The Pirate Prince | Frerard

one - birthday ball

The first time crown prince Gerard met Frank and his ragtag crew of pirates was in April; the ninth of April to be exact. His seventeenth birthday. Gerard's father, His Majesty the King of Belleville, had seized the occasion to throw a huge ball in the hopes of finding his son a bride.

Seven o'clock in the morning on that cloudy spring day, Gerard rolled out of bed, letting out an unattractive whine as the light flooding through the windows burned his eyes. He dragged himself to the bathroom and whined yet again as he noticed his appearance; pale skin accented by the dark circles under his eyes framed by stringy black hair. He normally couldn't care less about how he looked but today was his birthday ball and his father wanted him to look his best. That meant covering up any evidence of Gerard's insomnia with all the concealer in the world.

It would also probably mean that his father wouldn't let him wear his black eyeliner today as it only exaggerated the dark circles.

Sure enough, six hours and four cups of coffee later, Gerard found himself sitting in a chair as his assistant and best friend, Jamia, painted his face with all of the cosmetics in Belleville and pulled his hair back in a neat ponytail, tying it with a red ribbon like Gerard was some kind of prize for the prettiest princess who showed up.

She smiled at him, "I know you hate these things, but it'll make your father happy and who knows, maybe you'll find someone someday." Gerard visibly winced, he didn't need to be reminded of his nonexistent love life. It wasn't that he couldn't find anyone, there were plenty of girls falling over their feet for a chance to be with him, but he wasn't interested in any of them romantically and couldn't bear to lead anyone on. Jamia patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, "I have to go now, the ball starts in two hours, get dressed and I'll see you there, your father told me to dress up like royalty so I can keep an eye on you and make sure you don't get into any trouble."

Gerard smiled weakly in response, "Sounds good."

After careful deliberation on what to wear, he picked out a simple black button up with a red tie to match the ribbon in his hair and black skinny jeans. His father probably wanted him to wear a tux or something a little less casual, but Gerard already wasn't keen on this whole thing and at the bare minimum needed to be comfortable. At the last minute he added eyeliner, not as heavy as usual but enough.

He found his father in the hallway at their personal entrance to the ballroom and gently tapped on his shoulder.

"Gerard," his father said, nose wrinkling slightly in disgust when he noticed what his oldest son was wearing, "Nice of you to show up on time, your brother should be down any minute now."

Gerard had given up on trying to make his father proud years ago, but he couldn't help how his heart was warmed by even these slightly demeaning comments.

More than a few minutes later, said brother arrived, panting and out of breath, and ran up to give Gerard a quick side hug, "Happy birthday Gee! Sorry I'm late, I got distracted and lost track of time." Gerard noted his younger brother's slightly disheveled appearance and raised his eyebrows in suspicion. Mikey blushed and wouldn't meet his eyes, causing Gerard to chuckle.

Their father wasn't paying any attention to the brothers so he didn't interrogate Mikey about what (or should I say who) he was distracted by. Gerard would have to do that later.

They waited the usual fifteen minutes after the ball began to make their entrance, fashionably late as always. All eyes were on the trio. The boy's mother, Donna, smiled gracefully and walked over to take their father's arm. She had been there for about an hour already, making everything perfect and greeting all of the guests as they arrived. Gerard had been there for less than five minutes and he already wanted to leave.

He silently asked his father for permission before walking towards one of the tables piled high with food and scanned the room for Jamia, who he spotted in a corner, all dolled up looking nicer than some of the princesses in attendance. She was talking to some girl and probably wouldn't appreciate him interrupting so he grabbed a croissant and stuffed it in his mouth in the hopes that nobody would try to talk to him.

No such luck, a middle aged couple he vaguely recognised as the king and queen of Ballatoland waltzed up to him almost immediately with fake smiles, heavy makeup, and an aura of power miles wide in tow. "Hello, Prince Gerard, I hope you're having a pleasant birthday so far." Sure you do.

Gerard returned their fake smiles with one of his own, "I certainly am. Pleasure to make your acquaintance," he forced out smoothly.

They seemed pleased, "We have a daughter who's about your age, I'm sure you two would hit it off." Sure we would, "Would you like to meet her?" No thanks.

Gerard nodded pleasantly, even though inside he was grimacing at the thought of another girl throwing herself at him, it was one of the things about being a crown prince, you learned to hide your emotions. The couple nodded and smiled at each other before calling a girl with black hair parted into side pigtails and bright red lipstick, and was that a sleeve of tattoos? She looked really uncomfortable in her dress with all it's layered skirts. Gerard actually smiled this time as the couple walked away leaving their daughter with Gerard.

"Lindsey," she introduced herself, "And I'm not interested."