If love could win

Walpurgis night

Simon came to school by himself Monday morning. We met at the entrance before breakfast. I pulled him into the little hallway, where he had kissed me for the first time months ago. We had not seen each other the whole weekend. He had been busy, so we had not had too much time to speak.

"How are you?" I asked.

"I am okay. And you?" Simon replied.

"I am fine. How is Sara?" I asked him. I knew how worried he was.

"She is at the hospital now and she won't get back until at least Wednesday," he said. "She will be fine, I hope. She is moving home for good. I have missed having her home. I need her." I nodded. They needed each other, just like I had needed Erik.

"I know you do," I replied. I hugged him and felt him hold on to me. Felt him resting his head on my shoulder. "Just tell me if you need anything."

"I will," Simon said.

"You promise?" I asked. Simon looked at me and nodded. I kissed him and took his hand in mine, leading him to breakfast. We sat down by the table close to some other first year students. I heard Henry and Walter talk about Walpurgis night and May first, which was around the corner.

"I look forward to having a day off," Walter said.

"Yeah. Do you remember the last Walpurgis night? You got so drunk you could not stand on your own," Henry said.

"That is why we are free on May first," Walter said, laughing.

"That is not why you are free on May first," Simon said. "May first is workers day."

"And how do you celebrate that?" Vincent asked.

"We don't celebrate. We demonstrate," Simon said. "But I guess you never did that."

"I think you are the only one under this roof that does that, Simon. What does the Queen think about you dating a communist, Wille?" I looked him straight in the eyes. Communist was not in itself a slur, but I knew he meant it in a rude way.

"You are fucking pathetic,Vincent," I said. I put my hand on Simon's thigh under the table.

"Does it not become a conflict of interest for you though?" Vincent kept going. "You are Crown prince, and therefore need to be neutral in political issues, and yet you are dating a communist." I fought to keep calm. I knew I had to. I was, just like Vincent pointed out, Crown prince. It would not be good if I blew up on him. And he was not worth it.
"Who I love is up to me and not my mother or the royal court," I said. "And definitely not up to you. So shut it."

"What is it about me that is so provoking? Are you a homophobe?" Simon asked.

"I have no problem with gay people. It is communism that is the problem with you, when you simultaneously hook up with a prince. At least keep to your own kind," Vincent said.

"Maybe keep out of other people's business," Simon commented. Then he stood up to leave. I stood up, maybe a second after him. I would not accept people talking like that to my boyfriend. We went to class, where I mostly looked at him all period. He was so beautiful. And much more interesting than the book we were reading in English class.

***********

Walpurgis night came. The whole student body was dressed in our school uniforms and the choir was performing some of the traditional songs. I looked at Simon the entire time. I loved listening to him sing. His voice was something I could listen to forever. The graduating students got to wear their graduation caps for the first time. Spring was finally here. It was not freezing cold anymore. Someone got the fire started and then the students spread out on the school grounds. Simon and I were sitting on the stairs, where the choir had been a few minutes ago.

"I love when you sing," I said.

"Yeah?" Simon replied.

"Yeah," I said. "You can just pour your heart out and show yourself vulnerable when you sing. I could never do that."

"But you hold speeches in front of the whole nation and stuff," Simon said.

"When my mom forces me to do it," I said. "Mostly when I have fucked up in some way." Simon giggled and leaned on my shoulder. I laughed too. I thought about that terrible speech I had to do after I hit someone at a bar last semester. That one thing brought me here, to Simon. So I could not really be mad about it.

"Mom has started talking about my birthday, by the way. Would you like to come?" I asked. "I understand if you don't want to. My parents can be a lot." Simon looked at me with big eyes.

"Wille," he said. "Of course I want to. You are my boyfriend. I can manage being around your parents for a few hours, to get to be with you on your birthday." He was my sunshine. I would not force anyone to hang out with my parents. They made people nervous, which was in some way understandable.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" I asked.

"You might have mentioned it," Simon replied teasingly. He took my hand in his.

"When did you say your bus leaves?" I asked Simon.

"Ten past nine," Simon replied. "Why?"

"I was just thinking. Everyone is outside right now," I said. Simon grinned.

"And?" Simon asked. He really wanted me to spell it out for him.

"And we could be inside alone," I said.

"Doing what?" Simon teased.

"I can show you," I said. Simon nodded. His smile was contagious. I helped him up and then we pulled each other by the arm inside. It was dimly lit. And he was the prettiest person I had ever seen. I just wanted to kiss him. Be with him. As close as possible. We threw our blazers off somewhere before we got to the corridor I lived in. We were already glued to each other before we made it into my room. I pushed him up against the wall and we kissed aggressively. Soon, we were not close enough and I unbuttoned my shirt and threw it off. Simon and I kissed and kissed against the wall to my dorm, where possibly anyone could see us. And I couldn't care less if someone would happen to see me kiss the love of my life, before we got into my dorm to get some privacy. 

Author's note

I know I have not updated for literal months. I have had a lot to do, so I have unfortunately not had the creativity or energy to write recently. I am almost finished with my master thesis now, so hopefully I will have some more time and energy to write fun things like this again. I hope you all have a nice spring. 

-A.A.