Louis waited impatiently for Harry to arrive at the castle. He fidgeted frequently. Once every few moments, he would adjust his clothes and straightened them out even though they were already as straight as they could be.

"Your highness, calm down." The tailor told Louis. "The carriage only left for the bakery only two minute ago. It would take a while before Harry actually arrives."

Louis bit his nails nervously. His fingernails were well chewed through. However, Louis continued to nibble as though he were a ravenous hamster and his nails were made of carrots.

Louis had invited Harry to the castle. Louis had planned to pop the question but it was not very well planned out. It was a very last minute impromptu scenario. Even so, Louis had high hopes that all will go well. Louis loved Harry and Harry loved him back. There was no reason that Louis could come up with for Harry to refuse.

When Harry arrived, Louis' heart leapt into his throat. "You left your cake at the bakery." Harry said, holding up a box. He handed it to Louis who thanked him. Louis instructed the maid to put it in the kitchen.

Louis brought Harry out to the pavilion in the garden. Louis took a deep breath and was about to speak but Harry was distracted. "Look at those two butterflies." Harry cooed. He pointed at a pair of butterflies, fluttering together from flower to flower.

Louis smiled but, on the inside, he was cursing in three different languages. He finally worked up his courage and Harry stopped him to point out a couple of insects. It was infuriating.

"Aren't they cute, Lou?" Harry gushed. Harry spoke too soon. As he finished his statement, a horrendous toad hopped out from behind a plant and stretched its tongue out. It snatched one of the butterflies from the air, leaving the other butterfly to flee. The toad clamped its disgusting lips on the pretty wings of the butterfly. Harry cringed and said, "Nevermind."

"So, Harry, I've been thinking..." Louis started.

"Well, that's good news." Harry interrupted with a snide remark. Harry laughed at his own joke. Louis blinked, confused for a moment before he got it. Louis bit his thumb and flicked it from behind his teeth.

Harry gasped, pretending to be insulted. "Did you bite your thumb at me?"

"And if I did, would offense be taken?" Louis asked.

"Yes."

"Then, I did bite my thumb at you." Louis smirked.

"When did you get so rude?"

"I've been hanging out with you."

"Yeah, a lot."

"Do you not like spending time with me?"

"Of course, I do."

"Then, do I have good news for you. We could be spending the rest of our lives together. All you have to do is say 'yes'." Louis got down on one knee. He pulled the ring out of his pocket and held it out. Louis proposed, "Harry Edward Styles, will you marry me?"

Louis' heart was racing. Louis' breathing became shallow but rapid. He felt impatient and nervous at once but he was relieved that he had gotten popping the question out of the way. Now all Louis had to do was wait for Harry to give him an answer.

Harry looked thrilled that Louis had asked for his hand in marriage at first but his smile quickly fell. Harry stammered. He wanted to say something but he appeared to be holding himself back. Louis kept the smile on his face but inside he started to worry. Harry took an awfully long time to reply and Louis noticed. When he finally spoke, he rejected Louis' proposal.

Harry was looking everywhere, just not at Louis. Louis realised Harry avoiding eye contact with him. Harry's eyes were filled with consternation. Harry's gaze shifted between Louis and behind Louis. "What is up with Harry and his looking at what's behind me? What is always behind me that he is looking at?" Louis asked in his head. He snuck a glance back, only to see a kilometer of greens. Louis spotted Modeste in the garden but it was her duty to inspect the gardens to ensure the gardener was doing his job. The gardener was also there. He was a few metres away from Modeste, focused intensely on trimming the bushes so that they were perfectly shaped into round balls of leaves. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary to Louis. He was discombobulated by Harry's expression.

Louis was caught off guard. One could say he was too big for his boots, but he had not foreseen Harry's refusal. Louis was on the verge of tears. His lower lip trembled. He covered his face with his arm. He could not bear the embarrassment of having Harry see him cry, even though Harry had witnessed Louis in tears before. This time, it was different. Louis had to face the shame of being rejected.

Louis fled from the garden. Harry followed closely behind, shouting apologies. Louis yelled at Harry to leave him alone. Harry had no choice but to let Louis be as the palace guards had stopped him from chasing after Louis. Louis ran into the castle.

Louis slapped his palm on the tailor's door which was promptly opened. "Your highness!" The tailor cried, baffled at the prince's surprise visit. Louis did not explain before barging into the room and slammed the door shut. Once Louis was behind closed doors, he would not hold himself back. He broke down and burst into tears instantly. The poor tailor was completely clueless about the situation and was left with the prince, bawling on his floor.

"He does not love me!" Louis wailed loudly. Sadness filled his heart as he told the tailor that Harry has not accepted Louis' hand in marriage. The tailor accompanied Louis in his moment of lamentation. The tailor put a hand on Louis' shoulder in consolation. The tailor did not expect Louis to throw himself into the tailor's arms. Louis sobbed pathetically. His tears soaked the tailor's sleeve.

