'P' is for...

‘Prince’

The only thing Brian ever really wanted was to be normal. He wished that he could walk around and not have people stare at him. For that matter, he wished that he could walk around without a security detail constantly watching his every move. He wished that he could go out to college parties like all of the other students but his family wouldn’t allow it. Why doesn’t he just sneak out do you ask? Because sneaking out would lead to him being caught by his security and having them make a phone call to his parents.

Brian was a Prince. Everyone around the world knew his name. They knew every move he made thanks to the paparazzi that followed him around just as much as his security guards did. He was thankful though that he had managed to convince his parents to let him go to college to study music. He had insisted upon living in a dorm room and after extensive police checks, he was even allowed a roommate.

His roommate Zacky seemed to be one of the only people in the world who didn’t treat him like a Prince. Zacky would still get angry with Brian for having the last of the ramen noodles and not telling him to go and get more. He would give Brian a lecture about not cleaning up after himself because Zacky himself was a huge neat freak. Brian loved that about Zacky. He loved the fact that he could be himself and Zacky wouldn’t treat him any different then he would anyone else. He also loved that Zacky had his back and was someone that he could talk to.

Brian watched as Zacky rifled through his closet in their medium sized room.

“Going somewhere?”, Brian asked as Zacky pulled out a shirt and then instantly put it back.

“Party at a friend’s house”

Brian’s face fell at Zacky’s words. Three years into his life at college and he had never been to a college party. It upset him more then he knew it should. He knew that he was lucky to even be allowed to college. It hadn’t been easy to convince his parents to let him do this and have a roommate. Trying to get their permission to go to parties would be next to impossible and this is what upset him most. He wished that for one day he wasn’t ‘Prince Brian’. He wished for one day that he could just do what he wanted to do without having people point and stare. He wished that he could walk around town and not have paparazzi follow him. He didn’t see why people fussed. He would never be King. He had two older brothers who would take that role before he ever could.

Zacky turned around and looked at the glum look on Brian’s face. He felt guilty about the fact that he could do whatever he wanted and Brian didn’t have that same luxury. He wished that there was something he could do but he knew it was impossible. Brian was under the constant and watchful eye of security guards who had his parents on speed dial incase anything went wrong.

“Well have fun”, Brian said as he lifted his head to look at Zacky. He gave the shorter green eyed boy a half hearted smile before going back to staring at the floor.

Zacky knew what the answer to his next question was going to be before he even asked it, but he felt compelled to ask it anyway.

“Do you want to come?”

Brian looked up at Zacky and saw the sympathetic look in the other boy’s eyes.

“You know I can’t Zack…”

“I can stay here then, I don’t have to go”

Brian shook his head as Zacky sat on the bed opposite his roommate. “No, you definitely go. You said it was your friend’s party you can’t miss that. Its fine, I have some composition work to finish anyway”

Zacky furrowed his brows as he continued to look at Brian. He could see the sadness in the older boy’s eyes and he wanted to be the one to get rid of that look.

“Well if you say so”, Zacky said before he got up, retrieved his keys, phone and wallet before exiting the room with a quick goodbye to his royal roommate.

Brian stared at the door for a few moments before lying back on his bed, his head hitting the pillow softly as he closed his eyes. Tears welled in the corner of his eyes as he thought about Zacky going out and having fun. If only he wasn’t himself for one day. If only for one day he could do whatever he wanted.

~

It couldn’t have been more then 15 minutes later when the door to Brian’s dorm opened and in walked Zacky with one bottle of Jack Daniels in each hand and a smile on his face. Brian sat up and placed his feet on the floor, watching as Zacky sat down in front of him leaning his back against his own bed.

“What are you doing back here? I thought you were going…”

“Change of plans”, Zacky said as he cut Brian off, “I decided that I would much rather hang out here with you and get good and wasted”

Brian dropped to the floor, and crossed his legs so he was sitting right in front of Zacky, leaning back on the side of his bed. He watched as Zacky opened up the first bottle of whiskey and placed it next to himself before opening the other bottle and handing it to Brian. Zacky retrieved his own bottle and raised it towards Brian.

“Cheers!”

Brian clinked his bottle against Zacky’s and returned the toast before lifting the bottle to his lips and taking the first sip, the alcohol burning its way down his throat in the most satisfying way possible. Zacky smiled as he watched Brian, hoping that he could loosen him up enough so that he wouldn’t keep thinking about how constrained his life was and actually enjoy himself.

