Fish Scene

Fish Scene - Wille

"Boys! Dinner!"

We stare at each other from our places crammed onto the tiny single mattress. There isn't much room, so our sides are pressed together and faces centimetres apart. He smiles at me and the warmness from his deep brown eyes melts my heart. Before he pecks me on the nose and sits up to start fumbling around for his shirt.

I sit up next to him; my legs tangled slightly in the sheets and start to feel nervous; I think he can see it on my face.

"Please tell me you eat as a family in your fancy little palace?"

"It's anything but little." I tell him with a smirk, eyeballing his room. He playfully smacks my shoulder, giggling softly. "Yes, we have family dinners." I continue, "but just for the formality of it all, not very much family bonding taking place."

He frowns at me a bit, but the sad moment is soon forgotten when he throws my pants at my stomach. I dramatically fall as if I were hit by a bullet. Simon is then standing over me, fully dressed and a chain swinging slightly from his belt loops, I remember pulling him closer by that chain not that long ago and feel my cheeks go pink.

"Hurry up, dinner's gonna go cold." He laughs and I rifle around the bed sheets for my shirt.

The kitchen is also small, with a peaceful atmosphere. There's Linda in there, shovelling pasta into four bowls, and Malin looking quite comfortable sitting on the kitchen counter and laughing at something Linda has said. As soon as she sees me, she jumps down off the bench and regains her professional presence, following me to the dining table, her hand on the small of my back. Me and Simon exchange raised eyebrows behind their backs, before a plate is placed in front of us, tasty smelling bolognese, and bread plate in the middle to share.

"I hope everyone likes it." Linda says, taking her seat and smiling sheepishly.

"Wow Mamma," Simon laughs, eyeing his food with fake scepticism, "actual pasta sauce and PRE-SLICED bread? Really going above and beyond to impress the prince."

"I'm actually trying to impress Malin," Linda replies coolly with a wink, and Malin fails to hide a smile.

Simon laughs and inhales a big scoop of food, the pasta trailing his chin, I watch with a smile, guessing we aren't saying grace.

"Smells good, Linda," I say, my prince persona habitually in place, and get a fork full for myself.

She smiles kindly over her food, and it goes quiet as everyone is chewing. "So, Wilhelm, you're on the rowing team with Simon, how's that going?"

To be honest, I haven't paid much attention to the rowing part and more to the Simon part of being on the team. "It's going well, although I have the advantage of having taken classes when I were younger too."

"That would help, Simon is struggling a bit, says the boats too wobbly." Simon puts down his fork and playfully glares at her, Linda just shrugs him off, and says "it's true though." Their relationship is so cute that I catch myself grinning like a fool, I quickly rearrange my face and become very interested in bread. The rest of dinner goes smoothly, making polite conversation about how school is going and what the weather is like. The only small hiccup is Linda asking, "how's your gaming going?" And Simon choking on a noodle.

After dinner, I help Simon with the dishes as Linda protests half-heartedly about a prince drying her plates. "How about some after dinner karaoke?"

Simon almost splashes his head in the bubbly water as he lowers his head in shame. "Nooo."

"Come on! You used to love karaoke!" Linda insists, "What was that band that you used to always sing to?"

"Noo, mum stop." He hides his head in his hands in shame, and I can't help but to laugh.

"FO&O! That's right." Simon hides behind me, his head resting on my back and cringing in embarrassment.

"What's wrong with FO&O, Simon?" I tease and he pokes me in the side to make me squirm.

"Oh, he loved FO&O," Linda continues, smiling broadly, "had the biggest crush on Omar when he was ten."

"No, I didn't." Comes his voice softly from behind me, fake sincere. And I laugh at his shame.

"You kind of look like Omar."

"That would make me a narcissist, Wille." He tells me, retaking his place at the sink.

"So, you admit you like him then!" Linda cries, pointing an accusatory figure at Simon and he groans in shame. I even see Malin crack a smile.

After much teasing and begging, Simon is up in the living room singing Build A Girl from a little karaoke machine that is well loved (he's acting like he hates it but we all know he loves it), and Linda, Malin and I are all crammed onto the lounge cheering and clapping. I feel my prince façade lift and I'm really myself in front of this chaotic family.

I'm the most myself when Simon pulls me to my feet to teach me the Build A Girl dance, and Linda joins in, having known it from a younger, more obsessed Simon, and Malin sits on the lounge and claps, all formality out the window.

I'm the most myself when I ignore the blow-up mattress Linda put on the floor for me, to lay against the wall in Simon's bed, hugging him close to my chest and talking in soft whispers about anything and everything.

I'm the most myself when I press my lips gently to his forehead and we fall asleep in each other's arms.