Boyfriends, it was a term that others had been using to degrade and emasculate us for a while now, but now it was simply the term that best described our relationship. Boyfriends, I kept repeating the term over and over in my head, a little giddy and giggly as I thought about it, though also feeling a bit strange. While I certainly was not straight, after all what kind of straight boy wears dresses and panties in secret, I also never considered myself gay in that sort of way. I had always liked girls, though something felt gay about the way I liked them, I might have even gone as far as to say I considered myself a boy lesbian. So to be dating a boy now felt very odd indeed, though there was something else about it. It felt right, not to be dating a boy, but to be dating Isaiah, in fact the more I thought about it, the less it felt as though I was dating a boy, though I was uncertain what I meant by that.

Still, I was happy regardless, so very, very happy that next morning as I laid there in bed, resting all snug and warm in Isaiah’s firm embrace. It was so peaceful in his arms, so secure, I felt as though I always belonged there, and I wanted no more than to spend an eternity being held by him. It was not the first time I had slept in his bed, but it was our first time cuddling as boyfriends, so I was quite perturbed by the sudden intrusion of my alarm going off, disturbing Isaiah’s slumber. 

With a yawn he nuzzled his face against mine and held me even tighter, “good mornin cutie,”

“Good morning,” he called me cutie. I had to return the compliment, but what should I say? “Cutie,” I mirrored back at him with a little quiver in my voice, and he squeezed me even tighter.

“Gawd you’re adorable, Bonbon,” while his compliments normally had me flustered as it was, they became an even more powerful force to fully melt my brain now that they were coming from my boyfriend. Attempting to shove my face in the pillow to hide my tomato red cheeks, I instead managed to just bring my face even closer to his, his pink and blue eyes staring at me with intense adoration.

“We, or at least I have to get up now,” I fumbled around my words, “classes will start soon,” inside I cursed those remedial classes for tearing me away from this most wonderful of scenes. 

He blinked a couple times, then grinned, “silly goose, it’s a holiday, there’s no classes today,” he crawled over me, straddling himself on top of me, “though, if you’re so eager to get up then I guess I’ll have no choice but to let you.” he started to shift as if to get up.

“No, stay!” I grabbed him by the shirt and tugged, pulling him down atop me, our faces only a few hairs width apart. 

With a sly little smile, he pressed his nose against mine, “well, if you insist,” he laid back beside me, holding me in his arms and legs, “I’m not gonna let you go!” 

My body was an inferno, my face radiating like ten-thousand suns. Where did this bode of confidence and mischievousness come from? Has he always been this suave? No, he was a blushing disaster just like me, I knew it, but now suddenly he had become some kind of god of flirting, possibly empowered by the knowledge that I desired him too. Or perhaps, what was the more likely case, I was simply the bigger bottom. 

We had been so entangled in each other, that the alarm continually buzzing in the background had been all but forgotten, though once my head had cleared a little from its hazy state of infatuation, I was once more irked by its incessant buzz. It was a struggle, but I managed to stretch out my arm while he held me in a vice grip, and silenced the intruding device, only to then snap back around to my partner as if I had been stretching an elastic band to its furthest point. Our faces met, our lips close yet just not close enough to touch, and once again Isaiah was reduced to his usual blushy self.

“We, we should get up, shouldn’t we?” his breath tickled my nose as he talked, filling my head with all kinds of silly thoughts.

“Uhuh, yes, we should, we should,” perhaps I was not quite ready to entertain those thoughts, it was our first morning as a couple, surely it was too soon for a kiss. 

“Yea, let’s uh, let’s do that then,” he didn’t move, he just laid there staring back at me with his big beautiful, mismatched eyes and adorably red face.

“Let us go then,” my body refused to move despite my words, what could staying there a little longer hurt? There were no classes, opportunities like that would not come very often, so why rush? His eyes really were just so pretty, and his lips did look really soft. Without breaking eye contact, I began to inch my face forward, closer and closer to his, puckering my lips as they neared his. 

In one quick movement he spun around and threw the pillow over his face, making a very strange noise before peaking out from under cover, “let’s get up then, gotta seize the day!”

To say I was disappointed was an understatement, but also perhaps that was moving just a bit too fast. Satisfied with simply having cuddled with him, I smiled and nodded, “okay!”

