"The reservations for my annual Royal Gala are all sent in, and right now, my people, family, and I are in the process of preparing. The gala will take place in one month's time, and we have much to settle," my mother announced. She was at a hotel downtown for a live press conference.
"Is there anything you can tell us about the gala? Possible food, entertainment, or attendees?" somebody asked.
"As always, you can expect a huge cake constructed by Chef Pachi. We will have a live band. As for attendees, a lot of the nation's best will be in attendance as well as royalty of other countries."
"Will Queen Claudia and Princess Kitty Wilde be in attendance?"
"They will indeed."
"Can you confirm or deny Prince Hunter's and Princess Kitty's budding romance?" a reporter asked. I leaned forward and raised my eyebrows.
"I can neither confirm nor deny. That is their business."
"Do you have a statement on Prince Hunter's comment on same-sex marriage?"
"His opinion is his own. That's all there is to say at this time." I sat back against the couch and sighed. Hailey walked in with Gus.
"Hey big bro, Gus and I are going to get started on the decorations. Do you want to join us?" Hailey asked. I shook my head.
"Nah, mom gave decorations to you. I'll get started on entertainment in a few," I replied.
"Alright... Sebastian's in his room if you need him."
"Thanks."When Hailey and Gus left, I turned off the TV and walked in the direction of Sebastian's room. I knocked gently on his door and took a deep breath. He opened the door and looked surprised. "Get ready. We're going to the lake."
**
"Why'd you bring me out here?" Sebastian asked as soon as we got off Storm and Misty. We sat in our usual spot under the large tree.
"We need to talk..."
"So you decided to take me to our special place to-"
"Don't worry. It's good talking."
"Oh..." Sebastian said, his blush showing that he was embarrassed. "Proceed."
"It's about Santana..." I began. Sebasted changed his stare from his lap to my eyes. "I know it must bother you not knowing what the deal with her was..."
"Hunt, if you don't want to talk about it-"
"I want to. You deserve to know."
Sebastian nodded, urging me to continue. And so I did. I told him everything, including my flashbacks. He sat there, nodding, frowning and smiling in reaction to some of the stories I told of us dancing, pranking the maids or getting busted for sneaking off. And then came the hard part...
"She was hospitalized immediately... She was hanging on by a thread," I explained. Tears began welling up in my eyes. "I spent all day in the hospital, talking to her whenever she was awake, or simply admiring her while she slept... I made friends with the nurses. They were all nothing by sympathetic. Even I knew the inevitable." I took a pause when tears began to fall. Sebastian scooted right next to me, and wiped them away with his thumb.
"You don't have to-"
"No!" I cut him off. "You have to know," I whispered. Sebastian nodded, then placed a quick kiss on my forehead. "The day she died... It was early in the morning, and she refused to go back to sleep. She asked me in that soft, fragile voice of hers to sing for her... So I did. I sang softly so only she could hear, and not the nurses outside. I sang You Are So Beautiful by Joe Crocker. She was just smiling, and she was so happy... And at the end, I told her that I loved her. Her response shocked me. She said, 'No, you don't, Hunter. You were in love with the way I made you feel. Not me.'" I paused and looked at Sebastian. He had a puzzled expression on his face. "Then she said to me, 'I want you to fall in love with somebody who deserves you as much as you deserve them...' I thought she was crazy. I thought I was madly in love with this girl, and in her dying state she told me that my feelings were wrong. She spoke her last words, 'I love you Hunter, but there's someone out there who will love you in every single way possible.'"
"Hunter-"
"No, I'm not finished yet," I said. Sebastian wiped more of my tears and softly smiled before I continued. "At that moment, when she passed, I didn't cry because she was gone... I cried because I knew what she was trying to tell me. That's the moment I knew I was gay. She had me all figured out, when I had no idea who I was myself."
"So you didn't... love her?" Sebastian asked. I shook my head.
"I thought I did. But all I did was realize what I want in a relationship..."
"And what is that exactly?"
"What I have with you... How I can trust you, how you don't judge, how you care about me, I just... I've never met anybody who cares about me the way you do... You just see me as a person, not some prestigious Prince Hunter."
"If it helps, I never felt this way about anybody before either..."
"Sebastian Smythe, I love you."
"I love you too, Hunter Clarington." Sebastian's lips met mine, and we sat there for a while. "So are we-"
"I want to be," I answered. "I want more than anything to be official..."
