Season 3 Young Royals (Version 1)

46. Bus stop

Unfortunately the warm weather didn't last long and everyone was trapped inside as it rained after classes let out. Simon, Wilhelm and Madison were in Felice's room with her, watching a movie.

Wilhelm had been pretty depressed since he'd found out about the DNA results two days before, but everyone had been very supportive. He hadn't explained the extent of his disappointment to anyone but Simon however.

Simon was sitting on the floor leaning against the bed, while Wilhelm was lying with his head in Simon's lap letting him pet his hair and caress his head to comfort him. Felice was lying on her bed on her side propped up on one elbow. Madison was on Sara's and her former bed, lying back against the pillows but not paying much attention to the movie as she looked at her phone.

Simon had asked Wilhelm what his mom wanted him to go home for the next day.
Wilhelm thought maybe damage control as usual, or another interview about the hearing, or any of the recent scandals. He didn't really care, considering the way he was feeling.

Simon mentioned that his dad's family had suddenly been in touch although they were never close before. He thought it was because they'd read about the settlement they were supposed to receive from August and Simon didn't know what to do but ignore them.

Once they'd finished their movie, Wilhelm decided to walk Simon back to the bus. They grabbed their coats and Felice lent them an umbrella to go walking to the stop in the rain.

Wilhelm always offered to have his bodyguards drive Simon home, but Simon didn't want to take advantage. He felt like he already owed the Royal Family quite a lot, and it wasn't a comfortable feeling for him.

Whenever it came up, Wilhelm would remind him that the Queen had said they didn't have to worry anymore because the evidence was gone, but Simon naturally didn't trust the Royal Family and couldn't completely forget it.

Suddenly Wilhelm's phone rang. He pulled out his phone and checked the caller ID as they were about to walk out the door of the Manor House. It was August's mother, Louise, which he found bizarre since they had rarely ever spoken, and even less so in more recent years. He ignored it then and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He couldn't really imagine what she would want from him.

They headed out into the rain, each with an arm around the other so they could both fit under the umbrella.
The patter of the raindrops on the umbrella just over their heads made it hard to hear much else. They felt camouflaged by the sound of the rain.

They held each other close as they walked, barely dodging several puddles. They slowly made their way down the gravel road. Wilhelm was never in a rush to let Simon leave, and even less so these last couple of days.

They stood away from the bus stop where it was darker. Wilhelm held the umbrella with one hand over them both and put his other arm around Simon's shoulders, pulling him closer and kissing his forehead. Simon squeezed Wilhelm around the waist and breathed in deeply. He lay his head on Wilhelm's shoulder and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Ya know, I don't think I'd feel good about having someone else brought into this, especially not a kid." Wilhelm thought how guilty he already felt about what Simon was being subjected to with the tabloids following his family. They were inventing stories about him simply for being associated with Wilhelm.

"This? Like the Royal Family?"

"Yeah, exactly." Wilhelm smiled sadly, "I mean, my childhood was only ok for me because Erik was there, but even then, it felt really lonely a lot of the time."

"Well, at least now you have people you can trust and be close to, so it's not all bad," Simon tried to cheer him up, looking hopefully up at him under the umbrella.

Wilhelm smiled down at him and kissed his forehead before resting his cheek against Simon's curls. He kept his arm wrapped around him, still using the other to hold the umbrella, as if to protect him from the outside world.

They heard the bus approaching in the distance and kissed each other quickly before moving toward the shelter of the bus stop. They hugged once more as the bus was opening its doors and Simon climbed in, waving goodbye to Wilhelm through the window.

Simon felt strange looks from a couple of the passengers and sat near the back to get away from them. He sighed deeply and looked out the window, watching the figure of Wilhelm disappear into the dark, rainy night. He felt helpless but wanted to protect Wilhelm from everything, especially from his own family.

Wilhelm headed back to his room and hung up his coat and Felice's umbrella so it would be dry to return it to her the next day before he went home. He took off his shoes, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and sat down on his bed.

He saw a message from Louise saying that she had something important for him as soon as he could meet to get it. She said it might be better if his family didn't know about it however.

He let her know that he'd be at home that weekend but they could meet near the school on Monday after classes if she was able to make it out. She agreed.

Wilhelm had thought that August being put in prison would mean things were resolved and that they would calm down again, but the opposite seemed to be true.

Wilhelm was seeing the consequences of telling the truth. He tried to hope that this attention wouldn't last much longer and especially that it wouldn't end up driving Simon away.