Coveted Love (Lams Royal AU)

The Ball (Part 5)

A/N - Hello! One of my lovely readers reached out to me about John's diabetes and it was very helpful so thank you, you know who you are. Please continue to correct me if I'm wrong and thank you again! 

John's POV

   "Let's see..." I thought for a moment as Alex shoved a whole cookie in his mouth."I like the draw...Uh...My favorite color is blue."
   "I like to write and my favorite color is green." He smiled, he fell quiet for a moment and huffed. "John?" I looked down at him and smiled. "You don't have to hang out with me if you don't want too." He sighed, his voice quivering a bit. 
   "You're cool, Alex. This is fun. You're a fun person. I know what you're thinking. That-" I poked his tiara and he sniffed a bit, looking put at my with dewy violet eyes. "-doesn't matter to me. I'm not hanging out with you for some kind of personal gain or something." 
   "Really?" 
   "Yeah." I smiled, Alex grinned and threw his arms around me. I laughed and hugged him. "You don't get out much, do you?" 
   "Nope...but sometimes I go out to the garden and I climb a tree and look over the wall. I like watching the people walking on the main street but I always get in trouble." He pouted and I smiled. 
   "Maybe one day you can see it for yourself?" 
   "Maybe..." He sighed, stuffing his face with brownie. I chuckled and noticed there was some crumbs on his bottom lip. 
   "Um-...You got-uh-...Here." I used my thumb to wipe it off and he blushed a bit. "There ya go." I smiled.
   "Thanks." He smiled, I chuckled and my phone went off. "Do you have to-"
   "No. My dad's calling." I answered the call and smiled as I watched Alex stuff his face. "Hey, dad." 
   "Are you alright? Where have you been?"
   "I was outside. My blood sugar was a little low so I asked the Prince if I could get some food and he helped me out." 
   "The Prince? Which one?"
   "Alexander." Alex looked up and I gestured to the phone.
   "You bothered him? He's supposed to be mingling!"
   "He is, he's fine." 
   "John-"
   "He's fine! We're just talking! He asked me to hang out with him!" I huffed, Alex jumped and grabbed my arm. 
   "Fine. I'll call you when it's time to leave." 
   "Ok. Bye." I hung up and Alex bit his lip.
   "Oh, no." A man dressed in an awful magenta suit approached us and yanked me up. 
   "Hey!" 
   "Thomas!" Alex gasped, jumping to his feet as Thomas held me by the collar. 
   "You're not eligible!"
   "What?" I frowned.
   "Stop, Thomas!" 
   "You leave him alone!" 
   "Thomas!"
   "He can't marry you! Back off him!"
   "We're not doing anything, man!"
   "Yeah? Sounds like you're grubbing for money, bitch! You wanna be the next King of America? You'll never been King! You're pathetic!"
   "Yeah? At least I'm  not a nineteen year old praying on a fifteen year old, freak!" 
   "Guys, stop!" Alex begged, his breathing getting erratic as he pulled on my arm. "Please!" 
   "Let me go, douche." I growled, he shoved me back and Alex and I toppled to the floor. I grabbed Alex so he'd land on top of me, breaking his fall. Thomas disappeared and Alex sat up. He gasped for breath and I pulled him into my arms. I helped Alex to his feet and made sure his skirt wasn't all messed up from the fall. 
   "J-John-" He sniffed, I wrapped my arms around him and he started to cry. I took him to the hall and we slumped to floor against the wall. The poor boy was having a panic attack and I had no clue what to do. I pulled him into my arms and rocked us gently. He sniffed and held onto fist fulls of my button-up. "I'm sorry!" He sobbed. "It's all my fault! I'm so so sorry!" He cried.
   "It's not your fault. It's alright. I'm ok. Just breathe." I cooed, trying my best to calm him. He pushed himself off me and gather his skirt, running down the hall. "Alex, wait!" I started to go after them but someone grabbed my shoulder. 
   "Don't...He blames himself enough." Kitty sighed.
   "But it's not-" 
   "He's fragile. He's just needs a minute." I nodded and Kitty smiled. 
   "Can you tell him I'm not trying to be friends with him because of his status or anything? He's a cute kid and funny and-...I don't have many friends either." I sighed, Kitty smiled and nodded. 
   "Take care, John." 
   "You too...Both of you." I smiled, backing toward the door. Kitty smiled and hurried off after Alex. I headed back to the ballroom and met up with my dad. As the night winded down I didn't see Alex again. I was getting worried so I found Laf and gracious got his attention. 
   "Oh. Hey, John." He smiled.
   "Hey, um-"
   "He's just upset and shaken up." Laf smiled. "He gets like this sometimes. It's not your fault." I let out a sigh of release and smiled.
   "So he's ok?"
   "Yeah. He's fine. Thank you for befriending him. The poor boy has been having a hard time adjusting to this life. He acts out and cries a lot."
   "Oh, gosh. Poor thing."
   "I hope to see more of you, John. Alex seems to really like you and you seem to get along."
   "Thank you, Laf. Have a nice night."
   "You too." I smiled, feeling my phone buzz. "Hey, dad." I hummed as I answered the call. 
   "Time to go. Meet me out front." 
   "Ok. Be there in a second." I headed outside and met my dad. We got in the car and he started lecturing me about Alex. I leaned against the window and sighed. I wasn't lying. I really like Alex. He's cool and funny his royal status means nothing to me. He's my friend...with or without the tiara.

A/N - The Q&A is the next chapter so if you have questions get 'em in!