HELLO MY LITTLE KITTENS! I HOPE I DIDN'T LEAVE YOU WAITING TOO LONG! I and my friend Steph (as in Stephanie, not Stephen XD) were able to decide what John and Stephen would wear for the ball; believe it or not it was actually pretty difficult. Oh and if you can guess the song that appears in this chapter you get a cookie ;). Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 2: A Promise of Reunion

"...and Prince Eric put the glass slipper on Cinderella's foot. When the slipper fit perfectly he knew that he had found his true love. They were married the next day and lived happily ever after."

Stephen's mother closed the story book and placed it on the nightstand next to her bed. Every night Stephen would go into her room so that she could read him stories of fairy-tales and great conquests. It was always right before bed so he would snuggle up with her under the sheets until the story was over.

"Mama...how did Prince Eric know that the glass slipper would only fit Cinderella? I mean there could be more than one girl that has the same shoe size." Stephen asked.

His mother looked down at him, her red hair serving as a small cloak to both of their shoulders. "I don't know Stephen, he probably just knew."

Stephen pouted. "But that doesn't make any sense! He didn't even have to use the glass slipper to know who she was because he could just look at her face! It wasn't a masquerade ball so he would've been able to recognize her! It makes me wonder if he was actually looking at her face or something else..."

Stephen's mother laughed at her son and draped an arm over his shoulder. "Well...he was just using the glass slipper to be sure that it was her. After all Cinderella was dressed up for the ball but when he saw her again she was—" She was cut off by another coughing fit.

This one lasted much longer than the other ones and it worried Stephen. As soon as her fit was over she cleared her throat and saw how worried Stephen was. She gave him a sad smile and stroked his hair.

"Don't worry baby, I'm fine, it was just another fit. There's nothing to be worried about." She said as she leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

Even with her reassurance Stephen was still worried. His mother seemed to be getting sicker and sicker by the day. He didn't want his mother to die; he wanted her to live so that she could read more stories to him and so that they could play outside together again. Stephen's mother saw that his worried expression hadn't changed making her frown.

She sighed. "Really...you shouldn't worry about me so much." Suddenly an idea popped in her head. "You know what would make me feel better?"

Stephen's head shot up, his eyes filled with hope once again.

"Could you sing to me, like your father used to do? You know that I love to hear you sing."

Stephen blushed a little and looked back down at his hands. "But mama...what if someone hears or comes into your room?"

Stephen's mother smiled and kissed his forehead again. "Don't worry, they won't, I promise."

Stephen nodded and thought of a song to sing for his mother. The one that he thought of was beautiful but sad...and he questioned why he had chosen to sing it. But it was one of his mother's favorites.

I dreamed a sad dream
In the dream I didn't realize
That I destroyed a precious treasure
By my own hands

One day those lost memories were
Pushed to the depth of my heart
Only empty loneliness is left in me
And it's distracting my blank mind

Looking up to the sky
I reached out my arms
But couldn't touch the whiteness beyond
In the sad dream
Someone smiled and held my hands
Who was that...?

To the ends of the sky
If I could fly and look for you
I'd hold you in my arms
And never let you go
I take my oath on this…


Stephen awoke abruptly and sat straight up, immediately regretting it from the throbbing pain that developed in his head. He doubled over and held his head in his hands hoping that it would help with the pain. He felt someone put their hand on his shoulder and he jumped, quickly turning to them to see that it was only John.

"Hey Stephen...are you alright?" John said, his voice laced with worry.

Stephen rubbed his temples and sighed. "My head hurts like hell but other than that I'm just peachy."

Stephen looked around and saw that were on some kind of grassy hill that had a perfect view of the town. The moon was low in the sky meaning that the night would soon be over.

"What...was that you were singing?"

Stephen looked at John with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

John paused for a moment and gulped a little before he answered. "While you were out you began singing. I couldn't really understand all that you were singing because you were mumbling...it was something about treasure and an oath?"

Stephen blushed a light pink when he realized that John had heard him singing in his sleep. He didn't like people hearing him sing, well...everyone except his parents but they're gone now. "Oh...you heard that?"

John nodded. "Yeah...you shouldn't act embarrassed, it was actually pretty nice."