It reminded the tailor of a time when Louis was a young boy. Louis came weeping to the tailor anytime when he had fallen and hurt himself. The tailor had seen everything from scraped knees to bleeding lips. The tailor had helped Louis treat his wounds when Louis was a child. He wished to help Louis in this time of sorrow but faced difficulty in doing so. Wounds felt by the skin heal more easily than wounds felt by the heart, and are far less painful to begin with.

Louis let his tears fall out of his eyes and roll down his cheeks. He did nothing to resist them. Louis' nose was red, so were his eyes. His eyebrows furrowed, causing the skin on his forehead to wrinkle like crumpled paper. Louis' face was distorted in anguish.

"Why would he say 'no'?" Louis cried in question. At first, the tailor thought Louis asked it rhetorically but seeing that he was genuinely waiting for an answer, the tailor racked his brain for one. The tailor barely knew the boy whom Louis had fallen desperately for. He did not know what to tell Louis.

"I don't know, your highness." The tailor admitted. At this point, Louis' crying had become less violent and turned to quiet whimpers. Louis sighed deeply and pouted. "Why don't you go ask him why he turned your proposal down?" The tailor suggested.

Louis turned to look up at the tailor. "Do you think he'd tell me?" Louis choked out his words.

"I don't see why not." The tailor remarked.

"I'll go ask him right now!" Louis announced. His face lit up but his eyes were still bloodshot from crying and his cheeks were wet.

"And while you do that, I'm going to change my shirt." The tailor said. He smiled sarcastically and gestured towards the sleeve of his shirt that had been steeped in Louis' tears.

"Oops." Louis apologised.

Louis wiped the tears off his face as he walked down the palace stairs to find Harry. He adjusted the cuff of his sleeves and straightened out his shirt which had crinkles all over it. Louis ran a hand through his hair. His footsteps echoed as his shoe tapped against the hard tiles. As Louis walked through the empty corridor, he felt uneasy. He did not even know if Harry was still outside. Perhaps Harry had left while Louis was busy bewailing to the tailor, Louis thought.

Harry had stayed. He was sitting on the steps outside the castle doors. Louis' cries were audible from the tailor's room. Harry's heart was filled with remorse as he listened to the prince express his dejection from afar.

Louis appeared through the heavy front doors of the castle. When he did, he spotted Modeste with Harry. Louis was confused. He had not been aware of the two of them, knowing each other at all. Modeste had her fingers around Harry's wrist. It was not a touch of affection but it was enough of a touch for Louis to be enraged with jealousy, wanting her to take her hands off his man.

Modeste spoke to Harry as though she was spitting at him. With Harry, she had lost her decorum. She snapped at him rudely, "Did I not tell you to stay away from Louis?" Harry was not taking it sitting down. He lashed out, "I can do what I want."

"What's going on?" Louis questioned, intruding on their conversation.

"Nothing, your highness." Modeste muttered before heading into the palace. It clearly was not 'nothing' as she had claimed.

"How do you know Modeste?" Louis asked.

"Friend of mine."

"You, two, don't seem very friendly." Louis commented. He admitted to himself that he preferred that to them being too friendly.

"We're not close anymore." Harry asked Louis, "Are you alright?" From Louis' face, it was evident that he had been crying.

"Fine." Louis said through gritted teeth coldly. He rubbed his eyes. "Is she why you rejected me?"

"Do you think she's why I rejected you?" Harry asked.

"I don't know." Louis' voice trailed off.

Harry bit his lip. His gaze dropped to the ground, shifting from left to right. His body looked stiff. "She is not why I rejected you," Harry asserted. He subconsciously touched his face. Louis understood that he could not force Harry to marry him, and he should not do that anyways. He accepted the fact in low spirit.

"Are you staying over tonight?" Louis asked.

"Do you want me to?" Harry answered with a question of his own. Louis was not sure what he wanted but he responded positively.

"Okay, Lou. I'll stay." Harry chirped, trying to lighten the mood. It was not very helpful though. Louis was still disappointed that Harry did not want to marry him.

Louis and Harry had dinner with King Niall. They sat at the same dining table where Louis had served Harry chicken the previous evening. King Niall was seated across from Louis, who was next to Harry. They were served dinner.

Louis and Harry were both unusually quiet. On any other occasion, they would have chatted like there was no tomorrow. Harmlessly sarcastic remarks would be passed about, maybe even a kiss or two. However, in this situation, Louis and Harry just sat in an awkward silence.

Both boys ate their food politely, Louis more so than Harry. A couple of times, they were caught sneaking glances at each other by each other. The eye contact was quickly realised and broken. Louis and Harry in perfect synchronisation turned to look at their plates, pretending they had been doing so all along. After a few seconds, they peeked up ever so slightly to see the other doing the same thing.

