Chapter Text
Wilhelm is the young Prince of Sweden, aged 23. His title comes with added pressure that he knows more than most because ever since he was in his late teens, the press has long since dubbed him ‘the wild child of Sweden’. Sometimes, he lives up to that title, it’s just another title added onto the ones he already lives with; but most of the time he is just Wille - anxious, angry at the world, and the greatest friend and sibling in the world.
Simon, also aged 23, on the other hand, hasn’t grown up in the media spotlight - but now he’s at the front of it. He’s a singer, one of the most famous singers in Sweden. He’s loved by many, especially the queer community. From the start of his career, he has always been open and honest with his fans and that, alongside winning him brownie points, means that he is the unofficial spokesperson for a large community, which in turn means that he is somehow always in the press.
Wilhelm just so happens to be a big fan of Simon, secretly of course. He’s also had the biggest crush on Simon ever since he first saw him, but that’s even more of a secret. Being the Prince also means having to hide that part of Wilhelm, for now at least. He’s only out as queer to one person - his best friend Felice. However, his brother Erik has always had his suspicions. Wilhelm knows that his brother will love him regardless of his sexuality, but right now he can’t bring himself to think about beginning that conversation.
That is because, right now, Wilhelm is currently dangling from his bedroom window, ready to make the jump out into the gardens of the palace. He will forever be grateful that his bedroom is towards the back of the palace, and underneath his window sits grass, rather than concrete. He’s done this far too much, to the point that it’s an easy journey now. All he has to do is jump, and run to Felice’s car. So he does, and he lands perfectly. He knows that one day when he’s older, he’ll start to regret all the times he’s done this when his knees start to ache - but right now he’s 23 and he’s got a concert to get to. So he runs, and suddenly he’s transported back to all the times he’s run across these very blades of grass before, and then he’s quickly opening the car door, jumping in and Felice is driving off before he’s even got his seatbelt on.
“You know you could just leave out the door.” Felice says as she drives, the palace in the distance getting smaller and smaller until it is no longer visible.
Wilhelm stares at her. “And have to explain to everyone that I’m going to a concert? A Simon Eriksson concert no less? No thanks, Fe, I’ll pass on that.”
Felice rolls her eyes and turns the music on, blasting out their favourite songs to prepare for the short drive to the concert venue.
“How’s everything been at home?” Felice asks.
Wilhelm shrugs “Mamma and pappa want to give me more official roles. I’ve met far too many people in the last week and I’ve still got three more dinners and one more charity event to attend. People are telling me their names and I’m forgetting them straight away so I spend the rest of the time either avoiding them or avoiding saying their names.”
Felice chuckles softly. “You will get used to it eventually, Wille, I promise. The more you meet people, the easier it’ll be for you to remember them…or at least pretend you remember them.”
“It’s just not as fun as it used to be, you know? When I was younger, I loved being the Prince. It was fun meeting new people all the time, and going to all of these new places. I miss when it was easy and fun. Now it’s just boring and repetitive. I mean, really, who suggested six dinners in two weeks?” He shuts his eyes and lets the music take him away. “I really need this, Fe. Thank you for getting the tickets, and for picking me up.”
“Anything for you Wille, I mean that.” She says earnestly. She pulls into the parking spot. “Ready to run?”
Wille looks out of the window and notices that nobody else is around. He’s grateful for that at least, this way he knows that he won’t get caught before they get into the venue. He looks to his best friend. “Always.” he says, and grins as he opens the car door and runs to the other side of the building, to the large, yet surprisingly hidden, door they both know so well.
Felice trails behind him, but not too far behind and within a few seconds she is also at the door as Wille is tapping against it four times, to indicate to the bodyguard on the other side that they should open it.
“Thank you.” Wille says, holding his hand out for the bodyguard to shake it as he allows both Wilhelm and Felice to walk inside.
“Pleasure as always Prince Wilhelm.” The bodyguard says and lets them walk further into the venue to get to their seats.
They do this far too often, but it’s always fun. Wille secretly hopes that he gets to do this forever. The lights are already off when they walk into the arena, the crowd abuzz with the anticipation of Simon coming on out on stage. Wille and Felice walk to their seats, which are up on a balcony. They usually sit in these seats, because it means that people can’t really see them unless they really focus, especially with the lights down low as they are already. The backing track to the opening song begins to play loudly and Simon Eriksson walks out onto the stage to blood-curdling screams and flashing lights.
