Fake Relationship, Real Love
A/N: my first tumblr story.. I hope everyone enjoys 🤑
Warning! : corny/smutty content, Telemachus one-shot (art by duvetbox)
You never knew how you became friends with the Prince Telemachus. You were little. And you were just the servant’s daughter.
You were running through the grass barefoot, free, leaves tangling in your hair. Your chiton, weak from the shakes, fell down to your moving feet, causing you to trip and fall. The spiky grass scratched against your arm, and the solid dirt only hardened your fall. Trying to hold back your tears, your glossy eyes looked up to a shadow, Antinous.
You swore you saw a tint of sympathy in his eyes.
“Really, Y/N? Crying over small fall? Girls are so pathetic.” He mocked, snickering as he walked away.
Tears stung in your eyes. You picked yourself up and ran to the willow tree in the garden, the sun shining through the spaces the leaves formed. Cold tears streamed down your face as you covered your eyes with your palms. Your sobs were quiet. Small weeps, like the ones you had heard the queen sob when she yearned for her husband’s comfort.
You sighed, resting against the trunk of the tree. It was quiet. Peaceful. A wonky smile crept up your face, a sign of relief. The tears no longer pressed down on you.
That’s when you heard more cries, silent, almost as if mirroring yours. You raised an eyebrow, sitting up, back arched. Struggling to not make a single noise, you crawled over to the other side of the tree. There you saw a boy with elegant clothing and heavy jewelry.
You tilted your head, studying the view. “He must be really rich…” you mumbled.
The boy’s head shot up, his dark hair tangled in his eyes. He brushed away the hair strands covering his view. “W-Who.. are you?” He whispered, his voice cracking. You crawled closer to him, sitting down an appropriate amount of space from him. “I’m Y/N. Who are you?” You spoke, looking him up and down.
“My name is Telemachus.” He answered, adding, “I’m the son of Odysseus.”
Your eyes immediately widened, jaw dropping. “Isn’t Odysseus king of Ithaca??” You gawked. Telemachus nodded. “So your prince?” He nodded again.
“That’s so sick!” You exclaimed, accidentally pushing yourself a small amount closer. He grinned, his smile full of light and naive youth. “Do you wanna be friends, Y/N?” Telemachus requested. “Hmmm…” you mumbled sarcastically. “Sure!” You rejoiced.
You stood up and stuck out your hand, a gentle invite. “You wanna play?” You hesitated. His smile widened. “Yes!”
You flowed through the marble halls, carrying a squared box Queen Penelope had requested you to deposit to the dungeon. Your sandals pressed against the ground, the sound ringing against the isolated palace.
The scarf wrapped around your neck suddenly slipped and fell against the floor delicately. You gasped, eyes widening in shock. With care, you set the box down and immediately darted to your scarf. Gripping the thin silk with your shivering hands, you heard a familiar cruel voice. Of course, Antinous.
“Still have that scarf from your dorky dead mother, huh?” He boomed.
“Don’t you dare talk about my mother that way!” You hissed. You rose up, taking few steps toward him. One hand pointing an commanding finger, the other gripping your late mother’s scarf.
He simply sent back your finger with a mischievous smirk. “What do you plan to do about that, Y/N? Cry to your little prince?” You jolted closer, your fingers gripping his neck slowly. “Telemachus has nothing to do with this.” You insisted, voice low yet commanding.
You felt a gentle warm hand clutch yours. Your lips parted at the familiarity of the touch. “Telemachus?..” you whispered, head turning steadily.
“Leave Y/N alone, Antinous.” Telemachus demanded, eyes piercing into his. Antinous raised his hands in sarcastic defeat, beaming naughtily. “Fine, I’ll leave.” He teased, eyes darting between the both of you.
You stepped back to the box, wrapping the scarf around your neck in a swift motion. Telemachus went down with you, leaning in to your ear. “You okay?” He whispered, “Yeah..” you answered, voice barely above a gasp of a breath. Following, you both stood upright, proceeding with your activities, Telemachus now accompanying you in yours.
As you both strolled, Antinous’ voice spoke behind you: “Why do you keep clinging on to him, Y/N? He would never love someone like you.” Immediately you paused. Your hands went loose, the box slowly escaping your grip. Telemachus immediately dashed to you, capturing the box immediately.
“Woah, you sure you okay?” He urged, a small chuckle escaping his lips. You blinked back to reality, a wave of embarrassment washing over you. “What? Yeah. Don’t.. don’t worry about it.” You shook your head, retrieving the box from his hands.
As you both steered through the narrow halls of the dungeon, you drifted into thought. You didn’t like him, did you? So why did you fear of his possible ignorance? Could it be because of all those years? All those years of laughter? All those years- “Why are you so quiet, Y/N? You’re usually the one who strikes up conversations.” Telemachus interrupted.
Your head shot up. “Huh? Oh. I guess I do. I just.. want to show Antinous I’m not weak. That I’m not as minuscule as he teases.” You murmured, setting down the box in an empty bench.
