Prince

Chapter 17

I'm back bitches 👏🏽 this chapter is dedicated to my dear friend Mollie, because I know you're going through a lot of stuff right now and it sucks and you really wanted me to update, so here I am. I hope I can bring you a little happiness, we all know even the best fall down sometimes (yeah I ripped that off a song, what ya gonna do about it?)

Also, two new characters introduced in this chapter, my fandoms are kind of colliding, sorry if you don't like the pair 😶

• Stay strong my loves •

Narrators POV

"Get off of me you freak, you're going to get paint all over me!" Joey laughed trying with all his strength to push a paint covered Daniel off of him. He was lying with his back against the cold wooden flooring in their shared bedroom, Daniel was straddling him, wiping streaks of black and purple all over his face. "That's the whole point Joseph" Joey just about managed to flip them over, sandwiching Daniel between himself and the floor. "I told you to stop calling me that"
"Is Joseph getting upset?"
"Stop!" Joey whined and pouted at the darker haired boy beneath him, moving his finger tips up to graze across his sides. A devilish grin replacing the playful pout, Daniel cried out in shock, being the ticklish mess he was. "Alright alright, I'm sorry, please don't tickle me I can't take it"
"Now you know what will happen next time you call me Joseph, don't you?"

Daniel rest his head back on the floor, regaining his breath and waiting for his heart to return to normal speed. He looked up at how beautiful Joey was with dark paint smudged across his face. The colours sort of brought out the green in his eyes, they seemed brighter and happier than usual. It was moments like this that Daniel realised just how lucky he really was. "What were you painting anyway?" Joey stood up, pulling Daniel with him over to the easel they had set up in the corner a few days ago. Daniel observed Joeys expression, while he was looking over the painting. "It's a wolf"
"No shit Sherlock" Daniel lightly hit Joeys shoulder, laughing into the back of his hand, the strong smell of dry paint enfolding his nose.  "People always perceive wolves to be these vicious, dark animals, so I painted one as the opposite." Joey stared back at Daniel in complete awe, he couldn't help but wonder how he'd ended up with someone so talented, so raw. He kept his gaze, Daniel utterly oblivious to the absolute fond and love in the other boys eyes. "Beautiful"

He wasn't even sure himself whether he was talking about the painting or Daniel at this point, but he was soon snapped out of his daze by a loud knock at the cabin door. His breath caught in his throat as he bright a finger up to his lips, signalling for Daniel to be quiet. He moved his finger from his lips to point in the direction of the closet, Daniel obeyed, moving swiftly into the small space closing the door behind him. Joey's was fighting a battle in his own mind, his options; hide and wait for the person to leave, go to the door and roll with the punches, or grab Daniel and risk running. His hands were shaking violently from the adrenalin pumping through his veins. His muscles were stiff, skin pale, pupils dilated. The silence was broken by the rattling of a key in the lock, but there was only two keys and he and Daniel and them.

He moved across the room, resting his back against the wall beside the bedroom door, clenching his fists as he looked over to the closet where Daniel was hiding. He held his breath as everything started happening in flashes. The front door opened. Footsteps made there way to the bedroom. I hand gripped the knob on the door. A hooded figure walked through the door and without hesitation Joey was on him, pushing him into the floor and wrapping his hands around his neck. The boy had a scarf covering the bottom half of his face and the hood hung just below his eyes, he didn't stand a chance. Joey was larger, had more muscle and had Daniel to protect. "Get off of him!" Another boy grabbed at Joey's sweater and threw him against the wall hard. The air was knocked out of his lungs, but he still managed to lunge towards the unhooded boy.

"Joey stop!" The smaller boy tucked his hood back revealing a pair of dark brown eyes and a slightly spiked, brown head of hair to match. He proceeded to pull down the scarf, a sincere smile lying beneath. "Tyler?" Joey launched forward, snaking his arms around Tyler's waist, pulling him into a tight hug. "Jesus, it's been years. Where have you been? Did you find the adventure you were looking for?" Joey laughed, remembering the day they last saw each other.

*flash back*

"This place isn't so bad, and your mother is a lot easier on you than my dad is on me. I just wish you'd reconsider." Tyler rolled his eyes, continuing to work on the task of tightening the heavy leather saddle that was draped over his horse. "I've lived this life for 17 years and I just can't do it anymore. It's boring, the same damn routine day in day out, I need something more Joey. I need an adventure."
"And what? You think everyone is just going to forget about you and not look for you?" Joey laced his fingers together creating a small platform or Tyler to hook his foot in, so he could give him some leverage to get on the large horse. "They won't find me, I'll live in the woods like an outlaw. Find myself a band of merry men."Joey quirked an eyebrow at that. "Save one for me." He winked up at Tyler. "Good luck with the whole marriage and taking over the kingdom thing when it comes around, I'm sure that will be interesting."
"Fuck you." Both the boys laughed for a few minutes before coming to a comfortable silence.

"I'll never forget you Joey, you were the only friend I've ever had." Joey felt a lump straining in his throat, he swallowed hard patting the the horses to occupy his hands. "Goodbye brother."

"Actually, I found more adventure than I knew what to do with." Tyler smiled, gesturing at the un-introduced boy, who was now standing in the door way. "Joey Josh, Josh Joey."
"Pleasure" Josh replied coldly, looking on at Joey sceptically. Tyler chimed in, breaking the tension "so? Are you here on your own or what?"
"Oh gosh yeah I almost forgot, Daniel? It's alright, come on out."

The closet door slowly creaked open before Daniel popped his head out of the small gap. He shyly closes the door behind him and moved over to Joey. "This is Daniel, my fiancé." Joey's face lit up win a proud smile while a crimson blush crept across Daniels. "Well shit-" Tyler brought his hand up to card his fingers through his dark hair. "-I bet your father took the news really well."

"Wait a minute, what are you even doing here?" Tyler sat down on the bed making himself comfortable. "Josh and I, we travel around, don't really have a home. One night we were passing through and we saw a cabin, the key was easy to find and the place was empty, so we thought why not rest for a few days. I had no idea this was yours brother, we didn't think anyone owned it anymore so we kept coming back."
"That's a crazy coincidence man, I'm really glad to see you." Joey smiled warmly.
Josh stepped forward, clearing his throat and glaring at Joey. "Easy tiger, he's just a friend." Tyler pushed himself off the bed, placing a kiss on Josh's cheek as he strolled into the living room. The other three followed. "So, why aren't you out there fighting for your kingdom?" Tyler questioned, Joey looked over to Daniel a wave of emotion coursing through him. "I've got everything I need right here, why would I go back?"
"Think of everything you could do for the people in the kingdom, all the things you wanted to do when you were younger. You wanted to do so much good."
"Yeah well-"
"Is that true?" Daniel interrupted looking up from his lap and over to Joey. "Daniel-"
"I know you said you were happy here,but if you want to go back I'll support you all the way, you know that right?" Tyler went to speak, but Daniel cut him off. "Can you just hold on a second please?"
"Watch it princess" Josh joined in tapping his foot from the corner of the room. "I'm sorry, but no one asked you Mr mysterious"

"Alright everyone just calm down" Joey raised his voice and waited for the room to fall silent. "Tyler's right, I should go back, we all should. Staying here is selfish, it's not fair on all those people who have to live under my fathers rules-" he made his way over to Daniel and laced their fingers together, then looked over to Tyler and Josh.

"-lets go get our kingdom."