"Then why-"
"Bas, you know why... It's like... forbidden royalty for me to be gay and have another prince."
"But-" I cut him off with a kiss.
"Listen to me... Sebastian Smythe, will you be my boyfriend?"
"Oh wow, straight to the titles... No dates?"
"You don't consider these lake picnics dates?"
"Hmm... good point... In that case, yes Hunter Clarington, I would gladly be your boyfriend!" I pressed a happy kiss to Sebastian's lips. "I'm assuming you mean official between the two of us, but for the world to know right?"
"You know me so well."
"I'm actually a mind reader. But don't tell anybody about my secret please," Sebastian joked. We both laughed, then rolled onto our backs to look at the clouds. My hand instinctively reached beside me to latch on to Sebastian's. "Hunter?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you..."
"For what?"
"For being honest with yourself..."**
"Okay, here's the gold one," Hailey said, stepping out from behind the divider.
"It looks great," Sebastian said. Hailey rolled her eyes.
"I've been showing you dresses for the past hour, and you've said that about every single one." She was right. Sebastian and I had been sitting through Hailey's dress fitting because we agreed to tell her together, but we never found the words.
"Does it matter what dress you wear?" Sebastian asked. I pressed my lips together and nodded. Hailey groaned.
"Of course! Eveveryone will want to know which desginer I chose, and they're going to be critiquing how I look in every single way. It's like this every year. I have to be perfect! And so do you if you're going to be my date."
"Yeah, about that," Sebastian began. I shot him a look and he shrugged.
"What do you mean about that?"
"Hailey... Sebastian and I are an item," I finally and bluntly said. Hailey tightened her eyes and looked between Sebastian and me. A smile started to form on her face, and before I knew it, she was squealing and hugging both of us.
"Oh my god, Hailey, I don't want to ruin your dress," Sebastian laughed. Hailey let us go and had a huge smile plastered on her face.
"I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU GUYS!" I shifted uncomfortably, and she just looked at me and smiled. "I knew it. I always knew it. That's why I never liked Santana because she was keeping you away from seeing yourself," Hailey admitted quietly.
"She helped actually," I laughed. "Long story."
"Well, I am happy for you both! How do you plan on teling the nation?"
"I have to tell mom first," I said.
"You don't have to tell me anything," my mom said. I turned around, and my mom was leaning against the wall.
"Oh my god, mom, I-"
"I heard everything, sweetie," she said with a smile. "I support you both, I really do..."
"Thank you..." I said to her.
"No, thank you." She looked at Sebastian and Hailey and smiled. "Please excuse us. Hunter?" I stood up and followed my mom outside. Once we were walking down the hallways, she started talking again. "Your father's necklace for you." I instinctively reached at my chest and touched it. "What did I tell you when I gave it to you?"
"That the star represents 5 things that I'm meant to be."
"Right, and you promised me something. What was it?"
"That I wouldn't disappoint you or father."
"And?" she asked. I racked my brain, and finally it clicked.
"I promised not to disappoint myself."
"Exactly," my mother said with a soft smile. "From what I can tell, you haven't, and I'm proud of you for that."
"But nobody knows... How is that not disappointing?"
"The people outside this castle, hell, even outside the family, don't matter. All that matters is yourself, and how you view things. If you're happy, then that's that. Don't take what other people say so seriously."
"Mother, I appreciate that you're trying to help me, but it's literally the entire nation against me."
"Actually, Hunter... It's Huntbastian against the world," she said with a slight smile. I tightened my eyes and glared at her.
"What do you-"
"Think about it sweetie."------------------------------------------------------------------
I know this one is really short please don't kill me, I'm trying! Ugh, I'm so discouraged because I feel like this story is nothing like Strong, and nobody enjoys reading it. I'm not trying to fish for compliments, but I don't know, I just miss writing drabbles. I'm definitely going back to them when school starts next month! In the meantime, enjoy this latest chapter because the next chapter is gonna be... you'll see. - nolangerardfunks.tumblr.com
PS. This was supposed to be up a week ago, when I was on vacation, but my laptop decided to break after months of trippin' out :/ I'm SO SORRY for the wait!
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Forbidden Royalty (Huntbastian)
FanfictionHunter Clarington, heir to the Coronian throne, must be the man everyone expects him to be after his father's death. But as Hunter learns, being a man has nothing to do with what people think, but how you value yourself. [Cover by alishatorn.tumblr...