Stephen rolled his eyes at John but his blush got darker.

"No really, I thought it was really good! I mean...I didn't mean to overhear you singing but when I heard you mumble I thought that you were coming to and..." John face-palmed. "Man this is not my night."

Stephen chuckled a little. "You're not the only one..." Then his expression became serious. "I never thought someone would go and attack me like that, most times people are too afraid to even talk to me because I'm so strong." Stephen looked at John. "Did you...save me from that guy?"

John nodded. "Yeah...I heard some crashing coming from the back and went to check up on you when I saw that guy on top of you. From the looks of it he was trying to rape you but I kicked him in the head and knocked him out before he could get his hands on your pants. I didn't want him to wake up and try to get you again so I picked you up and brought you hear to rest. I don't...have enough money for a doctor, sorry."

Stephen shook his head and put his hand on John's shoulder. "No...it's fine, really, I have a thick skull so he didn't do any damage. I should really thank you for helping me. If you weren't there I don't know what would have happened, but I know it would've been bad. I owe you big time fella."

John looked at Stephen with almost a smirk on his face. "I think I have a good idea on how you can repay me."

At first Stephen was worried and thought that John would ask for something like sex, but remembered that John didn't seem like that kind of person. "And what would that be?"

John smiled even more. "Meet me here again tomorrow night, at midnight."

Stephen looked at John shocked. He was going to repay John by seeing him again? Strange...but he was grateful for it. This meant that he John could really be friends, and he needed one badly...in fact they both did.

Stephen smiled and shook John's hand. "No problem fella, I'll get here as soon as I can tomorrow."

John nodded happily. "Thanks man, I appreciate it." John turned his gaze to the horizon. "Wow...it's going to be a beautiful sunrise."

Stephen's eyes went wide as he looked at the horizon as well. Sure enough, the sun was just beginning to peak above the hills. "Oh no..." Stephen jumped to his feet. "I'm sorry to leave just like that but I really better be heading home or...I just have to get back home."

At first John just looked at Stephen suspiciously, but let it slide. He stood up and whistled and his horse Checkmate came trotting over. He walked over and pet the horse for a little while before turning to Stephen.

"I can see that you're in a hurry so I'll let you borrow my horse."

Stephen looked at John with eyes wide from shock. Did John just seriously offer him a horse? Sure it was just borrowing but still...they had only known each other for at least 5 hours or so. How could John trust him that much already? John saw Stephen's confusion and waved his hand.

"I know what it's like to have to rush, plus you couldn't steal him even if you tried. Once you get back to your house just tell him that he can go, he knows his way back to me."

Stephen looked at John with a raised eyebrow and walked over to Checkmate. He looked at John again before hoisting himself up on the horse's back. "You're absolutely sure that this is fine, right?"

John nodded. "Oh yeah, if it wasn't well...we wouldn't be having this conversation now would we?"

Stephen chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Well, thanks fella, it seems that I owe you two now."

And with that Stephen and Checkmate ran off into the direction of the estate. John watched them go until they were completely out of sight before turning back to the horizon to watch the sunrise. He was going to be in deep shit when he got back home.


Thanks to Checkmate Stephen was able to get back to the estate just as the sun was coming up. He thanked the horse and bid him farewell, the horse nodding and trudging away. Stephen wasted no time in climbing back up to his room. For breakfast he could probably do something quick and seeing how Paul wasn't in town he wouldn't have to make as much so he could probably get an hour of sleep at the most. He jumped over his windowsill and quickly pulling the homemade rope back up and hiding it under his mattress again. He sighed and sat on his bed running a hand through his hair and rubbed his tired eyes. He was about to just lie down in his cloths when something caught his eye. Oh shit...he had to clean Punk's shoes! Stephen cursed at his step-brother and trudged over to pick up the shoes. The mud had dried so he would have to beat out whatever mud he could and scrape the rest out by hand, which would take an hour at the least. Well, there goes his sleeping time. Stephen jiggled the knob on his door but to no avail, it was still locked. That means that he would have to clean Punk's shoes in his room, lovely. Stephen opened his window and beat the shoes together in the open air, the dirt falling to the ground. Once he beat the shoes to the point where there was no more loose dirt, he took out a small rug and his pocket knife that he kept in his trunk and began picking out the dirt stuck between the crevasses of the shoes. This act didn't require much movement and Stephen found himself dozing off, but he forced himself to stay awake to finish the mind-numbing work. He was able to get practically every single speck of dirt off, but knowing Punk he would also want his shoes to be shined. Well fuck him; if he wants shiny shoes he can just complain to Paul to get him a new pair. Stephen put the shoes on his counter and shook the dirt off the rug outside the window and plopped down on his bed. As soon as he hit the covers his eyes closed and he fell asleep.