The halls were quiet that morning as I waited outside for Isaiah to get dressed. Honestly it was rather silly that we did not have private restrooms inside our dorms. As a school for nobles, royals, and church authorities you would have expected more from them in the ways of privacy. Still I suppose it would not normally matter, my room was meant to be a single after all, so perhaps we were the only ones who lacked said privacy. Come to think of it, I had never really spent too long or hard on figuring out why they had given me a roommate. Was there truly no space left in the dorms? It was odd, beyond odd even, to think that they would need a prince of all people to share a room with another student. Though in the end, I was thankful for it, no matter how odd it was, it led me to having a wonderful boyfriend. Honestly, I could not imagine how different my life would be had we not shared that room together. 

My pondering came to an end as Isaiah stepped out the door, taking full advantage of the laxed dress code for the holiday. Suspended Dress code or not, it was enough to make me blush, I could only imagine what the Shepherds would think. I suppose many things about him made me blush, but still. His pants were severely distressed, ripped and torn in ways that hardly made them function anymore as pants. As he often did, he wore a cropped shirt with a barely legible band name on it, one I was certain the Shepherds would not approve of. Over his shirt he had a big fluffy half coat with a faux fur trim around the shoulders, and underneath everything he had a fishnet bodystocking. 

“Are you certain you will not be too cold?” I felt like a parent the moment those words left my mouth.

“Why, you want me to cover up?” He stepped closer to me, brushing his hand along my arm as he passed, “am I too much for you?”

“No, not at all, you look great!” 

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me from behind, speaking softly in my ear, “glad you think so, cutie,” he said before kissing my cheek. Isaiah began to walk away, and I stood there petrified, my face hot enough to melt the snow off the mountain tops. However, he did not get too far before his own actions caught up with him and he squatted down squealing in a gay panic. Once we recovered we left the dorms behind to get breakfast.

"That eye patch looks really cute on you," Isaiah said as we sat across from each other.

“Thank you,” I giggled, “someone really cute gave it to me,” I was better at being flirty than I expected, or at least I think I was. I managed to make him blush, though perhaps in hindsight that was not such a difficult thing to do anyways.

“Gawd I love you,” it was strange, we were not doing anything different from normal, eating breakfast together had just become routine, and yet it felt so special to me. I could not help but wonder if it felt the same for him. I honestly felt really silly, though I could not help but to watch him as he ate, squirming with a desire to just nuzzle up my head against his chest as we dined together. “Huh, what’s wrong Bonbon?” He had noticed my restlessness, was I really being that obvious?

“I just, no, it is silly,” I deflated out of fear that he would laugh at me, I wanted to keep my thoughts to myself, but my desire was stronger than my humility, “I want to cuddle,” my request had been made, but I was deeply afraid he would deny me.

“Cutie,” he stood up and shifted around the table, sitting himself directly next to me, smiling widely as he settled in by my side. “This better?” he asked, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me closer.

“Mhmm,” words were too hard, my brain was too mushy, I simply melted into him as I began to nuzzle my cheek into his chest, just as I had wanted. 

“Good girl,” he whispered, and strangely enough neither of us thought to correct him. 

***

The campus was nearly abandoned, with even the remedial classes done for the break most students left. It was honestly nice, allowing us a moment here and there to hold hands as we walked around the campus talking. The cold air nipped at my nose, but my face was kept warm by my constant blushing frenzy courtesy of Isaiah. It was salacious of us to be so brazen as to hold hands on campus, I was certain that was exactly why he had insisted we do, and I can honestly say I loved him all the more for it. Try as he might to play it cool, I could see his quivering lips and rosy red cheeks, I knew he was just as affected by this as I. 

 Deciding to be a bit bolder, I attempted the sultriest voice I could as I asked him, “so, what are your plans for me, Isaiah?” 

Perhaps I had not sounded as hot as I thought I did, because he simply shrugged, “I’m not sure, actually,” he pursed his lips, unintentionally taunting me, and thought, “if you can get a day pass, we can possibly catch a bus back to town and do something there.”

“A day pass?”

He nodded, “well yeah, I mean they’re not gonna just let their students wander outta here without permission first.” I had never considered that, perhaps because I had never even thought leaving was an option. 

"Is that where you go off to whenever I ask to have the room to myself?"

With a little head tilt he shrugged, "let's not worry 'bout that, okay?" Respecting his wish, I did not press further, I also did want him to know I knew about his exploit in the woods. So, moving on, he led me to an office over by the campus gates, where we requested a day pass.

"My father?"

"Yes, your father, we need express consent from your legal guardian before allowing you to leave campus," an agitated old secretary grunted, never lifting their eyes from the computer screen in front of them.

"I am uncertain I would even be able to contact him…"

"Without guardian approval then you can't leave," they rolled their eyes, "just call them or go on your way."

