A/N: Read & Enjoy & Review. Thanks for those who have reviewed and thanks for faving my story too :) I love all of you!
Noctis rubbed his chin, he haven't gotten any paperwork done this week. There were huge piles of the paperwork on his desk surrounding him. There were papers all over the room's floor.
Noctis sighed. This was going to be a long day. He took a pile of papers and started to read them. In the first pile were a lot of pleas. He hated to work on them, they made him drowsy.
He had to read the first, and then consider what he should answer. Yes or no? After that he took a copy of the paper and signed the both papers. Then he sorted them in their own piles.
And repeated that, again and again and again…
He couldn't concentrate, he wasn't a patient person. Now when he was using the antibiotics he didn't want to get into trouble again by mixing them with alcohol. He had promised that to himself two times now. He sighed.
He went to the doorway and shouted to one of the maids "Hey, get some coffee for me! Go, go! I don't have all day" He shouted and went back into his office.
He wasn't a coffee person; he just thought that it would help him to stay awake. The maid came in with the tray. There was coffee and cookies on it.
"Do you want to me to serve this to you here your highness?" The maid asked looking around for a place to place the tray.
"No, you can place it here." Noctis swept one pile of papers off the desk.
The maid looked at him abashed and placed the tray there were the papers just were.
"Thanks, now get out of here" Noctis said rubbing his forehead.
"It's my pleasure your highness, have a good day." She bowed a little and exited the room.
Noctis reached to the coffee cup to take a sip. He knocked the coffee cup over, burning his hand.
"Dammit!" Noctis yelled out loud.
He wasn't too sure what he should do now, he was never taught what to do in situations like this. When he was a kid, he always had babysitter or someone else to look that he wouldn't do anything stupid or hurt himself. When he got himself hurt, there was always someone who made sure his wounds got treated.
Now when he was an adult, he didn't accept any help if he got wounded or something. He was lucky that he had Prompto. Prompto's father was a medic, he taught Prompto how to heal people so he had all knowledge he needed to heal people.
Noctis ignored the burn in his hand. It'll be fine.
Noctis touched the wound on his neck, it was still sore, but it have gotten better. He barely even noticed that he had it.
That made him to think about Lightning. He wanted to know, that how she was, but he hadn't seen her since last week.
He rose up from his chair went to the hallway and headed towards to Lightning's room.
Noctis knocked Lightning's room's door. Lightning came and opened the door.
"Hi." Noctis said
"Um, hi." Lightning answered.
Silence.
"So why did you come here?" Lightning asked
"I can't work." Noctis blurted and he blushed of the embarrassment, he tried to come up with a proper answer but he ended up making himself look like a fool.
"Gosh I don't even know how to talk to people, especially to girls. I made myself to look so stupid in front of her eyes." Noctis thought, he started to regret that he even came there.
Lightning had very questioning expression on her face.
"Umm, come in then." Lightning opened the door for him.
"Thanks." Noctis said with little huskier voice to make himself to regain the remaining pieces of his self-respect and manliness.
"...No problem, this is your room at the end of the day." Lightning said.
"Please stop that, I don't want to be treated like that just because I'm the prince." Noctis said. "This is your room."
"I'm sorry." Lightning sat down on a chair and Noctis sat down on the chair opposite the chair where Lightning was sitting, he didn't dare to go any closer.
"Um, can I ask why everything here is black? You are always wearing black clothes too." Lightning asked.
Lightning looked from head to toe. He was wearing black jeans and black v neck t-shirt. He also had that biker glove on his right arm all the time. Even though his clothes were too black for her taste, they looked quite good on him. He looked good.
Lightning couldn't do anything but just to admit that he was handsome. His eyes were dark blue and intensive, his jaw line was very strong and rugged. His shoulders were broad and his back formed a v shape, he was quite muscular too and he was tall.
Lightning liked his hair, even though it was almost pitch black. She liked the fact that his hair had a slight trace of blue in it. She liked the natural shape of his hair; she had never seen anyone having that kind of spikes in anyone's hair.
His traits were ideal. He might be the most handsome guy she had ever seen.
Lightning woke up from her daydream.
"Stop staring at him, you look ridiculous when you're staring him like that." Lightning thought, trying to clear her mind again.