Promptly, an idea came to mind. “Wait.. maybe I can!” You exclaimed, voice full of joy and determination. You clutched his hand and rapidly strode until you detected Telemachus’ study. You opened the door, shoving you both inside, and then proceeding to shut the door behind.
You stepped forward, slumping down in his chair while processing. Your finger shot up. “Yes! How could’ve I not thought of such idea?” You exulted. “What idea?..” Telemachus murmured, leaning against the door.
“To prove I’m not stupid, which I’m certainly not, I will have to do something he would never have thought I could.” You explained, standing up and walking toward him. “..So?” He queried. A embarrassed blush crept up your neck to your cheeks.
“Now now, this next part is a bit crazy…” he stared naively, about to open his mouth when you interrupted: “BUT! It’s for a good sake.. okay?..” you gulped. “Uh, continue…” he insisted.
“We have to falsely.. engage in a… relationship.” You blurted out, avoiding his gaze.
A fresh, red blush briskly crept up his neck to his face, his eyes widening in shock. He ran a hand through his hair, his fingers tangling meanwhile.
“W-What!?” He yelped. “Telemachus.. I know it’s crazy but I just..” you drifted off, realizing how stupid you sounded. Your emotions suddenly returning to their realistic state, you sauntered toward him with a kind sympathy in your eyes. You placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, gazing at him. “Hey.. you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.. it was just a silly idea.” You soothed, voice melodic.
“No.. no. It’s fine. I’ll do it.” He uttered, his voice scratchy. You blinked in surprise. “W-What? Really..?” you gawked, eyes full of optimism. He looked into your gaze, his eyes full of a source you didn’t recognize. His cheeks still a shade of rosy red, he inhaled deeply. “Yeah.. let’s just.. prove Antinous wrong. For your sake.” He slightly sneered at your stunned expression.
After a while, you sighed, holding out a breath you didn’t know you were holding in. You wrapped your arms around him tightly, a sign of comfort and safety.
“Are you sure, Telemachus?” You whispered, your eyelids dropping down.
You woke up with your hair tangled and your ribbon across the bed. You glanced to your nightstand, reaching for the portable mirror. Staring at yourself through it, you realized you didn’t look as messy as you had imagined. You blew a hair strand that dangled in your view.
Therefore, you promptly did your hair and changed your wardrobe. You peered at yourself through the mirror repeatedly, scanning any wrong spots. After being secure that you were good enough, you threw on your scarf swiftly and walked out your room.
You were polishing the walls, knees in pain, when Telemachus greeted you softly. “How are you, Y/N?” He questioned. “Good, I suppose.” You murmured, the pain in your knees causing your numb response. After remembering yesterday, you lit up. “Are we still doing the fake relationship thing?” You sparked, beaming at him. He crowed at your mood swing. “Yes, Y/N, we are still doing that.” “Cool! After I finish this, can I take you to the library? There’s a scroll I wanna show you.” He snickered. “Of course.”
An hour later, you were both in the library while you spread out the scroll. “This scroll was really interesting to me, how the writing always mentioned a small detail only for it to be the whole point of the story and..” you drifted off when you realized he was staring at your lips. Raising an eyebrow, you lifted his chin. His cheeks immediately reddened at your touch. “Uhhh, eyes up here buddy.” You sneered. He naively opened his mouth. “Right.”
It was now a few minutes after and you were sitting down at the beach, salt stuck to your lips. You admired the sunset, shells shining with the reflection of the sun. You were still thinking about today at the library. What happened..? You sighed in confusion, continuing to study the sunset.
A figure suddenly sat next to you. Telemachus.
“The sunset is beautiful, isn’t it?” You commented. “Like you?” He pondered. “What?..” you asked obliviously. “Oh, uhm, nothing.” “Okay..” He turned his head to you, taking notice of the salt on your lips.
“You have salt on your lips.” He pointed out. “Oh! I do!” You sneered. “Want me to remove that for you?” “What?” “What? “No, really, Telemachus, what do you mean?” “Huh? Nothing. Forget about it.” You crawled closer to him. “Don’t.. don’t do that. What did you mean?” “Don’t worry about it, Y/N.” You crawled closer with his response, Telemachus slowly blushing with every step you took. “What do you mean by ‘take the salt of my lips’?” “N-Nothing! Just forget about it!” He stammered, covering his face, now the shade of a ripe pomegranate.
You rolled your eyes in irritation. “Fine.”
You were both at the grand hall now, holding hands in attempt to launch your ‘fake relationship’. You promptly read through the book in hand. It was peaceful until you heard a sarcastic whistle. Your gaze glancing to the sudden sound, your view met Antinous’. Of course.
“Look at the new couple! Ouuuu~” Telemachus averted eyes, the same red blush crawling up his neck to his cheeks once again. When you noted this, you spoke up in his defense: “Mind your own damn business, Antinous. And all of you pathetic suitors too, don’t bug into other’s people life just because you don’t have one.” The grand hall erupted into chaos, the suitors rambling to find a response. Antinous glared at you, putting the blame on you for such commotion.
