Chapter Two: The One With The One Day

The prince was the main topic of the whole city and I didn't have to be there to know it. He was the prince after all. He was the only child of King Arthur and the heir of the Flame Kingdom. It was hard to believe that we had royalty in our city but it was even harder to believe that the royalty is gay.

Everyone saw this as a great change. Finally, a high-ranked person in between the mutts of the Kingdom, and even better, a prince, was just what they needed for finally, maybe, making a better place out of the Sick Cities.

Me? I don't know. Is that a good thing or a bad thing to have high-ranked people but whatever that happens, I must protect this boy. The prince. He's a pure soul in this corrupted world and you don't have to spend that much time with him to get to know this fact.

Desmond is someone wise but childish at the same time. He knows a lot and at the same, he knows nothing of this world and how cruel people can be.

"Elli?" A muffled voice suddenly called me. I looked down and saw Desmond with a cute sleepy face as he yawned. "What time is it?"

"We're in the afternoon," I whispered and ran my fingers in his soft gold curls. He saw me as a friend and I knew it as he looked at me with the same look that Madison wears when she looks at me. The only difference is that his friendship hurts me.

I'm like a big brother to him and Desmond trusted me to be that shoulder that he cries on but no lover. Many people say it's too soon but I can't help it. It's like he's a big magnet and I'm just a little piece of iron.

What hurts so much is that I can't blame anyone in my heartbreak but myself as I fell quickly for a boy I just met and know that he will never look at me the way he will one day look at someone that has the honor to be qualified as his lover.

It's quite stupid of me. Most people leave the person they love and can't have behind so they don't get to see them with other people and feel the heartbreak every day as they got friend-zoned but I can't do that.

He needs me and right now I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one that he trusts in the whole city. Everyone here is nice, there are some guys and girls who we don't qualify as nice but they are good too.

I know for a fact that he will soon have many people as his friends. Desmond is the most likable person I ever met and I can't even imagine someone hating him or even dislike him.

His calm nature has the power to soothe you even if he doesn't say anything. Soon, he will have many people surrounding him and I can just wish that he won't leave me behind.

"Elijah?" Desmond's voice broke my thought. I looked down at him. He was lying on my chest and his hands were wrapped around me that sent me to some type of euphoria that I never felt. Better enjoy it till it lasts.

"What?" I asked softly when I noticed Desmond wore a frown on that beautiful face of his. But even his frown didn't stop the calmness that I started to feel since the first time we met.

"I called you thousands of times!" Desmond slightly pouted and looked at me with those big blue eyes. "What were you thinking about? You were totally out of this world." He said in his rich royal accent that reminded me one more time of how our worlds used to be different and how it's pretty much in the same miserable situation now.

"I was just thinking," I said but then, I suddenly got the courage and asked him what was in my mind only a few seconds before. "You are the most likable person I ever saw and I know that once you see everyone, they will love you." I looked at Desmond again and saw him looking at me with a little confusion. "I want to still be your friend."

"And why you wouldn't be?" He asked and smiled a little smile. "I don't go around and ask anyone to stay with me. You were the first one that approached me and you made me feel better after what happened yesterday." He stretched himself and got up from the bed and offers this hand. "You'll always be my friend."

The words should've made me happy but they didn't. It was just something that would never change and yet, I still find myself to be there even though it means that I will suffer.

Just a friend. I will never be more than. It shouldn't hurt this much. I felt dead and yet alive only because I was in his presence.

"Are there any clothes that I can wear?" Desmond asked and walked toward the closet.

I looked at him as he checked the clothes in there. The fabric of them wasn't like his clothes. Desmond's clothes shouted that he was royalty. It was smooth and bright and even without touching them, you could feel the softness under your fingers. I didn't get why he wanted to change them to the Sick City's clothes.

Sick City's clothes weren't soft to touch. The clothes were most likely in dark colors such as dark brown and black. Due to not having the best materials, they were thick and rough.

"You're wondering why I'm going to change my clothes," Desmond asked but it was more like a statement. It was true to so I just nodded in his direction.

"I don't want to be qualified as the prince. I want to be me. Only Desmond. Wearing these clothes shows that I left that life and I am truly a citizen of here. I want to fit in the city. I want to feel like I belong somewhere."

"Didn't you feel like you belonged to the royal castle?" I asked and watched him as he picked a black shirt and brown pants that fitted his small size.

"I never felt like I belonged there," Desmond said and his eyes darkened a little with the emotions that I never saw on his delicate face. Suddenly, he didn't look that he never saw the cruelty of the world.