Noctis answered. "I'm not sure, I guess I like black or something." Noctis stared the floor and twiddled his thumbs nervously.
"I see. What did you mean when you said that you can't work?" Lightning asked, the situation made her to feel really awkward.
"Uhm well..." Noctis tried to come up with an excuse "I-I can't concentrate, I have too much to do and think about at the same time." Noctis stuttered.
Noctis just wanted to see Lightning, he was too shy to admit it.
"I'm sorry to hear that, maybe you should take a day off so you could relax a little so it would be easier to work the next day." Lightning said.
"It sounds good, but I can't take a day off, I'm the prince. I must looks after this kingdom, every day." Noctis sighed.
"Princes need a day off sometimes too. You're straining yourself too much." Lightning said.
Noctis was enjoying himself when he was talking to her, she didn't seem to care how awkwardly he behaved. On the other hand he felt really nervous since we was constantly trying to think what to say and when to not to embarrass himself.
"Maybe I'll take a day off, tomorrow or something I'm not sure. It would help me a lot. Thanks." Noctis sighed.
"No problem." Lightning smiled.
"Um, is there something that I can do for you? Is there someone you can spend time with here? I don't want you to be lonely." Noctis asked and he felt his face turning red and he changed his position so that he could cover his cheeks a little with his hands without looking like a complete jerk.
"I guess Prompto will follow me anywhere I go, he's an interesting person." Lightning said. "And sometimes very annoying. Sometimes I feel really irritated that he's always following me from place to place." Lightning smiled.
"Oh okay..." Noctis said silently. He wasn't too happy to hear that, he would want Lightning to spend time with him, not with Prompto. But in principle it wasn't even possible, he had too much other things to occupy himself.
"Okay, well umm...How old are you?" Noctis asked and rubbed his jawline up and down nervously.
"Haha it's not polite ton ask questions like that from a acquaintance." Lightning smiled.
Noctis looked at Lightning for a second looking little embarrassed and confused and then he concerned on staring at the floor again. "Ha-haha...I-I'm sorry." Noctis stuttered awkwardly.
"Good Noctis, Good. You shouldn't have said that idiot." The voice inside of his head said. Noctis would have wanted to take his words back.
"I'm joking, don't be so serious." Lighting said. "I'm quite old already. I am 21 years old." Lightning said with a slight laughter.
"T-That's not old, that's the best age you can be in." Noctis said little sadly." Don't waste it."
She could hear lubricious tone of his voice, she was little worried.
"How old are you then?" Lightning asked.
"I'm 22." Noctis said. "I'm 23 in December."
"That's not old either, you're just 2 years older than me." Lightning said. "What day have you born?" Lightning asked.
"24th" Noctis said, he hoped that she wouldn't start to talk about Christmas, he had been almost picked on because he was born in Christmas.
"So you get a birthday and Christmas presents at the same day? How cool is that." Lightning smiled.
Noctis sighed. "I haven't gotten presents, not since my mom died." Noctis said. "I'm a grown man."
Lightning looked at him surprised. "Oh...how old were you at the time?" Lightning asked.
"Six." Noctis said.
"What?"
"What what?" Noctis asked little annoyed, he didn't like to talk about his childhood. He would rather to forget all about his childhood if he could.
"I feel so bad for you, Christmas is one of the best moments of the year for kids because they get presents and other nice things. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't even have time to enjoy it." Lightning said looking at Noctis feeling compassion for him.
Noctis turned his head away, he couldn't look at her even though he would really wanted to. Noctis tried to look somewhere else but straight to her. Noctis knew that it was impolite to not to look at the person while you were talking to her or when she was talking to him. Noctis just couldn't do it, he was struggling to talk to good looking people, he didn't feel himself good enough to be spoken to, they'd judge him right away.
"Is everything okay? Why are you so nervous?" Lightning asked.
Noctis lifted his head to look at Lightning. "Y-Yes I am, sorry. I just...I have a lot on my mind." Noctis said trying to smile with his face red while Lightning was looking at him with questioning look.
"Like what?" Lightning asked. "Don't worry you can tell me, I'm not a therapist, but at least I can listen to you."
"I'm sorry to cause so much trouble, I should be talking too much of these things to you, you'll get bored and depressed." Noctis said. "I-I-"
"No it's okay, go ahead." Lightning said.
