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Till had known Ivan since they were babies. At the time, he didn’t understand why the big people kept visiting his home. Till would be left to play in the gardens and the people that passed by would coo at him, talking about how cute he was. Most of the time, he always ignored them in favour of his toys.
But one of them always brought along another child, a black haired boy that seemed to pout whenever his mother left him with Till. She told him to make friends but the little boy would always hide away behind the trees before Till could even call out to them.
Till figured the boy wanted to be left alone so he didn’t bother to approach him or even learn his name. He was quick to scurry away anyway so it wasn’t like Till had the chance to talk to him before he disappeared from his sight.
But one day, as Till was picking flowers, he heard a sniffle coming from one of the trees. Till approached it, feeling confused when he saw no one there. He rounded the tree, trying to search for the source to no avail. It wasn’t until he looked up that he realised that the sound came from above.
There, he saw the little boy, sitting on a thick branch as he leaned back against the trunk, knees pulled up to his chest while he cried into his arms.
“Hey!” Till called out to him but the boy barely reacted. “Hey! What are you doing up there?” He asked again. He saw the way the boy twitched minutely but he still didn’t respond. It pulled out a groan from Till, glaring at the small shaky body of the boy. If he didn’t want to talk to Till, he knew he should’ve left him alone like all these times before but deep down inside his heart, he knew he couldn’t, not when he was clearly crying.
Despite his own fears, Till decided to climb up the tree, huffing and panting until he reached the branch where the boy sat.
The boy moved away once he saw Till approaching him, giving Till space to climb up but he still wasn’t talking to him.
“Hey.” Till called out again. Now that Till had him in front of him, he noticed how small the boy was. How could he climb up all by himself? “What’s your name?” He asked.
The boy bit down on his lips before he muttered out. “Ivan.” His voice was low, small and fragile.
“Okay, I’m Till.” He replied. “Why are you crying?"
Ivan pouted at the question, looking away with a small ‘hmph’. Till tilted his head in question before he poked him in the arm. “Tell me or I can’t help you.”
Ivan let out a huff. “You can’t help me either way.” He said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Okay, just tell me anyway.” He said dismissively before turning back to the pile of flowers he had collected before. It was slightly crushed when Till shoved it into his pockets but he can still use it for what he was about to do.
Ivan remained silent for a while that Till almost forgot about him. After what felt like hours, he finally spoke up. “M-mama said they’ll be in that room.” Ivan said, pointing somewhere at the second floor. “I-I was trying to see if I can see her.”
Till hummed, his gaze still directed to his project. “Okay but why were you crying?”
A beat passed by.
“I miss her…” Ivan finally replied, tears welling back up at his eyes.
Till huffed. “She’s probably doing adult stuff with my parents. People usually come for that.” He explained, tying on the last knot before he held up a flower crown with a ‘tadaa!’. “Here! It’s for you! So don’t cry anymore and play with me, okay?" Till explained pridefully before placing it softly on Ivan’s head.
It looked really beautiful. Ivan’s wide eyes looking at him, his body frozen at the weight of the crown on his head. Till couldn’t help but think Ivan really suits it as the flowers matched with the colour in his eyes.
He looks really pretty.
“Like a princess!” Till exclaimed excitedly as he giggled to himself.
Ivan only looked at him in confusion, eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not a princess. I’m a prince! Mama told me that!” He rebutted.
“Well, my mom told me that too! There can’t be two princes here.” Till said, crossing his arms over his chest before an idea popped into his head. “Ah! I know! I’ll be the prince and you’ll be the princess because you have flowers on your head.”
Ivan frowned, looking at him skeptically. “Is that how it works?”
“Yup!”
The boy looked like he still couldn’t believe him but he slowly accepted it. Till giggled to himself before he slowly climbed back down the tree. “Come on! Let’s play.” He said, looking up at the boy who was still up on the branch.
