Day 13: If My Heart Was a House

A/N: Here is another chapter set in the Snow King verse. This is mostly Blaine-centered, but there is a bit of Klaine at the end.

If my heart was a compass, you'd be North…

Growing up as a prince afforded Blaine certain luxuries: a beautiful palace to live in, nice clothes to wear, a pony when he was little and a horse when he grew older – basically, everything he could ever want. With a few short words, he had effectively surrendered all of those things, but he didn't really care. The only luxury he wanted now was the first that had been stripped from him: time.

He slammed the thick, wooden bedroom door behind him, leaning against it and panting heavily. He'd run all the way from his father's study, but it wasn't the exertion that left him breathless. It was the combination of relief and terror. Examining his feelings would have to wait for another day, however. He didn't have the time now.

Swiftly pulling a bag from his wardrobe, he began gathering the clothes and other items he would need. His mind raced, but he had to be smart. It wasn't like he could come back if he forgot something.

A creak from the other side of the room alerted him to Sebastian's entrance. His friend took in the sight of Blaine packing, and frowned. "So, I'm guessing that didn't go well," he observed, plopping down on the foot of the bed.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Seb, don't," he snapped.

"Hey, Blaine, calm down. Tell me what happened," he requested calmly.

"I can't calm down! Don't you see? I have to go." Blaine kept packing throughout the conversation, putting this shirt in and then taking it out, only to replace it with another.

Sebastian caught him by the wrist, demanding his attention. "Come on, it can't be so bad that you want to leave."

Blaine sighed, pausing for a moment to face his best friend. "I didn't say I want to go. I said I have to go," he clarified.

Understanding began to dawn on Sebastian's face. "You don't mean…Blaine, what happened?"

Blaine sat on the bed beside him, staring down at his fingers as he toyed with them in his lap. "He wants to marry me off. He said there's a Lady Something-or-Other who is coming to visit next week, and he expects a betrothal before her visit ends. We argued, and I told him I had no intention of proposing to her or any other woman, for that matter."

Blaine paused, steeling himself to tell the remainder of the story. "He was angry, I could tell. He asked me why I never wanted to get married, and I told him…"

Blaine faltered, his hands beginning to shake. Sebastian reached out, placing his steady hand atop Blaine's trembling ones. "You told him?" he prompted.

"I told him I'd be happy to marry – once I find the right man," he whispered.

Blaine held his breath, expecting Sebastian to withdraw his hand, to pull away in disgust or rebuke him as his father had. Instead, Sebastian remained steadily at his side. "Then what did he say?"

Blaine's head snapped up in shock. He regarded Sebastian for a moment, but found no traces of ill will in his eyes. "He banished me. I have an hour before he sends the guards to drag me out. He screamed that he wouldn't have someone 'like me' ruling or living in his kingdom. He said…" Blaine stopped short. No, he wouldn't give value to his father's hateful words by repeating them. "I think you can guess the rest, actually."

Sebastian nodded sadly. Giving Blaine's hand a final squeeze, he stood, hauling Blaine up at the same time. "Okay, then. I'll meet you back here in half an hour."

"What? Why?" Blaine questioned.

Sebastian gave Blaine one of his signature smirks. "I'm going with you, stupid," he quipped. Before Blaine could protest further, Sebastian stopped him, his voice suddenly sober. "If he cannot accept the nature of his own son's heart, it's only a matter of time before he comes after the rest of us."

It took a second longer than it should have for Blaine to understand what Sebastian had just admitted. He'd had his suspicions, of course, but neither of them had ever spoken of it. Blaine chalked it up to his own confusion, convincing himself that he was projecting his own feelings on his best friend to make them more understandable.

Without another word, Sebastian slipped out the side door through which he had entered. By the time he returned, Blaine's bag was packed and he was looking at a map spread out across his desk.

"So, Your Highness, where are going?"

While Blaine hadn't planned on coming out to his father today, he knew it was an inevitability. He also realized it was unlikely that his father would react well, and the notion of needing a place to which he could escape was not far-fetched. They may be leaving in a rush, but their destination was one he'd chosen long ago.

Tracing his finger across the map, Blaine pointed to their goal.

"We're trekking all the way up to the North? Why there?" Sebastian asked incredulously.

Why, indeed. It had been easy to eliminate possible locations when he began searching. After all, most of the rulers of the surrounding kingdoms were close allies of his father. Even if their personal opinions differed from his father's, he couldn't imagine any of them going against him to help Blaine. By process of elimination, the North was seemingly the only choice.

At least, that was the explanation he gave to Sebastian. It was all true, but there was another reason that guided his footsteps northward. He called up a collection of memories, years and years held, of a visit from the King of the North and his young son, the Prince, when Blaine was around five or six years old. While the two regents met, Blaine was given the responsibility of entertaining their young guest. He recalled offering a variety of games and activities, but the fair-haired boy had been most excited about having a tea party in the garden. Wanting to be a good host, Blaine agreed to do what the visitor wanted. He had enjoyed it more than he expected he would. He also remembered finding the young boy across the table from him rather pretty, which seemed to young Blaine an odd thing to think about another boy, but the word fit.

He had even complimented the Prince on the clever way he'd tied a swatch of brightly-colored, striped fabric around his collar in a bow. The Prince had been so thrilled by the praise that he immediately untied the fabric and looped it around Blaine's neck, attempting to tie it in the same manner. He hadn't quite succeeded, but he did a fair job and sat back, a satisfied smile on his fair face.

All too soon, the two boys heard yelling coming from inside the palace. The King of the North stormed out into the garden, telling his son they were leaving at once. The small boy protested, but his father insisted. The last memory Blaine had was of the boy waving goodbye to him, tears beginning to cloud his bright blue eyes.

A chime from the mantle clock stirred Blaine from his reverie. He rolled the map up carefully, securing it with a strip of brightly-colored, striped fabric and stowing it safely in his bag. It was time to head North.

A/N: inspired by the song prompt "If My Heart Was a House" by Owl City. The lyric quoted at the beginning is a line from the song.