willixmcharming

[willixmcharming]

Back when William Charming had been in his early twenties, his parents had left him alone for an entire month once. Of course, they had given him the infamous responsibility speech, the one which included ‘ no parties ‘ and ‘ it’s our house and it’ll look just like we left it when we’re back ‘ and all kind of rules you could think of giving a young adult with a bit of a naughty mind. It’s needless to say, William broke every single one of them. About fifty times. Each day. He would say he wasn’t proud of his actions, but everyone who knew William Charming – and thus Florian more so than anyone else – knew that he prided himself in the memory. Looking back, William could barely remember when he’d slept ( he never slept alone, that was for sure, but when? ) or just how much money he'd spent for the entire group of party people to keep them entertained and drunk, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that it had been legendary.

Now, over a century later, his prince and him had just gotten a new place together, furnished and decorated it enough to be a home too; their first home finally ( sorta ) finished — when Florian was met with responsibilities and needed to head out of town for an extended period of time. Unfortunately, it was the exact same period of time in which William had appointments at home and needed to stay behind. Unfortunately also, before they could begin planning the house warming party — but who was to say Florian couldn't come home to an already mildly warmed house?

William, that's who. He’d clearly stopped being the confirmed bachelor boy when Florian and him had taken their friendship to a less friendly but lovely level, so instead of using the time without his dearest prince to go back to his old ways and call a group of friends over, he was sulking, basically lounging on one comfortable surface in their home after the other. his beard had grown out again, hardly contained at all and thus showing more of his graying hairs than potentially ever before. He couldn’t even have been bothered yet to raise the blinds entirely. He himself just a shadow sprawled out on the couch in the barely lit room — that is, until a door opened, the bright sunlight suddenly floating inside and hitting his eyes brutally. William groaned, a hand weakly raising to block the source of light. “ At last, “ he coughed tragically, “ The heaven’s ambry light. I knew this day was nigh. “ And if it wasn’t obvious that he was being dramatic yet, his other hand had reached or his chest, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt right above his heart. “ Please have mercy on my soul !! ”

[willixmcharming]

prince.

At this point Florian wasn’t sure anymore what he was supposed to believe. His own thoughts about William wanting to get rid of him or William’s words of the exact opposite? The sniffles, tiny hiccups and teary eyes kept on staring at William as Florian listened his words. He stayed silent the whole time William talked, there was not even one hint of a smile on his face as he tried to collect himself and not to start crying all over again.

Florian glanced the computer at the mention of both of their mothers, but soon he was looking at William again. Had William truly planned all this by himself? Had he really used a lot of time trying to surprise Florian and make him happy and give him exactly what he might want to have?

The tears were burning in his eyes again and he sniffled loudly. “So.. you weren’t going to move away and leave me?” Florian asked quietly, wanting the confirmation to his thoughts that he had been terribly wrong the whole time. He just needed to hear it from William himself that he indeed wasn’t going to dump him like a pair of broken socks. Florian looked at the laptop again and motioned towards it with his hand. “You wanted a place for.. us? Our place..?” Now that he said it aloud Florian realised how much he wanted it. How he wanted William to be there every day from the early morning to the late evenings and they wouldn’t have to say goodbye anymore.

The tears started to stream down again as Florian looked into William’s eyes again. “I want to live with you”, he managed to splutter through the sniffling and weird breathing rhythm, but even though he was pretty much crying again, now he was also smiling. He wanted William to be serious about this, he wanted William to be his for eternity and he wanted to share everything from his life with him, and moving to live with each other would be the first bigger step that would make that possible.

The softest and possibly sweetest smile William Charming had ever smiled in his life spreaded over William's features then, his eyes containing a fond and amused sparkle as he looked at Florian now. "Leave you?" he repeated, "And where would I leave to where you wouldn't follow?" As terrifying as it still was at times to think that he had committed to a relationship, William always had and always would see them as a package deal. They had been one from the start, whether Florian had wanted to or not, and now that they were so much more than just friends who no one understood why they were best friends, William knew there was nothing to seperate them.

William reached out once more, wiping gently at the trail of tears left upon Florian’s cheeks. "I mean, come on,“ he said, a warm chuckle vibrating in his chest as he shook his head at the pute ridiculouness which was wanting to get rid of Florian, "You cannot ask a man to leave his heart behind. It’d be cruel."

He had to laugh then, not any less warm than the chuckle of amusement before, and his eyes were lighting up with adoration for his prince. “I had a feeling.” After all, if the reaction to them potentially moving further apart was tears of pure terror and sadness, William had felt safe to assume moving closer also meant the opposite in reaction. “But I’m glad you do. You’ve no idea how glad I am.” William wasn’t a man of loads of insecurities and as this one lifted off his shoulders, he felt himself reminded of why he’d built himself such confidence.

He leaned forward, the grin on his lips disappearing just for a moment in order to press a kiss against Florian’s temple. “I’ll bring you some tissues — and wine. ” They could spare the champagne for until they’d actually find a new home and had a thoroughly happy celebration. Leaving for the kitchen, William returned only a few moments later to place a box of tissues onto the paper and two glasses of wine next to their dinner, letting himself fall onto the seat next to his prince. “ Want to take another look at the apartments now knowing you are supposed to live in them too, or postpone it?”

[willixmcharming]

prince.

The crying didn’t want to stop, no matter how William used that stupid nickname which usually made Florian smile but now it only made him cry even more. Soon he wouldn’t be anyone’s prince anymore. He’d be just sad little Florian who probably wouldn’t know how to hold his life together anymore once William moved away.