"I just have the feeling that I'm so old already, life have gone past so quickly and I haven't done pretty much anything." Noctis said rubbing his neck.
"Don't be sad, you have a whole life ahead of you. You have time to do all kind of things, what you want." Lightning tried smiled. "What's wrong with you? You have everything you want and still you seem to be so unhappy."
"I have to get married soon. The kingdom needs a king. I'm lucky that my father didn't have time to arrange me a marriage...I really umm." Noctis said nervously. "I don't think that I don't want to marry anyone yet."
"What do you mean that your dad didn't have time to arrange you a marriage?" Lightning asked.
"He disappeared suddenly when I was 16 years old and he didn't come back. Some people still believe that he will return, but I've been told that we cannot wait any longer so I must marry someone so I will become the king what people need. I have no way out." Noctis ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.
Lightning was stunned. "He was so young when he had to start to take care of the kingdom. He couldn't do any things what other young adults did." She thought.
Lightning understood why he was so sad.
"Come here."Lightning got up from her chair and come in front of Noctis and grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him up. Lightning wrapped her arms around him hugged him.
Lightning haven't ever hugged a complete stranger before, but she felt like he needed it.
That came out of the blue. Noctis wasn't sure what to do. This was a first time he had gotten hugged by some girl who wasn't his relative. He felt so awkward, she felt so tiny and fragile next to him so he didn't know how to hug her properly, even hugging somebody was so hard thing to do.
Noctis responded to the hug, trying to be careful and trying to keep his breathing at the same pace as before, but her smell and the fact that how close she was made him to breath little too fast to be normal.
She smelled like raspberry, honey and orange blossoms, she was perfect she smelled and looked astonishing and she had an unutterable personality. Noctis wouldn't have even dreamed about getting so close to a woman like her. Noctis could believe how close he had gotten to her, he would just have wanted to kiss her and look how she'd enjoy. It was a shame that he couldn't touch her more, but this had already saved his day or a week or many many weeks. Noctis felt himself getting a strange warm feeling inside, he blushed of the embarrassment and tried to clear his mind.
"Don't squeeze so tightly." Lightning said.
Noctis loosened his grip. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you? Are you okay?" Noctis asked concerned.
"Dammit I'm hopeless. I always do something wrong. It's no wonder that nobody doesn't want to spend time with me." Noctis cursed to himself he'd just wanted to punch himself.
"Don't worry, I'm completely fine." Lightning said
"I-I'm sorry." Noctis stuttered. "I umm...Can I-?"
Noctis shook his head a little. "I uhm, sorry I-"
"Dammit say something idiot." Noctis punched himself mentally.
"Is everything okay?" Lightning asked.
"No- I mean yes, sorry I'm just tired." Noctis said.
"H-Have you slept well?" Noctis asked "Does your wound hurt? Tell if you can't so I can get you some painkillers or something."
"Don't worry, I'm okay." Lightning said.
"I'm happy to hear that." Noctis smiled stupidly showed his teeth, she could be lying but he was happy that she didn't hate him because what he did. He could be wrong too, but he decided to ignore it.
"Wow, how are you teeth so white?" Lightning asked. "Why don't you smile more?"
"I-I didn't know." Noctis blushed.
"Didn't know?"
"I didn't." Noctis said.
"Why don't you smile more then? People can't see how nice smile you have." Lightning smiled.
Noctis stared at her, he couldn't believe how could she behave in such a friendly way, just like nothing bad had never ever happened.
"Thanks, I've never heard anyone saying that." Noctis said. "Why aren't you angry to me? I don't understand."
Lightning looked at Noctis with a little questioning expression on her face. "Should I be then?" Lightning asked little confused.
"No, no I didn't mean that." Noctis said. "I just want to know why are you so kind even though I've harmed you so much."
"I just don't feel like sulking right now." Lightning sighed. "It doesn't mean that I would be completely okay with it but if you are really wanting to get better and you're providing me help then I can forgive you. I think or hope that people can change, some can some can't."
"Really?" Noctis asked confused.
"I guess so."