John watched the sun make its appearance over the hills in the distance. He sighed and let the warm summer breeze blow through his cloths, wrapping his consciousness up in the smells and sounds of early morning. He didn't know why Stephen had felt a need to rush out of there, but he could take a few guesses. Though John knew that it wasn't because of his parents, Stephen had told him that his parents had died a while ago from sickness. He couldn't help but feel bad for the man, just thinking about it actually made John appreciate his parents more. He was lucky to have both of his parents alive and well, unlike so many orphans in the kingdom. But unlike his father, John knew the pains of the people. His father preferred to stick to the old ways of ruling which meant sitting in a castle for most of your life and only leaving for official business or to mingle. That and he wanted John to marry a beautiful princess for nothing more than arm candy, but John didn't want that. He wanted to have a friend and fall in love with them...and have a family, a family that came from love mind you, not duty. Plus as John has observed over the years he seems to be attracted to men more than women. It's not that he didn't like girls, he just preferred guys. His parents don't know about this and John doesn't intend on them finding out unless that fateful day comes when he actually falls in love with another man. Well...another man had certainly caught his eye, and that man's name was Stephen. He knew it wasn't love though, if anything it was just a small man-crush. Plus frankly anyone, male or female, had to admit that Stephen was pretty good looking. But Stephen had more than looks. John began to hum the song that Stephen had been singing in his sleep.

John sighed. "What were those words again? Looking up to the sky I something my arms but couldn't touch the something beyond. In the sad dream someone something and held my something and something else..."

John sighed again and rubbed his eyes. "Well whatever it was...it certainly was a sad song. You couldn't tell just from the words though...it kinda had a saddened tone to it."

John looked back to the rising sun. He couldn't help but feel that there was some kind of meaning to the reason why Stephen had been singing that song. It couldn't have just been something random...maybe he was having a dream about something that happened in the past? If it was it could have been when Stephen's parents passed away. Come to think of it...there was just something sad about Stephen in general. Not sad as in pathetic but...more so like the way he carried himself, almost like he's trying to hide some great pain from those around him. As if to spare them of his suffering. Whatever it was, John wanted to find out what it was and hopefully help his apparent new friend. He wouldn't pry it out of the other man though, if he did that would just make things worse. John's eyes lowered to the ground and he watched the grass sway in the wind. He wanted to help his people, he really did. But it seemed like he couldn't make a big difference until he became the king. John looked back up when he heard the soft chiming of a clock tower. He heard seven chimes and decided that he better start getting back to the palace on foot. He stopped short in his tracks however when he heard the happy trotting of Checkmate behind him. He smiled and turned around and greeted the horse with a happy pat to the head.

"Hey there buddy, I'll assume that you got Stephen home safely?"

The horse grunted and nodded with an assumed yes.

"Well that's good, I hope you like him 'cause we're gonna see him later tonight."

John climbed up on Checkmate and they rode off in the direction of the palace. Hopefully no one had noticed that he was gone.

AND SCENE! LOLZ how was it? I can't help but feel that this chapter was shorter than I intended it to be but honestly what can a simple fujoshi do? Now just a little PS in this world it is possible for men to get pregnant, but it's very rare. Why is that? Because in my world anything is possible. Don't worry, there won't be mpreg in this story...unless you want there to be. Oh I was thinking about doing a one-shot where John purposes to Stephen. I talked about it with my little sister but I'm still debating it. What do you think? It'll take place on RAW if I do write it. Reviews are love!

Love and yaoi

~ladyknights104