started to grow fond of, even if we literally just met. They reminded me of the stars, and it was enchanting. His eyes were already capable of making my stomach do somersaults and other flippy over things, and it never did that before. And despite the foreignness of the feeling, it was nice. And I liked it.

In that moment, I wished he liked what he’s seeing in front of him.

Because I certainly liked what’s in front of me.

*Dan’s POV*

“Shall we eat?”

After what seemed like hours, my little staring contest with the boy in front of me was ended by my dad’s question. We both looked at my dad and nodded at him in agreement. I was surprised to see that the table was already filled. I didn’t even notice the food when it was being brought in as I was too distracted. All of us ate in silence, the only noise coming from the clattering of the silver on the plates. The awkward air was already looming, but thankfully, the dead air was broken by my mum as I was about to take my third bite of my steak.

“So! Welcome to the palace,” she said, talking to the family eating with us. “Please, feel at ease. Pretend we’re not eating inside err… The Buckingham Palace.” Chuckles ensued, and I felt the tension dissolve a little bit.

“Thank you for welcoming us, Your Majesty,” the older ginger-haired woman said cheerily. “You have a wonderful uhm… Home.” My mum laughed heartily at the woman’s statement.

“Please! Call me Anna. And now that I’ve mentioned that, let’s introduce ourselves, yeah? Honey, you start!” My father almost choked on the pasta that was already inside his mouth as my mum suddenly pat his back, making him go on an embarrassingly loud coughing fit.

“I’m sorry about that, love… Not really,” my mum teased. “I’m kidding, I love you.” She then kissed him on the cheek, earning giggles from the others.

After chugging down some water, he finally spoke up. “Well! Sorry about that… My wife here is obviously excited,” he said, giving my mum a very fond look. “So, I’m Douglas Howell, and I like golf. I’m also the King of England, but please don’t focus on that and just call me Doug. Now you!” My dad said, pointing at the other man.

“Okay, then.” The man laughed. “It’s nice to meet you, Doug, Anna,” the other man spoke, giving my mum and dad a small nod each. “First, thank you for inviting my family for dinner. All of this is lovely,” he said, gesturing to the table.

“Well, I’m Patrick Lester, but call me Pat. I own a small shipping company, and I am father to these two over here.” He reached out to gesture at the ginger-haired girl and the black-haired boy. “I’m also the husband of this pretty lady,” he finished, reaching out to his wife’s hand and giving it a squeeze.

“Stop it, Dad, you’re embarrassing Phil. Look at him, he’s so uncomfortable, squeezed between you two love birds!” The ginger-haired girl spoke up suddenly, letting out a giggle. The others laughed at her comment, making the girl’s parents blush.

“I guess it’s my turn now?” The ginger-haired woman inquired, a blush still present in her cheeks. “My name is Eliza, but call me… Uhm… Oh, just call me Eliza because I don’t have a nickname.” Everyone laughed. “I’m a housewife and these two kids over here, well, they aren’t my children,” she joked, earning another eruption of laughter from the table.

“I already like you, Eliza. You’re so funny!” My mother commented, wiping a tear of laughter. “So, Daniel? Introduce yourself.” My breath hitched, surprised at the sudden attention. I coughed, and nodded.

“Well, I’m Dan. And please never call me Daniel,” I grinned. “I like video games and filmmaking. And also eating.” Wow, I actually made a funny. They laughed, and I let out a breath of relief. At least they laughed.

“Don’t we all just love eating?” My mum giggled. “Daniel here also plays the piano! He’ll show you sometime, right, Daniel?” She encouraged. I gave her a smile and a nod of promise. “So… You! Your turn, you pretty girl over there.” She looked at the ginger-haired girl, who let out a giggle.

“Oh, stop it, ma’am, you’re making me blush,” she kidded, feigning embarrassment. My mum looked at her fondly as she laughed, taking an obvious liking for the girl already.

With all the attention turned to the girl, I started to notice. She was indeed very pretty. She had blue eyes like her brother, although not as intense as his, and her cheeks were freckled. Her ginger hair was wavy, and she reminded me of that girl from Brave. She seems like a nice girl, I thought. Maybe this could work out.

“So, my name’s Emily, and I’m turning 17!” Turning 17?

“I’m nearly finished with high school and I plan to pursue an art degree in uni but I don’t know where yet. And that’s about it with me… It’s Phil’s turn!”

The black-haired boy’s head shot up, the sides of his mouth covered with what looked like pasta sauce. I giggled a little at the sight, and he was suddenly peeking at me from under his fringe, his face red as a tomato.

“Phil, your face…” His mum whispered, dabbing a napkin on his son’s mouth. The boy’s eyes widened in further embarrassment, taking the napkin from his mum.

“Sorry. I-I’m a messy eater?” He said, his statement sounding like a question instead of a declaration, earning laughs from the others. “So, yeah… I’m Phil. I’m 18 and I make videos on the internet—short films and vlogs and other random stuff like that. I’m still… I’m still undecided on whether I want to go to uni as I am happy with what I’m doing at the moment.” He finished, his head falling a little, in what I’m guessing at was shame.

He makes videos on the internet. That’s cool.

“Hey! Why do you suddenly look so glum? Don’t be ashamed of what makes you happy! I actually think you have a bright future ahead of you,” my mum spoke up. Phil looked up at her, beaming.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I really appreciate that. I’m sorry, I was just nervous that you won’t like me,” he said honestly.

“Oh, don’t mention it. I’m not one to look down on people’s sources of happiness. Besides, even if you had the worst job in the world, I would never dare to not like my son’s fiancé.”

My son’s fiancé

“WHAT?!” I said aloud, rapidly standing from the table, almost knocking over a goblet.

All heads turned to me in surprise, taken aback by my sudden outburst. I sunk back to my seat slowly, head down in embarrassment. Oh god. “I-I’m s-s-sorry. I just… I just… Sorry. I just found out now.” Phil looked at me sadly, worry evident in his face.

“No, Daniel, don’t be sorry. This is our fault! We forgot to tell you the most important thing about this arrangement. I mean, we don’t even know if the two of you liked boys!” My mum apologized, holding my hand in the process.

“’S’okay, mum. I’m gay, anyway. Well, bi, but I think I like boys better, yeah, so no worries.”

Everyone looked at me wide-eyed. I replayed what I just said in my mind to check if I said something wrong to explain the weird stares I was receiving.

Did I just come out?

“Oh. Sorry. Ha ha, whoops there it is!” I chuckled nervously. Everyone was still staring at me in disbelief—except for one.

Phil stared at me, his lips starting to twitch into a smile. I smiled at him and turned my gaze to my parents.

“Sorry for the surprise. I guess you could say that it just… came out.”

With that pun, everyone laughed. My mum hugged me tightly, and my dad who was seated a little far from me, gazed at me proudly, a grin on his face. Everything was okay, and I was relieved.

“Well, that was something. I’m proud of you, Daniel,” my father said to me, giving me a thumbs up.

For the rest of the dinner, small talks were exchanged by everyone, except Phil and me. We just stole glances from each other, looking away immediately as soon as our eyes met. When we were all finished with eating, my mum spoke up again.

“That was a lovely dinner. Thank you for accepting our invitation, even if it was so sudden and rushed. I feel like this is the start of a great new friendship, don’t you think? Here’s to us.” She raised her glass, everyone following suit, and the dinner was over.

That wasn’t so bad, I thought.

We we’re already standing up from our seats, saying our thanks and goodbyes, when my mum spoke up again, trying to get the attention of Phil who was conversing animatedly with my father.

“Hey, Phil!” Phil appeared startled and turned to face my mum, excusing himself from my dad.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Please stay the night here?” She requested. “Come oooooon.”

“…Get to know Daniel more?”

*Phil’s POV*

If it were physically possible for my body to explode out of failure to contain all the feels, it would’ve happened by the time the prince accidentally let slip his sexual orientation into the casual conversation during dinner.

The sneaky glances we were giving each other throughout dinner were bad enough to make me want to throw up all the giant butterflies that were rampaging inside my stomach, but the confirmation that he was actually bi? And with the preference for boys? Ohohoho, whoops. There goes my hypothetical ovaries. That was it. End game. Pop goes the Phil!

When dinner ended, I was reluctant to leave. Because although the butterflies in my stomach that I get when I look at the prince made me want to throw up, it was still a nice feeling—warmness and fuzziness taking over me. But too much of anything could be bad, so I was looking forward to going home, more. I swore to myself that once I got home, I would scream until I ran out of breath and do stupid happy dances and sing loudly out of tune just to release all the bundled up and overflowing feels I got all throughout the night.

But the worst wasn’t over. Surprise, surprise.

“Hey Phil!” Queen Anna called out to me as I was talking to her husband about lion figurines.

“Please excuse me, King Doug,” I told the king, my voice sounding just a little bit louder than a whisper. “Yes, ma’am?”

“Please stay the night here?” Oh god.

“Come oooooon.” OH GOD.

“…Get to know Daniel more?”

“YES!” I yelled, making everyone fall silent, all eyes on me. I could almost hear something breaking because of the oh so awkward silence. Oh wait, nevermind, that sound was just my dignity crumbling down to ashes. Great.

“No need to be so eager now, Phil. I mean, you’re already engaged,” my sister said teasingly, breaking the silence. I heard muffled chuckles, obviously everyone else trying not to embarrass me more, and immediately, the blood rushed to my cheeks, making me feel hot and tense. I looked at the prince and he, too, looked a little bit flustered, but there was a smirk present on his face.

Luckily, the queen saved me from further humiliation by stepping in again. I was grateful for it even if it was technically her fault for putting me on the spot. “That’s great, Phil, thank you! Will you be okay with this, Daniel?”

I was so sure that the prince would just flip us off and storm out of the room, but surprisingly, he nodded. “That settles it, then. I’ll have a guest room prepared for you, Phil. But first, go stay with Daniel. We’ll just accompany your family outside.” This was happening.

After saying goodbye to my parents and blackmailing my sister for the shaming, they all left the dining hall, leaving me and Dan. Alone. For a few minutes, we just stood there, only a few feet away from each other, refusing to even give one glance to the other. My heart pounded as if it was trying to get out of my chest, and before I caught myself, I let out another startling outburst of emotion.

“SO!” I said, clasping my hands together with a loud clap as I said the word, swaying a little as I faced the prince. He turned to face me immediately, looking as if I just caught him stealing my cereal. He blushed, looking utterly ashamed, and coughed awkwardly, running his hand through his hair. Damn. It. I’m probably going to die before this night ends.

“Yeah?” He raised an eyebrow, his left hand still tangled in his hair. He looked like he was posing for a cover of a magazine, and I wanted to buy every single copy of it. With the sight of Dan “Accidental Model” Howell, my breath got stuck in my throat. Good lord. He looks like a god.

“U-u-uhh?” I stammered. “S-should we g-g-uhh?” That was almost a sentence.

“Oh. Yeah, sure. Let’s go upstairs? How about… Let’s go to my room?” He offered, his voice sounding deep and… sexy.Without thinking, I started to nibble on my bottom lip and GAH. That is such a major turn o—NO. GRANDMA, GRANDMA, GRANDMA. THINK ABOUT GRANDMA, PHILIP.

It took me a while to reply as I was too busy preventing what could be a very embarrassing and very obvious problem, but when I felt myself calming down a little, I agreed, feeling flushed and slightly feverish. He gave me a small grin, and beckoned that I follow him. We walked in silence, with him in front of me, and I, following him. We walked up the palace steps, then passed through a long palace hallway, me looking around and admiring the portraits and paintings that were hung on the walls. I was too engrossed with the environment that I almost didn’t notice when he stopped walking in front of me, making me almost crash into him.

“Uhm… Your Majesty? W-w-why are we stopping?” I stammered, biting my lip nervously.

“Walk with me? Like… Beside me?” He asked softly, looking at his shoes, not taking a single glance at me.

“Sure. Let’s do that.” I agreed, walking up to his side. He looked up at me suddenly, looking quite taken aback by my response. We stared at each other—him looking surprised and I, looking at him curiously—and stayed like that for a short while up until he dropped his gaze again, letting his fringe fall over his face. For a moment, I thought he regretted asking me to walk with him. He was just being polite, Phil, I thought. But then, I caught him smile, a small yet very sweet smile which he probably didn’t even want me to see, but it was still enough to make my stomach do the flippy over thing again. He’s so beautiful.

“Thanks. I… I donwunlusyou, aha,” he mumbled, interrupting my thoughts, ending his sentence—if it could even pass as that—with a short and awkward chuckle. What?

“Sorry, what?” I asked politely. He looked completely flustered, and he started running his hand through his hair again, probably debating whether he should repeat himself, but not too long after, he spoke the words again anyway, and this time, much clearer.

“I don’t want to lose you?”

“Oh.” Oh.

“I mean, it’s a big palace… You could get lost easily. And we don’t want that, right? Yeah... Okay, let’s just go back to walking,” he said, rushing his words with a sense of finality, but I still caught every word. He started walking again, but I couldn’t help but just stand there and stare after him. I was absolutely dumbfounded. This is really happening, isn’t it? I shook my head in disbelief and amusement, grinning to myself, running a little to catch up and take the place beside the prince again.

And from there on out, my stomach just stopped doing the silly flippy over thing entirely, doing Olympic-level gymnastics, instead.

Well, shit.

*Dan’s POV*

If I had to choose one thing I hated about myself the most, I would probably choose mumbling, winning over anything else by gazillions of points.

I hated it, but I can’t seem to stop myself from doing it. Once my mind starts to fill with thought after thought in a short span of time, I just automatically start rambling, the excessive thoughts leaking from my overloaded mind, making their way to leave my lips as words, instead.

That night, saying that I hate my mumbling was an understatement. I loathed it.

“Thanks. I… I donwunlusyou, aha.” The words started pouring out, before I even caught up with my thoughts. WHAT THE FUCK, DAN. STOP. But it was already too late.

“Sorry, what?” Phil questioned. I felt my cheeks start to heat up once again, my hand automatically making its way to my hair and continuously running through it, as I always did whenever I get embarrassed or nervous. Fuck it, I’ll just go with this.

“I don’t want to lose you?” I repeated myself, the words coming out as more of a question than a statement. Why am / even saying these things?

“Oh.” That was all that he said. Just one short oh, but it was enough to make my mind go haywire all over again, overthinking what it could’ve meant. Before I knew it, the words started falling out of my lips again carelessly, and fast.

“I mean, it’s a big palace… You could get lost easily. And we don’t want that, right? Yeah... Okay, let’s just go back to walking.” I wanted to punch myself in the face so bad, but the words were already out my mouth. Thinking about the situation made me feel dizzy so I just settled on continuing walking, going ahead of Phil, hoping he’d come running back to my side again.

Why I hoped he would do that, I didn’t know.

Why my stomach was clenching with what I think was excitement when he did exactly what I was hoping for, I didn’t know.

Why I felt all giddy and happy on the inside as soon as he started walking beside me, I didn’t know.

All I knew is what I was feeling when I was around him was foreign and new to my system and it fucking terrified me.

But I didn’t want it to go away.

*Phil’s POV*

The walk from the dining hall to Dan’s room was short, but I felt as if so much had happened.

Even though we still walked in silence after our little awkward exchange in the hallway, I felt that there was already a change in the atmosphere. I didn’t know if he noticed it, but I sure did. I felt more and more at ease around him as we walked side by side, and it was nice to feel sort of normal in his presence. I still felt the butterflies every now and then, but I was less tense about everything that was happening. I started to look at him as a regular person, a typical teenager, getting past the idea of him being the famous Prince of England.

I knew I was right about him being just like any other teenager as soon as I stepped inside his bedroom.

To be honest, I still expected his room to look like one of those overly posh and sophisticated bedrooms of royal people in the movies—walls covered in Victorian wallpaper, a large mahogany bed with a canopy to sleep in, a chandelier hanging somewhere in the room. But Dan’s room wasn’t anything like that.

His room was bigger than your average teen’s. It was way bigger than that. But other than that, it looked normal, just at a larger scale. His walls were entirely white, with framed band posters hanging on various parts of the room. I immediately spotted Muse, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! at the Disco among loads. The part of his wall beside the desk where his Mac and other things like his camera and lenses were was covered with what looked like storyboards, sketches, and photo prints stuck to the surface with push pins, and I figured that he was really serious about his love for filmmaking, his workspace looking very friendly for the creative mind. Scattered around the room were various stuffed toys, a large Totoro standing out among the rest, being the one on his king sized bed. Just below a pair of framed posters with an antique wall clock in between was a plasma TV, along with various gaming consoles and media players. On a spot beside his large bedroom window which had an amazing view, was a piano, and I noticed that there were books and some pieces of paper on it, and I wondered if he composed music, too. There were so much more to say about his room as it was big and roomy, but I’ll just leave it at saying it was a lot like my flat, although not as colourful and small as mine. Nevertheless, it felt a little bit like home, giving off a sense of familiarity.

I didn’t know how long I was staring at everything and taking in the whole surrounding, so I jumped a little when Dan let out a cough to get my attention and spoke up behind me. “So… What do you think?” He asked unsurely, rubbing the back of his neck.

“This looks amazing, Your Majesty.” I told him sincerely, giving him a warm smile after. I could’ve sworn his eyes twinkled when I said that, but it was probably just because of the light.

“Thanks. I try.” He chuckled, then continued, his tone full of amusement. “And oh, stop it with the “Your Majesty” bullshit, just call me Dan,”

“Fine… You didn’t have to swear when you said that, though. You could’ve just told me nicely.” I dragged, feigning annoyance in my speech. I didn’t even know why I tried humor on him, we aren’t even talking properly yet. But I did it anyway.

And right before my eyes, I saw the Prince of England change into three facial expressions in a matter of a few seconds. First, he looked shocked with the way I talked back, then he looked puzzled, then worried, his forehead wrinkling in the process, and before I could stop myself I laughed out loud, my tongue poking out of my mouth, tears falling from my crinkled eyes.

“Oh my god, you should’ve seen your face!” I teased, clutching on to my stomach which was starting to hurt with humor. He scowled at me in response, but started chuckling soon enough. “You’re an idiot, Mr. Lester.”

“Ooooh, Mr. Howell, getting sassy, aren’t we?” I teased, beaming at him cheekily. He raised an eyebrow at me, his mouth curving into a slight grin.

“So, I guess we’re past the awkward silences and sloppy attempts at conversation now, huh? I mean… You’ve already made fun of me,” he alleged, mocking amusement present on his face. I flushed at the mockery, but I still racked my brain for a good comeback.

“Of course we are, Dan. We could’ve even been past those earlier if you weren’t intimidatingly muttering about things like not wanting to lose me and other silly things most of the time.” I poked my tongue out at him, proud of myself for the confident sounding comeback, and his face turned red as a tomato.

“Shut up,” he muttered, averting his gaze from me. He looked really ashamed, and I started to feel bad. Maybe I’ve gone too far?

“Hey, I was only kidding, Dan. It’s alright, yeah? If it makes you feel better, I felt like vomiting all over the place the entire dinner because I was so overwhelmed about everything especially because I was in front of the—“ I stopped, my brain catching up with my blabbering. I was about to say “the guy I’ve been crushing on for most of my life” and that would be just outright humiliating.

“In front of the what?” He asked, his gaze back at me. THINK FAST, PHILIP.

“The king and the queen, duh. It’s not like I dine with the royal family every day, aha! Ha.” I spluttered, forcing out a laugh at the end, hoping the nervousness didn’t show in my voice.

“Ohhhh, riiiight,” he dragged, nodding, the mocking amusement back on his face. “The king and the queen. Sure,” he said, smirking.

“What’s that about? Why are you smirking?” I probed, absolutely confounded. He shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Nothing. Nevermind that. So, what do you want to do?” He asked, as he took off his white suit, loosening his black neck tie, and unbuttoning the first two buttons of his white long-sleeved shirt, throwing the suit onto his bed after. I froze at the sight, my mind telling me to look away, but I couldn’t. Oh, I have a lot of ideas on what to do, Your Majesty.

“Uhm… You decide?” I finally suggested, as nothing innocent came to mind at the moment, and surely, he didn’t want to “get to know each other” like I did.

“I can’t think of anything, too. I kinda just want to rest, to be honest.” He answered. Disappointment flooded my insides, but I hoped it didn’t show.

“Oh, alright. I’ll just go, then?” I asked, and he nodded, flopping onto his bed face first. “See you,” he grunted, voice muffled by his pillow.

I turned around and walked to the door, sadness finally taking over. I was excited for nothing, apparently. I turned the doorknob and opened the door, poking my head out to see if there was anyone around. There was no one, and I had no idea what to do and where to go. I didn’t want to talk to Dan again as I think he might hear the sadness in my voice if I do, and the last thing I wanted was to get pitied.

I went out the door, slowly closing the door behind me, not wanting to make a noise. But before it could close properly, it stopped abruptly, Dan squeezing between the door and the doorframe.

“Wait, Phil.”

“Yeah, Dan?” I was surprised, but I didn’t want him to see that. He poked his head to the hallway, looking left and right, then faced me, looking expectant.

“Come back inside, first? I have no idea where your room is, and no one is around to tell us. And I’m too lazy to accompany you to find someone who could, so yeah, just come back and stay inside?” He asked, sounding unsure. He’s just being polite, I thought.

“No, no. I’ll just go on my own. I’m sure I’ll find someone if I wandered around for a bit. Just go and slee—“ But before I could finish my sentence, I was already pulled back inside the room with my back against the abruptly closed door, Dan so close in front of me, his left arm supporting his weight, his face inches from mine, his brown eyes staring directly at mine. We were so close, but we were not quite touching. I stared back, my heart pounding in my chest, looking like a startled deer in the headlights. He was leaning in closer and closer, my stomach doing the flips, my eyes shutting tight. He’s going to kiss me, oh my god.

“Stay,” he whispered in my ear softly, and I nodded in agreement frantically. Finally, I opened my eyes, and saw that his face was already back to being inches from mine, still staring.

“Good.” He muttered, and smirked.

And with that, he drew his arm back from the door, and turned around and walked back to his bed, and I was left standing pressed against his door, stunned.

What the hell just happened?

Although my heart was still pounding, I found the courage to speak up. “Uhm, Dan? What now?”

He sat up and smiled. “Oh, yeah. You might want to get out of those.” He suggested, puckering his lips, pointing suggestively at my clothes.

“What?!”

“What do you mean what? Do you honestly want to spend the night wearing a tuxedo?” Oh, that’s what he meant. I shook my head, my cheeks starting to burn up.

“Yeah, I thought so. You could borrow some of my PJs, feel free to anything. Just come in there.” He instructed, pointing to a door beside his Mac. I nodded, and walked into where he pointed me to, and my jaw dropped.

He has a walk-in closet. Rows after rows of clothes were hung all over the room, and I felt like I walked into a boutique, not a closet. I would’ve been clueless to where I would find some PJs, but luckily, there were labels for everything. I thought for a moment what I could wear among the abundance of choices, and I almost laughed out loud when an idea popped into my head. It was a revenge plan for what he just did to me. Two can play the game.

I quickly stripped off all my clothes except for my boxers, and folded them neatly, stacked on top of a small round table. I then put on some black sweatpants, and nothing else. I still wasn’t completely confident about my body, but I wasn’t too ashamed of it either. So, I walked out of the closet with nothing for a top, my bare chest showing. I found Dan back on his bed, lying on his side, reading a book, so I spoke up.

“Hey, you don’t mind if I wear only this, do you?” I asked innocently.

He started to answer as he sat back up to face me. “No, I don’t. I already s— Oh.” He instantly dropped his gaze, sitting up properly, immediately putting the book down beside him. “Yeah, sure, I don’t mind,” he muttered, fiddling with his fringe yet again. In one swift movement, he stood up, his gaze still on the floor and said, “Okay, just…” he trailed, and I caught him sneaking one quick look at me, immediately dropping his gaze again when he saw that I was still looking at him. He never finished his sentence, and just started walking fast and going inside the closet hastily instead, the door shutting behind him.

And I fell on the floor clutching my stomach, laughing, unable to keep up my little act any longer.

I am so winning the game.

With my face stained with tears from laughing, I walked over to his bed and stole his duvet and a pillow, laying them on the floor to sleep on. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t think I could handle sleeping beside him just yet, and I didn’t think he’d allow that, too. I lay back on my makeshift sleeping area and wrapped the duvet around me, and I suddenly felt the fatigue taking over me, my eyes closing in the process. I didn’t even notice how tired I was before I lay down. I don’t know how long I was out before I heard someone talk to me.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Somebody spoke, and I sat up in a rush, my eyes failing to focus immediately because of the abrupt action. “W-wha…?”

“What are you doing on the floor?” The voice was Dan’s.

“Oh. Uhm, sleeping?” I answered, puzzled, my sight still blurry.

He rolled his eyes and spoke again, sarcasm evident in his tone. “I figured that when I saw you on the floor with my pillow and my duvet wrapped over you with your eyes clasped shut. I meant, why were you sleeping on the floor?”

“Because there’s only one bed?” I responded, rubbing the sleepiness off my eyes, finally getting them to focus on things clearly, and holy hell.

Dan was wearing boxers; Sonic ones, if I could see them right.

Only his boxers.

And his hair was still wet. I figured he took a shower as well. So, that’s why he took so long.

I didn’t notice I was staring at the perfection that was his body, until he coughed to get my attention, smirking.

“Don’t be an idiot, sleep on my bed. It’s pretty big, and there’ll be plenty of room for the two of us so don’t worry.” He reached his hand out for me, and I took it, and he pulled me to my feet. I clambered over his bed, taking the duvet and pillow on the floor with me, and flopped on the left side, and only facing the left side. I heard a switch click, and suddenly the room’s main lights were off, leaving only the lampshades on. I felt him get on the bed, too, the bed squeaking. I’m in the prince’s bed. I’M ACTUALLY IN IT. I clasped my eyes shut, nervous.

“Hey, stop hogging my duvet,” he said from behind me, as he tugged the cover that was wrapped around my body making me roll onto my back and see him pulling it over himself, over the two of us.

“Sorry,” I muttered, rolling to my side again, not facing him. “Good night.”

“Oh no you don’t, Phil,” his hand was on my shoulder, making me face him.

“What?” I questioned, confused.

“Let’s talk, first. I’m not that sleepy anymore.” He stared at me, his brown eyes looking very sparkly because of the now dimly lit room, making my stomach do somersaults again. I am now fully awake.

“Alright. What do you want to talk about?” I asked, calmly.

“Anything. Tell me about yourself, I guess? Like, what kind of music are you into?”

“Well, I guess, the same as yours judging by the posters. Muse is my favorite, though.” I responded honestly.

“No way! Me, too!” He said cheerily, a smile spreading on his face. “Matt Bellamy’s voice makes me squeal like a fangirl, to be honest.” I chuckled, nodding in agreement.

The night went on with us asking each other questions, and it was very weird how Dan and I had so much in common. From video games to movies, we almost always liked the same thing. He was very different from what the magazines say about him—good different. He was a big dork, not some golf prodigy or something like that. And it made me like him more finding out that he was just as normal—or in this case, as weird—as I am.

I stifled a yawn, finally feeling the sleepiness again, and he followed suit.

“G’night, Phil.” He said sleepily, smiling, his dimples showing. Wow, he’s cute.

“Good night, Dan.” I said finally, rolling to my back and facing the ceiling, my body slowly giving in to sleep.

Good night, my prince.

Sleeping for who knows how long—probably hours, I felt something wrap around my middle. Being a light sleeper, I always notice when something changes around me when I’m in slumber. But it wasn’t alarming, in fact, it was really comforting, so I just ignored it and didn’t bother to even open my eyes to see what it was and drifted off to sleep again to what felt like the best sleep I’ve ever had in my entire life.

Well, so far.

*Queen Annaliese’s POV*

“Madam! Pardon me for my manners, but you have got to come with me!” Lydia said, still panting from running to the dining hall.

“What is it, Lydia? Why didn’t you come down with the Prince? He’s already late for breakfast. And also, Philip. Where is he?” I inquired, eyeing her suspiciously. The king was also looking at her, confusedly.

“Err, well, last night, I kind of failed to bring Mr. Lester to the guest room because I saw him already sleeping on, err, the floor of the Prince’s room when I came by to accompany him, and I didn’t want to disturb him because he looked so peaceful.” She answered hesitantly.

“You’re saying you let our guest sleep on the floor. Okay. So, where is this conversation going, then?” I asked sternly.

“I’m so sorry, madam. Just. It’s just… Come with me, please?” I looked at the king, and he nodded, so I excused myself from the table and followed Lydia upstairs. She took me to Daniel’s room, but she didn’t go in immediately, facing me instead, worry evident in her expression.

“Well, before we go in, madam, I just want to explain myself. I kept on ringing the bell for breakfast a while ago, and when the Prince still wasn’t opening the door, I knocked and knocked, but he still wasn’t getting up. So, like protocol, I opened the door and went inside to shake him awake again, but… But…” She said everything in a rush, but I caught every word.

“But?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Just… Just see for yourself, Your Majesty.” She opened the door for me and we went in. She dropped her gaze, and I gasped at what I was seeing.

Daniel was sleeping on his bed, his mouth hanging slightly open as usual, but this time, he had his arms around Philip’s middle, who was sleeping soundly beside him, face buried on Daniel’s hair, arms around my son’s shoulders. And both of them had their bare chests exposed.

“Lydia!” I whispered urgently.

“Yes, madam? What shall I do about… this?” She whispered back, gesturing to the bed.

“Nothing, let’s just let them be for a while. Looks like they’re getting on pretty well, don’t you think?” I said animatedly, wiggling my eyebrows at Lydia. I giggled excitedly, seeing as it seemed like the whole engagement thing is already falling into place. “Let’s just be quiet and go down, alright? But, wait. Do you think they did… anything?” I asked, covering my mouth gasping with the sudden realization.

Lydia giggled loudly. “I don’t think so, madam. The Prince isn’t exactly… experienced, right?”

“Oh, right. Or at least, we don’t know if he is. But, I think not.” I laughed out loud, failing to contain my giddiness, Lydia sniggering with me.

“Your Majesty!”

Lydia and I stopped laughing immediately and faced the bed. Sure enough, Philip looked at us wide-eyed in horror, his head just raised from his pillow, arms still around Daniel. And I realized that he wasn’t aware of the whole situation.

With the sight, I just giggled even more, covering my mouth a little, Lydia doing the same. Philip looked at us, tilting his head sideways, and confusion spreading throughout his face. “Uhm… What is it?”

I pointed at his torso, and he looked at it, Daniel’s arms still wrapped around it. He let out a loud squeak, drawing back his arms that were wrapped around my son’s shoulders, and attempted to sit up, which failed horribly since Daniel was still holding onto him. With the sudden action, the prince started to stir.

“Wha—MUM?!” Daniel exclaimed, as soon as his eyes locked onto me.

“Dan…” Philip trailed, and Daniel immediately looked at him. They locked eyes for a moment, then Philip let his eyes fall over Daniel’s arms wrapped around him. When Daniel saw it, he let out a small scream, drawing back his arms, scooting to the opposite side of the bed, and wrapping the duvet over him.

“THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING!” He yelled from under his duvet, the sound of his voice muffled. Phil just looked at us apologetically, his cheeks red.

“Hey, now. It’s okay, you guys. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m sure it was only an accident. Just head on down for breakfast when you’re ready, alright? Lydia and I will go now,” I assured the two boys. I nodded at Philip and mouthed, “Take care of Daniel,” and he blushed even more, but agreed. With that, Lydia and I left the room, closing the door behind us. As soon as I was sure that we were already out of earshot, I broke down laughing, Lydia doing the same.

“They’re so cute, Lydia, don’t you think?!” I exclaimed, the humor and happiness still not leaving my body.

“Yes, Your Majesty. They are so cute. I ship them, already,” She responded, agreeing gleefully.

“What do you mean by you “ship” them? You young people and your vague young people terms. What does that even mean?” I asked, curiously.

“Well, madam, “shipping” nowadays is a popular internet term for liking the thought or idea of two people together. So, I said, I ship the Prince and Mr. Lester!” She answered, sniggering.

“Oh. I am so obsolete! Thank you for explaining.” I smiled at her appreciatively. She nodded, then beamed at me.

“In that case, I guess I ship them, too.”

*Phil’s POV*

So that’s why I slept so comfortably.

As soon as the queen and the maid left, I couldn’t help but grin to myself. We were cuddling in our sleep. I CUDDLED WITH THE PRINCE IN MY SLEEP. For a while, I just sat there silently. Dan was still hiding under his duvet, unmoving. I didn’t want to break the silence, but I was already feeling very famished. I debated on whether I should just leave the bed, get dressed, and go get breakfast on my own, but something in me told me not to. So, I poked the lump that was him, and he glared at me, peeking from his duvet. “What do you want?” He grumbled, as if complaining because I disturbed him.

My stomach grumbled as if on cue, and that was enough for him.

“Oh shit, sorry, right. Breakfast. Yeah.” He sat properly, and looked at his clock. It was already 10:36 AM. “Shit, we’re already very late for breakfast.” He stood up from the bed, and immediately ran to his full-length mirror, fiddling with his hair again. That’s when I noticed that his hair was all curly, and he looked like a hobbit. A very cute and very tall hobbit, I may add.

