A/N: Hey there everyone! Welcome to my third story. I took down the trailer, as you can see. If you didn't catch the trailer, all it was just a preview for this.
Okay, so there are a few things that I should probably say before we begin.
First, trigger warnings. I might add to this list, and I'll put warnings before chapters that might include some of these.
Suicidal thoughts
Abusive father
Mild Depression
Unacceptance
Mild swearing
Next, this is going to be a very long story. Just warning y'all. If you've stopped by my profile, you already know that it's going to be at least 55 chapters. Being that almost all of my chapters are over 1k words, this story will probably be between 55k and 100k words. It'll cover a span of 10 years. The last 20 chapters will take place over the same year, and the last 40-ish will probably be when Dorian is 13 or older.
To anyone who does not want to read about Dorian and Chaol growing up together: If you want to skip past the first few years that Dorian and Chaol are getting to know each other and just want to go straight to the conflict, rather than read about their relationship as children, go to Chapter Twenty Five. Or come back to this when that chapter is out in the beginning of March, depending on when you're reading this, seeing as I've just inserted this note today (November 25, 2017) and 25 is not out yet. There will be a short recap in that chapter if you skip.
Finally, it's going to be a BOY X BOY pairing. Don't like? Don't read.
Oh! And before I forget, many thanks to my wonderful beta, thekadykate22. She's amazing and I don't think I could manage without her. She has done an amazing job editing for both this story so far, and the last one that I published called Just One Dance.
Sorry for the long A/N by the way; most won't be like this. Now, without further ado, I present chapter one of Show Me How To Fly.
Chapter One: A Friendship Begins
Dorian sighed. He hated council meetings. They were so boring. He didn't know why his father had suddenly decided that Dorian needed to come to these. What was the point? It wasn't like Dorian was going to be any help in any decision making—he was eight years old, for crying out loud!
Dorian glanced around the council room. There was nothing interesting about it. The walls were a plain, whitish-yellow color with no designs anywhere in sight. There was a long window on one side, opening it up to the outside world and making it a little lighter. Lanterns lined the walls, but none were lit since it was such a sunny day outside. These innocent features of the place could almost fool one into believing that it was a pleasant, if not happy place. Unfortunately, that was not the case even a little bit. The demeanor of the room was not determined so much by the color or light fixtures, but instead by what lay inside of it. Or more accurately, what those things—those idiots—did.
Now, let's take a step back for a moment. Of course, you are probably wondering what sits inside. Who dwells there. Well, in the center of the room there was a large table taking up almost all of the space. It was lined with a countless number of seemingly innocuous seats, which were occupied by about 36 old, fat white guys with giant mustaches and greying hair bitching about various "problems," most of which had to do with the war going on. The war that these royal men were on the wrong side of. See, they wanted to take over the world. Yeah. Real original. But their motives and cause weren't entirely what was important to young Dorian Havilliard at the moment. No, all that he was thinking of was the fact that he was absolutely bored out of his mind and had nothing to do but listen to those idiots drone on and on about useless shit that he couldn't care less about.
The King of Adarlan was going on about something. What, Dorian had no idea. He wasn't really paying much attention, as could be expected of… okay, almost anyone in his position. His gaze flitted over the council members and saw a boy sitting there that he didn't remember seeing before. The boy was sitting next to the Lord of Anielle, so Dorian assumed that the boy was probably the son of the lord.
The boy's gaze met Dorian's. Dorian smiled at him and he smiled back. Dorian tried to remember the name of the kid. If he was the Lord of Anielle's son, that meant he was either Chaol or Terrin. He looked too old to be Terrin, so that meant he had to be Chaol. He was pretty sure that he remembered his father saying that Chaol was eleven.
The boy—Chaol—stuck out his tongue at Dorian. Dorian fought the urge to giggle. He mocked fixing his hair and dusting off his vest and then giving Chaol a stern look. Chaol snorted lightly. Lord Westfall gave Chaol a look, but then went back to whatever he had been saying before. Dorian cocked his head slightly and Chaol just shrugged. The King of Adarlan shot Dorian a look and muttered, "I brought you here to learn politics, not to make friends. You can do that elsewhere. Now get your act together and start paying attention."
"Sorry father," Dorian quietly apologized. He looked towards Chaol with a remorseful look and gave a quick shake of his head that told Chaol they had to stop. Chaol nodded ever so slightly.
Dorian wandered through the garden, his entourage of guards following at a respectable distance from him. He wasn't paying much attention, and slammed into something. Or rather, someone.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Dorian yelped. He looked up and saw the same boy from this morning.
The boy—Chaol—smiled at him.