“So are we just going to sit here and drink or are we actually going to do something?”

“What did you have in mind?”, Zacky asked as he took another sip.

Brian shrugged as he took another sip from his drink, “Maybe we could play a game or something?”

“Strip poker”, Zacky said with a wink as Brian blushed, averting his gaze from the green eyed boy.

“Definitely not drunk enough for that”, Brian says, keeping his gaze locked on the bottle in his hands as he brings it up for another sip.

Zacky licks his lips as he thinks to himself, finally coming up with another game, “How about truth or dare?”

Brian looks up again, seeing the small smile on Zacky’s lips he smiles as well as he nods his head.

“Okay, I’m asking first”, Zacky says, barely waiting for Brian’s response, “Truth or Dare?”

“Truth”

“Do you ever wish you were someone else?”, Zacky asks, knowing that he has been able to read Brian like a book for the past three years.

“Is it that obvious?”

Zacky shrugs, “Sometimes…like tonight when I told you I was going to a party, I could just see from the look in your eyes that you wished you could go”

“I know I should be happy. I mean, when all is said and done I have a family that loves me and cares about me and not everyone is lucky enough to have that. I just wish that for once I could do things like a normal person. I mean, sometimes I have to pinch myself because I can’t believe that I am even at college, in a dorm room, with a roommate. But it’s useless to dream about these things because they are never going to come true. This is who I always have been and always will be”

Both men were quiet for a moment as Brian’s words were absorbed. Brian could see the look of pity in Zacky’s eyes and that was the last thing he wanted so he quickly asked ‘truth or dare’ to get the game going again.

“Truth”, Zacky replies, taking another sip of his JD as he waits for Brian’s question. He can feel the alcohol in his system but if there is one thing Zacky can do, it’s hold his liquor.

“What’s something that you have never told anyone about yourself?”

Zacky furrowed his brows in thought. There were a lot of things he didn’t talk about, especially with his family. The biggest one was his sexuality. One of his cousins came out a few years ago and Zacky hated the way his own parents reacted. His cousin’s parents were supportive of their son but Zacky’s parents ignored it and acted like it never happened and when his cousin would bring his boyfriend to family events, Zacky’s parents would ignore them both completely. Zacky was just glad that his parent’s didn’t question why he never spoke about girls or didn’t bring any girls home because quite frankly he didn’t know how he would respond to their questions.

Zacky kept his gaze on the floor, contemplating whether he should even divulge his secret to Brian. He took another sip from his bottle of Jack and took a deep breath.

“I’m gay”, Zacky all but whispered as he kept his gaze directed at anything but Brian.

“What?”, Brian asked, barely hearing the green eyed boys response even though it was practically silent in the room.

“I’m gay”, Zacky said, as he looked up to meet Brian’s gaze, wary of the older boys reaction.

Brian could see the look of fear in Zacky’s eyes and was quick to respond so that he wouldn’t leave the boy hanging any longer.

“Really? I never would have guessed. Not that I have ever really seen you with any girls, but I haven’t exactly seen you with any guys either”

Zacky nodded, “Well I know my parents wouldn’t be very accepting so I have been putting off telling them and…there is this guy I like but…I don’t know if I could ever tell him how I feel”

Brian tilted his head, “Why cant you tell the guy?”

Zacky blushed, quickly dismissing Brian’s question, “I’m sorry I only have to answer one question, now it’s my turn, truth or dare?”

“Truth”

“Can you pick who you are going to marry or is it going to be arranged or something?”

“Well, I am the third in line to the throne so I don’t think my parents really care who I get with but no it won’t be arranged, they don’t really do that anymore”

Zacky nodded, “Fair enough”

“Alright my turn, truth or dare?”

“Truth”, Zacky said reluctantly, hoping Brian wouldn’t ask any more questions about his love life.

“So why cant you tell this guy that you like him?”

Zacky slumped down further into the floor, wishing that Brian would have asked anything other then that question.

“I don’t want to answer that, pick another question”

Brian smirked, “That’s not how it works Zack, now tell me why?”

Zacky took another sip from his drink, now almost half way through the bottle, “Cause…he is pretty much off limits and he probably isn’t even gay and I don’t want to make a fool out of myself in front of him”

“What do you mean by off limits?”