“Uhm, Dan? We should get dressed, yeah? I mean, you should get dressed, I should get dressed, separately, not together, you get me, yeah, sorry,” I mumbled, my words stumbling out of my mouth. He stared at me, his cheeks flushed.

“Of course. You could borrow my clothes, I guess. I’ll go first?” I nodded, and he went into his walk-in closet. After a few minutes, he came out of the closet wearing black skinny jeans with a belt that needs replacing since it wasn’t doing its job very well, the pair of Converse he wore last night, and a blue Sonic jumper.

Sonic, I blushed at the thought, remembering last night’s and this morning’s events. “Your turn, Phil. Wear anything you like. This isn’t usually how I dress around the palace, but I’m too lazy to make an effort to wear anything nice today, so just put on anything you’re comfortable with. And oh.” He let his head fall down, not looking at me anymore. “If… If you want to take a shower, go. The bathroom’s through a door at the far end of the closet. Everything you need will be there, I have spare toothbrushes and towels on a cabinet inside, too… Yeah.”

“Thanks, Dan. I’ll go now.” I stood up from the bed and half ran and half walked to the closet, closing the door behind me.

“Well, this day is obviously going to be interesting. Get a grip, Phil.” I muttered to myself, sitting on the floor, my back against the door.

*Dan’s POV*

This is all my fault.

I cringed, thinking about everything that had happened since the previous night. I continued straightening my hair as I waited for Phil to come out of the closet. If I’m being honest to myself, I was excited to see him again, and I still don’t understand why. But a part of me doesn’t want to accept that feeling, so I tried to ignore it, and just focused on the task at hand.

The door opened, and Phil stepped inside the bedroom again, and Jesus on a boat.

He was wearing my purple galaxy jumper, a pair of black Vans, and one of my black skinny jeans, which hugged his legs perfectly, I being skinnier and shorter than him. He has a nice bum. I shook my head immediately at the thought, surprised with myself for thinking about Phil like that.

“Dan? You don’t mind if I wear these, right?”

I stared at him awestruck as he spoke. He looked really, really, really handsome in my clothes, not gonna lie. I nodded and stood up from where I was sitting, unplugging my straighteners. “Ready to go down?”

He grinned and ran his fingers through his still wet hair, nodding in agreement. With the overwhelming sight, I felt my stomach clench, and I looked away from him sharply, not taking any chances of him seeing my cheeks starting to go red again.

“Okay, let’s go.” Without thinking, I held onto his hand, pulling him outside. I felt him stiffen from the touch, stopping our walking, and I let go of his hand. What the hell are you thinking, Dan, you stupid fuck?

But before I even started walking again and mentally slapping myself because of my idiocy, his hand found mine again, squeezing my hand once, as if in assurance. I dared to steal a glance at him, but his eyes were staring at the floor, hiding behind his fringe that fell over his face, avoiding my gaze. I couldn’t help but notice that his cheeks were sort of pink, and he had a small smile on his face, looking nervous. I looked away, my lips immediately curling into a grin, and squeezed his hand back hoping that would comfort him, and started pulling his hand again, walking downstairs with our hands linked together, understanding finally creeping into my mind.

So, this is what it’s like to like someone.

*Phil’s POV*

As much as I loved lions, I was never really brave like them.

Well, up until that happened.

Dan held my hand, and I was so shocked, I literally froze in place, staring back and forth between the back of his head and our intertwined hands. I felt so darn happy about it, but my body just stopped functioning upon our hands’ contact, sending out the wrong signal to Dan, who immediately let go of my hand as soon as he sensed that I wasn’t moving behind him, probably thinking I didn’t want to hold hands with him.

He didn’t even glance at me when he held my hand and let it go, perhaps too embarrassed or ashamed with what he did. My mind went total haywire thinking about what I should do, and it didn’t help that my heart was racing way too fast. So I just went with my gut and just dropped everything right there. Fuck it, I’m going to hold his hand.

And so I did, catching it before he started to walk again. I instantaneously dropped my gaze, suddenly feeling very shy, my cheeks heating up, just a hint of smile creeping on my lips because of the wonderful feeling of his hand on mine. I squeezed his hand once, and waited for him to respond in any way. I saw him take a glance at me in the corner of my eye, and my heart started pounding even more than before, if that was even possible.

As soon as he looked away, I felt him squeeze my hand back, as if telling me that it was okay, and just like that, my nerves were gone, replaced by nothing but bliss. He pulled me with him as he started to walk again, our hands clasped tight together. I could’ve sworn that all throughout our little walk, I felt those cliché sparks and fireworks thing the movies always talk about.

We trudged through the hallways hand in hand in silence, although unlike those awkward ones from before, it was comfortable. Strange enough, we didn’t come across another person as we walked. I have to admit I was nervous about the whole thing and was anxious about the possibility of anyone seeing us, and I wondered how he was feeling about that matter. I couldn’t help but grin when I saw his cheeks were as red as mine when I dared to steal a glance as we were nearing the dining hall. He was probably as nervous as me, and I thought it was cute.

I was already getting used to the feeling of his hand on mine, our hands fitting each other perfectly. As sappy as that sounded, in that moment, I believed it was true. The butterflies on my stomach were still as wild as they were before, but I didn’t mind them as much anymore, getting used to the feeling, too.

My heart dropped the same time he dropped my hand.

He let go of my hand as soon as we were in front of the double doors of the dining hall. He opened one of the doors and went inside, leaving me behind. I saw him wandering inside, looking around. I started to feel sad, feeling so stupid about the whole thing. My mind started to work rapidly again, overthinking. I figured he was just too nice to reject my hand on his and just went with it. But, I still didn’t understand why he held it in the first place, before I even did.

“Phil? Are you okay?” Dan probed, sounding to me like he was worried.

I snapped my head up, forcing out a grin that was hopefully believable enough, and gave him two thumbs up. He tilted his head sideways and looked at me, his forehead slightly creased, his lips forming a tight line. And suddenly, my eyes started to prickle, tears threatening to fall out as soon as I blink. I looked away immediately and started to breathe heavily in an attempt to prevent myself from crying. It didn’t work.

A few tears started to slide off my cheeks, and I immediately wiped them away furiously with the sleeves of Dan’s jumper. I tried doing deep breaths again, closing my eyes and counting to ten.

One, breathe in, two, breathe out.

Three, breathe in, four, breathe out.

Five, breathe in, six, someone is holding my hand.

Someone is holding my hand.

My eyes shot open, and the first thing I saw were beautiful brown eyes staring at me, just inches away. I opened my mouth to say something, but I just gaped at him, too lost for words. My bottom lip started to quiver, and a tear escaped my eye. He looked at it curiously, his gaze following it as it slid down my face. But before it reached my chin, he held a hand up and wiped it away with his thumb. Suddenly, his eyes were back at mine, staring at me with an intensity that made me want to melt into a puddle on the ground.

“Hey,” he said, squeezing my hand. “Why are you crying?”

I shook my head frantically, ashamed that he had caught me in my vulnerable state. “I-it’s nothing. I was just being stupid,” I mumbled, dodging his gaze.

“Look at me, and tell me that again,” he said, poking my cheek lightly. I didn’t.

Suddenly, he was lifting my chin and I had no choice but to face him again. He raised an eyebrow, and I stared at him blankly. He heaved out a sigh, and his forehead started to crease again, head slightly tilted to the side as he bit his bottom lip, looking as if he was contemplating something. I just continued blanking him and after staring at me for who knows how long, he rolled his eyes and leaned in swiftly.

He kissed my cheek lightly, his lips just slightly brushing it, but enough to shock me. I stared at him wide-eyed as soon as he pulled away, my free hand immediately founding its way to the spot where my cheek and his lips made contact. He rolled his eyes again and snickered, pulling me with him again towards the table.

He pulled out a chair for me which I clumsily sat on, missing it a little because I was still staring at him wide-eyed. He sat beside me, and looked at me, an eyebrow raised at me. “Eat now, talk later.” He rang the small bell on the table and one girl poked her head out of a small doorway, Dan giving her a nod straightaway. Soon, maids were shuffling inside the hall with platters of food and for an instant, I forgot everything else, the neglected hunger making itself noticeable again.

I looked at everything that was put on the table, each food looking as if it were served by a very expensive restaurant, and my stomach grumbled loudly in approval, my tongue licking my lips involuntarily. I heard Dan laugh beside me, and I shot him a glare. He rolled his eyes at me and just grabbed his utensils. “Just go and eat, Phil.”

I gladly obliged, piling up the perfectly round pancakes on my plate, glazing and topping it with everything on the table that could go with pancakes. I shoved piece after piece into my mouth, not caring how disgusting I must’ve looked. I chewed and swallowed hurriedly, not even pausing to gulp down a drink to help the food go down. And that’s when I started to choke.

I let out a squeak, my hands finding my neck immediately in the hopes of making the food go down, but it didn’t. I poked Dan several times in panic, looking at him pleadingly while pointing at myself, hoping that he understood. As soon as I got his attention, he swiftly stood up and pulled me from my seat, wrapping his arms around my chest, and gave me the Heimlich maneuver. Immediately, I let out one last choking sound, and the cause of choking left my body. A whole marshmallow came flying out of my mouth, landing on the table with a very soft thud. I drank down a glass of milk immediately, breathing a sigh of relief, crashing back to my seat. Dan took his place beside me again, and he stared at me blankly.

“Oh. My. God. Phil.” He finally said, pausing at every end of the word.

“Sorry, I was just hungry,” I muttered, looking at my hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

“I thought you were going to die. And it was because of freaking marshmallow, Phil. You could’ve died because of a big ass piece of marshmallow,” he said seriously. I looked at him, and I could see that there were beads of sweat on his temple. He was looking really ill probably with worry. I smirked at him, and grabbed another piece of the big ass piece of marshmallow that he was just talking about and shoved one into his mouth.

“Eat that and you will know that that big ass piece of marshmallow is worth dying for,” I said mockingly, poking his cheek. He chewed on it and swallowed, his brows furrowing.

“You’re an idiot. But you’re right.” He shook his head, his dimpled smile back on his face. I flicked his ear and stuck my tongue out at him jokingly, and he gave me a grin. We sat in silence again for a few minutes, continuing our meal, me being extra careful by eating more slowly than the last time. I heard Dan put down his utensils, finishing his meal by drinking some orange juice. As much as I wanted to eat more, I figured it was time to finish my meal, too, as it would be rude to keep him waiting for me to finish eating because if he did that, he would be waiting for hours.

“So, Dan,” I spoke up, staring at the table, as soon as I drank the last drop of my drink.

“Yeah?”

“Where are the others? Why did we eat on our own?” I inquired, looking back at him, just noticing the lack of other people in the dining hall.

“I guess they ate ahead of us, um,” he coughed then mumbled, “Well, you know, since we woke up late.” He looked down on his empty plate, his cheeks starting to turn pink. I blushed as well, the memories of the past hours flooding back.

“Oh. Right,” I muttered. I bit my bottom lip and rubbed the back of my neck, unsure of what to say next, but wanting to break the silence. I’ve already been brave a while ago, why not? I thought. Gathering all the courage I could muster, I spoke up again.

“So… Do we talk about it?”

His head shot up, looking at me, obviously surprised by my question. He knew what I meant. He was silent for a moment, probably debating if we should or not, leaving me anxious for his answer.

“I guess we should,” he finally responded. I nodded and dropped him the first sentence I could think of.

“Well, we cuddled.” It wasn’t really a question, but I hope he still gives me a reply.

“Yeah. That may be my fault? I kinda thought you were my Totoro in my sleep, as I always slept hugging him, so there’s that.”

“Oh. Sorry about it, then,” I answered, my voice cracking. I felt like crying again, disappointment taking over me again. “I just thought…” I trailed, laughing nervously. “And I didn’t intentionally cuddle you by the way, if you want to hear that.” I grinned at him, my eyes starting to prickle again.

“Don’t, Phil.” He spoke, rather monotonously. “I didn’t tell you everything.” I just looked at him and waited, and he went on, getting the hint.

“I sort of stirred in the middle of the night, and I saw my arms wrapped around you. I was surprised to see that for a moment, but I liked the warmth and the close proximity, and I never experienced that before, and so I was like, “fuck it” and I went back to sleep, not drawing my arms back from you. After a few moments, I felt you wrap your arms around me, and you muffled your face on my hair, and I might’ve slightly cuddled into you even more? Okay, done,” he spoke urgently, letting out everything in one breath. He dropped his gaze, and started fiddling with his hands. I giggled, happiness filling my heart again.

This boy would be the death of me.

And we just met last night.

*Dan’s POV*

I basically admitted that I liked Phil without saying the words “I like you.” I really have a terrible mumbling problem. That’s right, I’m cool like that.

I let my head fall down in shame as soon as I finished my little confession, my heart thumping in my chest. I was too soon about everything, right?

“You’re an idiot.”

I looked back at him, and he was staring at me intently, his blue eyes making my stomach flip, a smile playing on his lips. He really was very pretty.

“I basically just met you last night, engaged in loads of staring contests with you, slept on your bed, cuddled with you, and held your hand. You’re the fricking Prince of England, I’m just some teenager with a Youtube account and an emo fringe, and you’re the one looking so ashamed right now? Come on, Dan. Don’t be an idiot.” He shook his head, the smile on his face still intact.

“Sorry,” I muttered, “I just thought you found it weird.”

“I did, but not in a bad way. It’s not like I cuddle princes on a daily basis, right?” He poked my cheek, which made me giggle. “It’s cool, Dan. Don’t worry.” I grinned at him, relieved to know that we were okay.

“Okay, now that that’s out of the way, what now?” I inquired.

“I guess I better head home? Um, you know. I left my phone home, and I’m worried that I’ve missed a lot of calls and texts. I’ll bring your clothes back, don’t worry. I just kind of came here in my pajama bottoms and nothing else so I really need to borrow these?” He said in a rush, shyly.

“Keep them. They look better on you, anyways.” I said sincerely avoiding his gaze, ruffling my hair in the process, suddenly feeling a little awkward because I couldn’t help but think of the picture he just painted. He went here in just pajama bottoms.

“Thanks. So, do we exchange numbers and other social media accounts or something? Well, I already follow you on Twitter…” He asked, sounding unsure of himself.

“I’ll just look for you there and follow you back, then, and we could DM, yeah? Don’t worry, I don’t mind,” I assured, feeling courageous all of a sudden. I held his hand once again and squeezed. “I guess I’ll see you around, then?” He nodded, and squeezed my hand back. We stood there staring at each other for a minute, our hands still clasped together. I honestly didn’t want to let go.

“Um, I better go now. I’m AmazingPhil on Twitter, by the way.” He squeezed my hand one last time and let go, beaming. “I’ll show my way out.”

With one last look, he turned to walk towards the double doors, closing it behind him. I let out a sigh, isolation and gloominess creeping on me all at once. I was usually alone, but this time around, it started to bother me. I figured I should just go back to my room and spend the rest of the day there, sulking. I rang the small bell again before I went, to signal the maids that they could clean up.

Suddenly, one of the doors clicked open, and there was Phil, he was back, his head poking through the doorway, startling me.

“Uhh, Dan?”

“Yeah, Phil? Missed me already?” I teased, grinning at him cheekily.

“Kinda, yeah.” He chuckled, his tongue poking out of his mouth. Gosh, he was adorable. I raised an eyebrow at him, questioning his response.

“I was just thinking…”

“What?”

“Do you maybe… Erm, do you maybe want to go on a date with me?”

*Phil’s POV*

Another one of the palace limousines took me back to my flat, Stephen accompanying me once again. I aimed to sit in silence on the drive home, Stephen asking me about my stay in the palace every now and then, which in return, I responded with nothing but one word answers and a polite smile, as I was still too shaken to even think properly.

Yesterday, I was only a just some teenager with a Youtube account and an emo fringe.

But today?

Today, I’m some teenager with a Youtube account, an emo fringe, and a date with the Prince of England.

Despite everything that happened during my whole stay at the palace, there was still a part of me which expected that I would eventually get woken up from my dream—my beautiful, way-too-good-to-be-true dream. I wouldn’t say it was everything I’ve ever dreamed of because I still believed that there was more to life than love, and my biggest dream since forever was that I really, really want to make a big—and might I add, amazing—impact on the world someday. But, this dream that I’m currently existing in? It was an extremely close second.

With that, I started to look back on how it happened.

I didn’t really plan on asking him on a date, that’s for sure. But my gut told me to do it as I was walking in the hallway alone. So, I ran back to the double doors of the dining hall and poked my head inside where I saw Dan, the small bell from the table already in his hand.

“Uhh, Dan?” I spoke abruptly, making Dan jump a little. He looked very surprised to see me, but eventually his lips tugged into a grin.

“Yeah, Phil? Missed me already?” He joked.

“Kinda, yeah.” I blurted out, chuckling awkwardly to relieve the tension. He raised an eyebrow, a questioning look painted on his face.

“I was just thinking…” I started, my knees beginning to shake.

“What?”

“Do you maybe… Erm, do you maybe want to go on a date with me?” I blurted out rapidly in one breath, shutting my eyes tight and clenching my fists to my sides, afraid of his reaction. When a minute had passed and he still hadn’t answered, I gave myself permission to squint a little just to make sure that he was still there.

And oh, he was.

He managed to walk right in front of me again, without me noticing it. I don’t know how he manages to do that, but there he was, inches away from me, shocking me, making me stumble backwards a little, giving out a little yelp. Fortunately, he was able to get a hold onto the collar of my borrowed jumper, preventing what could be the downfall of the great AmazingPhil, pulling me back towards him, making me skid forwards clumsily.

I could only see brown.

I could literally feel his breath lingering on my lips as our noses were touching.

“You are such an idiot. And you’re so clumsy. But to answer your question… Yeah, that would be lovely. Now go home, Lester,” he said, the close proximity sending shivers down my spine, making my heart race abnormally.

If I were a little clumsier and fell forwards some more, we could’ve kissed. With the thought, my stomach got all tied up in knots.

I wanted to kiss him.

But before I could make up my mind on making a move, he already let go of his grip on my borrowed jumper, stepping away from me, a smirk on his face. His cheeks were a little pink, but I knew mine were worse because my cheeks felt as if they were burning. He gave me a wink, and he bolted out of the dining hall, running upstairs, and that was the last of it. Just like that, I snagged a date with the hottest bachelor—or should I say, hottest dork—of England.

I would’ve been happy with just getting to meet or maybe talk to my ultimate crush that I thought I would never be able to reach as he was sitting high up there with his royalty status and impeccable good looks, and I was just plain old me. I was nothing but an ordinary randomer who crushed on celebrities I could never have. And now, I was given the chance to do a lot more that. I’ve probably said it too many times before, but I just can’t help but say it over and over in my head: I’m engaged to the prince I’ve been dreaming of.

For god’s sake, I started to have a crush on him when we were both 7. I was in my childhood home, watching with my family some news coverage of how the royal family went to Africa and did some charity work to celebrate Dan’s birthday. That was the first time I saw him where I remembered and appreciated the person he was.

He was shown on the TV, giving out clothes to fellow children who were about our age that time. He hugged each and every one of the kids he interacted with, smiling at them as he handed out the gifts he had to share. I remember saying to my mum that he was pretty, that he had a beautiful smile. That his curly brown hair was adorable, and that he was very nice to do that for all those people. I remember her asking me if I “fancied” him after I said those things about him, and I asked her, “Mum, what does that mean?” But, she never really explained. She just asked me if I got a funny feeling in my stomach when I saw the prince, and I said yes, describing it as something that felt ticklish, but it was nice. I remember the surprised look on her face when I said that, eventually sharing a look with my father who was cradling my baby sister, Emily, at the time. They smiled at each other and both took me in a big hug, and back then, I never really understood why they did that. But, as I grew older and looked back at that particular day, I realized that was the moment they knew what I was, and they accepted me. I never had to come out to my parents as gay when I got older as there was already a mutual understanding between us, making it easier for me to be myself around them.

Basically, I knew I was gay because of Dan and now I have a date with him and a chance at marrying him, I chuckled to myself, thinking about how weird life plays out sometimes.

“Sir, we’re here.”

I was interrupted from my daydreaming by Stephen, who was already opening out the door for me. I thanked him and our driver, and as soon as the limousine drove off, I went inside my building and looked for my landlord to get a spare key, going straight to my flat when I finally did.

As soon as I heard the door click, locking behind me after I entered, I immediately walked over to the couch on the lounge and picked my iPhone up from where I remembered I last left it, looking for the song, ignoring every missed notification on the lock screen for the mean time. When I eventually found it on my playlist, I docked my phone—with great difficulty due to my shaking hand—to my speakers which was on a small set of drawers beside the TV. I pressed play, and l listened calmly to the instrumental intro. Then, it started.

I did what I promised I would do when I went home. I did what I remembered promising to myself right after the dinner with the royal family.

I exploded.

“MAYBE IT’S THE WAY HE WALKED!”

I screamed loudly, out of tune but not really caring anymore, kneeling on one knee, eyes shut tight, one hand raised into a fist in the air, and another clutching my chest dramatically.

“STRAIGHT INTO MY HEART AND STOLE IT!” I screamed again, jumping up, clutching my chest with both of my hands this time, popping my left foot backwards abruptly which almost made me fall on my butt.

I wouldn’t go too much into detail anymore about the whole thing because it’s pretty embarrassing, and I want to repress the memory forever. Basically, I screamed the entirety of the lyrics of One Direction’s Best Song Ever, my body shaking whenever I did—probably due to the bundled up feelings finally being freed—and replacing certain words that fit the situation more. For example, I replaced “she” with “he” and “Georgia Rose” with “Daniel James Howell” which didn’t really match the syllables, but I still forced it into the song just because I fricking could and why the heck not? Like I said, embarrassing. I also imitated the dances from the music video, although I think I overdid them a little bit and I guessed I was way too enthusiastic and too into it because I accidentally stubbed my big toe under a table when I kicked my leg for one particular dance move. And oh, I also heard one of my next door neighbors scream “SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU LITTLE SHIT, WE’RE TRYING TO FUCK HERE AND YOU’RE RUINING THE MOOD!” through the walls when I hit the second chorus to which I just screamed back “STOP SWEARING ALOUD, SIR! CHRIST IS LISTENING!” and that’s about it. I am Beyoncé.

When the song ended, I took my iPhone from the speakers, silence finally engulfing the flat. I slouched onto the couch tiredly, taking off the shoes I borrowed from Dan.

When I felt that my breathing was normal again, I started fumbling on my phone to check what I missed. Surely enough, there were eight missed calls and twenty messages from Chris. I decided I would just text or call him back later, after I checked everything else. I went on Twitter and checked my notifications. As usual, there were a lot of tweets from people who watch my videos, mostly noticing that I haven’t tweeted anything else after I posted my video. I usually tweeted random quirks and weird things that get into my head every day and the lack of those for more or less 24 hours must’ve set them off.

“@philion79ever: where is @amazingphil and why hasn’t he tweeted yet??????”

“@snokoPH1Lasm: @AMAZINGPHIL R U OK Y R U NOT SAYING ANYTHING”

@AmazingLeslly: tweet something @amazingphil you’re making us worried omg”

I decided to tweet, seeing as there were a lot of people who seemed really worried. “HEY GUYS! SORRY FOR NOT TWEETING ANYTHING! ^_^ I went somewhere overnight and I forgot my phone at home. :$” I reread what I typed over and over again, sending it immediately when I decided it looked okay and that it wouldn’t give much away. If they knew where I went, there would be a massive shitstorm, and I didn’t want another one of those.

Not a few minutes later, as I was scrolling through my Instagram, my phone started ringing, and it was Chris. I instantly answered the call, cursing myself for forgetting to check his missed calls and texts after I went on Twitter.

“Uh, hel—”

“PHIL! JESUS FUCK, MAN, WHY WEREN’T YOU ANSWERING MY CALLS, YOU HAD ME WORRIED SHITLESS, ME AND PEEJ THOUGHT YOU WERE D—” he yelled furiously on the other end of the line, not even letting me talk first, making me pull the phone away from my ear a little.

“CHRIS!” I exclaimed, hoping to make him stop with his rambling. “Chris, calm down, I’m fine. I’m grand, actually,” I emphasized cheekily, hoping he’d ask why.

“Why?” He asked simply.

“Remember the prank I was talking to you about the other day which I thought was yours? Well, it wasn’t a prank.” I said, failing to muffle the giggles which started to escape my mouth.

“Of course, I remember. That’s why I got worried, you little shit! The last call we had was about some prank you didn’t really expound on. WHAT IF THE PRANK WAS KIDNAPPING YOU AND YOU WENT WITH IT BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT IT WAS MY IDEA AND IT TURNS OUT TO BE REAL?!” Chris started yelling again, his northern accent much more evident.

“Shut up, Chris, I already told you I’m fine, stop worrying and just listen to me, first!” I interjected, excited to finally tell him.

“Alright, go on.”

“Well, apparently, I’m engaged to the Prince of England. I had dinner with them last night at the Buckingham Palace, and they invited my family as well. I’d say it went well because I managed to get a date with the prince before I went home.” I said calmly, trying hard to not sound like my usual fangirly sounding self whenever I talked to Chris about the prince.

Chris didn’t reply, leaving the line silent for seconds. “Chris? Are you still there?”

He told me he was still there by letting out a booming laugh. I could already tell by the intensity of his laughter that his flat was already starting to get flooded with his tears of joy. I stayed silent and waited for him to compose himself because I knew for a fact that when Chris gets into a laughing fit, there was absolutely no way of stopping him. After letting out a last tired-sounding chuckle, he spoke again.

“Oh, god, Phil. I know you’re a weird kid and all, but this time, you officially lost it. Stop shitting on my leg with a made up story about Prince Charming! You’re so creative, I have to give you that, but just tell me the truth, bitch. I won’t get mad, I promise!” He assured, still snickering.

“I just told you, Chris.” I said flatly, hoping that he senses the seriousness.

“Wha—wait, seriously?” He replied incredulously. “I’m coming over right now and if you’re shitting me, I swear I’ll hit you with the first blunt object I find in your flat.”

“I’m serious, okay! Just come over and I’ll tell you everything, bye, see you later” I giggled, hanging up on my best friend, tossing my phone beside me on the couch. The trip from his flat to mine would take about 45 minutes if he travelled normally, but knowing how excited Chris could be, he’d probably make it in 25, tops.

I decided to go on my laptop to continue my internet browsing. I opened Twitter, and scrolled my timeline, stopping when I saw one particular tweet that intrigued me. It was from Troye Sivan.

“@troyesivan: MY NEW VIDEO IS UP! “THE NIGHT I PICKED UP THE PHONE OF THE PRINCE OF ENGLAND” RT and fangirl with me!”

I raised an eyebrow in curiosity, intrigued by the tweet, and watched the video. In the upload, Troye told a story about him picking up a phone on a table of a small coffee shop in London, which was soon taken from him by a guy who introduced himself as “Rant” who claimed that he owned the phone, and he could’ve sworn that the guy really looked like the Prince of England from under his hood. Troye said he attempted to look at him properly after they’ve introduced, but the guy just ran off, and he started to think that the phone was just stolen by the guy. The video ended with him asking his viewers to tweet the prince for confirmation if he was indeed the person Troye met. Curious, curious. I decided I’d just ask Dan about it some other time.

He still hasn’t followed back yet when I checked, and I wouldn’t dare tweet him anything because that would just look desperate, and worse, I would look desperate publicly. So I just settled on randomly tweeting “I love cereal” and as soon as I hit send, I was flooded by tweets again from my followers asking me about what was my favorite cereal and such. I scrolled through the replies, looking for something interesting to reply to as I had nothing else to do as I waited for Chris. After replying to four people, I decided to give it a rest, shutting my laptop again. I sighed, letting my head fall back, shutting my eyes in the process.

After a few minutes, there was a “ding!” on my phone. I picked it up knowing that it would be a Twitter notification. It only does that when people I followed interacted with me, so I checked immediately. My phone almost slipped out of my fingers in surprise as soon as I read the tweet, a small gasp escaping my mouth.

“@danisnotonfire: @AmazingPhil What cereal in particular?”

I let out a few deep breaths, calming myself down. I decided to wait a solid two minutes before replying, just to not look like I was waiting for him to contact me or something. When it was up, I typed rapidly yet still careful for any typos, adding three grinning emojis at the end for it to look casual.

“@AmazingPhil: @danisnotonfire Lion cereal, Your Majesty. You should try it!”

I hit send, and after 26 seconds—not that I counted, really, don’t mind me—Dan finally followed me back and gave me another reply.

“@danisnotonfire: @AmazingPhil Make me.”

With that, I instantly grew ovaries which exploded the same time my Twitter feed did.

“@myboytr0ye: @danisnotonfire @AmazingPhil WHAT IS HAPP EN IGN”

“@smoshedbyphil: @danisnotonfire @AmazingPhil PHIL LESTER YOU LUCKY BASTARD YOU OH MY GLSHRLS HE EVEN FOLLOWED YOU”

“@0akleyd0key: @danisnotonfire @AmazingPhil HOLY SHIT I SHIP THIS I SHIP THIS SO HARD???????!”

Tons and tons of new tweets came every single time I refreshed, all talking and fussing about Dan and I’s interaction. Even my fellow Youtubers tweeted me.

“@tyleroakley: @danisnotonfire @AmazingPhil I AM SO JEALOUS. THIS SLAYS SO MUCH. I ship it. #phan”

“@troyesivan: @danisnotonfire @AmazingPhil HEY PHIL, DOES THIS FINALLY MAKE YOU A HAPPY LITTLE PHIL”

“@zozeebo: @danisnotonfire @AmazingPhil THIS IS SO CUTE”

The tweets kept on coming, the people starting to say that they ship us, using the hashtag #phan, which I figured was popularized by Tyler Oakley since he was the first person with loads of followers to use it. Before I even knew it, it was already trending worldwide.

I shook my head in disbelief, still dying inside due to too much feels. I realized I didn’t reply to Dan’s last tweet due to the overwhelming reactions of the people of the internet. I settled on just a favorite on the tweet, as I just can’t not reply to that without flirting and I didn’t trust myself. So, I left Dan a DM instead.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW, DANIEL” I messaged, hoping he would not take it the wrong way and find it humorous instead. Surprisingly, he replied almost right away.

“I have no idea, tbh. I didn’t know you were /that/ famous. :P” I couldn’t help but giggle upon seeing the emoticon he used. I decided that it was now okay to reply to him immediately when he DMs because he already did that, so I did, too.

“Still not famous as the great prick—I mean—Prince of England tho :P”

“You will regret saying that.” His reply made me raise my eyebrows, not getting what he meant.

“What do you mean?” I responded swiftly. I anxiously waited for Dan to reply to my DM, the curiosity eating me up. Minutes passed, Dan still didn’t message me back. I decided to put my phone down again before I freaked out over it, forcing myself to think that Dan just probably fell asleep or something.

But it’s 3 PM, Phil. Who falls asleep at 3 PM? He’s probably mad you for making fun of him again. My mind started to think irrationally, making me cringe in real life when it became too much for my head to take. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and I ran to it, opening it immediately, grateful for the arrival of Chris. At least he could take my mind away from Dan for a while.

“YOU’RE ENGAGED TO PRINCE DANIEL?!” Chris yelled hysterically, as soon as I opened the door for him, making me jump at him to cover his mouth with my hand. So much for taking my mind away from Dan. I pulled him inside the flat with a bit of a struggle as he attempted to escape my clutches. I released him as the door clicked shut behind us, and I was greeted by Chris flicking my ear.

“OW!” I complained, my hand immediately rubbing my reddened ear. “What was that for?!”

“ARE YOU REALLY ENGAGED TO THE PRINCE?!” Chris asked frantically, getting a hold of my shoulders, shaking me frantically.

“Geez, Chris, stop ye—OW!” Before I could even finish complaining, I’ve been flicked on the ear again.

“JUST ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION, PHIL!” He bellowed, shaking me by the shoulders again.

“I REALLY AM, OKAY! NOW SHUT UP, I WILL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT!” I snapped at Chris, whose jaw dropped as soon as I said the words, eyes wide in shock, gaze fixed on a random spot. He stayed like that for a whole 10 seconds, unmoving, making me snap my fingers in front of his face. “Chris! Chris, snap out of it!”

“Phil…” He dragged, his head slowly moving to face me eye to eye. He looked very creepy, like Professor-Trelawney-having-a-new-prophecy creepy, but I was his best friend, and I knew better than to fall for his theatricality.

“Stop being dramatic, Chris, let’s just talk about it on the lounge. Do you want to order pizza?” I punched him on the shoulder making him yelp in protest, then giggle when he noticed how annoyed I look.

As we were about to sit on the couch, a “ding!” came from my phone. Chris and I looked at my phone for a moment, then we stared back at each other. The next thing we knew, we were wrestling on the couch over my phone, Chris winning with an exclamation of “Eureka!” while holding my phone over his head with one hand, his other hand pinning my face to the couch. He sat on my body, putting all of his weight on me, as he shrieked in excitement with the sight of the notification.

“HE TWEETED YOU, PHIL! THERE’S EVEN A PICTURE, HOLY SHIT,” he exclaimed, pushing the phone to my face. I squinted at the screen as Chris held it up too close, and immediately pushed Chris off and sat straight, snatching the phone from him as soon as I saw the tweet.

