Theo Glass stood in the bedroom he had occupied since childhood, anxiously thumbing between various pages on his phone screen. His main focus was the one displaying his bank balance. It wasn’t pretty.

He chewed his lip and looked up at his Kylie Minogue poster. Over the years, most of his teenage decor had been updated with less embarrassing knickknacks. But Kylie had never let him down. He couldn’t get rid of her.

“Oh, babe,” he said softly with a sigh. “It’ll be all right, won’t it?”

Unsurprisingly, Kylie said nothing. But her fabulousness perked him up regardless. He could do this. He just had to believe in himself and his dogged determination to spin gold out of hay.

“Theo?” his nan’s voice called through the closed door. “Everything okay?”

Theo glanced at the time. Shit. “Just finishing getting pretty,” he called back cheerfully, locking his phone screen and slipping the mobile into his pocket.

His nan chuckled from out in the hall. “It does take a while,” she teased.

“Oh, you cheeky cow,” Theo cried back fondly. She knew he was just playing.

He took a few seconds to glance in the mirror and pull at a couple of strands of his blond hair. Today wasn’t about him, but it wasn’t every day you got to go to a genuine palace. Or meet a bloody prince.

His nan would be the one shaking his hand, of course. But Theo was still excited to see Prince James in the flesh. Even if he did think the Royal Family was kind of pointless, he’d have to be blind not to acknowledge that James was an absolute stunner.

Theo smoothed his suit down and made sure his best shoes were properly tied. Normally he would shove his feet into a pair of Converse, even with a suit. But as much as he was willing to try his luck down the clubs on a Saturday night, something told him the palace wouldn’t have much wiggle room on their ‘no trainers’ policy.

Right. He needed to get the two of them out the door. He already had the tube Travelcards for the day and just enough in his bank account to take Nan out for a proper lunch afterwards, just so long as they didn’t go crazy. He’d get paid in a few days, so he could last until then. There was no way he was going to make this day anything less than amazing for his nan, so he didn’t want to give her any reason to worry about a thing.

Except when he finally left his room, she was nowhere in sight.

“Nan?” he called out.

But she wasn’t in her room or the bathroom, so he jogged downstairs to the ground floor of her two-up, two-down council house she’d long since bought for herself. It had been Theo’s home for most of his life, too. But he still couldn’t help but think of it as ‘Nan and Grandad’s’, even if it had just been Theo and his nan for almost twenty years.

“Nan, we have to go,” he called out, poking his head into the lounge. It was as neat as ever, with every doily and china ornament exactly where it should be.

Theo frowned. The journey into London would only take forty minutes according to Theo’s travel app, but he didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Getting an Honour from the Queen like an MBE was a once in a lifetime honour. He wanted to be early, with not a hair out of place.

So, of course, his nan was off out in the garden, watering the azaleas in her lilac dress, heels and big fancy hat.

“Nan,” he cried in exasperation as he dashed outside. “Don’t be daft. You’ll get all muddy and we’re going to be late.”

She waved him off and smiled. “You worry too much,” she said with a laugh, jiggling the hose. “Besides, the poor things are parched. I’ll just give them a little sprinkle and we’ll be on our way.”

Theo opened his mouth to protest, but there was no point. Nan did things her own way, she always had. And, yes, her obliviousness of trivial things like time and money had got them into more than one pinch. But it was her big, kind heart that had won her an honour such as a Member of the Order of the British Empire. This was her day, and if it made her happy to care for her flowers before they left, then Theo would have to just bite his tongue and try not to check his watch too many times.

She was always putting others first. It should come as no surprise to him that today would be no different.

Instead, he made sure all the windows were closed and locked, the curtains were partially pulled and a couple of lamps were on. The summer days were long now, but he wasn’t sure what time they would be heading back.

Mercifully, by the time he had the house secure, his nan turned off the water. “Come on then, glamour puss,” he said. He skipped up to her and looped his arm through hers so he could gently, but determinedly, guide her through the house and lock up. “We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”

She hummed and patted his hand. “It’s a lot of fuss,” she said. He caught the hint of anxiety in her voice. “Are you really sure they didn’t make a mistake?”

