fly | madderton

FOUR

The rest of their day out was with little drama, and absolutely no mention of the kiss. They spent about half an hour trying to skim stones, with little success from Taron. He managed to achieve two hops at one point and was insanely proud of himself for it, but Richard was quite certain it was a fluke, and just lucky the way the stone landed on the surface of the water. Still, he didn't voice these thoughts. He just congratulated his friend, and kept trying to help him get the technique until they couldn't find any more skimmable stones.

They wandered back through the woodland hand in hand, splitting apart when they had to cross the stubble field. There was a tractor at the crest of the hill, so the boys ran most of the way across and just about collapsed when they reached the ditch, unable to breathe through a mixture of laughter and general ill fitness. Well, Taron's ill fitness.

The kiss wasn't even mentioned when they were sat in Richard's room with the door closed and Richard's parents downstairs, as Taron was digging through the case.

"Here... Somewhere..." He mumbled, a smile tearing across his face when he found what he was looking for. "Got it. Close your eyes."

"Yessir," Richard said, closing his eyes as told and holding his hands out in front of him. A grin crossed his own lips when he felt a slight weight pressed against his hands. "Can I open?"

"Go on, then."

In Richard's hands were a collection of pictures, all printed out from his three weeks in Wales. Most of them were of their trip to London, pictures of him and Taron stood in front of different landmarks, and the one picture they got of the four of them, taken by the police officer. His smile grew as he flicked through the pictures, laughing a little when he got to one of the four of them on horseback, with three bright smiles and Taron looking on the verge of tears. How they'd convinced him to mount a second time, Richard had no idea.

"Thank you, T..." He looked up at his friend, the most genuine smile on his lips and a hint of tears brimming in his eyes. "Thank you, really." Carefully, he placed the pictures beside him on the bed and stood up to wrap Taron in the tightest hug he could muster. "I've made my mind up. I'm coming with you."

Even then, no mention of the earlier events. Not even when Taron was leaning on Richard's shoulder to brush his teeth, or when Richard crawled back into bed after getting up to switch off the lights and wrapped an arm around Taron, nor when the exact thing happened for the next five nights. Not even after slight touches of hands that lasted moments too long, or matching smiles that were slightly different to before. Not even during their déjà vu moment on the station platform as they hugged one last time before Taron went home.

"I love you, T," Richard had mumbled, his face pressed against Taron's hair. Taron just nodded, squeezing Richard a little tighter.

"I love you too, Dicky. See you soon?"

"Soon as possible."

They pulled apart, sharing a short smile from teary eyes. Not wanting to prolong the pain of yet another separation, Taron stepped onto the train as soon as the doors opened, taking a seat by the near side window to wave out at Richard.

And still, not one mention of the kiss.