“Uh…I can’t climb down.” He said, hugging the trunk. He obviously looked like he could but he was hesitant, scared that it pulled a sigh from the grey haired boy.
“You big baby! Just jump down, I’ll catch you.” Till said as he held his arms out.
Ivan still looked skeptical but he took a deep breath before finally jumping down.
It felt like the moment was slowed down. Till’s arms were still held out, Ivan jumping down with confidence that the other boy was going to catch him but Till might have overestimated himself as the impact threw him back. He let out a yelp when Ivan landed on him before a sharp pain was felt in his arm. Ivan was in a similar situation, letting out a loud scream when he noticed the way Till’s arm bent unnaturally.
It wasn’t long for the two boys to break down in cries. It didn’t go unnoticed as maids quickly swarmed them, pulling the boys apart as they were taken to the medical bay.
It turned out that Till definitely wasn’t strong enough to catch him because not only did he break his arm, Ivan had also sprained his ankle.
One of the maids carried Ivan in her arms as the black haired boy sniffled. He wanted to see Till, he said but the moment he saw the other with his arms in a cast, he instantly turned away, hiding his face in the maid’s shoulder. His mother came a second later before Ivan broke down in cries once again. He didn’t spare him another glance when she walked out of the infirmary and that was the last time Till had ever seen him.
Years went by before Till noticed.
He had turned 19, prince of the land and incredibly unmotivated. He took his lessons and he excelled in it. He was expected to take over after his parents, which he could do honestly but it was all boring work.
It was a rinse and repeat cycle everyday. He had begun to shadow his father to learn the works and at this point, he had already gotten the hang of it, deciding to flee each time he got the chance to. It wasn’t like his dad was particularly happy about it but as long as they couldn’t catch him, they couldn’t force him to do anything he didn’t want to.
One day, he’ll take the throne, he’ll do his duties to the best that he could, probably marry some princess, have kids and make them repeat the cycle he went through.
Life was boring.
Till was absentmindedly swirling his cup around as the maids filtered in, placing their meals on the table and preparing their cutlery for lunch when his father cleared his throat.
“Till?”
He simply hummed in response.
“We will be having guests so I hope you can be on your best behaviour.”
“Okay.”
“And you would’ve known this if you didn’t skip the last meeting but you’ll be getting to know the child of our guest.”
“Sure.”
“Me and your mom had agreed with them to arrange a marriage between the two of you.”
“Oka—wait- what?!” Till cut himself off, sitting up straight before looking at them with wide eyes. “What do you mean marriage?”
The older man let out a huff. “The king from the neighbouring kingdom came over two weeks ago. That was when we were supposed to decide on an agreement but you decided to flee. We have made the decision for you.” His father said.
“And you told me just now? When they are arriving in what? 2 minutes.” He shot back, eyebrows up to his hairline as he looked at the man in disbelief.
“You wouldn’t have come to this lunch otherwise but it’s best that you do.”
Till let out a groan, letting his head fall into his hands. “Is it a princess that I know, at least?”
Till noticed the way his father exchanged glances with his mom but he didn’t get to question it when she let out a small laugh. “Oh, I think you do. This ‘princess’ had always been on your mind when you were a child.”
Till only looked at her in confusion. He wasn’t sure if he had been friends with one before but his mom had looked so endeared as if reminiscing an old memory that Till no doubt was embarrassing at best. He was about to speak up before the door to the dining hall opened.
He sat up straighter, mouth falling open when he saw who had just walked in.
The person was tall, body quite built but slim with soft pillowy sleeves over his arms. Hair as dark as the starless sky, silky and no doubt soft. Skin unmarred by any scars or blemishes, pale with soft pink lips and most important of all, deep dark eyes with a tint of red that was currently looking straight at him, right into his soul.
Ivan.
It had been more than a decade since he had last seen him but there was no doubt in Till’s mind that that was Ivan. He had grown up to be so beautiful that Till found himself mesmerised, his heart beating wildly in his chest that he couldn’t even let out a single breath when the boy—now, man sat next to him.