"It's quite alright. I'm pretty sure it was my fault." Chaol laughed. Then, seeming to remember his manners, he bowed slightly. "I'm Lord Chaol Westfall, by the way, Your Highness."
Dorian groaned slightly. He hated that title. It just reminded him of who he was supposed to be. Who he didn't want to be.
"I know. I sort of figured that you were one of Lord Westfall's children, and you look too old to be Terrin."
Chaol nodded slightly. "Ah. Would you mind if I accompanied you, Prince Dorian?"
Dorian furrowed his brow. "Sure."
Chaol grinned at him. He seemed to enjoy Dorian's informal way of speaking.
They walked through the garden together, partaking in a pleasant conversation that Dorian actually began to enjoy. When they had started talking, it had mostly just been him being polite, the way his father was always telling him he was supposed to, but Chaol seemed like a genuinely kind person, and Dorian liked it. He didn't really seem as fake as all the other people around their age group.
"So, some things you like to do, Your Highness?" Chaol asked as they passed a patch of daffodils. "Perhaps we have some things in common!"
"Please don't call me that," Dorian blurted. He felt like the two of them could end up being friends, but even if they did, he still hated it. "If we're going to be friends, I want you to call me Dorian."
Chaol looked shocked. "Really?"
"Yeah!"
"Are you sure? You really want me to call you Dorian? And you want to be friends?"
"Of course. You seem nice. Besides, I hate all of those formalities."
"Okay," Chaol smiled. "And between you and I, I actually would rather be called by my first name as well."
"It's actually 'you and me.' And cool. We can be on a first name basis!" Dorian said, smiling.
Chaol frowned. "Sure, that's nice. I'd like that," he said, still seeming a bit put-off by the first part, and appeared to be trying to decide whether or not to comment. In the end, he let slip out a, "But isn't it impolite to correct someone's grammar?"
Dorian shrugged. "Sorry," he sighed. "But you should know that if you can replace the list of names with—"
Chaol gave him a look. Dorian grimaced. "Fine then. Don't listen. Use incorrect grammar."
Chaol shook his head. "I get enough of this from my tutors," he muttered.
"So do I. But evidently, I pay attention." Chaol let out a breathy and somewhat indignant laugh. "Besides," Dorian smirked, "isn't it impolite to tell the Crown Prince of Adarlan that he's being impolite if you're lower ranked than he?"
Chaol rolled his eyes. "Fine." It was said in a bit of a harsh tone, but Dorian could tell that he was sort of enjoying the banter back and forth. "But I actually don't care, Dorian. Those tutors can go die in some long-forgotten hole."
He paused for a second, as though just realizing how disrespectful he was being, but Dorian made no comment about it.
The prince held up his hands in surrender, a playful smile on his lips. "Okay, just trying to help."
Chaol shot him a look. Suddenly, the clock tower began to chime its awful cry. Chaol and Dorian both flinched. Dorian shifted uncomfortably.
"You don't like it either?" Chaol asked.
"Nope," Dorian said. "I never have and I never will. It's horrible."
"I agree," Chaol said smiling.
Dorian watched Chaol silently. He felt like they could quickly become friends.
Dorian strode down the hallway alone. He was so proud of himself. He knew he shouldn't be, but he'd managed to get away from his guards for the first time. He knew that he was going to get in trouble with his father though, and he really wasn't looking forward to the lecture; however, right now though, he was heading to the library to do some reading alone for once.
He couldn't wait to read without being watched…. He'd be able to get away with so much more! He might even be able to get ahold of some of those books his guards said were "inappropriate." And in between books, he could climb up the shelves to the very tippy-top and perch there, waiting to scare the occasional passerby.
As Dorian pondered what he could do with this newfound freedom, he continued walking at a brisk pace, trying to look as best he could as though he were supposed to be where he was at that moment.
He suddenly heard footsteps coming from behind the next corner. He paused, thinking it was his guards, but then he realized that it really only sounded like one person. He peaked past the wall blocking his view. He breathed out a sigh of relief. It was just Chaol. Over the past few days, they'd become well acquainted with each other.
"Hey!" Chaol said as a way of greeting. Then he furrowed his brow. "How come you don't have your guards with you?"
"One could ask you the same question," Dorian replied.
Chaol shrugged. "I've been pestering my father to let me spend an hour or two without my guards for once. I've been on really good behavior, so he let me. I'm pretty sure he only agreed to get me to stop asking. Plus, he figures that there are enough guards throughout the castle to keep me safe for an hour or two. What about you though? You're far too valuable for His Majesty to let go without guards."
"I sort of slipped away from them," Dorian grinned. "I can't believe your father let you off the leash, though! Mine would never do that!"
