everything has changed

"I can't believe he did this to you," Charles angrily spoke as he brushed the antibiotic ointment across Nicollette's cheek. "I knew he was an asshole - but I didn't think he was that much of an asshole."

Nicollette's cheek flushed as Charles continued about, spouting bad things about Matthias left and right. "He- he didn't do it. If anyone did it, it was me." She softly told her best friend, ignoring the look he gave her.

"What, you just- you fall on him or something?" Charles jokingly asked, and when Nicollette didn't say anything, he pulled back. "Seriously?"

"I stepped toward him and tripped on a branch stuck in the ground." She explained, "Fell on him, causing the both of us to tumble down the hill. Why is the Sutcliffe residence on a hill anyhow?"

"I guess I'm just struggling to understand. Why were you stepping toward him anyway?" Charles asked with a sense of jealousy in his words.

"We were having our usual arguments, I guess," Nicollette answered.  She observed his face as he opened the band-aid, applying it over the wound he'd just cleaned. "He made me really angry, and I got heated."

"Oh," Charles said, grabbing the next towelette to clean another wound. 

Nicollette didn't say anything to that, either, as the boy continued to clean her up. She watched him carefully, tapping her fingers nervously against her thighs.

"There," Charles said after what felt like forever in silence. "All patched up and ready to go."

"Thanks, Charlie." Nicollette softly spoke, watching as Charles cleaned up his mess.

He didn't say anything, waiting until he threw all of the band-aid wrappers away. "Anything for my favorite girl."

Nicollette smiled at her friend, slipping off of the counter she'd been sitting on. She was much shorter than the boy, and so when she stood on the ground she had to look up to get a good look at his face. 

It grew silent between the two, Nicollette watching as he clasped the first aid kit shut. He turned and held it up, reaching behind her to put it on the counter. "Wish I could stay and chat longer, but I have to get back to work." 

"Thank you," Nicollette softly told him. "I could've cleaned myself up though."

Charles shrugged, "Just thought I'd help with what I can. That's why I'm here, after all." 

Nicollette rolled her eyes, gently shoving him away. "Again, thanks. Now go before you get in trouble for not getting any work done."

Charles didn't argue, and instead just sent her one last wave before exiting. He went from the Terilow house toward the stables, cursing himself for letting him get so distracted by Nicollette as he noticed the sun beginning to set.

Thankfully, he'd almost finished all of his work which was why he'd decided on a quick fifteen minute in the first place. It was only on his way back from the break he saw Nicollette walking toward her house in tears, blood inching down her cheek as if she'd just gotten into a fight.

The routine walk to the stables was simple, Charles' mind stuck on a certain girl as he walked. he barely noticed that the stables weren't empty when he entered, it was only when the other person spoke up, shocking him, that he realized he wasn't alone.

"She okay?"

Charles glanced over to see Matthias. He was tending to Maximus, gently brushing his beautiful mane, as he spoke. He didn't look at Charles, but he didn't need to since he was the main person who entered and exited from here unless it was one of the Sutcliffe family members getting one of their horses.

Matthias finally looked at Charles after the other boy didn't say anything, a curious look on his face.

"What?" Charles finally managed to ask. He didn't talk to Matthias much - it was only really when Matthias was throwing new orders left and right at the boy. Not to mention he usually had the biggest attitude, so the gentle tone was also new to him as well.

"Lettie, is she okay?" Matthias asked again, not seeming bothered by Charles' confusion.

Charles rolled his eyes - whether it be at the nickname or the fact he wanted to know about Nicollette, he didn't know. Either way, as soon as the question left the Prince's lips, he couldn't help but feel all the previous happiness from his moment with Nicollette had been replaced by what could only be described as anger toward Matthias.

"Why do you care? And since when?" Charles asked, turning back to what he'd been there to do.

Matthias didn't move for a moment, letting Charles get to work. He knew the boy was probably exhausted since he was the main caretaker for the stables, and as much as he wanted to ask him about Nicollette - he wouldn't prevent him from working while doing so.