Something in Desmond's eyes looked like an eighty-year-old who witnessed the world and I knew well that seeing it completely, wasn't something that anyone wanted to see.

He averted his eyes from me and blinked. When he looked at me again, it was like I imagined the earlier emotions that were running wide in his eyes. Now, it was all empty.

He looked numb to the world and it made me wonder what is going on between the royalties? People act like being a high-ranked person or being a member of the royal family is one of the top blessings in this world but from the look of it, it doesn't look like it's true. Not even a little bit.

"No one belongs there." Desmond broke the heavy silence. We were deep in our thoughts that none of us realized we had been standing there for almost fifteen minutes. Time flies. "No one belongs there. Everyone is fake. Here, it doesn't look like it." He smiled a bright and genuine smile. "You are not fake."

Desmond didn't look like he wanted to continue so I decided to change the current topic. "Change and we will go outside and meet everyone if you're ready." I smiled at him for reassurance. "Only if you're ready though."

"I guess I am." He didn't look reassured but I knew he needed more welcoming gestures. The events from last night were still fresh.

Desmond nodded and went to the restroom to change. I couldn't help but think about last night and queen Angela's actions and words again. There was something that was still stuck in my mind. Especially one of her sentences kept ringing in my ears.

You will not survive there!

I didn't know and still don't know what she was talking about and when I observed the other royalties and the high-ranked people that were there, none of them knew what she was talking about. Not even King Arthur knew, judged by the confusion that washed his features, and even though he quickly shrugged it off, I knew that some people, including me, saw it.

I lost the track of time and got drowned in my thoughts again until I heard coughing sounds from the restroom. I first didn't mind it but after a few seconds, it got worse as if someone was choking on his blood.

"Desmond!" I called him and knocked countless times on the restroom's wooden door. II heard more coughing and was about to finally open the door when his weak voice answered me.

"I'm—" Two coughs stopped him from talking more but he continued. "Fine…" He coughed more and I was seriously considering just opening the door but I respected his privacy.

A few seconds later, the coughs got worse and that was when I decided let's screw privacy and all the boundaries as I opened the door.

The sight in front of my eyes scared me. No, it terrified me! There he stood Desmond first, completely naked with his flawless pale body, second, he was a coughing mess, and most importantly, he had blood dripping down his lips to his chin as he coughed more blood.

"Desmond!" I shouted and jumped in his direction. He looked so sick and his pale skin was even paler than before. That could explain the queen's words. He was sick. And by the look of it, he was deathly sick.

You will not survive there!

"Desmond, listen to me!" I knelt to the ground and cupped his small face between my hands. "What should I do?" I quickly said and examined the room for anything that could help me.

Desmond weakly gestured to the water and I quickly grabbed a cup and filled it with the water. It wasn't the water we drink but for now and in this situation, it was better than doing nothing.

I didn't know if just water would help him in this situation but I helped him to drink it anyway. After some horrible time with Desmond coughing and helplessly watching, eventually, it got better and I released a breath that I hadn't realized that I've been holding.

Desmond was leaning breathlessly in my arms as I hold him even closer but that was when I finally completely realized that he was naked.

Completely naked!

My hands were holding his waist carefully and I felt the softness of his untouched skin under my fingers. His pink nipples looked so tempting and I wanted nothing more at that moment but to run my tongue all over it. Only God knows how much I wanted to bit him and leave my marks all over him for everyone to know that he was mine.

There was only one problem there.

Desmond isn't mine.

He was someone else's. Maybe not right now but I know that someone like him will soon find his potential lover and whoever the guy would be, he would simply be the luckiest person alive in this universe.

Desmond looked at me as if he expected me to do something. I was good at reading people and even though Desmond was complicated, I knew he expected me to ask him what was wrong with him but I also knew that he wasn't ready for telling someone or simply just mention anything about it.

"Thank you, Elijah." His eyes were clouded by the tears but he didn't let them fall. He never did. I knew that he wasn't just thanking me for what happened now, but for other things too.

I smiled and let all my emotions leave my hold for a brief second and he saw them all. He examined all of my emotions and by the look of it, he examined my love.

"I'm sorry." He let a tear fall from his eyes. I smiled sadly and for the first time in my life, I felt what it feels like to be rejected by someone you love. I never loved anyone but I never got rejected. I never even thought about getting rejected. But it hurt like hell and even more.

I did the same. I let a tear slide and left the others to just cloud my eyes. I smiled again when he looked at me with a worried and sad expression. Can't he be a little bad? So, I could move on? So, I could blame these feelings that I feel right now on someone else?

