Season 3 Young Royals (Version 1)

4. Bjärstad

Wilhelm had led Simon down to the gatehouse, watching for school staff and especially any classmates that might mention Wilhelm's absence to Vincent or any staff. When they arrived, Wilhelm approached the door alone and knocked. Malin answered, and all Wilhelm told Malin was that his "friend's" sister was missing and he needed help locating her because she may be in trouble.

They drove through the countryside toward Bjärstad with both bodyguards in the front seat. Wilhelm supposed that this might have to do with an increase in interest in him since he'd made his speech a few hours ago.

Although there was plenty of room, Simon was pressed noticeably close to Wilhelm, who put his hand on Simon's thigh. Then Simon covered Wilhelm's hand with his own and looked into his eyes. Simon suddenly felt too shy to maintain eye contact for long with Malin and the other bodyguard in the front seat even if they didn't seem to pay much attention. So Simon contented himself with looking forward and then out the opposite window for the moment as he felt how close Wilhelm was.

Simon wanted to continue discussing what they should do but realised that these bodyguard must not be trustworthy if Wilhelm was bothering to call Simon his "friend" although the two had arrived at the gatehouse holding hands. Besides that, these bodyguards were at the Jubilee. They had both heard the speech. Simon supposed this was Wilhelm's way of letting Simon know that they shouldn't chat about what was really going on while in the car in case it made its way back to the queen. As he said "friend", he'd given Simon an intentional look that said as much. Wilhelm wanted to keep his distance from his mother's employees and Simon understood why. So they went on in silence for a while, trees zipping past in the near darkness. The sun had only begun to disappear over the horizon about 15 minutes before.

By the time they reached Bjärstad it would be completely dark and Simon couldn't help feeling worried about his sister as he always had. Watching out for her had been his most important job as her brother since before he was old enough to know that his sister was different.

Simon would periodically take his hand from Wilhelm's to check his phone for any messages from Sara but nothing came through from her. His mother hadn't stopped messaging him since he'd made the mistake of asking if Sara was home. It was a rare slip-up when it came to his mother and keeping her just uninformed enough so that she wouldn't worry. He had another missed call from her in fact and whispered to Wilhelm "Jag måste ringa min mamma tillbaka...men jag talar med henne på spanska." (I have to call my mom back, but I'll speak to her in Spanish) He wanted to reassure Wilhelm that the bodyguards wouldn't overhear his conversation, although he still had no idea what he would tell her himself.

"Såklart." Wilhelm smiled hesitantly at Simon, worried about how this all would affect his mother. He realised his own mother was right in that there were in fact certain things he hadn't considered when he made his admission speech. Simon's family was on the verge of imploding and he was responsible for a large part of it even if Simon didn't blame him for it.

Simon selected her number and called. She picked up before the first ring had finished.

"(Simon, what is going on?? Where is Sara? Is she ok? Are you ok?)"

" Eh, mamá, está ya en Bjärstad. Voy a por ella. Está bien. Luego te llamamos y vamos para casa, vale?" ( Mom, she's in Bjärstad. I'm going to get her. She's fine. We'll call you later and head home, ok?) In the end Linda hadn't gone to the Jubilee as Simon convinced her it wasn't worth it as he wouldn't be doing his solo, but she had watched everything happen on television. They'd spoken on the phone briefly afterward and Simon had told her how happy he was that he wasn't alone with the video anymore and that he and Wille were really together. He'd gotten choked up and nearly cried when he told her about it.

"(Simón, how are you not with her and why did you ask me if she was home earlier? I'm coming out to get you! Where are you now??)"

"(Mom, I'm on my way on the bus now. I'll bring her home. She finally answered my messages. You know how she is. She went into town first and didn't think to tell me, so I'm going to meet her. We'll see you in a while. Please don't worry. We're both fine.) "

"(I'll be here waiting for one more hour and if you don't both show up by then, I'm heading out to search for you or I'm calling the police. I'm not joking. Hurry up.)"

"(We should be there by then but if the bus takes longer, I'll let you know or call for a ride, ok?)". Simon didn't want to say that Wilhelm would probably bring them home because it would only bring up more questions that Simon didn't have answers for.
He ended the call with his mother feeling stressed that he wouldn't find her in time, or that he might not find her at all.

They hung up the call and Simon gave Wilhelm a look that told him they needed to hurry.

"We need to go to the police station first to ask if they've seen her." Wilhelm lied to his bodyguards.

About twenty minutes later, the black car was driving down the main street in the center of Bjärstad towards the police station. Simon was scanning the sidewalks as they went, looking for his sister pulling a suitcase and carrying at least one backpack. Neither he nor Felice had seen her today so he didn't know what she must be wearing.

Suddenly a silhouette caught his eye through the window of a café as they were approaching the police station. He immediately recognized his sister staring into a coffee cup. "There she is, Wille! In that café!"

Wilhelm instructed Malin to park nearby, that they'd spotted Simon's sister. He turned to Simon quietly, "Simon, do you want me to go get her? I can talk to her and then you don't have to just yet. She might be more likely to come with me as well... I don't know. What do you think?" He whispered even more quietly "I need to ask her if she's filed the report already before we get back in the car too."

"Yeah, it's a better idea. I don't think I can look her in the face yet."

Wilhelm let Malin open the door and left Simon in the car as he headed to the entrance to the café. He saw Sara notice him and began to hurry in case she decided to run. Malin followed closely behind him as they were in the middle of town and there were people roaming to and fro doing their shopping in the center. A few began to notice Wilhelm and whisper amongst themselves. Some even started to point and Wilhelm congratulated himself on the decision to leave Simon in the car with its tinted windows so he wouldn't be subjected to this.

He crossed the street, Malin held the door for him and he walked through the door heading directly for Sara's table. Luckily it was away from the other few occupied tables and he felt they could probably speak and not be overheard. There was a single waitress helping customers a few tables away and Wilhelm told Malin she could just stay at the door and wait for them until they were ready to leave. Two customers looked up from their coffee and pastries, making awkward eye contact with Wilhelm one after the other. They both seemed stunned for a moment, but quickly there began a slightly louder murmur of whispered conversation between them and their friends.

"Sara." Wilhelm approached her table. "Can I sit and talk to you...quietly?"

Sara sat upright again and nodded.