Chapter 1: Parent's day
Chapter Text
Wille still wanted to go back home. He missed the palace, as weird as it was for him to admit. Sure, his relationship with his family had been rocky for a few years now, but he missed them. He missed his brother’s affection and jokes, his dad’s calming presence and his mom’s no-nonsense —although it often seemed to come back to bite him in the ass lately.
Wille didn’t like Hillerska. August was always looking over his shoulder, sticking his nose into Wille’s business. He didn’t understand why Erik liked their cousin so much. Then there were the other students who only ever saw Prince Wilhelm instead of him ; instead of Wille. Even Felice had been friends with him for his status at first, although she had slowly gotten better. Too slowly for Wille’s liking though. Everyone seemed to see his title before his person. They agreed with everything he said and forgot they had personalities of their own when Wille was in the room. Everyone did that. Everyone but Simon.
Simon was the only reason Wille wasn’t going mad in this school. The first time the boy had ever talked to Wille —or rather about Wille, he hadn’t talked to him specifically, Simon had talked about him as if Wille wasn’t even in the room— he had made it clear how anti-monarchist he was. And then, Wille had clumsily introduced himself to Simon and had told him that he had liked what he had said back there and that had seemed to somehow do the trick. Simon had relaxed around him and had let Wille make his own impression, rather than believing whatever was told about him. Since then, they had slowly developed a strong friendship.
They had started by studying together at workies, trying to help each other with their homework —it was really more Simon helping Wille than the other way around, he was much better at school than Wille and was great at explaining difficult concepts for classes other than math— and then they had started hanging out during lunches and breaks. The next thing Wille knew, he and Simon were always together. Wille would sneak out to Bjärstad to go to Rosh’s games when he could and they were constantly texting when they couldn’t be together.
If it wasn’t for Simon, Hillerska would really be unbearable for Wille. The palace had not been the greatest home for the past few years, Wille and his mother were always disagreeing on one thing or the other and it created a lot of tension in the whole family, but he sometimes wished he could go back to the scrutiny of the palace, instead of the scrutiny he faced at school.
Wille hadn’t been back home since the beginning of the term and he was looking forward to seeing his family again. They would come to parents’ day as they had done for Erik, and then he would go back home with them for the weekend and enjoy his time.
Or rather that’s what he thought would happen.
“What do you mean you’re not coming?” asked Wille.
“We have an important meeting with the prime minister, Wilhelm,” his mother answered him. They were on their weekly family video chat, a thing they had started a few weeks ago, per Erik’s suggestion. It was never a long call, Wille didn’t really know what to say, other than Simon this or Simon that and he didn’t want to let his family know how hard it was for him to make friends other than Simon. Still, Wille always answered the call and gave vague answers to his family’s questions.
“But you always went to Erik’s,” said Wille in a small voice, his hurt evident on his face.
His father frowned, sighing heavily. “ We’re sorry Wille, we tried to put it on another day, but our schedule was already full .”
“You will send a car for me to come home this weekend tho, right?” Wille was met with three pained expressions. “Right?” he asked more forcefully.
“We won’t be home this weekend, Wille,” said Erik slowly, almost afraid to tell him. Wille looked out at his window, not wanting to face his family. He had been looking forward to seeing them and to get out of here for a weekend, and there they were, telling him it wouldn’t happen.
“We will come to Lucia, ” his mother told him. Wille didn’t look back at them. He didn’t care about Lucia; not when it was so long away. He wanted his family now. “We already put it in our calendar. We will see you then, Wilhelm.”
Wille shook his head, whiling the tears that were gathering in his eyes to go away. He didn’t want to show his family how this was affecting him. “Whatever,” he said loudly. He crossed his arms and looked back at his family with a stone-like expression. “Anyway, Simme will be home so I’ll go with him or something.”
“You seem to go there often,” Erik told him softly.
Wille shrugged, not wanting to share much about Simon with them. Simon was his . He was his happiness. “I’ve never gone to his home but I’ve been to Bjärstad a few times.”
“You like him a lot,” said Wille’s father.
Wille nodded. He did like Simon a lot. “He’s my best friend.” Wille looked at his family, before sighing. The conversation was awkward and he was mad at them, he didn’t want to be on the call anymore. “I have to go. I’ll call you next week,” he said as he closed his phone, not letting his family answer.
Wille looked down at his hands. They were shaking, clutching his phone, his white knuckles contrasting sharply against the black of the device. He dropped his phone on his desk before getting up abruptly. He was right beside his bed in a few short steps. He laid down on his bed, put his arms around himself, and finally let the tears fall.
Wille knew his family had responsibilities they had no choice but to prioritize, but it still hurt to know that they wouldn’t come and he would be spending a lot more time without seeing them in person. He had been looking forward to this weekend.
As his tears were drying, he heard his phone shake on his desk. He decided to ignore it in case it was his family, but then it shook again and again, announcing a new notification each time.
Wille dried his face with his sleeve as he got up and took his phone. Simon had texted him a few times. Wille smiled as he saw the many notifications from his friend. Simon had a fun way of texting that Wille had needed to get used to at first. He always sent his texts in separate messages and he put loads of emojis. Wille had been really confused about what they all meant at first; he had never really texted anyone other than his family before and they had a much more formal way of sending messages. Now, he could easily understand what Simon meant with all of his weird acronyms and emojis. It was fun; to Wille, it felt like they had a secret language.
Wille opened his phone and saw the various memes Simon had sent him. Instead of responding like he usually would, he pressed the call button, waiting for Simon to answer.
“Wille,” Simon answered after a few rings of the phone. He had used his high little voice he used when he wanted to annoy Wille —Wille would never admit it to Simon, but he liked when the other boy said his name like that, he only ever faked being annoyed at Simon for it.
“Hey,” Wille said softly, pressing the phone close to his ear as if it would make him closer to Simon himself.
“Everything all right? ” Simon asked him, worry evident in his voice. He always seemed to be able to know Wille’s mood, even when they weren’t in the same room.
“Mhmm,” Wille answered, picking at a tread on his comforter. He sighed softly when Simon stayed silent as if the other boy knew Wille needed some time to gather up his mind before telling Simon what was wrong. “I had a call with my family,” Wille finally said. He passed a hand through his hair, hoping he could keep his panic at bay. “They won’t be coming to parents’ day and I can’t go back for the weekend either. Well, I could go back, but they wouldn’t be there, so…”
“I’m sorry, Wille.”
“It’s just- fuck,” Wille said, feeling tears gather in his eyes. “It’s been so long and they said I’ll only see them at Lucia next.” He took a shaky breath as his tears fell down his face, following the same patterns his earlier tears had created. Fuck. He didn’t want to cry in front of Simon, especially not for something so stupid as missing home. “I just miss them is all.”
Simon took some time before answering him. “Do you- I mean- Would you,” he chuckled to himself shyly as he often did when he couldn’t find his words. “Mama will come for parents’ day. She can be your mom for the day if you want. And you could come home with me for the weekend too,” Simon said hurriedly. “If you want.”
“Yeah?” Wille said, smiling to himself.
“Of course .”
“I’d like that.” Wille had been wanting to visit Simon’s home for a while now but he hadn’t known how to ask without seeming impolite. “Thanks, Simme.”
The choir had just finished the welcoming performance for the parents and they were coming off the stage to come and see their parents and friends. Wille had loved the performance. Watching Simon sing was as good of an experience as his welcoming performance. The other boy was singing with his whole heart and his joy was always so evident on his face when he was performing.
Simon had told Wille once that he was at Hillerska not only on an academic scholarship, but also on a singing scholarship, and Wille had no trouble believing that. The other boy had such a strong voice and knew how to perform; it was clear that singing in the choir was the right place for Simon. Although Wille thought Simon would sound just as good singing by himself.
Wille looked to his left where Sara was standing beside him. He had secured himself a place near the girl to make sure he would find Simon quickly. There were already enough people wanting to talk to him —well to Prince Wilhelm— for him to risk staying by himself. Wille didn’t really know what to make of Sara. She was obviously nice; Simon and Felice only talked in good of her but Wille had never had a proper conversation with Simon’s sister. He thought he probably should though, seeing as Simon was his best friend.
Sara turned to him and gave him a look that Wille didn’t know how to decipher, so he smiled at her as he passed a hand through his hair. She then turned to look back behind them as a woman called to them. Wille looked back, seeing someone that had to be Simon and Sara’s mother. She was slightly shorter than him and looked like a carbon copy of Simon. Her hair was pinned back from her face, but Wille could still see where Simon and Sara had gotten their curls from. She was smiling at Sara in a way that illuminated her face. It made her look trustworthy and nice, Wille thought.
As the woman turned to look at him, Wille felt someone close behind him.
“Mama,” a voice said. Wille looked slightly down at his side just in time to see Simon come between him and Sara. “You’ve met Wille?” Simon said as he threw an arm around Sara’s shoulders. He looked at Wille with his big smile that always made Wille smile back.
“Uh- no,” Wille told him shyly, bringing his thumb to his mouth to bite the skin there. “We haven’t met yet.”
“Oh, right,” Simon said as he straightened his back. “Right. Mama, this is Wilhelm. And Wille, this is Mama.” Simon put his hand on Wille’s arm as he said so. It made Wille feel warn all over. “Uh- no,” Simon chuckled, shaking his head. “Linda. This is Linda.”
The woman —Linda— turned to Wille and gave him the same smile she had given Sara earlier. “Wilhelm, it’s nice to meet you,” she said as she took the hand he was giving her. She didn’t shake it like Wille had thought she would; instead, she had his hand in both of hers and just kept it there as she greeted him. Her hands were soft and warm and she had soft a gentle touch. “Wilhelm,” she said. She had a slight accent as she pronounced his name; he liked the way it sounded when she said it. “Nice to meet you. Simon has told me a lot about you.”
Wille looked at Simon, whose cheeks had turned pink at his mom’s comment. It made Wille feel giddy to know that Simon was talking about him to his family. Wille looked back at Linda and smiled at her. “Just Wille, please. And it’s nice to meet you too, Simon talks highly of you.”
As they slowly made their way back to the school to take place to have lunch, Wille walked with Linda, who was engaging him in small talk. Wille normally hated those kinds of conversations —even though he could be good at them, the palace had made sure that Erik and he had been trained to charm a room— but Linda made it seem as if she was just talking with someone she already knew and cared about. She was talking with Wille , Simon’s best friend, not with Prince Wilhelm. Maybe that was what Simon had said when he had told Wille that Linda could be his mom for the day.
They narrowly avoided August when they passed him and Wille made sure to keep his eyes trained on Linda. It would be impolite for others to disturb Wille’s conversation with Linda when he was so clearly invested in it. Wille was glad that he had a reason to stay with the Eriksson’s —he was even more glad that he was enjoying his time. It almost made him forget that his own parents were not there.
At lunch, they managed to sit with Felice’s family, avoiding August again. Wille was sitting between Simon and Sara, with Felice and her family in front of them. Linda was at the end of the table and Wille kept making eye contact with her every time he looked from Simon to Felice. It was reassuring how she always sweetly smiled at him when they did so.
They narrowly avoided disaster when Sara was about to tell Felice’s parents that she was the one riding Rousseau, but Wille was able to sweep her in a conversation, distracting Sara from what she was about to say. As he did so, Wille felt Simon gently squeeze his thigh to thank him for the distraction. It only ended up distracting Wille; Simon’s hand was warm on him.