"Harry, what does your father do for a living?" Niall asked, breaking the stillness of the dining room. (A/N: In that time, women rarely worked. So even though Niall doesn't know that Harry had no mothers, he would not ask about her profession.)

"Baking," Harry answered. "I help out in the bakery too." Niall continued to ask Harry questions about his life: what hobbies he had, what his aspirations were and so on and so forth. Louis was left the out of the conversation as his dad deluged his boyfriend with dozens of questions. Louis sipped his drink as he listened to the two of them speak to each other.

Louis almost choked on his wine when Niall asked him if he had asked Harry to marry him yet. Louis drank a mouthful to delay having to answer. Niall decided to harry Louis for a response. (A/N: Yes, "harry" is a legit English word. It means to persistently harass.) He knew his son well enough to know that he would not get a reply if Louis started to drink because Louis would keep drinking to avoid the question.

Louis started to cough violently. He said, "I would give you an answer, Father, but it appears I have choked on my drink." Louis let out a cough between each syllable.

"If you can tell me that you have choked, you can tell me if you have proposed." Niall insisted.

Louis had been caught red handed. Carrying on with his facade would make things a lot more awkward so Louis just decided to stop. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Louis blurted in annoyance. He continued to prevaricate, "Quit asking me."

"Excellent!" Niall cried in celebration. "When is the wedding?" Niall began to rejoice. Harry cleared his throat, interrupting Niall, but Harry did not speak up. He waited for Louis to deliver the news to Niall. Louis took a deep breath and said, "We're not engaged."

Niall's jaw dropped. "I thought you have proposed." Niall boomed.

"I have-" Louis uttered.

"And?" Niall bellowed.

"He did not say 'yes'." Louis tried to convey calmly.

"Well, why ever not?" Niall demanded an answer. He slammed his palms on the table. The legs of his chair screeched as they moved backwards. His heart rate increased rapidly. He shot daggers at Harry. Niall's pupils dilated. He looked down at Harry who was still sitting down. This made Niall appear bigger, more powerful. Harry wanted to stand up for himself but he dared not confront the king.

Louis stood up for Harry, saying that Harry had no obligation to him. Niall berated, "Who do you think you are? Is Louis not good enough for you? You're a fool. An idiot of a baker is what you are." Niall jabbed a finger at Harry's chest. Harry leaned back in his chair, intimidated by the man that was yelling in rage at him. Louis pulled his father away.

Niall was dragged into the hallway. Muffled screams were heard as the pair of royals quarreled.

"It is extremely upsetting that he refused to marry you!" Niall hollered.

"You think I don't know that? I am the one being rejected here!" Louis squalled.

Their argument grew louder and louder. Eventually, Niall gave up. He stormed down the corridor, huffing in rage. Louis returned to the dining room where Harry sat alone. His eyes were red. It was quite evident that he had cried. Louis forced a smile and sat back down next to Harry. Harry looked down at his hands which were interlocked on his lap. His fingers fidgeted.

There was an uncomfortable moment where all conversation was absent between Louis and Harry. Their eyes were diverted away from each other. The boys sat, waiting to find the right juncture to say something and thinking about what to say when that time arrived.

"I'm sorry," Louis and Harry turned to each other and apologised at the same time. Following that, the both of them stopped to let the other speak but neither of them continued. Then, the both started to speak again simultaneously.

Louis was annoyed. He put his hand over Harry's mouth and blurted out, "I'm sorry that my father yelled at you. I'm sorry he's being such a fart today but I promise he's not like that all the time. He's just a bit worked up today."

'A bit' was an understatement, considering that Niall looked as if he was ready to execute Harry.

"He had his reasons to be angry. Sorry that I provoked him." Harry apologised when Louis removed that hand from his mouth.

"It's not your fault." Louis justified.

"Your dad's actions aren't your fault either."

"Why don't we finish up here and go to my room?" Louis suggested.

Before Harry could answer or even say a single word, two palace guards barged into the room and restrained Harry. They dragged him out of his chair. Harry began to shout and kick.

"Hey, let go of him!" Louis commanded.

"Sorry, Louis, King's orders." The guard said.

"Do not call me 'Louis' when you are speaking to me like that." Louis hissed.

"Sorry, your highness, but we have to throw the boy out." The guard persisted.

"No!" Louis protested but the guards pulled Harry out of the room. Harry did not resist.

Louis ran outside the castle to where the guards had left Harry. The guard held Louis by the arm. "Your father says that you shouldn't leave the palace." The guard stated.

Louis huffed in objection but the guard tightened his grip on Louis, holding Louis back from going to Harry. Louis sighed. As he was led back into the castle, he took a glimpse behind him to see Harry. Harry stared at Louis. He gave Louis a wave goodbye before Louis disappeared into the building.

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This chapter has a few Romeo And Juliet references. Did you spot them?

Don't mind Niall. His ship just got a leak and he's very upset about it. Do you think he overreacted?

Also, thank you for >100 views!

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