Chapter Three

It has been a year since what happened between them. In the beginning they were distant with each other, and then it was as if it never happened. Renly retreated out of fear and Loras because he was too proud to admit he was hurt. They still remained friends. The boys never talked about that evening again.

As the time passed by they still had some romantic moments, but after a while Renly would break them. Loras became devastated and bitter about it. Now that the Lord of Storm's End was eighteen he had more duties than before, so they spent much less time together.

Time apart from Renly made the young squire dispirited. He only saw his Lord briefly when he prepared meals for him, or not at all. Loras knew that it was not Renly's fault they weren't able to spend time together, but he was still upset and angry at his Lord.

The squire sat down beside his window and admired the beauty of the sunset while thinking about his Lord. A soft knock at the door pulled him out of his thoughts. In the dark Loras saw the plump shape of Renly's servant. Molen made a little bow and said, "Lord Renly wishes to see you."

Loras rolled his and mumbled, "Finally."

Molen closed the crimson door behind them, "Follow me to the armory."

The armory was located in the same large tower with the granary, barracks, feast hall, and Lord Renly's chambers. The huge tower was crowned with formidable battlements, so that from a distance enemies could see what appears to be a single huge, spiked fist thrusting towards the sky in defiance.

Since Renly's chambers were in the highest part of the tower, he had the best view at the sea. Renly used to invite Loras over just to share the view of his squire. They would spend hours talking and laughing while looking through the window and sitting on the window ledge. The memory of these moments brought even more anger to already irritated Loras.

When they entered the armory Renly was dressed. He was not wearing his usual armor, this one was forest green with gilded antlers rising from his helm. Loras's mouth dropped oen as he was staring at the bright shade of green covering his Lord from head to his feet.

Speechless he studied his lord. Although he was still mad at his Lord for ignoring he liked what he saw. In his stubbornness he decided not to show his admiration and ignore the Lord the way he had been ignored.

"You wished to me, my Lord?" He asked, coldly. He stood there like a statue.

"That I did, Loras," the Lord smiled genuinely, "Do you like my new armor?"

He turned around several times to present his new corselet. The move reminded Loras of his sister Margaery presenting him her new gown. Then Renly went on about the colors and shape of the armour and all the fashion details, but Loras didn't pay much attention. Instead he glared at his lord.

"—and like I said I want them all to see it the way I do, but I'm not sure that's possible since they have no sense of fashion at King's Landing which is—"

Renly wanted to continue but was cut off by his squire.

"King's Landing?" Loras asked in disbelief.

Renly rolled his eyes and continued, "Yes, Loras, King's Landing," He paused, "my dear brother and his lovely wife invited me for the Royal Tourney and since I am not the most gifted swordsmen I might look dashing instead. You know there must be something for the people to remember you by and I'm sure it's not going to be my talent."

Renly joked about how he missed his brother and how charming Queen Cersei was. He finally stopped talking when he noticed how little attention his squire was paying to him.

"I'd like to have a word with my squire in private."

The Lord looked at the guards and blacksmiths, "I won't need your service. You are dismissed for a night. Get some sleep. We leave at sunrise."

Loras waited until they were alone before asking the question that was in the back of his mind, "Why would you buy yourself such armour if you're not even planning to fight?" Loras said aggressively in Renly's direction.

"What do you mean? It is expected of me to take part in this tournament," the Lord looked confused.

"It's not about taking part, but about winning, my lord," Loras explained angrily which made his Lord roll his eyes once again.

"Be serious," he started, "There's no chance for me to win it."

Renly removed his helmet and placed it on the table lightly. He brushed his hair with his hand and looked at his disgusted squire.

"Since you're not even going to try then I guess we'll never know," with that Loras looked away angrily.

"I will hear no more of it. I want you to pack your things. You're going with me to King's Landing."

"Wh-What?" Loras suddenly became excited, "but I have no armour." His face was suddenly resigned again.