As he had done the whole day, Wille stayed with Simon’s family as they bid goodbye to Linda. The students were staying at Hillerska for the rest of the day and would go back home tomorrow afternoon.
“Wille,” Linda told him as she turned to say goodbye. “You are still coming home with Simon and Sara tomorrow?”
“Yeah, if it is still alright with you,” Wille told her, smiling shyly. He hoped it was still all right, he was looking forward to it.
“Of course, cariño,” she said as she took him in her arms. It took Wille a moment before returning her hug; he was a little shocked —although pleasantly— that she was treating him like she did Simon and Sara. She had given them hugs mere moments before and Wille had noticed that she had called him with the same name she called Simon. Wille squeezed her a little harder, not wanting to let go yet. It had been a long time since he had been hugged like that. His own parents had rarely expressed their affection that way. Only Erik did but it had been a while since Wille had seen his brother.
Wille finally let Linda go and he found himself alone with Simon by the side of the road. Sara had gone to see her friends as most of the parents were now gone.
Wille looked at Simon only to find him already looking at him. “Your mom is nice,” Wille said, smiling at his friend. “I liked her.”
Simon smiled softly back at him as he started to walk back to the school. “She liked you too.”
“You think so?” Wille asked. The thought that Linda, that Simon’s mom liked him made Wille’s heart flutter. Wille passed a hand through his hair, slightly self-conscious. What if Simon had only said that to make him feel better?
“Of course,” Simon said as if it was obvious. He bumped his shoulder into Wille, reassuring him that he was telling the truth.
Friday afternoon had come and Simon was into Wille’s room, waiting for him to get his bag ready. Wille could have done it last night after parents’ day had been done, but he had spent the night talking with Simon and stressing about the weekend to come.
Simon had found it amusing and had told Wille times and times again that there was nothing for him to stress over, but Wille had still been anxious all night long —and all of Friday, not that he would admit that to anyone. He knew that Linda had liked him well enough yesterday, but there had been loads of other people around. What if he did something wrong this weekend? Or if he said something offensive without realizing it, and she later forbids Simon to be friends with Wille from now on?
“Wille,” Simon said exasperatedly, pulling Wille out of his head. “You’re only coming home for two days. It’s not the end of the world if you forget something. I’ll be able to lend things to you if you need anything you don’t have.”
“I know,” Wille answered him, before changing his mind and putting an old sweatshirt back into his bag. He had put it and taken it off of his bag several times now.
“Come on,” Simon said as he got up from the bed. He had been laying on Wille’s bed for quite a while now, watching Wille make his bag. It felt strangely intimate to see Simon on his bed like that —Wille wasn’t ready to analyze what that meant, though. He had enough to worry about with this weekend coming closer and closer as time passed. “We already missed the first bus and the second one will pass soon, we need to go.”
Wille watched as Simon took a bunch of things on his bed and pilled them messily into his bag. The thought of how horrified his mother would be if she saw how Simon packed his things made Wille smile.
They made their way to the bus station, arriving just in time to catch it. Sara had already gone home on the other bus, saying that she didn’t want to wait for them any longer. They got in —Wille had the app ready this time around, he had gotten used to public transport since he became friends with Simon— and they sat close to one another in some empty seats at the back.
Simon took out his phone and passed an earbud to Wille, who took it gladly. Simon had a very different taste in music than Wille, but Wille still loved to listen to whatever songs Simon was feeling at the moment. It was another way for him to feel close to his friends; it sometimes felt like he had a front-row view of Simon’s mind.
They sat in silence for a while and soon enough, Wille felt something drop on his shoulder. He turned to look at Simon, only to find him sleeping on his shoulder. He had glided down his seat a little and his mouth was slightly opened, letting out a small puff of air on Wille’s neck. Wille felt the heat rise on his cheeks, unused to this kind of situation.
He made sure to stay still for a few minutes as he wondered if he should wake Simon up. Before he could make a decision, he heard people drop in the seats in front of them. Wille looked up and saw Rosh and Ayub look from him to Simon with a strange expression. He felt his face heat even more.
Wille knew Simon’s friends pretty well by now; he had gone to a few of Rosh’s games and had even hung out with them on other occasions a few times. He still felt quite awkward around them. Rosh was always looking at him as if she knew all of his secrets and Ayub often laughed about what seemed to be the same joke, but Wille never understood what it was. Simon had told Wille that the three had been friends since they were kids. Wille had never had friendships like that, people who you could rely on no matter what and that knew you inside out, but he was glad that Simon had those two.
“Hey,” Wille greeted them in a quiet voice, conscious that Simon was still sleeping. Ayub nodded his greeting back at him
“Comfy?” Rosh asked him, wiggling her brows. Wille blushed some more.
Before he could respond, he felt Simon stir against him and heard the other boy groan as he took his head off of Wille’s shoulder. Rosh and Ayub laughed at Simon’s disorientated expression. Wille smiled at the sight of Simon; his hair was flat on the side of his head that had layed on Wille, while the other side was a little messy. His eyes were small as they adjusted to the light and there was a crease on his cheek from Wille’s jacket.
Simon scowled at his friends before turning to Wille. “Shit, sorry Wille,” he said as he rubbed his eyes. “Didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.” Wille smiled at Simon, not sure if he should tell him that he really hadn’t minded.
They stayed on the bus for some more time, talking about their week with Rosh and Ayub. Once Simon’s stop came into view, they got up and said their goodbye before getting out of the bus.
They walked the short way to Simon’s house. It was the first time that Wille was in this part of the town; they normally only stayed near the football field or rode their way in the bigger streets. Here, the neighbourhood had similar small houses all around, the land mostly bare of trees, making it easy to see in the distance. It was different than what Wille was used to; here, he felt like he was an appropriate size compared to the scenery. At the palace, everything was so big for no reason, making him feel too small, too insignificant.
It was quiet as they walked. They saw a few of Simon’s neighbours who greeted Simme in a casual, friendly way; yet something else that was unusual for Wille. They treated him in a similar fashion, even when it was clear that they were curious about what he was doing here.
Simon was leading Wille through a few streets, pointing things as he saw them, telling Wille some story or another about growing up here with Sara, Rosh and Ayub. Then, they turned in the driveway of what seemed to be Simon’s house.
“Here we are,” Simon told him, shuffling his feet on the ground and kicking invisible pebbles. He looked anxious, Wille thought, although he had no idea what Simon could be anxious about. “That’s the house we grew up in.” He sent Wille a small smile as he looked over at his house as if reminiscing memories of his childhood.
“I like it,” Wille smiled back. “It’s quiet but not in a lonely way. Not like at the palace.”
Simon pursed his lips at Wille’s comments and then took his arm, leading him to the door. The door was unlocked, probably from Sara who had arrived before them. As soon as they got in, Wille could feel how home Simon's home felt. It was open and cluttered with things that seemed important, even if Wille didn't know what everything meant. The light was warm and it looked lived in. It looked like what a home should look like.
“Hola Mama,” Simon said loudly as he took off his coat. He gestured for Wille to do the same and kicked his shoes off by the door. He took both of their jackets and went to put them in a hall further away.
Wille took off his shoes and placed them neatly near Simon’s. When he straightened up, he saw Linda come towards him with her arms wide open. He came to her with a slight hesitance that soon melted away when she took him in her arms.
“Hola cariño,” she greeted him in a soft voice. She kissed him on his head before stepping back away from him and turning to Simon, who she greeted in the same fashion. It was striking to Wille how she acted so casually with him, how she acted the same way with Wille as she did with Simon and Sara.
“Go put Wille’s stuff in your room and come back to help for supper, por favor,” she told them as she went back into the kitchen.
Simon took Wille’s bag and lead him through the house. They passed through the laundry room before arriving in Simon’s room. It was a little bigger than Wille’s room at Hillerska and so much more decorated and personalized than any bedroom Wille had ever had. He looked around him, taking in his surroundings. The room felt so Simon . There were posters on the walls of various things Wille knew Simon liked —it was cute how he often found new little obsession he would talk about for a few days and then find another one— and his gaming console was near his bed.
“I like your room,” Wille told Simon as he turned to look at him. Simon was leaning on his doorframe, looking at Wille walk around the room.
“It’s simple,” he said.
“It feels like you.”
Simon smiled sheepishly at Wille and they stayed there looking at each other for maybe a moment too long before Simon motioned him to go back to the kitchen.
When they got there, Linda told them to set the table. Simon gave Wille four plates for Wille to put on the table, on top of the placemats already there. Simon then put the cutlery and glasses on the table as Linda put some bowls of food in the middle. She called for Sara to come to eat and they all sat down.
They served themselves from the various plates of food Linda had prepared and the conversation flew easily. Linda asked them about their week, including Wille in the conversation in a way that made it seem like he had always eaten supper with them. Wille, who was used to staying quiet during family meals, found himself talking way more than he usually did. He was joking around with everyone and asking Linda a bunch of questions about herself, happy to answer when she had questions of her own.
By the end of supper, Simon and Sara were arguing about a petty thing Wille had forgotten and he found Linda’s eyes, who sent Wille an exasperated gaze, laughing at her kids’ idiocies. It hit Wille, then, that since she had met her yesterday, she had been acting with him like he was her son, too. She had been acting like a mom. To Wille.
If Wille spent his whole weekend with the biggest smile he had worn in a long time, with this weird and unusual but comforting and happy feeling in his chest, well no one could blame him. For the first time in a while, he felt like he was part —a wanted part— of a family.
Chapter 2: Lucia
Notes:
Plz note that I am Canadian. There are probably some differences in how Christmas is celebrated and other small cultural differences, but shhh we won’t talk about that :)
Hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Wille was pacing around his room, stressed about the night to come. Lucia would be celebrated tonight by the students and parents. Unlike at parents’ day, Wille’s family would be part of the audience tonight.
Wille had mixed feelings about this. He was obviously happy about the prospect of seeing his family again —it had been a long time— but he felt like his life at Hillerska and his life at the palace were two completely different things. Would they fit together? Was there a place for both of his worlds to coexist peacefully?
There was also another thing that stressed Wille out. The other students were finally starting to forget that he was Sweden’s youngest prince —or at least they didn’t care as much, Wille didn’t know if it was something that people could just forget. What a better reminder that Wille was indeed Prince Wilhelm than his family —his royal family— coming to Lucia.
At least Wille knew that Simon would not care much about meeting the royal family. If he cared, Wille was assured that it would be because he would be meeting Wille’s family, and the distinction was important to him.
And that was when it fully hit Wille that his family and Simon would be in the same room. Wille had talked enough about Simon during their weekly video calls and he knew that his mother wanted to meet his best friend. Erik and dad had also started asking more and more questions about Simon and they kept exchanging weird glances with Kristina when Wille would say one thing or another. Wille didn’t know what it meant and he didn’t know what to make of it.
His mother had also expressed her wish to meet Linda and Sara since Wille had been spending much more time at home with them. He hadn’t told them, or Simon, that this was expected of them. How could he admit that they were all he seemed to talk about with his family? They would have to just meet on the spot and Wille could only hope that all would go well.
Wille looked around the room, trying to decide where to go. His family was easy to spot in the room as all bodies seemed to be turned towards them but there were so many people wanting to talk to them, Wille didn’t want to have to pass through everyone.
