Party prince! Party on!!
That's a lot of cash! Is that for drugs for just him or the whole school?!
OMG!!!
How will the Monarchy survive this?
And right when brother Erik disappears? What's really going on with this family?
So clumsy to get caught on film like that...
I love that they pulled him out of regular school to protect him. But he is in even more trouble at the fancy place.
...
Wednesday, December 14th:
Wille woke to a hand gently brushing his hair back off his forehead. His mother was there, her eyes loving. Sitting up, he gave her a hug, tucking his face against her shoulder.
She held him, rubbing his back, and he sunk against her. Trying to keep from breaking down.
Eventually he pulled back, knowing that she had come here with a plan.
"You realize this will have consequences?"
He swallowed hard, trying to keep calm. "I'm sorry, Mama," Wille sighed. "But I haven't done any drugs. You can test me!"
"It looks like we have to address this matter. We can't cover it up," The Queen stated calmly. "So, this is what we'll do. You're coming home for Christmas on Monday. We'll let, um, Rosenqvist handle the interview. Give her exclusive rights to our statement. We can trust her."
Wille sighed, not coming up with any other options. Feeling too numb by it all.
"I want you to distance yourself from this Simon as much as possible. It, uh, only sets off new rumours," The Queen said, getting up and putting her coat back on.
Standing, Wille hugged her again. But it was just a quick one. He knew he had let her down.
He walked with her out to her car. Many of the staff were there, seeing their Sovereign off with proper respect.
"Well, we'll see you after the weekend," Kristina said, brushing her hand against his cheek. "Take care, darling."
...
Back in his room, Wille paced around. He only had a few days to figure out a different option, or he'd have to do some ridiculous interview with a reporter.
There was no way he'd go to classes today, with everyone staring and gossiping about him. It was just like at his old school, after the fight at the party. Fuck, he hated this so much. Regular guys his age got into small fights, had arguments, but they weren't filmed and posted online, just to stir shit up. Just to create scandal because of his family. For being a fucking Prince.
Grabbing his phone, he went to Instagram and found Simon's profile.
Please come to school tomorrow. We need to talk. -W.
He hadn't ever messaged Simon before, hardly even spoken to him during classes or at rowing practice. Would he still be pissed off at him for their scuffle in the locker room? For the video? But he got a reply after a few minutes.
I don't know if I can handle it. This is such a shit show. Who filmed it? It must be someone at the school. -S
It's so fucking sick. Please come. We are in this together. -W
At this point, he didn't know what to think about Simon. But they were in this mess together and he needed to talk to him, face to face. See what was really going on.
Simon kept up appearances so fucking well. He got good grades, sang in the choir, took care of his bullied sister, and worked hard in the rowing team. He put up with insulting comments from the snobby kids at the school, and really hadn't made any friends here, from what Wille could see.
But Wille had watched him enough to see his other side. He definitely gave August some drugs during that indoor rowing practice, and Wille had witnessed him demanding money from August, even pushing the taller boy over and rubbing his face into the mud. And with Wille, as the video showed, Simon hit him hard and got his money back. He was tougher than he looked.
From getting to know Sara, he could infer their dad was likely an alcoholic, if not involved in other things, and was a horrible father, maybe even abusive. Sara and Linda had frozen in place like startled deer when he had appeared at the St. Lucia reception. It was a 'walking on eggshells' kind of reaction, not wanting to trigger a horrible response from him. And that said so much.
In the end, they were in this together. How big a dealer was Simon? How much more could come out? More videos? More scandal around Simon and his family? Wille needed to know.
...
There was a knock on his door, and August came in, carrying a tray of food. "I told the headmaster I'd bring your meal." He set the tray down on his desk. "You don't need to hide, you know. If anyone bugs you, just tell me. I'll handle it."
"Thanks," Wille said, shutting the door behind him. Not in the mood to talk.
...
Thursday, December 15th:
Simon showed up at class, and quickly sat in the back row with Sara. Wille was sitting beside Henry, who was actually decent enough to attempt normal conversation about a football match with him. It was so hard not to turn and look at Simon, as so many of the other students were doing. He was getting his share of sideways glances as well.
After classes were over, Wille sent Simon a message, stating his room number and to meet him there in ten minutes.
It felt very strange, letting Simon into his room when he heard his soft knock. He'd only had August in his room, and never by invitation. It made him realize how small and plain the room was, with hardly any personal objects around except pictures with his brother and the frog prince snow globe.
Wille sat on the bed. Simon sat on the desk, running his hands through his curly hair. It didn't look as nice as it normally did, like he'd been doing that too often.
