chapter one.
“Come on, Oliver!” The sweet sound of Elliot’s voice called into the house from the front door.
It was moving day. The day that Oliver and Elliot could truly begin their life together. And Elliot was becoming impatient with Oliver. He had been waiting for his boyfriend for 15 minutes, tapping his foot as excitement bubbled over within him as he just wanted to get going, however, Oliver was still saying goodbye to his siblings.
“One more minute and I’ll be down!” Oliver shouted from Kai’s room. Kai’s room was a very typical teenage boy’s room; clad with stacks of dirty plates and piles of washed and unwashed clothes scattered around the room. It was the one room in the house that Penny absolutely refused to clean. I won’t be catching any diseases by touching that disgusting room, she would exclaim. Oliver found it quite hilarious. Seeing how serious Kai could be at times, then witnessing him being told off by his mother as he recoiled into a cocoon of embarrassment before he would begin the day-long job of tackling his room. Yeah, it was funny.
Indy and Isabella had brought Willow so they could all say goodbye to one another. Hallie, their youngest sister, had made it abundantly clear, after talking to their dad, Noah, that Oliver was definitely not their brother, regardless of his being raised as such. She refused to listen to anything her siblings said about him. Being 8 years old, she had begun to form her own opinions, despite them being heavily influenced by Noah.
“I wish we could come with you. We’re 16 now so surely we could just come with you, no questions asked?” Isabella pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her once-blonde hair was now dyed a deep brown with golden highlights. A ring was pierced through her nose and she wore an oversized black hoody, hiding her blossoming body. Her eyes were ringed with thick black eyeliner and despite the seemingly negative change in Isa’s looks, she had never been happier. She was finally finding her own identity.
“Right? It’s going to be forever until we see you again,” Indy added, mimicking their sister’s pouting. Indy sat beside Kai, holding his hand and slightly leaning into his shoulder. They were inseparable. It was adorable. Indy’s bright blonde hair sat on top of their head in a messy bun and they wore a cute pink jumpsuit with black boots. Indy would forever have such an eccentric style and would always surprise Oliver with the quirky outfits they conjured up. Indy wouldn’t be Indy without colour. Everyone hoped that would never change.
“It’s literally only going to be until the half term for my birthday,” Oliver said, laughing, “it’s basically two months. Less than two months, in fact! I’m sure you can handle it without me just fine.”
“What about me, though? I can’t come to your party. Every time I mention you to dad he gets so angry and mumbles stuff I don’t understand,” Willow said with teary eyes. Oliver pulled her up from the bed and threw his arms around her tiny body, almost squashing her with his now filled-out body. Thanks for that, Penny. Her and those bloody beautiful sandwiches.
“Ignore him. We’ll figure it out. You’re coming to the party,” Oliver said, “but remember, Robert and Penny don’t know we’re coming back for half term, so keep it hush hush, okay?”
“Yeah, Kai, don’t utter a word!” Indy giggled, prodding their boyfriend in the ribs causing him to feign pain.
“I promise!” Kai insisted. His eyebrows were as raised as much as he could as he couldn’t believe his friends thought he couldn’t keep a secret. He wasn’t that bad! Excitement usually got the better of him which caused him to blurt out secrets. At least he managed to keep secrets that meant something; blabbing about hidden boxes of chocolates in Robert’s office desk, or prematurely revealing a prank attempt, weren’t as important as surprising Penny and Robert with a visit.
“Oliver! If you don’t come down here right now I’m going to come up there and drag you down the stairs!” Elliot wasn’t happy. Oliver would definitely have some making up to do.
With a little giggle, Oliver quickly gave his siblings a hug and a kiss, fist-bumped Kai, and ran out of the room, down the stairs, and was met with a stern-looking Elliot.
“Sorry!” Oliver said with a sweet smile. A smile that Elliot couldn’t resist. A smile that instantly melted any impatience or anger that he might have held.
“It’s okay, Oli. Are you ready now?” Elliot said glancing up the stairs, almost expecting Oliver’s siblings to come bounding down and insisting on more goodbyes.
