Jesse's PoV

"What do you mean you're going somewhere?" Jessica asked as Jesse packed a few things. He grabbed a basket of fruit and took an apple. "Just to the town, sis." he said bluntly as Jess looked at him.

"But what about me?" she asked, nearly dropping the many necklaces she was holding. Jesse looked out the window, where there were a few nearby houses scattered around the beach. "You can stay with our neighbours. Olivia and Axel would be fine with that."

"But I hate the big oaf." Jess muttered as Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Fine." she sighed, picking up a necklace she dropped. "Take care then."

Jesse nodded, pulling on a thin coat and trudging outside, where there was a slight drizzle. Rainwater pelted onto him as he walked up the hill and towards the village.

Secretly though... he was getting a present for Jess. She was always saying how she didn't have enough thread for her jewelry. A wind blew around him as he walked, and the coat provided him with little protective over the rain, which was starting to become a storm.

[ Half an hour later ]

Jesse was using a long wooden branch which he found to help him climb the boulders which were blocking the way. "Jeez..." he muttered, nearly slipping into a crevice. He gasped, accidentally sliding on a smooth patch of rock. He fell, nearly falling off and onto the ground, which were full of broken rocks and sharp stones...

Gritting his teeth, Jesse managed to stand again, but his arms were scraped and sore, with patches of blood starting to form. That was really close... he bent down to pick up the stick he dropped and trudged up the boulders again, this time being extra careful.

"Gah-." he looked down when a sudden pain on his foot distracted him. He had stepped on a sharp piece of rock, which had somehow sliced his foot. Jesse clenched his fists to keep from screaming in pain, "Godamnit.." he muttered, leaning against the smooth stone in front of him as he looked at his foot.

The bottom of his left foot had one vertical line, from where he had cut it. Jesse looked up, to see that he was rather close to the village. But first... he pulled out a cloth which he had used to cover his basket and wrapped that around his injury.

Taking a deep breath, Jesse climbed up the hill of boulders again, wincing every now and then as the wound stung with pain. "Come on..." he muttered, finally grabbing a hand hold on a piece of rock and slowly pulling himself up.

Jesse knelt at the gates of the town, out of breath from his climb. Carefully getting to his feet, Jesse grabbed the stick he had used to prop himself up. A couple of villagers turned up their noses at him as he hobbled around, looking for something which would help his foot.

It was nearly nighttime, which meant that the people of the village would be turning in for the night... why did he think this was a good idea?

Jesse got to a shop, which looked like it sold old antiques such as crystals and ancient compasses... nothing which could help him. He visited another shop, this time it was selling fresh fruit and vegetables. Unless he wanted to bind his foot with a piece of celery, that wasn't going to help as well.

Jesse sighed, rubbing his eyes. He was so tired... and the fact that it was drizzling didn't help matters as well. An occasional clap of thunder freaked him out every now and then... he had to find shelter as well.

Jesse turned, looking behind him to realise that he had left a trail of bloody footprints across the tiles of the town. The cloth didn't help much...

If he didn't clean his wound soon... it could get infected. Jesse looked around, spotting a rusty looking tap. He smiled to himself and quickly limped over to it, turning the lever on. Dirty water poured from it but Jesse didn't care, he just needed to clean his wound. Cupping his hands under the faucet, he-

"Wait-." someone took Jesse's arm, pulling him away from the tap. Jesse turned, ready to snap at the person. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he started to say when he came face to face with Lukas.

"Don't clean yourself with dirty water!" Lukas said, concerned as he held Jesse's wrist. Jesse frowned, "I do this all the time." he pulled away, stepping back.

Lukas shook his head. "It's not good. Come with me." his gentle blue eyes were fixed on his bound up foot.

Jesse scowled, "I can handle myself Lukas. You don't have to help me."

Lukas tore his eyes away from Jesse's foot to look right into his eyes. "No, I insist." it must've been his princely politeness which must've turned him like this, Jesse thought.

Without a word, Lukas draped Jesse's arm around his shoulder and started to make his way up a hill... right towards the castle.

[ Fifteen minutes later ]

"Lukas Porter!"

Jesse and Lukas turned to see a woman, with beautiful blond hair and sea green eyes. "Mom.. why aren't you sleeping?" Lukas asked, his grip on Jesse's arm tightening a little, making Jesse inhale a sharp breath.

