Young Royals S2

Chapter 8 - Wilhelm

I hear the doorbell ring. I take a quick look in the mirror, fix my hair and walk to the door.
It's Simon, with a bright smile on his face. 'Hey, come on in,' I say.

When I left his house a couple of days ago, after our secret meet-up on the football field, I promised him a date. We realized that we had never actually spent time together outside of Hillerska or his house. We of course couldn't be seen in public, so I decided to invite him over to my place. It's risky, I know, but my parents are out of town for some important dinner meeting, so I figured this was the night to do it.

Simon walks in and gives me a hug. I sniff his hair, which I always do when we hug. The smell of him calms me down. It kind of feels like home. I know, cheesy.

'I'm excited for tonight,' says Simon. 'And kind of nervous. Are you sure we're safe here? You're parents won't find out?'

'Yes, I'm sure. They have a dinner with some important people and that always takes hours. They won't be home until very late,' I assure him. 'Do you want a tour of the house?'

Simon looks around. 'Wouldn't that thake hours? This place is insane,' he says, trying to hide how impressed he actually looks. I laugh. 'Yes, it would take quite long I think. Besides, there's only actually one place I want you to see. Here, give me your coat.'
He hands me his coat, still with his eyes all over the place.

I grab his hand. 'Come on, this way,' I say. I take him upstairs, to my room. 'OK, keep your eyes closed until I say you can open them.'

Simon presses his lips together and looks at me like he doesn't really trust me, but eventually does cover his eyes with his hands. I open my bedroom door. 'OK, you can open them now.'
Simon puts his hands away and his eyes widen. 'Wow. Holy shit.'

I didn't really know what do for our date, so I decided to make my room a bit cozier than it usually is. I built him a pillow fort and used all the candles I could find in the house to put them in my room. 'Did you do this all by yourself?' Simon asks. I decide to tease him a bit. 'No, I made the butler do it actually,' I say.

Simon raises his eyebrow at me. 'No, I'm kidding. I did do it myself. Do you like it?' I ask a bit insecure. Maybe he thinks it's goofy. 'I love it! It's so cute!' Simons says. Phew. It was a ton of work to make this happen: I had to steal pillows from every room without getting caught by the housekeepers and building a pillow fort was a lot harder than I remembered.

We sit down. 'How did you come up with this idea?' Simon asks me.
'Ehm, well, Erik and I actually used to do this all the time when we were younger.' I feel tears coming up by mentioning his name, but I try to ignore it. 'It would drive our parents crazy every time we did it. Probably why we liked it so much,' I say, trying to laugh. But Simon sees right through me. He opens his arms. 'Come here,' he says soft. I immediately take the offer and lay down is his arms.

'We never really talked about Erik. Were you close?' Simon asks. I swallow. 'Yes. Well, I think so. We were quite close when we were younger, but with all the pressure and attention on us when we grew older we didn't spend much time together anymore. But he does know of you, actually. Sort of. I didn't mention your name, but...' I say. I'm not sure if I should tell Simon about how I discussed him with Erik.

'But what?'

'Well, I called with him before the weekend he died. The weekend we wanted to spend together at Hillerska, you know. I told him that I wanted to stay and he teased me because I had a crush,' I tell Simon.

'A crush? Is that all I am?' Simon says while he pokes me in my side. I laugh. 'Do you want to be more than that?' I ask him back. I see Simon think for a minute. Then he looks in my eyes. 'Maybe... you could call me your.... boyfriend?' he asks.

I  feel a warm glow all over my body and my heart feals like it's about to burst. For a minute I forget all my responsibilities and the promises I made my parents. 'Yes. Yes, I would love that,' I say. 'Then it's a deal,' Simon says. 'We're boyfriends.' He puts his hand on my cheek and kisses me.

'Okay, boyfriend,' I say. Simon laughs. 'Are you going to finished each sentence with "boyfriend" now?' he says. I laugh too. 'Probably, boyfriend.'

We laugh together and I realize this might be the first time I've laughed in weeks.

'I love you, Wille,' Simons says, turning serious again. The power these three words have on me, surprises me every time.

'I love you too. More than anything.'