M for Missing Me

[Phillip Prince]

Tag: Derek Prince

His phone pinged with an incoming message. Taking glance at it, he noticed it was the same familiar number. And like the past two days, he ignored it. Peering out of his window, he threw his sneakers to the ground. Looking back in his room, he smirked at the sight of his phone vibrating endlessly as a call was coming in.

With that, he crawled out of his window from the third floor and crawled all the way down to the ground. It definitely was not his first time. Once on the ground, he quickly slipped on his shoes and started heading for the school gates.

Phillip Prince was called to come to school earlier before classes started to talk to his counselor. He was supposed to come home after that, but he didn't. He knew it was why his phone was blowing up with texts and calls from his family.

[Derek Prince]

Derek swore as he forcefully ended the call on his android after again being sent to voicemail. The youngest Prince son was not having a great morning. He had received about half a dozen calls that morning from his parents' who were both looking for the, apparently, extremely elusive older brother of his. It was through gritted teeth and much exasperation that Derek assured them both several times that he did not know where Phillip was and that when he talked to him he'd let them know. It was a true testament to his amazing annoying older brother skills for Phillip to be able to infuriate Derek without even being anywhere near him, or so he thought.

 Derek was crossing the grounds on his way to class as he ended his last call in his attempt to get a hold of his brother. He was in the middle of a less than friendly text ("Listen you tosser mom said...") when he caught the sight of said tosser out of the corner of his eye. He head snapped up and over in Phillip's direction to confirm what he had seen. "Where was he going this if he wasn't going to class?" Derek would have understood a little better if Phillip was just skipping class and lying in his bed but that was not the case.

 A cold chill swept over Derek. He had stopped in his tracks and watched as Phillip headed of the grounds of the school. Derek was stuck between wanting to make it to class on time and wanting to find out what his brother was up to and why he wasn't taking calls. Derek let a entire minute go by before rerouting his course and following after his brother. He tried to keep a good amount of space between hoping that he wouldn't be noticed before he find out what was up. It was times like these Derek wished he had more control of his canine senses in his human form Then, even if he did lose Phillip he'd be able to sniff him out.

[Phillip Prince]

Crawling out of his window might be something what someone would call as him sneaking out. But it was in the morning so he was not exactly trying to keep that fact a secret. He reached the school gates not long later and waited.

Remembering he left his cellphone behind, he checked his watch. Early. By a few minutes. He leaned against the gates and waited for his friend. Ten minutes later, a car pulled up and out came his friend with a big brown square box. "You're late. But you got the stuff," Phillip said approvingly.

"I don't know what crack you're on, man. Let me know how it all goes down," replied his friend, laughing non stop as he handed the box.

After his friend drove off, the nineteen year old continued walking, heading for the bus stop down the road. With the box in hand, he smiled to himself, clearly pleased with it.

[Derek Prince]

Derek did not have to wait very long at all nor did he have to move to much further than he already had before something funny had taken place. Derek glared in his brothers direction, while making sure to stay out of sight of whoever it was that had just pulled up to his him. He watched as they handed Phillip something, it looked like a box, and shortly afterward the driver drove off and Phillip headed down the street again.

Derek ran his hand through his hair and sighed. It was to early for this. Phillip was definitely up to something, and whatever it was it was important enough to skip class for and ignore calls from everyone. It would have been very easy for Derek to turn around and march of to class and pretend he had witnessed nothing, but that just was not in his nature. He dropped his school bag into a nearby bush and headed off down the street.

[Phillip Prince]

By the time he reached there, the bus was already there. He got on and then paid for his ticket before going straight for the seat at the back. It was not that early in the morning and there were not many people on the bus. But Phillip still liked sitting at the far back. He placed the box on the seat beside him and the waiting continues.

Whoever saw Phillip Prince on the bus probably would never believe it. The boy had his own damn car, which he purposely left behind. He looked up once the bus started moving and his eyes went wide when he saw a familiar slightly pissed off face. "Fancy seeing you here, mate."

[Derek Prince]

"Why... is he getting on the bus!?" Derek couldn't help but say aloud to himself. It didn't make any sense. Not that riding the bus was odd, it was just odd for, well any of the Prince boys. Both of Derek's older brother's had cars and even if their cars were down for whatever reason they had plenty of friends to give them rides. So why was Phillip using public transportation.

