Chapter Text
March
“But I thought you were gay, Haz?”
“I am, Lou. Definitely gay. You know that.”
“Then… how?!”
“Well, Louis, when a man and a woman become intimate- ow!”
Louis laughed as he knocked into Harry, making him stumble. This was exactly why Louis was Harry’s best friend. He’d never cared that Harry was the Prince of England, or that he was destined to be the King in just a few years' time. To him, he was just Haz, his best friend, and he treated him as such. Harry loved these moments that they stole together, and his time with Louis was the one thing he’d never change about his life.
“It was… when I was being experimental, I guess? I just… Mum and Dad were talking about finding me some Princess to marry, so when I got close with Alice, we… yeah.”
Harry knew his cheeks were flaming now, recounting his sexual history to his best friend, but Louis just shrugged, sighing as he tried to work out what to do.
“When she’s due?”
“She said next month,” Harry replied quickly, ignoring the look of shock on Louis’ face. “How the hell am I going to tell my parents that I’m going to be a father, and to a baby born out of wedlock? It’s going to be some whole-ass scandal, Lou, and I can’t ... I can’t-”
Harry sank to his knees and tried to steady his shallow breaths, but it was the touch of Louis’ hand on his back, stroking back and forth rhythmically, that managed to calm him down. He could hear Louis muttering words of comfort next to him, and in the end, the friends just settled on their butts on the grassy meadow in the palace grounds. Harry leaned backwards and stared up at the sun, squinting into it as he tried to think how the hell he was going to deal with this.
“I’ll help you. Whatever it takes, Harry, I’ll be there for you.”
Harry scoffed, shaking his head. He believed Louis, of course he did, but that didn’t mean it was going to make anything any easier for him.
“I don’t know how well the King and Queen would take to you helping me out on top of all this information. Not that they don’t like you, of course. But, you know, royal business and all that. No offence, but I think I have to sort this mess out of my own. Just … knowing you’re here to talk to is enough, though.”
“Oh, Harold,” Louis said, pulling Harry into his side as they laid back, watching the clouds drift through the sky on the soft breeze. “You do make your life a little difficult don’t you? But hey, you’re going to be a daddy, yeah? That’s amazing. Imagine how gorgeous that kid of yours is gonna be.”
“I’m going to be a father, Louis. An actual, real life father. I can barely look after myself , how am I going to raise a human being?!”
“Chill out, love. Come on. People all over the world have babies every day, and most of them don’t have a bloody clue what they’re doing. You, on the other hand, have a whole palace of support around you. You’ll do a great job, I know it.”
“I don’t deserve you,” Harry mumbled quietly, snuggling into Louis’ side, seeking comfort as he always did. Louis was, and always would be, his safe place. He was the one person Harry knew he could be himself around, and there was something so pure about their friendship that the thought of it often drove Harry to tears. He had Royal friends all over the world, people who clamoured to know him for his title, but Louis saw past all of that. He just saw a boy needing a friend, and from the age of six when they’d met playing in the palace gardens, a strong friendship had been forged.
Louis’ mother had hidden their friendship for years when she worked for the Palace as one of the housekeeping staff, letting Louis tag along with her when she cleaned various parts of the Palace, particularly when the King and Queen were away. Many of the other staff knew of the young boys’ friendship and encouraged it, loving to see the Prince have fun with another boy, away from the confines of expectation and propriety.
As they got older, though, things became more difficult. Harry was sent away to boarding school, as was the norm with Royal heirs, but he’d been so miserable without his family and Louis, he’d eventually been sent home, tutored at home by a variety of elderly men and women who rabbited on for hours while Harry drifted in and out of consciousness, trying to keep up. Louis was his saving grace on those days, always waiting in their meadow with a football, or a pogo stick, or something else relatively fun to help the young Royal forget his woes, and just be a child again.
This time, though, it was Harry who had fucked up. He’d met Alice at a Royal Ball thrown by his parents in honour of his father’s sixtieth birthday, and the pair had hit it off. Harry was fairly certain he was gay, but that wouldn’t be allowed, not publically at least. He’d never be allowed to marry a man and rule a kingdom with a husband by his side, and he’d confided as such in Alice. The pair had had one too many drinks, and ended up in Harry’s chambers, fumbling between the sheets, laughing and giggling as Harry tried to decide whether he found the naked female form remotely attractive or not.
He had, for a while, and he’d enjoyed the sex they had shared, although it perfectly cemented the thought in his head that he was very much gay and wanted the rest of his sexual encounters to be with a man. He didn’t look at Alice’s breasts or legs the same way he did the male of the species, and he certainly didn’t gaze fondly at Alice the way he knew he did with Louis. That was his other issue. Harry was head over heels in love with his best friend. Entirely unrequited, of course, but Harry was sure he’d hidden it well. Louis loved him as a best friend, and that was just fine by Harry. He’d be happy living life as a bachelor, as long as he had Louis by his side as his friend.
Alice announcing her pregnancy just a few short hours ago was a bit of a blow, though. Harry hadn’t expected to ever father a child, let alone at the tender age of twenty two, but apparently, that was exactly what was happening. She’d requested a private meeting with Harry at her residence, and Harry had gone, expecting a catch up between friends. However, he’d been greeted with Alice and her incredibly swollen tummy, proclaiming that the baby inside her was Harry’s offspring, and that she had been betrothed to a Prince in Germany, and was moving there shortly. Therefore, Harry was going to be handed his child as soon as it was born, and Alice was to have nothing to do with it. The thought was terrifying, but the only thing Harry knew was that he couldn’t turn his back on his own child. Not now, not ever.
“We’ll make it work somehow. And you can keep it hidden from the public for a bit, yeah? Come up with some story or whatever before you have to tell the world you’re a dad?”
“I suppose so,” Harry said, listening to the gentle thudding of Louis’ heartbeat in his chest, trying not to shiver as Louis’ fingertips traced across the back of his neck. If there was one thing the Prince loved, it was to have his skin tickled, just as Louis was doing now. “You’re gonna help me, though? You’re not gonna leave me to deal with this on my own?”
“Never,” Louis vowed, meeting Harry’s eyes for a moment. “Promised when we were little that I’d always be here for you, didn’t I? Even when you’re a doddery old King who can only see out of one eye and whacks his minions with his royal cane thing.”
They both chuckled at that, and Harry took advantage, snuggling closer to Louis again, letting his leg rest against his best friend’s.
“Thank you.”
“What for?”
“For letting me be me.”
“No worries, my love,” Louis whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of Harry’s head. “Anyway. Best get you back, Your Highness, before they come looking for you. Wouldn’t want them doing something daft like behead me for kidnapping the future king.”
“We don’t behead people anymore, Louis, it’s not the sixteenth century,” Harry mumbled as he got to his feet, wiping the grass stains off his jeans. “You’d just get thrown in prison for treason for the rest of your life.”
“Oh. Well, that’s alright then, bloody walk in the park,” Louis retorted with a smirk as they strolled back towards the palace, little fingers brushing occasionally as they swung their arms at their sides. “See you tomorrow? Same time?”
“Yeah, definitely. Text me when you get in, ‘kay?”
“Will do,” Louis said, pushing onto his tiptoes and grazing his lips against Harry’s cheek in a quick kiss. “See you later, lovely.”
“Bye Lou,” Harry called, staying where he was and watching as Louis walked away, taking just a little bit of his heart with him as he did every single time he left the Prince alone. “I love you.”