But then William started to giggle. The crying stopped as Florian just stared at William. He didn’t know what he found so funny and at the same time Florian felt extremely sad, hurt and now even angry that William was actually laughing. Florian was here heartbroken and William just laughed? Was he seriously that happy to get rid of Florian that it only made him laugh?

Florian wanted to push William away when he was pulled into a hug but the crying had already taken all of his strength and he just felt like a puppet without any own will. So he just sat there letting William hug him as he tried not to cry or yell right now. And then William said something that made no sense. I want to move in with you. That must be a joke. He was looking for apartments, he was leaving, he..

He wanted to move in with Florian.

“You.. you were looking apartments so.. so.. we..” he swallowed as the tears were making their way back. “So we would move there?” At this point his crying had reached the state where it was more like a hiccup with sharp breaths. “So we.. we would have a place? Together? O-.. our place?”

“I was,” William agreed with a nod of his head and a smile on his face, “I mean, I am if you want me..?” Because by the reaction alone he was not able to tell. More tears or more crying rather -- was that a good sign or a bad one? Was the thought of moving in together an absolute horror like it used to be when they were nothing more but best friends, or was William supposed to find a pinch of happiness in those tears? “I figured we kind of already am living together, so why not make it official?" It was the truth, but it was only a portion of it. It sounded like a convenience, that cutting the literal middleway between their apartments would solely save the trouble of constantly commuting and honestly, it was, but William would do anything for his Prince and the hours he spent going to visit the other were hours well spent, because he was going to see his boyfriend by the end of it. "I want to move in with you too," he added, "I don't want to have to pick your place or my place to stay at, I want our place." The constant questioning where they'd go today was an unnecessary strain to his nerves and it had become fairly obvious their friends found it irritating too; always having to call two numbers to figure out where the couple was today.

"I wanted it to be a surprise though," he offered a small smile, his hand once again reaching up to softly wipe the stains of wetness from Florian's cheeks, "A happy surprise. I asked my mother for help." He didn't need to explain why. As Florian knew, she had been an estate agent for the busier half of her life and ever since the first time he moved out his own mother was the first person William talked to for suggestions and support. "And I asked your mother for what she thinks you would like." He'd slipped it into their conversations too, asking Florian in the most complicated ways to keep his intentions hidden what he wanted in their future and how he wanted to live in a shared home. Maybe William had done too good a job at keeping everything secretive? If Florian at least had gotten the incline that something involving them both was about to happen, maybe he'd have gotten excited too instead of getting the wrong idea. "Unfortunately, they already invited themselves for an inauguration dinner," William  added playfully, hoping it would somehow manage to lift Florian's mood once again. "If... you want to move in with me too, that is..?"

[willixmcharming]

prince.

When it was obvious he had been caught from crying he stopped trying to wipe the tears away and just started to cry aloud. He felt like a little kid whose favorite toy had broke and there was no way the crying would stop. He really was wailing like the world was coming to an end – but how could you not when your best friend and the love of your life wanted to move away from you?

Florian tried to answer to William’s question, but he could only let out just a louder cry as he just kept on crying with William’s hands on his cheeks. He wrapped his fingers around William’s wrists, just holding his hands there. If William was going to leave him and move somewhere else Florian wanted to feel William’s touch right now, just so he could remember it when they were apart.

“You-”, he started but his breathing was so quick and filled with crying it was kinda impossible to speak in full sentences. “You are leaving me”, he finally managed to say crying a bit after every word and with every breath he took. And after that sentence his crying got louder again as he kept on sobbing like no tomorrow. Now he had said it, sounding like an extreme idiot for sure, but he had said it. Now William knew how weak and stupid Florian was – and how he couldn’t take the fact of William going away. He didn’t want to live without William, he didn’t know how to, not anymore. They had been spending too much time together for them being apart too long. At least that was how Florian saw it. But clearly he was alone with his feelings because William just watched new apartments all happily wanting to move far away from him. Florian was such an idiot for even thinking there could be something long lasting with them. Of course he wasn’t enough for someone like William. He was way too boring for him. Way too.. Florian for him.

The confusion must’ve been written all over his face as William had no idea what was going on. His heart was breaking at the sight of more tears and sobs vehemently shaking Florian’s body. He didn’t understand and he didn’t know what to say, his lips seperated but nothing but a breath escaped. How could he comfort him if he didn’t know what the cause of all evil was? "My Prince,” he whispered, searching Florian’s watering eyes for the answers he couldn’t voice —— until he could.

                       ‘You're leaving me.’

William’s head fell forward as a heavy sigh of relief left his lips. A sigh which quickly turned into mindless giggling. William knew it was inappropriate to laugh, but the four words managed to knock every last bit of tension off his body and instead left a lightheartedness he wasn't used to. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" The initial blame in his voice was inaudible, all seriousness being taken out of his words as more giggles erupted from William's chest. It was just so typical. Every once in a while one or even both of them found a way of beginning to worry about their relationship. Florian had never even remotely had the same amount of self-confidence William proved on a daily basis. ( Now, that didn't say as much about Florian's ego as it did about William's unreachable self-love, but it tended to cause trouble. ) William on the other hand severely lacked the experience of being in a relationship and so especially when he got excited like togay, he forgot he was no longer the only one to make decisions. 

