(Flashback)
Raephier sat on the ground in shock for several minutes after Persula had departed after telling him about the curse. He may have sat there all night if Jas hadn't suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Raephier?! Rae?! Oh thank fuck!" Jas said, putting his hands all over Raephier in a bid to reassure himself that Raephier was unharmed.
Usually Jas giving Raephier such close attention would result in funny flutterings in his stomach, but today it just made him feel claustrophobic and itchy.
"I'm fine!" Raephier snapped sharply before getting up and setting off back towards home.
Jas looked a little taken back by Raephier's tone, but followed alongside him. After a few moments of silence, Jas asked,
"What happened Rae?"
Raephier sighed. Honestly, he didn't feel like telling anyone what happened. He was still bitterly ashamed of what had happened with Khloe and was also slightly annoyed that Jas seemed to have gotten away with it again.
"She put a curse on me or something," Raephier grumbled. He knew it was pointless to lie about it. Afterall, whatever the curse did to him, it was likely to show itself sooner or later.
"Did she tell you anything about it?" Jas asked, looking slightly alarmed.
Raephier thought back to the witch's words, but they made even less sense now than they did at the time.
"Not really," he answered. "I know that it's got something to do with singing."
Jas looked confused.
"Singing? Well that's a stupid curse. Oh oh," he said, suddenly getting animated. "What if it means that you just randomly burst into song at like really inappropriate moments! Like during the King's speech, or when someone dies or something! So everyone's all quiet and somber, and you'll be like..." and then Jas burst out singing some inappropriate version of a kids nursery rhyme.
Despite Raephier's mood, he couldn't help but chuckle at Jas's attempt to cheer him up. It was times like these that reminded Raephier why he liked him so much. He never seemed to take life too seriously and would always make you laugh, no matter what mood you were in. His uplifting mood was contagious.
Jas continued to make up stupid things that the curse could be about all the way home, and by the time they were close, Raephier's cheeks were hurting from smiling and laughing so much.
"I better go and let my mum and dad know I'm alright," Raephier said, but before he could go, Jas gripped hold of his arm.
Raephier looked round at him and was surprised to see that all of the smiles and laughter had disappeared and Jas was looking at him with worry written clearly all over his face.
"Don't tell them anything," Jas said.
"Why not?" Raephier asked, rather confused by Jas's statement.
Jas seemed reluctant to say more, but eventually realised he would have to.
"Persula said something to me."
"What did she say?" Raephier asked quickly.
Jas glanced around, then moved closer to Raephier.
"She said that you were going to be banished."
Raephier reeled back in shock.
"Banished?! From where?!"
"From here," Jas said, looking stressed. "She said the King and Queen would send you away. I don't want that. I don't know what I'll do without you!" he said, and Raephier's heart felt like it doubled in size on hearing those words.
Jas looked really heartbroken at the idea of losing Raephier, and that ignited a spark of hope in Raephier's chest. Maybe Jas liked him as more than a friend afterall?
But before he could dwell on the moment, his brain started to process the other part. The bit about being banished.
"Do you think I'm dangerous? Is this curse dangerous?" Raephier asked feeling suddenly anxious.
Jas shrugged.
"I don't know. But nothing has happened yet. And a curse about singing? How bad can that be?"
"I don't know," Raephier said unsure. "What if I don't say anything and someone gets hurt as a result?"
Jas rolled his eyes. "You're always so negative! What if we don't tell anyone and nothing ever happens?"
"I have to be negative to balance out your unrealistic amount of optimism!" Raephier shot back.
Jas smirked.
"It's not unrealistic!" he argued back. "I just don't see the point in assuming the worst, because what if the worst never happens? Then you've just wasted your life worrying about something that never happens. Live every day like it's your last. That's what everyone should do!"
And once again, Raephier found himself getting swept up in Jas's confidence.
"Ok, I won't say anything on one condition," Raephier said.
"And what's that?"
"We try to find out what this curse is. And when we do find out, if it is dangerous, then we have to tell everyone."
