Stay (Boy × Boy) ✔

PROLOGUE

I bet you thought I would stay forever — even if you didn't talk nicely to me or treat me right. I bet you thought I would always be waiting where you left me, no matter how many days or weeks passed. Funny enough, I probably would have.

That day wasn't where their story began, but it was the day that changed everything between them. It was the day that chattered the last dreamlike hopes William had carried deep inside his chest for more than five years.

Yet the day was like any other easy summer day: everyone was boiling under the merciless sun, but the air conditioning of the small ice cream shop gave the three of them a moment of relief.

William Davies swiped a lock of brown hair off his face and took another look at his friend over the table. Aydan was a few years older than him, yet they had remained friends all these years despite the age difference.

Aydan was the opposite of William in almost everything: whereas William was quiet and was often mistaken to be serious-minded, Aydan had no problem talking and joking for both of them. Whereas William had brown eyes and brown hair, Aydan's eyes were light blue and his hair was ash blonde.

They were different, but they were as close as brothers. Although their friendship was anything but rosy in the beginning, once they had gotten to know each other, they became inseparable.

Ten years ago, when William had been just a snot-nosed child, he and his parents had moved from another country. Even as a 9-year-old William was't talkative nor had the means to get new friends easily, so his dad made a deal with his good friend, who also happened to be his subordinate.

Matthew Davies was an influential man — a businessman from head to toe — so making such arrangement was easy for him. He called his friend, Charles Carter, and later that day William met Aydan.

Back then Aydan was 11 years old and, not so surprisingly, he wasn't pleased to have some brat to take care of. They might have had only two years age difference, but for an 11 years old a 9-year-old was nothing but a baby. It surely didn't help that the baby was sulky and didn't do anything independently.

William on the other hand didn't like people. He didn't enjoy talking to strangers and he surely didn't want to socialise with someone who clearly didn't want him around. So it's fair to say that the kids weren't happy with the arrangement.

In time the older boy learned that the younger one could easily be entertained by giving him books to read. Even though the books were for boys Aydan's age, William seemed to enjoy reading them.

While William read, Aydan could sneak out to hang out with his friends or bring the friends to hang out with them. The quiet protege was so unnoticeable that most of the time no one paid any attention to him.

Yet there was one thing William seemed to like even more than reading: that kid loved to swim. Apparently he was also good at it, and Aydan's 'free time' was when the kid was practising his skills.

It took a while, a really long while, before William started to open up to his new friend, but once he did, Aydan realised the baby wasn't as annoying as he had thought.

The arrangement continued for the next year and then another, and during those years the boys had gotten really close. William's enthusiasm for swimming impressed Aydan so much that one day he had to try it too. Just like that his 'free time' turned to shared practices, which brought them, if possible, even closer.

Unfortunately William didn't make process in making friends, and he didn't open up to anyone but Aydan. He remained withdrawn and he was inclined to melancholy, especially after his parents divorced when he was 11 years old.

Still, with Aydan William smiled freely and seemed to be comfortable with him, so in a way the arrangement was working. Little did Aydan know that his protege was developing feelings for him.

William had been 14 years old when he realised Aydan wasn't just a friend or a brother to him. He had always felt different from others, so he wasn't too shocked by his insight. Still, knowing he didn't really have any friends and that the boy he liked was literally everything for him, he buried the feelings deep in his heart.

Ever since that day William had dreaded the day Aydan would meet his first love, because he knew for sure his friend wasn't going to return his feelings.

That day, an easy summer day, was the day William had dreaded so long. He had an untouched glass of orange juice in front of him and across the table sat Aydan with a beautiful hazel eyed girl.

Aydan had introduced the girl, Claudia, casually like it wasn't a thing that would break William's world in pieces. The new couple was all smiley and they even shared the chocolate ice cream Aydan had ordered.

Ever since the news William had sat there a not too sincere smile plastered on his lips, a turmoil inside his chest. He had told them he was happy for them and congratulated them — what else could he have done?

Claudia was an absolutely adorable girl. So beautiful people stared at her wherever she went and so kind it was impossible not to like her. She was the kind of girl a good guy like Aydan deserved.

When she smiled, you could see a row of beautiful white teeth. When she straightened her hand to take another spoonful of ice cream, you could see how her nails were almond shaped and polished with lavender nail polish. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her, and you could see that from the look of admiration Aydan on his face when he looked at her.

William had knew all along that one day this day would come, and he had dreaded it more than anything else, yet he had had no idea it would hurt that much.

He would have given anything if he could have had just one more day with Aydan: just one more day before everything had to change between them. But just as he had woken up in his room this morning and just as he had walked to the ice cream shop thinking this day would be just like any other day, the day had come and his time had run out.

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A/N: Hi, it's time for a new story! I hope you enjoy it. ❤  *I'm back here editing this 9/21/2021