It was unfair how everyone got to say hi to his family before him. He hadn’t seen them since the beginning of term, people could wait a little bit. It would be the polite thing to do.
Wille felt a warm hand on his back and turned to see Simon standing beside him. His hair was all fluffy underneath the leaf crown and he was smiling softly at Wille.
“I don’t think you’re going to make it to your family anytime soon,” Simon told him.
Wille sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and got it stuck in his won lead crown. “I know,” he said. “You’d think they would let me see my family first. But no.”
“I think they see the royal family, not yours,” Simon chuckled, sharing an exasperated look with Wille. “Mama’s there, come on.”
Wille followed Simon further in the room, away from his family. As soon as Linda spotted them, she came to meet them, pulling both boys in a hug.
“That was good, mis amores,” said Linda, smiling warmly at them. It never failed to make Wille smile in return; there was something about Linda’s motherly love that made Wille feel all right inside.
Before they could even thank her, she suddenly looked at Wille with big eyes. “Oh. Before I forget,” she said as she pushed a bag into his hands. “Wille, here is your Christmas present. I wasn’t sure if I was going to see you another time before you went home, so I thought it would be best if I brought it tonight.”
Wille looked at her, then at the present in his hands, then back at Linda. She was still smiling at him as if this was the most normal thing. He looked at Simon only to find his gaze already on him, a small smile on his face. Linda had gotten him a Christmas present. “You got me a Christmas present,” said Wille with a shaky voice. Linda had gotten him a Christmas present.
“Of course,” she said as if it was an obvious thing. It wasn’t; not to Wille, at least. “Now be a good boy and open it on Christmas day only, all right?” Linda said as she patted his cheek. She was still smiling at him. “No cheating, you can’t open it before.”
“Okay,” Wille said, blinking rapidly. He wasn’t about to cry over a Christmas present. “Tack, Linda,” he said, pulling her in another hug. If he stayed there for a little bit longer than necessary, it was because he would miss her over Christmas break, not because he was waiting for the tears to go away.
As he pulled back from the hug, Wille saw Sara now standing beside Simon. Wille was swept into a conversation with them that was now normal for him and before he knew it, he felt someone stand too close behind him. He turned around to see who it was and came face to face with a grinning Erik.
“Erik!” Wille said as he pulled his brother in a bear hug. Erik hugged him back tightly before letting him go. His father took Erik’s place and clapped Wille on the back as his mother came forward to squeeze his forearm briefly. It was good to finally see his family.
“Well, well, well, Wille,” said Erik in a teasing tone. “You still look as awkward as you did a few months ago. Good to know that some things don’t change!”
Wille scowled at his brother. Maybe it wasn’t so good to see his family.
Sensing the bickering that was about to occur, Kristina came forward a little, bringing Wille’s attention to herself. “Wille,” she said, fixing him with a disapproving stare that she then turned to Erik. “Why don’t you introduce us, hm?” It wasn’t a suggestion.
“Oh! Right,” said Wille as he turned back to Simon and his family. He felt his cheeks grow warm a little; he had forgotten that they were there and could see everything. “Uh, this is Simon and his mama Linda, and his sister Sara,” he said as he pointed to each of them. “And this is my mama and papa, and my brother Erik.” He knew that they already knew who his family was, but it weirdly felt significant to introduce them anyway to the Erikssons.
“Nice to meet you,” Linda said as she nodded at them. “You have a lovely son, you must be proud of the person he is becoming.” Wille felt his cheeks warm up again; he knew that they must be bright red by now. He looked at his feet, unsure how to react to the compliment. Was Linda really thinking so highly of him?
“We are, indeed,” Ludvig replied. Wille brought a thumb to his mouth; this was too much for him to handle. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor, unwilling to meet anyone’s eyes.
“Are we sure we are talking about the same Wille here?” Erik laughed. “I don’t think I would describe him as lovely.”
Wille looked up to stare at his brother, who winked at him knowingly. Leave it to his brother to take the attention off of Wille when he felt too much and find a way to insult him at the same time. Erik never seemed to be able to be nice just to be nice. Still, it made the others laugh and the attention was taken off of Wille as conversations sparked.
His mother started asking questions to Linda with her usual cold expression, but Wille could see that she was actually interested in what Simon’s mother had to say. Ludvig had already found himself in a deep conversation with Sara about horses —leave it to the two of them to find the other horse-obsessed person in the room— and Erik was whispering with Simon.
That didn’t bode well.
Erik and Simon were little shits when they were alone, putting them together was not a good idea. Almost as if they could hear him, they both glanced at Wille before looking back to each other as they started laughing.
“What?” Wille asked as he narrowed his eyes at them.
“Nothing,” Erik replied with a smile that told Wille that it definitely wasn’t nothing. “Simon was just telling me about the time you hit 5 people with an oar during rowing practice.”
“Simon!” said Wille, scandalized. Erik did not need any more ammunition against him.
“What?” Simon asked him with big, innocent eyes. “Erik was telling me about that time the palace was put in lockdown because you had gone missing, but turns out you were stuck in one of the fridges. I had to give him a story too, it’s only fair.”
To think that Wille thought he liked both of them.
Wille was officially back at the palace for the rest of the year. He had arrived not long ago and had had just enough time to put his things away before he was needed for supper.
He had packed light for Christmas; he was only coming back for less than three weeks and would have to wear his formal clothes for the televized celebrations anyway. His school clothes weren’t enough for those and the rest of the days would be spent in pyjamas anyway.
Wille had put Linda’s present on the chest at the end of his bed, right next to the present Simon had given him this morning. Unlike Simon’s present, which was a small, heavy package, Linda’s presentation was a big, light gift in a brown paper bag.
Wille hadn’t opened it yet, as per Linda’s request, but it wasn’t for a lack of desire. He couldn’t guess what it was that she could give him and it was slowly making him go crazy.
After the night of Lucia, Wille had spent the weekend in search of a gift he could give to Linda as a thank you. He knew she wasn’t expecting anything, it wasn’t the reason she had given him the gift, but he wanted to let her know how much he appreciated her.
He had found online some Venezuelan ingredients he had heard Linda talk about one time. He didn’t know exactly what dishes they were needed for, but she had said that they were really hard to get by in Sweden and that she needed to do a refill next time she went to her home country. At the same time, he had also ordered a pair of earrings from Sara. She had told him once that she was searching for some dangly, sparkly ones that would look pretty when she had her hair out of her face. The pair Wille had found came from a vintage online shop. They were sparkly like he knew she liked and came in her favourite colour.
He had given both gifts to Simon this morning when they had both exchanged their own gifts. Wille was excited to see what Simon would think of his, as well as what the others would think of theirs. He wasn’t used to giving presents to people other than his family, he hope he had done a good enough job.
On Christmas morning, Wille woke up earlier than he needed to. He realized that he could finally open the gifts he had been given and decided to do so before the madness of the Royal Christmas Appearance began.
He shuffled to the end of his bed to grab Linda’s and Simon’s gifts. Wille decided to open Simon’s one first; he didn’t know if he was ready to see what Linda had gotten him.
He took the small package, still surprised at how heavy it was. It was of a rounded shape and the wrapping paper was poorly wrapped around it. Simon was skilled at many things but gift wrapping was not one of them. He ripped the paper off, revealing a snowglobe. It was bigger than his prince-frog one and upon further inspection, Wille saw that the interior was a scene representing two people in a rowing boat. Well, one of them, with a mop of blond hair, was in the boat brandishing an oar while the one with the brown curls was in the water.
It looked like that time Wille had hit Simon off of the boat —which had been a total accident and Wille had been very sorry about it, thank you. Although he wasn’t sure if he was that sorry anymore.
Wille found a sticky note on the bottom of the snowglobe. Written in Simon’s messy handwriting was “To go with your other one. It takes two to make a collection. Congrats, you now have a collection of snowglobes! Merry Christmas, Simon xx”
Wille found himself smiling at the gift. It was sweet how Simon had seen Wille’s snowglobe and had decided to give him another one. It was also sweet how he clearly had to have it custom made; there was no way a snowglobe would normally represent such a scene.
There was also the fact that Simon had put two Xs at the end of the note. Those normally meant kisses, right? Did Simon know that? It made Wille’s stomach do weird little things as he felt his face flush. He found it best to ignore that reaction in favour of opening Linda’s gift.
He first found a card with a handwritten note by Sara. She was wishing him a Happy Christmas and offering to ride together one of these days, as she had remembered that he had once said that he was missing it. Wille would have to arrange for that with her soon. He was getting to know Sara more these days and he liked her, she was a fun person to be around.
Then, he searched further down the bag and his hand closed around a smooth fabric. He took the thing out of the bag and found a royal blue knitted jumper. It had a nice, subtle pattern and felt soft under his fingertips. Wille further inspected the sweater and his breath caught in his throat when he spotted the tag. On it was written, “Made with love, Linda.”
So Linda had made the sweater herself, it seemed. Wille blinked back tears as he gently put the sweater on. Linda had knitted him a sweater. It was hands down the best gift he had ever received. Wille knew that Linda often knitted things when she was watching TV. He had learned, by watching her do so, that it took endless hours to make a garment. To think that she spent so much time making him something was unimaginable to Wille.
He grabbed his phone, ready to thank them all for their sweet gifts when he saw that Simon had already texted him. “ Thank you from all of us for your gifts, Wille <3 ” Simon had written. Accompanying the text was a picture selfie of Simon holding his gift, with Linda and Sara in the background. They all had the same sweater on. They all had a royal blue sweater with a nice, subtle pattern on it.
Like Wille’s jumper.
It was then that Wille remembered a conversation he had had with Simon a while ago; Linda always made them matching sweaters for Christmas. It was a family tradition, and she had included Wille in it this year.
Wille found himself crying again. Never in his life had he felt so included. He loved his family with all of his heart, but being royals had a way of making everything so much more complicated, including basic familial relationships. The fact that Linda was considering him as family even with all the trouble that inevitably came with his title was enough to make Wille feel like he owned the world like all was good and bright.
Wille put the sweater on, not wanting to wait a second more to wear it. He dried his eyes off and when he was sure that his face wouldn’t showcase his little crying session, he sent a picture back to Simon. He held up the snowglobe next to his face, making sure to capture it while still showing the sweater.
When someone came to his door to tell him that his presence was requested in one of the meeting rooms, Wille didn’t even hesitate before going with his sweater still on. He knew that he would be asked to change into a PR-approved outfit for the morning TV segment but Wille didn’t think it would be possible for him to not wear the garment. Not when it was suddenly his new favourite thing.
He found his family in the room surrounded by various teams to prepare them for the segment. As soon as he set foot in the room, he was swept in by someone from PR, telling him what was expected of him this time. Not that it was much different than the previous years, but they loved to remind him of everything he was expected to do —maybe they did so because he always ended up messing something up, without even trying.
“Alright, Prince Wilhelm,” the royal stylist told him. “Please put these clothes on.” She pressed some boring black trousers in his hands, as well as a white shirt to put under a light grey sweater.
Wille took the clothes and went to a room next door that was used, in situations like this, as a changing room. It was a little bit ridiculous how such a big, luxurious room was used for changing outfits. Wille knew that Simon would have a great laugh at knowing this; he always found royal situations like these so unnecessary and pretentious. Not that they weren’t.
Wille changed into the clothes he had been given, but put Linda’s sweater on top of the white shirt, instead of the grey one. It was more Christmassy anyway with its rich blue colour.
