CLOSE BEHIND | F. Hargreeves²

04

 Days passed and Jude hadn't even thought about leaving to go back to his father and Beau hadn't spoken a word of their little interaction, he knew Jude would be upset and that wasn't something he wanted for the boy. But Jude was happy; content, and it seemed as though his smile came easier every single day and his self-confidence was definitely growing stronger.

Beau had heard a lot about the boy's father when he was feeling up for talking, how he would hit him if he was too loud; if he didn't clean up after the man or even just out of a fit of anger. It was sick and Beau feared it would only get worse if he stayed in that house. He would sooner burn it down with the man inside than let him touch Jude again and that was quite possibly a promise he intended to keep.

"You know," Rosie began one morning as she read over the daily newspaper, "we should probably take a trip to the market now that we have another mouth to feed. Who wants to go to their place of work more than they must?" She eyed Jude with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, what about you? I've only seen you there a handful of times." Jude questioned the woman.

Beau smirked from beside him, "It's some sort of diet. She only eats the insects outside."

Jude looked horrified at the thought, "What?!"

"That's disgusting, Beau." Rosie scolded like the mother she was supposed to be - which still felt horribly weird - before looking back to a gaping Jude, "Don't listen to him, he's just being a child."

So, maybe Beau was letting himself act more like his physical age than ever before and he had to say it felt somewhat nice. He was never allowed to be a child for many reasons, or even a teenager because he was always taking care of others and he was always training for something unknown. Beau supposed Jude acted more like a child because he was making up for lost time, he had that innocent imagination and naive outlook on the world outside of his own, it didn't mean he reverted back into a child uncontrollably he simply acted that way because he didn't know how else to act. 

For trying to turn the boy into a stereotypical man of their time his father was doing a terrible job.

Jude looked at Beau with amusement and he simply shrugged as if nothing had happened; as if he were the innocent one in the situation.

The kitchen was fully stocked in no time, all the food Beau tricked Jude into saying was his favourites were put away in a cupboard that wasn't close to the ceiling because he knew the boy would never be able to reach them without having to stand on a chair or the counter due to his short stature.

"That was very mean of you," Jude said with a glare as soon as everything was paid for with Beau's money.

Beau hummed nonchalantly, "What was?"

"You know what."

"I just wanted to know what food you liked."

"... You know what you did." Jude huffed as he crossed his arms.

Beau chuckled softly, "Yeah, I do."

The normal life Beau had found himself in was both everything he wanted and nothing at the same time. There were no Hargreeves - even those that irritate him to no end - or familiarity for even just the smallest of things and it was saddening for Beau. To think everything could just be ripped away at any given moment was one of the most terrifying things Beau has had to face, even with the memories of trying to figure out what love meant to him. 

Beau lay unmoving in his bed, staring up at the ceiling after having another particularly upsetting dream about those he lost but, most of all, the love he found only to be cut from his life once again. He had left him behind, his back turned and eyes forward, he didn't look back and Beau didn't blame him but it still felt like a knife to the gut all the same.