Barrow's Boy - A Downton Abbey Fanfiction

Stuck in Silence

     Theodore barely slept that night. The knowledge of Green being in a room just down the hall filled his brain. The memory of his face as he snarled his threats kept surfacing to the front of his mind. The distant sounds of the screams he had heard echoed in the back of it. 

     Percy had stayed for as long as he could and even offered to stay the night. Teddy had wanted to take him up on this and had even gone as far to ask Mr. Carson for permission, but that was where they'd have to forget the idea. 

     He'd wanted to scream at the butler. Carson had no idea what he had just gone through. He didn't know the types of people who were staying here. He'd wanted to let it all out right there, to tell him everything. He would have, if it weren't for the anxious feeling of Green's eyes watching him at every moment. 

     So, Teddy came down for breakfast the next morning incredibly tired. He sat at the table with Thomas and Jimmy, ignoring Alfred's comment about how he looked even worse than he had the day before. 

    He took a piece of toast as Jimmy passed it to him and focused entirely on spreading butter onto it as others walked into the room. It was only when he glimpsed one of them sitting down that he knew Anna had arrived. He looked up and had to hold back a gasp.

     Anna had a gash on her head that hadn't been there when he'd seen her before. There was a new bruise on her eye as well.

    He knew that Green had done something. This was his proof. He glanced from the foul man, then back at Anna. He watched as her lip quivered, then she made the smallest shake of her head. 

    So she had been forced into secrecy too. At least he knew that. He gave her a small nod back, hoping to show that he understood the situation, even if he didn't know exactly what Green had done. Anna swallowed, then looked down at her food. Teddy did the same. 

     He wasn't sure if he was glad to be leaving the abbey or dreading it. Either way, he had to go. After all, who could possibly refuse to do something for the all-mighty Mr. Carson?

     It was the sight of Percy standing down the road that brought Teddy a little ease, tossing an apple into the air and catching it. Finally, he had someone who actually knew what had happened to him.

     "Did you sleep at all?" Percy asked upon seeing him, leaning against the tree he was standing at. Teddy frowned.

     "You're not the first to say that today." 

     "It's not that bad," Percy quickly tried to reassure him. "Besides, you can just use your cold as an excuse. Or the events at the abbey. You have lots of options."

     Teddy nodded, glad for Percy's words. He knew that his friend was trying to help him while staying away from the topic of what had happened, but there was one thing that he knew he needed to ask. 

     "You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

     "I wanted to," Percy responded, looking at him with clear intention. "Teddy, this isn't good for you. You have to tell someone."

     "What if he finds out?"

     "Wait until he leaves then. He can't find out if he's not there to."

     The night before, Teddy had told Percy almost everything he knew. He'd explained who Green was, how he'd been trapped by him, and how he knew nothing of why it had happened. 

     "I shouldn't have told you about it. It's not fair to you that you've been brought into it."

     "Give me some credit. I heard what he said to you, I knew something was going on."