Jas frowned, like he wasn't happy with that suggestion.
"Ok," he eventually agreed. "But for now, just say that Persula threatened to curse you if you ever talked to her daughters again or something."
"Fine. I'll do that," Raephier said, and he was about to swim away when Jas unexpectedly pulled him in for a hug.
Raephier's whole body trembled.
"I'm glad you're ok," Jas said, and then abruptly let Raephier go and hurried away.
Raephier remained still for quite some time, just staring at where Jas had been.
He'd hugged him!!! A proper hug! What did that mean?!
Raephier never let himself believe that he had a chance with Jas. But he was suddenly wondering whether that was just his negative thinking again. What if Jas did like him that way?
Before he could get too excited, he remembered that he still had his parents to face, and despite not telling them about the curse, he still knew that they were going to be angry with him for earlier.
So he took a deep breath and headed home.
Raephier had found the following week extremely difficult. It involved repeating the same lie over and over, and the more he assured people that Persula had done nothing more than threaten him, the more he felt as though he was making a mistake.
But when the second and third week passed, and people had stopped talking about it, and still nothing had happened, it began to be much easier just to forget the whole thing had ever occurred.
Maybe Jas was right. What was the point in worrying about something he had no control over.
It was about 6 weeks after he had been cursed that Jas gave Raephier the signal to meet up at their secret spot.
When Raephier arrived, Jas was already there, and he looked excited.
"What's going on?" Raephier asked.
"Well you know Prince Dalamar who is visiting for the week? Well I was talking to him and it turns out he knows a bit about magic and curses."
"Really?" Raephier asked, wearily.
"Yes! And guess what? He'd heard of your singing curse!"
"Y-You told him?!" Raephier spluttered, rather alarmed that someone knew his secret.
"Not exactly," Jas said, waving off his concern. "I just told him I knew someone who had been cursed. I didn't tell him who."
"So what did he say then?" Raephier asked, although he felt his anxiety rising at the thought of knowing more about the curse and so making it more real.
"He said that it's the Siren's curse, and it means that when you sing, anyone who hears it falls in love with you!"
"WHAT?!!" Raephier shouted in shock.
"I know!!!" Jas said, laughing like this was the greatest thing he'd ever heard.
"What kind of a curse is that?!" Raepheir asked, scrunching up his nose. "There must be more to it than that!"
"He didn't know everything, but don't you think that's really funny?!"
"Not really," Raephier said frowning.
"Oh, come on," Jas said, moving round so he was directly in front of Raephier. "It could have been a lot worse."
"But maybe it is worse!" Raephier said, feeling more and more anxious. "There's obviously more to it than that! Why would Persula give me the power to make others fall in love with me after I broke her own daughter's heart? It doesn't make sense!"
Finally Jas stopped smiling and looked thoughtful instead.
"Yes, you're right," he said. "Maybe it's a curse that will ultimately break your heart. Yes!" he said, suddenly getting excited again. "Maybe if you like someone, you sing to them and it makes them fall in love with you, but then over time the spell fades and then they realise that they don't love you and leave you feeling heartbroken!!"
Raephier scowled.
"It's not a game you know. This is my life you're talking about!"
Jas had the decency to stop smiling and look a little apologetic.
"Sorry, but come on! It is a bit funny. And as long as you know about it, you'll be prepared for it."
"I'm not sure anyone can be 'prepared' for having their heart broken."
Jas rolled his eyes.
"You know what I mean. And anyway, someone is bound to fall in love with you for real so it won't matter."
Raephier's frown disappeared as he looked at Jas with wide eyes.
"You really think so?" Raephier asked quietly.
"Of course they will!" Jas said confidently. "I've been asked loads about you."
"What? By who?" Raephier asked, not quite sure whether he believed him.
Jas waved him off.
"It doesn't matter. But trust me, you'll find someone, no problem."
"No, no, you can't just pretend you didn't say that. I need to know who these supposed love interests are, and why I don't know about them?"