Noctis hugged Lightning. "I'm so sorry, I know that I can never be sorry enough but I feel so myself so stupid because what I did to you. I never should have done it, I don't want to hurt women but I did it anyways, I'll blame myself the rest of my life. I hope that you will forgive me, but I'm okay if you don't." Noctis said.
"Eh, don't worry about it, you don't have to be so over dramatic." Lightning patted Noctis' back. "Can you let go of me?"
Noctis pulled himself back, even if he wouldn't have wanted to. "I'm sorry." Noctis blushed.
"Are you always like that?" Lightning said. "No offend."
Noctis lifted his head a little to look at Lightning again, he felt how hot his face was. "I-I don't know." Noctis said. "I just-, I guess that...sorry I don't know." Noctis said and shook his head slightly because his awkward answer.
"That's interesting." Lightning said.
"Is there something what you like to do? I mean something like painting, playing instruments or something? I can get everything you want for you, just let me know. I'd be so happy to give you something that you like." Noctis said.
"...I'm okay, thanks." Lightning sighed.
"Is something wrong?" Noctis tried to collect the pieces of his manliness and try to look after her like a man should.
"Nothing, thanks."
"Don't lie to me please. I want to make you feel as comfortable as possible, okay?" Noctis said.
"I guess that I could have use for painkillers, it starts to hurt if I move too much." Lightning said. "Sorry that I didn't say that before, I don't want to complain."
"Please tell me if you really need something, even the littlest thing. I'll get you some painkillers." Noctis said.
"Thanks." Lightning said. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Noctis said. "Do you mind if I uh-"
"C-Can I touch you? I mean that can I just touch your waist a little so I know how bad your wound is?" Noctis looked at Lightning.
Lightning stared at Noctis with questioning expression on her face and Noctis turned his head when he realized what he had just said, he felt so embarrassed.
Noctis rubbed his neck. "I uh- Sorry I shouldn't have asked that. I'm stupid sorry." Noctis tried to take his words back "I'm concerned."
"No it's okay." Lightning said.
Noctis looked at her confused. "Oh..." Noctis said. "Thanks, I guess." Noctis tried not to smile.
Noctis placed his hand on her waist carefully his hand trembling a little.
Lightning grabbed him by his wrist and moved it to the other side of her. "Wrong side." Lightning said.
Noctis blushed. "Oh...I'm sorry." Noctis said and slid his hand along her waist.
"She's so slender, I can't believe how cowardish I was when I summoned my swords, it was unfair. If I hadn't used my skills, I would be dead. She is really good fighter and she haves a lot of power, even though she's so small." Noctis thought.
Noctis didn't really feel good even though she had let him to touch her, he felt bad because now he knew how much he had hurt her, he didn't know that he had hurt her that much.
"...I didn't know that it was that bad..." Noctis whispered. "Does it hurt a lot?" Noctis asked.
"Don't worry, it's not like I'm gonna die because of it." Lightning said.
"Are you sure?" Noctis asked.
Lightning moved his hand away. "Yes..." She said.
"How about umm...Do you need clothes or make up?" Noctis asked. "I don't mean that you would need make up, you're so pretty anyways." Noctis blurted.
Noctis put his hand over his mouth and his face went as red as it can go. "I-I..." Noctis stuttered.
"Relax okay?" Lightning said. "Thanks, I don't use make up but I'd appreciate it a lot if I'd get some clothes...I don't really have any other than these."
"I'm sorry, I can't behave how I should. I'm the prince, I shouldn't behave like this. I'm so sorry, I must try to be more formal." Noctis took a deep breath. "I'll get you some new clothes, what designer do you like the most? I can get you to shopping or I can hire a designer to do something unique for you."
"Huh?" Lightning asked confused.
"Is everything okay? I can go to buy some clothes for you too, just tell me what you like." Noctis said.
"What? Designer clothing?" Lightning asked.
"Yes, designer labeled clothing. Which designers do you like?" Noctis asked.
"...I'm not sure what you mean." Lightning said. "I use normal clothes."
Noctis was puzzled. "Eh, what do you mean?" Noctis asked.
"I don't understand what do you mean." Lightning said and sat down on the sofa.
Noctis sat next to her and took his jacket off. "Wait." Noctis said and showed the tag with big M kind of letter on it to Lightning.
"Look, do you know this designer?" Noctis asked.
"No I don't." Lightning said.