When he got back in the meeting room, the stylist instantly came to him as she always did to make sure his clothes were straightened. Contrary to normal, she was frowning at him now.
“This isn’t the shirt I gave you.”
Wille looked back down at himself. “No,” he said, trying to sound confident. “But I want to wear this one.”
She shook her head, letting out an exasperated sigh. “Put the other one on.” Her voice was loud enough for her mother to turn back to him.
“No. I am wearing this one.”
“Wilhelm,” the Queen called out. The other conversations stopped momentarily. “What is the matter?”
“Everything is good,” Wille said as he turned to his mother. He would not let them change his mind. The Queen only raised her eyebrows at this, turning to look at the stylist.
“The Prince prefers to keep his sweater on instead of wearing the grey one we had chosen, Your Highness.”
“Wilhelm,” the Queen said with a stern voice. Her do-as-I-say voice. “Put the other sweater on.”
“No.”
“Wilhelm.”
Wille crossed his arms, staring stubbornly at his mother. “ No .”
The Queen pinched the bridge of her nose, visibly annoyed with Wille. “What is so important about this particular sweater?”
Wille looked at his feet and passed a hand through his hair. Everyone in the room was openly listening to the conversation. “Uh- It’s-” Wille mumbled. He straightened up. He had no reason to feel shy about this. “Linda made it for me. It’s a Christmas sweater, so I want to wear it for Christmas.” Wille looked his mother in the eyes. “I want her to see that I am wearing it if she watches the segment.”
His mother kept their eye contact, both of them waiting for the other one to break it. As if she was sensing that Wille would not back down from this, she let out a sigh.
“You can keep it on,” she finally said. Wille was sure his resulting smile could blind someone.
“Tack, mama!”
“This is an exception, Wilhelm. Don’t make a habit of fighting your stylist.”
According to the text Simon had sent him during the segment, Linda had been pleased to see that Wille had liked his sweater. Wille had walked on clouds for the rest of the day.
Notes:
Do you see the pattern of me making everyone knitters? Now you know what I do in my free time when I’m not reading/writing.
Chapter 3: Chop chop
Notes:
Don't ask me what that chapter title is, i don't even know myself
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Wille was, unsurprisingly, at the Eriksson’s house for the weekend. He had already been spending a lot of time there before Christmas break, but since the holidays, he was there as much as he physically could. Not only had he been reassured that Linda and Sara liked him for real —their gift had been a good indication, you don’t go out of your way to give a personalized gift to someone you don’t like— but since he and Simon had gotten together, they took every bit of privacy they could to actually be together. They were quiet about their relationship; it was always a tricky thing to be in a relationship when you were a prince, especially at this age.
It had happened on New Year's Eve. Wille had had the usual royal party type of boring thing he had to attend every year. It had been televised. It had been long. It had been everything Wille hadn’t wanted it to be. Erik, knowing this, had somewhat managed to convince their mother that both brothers should end the night early and they had been excused from the end of the party.
They had gone back to Erik’s room and had drunk some more —one could argue that they had drunk a little bit too much but it had turned out a good thing in the end. Wille usually wasn’t a fan of talking about his feelings but a mix of Erik being persistent and Wille being drunk had resulted in him gushing about Simon.
He had told Erik everything. How he had immediately spotted Simon in the choir that first time he had seen him, how he had slowly become friends with him and how they were now the best of friends. Wille had told his brother how he had had this strange, strong urge to get to know Simon. He had told him how every time he saw his friend, he felt like smiling until his cheeks hurt, and then smile some more. How safe and understood he felt with Simon. How nice and important it had been when Linda and Sara had thought of him for Christmas. He had told Erik how cute it was that Simon was so much shorter than him, how nice it felt to be able to hook his chin on the other boy’s head when they hugged. How good —and frequent— the hugs were. He had explained to him, in many details, how hard it was to believe that Simon was single. Why was nobody throwing themselves at Simon? When his curls looked so soft and his smile was so bright and he was so funny and kind and smelled nice and he had nice lips and he was pretty and cheeky and pretty and—
And Erik had asked him why he wasn’t with Simon.
And Wille had stopped talking. He had looked at his brother and had blinked a few times. His mind was suddenly blank. Why was he not with Simon?
So he had called Simon. Erik had still been in the room and they had still been so drunk, but Simon needed to know. Wille needed Simon to know that they definitely should be together. Because why wouldn’t they? They got along well and Wille thought Simon was the funniest person ever and they looked good together and fit nicely against one another. Simon was smart and saw Wille as just Wille and he was so pretty and real and Wille liked him so much; the only choice for them was to date. It was an evidence.
Wille had told Simon as much. Simon had been quiet on the line. He was at a New Years’ party in Bjärstad, he had complained to Wille about it all day long. He hadn’t really wanted to go since there would be people from his old school who had never been nice to Sara, but Rosh and Ayub had convinced him to accompany them.
After a moment, Simon had asked Wille just how much he had had to drink that night and Wille had told him that he had lost count a while ago. So, Simon had told Wille that if he was serious about liking him, he should tell him later when he would be sober. And face-to-face preferably.
Luckily —and surprisingly with the amount of alcohol they had consumed— Wille and Erik had remembered what Wille had told Simon that night. With enough encouragement from Erik, Wille had been brave enough to tell Simon, face-to-face, that he liked him and still very much wanted to date him.
Simon had smiled shyly at him and had told Wille that he liked him too. And then he had kissed him. Wille had had his fair share of kisses before but kissing Simon made him forget all of them; he didn’t need to remember them when they didn’t even compare to kissing Simon. Simon with his plump lips and his soft hair and his nice, firm chest pressed against Wille’s. Simon with his waist and neck that had fitted so well under Wille’s hands. Simon’s own hands had pressed everywhere against Wille’s body, making him warm all over and leaving him wanting . And Simon had given himself to Wille so willingly, pliant under his touch. He had needed to crane his neck to kiss Wille; it had made Wille feel so confident, so powerful to be in control for once. To take care of someone. Simon had been so close that he had to look up to maintain eye contact and it had been such a pretty sight. His lips had been all swollen and glistening and Wille had kissed him again as he had pushed Simon against the wall and Wille had—
Yeah. So they were together now.
This is why Wille was spending most of his time at Simon’s house.
He was sitting at the dining room table, waiting for Simon to get out of the shower, when his cellphone rang. Erik was calling him.
“Hey Erik,” said Wille as he answered the phone.
“Wille, how are you? ”
“I’m good,” Wille said slowly. Erik was using his Crown Prince voice; it wasn’t a good phone call, then. When Erik called him and used this voice with Wille, it usually meant that there was some news that needed to be given to Wille and someone had tasked Erik to do it because he was the best at controlling whatever reaction Wille would have.
“Good, good,” Erik said. Wille could hear him breathing on the other side of the phone. He waited for Erik to get on with the reason he was calling him. “Do you remember those meetings I was telling you about at Christmas? The ones with the environmental groups that we started talking with? ”
“Yeah..?” Wille said, unsure of where this conversation was going.
“You are to assist me in those conversations from now on,” Erik said bluntly, finally cutting to the point. “You will be sent various documents you need to get familiarized with and you will come back home next weekend for your first meeting.”
“I can’t come this weekend tho,” Wille said, his voice muffled as he bit the skin off of his thumb. “I’m going to Rosh’s game.”
“It’s not a choice, Wille,” Erik told him in his stupid, princely voice. Wille hated it so much. “You are given more responsibilities. You need to do them.”
“What if I don’t want more responsibilities?”
“Wille, it’s not a choice, ” Erik sighed. Knowing that Wille was getting quite upset from that news, he changed into big-brother mode. “Listen, Wille. They wanted to give you full responsibilities with this project and I convinced mama to ease you in more, but you still need to participate more somehow.” Wille knew he was losing this battle; if Erik had already tried to get him out of it and this was all he could do, well there was nothing else that could be done. Still, he didn’t want more responsibilities, especially not if it required him to go home on the weekends more often. It was his time with Simon.
“Okay, fine. But I still can’t this weekend.”
“I’m sorry but you will have to cancel,” Erik said exasperatedly. “You will be notified more in advance for the next meetings .”
Wille pushed his hair out of his face, frustrated at the situation. He didn’t want to bail on Simon and his friends; Rosh had been talking his ears off about the match this weekend. He didn’t want to miss it, it was important to her, so it was important to Simon, meaning it was important to Wille.
“Fine, whatever.” Wille snapped. “I’ll be there this weekend.” He closed his phone as Erik was saying something. He knew it was impolite and he would have to apologize to Erik later —it wasn’t Erik’s fault that they were giving Wille’s more responsibilities— but he was already feeling the panic rise inside of him. He didn’t need to think more about what was to come.
Wille slowly put his phone down on the table in front of him. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to breathe right now and he needed something to focus on as he got himself back together; he didn’t want to have a mental breakdown right now, especially when Simon was still in the shower and unavailable to ease him through it.
His gaze had been fixed on his phone for what could have been seconds or hours when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, startling him; he had forgotten she was preparing supper in the kitchen. She had probably heard the conversation or his side of it at least.
“Wille,” said Linda in a soft voice. He looked up at her. She was looking down at him with a reassuring expression on her face. “Why don’t you come and help me with the food, hm?” The way Linda said this reminded Wille a lot of his own mother, only a much softer version of Kristina. Still, Linda’s soft voice let Wille no choice; she hadn’t asked him to come to help her, she had told him that he was going to help her cook.
Wille got up on shaky legs and followed Linda to the kitchen, where she gently guided him to a cutting board. She handed him a knife and some tomatoes, instructing him to cut them into little dice.
Wille looked at the supplies in his hands, wondering how he was supposed to cut round tomatoes into dice. Was that even possible? He took the knife with an unsure hand as questions started spiralling in his mind.
As he was about to try something, anything, Linda came beside him and took both of his hands in hers, gently guiding him. She showed him how to cut the tomatoes, her voice sending waves of calmness on Wille.
Once he seemed to understand her instructions, she let him cut the rest of the tomatoes by himself. He repeated the steps methodically, making sure to take his time to create even little dices. Soon enough and without Wille realizing it, he got so engrossed in the repetitive steps of cutting vegetables that he forgot all about the phone call he had just received.
“I’m finished,” he said to Linda when all the tomatoes were cut correctly. “What do I do next?”
“You can cut the peppers the same way, please,” Linda told him from her place at the stove.
Wille got into the motion again and diligently started cutting the peppers, making sure they were perfect like Linda had shown him to do. As Wille got more comfortable with the steps, he started chatting mindlessly with Linda.
Soon enough, Wille felt arms sneaking around his waist as Simon pressed himself against his back. Simon put his chin on Wille’s shoulder and the motion made him smile; Wille knew that Simon had to be on his tiptoes to do this, he was slightly too short to hug Wille like this comfortably otherwise.
“Hey baby,” Simon said against Wille’s neck. His curls were still wet from his shower, drops of water falling on Wille’s shirt.
“Hey,” Wille replied as he pressed a kiss on Simon’s hair before his boyfriend got away from him.
“Need me to do anything, mama?” Simon said. He replaced Linda at the stove when she asked him to, so she could start preparing the sauce they would need for the supper.
After a few moments of comfortable silence, Wille remembered his phone call. “Oh, Simme,” he said as he looked up to Simon. “Erik says hi. To you too Linda.”