“Hi.” Ivan said with a small smile.
Till gulped back down his words for fear of looking stupid in front of the beaut. Ivan’s face fell slightly before he schooled it back to perfection. He nodded towards his parents, “Greetings, your highness.”
His mother smiled. “It has been a while, Ivan. You grew up so well.” She complimented him as Till saw the way a light blush grew on his face. Cute.
The lunch proceeded with little problem as they exchanged words. Well, it was more like they were having a conversation without him as Till couldn’t find his words, silently pushing his food around and occasionally sipping his water nervously.
He was supposed to marry Ivan?
The little boy who Till had remembered as a crybaby who he broke his arm for who didn’t even spare him a glance when he left who never came back to see him who—
Till coughed when he choked on his water. The table went silent, all eyes looking at him as he hacked. He felt the way Ivan patted his back softly, his warm hand sending tingles down his back that Till couldn’t help but lean forward away from the touch.
It was too much, way too much for his unprepared soul to face.
The moment the lunch came to an end, Till quickly left the room as Ivan and his family had a few people escorting them to the guest room. It seemed they would be staying for a week while they were expected to get to know each other.
Till cornered his parents. “Why wasn’t I told about this?!” He exclaimed, hands waving around pathetically.
“What? About Ivan?” His mom asked with a teasing glint in her eyes.
“Yeah, I mean I should have a say in who I marry, shouldn’t I?” He rebutted.
He would’ve come to the meeting. Will he meet Ivan much earlier if he did? Will he have time to prepare to not make himself into a fool like he was?
His father scoffed. “You would've gotten your act together by then. I wanted to let Ivan see how much of an imbecile you could be.”
“Dad! That’s not fair!”
His mother laughed. “Oh my, I remember how much you missed Ivan back then when he stopped coming over. With your broken arm, you kept asking everyday if Ivan was going to come and I knew my Tilly had a cute little crush.” She said, covering her mouth with her hand.
“That’s not true! I was just—”
“Oh yeah, when he tried to write a letter with his non dominant hand to send to Ivan before he cried himself to sleep because it was so ugly.” His father added, snickering at him.
“Oh! And when he kept picking so many flowers that the maid had to ban him from the garden because it was growing sparse.”
“I remember how he kept asking us if the ‘princess’ had forgotten about him. I was worried if there was some girl that had broken into the palace before I figured out it was just that boy when Till drew him in his book. I was about to ask the knights to search the place.”
“Remember the time when Till started to pick up horseriding because he had dreams of taking Ivan around to—”
“Okay! I get it! Stop!” He groaned, covering his warm face with his hand. How could he have forgotten? It was so long ago that Till thought his parents would’ve dropped it since he stopped talking about the boy a long time ago.
Till remembered how heartbroken he was because he felt like Ivan really wasn’t coming back so he pushed any and all memories—admittedly they only interacted once but his child mind had latched on it—to the back of his head. Who knew Ivan would actually come back?
His mother shook her head as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “We know this is sudden but I’m sure you aren’t complaining about it, right?”
Till could only press his lips in a tight line. He wasn’t but he could still complain about the fact he wasn’t made known about it earlier.
“I know it has been a while since you last saw him but take this chance to get to know him. The marriage isn’t confirmed yet but I don’t think it will take long for you two to decide, right?” She continued.
Till pouted. “I don’t even know if he likes me.” He muttered.
“Well, son. This is when you should be charming him.” His father butted in, chest pushed out with pride. “You should take a few pointers from me. I would’ve—”
“Okay! Whatever! I’m going now!” He cut him off before waving his hand out, quickly running off to who knows where.
The king and queen could only watch him with a shake of their head.
Till grumbled to himself as he walked away, couldn’t believe the nonsense he was facing.