"What the hell are we going to do?" Simon finally said.
Wille shrugged. "They want me to make a statement at the palace on Monday."
Simon scoffed, looking unimpressed. "But you're not gonna do it, right?"
"I don't want to say anything!" Wille huffed, getting up to peer out of the window. This whole situation was crazy. Caught in a video with a drug dealer, when his brother was the one actually in rehab.
Simon sighed. "Look, you can be drug tested, show everyone you are clean. But everyone can see me with all that cash in that video, and you calling me a dealer. What am I supposed to do?"
Wille threw himself back down in the bed, facing Simon head on. "But you are a dealer! I fucking saw you with my own eyes! Passing stuff to August, pushing him down on the grass and demanding he pay you. You were both yelling during that whole thing! I wouldn't be surprised if tons of other students here saw stuff like that, or with your other...clients."
Simon scoffed, shaking his head. "Clients? I only have one 'client' and that's your dear cousin."
"August? Just August?"
Grunting in frustration, Simon tilted his head back, glaring at the ceiling. He faced Wille again. "Look, you don't know me, not really, but I think you know my sister pretty well. You know what she's like. When we started here, no one would talk to us. She had been through so much shit already, that when August said we could come to your welcome party if I got the booze, I foolishly agreed to it. I thought maybe she could have some fun, get to know some of the girls better."
"My welcome party? That moonshine was from you?"
Simon nodded. "But then the bastard wouldn't pay me, just wanted to fuck with me. I needed the money to pay for the booze, plus some tutoring I had in math."
"Math tutoring?" This story was getting even crazier.
Simon nodded again. "And then he started bugging Sara, asking about her meds. When I told him to leave her alone, he asked if I could get him those drugs. Said he'd paid me double. I was desperate enough to agree."
Wille shook his head. "So, you are a drug dealer, but a really bad one."
"The worst!" Simon agreed. "And you saw me trying to get the money from him for all that."
"But that cash... I saw you with it...," Wille said, tilting his head slightly to the side.
Simon jumped up, pacing the small space between the desk and the door. "You heard him! He insisted he didn't have the cash, so I gave him more drugs and told him to sell them. Or I'd tell everyone he was broke. When I finally got the money from him in this last week, I paid back the school, paid for the booze."
"Where did you get all these drugs?" Wille asked.
That stopped Simon's pacing. He leaned back against the door, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Um, my father... he gets stuff from his doctor, but-"
"Micke. Micke Eriksson, right?" Wille asked, the name suddenly clicking into place for him.
Simon blinked a few times slowly, surprised. "Um, yes, but how did you-"
Will stood up. "I saw August with those drugs. He had the prescription bottle with your father's name on it."
"Oh, that makes sense," Simon looked even more dejected. "See? More evidence I'm the worst dealer ever. I can't even put the fucking drugs in a baggie or something." He walked over to the window, looking out.
Wille grabbed his snow globe, shaking it and watching the glitter inside swirling around. There must be a way to fix this. "So, is it all done now? August paid all the money you needed?"
"Yup. And I'm never going to fuck with any of that stuff ever again. I don't even drink," Simon sat on the bed, looking very tired.
Shaking the snow globe again, Wille thought about Erik and all the problems drugs and alcohol were causing him. "I haven't been much of a drinker either, but I'm tempted to go that way too."
Simon looked up at Wille. "Look, I don't know if you believe me or not. Maybe you just think I'm full of shit," he shrugged a shoulder. "But it would be really great if you didn't make a statement to the press. I think the story will die down on its own. Nothing you say in a statement will really be believed anyways. Everyone will just think you are covering your own ass."
Wille chuckled at that. Simon was so straightforward, not caring at all that he was royalty. Sara and Linda were similar in that. It was rare, in Wille's experience, even at his old school where he tried to be a 'normal' student.
He set down the snow globe. "I think you are right about that. I'll tell the Court staff to drug test me, and they can release the results if they want. Leave me out of it, and you."
"Great," Simon replied, getting up and going to the door. "Well, I better go, before stories start about how we were alone in your room for a long time."
He was gone quickly, and it took a second before Wille caught what he meant. He let out a laugh. A rumours that a Prince was gay would certainly be a bigger scandal.
Lying back on the bed, he replayed everything Simon had just said in his mind, reviewing it with his memories of the last few months. It all matched up, made sense, looking it from the way Simon laid it out.
Plus, there was something so genuine about Simon, about Sara... even their mother. They spoke the truth, didn't act phony or try to be people they weren't.
