Battle For the Crown

eleven

"Collin, wait up goddamnit." I ran as quickly as I could, the queen's curses telling me I was close to them, as I turned the corner the three figures came into my field of vision,"wait up!" I called, continuing to sprint up to the family,"I'm sorry, but I had this feeling in my gut, and I just had to come." The King smiled at me, opening his mouth to speak before being interrupted by the queen,"at least one of the girls has some common sense." She huffed, throwing the glass doors marked infirmary wide open, I fell into stride with Collin junior,"what happened?" I asked after the king had gestured for the two of us to sit in the chairs beside the door,"one of the girls he eliminated pulled a knife on him." He laughed, trying to lighten the mood, I chuckled,"my money's on Wendy." He nodded, agreeing with me,"you're cooler than I thought you'd be." I smiled at him, setting my hand on his shoulder,"it's sort of been a crappy day for you, huh?" He gave me a sad look and nodded, fiddling his hands in his lap,"I bet I could sneak some beer out of the kitchens if you want, we could take your mind off of everything." He smiled but shook his head,"as good as that sounds, my brother would be devastated if you were kicked off the show for underage drinking." I nodded,"you're a good brother." His eyes lit up a little and he smiled,"nobody's ever told me that, it's always been Elliott." I chuckled,"I know what it's like to be the youngest, always in the shadows of greatness." He perked up,"exactly! Like, why is the battle of the crown only for the first born? What if I want to be more than just the backup plan?" I laughed before remembering the circumstances of our visit to the infirmary,"so, did this girl, use the knife?" I questioned, bringing the conversation back to our situation,"I'd assume, I mean, he's in the infirmary after all." Right on cue, Collin senior flung the doors open,"you two can come in now." I shared a look with the prince before opening the doors, the tall windows cascading light over the white beds and tiles,"Ally?" Elliott croaked, trying to distract himself from the nurse stitching up the deep gash to his right arm,"she got you good, eh?" I laughed, walking towards his bed and crouching down in front of his face,"there's my little Canadian." He teased, his smile only half a wince,"oh, you wanna hear Canadian?" I laughed, trying to brighten his mood,"that's all I've ever wanted." I took a deep breath before I began what I hoped would cheer him up,"one day, I was at a hockey game with my parents, talking aboot the score and such, when some crazy Canuck decides to knock my poutine which I had bought for a toonie right out of my hands, ruining both my bunny hug and my toque." I laughed, putting on my best "canadian" accent, his smile grew twice its size as he stared into my eyes,"I have absolutely no idea what you just said."
I watched as the nurse began to put in the second last stitch, returning my attention to Elliot,"you're almost done, you were a real beauty." I laughed, throwing in a bit more of my Canadian slang to make him smile,"look at me." He muttered, directing my attention away from the nurse's work and to his face which sat level with his from where I sat crosslegged on the ground, smiling at him happily,"is my family still here?" He asked me, I shook my head, about to ask why before his lips were pressed tenderly against my own, I closed my eyes, setting my arm around his neck as we continued the kiss,"all done." The nurse called out, breaking the two of us up, Elliot blushed a deep red and thanked her as she walked away, he patted the space on the bed and I sat on the edge, looking into his tired face,"how many stitches do you think that was?" He asked, not able to look at his arm,"let's count." I smiled, hovering my finger lightly over each stitch as I counted,"..19, 20, 21." I smiled, running my hand against his cheek, tracing his cheekbone before moving the back of my hand to his forehead, feeling his temperature before running my fingers through his hair,"stay with me tonight?" He asked me, I smiled and nodded,"I'd love to."