Tenth Meeting

Sebastian was caught off guard by the question. It caused him to realise that he hadn’t been clear about his feelings. To Edward he must have seemed like a playboy who constantly flirted and threw out pick up lines.

He cleared his throat.

“I know things haven’t been clear cut between us and there’s been plenty of room for misunderstandings,” he said. “I do like you and that’s not just because of the arranged marriage.”

Edward’s face was hard to read again, but he continued on regardless.

“I don’t just mean as a friend before you assume that. I mean that I like you in a romantic way, I want to date you.”

That should make his intentions clear enough to Edward. He really should have chucked Camilla out from the very beginning to avoid the roadblocks she had caused in their relationship.

His future husband blinked and then his cheeks flushed pink. It was a very cute sight to see. Sebastian wanted to poke his cheeks, but he knew it wasn’t the time and place.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Edward said eventually. “I previously took all the hand kisses to be empty gestures.”

Sebastian opened his mouth to say he wanted to do more than just kiss his hand, however he knew he would be coming on too strong if he said something like that.

“Nothing has been an empty gesture,” he said softly. “I like you and I wished we had met in different circumstances. We certainly wouldn’t have wasted any time if we had.”

“Why do you like me?” Edward enquired. “It seems strange for a prince who could get anyone would choose me.”

It seemed that Edward was underestimating his own attractiveness. He was full of charisma when he was happy and his eyes were open and pure.

“Well, the odds of me falling for you were high from the beginning,” he explained. “You are my ideal partner based on my preferences. It’s not just that though, when I first saw you in real life I was struck by your charisma and your eyes are magnetising.”

It was probably best not to mention that he was keen on Edward’s body. He had the toned body of an athlete and some very nice arm muscles. Sebastian had been enjoying watching videos of Edward’s matches at school and he was even more attractive in action.

Edward’s face turned red which was a sight Sebastian quite enjoyed.

“No one has ever told me that before,” Edward replied awkwardly. “Lots of people mention your blue eyes though.”

“You mean my ‘blue orbs’,” Sebastian said with a grin.

His future husband burst into laughter and the air around them became lighter. He grasped Edward’s hand and pulled out a chair for him.

“Let’s relax and eat cake. I’m not expecting you to fall head over heels in love with me because of my confession. You don’t even know if you like men yet.”

It was both good and bad that he had been honest about the scale of his feelings. It ensured Edward knew he was serious, but it put Edward in an awkward position as he hadn’t worked out his own sexuality yet.

“I won’t mention anything about my feelings if it makes you uncomfortable,” he added.

“It was… just a surprise to hear you be so direct,” Edward admitted. “You’ve been hard to interpret since I met you.”

That wasn’t a rejection of his feelings so Sebastian was content. Edward sat down and Sebastian poured a cup of tea for him with his preferred amount of sugar.

“You remembered,” Edward commented.

Sebastian beamed at him.

“Of course. It’s important to remember what you like. It’s good to know the preferences of the person you are marrying.”

“I did take note of yours,” Edward replied. “I’ll prepare a cup for you.”

Sebastian watched Edward pour him a cup of tea with a medium amount of milk and two spoonfuls of sugar. He was touched that Edward had taken note of his own preferences. That boded well for their future together.

“Thank you,” he said.

They drank their tea in a companionable silence. Sebastian discreetly stared at Edward over the rim of his teacup. His future husband looked thoughtful like he was trying to work something out.

Sebastian was aware of his visit to a nightclub with three other people. The people following him hadn’t been able to enter as a VIP ticket was required, but he had left the club with his friends and had been fairly sober. As Edward didn’t normally go to a nightclub it stood out.

“You don’t repulse me,” Edward said suddenly after finishing his cup of tea.

Sebastian didn’t quite know what to say to that. He went for a princely diplomatic reply.

“Is that so?”

“I just feel like I can’t fully trust you yet,” Edward continued. “You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been ignoring your advances.”

Sebastian bit his lip. It was the distance between them that was keeping Edward from seeing him as a genuine love interest. He didn’t quite know how to close that gap. He was the prince and would inherit the throne and rule Albion when his mother died. Edward had grown up in nobility, but he had no royal connections.

Edward was right not to trust him though. He was still having Edward followed. It wasn’t really necessary anymore. His future husband wasn’t involved in any crime and just liked to play in matches, train and meet his friends.

“I can understand that you are reluctant to see me as an object of affection,” he acknowledged. “I can tell you some things about myself that no one else knows though.”

Edward looked confused and then he nodded.

“We do technically know very little about each other and probably don’t have much in common,” he replied.

“I don’t really have a mother, she always acts like the ruler of Albion rather than my mother. I’ve never been in a relationship before. I don’t like spiders so I’m hoping you’re not scared of them.”

