Forest Edwards is always running. Either literally, because of his dog, Fletch; running to escape his tiring work life; or, well, running away from the possibilities of love.
But when Natalie Dayholt, together with her dog, Bailey, waltzed into his...
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THE DOOR OPENED with a soft creak, and the welcoming warmth from the house enveloped him all at once. Forest grinned, kicking his black sneakers off before he dropped his keys onto the linoleum counter with a loud clatter.
"Hello people," he exclaimed, "I'm home!"
Forest Edwards shuffled up the stairs into the bright and airy common area, peering around the corners for his parents. He frowned slightly when no reply came. The two of them had specifically made him come home a little earlier, and he wasn't sure why.
"Hello?" He mumbled, "I was summoned home but neither of you are here?"
Pulling on the soft translucent curtains, he let the warm afternoon light flood into the house, leaving the wooden floorboards in a soft glow.
Forest lived with both of his parents in an unassuming townhouse, somewhere along the quiet streets in South London. He absolutely adored everything about the house that he shared with them. It spelt of a certain warmth and love, something he couldn't find anywhere else.
The cobbled pavement leading to the door step had been blanketed by fallen purple flowers from the Wisteria tree. It left the ground with a soft lilac colour, and it looked extremely pleasing to the eye. Yet Forest grimaced, drawing the curtains close again, unwilling to remind himself of it.
Because he was probably going to be the one clearing it all up later. Though his parents could do the sweeping instead, Forest never let them. He didn't think it was appropriate to let them do the job, especially if he was perfectly capable of doing it himself.
He turned away, and nearly jumped in shock when his parents were already standing in front of him, both with wide smiles on their faces.
"My god, you people didn't have to scare me like that." Forest stated.
"You never learn, Forest. Usually, children call their parents dad and mum. You don't just call them people, son."
Forest gave a sheepish grin before replying, "yeah, okay it's a bad habit." He paused for emphasis, shooting his father a boyish smile, "Dad."
"But you two are people, no? Anyway, can we get rid of that stupid plant? It's so ugly and it takes a lot of effort to clean up the petals." He muttered.
William Edwards — his father — smiled, and it was those kinds where the corners of his lips would only quirk up in the slightest. His smile was one that was extremely easy to miss, and if one hadn't known him better, they'd think that he was someone very strict.
Except, he really wasn't. Most of the time, anyway. There were times when he would get serious — especially when teaching him — but generally, William was the kind of person who was friendly and polite to the people he interacted with. With Forest, though, he never held back on his teasing.