Raephier was pretty sure that Jas had made them up, especially when he saw his guilty expression, but he certainly didn't expect what Jas said next.
"I....er....I sort of told them you were already taken."
"Eh?!"
"I know! I know! I'm sorry! But I just couldn't stand the idea of them taking you away from me! You're my only friend and I was jealous, ok?" Jas said, then moved away with his back turned to Raephier.
Raephier just blinked at Jas's back for a few moments.
Jas was jealous? And jealous of his love interests? Did this mean......?
Raephier slowly moved closer to Jas and put his hand on his shoulder.
Jas turned round, his eyes wide and full of regret.
"I'm sorry! I really am!" he said quickly. "I know I shouldn't have done it, but it won't be long before I'm not allowed to hang out with you anymore, and then you can have all the lovers you want. Is that selfish of me? Yes, it is, isn't it. Shit, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that to them. I'll make it right. I'll tell them.."
"Stop!" Raephier said, cutting him off. His heart was racing and he knew that later tonight he'd be playing this conversation over and over in his mind.
Jas just stared at him with his bright green eyes, making Raephier's insides melt.
"It's fine," Raephier said with a gentle smile. "To be honest I'm not looking for love right now anyway." And that was true. How could he look for love when he felt so strongly for the prince in front of him right now?
Jas smiled, one of his brightest smiles, and Raephier felt that everything would always be ok in the world as long as he could make Jas smile like that.
"I really want to help you," Jas said.
Raephier shook his head.
"I really don't need help to find love."
"No, I meant with the curse," Jas replied.
"Oh ok."
"I've been thinking," Jas said, "what if you try it out on me?"
"What? No! I can't do that!" Raephier said, feeling a strange mixture of excitement and anxiety at the idea.
"Sure you can. I kind of feel responsible because it was me who kept dragging you off to see the sea witches and it was me who kept pushing you at Khloe. I owe you this."
"But we don't know what will happen?" Raephier argued.
Jas shrugged. "So don't you think it's best we find out?"
"But, but.."
"No buts!" Jas said, and he took hold of both of Raephier's hands in his own. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"I could get my heart broken," Raephier replied without hesitation.
Raepheir saw a flicker of something cross Jas's face and for a moment he thought he might have said too much.
But then Jas was smiling at him again.
"I won't break your heart. Even if it makes me fall in love with you, you'll know the truth. And over time it will break and go away."
"But what if it doesn't go away?" Raepheir asked.
Jas shrugged. "Then I'll have to deal with my love being unrequited. To be honest I'm not sure how it would be any different to my life as it is now."
"What?" Raephier asked, his whole chest squeezing at the idea that Jas might be in love with him.
Jas looked down and started absentmindedly tracing patterns in the sand.
"My dad says that on my next birthday he's going to host a gathering and that by the end of the night I have to have chosen a partner from the guests."
"What?!" Raephier almost shouted. "But your birthday's in two months!!"
"I know!" said Jas, looking scared. "What am I going to do?!"
"I don't know," said Raephier, feeling sadness creep through his body like a wave.
They were both silent for a moment, and then Jas pulled quickly at Raephier's hands before announcing,
"Come on! Let's do this!"
This was typical Jas. His negative emotions never lasted for more than a minute and then he was back to his bouncy, happy self. Raephier couldn't help but be jealous of his ability to do that.
"Do what?" Raephier asked.
"Sing to me!"
"How's that going to help your situation?! If anything it will make it worse!"
"So?" Jas replied with a glint in his eye.
Raephier rolled his eyes. "So this is what it's all about. You're trying to piss your parents off again."
Jas shrugged.
"Maybe that's part of it. But also," Jas suddenly stopped and his mood switched again as he looked around as if he wasn't sure if he should say what he was about to.
But Raephier was already hooked. Like he always was with Jas.
"Go on, you can tell me," he coaxed. "You can tell me anything."
Jas looked Raephier in the eyes and Raephier felt like the world stopped. Nothing existed outside the two of them. He'd never seen Jas looking so vulnerable before.