“Hey Erik,” Simon chuckled. “When did you talk to him?” Simon asked as he turned around to look at Wille.
“Just now,” Wille said casually. At least he hoped he sounded casual. “He called me while you were in the shower.” Simon frowned, staring at him with a slightly unsure expression.
“Why did he call?” Simon asked him.
“Oh, you know,” Wille said after letting out a shaky breath. “Just to give me some news about some new responsibilities I’ll have to take soon.” He kept his gaze fixed on his hands, which were stilled on the cutting board. His throat was feeling smaller than normal, making it harder to breathe. He tried to take a big breath but failed, making his thoughts spiral even faster in his head.
“Wille,” Linda’s voice cut through the fog in his head. “Please finish the peppers, cariño. Simon will need to add them in the pan soon.” Her voice was firm yet gentle. She hadn’t stopped making the sauce.
Wille was startled, remembering what he was doing. “Oh, right,” he said as he picked up the knife and the vegetables again. The clear motion of dicing peppers instantly had a calming effect on his mind. “I’ll have to go home next weekend, so I won’t be able to come to Rosh’s game. They are making me work with Erik on an environmental project and my first meeting will be then.” His voice was clearer than it had been mere seconds ago.
“Oh,” Simon said as he exchanged an indecipherable look with his mom. “All right, that’s fine baby. Rosh will understand.” Simon smirked at him, then. “Plus, it’ll just give her a reason to reenact the game play by play to you next time she sees you.”
Wille smiled at Simon. Leave it to him to know exactly what to say to make Wille feel better.
They continued preparing the supper, Wille back to a more cheerful mood. The night went on and Wille felt better about the situation, even if it still sucked. He didn’t want to take on more responsibilities but it was at least with a project he cared about.
It was a few weeks later that Wille realized what Linda had been doing. He was laying in Simon’s bed, the other boy fast asleep against his chest. Simon was leaving small puffs of warm air where his face was pressed on his neck. The regular breathing was easy for Wille to follow, keeping him out of spiralling like he had been doing earlier that night.
He had been going to the meetings more regularly now and he had been given more and more responsibilities as the weeks passed by —contrary to all expectations, he was good at those things. Turns out that giving him projects he actually cared about made him want to do the work. Still, it got overwhelming from time to time and today had been one of those bad days.
He had been in an anxious state when he had arrived in the late afternoon and no matter what Simon did, he had not been able to make him feel better. Linda, however, had instructed Wille to help with supper and had given her some fruits to cut for the chocolate fondue they would have later.
Before he knew it, Wille’s attention was on the task in front of him and he had forgotten about his mood, about what was stressing him out.
Linda had done this a few times now, Wille was realizing. When she saw that he was spiralling, she gave him some food tasks to concentrate on, making him forget his troubles for a while. It never failed to calm him down.
As he was finally falling asleep, Wille noted that he would need to give an extra-long hug to Linda in the morning. She really was doing everything in her power to take care of him.
Notes:
Hiii i Hope you enjoyed! It was time the boys got together :)
Chapter 4: Stuffy head
Notes:
This one is a bit of a smaller chapter, but I hope you’ll like it all the same!
It’s also a day early but I’m bored waiting before two classes, so here we are :)
Chapter Text
Wille and Simon’s relationship had been going well. Wille was settling into the new princely duties he had been given and had found a routine to balance school, the duties, and seeing Simon. Linda had been helpful to help manage his stress and had helped Wille be more comfortable with his anxiety. He had always kept it on the down-low, afraid that it was unbecoming for a prince. He still thought it was, some days, but never in front of Simon and his family. Erik saw some of it too —he always had— but Wille was finally able to deal with it on his own. Mostly.
Linda had sat down with him once and they had talked about balance. About not overworking oneself (Wille was very good at that).
It was good for Wille to have an adult help him through this change. His mother had been raised with the responsibilities of being the Crown Princess and Erik with the responsibilities of being the Crown Prince. They felt comfortable in their role even when it became overwhelming; they didn’t understand how it could be so difficult to deal with for Wille. His father, on the other hand, didn’t have to do much in his position as Prince Consort and could thus not relate to Wille’s experience.
Erik always tried his best to help him as much as he could and he was better than their parents had ever been, but Linda brought a new point of view that was useful to Wille. She obviously didn’t know what it felt like to be of the royal family but she always seemed to know what her kids felt and that had now extended to Wille.
So, as winter passed, he was able to get a better grip on his responsibilities and he put into practice what he had learned about managing his stress.
Spring was coming up and Wille was sick. How he had managed to get sick in the warmer weather while he had been perfectly fine all winter long was unknown to Wille —although if you asked anyone around him, they would tell you that the combination of being severely underdressed at that one rowing practice and his lack of proper sleep was a good indication as to the roots of his sickness. Wille was, however, adamant to say that he was managing everything perfectly well, as Linda taught him. And he had been dressed according to the weather, thank you very much.
Wille was trying —and failing— to look as if he was perfectly healthy. He did not need Simon’s look of ‘I told you so’ and didn’t want anyone else to start fussing on him. He was a big boy, he could take care of his stuffy nose by himself. Plus, it was nothing. A little cold would not take him out.
The little cold took him out.
Wille was laying on his bed with his head on Simon’s lap. The other boy was carding his fingers through his hair, his nails scraping patterns on Wille’s head. He had a pounding headache and couldn’t decide if he was too cold or too hot. His mind was cotton and his eyes were too wet and he wasn’t even sure what time of the day it was. He had tried for as long as possible to act as if he had nothing, but there was no way he could act through that. Maybe he should have tried to take care of it earlier but nobody would catch him admitting that.
Simon had been exasperated at first –he had done everything he could to make sure Wille was taking care of himself– but he had backed down rapidly when he had seen how bad Wille was feeling. Wille knew Simon would talk his ears off about it when he would be feeling better, but that was a worry for another time. Anyway, Wille didn’t really mind; he liked listening to Simon go on and on, even if it was to his detriment.
Wille didn’t want to admit it but it was nice to have Simon take care of him through his cold. He would consider not putting up such a fight next time. Not that there would necessarily be another time because Wille could definitely take care of himself. But still. He liked the attention Simon was giving him.
After one look at Wille that morning, Simon had decided that his job was to protect Wille from the world; or at least, it felt like it. Wille hadn’t been able to carry his own books to class and he had to sit down and wait for Simon to take bring him a plate full of food for lunch –it could be argued that Wille picking his own food, in the same place the other boys did, was not the most sanitary thing. Whatever. The rest of the day had been spent in a similar fashion; Wille was to sit back while Simon did everything in his power to help.
One of the things Wille liked about Simon was how he treated him like a normal person, how he viewed him as Wille instead of Prince Wilhelm. Prince Wilhelm had to sit back and wait while people did things for him and it could have easily felt like Simon was treating him like such but it didn’t. It felt like Simon was just taking care of Wille because that’s what boyfriends did. It felt nice, albeit unusual. Wille could get used to it, though. And he would definitely go out of his way to take care of Simon when the need would come.
Wille woke up a while later to Simon pushing his fringe from his face. He had a worried look on his face, his eyes were skimming all over his face. His knuckles brushed over Wille’s cheekbones and Wille snuggled back into his pillow. It smelled faintly like Simon.
“Come on baby, up you get,” Simon said as he helped Wille sit on the bed.
“What time’s it?” Wille blinked a couple of times, trying to get used to the light emerging from the window. He wasn’t sure he wanted to get up, he was so comfortable in the warmth of his bed.
“It’s time to go home. We need to take the next bus if we want to arrive in time for supper.”
“Home?” Surely Simon wasn’t taking him to the palace.
“I’m not letting you alone right now,” Simon said as he brought Wille his shoes. Wille watched his boyfriend bend down in front of him and lifted his foot, one at a time, when Simon motioned for him to do so. Simon was so careful —like he had been all day— while he helped him put his shoes on. “I packed you a bag.”
Wille hummed, happy to go home with Simon. He wouldn’t have wanted to impose, especially in his state, but staying alone really didn’t sound good today.
Wille got up —with Simon’s help— and together they walked to the bus stop. He had to heavily lean on Simon; his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. It made him dizzy, which didn’t help the general confusion he was feeling. He felt a little gross with his stuffy nose and he had sweated through his clothes earlier during his nap. He would have to change when he got home. Still, Simon didn’t seem to mind.
The bus ride seemed shorter than usual. Wille slept through most of it, his head fitted under Simon’s chin. It wasn’t the most comfortable position —the benches of the bus weren’t made for sleeping— but he was so, so tired. And stuffy. And his throat had now managed to be sore as well. And well, Simon was very soft and comfortable.
“Oh Wille, look at you cariño,” Linda said from the kitchen.
Wille took off his shoes and put his coat in Simon’s waiting hand.
The table was dressed and Linda was finishing up with the preparation of the food. Wille could recognize the dish. He was sure it smelled good —it usually did— but he couldn’t tell today. Damn his stuffy nose.
“How are you feeling, my boy?”
“I’m fine.”
“He’s not,” Simon said at the same time. The traitor. Wille glared at him —or at least tried to, everything seemed slightly out of focus right now. “He keeps falling asleep and he looks way more congested than he did this morning.”
Linda made a soothing noise as she took his face in her hands and looked at him before pulling him into a hug.
“No,” Wille said, trying to step back. He managed to break the hug but Linda let her hands rest firmly on his shoulders. “I don’t want to get you sick.”
“Nonsense, I don’t get sick.”
She looked at him all over before guiding him to a chair. He sat down, grateful that he didn’t have to support himself anymore. Linda kissed the top of his hair before going back to the kitchen.
“Simon, cariño, please prepare a can of chicken noodle soup for Wille.”
Wille closed his eyes and let himself rest as they prepared the food.
Wille was lying on the couch. To say that he wasn’t doing well was an understanding. His symptoms had become worse as the night had passed. Simon had insisted that Wille should sleep in his bed so he could make sure everything was all right during the night, but Wille didn’t want him to get sick. It had taken him some time to convince his boyfriend to let him sleep on the couch but Simon had finally relented when Wille had told him that he wouldn’t be able to take care of him the rest of the weekend if he got sick too.
He was regretting sleeping alone now, he was sure cuddles would do a good job at making his cold go away. Wasn’t it the saying? A cuddle a day keeps the cold at bay. Simon’s bed was more comfortable and warmer. And Wille was so, so cold right now. He hadn’t found any extra blankets when he had looked for them and he didn’t want to wake anyone up by asking where they were.
Wille was debating whether he should go to Simon or not when Linda came into the living room.
“How is it going now?” Linda asked as she crouched down in front of him. She put the back of her hand on his forehead, pushing back some of his sweaty hair in the process. “Wille, you’re burning up. You should have come and seen me mi amor.”
“Not hot, ˋm cold,” Wille sniffled. He was sure Linda could see and hear his teeth clattering.
“Wait here.”
Wille watched her go back down the corridor. Linda came back not long after with a blanket and a washing cloth. She motioned for him to scout down the couch and put the blanket over him.
Linda sat down on the now empty space on the couch. She put the wet washing cloth on his forehead once he had laid his head on her lap.
“Does it help?” she asked as she carded her fingers through his hair.
“Yeah.” Wille could feel himself falling asleep. Finally. “Thank you, Linda.”
He feel asleep before hearing her response.
