Chapter 4 - James Cares (Posted 5 March 2011)
A/N: Sorry I've been neglecting this story. It's a little difficult to balance five stories at once especially when two are in the same fandom lol. But hopefully this chapter is worth the wait :D
"I've never seen anyone cry so many tears." Kendall said as he continued to watch the Prince sob in his arms.
"I've never cried in front of anyone before." James admitted in a small voice.
"What?"
"Since I've been old enough to understand that royalty never lets others see their pain, I have never cried in the presence of anyone other than myself."
"That's so sad." Kendall said, almost ready to cry himself. "You're just a kid. Kids cry. That's what hugs are for. Whenever I cry, my mom or one of my brothers is there to comfort me. And I'm there for them. That's what families do."
"Not my family. As far as I know, my parents have never hugged me."
"That's horrible."
"It is not. That's how it is. I can't imagine one of them actually stooping down to hug me. And I wouldn't go out of my way to hug them. It's nothing personal, it's just not how a prince should conduct himself."
"Well I think that's stupid. A prince should always be willing to show compassion. People like it when you recognize their feelings. Maybe that's what your parents want you to learn."
"Surely it can't be that simple."
"Well, maybe that's the first step. You need to be more open about your emotions."
James finally leaned out of Kendall's embrace. "How do I do that?"
"I don't know. How about we start by you telling me how you feel right now." Kendall sat back, waiting for James to reply.
"I'm... not sure how I feel. I always just act like I don't care about anything, so that's sort of how I feel all the time."
"Ok." Kendall considered that. James had been taught to ignore his emotions most of the time. So Kendall had to teach him how to express them. How was a child supposed to do that? "I've got an idea! How about we just... do whatever it is you normally do for a few days. A few times through the day, I'll ask you how you feel and we'll talk about it. Start out small."
"I don't know..."
"James... The only way you can be prince is by becoming a better person. You want to become a good king someday, don't you?"
"Yeah. I want to be King so bad!"
"Well, you have to be a good prince before you can be King. So will you try this? If it doesn't work, we'll talk to your parents or try something else. But if it works, we'll build on that."
"But if this doesn't work, then I'll never be the king." James got the sad look in his eyes again.
"James, you have to trust me. I may not know a lot, but I do know how to be a nice person."
"I guess I have no choice, do I?"
"Hey," Kendall said, hugging him lightly. "please don't be sad. I'm going to help you. I always thought you were just a brat, but I can see that there's more to you than just that."
"You really think you can help me?"
"No. But I want to try."
X
"James..."
"Hmm?"
"I'm really, really hungry..."
"Oh yeah, I forgot." James said, standing up. "I guess we should go to the kitchens and see if we can get some food. I'm kind of hungry too, and Father told the servants not to do anything for me..."
"I'll help you! I love to cook." Kendall said happily.
"But... you're not supposed to help me..."
"You're dad said you couldn't ask me for help, I have to offer. Well, I'm offering to help you until you get the hang of things, ok?"
"Ok. Thanks." James said with big eyes.
Kendall smiled and fell into step next to James.
"Wow!" Kendall exclaimed when they entered the kitchen. It was one of the largest rooms he'd ever seen.
"What?"
"This kitchen is huge!"
"It is? It's actually quite small compared to the ones in the castles I'v visited."
"This is like a hundred of my kitchens." Kendall observed.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Some bread and water will be just fine." Kendall said happily as he looked around.
"No way! You can't just eat bread and water!" James protested loudly. "You're supposed to be my brother now. And no brother of mine will eat just bread and water."
Kendall opened his mouth to insist he could do without an extravagant meal when he realized what James said. He smiled wide and pounced on James, hugging him tightly.
"What are you doing!"
"It's called a hug, remember?" Kendall said, releasing him. "You want me to eat more than just bread. You cared. Even if it was for just a second, you still cared. That's a step in the right direction. So I rewarded you with a hug."
"Reward?"
"Yeah. I thought about punishing you for doing something bad, but I think rewarding you when you do something good will be better. That way it will encourage you to do it again. I'm just the son of a servant, so I don't have anything to give you, but you seemed to like the hug I gave you earlier..."
