Author's Note:
I do not own FFXV or any of the characters. This story takes place while the guys are in high school, where boredom and laziness are the only tragedies in their lives. Prompto is a royal troublemaker, and Noctis gets dragged along for the ride. You will not find much substance, angst, despair, or deep feels here. Just a couple of teenagers up to no good and caught up in youthful adolescence. I will admit, this fic was inspired by my desire for a muscle car, which I now own and have nicknamed the Regalia (because yes, I am that much of a nerd!). XD If you are a connoisseur of rock music, this story will be best paired with some Local H, Adelitas Way, and Decyfer Down (as the chapter titles will indicate). Please forgive any errors, I do not have a formal beta and this is my first attempt at writing an action-based story. I greatly welcome feedback to help me improve. Please enjoy! ^^
Warning:
Promptis, yaoi/BL, language, completely shameless AU. Rated M for mature adult sexual content in later chapters. Consider yourself warned!
Chapter 1: Fifth Ave Crazy
The neon glowing signs of Insomnia's red-light district flew past as the two high-schoolers were forced to test the limits of the Regalia, Noctis' brand new toy courtesy of King Regis.
Noctis bit down on his lip and gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles, looking wide-eyed into the rear-view mirror. Seeing the headlights closing in behind them, the Prince floored the accelerator and the car careened wildly around a street corner. The dark-haired teen was tearing up asphalt, running stop signs, and breaking almost every traffic law in Insomnia in a futile attempt to lose the car tailing them through this less-than-reputable end of town.
"Faster, Noct! They're right behind us!" Prompto shouted frantically, slamming his hands repeatedly on the dash, as if that would somehow propel the Regalia forward.
"I'm going as fast as I can without killing us," Noctis murmured in annoyance as he swerved suddenly out into the oncoming traffic lane to pass a van that was blocking his pathway of escape. Thankfully, at this late hour, there was barely any traffic. No other vehicles were heading toward them. But Prompto, now sitting wide-eyed with panic, was pretty sure Noctis hadn't checked that before pulling out. Did the Regalia even come with passenger-side airbags? Prompto didn't want to think about it at the moment…
Even the cocky Prince had to admit he was way out of his league on this one. He had only gotten his learner's permit a few months back, and the teenager certainly hadn't realized he would need high-speed car chase experience under his belt to venture out with his best friend and celebrate his birthday. Noctis, for the first time in his life, was literally sweating bullets behind the wheel, his shirt growing more damp with each passing minute, and his chest pounding as though he were on the verge of a heart attack.
"Sorry dude," muttered the Prince at the unfortunate motorist forced onto the shoulder of the road, the van's horn blaring in protest at the Regalia as it raced recklessly by. Noctis veered back into his lane and checked out the side mirror once again to survey the situation.
"Still there," cried Prompto, stating the obvious.
"Seriously, what the hell is this guy's problem?" Noctis cursed.
"Red light!" the blond squealed, covering his eyes.
"Sorry!" the raven-haired teen cringed as he blasted through the intersection. "Red means go, right?" Noctis smirked.
"Hey, take Fifth Avenue up ahead on the right. I know a short cut that should get us to the freeway," Prompto yelled over the sound of revving engines and screeching tires. The Prince glanced at Prompto, wondering how on earth the blond knew anything about this sketchy part of town. Prompto noticed the look, and could only imagine how hard he was going to get interrogated about this later, if they actually made it out of this in one piece.
"Ok, here goes nothin'. Hang on," Noctis shouted in warning as they approached the Fifth Avenue intersection at ferocious speed. The car swung hard to the right without any hint of slowing down.
"Holy shit!" the teenagers shrieked in unison as the Regalia seemed to drift in air. The blond gripped his fingernails into the leather dashboard and squeezed his eyes shut as he prayed silently and hoped for the best, visions of his short and meaningless life flashing across the backs of his eyelids. It wasn't supposed to end like this. He still needed to turn in his biology homework. If it was late again, he would be failing the class. He really should have cleaned up his room before he left… Should have password protected his laptop… Should have smoked his secret stash. And oh my, how he cringed at the thought of his poor mother sorting through the dirty laundry scattered about his room, picking up the 'used' socks that were surely crusty by now. But above all else, he really should have taken the leap to ask Noct out on a date... Damn it all to hell.
Surprisingly, after some wicked fishtailing, Noctis managed to get the Regalia back under control. The blond hesitatingly opened his eyes, surprised to still be alive. "Oh man! That was close!" Prompto squawked.
"Shit," Noctis swore, returning his gaze to the rear-view. The car was still in pursuit, skidding around the corner right behind them.
"Quick, this is it. Turn here!" the blond commanded, pointing to a dark, narrow alley just up ahead. On command, the Regalia swerved around the sharp corner, setting off sparks as the tailgate grazed the side of a dumpster.
"Not good!" cried Prompto as the car careened around the bend.
The teenagers sped down the alley that could only be described as a desolate wasteland of litter, discarded newspapers, and heaps of garbage bags. The Prince shuddered to think about how life was for the homeless that lived in places like this. The rundown buildings, torn up gutters, and graffiti were an eye opener for the Prince, who normally wasn't permitted to travel very far off the beaten paths between his flat, the palace, and school.
Scattered paper and debris became airborne as the Regalia flew through the dark passage, the whirr of the engine reverberating off the narrow brick walls. Suddenly, the pair finally broke out onto a freeway ramp, barely missing an oversized garbage truck that was backing across the alleyway. Once on the freeway, Noctis let the car go full throttle on the smooth, open road.
"Woah, I think we did it, dude! I don't see them back there anymore!" Prompto cried happily, looking out the rear window and pounding the seat with a victory fist. "Woohoo!"
"Probably stuck behind the garbage truck that almost creamed us," Noctis mumbled.
"Man, I totally thought we were goners!" said the blond in a voice that sounded way too excited for someone who had narrowly escaped a fate of getting scraped off the pavement just moments before.
Prompto turned around and sat back in his seat, heart still pounding. He exhaled a deep breath. With shaky hands, the teen reached around to fasten the seatbelt that had been completely forgotten in the chaos of their getaway. Despite his focused efforts to stabilize his jittery hands, it took him several tries to get the metal clasp into the buckle.
"Tsk. That could've been useful before, don't ya think?" Noctis snickered, glancing at the blond briefly before returning his focus to the freeway that stretched out before them.
"Shut up, bro!" Prompto grinned and gave the Prince's shoulder a playful shove.
The pair drove in comfortable silence for a while, as the color slowly returned to Noctis' knuckles. Prompto reached forward and flicked on the radio, filling the car with the sound of heavy bass and rock music.
"Never thought I'd ever say this man, but nice driving back there."
"Thanks."
"It feels good to still be in one piece," Prompto laughed, jokingly patting himself down to ensure all his parts were still intact. He was surprised to look up and see the corners of Noctis' lips curl up in an almost smile.
"Don't worry, Prom. My dad will do something about that when he sees what we've done to the car… and if he sees the morning newspaper," the raven-haired boy added. Noctis was pretty sure that although he somehow managed to keep both of them alive for the time being, his father would most likely finish the job when he found out about this ill-advised little birthday adventure.
Prompto sputtered into gloved hands, "Oh man, we are so dead!"