Get Jiggy with it.

"There's always been something stopping me." Prompto's voice was quiet, almost inaudible over the distant sounds of celebrations. The words were pushing themselves out of his mouth, unbidden, hushed, but out they came. He didn't need to raise his voice, to speak louder. He knew that he was heard.

Noctis had joined him on the balcony. The stone railing had mostly survived the destruction of the city and the last ten years of abandonment, but he still pushed it a few times before leaning his weight on it. He stood beside Prompto, shoulders brushing together, as he waited, giving the blond time to speak, his eyes trained on the ruins of his beloved city.

There was no rush, no hurry. For the first time in ten years, they could take time to just be and all of the reasons Prompto had for not speaking, they were all disappearing, faded away with the rising of the new sun.

"Every time I thought that I could say it, there was always something stopping me." He wasn't thinking about his words, just letting them out. He knew that wherever this went, whatever he said, Noctis wouldn't leave him. For the first time in his life, Prompto truly believed that. Noctis cared for him, would hear him out and wouldn't hold anything against him, not after everything they had been through together.

Still, Noctis said nothing. He kept his eyes on the slowly setting sun – the first sunset in ten years – and waited patiently for his friend to find his words.

"You were a prince. And I..." Prompto shook his head with a quiet, tired sigh, "And I was just a commoner. It was amazing that I got to be your friend at all." He gave a soft hum, agreeing with his own words.

"Prompto..." Noct's tone was a familiar one to Prompto, his friend was about to tell him off for putting himself down again. But Prompto wasn't putting himself down, not this time.

It really had been amazing that the prince had taken the time and accepted Prompto's friendship. For anybody else, it would have seemed impossible, to have someone of such a high standing so much as spend time with them, let alone become such close friends. There hadn't been a single day in high school that Prompto hadn't questioned how he had been so lucky.

He shook his head, stopping Noct from saying anything more. "No. It's true. I was ready for you to tell me to piss off. Like 'I aint got no time for you', but you didn't." A smile found its way on to Prompto's face as he watched the sun's slow decent. "You made time for me, you became my friend – my first real friend – and you liked me for who I was. Me!" He chuckled, remembering the feelings of awe and surprise he'd felt when he was younger.

"But over time, we got closer and closer." He was speaking a little louder now, feeling more comfortable. He'd forgotten how easy it could be to talk to Noct, but now that he was, it was like those ten years never happened. It was so easy to fall back into old ways. "And it was the most amazing time of my life. Here I was, with a best friend. It didn't really matter any more, that you were the prince. You were just Noct. Sometimes, I even managed to forget that you're royalty."

He could feel Noct's eyes on him, but knew that if he looked at him, his words would stop. For some reason, standing there on the balcony, the timing seemed right. The sounds of celebrating coming from the room behind them seemed to fade away, and Prompto felt like it was just the two of them, standing in a world of their own.

"I think I was sixteen when I realised." He continued, "And boy did I freak out. But I didn't say anything. How could I? Because even though, to me, you were just Noct... you were still the prince. You had obligations and responsibilities that I couldn't help with. No matter how much I wanted to." That had been the first reason, the biggest reason. "So I stayed quiet. I stayed by your side, as your friend. And that was enough. More than enough. No matter how I felt, being there beside you... It was more than I could have ever hoped for.

"When school finished, I was terrified. I thought for sure that you would move on, get busy with royal stuff and forget about me. But you didn't. And that made it even harder not to say anything. And then..." He let out a soft breath, "And then the peace treaty came. And the terms of it. There was no way I could say anything after that. And really, there was no point. You were going to marry Luna and have a happy ever after. So I decided that I would still by at your side. Always there for you in any way you'd let me be. When you asked me to go on the trip with you, I was over the moon excited. For a minute, I even forgot why I was sad."

The sun had mostly set now. A ghost of its light fell over the ruins of Insomnia, bathing it in an orange glow. It was beautiful, if not a little terrifying. Prompto probably wasn't the only person afraid that the light wouldn't come back, and he found that he couldn't look away. Just in case.