“Don’t be silly, my Prince,” he spoke softly, pushed himself up and slid onto the sofa next to Florian. He pulled his boyfriend close immediately, one hand reassuringly rubbing Florian's back and his lips kissing away the newly upcoming tears. "I am not leaving you." The mere thought was so ridiculous it started letting the smile grow back on his features again, and he wrapped his arms around Florian in a tight hug. "Don’t you get it? I would never leave you. " He pressed a kiss on top of Florian's head. "I want to move in with you."

[willixmcharming]

daydreamprince:

“No, I don’t hate it”, Florian commented silently. He didn’t hate the apartment, he hated what getting one would mean. It would mean William would be away from him, too far. Almost like.. he wanted to get rid of Florian. Again Florian started to think all possible things he might have done wrong, things that annoyed William or might make him dislike him. But honestly Florian didn’t even know where to start. It could be anything, all the tiniest little things might have gotten on William’s nerves.

It was hard to look at William when Florian only felt like starting to cry. Especially when William was apoligising. Did William even know what he was apologising? Did he know Florian had figured out why William wanted a new apartment? That he wanted to get away from Florian? Florian looked back to the computer so William wouldn’t be able to look at his eyes and see how terrible Florian was feeling about all of this.

It took everything Florian had to stay in one piece. He couldn’t listen William, he couldn’t really look at the apartments because he would just start to cry. So he just pretended of doing both of those things – watching and listening.

He didn’t hear what William was saying, not even the mention of making food or making decisions, but he did got pulled out of his little nest where he had hid to keep the tears away when William kissed his head. Florian glanced up to William, watching him to walk away and once the man disappeared the tears started to roll down his cheeks.

Florian tried to wipe the tears away, hoping wiping would make them stop from falling but it seemed like no matter how much he tried to wipe the tears didn’t stop. They kept on rolling down and the next battle was not to start crying aloud. Florian bit his lower lip to stay quiet and he kept on wirping his eyes and cheeks on his palms, fingers, back of his hands, his arms, anywhere to make it stop. But it didn’t want to stop. To stop the tears you had to get rid of the sadness first, but how would you get rid of the sadness when it just built up inside of you?

Florian didn’t want William to leave him. Florian didn’t want to live without William, he didn’t want William to have someone else, he wanted to be William’s only one. He didn’t want William to move away, he didn’t want him to be so far away from him. Not now when Florian just wanted to have him there for him. He wanted William. Not him moving into a stupid new apartment.

Making food was the easy part. William still wasn’t exactly good at cooking, but making a simple actually edible and even delicious dinner for the two of them was just in his range of abilities. In fact, William’s body seemed to be moving on its own, getting and throwing the ingredients together without him having to waste too many thoughts on the process. The problem with that was very easily his mind being able to wander in different directions. 

He didn’t hear many noises from the living room and he wasn’t exactly sure whether this was or wasn’t a good sign. Was Florian blown away by the beauty of the apartment or shocked speechless at the mere thought of them moving in together? What if Florian didn’t even want to move in together? As William seasoned their dishes, he realised he had never really bothered to ask. He sort of just assumed Florian would want to move in with him as much as he himself wanted to move in with Florian. Had he been wrong? Looking at it from a fair-minded perspective he really was the only one to yield a profit. Florian was the defintion of The Perfect Roommate which everyone would want to live with. On the other hand, William was likely the worst. He was a slop with a terrible sense of humour and a tendency to throw too many parties. 

          Oh God, he was terrible...

The worries started growing then and soon started spinning inside of his head. He almost felt dizzy, but he knew everything was only inside his head and concentrating on his breathing, he quickly felt himself becoming steady again. One more time he inhaled and exhaled deeply, before grabbing their dishes plus some cutlery and walked back into the living room. “So, what do you thin—” The question got stuck in his throat before he could finish it, the sight in front of him an unexpected one and William found himself shocked speechles. The plates nearly slipped out of his fingers, only held by the subconscious thought that this was not the time to cause and have to clean a mess. He had to fix the one in front of him first.

With large steps he crossed the room, put the plates onto the coffee table and sank to his knees in front of his best friend. His hands automatically reached to replace Florian's and his thumbs wiped away the tears softly. "What happened?" he asked, worry clearly visible on his features, “Florian, if you don’t want—” A new apartment? Moving in together? Them getting even more seriouss?! “You can tell me everything, you know that.”

[willixmcharming]

daydreamprince:

Florian didn’t understand any of this. Why was William getting a new place? Didn’t he like it here? Had.. had Florian done something that made William want to move further away from him? Was he at his place too often? Being too.. commanding? After all, he was always the one mentioning about cleaning and no shoes inside and no legs on the table and so on. Was he being too nagging? Like a naggy little wife? Oh no.. Florian really was a nagging housewife. No wonder William wanted away from him and all..

Florian ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to understand all this. He almost felt like crying right now, just because this all felt so weird and uncertain. He had thought things were good between them. That they really were doing well and all.

And then William came back home. Florian looked up to him and decided not to say anything. Not right now because he might end up yelling and he definitely didn’t want to yell. Plus that big happy smile on William’s face made it impossible for Florian to say anything right now. He loved this man way too much to actually be angry at him when he looked like that. It was impossible to be angry at William when he was being like that.

Florian glanced at his boyfriend when he jumped on the couch with him pushing his hand away and asking the questions way too happily. William really was into the idea of getting a new place and even though Florian tried to smile it started to get hard. William was so excited and the place that was his favorite and it was so far away from where Florian’s place was. It was like.. way too far. 

