𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 • 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

chapter ten

bruce was stuck. he didn't want to leave his whole life behind, but at the same time, he didn't have much of a life. his parents were never home. he rarely did anything, sure, in a couple years he would be king, but he didn't want that anyways. he hadn't slept the night before. he couldn't. he couldn't get his brain to shut off for five minutes. he was currently in his room, weighing over his options. he was tempted to go with vance. after a while of debating, he came to his decision. he would go with vance. he started putting together a bag

he figured he would sneak out tonight as he usually did. he had perfected it, luckily, so he didn't see how he could have any problems sneaking out this time. he stuffed his bag under his bed once it was packed, he didn't want to risk raising any suspicions. he sat down on his bed. as he looked at his hands, his mind raced back to finney. shit, finney. he bit his lip as his mind raced back to the other boy. before long, he was thinking back to when he almost kissed finney. he thought about how they had moved on like nothing happened. he felt bad about it. but, he wasn't even sure why he had tried to kiss him. heat of the moment, maybe?

he put his head in his hands — he couldn't tell finney he was leaving. maybe he could leave a note? but then again, he wasn't even sure where he would leave the note. he paused, putting all his thoughts on hold. he hasn't seen finney since there argument. now, the castle was big, it was easy to miss people, but finney usually came and found bruce. his mind had been so preoccupied, he hadn't even thought about the other boy until now.

he wasn't going to tell finney his plan, but he figured he could atleast apologize for snapping at him. well, if he could find the other boy, that is.

he spent a couple hours checkinf different rooms in the castle, then different places in the garden
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after a few hours, he still couldn't find finney. the sun was starting to set and he didn't want to be late to meeting vance, but he also didn't want to give up looking for finney. although, he had checked practically every inch of the castle grounds. where else could the other boy be? so, unfortunately, he found himself dragging himself up to his room to get his bag.

he was starting to have second thoughts right about now. was this a good idea? what if he got caught? could he go to jail for this? could a prince even go to jail? he wasn't sure. he took a deep breath and pulled his bag out from under the bed. he went through it once, to make sure he had everything. then he did it again just to be sure — and one more time. he wanted to be one hundred percent sure. after he decided that he was done stalling, he made his way over to the door.

he took another deep breath, and with that, he was on his way out of the castle. forever. he made his way to the garden, and vance was already there. he couldn't help a smile, he was excited of course. "hey-" bruce spoke up, causing vance to jump. "gah—" he looked at bruce, letting out a sigh of relief when it was just him. he immediately took notice of the bag, a smile crossing his face. "you made up your mind?" he asked. bruce nodded. "yeah." vance stood up, brushing himself off and then taking bruce's hand in his own. "this will be perfect." vance assured.

bruce gave a hesitant nod, and a small smile. vance pulled him in for a quick kiss, and bruce kissed back. he could feel all the worries that he had start to fade away. he would be with vance, and so surely everything would be okay. although, when vance broke the kiss, bruce could feel finney creeping back into his mind again. vance started to lead bruce out of the garden, but bruce spoke up. "uhm, vance?" vance stopped walking and looked at him. "hm?" bruce looked down. "i never got to say goodbye to finney." bruce could hear a small scoff from vance.

"it's probably a good thing, ya know. he was probably just gonna lecture you." bruce gave another small nod in agreement. while he knew vance was right, he still wanted to say goodbye to finney. finney was his first — and best — friend. it felt wrong to just leave without saying something. "come on," vance said, "we cant go back into the castle now, thats too risky." vance shook his head. "but, i do it every night—"

"yeah, but it's harder to sneak two people in. just trust me." bruce reluctantly sighed. "okay.." vance smiled. he lead bruce out of the garden, and as they left, bruce couldn't take his gaze off of the castle. it was the only thing he had ever known, he had never been out of the garden. yet, here he was, doing just that with no preparation. he started having second thoughts again, panic washing over him. he stops walking abruptly, causing vance to stop. he looks at bruce. "what? come on- we're out in the middle of the open, we can't stay here." bruce didnt reply.

after a couple minutes, he spoke in a shaky voice. "i cant do it—" vance frowned. "what? what do you mean?" vance sighed. annoyance laced his voice and it made bruce more anxious than he already was. he didn't say anything again. his knees felt weak — and not in the good way. he felt like he could throw up. vance could very clearly see how upset bruce was. he cups his cheeks. "hey, hey, it's gonna be okay. look at me, angel." bruce looked at him. he couldn't help a small blush from the name. "i promise you everything will be alright once we're out, okay?"

bruce tried to nod, but he didn't feel like it would be. "i've never left, vance— this is the only thing i've ever known." vance nodded in reply. "yeah, but maybe it's time for that to change. you're almost eighteen and you haven't seen anything- this way you can see the world." bruce took a deep breath. "okay. okay." he stayed silent for another minute while vance anxiously looks around. "i'm ready." he says after a couple minutes, and vance smiles. "okay. let's go." the two were off again, actually leaving the castle grounds this time. of course bruce watched the castle get smaller and smaller again as they walked away.

he couldn't lie, as much as he hated it, he was going to miss it. but, it was time for a new chapter of his life. a chapter with vance in it. he smiled to himself, finally bringing his gaze away from the castle and to the older boy in front of him. he was really doing this. there was no turning back now.
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word count: 1,212
insert authors note because i cant think of smth..