YOU - young royals sequel

nine (9)

his head was in my lap, the same way it was only a month ago. when the world was ending for both of us. and now he felt like his was crumbling at the seams again. i went right to his room after i left august. he was just as disappointed that my plan didn't work as i was, if not more. but then i told him about august.

flashback to 30 minutes ago

"the letters," i started.

he looked at me expectantly.

"he said he helped. he said it 'wasn't his idea', but he helped."

he scoffed and put his head in his hands. i think that broke him.

"fuck," he breathed, "i really thought- i really hoped that..."

he was crying again. i was sitting in bed with the boy who told me he loved me. the boy i, only a few hours ago, discovered i loved back. the boy i was just friends with now. and i was holding him tight and rubbing his back as he wet my t-shirt with his tears. tears over the boy,
his cousin, who outed him to the whole world, and then held it against him. and even though i was in the same situation, my heart ached for him. i was filled with an enormous amount of empathy. and i was doing every single thing in my power to let him know that i was here.

end flashback

we sat like that for a while, but i didn't get bored. i enjoyed being near him, even if it meant letting him lean on me. that's how it was when i was with him. i wanted to do anything i could to make him okay.

i was running my fingers through his hair when he shifted a bit. i peered over his head to look at his face. my heart was filled with pure bliss and awe. he was sleeping. i stared at him like that for a minute, taking in his immense beauty. i didn't blame myself for falling for him within the first few seconds of him smiling at me on his first day. i didn't blame myself for kissing him during the movie that night. he was worth it. i stopped staring because i felt that it was starting to get weird and stalker-ish. oops.

as gently as i could, i slid the palm of my hand underneath his head and slowly moved my legs out from underneath. he didn't wake up. that was a success. next, i slowly slid my other arm underneath his thigh so i could readjust his body. when i started to move his head closer to his pillow, he stirred in his sleep, but thankfully he didn't wake. when i got to my final step of moving him, i gracefully placed his legs down on the mattress. i stepped away from the bed and admired my work. either he was heavy, or i was weak, (and the latter was most definitely true) but i was exhausted.

i searched for my shoes with my hands in the dim light. when i found them, i slid one on at a time and stood up. i felt my pockets to make sure i had everything, and the started to very quietly tip-toe out of the room. then it happened.

crunch.

fuck. i stepped on a wrapper. he was a light sleeper when it came to noises, so that for sure woke him up. i looked towards where he was laying and saw his eyelids lightly fluttering open. when his eyes adjusted from the darkness to the slight lightness, he looked at me. i looked back at him.

"sorry," i whispered, extending the "y" sound so it would hopefully sound more sincere.

he giggled sleepily and rubbed his eyes.

"it's okay," he assured me.

i stood there looking at him with him looking back at me. it was cute at first, but now it was starting to feel weird to me. i cleared my throat to diffuse the tension and his eye contact became less intense.

"well, i'm gonna just.." i said pointing at the door.

"yeah," he replied, and his voice cracked, "thanks for coming and telling me all of that."

"oh, yeah, of course," insisted.

we were staring at each other uncomfortably again.

"um, well i hope you sleep okay."

"thanks, you too."

"thanks."

i searched his eyes for something - anything - that was telling me to stay. but they were closed. i opened the door and walked out, careful not to let anyone, except malin, of course, see me leave.

a bit of a shorter chapter, but i felt like you guys deserved something cute after all of the reads, votes, and comments i've been getting. start to expect things to progress faster from here. i hope you enjoyed, and as always, i love you guys ❤️