"Then shit hit the fan and it really wasn't the time to say anything." Prompto said with a small, sad laugh, "I mean, can you imagine how that would have gone?" He asked, "'Hey Noct. Listen buddy, I know your kingdom is ruins, your dad is dead, everything you know is gone and your fiance, and childhood friend was just killed by your douche bag of a great uncle, but hey, wanna get jiggy with it?' Because that would totally have gone down well." He shook his head, still chuckling. "After that..." His words became sad again, "There wasn't really any time. We had like, one day after you rescued me and then you were gone..."

Ten years had dulled most of the hurt from that, but he still had to swallow to keep his emotions in check. He took another breath, letting silence fall around them again. Above them, the first stars began to shine, and he lifted his head to look at them.

"For ten years, I had to believe you were coming back." He spoke to the stars, "I had to keep on keepin' on, do whatever I could to keep my promise to you. Help as many people as I could, protect those that couldn't protect themselves. Make the world a better place. And I mean... It kinda worked. Nobody really cares where people were born anymore. I knew that when you came back, you'd finish what I started, so I had to make a good start.

"I pushed it away, y'know. My feelings. I had other shit I needed to do and I couldn't spare the time to worry about stuff like that. In a world full of pain and suffering, the only light I had was that I was going to get my best friend back.

"But when I saw you get out of that truck... Noct, all of it came back. It was like everything that I ever felt for you came back and hit me all at once. I wanted to say something then, because suddenly, there were no stuffy old guys that would care that you were the king. Nobody would judge you for how I felt. But... we had something we needed to do first. I could hold off for a little while longer. Until it was all over."

Finally, he turned, his eyes finding Noct's. The King was stood beside him, already facing him. His hand was gripping the stone railing tightly, but the rest of him was relaxed. Almost too relaxed, and Prompto remembered one of the lessons he'd seen Ignis give a cranky young prince. 'You must always appear relaxed. Keep all of your tension where it cannot be seen and keep the rest of your body relaxed. Project an air of confidence. Don't let them know that you're emotional.' Prompto wondered if Noct even realised he was doing it.

Their eyes met, and Prompto let down the walls he'd built around himself, stopped hiding his emotions, his feelings and let them show. This was it. Make or break.

"Now it's all over." He said, voice barely managing a whisper, "And none of the things that stopped me before... none of them matter now. You're still royalty, nothing's going to change that... But... but nobody's going to look down on you because of the way I feel. There is no peace treaty, no terms. The darkness has been banished..."

He gave Noct what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but even he could tell that it was sad. It was hard to tell though, because Noct's face remained impressively blank, like he was waiting to hear it all before deciding on an emotion.

"You don't need to say anything." Prompto assured him quietly, "And you definitely don't need to do anything... But when you went into that crystal, when you were gone... I always regretted not telling you. I don't want to regret that any more."

And yet, he still hadn't said it. He'd alluded to it, hinted at it, but he still hadn't said it. He took another breath, eyes finding Noct's for a moment before being averted. "We can forget about this, after, if you want." He said, "But I just... need to tell you."

And that was where he stalled. Froze. His eyes trained on the ancient stonework of the balcony, unable to move as he tried to push onward and do the one thing he wanted to. But he couldn't and silence once again fell between them.

"Tell me." Noct's whispered command would have startled Prompto if it had been any louder. The words were spoken with the authority of a king, but there was something else there, some emotion that Noct couldn't keep entirely hidden.

Before he could lose the little nerve he still had, before he could let his anxieties push him into a panic over what that emotion was, Prompto took another breath. He could do this. He looked into Noct's eyes and spoke, his words clear. There was no room for error here.

"I love you, Noct." There. He'd said it. Those three words that had been bouncing around in his head for half of his life, had been pushing at his teeth, begging for release, they were finally out. He had been holding on to those words for so long, that he was afraid of what would happen when they were finally spoken, afraid of the impact that it could have on their friendship.

He half expected one of the six to come out and smite him, rain down on him with bolts of judgement and cast ice to freeze him in place. How dare he sully their chosen king with his ill advised confession? Didn't he know that the King was too important for that? Or maybe Noct was trying to figure out a way to feed him to the Tide Mother without risking further damage to his city. Maybe that was what the silence was about. Maybe that's why he hadn't said anything. Then again, Prompto had said that he didn't have to say anything. He had thought that finally confessing his feelings would be freeing, a relief. But now he just felt heavier than ever, and every passing second that Noct remained silent was just adding more and more pressure to the weight over his chest.