It took a moment for Derek to realize that the odd realizaton that his brother was boarding a bus had caused him to come to an abrubt hault. Once he realized that he had become stationarey he took off at a run, to catch up to the bus before it decided to take off again. Derek didn't know how long buses waited at the stop. He quickly boarded and paid for his ticket, surprsied to see he had change in his pocket considering he usually paid for everything with his card, and located his brother who had seated himself at the very back of the bus.

There was no more hiding the fact Derek had been following Phillip, they were staring each other right in the face. The younger Prince stumbled forward as the bus jerked to life and pulled into to traffic away from the bus stop. Derek hastily scrambled to the back of the bus and plopped down next to his brother, as he did so he glanced over at the box then glared back at Phillip. "Oh, fancy seeing me here do you? Well the feeling is certaintly mutual Phil!" The sarcastic tone would be impossible for anyone to miss which was completley normal for Derek, but he rarely called his brother by the shortned version of his name, he was well aware that Phillip was not fond of that paticular variaton. "Where are we going?" Derek asked quickly, his tone was much more straightforward and direct now.

[Phillip Prince]

Phillip Price chuckled at his younger brother's mini outburst and rolled his eyes at the much displeasing nickname. He was quite surprised to have seen Derek on the bus. He was probably the last person he had expected to see. He then wondered why in the world was he seeing his brother.

Only after he asked where they were going did he realize his brother had followed him. The realization had the nineteen year old laughing. "Oh boy. You'll just have to wait and see, yeah?" Phillip slapped his knee, still laughing. He could not decide whether his brother's sudden appearance was going to ruin his plan or turn it for the better. He turned to Derek and asked, "Have you honestly finish all your homework and decide to stalk me instead? How're you doing lil bro?"

[Derek Prince]

Derek should have expected such an answer from his brother, it wasn't often that Derek got a straight answer out of his shenanigan loving brothers. He sighed once again, which was followed by another eye roll of his own. The chances of Derek getting back to any of his classes on time seemed to decrease as the bus continued forward. He could have easily gotten off on the very next stop and headed back to the school but if he really wanted to know what Phillip was up to, then he couldn't help but concede that his brother was right, he'd just have to wait and see.

 Derek squimered a little uncomfortably in his seat. He  actually did have quite a bit to do and that didn't even include all the work, he was sure, he would miss for the day and would have to make up. He wanted to tell his brother that it was his fault that he'd be so behind today but honestly, even if their mother hadn't been pestering Derek to find out what Phillip was up to Derek probablly stil would have tailed his brother. It was difficult for the teenager to leave his brothers be when he thought they were up to something. Even though he was younger than them, he felt like he had to make sure they didn't get into anything they couldn't handle, he was after all the more responsinble one. "I wasn't stalking you..." Derek explained without catching his brother's gaze. "Mom was... concerned so... you know how she is. She wanted me to check on you." Derek blushed slightly.

 The bus had come to another stop to let people on and off. Dereked eyed his brother and wondered how far the two of them would be going. "Oh I'm just swell." Sarcasm again. "Considering I'm supposed to be in class right now and instead I'm off to God know's where with your crazy arse." Derek sighed and rolled his eyes again. "And I'm assuming If you won't tell me where we're going I'm guessing you're not gonna tell me what's in the box either?"

[Phillip Prince]

At the mention of their mother, everything clicked together. Well, he supposed she would be worried when he had not came home when he was supposed to. On top of that, he even ignored her calls from that day onward. A whole two days of no contact. No doubt she would be concerned. And Phillip was counting on that. "I'm fantastic. Don't worry about it," he said casually as if ignoring calls and texts from home were no big deal. Phillip flashed a mischievous direction in his brother's direction.

Phillip was not at all surprise when his brother did not get off the first stop the bus made. For whatever reason, he knew his brother was protective in that sense that he wanted to make sure he stayed away from trouble. Their roles were reverse. It was the younger one looking out for the older one, which was completely fine with the nineteen year old. Phillip grinned up at his brother. "Nope, won't even be giving you any clues, mate." He pat the top of the box. "But I assure you that it'll be very entertaining."

It was perhaps after another three or four stops when Phillip stood up. "Come on, time to go little man." He took the box in hand and carefully walked down the aisle and off the bus, not wanting to ruin whatever was in the box.

