Honey and Gold - Young Royals

Merry Christmas

     The little crying session Simon had with his mom last night apparently must've bought him some sleep-in time. He read the clock: 11:45, almost noon, and on Christmas eve of all days. He could smell the tamales cooking. It's their Christmas tradition; on Christmas eve his mom has all of them wake up extra early to prepare the flour and clean the corn husks. That's usually his and Sara's job while their mom cooks the meat and prepares the side dishes. They spend a good chunk of their day just doing that. He takes a deep breath before throwing off his blanket and gets ready for the day.

     As soon as he's out of his room he hears his mom, "Simon, ayuda a Sara con la masa por favor."

     "Ya voy"

     He finds Sara with flour in her hair, clothes, and up to her forearms...looks about right. The entire process can get a bit messy.

     "About time sleeping beauty" Good to know she still has a sense of humor then. He rolls his eyes as he heads to the sink to wash his hands.

     "You could've just woken me up, you know?"

     "I was about to but mom told me to let you sleep in for a bit," she turns her head to her shoulder and continues, "so how did you bribe her?"

     The question itself comes across as a light-hearted joke but he catches on the worried tone. Hidden but there.

     "I didn't, I'm just the favorite child," he says with a laugh and a smug smile on his face. Now it's Sara who rolls her eyes. He takes the liberty to splash some of the water on his fingertips towards her.

     She backs away a little too late, "You're such a kid"

     "The favorite kid" He finishes drying his hand on one of the kitchen towels hanging from her shoulder and then pushes her out the way his hip.

     "Ha Ha." She gives him a pointer look before lowering her voice, "Simon"

     He knows this tone, it's her I-care-about-you voice.

     "Yes?", he has an idea of what she'll ask already

     "How are you feeling today?" Yup, he saw it coming. How is he feeling today? He didn't stop to think about that. He doesn't think he even wants to stop and process his emotions. Last night was more than enough for him to reset and get through his day. If he were to be honest with himself he'd admit that he wasn't okay, albeit it's not the worse he's felt. His dad has definitely made him feel worse than Wille ever can. He feels like any other heartbroken teenage boy would feel like, then sprinkle in the fact that his sex life has been circling the internet for the past few days. All in all, he could really be in a worse place mentally and emotionally but thanks to his family he's managing.

     "I'll feel better soon Sara, I know it" he says with a sad smile. This is the most honesty he can voice. Not blatantly spilling his heart out but honest enough. She can sense something else, her face says it all but settles for his word before she heads to the sink to clean up. He's glad because it's impossibly difficult to get her to back down sometimes.

     "I heard you crying last night", he forgets how brutally honest she is sometimes, this is most definitely one of the few times he minds it.

     "It helped a lot more than I thought it would." he finds himself really meaning it.

      "Good." Now it's her who flick some of the water left on her fingertips towards him. Back to normal now then.

     "Alright then enough of sad talk, hurry up and wipe down the corn husks" They spend the rest of the morning in each other's company not saying much. A mutual understanding that didn't have to be voiced out loud.