Inviting everyone over was the point when Florian had to turn his gaze down to his hands from the computer screen. He didn’t want to know who all William would invite into his bed and to that new apartment of his. Most likely the reason why it was so far from the old one was because that way Florian couldn’t be there as often. So William could throw all possible parties he wanted. With who ever he wanted. Florian wasn’t a party person anyway so.. it’d be okay.

“Yeah, nice..” he said without even looking at the screen. He didn’t want to see more. He didn’t want to hear more. William clearly had decided he wanted the apartment and there wasn’t anything to stop him from doing that. He clearly wanted space between them and who was Florian to deny that.

His mother had known there would be disappointment. From the moment he told her of the planned moving Mrs Charming had scolded her son to not have too great expectations, knowing very well how excited and obsessive William could get. In a way he still was the child playing with a far too expensive toy and realising too late how vulnerable it was. As it shattered on the ground young William's smile vanished as well. Now, roughly twenty years later Mrs Charming would be able to find that very same crestfallen look on her baby boy's face. "You hate it." It wasn't as much of a question as it was a realisation on William's part. The excitement had left his voice entirely and in a reflexive manner he shifted away from Florian. Oddly, William felt like he had been punched in the stomach. He blinked a couple of times, staring down at the screen and the apartment he liked so very much. It was his type of apartment, but maybe that was where the problem was at. Was he being selfish? Had he been looking only for something he wanted? William wanted to blame his mother for failing at thwarting the bachelor part of his brain, but he was dating Florian not her. He should know what his boyfriend would want.

"I am sorry," William muttered under his breathe and leaned a little forward to be able to look into Florian's face. A soft apologetic smile started growing back on his lips then. "I guess I just didn't think you'd be hating it as much..?" Matter of factly, William had found the apartment to be fitting for both of them. Where the terrace looked personalised for William the living room could've been designed by Florian himself and so on. But again maybe that was where the problem was at? It looked like they both lived there, not like they'd live there together.

"There's another one my mother sent me today," William said, willing to keep talking until he found a way to turn the frown on his best friend's face upside down. "I didn't really consider it first, because-" The flat had a flaw, in William's eyes. It'd sound ridiculous to everyone who did not know of his excessive manwhore days ( alias his father who gave his unusual insecure son a questioning look ) but it was too big. It had one extra room --- which would be fine, really, if the two of them did not sleep in the same bed, but like this William felt like it had to mean something and truth be told, he was terrified of this one single room carrying too much meaning. He was continuously growing up into the responsible adult he should've been years ago, but for some reason he felt panic cripple down his spine when he thought of the non-essential room. His own mother suggested they could make an office out of it, a walk-in wardrobe, a storage room, even a gaming room or whatever, but while she had counted the endless possibilities William found himself only concentrating on the one she left out.

Rubbing his left earlobe between the index finger and thumb of his left hand as he did on the rare occasions when he was nervous, William had opened a new browser tab and navigated through his e-mail account to find the mail his mother had sent him this morning. "It's pretty though," he muttered, barely realising he hadn't even finished the prior sentence. It was an underestimation as well. The apartment looked taken straight out of a magazine and a good combination of both their tastes. It looked like it had potential for a couple to create good and bad memories in, for two people in love to begin the new adventure of living together in, for best friends to enjoy life for however long it'd keep them in this place. It looked like a place you'd always look back fondly to even after moving on. It looked perfect.

Finally, William opened the mail and clicked onto the link attached, yet again opening a new tab by doing so. "Look at it, read all of it and tell me what you think, alright?" William gave another smile and as he stood up he pressed a kiss on top of Florian's head, "I'll make dinner real quick and be right back. You can't make big decisions on an empty stomach." That being said, he grabbed the groceries bag from the floor and swiftly disappeared in the kitchen.

[willixmcharming]

There was a time when William would’ve laughed out loud if someone had told him he’d be wanting to live with someone in his future, let alone that someone being Florian. He had always loved his best friend in the greatest way imaginable, but living with and getting that face, that disgusted and disappointed face, every damn time he came home with a new someone by his side? Absolutely not. Neither of them would’ve wanted that. 

William didn’t quite realise he had changed so much over the courses of the past two years, heck even in the past few months. Things just felt right, in a way they had never felt right before. He'd even started to forget that they were not in fact living together — but every once in a while he was reminded of their separate lives. 'Take your feet from my couch table!', 'Stop stealing my blanket!' and the almost painful 'So when are you going back home?'. It irritated him. It felt as though he was living the infamous happily ever after, but someone tried kicking him out of his own fairytale every now and then, like the sudden jump of a record player pulled you out of the groof of the music. It bothered him to the point where when his nosy mother asked him when they'd finally move in together, he realised the answer should've been 'We already did' instead of a shrug of his shoulders. So, why hadn’t they?

They had kept this game going for far too long, always spending their time together in one of their apartments or missing the other on the few days they spent alone. Logic would've indicated them to move in together months ago, but as William wondered why they hadn't done it yet, he realised it likely was his own fault. He had been single for the majority of his life, never once willing to settle down and start something serious with someone, but William Charming had grown up. After over thirty years he had actually grown out of his heartbreaker image. It'd be an absolute lie to say he had stopped enjoying the attention he was getting. He had grown up in the spotlight, either because his parents pushed him in there or he himself walked voluntarily into the middle of the crowd — the more attention the better. However, with Florian loving him and William loving Florian, he did not want anyone else’s attention other than his boyfriend’s. 