"I could say the same thing, dear." she started to walk down the grand staircase, her heels clicking on the cool marble floor. Jesse glanced at Lukas, who looked at the ground. Jesse braced himself to get scolded but he felt a warm hand tilt his chin up.

"Oh poor dear. What happened to you?" Lukas's mom asked gently, looking at Jesse. "I got cut up by the rocks." he replied honestly. "I was just bringing him in to get cleaned up.." Lukas added, gesturing to Jesse's injured foot.

The queen smiled warmly at Lukas. "Alright, I'm glad to see you finally making friends. But.." she lowered her voice. "Don't tell your father. You know the prophecy."

Lukas clenched his jaw and nodded. Jesse was once again, struck by how princely he looked. "Thanks mom." he said, taking Jesse's wrist and pulling him away. The queen smiled at Jesse and walked away, her blue dress waving a little from her movements. "Your mom's nice." Jesse whispered to Lukas as they climbed up the stairs.

"She's kinda like the opposite of my dad." Lukas said, his hand trailing on the banister of the stairs. "He's always so demanding.." he sighed. "But never mind that now. Let's get you cleaned up."

Lukas opened a set of double doors and gestured for Jesse to enter. "Wow..." he whispered as he looked around. The furniture was made of silver and gold, decorated with beautiful swirls of a seashell or scattered with dots to resemble stars. "I customised it myself." Lukas said proudly, patting the armrest as Jesse gazed at the many shelves of books.

"You like reading huh?" Jesse asked him as Lukas went over to the windowsill to look out at the dark ocean, far away. "I always sit here to read or write. But anyway... you can borrow my clothes. I don't mind."

Lukas went over to a chest of drawers to throw Jesse a clean white shirt and soft cotton pants. "Just make yourself comfortable. Bandages are in the cupboard behind the mirror." he explained as he settled down in front of the window, holding a book.

Jesse watched Lukas for awhile, noticing the way he held the pages delicately or the way his tongue stuck out a little as he read. "You okay?" Lukas looked up from his book when he realised that Jesse wasn't moving. He snapped out of his thoughts.

"O-of course." Jesse blushed madly and went to the bathroom, which was attached to the bedroom. Jesse sighed, gently closing the cream coloured door and leaning against it, wondering why was his heart racing. "Snap out of it Jesse.." he muttered, looking at himself in the mirror.

"He's not going to like a commoner like you." he told himself and went to wash up.

[ Half an hour later ]

Jesse stepped out of the bathroom, feeling dizzy with happiness. "I've never used such an awesome bathroom before!" he said loudly, accidentally scaring Lukas. He looked up, laughing. "Really? Oh right..." he smiled softly.

"I mean, you have five types of shampoo and practically every type of flower scented soap in there!"

Lukas blushed, closing his book. "And... I suppose you used them all. And that's why you smell like a whole field of flowers." he added as Jesse smirked. "Maybe.." he trailed off.

"But... I didn't bandage my foot yet.. I had to wash it with water." he held it up, showing Lukas the deep slash across it, making him wince, "Gah, I wish I didn't have to see that."

Jesse walked over to a plush red armchair and sat on it, "Thank you.." he said humbly as Lukas raised an eyebrow. "It's just a shower."

"No," Jesse felt his heart beat wildly again. "I mean, most people would turn away people like me. Commoners." he rubbed his head. Lukas smiled gently. "I'm just caring for people, that's all. It's what my mom said I had to do. First steps to run a kingdom after all..." he trailed off, looking down at the book he was reading.

Jesse looked up as he bound his cuts with a long roll of bandage. "You really don't want to run a kingdom, huh?" he asked.

Lukas nodded forlornly. "I don't want to grow up... to be like my dad."

Jesse looked down at his foot and rested it on the ground, feeling much better now that the wound was covered. He got up from the chair and went over to Lukas, starting to sit on the floor but the blonde stopped him.

"You're my friend now, Jesse," he kept his hand around Jesse's wrist, pulling him up to sit beside him. "So be like one. And sit with me." he smiled, turning away to face the window again. Jesse felt shy again. The prince... was calling him a friend?

The two boys looked out at the sea, which was dark since it was nighttime... Jesse wondered how was his sister doing... was she alright? And... Jesse looked down at Lukas's hands, which were so clean and well kept but Jesse's were rough from handling ropes and casting nets. Total opposites.