"I already took care of that. Haven't you ever wondered why you didn't receive any gift for your last name day from Highgarden?"

He actually didn't. Loras was too busy training and dreaming about Renly to ever notice.

"I've been exchanging letters with your father and we decided that it's time for you to test these skills of yours I hear so much about from you," he rolled his eyes, "and since you're not only representing yourself, but also Highgarden and Storm's End I wanted you to look adequately."

Renly studied the expression on his squire's face. At first he was curious, then amused, excited and now it was pure happiness all over his face. Not only was he about to get a new suit of armour, and a chance to spend more time with Renly, but he had a chance to fulfill his dreams. Tourneys and duels were something he longed for since he remembered.

"Let me see it, Renly," young Tyrell made it sound like an order. Renly playfully punched his squire's arm.

"Haven't I told you something about commanding me?"

Both of them smiled almost at the same time recalling the memory. Then the Lord took his squire by the hand and led him to the other side of the room where the magnificent piece of art was exposed to Loras. The beauty of his armour took his breath away. The armour was lustrous and wrought with jeweled flowers.

"Your father wanted something which would symbolize Highgarden so I suggested flowers," Renly paused for a moment, his face turned red, "I hope you like it," and he looked away.

"I love it. It's perfect, Renly," said Loras informally. Loras finally moved his eyes from the armour to his Lord, "besides a great knight needs armour," he added.

"You're not even a knight yet," Renly snorted with laughter.

Loras ignored the remark and moved closer to Renly, wrapping his arms around him.

"Thank you, Renly," he whispered right into his Lord's ear.

Loras softly kissed Renly's cheek and there was a moment when their eyes met. It looked almost as if it was in slow motion, but to the Lord it all happened so fast. Loras pressed his lips strongly against Renly's. When the Lord tried to escape it, his squire put his hand on the back of his head, his fingers into his hair, he pulled Renly even closer. This made Renly's heart beat even faster. It lasted a few more seconds until Renly broke the kiss.

Loras has the largest grin on his face. He tried to kiss Renly one more time, but he didn't let him. That was it for the squire. The boy gave his Lord the most resentful look he could.

"Loras," Renly begun to squeak, but was cut off by his squire one more time.

"Just shut up, my lord," he hissed angrily and then the tears started to build up in his eyes. Renly reached his hand to grab Loras's, but he pushed it away. Renly had never been this broken. The Lord tried one more time to calm his squire down, "Look, I didn't mean too—"

"I DON'T CARE!" his squire yelled hysterically which made his Lord even more devastated.

"Loras, please—" but once more before he could finish…

"No," his squire said and moved a few steps away. There was a long awkward moment of silence which was finally broke by Loras.

"Are you aware of what you make me feel?" He asked with a cracked voice, but before Renly could even think of something to say Loras continued, "Can't you see that I'm in love with you?" He looked his Lord deep in the eyes.

That was the moment when Renly lost it. He ran over to Loras, hugged him as tightly as he could, and tenderly spoke the words into Loras's ear, "Loras Tyrell, I've had feelings for you since the day we met." He felt his squire relax a little, but he was still tense, "I never felt this way about anyone before and the moment you kissed me was the happiest moment of my life."

He gently switched their position so that he was able to look Loras in the eyes. He took his face into his hands.

"I only broke it because I didn't want to force you to do anything, I care about you far more than you probably think." He kissed his forehead, "I love you, Loras."Loras was still sobbing quietly which concerned his Lord greatly. "What is it, Loras? Is there something I can do?"

His squire just pressed against him to eliminate the rest of the distance there was between them and he whispered, "I just want you to love me," He tightened his arm around Renly's chest.

Renly brushed the brown curls with his fingers and watched Loras bend to the touch, "I always will. I promise." And with that he kissed his cheeks, his forehead, his nose, the jaw line, and placed a long soft kiss on his lips.