Another way (Young Royals)

The bed

He had been too tired to walk back to our bed after the shower, so I had picked him up and carried him back to bed. Our bed. I had tucked him in under the duvet, and he fell asleep almost immediately. How I had wished I had time to just sit there, just holding him in my arms. But I did not. My history essay was already late and our teacher would not be happy if I did not turn it in. I could not leave him like that on his own though, so I sat down by the desk to write about the french revolution, quietly so that I did not wake him up. I did some research and wrote about the royals in France at that time. They had been imprisoned and beheaded during the revolution, just like the people who were loyal to the crown. Thankfully that was not in practice nowadays. Simon would have been safe either way. I had never met someone who disliked the monarchy more than him. Well, besides me and I had been the literal prince of the country. That said something about monarchy. Not even the royals wanted to be royal. Well, mom did not mind it. It was all she knew. It was her whole world. It was kind of sad, that it was everything she knew. Life was so much beyond that. There was freedom, but she had never had that. There was unconditional love. Real love. Like the feelings I had for the boy sleeping under the duvets of our bed. I kept looking over there. Just to see him. He was the most beautiful person that had ever existed. And the unbelievable was that he was mine. My boyfriend. Had I still been a royal, our relationship would have been long gone. My thoughts kept spinning in my mind, until I no longer could focus on my history essay. I just longed for him, even if he was right there. The few metres that divided us was too much. I sat down on the bed gently, but still managed to wake Simon up.

"Hi," he said quietly. He had barely opened his eyes. A little smile was on his lips.

"Hello, sweetheart," I replied. He pulled himself closer to me and soon I had him in my arms.

"I love you, Wille," he whispered. That made me smile. There was a firework of emotions inside of me when he said that. Fireworks of pure happiness.

"I love you too, pretty," I replied. That made his little smile grow bigger. Then I felt his lips against my neck. They were light as a butterfly landing on the skin.

"I am so tired," he said and laid back down with his head on my chest.

"So sleep. I am here and I will still be when you wake up. I promise," I said.

"You promise?" he replied. I nodded.

"I promise Simon," I said. I gently caressed his hair and leaned down to kiss his forehead. He then closed his eyes and fell back asleep. And I just sat there, holding him in my arms. Caressing his back gently. The concussion he had received from the robbery had been pretty serious. And he was too stubborn to miss out on classes, even if he did not feel well. I loved that stubborn side of him, but it could definitely go to extremes. He was so clever, so he did not have to worry about his grades even half as much as he did. Him resting for a week or two would not hurt. I heard his phone buzz on the bedside table. I checked if it was anything important. He had given me permission to check his phone now that he had a concussion and should limit his screen time. Screens did not improve a concussion. It was a text from Anton, Simon's manager. So probably not unimportant then.

"Hi Simon. I hope you are doing better. I have made a schedule for your participation in Melodifestivalen. Look it over and we can discuss what you think about it. Please call when you have time and energy/ Anton." Melodifestivalen? Simon had not mentioned anything about it. Was he going to compete? Had he forgotten he had agreed to something with Anton before he had his concussion? Or maybe he did not want me to know it yet. But then I wondered why he had asked me to manage his phone, as I would read his messages. It did not really make sense. I was his boyfriend. I knew that competitions like that kept it secret who was going to compete until a selected date, but at least he could have told me. I could keep a secret. Well, if the secret was not that I was in love with him. Because I could not hide that. But things that had to do with his music career I had actually managed to keep secret, even if I got to know before everyone else.

"I will tell Simon when he wakes up/ Wille" I texted back.

"Is he okay?" Anton replied. I sighed. He was not okay. Anton knew Simon should be in class right now. Or well, we were supposed to be at lunch. I guessed I was skipping lunch that day, as Simon obviously was.

"No, he has been sick twice and he is completely exhausted," I wrote back.

"Poor boy. Wish him a speedy recovery from the whole team. And make sure he takes his stubborn self to the school nurse if it does not pass," Anton replied. "Or go to the hospital if it gets worse for that matter. He won't do it himself." I knew he would not. Simon was too stubborn for his own good sometimes. Like when he did not want to be a burden to anyone else. Even if he was not, he hated asking for help.

"Will do," I replied.

"Are you making me a Tinder profile to get rid of me or something?" I heard Simon's voice ask. That made me chuckle. He had barely his eyes open.

"No, I am actually texting with your manager about a performance at Melodifestivalen next year. You would not know what that is about, would you?" I replied. I saw the realisation on his face when it hit him. He had not told me anything about it. I grinned.

"Oh shit. I was meant to tell you. I am competing next year," he said.

"How fun. Congratulations baby," I replied. I pulled him closer and kissed him. He looked so tired that he could sleep the whole day away. He was cute though.