“@danisnotonfire: You were right, @AmazingPhil. This cereal is amazing. Like... some people I know.” There was a picture of him with an opened box of Lion cereal, and he was literally cuddling it on his bed in the picture, looking all adorable.

I dropped my phone on the couch and squealed as I buried my face into my hands, my cheeks starting to feel hot already.

Something tells me that his tweet was meant to mock and taunt me.

I think that I’m supposed to be the Lion cereal that he was cuddling on the bed in that picture.

And if that wasn’t his purpose at all, the picture still reminded me of how we woke up being all cuddled up with each other in his bed, the thought alone making me blush crimson. Before, I even fully realized it, I was already dying to have that date with Dan just so I could see him again.

I put two and two together and then it hit me. This was probably what he meant when he said “You will regret saying that.”

He was teasing me like I teased him about his fame, but his method was way worse than mine. His definition of it was so much different. I mess with his ego, he messes with my emotions. Oh, god.

After making my Twitter feed explode for the second time that day, I received another DM from Dan.

“Do you regret it now? :P”

Oh I did, alright.

*Dan’s POV*

I really, really wanted to play hard to get.

I ran to my room soon after I agreed to go on a date with him, not really thinking straight anymore by the time, as I was way too ready to go full-on gay on Phil if I didn’t leave his presence immediately, pun not intended. The feelings were too overwhelming and I’m not really known for my self-control so I just had to run away.

As soon as I reached my room, I flopped onto my bed face first, burying my face into a pillow. I let out a muffled squeal of excitement—which I will assure you, was very manly. I got asked out on a date. I’ve never been on a real date before, probably because I hardly socialized with people my age, so I anticipated it quite a lot.

With my stomach still all tied up in knots due to recent events, I went on my phone immediately, and searched for Phil’s twitter handle. I found out that he really did follow me already, but I decided I won’t follow him back just yet, and wait for him to tweet me first instead, settling on just “browsing” his tweets in a totally not creepy way.

I couldn’t help but laugh at how random and weird his tweets were, which were mostly about lions, cereal, or Lion cereal. To be honest, I was sort of surprised to see that he had a million Twitter followers and that he was verified, mostly because I didn’t know about his existence before the previous night. He was internet famous for his Youtube videos, and I felt a little jealous. Although I was undeniably internet and world famous—and I’m not saying that egotistically—I kinda envied Phil. I was just famous because of my bloodline, and he was famous for who he really was and what he was passionate about. I’m not saying that being royalty is a bad thing, it has its perks, alright. But I couldn’t help but feel that people only liked me because I was the Prince of England, not because of what my interests are. People wouldn’t give two shits about me if it weren’t for my title, and that kinda sucks, to be honest.

After what seemed like more than an hour of “casually reading” Phil’s old tweets, a notification appeared on his Twitter profile. 1 new tweet.

I abruptly sat up from lying on my bed lazily, my mind suddenly becoming fully alert, adrenaline coursing through my veins, and it’s totally not because I was waiting for Phil to come home and tweet or something.

“@AmazingPhil: HEY GUYS! SORRY FOR NOT TWEETING ANYTHING! ^_^ I went somewhere overnight and I forgot my phone at home. :$”

I couldn’t help but giggle at Phil’s tweet as it tried to not be much of a giveaway of anything that happened in his hours in the palace, yet it made me remember. Good call, I thought. I wasn’t quite ready to reveal anything serious to the world yet. I was hoping it would be our little secret, and I’m glad he had caught on with what I was hoping for.

It took everything for me not to click reply and tweet him something, as I was still trying to keep up the hard-to-get image I was building for myself. I closed the Twitter app first and went on my secret Tumblr account, and browsed through my dashboard, trying to keep my mind off of Phil. I will wait for him to tweet me, I promised myself.

When I was about to reblog a third post from my dash, notification after notification popped up from my phone and they were all from Twitter. I opened it immediately, as it looked like something that I couldn’t ignore for long, and browsed through the tweets, my brow furrowing with confusion as all the tweets basically read that I should watch the latest YouTube video of a guy named Troye Sivan, who was @troyesivan on Twitter. His name was vaguely familiar to me, and I could’ve sworn I’ve heard it somewhere before. I tried racking my brain for where I might’ve heard his name from, but with no success. Curiosity getting the best of me, I just went to his Twitter profile, and browsed his tweets, my eyes widening at the sight of his most recent one.

“@troyesivan: MY NEW VIDEO IS UP! “THE NIGHT I PICKED UP THE PHONE OF THE PRINCE OF ENGLAND” RT and fangirl with me!” Shit. Now, I remember.

I clicked on his icon, and there he was, the guy who found my phone that one night I sneaked out from the palace. I decided to watch the video, which made me quite frustrated. I got recognized, shit, shit shit. I knew it was my fault that it happened, but I couldn’t help but feel annoyed with the boy because I had no idea that he had the capability to share the story in such a large platform, and to quite a large audience, too. Well, at least he wasn’t sure if it was me, so I decided to just not comment anything about it at all, hoping that his video won’t get noticed by someone from the palace.

I felt quite edgy as tweet after tweet about Troye’s video still kept on coming to get my attention, which I really wasn’t planning on giving. I let out a groan, as I figured that this won’t be stopping soon. So, I just went back to Phil’s twitter account, and browsed his tweets again, careful not to favorite anything by accident. But before the page loaded older tweets, a notification was shown on his profile again which I immediately clicked. 1 new tweet.

“@AmazingPhil: I love cereal”

Before I could even stop myself, I was already trying to type up a reply frantically, deleting a word or two from it as I edited, but ended up deleting the entire thing I just typed since I couldn’t seem to make it sound really casual. I thought hard about it for a few minutes, deciding on the most generic reply I could think of.

“@danisnotonfire: @AmazingPhil What cereal in particular?”

I hit send before my mind could even think of regretting it, and sighed. It felt like hours for me before he replied because I already felt anxious by the time he did, when it actually took him just a couple of minutes.

“@AmazingPhil: @danisnotonfire Lion cereal, Your Majesty. You should try it!” I read rapidly, with three grinning emojis at the end. Casual.

My heart pounded in my chest as I finally decided to follow him back and give him a reply, not really thinking properly anymore of what I was saying. It’s embarrassing to say it, but I think I’m really eager to finally talk to Phil again, even if it’s just Twitter.

“@danisnotonfire: @AmazingPhil Make me.”

As soon as I hit send, I immediately regretted it, realizing a little too late that the tweet probably looked and sounded way too forward, even in my standards. My body stiffened and my breath hitched as notifications started to flood my phone again, this time for a different reason. People were actually reacting to my little Twitter exchange with Phil, and it was making me anxious. I let it get to me, and I made myself scroll through the tweets and read what people had to say. I exhaled a breath of relief, loosening up when I read what people had to say. They were mostly confounded, asking what’s happening and such, but even if they didn’t get it, they seemed to like it, some even saying that they shipped us.

But the anxiety came flooding back when I realized that Phil hadn’t tweeted anything back. He probably thought I was being creepy, I worried. The nerves started to kick in again, making me stand up from my bed to pace across my room back and forth, staring at the screen of my phone intently. When a notification from Phil finally popped up, I almost dropped my phone out of surprise and panic. He favorite my last tweet to him, but didn’t reply. I sat up on the edge of my bed again, my knees finally going weak, and waited for something else to happen, fiddling with my fringe as I did. When a notification popped up again telling that I had a message from Phil, I let out a little squeak, shutting my eyes a little too tight, not wanting to see his message just yet. But of course that didn’t work because I am a wild and uncontrollable teenager who has a little crush on some cute boy and I can’t help but let myself peek at the message anyway. I absolutely have no chill.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW, DANIEL” it simply read, making me giggle.

“I have no idea, tbh. I didn’t know you were /that/ famous. :P” I replied right away, hoping he would get the drift that it would be okay to respond to my messages immediately, without looking thirsty.

“Still not famous as the great prick—I mean—Prince of England tho :P” he responded cheekily, making me raise an eyebrow in surprise. The boy’s growing confident apparently, having the courage to tease me, and if I’m being honest, I found it a tad bit challenging. So, I decided to try something on him. He likes teasing? Fine, I’ll be a tease.

“You will regret saying that.” I replied, chuckling at how serious my message looked like, hoping that it would put him on the edge for a little while.

“What do you mean?” he responded simply. I could already feel the confusion and probably worry emanating from Phil even through a screen. I snickered at how evil I was, and chucked the phone to the pillow on my bed. Immediately, I went out of my bedroom and asked the first maid I encountered for a box of Lion cereal, which I ordered to my room. I waited for a few minutes, sitting back on my bed, contemplating on what else I should do. Finally there was a knock on the door, the maid complying with what I asked of her and handing me the box. I thanked her and she left, and I put my plan on action.

I took my phone and set it on camera, then I opened the cereal, eating a handful first because I couldn’t resist. I lay back on my bed and cuddled the box of cereal, attempting to imitate what I could remember about me cuddling Phil. I snapped a picture, laughing out loud when I saw how the picture turned out, immediately tweeting Phil the picture I tried so hard to be kawaii on, choosing my words carefully, my priority being making Phil flustered.

“@danisnotonfire: You were right, @AmazingPhil. This cereal is amazing. Like... some people I know.”

I really liked getting revenge, not gonna lie.

Of course with that picture, I basically broke my Twitter, and hopefully, Phil’s as well. I started to giggle, reading through tweet after tweet from people who followed me and Phil which, in summary, basically confirmed that they officially shipped us. There was also a lot about ovaries exploding because of too much feels. Oh, the internet, what a wonderful place.

I decided to leave Phil a DM, when a couple minutes have passed, and I still have gotten no reply from him. “Do you regret it now? :P” I said, making it look casual and like I wasn’t worried at all about the whole thing, when the worry was in fact eating me up on the inside. Shit, I think I crossed the line.

My mind started to work too hard again, thinking about horrible what if’s. What if I got it all wrong and Phil didn’t like me at all like I thought? What if he gets hate for our little Twitter exchange? What if he refuses to talk to me again because I came off as being an arrogant bastard?

I cringed at my thoughts, regret hitting me right in the face. I buried my face into my pillow again and squealed, this time in frustration, marveling at how stupid I was. I ruined it. I ruined everything.

I stayed in my sulking position for a long while, cringing every now and then whenever I remember what’s happened in the last few hours. Surprisingly, I didn’t cry about it even if I actually settled on a thought that my date with Phil was off, and that I will never get another chance at that in a million years. Giving up, I took my phone, deciding that I should turn it off so I could take my mind off of things. Stupid and irrational as I was, I let myself see my notifications, promising myself that I would turn my phone right after I did. My eyes widened when I saw that Phil had left me a DM on Twitter, which I opened in a rush.

“Dan, what’s your number? :)”

Not giving a shit anymore about what could happen albeit confused about his DM, I typed in my number and nothing else, and sent it to him. I buried my face back in my pillow, dreading whatever was about to come. Moments later, I heard my phone ringing, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, knowing that it would be Phil calling me.

“H-Hello?” I answered, my voice failing to hide my nerves. I started to fiddle with my fringe, like I always did when I got anxious about something. There was a sharp exhale from the other end of the line, and I heard a faint voice that I don’t recognize from the background, saying something like, “Just do it, Phil!”

“Dan,” he said finally. I let out a whimper, relieved that his voice sounded normal, and not at all mad. “Dan, are you okay?”

“Yeah, Phil… Well, actually not really. Sorry about being a prick earlier and causing a shitstorm of some sorts, really sorry,” I admitted, giving an awkward-sounding laugh.

“Don’t be sorry, Dan. It’s fine, alright? I’ve absolutely no problem with it,” he assured, making me smile.

“Okay. I just thought you hated me for it. Personally, I felt like I’ve gone too far,” I said truthfully, my voice cracking towards the end as I felt sadness creep in. There was a giggle from Phil, and he spoke again.

“You’re an idiot, Your Majesty. I would never.”

“You would never…?” I asked, not quite getting what he meant.

“I’d never hate you,” he said, sounding sincere. “I’m sorry if I made you think and feel that way. You should go all, “Off with his head!” or something on me.” He let out another giggle, and this time, I joined him.

“I’ll think about that, Phil. And maybe if I do that, I will finally have a shot at being cast on Game of Thrones!” I joked, finally feeling at ease, making him laugh.

“Sure, my head would be honored to be the key to your TV show debut,” he joked right back. The line went silent for a split second before he spoke again. “So… Should we talk date details or…?” he asked rather unsurely, making my stomach do flips again.

“Yeah, we should do that,” I heard a squeal from Phil’s end of the line, sounding distant, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t him as I still heard him breathing. “What do you plan on doing?”

“I actually have no idea yet. I feel as if you’ve been everywhere already, and you’ve done everything already, as you are, well, you’re the Prince of England, and I don’t want to bore you,” he admitted.

“You won’t Phil. I only go to places briefly, and only for official things, and always with bodyguards, so I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy anything you’d like to do,” I assured, letting out the giggle that bubbled up in my chest.

“Really? ‘Cause I was thinking about just going on a casual, er, date around London. I know, that sucks, but I wanted it to be as normal as possible, yeah?”

“I would love that. I’ve never been out and about London, believe me. I’ve never really visited it in daylight, and I haven’t been to more than half of it, to be honest,” I confessed, feeling timid.

“Alright then. Will next Saturday be okay? August 9? Or you decide, you’re busier than me, I’m sure of that,” he teased, chuckling.

“August 9 would be lovely, Phil,” I said. “So, how do we meet up?”

“OH!” he exclaimed, making me jump a little. “I, er, I actually didn’t think about that, sorry. Er… Should I stand outside the palace gates and throw pebbles and shout for your name until you come out and meet me or would you like to meet somewhere else? I’m being serious,” he answered, making me giggle once again. Something about Phil makes me all giggly, like a six-year-old girl seeing her dad kiss her mum’s cheek in public, and it’s something I would never complain of despite of how shameful it makes me feel at the same time.

“I could always ask someone to pick you up from your flat and bring you here, then we’ll go out together, yeah? No bodyguards, or do you prefer that we bring along some?”

“That would be great. And no bodyguards, please. They scare me!” We laughed, the tension dissolving to nothing at last.

“Awesome, man. I’ll ask someone to pick you up, at 12 PM, alright? And will you mind if I wore some sort of disguise? Just a beanie or a hoodie, not anything outrageous. I just… kinda want us to be undisturbed and alone for the whole afternoon…” I admitted shyly.

“Oh…” he trailed softly. “Of course. I could say the same for myself,” he responded, sounding genuine.

“Okay, then. See you on Saturday, Mr. Lester.” I said, my cheeks heating up slightly. Why the fuck am I blushing? He’s not even here???

“I look forward to it, Your Majesty.” I could’ve sworn I heard another voice saying something like a muffled “Way to go, bitch!” from Phil’s end of the line before it completely cut off, but he was just probably watching TV so I just shrugged it off and prepared myself for the real horror that day.

Which was asking permission from my parents.

I groaned to myself, dreading the conversation already. I prepared for the worst, but I’m pretty sure the worst could go to what’s worse than the worst, if that was even possible. Deciding that I should just ask permission during dinnertime, I spent the rest of the afternoon just mindlessly browsing the internet on my Mac, taking down random ideas for possible short films that I could make in the future.

“Wha—?”

I stirred slowly, my sight still blurred because of the sleep in my eyes, focusing on the face of the person who disturbed my peaceful slumber.

“Your Majesty, it’s dinnertime. Should I tell your parents that you’re skipping tonight? Though may I just say that if you’ll continue with your sleeping, I suggest you lie on your bed? You’ll get neck and back pains napping like that on your keyboard, sir,” the maid said, a smirk playing on her lips. She was right. When I tried to sit up straight, I let out a groan, my hand touching my nape which was in pain, making her gasp.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll be right down, Rose,” I announced, giving her a grin in assurance. Rose nodded and let herself out of the room, curtsying before she left. My stomach growled, as if complaining, and I decided to just go down and eat dinner, not bothering to change my clothes into more “palace-appropriate” ones anymore such as those which I always wore whenever I was in the presence of my parents. Fuck it. Food before fashion.

I made my way downstairs and stood by my usual seat, surprised that I beat my parents to the dining hall. I waited for them to arrive, my stomach churning in anticipation combining with the nerves that I was feeling. When they finally did, signaling that the food can be brought in, everything else happened in a quick blur, and by that, I meant that I ate so fast, I didn’t even get to fully appreciate the beautiful looking pieces of art which is palace food. I was hungry, and I was tense. I eat when I’m tense, and heck, I was very tense about asking permission for the date with Phil, so you could only guess how much I was able to eat in a short period of time.

“Daniel, are you alright? You look kind of pale, son,” my dad suddenly let out, looking concerned. I let out a nervous laugh, and made up an excuse.

“Ahahaha, am I now? Nah, dad, it’s nothing. It’s just probably because I ate a lot tonight,” I said, avoiding eye contact by starting with dessert.

“I’ve noticed that you were eating a lot, Daniel. You only do that when you’re nervous about something. Do you have something to say?” My mum inquired, an eyebrow cocked upwards in suspicion.

“N-Nothing, mum, really, aha!” I mumbled, a short awkward laugh leaving my lips.

“Just tell us, Daniel. You’re our child, we raised you, and we can see right through you. Look at you, you’re fidgeting with your fringe again,” my mum teased, making me drop my hand which was in fact fidgeting with my fringe in embarrassment. I just stared at my dad, then my mum, who gestured encouragingly to just come clean about whatever words I was withholding.

“Fine,” I muttered in defeat. “I just wanted to ask if I could go out on a date with Phil,” I admitted, my voice soft.

“Pardon?” My mum said, a smirk evident in her lips. “Could you speak louder, son? We didn’t quite catch that. Right, Doug?” She poked my dad, giving him a wink before she looked back at me.

“Right! Yes, speak louder, Daniel!” My dad exclaimed, raising his fist out to my mother who bumped it right away, giving her a knowing wink in return. OH GOD.

I glared at them both, frowning. “You’re too old to do fist bumps. Besides, I know you heard me,” I complained begrudgingly.

“Oh, no. What did you say? Did you hear him properly, Doug?” My mum asked my dad innocently, my dad shaking his head in response. “What were you asking us in the first place, again, Daniel?” My mum asked again, the smirk back in her lips.

“I ASKED IF I COULD GO OUT ON A DATE, OKAY!” I exclaimed, raising my palms in defeat, shutting my eyes tight as I felt my cheeks go hot. “…With Phil.” I added, almost whispering.

“With who? We didn’t catch that last part?” My mum asked innocently, my father going red, trying too hard to suppress his laughter.

“WITH PHIL! PHIL ASKED ME OUT, ALRIGHT, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!” I exploded, covering my face. The whole thing was a travesty. I had the worst parents ever. Fuck. My. Butt.

My parents started to cry because of laughing too hard, and I was torn between wanting them to choke on their own spit and me wanting to choke them myself with the long string of sausages that was still on the dinner table. I glared at them, my arms crossing as I waited for them to get over their laughing fit.

When they finally came to a halt, my mum looked at me fondly, standing up from her seat and going around the table to wrap her arms around me. “Don’t be so embarrassed now, Daniel. We just wanted to tease you as this will be your first date, am I right?! You’ve never been on a date before!” She giggled, pinching my cheeks lightly, which made them burn up even more.

“Thanks for reminding me that I have no actual social life. I hate you both,” I mumbled, hiding my face in my mum’s shoulder.

“Love you, too,” my mum said, chuckling, ruffling my hair. I looked up at her, glaring at her jokingly, sticking my tongue out at her. She raised an eyebrow and kissed my cheek in response, making me giggle.

“SO!” My mum said, clapping her hands together, walking back to her seat. She gave a look to my father which I didn’t quite see, but made my father snigger. He nodded at her, and she turned her gaze back at me, the smirk back in her face yet again. I groaned in realization, my palm hitting my face which made a they-are-going-to-fuck-with-you-even-more-in-a-non-literal-way sound upon contact if you listened closely.

It wasn’t over.

“Shall we talk about the arrangements for this date of yours?”

*Dan’s POV*

It’s official. I have no talent with avoiding embarrassing and awkward situations and conversations.

“Muuuuum… We don’t have to talk about it, really, please don’t,” I groaned, shaking my head in protest. This is embarrassing enough already.

“Oh, but we do, Daniel. I think you’re forgetting that you’re the Prince of England, we need to know details so we could be sure you’re going to be alright,” my mum said, trying to sound stern. I rolled my eyes, already seeing through her bluff. I could see her mouth twitching, knowing that she’s fighting a grin of amusement. She’s totally enjoying this.

“Fine. He wants to take me out and about London. On the 9th. I was thinking I could just let someone pick him up from his flat and bring him here, then we leave from here together,” I muttered, glaring at a plate of cheese which suddenly looked so interesting in my perspective. My mum simply nodded, her forehead creased.

“So… So, do you want to be seen with him? Or will you put on a disguise of some sort?” She asked, sounding unsure of herself.

“Actually, mum… I think I don’t want to be seen with him just yet. Also,” I peered at her, my hand finding its way into my hair again, fidgeting. “I think I want to be alone with him for the date,” I bit my lip, holding my breath. I mentally crossed my fingers, hoping for the best.

“What? Alone? Do you mean you don’t want bodyguards?” My father spoke, sounding a bit surprised. I exhaled in relief. At least he didn’t sound mad. I looked at him and nodded, to which he just cocked an eyebrow upward in response. He looked at my mum, and they shared a look, making my stomach do nervous flips. My mum shook her head at him, then stared at me sadly, and with the gesture, I tensed in my seat. What was that about?

“We won’t allow it, Daniel. I’m sorry, but it’s just too dangerous out there for you if you go without bodyguards.”

My heart dropped as soon as she spoke the words. Of course.

And I don’t mean it to sound like I’m some angst-ridden teenager in a dark rebellious phase but of fucking course. Of course I could never be free.

I stared at my mum blankly, not wanting to give away what really went through my mind and just nodded in agreement, as I knew that there was no point in arguing with their decision. Their word was law, and I felt like crying.

“Okay, mum,” I said, failing to hold back a sigh, feeling defeated. And in that instance, it was proven to me that mothers really knew best.

My mum stood up immediately, running around the table to hug me again, her eyes prickling with tears as she did.

“I’m so, so sorry, Daniel. We just want you to be safe, alright? As much as we want you to go on your first date alone and make it as normal as possible—and we know this is special for you, okay?—we just can’t risk it. And we trust you completely, never forget that. It’s just—we can never trust the others. Please understand the situation. Please?” My mum let out a small sob, the sound making my heart break into teeny tiny million pieces.

I was able to give her a small but sincere smile, and hugged her, rubbing her back soothingly. “It’s okay, mum, don’t worry. Please don’t cry. I understand,” I said to her in assurance, releasing her from the hug. She finally stopped crying and managed to give me a smile. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I had to get away.

When my mum finally went back to her seat, I gave her and my father a nod, excusing myself from the table, running back to my room immediately after they said okay. As soon as the door closed behind me, I ran to my bed and picked up my phone to make a call, my heart pounding.

“Hello, Sir?” Matt said, picking up after the third ring.

“Matt, I-I have to get out of here.”

“Okay, Sir. I’ll be right there.”

Soon enough, Matt and I were pushing through with our protocol whenever I sneaked out of the palace. He always came to the rescue, no questions asked, but with perfect understanding. And for that, I am grateful.

The next thing I knew was that I was back in the secluded coffee shop I visited the last time I went out, sitting in a corner sofa, with a cup of coffee and yet another secondhand book. It should’ve felt all too familiar, but it didn’t. I wasn’t at ease and relaxed at all, rereading and rereading the first page of the first chapter of the book, unable to absorb a word. My mind was way too distracted, the idea of the phone in my pocket stuck burning in my head.

I have to call Phil.

Giving in to the thoughts, I let myself get my phone out, finding Phil’s number in my contacts straightaway. For a while, I just looked at Phil’s number—my mind convincing me that I shouldn’t call him the longer I stared at it, and my gut saying, “Fuck it, just call him.”

I went with my gut.

“Hello? Dan?”

As soon as I heard Phil’s voice from the other line, I felt a little calmer. But it also made the guilt I was feeling at the moment a little more real.

“Hey, Phil, sorry if I’m calling you this late,” I said, closing my eyes, my free hand finding its way to my fringe under the hoodie I was wearing.

“It’s quite alright, Dan. I wasn’t really doing anything important. Uhm, so… Why did you call all of a sudden?” he responded. I bit my lip, then let out a sigh, suddenly conflicted all over again. I already called him, and he has already answered. Might as well just do it, I thought.

“I talked to my parents a while ago. Uhm… About the date thing. I kinda figured I had to ask permission and stuff.”

“Oh. That’s okay, I guess! What did they say then?”

And before my mind even got the chance to convince me to do otherwise, I blurted out what was bugging me all night.

“They said it’s alright. No bodyguards.”

The guilt took over me immediately right after I told the lie, making me feel dizzy, the image of my mother crying during dinner flashing back again and again.

*Phil’s POV*

To say that I was excited for the date was an understatement.

It literally took all my willpower not to give anything away to the general public about it for the rest of the week, mentally screaming instead whenever the thought of the date crossed my mind. The fact that Dan and I constantly texted or DM’d didn’t help at all, too.

I wanted the world to know, I wanted to tweet about it, make a video about it, or go to a rooftop and scream my lungs out telling the universe about it. I wanted to show off because I was just so darn happy about it, but I couldn’t. And that particular fact made me want to just go… Boom.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to show off because I had a date with the prince, although admittedly, that was pretty fricking impressive for someone so ordinary. I just took pride for actually having the guts to ask Dan out in the first place, the guy I’ve been crushing on for years, and for actually getting him to agree to it. And that’s not bad for a guy who’s never asked anyone out before nor for someone who hasn’t been on their first date yet and holy shiz. It’s going to be my first date.

Upon realization, I got a little paranoid—and okay, fine, that’s another understatement because I got very, very paranoid, my mind playing worst case scenarios over and over. I asked someone, who probably has loads of experience with dating, out on a date because of a stupid gut feeling. Out of pure impulse, and I didn’t think it over and I’m going to embarrass myself and just… Oh god.

Thinking about it the night before the date didn’t help, too. Also, the fact that I worried about it while in bed, trying to sleep was just horrible. I started to rethink what I would wear, how the date will go, and just practically everything that I’ve planned. Somewhere in my mind, it’s as if I received texts from Sherlock saying “Wrong!” every time I thought of a new idea, making my head ache of abuse, forcing me to open my eyes and stare at the ceiling in the hopes of clearing my head for a moment. I was never a fan of sleep deprivation but that time, I mean… Who needed sleep anyway?

I certainly did.

But I obviously wasn’t going to get any.

My eyes shot open as soon as my alarm went off the next morning, feeling as if I haven’t slept at all, which was probably the case due to the previous night’s circumstances.

It was 7 AM, an ungodly hour for someone as lazy as me. I groaned in protest upon knowing the time, but I knew I had to suck it up, jumping off my bed instantly, and not taking any more chances with staying in bed for another five minutes just to end up dozing off for the rest of the day—which totally didn’t happen in the past, by the way.

I tried doing jumping jacks as soon as I got to my feet in an attempt to shake myself up to feel more awake. The jumping jacks themselves didn’t work though, as my hand accidentally karate chopped my very, very solid wooden cabinet in the process, making me yell phrases my mother would not be pleased to hear, the sudden pain bringing tears to my eyes. For the record, I should’ve known better than to actually attempt doing anything which involved loads of movement, as I’m admittedly very accident prone. But hey! No pain, no gain, right? At least it worked. Sort of.

After the pain coming from my hand subsided, I put on my glasses, went to the kitchen and fixed myself some breakfast—if I could even call it that. I was pretty annoyed to discover that I forgot to buy milk the last time I went grocery shopping, settling on just grabbing fistfuls of cereal, shoving them inside my mouth angrily, chewing rather begrudgingly while thinking about the feeling of outright wrongness of eating dry cereal. I usually enjoyed dry cereal and even preferred it sometimes. But it just wasn’t happening for me that day.

When that was over, I took a warm, lengthy shower to calm my nerves down. The dry cereal incident contributed even more to the sour mood I was already in due to the previous night’s sleep deprivation, therefore I really needed to compose myself. By the time I finished, I felt a lot better, getting into quite a good mood, even. I made my way to my room to grab my phone with a towel wrapped around my waist and another on my hair, then went to the lounge to dock my phone to the speakers, selecting one of those generic “happy mornings” playlists on Spotify randomly. It was only a quarter to 9 AM, and I had plenty of time to finalize my outfit for the date.

I went through the trouble of using a hair dryer that day, unlike most days where I just let it get dried by the air before straightening it. It goes without saying that I really wanted to look my best for the date. You know… To make an impression. I even put hairspray, for crying out loud.

Then came the time to actually choose what to wear which was literally agonizing. I stared at the limited contents of my small closet for what seemed like forever, every piece of clothing I owned suddenly looking like the most ridiculous and uncool things I’ve ever laid my eyes on. And once again, the panic was back. I should’ve shopped for the date. A quick trip to Topman would’ve sufficed, but no. I didn’t do that. It was too late for that. The clock seemed to tick faster and faster every time I made a horrible mismatch for an outfit, as if time itself was pressuring me to stop being a fashion disaster and start looking like a supermodel as soon as I could. But as we all knew, looking fabulous didn’t come easy.

By 11:20 AM, I was already close to being a complete emotional wreck due to all the negative thoughts I kept on getting as I was rummaging through my closet, just settling on the most “okay” looking clothes I could match up within the limited selection—not too formal, not too stupid. I wore my favorite black and red button up plaid, one of my pairs of black skinny jeans, and some all-black Chucks. It was pretty annoying to realize that I looked the same as any other day, but I couldn’t care to complain anymore as I was already running late. Quickly, I straightened my hair once more and put some more hairspray, mentally apologizing to the environment for my possible contribution for its destruction. Lastly, I put on my contact lenses as I couldn’t really see without them. I considered wearing my glasses out that day, but I realized it was a pretty stupid idea. There was no way I would go out with Dan wearing my glasses. I’m already ugly without them, and even more if I wore them, so... Nope.

With one last look in the mirror, I walked back to the lounge holding my laptop—my phone, keys, and wallet in my pockets, finally ready. I decided to browse the internet for a little while as I waited to calm the nerves which were already crawling back inside me. At one point, I received a message from Chris saying, “I send to you my best wishes for today, my dearest homosexual friend! Remember to wear a condom! :D” to which I plainly replied, “Thank you, my also homo homie. Piss off.”

It was already 11:36 AM, and someone from the palace would come and pick me up any time. 11:40 AM. 11:45. 11:55. 11:59.

There was a knock on the door.

It’s embarrassing to say that I still took a very sharp intake of breath of surprise as soon as I heard the knock. I shut my laptop and stood up, walking to the door as calmly as possible, my knees feeling a little wobbly. I stopped and stood before the closed door, shutting my eyes and taking deep breaths, rubbing my palms together. I fixed my fringe for the last time, putting on a nice smile to hide the nerves. Finally, I twisted the door knob, ready to face whoever was waiting for me, which I figured, was probably going to be Stephen.

My eyes widened and I gasped.

It was not Stephen.

I took a deep breath and blinked furiously. WHAT?

“DAN? What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’ll explain later, Philip. Does your building have a fire exit?” he said quite frantically, looking left and right as if waiting for somebody to jump out at him in the hallway, but still managing to give me a grin.

“Uhh, yeah? Over there,” I responded rather confusedly, poking my head out and pointing at the far end of the hall.

“Great, let’s go,” Dan said, taking my hand and pulling me towards the fire exit, half-running, my flat’s door shutting behind us with a click. What the heck?

“Dan? Dan, slow down! Why are you in such a hurry?” I managed to ask as we were trudging down the stairs. I didn’t really mind what was happening, especially the part where he was holding my hand really tightly, but it was already becoming very confusing in my part, and I needed some sort of explanation.

“I’m sorry I lied to you, Phil,” he breathed. “About the bodyguards. My parents won’t allow us to go out without them. There are bodyguards waiting for us right now, downstairs.”

“I-If that’s the case, why are we running down the fire exit right now?” I probed, even more confounded by Dan’s explanation, still running.

“Y-You don’t want b-bodyguards, right? I don’t want bodyguards, either.”

“So, your point is…?” I asked, my voice trailing, starting to get a little breathless, still not able to catch up with what was Dan getting at. He let out a loud sigh, still going down the stairs with the same rhythm and speed with him leading the way.

“In case you haven’t noticed yet…” he spoke, rather calmly.

“…We’re actually running away right now, Captain Hindsight.”

*Dan’s POV*

“Dan… Why exactly are we inside a thrift shop right now?” Phil inquired, still looking baffled with the recent events. If I were in his shoes, I’d be worried too, to be honest. I just dragged him from his flat and across London, running. That’s not something you get to do every day.

“I’m sorry. It was the first clothing store I saw. And like I told you, I’m not really familiar with London. Sorry,” I apologized, my head bowing down in shame from under my hood.

“It’s alright, Dan. But, really… Why exactly are we here?” he asked again, gesturing towards our surrounding which was full of secondhand clothes. “Are we going all Macklemore right now?” he teased, his eyes crinkling and his tongue poking out his mouth as he chuckled. Adorable.