"Really?" Noctis looked at Lightning surprised.
"Really."
"Don't you have any?" Noctis asked.
"No, I've never heard of designer clothes." Lightning said.
Noctis was silent for a moment. "How strange." Noctis said. "Do everybody in Cocoon use clothes like you have?" Noctis asked.
"Yes." Lightning said. "You're silly.
"Wow..." Noctis said. "Only poor people here use non-designer clothes." Noctis said.
"Oh." Lightning said.
Noctis thought about it for a moment before he realized what he had just said.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend." Noctis said. "Please forgive me, I'm used to this way of living. I'll get you some designer clothes for you, every label I can find so you have lot of options to choose from."
"Don't worry, I'm not really poor. I have really good wage in Cocoon, but in general Cocoon is so poor place that we don't have this kind of stuff. Everything here is so fancy." Lightning said.
"I'll give you money so you can buy something nice from here." Noctis smile.
Lightning stared at him. "I don't want your money." Lightning said strictly.
"Huh?" Noctis looked at Lightning and Lightning looked at him, Noctis blushed and turned his head away.
Lightning turned his head so that he had to look at her. "Can you look at me when you talk to me?" Lightning asked. "Prince."
Noctis looked at her his cheeks red, he felt really uncomfortable because their faces were so close to each other and she would now see how nervous he was.
"I-I'm sorry miss." Noctis said, he couldn't really concentrate on anything else but looking at her and admiring how beautiful she was.
"Miss?" Lightning chuckled.
"Y-Yes Miss Farron. I apologize." Noctis said shyly.
"That's so funny." Lightning smiled. "But I'm not taking any money, okay? End of story."
"Okay." Noctis said.
"Why are you suddenly being so humble? Shouldn't I because you are a royal and I'm not? I should obey you right?" Lightning asked.
"Oh, no no." Noctis said quickly. "Please don't. I'm just trying to be polite, I'm really sorry if I offended you. I don't want you to look at my rank Lightning, okay?"
"Alright your highness." Lightning said.
"Please don't" Noctis said.
"Sorry."
"Don't be sorry." Noctis said and stretched out his jacket to Lightning. "Do you want to try it on?" Noctis asked.
"Um, okay." Lightning said and put his jacket on, which smelled as good as Noctis did.
"I guess that it's little too big." Noctis smiled.
"Yeah." Lightning said and eyed the jacket. "This is really nice jacket, it looks really good on you but you should buy something more colorful too." Lightning said and and almost managed to get the jacket off when Noctis adjusted the collar of the jacket a little.
"No no, I don't need it. Please keep it." Noctis said.
"Huh?" Lightning looked at Noctis like he would be lunatic.
"You need something to cover your shoulders with if you get cold. Just because you don't have any other long sleeved clothes. Don't worry, it looks perfect on you. Isn't it good that women can wear men's clothing without looking stupid?" Noctis said.
"I don't-"
"Please." Noctis said. "It's brand new, from the prince." Noctis smiled, he didn't feel as nervous anymore as before.
"However." Lightning sighed.
Awkward silence.
"So umm do you think that I'm treating you nicely enough?" Noctis asked. "I mean uh, I'm a prince so I should offer you all the things what I can offer to you...I'll do whatever you want me to do." Noctis said.
"Wow you're so weird." Lightning said.
"Sorry." Noctis said.
"That's so funny, I wonder if all the princes are like you. Do you have a white horse too?" Lightning smiled.
"I can get one." Noctis said.
"Yeah you're pretty weird." Lightning said and got up. "Sorry, I should go to brush my hair and stuff, I promised to go to see Prompto after he comes from work.
Noctis got quickly back up too. "Wait." Noctis said and looked at her admiring how beautiful she was. She had really beautiful strawberry colored long hair, which matched perfectly with her flawless light skin. Her eyes were light aqua-colored, she looked so innocent. She had luscious lips, just by looking at her make Noctis feel like he couldn't just hold back anymore, he wanted to kiss her so badly.
"What is it?" Lightning asked.
Noctis blushed. "I just- I-I" Noctis stuttered. "Y-You're really pretty." Noctis said.
"Um, thanks." Lightning said.
"Can- Can you give me a hug?" Noctis stuttered and came a little closer.
