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The first time Wille kissed him, he knew that it was just an action of a person possessed by the green-eyed monster. They just watched Simon getting picked up by Marcus after all. Nils should've stopped him, but he was drunk and Wille's lips were soft and better than anything in his fantasies involving the prince.
The next day, both of them by unspoken agreement decided to pretend nothing happened last night. He naively thought that was the end of it - just an impulsive kiss that meant nothing (well at least for Wille, it definitely meant something to him).
The second time Nils was sober and didn't have any excuses.
"Are you alright?"
Nils could see that the Wille was upset about something. He didn't know what exactly it was, but Wille always looked like he was on the verge of bursting into tears these days. He knew he should stay away, it was none of his business - he was pretty sure there were a whole bunch of people to worry about the future monarch's health after all.
But Wille was seeing the resident psychologist and he could guess that some of his distress was due to the whole mess with Simon. Nils never got what Wille saw in that boy but he understood and related to some extent the pain of discovering you are not straight and coming to terms with it in a hetero normative society.
So he tried to lend an ear and provided comfort to Wille the only way he knew - offering a discreet getaway for him to explore and hook up with someone of their league.
What Nils didn't expect was that Wille would take up on his offer immediately. When he leaned and kissed him, just a tentative brush of lips - Nils should've stepped back and been the adult. He knew Wille was not in the right headspace - still in love with that socialist boy, his affections so pathetically obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes.
But he let it happen, because he was tired of pretending that this was something he wasn't interested in. The crown prince was cute and when it became an open secret in Hillerska that he was queer, Nils would've been lying if he said he didn't imagine something between them. But that was supposed to be a vague daydream, an unattainable mirage - because Wille was in love with someone else and he was not about to risk his future prospects for a fling, however tempting the chance to hook up with royalty was.
All of those concerns went out of the window, his mind blank and heart empty and desperate to be filled with any affection offered however fickle and meaningless it might be.
They never talked about it but after the third, fourth and fifth time Nils caught onto what was happening. Wille fought with Simon or saw Marcus with Simon and came running into his arms, and they make out in the nearest shadow they could find - Nils found all of it seedier than his offer to take him to Verbier. But he knew better than discuss it Wilhelm - after all he knew the importance of keeping something on the down low. Nils wasn't going to turn down what was offered to him freely, however illicit it feels.
There was no sixth time because Wille seemed to have found his way back to Simon and he was trying to let him gently down.
"Look I'm sorry but..but I don't think we should do that again"
It was the day after the ball, when they were returning from rowing practice. Nils saw it coming, the prince didn't take his eyes of the choir boy the entire time yesterday at the party and by the end of the night the downcast look on his face was replaced by something else - hope and happiness.
Nils pats his shoulder, "Wille its okay, you are not my type anyway"
A lie but Wille laughs at it and they part ways amicably. Nils knew whatever they were doing had an expiration date but that doesn't stop a small twinge of pain in his chest when faced with the inevitable end. That night he downloaded grindr, swiped recklessly and then deleted it later when he realized it was not working. Maybe someday he'll be fully relieved of it, but he festered in his feelings that night - a loss of something that was never his to begin with.
The last time they kiss, it was a peck on his cheek from Wilhelm in an adrenaline rush. The crown prince basically came out to the entire nation and admitted to being the person in that that video with Simon. Nils thought it was a stupid thing to do - but quickly changed his mind after the overwhelmingly positive reaction and support he seemed to receive from around the world.
Wille was surrounded by his classmates and Nils goes to congratulate him when he gets pulled into a hug by the prince and receives a whisper of thanks and kiss on his cheeks. Simon looks at them curiously and Wille mouths later to him in explanation and Nils just stands there confused as to why the crown prince was thanking him after basically going against any advice he had provided.
But everything seemed to have worked out for him. Wille looked radiant and free standing there with Simon, holding his hands, not an iota of despair or regret in his face.
Maybe being the first queer CEO wouldn't be so bad after all.