Violoncello (A Gay Cinderella Story)

Love Lives Here

It had only been a few hours since Cello's stepbrothers and stepfather left him alone at home. It seemed as if they weren't coming back. It had been years since he had been home alone. The silence in the house was frightening. He sat on the front steps of his home as he stared out into the distance. Lucky sat next to him with his head in Cello's lap. The chickens clucked and pecked at the ground and a gentle breeze filled the air. Cello saw out of the corner of his eye something twinkling. When his eyes landed on the single speck of light it danced in the air following the wind and heading towards the road. That's when Cello saw the entourage of the King's Guard heading back to his home.

They all reined in their horses and dismounted forming two lines, facing each other, that led from one of the carriages right to Cello. Cello stood up from where he sat as Lucky began to pant, tail wagging excitedly. The carriage doors opened as Lord Clairmont fell face first into the dirt. Cello noticed he was in metal chains. Draven and Adam exited the carriage afterwards and stood next to where their father fell. Cello didn't know what was happening. He could only watch as the events unfolded before him.

Someone else exited the carriage and Cello shut his eyes tightly before opening them again to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Gabriel stood a few feet away from him with his mouth hanging slightly open. It looked as if he hadn't slept in a few days. Cello looked down at his feet. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. All he knew was that his heart was doing leaps and bounds in his chest as the pieces that broke earlier began to quickly heal.

"You." Gabriel finally said. He began walking up to Cello who took a step back, cautiously bracing for what was to come. "During the winter one year, you came in from working in the cold. You placed your frozen hands a little too close to the fire and the ring you wore got ridiculously hot. It ended up burning you."

"So now I have this scar," Cello finished the memory that Gabriel began recounting to him. He now stood in front him at the base of the stairs.

"This scar." Gabriel repeated taking Cello's hands in his. With a finger he rubbed the scar on Cello's hand and brought the hand to his lips kissing it. "It's you? Cello... it's always been you?" Cello only nodded at his question and a guffaw escaped Gabriel's lungs.

"May I?" Gabriel asked holding Cello's family ring in his hand.

"Yes," Cello answered as Gabriel carefully slid his father's ring back on his hand, covering the scar.

"A perfect fit," Gabriel said before looking into Cello's eyes. "My prince." Tears began to build in his eyes.

"I'm..." Cello began. He had wanted to apologize for running away from him at the ball.

"There's no need to say anything. I have you now and that's the only thing that matters. You're not running away from me again." Cello laughed at that.

"I don't plan on it," Cello told him. Soon a raging fire began to burn in Prince Gabriel's eyes. He turned to his guard captain.

"Captain Yu Ling, I don't want these monsters to see the light of day ever again." Gabriel told the captain.

"Understood, sir," The captain and his guards began gathering the Clairmont men back into another carriage that would take them immediately to the kingdom's dungeons.

"Wait." Cello pleaded, tugging on the sleeve of Gabriel's tunic. The rage subsided within Gabriel when he turned to look at Cello's face. "Don't arrest them." The Clairmont men all looked to be in utter disbelief of hearing Cello stop them from being taken away.

"Are you sure, my love?" Gabriel asked Cello, who only nodded to him.

"But I want them out of my home and off the land where my parents are buried." Cello spoke out to his stepfather and stepbrothers.