So this is the third Au, the one with the prince and the citizen and its Shawn x Grant.
Being a prince wasn't as ludicrous as it seemed. You didn't get to do anything you wanted to, you had to take lessons to become a 'great' leader.
Grant found it boring. And stupid. Why couldn't a prince have his own way of leading the kingdom he was forced upon.
Grant had a smaller brother, and he definitely agreed. But unlike Grant, he actually wanted to lead the kingdom one day.
But Grant, he dreamed to travel around kingdoms. But his dreams were crushed when he realized he could only go outside the castle around the small town right beside it.
Any further, and he'll be dragged right back here and not able to leave ever again. So Grant took what he had and enjoyed walking through the cobbled streets of the small town.
That's where he currently was. He got annoyed anytime someone recognized him as the prince and bowed.
Grant thought everyone was equal, he thought they shouldn't bow to him or call him sir, just call him by his name.
He tried telling people this, but none of them ever listened. As Grant walked, he placed his hands in his pockets.
Sometimes travellers from different towns came to this small town. And even they knew Grant was the prince, sadly enough.
Two little children ran past him laughing and playing. They stopped to bow to Grant. "Hello sir!" They said with large grins.
"Hi." Grant responded. "Prince, prince! Do you wanna play with us?" The little boy asked. The little girl looked at him with large eyes.
Grant thought for a second. Yeah, he did want to, but he'd look like a child. But who cared. But before he could answer, their mother came over.
"Stop bugging the prince!" She said. The two little kids ran off laughing. Grant felt lonely. The kids mother went back to her little produce shop to watch over it.
Grant looked back at the kids and they were asking another man to play tag with them. For some reason, Grant couldn't look away.
The man was a traveller, but he looked young and cheerful, a big smile brightening up his green eyes. The little girl poked him.
The two kids ran off and the man chased them. Grant sighed, tearing his eyes away. He kept walking around, until he felt a small person bump into him. He turned and caught the child before they fell.
The little girl looked up at him.
"I'm sorry!" She said, looking as if she might cry. "Oh it's fine, are you alright?" Grant asked kindly. She nodded her head.
The little boy and the man playing with them came over. "Aw, is she okay?" The man bent down and patted her on the head.
"Prince! Was mommy right when she said you don't wanna play with us?" The little boy asked. Grant let a small smile slip.
"Of course not. I would've loved to play, it's just that most people frown upon adults playing children games. And the would most likely get lectured about it when I return home." Grant trailed off with a sad frown.
"So would that mean ya'd like to run around like a small child or-" the adult that was playing with the children was leaning against a fence post smirking at Grant.
"I..." Grant didn't know how to respond. "I know I do!" The man laughed. Grant smiled for a second before forcing it away.
"I'm afraid I wouldn't know how, princes don't get to have fun or friends, so basically no childhood." Grant sighed.
"That sounds horrible!" The little girl said. "Oh, it is." Grant responded. The traveller pursed his lips as he thought.
"Always look on the bright side of things! You could play tag with us, even as adults, I find it incredibly fun!" He smiled. Grant hesitated. "C'mon Prince! Ya only live once. Do what you think you'd want to do." The guy said.
"Okay...on one condition." Grant said. "Yeesss?" The man asked. "Don't call me prince or sir, just call me by my name, Grant." The prince said.
"Alrighty! I'm Shawn by the way." The man smiled. "And I'm Janet and this is my twin brother Seth!" The little girl said.
"YOU'RE IT!!" Seth screamed, tagging his sister. The little kids laughed and Janet started chasing Grant. The Prince ran away, not too fast as it was an eight year old chasing him and was much slower.
Grant couldn't help but smile. He let the little girl tag him. At least he could run very fast, all those sword lessons were paying off in a game of tag.
He decided to chase Shawn. The traveller was surprised at how fast the Prince could run. "How can you run that fast!" Shawn yelled in surprised. Grant was gaining on him, soon jumping and pinning him to the ground.