There were some stores where they had gotten off. "I've got to get some flowers," he called out to Derek before leading the way to the store without even bothering to explain any further. "Which one do you find the prettiest, hmm?" he asked once they were there. There was a wide selection to choose from and this was one part of what he had planned today that he was not planned.

[Derek Prince]

 The casual tone, dismissive attitude and unsatisfying answers were nothing that Derek was not familiar with when conversing with his brother. However those three annoyances were till enough to cause the onset of a small headache. Derek let out a noise that resembled a small growl but quickly attempted to cover it up by clearing his throat. Derek knew better than to try and get a straight answer out of Phillip but he couldn't help it. He didn't like when his brother knew something that he didn't even if it wasn't exactly his business. Derek didn't even bothering responding to his brother until he mentioned that whatever he was planning was going to be "entertaining" and that was just Phillip's code word for trouble. "Entertaining?" Derek groaned but he didn not press the matter. As far as he was concerned he had past the point of no return several stops ago and was mentally preparing himself for the worst.

Derek glared at his brother after he referred to him as little man but didn't hesitate to follow. He quickly switched his gaze to the box his brother was carefully carrying off of the bus. What was so special about that box? Derek was dying to know now mostly because he knew that whatever they were about to do involved the box and because of how delicately Phillip was carrying it.

When they stepped off of the bus, Derek shoved is hands in his coat pockets and pulled his coat tightly around him. How he missed the warmth of the classroom. Derek stayed close to his brother and surveyed the area they were currently in hoping to get some sort of clue as to what they were up to. There was nothing out of the ordinary that Derek could discern until Phillip mentioned something about flowers. Derek again stopped in his tracks. He considered himself to be a pretty smart guy and did not like the feeling of being in the dark about anything but it seemed like that's exactly where Phillip wanted him. "What the hell do you need flowers for.!" Derek barked as he ran to catch up to him.

"Oh you know I've always fancied petunias..." Derek began in a forced feminine tone that quickly changed to a loud agitated voice. "What the hell are you playing at!?" The sudden outburst got Derek a disapproving glance from one of the store's associates. Derek gave her weak a weak apologetic smile then rounded back on his brother. "Flowers Phillip?" He whispered. "Why do you..." Derek took a deep breath. He remembered how his mother always told him not to let his brothers get him all riled up, which was something they were very good at doing. "Phillip. If I pick a out a flower will that speed things along?" He had asked through gritted teeth in an attempt to keep his tone quiet and calm. Derek then pointed out a random bunch of flowers without waiting on his brother to respond.

[Phillip Prince]

As he lead them to the flower shop, Phillip Prince could not rub the smugness from his face. He was quite enjoying the whole scenario. He had not counted on anyone, especially not Derek, to be there with him while he tried to pull whatever that he was planning to. But Derek looking all clueless like he was proved to already be entertaining for the older Prince.

Phillip gave his brother a mocking disappointed look after his mini outburst. "Kids," he said exasperatedly to the florist. "What can you do?" He shrugged. He knew the lady since this was not the first time Phillip had gotten her flowers from her and she seemed to let his brother's behavior pass. He doubt it was even such a big deal, but he was not going to tell Derek that.

The nineteen year old nodded gleefully after his brother finally conceded. "Oh, an excellent choice little brother!" The ones Derek had pointed to were some very lovely irises. "That would do. Maria," he called out. "Can we have a bouquet of those, please?" He sat the box down on the table to take out his wallet. He handed the cash to Maria the florist as he handed him his irises.

"Ah, simply beautiful," he said after sniffing the flowers. "I had no idea you knew your flowers, brother." With that, he put the flowers on top of the box and carried it. He started walking, expecting Derek to just follow his lead. As he said before, Phillip gave no clues away.

After a while, they arrived at one of the high end neighborhoods. Phillip sneaked a peek at his brother. He wondered if Derek knew where they were. After all, their house was in the area.

[Derek Prince]

Phillip knew just how to push all of his brother's buttons. Keeping him in the dark, stringing him along, referring to him as his "little man" and "kid", of course Derek was used to all of these antics but still wasn't to fond of any of them.

