I woke up, breathless and terrified. I had a horrible nightmare about being bullied as a gay teen in high school. That was always my greatest fear. I was dropped from my high school football team when the couch discovered I was gay. Apparently, somebody made up a story about how I groped him in the shower. My deepest, darkest fears manifested in my dreams. I hated how they made me feel. I sat up against the headboard and rubbed my tired face. My nightmare didn’t stop there. I also dreamed that I was famous and on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The fans worshiped me and followed my every move. I was fucking famous with a capital F. It felt so good to be on top of the world. My ambition in life was to become inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Our reputation was golden so I knew we’d make it to Cleveland someday.

We were on our way to Australia when the band and I received a bunch of messages and alerts. People magazine and US Weekly featured me on the cover with the word -gay- written in big bold letters. The bastards outed me. My phone buzzed with calls and messages. A shit storm was unfolding around me. A huge chunk of my fans walked away from me. It was a nightmare within a nightmare.

My band mates and I had a blowout over the whole gay thing. We canceled our Australian tour and headed back home. Our record sales dropped and we broke up and went our separate ways. All because of one word. My nightmare felt so real to the point where I woke up feeling angry and disappointed. I ran my fingers through my tousled hair and checked my watch. It was ten in the morning. Today was our final day in Raplen. I climbed out of bed and padded barefoot to the bathroom. Talking to Danny about my childhood last night must have opened the door for those terrible dreams. I stripped out of my boxers and entered the shower stall. No one understood the struggle I went through in order to get here. No one.

I took a quick shower and packed the rest of my stuff. There were a couple of Polaroid pictures on the coffee table. I picked them up and searched for Danny. They were part of the souvenir package they gave us last night. It featured an expensive bottle of wine, a mini Polaroid camera and a rose gold photo frame with Lizzie and Mark holding up a thank you note. I took the picture with Prince Charming in it and stuffed it inside my pocket. Opening up to him last night was so damn easy. If only things between us were that simple.

I finished packing and went downstairs. The smell of eggs and bacon drifted from the kitchen. I walked in to find my band mates gathered around a great breakfast spread. There were omelets, pancakes, fresh bread and leftover cake in the middle of it all. Danny stood by the stove with a yellow apron wrapped around his waist. He looked so fucking sexy. My nightmare flew out the window the moment I saw him. He flashed Cassie a smile and poured steaming coffee into her mug. I imagined him in nothing but that flimsy apron and my cock was totally into that. If no one was around, I would have bent him over that table and fucked his brains out.

“Good morning.” I greeted everyone before sitting next to Theo.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” He snickered. “You almost missed out on all of this delicious food. You should try Raplen’s take on cinnamon rolls. They’re fucking delicious.”

“Coffee?” Danny casually offered. I nodded and raised my empty cup for him to fill. “I would like to apologize in advance because I’ll be unable to take you to the airport. One of the royal servants from Lockridge palace will pick you up instead.”

He refused to meet my eyes while he spoke. I watched him sit down at the head of the table and chat with Cassie. He was blowing hot and cold but I had no right to complain. I was the one who insisted on keeping things in the dark, not him. Theo gushed about the wedding and the breakfast some more. None of us were used to eating such fresh, homemade food.

Danny cleared his throat. “I would like to thank you all for coming. You made Lizzie’s wedding all the more special. She called me this morning and made me promise to send you her warmest regards.” He glanced around the table but those ocean blue eyes avoided me like the plague. “I would also like to remind you that the invitation is still open for the Jubilee. Queen Emmeline is looking forward to your answer.”

Danny finished his orange juice before excusing himself to check on his horses. He said goodbye real quick and left in a hurry. Did he seriously leave without acknowledging me? I frowned and filled up my plate with food.

“I would gladly turn queer for Prince Danny.” Theo joked. “Just as long as he cooks for me on the regular.” He added.

I shoveled eggs into my mouth while I listened to them make funny jokes about him. They were unbelievably obtuse. I quickly finished my breakfast and stormed out of the kitchen.