Wille woke up alone on the couch. He was feeling a better than he had last night, luckily, but his head still felt a bit stuffed. That was to be expected. He padded through the house and made his way to the kitchen.
Linda was there, humming softly to herself. Wille sat at the dining room table, the chair squeaking as he pulled it out.
Linda turned to him, greeting him with a smile as she put the kettle on the stovetop. Wille smiled back and watched her move around the kitchen, happy to stay silent for a while.
“Here, drink up,” Linda said as she set a cup of tea in front of him. “It will make you feel better, my mama used to make it for me when I was a kid.”
Wille thanked her as he brought the mug to his lips, blowing softly on it before trying the tea. It tasted stronger than he normally liked but after a few sips, he could feel himself get less and less congested.
Linda came back to the table with two plates of food, one of which she put down in front of Wille and the other one in front of her.
“How are you feeling this morning?”
“Better,” Wille said before picking up a sausage on his plate.
“Glad to hear that, cariño.” Wille smiled shyly at his plate as Linda ruffled his hair. “Although, don’t overwork yourself this weekend, okay? Take it easy, as we talked about. You need rest once in a while.”
Wille nodded at her. She was right, he needed a little bit of rest. Spending the weekend here though would force him to take it slow, especially with Linda and Simon's careful eyes.
They ate while making small talk and soon enough Sara and Simon found their way to the kitchen. The former was chatting happily to her brother, who was barely keeping up. Sara gave Wille a big smile as greetings as she sat down next to Linda. It was nice being here and that wasn't only due to Simon and Linda. It had been very tentative at first, but Wille and Sara had managed to form a close friendship. It had been easier once Wille had befriended Felice again; the two girls had become very close and they had soon started to all hang out together.
Simon followed Sara to the table at a much slower pace. It didn’t take long for anyone to notice that he had caught Wille’s cold.
Simon sat down next to Wille, dropping his forehead on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Missed you. Should’ve slept with me, I caught your stupid cold anyway,” Simon said against his neck.
Wille chuckled as he kissed the other boy’s curls and locked eyes with Linda as he looked up. She sent him an exasperated smile at Simon’s comment. Wille couldn’t help but smile back at her as he listened to Sara talk about Felice’s horse.
The rest of the weekend passed slowly, which was exactly what Wille needed. He took care of a whiny Simon —Wille suspected that Simon was acting way worse than he actually felt just to have more of Wille's attention, which Wille was happy to give— with the help of Linda. It was nice to all cuddle up on the couch, watching movies and cooking together.
Chapter 5: Summer garden
Notes:
As promised, we are back with a bit of a longer chapter :) Hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Wille’s summer had been busy, he didn’t remember a time he had ever spent so much time indoors when the weather was so good. Normally, for Wille, summer meant feeling the sun on his skin as the wind blew through his hair. It meant long, free days outside as he took a break from school. It meant flowy clothes that kept him cool in the heat. It meant laughing with Erik when he had a break.
This year, summer meant spending his days inside in old stuffy rooms, looking out through the windows as he wished he could feel the sun shining on his skin. It meant styled hair –as much as he could manage, at least– paired with smart, structured clothes appropriate for endless meetings.
This year, Wille had wished he could learn what summer meant for Simon. He wished he could be there with his boyfriend, doing all of the fun things he knew Simon had the time to do. Sure, Simon had taken a part-time summer job and was thus stuck inside from time to time, but Wille longed for some time with his boyfriend, away from responsibilities and princely duties.
Wille had most of his evenings free when there wasn’t an event where his presence was required and he spent most of that free time on video calls with Simon. It wasn’t ideal but it was all they could do most weeks. He had been able to go to Bjärstad a handful of days this summer but it wasn’t enough; he could never stay there for more than 24 hours.
After pestering his mother for days on end, she had relented and had agreed to give him 10 days off. As soon as he had told Simon, the other boy had planned for him to come to Bjärstad. Wille hadn’t even had the time to put a word in the conversation before Simon had planned everything. He was pleased that Simon was missing him as much as Wille was. They were doing good and it sucked that they had to spend the summer apart but knowing that Simon understood his responsibilities and was there for him still made Wille feel all warm in his chest.
The weeks before he could go to Simon’s were long. Wille couldn’t seem to concentrate on whatever he had to do and his days were packed more than before to make up for the break he would take. Wille knew that it was good preparation for his future and he was enjoying some of the meetings –although he wouldn’t tell anyone that, he didn’t need his mother’s ‘I told you so’ face– but he was still eager to have some time off, to have a summer.
He was set to leave for Simon’s house on a Friday night and would come back on the second Monday after that. It wasn’t enough time for Wille –there was never enough time to spend with Simon– but it would do. Especially considering the fact that school would start again not too long after.
When there was an acceptable amount of time left before he went away, Wille started packing. He wasn’t sure what to bring. Was he bringing too much stuff? Too many clothes? Did he need to pack a suit? He didn’t think he would need one, but what if he did and then it was embarrassing to Simon that he had forgotten it?
Wille shook himself; he was being ridiculous. He had never stressed so much about going to Simon’s house before, now was not the time to start. It would be fine, he had spent weekends there and knew the Erikssons. He would be fine.
Simon was out of the door before the car had even turned the corner of the street. Wille could see him bouncing on the ball of his feet. So he wasn’t the only one excited to see the other, it seems. He knew Simon missed him, of course he knew that, but it was still reassuring to Wille to see it.
As soon as the car stopped, Wille opened the door and was met with an armful of Simon. The other boy was gripping the back of his shirt, his face hidden against Wille’s neck. Wille carefully put his arms around Simon, pulling his boyfriend closer to his chest. It was good to have Simon back but it was even better to know that he would stay here with him for a while; that it wasn’t only a few hours like the last time they saw each other.
After what could be minutes or hours, Wille moved back, keeping his hands on Simon’s shoulder; now that he had him, he didn’t want to let go. “Hey,” he said, lost in Simon’s eyes.
“Hey.”
They looked at each other, silly smiles plastered on their faces.
“Can we go inside?” Wille asked. “I really want to kiss you right now.”
Simon nodded eagerly and detangled himself from Wille, going around him to take his bags.
“I can take them,” Wille said as he sighed exasperatedly at Simon.
“I know.” Simon threw him a smile over his shoulder, already walking along the path to the house. Wille couldn’t help but smile back as he followed suit, the car leaving to go back to the palace.
The door closed behind Wille as he was backed into it. Simon was close, so close, and Wille barely had enough time to know what was going on that Simon’s mouth was on his.
Wille easily got lost in the drag Simon’s lips against his own, of his body, pressed into him. It had been so long since they last saw each other and yet it felt like no time at all. It was reassuring to know that they were still them even after this time apart, that they still fit together so well.
Simon’s arms were around his neck, hands in his hair brushing the stray strands out of his face. Wille dragged his own hands down Simon’s back, the firm body of his boyfriend grounding him.
Simon was deepening the kiss —yes, finally — when there was a cough and he suddenly jerked back, moving a few feet away from Wille.
“Simme, what-” Wille froze when he saw Linda smirking at them from across the room.
“Wille, nice to see you again!”
“Linda!” Wille said in a high-pitched voice. “How- uh- how are you?”
Linda laughed at him a little as she walked into the room and pulled him into a hug. “Glad to see you.”
She pulled back and ruffled Simon’s hair before going back down the hallway.
“Go put Wille’s things in your room before supper!” she threw over her shoulder.
Wille looked back at Simon, who was still blushing furiously. They smiled shyly at each other and each took a bag and went down towards Simon’s room.
It felt good to be back in his boyfriend’s room. He had missed it, the atmosphere was much better than his own room; much more personal. Wille put his bag down where Simon had put the other one and looked around. As soon as he spotted the fish tank, he remembered that Simon had told him he had gotten a new fish.
“It’s different from the other ones,” Wille noted. The fish was slightly darker than the three others.
“Mhmm,” Simon confirmed as he slid his arms around Wille’s middle, reminiscent of that time a couple of months ago not long after they had gotten together. Simon was shorter than Wille though and couldn’t put his chin on Wille’s shoulder comfortably. Instead, he pressed a kiss against Wille’s shoulderblade, letting his mouth press there for a few beats.
Wille turned around in Simon’s arms and put his own arms around his boyfriend’s shoulders. A stray curl was in front of Simon’s eye —he was letting his hair grow longer this summer, wanting to try out the look. Wille liked it, it made a curly halo around Simon’s face and it felt good under his fingers.
Wille pushed the curl behind Simon’s ear and looked at him. It had been too long since they had last seen each other in person. Video calls were great but they were not the real thing. Simon had to look up at Wille, especially when they were this close. He pushed up on tiptoes and crashed his mouth to Wille’s. They stumbled a bit backwards under the force, making them giggle in each other’s mouths.
“Missed this,” Simon said as his fingers pressed into Wille’s hips, hands spread wide against him. ‘Missed you .”
Wille didn’t have the time to respond, to tell Simon that he had missed it, missed him too, that their mouths were back together. He lost himself in the kiss and tried to tell Simon how much he had missed him that way, instead. With the drag of lips against lips, tongues hot and wet and breaths stealing each other’s air. Bodies pressed together, becoming one, becoming them again.
Before things could advance too much, they were interrupted again by Linda telling them, from across the house, that supper was ready.
Wille woke up alone on his third day at the Eriksson’s. Simon needed to go to work that morning and had left early. Wille got up and made his way to the bathroom before going to the kitchen. Sara was finishing up her breakfast when he came and hastily put her shoes on, threw him a ‘hello’ and Linda a ‘goodbye’ and was out of the door before Wille could even respond.
He turned around at Linda’s chuckle and gave her a tired smile as he made his way to the fridge. Linda squeeze his arm as she passed beside him and took Sara’s bowl to put it in the sink.
“Slept well?” she asked him as she returned to the table and sat down to read her book.
“Mhmm.”
“What were you planning to do today?”
“I don’t know, Simon’s finishing work at 2 pm, he said,” Wille said as he sat beside her with a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea.
“Well, I need to work on the garden a little this morning. You can join me if you want.” Linda smiled at him as he nodded his head yes and opened her book as she returned her attention to it.
Wille finished up his breakfast before going back to Simon’s room to change in clothes he could wear to work in the garden. He took one of Simon’s shirts that he knew he could get dirty without him minding and got dressed before joining Linda outside.
Once outside, Wille saw the garden Linda had been talking about. He had never noticed it before but it was big and beautiful.
“There are two parts to the garden,” Linda said as she stepped beside him. “The first part is for flowers. They make the place look more lively and colourful, and we can decorate the inside of the house with them,” she said as she pointed to the part of the garden in question. Various flowers and plants of all colours were alongside the back of the house. The flower beds were following the shape of the house in a simple manner. It differed from the gardens of the palace, which were much more extravagant and, frankly, much less pretty. Wille liked the more simple style, it made the flowers and plants stand out more.
Linda moved along the backyard towards wooden boxes. Wille followed suit. “The other half of the garden is for food. It’s much cheaper to grow our own fruits and vegetable than to buy fresh ones. And it tastes better, too,” Linda said to him with a smile.
They started with the flower beds. Wille had never done any gardening himself before –they had gardeners to do the job and the palace and Wille had never given it much thought. It was definitely a learning curve.
Most of the work had already been done before, they didn’t have to create a garden out of thin air –luckily, Wille thought, he wasn’t sure he would’ve been much help– but they still needed to make sure everything was growing correctly.
