(Not) Meant For You
is a Captive Prince fanfic, written by user Holly_Golightly on Archive of Our Own.
The story is set on a modern nobility AU, where Damen and Auguste are celebrity children of European noblemen, and famously know in gossip magazines for their bitter rivalry towards each other. One night, Laurent decides to annoy his brother by having a one night stand with Bastian, his ex with whom he occasionally hooks up with, but accidentally calls Damien instead, someone he's had a crush since childhood. What follows is a love story as they try to hide their blossoming relationship from Laurent's unstable brother and deal with their own self-destructive habits.
Tropes
- Always Second Best: Laurent has a big complex about the fact that everyone around him prioritizes Auguste over him, and always feeling like he is a second choice.
- Death by Adaptation: The Regent is already dead by the time the story starts, having been killed by Auguste when he was younger to keep him away from Laurent when he learned that his brother was being sexually assaulted by him.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Laurent was never told the full story of how Damen and Auguste became sworn enemies. He was also never told they actually stayed in contact or the two times that Auguste had OD'd.
- Rape and Revenge: Auguste had murdered his uncle, who after years of sexually abusing him, started targeting Laurent.
- Replacement Goldfish: After finding Auguste's cigar case in Damen's apartment, Laurent fears that he is just a replacement for the fact that Damen is really in love with his brother and he just looks similar enough. Having learned about their past only worsens this fear as the fight that caused their feud came from an accusation from Auguste that Damen would eventually really use Laurent as a replacement for him.
- The Reveal: The reason why Damen and Auguste ended their friendship years prior: In an attempt to get Auguste to quit drugs, Damen and him got into a fight, among which, Auguste accused Damen of being in love with him and that one day, Damen would make a move on Laurent to use him as a replacement for him.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Auguste. Although he is dead even before the story begins in the original novel, he is well alive here, though in a messed up state.
- Toxic Friend Influence: A mutual one between Damen and Auguste. As kids they got too close, by the time they were in their teens, they were pretty much codependent and barely could function when they weren't around each other all the time, worsening Auguste's already frail mental state.
- Wham Episode: In Chapter 6, during Nikandros' bachelor party. Auguste has an overdose, leading Laurent to learn about the entirety of Auguste and Damen's history, how they teared apart, and eventually breaking up with Damen over all the secrets they kept from him.