"I," he paused. "I just want to know what it feels like to be in love."
Raephier couldn't help it when his jaw dropped, but he snapped it shut again quickly.
"You'll find out one day," Raephier said.
Jas shook his head.
"I might not. In just a couple of months I'm going to have to choose a partner who I will spend the rest of my life with. I won't love them when I choose, and what if I never love them? I might spend my whole life never being in love."
That sounded like a painful and lonely existence to Raephier, but he didn't say that. Instead he said,
"Love is overrated anyway. You don't need to be in love to be happy."
Jas smiled, and once again he'd flicked the switch and was back to his normal happy self.
"So come on, are we going to do this?" he said, clapping his hands together in excitement.
Raephier shut his eyes and leant his head back while he thought about it.
Should he do this? Probably not. But would he do it? He already knew he would. Because he had yet to learn how to say no to Jas. Maybe one day he would learn, but then again they didn't exactly have that many more days to be together anyway.
And that was what finally decided it for Raephier. If he only had a couple of months left with Jas then he needed to make them count. And what better way than to be the object of Jas's affection.
Was he being selfish considering he actually did want Jas to love him? Possibly, but ultimately that didn't make a difference. The outcome would be the same, regardless. He would eventually lose Jas.
"Ok, I'll do it," he said, which led to Jas grabbing hold of Raephier and shaking him in excitement.
"Yes! Oh this is going to be epic! Come on, so what do we do?!"
"I have no idea," said Raephier, but he was smiling, unable to not be affected by Jas's excitement.
Jas let go and moved a few feet away from Raephier.
"Come on then. Sing."
"Sing what?" Raephier asked.
"I don't know. Anything."
Raephier thought for a moment.
"How about this one," he said and then he sang, "Baby shark do do do do do do, baby shark do do do do do do..."
"NOOOOOOO! What are you doing?" Jas said, bursting out into laughter.
"What? Are you in love with me yet?" Raephier said with a grin.
"Anyone who would fall in love to that deserves to have their heart broken!"
Raephier shrugged.
"I really don't know what to sing. I don't know any romantic songs. It's not even like I'm good at singing."
Jas looked thoughtful.
"Yeah, you're right. There must be more to it than that. I wonder if there is a special song you have to sing or something."
Raephier thought about it.
"It's not really much of a curse if to enact it I have to sing a song that I don't even know."
"True," Jas said, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Hey, it's ok," Raephier said, feeling the need to comfort his best friend. "You will find love. I'm sure you will."
Jas gave Raephier a half smile.
"I think I would have liked my first love to have been you," he said.
Raephier's breath caught in his throat.
"Y-you would?" he croaked out.
"Of course. You're my best friend. The person I trust most in the whole world. Why wouldn't I want it to be you?"
Raephier didn't know what to say. Which was probably a good thing, because right now, he didn't think he was capable of speech.
Jas suddenly looked at Raephier with a fiery intensity in his eyes.
"Don't forget me," he said. "I'm not sure how many more times I'll get a chance to meet up with you. I'm always scared that it'll be the last time. I want you to know Rae, that you'll always be special to me. And I hope that one day you find love, even if I don't."
Raephier's felt like someone had pushed a knife into his chest. Everything hurt. But then his body began to tingle all over. Like an electrical current surging through him. And then he knew what he had to do.
"Let's try again," he said, and then took a few steps back.
"Really?" Jas said, his face lighting up once more.
"Yes," Raephier said firmly.
Then, after one final look at Jas, he closed his eyes and focussed on the ball of emotion inside him. He thought about never seeing Jas again, and the idea of what could have been. Jas was so close to confessing to Raephier, yet he knew he couldn't. Because he would never be allowed to be with someone with no nobility in their family line. It was so unfair, and painful. And he loved Jas. He loved him so much!
Raephier's whole body was now vibrating with energy. He could feel it inside him, bursting to get out.
He wanted Jas. He needed Jas. He loved Jas.
And then he began to sing.