Linda showed him how to use the watering can and he was set to water whatever she pointed to him. It hadn’t been raining enough this summer for nature to take care of the plants by itself, so they had to help her out a little.
It was relaxing, Wille found, to water the flowers in such a way. It was exactly what he needed at the moment; he had spent too much of his summer indoors. Now, it was just the two of them working on a specific, physical job. It was different from the endless meeting where he had to pay enough attention to what everyone was saying so that he could participate in the conversation in an intelligent manner. Gardening, on the other hand, asked for a different kind of attention from him. He still had –wanted– to do the job correctly, but it was a methodical job, and thus much more relaxing. The sun was shining on his skin and he felt his shoulders lose some of the tension it had gained this summer.
Linda was on the other side of the flower beds and was using some type of big scissors to shape some of the plants, or that’s what she looked like she was doing. Wille didn’t know if it was just an aesthetic job or if it actually had a purpose.
Wille found himself humming with Linda to a Venezuelan song he had heard her put enough time while she cooked for him to know how it went. Mind you, he had no idea what the lyrics were or if he was pronouncing the words correctly –he probably wasn’t by the way Simon always teased him when he sang along– but it was a happy song and he liked it. It made him think of the Eriksson’s house.
Wille put down the watering can when his job was finished and went back to see what Linda was doing. She was taking care of some yellow flowers. They were of a roundish shape with many petals of a bright, warm yellow. Wille liked them, they looked like the sun.
“What flowers are they?”
“It’s a sort of ranunculus,” Linda said as she took one that had fallen on the ground and gave it to him. “They are Simme’s favourite, actually.”
“Really?” Wille looked in awe at the flower. It made sense that they were Simon’s favourite, they looked like the sun and Simon was Wille’s sun; he was bright and warm, full of light.
“Want to pick some for him? I need to put new ones in his room anyway, the last ones all dried out before you came.”
Wille felt himself grin at the idea. He had never given flowers to Simon; it had never crossed his mind. Now that he thought of it, though, there was no way he couldn’t do it. Even if it was something Linda usually did. It was still special.
She helped him pick a few flowers, showing him which one to cut and how to cut them. They picked out some more yellow ranunculus but Wille also chose some orange and purple flowers. It looked good, all together; it looked like Simon. It was colourful and happy and pretty and, yeah. Wille really didn’t know why he had never thought of giving his boyfriend a bouquet of flowers. Bless Linda and her good ideas.
“Happy with your selection?” Linda asked him with a smile.
Wille nodded his head yes. “You think he’s gonna like them?” he couldn’t help but ask Linda.
“Of course he is, the boy is crazy for you, Wille. He would like anything you give him,” Linda said with an exasperated glance. “It is a pretty bouquet. He’s going to love them,” she added in a more gentle voice when she saw the slightly unsure expression on Wille’s face. He knew Simon would like them because Wille would be the one to give them to him, but he still wanted to make sure it was a good bouquet.
“Okay,” Wille said with a small smile.
Linda patted his cheek with a smile of her own before realizing that they had just been gardening and that her hand wasn’t clean enough to be put on his face. Wille giggled at her apologetic face and let her clean his face as best as she could.
“Sorry, sorry,” she said as she passed a wet rag on his cheek. “There you go, all cleaned up. Let’s go inside now, we need to put those flowers in some water.”
Wille followed her inside and she showed him the cupboard in which she kept the vases. They had an eclectic assortment of vases, all of them different shapes, colours, and sizes. Wille instantly locked eyes with one in the back. It was of a roundish shape and a burned orange colour, with symmetric designs that seemed carved on the surface of a lighter colour. That’s the one , Wille thought. It would look good with the yellow and purple flowers. He picked it up, careful not to knock the other vases off, and went back to the kitchen to put the flowers in the vase.
Linda was waiting with the flowers, her hands finally cleaned. “Oh, that’s a good choice cariño,” she said when she saw the vase Wille had picked out. “We got it the last time we went to Venezuela, Simon must have been eleven by that time.”
“You haven’t been back since then?” Wille asked as he put the vase on the kitchen counter.
“No, it’s always so complicated. We will probably go back when they graduate from Hillerska before they go to uni.”
“You must miss it?” Wille couldn’t imagine being that far from home for that long. Hillerska was difficult and he was only a long car ride away. There was no way for Linda to go back home, and for Simon and Sara to visit their family, as easily as Wille could.
“Sometimes,” Linda said. “But my home has been here for a long time now. It’s good to go back from time to time, though.” Linda gave him the flowers and took the vase to put some water in it. “I have some pictures of Simon from our last trip, I can show them to you tonight if you want.”
“Yes, please,” Wille said excitedly. Simon never showed him any of his childhood photos and there wasn’t a lot of them displayed around the house. Wille was jealous, Simon could easily type his name on Google and find tons of pictures of Wille, even some embarrassing paparazzi ones yet he wouldn’t show Wille some of his pictures. And he knew Simon had searched him up, he had made a collage with his worst picture for his birthday. His birthday. Simon had been lucky his gift was as good as it had been; Wille had not liked the collage. Simon had kept it and had it pinned on his wall above his bed (Wille would not admit that he found it cute that Simon wanted printed pictures of him as a kid).
Linda put back the vase on the counter and Wille started to display the flowers in it. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he figured that it couldn’t be that hard. He had picked enough flowers to pick the vase and it was looking good. Simon would like it.
When he was done with it, he went and put the flowers in Simon’s room, near his fish tank, before going to take a shower —gardening wasn’t a clean activity.
Wille was drying his hair with a towel when he heard voices in the house. There was a loud laugh that echoed; it was Simon’s. It always puts a smile on Wille’s face when he heard his boyfriend laugh. He wasn’t holding back when he laughed, it was nice and melodious, and Wille liked knowing he was happy.
Wille put the towel back on the rack and put on one of Simon’s hoodies he had taken from his room. Simon was standing on the other side of the door when he opened it.
“Hey,” Simon greeted him with a grin.
“Hey,” Wille grinned back before dropping a kiss on Simon’s lips. “I got something for you today.”
Simon’s eyes widened with excitement. “What is it?”
“It’s in your room, c’mon.” Wille led Simon to his bedroom, a hand at the small of his boyfriend’s back. “It’s nothing much, really,” Wille mumbled. He didn’t want Simon to get his hopes all high up.
Simon sent him an unimpressed —yet soft— look, as he often did when Wille tried to downplay whatever he was doing for Simon.
They entered Simon’s bedroom and Wille went straight to the flowers, taking the vase and hiding it behind his back. “Close your eyes and give me your hands.” When Simon did as he said, Wille put the vase in his waiting hands. “Okay. You can open your eyes now,” he said softly, a little anxious to see Simon’s reaction. Maybe it was a stupid gift; Linda was always putting flowers anyways.
Simon opened his eyes and looked down at the vase. When he saw what the gift was, he shot Wille a teasing grin. “You got me flowers from the garden?”
Fuck. Wille knew it was a stupid gift. “I– I was watering the garden with Linda and she said they were your favourite flowers- the yellow one– and. I told you it wasn’t much but–”
“Wille, Wille,” Simon said as he put the vase back down on the desk and circled Wille’s waist with his arms. Wille could feel Simon’s warm breath fawning on his collarbones, grounding him at the moment. “I like them, love them. Thank you.”
“Oh,” Wille said, feeling his body relax as his anxiety calmed down. He put his arms around Simon’s shoulders, squeezing him against his chest as he rested his chin on his boyfriend’s head. “I’m glad.”
“Did you really think I wouldn’t like them?”
Simon lifted his head up, fixing Wille with the same unimpressed look as earlier. Wille felt himself blush and groaned, dropping his head against Simon’s shoulder in a poor attempt to hide.
“...No.”
“Wille.” Simon poked him in his ribs but Wille refused to look at him.
“Linda gives them to you all the time, it’s just nothing special if I am the one who gives them, it’s all.”
“And you think the fact that my boyfriend and my mom spent the day hanging out without me and picked flowers from our garden for me is nothing special? That I don’t love seeing how well all the people I love most fit together?”
Wille stayed silent at that, not trusting his voice to work right now. He did, however, pull Simon closer to his chest and tried to convey through actions how grateful he was for his boyfriend. Simon’s hands were tracing comforting patterns on his back, yet another reminder of how good and understanding Simon was.
“I had a good day with Linda,” Wille said when he felt his throat was clear again. “She told me all about the different flowers you have and I think we’ll be working on the food garden tomorrow!”
“Yeah?”
And so Wille spent some more time —still in his boyfriend’s arms— telling Simon about his day with Linda. And the next days Simon was working, Linda and Wille would go to the garden, alternating between taking care of the flowers and the food. When Simon would come back from work, he would gladly listen to Wille gush about what he had learned from Linda. And when Wille would have to go back to the castle for the end of summer, he would spend the entire car ride clutching the single flower Linda had given him —a red flower he didn’t remember the name of— smiling at himself as he would think of the best vacations he had ever had, thankful for the people and the love Simon had brought in his life.
Notes:
I couldn't help myself and had to give Wille and Simon a little more time together.
Next chapter is Kristina's one and it's coming next week, as always! :)
Chapter 6: Anniversary
Notes:
Last chapter! Look at that!
This was fun to write. Posting the first chapter when I only had 2 written and giving myself a schedule for it was a bit stressful but I'm happy that I managed to stay on track!I truly hope this chapter lives up to expectations lol
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“You have been shifty this week,” his mother said, squinting her eyes at Wille. He had been home for a few days now for Christmas break. It was that time of the break between Christmas and New Years where time seemed to stop. While they had loads to do before Christmas, they were now waiting for New Year for the usual royal party.
“I haven’t,” Wille assured her. He had been shifty. It was approaching his and Simon’s two years anniversary and Wille still hadn’t decided what to do. He knew he wanted to surprise Simon with something but he was stuck as to what that something could be. He had less than two weeks to decide and all of his ideas felt stupid, bad, or too clichée. Or all three together.
His mother raised her brows at that, her expression clearly telling Wille that she didn’t believe him. That wasn’t so surprising, though. She was the Queen, she knew how to read people —even if expressing emotions was somewhat difficult for her. To be fair, Wille had a pretty easy face to read.
“You are not fooling me, Wilhelm.” She sat down on the couch next to him —her back was so straight, always so proper even when they were just spending time as a family. Wille saw Erik glance at him from over his book, an amused expression on his face. He knew why Wille was shifty and he was probably enjoying watching him try and deny it. Wille had made the mistake of going to Erik to get ideas for a surprise and since then, Erik was taking every chance he could to tease him, calling him a big sap. He was but could you blame him? Simon had been his boyfriend for almost two years. Simon. He had every rights to be a big sap if he wished so.
“Has it got anything to do with the fact that you will be starting your last semester at Hillerska after the break? You must not be sad about that. If you are, it is going to spoil the time you have left.”
“No that’s not–” Wille started, before thinking that it could be a good reason to be shifty. “No– uh, yeah, it is. So sad.”
His mother looked at him, unimpressed. That wasn’t his most convincing work, he could give her that.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Wilhelm.”
“Nothing!”
Erik chuckled from over where he was seated, earning a suspicious glance from their mother.
“You know something,” she stated, slowly turning towards her oldest son.
