The Heir and her Guard

Chapter 34

The ceremony was finally over, and the party was coming to an end. Max had finally interacted with all the guests and thanked them for coming. This meant she had time to not only talk to her mother, but Billy as well.

She headed over as Jane urged Will to go up to Mike, and Billy noticed her first as she touched her mother's shoulder gently.

"Oh, Max!" Susan greeted, bringing her in for a tight hug, "You look so smart! And the Princess looks gorgeous, oh and your vows!" She gushed.
"Thank you mother." Max chuckled, "And uh, thank you for coming. I didn't expect you were going to."

"Of course I'd go to my daughter's wedding! And you know," She brought her closer, "I saw a letter you had sent to Billy."
"You did?" Max asked, confused.
"I suppose the address had gotten mixed up in some way or- I'm not sure." Susan said, dismissing it, "But anyway, I obviously had no way to contact Billy either, but I did contact the Princess."

"What, how?" The guard asked, wondering how it was possible to reach someone as high as the Princess so easily.
"I asked one young man, and he told me he worked in the stables or something? Stephan...?"
"Steve?"
"Yes, that was his name! Anyway, I had to go to a guard first to check my identity and all of that, but they didn't quite believe me, I'm not sure why. Maybe because I didn't have my id with me."

"Perhaps that's why." Max commented quickly.

"But luckily, the Princess was walking with the Prince and had seen me with a number of guards surrounding me."

"Oh mother." The girl groaned, her mother was really about to get arrested in the palace, and Jane had seen everything.

"It wasn't my fault! Plus, she said she knew me, and the guards let me go. Then I spoke to her about my letters and she asked some official for an address under the name 'Hargrove', and within minutes we had found him." She turned to Billy who was talking to Michael. "He's changed a lot, hasn't he?"

Max nodded, "I'm glad, he wasn't doing well the last time I saw him."

"I remember well."Susan sighed, "You should go talk to him though, Jane already has, very briefly though."
"Alright, I will be back soon." The guard said, walking over to Billy.

The young man already saw her coming and gave her a warm smile, knowing they had been separated for too long for a hug as a greeting.

He was wearing a simple beige suit, with a white shirt and the top 2 buttons unbuttoned. Obviously he also had his signature sunglasses, he had worn them nearly everyday when he first brought them.

"Hey Red." He said, the childhood nickname giving Max a hard sense of nostalgia.
"And may I ask where you've been?" The guard asked, noticing the playful glint in his eyes.

"Around the world."

Max raised her eyebrows.

He chuckled, "Nah, I'm joking. Furthest I've been is Australia. I heard about your letters, sorry I didn't reply, they never even reached me. But, you've grown a shit ton, last time I saw you, you were like 4 foot."
"Billy!" Max said through her teeth, knowing the people around her aren't used to casual language like that, and definitely not curses. Well, not the super posh ones anyway.

"Sorry, sorry." He laughed. "Still taller than you though." He said. And it was true, but only by a few inches.
"Whatever." She said, rolling her eyes slightly. "I like your haircut."
"Eh, I don't know." Billy spoke, running his hands through his short, almost spiky hair. "I'm thinking of growing it out again. Not as much as before though."
"Well, I'm sure you'd suit it anyway. How are you liking it here?"

"I'm loving it, the wedding was great, you know, I'm just chilling."
"And you've met Jane?"
"Oh yeah, she's the one who invited me to this whole thing. She's cool, you two look good together."
"Thank you." Max smiled, "And you, are you dating anyone?"

"I've dated a few girls since then, I'm trying to settle down rather than, I'm sure you know."

Max immediately nodding, not wanting to remember all those... noises coming from his room.

He smirked, "Sorry about that- kinda sorry."
"Not sorry." The guard answered for him.
"Not sorry at all." He chuckled, "It was fun while it lasted, but at the end of the day I'm going to be an old man and... actually, unless they're into that-"
"I don't even want to imagine." Max interrupted, "You're so disgusting." She laughed lightly.

"I'm joking, I'm joking. But yeah, at the end of the day I want someone I can settle down with, and this is the best time to find the one. But right now I haven't really been focused on looking." He smiled.

———

Meanwhile, Jane was trying to push Will towards Mike.

"Jane!" Will whispered loudly, her hands on his back, trying to push him forwards as he leaned back, "Stop it!"
"Just go talk to him! You're just watching him from the side!" The princess replied in the same tone.
"Aren't you supposed to be with Max?" He answered cockily.
"Aren't you supposed to talk to Mike? Now go!" She said, pushing him harshly.

"Oh sh-! Sorry!" Will exclaimed, bumping into him.
"It's alright!" Mike chuckled, steadying him with his hands on his shoulders. He quickly pulled his hands back and looked away.

Jane winced at the awkwardness, and signalled to Will for him to notice her.

Fortunately, he did pretty quickly, also looking around sheepishly. "What?!" He mouthed.
"Talk!" Jane signed.

Will huffed through his nose and looked back at Mike, their eyes met and he hesitated for a second before speaking.

"So uh, about last time..." He began.
Mike nodded, likely expecting this conversation. "I want to apologise for the haste I took, I should've asked you and-"
"No, no, don't apologise." Will said, "It wasn't a bad thing, I think we should talk about it though."

He glanced over to Jane who gave him a thumbs up.

"I..." He looked back to Mike, "I like you Mike. I really do. I'm just not sure what I want though. No one even knows I'm gay except Jane, and I don't know if I want to put a title on anything and I definitely don't want to rush into anything, I'm just-" He rambled.

"Hey hey hey." Michael said softly, "It's fine, I completely understand what you're saying. How about..." He subtly touched his hand with thumb, "We take it slow, okay? No titles, no rushing, just two people simply liking each other. Is that okay with you?"

Will nodded, glad he could everything off his chest while also being elated with Mike's suggestion.

"I- yeah," He exhaled, "That sounds perfect."
"Glad to hear it." Michael smiled, turning to see Jane behind his shoulder. She widened her eyes and quickly turned to talk to Harriet who was giggling and hiding behind her. He chuckled, turning back to Will. "Wingwoman?"

"I guess you could say that." Will grinned, laughing lightly.