*Firstly, I really really really really recommend that you go and watch Joey Graceffa's music video "Don't Wait" because this story is entirely based off of it.
Secondly, there are some gay slang words in this story as well as bullying. So, if that highly bothers you then look away! :)
Thirdly, enjoy!
{prince's tale}
he just wants everyone to stop saying the same things to him. he wants them to stop saying with a smile on their faces how he'll find a nice, sweet princess soon enough and have dozens of children with her. he wants them to stop ruffling his hair when he does something stupid as if he's still child. he wants them to stop saying things like "oh, now, don't act gay, sweetheart".
he just wants to keep running away from his monsters and haru just wishes that he could escape.
{past}
They pushed him again today. He just wanted to go swimming, but then Aoaki said it was too gay, too girly, and that he was just a sad little faggot who should go drown in the water. He didn't understand. He never did anything to them. He never did anything.
He did nothing so why couldn't they just stop being so mean to him?
He just wanted to go swimming.
{prince's tale}
"haru, tidy up your hair. she'll be here soon."
"who, mother?"
"that matsuoka girl. she'll be a good asset if you marry her. her family is very entitled," his mother says, a pleased smile on her face.
"oh."
"yes, so go on, dear. tidy up, now," his mother says and then she's gone, her dress the last thing that haru sees. she never says anything mean to him, but he doesn't know how to say anything else but 'yes' to her.
he wants to drown himself.
{present}
"You're a warrior, Haru," is the first thing Haru hears, his face turned to the ground while his hand is being pulled up. Haru looks up and sees Rin, who's watching him as always, a fierce look in his eyes. Haru thinks he looks beautiful.
"How? Warriors don't fall," he says. Rin smirks and shakes his head, his soft-looking hair falling in his face. Haru wants to reach out and push it out of the way.
He doesn't though.
"They had to fall once, right?" Rin says. Haru blinks at him. How was he supposed to know? He's anything but a warrior.
"I guess." Haru shrugs. Rin wraps an arm around his shoulders and Haru tries not to notice how his own body leans toward him. Rin would think he's a faggot if he did that.
"No, Haru," Rin says, looking straight into his eyes. His eyes are gorgeous. "You're a warrior."
"Yeah," Haru breathes out. Rin smiles, sharp teeth shining at Haru.
{prince's tale}
"who says you can't explore?" the boy says. haru can't remember his name, but he knows the beautiful boy definitely caught his eye before his sister.
"the rules," haru responds.
the boy grins and haru can't help but notice his pointy teeth. he looks like a shark. haru thinks it's kind of cute.
"the rules? whose rules?" he asks, rocking back and forth on his feet. haru wants him to fall just so he can catch him, but he knows he mustn't. he'll get in trouble if he does.
haru thinks about what he asks. "don't know."
"but if you could explore then what would you look for?" the boy asks and haru wants to know his name. what's his name? why is his sister so late? who is he to come in here and freak haru out?
"don't know," he repeats softly. he doesn't know. not really. he doesn't really know anything about anything.
the boy stops rocking back and forth and gives a sad smile. "well, time to figure that out, huh?"
{past}
His feet can't reach the ground. Haru notices this every single time he sits in one of these desks. His mom is in there, talking with his teacher. His mother sounds upset, and Haru doesn't know how it could possibly be about Aoaki when he hasn't told her about them.
Maybe, it's about his behavior. Maybe, it's about the fact that he went missing yesterday because he got so lost in swimming, in the pool, in a place where no one could bother him.
Yes, he supposes that's it.
His mother comes out a few minutes later, a remorseful look on her face and Haru doesn't know what he's supposed to say. He doesn't really want to stand though because his knees hurt terribly from being forced to kneel on them all recess on the concrete. Aoaki told him that he has to get used to it now or he won't be much use to other boys in high school.
Haru doesn't know what he means, but he's older than him and supposes that he should just take what they give him until they leave.
He trails after his mother, who still hasn't said a word to him. He can feel her anger though. She's even shaking. It's scary.
It's when they get to the car that he finally realizes that she's sobbing quietly, and he wonders what his teacher could've possibly told her during their meeting together. He doesn't ask though.
Not even when she hugs him so tightly that he can't even breathe.
He supposes that this would be a good way to go.
{prince's tale}
"i'm kou matsuoka," the girl says, holding out her hand to haru. haru takes it and notices the boy from earlier behind her because he snickers after she announces herself.
"no, it's not, gou," he says.
"don't call me gou!" she exclaims and haru's a little taken aback by the tone of her voice. he doesn't even really see the difference between the two names.