I nodded and picked up the phone receiver, "I will try them," truth be told, I did not know a number to contact my father directly, I did however have a number for my personal maid, so I tried that.

"Arasa speaking, how many I help you," she gave her usual formal greeting as she answered my call.

"It is Aiden, do you know if it would be possible for me to speak with my father?"

"The king is in a meeting, sweetie, is it something important?"

"Oh," I felt a little dejected, though not surprised, "I just needed his permission to go into town."

"Are you going alone?"

"No, my boyf…" I caught myself mid-sentence, "my roommate and I were going together."

"Oh, the Snowdrop kid? Here, give the phone to whoever I need to talk to, let your 'mommy' give the okay," she knew about Isaiah? How odd. 

"Mommy?" 

"Yes, sweetie, your dear sweet mother will approve your little day trip for you," despite being a phone call, I could tell she had winked as she said that. Arasa was a predictable girl, but that is something I had loved about her. 

I did as she told me and handed the phone to the receptionist. They took it and grumbled, "yes, you give permission? Okay, very well. Good day ma'am," they sighed and handed the receiver back to me.

"Hello?"

"You're all set, enjoy your date sweetie," she said in a singsong voice, "bye now, love."

"Date?" She could not have known, it just was not possible. Of course I did not have time to question her before she hung up. 

"Fill out the form and you can leave," they handed me a clipboard with a sheet of paper, "curfew is tomorrow night on hour 18." I filled out the paperwork as instructed and handed it back to them, "alright, you're done here so go ahead and scram." They handed me a plastic card and shooed me away.

Not wishing to agitate them any further, Isaiah and I promptly made our exit, walking off campus and down a mountain path. "So your mom sounds like she's pretty nice," Isaiah said as we waited at a bus stop.

"I do not have a mother, that was my maid Arasa," I corrected him.

"Oooh that explains it, yeah Arasa is pretty based."

His words had gone over my head for a moment, then I turned to him in shock, "you know Arasa?"

He flashed me a cute sly grin, "surprised that I got connections?"

"Yes, very much so," I would not necessarily call my maid a 'connection' though it was certainly surprising to even know we had a common acquaintance.

"She's friends with my mah, she's actually the one that hooked me up with my fencing instructor."

"Fencing instructor, do not tell me you are a student of Lord Darios too?" It would certainly explain his fencing talent.

"Yeah, Darios is really cool," Isaiah nodded, "he's the one who helped get me a scholarship for the academy. Him and Duchess Kara set it up."

"You know a duchess?" I was somewhat familiar with her, by name alone. She was the Duchess of the Golden City, and my father had often met with her for trade and other business affairs.

"I kinda know a buncha important people, my mah is really popular," I had thought of Isaiah as just a simple commoner, between the way he dressed, the way he presented himself, it had only seemed obvious he was of common blood, but I was beginning to think I was wrong.

"Oh hey, I can introduce you to my mah!" He was very excited at the prospect of bringing his boyfriend home to his mother, it was actually really cute.

"Will you be telling her that we are dating? Or is it safer for us to keep it a secret?"

He shook his head, "she was rootin for us from the first email I sent her," he laughed, "I told her my roommate was a stuck-up prissy prince, and she just said, 'I give it a month and you two are gonna be skippin class to sneak kisses in the library'."

Oh I wish. It took much longer than a month, and probably would be even longer before we kissed. Though perhaps it was a good thing, why rush our relationship after all? The only thing I wanted to rush at that moment was the bus. The bitter cold began gnawing at my fingers while we stood there waiting. Luckily I did not have to endure that feeling long due to Isaiah sheepishly grabbing my hand and rubbing his thumb over my fingers. His touch was enough to send my blood rushing through my body, helping to warm me. 

When at last the bus did arrive, it was pleasantly empty, allowing me the opportunity to lean my head on Isaiah's shoulder, something I am certain I would have never been bold enough to do had there been even a single passenger. It was a cozy ride, aside from all the bumps and occasional moments where the tires got caught on a snow pile, delaying our arrival. Those little delays just meant more time for us to cuddle, and time enough for me to begin to doze off. 

“Aw, sleepy princess,” Isaiah cooed as he began to stroke my hair, “I’ll wake ya when we get there.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled as I drifted off in his embrace.

The city was a stark contrast to the bus, bustling with people going about their merry way to celebrate the holiday. The noise was jolly and jovial, but it was noise nonetheless, and I wanted so bad to curl up and hide behind my boyfriend as we navigated the city streets. I of course found it much harder to cling to Isaiah there, as there were far too many eyes to potentially judge our homoerotic display of affection.

