*ON HOLD* Solangelo Royalty AU

Eleven

Will was not happy to see Octavian parading into the throne room like he owned the damned place. The blond prince looked over at Nico to see how he was reacting and when he looked up he saw Octavian smirking at him.

Shit. - Will thought.

For the rest of the initial introduction of Nico and his family, Will sat uncomfortably and didn't once look at the dark haired prince.

Finally, they were all dismissed from the throne room. Will tried his hardest to escape without having a conversation with Octavian but luck was not on his side.

"Hello cousin." Will swallowed his retort about them not actually being cousins.

"Octavian." He acknowledged with a bow of his head.

Will didn't stop walking but Octavian didn't give up, he walked at Will's side. "Your fiancé is quite beautiful, isn't she?" Will nodded his head in agreement. "Though, it seemed to me like you have your eyes on a different di Angelo." Octavian smirked.

Will stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Octavian. "Just because I was looking at Nico doesn't mean I'm interested in him, Octavian." That was the wrong thing to say.

"On a first-name-basis with the prince are we, cousin?"

"This is none of your business," Will said and continued on his way.

Octavian and Will were very close when they were younger. When Lady Artemis first got married when Will was four, he was introduced to his new cousin who was only a year older than him. They did everything together before Artemis moved out of the castle and even after that the boys were the best of friends.

However, Octavian started to change as they got older. He became colder, more distant, meaner. But Will still blindly followed him.

Will made the mistake of trusting Octavian and came out to him when he finally realised he was gay when he was thirteen. Ever since then, Octavian made it his personal mission to make Will's life a living hell. Fortunately they saw less and less of each other over the years.

"Octavian!" Thirteen-year-old Will rushed up to his fourteen-year-old best friend, Octavian and hugged him. The older boy seemed slightly uncomfortable but hugged the prince back. "I missed you." Octavian didn't reply.

"Run along you two, we have something important to discuss," Lady Artemis said, dismissing the boys.

The young lord and crown prince ran down the halls to Will's bedroom. The two boys spent the afternoon together talking about this and that. As the sun began setting, Will had finally mustered the courage to tell his best and only friend his biggest secret.

"Octavian, can I tell you something?" Will asked. Octavian nodded his head in reply. The prince took a deep breath. "I'm gay." He whispered.

"What? Speak up, idiot."

"I'm gay," Will repeated, louder this time.

Crack.

Will's head whipped to the side. It took him a minute to register the fact Octavian - Octavian, his friend - had slapped him.

Octavian didn't say anything, simply stood up and headed toward the door. "Octavian." Will stood up, holding his stinging cheek. "Octavian, wait!" He reached out and grabbed Octavian's arm.

"Don't touch me, faggot." Octavian screamed, shoving Will back, who toppled onto the floor.

Will stared up at his friend through the tears in his eyes. "Octavian... please," Will whispered, his voice breaking as the tears began to fall.

Octavian spun around and stormed out of the room, not saying a word to the crying prince on the floor and slammed the door.

Eighteen-year-old Will could feel the tears sting his eyes as he remembered that day but he quickly slid his mask into place and shoved the sadness down.

But once the door to his bedroom was closed, Will slumped on his bed and cried. He cried until he had no more tears left.

What felt like hours later, Will was laying on his back, staring up at his ceiling, wallowing in self-pity. He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"What do you want?" Will called out. He was in no mood to socialise and therefore saw no point in being polite.

The door swung open. "Nice to see you too," Nico replied. It was then that the dark haired prince noticed Will's tear-stained face. "Will... What happened?" He asked and sat down next to him.

Will sat up, opened his mouth to reply but all the came out was a sob as the tears started to fall again.

The next thing Will knew, he was enveloped in Nico's warm embrace. He melted into it and cried with his head buried in Nico's shoulder.

**********

a/n:

Look at me updating this book twice in one month!

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Vote/Comment if you did.
Thanks,
~Em

[word count 775]