Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

      And so it begins. He wakes up to more notifications than he can possibly count. He guesses the magazines have already started to run their stories. He doesn't even want to begin to think about it. It takes inhuman strength for him to get out of bed and get dressed for breakfast. 

     Before he can even take a bite of his food his mother places the magazine in front of him. 

     “Kristina not now, please. Let’s eat breakfast first” He has never agreed more with his dad than at this moment. Just looking at the thing is making him lose what little appetite he had.  

     His mom pointedly ignores her husband’s words, “Nonsense, things are finally starting to fall back into place, as they should. Look at how beautiful you two look here, Wilhelm” 

     Who knew his fake love life would be worthy of being on the front page. It makes his stomach recoil at the sight of him hand-in-hand with Angelica. He stays quite unable to speak a word. He’s afraid the eggs he just ate will come right back up. He can feel the weird pressure in the back of his jaw, a feeling he’s been a bit too familiar with these past few days. His mother turns to a different page...more pictures. This time it's the one where he is placing the necklace around her neck. He hates it, then immediately feels guilty. He knows it's not Angelica’s fault, but that doesn’t take away the dislike he has of this entire situation with them. 

     “The pictures came out beautifully, I agree. But can we just have breakfast together without having to talk about these things first thing in the morning? Please mom” He pleads with his mom hoping that for once she’d actually listen to him. She must be pretty satisfied by the article that she grants him his wish this one time.

“When do you return to Hillerska Wilhelm?” his dad asks, clearly helping to shift the subject. He’s thankful for that.

“Right after the New Year, by the third, I should be back by the third.”

“Why so soon dear? Classes don’t start until the 6th” his mom asks. She probably knows why or maybe she doesn’t want to know. Not really. 

I want to see him again. “I’d like to get a head start on my studies. It’s time I take things more seriously as you say”

“I’m happy to hear that” 

     They finish their remaining breakfast in silence after that. As he stands up to leave she stops him for a moment, “Don’t deny or confirm anything just yet Wilhelm. We will give a proper address to Camila”

     The name rings a bell.“The reporter?”

     “Yes, she will have exclusive rights to this story. But that won’t happen until tomorrow” 

     Of course, some random person will have exclusive rights to a bunch of lies. He doesn’t see why they should even go to such lengths. The rumors themselves would be more than enough to restore their image. But what say does he have in this anyways?

     “Merry Christmas mom, Merry Christmas dad” something flashes across their face and disappears just as fast, he doesn’t wait for them to say it back. 

     He heads back to his room and shuts off his phone. It’s not like there’s anyone he talks to anyways. He thinks he’ll go crazy if he stays inside these walls any longer. If he’s right, then Malin should be waiting for him downstairs ready to accompany him. He puts on his coat and wraps a scarf around himself. He looks like an average teenage boy, yet he’s anything but that. 

     “Thank you for coming with me, Malin. No plans for Christmas day?” He was genuinely surprised Malin was available today. Maybe she wasn’t but it's just under work contract to follow him anywhere at any time. He hopes it's not the latter. 

     “My family and I do all our celebrating on Christmas eve. Christmas day is more of a recovery day after all the drinking” He’s glad he didn’t come in between any of her plans then. 

     “Say, Malin, what are some places you recommend I go. I doubt many places are open today.” He didn’t even have a plan or an idea as to where he wanted to go, anywhere but the palace is perfect for him. 

“Hmm there’s a plaza only 20 minutes away, a fair number of stores should be open there at the moment. I think you’ll like it, it’s not too crowded either.” 

The plaza it is. 

“That sounds perfect Malin, thank you.” 

     Turns out she was right, it was a fairly secluded little place, with little to no people at this time of day. He walked past a magazine stand and almost ran the other way. Almost. The fresh air and change of scenery were too good for him to leave. It was a small plaza consisting mainly of small and local shops. The ladies call him “hon”, “love”, “darling” and he finds it oddly endearing and comforting. They even called Malin “pretty lady”, which she was clearly flattered from. He enters one of the bookshops and browses through the different isles. Somehow he ends up in front of the music section and a certain “How to Read Music” book catches his eye. He picks it up without hesitation and continues walking. He doesn't think about it and just holds it. He continues to walk down different sections before picking up a book that looks like it could be an interesting read. He asks Malin if she’d like to pick out anything before heading over to the register. 

     “Will this be everything for today hon?” the lady at the checkout asks. 

     “Yes this will be it, thank you” He takes the bag and heads out the door but gets distracted by a sweet smell.  Hot chocolate. It has to be. He turns to Milan, and both exchange knowing looks. Soon after they’re holding a cup of hot chocolate each. 

     “Thank you for the drink Prince Wilhelm” 

     “C’mon Malin I’ve told you already you can just call me Wilhelm. After everything that’s happened I think it's okay to drop the formalities, wouldn't you say?” He knows he’s not wrong. She’s basically seen how in love he is with Simon. He’s sure she knows that was him in the video. She even accompanied him when he went to make out with Simon and when he was being broken up with. That should be more than enough to give her the right to just call him by his first name. 