“Er… Sort of,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. “I need to get into other clothes. The body guards didn’t see you today, so I guess you’ll be okay with just a hat or something. If you don’t mind wearing one, of course. But I really need to get out of these clothes if we want, erm, to be alone. I figured that I should also ditch the hoodie since it’s basically Underworld weather today, and only an idiot wouldn’t notice someone wearing a thick hoodie on a very rare sunny day in London. So, yeah… Sorry if I didn’t tell you earlier. We could’ve gone to Topman or Urban Outfitters but yeah. Sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry, you carrot. It’s okay, really,” Phil assured, punching me lightly in the arm, giving me a smile. “I’ve never actually thrift shopped before. This’ll be fun.”

“And, oh—by the way, I also brought one of my smaller film cameras. You don’t mind if I take pictures along the way, do you? I think today’s a good opportunity to expand my portfolio,” I told Phil, showing him my camera that I hid inside the pocket of my hoodie.

“It’s alright, I guess,” he replied, giving me what looked like a sincere smile.

I nodded and smiled back in response. With his assurance, I felt my mood lightening up. There was really something about him that makes me trust him a lot that I can’t quite put my finger on. But I wasn’t really looking for a definite answer for that one.

“Hey, don’t get too smiley already. I’m still going to show you around London, right, Your Highness?” he mocked, poking me in the cheek, his lips twitching into a grin.

“Whatever, commoner, you’re paying,” I rolled my eyes in mock annoyance, letting out a laugh that I couldn’t suppress any longer.

“As you wish, Your Highness,” he said slowly, curtsying. I gave him a little push as he did, making him lose balance, almost getting engulfed by a tall rack of furry jackets. Luckily, I got a hold of his waist, pulling him into my arms, and Jesus Christ. Why do we always get into these sort of situations?

I was holding onto his waist like a sloth, and both his arms were wound around my neck, his chin resting over my hair as he was a little taller than me. It was only for a split second; we immediately let go of each other as soon as we realized that he was properly standing again. But the nice yet weird feeling of getting tangled into some sort of embrace with him already lingered, making my cheeks feel hot.

“I’m so sorry, Phil.”

“I already said stop saying sorry, earlier. It’s okay, really. I’m just really clumsy,” Phil assured me once again, smiling, and ruffling my hair from under my hood, which made my stomach do somersaults. It’s back.

“So… Do we go for homeless or mega hot teen model today?” Phil pumped suggestively, his tone full of jest.

“How about we go for mega hot homeless teen model,” I responded, playing along.

“That’s not a thing, Dan,” Phil said, shaking his head in slight amusement.

“Oh, it will be, after this. Trust me.”

*Phil’s POV*

If I was going to be honest, I wouldn’t really be surprised anymore if I just randomly spilled my guts all over the place, staining everything in my wake with rainbows and glitter.

I would like to believe that Daniel James Howell was too good to be true.

After going through heaps of clothes in the thrift shop, I ended up just getting a black beanie for myself while Dan ended up looking like what he promised he would look like. Which was—pardon my language—fucking hot.

He ditched his shirt, hoodie, and black skinny jeans, which surprisingly, the thrift shop bought off of us. Instead, he wore a plain white v-neck shirt which he folded the sleeves of, and paired it with some old, ripped, and bleached blue skinny jeans. He also got a dark blue beanie and some black wayfarers, leaving his own white Chucks on to complete his outfit.

If I were the one to be wearing his clothes, I would probably just look homeless. But on Dan… Well, let’s just say he literally puts the “mega hot teen model” part of the outfit. And it turned out that he was actually right. It is a thing. He made it a thing.

“Phil? Why are you staring at me like that?” Dan said suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. My breath hitched and I dropped my gaze immediately, cursing myself mentally for staring at him absentmindedly, my cheeks starting to heat up once again.

“I-I wasn’t staring! I just liked your sunglasses, that’s all. They look pretty rad,” I mumbled, hoping he won’t see through my horrible excuse.

“Riiiight. Because my sunglasses are on my chest. Okay, Phil,” Dan retorted, letting out a chuckle. My eyes widened at his comeback, and I felt my face heat up even more. Stop.

“Shut up, let’s just keep walking,” I replied, fiddling with my fringe in embarrassment, walking faster and getting quite ahead of Dan. Dang it. I couldn’t really manage to check out Dan without being too obvious, could I?

“Where exactly are we going, Phil?” Dan inquired, running to my side, keeping up with my pace.

“Oh, just the mall,” I responded, finally managing to look at Dan, a smirk painted on my face.

“The mall? Are you being serious right now?” Dan asked again, a hint of horror in his tone.

“Yes, Dan. The mall.”

“But aren’t there are loads of people there? Noisy people. And…” he paused dramatically, shuddering, his eyes widening. “And worse, crying children.”

“I know. It’s perfect,” I said mockingly, wiggling my eyebrows at Dan suggestively, to which he just glared at me in annoyance, yet still keeping up with my pace.

“I hate you.”

I don’t know how we did it, but we managed to get to the mall undisturbed.

I’d like to believe that we made it inside unrecognized by anyone, but the incredible amount of second glances given to Dan by girls and boys alike was quite worrying. I knew I was only being too paranoid about the whole thing and they were probably just checking him out like I totally subtly did. But I couldn’t help but crease my forehead in worry. I should’ve known someone as incredibly good-looking as Dan would never go unnoticed, even if he weren’t looking like royalty.

“Dan, I think you should take your hands off your pocket while we’re walking,” I suggested, as another girl walking past us gave Dan a second glance, eyeing him from head to toe with her jaw dropped.

“What?” Dan asked, retracting his hands from his pockets, one hand immediately finding its way through his hair, turning to face me. “Why?”

I let out a huff and rolled my eyes, then started massaging my temples. How do I tell him he’s looking way too hot without telling him that he’s looking way too hot?

“You’re being really attractive right now and your hand running through your hair is making it worse,” I muttered under my breath, dropping my gaze from him, growing quite impatient. He’ll never get the effect he has on people. Especially on me.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Nothing!” I looked back up at him, forcing a smile. I hope I didn’t look too enthusiastic or guilty. “Let’s go to the arcade first, yeah?”

“Phil, you have consistently sucked in every game we played. And I’m the one who’s an arcade first timer,” Dan teased as he beat me at another round of Street Fighter, chuckling.

“Shut up,” I grumbled, playfully pushing him on the shoulder. “I’m totally just letting you win because I’m a gentleman,” I retorted, nose up in a false distaste, acting like I’m very proud of myself. I totally suck at arcade games.

“Of course, you are,” he said, sounding sincere, a grin on his face as he was facing me. I couldn’t help but stare in awe, and I could just hope that he wasn’t looking at me weirdly from behind his sunglasses because god, he’s so beautiful.

“Uhm, Phil, I have to go to the toilet. Just wait up here, yeah?” he asked, fiddling with his fringe. I think he noticed.

“Sure. Keep your sunglasses on, alright. We don’t want the dearest Prince of England getting mobbed,” I said in agreement, to which he pushed his sunglasses up to the top of his head and I earned a glare and a grimace from him… Which didn’t last long as he couldn’t help but laugh. With a little wave, he walked off, leaving me by myself in a noisy arcade full of people.

Knowing that Dan would be gone for a while as the bathrooms were literally at the other end of the mall, I strolled around the arcade, casually observing the environment. There were rows after rows of machines, the sound of the jiggling and clinking of tokens of people spending their money to whack plastic moles with an overly-large hammer or gunning down zombies on a screen, everywhere. Eventually, I got a little bored of walking around the arcade, deciding to just lean on a machine while waiting for Dan, because he could be back anytime soon.

Then, something embarrassing happened.

It didn’t occur to me that putting my entire body weight on the machine I was leaning on could cause it to move. One moment I was just shifting my leg, leaning on a machine with my arms crossed, and the next thing, I was sitting on the ground with my bum hurting, earning a massive taunting from a seven-year old who was playing on the machine next to me. Hooray.

I stood up immediately in sheer humiliation, playing it off with an awkward laugh. I couldn’t bear to look around and see if somebody else aside from the little boy saw what happened, and so I faced the machine and hid myself from further shame. I immediately forgot about the situation as soon as I realized what I was staring at, immediately searching my pockets for a token and inserting it into the machine excitedly.

*Dan’s POV*

It took me a while to find my way back to the arcade.

I was too distracted with how Phil’s beanie looked immensely good on him as I was excusing myself to go to the toilet that I forgot to actually ask Phil where the toilets were before leaving. I considered turning back to ask Phil for directions as I couldn’t risk asking a stranger because they might recognize me during the interaction, but I knew better than doing that. He would tease me for being a mall first timer, I was sure of it, and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of that because I was still basking in my glory over him when I beat him on all those arcade games. So, I sucked it up and looked for it on my own, knowing that I probably looked stupid, wandering aimlessly at a mall while holding in a pee.

I was surprised to see that Phil wasn’t where I left him. I should’ve known that he could never stay in one place with all that childish energy inside him, especially inside an arcade. So, I looked around for him, maintaining a facial expression that says “I’m totally not lost and I know what the fuck I’m doing.”

“HI, DAN!” someone said suddenly, holding onto my shoulder, making me yelp. I turned around immediately and saw that it was Phil, making me clutch my chest with a sigh of relief.

“Jesus Christ, Phil! Why’d you sneak up on me like that?!” I ranted, pushing my sunglasses up to the top of my head, glaring at him.

“I’m sorry, I thought it would be funny. And I was right,” he laughed, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth. I couldn’t help but drop my glare and smile at the sight.

“Ooooh, someone’s smiling! I think it will be safe to assume that I’m forgiven,” Phil said teasingly, a smug look on his face.

“Shut up, you’re horrible,” I said, forcing myself to give him a glare again, but failing horribly as soon as he started wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively. I hate him. He’s so adorable—way too adorable. It’s really not even fair anymore.

“I’m totally not,” he responded, his lips curling into a grin, his hands hidden behind him as he was rocking back and forth on his heels. I tried to sneak a peek behind him to find out if he was hiding something, but he immediately took a step back, away from me, looking quite startled at my sudden action. I raised an eyebrow, getting more intrigued.

“What have you got there, Phil? Why do you look so guilty?” I asked curiously, my voice sounding a little too high pitched, still trying hard to get a peek of what he was hiding.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” he responded, the obviously forced grin on his face and his excessive blinking telling me otherwise. I raised an eyebrow in amusement, crossing my arms. If I stared at him long enough, maybe he would tell me.

He did.

“Fine. It’s for you, okay. But it’s silly, so I’m just—“

“What is it, Phil?” I cut him off, my expression softening immediately. He actually had something for me. He let out a sigh, sounding defeated, and brought in front of me what he was hiding.

“Oh my god, Phil, is that Carol?” I giggled, taking the stuffed toy from his hands. “Oh my god, where’d you get this?”

“Er, I saw it inside one of those crane games,” he pointed to a row of machines, his other hand rubbing the back of his neck, seeming immensely interested of the arcade floor. “I just thought you might like it since I remembered seeing that you had a small poster of Where the Wild Things Are on your bedroom wall, so I got it for you. I know, it’s stupid. If you don’t want it, I could just—”

“No,” I said firmly, cutting him off with his blabbering again, shaking my head with a stupid smile on my face. He looked up, wide-eyed.

“No?”

“No, I will not give this back to you because I think it’s the most adorable thing in the world. Thank you, Phil,” I said sincerely, and it was my turn to find the arcade floor suddenly interesting, my face heating up as soon as I said the words. I’m a grown man yet here I am, blushing over a cute gift on my first date, hah. I’m cool.

“Really, Dan?” Phil said, poking me in the cheek, making me look up at him. He was smiling at me. And as hard as I fought to keep a straight face on, I couldn’t help but grin, reminding myself that I am a human being that needed to breathe every now and then, nodding.

“Really, Phil.”

“Dan, more than six hours has passed since we, uhm… Left my flat. How come no one is calling your phone?” Phil brought up, looking concerned, breaking the silence as we were eating fish and chips in the mall for late lunch which was way overdue for Phil who apparently ate nothing but dry cereal for the day.

“I turned it off,” I responded simply, smirking smugly at Phil who looked shocked.

“They’re probably losing their minds looking for you right now, Dan. I doubt that your bodyguards told your parents because surely they’d be sacked if the king and queen found out that they’ve lost the prince,” Phil blatantly stated, worry eminent on his face.

“I know,” I said, giving Phil a smile, which hopefully, reassured him. He raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t look even slightly worried. Do you have a plan?” Phil asked intently, not even eating anymore.

“Yeah,” I answered, chucking a chip into my mouth. Holy shit, I didn’t know fish and chips were that good.

“What exactly is your plan?” He asked again, to which I merely stared at him, chewing on another chip. He stared back, utter confusion in his eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him expectantly, waiting for him to catch up.

“You don’t have a plan, do you,” he declared, finally getting it, amusement in his tone. I swallowed a piece of fish, shaking my head.

“Nope.”

“I shouldn’t have ditched my hoodie earlier if I knew this was going to happen,” I groaned as Phil and I were going back inside the mall after seeing that it was raining outside.

“Well, thinking about it, you really shouldn’t have done that even if it weren’t raining. You weren’t really planning on wearing those sunglasses until night fell, right?” he mocked, chuckling with his tongue poking out of his mouth again, and looking ever so endearing. I gave him a little push, to which he grimaced and pouted. And I felt my stomach do a flip once more. Dammit.

“Shut up. You’re one to talk yet you didn’t even bring a jacket in the first place,” I retorted, my arms crossed, looking smug. He rolled his eyes, biting his lower lip, eventually letting out a small laugh, and I had to remind myself to breathe again.

“Let’s just go get some hoodies and an umbrella so we could go?” Phil said, gesturing towards the shops. I nodded in agreement and then we were off again.

First, we went to the department store to buy an umbrella, and secretly, I was really giddy to know that we were only buying one. The first one we saw was a yellow umbrella, and I convinced Phil that that one would suffice. But before Phil grabbed it, a short, dark-haired woman beat her to it. She gave us a nod then smiled, and said thanks in an American accent for letting her have it as it was the last stock, to which we politely smiled back. And so we ended up with a black, folding one, deciding yellow was too bright to be unnoticed in the streets, anyway.

Of course we found ourselves in Topman.

I ended up getting the most basic and blackest hoodie I could find, and Phil ended up with the most outrageous-looking space hoodie I’ve ever laid my eyes on that would look horribly pretentious and cringe-worthy if worn by other people. On Phil though, it looked sort of cool. And hot. Yup.

When we went out of the mall, it had already stopped raining but the dark clouds still loomed. Typical London weather. Phil pocketed the folding umbrella and I walked the pavement side by side with him, the back of our hands brushing every now and then. I couldn’t help but steal side glances at him as we walked, looking down immediately when he turns to look back at me, smiling to myself like an idiot whenever I succeed at not getting caught. I felt really stupid—getting thrilled by the smallest and silliest of things that he does. But I didn’t give a fuck. Because at that point, trying to ignore someone as beautiful as Phil wasn’t really an option anymore.

And that did it. I found myself anxiously debating whether or not I should make the first move and grab his hand, because the static that lingered between us was becoming unbearable. I knew it was quite irrational how nervous I was because we’ve already held hands before, but I couldn’t help but think that it was a different case. It felt crucial—like in a level where I would regret it my whole life if I didn’t hold his hand in that instant.

But, I didn’t have to think about it any longer as his hand already found mine.

Suddenly, the sound of blaring car horns sounded like angels singing in chorus, and the sound of the annoying collective chattering of random people were poetry to my ears. I found myself staring up at the unusual yet very lovely mixture of blue and violet in the darkening sky, wondering if they would make good choices for wedding colors.

I am so, so, SO fucked.

“What would you rate your first ever bubble tea, Your Highness? Do you like it, yeah?” Phil asked, looking expectant, raising two thumbs up. I took another sip of my bubble tea and put on my best critique face.

“Eh… I’d give it a 9 out of 10,” I answered simply, smirking. Phil groaned.

“What! How could you give the best drink ever only a 9 out of 10?” he complained, throwing his arms up then crossing them, giving me another pout. I wish he would stop doing that because I always end up wanting to kiss it off his face. Ugh.

“I’m not easily impressed. It would take a lot to get me to give a 10 out of 10,” I joked, sticking my tongue out at him mockingly, then giggled. He rolled his eyes at me, but I could see that he was trying hard not to smile.

Phil Lester is literally the cutest thing in the world.

“Where are you taking me now, Phil?” I asked, my feet getting tired because of all the walking. After getting bubble tea in Chinatown and passing through Piccadilly Circus as well as Trafalgar Square, we were—yet again—headed to another place. It was well worth it, though, because having Phil hold my right hand was the best feeling in the world. It was also really convenient that he was right-handed and I was a lefty, so I was still able to take pictures using my left hand.

“It’s kinda a surprise,” he whispered, loudly enough for me to hear him, giggling

“But you’ve already surprised me with this fella over here!” I said, touching Carol who was currently peeking out of my hoodie pocket. “Oh, god. You’re not proposing, are you? Because in case you forgot, we’re already engaged.”

“WHAT! Aha, no! O-Of course not!” Phil responded and laughed, immediately fiddling with his fringe using his free hand. I could feel his hand, the one which was holding mine, was already starting to sweat. Great. I made him feel awkward because I couldn’t shut up. Just great.

We walked silently for the rest of the walk, hands still clasped together, Phil’s other hand resting on his pocket while I continued to take photos of the city.

*Phil’s POV*

“We’re here!” I announced, stopping our tracks, making my voice sound as calm and steady as I could possibly manage. I’ve been doing that way too much that day because nothing about the date wasn’t worth freaking out over.

“The London Eye?”

“Yeah…” I trailed, rubbing the back of my neck. “Err, do you want to ride it?” I asked unsurely, hoping Dan would say yes as it was the last thing I planned for the evening.

“Hell yeah, I do! It’s actually on my bucket list to ride it. Guess I would soon tick that one off,” Dan replied, giving my hand a squeeze, grinning. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, and smiled at him.

“Okay, then. Let’s go ride this thing,” I squeezed Dan’s hand, pulling him towards the London Eye.

The universe must be liking what was happening because the queue for the London Eye wasn’t very long.

Soon enough, we were already in one of the capsules, hands still clasped together. Moreover, due to the short line of people waiting, we managed to get a capsule to ourselves. I also might’ve let slip to the lady who was in charge of letting people in that I was on my first date without Dan hearing, to which she gave me a wink, so that’s probably more of a reason why.

For the first time that day, we were finally alone. No noisy cars, no crying babies, no one to hide Dan from.

“Finally,” Dan groaned, letting go of my hand to drop his hood from his head. “I could finally drop this darned thing and let my fringe free.”

My stomach dropped as soon as the feeling of his hand on mine left, so I settled on wiping my hand on my lap and tucking it inside my pocket. Of course it didn’t feel the same, but I guessed that it would have to do.

Dan leaned on the glass for a moment, looking amazed at what was in front of him, taking pictures every now and then. I couldn’t help but join him because the view was really undeniably amazing.

“So… How do you like it?” I asked, looking at Dan who was still looking out the glass, bravely breaking the silence.

“I like it very much, Phil. Thank you so much,” he answered, giving me a smile. “Actually, do you mind if I take a picture of us? The view is really lovely and… Uhm, I really want to remember this.”

“Of course not. Come here, I think the lighting’s better here.” Dan smiled widely, immediately running to my side then brought his film camera over us and I was feeling brave enough to put my arm around his shoulder. After he said that he’s taken enough pictures, I dropped my arm from his shoulder, shoving my hands inside my pockets. I dropped my gaze to the floor as he busied himself with his camera, the feeling that our night together was nearly over starting to creep in. I didn’t want it to end.

“Hey, why so glum?” Dan said suddenly, lifting my face up to look at him. His forehead was creased, and it was like that time in the palace all over again—me getting sad, and him noticing. I sighed.

“Honestly, Dan? I kinda don’t want this to end yet,” I said truthfully, seeing no point to going around in circles anymore. He dropped his hand from my chin, tugging at my arm and getting one of my hands out of my pocket instead, taking it in his. He shook his head, looking at our hands, smiling.

“I don’t want it to end, too, Phil, don’t worry. It’s embarrassing to say this out loud, but it’s actually my first date and all. I’m really glad I spent it with you.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m your first date?” I asked, chuckling in disbelief. “It’s my first date, too, oh my god.”

“Is it really?” Dan asked amusedly. “And I thought I was the only abnormal 18 year-old. Good to know that you are, too,” he said, laughing.

“Hey, wait a minute! What do you mean, “good to know”? You should feel sorry for me for being dateless for 18 years,” I complained jokingly, pouting.

“I’ll think about it… Naaaaah. I don’t feel sorry at all,” he said seriously, staring at me.

“And why are you so mean?” I asked, an eyebrow raised in question.

“Because it’s kinda adorable that we’re each other’s first dates,” he said softly, sounding sincere, not breaking eye contact. I closed my eyes and sighed, my heart pounding inside my chest. I opened my eyes again and looked at Dan with courage. He was still staring back at me.

“I really like you, Dan,” I said finally, not blinking once, unable to hold the words in anymore. I had to say it. I had to say it or I would explode.

He smiled.

“I guess it goes without saying that I really like you, too, Phil,” he responded. And for once, there wasn’t a single doubt going through my mind. Because looking at his eyes right at that moment, I knew that he wasn’t lying. And I took that as a sign that I could be brave again for one last time that night.

I squeezed his hand and touched his cheek lightly with my free hand, and without any further thought, I leaned in for a kiss.

We had a split-second spontaneous moment where we both froze and got wide-eyed upon the contact of our lips, our eyes fluttering shut and our bodies relaxing as soon as we got used to the foreign feeling. His lips were warm and soft and my heart started to beat so fast that I could literally hear the sound of it in my ears as soon as I felt that he started to move his lips against mine. I kissed back eagerly in response—something inside me awakening during the heat of the moment. After a quick gasp for breath, Dan let go of my hand and wrapped his arms around my neck. I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around his waist as well—the act completely closing any gap between us. Feeling a bit more courageous despite being a bundle of nerves, I opened my mouth and poked Dan’s lower lip with my tongue, not entirely sure with what I was doing. He let out a yelp in surprise and our faces broke apart, both of us flushed scarlet, and Dan looking startled.

“I’m so sorry, Dan, I was just tryi—“.

“Shut up,” he murmured as his lips worked back on mine, interrupting me midsentence. This time, it was he who tried to deepen the kiss, opening his mouth all of a sudden and licking my lower lip. Still unsure of what to do, I opened my mouth in response, and holy fucking shit.

We were properly kissing, our tongues eagerly exploring each other’s mouths, clinging to each other as if we had no plans of letting each other go. He was so good at it, and I was starting to worry that I was being such a disappointment because of my lack of experience. I immediately felt regret as soon as I heard myself let out a moan, but it was gone before it completely took over my head as the noise apparently triggered something that made Dan cling onto me more, his hands finding their way to my hair, pulling me towards him even more than I thought was possible. I was so into the kiss that I was almost dipping Dan, no matter how cliché it sounded. Like if I let him go, he would probably just lose balance and crash on the floor. I decided that I’m never ever going to do that.

It was a sloppy first kiss, I knew that. But, it felt right. It was perfect.

After who knows how long, our faces broke apart one last time, arms still around each other while staring at the other, the sound of our frantic attempts at catching our breaths filling the capsule.

“Well,” Dan said, arms dropping from my neck to hold both of my hands instead, grinning.

“Well,” I repeated, grinning back.

“That was…” he trailed, a smirk starting to form on his lips. “Wet.”

“Sorry. That’s my fault, I guess,” I apologized awkwardly, my cheeks heating up again, diverting my gaze to the scenery outside the capsule, noticing that we were nearly back on the ground. “It may or may not be my first kiss.”

“I kinda figured that,” Dan said, not a hint of a joke in his voice, making me look at him in surprise, wide-eyed. “If it helps, it was my first kiss, too. So basically, we’re both at fault here for being bad kissers.”

“Am I…? Am I a bad kisser?” I blurted out all of a sudden, unable to help myself, my hands immediately clasping on my mouth in embarrassment. Shut up, oh my god.

Dan reached out and tugged my hands off of my face, and I was left staring at him, my heart pounding in my ears. We stayed like that for a moment until he sighed loudly and held the sides of my face with both of his hands, kissing me full on the mouth with a smack.

“Nope. 11 out of 10. And like I said, I’m not easily impressed,” Dan declared with confidence. I rolled my eyes jokingly and chuckled, taking both of his hands with both of mine.

“Dan?” I spoke up suddenly, looking at him, breaking the silence. We were back in front of the glass, hands entwined, looking down London as our capsule was slowly descending back to the ground.

“Yeah, Phil?” he replied, turning his head to face me.

“What… What does this make us?” I asked, wishing that he already knew what I meant. We were just one capsule away from the ground, and I could see the people beneath us clambering to go down. Dan looked away from me and looked down as well, letting out a deep breath before he spoke.

“Will you be my boyfriend, Phil?” he asked. With the unexpected drop of a bomb, I couldn’t help but face him abruptly, wide-eyed and disbelieving, pulling my neck in the process.

But before I could answer, we were interrupted by the sound of the capsule door opening, making us both turn around in surprise.

And outside, there were Dan’s bodyguards, stood waiting for him.

*Phil’s POV*

“Your Highness. Mr. Lester,” one of the bodyguards approached us as soon as we got off our capsule, the man giving the two of us a polite nod. I managed to give him a nod back and a small smile despite the fact that my knees were shaking in apprehension, hoping the panicky nerves won’t show on my face. Dan, on the other hand, didn’t waste any more time to let his feelings out.

“How the hell did you find us, Matt?” Dan asked the bodyguard, sounding angry, his hands starting to clench into fists at his sides. I wanted to hold his hand so bad, but decided against it. I still wasn’t sure on where the two of us stood at that point, and I didn’t like dancing around on thin ice. So instead, I settled on putting a hand on his arm, squeezing gently, just enough to get his attention. He looked at me, sheer worry in his eyes.

“Daaaan. Everything will be fine,” I said, just loud enough for him to hear, smiling, hoping that it will be enough to assure him and calm him down a little. He nodded and was even able to give me a small smile back before he turned to face Matt again.

“We tracked Mr. Lester’s phone, as yours was off, Your Highness,” Matt responded, his head bowed down, seemingly avoiding Dan’s gaze. My eyes widened at his answer, guilt hitting me in the face like a brick. Thinking back, I realized that I did not turn off my phone for the day. Of course I didn’t really think it could be used in tracking us down, right? But, still. It’s my fault.

Dan was shaking his head with his eyes closed when I stole a side glance at him, one of his hands pinching the bridge of his nose, the other gripping at his hair. He looked so frustrated, and the most horrible thing about it was that it was my fault.

“We better get going, Your Highness. The Queen wasn’t at all happy with us when she found out that we lost you,” the bodyguard said seriously, his head still bowed down.

“What? You told her?!” Dan probed, sounding panicked, his hands balling into tight fists. “That’s just grand! Now we’re all in trouble,” he exclaimed with an over-the-top smile painting his face, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Well, you did get away from us when you were specifically told not to, Your Majesty…” Matt reasoned, his voice sounding smaller, just barely above a whisper towards the end of his statement. If it weren’t for the seriousness of the situation, I would’ve laughed at his tone, which sounded a bit mocking and not at all fit for a man who’s probably in his mid-twenties.

“We have our arrangements, Matt, remember? We’ve always had arrangements. We could’ve gotten away with this without my parents knowing. You should’ve known I would give you a call as soon as the date was over,” Dan muttered, his voice rich in exasperation. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter now, let’s just… Let’s just go now before we get into more trouble. But before going back, let’s drop Phil off to his flat, okay?”

“About that…” Matt trailed, finally gazing back up at Dan, looking quite nervous. Dan simply raised his eyebrows, waiting for the man to continue.

“Well, the Queen gave us orders that we come back to the palace with the two of you. Whatever it takes.”

I tensed upon hearing his words, and I could feel that beside me, Dan did the same.

We’re going to be in so much trouble and this is going to be a looooong night.

“I really am sorry, Dan,” I said sincerely, letting out a breath that I wasn’t entirely aware that I was holding in, bravely breaking the silence inside the limousine which lasted way too long for my taste. The ride to our execution was bad enough already, and I wouldn’t let the situation get worse by completely ignoring Dan before we got hanged, especially when it’s my fault.

Dan reached out and held my hand in his. Luckily, we were alone in the back of the limousine, Matt riding shotgun, the rest of the bodyguards on the other palace cars which were trailing us. He shook his head lightly, smiling. “Don’t apologize, Phil. It’s not your fault.”

“But, we’re in trouble!” I pointed out, my grip tightening at Dan’s hand, not even trying to hide the panic I was feeling. My forehead creased in worry, looking at Dan anxiously. He stared at me for a solid moment, his lips eventually tugging into a grin.

“Yeah, we are,” he said amusedly. I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Why do you look so happy?” I asked, staring at Dan who was still smiling as he gazed outside the window like he has an inside joke with himself that’s extremely funny.

“I’m not. I’m actually just going mental right now and smiling like a maniac is the only coping mechanism I could think of at the moment. I could literally hear my mum sharpening the blade of the guillotine herself,” he laughed dryly, staring into the distance.

“What? You have a guillotine?!” I probed, my voice raising unexpectedly in a horrible mix of surprise, anxiety, and terror.

“We don’t. But I bet she bought one just for this occasion. We are so dead, Phil,” Dan finished, chuckling afterwards without a hint of humor.

I looked out the window as well and joined Dan in his fit of empty-sounding chuckles, suddenly finding myself in his shoes.

Might as well laugh as much as I can before I die.

*Dan’s POV*

Phil and I were accompanied by Matt to my mum’s office with him walking ahead of us and muttering things to his radio, my boyfriend and I trailing side by side behind him. Boyfriend, really? He’s not your boyfriend, Dan. He didn’t answer your question, for fuck’s sake, I thought, reminding myself of earlier events. If only the London Eye ride lasted for another minute, I could’ve gotten an answer. Rude.

I looked beside me as we were walking, taking a break from my thoughts and remembering that Phil was beside me. I was met with Phil staring up at the ceiling, looking quite pale with his hands clasped together over his chest while muttering inaudibly to himself. Sweat was trickling down his forehead, making his fringe stick onto it.

“Phil, what are you doing? Are you okay?” I asked worriedly. Before I could help myself, I was brushing Phil’s fringe off his forehead then touching it, feeling that his skin quite cold. He didn’t even bother to look at me when I did.

“I’m praying,” he said seriously, continuing with his muttering, seemingly unfazed. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at his statement, stopping at my tracks because my stomach was starting to hurt, making me get left behind. That broke Phil’s spell, and he stopped, turning back to face me with a death glare and a pout, his cheeks flushed scarlet. He’s so fucking adorable.

I stopped laughing and ran back next to him, poking his still warm cheek, making him smile. I gave him a grin and checking sneakily beforehand if Matt or anyone else was looking, I took his hand in mine, continuing walking.

When I saw Matt take a turn, I whispered to Phil that I would let his hand go for a moment because we were nearly there. He gave me a nod in agreement, and we let go, following Matt’s tracks. He was already talking to a guard outside my mum’s office, the man opening the door for us. All of us walked into the office and I wanted to run out and hide as soon as I saw my mum’s desk, which was surprisingly empty. I heard Phil take a deep breath beside me and I gave his hand a light squeeze of assurance, letting go immediately, smiling at him.

We stood in front of my mum’s desk, the room filled with echoing silence, the only noises coming from Matt’s radio and me and Phil’s heavy breathing. I was starting to panic, staring at the door on the right side of the room knowing that my mum would come out of there at any moment, and all I wanted in the world was to hold Phil’s hand because I knew that it would calm me down. But, I was still unsure about it. So, I just let my hands rest inside the pockets of my hoodie, settling for squeezing Carol the plushie who was still in my pocket, instead.

The door opened, the creaking noise sending goosebumps down my spine, and all at once, I forgot how to breathe, shutting my eyes immediately, bracing for the impending doom. I knew for a fact that when my mum gets mad, she forgets for a moment that she’s the posh and very articulate queen of England, the aftermath of it always fatal.

I heard the clicking of heels with the floor, the sound getting closer and closer. I knew my mum was walking towards me, and due to the horrific realization, I involuntarily hunched my shoulders, squeezing Carol so much I could’ve punctured a hole, shutting my eyes even tighter, my breathing rapid.

“Daniel!” I hear my mum exclaim in singsong, immediately followed by her arms wrapping around me. I went stiff, my eyes opening wide in confusion. Is she happy?

She let me go, proceeding to do the same with Phil, who was left in the same state as me when my mum let him go. My mum was smiling at the two of us fondly, looking at us like we’re the most precious things in the world. Phil and I shared a look for a split-second, trying to find answers from each other, but we were both left clueless.

“So, how was your day?” my mum asked, sounding giddy, which made her even scarier. I didn’t know if she was really sincere, so I considered it as the calm before the storm.

“Err… It was fun, Mum. Phil and I had fun,” I answered, keeping my voice steady, doing my best at sounding happy and not at all nervous. “Right, Phil?”

Phil nodded frantically, beaming at my mum as he did, but I could see sweat trickling down his temples.

