Back To The Old House

chapter 2

Theodore and William continued to grow side by side as another year came and went. Another year of challenge lessons at school, another birthday, marking the beginning of their teenage years.

Around them, they watched as their lives changed before their very eyes. 

The days that had once felt as sweet and nostalgic as memories of summer during the longest days of winter were gone without a trace, instead replaced with bigger and better things. 

Slowly, their friends began to spend less time playing outside, focusing more on their studies or doing more 'grown up' things. Theodore and William were often left behind wondering what such things entailed. 

The two of them still spent that time with one another. Every waking second they trekked further out, covering what felt like miles of land in their daily runs before the midday sun had even reached its highest point. 

They found other forests and wooded areas, other fields, and other favourite spots that were their safe havens far from the claustrophobic streets they called their home. 

"We should run away." William suggested one day as the two of them bit into the sandwiches their mothers had made for them before they left. 

"Where?"

"London," William replied. 

"That's very far," Theodore said. "How would we get there?"

"The way we always get around. On foot." William grinned.

The pair of them were doing remarkably well not just with the speed of their running, but their stamina as well.

Each trip they took challenged them both, and Theodore had accepted each one with no complaints. He had never felt more alive than when he was running. Especially when William was at his side. 

"We could bring our bicycles, too. So we are not wearing our shoes out before the end of the first day." William continued. "And the baskets are good for storing our supplies."

"You cannot be serious," Theodore said. 

"I am." William insisted. "Everything is changing, Teddy." 

Teddy. 

That was new. 

Theodore felt something then. A small feeling in his chest resembling the joy that he had felt when William had picked him as his best friend. A joy that Theodore had felt a thousand times before in William's company. Something that he had welcomed as a side effect of finally having something that others did not. 

"But that doesn't mean we have to leave," Theodore said. "I have only ever known my life here. Are you not happy?" 

"I am wonderfully happy as long as I'm with you," William said. "I just cannot see myself staying here for my entire life."

"Oh," Theodore said. William looked at him. 

"Would you come with me?" He asked. "If I promise to move away only when I am older, will you come with me?"

"As long as you're not running away," Theodore said. 

William put a hand on his heart. "I promise."