     “But-”

     “But nothing Malin, you’re the closest thing I have to a friend nowadays.” He doesn't mean to make it sound so depressing but that’s just how it comes out. He internally cringes at it. “I don’t mean it in a bad way, it’s just that you’re the only person who is still here even after this entire shit show just happened, so thank you for that” He didn’t think he’d feel shy saying that out loud but he can feel the tip of his ear reddened. He’s relieved to see Malin smile at him. 

     “You’re friends with a 36-year-old Wilhelm, you know that right?” She chuckles at that. 

     “Better a 36-year-old friend than no friend at all” 

     “Couldn’t agree more.” 

     He finds himself meaning all of what he’s said. He never expected Malin to become a friend. He’s pretty sure that goes against some clause in her contract but under these circumstances, he thinks she just probably doesn't care anymore. Or maybe she’s taking a certain pity towards him. He wouldn't mind. They make one last stop at one of the stalls on the corner of the street. A certain number of scarves catch his attention. He picks out two matching dark green scarfs. Once more he completely ignores the fact that he’s buying two of the same ones. There’s no reason behind it. Two is just a good number of scarves. He also ignores the white gift box he buys along with the tissue paper and the Christmas present bow. 

     “You should get the one with the candy cane pattern” Malin suggests over his shoulder 

     “You don’t think it would be too tacky?”

     “No it’ll look cute” He trusts her judgment on this one. 

     He’s pretty sure she’s picked up on what he’s doing but decides to ignore it as well. He thinks of it as compulsive buying, and nothing more. With that done they head to the car and make their way back to the palace. 

     “Thanks again Malin, I had a nice time” He really did, he knows that the rumor has already spread about him and Angelica but just for a few hours he was able to escape that. He was a normal teenager shopping. It was also the first time he was able to actually catch his breath since he got there. 

     “I’m glad it helped, you looked ready to run away the second I saw you head down the stairs” 

     He’s sure he did. He takes in a deep breath before heading back into the cold palace. 

     He sits on his bed and begins to take out the stuff he’s bought. He opens the box and places the tissue paper on the inside before putting the music book inside. Once he’s arranged it in a way that he’s satisfied he takes one of the two scarves he bought, folds it, and places it on top of the book. He decides to add a bit more tissue paper before closing the lid and tying the bow. Once he’s done he carefully places the gift under the bed. 

     He picks up his phone and turns it back on and is instantly met with more notifications than he can count. Just yesterday he phone was as empty as it could be. He thought it was just people asking him to confirm the rumors between Angelica and him but that’s not entirely the case. 

‘Milton_H and others have liked your post’ 

     What post? The last thing he’s ever bothered to post was a picture of his first day at Hillerska and even that wasn’t him. It was some person in charge of his account. He taps on his profile and sees a picture of himself and angelica then another one with both families smiling. 

     “Merry Christmas from ours to yours” reads the caption. 

What the fuck?! 

     Before he can even say anything his mother enters the room. Talk about perfect timing. He looks down at his phone before looking up at her once more anger and confusion written across his face. She notices it, he knows she does.

“Oh, I’m glad you’re caught up then. I was going to tell you this morning but it looked like you weren’t too keen on talking more about the subject.” 

“Since when did we ever agree to this?” He tries to keep his voice calm and even.

“Well Wilhelm, you will be giving a proper address from the palace tomorrow, this should be nothing” How can she say such things so nonchalantly? 

“I would have liked to know about this.” He would’ve deleted the entire account himself if he knew this was ever going to be posted.

“Don’t overthink it dear. You should get ready, you'll be joining Camila in a mock interview to prepare for tomorrow” Without another word she turns around and shuts the door.

He hasn’t even been more for an hour…

     He goes back to his bed and opens his phone once more. His finger hovers over the delete post option but decides against it. What can he do now? This many people saw it already anyway. He goes to Simon’s profile and looks back at last night’s picture, except there’s a new post now. A picture of the sunrise from the football field captioned “I hope you had a nice Christmas.” His breath catches on his throat and it feels like a string is pulling at his heart. He’s had to have seen everything by now. 

It’s not true Simon. 

    He keeps repeating the same sentence over and over again while staring at the pictures until it's time for him to head over to Camila. The entire mock interview is a disaster, he can barely speak without tripping over his words. It’s earned him more hard stares from his mom than he would’ve liked. After 3 hours they call it a day. He skips lunch and dinner not being able to stomach anything after the day’s events. He skips the goodnights and just heads straight to shower.