Erik cleared his throat, putting on an innocent face —it was a clear giveaway that he knew something. “I know nothing, Wille has definitely not come to me for advice.”
“Erik!” Wille said, knowing that he was officially done for. He might have had a chance to redirect his mother’s attention to something else before but it was now clear that she would pester him until Wille gave in. And he would have in, he always did.
Erik grinned at him. The bastard.
“Advice for what?” their mother pressed.
“Matters of the heart.”
“Erik! What the fuck!” Wille said as he threw a couch pillow at his brother’s face, earning a delighted laugh from Erik and a glare from his mother.
“Wilhelm! Stop acting like a child. It is unbefitting.”
Wille scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. “Well, tell Erik to stop acting like a dick.”
That earned him a warning glare from his mother.
“Now, what matters of the heart do you need advice for?” his mother asked him.
Wille shot Erik yet another mean glare —it probably didn’t look as mean as he meant it, or Erik was just immune to his glares at this point— before turning his eyes back down to his hands. His nails were suddenly very interesting.
“Are you having trouble with Simon?”
Wille raised his head so fast he got dizzy for a second. He stared at his mother, registering the words she said, before slowly turning accusing eyes to Erik.
Wille glanced back at his mother. “How do you– how–”
He hadn’t told his parents about Simon yet. Don’t get him wrong, he was talking about Simon all the time —he didn’t think there was a world in which he would be able to not talk about Simon— but he still hadn’t told them about the nature of their relationship. Wille didn’t want to deal with the hassle of creating a PR plan on how to display their relationship. He had seen the endless meetings Erik and his girlfriend Klara had been put in once he had told their parents about them and he wasn’t ready for all of that yet, nor was Simon —although they knew Erik had stricter rules on dating due to his position as Crown Prince.
They also kept it mostly quiet at school. Their friends knew about it, of course they did, but they kept the PDA to a minimum in big public settings.
His mother rolled her eyes at Wille —a very unqueenly gesture that would have surprised Wille if he had stopped to think about it. “Was it supposed to be a secret?”
“I– What?” Wille gaped at his mother.
“Wilhelm, close your mouth,” his mother said as she lightly tapped Wille’s chin. “What happened with Simon? You two broke up?”
“No! But how do you– how do you know about Simon?”
“Do you think me stupid?” his mother said indignantly.
Wille felt the heat rise on his cheeks, realizing that he was probably not as subtle about Simon as he thought he was. He turned towards Erik at the sound of his brother laughing and saw him poorly holding in his laughter, his face hiding behind his book.
“No, I don’t– I just,” Wille stuttered, making Erik openly laugh. “You told them!” —Wille turned towards his mother— “He told you?” Erik had promised not to say anything to their parents. Wille had thought he would keep his word.
“No, he didn’t tell me,” their mother said as Erik defended himself. “Honestly, Wilhelm, there was no need for him to tell me, it’s clear as day that you like the boy.”
“Oh,” Wille said. “It is?”
“ ‘It is?’ he asks. Wilhelm, you talk about him all the time. Every time we call you or every time you come back here, it is always ‘Simon this’, ‘Simon that’, with stars in your eyes. Christ, you blush when you receive a text from him.”
“Oh, okay,” Wille said, still coming to terms with the fact that his mother knows. He could have talked freely about Simon all of this time, it seemed. “How do you know we are together, though?”
His mother sighed and pinched the top of her nose, looking somewhat exasperated. Wille didn’t think he deserved that expression, it was a valid question. She may have caught on to his crush on Simon, but he still didn’t know how she knew about their relationship.
“Wilhelm,” she said slowly as if she was talking to a dumb child —which Wille wasn’t, thank you very much. “Last summer, your lock screen was a picture of you two kissing.”
Wille blinked at her. Maybe she was talking to a dumb child after all.
“That was a rookie mistake,” Erik agreed, still delighted by the situation unfolding in front of him. Now thinking about it, it hadn’t been Wille’s best idea; not that he would tell them that. He had really missed Simon, though, and that picture had made him feel slightly better.
Sara had taken it at Simon’s eighteenth birthday. They had thrown him a small, but joyous party; their friends from Hillerska had been there, as well as Rosh and Ayub. They were all wearing those ridiculous party hats, Simon’s one flattening his curls on his forehead. Simon had just cut the cake and had turned towards Wille, smearing a bit of the chocolate frosting on his face before kissing it all off. Rosh had whistled at them while Sara had taken the picture. It was one of Wille’s favourite memories; the smile plastered on his face in the photo a proof of it.
“So, what is the problem with Simon?” his mother asked, startling Wille out of his thoughts.
“It’s not a problem with Simon.”
She looked at him expectantly but still gave him the time to gather his thoughts.
Wille groaned, hiding his face behind his hands. He had spent so long keeping this part of his life for himself —or at least away from his parents— that it felt weird to talk about it with his mother. Especially because his mother’s idea of romance was seeing their father between meetings instead of at the end of the day. That wasn’t the type of surprise Wille was looking for.
“Our two years anniversary is coming up and I want to surprise Simon but I don’t know what to do.”
“He came to me for advice but rejected all of my ideas,” Erik chimed in.
“Your ideas were all bad,” Wille said, glaring at his brother from between his fingers.
“They were not!”
“They were!”
“Boys!” their mother fixed them both with stern looks.
Wille searched for another pillow to throw at Erik but opted to glare at his brother instead when he saw that there wasn't one near him.
“Is that all that is troubling you? Surely Simon will like whatever you come up with.”
Wille knew that. He knew that Simon would like whatever surprise he would come up with; it didn’t mean that Wille didn’t want it to be perfect. Simon deserved perfect.
The doors opened to an advisor of his mother. “Your majesty, you are requested for a meeting,” the woman said. The serious air of the woman, as well as her serious message, was all it took to remind their mother that she was in fact the queen.
Wille instantly saw the change in her. She straightened her back even more and put on her neutral expression. Gone was their mother and back was the queen.
Kristina rose from the couch and looked back at Wille one last time, with a calculating expression in her eyes; an expression that, strangely, seemed more mother than queen. Wille wasn’t sure if it was only his imagination, it was gone as soon as it appeared.
“Behave,” she told the two princes sternly before walking out of the room, following her advisor.
Wille was sitting on his favourite armchair in his room —he had a whole living room in his bedroom which was completely unnecessary, as Simon had once told him. It was angled towards the window, showing off the pretty view. He had been using it for enough time now that it wasn’t as hard, as uncomfortable as the other old armchairs.
He had been engrossed in his book for quite a while now when a knock resonated in the silent room.
“Come in!” he said, not bothering to open his door by himself.
“Wilhelm,” he heard his mother say.
Wille raised his head, and looked at her, where she had stopped by the door. She looked as polished as she always did; not a hair out of place, her clothes ironed out perfectly. Still, she had an open expression on her face, she didn’t look like the queen, but rather like his mother.
“Mama,” Wille said, putting his book down on the side table.
“Do you have some time right now?” she asked. She came and sat down on the nearest armchair when he nodded his head yes.
Wille looked down at his hands, unsure as to what to say. It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable in his mother’s presence, he just had a harder time balancing his mother and the queen. He looked up at her when she cleared her throat. She looked slightly out of place as if she wasn’t sure what she was doing here. Wille had an inkling that it had to do with their unfinished conversation of the other day, the one about Simon.
“How are you enjoying your break so far?” Wille had a feeling that this was not what she had meant to say.
“It’s good,” he said, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as his eyes flew over her face in an attempt to know where this conversation would take them.
“Have you found any idea for your surprise for Simon?” Here it was, finally.
“I don’t know, might have a few but I haven’t decided on anything yet.” Wille put his thumb in his mouth, suddenly unsure he wanted to have this conversation. Surprisingly, his mother didn’t comment on it —although he could see in her face that it bothered her a little.
“And when is your anniversary?”
“January 9th.”
His mother hummed, her fixed gaze analyzing something on Wille’s face, although he didn’t know what.
“Two years you said?”
Wille nodded his head yes. Something in her expression changed at that. She relaxed slightly on the armchair.
“You didn’t tell me.”
Wille shrugged. She wasn’t asking a question, just stating the truth.
“Did you think I would be against it?”
Wille looked at her, trying to decipher what was the meaning behind her question. She didn’t seem mad that he had never said anything. She looked a little hurt maybe, but Wille wasn’t completely sure what that emotion looked like on his mother; she never seemed to care enough to get hurt. Or to let it show, at least.
“No. Maybe? I don’t know.” It wasn’t the main reason he had kept it to himself —and to all the others who knew— but he couldn’t deny that it was a fear that sometimes nagged at the back of his mind. “I mostly didn’t want to get PR involved in it yet. I saw how it went for Erik and Klara and I didn’t want to put Simon through that yet.”
“You two are younger than them and you are at Hillerska. It changes things.”
Wille shrugged, pressing his palm against his chest in a soothing motion.
“Will you tell me about Simon?” his mother asked quietly. “As your boyfriend rather than your friend.”
Wille looked at his mother, his surprise surely evident on his face. He had been expecting his mother to direct the conversation on what they would need to do with PR —because he knew that when they would both get out of their little Hillerska bubble, they would need to secure a plan on that front, even if it was just for Simon and his family’s security. He hadn’t expected his mother to stay, well, his mother for the conversation rather than turning into the queen.
“Wille,” she said carefully. “We will have to talk about how we will expose your relationship but there is still time to do so. You have both stayed subtle enough and I trust that your time remaining at Hillerska will go the same way. However, I would like to know about my son’s boyfriend. If you want to talk about it, of course”
Wille looked at his mother and felt the tension in his chest ease; she was being sincere. She smiled at him and Wille couldn’t help but smile back as he started talking about Simon, about his boyfriend.
He knew that the time to think of his relationship as a royal one would come soon enough but for now, he would gladly tell his mother about the boy that made him smile like no one else, that made him laugh harder and louder than he did even with Erik.
He would tell his mother about his weekends at the Erikssons’ and about the first time Simon had said ‘I love you' to him. About meeting his friends and finding some of his best friends that way, about finding a sister in Sara and creating a strong bond with Linda.
And his mother would listen with a smile on her face; a smile that was rare but that made Wille proud. His mother would suggest a concert for Wille to bring Simon to, because his mother knew enough about his boyfriend that she knew what he could like.
Wilhelm would later have a talk with the Queen, Simon and the PR team, but under the Queen his mother would still be there for Wille when something would be too much, to know what plan or angle would work for her son as well as the youngest prince.
And then later on, the Erikssons would meet Wille’s family —not as the royal family but as Wille’s family— and Wille wouldn’t see it but his mother would look thoughtfully at Wille and Linda interacting and would realize that Wille needed different things then Erik did. She would realize that what had worked for her and later on for Erik wasn’t what Wille needed.
She wouldn’t say anything, but Kristina would slowly adjust how she interacted with her youngest son and would find that it was an approach she really liked.
It would show her a new side of Wille, a side that was strong and confident. She would also discover a new side of herself; a side that would, with practice, be more openly affectionate and more considerate.
It would help Kristina become a better mom to Wille —she was exceptional at being the Queen but had never stopped to think about how she could be a better mom.
That would be the most rewarding thing Kristina would ever work on.
Notes:
This is a 'I hope Kristina will get her shit together in S2 and be a mom for Wille' fic. Written purely to appease my mind.
Hope you liked it! See you next time :)
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