Royal or Rebel (A Disgraced Prince Scott AU)

Pressure

Alex sat on the ledge of the building, a tall tower high above the ground.

Acho sat down beside Alex, "Sword."

Alex gestured vaguely behind him to his discarded sword, his eyes were red and puffy.

"I get it, and I'm not just saying that. When my father died, I didn't speak to anyone for days because I was so conflicted. On one hand, he broke me, physically and mentally and he hurt people I cared about and that made me so angry. On the other hand, however, he was my father and he had his moments, very few of course, but it's your father," Acho hadn't told anyone this, not even his siblings, but he wanted to help Alex.

Both boys knew the pressure of having to conform to a parents expectations and the pain that came with trying to achieve the impossible standards.

"There was a time he loved Loriel and I but things changed after Mother asked for a divorce, he blamed me because of course it had to be my fault, he thought I'd put the idea in her head. He shot her, that's why I always wear this ring around my neck," he reached up to his neck to show the necklace and sure enough, the neck had a simple gold band and red ruby on a gold chain, "It was her family ring, passed down her line for centuries, her last words to me were 'Alex, my son, take my ring so I can always be with you, I love you and I know you'll go far.'"

"Why was your father never taken in for the murder?" Acho asked gently.

"He made it look like she'd turned the gun on herself and because I didn't actually see the shot being fired, no one could take my word in good faith, also he had the money to pay off the right people and it helped that he was a personal favourite of your father," Alex shrugged, swinging his legs just a little.

"I see..."

"She knew about me and Scott, she always suspected I'd have been gay but I told her the day we started going out. She died a year later," Alex's tears were falling hard now.

"I wanted to tell my parents about my gender, but after hearing the things they had always said about people like us, I knew I couldn't and when Scott came out, I vowed they'd never know about me," Acho had tears in his eyes at this point.

Alex hugged Acho tightly, he was shocked when star hugged back but that is how they stayed for a while until Amber came to find them with Scott.