Lightning took a step back. "Uhm, why?" Lightning asked.
"I...I just haven't hugged anyone for so long time...it makes me feel little more important in a way." Noctis blushed. "I know that it sounds stupid, but I haven't hugged anyone since my mom died, I'm embarrassed to say it but it's true."
"Really?" Lightning looked at Noctis surprised. "Why? You're a prince, I bet that every girl is here after you. Liar."
The last word made Noctis feel so bad. "I apologize." Noctis sighed. "Well have fun, say to Prompto or someone here if you need something, okay?"
"Did I hurt your feeling, were you telling the truth?" Lightning asked.
Noctis was silent for a moment. "Oh don't worry about it." Noctis said.
Lightning hugged him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Lightning leaned her head against his chest.
"Thanks." Noctis hugged Lightning. "I'm okay, sorry I don't really have time for anything else but for work." Noctis said.
"You need some vacation." Lightning said and patted his back.
"Yeah." Noctis said. "Am I squeezing too hard? Do you feel comfortable?" Noctis asked.
"No you're not." Lightning said. "You're like a huge teddy bear, I feel so small." Lightning chuckled.
"Oh..." Noctis said. "I'm little tall, sorry." Noctis said.
"You're so funny." Lightning laughed.
Noctis wasn't sure what to say.
"Is everything else okay?" Noctis asked and rubbed her back. "Do you have back pains or something like that? I can get masseur if you want."
"...No I'm okay." Lightning said.
"Alright, is there anything else that I can provide for you? Anything you want." Noctis said and stroke her cheek and slid his hand along her neck. Noctis just kept staring at her lips, he'd just wanted to lean forward and kiss her.
Lightning grabbed him by his wrist and moved his hand away.
"Everything is fine. Thanks." Lightning said. "Maybe you should go now."
"Lightning, I-I …" Noctis stuttered.
"Yes?" Lightning looked at him.
He blushed. "Uh I just I-...It's nothing" Noctis turned his head away.
"I guess that I have to go back to work." Noctis said. "You can pay a visit to me if you want, even if I'm working. I can take a coffee break or something, I usually don't do that because I don't like sitting alone doing nothing, but it would be nice to have a coffee break with someone." Noctis said.
"I'll keep that in mind." Lightning said.
"Thanks for listening me, I'm happy that you are okay with talking to me. I was afraid that you wouldn't forgive me and I wouldn't have change to get to know you better just because I was an idiot" Noctis said.
"Thank you for not killing me." Lightning smiled.
"Well, see you later." Noctis said and headed back to his office.
"Bye."
Noctis was sure that he wouldn't be able to work today.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Lightning stood on the balcony. She was watching the city which was surrounding the castle.
The city was so dark, only the slight amount of light radiating from the windows of the buildings were separating them from each other.
"What's wrong with this place really? Do Noctis really want to his kingdom to look like this? The city looks pretty dead." Lightning wondered.
"Is he really okay?" Lightning thought.
"He always says that he's okay, but it is hard to believe, because he looks so sick all the time, he was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes, he didn't look like he would be healthy."
"Maybe I should pay him a visit, just to see how he is doing. He said he wouldn't mind if I'd visit him while he was working." Lightning said to herself.
Lightning started to head to Noctis' office walking down the hallway. Prompto had introduced the castle to her one day, after he came from work. Prompto was really friendly but otherwise his personality was really odd. Well Lightning still liked him, he had so high self-esteem and he was sometimes really childish, he always managed to make her smile.
Lightning came to the door of Noctis' office. She knocked the door.
"Who is it?" Lightning heard Noctis asking.
"It's me, Lightning." Lightning said.
"Oh...Please come in." Noctis said.
Lightning opened the door. She gave a glimpse of the room. It was very messy, papers all over the floor and piles of the papers on the desk and on the shelves of the cabinets.
Lightning was shocked when she saw a huge amount of liquor bottles on the floor and in the basket next to his table. Lightning didn't understand why he had a liquor cabinet in his office. That was just crazy.
Noctis sat in front of his desk resting his head against his hand. He ran his fingers through his messy hair.
"I'm glad that you came here to see me. Sorry I didn't have time to clean up." Noctis slurred.
Lightning wasn't glad to hear how he spoke even though his voice was silky and calm.
