The Prince

Part 28

"Eh, Skye, where are we going?" He noticed that they weren't going home.

"On an adventure. Are you always this slow or is this special treatment for my sake only?"

"I have to speak slower to you because you're emotionally stunted," he snapped, feeling a little more like himself, sitting in the warm car next to Skye. "Does your dad know you took the car?"

"He lent it to me for the night, so we haven't stolen anything, yet," he threw a grin in Noah's direction, watching him frown.

"Yet?" He squeaked. Skye would probably do something stupid like that.

"Don't worry, I haven't been caught, yet either," He laughed out loud at the expression on Noah's face.

Stopping to get takeaways along the way, they finally reached a red stone house on a quiet street. Sky led him through the house, turning on lights as they went along.

"It's not as nice as my parents', but I'm still working on that," Noah could have sworn that he saw Skye blush.

Walking around, he could see that parts of the house were still under renovation, while others were already completed. It felt odd to walk from a nineties-styled living room to a modern bathroom tiled out in granite.

"Whose house is this? Are you sure we're allowed to be here?" He didn't want to get into more trouble by squatting in someone else's house.

"You worry too much, it's my house and before you complain, I don't have enough money to finish the whole place yet, but should have it ready by the time I graduate." His smile was genuine as they moved to a small kitchen that obviously had the magic touch applied.

"You own a house? Did your dads buy it for you?" His voice was low in shock. What seventeen-year-old owns a house? Should he be owning a house? Did he miss something in the school's curriculum?

"No, dummy, why do you think I work at the bakery? Every cent I earn goes into the house, well, except for some of the other bills, which Pappie pays."

"Wow," he looked around him again. "You did all this, on your own? That's so cool, but is it okay for us to live here, won't your dads be angry?"

"Stop worrying. Nobody except Pappie knows about this place and he'd never give us up. He may be crazy, but he's got a heart of gold," a smile crossed his face. "Come on, let's eat and settle in.

In the morning, Skye got up early to make breakfast. He needed to go to the store in the afternoon. When Noah had gone to bed last night, he was less anxious but still shell-shocked by everything that had happened to him in the past few hours. Hopefully, he was feeling better.

When Noah entered the kitchen, he shyly perched himself at the kitchen counter while Skye was busy prepping food. Looking up, he noticed the black bruises on his face and was glad that he'd talked to his dad earlier.

"I'm making us some lunch to take to the lake today," he smiled, changing plans. "We also have to go to the store later." When Noah nodded, he continued, "Your bedhead is really gnarly."

"Shut up, it's not that bad," Noah ran his fingers through his hair, it wasn't his fault that it had a mind of its own. "Won't we get into trouble for skipping school?"

"Dad's already got that covered. I spoke to him this morning. Unfortunately, he accidentally added my uncle to the call," he grimaced. "So prepare yourself for some sort of family onslaught, and possibly Dad coming over to reason with us, but all you have to do is pretend they don't exist when they try to talk to you."

"Of course, Mother!" Noah saluted him laughing.

Spending the day together, Noah saw a different side to Skye, a softer, more caring person. He was still annoying and condescending, but he had a good heart. He could tell that he was being distracted from what was happening, and was grateful that Skye understood what he wanted.

It felt so easy to be around him, he thought as they were staring at the boats on the horizon. Skye had seen the ugly part of his life and for some reason was always around to help, without asking questions. Turning his head, he looked at Skye who had his avian sunglasses on staring into the distance. His long legs stretched out in front of him, he was leaning back, relaxed and smiling.

"Are you sure your family aren't vampires? You all look like you should be. Nobody can be that perfect and hot all the time, right?" Noah wondered out loud. "I mean, it's not natural."

"What are you yapping on about?" Skye turned to him having been drawn from the view.

"Forget it, you wouldn't understand anyway, you're part of the problem," he mumbled, relieved that Skye wasn't paying attention to what he'd said.

"Come on," Skye jumped up and stretched. "We've got to get groceries and work out how much you're paying for rent."

"Rent? I thought we were friends."

"Yeah, we're not friends with benefits yet," he chuckled tugging Noah up. "Come on, we're off to the shops."

Walking around the supermarket with Skye was an experience that didn't go down all that well. For one, he refused to relinquish control of the shopping cart, then he skipped the chocolate aisle completely and refused to even look at biscuits and crisps. Noah felt like he was being punished by having all his favourite junk food taken away from him.

"We only have our two meagre salaries to work with, so you acting like a spoilt child isn't going to help. People are already looking at me like I'm a monster."

"You are a monster," he moped trying to grab a chocolate bar as they were waiting in line to pay.

"And you're acting like a spoilt brat. If I don't keep an eye on things, then we'll be living without food or lights for the next few months." Skye grinned down at him.

"But it's only one chocolate! I'm sure there is some money for that." It was his money, but Skye refused to let him get anything that wasn't necessary. "How can you be so stingy?"

"If you keep complaining, then I'll leave you at home, next time," he threatened.

"I'm not a child, I can get what I want with my own money," he pouted, crossing his arms.

"If you say so, but I know what you earn and there's no way you're going to make it the whole month if you carry on this way."

"Fine! I suppose that Mother knows best."

"That he does," he chuckled as they started packing their grocery bags.