When you were selected to receive an honour from the queen, they let you know several months in advance. Theo had been organising all the details for half a year. What his nan was really asking was whether or not she was worth it. Typical.

He smiled down fondly at her, squeezing her for a hug on the front door step. “No mistake, Nan. You just let the nice prince give you a shiny medallion and tell you how brilliant you are.”

She frowned and squinted up at him in the sunshine as he locked the door and pocketed the key. “It’s a ribbon, isn’t it?” she asked, practical as always.

Theo chuckled. “Yeah, but medallion sounds fancier. Imagine if it was, though. You could pawn it off to old Terry down the Rose and Crown pub and make a bit of cash.”

His nan thumped him lightly with her old leather handbag. She’d insisted she didn’t need a new one, despite this one being fifteen years old and all cracked along the handle. So Theo had stayed up half the night polishing it.

“You cheeky sod,” she said. “You’d swap anything for a rum and coke, wouldn’t you?”

Theo winked. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said innocently.

“Mrs Smith!”

Theo and his nan turned to see Theo’s best friend since forever, Asali Indra, hurrying up the path, puffing and out of breath. “Sal!” Theo cried in delight, opening his arms out to automatically hug her. They’d met the first day of senior school and despite having almost nothing in common had been joined at the hip ever since.

Sal took a few deep breaths and patted Theo’s chest with the bright pink envelope in her hand. “I thought I’d missed you,” she said, pushing her glasses up her nose, the arms vanishing further into her hijab. Knowing Sal, Theo was impressed she even remembered what day of the week it was. She was always studying for her veterinary qualifications, day and night.

“We’re just heading to the Tube now,” Theo said pointedly. They had an hour and a half to get to the palace, but still.

Sal nodded and pushed the card into Theo’s hands. “I won’t keep you, then. I just wanted to say congratulations again, Mrs Smith, and give you this. I need to pop to the shops for Mum anyway. It’s like whenever I’m back from uni, she’s terrified she won’t get enough time to fatten me up again.” They all laughed.

Theo was glad Sal going to university hadn’t come between them. He still wished he could have gone as well, but money like that was out of the question. Besides, he was perfectly happy working for his nan at her charity helping LGBT youths get back on their feet at halfway houses. Although, ‘working’ did imply a proper salary.

“I’ll just chuck this back inside,” he said, holding up the envelope and fishing his keys out. He didn’t want to bring it all the way into London with them when it wouldn’t fit in Nan’s purse.

Sal blinked and wiggled her fingers. “Uh, maybe you could take a peek inside at the card first. Mum wrote a message for you, Mrs Smith.” She rose her eyebrows and walked backwards down the garden path. “I’ll catch you later, yeah?”

Theo frowned as she waved and scampered off. She knew Nan wouldn’t be able to read anything without her glasses, which would undoubtedly be lurking at the bottom of her handbag somewhere. They didn’t have time to find them. But maybe Theo could read the message aloud to her before putting the card safely back inside.

Sal hadn’t stuck down the envelope, so he opened it easily and looked inside.

The card was covered in messages, no doubt from several neighbours. But what caught Theo’s attention was the thirty quid in ten-pound notes nestled inside.

He quickly blinked back tears, not wanting his nan to see. Cheeky cow. Sal knew he’d never take money from her, but damn it, now it meant he could take Nan out for a proper celebratory lunch and not worry.

“Love you, babe,” he murmured before smiling at his nan. “Half of bloody Becontree estate has written to you,” he said with a laugh and waved the card. “How about we read it later with a cup of tea?”

“Oh, sounds lovely, dear,” she said. “Though we’d better hurry now, hadn’t we? I don’t want to be late.”

Theo refrained from mentioning anything about watering azaleas and chuckled instead. “Right you are, glamour puss,” he said.

He wasted no time unlocking the door and dropping the card onto the table where they usually left their keys and post. But not before he slipped the much-appreciated money into his pocket.

He offered his nan his arm so they could begin their walk to the Tube in the sunshine. So far, this day was going pretty well. He smiled to himself thinking how if he met a real-life Prince Charming, it would be absolutely perfect.

That was never going to happen, but a boy could dream.