"I know! I was shocked my father agreed, too!" Chaol said playfully. "How did you get away? I've never slip away from my guards."
"Oh. You know, I don't really want to say how I got free. We've just met and I don't want to get you in trouble for doing something similar and I don't want you to tell anyone how I did it."
"Fair enough. So, where were you headed before I interrupted?" Chaol asked.
"Library. Want to come?"
"Yeah, I guess. I was going to the garden, but the library sounds great too."
The two headed off in the direction of the library, chatting merrily as they went.
"You enjoying this weather?" Chaol questioned Dorian as they went.
"You mean the torrential downpour? Of course!" There wasn't even a hint of sarcasm in Dorian's voice when he said it.
"You being serious?" Chaol seemed surprised.
"Yeah! I love the rain! My father can't make me go outside with the excuse, 'It's so sunny! Go out and play!' It's what he always does. But if it's pouring rain, he's got no choice but to let me wreak havoc inside." Dorian grinned at Chaol, who shrugged.
"Valid reasoning. But I like being outside. It's a way of escaping from everything."
"See, that's where I disagree," Dorian countered. "The library is where you can escape from everything!"
Chaol, being able to think of nothing more to use as an argument, dropped it in silent agreement that perhaps the library, with all its mystic wonders, was a better place to go if one wanted to leave reality behind.
The rest of the walk was spent mostly in silence, and it wasn't long before they arrived in the room of many arts, prepared to spend the rest of the afternoon reading anything and everything they wished.
And that's exactly what they did—for the most part. Dorian completed two full books detailing magical theories (they were banned—neither Dorian nor Chaol was entirely sure why they were still in there), and Chaol read half of a random adventure novel ("I don't see how you can stand to read works by Ash Nelson," Dorian would later say scathingly in reference to the novel and its author).
Most of the several hours sitting there were spent in silence, with the occasional word back and forth—"Have you ever wondered what will happen if you father loses this war?" Chaol asked at one point.
Dorian, jarred out of the fanciful land depicted in his current book, frowned at this question. "Not a lot," Dorian shrugged. "I mean, I'm not really sure. I'd prefer not to think about it."
Chaol nodded. "Do you think we'll all die?"
"Chaol!" Dorian groaned. "I was having a nice time!" It was said with quite a bit of attitude.
Chaol raised an eyebrow. "Alright. Sorry."
"Shh!" Dorian hushed Chaol. "I'm reading."
"Well, clearly not if you're talking to me," Chaol retorted.
"Just be quiet," Dorian grumbled.
Chaol silently mimicked Dorian, making faces at the back of Dorian's book before returning to his own.
After that short mishap, reading was mostly smooth sailing. That is, until Dorian's guards finally showed up and decided to ruin everything.
It happened out of the blue. One second all was well and quaint, and the next guards were storming into the library quite loudly. The librarian, of course, protested this, but they quickly passed him with little to no trouble.
Dorian glanced up from the table that he was sitting at with Chaol. He groaned slightly.
"We could go hide," Chaol suggested. Dorian gave it a moment of thought, but before he could respond, his guards rounded the corner. In that moment, Dorian looked very much like a cornered deer.
"Your Highness, sir, with all due respect, you can't just run off like that! We're under direct orders from His Majesty to guard you at all times on our shift! We've been looking for you for the last few hours," one guard scolded.
Dorian sighed. "No, no. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have slipped away from you, I know. I'll go willingly." He held out his hands dramatically as though the guard was going to put him in shackles and take him to jail.
The guard pursed his lips. "His Majesty wishes speak with you about this whole happening. Follow us." The guard started to walk away, followed by the others on Dorian's detail.
Dorian glanced back at Chaol, who silently mouthed, "Good luck!" Dorian took a deep breath and followed his guards.
Release Date: September 23, 2017
Trailer Release Date: July 26, 2017
Trailer Removal Date: September 23, 2017
A/N: I have this thing that I do where I put the chapter release date on all of my chapters. You already know this if you read my first story, Vampires Don't Exist, or my last story, Just One Dance.
If you haven't read VDE I encourage you to go check it out. It follows an original character named Caroline as she tries to vanquish beasts known as the Shadows with the help of Alice Cullen. It's a Twilight fan fic, but don't worry—I've tried to make it about strong women rather than helpless fools like Bella Swan. The two meet one night when Caroline is very drunk and Alice makes sure that Caroline gets home safely. Unfortunately, the next time that they meet is not very pretty. Is Alice really trying to help Caroline? Or does she have her own agenda? What are these Shadows, and what makes Caroline so special to them? Find out in Vampires Don't Exist.
Also, sorry for the crappy first chapter. I know that it felt a little disjointed and didn't flow well; hopefully future ones will be better.