“That’s another ques-”

“Zack”, Brian cut him off, “Answer the question”

Zacky shook his head, “Don’t make me say it Bri”

Brian sat there contemplating Zacky’s words. He could see a look of pain in the younger boy’s eyes and he almost felt responsible for it being there. Zacky wasn’t even looking at him anymore and all of a sudden reality hit him like a ton of bricks.

“I…Zack…”

“Truth or dare Brian?”

“Truth”

“Are you gay or straight?”

Brian sat frozen for a moment. It was a question that he had asked him self many times and his answer had never been conclusive. He knew that there was a great deal of pressure on himself to be a certain person, to live up to his title, but the more he lived his life, the more he questioned whether or not he even wanted to live that life. He placed his bottle of whiskey down on the floor and got up onto his knees, suddenly feeling as though he hadn’t just drank half a bottle of Jack Daniels. He moved so that he was sitting right in front of Zacky, his knees resting next to Zacky’s crossed legs. He leaned in so that there were only millimetres between the two, his brown eyes staring right into Zacky’s emerald green ones. He leaned in further causing his nose to graze with Zacky’s before he brought their lips together. Zacky breathed in sharply as Brian’s soft lips moved against his own. He started returning the kiss, his lips moving eagerly against Brian’s hoping that if he didn’t stop then Brian wouldn’t either.

Brian pulled away after a few minutes, both boys needing to catch their breath after the intense kiss. Brian rested his forehead against Zacky’s as he looked into the other boy’s eyes. He couldn’t help the smile that came onto his face as he looked at the younger boy.

“I have to go”, Brian said as he got up, placing one final kiss on Zacky’s lips before he left the room. Zacky sat there, shocked that Brian had just left, but he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face.

~

It had been one week since Brian and Zacky had played truth or dare. One week since Zacky and Brian had kissed for the first time. One week since Zacky had seen the Prince. He didn’t know where he had gone and none of the gossip websites knew of his whereabouts. Zacky was afraid. Afraid that he had fucked up so bad that Brian was disgusted with him and never wanted to see him again. It was Friday night and Zacky was alone in his dorm room, lying on his bed, staring blankly at Brian’s things across from him. Surely if he wasn’t coming back someone would have come and retrieved his belongings but no one had come, not even his security that seemed to constantly follow him.

Zacky lifted his head as he heard his phone beep, signaling that someone had just sent him a text. He reached and grabbed his phone off the floor and opened the text from his friend…

Type Brian’s name into google

Zacky furrowed his brows as he looked at the text but got up from his place on the bed nonetheless. He sat down at his desk and loaded up his computer, clicking on the search engine and typing in Brian’s name. As soon as the page loaded, Zacky’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he read the first and most recent result.

-Prince Brian Haner renounces royal title-

“No fucking way”, Zacky whispers to himself as he scrolls down to read the article. He is barely half way through it when he hears a key slip into the lock of the dorm room door. Zacky looks up from the article and sees Brian walking through the door with a smile on his face.

“Is it true?”, Zacky asks as he stands from his chair.

Brian closes the door and walks over to Zacky, looking at the open page on the computer screen before looking back at Zacky.

“Damn, I was hoping I would be the one to tell you”

“I don’t get it”, Zacky says, his mind reeling as a thousand and one thoughts fly through his head at once.

“I talked to my parents. I told them I didn’t want my title anymore. I told them that I wanted to pursue music and be free to do whatever I want. I told them that there is guy that I really like, who I’m hoping wants to be with me as much as I want to be with him”. Brian leaned in and whispered into Zacky’s ear. “I’m not a Prince any more”

Zacky turned and looked up at Brian, the smile on the older boy’s face was one that he had never seen in the whole time that he had known him.

“So does this mean…”

Brian nodded his head, knowing exactly what Zacky was going to ask without the green eyed boy finishing his question.

“It means I want you to be mine, and I hope that’s what you want to”

Zacky smiled as he threw his arms around Brian’s neck and brought the older boy into a kiss. It was different from their first kiss that had been new and slightly hesitant. This kiss summed up everything that both boys now felt, they were happy and free and an invisible weight had been lifted from both of their shoulders.

Brian smiled as he pulled away from the kiss and rested his head against Zacky’s.

“Aren’t you going to miss it?”, Zacky asked as his fingers played with the soft silken locks of Brian’s hair.

“No. I don’t think I ever really wanted it, and my parents weren’t really that surprised either. They are just happy that I am finally happy and that I know what I want in life”

“And are you sure that I am the one for you?”

“Mhm. And I know, without a doubt that we will live happily ever after”