His mother, who much like her son had always loved Florian like family, had been thrilled to see William willing to take the next step and was quick to help him search for new apartments. She had an eye for them, which William had to admit he hadn’t. What he left opened on his computer were the flats he was the most interested in and which he had wanted to show Florian. Opening the door and entering the apartment he’d hopefully soon be able to sell, William quickly noticed he wouldn’t have to show Florian after all. He had found out on his own. Now, under normal circumstances William'd have been disappointed as the surprise had quite clearly been spoiled, but the excitement of moving in with the best friend he coincidentally was also madly in love with, had him unable to feel anything negative. Instantly a wide smile was on William's lips, he placed the bag of food on the ground and jumped over the back of the sofa to sit next to Florian. "What do you think?" he asked with the giddy excitement of a child and already pushed Florian's hand away from the touchpad to navigate through the pages. It took him very little time to find a specific flat. "This one's my favourite." It was one far away from where he was living right now. For the majority of his life William had lived in the big cities, loving to be a part of a crowd of people and loving that these types of cities never slept, but his priorities had changed, and having a nice life with his love sounded a lot better than having a wild life in the big city. 

“It has the most amazing terrace ever! There’d be enough place for a canopy swing the size of a bed, I could invite everyone on my contact list to it and, ehm—” William stuttered though only for a tiny second, hoping Florian would not put too much meaning to his words. His phone’s contact list still was akin to a phonebook, carrying everyone’s number he had ever gotten. “ —not to mention the view!”

Things had been great. Better than great, actually. Florian was happy, actually happier than ever before. William was perfect and Florian was pretty sure he fell for his best friend more and more every day. Of course they had their fights time to time, but they always got everything solved and eventually everything was fine again. Their relationship really was well balanced and the biggest worry Florian had in the beginning of their relationship was long gone by now. He really wasn’t even thinking with half a thought William might be looking at someone else than him. It was so obvious William could see only him that sometimes it was even hilarious. Especially on those days when  they were out and in some bar there were always those women who tried to hit on William but it was almost like they were completely invisible to him. That really brought Florian’s self-confidence up a lot. And he always made sure William knew how much he appreciated how William really didn’t pay any attention to others. Yeap, there were always rewards in the bedroom afterwards.

Florian and William were still living in different apartments, but they always ended up staying at each other’s places about a week at a time. Or couple of days at least. So in a way it was almost like they were living together even though they really weren’t. Sometimes Florian did think about how they should move together, but he never talked about it aloud since he didn’t want William to feel like he was pressuring him or that he wasn’t happy by the way things were now.

Right now Florian was at William’s apartment, he had been there since Friday – it was Sunday now – and William had went to get them something to eat so Florian was just lying on the couch thinking of his own things. Then he remembered he was supposed to check his email because his mother had sent him something and since Florian didn’t have his computer with him he decided to borrow William’s. He sat up on the couch, pulled the laptop a bit closer on the coffee table and opened it. To his surprise the laptop was actually on and the browser already opened. A frown came on Florian’s face when he noticed what was opened in the tabs. Was William going to get a new place? Florian looked around him and the frown came even deeper. What was wrong with this one? It was spacious and it was pretty one in a nice spot. Florian looked at the tabs again. The apartments in those weren’t even in the same city.. Was William going to move away without telling him? Or was he going to get another apartment for a reason he hadn’t told Florian? Whichever the reason was, it was odd and Florian wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

[willixmcharming]

A relieved sigh left William's lips as he was not immediately greeted by his boyfriend, scowl on his face and arms crossed in front of his chest in the typical 'Where were you?' pose. It was a good sign, he thought. A sign that the fight actually was over and had not only momentarily paused because William decided to leave. They were good — well, they were better than bad. William was still far from optimistic, but right now he felt the need to be at least a little more positive. He would never be able to walk into this house if his mind kept telling him he had yet again ruined everything, if the same sentence kept swirling inside his brain, constantly reminding him that ‘William Charming was not able to have a healthy relationship’.

Another sigh, followed by a deep breath moved William’s body and he carefully pushed the door open. This time around he took his shoes off even before entering the house and neatly placed the now muddy pair on the porch. Once he was inside, the door was quietly closed behind him and even the key found its way to the little bowl meant for it. He slipped out of his sweater and quickly changed into the pullover lying on top in his luggage. There were still a few hours of the night left to kill and for today he'd accept sleeping on the couch, the floor, the bath tub — heck, he was so tired even a park bench would look comfortable at this point.

His feet were about to lead him to the bath room, when he spotted the figure on the couch. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest he was so surprised  by the silence and then, just like that, after seemingly nothing had happened, he could feel it falling apart. “Florian?” The name left William’s lips in a whisper and he was already kneeling down in front of the man before he even realised how he had walked over. The image was a painful combination of heartbreaking and upsetting, or guilt and sorrow, of all the things William Charming had never felt, because he did not fall in love. He had been immune. 

He had been immune until this stupid idiot with the tear stains still on his cheek walked into his life and wrapped William around his little finger without either of them knowing.

“Florian,” he repeated quietly and lifted his hands to lay them on Florian’s neck, thumb brushing against his best friend’s cheeks to get rid of the painful proof that William had hurt the only person he’d ever love this way. “Prince.” William sat up slightly to sit on the couch next to Florian and just wrapped his arms tightly around him. “Es tut mir leid,” he whispered the apology in his friend’s native language, because he meant it with every fibre of his heart. He wasn’t just sorry. It hurt him as well.

