| Chapter 15 |
| Lance stood outside of his parents' bedroom, staring at the door for a few minutes. When Justin spoke, Lance jumped at the sound. Justin smiled apologetically and raised Lance's trembling hand to his lips, kissing it softly. "You don't have to do this," he whispered. Lance stopped shaking and turned to face Justin, cupping the younger man's face and kissing him gently. "Yes, I do," he said. "For you, for me, and for my parents. Just, no matter what, remember that I love you, okay?" Justin smiled and gave Lance a small peck on the cheek, making them both smile. "I'll never forget that," he whispered. "Ever." Lance smiled and kissed Justin's hand. "You can go wait in my room until I'm done." Justin nodded, smiling and giving Lance's hand a quick squeeze for support before turning and leaving. Lance watched him go, before taking a deep breath and heading into his parents' room. His mother, the queen, was sitting on her bed, as was his father. They looked up from their documents when he walked in the room. "Mom, Dad, we need to talk," said Lance, completely serious. The king and queen looked at each other before giving their son their full attention. Lance stood by the door, afraid to move any closer. "I have something important to say, so let me talk, and please, don't interrupt." He made eye contact with his father as he said that, and the king sighed. When he saw his Dad nod, Lance took a deep breath. Thinking of Justin, he smiled, drawing strength from his boyfriend. "I'm gay," he said confidently, "and I'm in love with another man." The king and queen were shocked, Lance could tell. His mother's eyes were wide and his father's lips were squeezed tightly together. Lance lowered his eyes, choosing to talk to a point between his parents rather than directly to them. "However, I am more than willingly to still be king," he said. "Justin will live with me here, I will run the land, and you two will still be able to retire to that large mansion you were looking at a while ago. That is ... unless you have a problem with that." He looked up and met his father's steady gaze, not willing to back down. However, before his father could say a word, this mother was up off the bed and hugging him tightly. She sniffled and kissed his cheek. "Oh, Lance," she said, "I don't understand. I'll try to, but it may take a while. No matter, you're still my baby and I love you." Lance grinned through his tears and hugged his mother back. He knew he could count on her. When he opened his eyes, his father was standing just a foot or two in front of him. James cleared his throat and stepped in front of Lance, laying an awkward hand on his son's shoulder. "I don't understand either, son," he sighed. "I mean, I thought we raised you right." Lance opened his mouth to speak but was cut off. "However, you're still the new king by birth, and even I can't take that away from you." King James squeezed his shoulder and left the room, followed shortly by Queen Diane. Lance watched them leave and then smiled softly. He knew his father was never too big on emotions, and that simple gesture was his way of telling Lance that he still loved him; no matter what. ~*~ Lance threw open the door to his room, causing Justin to jump about ten feet in the air. He grinned and tackled the boy on his bed, causing them both to burst into a fit of giggles. Justin grinned and pulled Lance's head down to lay his chest. "So, I guess everything went okay with the parents?" he asked. Lance nodded, leaning up to kiss Justin. "Thanks for coming with me." Justin sighed into Lance's mouth, nodding slightly. "No problem." Lance grinned and pulled away from Justin's eager kisses. Justin groaned as Lance held out a hand and helped him stand up. "We need to grab a few guards, Josh, Chris and Joey to help us haul all of your crap over here," he explained. Justin pouted. "Hey! My things aren't crap." He grinned evilly and tackled Lance back onto the bed. "And I can think of more *fun* activities to take up our time." Lance moaned as Justin ground their bodies together, planting fiery kissed up and down his neck. "Justin ... ah, baby .. oh God, we need to go ... now, right now ... stop ... Chris ... Josh ... Joey ... waiting, I ... screw it." Lance flipped Justin over and attached his lips to the younger man's earlobe. Justin grinned and moaned at the same time. "But baby," he said innocently, "I thought we needed to go get my 'crap' right away." Lance pushed away Justin's air quotes and kissed him hard, breaking apart only to whisper, "They can wait a little longer." ~*~ Lou, Nick, and Kevin watched with wide eyes and mouths open as several of Prince Lance's guards made numerous trips in and out of the castle, taking Justin's things and placing them gingerly in a line of carriages. They were all three huddled together on Lou's big arm chair, trying to make sense of it all. Nick turned towards the window, glaring as he saw Justin and Prince Lance engaged in *another* kiss as three strangers bounced around them and laughed. "I just don't get it," said Kevin. "When the hell did all of this *happen*? One day, Timberella is washing our dirty laundry and the next he's living in a damn castle that is *way* bigger than ours. Is it me, or is that just *really* fucked up?" Nick shrugged. "It's just you." "Go to hell Nick." "I'll have to take you down with my brother dear." "Fuck off." "Like you do each night?" Kevin growled and tackled Nick to the floor, enjoying the sounds of his younger brother squeaking beneath his grip. Lou said nothing. He didn't move, didn't speak, and breathed quietly. As his two sons ripped each other apart on the floor, his eyes were glued to Justin and Lance, kissing on his front yard. ~*~ Justin stared up at the large castle and sighed. He felt arms encircle him from behind and he leaned back into Lance's embrace. "What's wrong baby?" he asked. "Having second thoughts?" Justin shook his head quickly and kissed the side of Lance's face. "It's just, I was thinking," he said, looking back at the house. "I mean, I've lived here my entire life. Granted things weren't always the best, but there are still a lot of good memories here. Mostly from when I was really little and both of my parents were alive." He sighed and smiled at Lance. "Time to move forward, I guess." Lance smiled back and kissed Justin one more time before leading him to the carriage that Joey, Chris and Josh were all crammed in. Justin shut the door behind him with a happy sigh, his hand finding Lance's as he leaned his head against the window. He breathed on the glass and scribbled a little note on the frosty breath. Lance leaned over his shoulder, smiling at what was written. He kissed Justin softly as he read it: "And they lived happily ever after." THE END |