Telemachus stood up, his grip tightening on you. He led you into an isolated hall which contained a beautiful view of the royal garden. Immediately he pinned you against the wall, staring into your eyes. “What was that, Y/N?” He interrogated with a stone cold expression. Your breathing shifted, and suddenly it seemed like you were the only 2 in the world. Struggling to find words, you felt your cheeks reddening, mirroring the same rosy blush he often sported in your presence.
“Oh come on, you would’ve done the same, Telemachus..” you snapped, voice barely a whisper.
He leaned in, and for a second, you thought he was going to kiss you. “Telemachus?” You gasped. “Don’t do that again.” He ordered with the most serious tone you could’ve ever heard. After that, he left the hall, leaving you astray. Struggling to breathe on the same, casual rhythm, you leaned against the wall. You peered into the marvelous view, detecting the same willow tree where you both met. You melted, falling to your knees when you thought of him.
“Telemachus..” you mumbled, the word a kiss. Your knees weakened when you thought of him and your heart raced. You spoke to the willow tree in such desperation: “Oh, wise old willow tree, what am I to do?” You cried, voice hoarse.
Suddenly, your breath caught.
You didn’t sleep well that night. Was this love? It couldn’t. It would be extremely awkward.
You woke up before you were supposed to, when the sun hadn’t risen yet. You couldn’t help it. You repeated the same routine as the past day, wishing for signs in between. His name kept ringing in your head, and you didn’t feel like yourself anymore.
You stared at yourself through the mirror, recognizing an unusual glint in your eyes. It was bright, and it only seemed to present itself when you thought of Telemachus. “Damn Aphrodite!” you grumbled, setting down the mirror harshly. You wrapped your scarf around you again, wishing for your mother’s comfort and reassuring words.
You fell into your bed, staring naively at the ceiling. It was only a few minutes later when you left your room and started with your activities. When the sun started coming up, you were just about done with your duties. “A whole day to myself..” you processed. “A whole day to myself!!” You beamed, the words settling in.
You skipped through the palace, making your way through to reach the gardens.
Once reaching your destination, you let out a breath you were clueless of. You strode through the fresh paths which smelled of roses and tulips. You lightly danced, wrapping your scarf around your shoulders as the light of the sunrise beamed on your skin. In between spins, you caught yourself gasping his name.
It was only until you stopped dancing when you felt a tug on your sandal. “Argos!” You effused, an enthusiastic sparkle in your eyes awakening. You recognized a ball sitting by his paws, and with ardor, you grasped it and threw it a respectful distance. In submission, Argos raced for the ball, successfully finding it and returning it to you.
You played with him for a long time, when your stomach started rumbling. You kneeled down to Argos, quizzing him: “You hungry?” Argos whined. “I’ll take that as a yes.” You chuckled, “come on. Let’s go get some.”
The kitchen was isolated, you both stepping into the kitchen with extreme caution. You snatched some bread and butter, immediately running out of the kitchen after, Argos following you behind.
Argos and you sat down on a bench located in the royal garden. You split the bread in half after spreading the butter on it with a spare knife you had tucked away. You both munched in pleasure.
When you both consumed the bread, Argos ran off. You scoffed sarcastically, a grin spreading on your face.
You rose up and walked through the gardens, feeling at ease with nature. You sat down on a rock, suddenly remembering yesterday. You blushed, Telemachus’ voice ringing in your ears. His voice was misty and angelic. You resumed walking around, now with a flushed expression and swirling thoughts.
Where was he, anyway? You rolled your eyes at his disappearance. Walking around, the thoughts you never had time to rethink came into mind, and you pondered each of them. You hummed a song you had heard one of the friendly suitors play on the lyre.
The morning shifted to afternoon, and it was getting late. The peaceful day had soothed your thoughts. You were making your way back to the grand hall when a familiar figure stood in your way. Telemachus. Your breath instantly caught, words leaving in his presence.
“Y/N?” He sighed, voice grating, as if he hadn’t rested properly. “Yes, Telemachus?” You phrased. “I-I.. have to show you something..” he whispered.
Before you had time to acknowledge what happened, you were being dragged through the garden you were in earlier. Telemachus guided you both to the willow tree you first met. As you both accessed, you recognized the similar atmosphere. The sunset gleaming through the cracks of the leaves, the wind caressing your skin. It was like you traveled back in time to the exact same moment.
“I can’t do this anymore.” He blurted, shattering the silence. “Do what?” You queried. “Pretend to be in this fake relationship when I want to be in a real one. With you.” You went blank. It seemed so perfect. The way time stopped. The plead in his eyes.
You said the only thing that came to mind, being terrified if it could destroy everything: “Y-You like.. me?” He looked away, avoiding your gaze. His only response was a small and flustered nod. A red blush crawled up your neck and stayed on your cheeks. Even after it subsided to a rosy red, your heart still thumped immensely.
You took his chin with gentle touch, forcing his stare to meet yours. “I should rephrase that.. do you like me back?” Once the words sunk in, he looked up into your eyes. “Back?” He rephrased, eyes widening as the words settled in. You softly smiled and nodded.
Telemachus rested his forehead on yours, wrapping his arms around your waist. You let your arms relax on his shoulders. “My Y/N..” he breathed. You sneered.