“You’ve never been in a relationship before?” Edward questioned in surprise. “You’re the crush of a lot of people in Albion.”

Sebastian wasn’t sure if he should be flattered to hear that.

“Everyone looks the same to me and I’ve got to be careful about what I do given that it has always been guaranteed that I will have an arranged marriage and no one working for the royal family wants scandalous news about me to leak out.”

He generated a lot of news items wherever he went as it was. It was easy to imagine the field day the press would have if he had ever had a one night stand.

“The trashy news sites did get a lot of articles out of those photos that foreign newspaper photographer got of you when you sunbathed topless at your villa in France,” Edward agreed. “I can understand your reluctance.”

Sebastian shuddered when he thought about how that photographer had concealed himself in the greenery surrounding the royal villa and used a telephoto lens to get those photos of him. It was lucky he hadn’t felt like skinny dipping that day.

“I was so happy when the court case ruled in my favour,” he said with fervour. “It won’t happen again, a lot of lessons were learnt in security that day. You can sunbathe wearing whatever you want when you stay with me.”

He didn’t quite realise how dirty it sounded until the words were out of his mouth.

“Do you think I sunbathe naked so I can get an even tan?” Edward asked with a smirk.

Sebastian spluttered at the mental image and knew his face had heated up. Edward had taken him by surprise.

“I’m only joking, I just wanted to check your reaction,” Edward said a few seconds later. “It was very informative.”

That wasn’t quite fair. He took a sip of tea and noticed Edward was looking thoughtful again. He steered the conversation back to the original subject.

“Anyway, I like sugary foods, but they limit my consumption here- no one wants a prince with dental problems. I’m not good at sports either.”

“Is that why you wanted to marry someone with above average sporting abilities?” his future husband enquired.

Sebastian found himself spluttering again. Excellent sporting ability had been one of the preferences he had input into the government match system.

“How did you know?” he asked in surprise.

“My sporting ability is the only thing that puts me above other people at my school,” Edward said. “Do I have to play sports at those events you go to instead of you?”

Sebastian was glad they were finally having a proper conversation like equals. Edward was turning out to be very quick on the uptake and insightful. Those skills would come in useful when dealing with royal matters.

“It would be good if you could. It’s awkward when I keep missing easy goals and everyone cheers me on because I’m the prince and they don’t want to offend me.”

He had a lot of bad memories from events involving sports.

“I’m willing to do that,” Edward replied. “I like sports and I don’t mind attention when it’s related to my athleticism.”

Sebastian grinned at him.

“It will be much appreciated. I think the royal advisors have been one step away from making me have extra PE lessons.”

The air between them was much more relaxed and Sebastian felt that he had made the right decision by being more open about himself.

“As for me, I’m not scared of much apart from Camilla, I like cake a lot, I like reading and playing games,” Edward told him. “Photography is one of my hobbies and I wanted to study it at university.”

Sebastian felt a stab of guilt. He knew that the courses that had been labelled as suitable by the royal advisors were all related to politics and looked absolutely boring.

“I think we’ve learnt a lot about each other today,” he said gently.

Edward smiled at him. It was a real smile this time. Sebastian’s heart increased in speed.

“I agree. Let’s just pretend that we aren’t arranged to marry against our wills for as long as possible.”

Sebastian was keen to go along with that. He liked to forget about things like that.

“Agreed. Did you want a tour of the gardens later after we’ve devoured the cake.”

Edward gave him a thumbs up and they both switched their attention to the cake stand. No one baked cake like the royal cooks. Sebastian had eaten a variety of cakes in his time as a prince and he was confident the royal cooks made the best cakes.

He was feeling stuffed when they finished the cakes that had been on the full cake stand. Edward stood up and Sebastian followed suit. He was ready to walk off the cake.

“The gardens are very large here. It’s the only good point of this place. The advantage of the castle versus the palace is the privacy and the gardens,” he told Edward. “The palace has a much nicer interior and a much more modern plumbing system.”

They started walking in step together and the tour started in the rose garden.

“Dad is thinking about having the garden at home redone and wants some inspiration. He doesn’t like feeling inferior when the designers know more about plants than he does so I’ll give him some details of the royal gardens,” Edward said after looking around. “I like the way the different coloured rose bushes blend together.”

The rose garden was the result of an impressive effort by the team of royal gardeners. There was every type of rose and the bushes were arranged to give the effect of being in a maze. He picked a red rose and arranged it in the open buttonhole at the top of Edward’s shirt.

“It looks better on you,” he said.

Edward’s face went bright red and he hid a grin. He definitely had an effect on Edward.

Then Edward leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Sebastian was caught by surprise, but undeniably delighted. He caught Edward’s chin with his hand.

“Should I return your kiss on your lips?” he whispered.

“You can,” Edward replied quietly.

Sebastian checked that he looked sure and wasted no time going straight for a kiss on the lips.