Simon
Simon padded over to his mother's room, where she sat filling out a Spanish crossword puzzle that she'd printed from the internet. It was kind of cute. Since she couldn't find Spanish language puzzle books in Sweden, a few years ago she had printed out a few hundred, plus the answers. She just hole-punched them and put them in a binder, and she'd been working through them ever since. It was kind of endearing, he thought. Though she cheated with the answer sheets. A lot.
"Hola, mamá. Te puedo molestar?" asked Simon hesitantly, as he walked into her room.
She sat up, looking mildly alarmed. "Claro, hijo. Qué pasa?" she asked.
"Um, I just invited Wilhelm over for dinner, you know, since I'm cooking and all. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. That's fine, right?"
Linda sighed. "If you want him here, then I want him here. But, you know, it's hard to be nice to someone who hurt my baby, even if you are 16 years old."
Simon backed out of the door, shyly. "Thanks, mamá. If it helps, he feels really bad. He's been trying to make it up to me forever."
"Do you think he learned his lesson?" she asked, pointedly.
Simon paused before hesitantly uttering, "I hope so."
"Me too," replied Linda. "Anyways, do you need any help getting things set up, now that we have company coming over?" Linda huroomphed. "Guess I should change into real pants."
Simon laughed, "I don't think he'll mind, but ya know, where Wille goes, a bodyguard goes, and you wouldn't want those snazzy dressers judging you."
With that, Linda grabbed a sock and threw it at Simon, which ended up narrowly missing him and in the end hitting the chair by the door. "Esa actitud. Oye, Señor!"
Simon gleefully skiddadled out of the room before she threw her shoes at him too, and he started setting the table for 4.
--
Simon heard a knock at the door exactly 30 minutes after he got off the phone with Wilhelm. 7pm sharp. Man, the guy was precise. He opened the door. Wilhelm held a huge grin on his face.
"Hey," said Wilhelm, looking bashfully at Simon.
"Hey. Um, come in," he replied. "Hi, Malin," he greeted the security guard.
"Hi! I'll be in the car outside, if that's okay."
Wilhelm turned to her quickly, "Yeah, that's fine. Tack, Malin. I'll be out in about 2 hours?"
Malin nodded and turned to leave.
"Should we bring her something to eat?" asked Simon.
"Nah, we stopped at Burger King on the way. It's her favorite. That's why she wanted to wait in the car. So she can relish eating her burger and fries by her lonesome. This is like vacation to her."
Simon laughed. He had to hand it to Wilhelm, he always knew how to make Simon smile. He'd missed this guy. Simon grabbed Wilhelm's hand and pulled him into the kitchen, filled with steaming pans and boiling pots.
"Holy shit, you made all of this?!" exclaimed Wilhelm, sticking his fingers into every sauce in the kitchen.
Simon blushed. "Well, I had to do something with all my free time. Figured I might as well do something productive."
"Productive is right! This is amazing. I can't believe you can do all this. I can barely boil pasta."
"Seriously, you just like follow the steps and you're there. As long as you can read, you can do this. I promise. And if you can't read, there's Youtube," teased Simon.
"Ok, next time, I'm making cordon blue. I'll just find a recipe," Wilhelm jested back.
"Maybe a video, too. That's like next-level technical. Especially for someone who struggles with a microwave," quipped Simon.
"I do not!" he countered, punching Simon in the gut. "I am a pro at a microwave, I'll let you know!"
"Ow, ow! Ok, you can use a microwave!" Simon said. Standing up, he said, "All right, Mr. Know-it-all, can you set the table?"
"For a state dinner. I need, let's see...3 forks, 4 spoons, and, hmmm, 2 knives. Per person," Wilhelm joked.
"Ha. Ha. Give everyone a fork and a knife. If you wanna go fancy, you can give everyone a paper napkin, too.
"I can make a swan or a frog. What do you think best fits with today's meal?"
Simon pushed Wilhelm out of the kitchen, his hands on Wilhelm's butt. "Shut up. Just set the fucking table."
--
Simon called, "Mom! Sara! Food is ready!"
"Smells good, hijo," said Linda, giving Simon a kiss on the cheek.
She turned to Wilhelm, "Hey, Wilhelm. I'm glad you could join us. You're in for a treat."
Wilhelm nodded respectfully at Linda. Simon could tell that he was trying to make the best impression he possibly could. And he had to give it to his mom, she was being chill. Way chiller than he had expected her to be. Platinum-level chill.
"It looks amazing. Thank you for inviting me."
Simon sent a radiating smile up to Wilhelm as he dished the sauce and meatballs onto everyone's plate.