Jesse sighed softly. "What's wrong?" Lukas turned his soft blue eyes towards him, puzzled. Jesse smiled, shaking his head. "It's fine. Just thinking."

Lukas drew his knees to his chest, resting his head on them. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked. Jesse swallowed, wondering why did he look so... Jesse quickly thought about something else, to prevent the blush from rising in his cheeks. "No... it's fine. But.. you're not concerned about this... prophecy?"

Lukas shook his head. "Not one bit. I feel like it was just a stupid trick to make my father spend money. After all..." he suddenly looked visibly upset. "I have to marry someone from royalty."

Jesse froze, that last sentence instantly changed everything. "What?" he asked. "I mean, it's normal that you have to marry someone uh.. from royalty. You're the prince!" Jesse stammered, as if he didn't just get his heart shattered.

Lukas closed his eyes, looking defeated. "I know... but.." he stopped when something buzzed in his pocket. "Dad..." he muttered, picking it up. Jesse remembered that only the royalty had phones.. and mobile devices. No wonder he couldn't recognise it at first.

He held the phone to his ear, looking bored. "What is it?" he asked, pausing so he could hear the king talk. Jesse felt a little intimidated by his voice. Stern and commanding. Unlike the queen's or Lukas's.

Lukas got up from the windowsill and paced around as Jesse watched, unsure why Lukas looked upset. "I don't want to marry her, Dad!" he replied. "I'm in love with someone else." he whispered. Jesse looked out the window, feeling more and more hurt the longer he sat there.

"You don't get it dad! It's just a stupid prophecy that will never come true!" Lukas snapped, now sounding just like his father, "I can do what I want!"

There was a pause as Lukas stopped pacing, the sudden movement making Jesse look at him again. Suddenly, Lukas threw the phone on the floor with frustration. He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes closed. He seemed to have forgotten that Jesse was there.

Jesse wasn't sure of what to do. So he sat there quietly, looking down at the book Lukas was reading. No... he was writing. Jesse looked at the words written on the page, one word caught his eye. Jesse. His eyes trailed across the paper, realising that Lukas was writing his name everywhere...

One page had his name crossed out, and on the top left, it read, Impossible.

Jesse glanced at Lukas, who was still facing away from him. He reached out and turned the page, feeling nervous. He wasn't supposed to swoop through the prince's things anyway..

On one page was a whole prophecy, scribbled over and over again, scratched out with thick black lines.

There will be the day where the prince roams free and able to do whatever he pleases.

But that day will come with a price. For he will fall in love with the first person he sees.

But no matter what, they will and must be royalty. This is the rule.

Jesse ran a hand on the dried ink, reading the prophecy again... and at the far left, he could barely make out a few words in Lukas's neat handwriting.

Boy by the sea, ocean behind him. What's his name? Scared of the water, green eyes.

Jesse continued reading, the same paragraph repeating over and over again.  Finally, at the bottom right of the page, his name was scribbled hastily. As if Lukas was waiting for the day he could write down... Jesse's name.

But Jesse wasn't royalty... so he didn't count. Jesse reached out to turn the page but he was interrupted.

"So now you know." Lukas's voice said from behind him. Jesse turned to see the boy, gazing sadly at the book in front of Jesse. Jesse couldn't say anything... "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-."

"It's alright." Lukas said quietly, reaching out to take the book. Jesse felt ashamed, as Lukas slid the book back into a bookshelf. "Lukas." he said, standing up. "I'm really sorry-."

"It's fine." he said, a sudden edge to his tone. "Do you have anywhere to go?" he asked, not facing Jesse.

Jesse stood a few feet behind Lukas. "No... not for now. I just came to the town to get some supplies for my sister and I."

Lukas turned and walked towards Jesse, not looking up as he pressed a few gold coins onto his cool palm. "Here.. I only brought you here so you could bandage your wound. Thanks for being my friend, Jesse." Lukas looked up, his blue eyes watering.

Jesse nodded understandingly. "I have to go now." Lukas said softly, smiling through his tears. Jesse didn't know what was going on... everything was going too fast. "Lukas.." Jesse said, reaching out and taking his wrist.

Lukas turned, waiting for him to speak. "... Nevermind." Jesse said instead, letting his grip loosen from around Lukas's wrist. And it felt like Jesse was letting go of a piece of him...

-End of Part 2