Something New

[willixmcharming]

With a loud bang the door was thrown shut only a second after the last word was spoken. Fine. It was such a pathetic word, William thought, and yet it carried a ridiculous amount of weight to it. It filled the world like an acid cloud, making it difficult for William to breathe and leaving such a terrible feeling in his chest he worried he would actually become sick. 

This wasn’t fair. He could not tell what exactly was worse — him running away like a child, not even giving Florian the tiniest of chances to redeem himself or the fact that something as stupid as a too long flight and the lack of sleep could make the man who was supposed to be his best friend say such, such... such things. Either way, this was absolutely not fair.

He could still reach out for the door and open it again. It was still in range. It’d hardly take him any effort, and his hand already twitched to the only thing seperating him from Florian. But shouldn’t it be just as easy for Florian to cross the room and open the door himself? He didn’t actually go to bed, did he? William let out a quiet huff, slipped into his shoes (thankfully, for the long flight he had not bothered wearing the fancy but uncomfortable ones and actually chose a sporty pair) and then, he started running, literally running away from the house and its current owner. Maybe they just needed a little bit of time by themself, and if that meant going to bed for Florian while William was jogging through the night, then so be it. 

William could not tell for how long he had been running already. All his belongings, including his watch and his phone, had stayed behind in his luggage. At this point, his muscles were aching from the unexpected act of sport, his body was exhausted as it tried to keep him warm despite the terrible European temperature at night and his tiredness that had momentarily been washed away by anger was back with full force. But at least, the cool air of the late evening and the lack of sunshine had cleared his mind. He didn’t feel terrible about the situation anymore, had long forgotten and forgiven what was said during the argument and could even accept that this; yelling dumb things at each other wasn’t healthy but sometimes maybe necessary. 

As quietly as he could possibly be, William pushed the key into its hole and turned it, internally cursing the clicking sound it made as it unlocked and which only seemed to echo through the silent night. He didn’t want to accidentally wake Florian up.

Something New

[willixmcharming]

If there was anyone in the world who knew what weight words could carry, it was William Charming. It had always been his weapon, and though the baby with the bright blue eyes did not yet understand the delighted squeals and cheers emerging from his mother and her friends, whenever he pointed at one of them, giggled his baby laugh and said ‘Pretty!’, William soon grew to understand the effects of words. What he did with them — charming strangers in to get his personal pleasure from it — wasn’t noble, but he had never purposely hurt anyone. Not like Florian’s.

William did not know what it was about them. In all honesty, they might just be hitting too close to home, being too real for William to want to deal with them. Either way, it felt like a punch to his stomach and even if he was still angry, it mixed with an odd feeling of nausea.

“You ar-” Reflexively, he leaned back as Florian’s arm darted out to point his finger at him. William gritted his teeth. He wanted to point out how most times Florian hadn’t even been able to help him, how William hadn’t called knowing his friend was wasting away in a German castle and how he had had so many daughters, even girlfriends and yeah, one or two wives, that Florian didn’t know half the trouble he went through, let alone helped him with it. However, biting on his own tongue he stopped the words from spilling. “I need you,” he said instead and cursed his own voice for betraying him. He sounded hurt, like he actually had been hit. “Is that what you want to hear? I NEED YOU, FLORIAN! I always have and I always will, and yeah, I don’t know where I would be without you.” It was one of the reasons why Florian was always welcome in the Charming household, because even William’s parents realised that that man accepting his friendship was the best thing to ever have happened to their son. They didn’t even want to imagine what person William would’ve turned into without someone he could show his heart to and be honest with, without adding another layer of charm. “Don’t even dare to tell me what the world’s like! I'm not optimistic. I’ve never been. Why else do you think does a child give up on love and everything that could possibly make your future brighter? Because the world’s shit! So, why waste your time being positive, when everything comes back to hurt you eventually?!” Obviously, he was right with his negaitvity.

“Oh, I will be responsible,” he hissed, though his next action had nothing to do with acting like a responsible adult. With only a few steps William had reached his shoes he had so sloppily thrown away before, grabbed them with a single hand and walked to the door. 

“Sleep well, Mr Price.”

Something New

[willixmcharming]

If you asked William, he’d tell you he was prepared for absolutely everything Florian could throw at him. Although it was for most people a once in a lifetime experience that Florian swore, William being Florian's best friend and truthfully a bit of an annoying cunt, he had been at the receiving end of the insults quite a few times. Yet, William jaw dropped so low it ought to hit the ground. Florian's wish of rather having left him behind hit way below the belt.

William pushed himself onto his feet and walked around the couch table, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like the word no one would expect William to have in his vocabulary. Bastard. 

"Right,” he replied then, his voice rising with the increase of sarcasm, “Because running away every time something doesn’t happen the way you want it to is soooooo mature of you.” Of course, it was Florian’s way of avoiding the discussions which might lead to one of the parties feeling upset, but it was just as childish as William’s behaviour could be. “Guess what, Florian! You can’t always run from everything!”

If it wasn’t for his anger, William would’ve stopped his best friend there or maybe he’d have simply run after him as he did all those months ago at Artemis’ club. However, he was annoyed now, personally offended and much worse; he could feel his heart aching because his best friend and boyfriend would rather have him in the USA than with him.

“Be that coward then!” William spat. “Crawl under your sheets and be optimisitc about the sun rising tomorrow for a better day! If you’re lucky enough, I’ll be gone by then.” 

