𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 • 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

chapter one

bruce absolutely hated being a prince. everyone always talked about how much they envied him, but no one understood it. he was barely allowed to leave the castle, and much less the castle grounds. he hated being cooped up in his stupid room all day. he had nothing to do. so, he currently found himself making his way through the garden in an attempt to sneak into town. unfortunately for him, he was not near as sneaky as he thought he was. "prince? what are you doing out here? i believe you're supposed to have an escort when you leave the castle." bruce flinched, turning around to meet the gaze of the knight. bruce didnt recognize his voice, which was odd, considering he knew all the workers by name. "ah- well.. no one was available, so.." he shrugged.

the guard raised a brow — not that bruce could see, considering the fact that he had a mask on. "but you never even asked anyone?" bruce's eyebrows furrowed. "how would you know that-?" the boy shrugged. "i watched you leave your room and sneak out. i figured that was probably something you shouldn't have been doing, so i followed behind you. which was clearly a good thing, because it looks like you are doing something you shouldn't be." he crossed his arms, earning a huff from bruce. "that's creepy-!" bruce glared. "you should just be grateful that i'm not a criminal. i could have easily taken you out just now, you didn't even know i was here." 

bruce had stopped listening by that point, he was too busy trying to pin point who the guard was. "you need to learn to be more careful, ya know, lots of people-" the other was still going on, but bruce cut him off. "whats your name?" he asked. "finney. finney blake." the boy — finney sighed. bruce paused, he definitely didn't recognize that name. "are you new?" bruce couldn't help but notice that he sounded younger than most of the guards. finney nodded. "yeah, i just started last week. why?"

"how old are you?" bruce asked again. "seventeen- whats with all the questions? i already had my job interview last time i checked-" finney chuckled awkwardly. bruce's eyes widened slightly. "seventeen? you're my age. i didn't know my parents even hired people that young. can i see your face?" bruce was excited to have someone his age around the castle. it was quite lonely for him, to say the least. "ah- i'm not really supposed to—" finney started, but the puppy eyes he was getting from bruce made him reluctantly give in. he sighed. "yeah, sure, why not." he lifted up the mask so it sat atop his head. bruce stared at him, finney's face flushed pink from the taller boy's gaze. he swallowed thickly.

one of the few reasons he liked the mask was the fact that it covered his face. he was mildly insecure about his looks. "o-okay- i think that's enough." he pulled it back down. bruce was silent, so finney wasnt exactly sure how the other was reacting to his face. a small smile made its way onto bruce's lips. "you're really pretty." he stated simply. unbeknownst to him, finney was absolutely panicking. compliments quite easily flustered him. this was another one of the reasons he was grateful for the mask, his facial expressions were always pretty easy to read, he had learned. bruce smiled, taking finney's hand in his own. "it's gonna be so cool to have someone that's not like a million years older than me around the castle! we can do so much stuff together-"

bruce drug finney along through the garden, continuing his rant about how excited he was to have a friend. he was so tired of being lonely. maybe being locked up in the castle wouldn't be so bad anymore. finney couldn't help but find himself smiling too — he was grateful to have a friend around as well. he wasn't exactly sure where bruce was taking him too, but he didn't make any objections. he assumed it couldn't be anywhere bad considering they were still on the castle grounds. bruce continued to ramble and finney didnt stop listening, he couldn't lie, he thought it was kind of cute — not that he would ever say that outloud, especially not to someone he just met.
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word count: 742
WOOO CHAPTER ONE😱 don't worry guys vance will be introduced soon🙏