Derek stewed silently next to his brother while he got his flowers and made his transaction. The fact that Derek was spending money on this plan of his only made Derek suspect further that this was not going to be some simple prank of his. The preparations for it were to much for it not to be something big and troublesome. It didn't cross Derek's mind once that maybe there was a gift in the box and maybe that it and the flowers were for a lady friend or something. If it was anyone else then yeah, that would be a reasonable assumption, but this was Phillip and Derek didn't believe his brother had thoughts as innocent as that in his head.

Derek rolled his eyes at his brother's remark on his knack for picking out flowers. "Git." He muttered under his breath as he followed him down the street. Derek was getting more and more impatient as they walked, he was definitely going to ask for something extravagant from his mother later on, he needed to be compensated for this ordeal. She was the one who was so concerned about what Philip was doing, this was her fault. Derek had decided to ignore the fact that his mother didn't exactly tell him to skip class and follow his brother.

It didn't take Derek long to realize that they weren't to far from home. They were in their neighborhood. He glared back at his brother, he caught him sneaking a look at him, he was no doubt trying to discern what Derek had put together so far. "Why are we here?' He tried to get some answers again. He was a little more subdued as he spoke this time. He wasn't to crazy about being this close to home when he was supposed to be in class. Derek wasn't as adept at receiving punishments as Phillip was and had no desire of his parent's finding out he had ditched class, no matter the reason.

[Phillip Prince]

There was no question that Phillip Prince liked having his little brother in the dark. He was pulling the strings and Derek just had to wait it out if he wanted to know what he was up to. Along the way, the nineteen year old thought of making a detour to get some other gifts and what not. That was not in the original plan, but he would do it just to see Derek try to solve it. A box with unknown condiments and flowers, he was curious as to what his brother might be thinking about it.

However, Phillip decided against the detour. What he had was enough. Most likely.

Ah, so his brother did recognize the area. He should have given him more credit. Huh. "Why do you think?" Phillip called out with a hint of mischief. He continued walking forward in the direction of their home. Home because that was exactly where Phillip were headed for. They were going back home.

"Oh come on, Derek. Someone as smart as you can surely piece it all together by now?" He spun around and grinned up at the younger Prince. His steps slowed as he started walking backwards then. "What am I up to?" He genuinely wanted to know which not-that-crazy theory Derek might think of now.

[Derek Prince]

Derek did not like his brother's tone one bit. What did he think? What did he think? He was thinking quite a bit actually. He was thinking about how he much he hated that his older brother could rope him into ridiculous situations without even trying, he was thinking that he should have just stayed at school and he was thinking about assuming the form of a large wolf and making his brother his breakfast. Well not really that last one but basically Derek was pissed.

Now Phillip was poking fun at his intelligence. he was taunting him. Derek would have love to throw a witty retort back at his brother but the truth of the matter was Derek could not piece together where they were going. The random items his brothers had obtained during this whole ordeal weren't the best of clues and other than those, the only possibly clue would be the area they were in, but Phillip couldn't be leading them home could he? Why would he cut class, ignore their mother's calls and texts, and then take a trip to her exact location. It didn't make sense but then again, this was Phillip.

Derek's nostrils flared as he glared into his brother's smug face. "What are you up to?" Derek was hoping that since Phillip had verbally enticed him to guess, that he might get some answers now. Cornelius looked around again, they were getting closer and closer. "Phillip you prat! We are not.... going home?" He didn't even allow him to answer. "Why!? You ignore mom's calls, you sneak off campus before class, and you bring us home?"

[Phillip Prince]

LOL was an acronym for laughing out loud. But most people nowadays just use it for anything they found even a slight bit humorous. However, at that moment, Phillip Prince really did laughed out loud. He could not help it. His brother looked hot and bothered. He really should have Derek follow him around during some pranks. It was too much fun to rattle his little brother. And a little too easy too like right now.

"Ding ding, we have a winner!" he exclaimed excitedly. It was not even an elaborate prank. It was fairly simple. Very simple. He stopped walking and looked at Derek right in the eyes. "That is exactly what I'm doing, mate, cause I felt like it." With that, he turned back around and continued heading for their home.

Talk about anticlimactic, but hey, that was Phillip Prince. Just because the mood called for it was a good enough reason for him to do whatever he wanted. They neared their house and Phillip stood in front of the big gates. He pressed the intercom to announce his arrival and quickly added "Hi mom!"

The gates opened and before walking in, Phillip looked behind at Derek. "You coming?"