unattainable | solangelo royalty au

Chapter TwentyOne

WPOV:
"Oh, fuck..." I murmur as people begin to shout. My dad walks over and grabs my arm, hauling me towards Bianca. I accidentally forget to let go of Nico and end up dragging him behind me too. People arrange themselves into a circle around us as my mom storms over to us.
"What do you think you're doing?" She shrieks at the girls. Thalia takes a step back as Bianca drops her hands.
"Ma'am, we were just..." She drifts off, realising there's no way out of this.
"This ball is to celebrate your engagement to Will, and you are kissing a servant, not to mention a female!"

I feel Nico tense beside me as grit my teeth, trying to ignore her blatant homophobia. Bianca hangs her head and Nico pulls his arm from my grasp and takes a small step forward.
"She can't help who she falls in love with!" He says to my mom. Judgementally, she wrinkles her nose at him.
"I suppose you're the same as her." She snarls.
"Actually, I am." He crosses his arms defensively. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Gasps reverberate throughout the room as my mom shouts in anger, stomping her foot like a child throwing a tantrum. My dad puts his hand on her arm.
"Calm down, this is not the end of the world..."
"Yes it is!" She yells. "I don't want these disgusting faggots in my house!"

That's it. Clenching my fists, I take a step forward so I'm standing beside Nico.
"Stop it! You're being rude and insensitive when they haven't done anything wrong!" I shout. My mother's face turns red.
"Your fiancée just kissed somebody else! A girl, no less!"
"I don't care! I knew, and I supported them! I don't like her that way; I never wanted to marry her anyway!" I shout. My mom glares at me.
"Son, you're making a scene..." My dad whispers, looking around the room nervously. I don't care.
"Will! You support this unnatural relationship?!" My mom screeches.
"Oh my god, mom, I'm gay!" I yell back at her.

The entire room loses it, gasping in horror and shouting out in anger and indignation. Bianca puts her head in her hands as Nico pulls at his hair. Thalia is still hanging her head submissively as I simply stand amidst the chaos, beyond caring. A few people throw glasses at us, one of them narrowly missing hitting Bianca.

After a lot of fuss and shouting, my parents eventually manage to usher everybody out of the palace, then they storm over to the four of us again.
"Goddamn it, William!" My father shouts. "Did you have to announce that in front of everybody? Now the entire kingdom knows, and word will spread to others quickly! I have no problem with your sexuality, but other-"
"Well I do!" Mom interrupts.

She glares at all of us, like she's deciding who to yell at first, then finally settles on Thalia. "You." She snaps at her. Thalia looks up, tears in her eyes.
"Ma'am, I-I am s-so sorry..."
"You're fired." Mom says bluntly.
"N-No, please! I have a little b-brother and m-my mom is unable t-to-"
"Get out."
"B-But-"
"Now!" Thalia hangs her head again and starts to leave.
"Please, your majesty!" Bianca pleads. "Let her stay! This is all my fault anyway!"
"Absolutely not! You two need to be kept apart! I can hardly pushing you as you are royalty, but I can ensure that you-" she points at Thalia, "-will never work again!"
"Mom!"
"Silence, William!"

Thalia leaves and Bianca starts to cry, ugly sobbing which she doesn't even attempt to hide. Nico moves forward to console her, but then my mother turns her attention to him.
"You will be leaving as soon as possible. I will be contacting your parents about this and you will be sent home, then we will discuss what to do about William and Bianca."
"Please, I-"
"No arguments. You're a disgrace upon your family, both of you."
"Mom! Stop it!" She turns to me and scowls.
"Why? Do you have feelings for this disgrace?" Carelessly, she waves her hand in Nico's direction. He flinches before setting his jaw, clenching his fists until it looks like the bone will break through the skin.

"So what if I do?" I confront her.
"Will..." Nico murmurs in a low, warning voice. My mom is bright red, glaring at us like we're worthless.
"William!"
"There nothing wrong with being gay, mom!" I yell, taking a step towards her. "There's nothing wrong with us; we're still human! Maybe if you were to stop being such an ignorant bitch you might-" she slaps me, and I raise my hands protectively. Bianca gasps, obviously shocked. Tears appear in my eyes and through the blur, I see Bianca with her hand over her mouth, staring at the scene as Nico shouts something in Italian, then launches himself at my mother.