If love could win

The dinner

I could sense that Simon was nervous when he first met my mom and dad. We did not get out of my bedroom until dinner. It was the first time since Erik's death we were four people at the dinner table. It felt weird in some way. But at the same time it felt beautiful that the chair next to mine no longer was empty. That someone I loved and cared about was sitting there with me.

"So how do you like Hillerska, Simon?" my father asked. It was so typical of my parents to ask about things like school. And they of course wanted to ensure that my boyfriend was a good student, in case he would be a part of the royal family's future. I knew that he would be part of my future. At least I wanted him to be.

"It is okay," Simon said. "I chose Hillerska because of my sister and the choir." My father apparently liked that answer. Simon was not likely to answer that he liked Hillerska for the wild parties we threw sometimes anyways.

"So you are not going to the school parties then?" my father asked. Simon shook his head. He did not really show up to a lot of them. Neither did I, to be honest. The last one had been the third year's party that I had crashed with some of the other boys in our year. And that was more or less to mess with August. Not really partying.

"In my and Kristina's years at Hillerska we used to throw parties that we are happy the press did not get footage from. Do you remember that?" My mom seemed a bit embarrassed by that.

"Yes. But don't give them any ideas, Ludwig," my mom commented with a light laugh.

"I think we called that place the Palace," dad said. Simon and I acted as if we did not know what that was, but we of course knew very well what it was. We had been there a few times. Some things apparently never changed. Kids at Hillerska had apparently always partied in the old industrial building.

"Wilhelm has told me you enjoy music, Simon. Do you play any instruments?" my mom asked Simon. He looked at me.

"I mainly sing," he said. "But I play piano too."

"Have you studied music at a culture school?" my father asked. Simon shook his head. Simon had not even been able to read sheet music when we met.

"I am self taught. I play piano by ear," he said. "We never had money to put on that kind of thing when I was younger." I saw that Simon looked down a little. I knew he was not as fortunate as other kids at Hillerska, who could do whatever they liked in their free time.

"You have not needed any tutoring anyways. You are talented as it is," I said.

"Would you like to play something on our piano later? We tried to get Wilhelm to play piano when he was younger, but he would not sit still for long enough," mom said and gave me a look. A little smile. I had been quite a wild child. I would not sit still for long. But I could at least read sheet music and I knew how to take a chord on a piano. "The private teacher gave up after a few times." I grinned. I remembered Amanda, the music teacher they had hired to teach me how to play the piano. She was more running after me and trying to get me to sit down and learn than actually teaching piano.

"Something must have stuck, because Wille actually taught me to read sheet music," Simon said. He was smiling at me. I knew what he was probably thinking about. It was Monday morning, after the horror movie night at school where we kissed for the first time. He had been sitting down by the piano and I had joined him and then tried to reject him, because I did not know how to handle all the feelings he made me feel.

"Well we must hear you play," my parents told Simon. "If you want to, of course." Simon agreed and my parents seemed very happy. We put our dishes in the dishwasher and we went into our living room where we had a piano. Simon and I sat down on the piano stool together. I loved sitting close to him while he sang and played. Mom and dad were finishing some stuff up in the kitchen, so we just sat there with each other close.

"Be careful. They might like you so much that they decide to adopt you into the family," I said. That made Simon grin.

"Do you really think so?" he replied.

"Definitely. You have probably the best grades in our year, you are polite and extremely talented. They would love it if I caught some influence from you," I said. That made him giggle.

"You are crazy, Wille," he told me. That made me chuckle.

"I mean it, Simon. I have not seen my mom like any of my friends that I have brought home as much as she likes you. And you are my boyfriend, so that says something. She did not accept Erik's first girlfriend for probably a year, and she was her own friend's daughter," I told him.

"Well, I must be fantastic considering she probably saw me for the first time in our sex tape," Simon said. "So she could not have the best first impression of me."

"You are fantastic," I replied. There were no questions about that. I think we both looked at each other's lips at the same time. I could not resist kissing him anymore. I closed the small gap between our faces and kissed him. His lips were steady against mine. I inhaled his scent. Almost felt dizzy from how hard my heart was beating in my chest. He was my sweetheart and he was here, in my home. It felt like it was a dream.

"If Simon is going to play for us you might not want to distract him, Wilhelm," I heard my father say teasingly behind us. We had not even noticed him entering. Too caught up in each other, like we usually were. Both of us blushed a little bit by my father's comment.

"Sing to me, darling," I whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek. He looked at me and I saw his eyes glistening at me. 

Author's note

I have been a bit busy recently with coursework for school, work and other fun stuff so I have not updated for a little while. In less than two months I am writing my master thesis for my law degree, which is crazy. I can swear I just got my acceptance letter from my university and now I am almost done. Time flies. And soon (very soon I hope) we will know how the real Young Royals ends. What are your theories on season 3? I would love to hear some thoughts. 

A.A.