The two adults laughed so hard they could barely breathe. "You're it!" Grant giggled, standing up. The four continued chasing each other around for nearly two hours, until Shawn ran smack into a guard that was patrolling the streets.
The guard roughly grabbed him by the throat. "What's your problem?!" He snarled. Shawn whimpered and tried wriggling out of his grip. He threw Shawn onto the ground. "You dare disrespect the royal guard?" He growled.
"I-I'm so s-sorry I-I d-didn't mean t-to-" Shawn stuttered. "You're lucky we don't kill you for your disrespect!" The head of the guard shouted.
"We'll just take you to the dungeon and see how you like it, all you travellers are the same, just cuz you're not from here you think you can do whatever you want!" The guard snapped.
Before he could lean down and grab Shawn's throat again, Grant stepped forwards in between them. "ENOUGH! Do not touch him!" Grant shouted. Everyone stared at him.
"Yeah? And what're you gonna do about it, you ludicrous citizen?" The guard sneered. "Ludicrous citizen? I'm the prince, you fu-" Grant stopped speaking when he felt a tug on his sleeve.
Shawn sensed he was about to curse and shook his head, nodding towards the children. "Look, you're not touching him or I'll have you lot thrown in the dungeon!" Grant snapped.
The guards suddenly recognized him. "Wait...he's not king, he can't tell us what to do!" One guard laughed.
Grant realized he was right. They grabbed Grant and Shawn and dragged them back to the palace. The king was a decent man, but he followed the rules of past rulers.
The two were put in front of the king. Grant crossed his arms. "Sire, this man was disrespecting the prince and he soldiers by running into us and tackling the Prince." The head of the guard said.
"Not true!" Grant burst out angrily.
The king sighed. "Grant, if he didn't tackle you then why is your clothes so dirty?" His father asked with a raised eyebrow.
"For one, I tackled him, the reason was because him and two children were playing a game of tag and they asked me to play so I did and I was it so I was tagging him. Then he tagged the little girl and she was chasing him and he wasn't looking where he was going and accidentally ran into one of the soldiers!" Grant said.
The king blankly stared at him for a few moments. "Why were you playing tag? That's for children! You're twenty!" The king growled.
"If it was for children then why was I never allowed to do any childish things when I was a child? No, I think you're just boring and just because I'm an adult doesn't mean I can't have fun!" Grant snapped, glaring at his dad.
At that moment, the other prince, his little brother, walked in the room. "Wrong time." He said, slowly backing out. Everyone silently stared at him as he left.
The king shook his head, then turned back to the people in front of him. "You're a prince, you're not supposed to act childish, you're supposed to act responsible!" The king barked.
Grant would usually obey, but he didn't want Shawn to get harmed. "Well at least let him go." Grant said. "He didn't do anything wrong."
"He disrespected us sir." One of the soldiers inquired. They were just blood thirsty. "But-!" Grant started by was cut off.
"Throw him in the dungeon." The king sighed. "Grant, you're getting a teacher to help rid of the ridiculous childishness left inside you." The king ordered.
Shawn turned pale and looked horrified. The soldiers smirked and dragged him down to the dungeon.
"No! You can't!" Grant cried. "Too late, Prince!" One of the guards sneered. "In fact, you should behead the idiot for intoxicating and attacking the prince." The king ordered.
"Right away sire!" One guard exclaimed happily. Grant wasn't going to allow it. Time to make his sword lessons really pay off.
Grant shot across the room and kicked full force into the side of the guard who had Shawn, grabbing his sword and protecting the traveller.
Everyone was shocked by his actions. It was like a protective monster had taken over him, forcing him to protect this man he barely knew, just because he was innocent.
Just because he had shown Grant how to find cheerfulness when you were the saddest. Just because when Shawn smiled, it warmed Grants heart.
He could continue counting reasons why he wanted so badly to protect Shawn, but Grant was too busy fighting the soldiers that had surrounded them. Good thing he was a natural with a sword.
The second he'd knocked the last soldier down, the king sat dumbfounded on his throne.