Something New

[willixmcharming]

This was a special moment for William. Despite having told Florian he loved him before, this one felt different. His tongue was used to forming the words now, his heart could fully agree with him and his mind had accepted he loved Florian. Saying it before having sex though, felt again completely different. To William, these two were entirely different worlds. The concept of making love had confused him for years, because really what difference was there? It wasn't meaningless of course, but William had had sex with his oldest friend once, which wasn't meaningless either. So what made this so special? William leaned his forehead against Florian’s, looking into the familiar eyes which at least eased his nerves a little bit. However, it didn’t change his heartbeat. It was beating so fast there was absolutely no way it wouldn’t explode in his chest today. If Florian wasn’t able to hear it, he certainly would be able to see the slight trembling of his hand when he reached up to place it on Florian’s neck. It had taken nearly thirty-two years, but they had finally found William’s insecurity. He was good when it came to having sex, but he had no idea what making love was like. William barely gave Florian the time to respond or much worse; point out William’s nervousness. He simply crushed his lips on the other’s and pressed a deep feverish kiss to Florian’s mouth. 

Florian wrapped his arms a bit tighter around William’s neck when the kiss got deeper and he was lift into William’s lap. Florian had always known William was in a good shape, but he was slightly surprised how easily he lift him up. Though the position made Florian smile and his legs wrapping around the other’s waist. He placed soft kisses on William’s neck as he was carried to the bedroom.

Just for a tiny moment Florian loosened his grip around William’s neck, but then pulled him closer again when the sheets touched his back. His legs untangled and his head moved a bit to steal a kiss, but William didn’t move forward to kiss back, so Florian rested his head back on the bed as he watched William’s perfectly blue eyes. A soft sigh left his lips when he felt lips on his chest and moving up to his neck and ear. Then came the whisper and Florian felt like he had dozens of butterflies in his stomach and the stomach flipped around. William had said that before too, but right now, on this situation, it just felt so much stronger than before. Florian moved his hands on William’s cheeks and pulled his head up to kiss him. The kiss was soft but loving and when Florian pulled away from the kiss he just whispered: “I love you too.”

[willixmcharming]

William couldn't believe what was happening. He was being scolded for wearing shoes! Like that wasn't the most normal thing to do inside! "You're such an actor," he muttered under his breath as he actually reached for his feet and unlaced his shoes. However, Florian wasn't the only one who could exaggerate. If he wanted to treat him like a bitch, William wouldn't treat him any better than that.

He took off the first shoe and as provocative as he could get, he threw it across the room and towards the space Florian had placed his own. The second followed soon after; William's movements being to quick for Florian to stop him, and with a loud bang the second shoe hit the wall before landing flat on the ground. Thankfully, it didn't leave a stain on the wallpaper, later William would realize that that would've probably cost him his head. "Better?", he asked rhetorically, "Or would Lord Price have any more ridiculous wishes? Should I throw my luggage in the garbage, because who knows in what filth I've been rolling around in? I probably should be grateful I wasn't sprayed off with a garden hose before entering this holy household."

Something New

Honestly, William could’ve, probably should’ve and under any normal circumstances he would’ve closed the door behind him, but his tired mind forgot about the simple task and his hands were full with two bags anyway. If he had kicked the door shut Florian would only be more annoyed — at least that was what William talked himself into believing.

He shifted in his position, turning his head to the side to look at Florian. He couldn’t help but notice an unusual bitterness in the other’s voice. Did he just call him what William thought he had been called? ‘Brutes’ really wasn’t the right word. Clearly the flight hadn’t only left William’s brain in an useless state, but melted Florian’s in a puddle of nonsense. Sitting up William swatted the hands reaching for his feet away. “Those are only shoes, Flo,” he pointed out, his voice showing off his own annoyance, “It’s not like I just murdered someone. Don’t be so dramatic!” They weren’t even that dirty anyway.”

[willixmcharming]

Honestly, William could've, probably should’ve and under any normal circumstances he would've closed the door behind him, but his tired mind forgot about the simple task and his hands were full with two bags anyway. If he had kicked the door shut Florian would only be more annoyed — at least that was what William talked himself into believing.

He shifted in his position, turning his head to the side to look at Florian. He couldn't help but notice an unusual bitterness in the other's voice. Did he just call him what William thought he had been called? 'Brutes' really wasn't the right word. Clearly the flight hadn't only left William's brain in an useless state, but melted Florian's in a puddle of nonsense. Sitting up William swatted the hands reaching for his feet away. "Those are only shoes, Flo," he pointed out, his voice showing off his own annoyance, "It's not like I just murdered someone. Don’t be so dramatic!" They weren't even that dirty anyway.

Something New

[willixmcharming]

Honestly, William was still a little dazzled from the compliment, but Florian’s arm sliding around his neck seemed to pull him back into reality. His lips met his boyfriend’s, kissing him again — harder more need in it than before and he parted his lips, allowing their tongues to collide with one another. He wanted the other so much, his hands trailing over their body like it was some great treasure, but who was he kidding? Of course, it was. This was Florian Price in front of him, the one person William had been longing after for years. 

