Why Not Us

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After two or three minutes Bailey was called up to a podium residing in front of the choir to address the crowd of guests.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm just here to say how thankful I am for you being here tonight. It is an honor for me, so please enjoy the evening. " He said, taking his hands off the podium, still feeling the dopamine from the performance.

The guests clapped for a few seconds before he joined the crowd to find Maisie. He found her in between the choir director and his parents.

"Good job Lee," She squealed. He shyly smiled before meeting his mother's still somewhat cold gaze. She was probably still upset over the dating rumors. Bailey quickly brushed those thoughts away. Tonight was supposed to be fun, even if it meant being paraded around. Before he could even finish that thought Maisie was grabbing his arm and dragging him over to one of her friends where she introduced them.

"Bailey this is Daphney McCoy," Maisie introduced, and vice versa.

Daphney seemed like a nice lady, she had straight ginger hair and pale green eyes that matched her dress. She also came from a family like Maisie's, wealthy but not looked at too closely by the media. They only talked for at most five minutes before he was dragged away again by Maisie.

The next three hours passed similarly to those five minutes with Daphney but with a few short breaks. Maisie dragged him around the ballroom meeting lady by lady, all having similar interests and personalities. Again and again, he made the torturous small talk and yet, none of them stood out. He couldn't even remember more than a few of their names.

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The gala came to a close at ten with the choir singing again. This time it was Symphony, but he wasn't really listening; he was too busy paying close attention to the coffee-skinned boy. Bailey felt happy about being able to have the stressful night end by hearing that curly-haired boy sing again. The Queen stood in front of the podium as he closed the night, thanking everyone again.

Bailey and his parents were whisked away through the grand doors before everyone else. He quickly got to his room where he peeled his velvet green suit off and hopped into his grand marble shower.

The glass and mirrors were steamy when he got out. He dried his hair before stepping into his boxers and dark green pajama pants and then brushing his hair. He chose a dark red shirt and pulled it on over his head. Once he was done, he grabbed his phone off the bathroom counter and strode out of his room to go get himself a drink.

Bailey opened the doors to the staff kitchen to find the tea he wanted because his kitchen still hadn't gotten any. When he turned around after quietly closing the heavy wooden doors he saw the curly-haired boy, pouring water from a heated kettle into two fresh cups.

"What flavor do you want?" The boy said with the fire illuminating his face.

"Whatever you're having," Bailey said warmly.

"Lemon Ginger then, Your Highness," He said, sliding the cup towards him.

They sat on the couch in front of the lit fireplace in the corner closest to the door. Bailey glanced at Tanner before saying, "So your name's Tanner, huh?". Tanner looked back slightly surprised before nodding.

"Well it's nice to know your name," Bailey stated, "Even if it's because my mom told me,".

They continued sitting there for a few minutes, glancing at each other in a comfortable silence before Bailey started to move closer to him.

"Do you think I could get your number?" Tanner wondered. Bailey looked back at him slightly shocked but then nodded while opening his phone. They exchanged numbers and Tanner thanked him.

Bailey quietly started singing the song from earlier, "'Cause it takes a fool to remain sane, oh it takes a fool to remain sane,".

Tanner looked at him with admiration and joined in. They hummed it for another few seconds before Tanner asked, "Are you happy here?".

Bailey sat there for a moment before asking Tanner the same.

"I guess I am," He said, "It's better than my life before,".

Bailey finally answered Tanner, "I guess I am too,".

"Did you like the gala?" Tanner asked.

"It was okay, not the best reason to host one though," He somberly said.

Bailey got up to grab two wine glasses and a mysterious wine bottle.

"Your singing was nice though," He warmly blushed.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Tanner said, "I think you did well too, even if it was socializing,".

Bailey thanked him back while sitting down and pouring them glasses of wine. They sat in comfortable silence after that, listening to the fire crackling. When they were finished with their wine they put the glasses and wine away.

The two opened the creaky doors and wandered through the palace halls before going their separate ways toward their rooms at the top of the stairs.