     Once he returns to his room he’s hit by the smell of hot chocolate once more and a warm bacon,cheddar, and egg sandwich. The note next to it read: “ It’s not good to go to bed on an empty stomach. This better be empty by the time I come pick it up Wilhelm - Malin” 

     He admits he’d hate for it to go to waste, and so he picks up the book he bought earlier and eats his small dinner before Malin comes back. The hot chocolate warms him up just enough. He wondered when she picked up on the fact that it was his comfort drink. He doubts he’s ever mentioned it. Turns out he was pretty hungry after all. He writes a small thank you under Malin’s notes before heading to bed. 

           ﹡﹡﹡

      He woke up to his phone alarm the next morning. A lot earlier than usual in order to have time to let the stylists put the image of a prince on him. He doubts he can even call last night’s actions any type of sleep. He couldn’t stop tossing and turning the entire night. 

     Soon after he wakes up he’s taken to a different room. Different people start working on him. Two ladies start on his hair while a man begins on his makeup. He feels himself being pulled in countless directions and he can’t even say anything about it. He recognizes this team as the same one that got him ready the last two times he had to do this - His leave for Hillerska and denying the video. 

After what feels like forever, he's finally in front of Camila again. This time the room holds the lights and the cameras with him in the middle of it all. He brings his hands up to his mouth before he stops himself. He went over this for 3 hours yesterday so he should be fine. Except that he isn’t. He is far from fine. He sees one of the cameramen talk but his voice sounds muffled. Everything sounds muffled to him 

“3,2,1 Go!”

“Good morning Prince Wilhelm” Camila starts off with a bright smile. 

“Good morning Camila” 

     And so it starts. All hell breaks loose. 

     “Yes, the rumors are true. I have decided to court Lady Angelica Johansson...” Words have never felt so bitter on his tongue. The interview continues for longer and questions and responses are exchanged. Wilhelm remembers nothing. Or maybe he does. It all becomes a blur to him. The heat from the lights around him makes everything more unbearable than it already is. The only reason he’s answering with such a calm demeanor is because these things have been ingrained into his brain since yesterday. 

    Suddenly the lights shut down and the red light on the camera turns off. 

     “Thank you for the Interview, Prince Wilhelm. I hope nothing but happiness for you and lady Angelica.” 

     “Thank you, Camila.” He shakes her hand before walking out the door. He doesn’t know how to feel. What to feel. He thinks his mother says something on his way out, but he keeps walking. One foot in front of the other. He starts to rub his hand across his chest trying to get himself to start breathing again. 

It’s over now. It’s over.

     He opens the door to his room and is instantly met with his reflection. He remembers asking to get that changed. It’s a fairly big full-size mirror. He remembers asking to have that moved someplace else. 

     He thinks he hears the clacking of heels. Everything sounds like he’s underwater. 

     He hates the reflection in the mirror. He takes notice of the crown on his head and wonders when that was even placed there, to begin with. He must’ve been too nervous to notice it. He doesn’t recognize the boy in the mirror and he thinks the clacking of heels is getting closer. He throws off his coat and it lands somewhere on the floor. With frantic and shaking hands he loosens the knot of his tie.

What is so different from saying he's courting a girl to saying he’s in love with a guy. What’s the difference? Why can’t he say he’s courting a guy? A wonderful guy. Why can’t he say that instead of what he’s just told, Camila?

I hope you have a nice Christmas.

     He feels something start to build up. Something ugly. Something he’s been pushing down for a while. He reaches to touch the crown needing to confirm that it’s actually there and that the guy in the reflection is him. He hates him. Whoever that person is looking back at him, he despises him. The clacking has come to a stop. 

     He reaches with one hand to grab the crown that sits on top of his head and throws it against the mirror. Pieces of glass fall on the floor and he thinks he hears a scream coming from behind him. He walks closer to the cracked mirror and sees red eyes spilling tears looking back at him. 

     The clacking of the heels belonged to his mom apparently. He sees her on the reflection standing there. 

“Wilhelm” something in her voice makes him angrier. She reaches out for him but immediately stops when she meets his eyes. 

“Let’s not be late for dinner mom. I’m sure the Johansson’s will be here soon. I suspect the photographers are ready as well”  

     He turns his back to the stranger in the mirror and walks out of the room. He knows this numbness will only be temporary. In a few hours, he’ll realize everything and it’ll be a thousand times worse. 

﹡﹡﹡

     After dinner and a few photos, the Johansson’s part ways with them. His mom still tries to talk to him about what she saw earlier but he leaves before she can get anything out of him. 

     He returns to his room and finds the shattered glass is no longer there and neither is the mirror. He’ll thank whoever cleaned up after him later. Right now he just sinks to the floor at the foot of his bed and hugs himself. He imagines it's Simon who’s holding him. 

     He was right. It did hit a thousand times worse. He’s silently crying when Malin comes into his room. She doesn’t say anything and sits down on the floor next to him and holds him. He doesn’t let go of her until the crying has drained him out. He’s dozing off when Malin finally convinces him to go to sleep. 

She leaves with one last hug and a goodnight. Once he’s changed to go to sleep he reaches under his bed for the box he placed there earlier and takes out the scarf. Not once does he let go of it throughout the night.