"It's okay Desmond." I smiled and wiped his bloody mouth with a piece of a napkin that I carried everywhere. He did look sad. He got hurt too. I saw it in his eyes when he finally let his guard down. He got hurt by someone he trusted and I knew it because I felt the same too.

Desmond wasn't a spoiled brat as some people call him, though the number of these people was really low. He carried the weight of the world without anyone noticing and I felt bad for adding more to his problems.

"Can I help you?" He whispers and I knew what he was asking me. Part of me didn't want it. Didn't want the pity but the other part carved it so badly and knew that Desmond wasn't some kind of person to just pity others. When he felt bad, he truly felt bad.

"One kiss," I whispered helplessly. I was the definition of a mess as I looked into Desmond's eyes that were shining brightly because of the tears. He was a mess too but at this moment, I couldn't care.

"One day…" Desmond whispered and closed his blue eyes as tears fell from the corner of his eyes and leaned closer. The meaning behind his words and actions was as clear as the smooth surface of the capital's main river.

We both leaned toward each other until I felt the softness of his lips brushing mine slowly as I dominant him quickly. I kissed him gently and yet roughly at the same time.

"I want you," I whispered but it didn't have any sexual meaning. "I want to still have you." My tears never stopped coming down as I watched the boy that I fell head over heels for rejected me. "But I can't have you…"

"It will be okay." He hugged me and whispered in my ears. "Everything will be okay." I knew for a fact that he was saying this half to himself and I couldn't help but hug his naked body back.

"I'm sorry." He whispered but the truth is, he has nothing to be sorry for. It was all my fault for falling in love with someone that I just met and I knew would never love me back. "I give you whatever you want."

He offered something that knew I wouldn't take. I can't make him make love with me when there is no passion. Desmond knew that I will never say yes to his offer. It was like forcing him to be with me and I didn't want that.

"It's okay," I whispered and kissed the crown of his head. "I promise everything will be okay. I will be there. I won't leave." I heard him releasing his breath as I reassured him. He was scared that I would leave him after this interaction between us and I was sure it was because someone did the same to him because of the reassured sobs that broke his calm and collected nature.

After a little while when we both calmed down a little, Desmond's walls were again there as he wiped his face and slowly the calmness washed over the other emotions in his face. "Let's go meet the others." Desmond put the same usual smile that he had but it never reached his eyes.

"You might want to wear something," I said and averted my gaze from him as he bashfully looked away.

A blush rose to my and Desmond's face and we quickly parted from each other. The moment that we shared was nothing but empty that seemed to be for thousands of years before while in fact, it happened only moments before.

I walked back to the room without saying any other thing and let Desmond change in private. Now that I was alone, I finally started to remember why I walked into that room.

Desmond is sick.

He is gravely ill.

He coughed up blood and that only has one meaning.

I didn't force him to tell me what happened but right now, I was regretting my choice. He really won't last here. There was a cure as I heard about people around the Kingdom who were sick like this.

As expected, the high-ranked people such as the generals and their families and the commanders of the army with their families or the royalties got the cure as many people who were qualified as ordinary died.

Desmond had the same symptoms as what I heard and saw but he was royalty, still is, and judged by queen Angela's words, Desmond was sick before the whole banishing situation. So why he didn't get the cure? Why is he still sick?

Just as I was in the middle of making a point in my head, Desmond walked out of the restroom in Sick City's clothes. I swear this boy is something. He managed to be beautiful even when he's wearing the rough and thick clothes of the Sick City.

"Shall we leave?" His rich accent was back and for a brief second, I didn't see a slim and short boy with poor clothes. I saw a slim and short boy that if his life wasn't tied to the Sick City, would have made a great King that everyone would love.

He would be a kind-hearted King that oozes the peace vibe. He would care for everyone and there would be no enemy for him. Desmond was sure a good name for him. He was born to be a prince. He is a prince.

"You look like a prince." I didn't even think when I said those words. I just blurted them out but there was no hard feeling in Desmond's eyes as he gave me a little smile.

"I was born to be one." He smiled and pulled the top of his clothes a little so I could see his shoulder. His pale skin darkened a little there is a shoe of a… "Crown." He spoke.

"I really don't know what it means but it's something that was passed from the late generation to the last King and then to the current King and I was born with it too. A sign to show that we are royalties though I don't think I am one anymore." He smiled again. "I think I'm happy that I'm not one anymore."

I nodded as we finally opened the door and left the room. I looked at Desmond and examined his features. Whatever life he had back then, he needs to put it behind him because now, this is his future.

Sick City is his future.