“Good to know! I’m sorry to have interrupted it, though. I just thought it would be nice if you had dinner here with us so I asked Matthew here to take you back in time for dinner. But, he said that you two were still having so much fun, therefore you got here later than expected. Your dad and I already ate, though,” Mum responded with a soft expression and a smile, the last line directed at me. She looked and sounded sincere, and I raised an eyebrow in suspicion, dropping it immediately to throw a grin and a nod at my mum. I might as well go with the flow. “Just help yourselves downstairs, they made you late dinner. It’s just half past 9 PM, you can still eat,” she finished, chuckling.

Phil and I chuckled with her, and I could sense that Phil was feigning humor like me, the two of us still stuck in confusion with what’s happening, but I could care less if it means getting off the hook.

“I’ll leave you to it, then? Phil, by the way, you can stay the night again, if you want. I’ll have a guest room prepared for you,” my mum said to Phil innocently, her lips curling into a smirk. “Well… That’s if you need it.”

My eyes grew wide at my mum’s statement, my face heating up immediately. I looked at Phil, and he was laughing quite awkwardly, his hands rubbing at the nape of his neck. His cheeks were flushed scarlet, his gaze on the floor. I hear him mutter an agreement and a thanks, and my mum laughed unapologetically.

“Okay, then. I’ll see the two of you tomorrow. I’m kinda tired!” she declared happily, yawning. She waved at us before going back into the door where she came from, and Phil and I were left alone with Matt, the two of us unmoving due to the shock given by the recent events. What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Suddenly, there was a spluttering noise, breaking the silence, full-on laughter following instantaneously. It was coming from Matt, and he was clutching onto his stomach, his face red as he continued to laugh.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Your Highness. But, if you could’ve seen your faces, you were so scared! By the way, only the bodyguards and I know that you sneaked away from us,” he said, still laughing. My eyes widened, my surprised stare immediately turning into a glare upon understanding, running immediately to push Matt who was still laughing, tears of humor now escaping his eyes.

“I fucking hate you! I almost died of terror, you sick bastard!” I complained, clutching my chest in exasperation, looking at Phil for some support, but he ended up laughing, too.

“I know, sir. That was the plan,” Matt said seriously, all laughter halted, failing to contain himself immediately to succumb to another fit of laughter. “We didn’t want to lose our jobs, so of course I made up excuses for you. I’m sorry, sir, if I made you believe otherwise. I just thought it’d be a laugh.”

I continued to glare at him, but I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as well, shaking my head in amused disbelief. “I can’t believe you pranked me. I should’ve expected that! But I’ll let it go this time because you fricking covered up for me yet again.”

Matt stopped laughing, giving me a nod and a sincere looking grin. “Of course, sir, anytime.”

I punched him lightly on the arm, making him laugh, and without thinking twice, I hugged him, patting him on the back, letting go in an instant. I grinned at him, and he looked shocked.

“Thanks, Matt, for always looking out for me. You’re the best,” I said sincerely. He nodded in response, smiling.

Soon after, we all went out of the room, Phil and I proceeding to the dining hall to eat dinner that was way overdue. I was so starving, I could eat a lion.

I can’t fucking believe that we got off the hook.

*Phil’s POV*

Dan and I ate dinner in silence. The two of us was still dumbfounded by the chain of events, nobody saying a word. Well… Not until we were almost finished.

“Phil, are you tired already?” Dan asked, looking unsure.

“Not at all, Your Highness,” I answered, smiling. He looked down on his nearly empty plate and ran his fingers through his hair once, before facing me again.

“I was thinking… Uhm, do you want to look at the stars after this?” he rambled on, almost mumbling. “Like on the the palace lawn. With me. Yeah. I mean, it’s kinda sappy and mostly stupid but—“

“I would love to,” I responded immediately, sparing him from further anxiety. His face lit up immediately, Dan giving me that smile that made my stomach do Olympic-level gymnastics.

“Okay, cool.”

*Dan’s POV*

“Wow. I didn’t know it was possible to see the stars here in the city. Just… Wow,” Phil said, as soon as we were sitting in the middle of the large lawn, elbows propped on the grass for support, looking straight up at the night sky.

“I guess it’s because it’s a pretty large lawn so we kinda have better access. And yeah… I might’ve asked the electricity guy to turn off every light here that could get in the way,” I admitted sheepishly, bowing my head down a little in shame.

“Well, I think that’s pretty sweet, Your Majesty,” Phil said, making me look at him, my cheeks growing warm. I’m relieved that it was dark because I was pretty sure that at that moment, I looked like a tomato. He was looking at me, his pale skin shining under the moonlight. I chuckled, and looked back up at the sky.

“You know… You peasants always mix things up. There’s a difference between ‘Your Majesty’ and ‘Your Highness.’ In royal families, only kings and queens get called ‘Your Majesty’ and the others are just referred to as ‘Your Highness.’ It’s okay, though. Even the staff mixes it up a lot, but we don’t really bother about it anymore because it really is confusing. I’m not even sure right now if I’m right myself,” I joked, letting out a soft laugh, trying to lighten up the mood.

“Thanks for the classified information, you royal nerd,” Phil chuckled, pushing me a little, making me lose balance so I ended up full-on lying on my back on the grass.

“I hate you,” I said, propping the back of my head with my hands, deciding that I might as well just lie down on the grass. It made me have a clearer view of the sky anyway.

“No, you don’t.” Phil retorted, going on and lying on the grass himself, our elbows touching. He was really close.

“Yes, I do,” I responded, sniggering, still looking at the sky. I could make out some constellations surprisingly, despite the sky not being that clear in the city. I smiled to myself.

“But… But you asked me to be your boyfriend a while ago,” Phil said softly. Everything turned quiet, and I gazed at him sideways. He was already looking at me, the moonlight reflecting off his eyes. I took a deep breath.

“Yeah, I did. And you didn’t answer me,” I replied, smiling a little. It was very quiet, Phil was just staring at me, and I could hear my heart beating really fast.

“Well, the answer is yes. I’d love that, Your Majesty,” he finally answered after a moment, smiling back. I grinned and removed one hand from the back of my head, poking his arm for him to do the same. I held his hand tight, our entwined hands settling in the small space between our bodies on the grass.

“And by the way,” I started quietly, breaking the comfortable silence soon after I made out Cassiopeia in the sky. “It’s ‘Your Highness,’” I corrected, mocking. I heard him chuckle softly beside me, his hand squeezing mine once, his thumb rubbing comforting circles on my skin.

“Nah, it’s ‘Your Majesty,’” he muttered simply, bringing our entwined hands up to his face. And with eyes closed, he kissed the back of my hand gently, his lips merely brushing against it. Silly, it may sound, but my heart smiled.

“You’re my king,” Phil said.

Little did he know, he’s already mine, too.

*Dan’s POV*

“Dan, oh my god, how could I have forgotten?” Phil said exasperatedly, throwing his phone onto my bed. He looked so stressed—his hands were planted on his face and he was shaking his head in frustration. I walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Is it too late to do one now?” I asked worriedly. Phil removed his hands from his face and turned around to face me with a sad expression. He nodded in response, and I sighed. I took his hand and walked him to my bed, inviting him to sit with me. We sat in silence, looking at each other, with me drawing comforting circles with my thumb on Phil’s hand. After a while, Phil averted his gaze from mine and looked down, heaving out a sigh.

“I just can’t believe I forgot to make up an excuse earlier today. I can’t believe I forgot to tell them that I won’t be able to do a liveshow. I feel so bad for the people who waited up for me! Especially the ones who are in a different time zone. Oh god, I’m horrible. They probably had to stay up really late… Oh my god, this is the first time I missed one without prior notice,” he rambled, removing his hand from mine. His hand tangled onto his hair, gripping it hard in frustration.

“It will be fine, Phil. Just make a tweet now. They will understand,” I tried to convince him, smiling in assurance, rather unsure of myself. I didn’t even know if I was saying the right things anymore, but I just didn’t like seeing Phil all worked up for something that he couldn’t change any longer. Much to my surprise, he looked back up at me, a sad smile on his face. He gave me a nod in agreement, and I let out a sigh of relief. He then reached out to hug me all of a sudden, making me yelp. It only took a moment for me to register what was happening, and I hugged back just as tightly, rubbing his back.

“It will be alright, Phil, they won’t be mad at you. It will be alright,” I murmured, nuzzling my nose onto his shoulder. With our arms still tangled up with each other, I felt Phil lift his head from being nuzzled into my hair. When I looked up, he was already staring at me, and I was left in awe. His blue eyes looked like they were twinkling, and a small smile was visible on his lips, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, knowing well that my cheeks were already flushed scarlet because of our little staring contest. I didn’t care anymore, though, because I liked the view.

“Because I still can’t believe,” he said, leaning and nudging my nose with his, boop, in one swift movement, “You,” Phil answered, chuckling. I raised an eyebrow at him, fighting off a smile that was trying to escape my lips.

“What do you mean by that?” I probed, losing the battle and grinning, an eyebrow still cocked up in curiosity.

“Well…” he trailed, looking up, biting his lip. “I just can’t believe you’re real. And you’re my boyfriend now, too, so…” he continued, nuzzling his face onto my shoulder, “Just imagine how I must be feeling right now,” he murmured slowly, and I felt myself tense when I felt him lift his head a little, his warm breath ghosting near my neck, his last words coming out as merely a whisper. “…All tangled up with you.”

My breath hitched upon hearing his words because his voice suddenly shifted from being small and fragile, into deep and just fucking sexy. I didn’t dare move when he nuzzled his face onto my shoulder again. We stayed like that for an excruciatingly long time, my arms tiring because we were sitting and hugging in such an uncomfortable position, only breaking apart when Phil started laughing. He was covering his mouth as he laughed, and tears were starting to escape his eyes.

“Okay, I just had to try that,” he said in between laughs, “I guess you liked it, judging by the way you suddenly got all tense.” Realization hit me with understanding, and my realization told me that I should hit Phil on the arm, and so I did.

“I hate you,” I glared at Phil, standing up as he continued laughing. I turned my back on him and started to walk away, but was immediately held back when he caught my arm. I tried shrugging him off, but he was holding onto me tightly, much to my annoyance. And with one more tug, he turned me around and managed to pull me towards the bed, with me crashing on top of him. We were caught face to face, Phil staring at me intently, our noses almost touching. The room seemingly fell silent in my ears, the only things I could hear were the sounds of our breathing, and the faint sound of my heart beating, which was as if trying to escape out of my chest. He was so breathtakingly beautiful, and I couldn’t help but stare.

“I’m sorry,” Phil murmured, not breaking his gaze from mine. I let out a deep breath, and was about to say it was okay, but before I had the chance to say what I had in mind, Phil already lifted his head, braving the short gap between our faces, his lips meeting mine in a hurry.

I was quite taken aback, but I was kissing him back in no time, my eyes fluttering shut immediately, my body responding before my mind could even grasp what was happening. I held his face in my hands, my elbows and knees propped on the bed, kissing back in the same manner he did, quite hungrily, unable to stop myself from doing so. I felt his arms wrap around my waist, his hands sneaking their way under my hoodie. His fingers were cold against my skin, and I shivered a little. But I didn’t mind at all, because all the heat I needed, I already got from his lips on mine. I couldn’t help but be glad that we removed the things from our pockets as soon as we got into the room, because that would’ve been really uncomfortable. And awkward.

Going with my gut, I licked his bottom lip and he opened his mouth immediately, and I wasted no time to explore, deepening the kiss. After a moment, Phil broke apart from our kiss, and we both caught our breaths. Before I got my breathing to slow down to the normal rate, Phil started to work his mouth onto my neck, which was really sensitive, and I let out a moan, grinding my hips down onto his, involuntarily. Phil tensed, stopping everything that he was doing, and let out a sigh. I lifted my head up and looked at him, and he stared back, as if apologetic.

“What’s wrong?” I asked worriedly, removing myself on top of him and just settling on lying beside him, rubbing my thumb on his cheek.

“I-I’m not ready,” he said sadly. “And I know this is my fault, so, I’m sorry.”

I chuckled and pulled him into a hug, kissing his hair. “Hey, it’s okay,” I murmured. “You’re so cute, you know. You do realize that we’re both not ready because we’re just a couple of 18-year-old virgins, right? But, don’t worry. I will be when you are. In time.”

I heard a muffled laugh from him, and in no time, I was met with Phil’s gaze again, and he was smiling brightly.

“You should really make that tweet now, you know,” I teased, ruffling his hair. His eyes widened, and he sat up immediately, grabbing his phone. We carried on in silence, the only sound coming from Phil’s phone, as he tapped away frantically.

“D-Dan…” I heard Phil say, and I looked at him right away, but he was merely staring at his phone’s screen, his hands shaking a little.

I sat up and moved towards him, picking his fringe out of his eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t say anything, and merely nodded at his screen.

It was a picture of the two of us in the mall, taken from the back. Judging by the looks of it, we were just about to go out of the mall. My face couldn’t be seen, probably because I was looking straight ahead, but Phil’s face could clearly be made out because he was facing me. The tweet that came with the picture said, “Guys, I think this is why @AmazingPhil missed his liveshow…” and it had 1,346 favorites and 892 retweets… And counting.

In the distance, I could almost hear Taylor Swift singing, “Trouble, trouble, trouble,” as me and Phil were tied to a post, burning at the stake while a bunch of people were dancing around us in a circle.

*Phil’s POV*

“It seems that they don’t recognize me, Phil, there’s nothing here about the photo or anything else,” Dan said calmly as he browsed his Twitter on his phone. I was already losing my mind scrolling through my Twitter notifications, not because I was bombarded with questions about why I missed my liveshow, but because I was bombarded with questions about who the “mystery boy” was.

In the photo, Dan’s face can’t be seen, but his brown hair was visible, and I remembered the exact moment when Dan removed his sunglasses and pulled his hood up before we went out the mall. We were unfortunate enough to get photographed on that exact moment where Dan’s hair could still be seen and that worried me a whole lot.

People were taking note of every feature that could be seen from the boy in the picture. From the color of his hair, to the style of his hoodie, his skin color, his jeans… Literally everything. My Twitter mentions were filled with various names, everyone making their best guesses on the identity of the boy I was with, but none of them, fortunately, were Dan’s. My DMs were quite hellish as well, my internet friends curious about the mystery, too. I’ve also got a lot of messages from my best friend, Chris, who seemed worried about me based on the way he texted, all properly punctuated and stuff, but I couldn’t bring myself to reply to even just a single one.

“Hey, stop worrying about it. Don’t comment if you don’t want them to know anything. That’s all there is to this thing,” I felt Dan rub my back, making me relax. I let myself lean into him, my head resting on the crook of his neck.

“Okay,” I said, sitting up straight after a few moments. “I better go find the guest room and sleep. It’s getting late, Dan. I’ll see you at breakfast?” I smiled, standing up, kissing the top of Dan’s head. He held onto my hand and pulled me back down to sit on the bed.

“Nah, stay here. We’re 18, Phil. And this is what they get for forcing 2 teenagers into a wedding engagement,” Dan declared, chuckling. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Nobody forced you, Dan. You told me your mum gave you a choice,” I said with a knowing smirk.

“Well, that’s what we will tell them if they catch us cuddling again in the morning. They can’t get mad because they brought us together. It’s their fault that I don’t want to leave your side right now. It’s their fault that I want to fall asleep hugging you. We will blame this whole thing to them entirely no matter how much I enjoy it.”

“Even the kissing?” I asked, chuckling in amusement. Disney was right about how dramatic princes could be, after all.

“Especially the kissing.”

“Phil, wake up. Phil,” somebody was shaking me awake gently, but I couldn’t bring myself to wake up because the bed was just so damn comfortable. “Phil… Babe, come on, please.”

Well, that woke me up good.

With my eyes still closed, I started to realize where I was, my mind just processing what, or more importantly, who exactly I was hugging at the moment. Realization dawned upon me, the last thing I remember before falling asleep was wrapping my arms around Dan, and him kissing the top of my head despite the fact that I was taller than him when we are standing.

I peered at him, opening one eye slowly, and I was greeted with a small smile from him. His hair was all curly and it was sticking out in different directions, looking all adorable and sexy at the same time. How.

“Did you have a nice sleep?” he asked, playing with my hair.

I nodded, nuzzling my face onto his chest comfortably. “Yeah, I did. Best sleep ever.”

“That’s good, then. Because we have a problem,” Dan said seriously. I tensed, my head shooting back up to look at him.

“What is it?” I asked straightaway. He gave me a smile again, but this time, I could see the worry in his eyes. He picked up his phone from the bedside, scrolled for a moment, and showed me the phone. I couldn’t see what’s on the screen well, sleep still in my eyes. So, I sat up and rubbed my eyelids, taking the phone from Dan’s hands.

“THE PRINCE IS ALWAYS ON FIRE,” the headline of the internet article said. I continued reading, my hands starting to clam up. “The Prince of England, His Highness, Prince Daniel, was spotted yesterday at a mall in London by a local source. She claimed to have taken the photo of the prince without prior knowledge that he was royalty. We quote, “the guy looked like a sex god and I couldn’t help but take a photo.” Recognition dawned upon her about his true identity only when she got home and checked her photos properly. He was sporting old looking clothes, a white shirt and blue faded ripped jeans, which looked amazing on him. Another proof that the prince is always on fire, regardless of what he wore!” After the article, a picture of Dan was attached. His face was clearly visible, and he was biting his bottom lip in concentration as he was, what seemed like, cleaning dust off his sunglasses using the hem of his shirt.

“This is illegal and horrible,” I said, shutting my eyes and shaking my head in disbelief.

“Well, that’s the media for you. They stop at nothing,” I heard Dan say, his hand finding mine, squeezing at it gently. “That’s not all, though.”

“What do you mean?” I looked up at him, and he was doing the small smile again, shaking his head, and he took his phone from me. He scrolled for a while before handing it back to me.

“Well, your subscribers put two and two together, and connected the two pictures based on... It’s kinda stupid. But, they based it on my hair and the pants that I was wearing. Long story short, they already know that I was with you. They figured it out. Just look at my Twitter notifications. I’m sure yours would look the same.”

“This…” I trailed, my throat drying up. “This is not happening.”

“I’m sorry, Phil.”

“No, don’t apologize. This is my fault. I should’ve just told you that I didn’t mind having bodyguards around and all that. This is my fault, Dan,” I rambled, my eyes starting to sting in frustration.

“Don’t, Phil,” Dan’s grip on me tightened, his thumb starting to draw comforting circles on the back of my hand slowly. “It’s not your f—“

There was a ringing of a bell, then three raps on the door.

“Shit,” Dan cursed under his breath. He stood up and opened the door. A maid walked in and curtsied to Dan, then to me.

“Your Highness, Mr. Lester, the King and the Queen request your presence at the dining hall for breakfast,” she announced, her head still bowed.

“Alright, tell them that we will be right down,” Dan spoke, and the maid nodded, scurrying out the door immediately. Dan shut the door and walked to the end of the bed.

“Phil, we need to dress up for breakfast now. We’ll deal with this later. You can borrow some of my clothes again, okay?” my boyfriend said, smiling. My boyfriend. Just thinking about the two words and knowing that they were finally true gave me butterflies, taking my mind off the crisis for a second. I nodded in agreement, smiling up at him.

“Okay.”

*Dan’s POV*

I was scared shitless.

I wanted nothing but to dig up a hole for myself and hide in it and never come out.

Right from the moment I found the article on the internet, I was scared to death. But I didn’t let it show because I know Phil would just panic, and I didn’t want that to happen.

I couldn’t help but look a little anxious and terrified as Phil and I took our seats in the dining hall with my parents. I tried my best to keep a genuine smile on my face, but it took a lot of effort because deep inside, I felt like I was about to piss my pants. I almost did, actually, when my mum and dad exchanged morning greetings with Phil and me. The fact that my mum was smiling so goddamn sweetly at us from time to time all throughout breakfast didn’t help with the nerves either. We were eating in silence, the only form of interaction being the glances we gave each other, and therefore, every single time there was a clink of glass or a soft thump on the table, I felt myself jump a little.

Much to my dismay, breakfast ended, and my mum and dad were looking at us. I don’t understand the expression my dad was making at us, but my mum was just smiling—the same sickeningly sweet smile she kept on giving us all throughout the meal. I tried my best to smile back, and I saw Phil do the same. I reached out and held his hand from under the table, clutching it tight. His hand felt clammy, and at that moment, all I wanted was to hug him and make him feel better, assuring him that everything will be okay and he shouldn’t be nervous about anything, even when I’m pretty sure that everything was going to go wrong.

My mum reached out for the small bell on the table and rang it, not averting her gaze from us the whole time. I flinched.

A maid came out immediately, walking fast towards the table, a large covered silver platter on her hands. She stopped beside my mum, as if waiting for a signal. My mum gave her a thumb up without looking at the maid, the queen’s eyes still boring into Phil’s and mine. The maid nodded and lifted the cover off and my breath hitched at the suddenness of the movement. My mum stood up and removed whatever it was from the platter, slamming it in front of me and Phil with a loud thud, making the two of us jump a little off our seats.

“Explain yourselves.”

As soon as I saw the thing, I immediately wanted to run away, my instincts telling me the situations was just a big bag of nope. But I couldn’t even stand up anymore because my body already turned numb.

On the table was the same picture that Phil and I saw on the internet that morning.

Only this time, it was on the cover of a magazine.

*Dan’s POV*

I am telling you this story from the afterlife.

Sort of.

“So let’s get things straight… Basically, Daniel, you’re telling me that you two went on the date on your own, wearing disguises which somehow didn’t work—and by the way, I am still wondering why it didn’t work. Aren’t you baffled yourself?! I mean, sunglasses and hoodies, wow, best disguises ever!—resulting to getting photographed and possibly stalked,and avoided getting tracked by the bodyguards the whole day by turning your phone off. You literally disobeyed everything I said and broke your promises. But you’re sorry, right?” My mum responded, after my lengthy explanation on what went down during the date, excluding the part where Phil and I made out and are now boyfriends, of course. I nodded in agreement, avoiding her gaze. Her tone was dripping with sarcasm and it scared the shit out of me. Her smile didn’t help, too. She looked like a titan smiling at a victim she’s about to devour whole, mercilessly.

“In that case, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it anymore. You’re forgiven. As long as you two learned your lesson.”

My head snapped up to look at her and was surprised that she was looking at me, seemingly sincere. I stole a quick glance at Phil and he, too, looked as taken aback as I am.

“R-Really, Your Majesty?” I dared to ask.

“Of course not. I’m firing your whole security team and you’re grounded until I tell you that you aren’t anymore. Now go to your room and try and fix what you two can fix,” my mum said calmly, smiling.

“Mum, no! Don’t fire them, please! This… This is all my fault. They had nothing to do with it, I promise.”

“Well, they didn’t locate you fast enough. And worse, the press beat them to it,” she responded, looking serious.

“I know, but don’t take this out on them! If you do that, I won’t be able to live with myself knowing that I cost a ton of people their jobs because of my selfishness. I’m so sorry, okay! That was very selfish of me, I know! I didn’t even think twice about the possible consequences. This is all me, mum. You can ground me or something, but please don’t take their jobs away from them. Please, don’t do this,” I begged, everything coming out in a single breath, my voice breaking towards the end. My heart was beating really fast, the guilt I was feeling making it pound even harder. All I could do is hope that my mum would hear the sincerity in my voice. She stared at me for what felt like forever, contemplating probably, before she opened her mouth to respond.

“Fine. But you two, go upstairs and deal with what you can. I’ll ask someone to do damage control as well. But I’m leaving it up to the two of you how you want the media see you. I was told you’re all over the internet, too, so fix that as well. I have no idea how to “internet” so do your best. Do you understand me, Daniel? Philip, I hope you were listening, as well.”

“THANK YOU, MUM! OH MY GOD, THANK YOU,” I exclaimed, running around the table and throwing my arms around my mum and pulling her up to her feet in a sudden hug. She wasn’t going to fire Matt and the others anymore! Holy shit, yes. “YES, WE WILL FIX WHAT WE CAN. I PROMISE. WE PROMISE. RIGHT, BABE?” I looked sideways at Phil, who nodded frantically in agreement.

“Wait, Daniel, did you call Philip here “babe” or did I hear wrong?” my mum asked, pretending to be baffled when I perfectly knew that she knows what she heard. Her lips were twitching and I could see that she was trying hard not to laugh or smile. In the end, she failed. I untangled myself from our hug, my hand immediately finding my hair, fiddling with my fringe in the hopes of hiding my face which was growing warmer every second I spent in front of my smirking mother. Really, Dan? Call Phil “babe” in front of your mother? Really?

“You heard wrong, Mum. We’ll go upstairs now. Come on, Phil,” I mumbled, walking back to my seat and taking Phil’s hand, then started to pull him away from the table.

“Of course, my bad. Sorry for mishearing you, Daniel,” I heard my mum say from behind us, her tone full of amusement. “Of course you didn’t call Philip, “babe.” I mean, you two are obviously just friends who like holding hands, right?” I froze for a moment in further embarrassment, but decided to just hold onto Phil’s hand tighter and walk faster. I heard my Dad let out a booming laugh, and I cringed. Oh my god.

“And oh, Daniel, before you completely pretend to not hear me…”

“…You’re still grounded.”

“So, Phil… What do we do?” I asked Phil as soon as we were back in my room, the two of us sitting on the bed.

“I actually have no idea, Dan. I mean, I’m okay with anything. I’m basically a nobody, and if we come out as… As boyfriends or as friends… It won’t really affect me. It’s probably best if we go through with your decision in the end because you’re the Prince of England and all. And this could be a big deal,” Phil answered, his voice soft. He was looking at his hands, his face concealed from underneath his fringe, making it hard for me to see his expression. I scooted nearer beside him, carefully pushing his fringe out of the way to see his face. He didn’t protest but he still kept avoiding my gaze. I was surprised to see that he was in the verge of tears and his forehead felt cold with sweat.

“Phil,” I said, my heart starting to hurt already. I didn’t understand why he was sad, but for some reason, it made me sad, too.

“Phil, what’s the matter?” I asked, taking one of his hands in both of mine. It felt clammy. He just shook his head in response.

“Hey, it will be okay. Nothing bad will happen to us. We’re going to be okay,” I tried to reassure him, drawing patterns on the back of his hand with my thumbs.

“That’s… That’s not it, Dan,” he said flatly, finally looking at me in the eye, his forehead forming worry lines.

“Then, tell me, so I could try and make it better,” I responded sincerely. I really don’t like seeing Phil so down. It’s almost physically painful for me.

“I don’t know how to say this, Dan. I’ve been wanting to say something since a while ago but the Queen got all scary and I didn’t dare interrupt…” he trailed, biting his lip.

“What is it, Phil?”

“I… I need to use the bathroom. I think I ate too much at breakfast. This is so embarrassing,” Phil said seriously, removing his hand from mine, rubbing his belly.

“Oh my God, Phil. You should’ve said something as soon as we got here. Go and use my bathroom, I’ll wait for you here,” I tried so hard to steady my voice and not laugh at Phil because he literally looked like he was about to cry from holding everything in. He nodded frantically in agreement and basically ran towards my closet that led to the bathroom.

But I lost it when he farted before he even got to open the door.

“Phiiiiil.”

“Sorry!”

“Okay, then. Now that’s out of the way,” I said, chuckling, as soon as Phil was back in the bed settled beside me.

“Don’t even start, Dan,” he pouted, giving me a death glare. I chuckled even more, unable to take him seriously.

“Sorry, babe. I know you’re in no mood to take any shit from anyone today. I mean, today’s pretty crap, right?” I said in the most serious tone I could manage, bursting out laughing when Phil caught up with what I was saying, his expression changing from utter confusion to realization, his hand immediately flying to throw a punch at my arm, proceeding to hide his face in his hands afterwards. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him closer.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I was only kidding around to lighten up the mood a little,” I said, nudging my head onto his arm. He still didn’t remove his hands from his face, refusing to say a word and shaking his head in response instead.

“Phiiil,” I whined, nuzzling my face onto his shoulder. “Don’t be like this. Talk to me, please? I feel like I’m talking to a dead person. Look alive, sunshine. Pleaaaase?” I felt Phil tense in my arms, and I lifted my head from his shoulder. His hands were on his lap and he was already looking at me.

“You just had to reference MCR, didn’t you? I hate you,” he complained, finally letting out a chuckle. I let out a sigh and smiled, unable to help myself from doing so. Phil looked so cute when he laughed because his tongue always pokes out and his whole face just crinkles up in delight and ugh.

“You don’t really hate me, do you?" I asked, nuzzling my face onto his shoulder again, purposely making myself sound sad. I felt cuddly, okay.

“’Course not, Your Highness,” Phil replied, and soon enough, his right arm was curled around my back and his left hand was stroking my already curly hair. He stopped doing that for a split second, planting a kiss on top of my head. “And oh, I meant “Your Majesty.” I wasn’t kidding when I told you that you were my king. Never forget that. And sorry because oh god, that was so cheesy.”

“It’s supposed to be cheesy,” I responded, chuckling, nuzzling onto him even more and hugging him tighter. I’m pretty sure I looked like a sloth hanging onto Phil for dear life, but fuck it. It was the best feeling in the world, and I didn’t give a shit if I looked ridiculous and clingy as fuck.

Uh oh.

“Phil, we’ve literally left the internet alone for four hours and it’s already 10 times worse than this morning,” I declared as I finally browsed the internet on my laptop after Phil and I put off dealing with the shitstorm by cuddling on my bed for a full hour. Procrastination at its finest, to be honest.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s all over the internet now. But it’s just the same two pictures. This one of you, and this one of the two of us. Nothing more than that, though,” Phil replied, his eyes intent on his phone’s screen. “Have you decided what to do, then?” he asked, looking at me, a small smile present on his lips.

“Well… By the looks of it, the shipping intensified because people connected the two pictures. And because of the shippers, articles about us dating are popping up by the minute. They’re still rumors, though. Not a single one of these confirms our relationship,” I rambled on, thinking out loud as I continued to scroll. “But… I have to admit that I’m kind of scared of what would happen if they get confirmation, Phil. They don’t even know if I’m bi, oh my god.”

Phil scooted on closer to my side of the bed and dropped his phone on the covers, turning his whole body to face me instead, his head propped on one of his hands, making his cheek look all puffy. His eyes scanned my face, his lips forming a tight line as he stroked my cheek lightly with his thumb. “We can tell them we’re just friends… Tell them we started talking because our mutual interest in Youtube. We can even make a collab, if you want.”

“I genuinely think that’s a good idea. I’d really like to avoid the shitstorms for now. But… But don’t think for one second that I’m ashamed of you, alright? Because I’m so fucking proud to be your boyfriend, Phil.”

“Yeah, I know, right. I’m the Amazing Phil Lester from the wonderful land of Youtube. I mean, how did the Prince of England even get on my level?” Phil joked, chuckling. I leaned in and planted a kiss on his forehead.

“Okay, then,” I said, finally managing to put on a real smile. “You go tweet something, first, then? Tell them we’re making a collab?”

“Uhh, sure. But can we just reflect for a minute here? Nobodies don’t get collabs with royalty, Dan. I mean, I know this was my idea, but I wasn’t thinking properly. Famous journalists have to wait months to get an interview with the royal family, right? Then there’s me,” Phil pointed out, his face all crinkled up because of laughing.

“Nah, it’ll be fine. We’ll tell them in the video that it was my idea. Besides, your grandfather and mine basically scheduled this thing 18 years ago. Engagements include video collabs, right?” I joked, chuckling at my own realization that our grandfathers were the first Phan shippers. “And Phil, shut up and stop calling yourself a nobody. You’re not a nobody. If I hear you call yourself a nobody again, I’m gonna kiss your face off.”

As soon as I said the words, Phil’s eyes widened.

“Oh yeah?” he asked, an eyebrow raised as he smirked, biting his bottom lip in the process.

“Yeah.”

His face lit up. And in the next second, Phil basically started a monologue in response, making exaggerated hand movements and dramatic facial expressions. “I’m a nobody, Dan. I’m the biggest nobody in the world. The nobodiest of all the nobodies. Ugh, I hate myself. I’m such a nobody compared to the great Prince of England. Why did I have to be born a nobody?! I am such a nobody.” I rolled my eyes. The little shit knows what he’s doing, and I could tell that he’s not sorry.

“Stop.”

“Make me.”

*Phil’s POV*

“Thank god my mum doesn’t know how grounding her child works,” Dan said as soon as he reached my flat the following Friday, slumping onto my couch. “She even allowed me to stay for the weekend for us to film properly because I told her that this would fix the drama. Jesus Christ, I can’t believe this. Matt will pick me up on Sunday morning, but I have to update them every 2 hours about what we’re up to. But holy shit. She thinks grounding children means “no dessert” or something. Oh my god. Nice place, btw.”

“Every 2 hours, really? What if we—“

“They don’t have to know everything, Phil. Shut up.”

“Okay, I think we have enough questions already. Are you ready?” I asked Dan as we were seated on my bed, the camera already fixed up, ready to record at any second. He gave me a nod, and he let out a deep breath.

“I’m warning you, Dan, Q&As are the worst. Why did we even decide that this would be the best collab? We could’ve just done a generic Youtube tag or something. People don’t grasp the idea that Q&As are supposed to be just questions. They mostly send dares. Just listen to this one: “Phil, kiss Dan for 5 minutes.” I mean, I’d totally do that, but that’s not meant to be seen by an audience,” I joked, poking Dan’s side, making him laugh. “Do you really want to do this without a script?”