"Well considering she looked pretty beat up and ran off as if something happened, it's just in my best interest-"

"Your best interest is treating her like shit," Charles couldn't help but cut Matthias off, turning toward him. "You- you say and do the wildest shit, let your disgusting friends say and do the wildest shit, yet wonder why Nic hates you so much. I mean seriously, dude, how stupid can you be?"

The words Charles spat at Matthias angered the dark-haired boy, but instead of feeding into the insults like he usually would, he just took a couple of deep breaths in and out. He watched as Charles slammed a few things around, extremely bothered by Matthias and his presence.

Matthias stepped away from Maximus, taking a few steps closer to Charles. "You know nothing is going on between you and Lettie now or ever, right?"

Charles stopped, looking at Matthias. "I don't know what you mean," He denied, although a look in his eyes gave himself away.

"You don't know?" Matthias asked with a slightly sarcastic tone in his voice. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he took three steps forward, stopping when he was right next to the stable boy. "Do you take me to being just another dumb royal who doesn't pay attention to anyone but himself?"

"No offense, but yes," Charles said without hesitation, earning an eye roll from the other boy. "You asked. I answered."

"Oh, I'm so hurt." Matthias showed fake sadness. He pouted and put a hand to his chest, only earning another dirty look from Charles. "Oh, lighten up stable boy! All I did was ask a question about Lettie."

"Didn't she ask you to stop calling her that?" Charles spat. He stopped what he was doing again to look at Matthias. The Prince was doing nothing but irritating him - not only because he was preventing him from finishing his work for the day, but also because he wouldn't stop talking about Nicollette.

Matthias shrugged, "I think she likes it."

"I think you're delusional," Charles muttered.

"Oh come on, Charlie." Matthias fake-whined, pouting his lips out at him. "Can't we just be two delusional buds joking around?"

"I'm not delusional," Charles muttered to himself before turning to Matthias. "Don't call me Charlie, either."

"I'd say we're both about the same level of delusional, yeah?" Matthias asked. "Well, scratch that. I'm at least on the same page with Lettie about my feelings, can you say the same?"

"Is that why you came to the stables, Matthias?" Charles asked, ignoring the Prince's remarks. "To chastise me about whatever you can? You do enough already, don't you?"

"Oh, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie." Matthias chuckled. "I could care less whether I bother you or not. You have to deal with me either way, right? I just wanted to know if Lettie was okay, that's all."

"Don't call her that!" Charles exclaimed, only earning a look from Matthias.

"Oh, sorry. Forgot you're a little territorial over her." He put a hand over his chest, earning another glare from Charles. "Seriously, you're quite possessive it's kind of concerning."

"I'm- I'm not possessive," Charles denied. "I just don't like seeing people like you treat her like shit. So obviously I'm not going to gush about her with you."

"I'm not gushing," Matthias denied, scrunching his nose up. "Just wanted to make sure she was okay after our fall earlier. Nicollette does know you're into her, right?"

Charles looked at Matthias, and if looks could kill Matthias would surely be said. His cheeks were red and he glared at the Prince, who just looked at him with a smug smirk.

"What?" Matthias asked innocently, "She does know, right?"

Charles sighed, "I'm not into Nic."

"Oh man, you're down bad." Matthias snorted. He stopped for a moment as Charles continued to do his last bit of work, almost acting as if Matthias wasn't even in the room with him.

Part of him thought he could use that little bit of knowledge to his advantage, but then realized he wouldn't need to blackmail Charles at all. It was obvious to anyone how desperate he was for Nicollette - he was jealous of anyone who tried to get too close to her in that way.

Then, it hit him. He looked up, seeing Charles cleaning up for the night as he'd finally finished his work. "You know, Nicollette's going to be seeing someone."

Charles stopped again, taking in a deep breath before looking at the boy. "What are you on about now?"

"I mean, I was up here dropping Maximus off after my daily walk with him - and I happened to stumble upon her and another boy." Matthias shoved his hands into his pockets again, following Charles around.

Charles took in a deep breath, and Matthias could tell he was getting to him. Then again, it didn't take much for Matthias to get under Charles' skin, which is how he knew this would be really easy.