"You better make my little brother king, because I'm not coming back, and if I do, it's to laugh at your grave." Grant growled.
He grabbed Shane by the hand and ran before the king could call in the whole army. "ALSO FUCK YOU!" Grant yelled as he exited the room.
Shawn ran right behind, grasp tight on Grants hand. They fled the town, into the forest by the path, going further into the woods as the sound of horses hooves got closer.
The dove into the bushes, lying flat against the ground. The two barely breathed as the horses galloped past.
They could here soldiers shouting to each other. Shawn was terrified. Grant looked over at his stunned face, and despite the fact that they were currently being hunted, he marvelled at how Shawn's green eyes sparkled like raindrops on a green leaf.
The horses eventually returned to the palace as it began to get dark out. Shawn and Grant sat up. "Why? Why would you do that?" Shawn asked in wonder.
"I...don't have an answer to he completely honest." Grant shrugged, like it was nothing. "What! So you just beat up a bunch of soldiers, fled from the life of royalty, became a wanted criminal, just to save my life, and you don't know why?!" Shawn almost shouted in confusion.
Grant smiled. "I guess I did." He laughed. "How are you laughing right now?!" Shawn asked in bewilderment.
Grant smirked for a second before answering. "One time, this childish traveller told me to always look on the bright side of things, and that would be that I'm with you instead of some pushover palace people." Grant said.
That made Shawn blush. "But you don't really even know me." He replied. "But I can tell you're a good person, more kind than any other person I've met before. You really didn't deserve to be beheaded, if it weren't for you I'd still be moping around, never being able to find happiness in life." Grant sighed.
He looked over at Shawn and was surprised to see that he had a deep blush across his face.
"Why're you blushing?" Grant asked with a teasing smirk. "It's not my fault, you're being all... complimentary." Shawn said.
Grant laughed. Soon the two set up a fire, Shawn showing Grant how to create one. It was warm, reminding Grant of how he felt whenever Shawn smiled.
He couldn't deny it from himself any longer that he was definitely falling for the traveller. And by the way Shawn stuttered a bit and blushed a lot, he suspected he felt the same.
Every few minutes of sitting in the grass by the fire, Grant would edge closer to Shawn. The traveller noticed but said nothing.
"So I guess we're wanted criminals now." Shawn stated. "Yep. In about a year or so, my father will probably get a heart attack and die or something, and my brother will take over the throne.
Then we'll be fine, he's a really good guy." Grant said. "So I guess we're stuck together until then?" Shawn sideways glanced at him.
"Yeah, I don't mind though, but you probably have loads of friends and stuff." Grant said. "Actually I don't, people tend to find me incredibly annoying." Shawn half laughed.
"Aww, that's too bad. But that also means I can now claim the role as your best friend." Grant smirked. "Oh, can you now?" Shane playfully shoved his shoulder with his.
Grant laughed. "Yes I can." He answered. The two fell silent, shoulder to shoulder and just staring into each others eyes.
"Well, I guess I don't mind sticking with you for a while too, but what happens when your brother does claim the throne?" Shawn asked, breaking the tension.
"Oh, I don't know. I'll probably travel around to other places, I've always wanted to become a traveller." Grant said.
"I must agree with you there, travelling is awesome. And maybe-I don't know...you and me could travel around together?" Shawn asked, blushing.
Grant grinned. "Yeah! That would be awesome!" He said. They fell silent again, not being able to think of anything to say.
As the silence bore on and Shawn's face became redder, Grant knew what had to be done. (His destiny is calling)
He gently but firmly placed his hands on each side of Shawn's face and pulled him in for a kiss. The traveller was shocked for a second, but kissed back. They separated at the hoot of an owl.
Grant glared at the feathered beast in the tree. Shawn felt like he was going to die from happiness. And so they did live in the woods for a while, carefully monitoring the Kingdom until they heard the king had died.
And so they became travellers and in a couple years, got married. They were so happy together, they never had a day where they didn't laugh or smile. And nobody ever called Grant sir or Prince again.
Shawn is the destiny. I have nothing else to say