"Are you okay? Lightning asked.
"Yes, you should stop being so worried about me." Noctis straightened his position.
"I can't help it. Why are here so many liquor bottles?" Lightning asked.
Silence.
"I-I'm not sure." Noctis stuttered.
Lightning came in front of him and lowered herself to his level and brushed his locks off his face. She stroke his cheek and held his head in place. His breath smelled like alcohol.
"Noctis, are you an alcoholic?" Lightning asked looking into his eyes concerned.
Noctis flinched, he was nervous when she was so close to him. Then he remembered what she asked.
"Dammit!" Noctis cursed in his mind.
"No, that's ridiculous." Noctis said. He didn't want to her to see that he had problems with alcohol, but he felt so stupid because it was obvious that he had problems. Any normal person wouldn't drink that much. And no person wouldn't drink when they were working.
"Don't deny it Noctis. I can see that. You are pale and you have dark circles under your eyes, you look sick all the time. Now I know why you look like that. You drink too much, your body is begging for mercy. Your hair is in very bad condition and so is your skin." Lightning said to him seriously. "You have to moisturizer and a good hair conditioner, I will buy those for you and it's not gay to take care of yourself. You gotta stop drinking. This isn't healthy anymore."
Noctis looked at Lightning, he didn't know what to say, she was right. He couldn't deny it, there was too much proof.
"Lightning, I-" Noctis muttered.
"Say it."
"I am unhappy and stressed. I don't have time to do anything fun, I just work from day to the night, it's killing me. Alcohol makes me feel better, it keeps me going." Noctis admitted staring the floor. Noctis blushed, he felt so embarrassed. "I'm sorry...It's pretty much the only thing which I enjoy of nowadays, it's the only thing I have. I don't have time for relationships or anything so I drink, it isn't anything like spending time with somebody you like, but it's something at least...I don't smoke anything, don't worry."
"How humiliating" Noctis thought.
Lightning couldn't believe that the prince was alcoholic; she knew he was having a hard time looking after the kingdom, but she had never expected that he was an alcoholic, she only thought that he had been in a bar or something at the first day they met.
Lightning drew Noctis into a tight hug, and drew him closer to let his head rest on her shoulder. Lightning ran her fingers through his hair. "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine. I will get you some help." Lightning leaned her head against his chest
"Gosh he smells good." Lightning thought. He smelled like musk and cedar, mixed with the smell of alcohol which smelled in his breath but didn't ruin his scent, he still smelled astonishing.
Noctis hugged her back, now more gently than the first time. He didn't want to hurt her. "Thanks." Noctis whispered into Lightning's ear. "I'm sorry that you had to see this, I'm little drunk now so if I do something stupid then please leave."
"It's okay." Lightning said and stepped slightly back trying to give a sign to Noctis to loose his grip. "Let me go already." Lightning chuckled.
Noctis pulled himself out of the hug, he was a little disappointed. He would have wanted to hug her a little longer.
"You know I don't like people using my name with the word 'your highness'." Noctis smiled a little.
"Okay your highness. Do you think you can continue working now?" Lightning asked.
"Hey I actually meant that!" Noctis said with a little higher voice tone. "Sorry I didn't mean to raise my voice to you." Noctis rubbed the back of his head nervoysly.
"I can try, but I might write on the table." Noctis smiled a little. "But can you stay here a little longer?" Noctis blushed.
"Why?" Lightning asked.
"I-I just like to have you around. I'm always alone." Noctis' voice was shaking. "You can leave too, it's okay. I'm so tired anyways that I might fall asleep, I didn't sleep well last night."
Lightning looked Noctis into his eyes. He really wanted someone to keep company with him. He must have been lonely, working continually alone…
Lightning couldn't say anything but yes, she understood how he felt.
"I will stay here with you if you want to. I have time." Lightning answered.
Noctis smiled. "Thank you so much." Noctis said and sat back on his chair. "Would you like to drink something? I mean coffee or tea? Or something else? We have all kind of drinks and the chefs can make you a milkshake or whatever you want, do you like ice cream?" Noctis asked.
"No thank you. I can clean up here a little, I guess that it's nicer to work here when it isn't so messy." Lightning said.
