THE PRINCES POV

"You know you only have three months, right?" My sister Esther asks.

"Yes, I know." I reply simply.

"Have you met someone that interest you? I can't rule with you, I've already declined the throne." She says, standing up from my bed to pace.

"No."

"Why not?" She asks sharply.

"Because, I literally hate every other eligible royal within a 500 mile radius. I would rather marry a commoner than any of the richest princesses or princes out there." I spill honestly.

"Avriel Benjamin Kaplan! It's never been done, you could cause a whole upset." She says worriedly.

"I think the people would rather have a happy ruler than an unhappy one. Just because it hasn't been done, doesn't mean it can't happen. I want to be happy Esther. I want to be the best King I can be. I need somebody who I love by my side. Not some royal pain in the butt. Besides, if I'm going to marry him or her, and spend the rest of my life with them, I want to be happy." I said, slightly annoyed.

"I know this, Avi. That's why I'm telling you, they, whoever they may be, are not just going to walk up to the castle gates and wait for you to notice them. Go into town, host a ball, do something. Don't just sit here and expect everything to just happen. You're not Cinderella, Avi. You are going to have to make it happen. Do something, the BBQ Festival starts tonight. You are usually so happy to in disguise. Go. You have an hour before the dance starts, besides, I have birthday planning to do, including wedding plans." She says, pulling me off of my bed and into my closet.

"Get dressed. Have fun. Forget being a prince for a night and enjoy yourself. I love you, baby brother." She says.

"Love you too." I say, giving her a hug.

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After I'm dressed, I tell Esther I'm leaving and go out the back doors, walking. I don't want anything royal tonight. Just music and food and possibly, love? I walk about a mile until I hear the music. I hear an amazing voice, belting out one of the village songs, Halo. I walk amongst the people and booths, looking for some food. I finally find one with huge turkey legs and pay a little extra. I don't need the money. I actually hate having to keep up with it all. I sit out on the grass, in a clearing in front of the stage. I close my eyes and listen to the voice coming from the tall man on the stage. He finishes and walks off, greeting three people who appear to be his friends. He hugs them all as the music begins to play again. I recognize one of them, he is the one who does all the official weddings and treaty's for the kingdom. The other two are a pretty female with a small scar above her lip and a beautiful male with a pierced nose. He looks like an angel. As I finish my turkey, I throw it away in a trash bin. I walked up to the three, giving Sir Olusola a wink, letting him know not to address me as the Prince.

"Good evening." I said.

"Hello, I'm Kirstin." The pretty woman said.

"Nice to meet you, Kirstin. I'm Benjamin." I reply.

"I'm Scott Richard. Hoying to be exact." The tall man said.

"Hello." I say.

"This is Mitchell, he doesn't talk around people he doesn't know. I've know him for over ten years, almost fifteen, and he didn't talk to me for a year after we met. He's just really shy." Scott told.

"Hello, Mitchell. Are you you having a nice time?" I asked. He responded with wave of the hand and a quick nod.

"Good. Any plans for the night?" I ask the group.

"Not really, but I heard that some people were thinking about going to the woods near the castle and having a dance at the clearing near the lake." Scott said, looking over to the trail that leads to the castle.

"I love that lake. My father used to take me fishing there." I say happily.

"Would you like to join us?" Sir Olusola asked.

"Only if you don't mind." I say politely.

"Oh, no. We would love it, wouldn't we Mitchell?" Kirstin asks with a smirk. He gives a small smile and nods his head, yes.

"Come on then." Scott said excitedly.

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"Here!" Kirstin shouted, very excited. We walked over to where she had just plopped down. She decided that when we got to the clearing, she was going to find us the best place to sit. She sat on a fallen log underneath a big tree. The branches spread out and tangled around each other perfectly. The setting sun, barely shining through the branches. There was a natural little bench and table like structure among the wild branches. Just far enough apart to sit and eat on. There was a branch, wrapping around the tree's trunk, lit with small lanterns. It was utterly gorgeous.

"Okay, now that we have our spot, shall we dance." Scott asked.

"Yes!" Kirstin and Kevin said at the same time.

"Mitchell, you coming?" He asked softly.

Mitchell shook his head "no" and sat down on the tree's natural little table.

"Benjamin, are you going to dance?" Sir Kevin asked.

"No, I think I'll stay with Mitchell." I said, turning and sitting down next to him. He looked at me and quickly shook his head, pointing to where other people were dancing.

"No, it's fine. I'm not much in the dancing mood at the moment. I also don't want to leave you alone." I said, adjusting my back against the tree. He moved over slightly to give me more room and ended up with a sharp splinter in his neck. He jumped over when he felt it break off in his skin.

"Ow! Oh my gosh, I'm sorry." He said quietly, moving away from me as far possible without getting stabbed again.

"It's okay, you can sit close to me if you'd like. I mean, so you won't get poked." I said calmly and he scooted closer. "Is the splinter still in your skin?" I asked gently.
He nodded and felt the back of his neck, wincing when his fingers ran over it.

"Can you pull it out? I can't see what I'm doing." He asks, turning so I can see.

"I think I can get it. Okay?" I asked.

"Okay." He responded, grabbing the closest thing to him, my leg. I gently put my hands on his shoulders, not wanting to scare him. I slid my hands up to where one was at the base of his neck and the other, ready to pull the splinter out. His skin was so soft and warm. I gave his neck a gentle squeeze, distracting his nerves from me pulling the splinter out. It was deeper than I thought. He squeezed my leg when he felt me pulling it out and relaxed after it was gone. He turned to face me and I showed him the splinter. He cringed slightly.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." I said, looking around. "I don't really want to be here. I'm only here because my sister kicked me out of the house." I said pulling a superfrown. He laughed lightly.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't want to be here. They dragged me out of my house." He said, pointing to the three goofballs in the middle of the clearing.

"Why don't we just leave? If neither of us want to be here, why stay?" I ask, shrugging my shoulders a bit.

"I don't want to be alone..." He says very quietly, holding his elbows with the opposite hands.

"Who said you'd have to be alone?" I ask with a small smirk, wrapping my arm around him. He leans into my touch slightly, letting out a small sigh.

"Okay." He says, standing up. I stand up and grab his hand, leading him to a secret path that leads towards the castle, but stops at a very special place...

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Hey y'all! Do you want me to continue this in 3ish parts or turn it into a full story? I feel like I could keep this up for a while. Also, updates for 'Why Him?' are coming #soon. I rewrote some of the chapters so, yeah. Comment, Vote, let me know if I should continue and how! Love Ya!