"i'm haruka nanase," is what he finally says, stiff and polite. his parents are not even five feet from him after all. it's his job to be a dutiful prince of seventeen.
he can't even legally get married yet. why does he have to meet her?
she giggles. "nice to meet you, haru."
haru knows he should invite her to walk with him or something, but he wants to know her brother's name. he needs to know. "who's behind you?"
gou snorts and smiles a bit. "that's rin. my brother."
rin. rin. rin. rin. rin. rin. haru wants to wrap that name up in his heart.
"hey! don't introduce me, little sister! i can do that just fine on my own. yeah, i'm rin. good to meet you," rin says.
haru meets his gaze. his eyes are still as striking as ever and haru honestly wouldn't mind getting completely lost in them. he gives him a curt nod and then holds out his arm for gou, who takes it happily. he looks away from rin then.
her arm feels warm, but it still makes haru shiver a bit.
he can still feel rin's gaze piercing his back as he walks away, his sister on his arm.
{past}
"Hey, Nanase! You going swimming again?" Haru keeps walking. He knows he should just ignore them.
Aoaki's friend calls out, "Nanase, where're you going?" Haru just needs to ignore them.
But then suddenly, he can't. A strong arm is pulling him back and he's on the ground again. The three of them tower over him and Haru just wants them to leave him alone. They sneer down at him and Aoaki raises his arms, a basketball in them, to throw at Haru's face.
Haru wants to cry.
"Hey! Stop!" a voice calls and suddenly, there's a flash of red that slams into Aoaki. Haru blinks up at the boys in shock. What's happening? The boy that slammed into Aoaki is pushing himself off of Aoaki and scrambling to his feet before glaring down at Aoaki. "What do you think you're trying to do, huh?"
Aoaki snarls and stands up, towering over the other boy. Haru looks down, knowing what's about to happen and not wanting to see it.
"Yeah? And what can you do about it?"
"I don't think I can do that much but that teacher over there can," Rin says. "And if you punch me then I'll tell them the truth with this guy here as my witness. You can be expelled, you know."
Haru's gaping at the boy now. That can't possibly work, right? These boys weren't afraid of anything. Haru glances at Aoaki and is surprised to see that's he's paled considerably.
Then, he's gone.
Haru watches as they run off and turns back to the boy with the weird hair. He's smiling down at Haru and holds out his hand.
Haru takes it.
"Yo," the kid laughs. "I'm Rin. You?"
"Haru," Haru responds softly. Rin smiles even wider.
"Well, Haru. Here's to me vowing to protect you."
Haru doesn't think he's ever felt happier.
{present}
'I want you to be safe.'
'Please let me protect you.'
'Call me anytime.'
'I'll be there when you need it.'
'You're pretty amazing, you know.'
'I love you.'
Haru didn't mean to be out walking so late. He didn't mean to run into them. He promised Rin he'd stay away and that if he did somehow manage to meet them that he'd manage to get away.
But then again, Rin promised to be here for him, and he's not. He's on the other side of the world, visiting his grandmother.
So, even though, Haru called out his name at least thirty times over as he continues to get kicked, he knows he can't hear him.
As Haru watches as they run off, blood streaming from his mouth, all he can think about is how Rin broke his promise.
{prince's tale}
"what are you doing in here? you're not supposed to be in here!" haru hisses when he sees the familiar redheaded boy entering through his window. it's not like it was difficult for rin to get it. haru lives on the first floor, but he knows he can't be here.
rin stands up straight, wiping off some of the dust from his pants and smirks at haru. haru can't help but notice those pointy teeth again.
"come on. we're going exploring," rin says.
"no, we're not," haru immediately responds, crossing his arms. rin rolls his eyes.
"yes, we are. come on, haru. please?"
"no. i don't even know you."
"haru," rin sighs. "don't wait for the world to be ready. you need to find what you're looking for yourself."
haru stops breathing at that. what's he supposed to say to that? what is he supposed to do?
"what's that mean?" he asks, a little less hesitantly this time. rin definitely notices based on the way his eyes seem to light up a bit.
rin smiles. haru thinks he's gorgeous. "it means we're going exploring."
haru takes his hand.
{past}
Haru doesn't like crying. He always ends up with dry eyes that hurt too much to keep open and a pathetic feeling in the pit of his stomach.
And that's how the boy from last time, Rin, finds him.
He's sitting on the ground, against the warm brick building of his school, knees brought up to his chest, and he's sobbing. He doesn't get it. He doesn't get why people are so mean to him.
He just doesn't understand.
"Hey," Rin says, sitting down next to Haru even though Haru didn't ask him to. Haru tries to stop crying, but he can't. Rin puts his arm around Haru and pulls him toward him, trying to soothe him. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here. You're safe."