William broke away, his lips moving along Florian’s jaw and down his neck. He couldn’t even be bothered about the rest of water on his skin. He simply pulled Florian up and around his waist and carried him out of the bathroom as though his weight was negligible. William placed Florian on the bed and crawled on after him. He didn’t go immediately back to kissing him then. He paused, letting his eyes run over the male in front of him and eventually leaned forward to kiss his way up Florian’s chest to his ear. Fuck his plans. Fuck the fairytale story everyone wanted him to live. Fuck everything! “I love you,” he whispered, needing Florian to know that his wasn’t just an achievement. He wouldn’t later go to his best friend for a high five because he scored a goal. This was so much more.

Florian noticed how William froze and for a short moment he was worried it was a bad thing. But then William seemed to relax, even replied to the kiss and as Florian looked into his boyfriend’s eyes his smile just grew. It clearly wasn’t a bad thing, Florian could see that. It was unexpected, but somehow seeing that in William’s eyes made Florian feel somewhat proud of his own words. He was pretty sure no one had been able to make William speechless ever before, but now Florian Price had done it. “I know”, Florian replied to his name and stepped closer wrapping his arms around William’s neck and kissed him again. He didn’t care that William’s skin was still wet and his own was dry and that getting so close his skin wouldn’t be dry anymore. Florian didn’t care. He just wanted to kiss William, show him how much he cared and how much the other meant to him. William had always meant a lot to Florian but now he just meant so much more. Though probably soon they’d be even more than they were now since the bedroom was still calling.

[willixmcharming]

It was one of life’s great tragedies - if you asked William that is - that he was utterly incapable of falling asleep in any moving vehicle. Maybe it was because he never needed to do so before; either he was a child running around the private plane with his friends or he was a grown man with at least one stewardess hanging on every word that left his lips, or maybe his body just was too used to giant beds and fluffy cushions to sleep in a more or less comfortable seat. Either way, the trip to Europe was an absolute pain. He couldn’t even be bothered speaking to his boyfriend who was sitting the entire time right next to him.

Throughout the car drive William kept staring down at his phone. He had quickly gone through all of his games, found them to be unbelievably boring and finally decided to send a few messages around that they had landed safely and were only minutes away from home.

When they finally arrived, he gave Florian a mildy surprised look as he just walked off towards the house, but didn’t waste too many thoughts on it. With the perfectly practiced charming smile he turned to their driver, exchanged a few kind words with them and tipped them a good amount of money, before following his boyfriend to the house. Unerringly he walked to the sofa he spotted, dropped his lugagge right beside it and let himself fall face forward onto it. 

Something New

After a long time Florian was heading back to Europe. Though this time with William. At first the thought of the trip had been fun and great, but as the flight took forever and the car trip even longer Florian had started to feel way too tired. He hadn’t slept at all in the plane, the car was stuck in the traffic jam and Florian really just wanted to get to his family’s summer house and flop on the bed and sleep for the next two days at least.

His head was leaned on the window, eyes staring into nothing, closing time to time because the tiredness was taking the best of him. He wasn’t speaking a word to William who was in the taxi with him, for a moment Florian had pretty much forgotten William even was there. He really just wanted to sleep.

When the taxi finally stopped in front of the house Florian sighed softly, just thinking the soft and perfect bed where he could just crawl once he’d be inside of the doors. He got out of the car, took his bag from the taxi driver and walked to the door not even waiting for William to get his stuff and to follow him. Florian dug out the keys from his pocket – he always had a set of keys to the summer house – opened the door and stepped in leaving the door open behind him. He dropped his bag on the floor, pushed it by the wall with his foot and started to take off his shoes.

[willixmcharming]

   ‘You are beautiful.’

The words had William freeze. His movements came to a stop, whatever expression he had carried on his face before made room for a blank, almost confused one, and God knows he was lucky breathing was a reflex, because otherwise he might have forgotten it as well. It wasn't the compliment itself that startled him. It was the word. The one specific adjective. It wasn’t too unusual for William's appearance to get complimented. Every flirt started with a ‘Hello handsome’, every night in a bar ended with at least one drunken girl telling him how hot he was and often enough he passed a mirror only to notice himself how good he was looking that day. 'Beautiful', however, was something he didn’t remember being called before and if so, he definitely hadn’t heard it from someone who sounded - no,was - as sincere as Florian did just now. He meant it. Florian found him beautiful. For the first time William was actually speechless. Even his reaction to the kiss came a little belated. “Florian,” he whispered under his breath. He honestly didn’t know what to say. ‘Thank you’ didn’t seem good enough, returning the compliment was cheap, and despite the seemingly endless database of fairytale like compliments, he did not find any even half as worthy as the one he had gotten just now.

Most likely Florian would have said something if William was going to head to the bedroom soaking wet, but luckily he didn’t have to say a word. It might have ruined the mood, in a way, if Florian would have started to talk about hygiene and all. So better he didn’t need to say a word.

Florian let William do whatever he wanted, carry him around, dry his skin, anything. He just wanted to stay close and feel the touch. As William dried Florian’s skin the prince just kept his eyes on his boyfriend’s eyes as a soft smile was on his lips. William was beautiful. He always had been, but right now he just looked more beautiful than he had before.

He couldn’t keep his hands away. Florian raised his hands on William’s cheeks, brushed his fingertips across his cheeks and to his neck, back to his jawbone and Florian smiled a bit more. “You’re beautiful”, he whispered and leaned closer placing a soft and loving kiss on William’s lips. Maybe being called beautiful wasn’t exactly what William had thought to hear, but in Florian’s eyes he wasn’t just handsome, he was beautiful too. Those two were two different things and William surely was both. Though Florian doubted anyone else had said to William that he was beautiful, but it was for sure Florian meant what he said.