“Your subscribers are horrible people. But yeah, fuck it. We’re doing this impromptu. It’ll be fun, judging by your kissing dare example,” he responded, taking me aback. “I’m kidding, Phil, stop looking so surprised.” I let out a breath of relief.

“You can edit stuff out, right?”

“Yeah, I guess?” I responded, unsure. Dan smirked. He stood up and turned the camera on, sitting back beside me immediately, facing me.

“Good,” he leaned in closer, and my breath hitched in the sudden close proximity, our noses almost touching. Dan licked his lips.

“Okay, Phil. We’ll do that kissing dare first, then.”

*Dan’s POV*

“Dan, this one’s for you. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna edit this out later, though,” Phil said, chuckling, looking at his phone. “But, I’m actually curious about this, too, so I want you to answer it.”

“Shoot,” I agreed, grinning.

“Okay, I’m just gonna read the question off Twitter word for word,” Phil started, smiling at me, taking a deep breath. “Prince Dan, did Troye Sivan really stumble upon you in a coffee shop? He made a video about it.”

“Hmm… I think so, yeah,” I laughed, remembering the incident. “That’s actually true. I saw the video, actually, that’s why I know his name. Just didn’t comment about it.”

His eyes widened, setting his phone aside immediately. “I saw that video, too! I was planning to bring it up before but I just kept forgetting about it. How did that happen, though?” Phil asked, curiosity now evident in his eyes. I smirked.

“Well… I kinda sneak out of the palace. A lot. I go to coffee shops, mostly, but I was always disguised. That one night, I forgot my phone in the coffee shop, and obviously, I had to get it back so I can call my accomplice to let me back in—it’s Matt, don’t tell my mum—but when I got back, the Troye guy was already holding my phone, so I told him it was mine, and of course he made sure it was really mine before giving it back. We had an awkward encounter, to be honest. I even gave him a fake name. But yeah, long story short, he sorta recognized me from under my hood, and naturally, I ran away,” I finished, chuckling at the memory.

“You… You sneak out of the palace?” Phil muttered, looking quite nervous. “How is that even possible?”

“It’s not that hard. It’s better that I show you sometime. Don’t tell the public, though,” I teased, chuckling, poking Phil’s cheek. “We don’t want peasants sneaking inside the palace.”

“Troye is totally gonna freak when he finds out. Even I can’t believe it. But, I’m guessing he’ll never know?” Phil supposed, a small smile sneaking on his lips, shaking his head.

“’Course not. We don’t want you getting jealous,” I joked, nudging Phil’s side. He rolled his eyes, chuckling.

“You’re so full of yourself.”

“Ehh… True.”

*Phil’s POV*

Dan and I finished filming our video at about 10 PM on Friday. It took us about 6 hours to film, and to be honest, we could’ve saved a lot of time if Dan and I weren’t too couple-y and touchy and especially if we weren’t stealing kisses or suddenly making out with each other the whole time, resulting to a lot of wasted footage. I blame Dan entirely for being too attractive to resist, but I’m never telling him that. I actually thought people were just overstating things when they said couples in new relationships can’t take their hands off each other. I never imagined I’ll be living proof of that. No regrets, though.

We ordered Chinese as soon as we were back in the lounge after wrapping up filming, slumping back on the sofa tiredly.

“What do we do now?” Dan asked me as he leant on my shoulder after I ended my call with the Chinese delivery place.

“Dunno. Do you wanna watch a movie?” I suggested, playing with his hair.

“I guess. Not horror, though,” he muttered, holding onto my arm. “Especially not one of those movies with a tiny Asian girl in them.”

“Horror it is, then!” I joked, ruffling Dan’s hair. He removed himself from me immediately, shooting me with a death stare instead. I laughed at his expression, pulling him into my arms.

“Daaaaaaan.”

“Shut up,” he muttered, fighting his way out of my arms. I held onto him tighter, nuzzling my face onto the crook of his neck.

“Daaaaan, I was only kidding,” I cooed, snuggling into him. “I won’t make you watch horror, I promise. You can choose the movie. I’ll even watch Twilight if you want me to—which makes sense because you look like Edward Cullen,” I teased, wrapping my arms around Dan’s waist tighter.

“That is uncalled for,” he chuckled, flicking me on the ear. “Let me go, Voldemort.”

I dropped my arms from him with a gasp, looking at Dan who was smirking, looking pretty pleased with himself. “Excuse me, Edward Cullen. I didn’t know you liked to make out with Voldemort. By the way, you’re glittering!”

“I’ll make your mum glitter!” He declared, jumping on me playfully, pinning me down on the sofa.

“No, you won’t,” I said, looking up at him with a smirk. “Because I’m gonna lock you up in the Chamber of Secrets with my basilisk.”

“You’re a pervert,” he laughed, punching me in the arm before leaning down to kiss me. “But, that was actually a good comeback. Voldemort’s pretty fit, to be honest.”

“I really look like Voldemort,” I said, thinking about my amazing nostril-flaring ability all of a sudden, chuckling at the realization.

“I would b—“

There was a rap on the door, interrupting Dan. I ran to the door, opening it to see the delivery man standing in the hallway. I paid him, taking the food from him excitedly.

“Dan! Food’s here!”

We ate the food in the lounge as we watched Dan’s choice of movie which was Tangled—and of course I didn’t pass up the chance to call him “The Lost Princess” every now and then which made me earn a few punches on the arm from Dan—cuddling on the sofa for the rest of the night after finishing our food.

I’ve always enjoyed seeing Taylor Lautner take his shirt off when he goes werewolf. But it turns out I was into glittering vampires more.

Well, you learn something new every day.

The next day, Dan beat me to waking up first, but I’m not actually surprised about that. We cuddled and slept in my bed, and I was little spoon, which was really nice. I didn’t want to move from such a comfortable position, but it was Dan. He was worth waking up early for.

“Hey you,” I heard Dan say from behind me softly, making me turn around and face him without actually removing his arms and legs around me.

“Hello there,” I responded, smiling. Dan looked me straight in the eye, and I stared back in awe. The sunlight were reflected on his eyes, bringing out their color more. It was already a beautiful sight before, and I couldn’t believe that his eyes could be even more beautiful than they already are. “I want to kiss you right now, but morning breath.”

“Eh, go on. Knock yourself out,” he chuckled, leaning in to give me a peck on the lips. “By the way, your Northern accent is hella adorable.”

I clasped my mouth with my hand, my eyes widening at the comment, my face flushing. I wasn’t ashamed about sounding Northern—I just kinda forgot that I switch to different accents unknowingly most of the time, especially in the mornings. Dan laughed, wrapping his arms and legs around me tighter. “Dan, I can’t breathe. You hug like a bear,” I complained jokingly, chuckling, my voice muffled. He loosened up a bit.

“Well, one of my old nicknames is Bear, so that makes sense,” he admitted, looking into my eyes again. I leaned in closer, bringing our foreheads together.

“Now that’s adorable. Bear. Oh my god, that’s adorable.”

“Now, now, let’s not get carried away.”

“Actually, you sound like Winnie the Pooh, too, so that makes it fit even more,” I whispered, teasing Dan.

“Actually, shut up,” he laughed, nudging me in the forehead.

“You already know how to shut me up, Bear.”

“Phil, noooooo,” Dan groaned, but I could see that he was trying his best not to smile.

“Bear! Bear, Bear, Bear, Bear, Bear.”

“Fine.”

We prepared breakfast together, and Dan showed off his hidden skills at cooking. He whipped up some eggs and some pancakes, which smelled delicious, and being the incompetent loser that I was, I was just in charge of taking out the orange juice and the syrup from the fridge. We ended up eating breakfast in the breakfast bar for 3 hours, talking about anything and everything, and sometimes just staring at each other in comfortable silence for minutes on end. Even early on, I could already tell that I wanted to make three-hour breakfasts with Dan a thing.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. We didn’t dare come out of my flat therefore we mostly just played video games, Dan beating me in Mario Kart a lot. When we got tired of playing that, we took various board games I owned off my shelf, and played with those as well, munching on the pizza we had delivered. Dan crushed me in Scrabble, but no surprise there. When it was nearly nightfall, Dan suggested that we watch movies again on the lounge, as his mind was feeling sort of tired with all the thinking. He ended up falling asleep on my lap, and I was left staring at him while he slept, playing with his hair unconsciously. I must’ve looked really creepy if someone saw me in that moment, because I was literally just marveling on how beautiful Dan looked as he slept soundly. Around 8:30 PM, I realized that I had to do a liveshow soon, remembering that it was a Saturday, but because I didn’t have the heart to wake up Dan, I just sneaked out of the lounge, tucking him in with a blanket in the couch before I went to my room.

“Hi guys! Hello, Sarah, Olivia, Cienna, Amy, Morgan, Lin, Ellie, Tiffy, and Meghan. Hello, hello, hello! People are still coming. Hi everybody! So how was your week?”

The liveshow went on as usual. People asked me questions in the chat, and I answered them on camera. I noticed that there are a lot of question about me and Dan, but I chose to pretend to not see them for the mean time. Better not open my mouth about us until the video is up.

When it was time for the drawing game, I sneakily made them draw a really weird-looking, yet incredibly endearing bear. They will never know, so I smiled like an idiot when we all decided to call it, “Beartrude.”

“I’m getting quite tired, you guys! Don’t you think it’s time to wrap this up?” There were a lot of no’s and “don’t go, Phil!” so I stayed on for a little longer, singing horrible lyrics that I made up with a tune from Fall Out Boy, Frozen, or High School Musical.

“Dance, dance, we’re falling apart to eat panca—“

“Phil?”

I turned around in one swift motion and saw Dan standing in the doorway, his hair stuck up in different directions, rubbing the sleep off his eyes. He went into my room and sat on my bed, looking all confused. Cute as fu… Fudge.

“Bear! Wait up, I’ll just wrap up thi—“

I faced my laptop again and then I realized my mistake.

Dan was shown on camera, and he had no idea what was going on.

All over the chat, people were freaking out about “Bear” and I knew I was in trouble when people started to realize that it was actual Dan Howell, inside my flat, looking like he just woke up from a nice nap.

“Phil, what’s happening?” I heard Dan say behind me, making me panic. I turned around and looked at him, startled. He looked at me right back with a startled look in his eyes, too. I gestured towards my laptop sneakily, hoping he’d get the idea. He didn’t. I don’t understand, he mouthed, confusion in his face.

I turned around and faced the camera again, grinning like there’s nothing wrong. The chat messages were moving up fast, and my heart was beating out of my chest.

I felt Dan rest his chin upon my shoulder, and he rubbed his eyes again.

“Phil, what’s wrong? What are you watch—“

“Dan!” I exclaimed, immediately standing up in surprise.

The last thing I saw in the chat was “PHAN.”

Then YouNow crashed.

*Dan’s POV*

“You know what? I’m not even going to say anything anymore,” my mum said to me and Phil as soon as we were brought to her office back in the palace the following morning. “But if I did say anything, I would say you should just come clean about whatever this is, but like I said, I’m not going to say anything anymore. You did this, and I think you’re old enough to sort this out yourselves. Are we clear?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Phil and I responded in unison.

“Good. Now go sort the rumors out,” she said, motioning for us to leave the room. Phil and I turned around immediately, walking to the door.

“Wait, Daniel, Philip. One last thing,” I heard the queen say, making us face her again. My heart, of course, was thumping away in fear. She didn’t speak for a few seconds, looking like she was still contemplating what she’s going to say. I fought back the urge to fiddle with my fringe knowing well that my mum knows about the habit, and it’ll only make things worse for me if I show her how anxious she was making me. She doesn’t fuck around.

“Are you two committed?”

I took a sharp intake of breath, immediately shooting a sideways glance at Phil, seeking for an answer. Unfortunately, though, he just looked as panicked as I am. We didn’t talk about this.

“Phil and I are engaged, right?”

“You know what I mean, Daniel.”

Eventually, Phil gave me a little nod that I took as a sign of encouragement, and I sighed, feeling a bit defeated. Obviously we had to actually tell her at some point. I am 101% sure that she already knows where Phil and I stood because she heard me call Phil “babe” and all. But I am 102% sure that she’s not going to let it go because scaring the shit out of me is my mum’s second most favorite pastime, following Zumba.

“Fine. Yeah, we’re together.”

“Oh, so you’re already dating. I called it!” my mum exclaimed, chuckling. “So, since when? Is my son a good kisser?” she asked, facing Phil with a smirk, giving him a wink.

“Mum!”

“Okay, sorry.”

As soon as Phil and I were back in my bedroom, I ran to my bed and fell on top of it face first, burying my face in a pillow with a loud groan of frustration. I was so frustrated about everything that’s happening, and I didn’t know what to do. But, I felt myself calm down a little when I felt my bed shift due to another person’s weight. Not a second later, I felt Phil’s hand rubbing my back gently, and he planted light kisses on my hair every now and then.

“Bear, it’s gonna be okay,” I heard him say. “We’ve already been through this before, right? We’re going to be fine.” I sighed in response, lost for words. Phil started to try and remove my face from being buried in the pillow, but I did my best to not let that happen. “Hey now. Dan. Daaaaan. Babe. Come on.Look at me.” I felt him remove his hand from where he was rubbing my back and I stiffened, missing the contact right away, making me lift my face from the pillow, facing my right.

I was immediately met with the feeling of Phil’s lips on mine and I felt myself sigh in contentment, my eyes closing in the same moment.

“Better?” he murmured against my lips. I could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

“Much better,” I responded, pulling away and smiling at him.

“Now before we lose to the temptation of a good snog yet again—“ he teased, nudging my nose with his with a boop, “—We should probably start talking about the situation.” I groaned in frustration once again, unable to help myself.

“Do we have to?” I complained, suppressing another groan.

“Yes, we have to, Dan. If it makes you feel better, we can talk about it while we’re liiiiiiike this!” Phil pulled me into his chest in one swift movement, guiding my arms to wrap around him. And with my ear against his chest, I could hear his cute little heartbeat. His right hand started to rub my back again, soothing me loads. As if everything else wasn’t enough already, he also started to run his other hand through my hair again and again, making me relax even further.

“I have to admit, this feels really nice,” I chuckled, burying my face in Phil’s chest to prove a point. “Okay, we can talk now.”

“Okay. So, let’s just get straight to the point, alright? Uhm… Er… Do you want to… I mean, are you ready to come out, Dan? I’m just realizing now that if we come out, then you come out. That would also mean that I come out but I think I’m okay with it. That sounded better in my head but am I making sense?”

“Yeah, I get you.”

“And?”

“I think I’m not ready yet, Phil,” I sighed, and lump starting to form in my throat. “I think it’s too early to do that. I mean, we haven’t been together for long, and don’t get me wrong, I like what’s going on between us, but we both know how invasive people can be. I’d like to keep this a secret for now. Well, at least a secret from the public. They’re going to ruin it. I don’t want that to happen. And personally speaking, I don’t think I’m ready to hear what people would say about me being bi. I’m not ready, Phil,” I rambled on, my voice breaking towards the end.

“Shh… Dan, I understand,” Phil immediately responded, rubbing my back with slightly more pressure while leaving soft kisses on top of my head to soothe me. It worked. It will never not work. “I completely understand, don’t worry. It can wait. We got this, alright. I got you. I’ll do my best to not let anyone harm you in any way.”

“You’re being sappy again, Lester,” I teased, finally managing a smile at Phil. He pouted at me in protest, his eyes crinkling in the brightest smile I’ve ever seen soon after.

“You love it, though.”

“I do.”

I will never get over how beautiful Phil is. He never fails to remind me himself every single time while still unaware that he’s doing so. Amazing.

*Phil’s POV*

Phan is not canon.

Or so that’s what we made them think.

Since that one morning in August, the “shipping” or at least the rumors about us dating started to die down little by little. After a decision was agreed upon by the two of us in Dan’s bed, I went home and started editing the clips for our video together. On second thought, some other things happened after we settled for a decision and before I went home, but that’s not important.

We agreed to publish the video we made together the same day, calling it “Phil is not on fire” because we ran out of better ideas for titles. We also agreed to not comment on anything at all and especially about the YouNow incident. If I’m going to be honest, it was actually quite funny to watch the internet blow up for a certain time because of the collaboration we did.

“Oh my gOSHDDBND THEY’rE TOTALLY TOGETHER????”

“Wtf Phil how did u even get him to appear on a youtube video wth”

“Okay, I’m sold. They’re totally platonic.”

There was an influx of comments, mostly contradicting each other. But we’re not the type to give anything away anymore. They had no idea. And it’s going to stay that way until Dan is ready.

Before we even knew it, it was already October, and Dan and I have been dating in secret for a couple of months. We didn’t dare go out and about in London anymore, learning from the shitstorm it caused the first time around. Instead, Dan and I just crash at each other’s places alternately every week. We ate takeaway, played video games, he tried to teach me how to play piano, and I shared with him my minimal knowledge of playing the violin. He even took me horseback riding at one point which was terrifying at first because I had this massive fear of horses. We watched movies, we baked cupcakes, we made out, and we cuddled. We ate breakfast together while watching anime, we talked about the universe, and we held hands. We were never bored, and I doubt that we’ll ever be again. At least that’s how I felt. I hope I’m making Dan happy, because the couple of months I spent with Dan was the happiest I’ve ever been in my life so far.

For the first time, I was actually glad no one really cares about their neighbors’ businesses in the building where I live. He could go up to my flat freely, unrecognized and unnoticed, no questions asked. We were free to see each other a lot without worrying about some prying eyes.

But of course, things can’t go on perfectly forever. I realized that when I answered a phone call from Dan one early morning. We hardly phoned each other by then because we had our routine Skype calls every day, so as soon as I heard my phone ring and saw Dan’s name in my phone, I knew there was something off.

“Hello, Dan? Is everything okay?” I asked immediately, my heart rate increasing rapidly.

“No, Phil. Phil, oh my god, you have to come here. I need you,” I heard Dan’s voice break in the other end of the line, and as cliché as it may sound, I felt something inside me break as well.

“Dan, babe. Calm down. Please. Tell me… Tell me what happened.”

“I need you right now, Phil. Please come here. Please. I don’t know how to deal with this when you’re there, and not with me. Please. Please, Phil.”

“Dan. Please tell me what’s happening, I’m getting scared. Babe, please.”

“Phil, we’ve been outed. And we can’t deny this anymore because there are pictures. A lot… A lot of them. And what’s worse is they were taken f-f-from inside the palace. Please P-Phil, I need you here right now.”

Upon hearing the news, my world stopped for a moment.

But then I realized that I had to keep going for Dan.

He needed me, and admittedly, at that moment I needed him, too. And I’m not going to let him down.

“I’ll be right there.”

*Queen Annaliese’s POV*

“YOU THERE! Come here!” I ordered the first maid I saw in the hallway upon leaving Daniel’s room.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Call every employee in the palace to the throne room right now! Anyone who isn’t there in 5 minutes will be fired! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“YES, YOUR MAJESTY, I-I’M GOING NOW!”

I turned on my heels and walked back to my son’s bedroom, knocking before entering. He still looked so distraught when I came back, even with Philip holding his hand the whole time. As soon as he told me about the pictures and the outing that morning, I immediately hugged him and assured him that I will get to the bottom of the whole thing, and that’s what I’m going to do.

Nobody messes with my family and get away with it.

“Is everyone here?” I asked out loud, standing from my throne. My husband followed suit, standing beside me, putting a hand on my back lightly.

There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd of employees but they were all shunned to silence when one young maid spoke up. “Pardon me, Your Majesty, Samantha is still not here! She has acquired a bad stomach this morning and she—“

“She’s fired. Anyone else?” Nobody answered.

“Alright, then. I’m just going to say it straight out,” I coughed, smiling at the employees. “Okay. WHO. AMONG YOU. TOOK PICTURES. OF MY SON. AND PHILIP. HERE. INSIDE THE PALACE?”

“Oh, so nobody from you lottook the photos? Are we in Hogwarts? Did the photos just magically appear? Did the Doctor go here in his TARDIS, took some photos, left, and sent it to the press?” I laughed dryly and I notice some of the employees flinch. Good.

I heard my husband cough a little from behind me, just enough to get my attention, so I turned to face him.

“Honey, you’re scaring them too much. Don’t forget you’re their Queen,” he whispered, chuckling softly.

“Doug, hun, I’m certainly not the Queen right now. Right now I’m just a very angry mother whose son has been hurt and I absolutely don’t care if anyone’s terrified of me right now. I don’t care.”

Upon hearing that, my husband gave me a nod and stood straight, looking at the employees with a stern look that just shouts, “Who dared mess with my son?”

I turned back to face the employees, and then there was even more silence.

“Anyone who has information on who took these photos and sent them to the press, please step forward and you will be rewarded accordingly.” I said nothing further than that and instead, waited for somebody to speak up, making eye contact with as many employees as I can, hoping someone gives in.

“It was Erica, Your Majesty!” I hear someone say from the crowd.

“What?! No, Your Majes—“

“Who said that? Come forward. And this Erica, too, come forward.”

A blonde girl whose hair was in braids and wearing a maid’s uniform came out of the crowd with her head bowed down the whole time followed by a brunette girl whose hair was tied up in a ponytail and she was in a maid’s uniform as well. The brunette looked like she was about to cry.

“So who is Erica?”

“I’m… I’m Erica, Your Majesty. But please listen to m—“

“Did I ask for an explanation?”

“No, but—“ The girl, Erica, was already starting to cry.

“Be quiet.” She shut up. “How about you, what’s your name?”

The blonde girl finally looked up, and her eyes, I could tell was full of determination. “I am Amanda, Your Majesty.”

“Alright,” I responded before speaking up again. “Anyone here to support Amanda’s claim on Erica?”

Three people raised their hands. “Oh, good. You three know about this, too! Come forward here as well.”

There was shuffling and soon enough, five maids were in front of me, one of them crying, the other four looking like they’re trying hard to be their bravest.

I clasped my hands together once, the noise making a few people jump or flinch. “Alright! That wasn’t so hard, was it? We found out the culprits!”

“C-Culprits, Your Majesty?” the girl named Amanda asked out loud, her voice shaking.

“Yes! You’re all fired. Everyone else, clap for these fair maidens!” I started clapping, and at first no one followed suit, but little by little, the clapping grew louder despite the fact that everyone who gave their applause looked absolutely scared out of their wits.

“Your Majesty, we didn’t do anyt—“

“Oh, but you did. You four could’ve reported her, stopped her, but you didn’t. You allowed this to happen, and so you’re all fired! Isn’t that lovely?” I smiled, giving the girls another round of applause. “By the way, I’ll be making sure nobody else hires you girls for a long time. I’m sure your friend Erica over here made a lot of money with the pictures she sold to the press. Now pack your bags and leave. Don’t even try to beg. Anyway… Katherine Adler? Is Katherine Adler out there? Please come forward. Don’t worry, I’m not going to fire you, I just need you. Everyone else, go back to work!”

In just mere seconds, Katherine came stumbling out of the crowd who was now heading towards the door, the only one moving towards the front.

“Y-Y-Your Majesty? You need me?” she stuttered out.

“Yes, yes. Call a press conference for…. Hmm… 3 PM? Yes, 3 PM later today,” I decided. Katherine’s eyes widened.

“T-T-Today, Your M-Majesty?”

“Yes. Today. Go.” She nodded in compliance, half running away immediately.

I let out a deep breath, allowing myself to slack a little as soon as left the throne room. I felt a hand rub my back gently and I sighed, facing the person who I knew was my husband.

“Good job, honey,” he said, taking my hand, giving it a kiss. “But why did you set up the press conference so soon? I don’t want you getting too stressed.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be alright,” I responded, smiling a little. “I just don’t want to lengthen our boy’s agony. He doesn’t deserve to go through this, he deserves to live a normal life like teenagers his age,” I sighed, finally letting out the pained sob I was holding in all morning. My husband wrapped his arms around me immediately and I let myself go.

“It started today,” I managed to say.

“And it will end today.”

*Phil’s POV*

“Are you ready, Phil?” Dan asked me when we reached the closed double doors that led to the conference hall of the palace. I held his hand tighter and took a deep breath, nodding in response. He gave me a small smile before squeezing my hand gently, a gesture that filled me with comfort right away.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I said, grinning. “Are you?”

“Not really, but we have no choice, do we?” he responded sassily, chuckling a bit. I scrunched up my nose in fake distaste, failing to hide the smile I was holding back, giving in to the inexplicable, bubbling feeling that Dan makes me feel every single time right away. I kissed the top of his head quickly, ruffling his hair afterwards. I heard coughing from behind us and I flushed scarlet, seeing the king, the queen and some other people looking at us when I turned around. The queen had an eyebrow cocked upwards and I noticed that she was smirking at me in particular, making me force out a nervous smile directed at her before turning around quickly to face the closed doors again. I let out a heavy sigh of relief, making Dan giggle beside me.

“You’re an idiot,” he teased, smiling with his cute little dimple showing, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I’m dating an idiot.”

“Well, I’m your idiot, so you still kinda win, I guess. Not to mention I’m an idiot you can kiss anytime,” I said proudly, making Dan blush.

“Uhm, excuse me, sir?” I heard someone say beside me a moment later. It was one of the palace guards. I raised my eyebrows in surprise, but nodding anyway, beckoning him to continue. “The queen ordered me to tell you that everyone behind you can hear whatever you’re saying.”

“Eh?” In one swift motion of panic, I turned around to search for the queen’s face, my cheeks already heated up again. When I finally met her gaze, she immediately diverted her eyes from mine, checking her nails instead with the most innocent smirk.

“Dan.”

“Ph—“

“Excuse me, Your Highness, Mr. Lester, sir, we’re about to go in,” a guard suddenly interrupted. Soon, a bunch of guards were surrounding me and Dan. In that moment, I felt the realness of the situation. My hands started to clam up, the one holding Dan’s hand starting to slowly slip, the only thing keeping our hands intertwined was Dan’s effort to hold mine tightly. My heart started to beat really fast as well, the sound of it seeming to be deafening, even though I’m probably the only one who could hear it.

“Dan, I’m scared,” I muttered, thinking out loud, as the double doors slowly started to open.

“I am, too. But I’m here. Just hold onto my hand. We’ll be fine.”

The doors finally opened, and immediately, I was blinded by the flashing lights as we were walking swiftly. I had no idea which direction we were going, my feet just going with the flow. I felt my stomach twist and turn, my head started to cloud up, making me hold onto Dan’s hand tighter. I couldn’t handle it. I can’t handle this. I’m going to throw up.

“Phil,” I heard Dan say, and I was brought back to the Earth. We were already sitting behind a long table, mics in front of us, a ton of reporters and journalists intently looking at us, looking at me.

“Dan, I feel sick,” I whispered, a lump starting to form in my throat. “I thought I could handle this, but apparently I can’t.” I feel Dan draw calming circles on the back of my hand from under the table.

“You don’t have to speak. I can speak for the two of us if you want,” he smiled, a smile that seemed to reach his eyes. And for some reason, I knew I was going to be okay.

“So, Your Highness, I’m going to go straight to the point. Are you and Phil Lester dating?” one reporter asked. I glanced at her quickly, before turning my gaze back at Dan. Immediately, a series of lights flashed at us once again, as if on cue. I squeezed Dan’s hand lightly in encouragement. He met my gaze for a second, smiling, before he faced the people again, leaning towards his mic.

“Yes,” he said simply. “I have been dating him for months now.” The room was instantly filled with a buzz created when a lot of people are talking at the same time, making my head spin once again. Some people stood from where they sat, fighting over who gets to ask Dan their questions next. More camera flashes.

“Your Highness, why did you not come out as gay before this?” another one asked.

“That’s because I’m not. I’m bisexual. And personally, I don’t think that’s something you could just go and ask people. We all have our own reasons. That’s all you have to know.”

“But you’re in a relationship with a man, doesn’t that technically mean you’re gay?” the reporter followed up, his voice tainted with a tinge of desperation. I felt Dan stiffen beside me, his mouth hanging open. Not thinking about it twice, I reached out for his cheek, caressing it lightly, Dan easing into the touch with a soft sigh. He looked at me sadly and I stared back with a smile, hoping that would make him feel a bit better. I started to fix his fringe, which was slightly covering his eyes already. Even more camera flashes went off, but I didn’t really care. Dan was my top priority after all.

“Dan, I’ll take it from here. I think I’m ready.”

“Phil, you don’t have to, I can—“ I shook my head at him.

“I’m ready, Dan.” He looked taken aback at first, but eventually, he managed to smile, nodding. I leaned into my mic.

“D-Dan and I… We both identify as bisexuals,” I said with conviction, breathing out heavily. “We’re not gay. We just happen to be two boys in a relationship right now, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re gay. We still feel attraction to people of the opposite sex. Come on, it’s 2014. Do your research.” I heard Dan chuckle beside me, and I laughed a little, covering my mouth immediately to stop myself.

“But bisexuality doesn’t exist, Your Highness. It’s just an excuse for being gay and not wanting to admit it outright,” the man said through gritted teeth, obviously feeling kind of enraged. Apparently he still wasn’t finished with being a shi… A butt.

More camera flashes.

The only sound I heard a moment later was the scraping of wood against wood.

“Excuse my manners, mister, but are you really going to go there?”

The queen. She was standing up, and her face was pink, but she was smiling, her posture still filled with grace. Dan squeezed my hand tighter.

“My son is bisexual. Get your facts straight. He said it himself, and nothing you can say can invalidate that. It’s his sexuality, not yours. Now please… Someone escort this lovely man out. We don’t entertain homophobes here.”

Right away, the man got escorted out. He didn’t put up a struggle and followed the guards out of the hall, looking a bit pale. I wasn’t surprised to see him that way, though. If I get sass from the Queen of England, I would be speechless, too.

The queen straightened her dress before sitting down again, leaning towards her mic.

“Well, now that that’s over, we have an announcement!” She started, not even bothering to let the palace spokesperson speak for her. I admire my future mother-in-law so much. Wait.

“We’ll be celebrating our dear king’s birthday in a few weeks, so we will be having a celebration here in the palace on the 8th of November, and a few people from the press would be invited to come. We will send out the necessary invites in a week. That is all.”

“Hey man, I heard about the news. Are you holdin’ up fine?” Chris asked when I answered his call the following afternoon. I was actually glad that he called because I was starting to feel alone in my flat even though it’s literally been that way before… Before… Oh, you know who I meant.

“Yeah, it’s good. It’s been really weird, though. But I’m okay,” I answered honestly. “I actually feel like Miley in the Hannah Montana movie,” I said flatly. Chris lost it at the other end of the line. Yay, apparently I was still funny.

“I get what you mean. You’re going to be a princess, mate! And everyone knows about it now, holy shit. You’re going to be known everywhere. Don’t change numbers, alright? I still have to leech off of your fame,” he joked, chuckling heartily.

“Sure. And actually, you can start leeching off my fame now. The palace is going to have a party and the queen told me I can invite my family, and 2 other friends. I was thinking you and PJ. What do you thi—“

“SHIT, MAN, YEAH, OF COURSE, COUNT ME IN… Like, please.”

“Tell PJ for me, too, yeah? It’s on the 8th. This November. It’s a formal event so suit up. Please, Chris, don’t show up looking like you’re just going to a strip club. I don’t want to have to change as well so that you could look normal.”

“You’re the best, Phil. Really,” Chris responded, sounding sincere.

“Yeah, I know. I was raised well in the North.”

*Dan’s POV*

I was so excited to see Phil.

I didn’t have the chance to see him in person since the day we came out to the public as a couple. Our faces and names have been everywhere since then, but everything wasn’t as messy as I thought it would be.

At first, it was hard to stomach all the snide remarks from the disgusting parts of the press. They made my sexuality a bigger deal than it really is, but I was able to handle it because Phil and I constantly talked through Skype during various parts of the day. I was a bit busy with all the preparations for my dad’s birthday for most of the days, and throughout the weeks, I had to go to several formal parties to meet important people with my parents, not to mention my mum made me take lessons again for several hours every day because I may forget everything I’ve learned before because I’m “infatuated.” Everything was tiring as hell, but I wouldn’t complain because it did take my mind off of things. The only real downside was that I didn’t get the chance to hang out with Phil. God, I missed him so much.

So, when the night of the party finally came, I was really ecstatic.

I hate to admit it, but I gave much more effort on my appearance than I usually do. I really wanted to look good; hot, even. I brushed my hair into a quiff and literally asked Martha to give her best in making me look handsome. It’s kind of shameful to do, but I didn’t give a fuck anymore because I really wanted to look my best. For fuck’s sake, I even put on perfume. I wasn’t doing it for Phil, though. Of course not. Also, I’m full of bullshit.

“Dan!”

“Phil.”

As soon as I heard my boyfriend’s voice, happiness flooded my insides. I didn’t even care about the loads of people that were also in the hall with us, I immediately took him into my arms and cuddled onto the crook of his neck. I missed everything about him and I was really eager to see him again.

“I’ve missed you,” he whispered during the hug, his hand rubbing my back gently.

“I’ve missed you, too, Phil,” I answered, chuckling. “But let’s do this later. We don’t want another scandal, do we?” I whispered with an attempt of sounding sexy. I felt Phil froze, then he let me go. He looked quite alarmed for a few seconds, but he started giggling eventually.

“I hate you, Dan.”