"Sorry." He managed to say, pushing the rising panic back. This was a mistake. There was no way that Noct would be okay with this. He was his best friend. Best friends didn't just up and confess like that! Of course it was going to make things awkward. "I shouldn't have-" Maybe he should have thought of that. Thought of the way his words would make Noct feel. How could he have not thought of that? "I should just-" He started to push away from the railing, ready to head back inside and find a hole to hide in for a while, when a hand caught his own.

He looked down at it dumbly, his brain hardily computing. It took him a stupidly long moment to realise that it was Noct's hand holding his wrist with light pressure, stopping him from leaving without holding him captive. He swallowed again, looking up the arm, his eyes following the length of the limb before rising further to finally look Noct in the eyes.

Half of him expected anger, the other half, pity. What he did not expect was for Noct to use his arm as leverage, to bring them closer. His brain was reacting slowly, barely processing things, and he let himself get pulled towards the man that he held so dear.

He definitely wasn't expecting a second hand to touch him, to rest under his chin as the man in front of him stepped impossibly closer. It was only when he felt the lips on his own that his brain caught up with what was happening and supplied him with the identification of the emotion he had seen flicker on Noct's face.

Amusement. Fond amusement.

He would think on that more later, but right now, in this moment, Prompto didn't want to be any more distracted than he already was. Noct was kissing him.

Noct was kissing him.

Apparently he hadn't kissed back, because now Noct was pulling away and Prompto's frazzled mind couldn't figure out what to do. Instead, he simply stared at his king, eyes wide and body frozen. Noct had kissed him. He had told Noct how he felt, and instead of pushing him away or telling him to get lost, or laughing in his face, Noct had kissed him.

"You know... I kind of expected you to kiss me back." Noct commented, looking at Prompto with worry and flushed cheeks. He fidgeted slightly and suddenly Prompto could move again. He caught the hand that released his wrist and held it.

To look at Noct, one could forget that behind the tall, regal facade was a man who had never lived through his twenties. He had the outward appearance of a thirty year old, but his mind was still that of an awkward, fumbling twenty year old. A shy man, barely out of his teens and oh so out of his depth.

"I wasn't expecting..." Prompto tried to talk, his voice croaky with emotion. He swallowed and cleared his throat. "I was expecting for you to tell me to go away, or to laugh at me or something... not..." He cleared his throat again, willing his mind to start working properly again.

"You love me." Noct said quietly, "Not the Crown Prince of Lucis, not the King of Light. You love me." He seemed awfully sure, and Prompto wondered just how long his feelings had been obvious. Looking back through his memories of the night, Noct didn't once seem surprised. He would have to think on it later, because Noct was still talking, and Prompto really wanted to listen to this.

"When I'm with you, I'm just Noct. A man who just happens to be royalty, not a royal who just happens to be a man. Ever since we met, you've always made me feel like that. Do you have any idea what that meant to me? What that still means to me?" He gestured towards the door to the balcony, to the celebrations that were still going on inside, "Everyone else in my life, they care about me, they prioritise me, because of my bloodline. Ignis, Gladio, they became my friends because it was their job. Hell, Gladio used to hate me and Ignis used to just tolerate me. Even Luna. She wanted to help me because it was her duty, her fate to help the Chosen King. Everyone in my life loved me for my title. Son. Prince. King. Chosen. But you..." It was Noct's turn to swallow down emotion and Prompto's turn to wait quietly for him to keep speaking.

"You..." Noct's voice was quiet again, a small smile on his lips, "You never once treated me like a prince." He said, echoing words spoken so long ago. "If I had said that I wanted to give it all up, to run away from it all, Ignis would've tried to talk me out of it. Gladio would've probably tied me up somewhere but you... you would ask where we were going." His hand tightened in Prompto's for a moment. "There was always something stopping me too.." He said, "Some of it's still valid," He admitted, "And some of it probably still matters. But I don't care. Because for once, I'm making a decision about my life, not as the Prince, or the King or the chosen one, but as me."

He gave Prompto a cheeky smirk, "So what do you say? Want to 'get jiggy with it'?"