Isaiah, however, was less timid than I, so upright and bold that he seized my hand in his and led me away from the bus station with a grand smile on his face, “come on Bonbon, my neighborhood is not too far from here!” He nearly dragged me, running with all the excitement of a puppy that was just let out of the kennel, and I nearly slipped and fell several times on the snowy sidewalks. After clearing several blocks of distance in only a few minutes, we arrived in a familiar looking plaza, so familiar that I could almost tell you the names of the shops without looking. 

I whipped my head around and saw the many little shops with their holiday decorations in each window, and suddenly I knew for certain I had been there before. It had been a few months before enrolling in the academy, but I had asked Arasa to take me into the city so I might buy myself something. I had saved up money from doing small little odd jobs around the castle, and was very excited to spend it on something I had wanted for a very long time. So imagine my shock when Isaiah stopped in front of a very familiar little boutique, with a beautiful holiday themed dress in its window, and told me, “here we are, my mahs shop!”

Above the door was an awning that bore the unforgettable family crest of the famous seamstress Notalie Snowdrop… of course… that is where I had heard Isaiah's name before, how could I be so stupid? Though it was not the name of a noble, it was still a name to be known. It began to make perfect sense now, how Isaiah knew all the people that he knew, they were most certainly clients of his mother.

“Whatcha gawkin at? Come on, let’s go inside so I can introduce you!” He grabbed my hand and pulled me inside the shop. It was almost exactly as I had remembered it, though I did not spend long inside. The only things that were different were the styles of dresses and suits on display, as it was much colder weather now, as well as the various holiday decorations strewn about the boutique.  

"Hey mah, I'm back!" He shouted before turning to me as I stood in the doorway, "hey, you can come in ya know, don't gotta be shy now."

I nodded and feebly stepped one foot in front of the other, inching my way further into the store.

"Silly, come on, my mah's not gonna bite ya," he grabbed my hand and pulled me forward, "gawd you're so cute."

His compliment would have flustered me alone, had I not already been feeling an overwhelming sense of embarrassment. "Isaiah, your mother, is her name Notalie?" 

"Notalie Snowdrop, yep that's my mah, took you this long to figure it out?"

No sooner than he said her name, did the famous seamstress herself come emerging from a door behind the store counter, "Izzy sweetie, you're home again?" She held a stack of gift boxes that had initially obstructed our view of each other, but as soon as she sat them down she smiled a warm, yet somewhat devious smile, "why hello there, you must be the famous Bonbon my little Izzy has told me so much about."

"Guh, mah you don't gotta go tellin them all that," I did not understand their embarrassment, they already told me as much.

Now that she no longer had boxes in her arms I could see her properly. She was tall, slim, and very intimidating. Most importantly she had silver hair and a single pink eye, her other eye covered by an eyepatch of course. It was just as Isaiah said, she was a demon just like us. 

"It is nice to meet you," I bowed and she let out a shrill laugh.

"Sweetie, no need to be so formal with me, you're the royal here," she did a dramatic bow, "it is a pleasure to see you again, Prince Bonbon."

"You do not have to address me as prince, in fact I would prefer for you to treat me as any other guest,” it felt odd having my boyfriend's mother address me as a royal, though honestly I did not like being called a prince as it were. 

“But you’re not just any other guest, cutie,” Isaiah wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek.

“Aw, you two are dating now?” Notalie gushed as Isaiah excitedly nodded his head, “and I see you’re wearing the eyepatch my little Izzy made for you, so then I take it you asked them last night?”

“Yea, kinda, I just couldn’t wait, ya know,”

“Actually I technically had asked him,” I giggled, “Isaiah was too much of a gushy mess to ask.”

“Him?” she looked confused for a moment, tilting her head as she looked at her son, “oh, I see.” She smiled and approached us, rustling Isaiah’s hair, “I am honestly not surprised,” she laughed, “little Izzy was so nervous on the way back to the school last night that they couldn’t sit still.”

“Mah!!” he protested as she pinched his cheeks, “cut it out!”

“I can’t help it, my little baby is growing up right before my eyes, it gets me all emotional,” she teased him. “Bonbon, love, are you hungry?”

“Oh, I could probably eat,” my growling stomach betrayed my aloof response. 

“Izzy sweetie, why don’t you head upstairs and prepare a little lunch for your sweetheart,” she suggested.

“Oh yeah, I get to show off my cookin skills!” He nearly ran off, before turning back and hugging me, then dashing through the door Notalie had come from.

Just like that I was alone with my boyfriend's mother, her sharp eye turned towards me, and she spoke with a wry smile, “so love, how do you like your dress?”