“I hate you, too, Phil,” I responded, smirking. Phil rolled his eyes at me, which made me want to hug him again, but I noticed 2 people standing close behind him awkwardly, obviously avoiding my gaze.

“Er, Phil? Do you want to introduce me to…?”

“Oh, yeah! Sorry,” he apologized, giggling. He immediately turned around and pulled the 2 boys towards me. “Dan, this is Chris and this is PJ.”

“Hi, Dan, Your Highness, Prince? I’m sorry, I don’t know what to call you, but I’m Chris, Phil’s best friend,” one of them said, extending a hand enthusiastically. I took it and shook his hand, grinning.

“Good evening, Your Highness, I’m PJ. I’m er… Phil’s friend,” the curly haired one said, shaking my hand, his head bowed down a little.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, guys. Phil told me about you two before. I heard that you do YouTube as well!”

“Yeah, we do. I try to be funny on the internet and PJ here vomits rainbows and anything really fucked up, but in a cool way, all over it,” Chris responded, putting his arm around PJ, shaking him while the other looked annoyed.

“My short films aren’t fucked up, okay!” PJ retorted.

“Dude, you literally made a film that had gay and married newspapers that talked in it.”

“Okay, but that was—“

“Shut up, your films are fucked up but it’s a good kind of fucked up so just shush,” Chris responded, teasing PJ with a sly grin.

Most of the night went on like that. The four of us talked about the most random topics, and some banter ensued here and there. Little by little, Chris and PJ got over their initial impression, which was me being apparently intimidating. They admitted that they felt really awkward at first because of the fact that I am the Prince of England, but they said they got over it when they realized I was just about as normal as they are. And when I say normal, I meant fucked up and uncool.

PJ interested me a lot because he was a filmmaker. We mostly talked about his video making process which sounded like a lot of work but nevertheless, amazing. His creative process when thinking about possible films was a rollercoaster ride to listen to. I realized that he sees the world differently than most people and I envied his outlook so bad. It made me realize my filmmaking dreams even more.

Holy shit, I actually made friends.

“Dan, can we talk in private?” I heard Phil say while PJ and Chris were arguing about the existence of aliens.

“Yeah, I guess. Let’s go to the lawn?” I suggested, feeling kind of nervous. He agreed and we excused ourselves from Chris and PJ, who just shrugged us off, going back to their debate immediately.

When we got to the lawn, Phil and I walked towards one of the large trees at his suggestion. It was dark, the only light coming from the moon. It was also deserted as the guests weren’t allowed outside the hall where the party is held. We stopped underneath a mulberry tree.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” I asked, the darkness and the trees starting to creep me out. Phil’s silence didn’t help, too. “Bit of an odd place to talk, if you ask—“

I didn’t even get two seconds to think.

Without warning, my back was pushed against the tree and Phil’s lips were on mine. I froze for a split second, overwhelmed by his actions that took me completely off guard. Luckily, my mind didn’t take long processing recent events, and soon, I melted into Phil’s touch, and I started kissing back. Our mouths moved together, first harder and more passionate, the few weeks we didn’t see each other in real life taking their toll. I missed having Phil in my arms, and I didn’t think twice to show him how I felt. Eventually, the kiss slowed into a much softer and sweeter one until we were just a ghost’s breath away, foreheads touching, looking at each other eye to eye.

“Erm,” Phil said, breaking the silence. “Sorry.”

I removed my hand from where it was resting on Phil’s back and touched his cheek. I wasn’t surprised to find out that it was really warm. He was blushing, and I can’t help but giggle.

“Ugh, fuck it,” I hear Phil say, before he went in for a kiss once again. When I felt his teeth tug at my lower lip, I couldn’t help but let out a groan; a guttural sound that I would be very embarrassed about if I was in a different situation and not making out with my boyfriend. I guess something about it set off something in Phil as he pulled me even closer, his hands tangling in my hair, and I responded by rolling my hips against him once, unable to control myself. Whoops.

We were interrupted by the ringing of a phone, the startling sound pulling us back to the Earth. I laughed.

“That’s so cliché. We got interrupted by a phone call. What’s this? A fanfictio—“

“Shh! It’s PJ!” Phil said, looking at his phone’s screen before answering the call. “Erm, hello?”

I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but Phil nodded a lot. When the call ended, Phil pocketed his phone, and took my hand, pulling me fast to the direction of the palace.

“Phil, what did PJ say?” I asked, combing my hair with my fingers. I was pretty sure it looked like I just made out with someone intensely, but I wasn’t really planning on announcing it to the world, so I had to fix it.

“He said that the Queen called for us in the crowd and received no response, so we should come back immediately,” Phil started to walk faster, then he started running, pulling me with him.

“Oh” was all I managed to say. Shit.

When we got back inside, we stopped outside the double doors of the hall of the party, catching our breath. I fixed Phil’s hair which was already sticking out in various directions, then his tie which I apparently managed to loosen in the heat of the moment. When we looked decent enough, we entered the hall, hand in hamd. My stomach turned when I realized that almost all eyes were already on us, looking as if they were waiting for us to come back.

“There they are!” I hear my mum say, her voice echoing through the room. I spotted her standing before her podium at the end of the hall before a bright light blinded me. A spotlight.

Phil and I froze, both taken aback by the huge amount of attention we were getting. What the fuck, mum?

“Daniel, Philip, come join me here.”

“Dan, what’s going on?” I hear Phil say, almost whimpering.

“I have no idea, Phil. I’m sure it’s nothing big. Let’s just go with it. Don’t let go of my hand,” I responded honestly, squeezing Phil’s hand gently.

We finally reached the other end of the hall with the podium after what felt like the biggest walk of shame of our lives. We were met by my mum, my dad close behind her. She didn’t waste any time, making us face the crowd as soon as she came in contact.

“Smile, lads,” I heard her whisper between me and Phil, before she walked back to the podium.

“Now that they’re here, we can finally make the announcement!” she exclaimed excitedly, giggling a little. My stomach turned, and I held onto Phil’s hand even tighter.

“The Buckingham Palace proudly announces the engagement of my dear son, your prince, Prince Daniel of England, to Philip Lester, grandson of Peter Lester, the late king’s hand to my late father, King Gerard!” A butler hurried beside her, holding out a tray with two glasses of wine, my mum taking both, handing the other to my dad. “A toast!”

People raised their glasses and their joint responses echoed through the room, the noise clouding my head. I let Phil’s hand go.

We didn’t talk about this.

I wasn’t ready for this.

“Dan!” I hear someone shout behind me, the sound faint.

It was already too late. I didn’t dare look back, fearing that my feet would betray me if I did.

I couldn’t stop running away.

*Dan’s POV*

My heart felt like it was thumping out of my chest and my legs felt like they were about to give out.

“Daniel, wait!”

“Your Highness!”

I was moving so fast for what I’m usually capable of, feeling as if I was dragging myself forward, ignoring the calls for attention I could hear from behind me. I bumped into a lot of people, all of them seemingly startled as too why they would come across me running in the hallways and probably knowing that I should be back at the party, but I ignored their strange looks, moving on without apologies. My mind was all but a buzz. And my body was shaking. I couldn’t think straight. Probably because I’m bi, but still, that’s not the point.

I needed to let everything out. I was so full of everything, and I was way beyond the point of being okay.

I finally reached my bedroom, locking the door behind me frantically, my shaky hands making what’s supposed to be a simple task hard, turning it into a great difficulty.

That’s when I broke down crying.

I didn’t even bother to move away from the door. I just sat there and cried for who knows how long, painful sobs escaping my chest.

I wasn’t ready. What was she thinking? I wasn’t ready.

“Dan?! Honey, I know you’re in there, please open up!” I heard someone speak in a tone full of panic and desperation, accompanied with several knocks on my door. “Dan, please. It’s Mum, please let me in. Please talk to me.”

After debating with myself for a few moments, I stood up and pulled the door open, anger filling me upon seeing her. “What were you thinking, Mum?!” I yelled at her, a sob escaping my lips towards the end.

“Oh, Dan…” she whispered, taking a step towards me with her arms open. I took a step back from her, shaking my head in disbelief.

“No! Don’t touch me. You didn’t think about me, Mum. You didn’t even consider how I would feel. Why? Would it hurt you if you consulted us before you decided to do whatever the hell you wanted?” She took a step towards me again and she was starting to cry, and it broke my heart to see her like that but I just can’t bear to go near her so I took another step back, holding my hand in front of me to tell her to stop in her tracks, shaking my head. “No, no. Don’t touch me.”

“But, Daniel, I-I just thought that you’d be fine with it because you and Philip—“

I forgot about Phil. I didn’t think about Phil. I didn’t think about my Phil.

“Mum, where’s Phil?” I asked, starting to panic. Why did I leave him? Why did I not take him with me? He must feel so… I don’t even want to think about it.

“I-I don’t know. I went for you as soon as I… I apologized to the people for what was happening, and I don’t know if—“

“I’m gonna go, Mum. I-I’m… I’m just… I’m just upset at you right now, okay? But we’ll talk about this later. I-I have to go find Phil,” I declared, my voice breaking.

“O-Okay. We c-can talk about this tomorrow. I’m really sorry, Daniel. I love you so much and Mum is really sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to upset you. I-I hope you know that.”

“I know, Mum. B-But we’ll talk about this tomorrow. I have to go find, Phil. Oh my god, what was I thinking, leaving him there. Oh god,” I started rambling, pacing back and forth, nearly hyperventilating. Phil.

“Go.”

I left my mum there and immediately ran back downstairs, not even bothering to see if I looked okay, hoping that in the period of time that I was gone, everybody had left. I peered in the double doors to the hall of the party, and was relieved to find that everyone had left… Except for two people.

“Chris! PJ!”

They both turned around and walked towards me, Chris looking like he was flooded by relief when he saw my face.

“Dan, you have to go now. Phil… Phil ran away as well when you… When you left him there,” PJ said, his voice low.

“We tried to go after him, mate. But… But we kinda froze in place for a moment before we actually realized what was happening. It… It was a mess. Everyone was asked to leave. Phil’s family is somewhere in the palace, I guess… We saw them getting called aside when everyone else were leaving. And Phil… He was already gone when we got to the gates, and we didn’t know what to do so we went back and begged a guard to let us back in so that we can tell you. I’m so sorry,” Chris apologized.

“I-It’s okay,” I managed to mumble out, my lower lip quivering. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again. “Where… Where do you reckon he went then?”

“We think he went home, Dan. He isn’t answering his phone, and I know for a fact that he’s not stupid enough to go somewhere else late in the night, especially dressed like that. We didn’t go to his flat because I know we won’t be able to do anything. And I know the only one he needs to see right now is you, Dan.”

“I know. Oh my god, I fucked up so bad. I’ll… I’ll go now, alright? I have to see him right away. I need to make sure h-he’s okay,” I rambled, my voice breaking.

Chris immediately went by my side and patted me on the back. “Aye now, don’t be like this right now. Take a deep breath and focus on what you have to do, alright? We’ll find our way out. You go do your thing.”

I nodded frantically, a tear escaping even though I was trying so hard not to cry. Chris and PJ wished me luck and I turned for the double doors again.

“Hey Dan! I have a question!” I hear one of them say behind me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around. It was PJ.

“Just tell us one thing before you go. You’re going to Phil to sort things for the better, yeah?” he asked. I nodded in agreement. They both smiled.

“Go get him.”

Soon enough, I was in one of the palace cars, Matt driving as fast as the speed limit would allow as I sat in the back. I realized right then and there how much I owed Matt. He never failed to be there for me when I needed him, and I really appreciated that. He’s the older brother I never got.

“We’re here, sir,” I heard Matt say, the car skidding to a stop. I looked out the window, and there was Phil’s building. Matt started to get out of his seat, but I stopped him.

“No, no need. Thank you, Matt. Don’t wait up for me, yeah?” I said, poising at the already opened car door.

“Yes, sir,” he agreed. I got out of the car and was about to close the door when suddenly, Matt spoke up again. “Uhm, sir?”

“Yeah?”

“Good luck. You’ll be fine, Dan—Sir. You’ll be fine.”

The lift ride up to Phil’s flat was nerve-wracking. I felt like it wasn’t moving fast enough, and the lift walls felt like they were closing in on me. I leaned on one side of it, feeling like I was being judged by a thousand pairs of eyes even though I was alone. I only encountered one person on the lobby, the man behind the desk, but I managed to sneak up around him so he didn’t notice me. I was surprised that nobody from the press was able to follow Phil home.

Is Phil home?

My heart skipped a beat.

Oh god, I hope he’s home.

The lift finally stopped moving and the doors slid open. I was met with an empty hallway, which gave me a bit of relief, and I immediately ran to Phil’s door. I stopped about 2 steps in front of it, my breathing ragged. I was so scared to knock, and I felt so weak, shaking so hard that I can’t even curl my fingers and properly ball my hands into fists.

If you’ll never try, you’ll never know.

I took a deep breath and did all I can to bring myself to knock on Phil’s door.

Get him back, Dan. Get him back.

“P-Phil? Are you in there?” I knocked again and pressed an ear against the door. Movement. I let out a sigh of relief, knocking once more. “Phil? Phil, p-please? I have to talk to you.”

There was still no answer, and a lump started to form in my throat, my lower lip starting to quiver. “Phil, please?” I said, failing to stifle a sob. “Phil, please? Talk to me. I can explain. Phil?”

Before I even realized it, warm tears started to trickle down my cheeks, and I tried so hard to stop them from falling. But the more that I knocked, the more I called for Phil to no avail, the heavier my chest felt. But I kept on knocking. I kept on knocking.

The door slowly opened, just a crack.

“Phil.” I managed to say, wiping my eyes with my sleeve. “Phil, can I come in?”

“What do you want, Dan?” he said, sounding quite harsh, his eyes staring at me so coldly I almost felt a chill in the back of my neck as I stared back.

“I-I… I want to talk to you.”

“We have nothing to talk about Dan!” he snapped, his voice breaking. “You made it pretty clear back there, you know? I understand. We’re done. This? This is over. Go home.”

Phil tried to slam the door on my face, but I managed to stop it before it closed. “Phil, just listen to me, please,” I begged, starting to cry again. Phil kept trying to close the door, but I tried my hardest not to let him do that. With a sudden surge of strength, I managed to push the door and squeeze into the doorway and I was finally in the flat, Phil stumbling a little, pushing the door shut beside me with one loud thud.

“Dan!” he yelled, tugging on my sleeve as he opened the door again. “Get out! I don’t want you here!” I resisted the pulls, forcing my eyes shut to take a deep breath. My mind was still a mess, and nothing was making sense in my head. So I let my heart speak for me instead.

“PHIL, LISTEN TO ME!” I grabbed Phil by the shoulders and pulled him just enough for him to face me eye to eye. He dropped his hands from my sleeves with the sudden movement, a startled look on his face.

“Phil, what I did was a mistake. And it had nothing to do with you. I got scared, and that was all me. It was just me getting overwhelmed. It was just me cowering, running away because I wasn’t ready. I swear to god, Phil. It had nothing to do with you.”

“But why did you leave me behind, Dan, huh? Do… Do you realize how hard that was for me?” A single tear escaped Phil’s eye and he gulped, biting on his lower lip in an attempt to stop it from quivering.

“Do you realize how hard it was to be left there without anyone supporting me? I was so hurt, Dan! I had no one and I started panicking because everyone was looking at me in shock, and I thought about running after you, but I realized that maybe, it wouldn’t be a good idea. Because I already started believing that you didn’t want me anymore because maybe there’s something wrong with me.”

Phil’s words were barely over a whisper, but I understood everything he said. I hurt him. And despite me leaving him behind, he still considered going after me. But he didn’t, because I made him think that I didn’t want him anymore. But he was so, so wrong. It’s all my fault, but somehow he thought that it was his fault. He thinks that something is wrong with him and it’s all because of me. He didn’t deserve it.

I pulled him into a hug.

He didn’t fight it, so I held him tight, and he started to let himself go, crying on my neck, his arms around me.

“I’m in love with you, Phil.”

It felt great to finally say it out loud, after repressing it for so long because I was still unsure, but in that moment, I couldn’t be any more certain about the way I feel about Phil, and it felt like a huge burden was lifted off my chest.

I felt Phil freeze in my arms when I said the words, and soon enough, he’s looking at me with evident confusion in his eyes.

“W-What?”

“I said I’m in love with you, Ph—“ My words were cut short by Phil’s lips hard on mine, kissing almost hungrily, his hands holding my face in place as I was pushed against the wall. My eyelids fluttered shut when I finally started reacting to the kiss, pulling Phil even closer to me, kissing back with the same passion.

“I…” he started saying as we kissed. “…I love you,” he murmured against my jaw, the feel of his lips against it making it hard for me to breathe. “I love you so much, Dan.”

We stared at each other for a moment, both of us out of breath. Looking at Phil right then and there made me feel like I was on fire; his stare was almost electric, the way his hair was sticking out in different directions not helping with the situation. I was already starting to feel hot and flustered, and my mind was going places I never actually considered seriously before.

Phil leaned in again for another kiss that I met eagerly, our lips moving together slowly at first. I pulled Phil closer to me again, my skin feeling some sort of static in the parts where we aren’t touching. Soon enough I felt Phil lick the bottom of my lip, and getting the drift, I granted him entrance immediately, our kissing going from a deliberate pace to recklessly making out with each other while pressed against the wall.

Our hands travelled across each other’s bodies in the heat of the moment, and I found myself lifting Phil’s shirt slightly from the back, my fingers tracing along his spine giving him shivers as he started nibbling on my jaw lightly.

“Phil…” I moaned out, getting lost in the moment and shivering a little as he started kissing my neck, and his hands cupped my bum all of a sudden, making me let out a little squeal of surprise. I’ve never felt so good in my life, and I was glad that Phil was the first one to show me what I was missing out on. “Shit, oh my god, there,” I tilted my head to the side, giving him more access as his mouth went further down.

“Dan… I-I need you to take this off so we can do this better, yeah?” he murmured, tugging at the collar of my shirt. I nodded and started fumbling with the buttons but Phil ended up taking all of the responsibility, his lips crashing into mine hungrily as he swiftly unbuttoned my shirt for me as my hands found his hair. He finished the task in a few seconds, removing my shirt along with my blazer and discarding them onto the floor. Phil wasted no time to work on my now bare torso, pinning my hands to the wall as he sucked on my collarbones.

“Phil… You’re being unfair,” I groaned, my breath hitching before I let out a chuckle. “Do you really think I would let you to do this to me while you still have your fucking shirt on?”

Phil lifted his head to look at me, smirking with an eyebrow raised, as if asking if I was serious. I merely nodded, biting my lip. He rolled his eyes quickly with a sigh and then in one swift movement, he put his hands on both sides of my head, his breath ghosting over my face.

“Remove them for me, then,” he whispered huskily, before starting to kiss me again, almost knocking the breath out of me with the suddenness of the action. It took me a second to process but surprisingly I was still alert enough to know my priorities, and priority number 1 in that moment was to take Phil’s clothes off.

“Done,” I muttered, and I felt him smile against my lips. “My turn.”

Without warning, I cupped Phil’s cheeks and removed myself from being pressed against the wall, pushing him forward as I kissed him. He didn’t fight it to my surprise, and instead, he settled on wrapping his arms around my torso, his palms rubbing the small of my back. Feeling brave, I started to walk forward, never breaking apart from the kiss, and stumbling only twice, I managed to take Phil to his couch, straddling him right away as soon as he was sat.

I removed my lips from his and started to nibble on his jaw, going lower and lower until I was kissing his neck, sucking on the skin persistently, making Phil moan. I had no prior experience with leaving hickeys, but I sure hoped to leave one on Phil. Or five.

“Jesus Christ, Dan, you’re kinda good at this,” he said breathily, chuckling.

“Hmm-mm,” I responded, going further down and biting on his collarbones, my hands against his chest. I felt his hands slide further down my back, his fingers looming just a little over the waistband of my trousers. The feel of his fingertips against my skin gave me shivers down my spine and mindlessly, I rolled my hips against Phil’s with a moan, and I felt him freeze under me. Awkward.

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” I apologized, removing my hands from his chest and flailing frantically, my face heating up. “I just got carried awa—“

“Do you want to…?” he asked, looking at me shyly. “I mean…”

Before I could even let myself start overthinking, I looked away and shut my eyes tight in embarrassment, nodding. I heard Phil laugh as he pulled me closer to him with me still refusing to look at him in shame. I felt his breath ghost over my ear and I shut my eyes even tighter, getting immensely turned on. And with a low and breathy voice, he spoke, “Okay.”

With a grunt, Phil lifted me and laid me down with my back on the couch. He wasted no time to bury his lips on my neck, kissing and sucking in between breaths. I couldn’t help but throw my head back with the contact, my hips jerking upward involuntarily and failing to suppress the moans that were bubbling in my throat because of the pleasure. Shit, this probably explains my hate for having my neck touched, I thought. He pushed my hips back against the couch, and rolled his own against mine once, and I felt my stomach clench and I felt my zip tighten and oh god, I was already getting hard.

For a moment, Phil stopped what he was doing and sat back up while looking down at me, smiling, his hair sticking to his forehead because of the sweat. And with a wink, he started to undo my belt, then the button of my trousers, and he got off of me to pull them all the way down for me, removing my shoes as well. He immediately worked on his own trousers, taking them off and leaving them on the floor with his shoes before straddling me again. He started chuckling.

“I honestly have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m going to do it anyway,” he declared, his eyes crinkling as he grinned. “Are you still okay, babe?”

I rolled my eyes, propping myself on my elbows. “Well, aside from the fact that I already have a hard on, I think I’m still okay,” I responded sassily. Upon realizing what I just said, my face burned and I wanted the ground to swallow me whole. But it apparently lit something inside of Phil, and the next thing I knew, I was properly sitting on the couch while Phil grinded on top of me as he kissed me hard, his tongue exploring the inside of my mouth.

“Phil, oh, oh, Jesus on a boat, wait a minute,” I managed to say when we broke apart, breathing heavily as Phil immediately shifted to work on my neck. “Phil… Phil, I will feel r-really bad and embarrassed if… If I come this way. I’m getting close worryingly fast and we still have… We still have our pants on,” I admitted, blushing. I figured I wasn’t going to get what I wanted if I didn’t throw my shame out the window. After all, we were already basically er… Fucking with our clothes on. Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Mum.

Phil smirked at me, but I could see that his cheeks were tinted pink as well. “Oh, so you want to go all the way there?” he asked, chuckling.

“Yes, okay! Now fucking… Let’s just fucking do it okay, fuck,” I complained, brows furrowing, sweating nervously. “You’re the worst.”

“Oh yeah?” Phil teased, eyebrows raised while smirking. God, he was being so smug. And that’s when an idea hit me. With courage, I slipped my hands into his boxers and squeezed his bum. Phil jumped a little, red in the face, all signs of amusement wiped away from his face. I raised an eyebrow.

Phil took a sharp breath before getting off of me, then he took his pants off, then mine, and with no hesitation, he sat on the couch and pulled me on his lap, grabbing my cock, stroking it once while he looked me straight in the eye with a smirk, making me grit my teeth, my breath catching in my throat, my stomach clenching. “Your move, Howell.”

“Phil, this is not the fucking sex Olympics,” I complained. In response, Phil rolled his hips once, and my breath hitched in surprise, the sudden friction catching me off guard. He laughed out loud, and I hit him in the arm. “Phil Lester!”

“I’m sorry! I couldn’t resist. Oh my god, your face,” Phil laughed again, his tongue poking out. I glared at him, my cheeks heating up. “Hey, I’m only joking. You’re so cute looking like this,” he paused, eyeing me up and down. “And hot.” I snorted, rolling my eyes.

“Okay, so I’m just going to say it outright now because I’m getting painfully hard and don’t shit me, your dick is literally poking me in the stomach right now so I really have no time for dropping hints anymore, so I’m just gonna forget that shame exists for a moment and tell you that I want you inside m—Stop smirking!” I hit Phil in the arm again, and he bit his lip, sniggering.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he apologized, chuckling. “But, we’ll do this slowly, yeah?” he continued in a more serious tone, sounding sincere. I smirked and nodded, and my stomach did a flip as I stared at Phil in awe, realizing how beautiful he is again. I shook my head to shrug the thoughts off, remembering that it wasn’t the time for being sappy and that I was sat on Phil’s dick.

“Yeah, but before we actually er… start, Phil, I think I need your l—“

“Dan, I know you need my love. I love you, too,” Phil cut me off, wrapping his arms around me, pecking me lightly in the nose.

“I was going to say that I need your lube, because if you haven’t noticed yet, fyi, I don’t have a vagina. But hey, that works, too,” I teased, laughing. Phil grimaced at me, red in the face.

“You’re the worst person in the world,” he complained.

I smiled and cupped his cheek, kissing him full on the mouth. “Hey, I’m kidding. I love you so much, Phil, okay? I love you so much,” I cooed, rubbing my thumb on his warm cheek. I scooted in closer and brought my lips to his ear, then continued, whispering as low as I could manage. “But you’re so hot right now and I’m getting impatient and I really want you inside me so you better get some lube.”

With that, Phil basically lifted me off him and ran to who knows where, and came back running just a few moments later holding a little tube, and what I assumed was a condom.

“Lie down,” he growled, and I obliged, propping my elbows so I could still see him, extremely turned on with the tone Phil was using on me. Phil opened the tube and put some lube on his hand, rubbing his palms together. “Do you… Do you want me to stroke you first or…?” he asked, biting his lower lip.

“No, no. But… Stretch me first, I guess? I haven’t really done this before…” I admitted. Phil nodded and leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead.

“Okay, we’ll do this slowly. Tell me if you’re uncomfortable, okay? And I will stop,” Phil said, his face full of worry. I smiled reassuringly, nodding.

Phil started circling my rim with his thumb, and it took everything in me not to scream out right then and there. Very slowly, Phil started to insert a finger in me, and I cried out in pain with the intrusion, but asked him to go on and continue, the pain slowly turning into pleasure with every thrust. Phil then inserted another finger, this time with more ease, thrusting and scissoring until I felt no more pain, only pleasure.

“P-Phil… You can… You can start now,” I said, looking up at him. He smiled and nodded in understanding, before putting on a condom, lubing himself up and lining himself in front of my entrance.

“You ready, babe?” he asked one time. I nodded. And with one thrust, Phil was inside me and I threw my head back with the pleasure of being all filled up, whimpering. Phil propped his arms on both sides of my head. “You alright?” he asked, breathing heavily. I nodded, giggling a little, feeling a bit out of breath already with the excitement. “I’m going to start moving now, okay?” I muttered out a yes.

Phil started thrusting into me, soft grunts and moans slipping from our mouths, lost in the pleasure. Phil planted soft kisses on my mouth, cheeks, neck, and my chest every chance he got as I held onto his hair a little too hard, the feeling overwhelming me whenever he hit the spot.

“There, Phil, yes! There, there, fuck,” I screamed out when he started to move a bit faster, hitting the right spot over and over again. I started to pant and so did Phil, and it felt like I was losing myself as I came closer and closer to my high, Phil and I sloppily making out, making it even harder for me to breathe.

“Dan, I’m getting close,” Phil said, his thrusts even faster, deeper. I writhed under him, moaning in pleasure loudly, but still not getting there.

“Phil, please. Babe. Touch me, please,” I begged. Phil nodded and grabbed my cock, stroking it in time with his thrusts that hit my prostate every time, and with a string of curses, I came on my stomach in white-hot pleasure, my body feeling numb and light as Phil continued to thrust into me, his movements more desperate. Within a few seconds I felt myself fill up as Phil came inside me, grunting and panting as he rode his orgasm out.

Phil pulled out of me and kissed me on the forehead then rolling off the condom we used, tying it up. He walked out of the lounge and came back with a box of tissues and a bin, helping me clean up my stomach. When we were done, he pecked me on the lips, looking at me with a tired smile as he picked out my hair that was already sticking on my face because of the sweat.

“That was amazing, Dan. I love you so much. Thank you for trusting me.”

“I love you so much, too, Phil. And thank you for trusting me as well,” I smiled, but I felt a bit sad, remembering the party. “I’m still really sorry for what I did earlier. I regret it so much. But I’m not scared of anything anymore, you know? I’m even quite excited. I’m actually quite excited to marry you now.” I said, poking his cheek before planting a kiss on it. “Even though you still kinda looked like Voldemort when we were fucking,” I teased, laughing. Phil scowled.

“You still aren’t dropping that?! Well, excuse me, Edward Cullen, you weren’t complaining when my basilisk finally went inside your Chamber of Secrets.”

“Ehh… Touche,” I said, chuckling. “And shut up with the basilisk thing, you already used that joke before.”

“True, but it was necessary,” Phil laughed, getting off the couch to pick up our boxers. He threw mine at me then started to put on his. I put on mine immediately, suddenly realizing how cold it was, rubbing my arms. My dick was literally freezing and I didn’t notice. Nice.

I lost my virginity to a very cute boy, I realized.

10/10, will fuck again. 10/10, would make out with every day. 10/10, would cuddle when the chance comes up. 11/10, would definitely marry.

*Phil’s POV*

Dan and I cuddled in my bed after we took a shower together after we… Did it. If you didn’t see it just now, I winked. There, I winked again.

I had an arm wrapped around him as he cuddled into me, his head resting in the crook of my neck as I drew shapes on his back lightly, giving him back rubs every now and then. His hair was already starting to dry, and I couldn’t help but smile seeing it curl slightly.

“Phil?” Dan suddenly spoke, looking up at me.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you have condom and lube in your flat?” Dan asked with a smirk, his dimple popping out. My face heated up immediately, the embarrassing answer to his question flooding my mind. Oh my god. “Earth to Phil?” I heard Dan say, and I was pulled back from my thoughts, biting my lip nervously.

“Er… I kinda stole them,” I answered, the shame coming back to me all over again.

“Why did you steal them? Were you expecting something like this to happen?” Dan asked innocently, a smug expression on his face.

“Dan!” He raised an eyebrow, waiting. “Okay, yes. I’m a horny teenager, okay. Don’t blame me. Also, I dropped hints before and you seemed to do it, too, so I just kinda assumed.” Dan chuckled, burying his face on my neck.

“Smart move. It would’ve been really awkward if we had to go to a store in the middle of it. Just imagine the horror, oh god,” Dan said, cringing a little. “But smh, Phil. I can’t believe I’m dating a thief,” he continued with a smirk, shaking his head.

“I couldn’t sleep properly when I did it, okay! Even when I actually bought a candy bar off the counter with a tenner and ran away with the things before I got my change to try and clear my conscience.”

“You did what?” Dan asked in surprise, full on laughing.

“Shut up, let’s not talk about this. Go sleep, Howell.”

“Oh my god, Phil, I can’t believe you left your change just to—“

“Bring this up again and I’m never going to have sex with you again.” Dan shut up.

We slept tangled up in each other that night. We agreed to deal with any problems in the morning, and just make the best out of the moment. It was a peaceful sleep, and I felt really happy to have Dan in my arms. And I felt even happier when I realized that I’ll get to have him in my arms multiple times in the future, too.

He told me he loved me that night.

And I told him that I loved him, too.

I was honestly so scared and hurt when he left me alone in front of everyone, in front of my family and friends, during the party. I was angry even, because I felt really betrayed by him, but mostly by my feelings because I realized when he left, that I was already in love with him, and it would be hard to not have him in my life when he already started to become a big part of it.

When he came knocking at my door, it took all of me not to open up for him. I kept muttering to myself, “Don’t open up, don’t up. He left you, he left you.” But I’m glad I forgot my pride and faced him. I’m glad I got to hear him out for what he had to say. And I forgave him because I trusted him a lot. I forgave him because I loved him a lot and I realized that I wanted him to be with me for the rest of my life.

I’m so glad I’m marrying Dan.

I’m so glad I’m getting married to someone I properly fell in love with.

*Dan’s POV*

I would be lying if I said I didn’t like the way Phil was acting when Matt picked us up to go back to the palace the next morning.

As soon as we got out of the door, he immediately curled his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to his side. I looked up to him and raised an eyebrow questioningly, asking for some kind of explanation for the way he was acting, but he just stared at me with the most innocent eyes, kissing me on the forehead once before looking straight ahead again as if nothing is out of place. The cheeky little shit. What a huge dork.

Matt paid no attention to the way Phil was holding me, opening the car door for us, Phil and me quickly climbing in to avoid getting attention from passersby.

To my surprise, the car’s visor was up as we drove, and I couldn’t see Matt, and he probably couldn’t see us as well. Well, Matt did pay attention, I guess. For the longest time, we drove in silence, Phil looking out the window as I looked at him quietly. And then, I thought of an idea that I just couldn’t drop.

“Phil,” I whispered, leaning into Phil’s ear, his arm still curled around my waist. “Phil, stay quiet, okay?”

“Hmm?” he asked, staring at me in confusion. I smirked.

With one move, I cupped Phil’s cheek, pulling him in for a kiss. I wasted no time, deepening the kiss immediately, earning a huff from a very surprised Phil. Ha.

“Da-an,” Phil managed to moan out when I started kissing his jaw. My eyes widened at the loud sound, and I covered his mouth with my hand immediately.

“Phil! Don’t make a sound! Matt might hear!” I hissed, annoyed. Phil nodded in response.

