Instead of the wall, Teddy crumbled before his eyes. His entire face fell, and the tears flowed without him trying to stop them. “Because I’m scared of you seeing that part of me. Of what it might do to us. I don’t want him to touch what we have and ruin it.”
“He never could.” Wren longed to reach out for him. To make him see. “He tried as hard as he could and we still found our way back to each other. We’re fated, Teddy. Nothing Kellan oranyone else could do would break us apart. The only person who could do that is you, and you’re letting him.”
Before Wren could say anything else, Teddy walked toward his desk and opened a drawer. He reached inside and pulled out a stack of leather-bound notebooks, their spines cracked and worn with use.
He stood up and placed them on the bed reverently, followed by a wooden box with a small lock on it. He walked over to Wren and placed something cold in his palm.
Wren looked down and found a small silver key resting in his hand.
“Open it,” Teddy whispered, pointing to the box.
“What is it?”
“All of me,” Teddy said. “There’s no point keeping it a secret when it’s all yours anyway.”
Hands shaking, Wren went over to the bed and picked up the box, unlocking it before lifting the lid and looking inside.
Letters. Stacks and stacks of sealed envelopes. Just like the one Teddy had given him when they first saw each other during Hart’s case. Each addressed to him. And dated.
He pulled them out and flipped through, throat constricting as he realized how far back they went.
Weeks.
Months.
Years.
All the way to when Teddy was placed and ripped away from Wren. All the way to the last day they spent together before the end.
He held them in his hands, like pieces of Teddy’s soul he never wanted to hurt or let go of. He caressed the cool paper and traced his name written in Teddy’s beautiful handwriting. And he cried.
For the time that had been stolen from them. For the two boys who did nothing wrong except love each other. For the twoadults who wanted to cross the divide but had no way to build bridges over it.
All they had was the same love and want they’d always held. Like a safety net they weren’t sure could survive the fall. And they had no way to know until they tested it. Until they fell.
“The first time Kellan approached me, I didn’t think anything of it. He would ask me questions about my process and offer advice. I wasn’t the only one. There were others he paid special attention to. I was actually flattered to be one of them,” Teddy said, choking on a tearful, sardonic laugh.
“Black said Kellan was hanging around him too, for a while,” Wren said, already feeling sick to his stomach as he placed the letters aside gently.
Teddy crossed his arms over his chest, like he was protecting himself from the memory. “It changed over time.”
“Was it…” Wren had to take a deep breath before he finished. “Was it because of us?”
“It was because of me,” Teddy said. “Whenever I did something he didn’t like, he seemed to get angry. Sometimes that would be something as simple as talking to friends in the hallway. Or being praised by an instructor. When I met you…”
He went quiet, swallowing hard, and Wren couldn’t take it. He held out his hand. “If you want to stay there, it’s fine, but please don’t be ashamed. I’ll love you no matter what you say. There’s nothing that could make me stop.”
Teddy took his hand with shaky fingers and allowed himself to be pulled down to sit next to him on the bed.
“I chose to love you. I chose to think about more than he thought I should. He saw me questioning things, acting out, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t realize the nature of our relationship as it evolved at first, he just didn’t want me to be around you because you were a ‘bad influence.’ But I didn’t understand what he wanted from me. When I was good and praised, he hated it.When I stepped out of line he needed to reel me back in. I never knew what to do or say.”
“He wanted to control you. He still does.”
“He hit me for the first time the day after Blu went missing. I think he must have guessed it had something to do with us, but he couldn’t prove it. Or maybe he just wanted someone to take it out on,” Teddy said, and Wren gasped, eyes filling with tears as Teddy confirmed his worst fears.
“Teddy, I didn’t know.”
“I wouldn’t have done it any differently.” Teddy looked down and squeezed his hand. “He’s a piece of your heart, Wren. How could I not protect it?”