"Something about courting her," Matthias continued when Charles didn't say anything. "And she didn't say no."

"Who is it?" Charles softly asked. He tried to come across as if it was just pure curiosity, but both of them knew it was much more than that.

"Tobias Avington," Matthias told him.

"Tobias who?" Charles asked, his eyes squinting slightly in confusion.

"Tobias Avington, Prince of Caldoria." Matthias elaborated, rubbing his fingers across his chin.

Charles snorted, taking Matthias by surprise. "You find that funny?" Matthias asked, his dark brows pressing together in confusion.

"Clearly, you don't know Nicollette." Charles grabbed his jacket from where it hung, slipping it over his shoulders.

"I know her quite well, thank you." Matthias followed Charles out of the stables.

Charles sent a glance to Matthias. "Okay, if that's what helps you sleep at night."

"Sure it does," Matthias went along with what he said, jogging to keep up with the other boy's pace. "Anyways, I overheard their conversation, how do you think we ended up in another heated conversation today?"

"Because you were being the usual egotistical asshole you normally are?" Charles asked the other boy, raising his eyebrows at him.

"You know, you have a lot of balls talking to me like that when you know I could fire you within an instant," Matthias stated.

"Well, you haven't yet, what's stopping you now?" Charles asked.

Matthias thought for a moment, knowing the one and only reason he still puts up with Charles. Not wanting to tell the other boy, however, he just shrugs. "You make my days more interesting."

"Sure I do," Charles sarcastically remarked. He stopped at the gate to the Sutcliffe residence, turning to the Prince. "You following me home or something?"

"What, don't like that I'm being kind enough to escort you home? Save you from any bad guys that might be in the area?" Matthias innocently asked. "Oh, hear that? I think there's one out there waiting for you right now."

"You're irritating," Charles muttered. "I live halfway down the trail, not in the town. I think I can manage on my own."

"Just trying to be nice, Charlie." Matthias annoyingly spoke, innocence covering his tone.

"It's Charles to you," Charles told him. "What's the point of telling me about Nic and Tobias anyway?"

"You're saying you don't care that she's going to be courting someone?" Matthias questioned, looking at the boy next to him.

"Courting," Charles stated, seeming to think about it for a moment. "Who the fuck courts nowadays?"

"So we're on the same page then?" Matthias asked.

"Dude, I don't think we're even on the same book," Charles scoffed.

Matthias stared at him for a moment, realizing this conversation wasn't getting anywhere. "Think it over, yeah?" He clasped his hand on Charles' shoulder.

Charles looked at his hand before at the boy in front of him. "Think what over?"

"That's for you to decide," Matthias said as he pulled his hand away. He turned and began to make his way to the main palace on the residence.

Charles stared at him with a confused look. Matthias confused him, but instead of questioning him further the way his first instinct was to do so, he just turned and made his way off of the residence.

Thankfully, Charles didn't live far from the residence. The extra house on the giant residence was occupied by the Sutcliffe family, but they've provided Charles and his family with a nearby house so he could easily get to and from the residence without a problem.

He never rode a horse despite them allowing it, simply because it was so close there was no point. This gave him enough time to think and calm down after a long day's work, plus it let him enjoy the weather when it was super nice outside.

However, he couldn't calm down as he usually did after work. His thoughts were consumed by the odd conversation he'd just had with Matthias, one that was rare. He didn't know what he meant and part of him didn't want to know, but at the same time, he had a good idea of what Matthias was hinting at.

Realizing he was listening to the person Nicollette dislikes most in the world, he chuckled to himself. He wasn't going to believe anything Matthias said about Nicollette until she told him herself, and he wasn't going to let some stupid Prince who was known to cause trouble put a rift between him and his best friend.

Although, he had a feeling deep down that what he'd said about Tobias and Nicollette was true. If it was, he didn't know what to do. 

Would Nicollette go for someone like Tobias? Would she court someone who's a part of the group she talks so badly about?

There was only one way to find out.

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I have quite a few plans for the story, but this is only chapter 6 so I still have to include a lot before those plans so bare with me <3