Without removing my hand from his mouth, I started kissing his neck, grabbing his crotch at the same time and giggling a little when I felt Phil freeze under my touch, his breath hitching. I started palming him through his jeans, and I felt him grow hard, making him squirm, his hands travelling to my back frantically.

“I’m so sorry, Phil,” I murmured against his ear before I started kissing his jaw again, unzipping his jeans and slipping my hand in, his boxers the only thing in the way. “You’re fine, right?” I whispered against his ear teasingly, Phil nodding frantically. I was quite amused at how Phil was handling everything I was doing, which wasn’t really well judging by the way his nails were practically digging on my back. I started palming him through his boxers this time, quite slowly because his jeans were still buttoned and just unzipped. I removed my hand from Phil’s mouth and tried to work on unbuttoning his jeans, kissing his jaw in the process.

And that’s when Phil groaned so loud, making me jump a little in surprise, one of my hands immediately travelling back to his mouth, clasping it shut, the other going against my chest, my heart beating really fast. We stared at each other with wide eyes, both of us looking startled.

The closed visor started going down slowly, opening.

“Phil!” I hissed softly, realizing that Phil’s jeans are still unzipped, and his bulge is very, very, very prominent. I thought quick, panicking. And then the stupidest idea hit me.

I pushed and nudged Phil to move towards the side of the door, slumping my head sideways on his crotch, praying to some deity that could possible protect two horny teenagers attempting to fuck in the backseat of a car, grabbing Phil’s hand and putting it on the top of my hair. And then I closed my eyes, pretending to comfortably sleep in the most uncomfortable position.

“Are you okay back there?” I heard Matt say, trying my best to breathe as normally as possible, which was really difficult because Phil’s hard dick is basically poking me in the cheek, and I’m using it as a pillow. Hooray.

“Yeah,” I heard Phil respond, chuckling as he stroked my hair gently. “I think Dan’s having a bad dream. He didn’t sleep well last night because we watched The Blair Witch Project before going to bed,” he lied confidently. Phil didn’t even fucking stutter. He’s so talented. Truly amazing. Nice.

“Oh, okay,” I hear Matt say, laughing a little. “Better wake him up, I guess. We’re nearly there. About 15 minutes.” I heard the visor close shut, and I opened my eyes immediately, sitting up again. I glared at Phil, and he snorted, chuckling.

“You’re laughing now but you won’t be laughing when you realize you have a massive boner and you’re going to be inside the palace in a few minutes,” I hissed, crossing my arms and looking out the window, still annoyed at the rude interruption. Phil fell silent, and I could hear him breathing heavily, obviously strained. I couldn’t help but grin to myself, a bit amused.

“Good fucking luck,” I muttered under my breath.

“Dan! Don’t walk too fast, I can’t keep up!” I heard Phil complain behind me as we walked through a corridor. Apparently his plan to hide his “problem” is to walk behind me as close as he can so that I would block the view. No.

I walked faster, purposely ignoring Phil’s complaints while smiling smugly to myself. I stopped when we reached the front of my bedroom, looking left and right to see if anyone was around, opening the door for Phil when I saw that nobody was looking. Matt told us that Phil and I were supposed to join my parents for lunch at noon, and as it was still 11:30 AM, we had about 30 minutes to prepare.

I shut the door behind me, locking it.

Phil raised both of his eyebrows, his expression soft and innocent, his arms open as if inviting me in for a hug. I rolled my eyes.

“30 minutes. That’s it.”

“So, how are the two of you? Are you okay now?” my mum asked, as I was about to chew my food. I looked at Phil questioningly to make sure, and he nodded at me once, his eyes a bit glassy. We both faced my mum, nodding, saying that we were fine. She sighed, out of relief perhaps, a small smile evident on her lips. “I’m still very sorry about last night.”

I swallowed my food, then drank out of a goblet before speaking. “It’s fine, Mum. We talked it over…” I looked sideways at Phil, and I can see that he was trying hard not to smile as he poked his food with a fork. “And we forgive you. Just… I guess, just don’t do anything that has to do with us without telling us first,” I said seriously, not breaking eye contact with my mum. She nodded once, and then looked at my dad. He was biting his lip, and his forehead was creased, as if worried.

“Daniel… Philip…” my mum started to say, sighing. I tensed, and I saw Phil’s head shoot up, facing my mum abruptly. I let go of my spoon, holding Phil’s hand under the table instead.

“W-What is it?” I dared to ask when she didn’t continue. She looked at my father again and he gave her an encouraging nod. She faced us again.

“We have to announce a wedding date as soon as possible. The rumors already got around, and there are way too many of them to possibly control,” she paused, and I gripped Phil’s hand tighter. “There are a lot of different versions, but most of them are saying that you, Daniel, have a secret relationship with someone else, and we tried proving with whatever we have right now that you aren’t, but you know how the press deals with these things. You know how savage they are. I just… I don’t like hearing them call you names.”

I sighed.

“I understand, Mum… Let me just…” I looked at Phil. He seemed okay, but he was merely staring down at our intertwined hands, rubbing circles on the back of my hand silently. “Let me and Phil talk this out first, okay, yeah?” She nodded, my dad following suit. “When do you need a decision?”

My mum pursed her lips, looking at my dad, her forehead creased. “By dinner,” my dad spoke out. “And Daniel… Please take into consideration that you need to be married before the year ends, okay?” he asked.

After agreeing, I excused myself and Phil from the table, never letting go of his hand as we headed back to my room. As soon as my bedroom door closed behind us, Phil let go of my hand, wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug instead. It took me a moment to process, but I hugged him back eventually, tucking my head on the crook of his neck.

We stood like that for who knows how long, merely hugging, Phil’s breathing the only sound I can hear. It’s as if his presence was the only thing I cared about in that moment. Cliché, I know. But I found so much comfort from the fact that he was there. Sometimes a hug is all you needed. Sometimes a hug is a better choice when you’re trying to make a person feel that they’re okay. Sometimes it’s better than any words of comfort someone else could possibly say. Sometimes a hug is all it takes to know how important you are to someone, and how important that someone is to you. Sometimes a hug is all it takes.

“Dan,” Phil said softly, breaking the silence. I couldn’t see his expression, but I could hear him loud and clear.

“Yeah, Phil?”

“You know I’d marry you right now if you asked me to,” I heard him say, and I felt him snuggle his face against my shoulder. I held onto him tighter. “Or maybe tomorrow. Or the day after that.”

“Phil.”

I heard him chuckle, and I felt him plant a kiss on the top of my hair, sighing. I snuggled onto the crook of his neck even more. “I’m serious, you know? What I’m trying to say is that I’m ready when you are. I’ll go with whatever you decide. If you want to ditch this whole royal wedding thing, that’s cool with me, too. You can run away with me anytime you want.”

I raised my head and stared at Phil in awe. He was grinning like an idiot, his eyes a bit glassy. “Are you really quoting MCR right now?” I asked, smiling at the slightest.

He nodded, narrowing his eyes for a moment, as if contemplating. “Hmm…” he trailed, a hint of a smirk evident on his lips. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. He was silent for a moment, and little by little, I started to feel confused. But then his face lit up and he pecked me lightly on the nose, and then the lips. My eyes widened, and Phil giggled.

“What was that for?” I asked, a laugh bubbling from my chest.

“Nothing, really. I just love you, I guess?”

“You’re so fucking gross, oh my god, make out with me.”

“Sure, princess.”

“Stop.”

*Phil’s POV*

“Have you boys come up with a decision already?” I heard the king ask just when I was reaching for a piece of bread. My whole arm turned into jelly upon hearing the question, and I accidentally dropped the bread back on the table with a thud, my face flushing immediately.

“S-Sorry about that,” I retracted my arm, head bowed down in shame. I felt Dan’s hand curl into mine.

“Yes, dad. Phil and I talked about it earlier,” I hear Dan answer beside me.

“Did you, Phil?” the king asked. I nodded frantically, trying my best to forget the embarrassment, mustering up the best smile I could manage at the moment. The king gave me a small nod, smiling before he turned his gaze back on Dan again.

“Can you give us a date right now?” the king inquired, looking hopeful. Dan nodded before throwing me a sideways glance, smiling and giving my hand a little squeeze of assurance.

“The 28th of December. That’s what we decided,” Dan answered. I saw the queen raise an eyebrow, and I tensed. But the worry went away when she started chuckling, looking at Dan fondly.

“You actually picked the last possible date for this year… Smart. I am impressed with your planning,” she commented, grinning. “Is this your final decision? Phil?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” I answered.

“Alright, then. Will you two be okay with a press conference tomorrow after lunch? It’s better if we do it as soon as possible,” the queen asked, her eyes looking hopeful. I looked at Dan and he stared back at me, eyebrows raised.

“Are you fine with that, Phil? Will you be alright?” Dan asked softly, rubbing comforting circles with his thumb on the back of my hand. I held on tighter.

“Yeah, I think I can manage,” I whispered, nodding with a grin.

“Yeah, we’re fine with that. Tomorrow’s okay,” Dan spoke out.

“Okay. It’s settled, then. I’ll ask people to do the rushed announcements tonight. You two can chill for the mean time. Chill, yolo.”

“Mum.”

“What? That’s what you kids say these days, right?” the queen asked, giggling. The king joined her, and I couldn’t help but laugh, too. Dan responded by doing a facepalm, shaking his head in embarrassment. He was so red and I wanted to pinch his cheeks so bad.

“So, Phil, you’re staying the night, right? But if you want to go home, we can ask someone to drive you back to your flat and pick you up first thing in the morning?” the king asked, after finally containing himself.

“W-Will it be okay if I stayed the night?” I inquired, biting my lip nervously.

“Of course. We’ll fix up a guest room for you,” the king replied, a genuine smile on his face.

After dinner, Dan and I went back up his room and we hung out while I waited for the room I’m supposed to sleep in to be ready. If you still haven’t noticed, hanging out for the two of us usually meant an intense make out session. If you have already figured that out before, then I apologize for being gross.

Someone knocked while I was on top of Dan on his bed, snogging his face off. We both jumped, quickly wiping our swollen lips, fixing our hair and our clothes. Then Dan got off the bed and I sat on it while he opened the door.

“Mr, Lester’s room is ready, Your Highness. I can accompany him to—“ I heard the maid say.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’ll take him there later. Thank you! You can go now.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Dan shut the door and locked it behind me, quickly running back to me and making me topple over to the bed. He started to unbutton the shirt I wore for dinner, kissing my jaw quite harshly.

“You’re so never going to see the guest room. Ever.”

“The Royal Wedding will be on the 28th of December. That is all we can say right now,” the queen said flatly. Cameras flashed.

We were all sat at the same hall where we confirmed the dating rumors. I felt bad for not answering questions and leaving it all to Dan and the queen, but I was still sort of scared of speaking to the media. Dan said to leave the talking to him and just hold his hand the whole time, so that’s what I did.

“Isn’t the prince too young to get married?” a journalist asked. Dan grabbed his mic immediately, speaking for himself.

“Yes. Yes, I am. But I consented to this, and so did Phil,” he answered, smiling. I looked at him fondly, holding onto his hand tighter from under the table.

“Are you two in love?” a woman asked excitedly. Dan chuckled, and my heart melted when he looked at me, smiling that smile I’ve always loved.

“Yep. We are.”

Dan and the queen answered a few more questions before the press conference ended. We stood up, and we let go of each other’s hands because we were told it would be easier to guide us out that way. Matt and the other bodyguards immediately surrounded us, protecting us from the crowd of journalists.

Everything was overwhelming—the flashing lights of the cameras, the too loud voices of people still trying to ask questions, the lack of personal space. It felt like I was suffocating, and it felt like I was alone because Dan’s hand wasn’t in mine. And I was fine, I told myself. It was fine because it would be for a bit. Dan and I would be in our own little space again later, together. I kept telling myself that I was okay, but I couldn’t help but feel nervous because there was a feeling in my gut that I couldn’t quite understand and I couldn’t shake it off no matter how hard I tried to concentrate on other things.

“YOU FUCKING FAGGOTS! THIS IS UNNATURAL! WE CAN’T FUCKING HAVE A FAGGOT RULE OUR COUNTRY!”

The words rang in my ears.

*Phil’s POV*

I couldn’t bring myself to move.

All around me, there were people running, all of them panicking, the loud stomps of their feet as they hurried out of the room accompanied by incessant yelling filling the whole room. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the situation in that moment, and nothing felt real to me. I felt numb and I was frozen in place, and no matter how many times I blinked, what I was staring at just won’t disappear.

There was a body sprawled face down on the floor, unmoving.

I felt like throwing up when I started to realize that blood was starting to spread under it. My stomach lurched and I thought, look away, Phil! Look away! But I couldn’t. Because I couldn’t make out the features of the person. All I could see is that the person was wearing a black suit. Dan was wearing a black suit. And I couldn’t see Dan anywhere.

“Sir! You have to get out!” I heard someone say, and I found myself being pulled towards the door, surrounded immediately by a lot of men in suits, blocking my view of the body—the dead body. I didn’t fight it. My vision was already blurry and my legs needed all the help it could get anyway. So I let myself get dragged.

I was in a room in the palace I’ve never been in before. I don’t know how I got there, but I was sat on a couch, and there were people fussing over me. I felt my lower lip quiver, and I realized how drained I was feeling.

Dread filled my chest. I was numbed by it, and I couldn’t think properly. My mind kept screaming nothing but someone got shot! Someone’s dead! Just those words over and over, and I couldn’t shut it up.

Someone got shot.

Someone’s dead.

And I didn’t get to see who.

I didn’t want to ask anyone about it, even though I easily could. Just one simple question would make me stop thinking about the worst, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. In fact, I didn’t really know if I was ready to hear an answer from anyone, because even though one can possibly calm me down, the other could take a turn for the worst and break me.

My stomach lurched as soon as my mind started to register the possibilities of the whole situation. It could be someone else, I thought in desperation. It could be someone else, stop worrying, I told myself over and over. You’re a bad person for hoping that someone else died. You’re selfish. I thought of it too much that my head started to hurt. But I can’t ignore what’s in the back of my mind. All I could think was please not Dan, please not Dan, please don’t let it be Dan.

Oh my god, I don’t want to lose Dan.

Not right now.

Not when I’ve already fallen in love with him.

Not when I’ve realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

Not ever.

“Phil.”

Upon hearing my name, I froze in place, a chill running down my spine at the sound of the voice. It was his voice.

I stood up, immediately facing the source, and I saw him standing there, looking quite shaken but still smiling at me, and my knees almost gave in to the sudden surge of relief.

“You’re okay,” I managed to say after staring at him in disbelief for who knows how long, clenching my shaky fists at my sides to contain myself. He nodded and walked to my side, giving me his hand. I took it and after excusing ourselves, I let him pull me with him inside one of the doors.

“Your hand’s so cold,” I blurted out when we got into a smaller room, and Dan looked at me, giving my hand a light squeeze, a small smile on his face. He invited me to sit on the lone couch in the room and my heart skipped a beat.

“Where are we exactly?” I asked, trying my best to sound casual despite the fact that my heart felt like it was trying to jump out of my chest. I started to sense a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that made me want to stand up and run away.

“It was Matt, Phil.”

I gave Dan a nod, a sign that I understood what he meant. We didn’t say anything after that, and we didn’t have to. The two of us sat in silence for a moment, a soft sob coming from Dan breaking it eventually. I opened my arms in invitation and he accepted immediately, wrapping his arms around me and burying his face on my chest, crying, not holding anything back. I rubbed Dan’s back in an attempt to soothe him, and he cried and cried, and I shut my eyes every single time a pained sob escaped his mouth.

“He’s the older brother I never had, Phil. And now he’s gone.”

I kissed Dan’s hair, giving him back rubs every now and then, but, that’s all I did. I didn’t say anything to him. I didn’t say I understood how he felt because I didn’t. I never truly experienced loss. I’ve seen it, and I have heard of how it feels, but that didn’t mean I knew how much pain it caused firsthand. I didn’t know how much it hurts. That day, I thought I was about to know how much it destroyed people and I was terrified. I thought I was going to lose Dan. I thought I was going to be forced to face the fact that I wasn’t able to tell him how much I loved him one last time. I thought I was going to wake up the next morning to a world that doesn’t have Dan any longer.

“I was so scared, Phil. I-I didn’t know what to do. When I heard the gunshot, I immediately shut my eyes because I didn’t what… to see, you know? I heard someone say that someone d-died and I forgot how to function. I-I…” Dan paused and I felt him bury himself into my chest even more, holding onto me tighter. I could feel him holding back his sobs, making him tremble. “I thought I lost you forever, Phil.”

“I’m here,” I said, hushing softly, soothingly. “Don’t hold back. Let it all out. I’m here. You’re going to be okay.”

Nobody really knows when the hurting will end. When pain hits you, it doesn’t hold back. It will try to take over you, and sometimes you let it, sometimes you fight back. When you lose something or someone that mattered to you, it will hurt. It will hurt an awful lot. But I know for sure that it will end. It will hurt for a certain time—it could take a week, it could take seven years—nobody knows how long, really. But it’s guaranteed that it has to end at some point. And knowing that fact, I will try my best to be there for Dan in every moment he needs me. I will try to understand what he’s going through as much as I could.

“I love you, Dan. I’m so sorry you’re feeling this way. I love you so much.”

The wedding was postponed to give time for mourning.

It was a misty Sunday morning, and Dan and I are sat side by side on a lone bench in the cemetery. Matt’s burial was just over and I felt emotionally drained, but I knew it wouldn’t compare to how Dan must’ve been feeling.

He didn’t cry that day, but he did hold my hand very tightly all throughout, his nails almost digging into the back of my hand. The hand I held kept on shaking, and I rubbed soothing circles with my thumb on his skin in silent understanding.

We sat quietly for a long time, hand in hand. I stared up at the sky, glancing every now and then at Dan while he kept his gaze straight, looking far away.

I hear him take a deep breath beside me, holding onto my hand tighter. I looked at our entwined hands, then his face, and for the first time in days, I saw Dan smile.

It was one that didn’t reach his eyes. You could tell that he was sad, you could still see it in his eyes, but it was still a smile altogether. He leaned in to kiss me once and I closed my eyes. I didn’t open them, even when he pulled away.

“I feel like I already know what you’re going to say,” I said, eyes still shut.

I heard Dan laugh softly, just for a second, the sound seemingly echoing in my ears. I felt him caress my cheek with the hand I wasn’t holding, and I leaned in to his touch, the feeling of his hand on my cheek making the weird feeling in the pit of my stomach even worse.

“I don’t think I can marry you right now, Phil,” I heard him say, his voice breaking along the way. “Not right now.”

I kept my eyes closed, letting the words sink in. Dan fell silent, and I felt cold, his hand still on my cheek, the feel of his skin against mine giving me shivers. His words were clear enough for me. I knew what he was saying, but that didn’t mean I understood why. I opened my eyes, feeling kind of numb and confused.

Dan was in tears when I looked at him again and it absolutely broke my heart to see him that way. I took the hand holding my cheek into my own, giving it a light squeeze of assurance, and then I went with the most cliché thing to do in that situation, wiping his tears with my thumb, giving his cheek feather-light kisses where his tears dried. After that, I fell silent, not knowing what to say, and so I thought about things, looking up at the sky to clear my mind of all potential feelings that could possibly influence my already messed up train of thought.

“Phil, please say something?”

I shut my eyes, my head still tilted up, facing the sun, absorbing the sunlight. It helped calm my nerves, surprisingly. I took a deep breath once, then finally asked the only question that actually bothered me during the minutes I spent thinking in silence. “You said ‘not right now,’ didn’t you? Wha—what does that mean?”

“It means I would like to get married someday, not right now, but someday,” he answered promptly. Not a second later, I felt him taking my hand into his unexpectedly, making me drop my head and look at my hand that was now entwined with his. I looked at Dan in confusion, and in response, he smiled. “I said, I would like to get married someday. Preferably to you, of course. If… If I’m going to be honest.”

“I just don’t think we should do it right now, Phil, you know? Matt d-dying… It made me realize how young I am… how young we both are. It made me realize how incredibly short one human lifetime is, oh my god. It’s so short! And that really made me think.” Dan took a deep breath, and he scooted sideways closer to me, laying his head on my shoulder before proceeding to speak again.

“I could waffle on and on about the reasons I came up with, but it would probably half both our lifespans if I try to explain them all right now,” Dan continued, chuckling. “But the most important reason I should probably tell you is this: I want the best for you, Phil.”

I held his hand tighter upon hearing his reason, and I was about to speak, but Dan gave me a kiss all of a sudden, my eyes widening when our lips met, leaving me speechless when he went back to laying his head on my shoulder. “Sorry about that,” Dan apologized, giggling. “I knew you were going to say something, but I want you to listen to me first.”

“Okay.”

“I want the best for you, Phil. Right now, we’re both still 18, and we have so many years ahead of us. I love you with all my heart, and I know you do, too. But, we still have a long way to go, you know? Right now, I’m pretty sure I want to be with you for the rest of my life. But that’s not enough, isn’t it? We’re still so, so young. We’re still bound to experience a lot things, alone and together. I’m not going to break up with you, and I have no intentions of doing so anytime soon. But I just can’t get married to you right now, because feelings can change, and people change. At the moment, we could be head over heels for each other—I’m sure as hell that I am, for you. I’m absolute Phil trash—but, I just want to be sure that in 10 years or so, you’d still want to be together, you get me? I don’t doubt my feelings for you or your feelings for me, at all. Because even though you’ve been in my life for merely less than a year, you made me the happiest that I’ve ever been. But I just want us to wait for the mean time. I just want the best for you, for us. And right now, I think the best we could do is wait and see what happens in a few years. God, this is so sappy, and I’m sorry for being gross, but I really love you so fucking much, Phil. I hope you trust me.”

I nudged Dan lightly on the side, chuckling, before removing my hand from his, and curling my arm around his waist instead, pulling him even closer to me. “Did you already forget what I told you before? I think you did.” I giggled, planting a kiss on Dan’s forehead. “I already told you before that I would always be ready when you are. That also means I can wait, you know. You’re worth the wait, Dan.”

“Ew, Phil!” Dan exclaimed, elbowing my side, his expression a mixture of disgust, happiness, and confusion, the sight making me laugh. “Where the hell did you get that? A rom-com?”

“Excuse me, you were the one giving me a dramatic monologue a while ago, I was actually about to hurl because of how sappy you were being but I didn’t say anything,” I joked, laughing. “You can’t talk about being gross when you’re just as bad as me.”

“Eh, touche,” he stared at me for a moment, before rolling his eyes. “I hate you, you’re horrible.”

“Well, then. In that case, I love you, too.”

We still weren’t completely okay, especially Dan. I knew that even when he managed to smile and laugh that day, he was still sad and hurt about losing who he considered his older brother. Healing takes time after all, especially when you lose someone very important to you. But I swore to myself I would always be there for Dan. And I wasn’t breaking that promise anytime soon.

[4 years later]

“Phil?” Dan emerged from the bedroom to the lounge, already suited up, but still drying his hair with a towel. “Good luck today.”

“You, too. I hope I don’t trip onstage,” I answered, chuckling, sitting on the couch while putting on shoes. “I still can’t believe we did it, Dan.”

“What, get a master’s? Shut up, Phil. You’re really smart. I barely even made—“

“No, no. I mean, live together for 4 years without anyone actually finding out that we do? Let alone keep it a secret that we’re still together, even when everyone thought we broke up 4 years ago when we cancelled the wedding,” I explained, grinning at Dan, who was raising an eyebrow in amusement.

“Well, it sure as hell wasn’t easy. We almost got caught multiple times during your live shows. I mean, not really my fault that you have them scheduled for when I watch Formula 1,” Dan shrugged, smiling like an idiot. “You can’t really blame me for not being able to stop myself from yelling in excitement whenever Lewis won.”

“That’s because you’re a big nerd.”

“Uhuh. I can accept that. I admit I’m a big nerd. I’m a big nerd that’s taller than you now.”

“Hey, wait a minute!” I complained. “Not my fault you hit a freaky growth spurt the first year we started living together. You’re a freak, Dan.”

“Sure, Phil. You can call me anything, but that won’t take away the fact that I am already taller than you. And that I can do this.” Dan took four big strides towards me and pulled a startled Phil (me) up from the couch. He immediately kissed the top of my head, then my forehead, then proceeded to align his face in front of mine, our noses touching. What a show off. “See what I mean.”

I exhaled loudly, unimpressed. “Sure thing, Dan. Whatever you say.”

“Okay,” he whispered, breathing into my face. “Wanna make out?”

“No, Dan. We’re already dressed. I spent all night ironing the suits, Dan, come on, be reasonable.”

Dan didn’t like being reasonable.

He planted his lips once on mine, as if teasing, then grinned, eyes squinting at me. I rolled my eyes, but I knew I already lost the argument.

“Fine. But at least remove the jacket, I’m not going to iron that thing again.”

Graduation day wasn’t any different from any other days.

As usual, we had to go to the venue separately, riding different cars, arriving at different times, as to not attract suspicion from other people. Looking back, we thought it’d be hard to secretly date because we studied in the same university, but with different degrees. It was a mutual choice, keeping it a secret, because we knew that it would even be worse if we kept going out publicly because all eyes would be on us, and every little argument could end up being the next day’s biggest headline.

But the thing is, when it was already happening, it turned out to be okay. We saw each other in the mornings when we wake up, snuck around the empty parts of uni during our common breaks, and saw each other after school when we come home anyway. We didn’t feel like we were missing out on each other at all. It even felt more exciting with the secret meetings on campus, our different sets of friends not knowing anything about us at all.

I arrived first, meeting my parents outside the auditorium, before proceeding to take a seat with all the other people whose surnames started with L. About half an hour later, there was a commotion near the entrance, and it was safe to assume that the Royal Family arrived. I didn’t linger on the sight for too long because somebody might notice me looking way too interested for a supposedly bitter ex-boyfriend, looking down at my hands and smiling to myself instead.

The ceremony passed in a blur. When it was Dan’s turn to get his diploma, I tried my best not to clap too loudly, or to not look so interested, and it was very hard. I was so proud of Dan, and I’ve been telling him that since he confirmed that he was going to graduate for his master’s as well, but at that moment, I wanted nothing more than to shout to the world how proud I am of my boyfriend, which is—well, um—very, very proud.

I also managed not to trip on stage when it was my turn, although I slightly stumbled because of a carpet crease, but let’s not talk about that. The most important thing is that I finally received my master’s degree as well, and I’m totally ready for what the real world has in store for me. (I’m not.)

The dean gave his final speech, and then it was done. Our university life was a concluded chapter, and I felt relief flood into me.

I couldn’t believe we got this far, I couldn’t believe it was over. And what made it better is I got to spend the journey with Dan, and I’m thankful.

I’m so glad I got that letter from the palace.

“PHIL!” I heard a girl’s voice say when I finally got outside the venue. Immediately after turning around, I was enclosed in a bone-crushing hug courtesy of my sister. “I’m so proud of you! For once, I’m not ashamed to call you my brother! Congratulations!”

“Ha-ha. Funny,” I hugged her back, then flicked her nose, to which she responded by hitting my arm really, really hard.

“I can’t believe you are both adults,” I heard a woman say behind my sister. It was my mum, my dad shaking his head beside her. They were both smiling at me, and immediately, I walked over and hugged them both.

“Congratulations, son, we’re very proud of you,” my dad said. I thanked him and then kissed my mum on the cheek.

“Thank you so much for everything. Especially for supporting me with this whole thing,” I said sincerely, smiling at both of them. I scooted on closer, whispering. “Also for agreeing and allowing me to live with Dan in secret.”

My mum started giggling. “Of course, son. We love you. And besides, if we didn’t allow you to do that, you’d probably never get with anyone ever again. That Dan is blind, I tell you.”

“Mum!”

“I’m kidding. You’re lovely and handsome and smart and—“

“Okay, stop, stop, okay, I get it, that’s too much,” I complained, laughing.

My dad wolf-whistled all of a sudden, looking directly behind me, and I froze in confusion. “Well,” he started saying, a smirk evident on his face. He nudged my mother lightly, and pointed behind me, and soon enough, she was smirking as well. “Would you look at that.”

I spun around immediately, needing context with regards to what the hell he was talking about. And I felt like the air was punched out of me when I saw what he was talking about.

Dan was making his way towards us, a huge bouquet of flowers in hand, and a wrapped present in the other. I didn’t know what to do, we didn’t talk about anything like that happening. My eyes were wide in overwhelming shock, and my knees shook like there’s no tomorrow. What is he doing?

“Hi,” Dan said when he reached me. I could feel a lot of eyes on us because the place became a lot quieter than it was a minute earlier.

“Um, hi,” I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck while looking down at my feet. I could already feel my face heating up.

“These are for you,” Dan said, handing me the bouquet and the rectangular-shaped gift. I took them from him, muttering a ‘thank you’ because I still didn’t understand what he was up to.

As if I needed another heart attack, Dan offered his hand to me. I stiffened immediately, and I could hear my sister laughing loudly behind me. Feeling a bit courageous, I looked around me, and sure enough, a lot of people were watching us intently, already whispering. I realized I didn’t care and took a deep breath, giving back the present to Dan to free my hand and take his.

“Walk with me?” he asked, smiling. I could feel his hand shaking a little, and finding it adorable, my stomach did the flippy over thing. I am actually 12.

I didn’t know where we could possibly walk in a place that crowded, but somehow we managed to do it. I keep forgetting that Dan is a prince and he could easily order crowd control or something like that.

We took a short walk towards the benches in the university grounds, both of us not speaking—probably because we were both nervous, I could feel it—until we both got there. Dan sat us down in one of the stone benches with tables, and immediately handed me back the gift.

“What are you up to?” I asked, an eyebrow raised. “I guess we’re out again to the public?”

“Uhuh. Yep,” he nodded.

“Finally! I miss our coffee shop and arcade dates so much.”

“Me, too, Phil. I really liked crushing you on DDR publicly,” Dan bragged, sticking his tongue out. I rolled my eyes at him. “Hey, I’m kidding. Well, I’m totally not but anyway—open it?”

“What is this?” I asked curiously, admiring the intricate wrapping.

“How would you know if you won’t open it?”

“Fine, sassy pants. I’m going to open it. There better not be bees in this.”

“I swear there are no bees in it,” he giggled.

“Okay then.” I tore the wrapper off as fast as I possibly could, and I found in my hands a large book, with the words, “What is Happiness?” on the cover. I looked at Dan curiously, but he just gave me a nod, and so I lay it on the table and opened it.

It was a scrapbook filled with pictures of us.

The first few pages consisted of our first date. Upon seeing the selfie we took inside one of the capsules of the London Eye, I started tearing up. There were a lot of pictures of me where I wasn’t looking at the camera—there were photos of me caught mid-laughter, looking up at the sky, basically just me doing normal things. But Dan made me look beautiful in the photos, and I could cry and flood all of London. It didn’t help that Dan scribbled dates and little notes beside each photo, making me remember everything even more clearly.

“Me and Phil on the London Eye. (We had our first kiss afterwards. ;))”

“Here, we can see Phil eating a chip. What a lucky chip.”

“Phil sleeping after reviewing for a big test. He looks so innocent, but his snores could scare off children.”

I hate Dan for being a gross boyfriend and taking pictures of me while I wasn’t looking. It went on for years without me knowing, judging by the amount of photos the scrapbook held. But my heart also felt like it was bursting because yet again, I came to realize how much I loved Dan, even after all these years.

“Phil, are you crying?” Dan asked, laughing. “Oh my god, you’re crying.”

“Or course I am! You try receiving a scrapbook that holds your happiest memories. You even included the super sneaky secret dates. I hate you so much,” I answered. Dan laughed, then leaned in to kiss my cheek.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, chuckling. “Love you.”

“Loveyoutoo,” I grunted, sniffling.

I continued to look at page after page while Dan sat silently beside me, my need to kiss Dan as soon as possible growing stronger at every single photo I see, at every single note I read. Finally, I reached the last page.

The last page was blank, but there was an envelope attached to the middle of it. I took in a sharp breath and opened it, knowing there won’t be any bees, but still scared anyway. I reached inside with both of my eyes closed, and I don’t know why I closed them, but at the moment, it felt right.

It was a note.

And all it said was, “I think it’s time.”

I was going to ask Dan what it meant, but he wasn’t beside me anymore. So I stood up immediately, startled by the fact that I didn’t notice that Dan left my side.

“Phil?” I heard a voice behind me say.

I turned around immediately and I was met with Dan on one knee, looking up at me expectantly with a small box in his hands. I was crying, but I was smiling at him. He opened it with shaking hands, slowly revealing a ring.

“Will you marry me, Phil?”

Thoughts of the past, the present, and the future hit me all at once like a hurricane. I was overwhelmed by everything, but I wasn’t confused. My answer was already set in stone years ago. I loved Dan so much. I loved him more than anything—and I couldn’t bear the thought of him leaving my side, not even for a second.

After all this time, the words I told Dan years ago still held truth, and they never lost meaning, not even a little. I still loved Dan. I still had every intention of being with him and spending the rest of my life with him. I still loved Dan with all my heart because he makes me so, so happy, and I will love him and I will always be beside him as long as he still wants me to. I will always love him, and I realized, even when the time comes where we’re both wrinkly and grumpy, I will never get tired of doing so.

And so I said yes.

And now I’m probably the happiest that I’ve ever been.

FIN

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Princes and Palaces by phanscheekybumsecks

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