“Yeah, I’ll video call them at some point,” Oliver said, grabbing hold of Elliot’s hand and walking towards the car, which was brimmed with boxes. Who knew they had that many things? It was a wonder how they had managed to accumulate so many knick-knacks over the past nine or so months. And despite Penny insisting on them leaving some things in their room for when they came home, they knew that they couldn’t part with them.
Teddies won in fairground games. Cinema tickets. Photos upon photos. Stacks of books; educational and otherwise.
And, of course, their costumes from Oliver’s birthday party. From the day that everything was brought to light. Jade’s lies and plans. When they all came together to form an unconventional family of sorts. A bond was made that day. An unbreakable bond. And no matter how long they'll go without talking, they will all know that they will forever be in one another’s hearts.
“Brilliant. Now, let’s go,” Elliot said, opening Oliver’s door so he could slide in. Such a gentleman. Oliver wished he had rescheduled the driving test that he had originally booked for before his 18th birthday last year. But things happened. Drama. Pure drama. And Oliver never thought about it again. He had Elliot to do the driving. But perhaps at some point, he could take his test. It would give him some independence by not having to rely on Elliot, especially with their upcoming schedules inevitably causing issues with needing a lift.
As the couple drove the hour that it took to get to South Rending, Oliver couldn’t help but feel an immense amount of excitement bubbling away in his stomach. Although he truly loved his new ‘family’ and the things they had done for him and Elliot for the best part of a year, he couldn’t wait for the chance to begin their life together. Without anyone else. No baggage. A fresh start.
Looking back on the past year, Oliver was still baffled at how he and Elliot fought their way through the odds and came out on top. Their relationship was supposed to fail. Elliot was engaged. Oliver was his student. They weren’t meant to be together. But, despite all of that, they fell in love hard and fast. They knew that they had to be together. The connection that was formed that very first day their eyes met proved that.
“We’re here!” Elliot revealed, slowly pulling up to the gargantuan house that happened to be theirs. The house seemingly went on forever, towering high above the trees and the couple stared up at it in awe.
“Are you sure it’s the right house?” Oliver asked, knowing it was, as the pictures from the file that Robert had given them just weeks before had been burned into his mind. He had flicked through them and studied each room, imagining how they would embrace the space. It was their house. All theirs.
“Of course it is,” Elliot exclaimed with excitement as he parked the car before getting out and taking in the stunning build. Oliver got out of the car and joined him, slipping his arm around his back in a side hug.
They both stood in a moment of silence as they took in their home. Trees surrounded the house which meant that some would need to be taken out and perhaps replanted elsewhere, if possible. It would make space for garden parties or maybe to extend the house at some point. Elliot’s head was filling with ideas as his eyes darted between the windows, trying to take a look inside.
“Hi! Are you our new neighbours?” A woman’s voice interrupted the boys' thoughts. They turned to face her. Her bright red hair was short and spiked and a chain of flowers was tattooed down one side of her face. A huge smile was plastered across her lips as her outstretched arms pointed to their new house.
“Hi, yes. I’m Elliot and this is my partner, Oliver. It’s nice to meet you,” Elliot said, extending his hand out which she took gladly, shaking it.
“It’s nice to meet you, too. I’m Cam. My wife, Maggie, is inside with the baby, but I’m sure you guys will meet one another at some point. Robert informed us you were moving in today so I thought I’d say hi before they do,” Cam said, subtly nodding towards Elliot and Oliver’s other neighbour, “be wary of them, okay? Anyway, see you around!” And with that, she hurried off back into her own house.
“Well, at least we know we have one nice neighbour,” Oliver said quietly as the couple began to walk up the path to their house, both of them attempting to catch a glimpse of their mysterious neighbours through the trees, but said trees formed a barrier blocking their view. Which was a good thing because that meant that they couldn't see them.
Privacy. Such a thing seemed impossible a year ago, now look at them.
The path was cobbled and uneven but Elliot thought that it gave the house character. Oliver, however, winced at the uncomfortableness as he tried to stop his ankles from snapping.
“You’re such a drama queen,” Elliot laughed and shook his head at Oliver as they got to the front door, “are you ready?”
“Yes! Let’s get in!”
Elliot pulled the key out from his pocket and slowly inserted it into the lock, hearing the mechanism click as he turned it. With a soft push, the door opened, and inside they stepped.
