Another way (Young Royals)

The album

"They are going to release my album, Wille," Simon said. He had a big smile on his face and was more excited than I have ever seen him. He had just received a phone call from the record label. I hugged him. He deserved it so much.

"That's fantastic! When are they planning on a release then?" I asked.

"In two weeks. There will be a release party, so there are some things to plan,¨ he said. I felt my heartbeat beat harder in my chest. I knew how much this meant to him. All I ever wanted was for him to be happy. But with that, I was anxious. I did not want to lose him. I needed him. What if he had to go on tour and leave me here? In a world where everyone else had abandoned me, he could not do so too. I felt tears threaten in the corners of my eyes. I tried to force them back. I could not let myself show how scared I was of losing him. I did not want to hold him back. It did not really make sense, but what in this life did make any sense anyways?

"I am so happy for you baby," I replied. "You have worked so hard for this." He really had. I had seen him work in the studio. I had heard his music before anyone else. Seen him take the same note a million times to really make it perfect. It had been perfect the million times before, but he was so stubborn. It had to be just perfect. Like he envisioned in his head.

"I wish Erik could have been there. It would have been fun," Simon said. Erik was still in the hospital, and while he was getting better every day it was way too early to do such a thing as going to a release party. He had not left the hospital yet, and he would not for at least another month or so. The rehabilitation went slow, but at least he got better. He could speak a little now and I could talk to him on facetime from the hospital, so that he knew I had not forgotten him. Because I was far from forgetting him. I thought of him every second awake and I dreamed of him every night. I could not get over the fact that he could have died.

"We could visit him in the hospital and you could play some of the songs for him. I think he would like that," I proposed. Simon smiled and nodded.

"That sounds like a perfect idea, Wille," Simon said. "If Erik can't come to the party, we bring a smaller one to him." I smiled. How I loved him. He genuinely cared about Erik. It was not just for show. I could tell such things about people. That he cared about Erik, who was the only one in my family who I considered as someone who actually cared about me, meant the world to me. He was the world to me. Life would have been so meaningless without him. I could not think of a world where we were not together. It was us. It would always be, one way or another. I took his face gently in my hands and I slowly kissed him. I felt his arms wrap around my waist, pulling me closer to him. Then he slowly walked backwards towards our bed, pulling me with him. Then he turned me around so that I sat down on the bed first, before he climbed up in my lap. I held him around the waist, pulling him closer to me. His fingers caressed my neck and my face, before he let them go through my hair. Then he stopped for a second and just looked at me with his pretty brown eyes. He was smiling so big. Too sweet to resist, so I had to kiss him again. First I kissed his lips and then I went for his neck. Then I nibbled on his ear a little.

"I am madly in love with you, Simon Eriksson," I whispered in his ear. My lips found his once again, before he could say anything back. I let one of my hands under the hem of his shirt to feel his smooth skin against mine.

"And I am so in love with you, Wille Bernadotte," he said, while having a hand on the fly on my trousers. I got his shirt off before he could pull down the zipper of my trousers. He then got off me, so that he could remove them entirely. Before he had wrestled me down on the bed, I had gotten my shirt off myself. Then I helped Simon out of his trousers. I kissed him in the meantime. Let our tongues fight each other. He let his fingers touch my chest lightly. His touch still had that magic power that made me feel like fireworks inside me.

"I want you," I whispered. I wanted him so bad. All of him. Every inch. And I would hold on to him so that he would not disappear from me. My little pop star.

**********

"Look, Erik. Your brother and his boyfriend have come to visit you," the person who was helping Erik with his lunch said cheerfully. Everyone was working with positive energy around my brother. He needed every positive emotion he could get. I knew he was struggling. It was not as it used to. It would never be. He would never run or even walk again. They had concluded that. He was paralyzed waist down. His upper body would work, after some rehabilitation. It was hard though. Worse than an ordinary workout.

"Wille. Simon," Erik said when he saw me and Simon in the doorway. He smiled. I had missed him terribly. I went up to him and gave him a big hug.

"Hi Erik. How are you doing today?" I asked. His hair had gotten long while in the hospital, so I pulled some strands of hair out of the way.

"Better now that you and Simon are here," he said. His words were still a bit slurred. "No offence." He looked at the carer next to him. She laughed.

"No offence taken, Erik," she said. She was pretty. Brunette with blue eyes. Young. Maybe a few years older than Erik. Her smile was kind. Caring. "I am here all day telling you what to do. You must be tired of me by now." She spoke in a light, joking way.

"I am not. You are nice, Hanna," Erik said. "You don't care that I am crown prince and you just treat me like I am some ordinary twenty one year old dude who got smashed in his Ferrari." That made me and Simon smile. Hanna did too.

"Your highness, how dare you expose my impoliteness in front of your brother? It was our secret, wasn't it?" she joked. Simon laughed. "And to be completely honest with you Erik, ordinary twenty one year old dudes do not get smashed in a ferrari. They get smashed in an old Volvo or something." She helped Erik get cleaned up and then left with the tray.

"How are things at Hillerska?" he asked me and Simon.

"Good," I said. "Everyone is obsessed with the fact that Simon is releasing his first album soon." Erik smiled. I had told him on the phone before.

"I can imagine. How cool is it to attend the same classes as Sweden's next hit-making singer?" Erik said. "And for once it must be cooler that you date a pop star than that Simon dates an ex-prince." He was teasing. That he had not forgotten how to do.

"It was never cool to date me because I was the prince, Erik," I said. We were both grinning.

"It was actually not the prince aspect I was attracted to. It is cool to just date you darling," Simon said. "And I can always brag about my brother in law being the Crown prince of Sweden." He was clearly joking. Simon had never cared about our titles.

"So can I hear anything from that album of yours before it is released then?" Erik asked. Simon nodded. "Would you mind singing it live for me?" Simon did not mind that. He sang and my brother and I listened. I had found a boy with the voice of an angel, I was pretty sure. It was so beautiful. I saw tears falling on Erik's cheeks. 

Author's note

I hope everyone has a nice summer and that you like this next chapter. Happy Midsommar to those of you who celebrated that (it is a weird Swedish summer tradition that I have described previously in this story. The traditional celebrations are that you dance around a maypole like a frog and sing weird songs and some other crazy stuff. Don't ask haha.)

My own Midsommar could have ended badly, it turned out. Thankfully it did not and I am fine.  I did not celebrate traditionally, as I was at the amusement park Gröna Lund in Stockholm with a few friends this Saturday. On Sunday around lunchtime one of the rides derailed and nine were injured and one person was killed in the accident. It sends thrills down my spine to think that I was on that same ride, less than 24 hours before the accident happened. I am not religious, but someone must have been watching over me keeping me safe these past weeks. One weekend it was a shooting in the suburb where I lived (my landlord was actually hurt in the shooting, which is scary as hell. I moved quicker than you can say "Young Royals" basically. Thankfully I was in Finland at the time of the shooting, but if I had not been it is highly likely I would have been there.) and then I go to an amusement park the day before one of the biggest accidents in Swedish amusement park history. Let's just say I am happy  and thankful to be alive. If someone who was directly affected by the accident at Gröna Lund or the shooting that happened on the 10th of June happens to read this, I send you all my thoughts and strength. 

A.A.