Haru sniffs a few more times, but he's finally able to calm down. He made Rin all sticky and snotty, but Rin doesn't seem to care. Haru thinks Rin is very strange.
"I just don't understand why they all seem to hate me," Haru finally admits, almost feeling shy about it, which is a little strange since he's not shy when he's with people he likes.
Rin is different though.
"They just can't understand true beauty," Rin says. Haru blinks. That's not what he was expecting him to say at all. He was expecting maybe a laugh, or something dumb, or a distraction. Not that.
"Where'd you get that?" Haru laughs out softly. Rin rolls his eyes.
"My grandmother used to tell me that," he says. Haru nods. He doesn't have a grandmother. Maybe that's why he's so sad all the time.
"That's cool," Haru says. Rin nods.
"Yeah. It is," he agrees. "She's right by the way."
"I hope so."
{prince's tale}
holding rin's hand is like swimming through an ocean of sweet fire and haru loves every bit of it. exploring with rin is fun; a secret thing they only do in the dark when his sister and haru's parents are sleeping.
it's what keeps haru alive for the next few weeks.
he still has to meet with gou although he refuses to kiss her. he doesn't like her like that. it's not like rin.
rin makes haru want to kiss every inch of him, but when he's with gou, it's like nothing at all.
he feels absolutely nothing.
and that's terrifying because when he's with rin, he feels absolutely everything.
{present}
Haru expected Rin to be there when he woke up, but when his eyes opened and light streamed in and the pain settled, he realized he wasn't. It's even worse because no one found him. He's not in a hospital or somewhere safe where he could have somebody else call Rin and explain to him what's happened, but instead, he's still laying on the ground, barely able to breathe, move, even see. It's as if he's not even there.
Maybe he doesn't even actually exist.
Haru sits up, wincing at the movement, tears pricking at his eyes. He's covered in his own blood and Haru blinks several times trying to focus on what's happening around him.
He wishes Rin was here.
He's not.
Haru doesn't even think he is.
{past}
"Haru! Wait up!" Haru stops walking and turns to see Rin again, rushing toward him. Haru's walking to the pool so why is Rin here?
"Rin," Haru says when Rin catches up to him. Rin laughs loudly and pants a few times, settling into the pace next to Haru.
"Where're you going?" he asks, shouldering his backpack again. Haru just stares at him with pursed lips.
"Nowhere," he finally says. Rin raises an eyebrow.
"No, seriously. Where're you headed?"
Haru bites down on his lip and looks down. He shouldn't tell Rin, but for some reason, he wants to.
"The pool," he mumbles.
"You're going to the pool?" It's the disbelief in the voice that makes Haru keep his head down. He's already preparing himself for the insults to come.
They don't come.
"That's awesome! I love swimming! What do you swim? Free? Butterfly? Backstroke? Or maybe breaststroke?"
Haru's taken aback by all of his knowledge on the sport and it's not like he does it professionally. He doesn't even know what breaststroke or butterfly is. He just swims.
"Free," he answers and Rin grins in response.
"That's cool! I'm trying to make butterfly my main, but free is my backup main just in case. I try to practice both just to be safe," he exclaims and Haru watches his face light up as he continues on to talk.
Rin talks to Haru the entire way over there and even though Rin called Haru weird for wearing a swimsuit underneath his school clothes, it's not in a mean way.
Actually, he says it in a way that Haru thinks he likes.
{present}
The next time he wakes up, he's in the hospital and Rin is sleeping in the chair next to his bed. Haru smiles. He's here. He was a little late, but he's here.
It's as if Rin knew he woke up because he shifts a bit and pops one eye open, yawning loudly before abruptly stopping when he notices Haru.
"Haru!" Rin exclaims, jumping up and rushing even closer to his side at once. Haru grins at him, wincing.
"Rin," he says.
"Oh god damnit, Haru! What the hell?! Do you know how worried I was? I mean, I'm halfway across the damn world when I get a phone call from a hospital telling me about a recently admitted Haruka Nanase! You can't scare me like that! Especially when I'm on the other side of the planet!"
"Sorry," Haru says. And he is. He's just so sorry to Rin and so so thankful. Rin huffs and runs a hand through his hair wildly.
"Yeah, yeah. Just don't do it again, okay?"
"I'll try," Haru agrees, smiling softly. Rin rolls his eyes and sits back down.
"So…what happened?"
"I don't remember," Haru lies.
"Bullshit. What happened?" Rin responds immediately. Haru sighs.
"It was them again," he admits.
"Wait…you mean…?"
"Yeah."
"Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!" Rin screams, making Haru jump. Haru stays quiet, not quite sure what to say. Rin's gotten in plenty of fights with them before all to protect Haru and here he is, beaten and bruised. Rin goes quiet and stares at Haru's bed for a few seconds. Haru doesn't even breathe. "Haru?"
"Yeah?"
Rin's still not looking at Haru not even when he asks, "How would you like…I mean… do you want to leave?"
"Leave?"
"Yeah. I mean this place. We've been here for our entire lives and I just think…I just think you'd be happier if you left."
Haru doesn't say anything and Rin shifts a bit, uncomfortable. Does Haru want to leave? Yes yes yes. With Rin? Yes yes yes.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay, Rin."
And honestly, it's worth it just to see Rin's eyes light up.
{past}
Rin kisses him after they've known each other for three years. Rin had just turned twelve and it was Valentine's Day. Haru was eleven and in love. It was also then when Rin promised to always protect him.
Haru would never forget it.
{prince's tale}
it's when rin tells him he wants haru to stay with him forever when haruka nanase realizes that he's in love with him. it's a terrifying realization, but it's also comforting. it's comforting for him to know at seventeen years old, he's able to fall in love with someone so incredible.
he was just so lonely before in that darkness of his mind. it's as if rin was his compass. rin would help guide him and would never let him be alone again.
if there was one thing haruka nanase was sure about, it was rin matsuoka.
he told gou first because haru felt that he owed her something. it was surprising when she just smiled and admitted that she's known for a long time. she even said they looked cute together.
now, he just needed to find a way to tell his mother.
but he couldn't wait. he just can't wait anymore.
and it was a thursday. it was a thursday when he told her. the sky was blue blue blue and the wind was only visible in the trees. it was a nice day and haru entered her room at eight in the morning. she wasn't awake yet and when he stepped inside, the tile of the floor cold to the touch, he saw her sleeping so peacefully.
and then he was sobbing. it was just another place to explore, he kept thinking. he needs to find what he's looking for, but…he was afraid she wouldn't love him.
this was his biggest journey. a journey into her heart. and as he completely broke to the ground, his mother was there, hugging him tightly, whispering words of comfort into his head, and he realized his heart was in her hands.
he just needed for her to say that it was okay. he needed to know that it was okay to love rin matsuoka.
it had to be okay.
he cried in her arms for a long while and the only thing he said was, "i love him."
and all she would say to that in response was, "and i love you."
haru felt like flying.
{present}
Rin wrapped his hand around Haru's as they settled into their seats on the airplane. Haru was seated next to the window, so he had a perfect view of the city they were leaving behind. His entire past was this city and here he was, leaving it behind. He was letting his past go and it made Haru want to cry for a minute, but then Rin squeezed his hand and smiled at him, and Haru knew that he just had another story ahead of him.
The monsters in his head couldn't get to him now.
{future: prince's tale}
rin matsuoka and haruka nanase were declared the country's kings fourteen years later, twelve years into their marriage and six years into their parenthood. and it wasn't like how haru grew up. it was everything he would read about in fairy tales where the princess would marry the prince and have a happy ending. the only difference here was that rin was also a prince.
but it's not like that mattered. all that mattered was the smile on both of their faces.
{future: past and present}
When they moved into their new house, Haru found a book of fairy tales. Sitting down and flipping through it quickly, he noticed a story entitled "prince's tale". Haru read it in twenty minutes, absorbing the words quickly and when he finished, Rin found him as a crying mess. And even though Rin asked what happened, Haru couldn't show him the story. It was his story. Maybe one day though. Rin asked what the book was, but all Haru could say was, "Book of fairy tales. I guess the people before us left it behind." It pleased Rin and he went back out to get more boxes.
It was later on that night that Haru remembers the most.
"Hey, Haru?" Rin asks in the darkness of the night as they lay wrapped in each other.
"Yeah?"
"Remember when I said I was going to marry you?"
"Yeah," Haru responds, voice quiet.
"Well, can I finally keep that promise?" His voice sounded nervous and Haru smiled into his shoulder.
"Yeah, Rin. I'd like that very much," he says.
Rin laughs and they move even closer. It's perfect.
Almost like a fairy tale.
"Don't wait
for the world to be ready
who says you can't explore?
who says you can't explore?
Don't wait
for the world to be ready
find what you're looking for
find what you're looking for"
-excerpt from Don't Wait by: Joey Graceffa
*Well, that was super fun to write. I really recommend you go and watch his video if you didn't do it when I said earlier you should and if you haven't seen it yet. This story is entirely based off of it.
Anyway, I love reviews *hint, hint*
also, expect another rinharu oneshot soon. there are love letters involved.
bai guys :)
-DiAnna44
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