"Please don't strain yourself, I can clean up later." Noctis said while he was trying to organize his papers. "I'm used to this, I never have time to finish all the papers in time, I guess that the oldest ones are brought here 2 years ago and more are brought in continually." Noctis said.
"No, you have to work, I can clean up." Lightning said and started to pick the papers up and piling them up.
"...Okay, but don't do that just because you're trying to be nice, you're too kind already." Noctis looked at her.
"It's my pleasure." Lightning said. "You should get rid of that liquor cabinet, it doesn't belong here."
"I know, but I can't stop drinking right away. I'll get horrible abstinence symptoms." Noctis said. He didn't like to speak about this subject, but he know that she was right. "I've tried once, but it was like going through hell, it's not easy."
"You don't have to stop drinking all of the sudden. You must reduce the amount you drink at a time, you can't drink a whole bottle at once." Lightning said while she was tidying the room.
"Can you help me?" Noctis asked.
"What?"
"Can you help me to stop drinking?" Noctis almost whispered.
"Well, I can try. I'm not a professional so I'm not completely sure what should I do." Lightning answered. "How are you getting doing?" Lightning asked and walked behind his chair and peeked over his shoulder.
Noctis' hand was shaking, he was nervous. She was so close to him that he could feel her breath tickling his neck. It made him shiver a little.
"Are you cold or something?" She asked,
"N-No, I'm not. My back just hurts." Noctis tried to come up with an excuse, but that sounded ridiculous. "I'm sitting on a chair all day, all night. It's no wonder why I'm behaving like this."
"Try to sit straight." Lightning said and laid her hands on his shoulders and massaged his shoulders. "Does this help?" Lightning asked.
Noctis took a deep breath. It felt so good when her careful hands massaging his shoulders and upper back. It made his muscles relax. He felt his shoulders to drop down a little when the tension released from his back and shoulders. He moaned silently, he didn't know that it would feel so good.
Lightning had a hard time massaging him, because his broad shoulders and muscular back. His back felt very hard, she could feel it through his t-shirt, his fat percent must have been really low since his muscles stood out so well, he was in really good shape even if he said that he didn't have time for anything but for work.
Lightning blushed when she realized what he was thinking.
Lightning let go of his shoulders.
Noctis took a deep breath and stretched his arms a little.
"Gosh that felt good." Noctis thought and sighed.
"Did that feel good?" Lightning asked.
"Yeah, I enjoyed really much. Thanks." Noctis smiled.
"When was the last time you got a massage? The muscles of your back felt like they were stuck of something." Lightning said.
"I've never had a massage." Noctis answered.
"Wow. You should go to get a massage now and then, it makes you feel so much better." Lightning said to him.
"Yes I noticed that." Noctis smiled.
Lightning tapped his cheek lightly "You should smile more, it makes you look better too." Lightning smiled.
"You have a pretty smile too." Noctis blushed.
"Thanks." Lightning said stroked his cheek. "Please don't drink so much, it's not good for you. Tell me if you are having a hard time working so I'll try to help you. You can take a day of sometimes so I can go somewhere if you want and if you think that that would help you." Lightning said.
"Really?" Noctis asked surprised.
"I understand if you don't have time though, I just wanted to let you know." Lightning said.
Noctis turned around in his hair and he got up, he tripped but he managed to not to fall over.
Lightning grabbed him by his wrist. "Be careful to not to fall over." Lightning said.
"O-Of course I have time." Noctis slurred. "Sorry I ehm...I'm so happy that you want to spend time with me, I haven't been to the city for a long time. I'd be so happy if you'd come with me." Noctis smiled.
"Good, maybe you should try to work now. Take a break between every hour or so, you can try to relax or drink something but not alcohol, do you understand?" Lightning asked.
"Yes I do." Noctis said. "I feel so good that you're the one to tell me to what to do." Noctis smiled.
"You're so strange." Lightning said. "I'll come later to see how you're doing, if you've drank then things will turn ugly." Lightning said.
"I won't, I promise." Noctis said.
Lightning stroke his cheek. "Attaboy." Lightning chuckled and left the room.
Noctis held his hand on his cheek, he felt so good, she had told him that she could spend time with him, that was what he had always wanted.
Noctis smiled and sat back on his chair and he started to work on his papers again.