Simon watched Wilhelm take his first bite. Wilhelm's eyes lit up. "Mmm. Woah. This is so good. You made this?!"
"Kinda makes me look forward to my first break-up. Maybe I'll learn how to make tequeños or something," commented Sara.
Simon could see Wilhelm squirm in his seat, and his cheeks turned a pale pink. Sara, on the other hand, had no chill. Simon rolled his eyes at Sara. "Too much oil. I looked into it. I'd stick with food you don't have to deep-fry."
"Good to know," she said, sticking her fork into the meatball. "So, empanadas are out?"
"Yup," answered Simon.
"Well, damn. Churros?"
"Yup," they all replied in unison. Everyone laughed, including Sara.
"What's left, then?"
"That's why I went to bollos pelones. There's not much left. Venezuelan food goes hard on the deep fryer," Simon said, grimacing.
"I can teach you guys how to use a deep fryer if you want. It's not that hard," commented Linda.
"Really?" Sara responded. "Does that mean my tequeños idea is a go?"
"I mean, if you want to. I've made tequeños approximately twice in my life. But, they're doable. You just need a lotttt of patience. And cheese. Patience and cheese," answered Linda, laughing at her own joke.
Wilhelm grinned. "I can get us cheese. Anybody willing to take the patience part?"
If he was going there, Simon would, too. "I've got patience in spades. I waited for you to grow a pair, didn't I?"
Wilhelm swatted Simon with his paper napkin, "Low."
Linda chuckled. "Yet deserved."
Wilhelm grinned and looked squarely at Linda. "Deserved."
With that, any previous awkwardness lifted. Sara told stories about the stables, Linda went on about a new patient in the hospital who thought he was in Moscow and kept trying to run away and meet with Putin. It was nice, having everyone Simon loved sharing a meal together and being truly happy about it.
Once dinner was over, Simon quietly led Wilhelm into this room. Unfortunately, not quietly enough.
"Door open." Linda called.
"Ya, ya!" Simon yelled back. He looked at Wilhelm. "Sorry. New house rules."
Wilhelm chuckled. "It's nice. It's like she loves you or something."
Simon looked down and grinned, "Yeah."
After a long pause, Simon flopped himself onto his bed, saving a spot for Wilhelm. "So, are you going to give me the story? How did it all go today?"
Wilhelm took the chair beside Simon. "I mean, really well. Really well. Maybe too well? The first few, I was really nervous. But then, I kind of had worked out what I was gonna say, and I just went on autopilot. I think we're home free."
"Seriously?" Simon said, sitting up to meet Wilhelm's gaze. "Just like that?"
"I mean, yeah. It would look so bad if anyone leaked anything. And plus, apparently no one wants to be on the future King's shit list. And now that everyone knows about how easy it was for the Crown to find out that the video was August's, anyone would be crazy to try anything. Especially, when they've been specifically told not to."
"Wait. It was August?"
"You didn't know?" responded Wilhelm, shocked.
Simon shook his head and grabbed Wilhelm's hand. August? I mean, he knew August was low, but that takes the cake.
"Man, that little fuck. No wonder he's avoided me like the plague all semester. I gotta say, I didn't think he had it in him. I'm kind of impressed. Angry, outraged, but impressed."
"He's in such deep shit. The headmaster barely lets him out of her sight, and his friends treat him like a social pariah. He's just holed up in his room everyday. He's so lucky the Crown isn't pursuing the case. But, either way, life as he knows it is over. No one in our circle is going to touch him with a 10 meter pole, noble birth or not. He's so fucked."
"Serves him right. But damn, even Nils turned on him?" asked Simon.
"Everybody. Think about it. If he was willing to do that to his second-cousin who is literally the Crown Prince, who else would he be willing to throw under the bus for his gain? I mean, he's always been a dick. Now he's just a dick who burnt every bridge he ever had in one fell swoop."
"Fuck," said Simon. His mom had wanted to press charges if they ever found out who did it, but this was almost better. For a second, he had a little bit of sympathy for him. But then he remembered that this was the same guy who posted a sex tape of Simon and Wilhelm on 4Chan. 4Chan, of all places. He so got exactly what he deserved.
Simon looked at Wilhelm. "So, what are we going to do now?"
Wilhelm slid onto Simon's bed and put his arm around Simon's waist. "I think, um, this. Whenever we want."
Simon pulled himself up to embrace Wilhelm, their lips matching in the air. Once their lips met, Simon pushed Wilhelm down and straddled him. Simon slipped his hand under Wilhelm's shirt. "Even this?"
"Maybe not this. Let's stick to mild PDA for the first month. And then, we can move on to full-frontal action."
Simon grinned and let out a low laugh. "If you say so."
Monday couldn't come soon enough.