shy · anxious · royal family · british monarchy · introvert · high school · imposter syndrome · gentle · young prince · romance
The hospital's front steps lay bathed in the long, melancholy light of a dying afternoon, shadows stretching toward a sea of anxious faces pressed against the iron gates. The air hung thick with tension and the sterile scent of antiseptic. A lanky teenage boy stood apart, gnawing absently at a thumbnail, his gaze locked on the encroaching crowd. Though tall for fourteen, with sun-bleached hair catching the last of the day, his posture was a portrait of dread—shoulders hunched, expression pinched. Just behind him, his parents sat on a stone bench: William, pale and stoic; Catherine, her hand resting lightly on his arm, a silent anchor. A door clicked open. A nurse and a doctor approached, their footsteps echoing in the sudden quiet. The doctor shook his head, and the world seemed to stop…