It was like what? A childhood crush. He was young and dumb and probably missing someone he considered a friend and now they decided to play a prank on him?
It was really sudden. Was he supposed to decide if he really wanted to get married in a week? What if they didn’t work out? Did they really reunite just for marriage? What did they take him for?
Ivan might have been the prettiest person he’ve seen and he might have had a silly little crush on him when he was younger but that didn’t mean anything. Till doubted that they were compatible.
He sighed, walking past the entrance of the garden before stopping in his tracks.
There he was, in all his glory, black slacks ironed well making him look taller. The white top framed his body perfectly, loose around his body where it was tightened with a band around his waist and god, was it sinful.
Till didn’t realise his feet had brought him forward until Ivan turned once he sensed his presence. Ivan was taller, he realised.
“Till. Long time no see.” He called out softly with a smile and my god, Till felt blinded.
“Will you marry me?”
Dark eyes blinked dumbly at him before Till felt his face exploding into a flush. “W-wait! I-I didn’t mean that—No! I do mean that but like—not right now. Actually, I don’t mind but! Uh- what I’m saying is I do want to marry you but no pressure, I mean uh—”
Ivan broke into a laugh, a loud, unrestricted one as he curled into himself, holding onto his stomach like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. Till bit into his lips, trying to hold himself back from spouting out more bullshit.
“That’s the first thing you’re saying to me after basically ignoring me during lunch?”
Till frowned. “I wasn’t ignoring you.” He muttered petulantly. “I just— uh, I mean I didn’t know what to say…”
“But you were proposing to me just now?” He replied, raising a sharp eyebrow.
Till huffed, looking away. “I mean, I did say I didn’t mind.”
Ivan only shook his head before he took a step forward towards him. Till felt his body freezing up when Ivan cupped his face, bringing it up to face him.
He hummed, taking a good look on his face. “Well, I certainly had a debt to pay.” He said lowly, bringing his face closer. “Since I broke your arm, I guess I need to make sure I don’t break your heart.”
Till closed his eyes when he saw the way Ivan leaned in before he felt a soft press against his forehead. The disappointment he felt was greater than he expected when it wasn’t on his lips instead, frowning deeply as Ivan laughed at him.
“Hey! T-that’s not fair!”
Ivan laughed. “Well, you gotta work for it then.” His giggles filled the air and Till couldn’t help but think it was the most beautiful melody he had ever heard, not even the most skillful bard could recreate it. He vowed to himself to make Ivan smile and laughed even more, even if he had to embarrass himself.
“Okay.” He said breathlessly. “I’ll propose to you soon.”
Ivan hummed, tilting his head to the side. “Well, this is an arranged marriage. Technically you don’t need to propose to me.” He explained but Till quickly shook his head.
“No. I’m going to propose and I’ll make it the best one ever.”
Ivan smiled but his eyes looked a little melancholic. “Okay. We’ll see about it then.” Something about his tone told him Ivan was doubting him and he was going to prove the man wrong.
By the end of the week, Till had everything planned. Was it quick? Sure but he couldn’t wait even more than a day after his heart had set on it.
It wasn’t much because the few times he got to know Ivan he knew he wasn’t a fan of anything big so he had called him to the garden and prompt him to climb the same tree they did years ago, which was hard because Ivan said, and he quote “I don’t do that anything and you shouldn’t too” end quote. Whatever that meant. When they sat facing each other, his legs swinging nervously as he revealed the small flower rings he made with a matching flower crown—in his defense he didn’t have time to look at rings and he wanted Ivan to be there with him too, picking rings, walking around town on a cute little date he planned for them—Till had proposed what he didn’t even know he himself had been feeling ever since his reunion with Ivan a week ago.
Was he being hasty? Maybe but his heart had never felt so sure before and when Ivan broke down in front of him, stuttering over his own words and holding his hand out for Till to slide the ring on, he knew he didn’t want anything else.
Ivan’s lips were as soft as he expected.