It’s so loud. Everyone is screaming along to the lyrics, dancing with their friends and having fun. During a slower song, Simon asks for the lights of the arena to be turned on so he can see the crowd better. Everyone screams even louder and the lighting crew listen to the performer and his crowd, and suddenly the lights are brighter and everyone has to shut their eyes for a second. It’s a beautiful sight to see everyone living in the moment, singing along perfectly, with the odd whooping from someone somewhere. Wille is caught up in the moment, forgetting for the length of the song that not only is he the Prince, but that he’s not even supposed to be here. He wraps his arm around Felice’s shoulder, holding his best friend close to him as tears start to form in the inner corners of his eyes. Felice wraps her arm around his waist and looks up at him, both of them singing along to the meaningful song. They are both entirely caught up in the moment, that neither of them think to hide from the thousands of people in the venue, because it’s unexpectedly lighter and that means there’s a possibility of people seeing them - and someone did.
After the song ends and everyone is cheering, Maja looks around and sees someone vaguely familiar and she abruptly swats her friends arm. “Hej, is that the Prince?” she asks, pointing him out in the crowd.
“Oh my God.” Her friend squeals, “I think it is!”
Maja quickly takes a photo. It’s blurry because of her shaking hands but you can definitely see that it’s the Prince and his friend Felice. Without a second thought, she uses the costume change to open up her Twitter account and make a post.
The show is definitely impressive, one of the best that Wille and Felice have ever been to. They dance and they sing and it’s so fun and Wille is truly happy that he gets to experience this night. It’s already one of his favourite moments that he’s had, and he’ll remember this night for a long time to come.
But what Wille is unaware of is that his name is already the most trending topic on Twitter, with people wondering if he and Simon know each other, and if Simon invited him to the show. But the main thing that Wille is blissfully unaware of, is that people all over social media are questioning and assuming his sexuality.
And it all started with a simple ‘Is this Prince Wilhelm at Simon’s concert? Simon will freak out!!’ alongside the photograph.
Later that night, Wilhelm manages to sneak back into the palace with ease, this time walking straight in through a barely used door towards the back of the building, hidden in the darkness of the night. The halls are unlit and silent and he thinks he can make it into his bedroom without being caught.
That is, until he turns a corner to the hall that leads to his bedroom and he finds his mamma standing there, in wait of him.
“Where have you been?” She calls out, breaking the peaceful serenity of the late night.
“With Felice. Is that a crime?” Wille sarcastically replies. He’s honest, at least to a degree.
Queen Kristina holds her phone out, showing her son one of the many articles already available to the public. Wille looks closely at it. He disregards the headline and focuses on the image in the centre of the phone - it’s a photo of him and Felice tonight, he’s got his arm around her shoulder and her arm is resting on his waist. They’re clearly both singing along to a song and are happy.
“You should see these articles, Wilhelm.” She says, and Wille winces. He’s only called his full name in official settings and when he’s in trouble. “They’re suggesting all sorts of things! People are saying that you must be gay because this concert was Simon Eriksson’s.”
Wille laughs. “I’m gay, but I have my arm around a woman in the photo? That doesn’t even make sense mamma, and you know it.”
He knows immediately that his argument falls on deaf ears considering that Felice is one of his oldest friends and well, she’s a lesbian . The press knows that. Everyone knows that.
Kristina looks at him incredulously. “We will talk more in the morning. Do not do this again.” She says as she walks off.
Wille sighs as he walks into his bedroom, his shoulders slumping as he shuts the door behind him and she rests against it.
What a night.
Wilhelm isn’t seen for the rest of the week. He barely leaves his bedroom. All of his events carry on without him and he’s completely fine with that. He needs a rest before he’s emotionally and physically burnt out.
He stares at his phone every day, scrolling aimlessly through news articles and social media posts, all about him. He sees the same photo of him and Felice numerous times, but also reads far too many articles suggesting his sexuality all because he saw Simon in concert. It’s exhausting. Social media is the same. He scrolls through the tweets without a second thought, pages upon pages of people talking about his own sexuality as if they know him better than he knows himself. He sees people, mainly Simon’s fans, telling others that they shouldn’t just be assuming things, especially not just because of a concert. He also sees Simon’s fans talking about how they might know each other, and that they wonder if Wilhelm knows that he is Simon’s celebrity crush.
I wish we knew each other. Wille thinks. Of course, I know that, Felice always reminds me of it.
His phone buzzes in his hands and he assumes that it’s another text from Felice because she is the only person that Wille has sent any messages back to all week. His eyes flicker to the top of his phone as he reads the notification. All week he has been ignoring most of his texts. But this one intrigues him…because it’s from an unknown number.
He taps on the notification and a new text thread appears. He reads the message.
‘hey i’ve managed to write another two songs that we can add to the album. i’ll be back in the studio tomorrow to record but i’ve sent you the rough demo :)’
With it, comes an audio file.