Royally Screwed

Kellin froze on the spot, trying to pass as nonchalant but failing miserably. He thought that maybe he could buy himself some time with a stupid question. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to the bathroom but I heard yelling coming from your room. I know there's someone else in there," Jenna fumed.

"Uh. . .W-what are you talking about? No one's in there," He scoffed, mentally cursing himself for his little stutter.

"I know when you're lying. And if you don't answer me right now, I'm telling daddy," Jenna threatened with her hands on her hips, a menacing smile playing on her lips. He just stood there, he didn't know what to do. In desperation, he thought of quickly re-entering his room and locking the door and then telling Vic to hide someplace. But no, it wouldn't work. . .Would it?

As a distraction, Kellin took a spoon from the tray and threw it down onto the floor, making Jenna look away for a split second, allowing himself to enter his room and lock the door. He practically dropped the tray onto his bedroom floor.

"That was fast--"

"Hide, hide, hide!" Kellin ordered in a hushed tone. Vic's eyes widened and he quickly got away from the bed, looking for a spot to hide. Kellin's room was just too small, he didn't know where he could possibly--

"Out the window! There's a little ledge you can stand on, just go!" Kellin whisper-yelled, ushering Vic to the window. They heard three loud pounds on the door.

"Kellin! Kellin, you better let me in or you're dead!"

"Hurry!" Kellin called out to Vic in an undertone on his way to open the door. Jenna pushed the pale boy out of the doorway and immediately began searching his room.

"You're gonna get in so much trouble, Kellin, when I find who was in here with you," Jenna said, lifting the covers from Kellin's bed, hoping to find someone under there. Jenna searched the entire room, Kellin's heart stopping when she looked behind the window's curtains but her little hunt was to no avail. Jenna shot Kellin one last glare before stomping out of the small room, her heels clicking. Kellin closed the door behind her and lay his back against it, sighing in relief.

"You can come out now!" Kellin yelled loud enough for only Vic to hear. They'd better be careful with the volume of their conversations if they didn't want that to happen again. Vic climbed back in from the window, looking a little paler than he was.

"We gotta be careful with how loud we're talking. She heard us. Oh, thank God she didn't hear anything important," Kellin said, a pale hand over his chest.

"She sounds pretty nasty. I can't believe she was going to be in the running to be my princess. I wouldn't pick her in a million years, no, not with an attitude like that," Vic said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I have to bring this to the kitchen tomorrow," Kellin said, kicking the tray away to a corner of the room. The prince yawned and lied down, his head hitting the pillow. He pulled up the covers and looked at Kellin, patting the little space of mattress beside him.

"Uh. . .I think I'll take the floor." Kellin blushed, looking away from the prince.

"Why? I don't smell bad, do I?" Vic said, sniffing himself.

"N-no, it's just. . .I don't know, awkward if I slept there. . .with you," Kellin mumbled shyly, suddenly finding the pattern of the floor very interesting.

"Nah, it'll be fine, come on! There's room for one more!" Vic grinned, wiggling his fingers around the empty spot. Kellin reluctantly laid beside the prince but his body was only able to fit in half of the bed.

"Bed's too small. See? I really do have to sleep on the floor."

"Just scoot in closer. I won't bite." Vic teased, rolling his eyes.

"Vic--" Kellin started.

"Don't make me use my prince powers on you," Vic joked, a mock serious look present on his face. Kellin sighed, red in the face but complied. Chest to chest, he laid beside Vic.

"This is, uh. . .awkward. I'll just. . .face the other way." Kellin said, doing so. He could feel the prince's breath on his neck, making him shiver despite its warmth. The pale boy finally settled after a while. He was so tired but he couldn't sleep. Just when he thought Vic was deep sleeping, he heard the older's hushed voice.

"Good night," the prince said softly. It sounded like a lullaby from an old dream. Kellin's heavy-lidded eyes finally closed as if they wouldn't if the prince hadn't uttered those words.

**********

The next morning, Kellin woke up not to the sound of Jenna yelling his name but the sound of soft snoring and the feeling of a warm chest against his back. He was quite startled at first but then, he remembered he slept with a prince last night. Well, not slept with a prince as in, you know. . .but in the literal sense. The pale boy blushed at his own thought.

It was comforting, Vic's presence. Kellin has never woken up next to someone before. He liked the idea that someone has been next to him all night, in a completely different dreamland from his. Vic was still in that dreamland. Kellin contemplated on whether he should wake Vic up or not. It wouldn't be polite to wake a prince. Besides, Kellin didn't think he could get up if he tried. The warmth radiating off the sleeping prince almost made him lull back to sleep himself.

It was about 5 minutes later when he felt the prince stir. "Good morning," Vic said, voice deep and husky.

Kellin blushed, "I really should get out of bed now before Jenna barges in and finds you."

The prince sighed, his breath warm against the skin of Kellin's neck. "Fine."

Kellin stretched though Vic being in his bed made it hard for him to do so, and hoisted himself off the bed. Raven locks fell over the younger's face, obscuring his green or blue eyes, Vic wasn't quite sure what color they were and the prince watched as Kellin picked up a hand mirror and studied his appearance in it, brushing the hair out of his eyes. "I'll need to cut my hair soon," Kellin mumbled.

"So, Kellin, aren't we going to talk about my plan?"

Kellin said something under his breath that Vic couldn't hear clearly but he thought it sounded strangely like, "It's too early for this."

"Pardon?" Vic said, raising an eyebrow.

"I said, uh, yeah. So do you have an idea yet?"

"Hmm. . .well, I do think--"

The prince was interrupted by a loud knocking, with which Kellin was all too familiar with.

"Kellin! Make me breakfast!"

The pale boy rolled his eyes, "I'll be right there, just give me a second!" He called back to his stepsister. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips, "I'll talk to you later when Jenna runs out of things to make me do. Stay here, okay? I'll keep the door locked so no one goes in." He said, careful not to let anyone but Vic hear him. He wouldn't want Jenna to get even more suspicious.

And so Kellin left. He was gone for half an hour and then, an hour and then two. The prince was bored out of his mind, he went nearly mad. There was nothing in Kellin's room he found to his interest except for the sketches the boy had on his small desk which Vic had admired for the first half hour. Kellin had quite a talent there.

The prince looked out at the window. Florida looked like an exciting place. He could see kids skateboarding across the street and he could see vans with surfboards strapped to the back zooming in and out of the street. He could even see a glimpse of the garden he and Kellin had met in. He longed to go there again, it was a lovely place. But he couldn't, not with the police searching for him.

But then again, no one would notice if he wore say, a mask or something to block his face from view. He spotted his red hoodie hanging by the bedside table. Yes, it could work. Besides, he was only going nearby to the garden which no one even visited.

Vic made a makeshift rope with Kellin's bed sheet, covers, and some of his clothes. He tied one end of his creation to a leg of the bed and hung the other end out of the window. It was sturdy enough to climb down on and for once in his life, Vic thanked God for the knot tying he learned from his lessons back at the palace. He wore his hoodie and put the hood up, careful to tuck locks of his hair behind his face, trying to give away as little of his appearance as possible. He scribbled a note to Kellin in case he would come back and he was still in the garden. The prince began to climb down his makeshift rope and smiled when his feet hit the grass of the McDougall residence's manicured lawn.

It would be alright. He was just going across the street anyway. What harm could it do?