Wille had been around phony people his whole life, had grown very adept at detecting who was being kind and polite to him just because he was a Prince. Knew when people saw the true Wille, treated him like a real person. It was so rare, he treasured it.
Even his own parents treated him like the Prince most of the time, pushing him to behave correctly, get good grades, and not stir up any trouble. They only truly acted themselves in their private wing of the Palace, sitting down at a small family table for four, often eating food his parents had cooked together.
What would it be like this Christmas, without Erik? With his parents shooting him concerned looks, wondering if he was getting into the same kind of trouble? Pushing him into doing all sorts of official appearances, the photographers' flashing cameras constantly in his face, trying to catch him in a bad moment? Reinforcing the story that he was a troubled teen, having violent interactions at his old school and now this one surfacing, doing drugs. Having to get all dressed up, act like the perfect Prince, acting like he was delighted to be at another fucking pompous ceremony, being stared at and judged by strangers.
...
Can we talk? -F
Wille read Felice's text, and sighed. He wasn't really in the mood.
How about tomorrow? I'm kinda tired. -W
Wilhelm Göran Björn Bernadotte! You get over here. Now! -F
You know my full name???!? - W
Now! - F
Sighing, Wille shoved his phone into his pocket and walked over to the Manor House.
Felice called out for him to enter when he knocked. She was on her bed, her laptop open and the light from it glowing over her.
Flicking on the light, he walked over and sat on a floor cushion by her bed. "You summoned me, Lady Ehrencrona?"
"Fucking finally!" she sighed, turning the laptop towards him. "Look!"
Looking at the screen, he saw it was THE video. The stupid fucking viral video posted on Tuesday. "Believe it or not, I've seen this before, Felice."
"Yes, yes," she said impatiently, turning the laptop slightly back towards her. "But watch this corner. Right there!" She paused the video, and jabbed her finger at the screen. In the bottom left corner, there were some small purple splotches.
"OK," Wille said, looking up at Felice. "Purple marks."
She showed him her phone. It was showing a picture of August, with his shirt off, flexing. "Look, down here," she said, zooming in. The same purple splotches showed up.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Wille grabbed her phone and flicking through the other photos on August's Instagram account. They all seemed to have that marking.
"He must have dropped his phone and damaged the camera. This proves he filmed that video," Felice said, looking quite proud of herself.
Wille closed the laptop and handed her back her phone. "I can't fucking believe this! Why the fuck would August post this?"
Felice shrugged her shoulder. "Did he want revenge against you? Against Simon? Do they even know each other?"
Getting up, Wille walked back and forth, his thoughts going everywhere. Leaning down, he gave he a quick hug. "You are amazing. I can't believe you fucking figured that out."
"Anything I can do to help," Felice said, as he departed.
...
Back in his own room, Wille stared at August's Instagram photos, marvelling at the damaged pixels. They were a definite match to the video. There's no way it could have been another phone. He was getting angrier and angrier, the more photos of August's he looked at.
Before he knew it, he was in the gym, where August seemed to be half the time. And all he do was stare at him, internally seething.
Eventually, August noticed him, and took out his ear buds. He turned on the seat of the rowing machine to face Wille. "What's up?"
"I trusted you," Wille said, just staring at him. Watching for even a speck of remorse.
August furrowed his brow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"I trusted you," Wille repeated, feeling the anger bubbling up inside him. "Why?"
Standing up, August was about six feet away from Wille. For ten, twenty, thirty seconds he didn't say anything. Eventually, finally, he said a very flat "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry," Wille repeated. Was that it? No explanation? No ramblings justification for why he would post a video like that?
August flapped his arms out against his sides. "What do you want me to say?" He scoffed. "I'm sorry."
It was too fucking unbelievable. Wille's anger boiled up, becoming red hot. "You fucking told me you were the one I could always come to!" He was yelling, but he didn't fucking care. "If I had a problem!"
"Please calm down-"
"You said I was among my peers! You were the one I was supposed to trust!" Wille yelled, still shocked at August's lack of response.
August just looked off to the side, not even daring to meet his eyes anymore. Slimy eel of a man. Not even a man. A fucking weasel.
There was only one thing Wille could say now. August knew what he had done. And he had no excuse, no legit reason he could bring before Wille.
Wille pulled his anger back, deep into his core. A huge, smouldering ember.
Outwardly, he looked calm. "You're no longer a part of my family." Wille said, staring August straight in the eyes.
And he meant it.
...
That anger pulled him outside, into the cool night air. He made a quick phone call.
"Hi darling," his mother answered. She was better at answering his calls since the fight at his old school. Before, he would get a call a few hours later, whenever she could fit him in.