"So, caring about what you eat is good then?" James asked, making a mental note.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because... well, hmm." Kendall thought. He didn't really know why people are supposed to care. He just knew that they were. "Because it shows you care about the person."
"But I don't care about you." James said with a snort.
"Oh..." Kendall hung his head a little. "Well, that's not the point. The point is, for a moment you cared about something other than your own well-being. That's what your parents want. They don't want you to care about me specifically, they just want to know you're capable of caring for others."
"But, I only care about what you eat because you eating poor man's food would look bad on me."
Kendall pursed his lips. "Well, it's close. Come on, just get me something to eat. I want this day to be over." He'd thought there was more to James than what anyone saw. But now he wasn't so sure. Was he really going to be stuck with him? For how long?
"Tell me what you want to eat so I can find it for you."
"I don't know. What do you like to eat?"
"Me?"
"Yeah." Kendall looked right into his eyes. "I don't eat much besides bread. I wouldn't know what to ask for."
"I thought you said you love to cook?"
"Well, I love to help my mom bake bread and cook food for my brothers. But I don't know what any of it is. I'd have to see it to know if I like it and what to do with it."
"Well I don't know! I only know what food looks like what it's prepared."
"Well then we're stuck." Kendall said, frustrated. How was he supposed to teach the Prince how to be a good person when he gave up on things so easily. "Do you know where the cooks keep the supplies they use to bake bread?"
"Not this again..."
"James, that's all I know how to do. You don't know anything about cooking and I'm too hungry to experiment right now. And I like bread, ok? Just please tell me where the grains are."
James huffed angrily and crossed his arms, mumbling something.
"What?" Kendall asked.
"I said I don't know! I don't know where the grains are! I'm sorry, alright?"
"Sorry?" Kendall said, all the anger draining out of him as he looked at James's pouty face.
"Are you deaf or something?"
"James, sorry is good."
"It doesn't feel good."
"Of course it doesn't. It's not supposed to. But it's a sign that you care about... other people's feelings."
"I already told you, I don't care about you! I don't care about anyone."
"I don't believe you." Kendall said proudly, putting his hands on his hips. "I think you are starting to care about me but you don't want to admit it."
"You're wrong." James continued to pout and look away.
"Am I? James..." Kendall had a sudden thought. "How many people do you think care about you?"
"None."
Kendall shook his head. He'd hoped he was wrong. "You know that's not true, don't you? You're the Prince! Everyone cares about you."
"No they don't. I know what they say about me. Everyone hates me because I'm spoiled and useless and mean."
"Nobody hates you..." Kendall stepped closer. So, he thought, the young Prince does have emotions.
"Yes they do. I've heard it with my own ears. I may be young and spoiled and whatever else they call me, but I'm not stupid. Nobody cares about spoiled little Prince James who doesn't even know his way around his own kitchen."
"James, I know people say that, but they don't mean it. But, even if they do, I promise that once we show them that you're not spoiled they'll all love you."
"Yeah right."
"James, I know why you think that no one cares about you. But you're wrong. Even if nobody out there does, I do. I care about you and I'm not going to give up on you."
"You're lying."
"I am not. You have my word. I care about you." Kendall stepped just a little closer to hug him again. "See? It feels good to have someone care about you, doesn't it?"
"...Yes." James admitted in a muffled voice. "But why? Why would you care about me?"
Kendall knew that the only way to get James to change was to change the things in his life. Even if James didn't care about him, he still had to care about James. That way he could feel what everyone else likes to feel. "Because you're my friend, James."
"Your friend?" James sniffed, confused. He'd never ever had a friend before.
"Yep. From now on, we're best friends. I know you don't care about me, but I'm all you've got, so you'll just have to make the best of it."
"Fine." James said harshly. But he surprised himself when he felt a little guilty. Truth be told, James wanted a friend more than anything else in the world. And even if Kendall wasn't his ideal friend, he was the only person stepping up to the task. Surely he couldn't be all that bad.
A/N: Eh. That wasn't really worth the wait, was it? Sorry this was a little bit of a slow chapter. I'm going to fast forward a few weeks I think in the next chapter. I think if I focus on the first steps any more it'll get really boring. But let me know what you think!