If love could win

The royal driver

Wille had invited me to come to the Palace a few days over the winter break. Other people went skiing on this break from school. I heard the girls talk about going skiing together somewhere. Downhill skiing, which I had never done before, sounded less scary than meeting Wille's parents. I was supposed to get picked up outside my home by a driver from the palace. Despite being nervous to meet Wille's mom and dad, I was very excited to see Wille. We had spent the first half of the break calling each other on facetime which Rosh and Ayoub had teased me about. They said that we were acting lovesick and crazy. Maybe I was. Sara had also been home, which had been nice. I saw her less when she lived at school. We had avoided talking about the tape and August. Tried to have a normal sibling relationship. And that was nice. She had also teased me about Wille and me going to the royal palace as one of the biggest haters of the monarchy. The irony was a bit fun, even to me. I hated the monarchy and the first thing I did when the prince transferred to my school was fall in love with him. It was more or less law that best friends and siblings had to tease about love. And mine did just that. So they did a good job. I had teased Rosh about her love interests as well. Ayoub never had anyone he fancied, so he was a bit harder to tease back. But neither of them would likely find themselves in my situation. In love with a boy who lives at a palace and just happened to be the crown prince of the country. I texted Wille when I sat in the car that I was on my way. It felt weird having a driver in the front seat. Someone who the royal family probably knew. Maybe he was the one driving Wille to school when he had been at home.

"So you are going to see crown prince Wilhelm then?" the man in the front seat said. It felt a bit awkward. I could not lie.

"Yeah," I replied.

"So you are friends from school?" the man asked.

"Sort of," I replied. I did not know if I could say we were boyfriends. I did not know what he already knew about our relationship and what he was supposed to know.

"It is good that he has friends that care about him. His brother's death really took a toll on him, you know. I have known Wilhelm since the princes were just small children," the driver continued. "He has talked a lot about you, you know. You mean a lot to him." So Wille had told his driver about me? I felt warm. It was cold outside and the snow was deep. When I saw myself in the rearview mirror I saw that I was blushing.

"What has he said about me?" I asked.

"He has told me that you are a really nice person and that you really like music. And that he is in love with you. One time he said he could give up the crown just to be with you," he said.

"Did he really say that?" I asked. The man nodded.

"He was of course angry with something the Queen had said or done. His role is important to him. He does not want to let Erik down, you know," he replied. "But it is clear that he is in love with you, otherwise he would not have said anything like that." I knew Wille would not give up his role as the crown prince. He could not let his family down. And I knew he felt a responsibility to take over after Erik. To keep his memory alive. We kept talking until I saw Wille standing on the stairs up to the palace. He was smiling and so was I. Finally I was there, with him. I got out of the car and threw myself into his arms. We hugged tightly. After a moment Wille decided that was not enough. He closed the little gap between our lips and kissed me.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi," he replied. He was smiling big. I felt his hand touch my chek, down my neck and upper arm. "I have missed you so much."

"I have missed you too," I replied.

"Have a nice day, crown prince Wilhelm," the driver of the car said. "And Simon of course."

"Thanks, Gordon," Wille replied. He took my hand and we walked inside the palace. Wille's home. Not even in my wildest imagination I could have come up with this place.

"So you have talked to Gordon about me?" I asked, a bit teasingly. Wille looked at me and it was like he was deciding if he would blush or grin.

"I might have mentioned that I am madly in love with a cute boy in the school choir," he said. That made me grin. "I have known Gordon since I was like four years old. He is like family, but not the royal kind. We can actually talk without me risking hurting anyone's feelings." Wille showed me around. It was like a maze in there. I wondered how they did not get lost in there themselves. Probably you learned how to navigate after a while, but I was not sure I would even find the front door again.

"So would you like to see my bedroom?" Wille asked me. I saw the smile he had on his lips. It was mischievous. Like he had plans on what we were going to do in the bedroom. And I suspected it was not playing video games he had in mind.

"Yeah," I replied. "Show me your bedroom, darling." He led me through corridors and finally we made it to a baby blue door. He opened the door and let me in first. He had a big bed in the middle of the room. A closet. A desk and a chair. Some pictures of Erik. And some pictures of me. Of us. It was a picture of me on the football field. Me and him down by the lake. A red light sling. I put my bag in the corner of the room. Wilhelm pulled me towards the bed. I knew exactly what he wanted. And I wanted that too. Him. I wanted him close. Needed him. Before we made it to the bed, we were making out. My hands were in his hair and around his neck. I felt his hands on my lower back. Before I knew it we were on the bed. I was over him. He looked so pretty. We took a moment to just understand that we were there, together. I had never dreamed that I would ever be invited to his home. Not because of him, of course. I had thought his mother did not like me. That she wanted us to break up. But we did not want that. His eyes were so beautiful. A bit lighter brown than mine. Mesmerising. His light pink lips were very kissable.

"Kiss me please," he said. His fingers caressed my skin and my hair. He would mess up my curls, but I did not care.

"You kiss me," I teased. He did not wait for me to repeat that. He kissed me with force. And I could not stop kissing him back. It was like we had cast a spell on one another. After a while I kept on with kissing his neck. He smelled familiarly like the perfume he usually wore. I loved it. Just his scent could make me go into another world. One where only we existed.

"Do you want me to have a love bite when you meet my mom and father for real for the first time?" Wille said teasingly. We both grinned.

"For sure," I replied jokingly. "And when you have to be on television next. I will make sure that you have a big one then," My fingers touched his chin lightly. Wille laughed.

"If you say that," he said with a grin. We just lay there, next to each other on his bed. It felt like laying on clouds. And I loved it.