"Mom, it was August," Wille said, not bothering to give her the context.
After a brief pause, she calmly replied. "I know that."
Her answer was almost as shocking as August's bald apology, lacking any reason for why he had posted the video.
"What do you mean you know? How long have you known?"
"Since yesterday," The Queen replied.
"You knew all this time? Why didn't you tell me?" Wille said, his voice breaking.
"Because I knew how you would react," The Queen replied. "We gain nothing by going public with that. You will make your statement and we'll move on from this."
"He should be punished! How the hell can you protect him?" Wille felt betrayed all over again. First by August, now by his own mother.
"I am protecting you," The Queen said calmly, the way she spoke when she was going to lecture him about their Royal Duty. "And I'm protecting our family, the royal family, and our legacy-"
At those words, he couldn't hear anymore. He hung up. Something he'd never done before to his mother. Wouldn't have dared.
But he'd heard enough. He was at his absolute limit.
...
Monday, December 19th:
Felice sat beside him in the Chapel on the last day of the term, holding his hand. Many students will still staring and whispering to their friends about him, and he did his best to ignore it all.
He still felt kind of numb. Too much, too much, had happened lately. He just needed to process it all. Rebuild himself.
If he couldn't rely on Erik, his parents, or August, who was left? Even Felice, as good a friend as she was, was new in his life. Would she still be with him in six months? A year? If she fell in love with someone, would he be left behind? Who was in his corner?
The choir was singing, and in the middle of a beautiful piece, Simon's voice rang out. A solo perfectly suited for the high ceilings. When he sang, he looked so happy.
Outside, Wille went into Prince mode, smiling and shaking hands with the school staff, wishing them a good holiday season. He said Merry Christmas to various school mates as he walked towards the road where his driver was waiting. Putting on a good show. Keeping up appearances.
Students were standing in small clumps, and he saw August with a few third years. He ignored them, turning away.
His eyes landed on Simon, standing with some of his choirmates. Simon stepped away from them, his face quite blank. Unsure what to expect from Wille.
Looking at him, Wille finally felt a burst of emotion coming through his numbness. August had betrayed both of them, and Simon knew how crappy it felt. He could relate to some of what Wille was feeling. And with that, he impulsively reached out and gave Simon a hug. He was still at first, but then his arms came up, hugging Wille back.
Over his shoulder, Wille could see August staring at them, and wanted to defiantly laugh.
Instead, he pulled back, letting Simon go.
"Your singing was beautiful," Wille said, giving him a genuine smile.
Simon nodded in acknowledgment, still looking a bit unsure about Wille, his eyes guarded. "I hope you have a good Christmas."
Wille nodded back. "Thanks. You too"
He turned, walking away, and getting into his car.
A second later, there was a tap on his window. He opened the door, and Felice climbed in.
"You were going to leave me behind?" she pouted, poking his arm a few times.
He hugged her tight. "Never," he said, sighing as they drove away.
"Good," she said, settling against his side and pulling out her tablet. "We've got a couple hours until we get back to Stockholm. Time to figure out our battle plan."
Wille chuckled. "Battle plan? Who are we going to war against?"
"That fuckface August, for one. Why did he post that video? How can we get revenge on him?"
"For one? There are others to wage war on?" Wille chuckled, feeling the huge lump of tension and anger inside his chest easing a bit. Felice was here, right at his side. A true friend.
"Simon? What the hell were you fighting with him about anyways?" Felice asked.
Wille took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. What could he tell her? What should he keep secret? After a moment's consideration, he knew he couldn't talk about his family too much, but August was fair game. And Felice was close enough with Sara that he could tell her what Simon had told him. She would judge his actions fairly.
"Have I ever told you that you are awesome, and that I love you?" Wille said, leaning in to give her a long hug.
She laughed, hugging him back just as hard. "I love you too, you big dork. Now, get talking! I can't help you get out of this shit storm unless I know what we are dealing with. Spill!"
...
-A/N: Let's hear it for Felice!
-Wille's surname, Bernadotte: The show never gives Wilhelm's surname. It's often hard to even tell what the surname is for most royalty, as they tend to go by their first name and title, like Crown Prince Erik of Sweden. In real life, The House of Bernadotte is the royal family of Sweden
-Wille's middle names: These are totally made up by me. They are the first names of the 2 men in the 4 person disco supergroup, ABBA, Göran (Benny) Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. ABBA was Sweden's first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Waterloo', in 1972. ABBA are among the best-selling music artists in history, with record sales estimated to be between 150 million to 385 million sold worldwide. Queen Kristina was born in the 70s and probably loved their music as a girl, so named Wille after them.