Young Royals: After season 1

Chapter forty: Wilhelm

Time went by and both Simon and I healed from our wounds. Soon I was walking again, even though I had problems with my balance. We had not heard much about Simon's father, but we guessed he was still alive since we had not heard differently. Simon had decided to train my balance by making me walk with him in the forest. It had been an eternity since I had been down in the woods by Hillerska. I had missed it, I realised. The forest calmed me down.

"If you fall I promise I will catch you," Simon said. He had an arm wrapped around my waist, holding me steady while we walked the little path that was filled with roots in the ground.

"Well I fall for you every day," I flirted with him. He was giggling at my words. I stumbled a bit and he held me up, so that I would not fall to the dirty ground.

"Thankfully I seem to catch you every time," he replied. I heard Malin hold back her laugh behind us. She probably thought we were being silly. We were pretty silly, to be honest. But I loved being silly with Simon. He was one of the few I felt I could show that side to without feeling judged.

"Lucky me," I said and caressed his cheek. Then I kissed him. It was a more passionate kiss than the one we had shared the day after he slept in my dorm the first time. The night that changed both our lives forever. I had been so afraid of losing him forever. I had not blamed him if he did not want me after what I had done. I had denied him in front of the whole country. Left him when he needed me the most after the whole world had seen us in bed together. I had been a coward. I had not done right by him. But I had made it up to him. Thankfully. I did not know what I had done without him. I certainly would not have trained balance in the forest that day if it was not for him. That was for sure.

"Do you want to sit down by the lake for a while, Wille?" Simon asked me. I nodded. I had not realised I was a bit tired after the short walk down the forest. I was not used to this anymore. It would take even more time until I would be good enough to work out at P.E.. I could only do exercises that they had shown me down at the hospital.

We sat down on a bench by the lake and watched the last migratory birds fly their way down to warmer weather. I took Simon's hand in mine and leaned against his shoulder. Malin was standing a few feet away, just observing us. I knew that without looking over my shoulder. I could not sneak out through the window as easily as I could before my accident, so I had to live with having my bodyguard in my heels all the time. And Malin was probably pretty satisfied with my inability to do as I liked without her knowing. Simon had gotten used to having a bodyguard following us at all times by now. It must have been so uncomfortable for him when we started dating. I was uncomfortable having people watching my every step myself. I still had a wish I could be normal and that I was not the next king of this country. I had not asked for any of what I was given. And truly I was not made to be king. I was anxious in social situations. I did not remember names. I hated to be the centre of attention. And I did not want to live a life that someone else had already decided. I wanted to be free. Free to do whatever I wanted. To be exactly who I wanted to be. With the weight of a whole country on my shoulders I knew I would never be entirely free. I missed Erik. I missed mom. I missed the life I could have had if I was not the king to be. If I had at least just been the younger prince. I could have moved across the sea with Simon, without being recognized by everyone in the streets. I could have had a somewhat ordinary life. But that did not go to plan.

"What would you do if you could do anything with your life?" I asked Simon. He looked at me.

"If I could do anything with my life?" he replied. I nodded. "Do you mean what my dream future looks like?" he asked. I nodded.

"In my dream future you and I are together until the end. I would like to study something at university and maybe travel a bit with you. And then when we are older I would like us to have a couple of kids and a house. And then I want to live my life happy with you," he said. He did not even mention me being king. I sighed. I liked the sound of that future.

"Are you not happy with that?" Simon teased.

"It sounds lovely, baby. I would love to be able to live like that," I said.

"Then why did you sigh?" he asked. He smiled at me.

"Because it is too good to be true. My life is already decided. I am the next king of this country that does not even need a king. And I want to live a life free as those birds in the sky, just be with you and be happy," I said. "It is so unfair. I did not want the stupid royal title to begin with. I will just fuck everything up and everyone will be disapointed in me." I was upset. Simon tried to comfort me.

"I know you did not ask for any of this, baby," Simon replied. "But you know what? You won't get rid of me anytime soon. I will stay with you whatever your future holds. Even if that means that I will be prince Simon and have to have body guards wherever I go. You might not see it yourself, but you are worth it. I want to make you as happy as the next king of the country can be, even if I can't give you everything. I can't give you anonymity or the freedom you want. But I can give you all the love I have to give. And I love you in ways that no words can describe, Wille," Simon said. I let his words sink in. I saw tears in his eyes.

"I love you too," I replied. "And I am so thankful to have someone like you in my life. Without you I would be nothing. I would be hopeless." I felt tears threaten to fall down my eyes too. Before either of us began to cry I kissed him. Made out with him. I did not want to cry. I just wanted to be here with him. Forget everything else. Forget that I ever would be the king of this country and that I would never live a life I could decide fully on my own. As long as I had him I had everything I truly could ask for. As long as I had him I would be happy, even if the circumstances were not the ones I had always dreamed of. He was the only circumstance that truly mattered. Without him I did not know what happiness was. I could live however, if I just had him.      

Author's note

I now have summer holidays and more time to write and read. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading, commenting and voting. Hope you all have a nice summer!