Wondrous Master | boyxboy | (alternate happy ending)

*NEW* Epilogue

Year - 1844



               Dear, mother and father

I hope this letter reaches you well. I am writing to let you all know how I have fared these years I have been gone. Through the years, I have seen your articles in the Weekly wishing for my return. It has brought my heart a wellness to know you both never gave up hope that I was out there somewhere and prayed for my return. However, I am sorry to say I have not built the courage to move back home just yet, for I have made a home for myself in this new place I sought for Neville and I.

I know it to be true that you are well aware of why I left home in the beginning. After Jamie's death and father's discovery of my affair with Neville, I took it upon myself to seek a life for he and I elsewhere, in a place where we could live out our days and love without the possibility of separation. I apologize for the inconvenience and heartache my departure caused, but I had to put my future and Neville's first. As two people who know what it is like to feel love, to be in love with someone who completes you, as I know the love between you both is and was always true, you must understand my purpose, and I ask that you forgive me for continuing to stay away. I cannot risk losing what I have built through these long years. Just know that I am well, and I hope that you all are just the same.

I worked hard through my youth to keep our family name afloat, as I never wished misfortune upon us back then. Now that I am gone and am creating a life of my own out here, father, I hope you have continued where I left off and have settled down to ensure shame never reaches you and mother, Johana and even Oscar.

For the time being, I ask that you respect my boundaries and finally end your search for me. Know that I am safe, happy and very much content with where I am now, and if I ever gain the courage to see you all again, I will write once more.

Until then, take care and prosper.

                                                     Your son,

                                                     Broderick Thorne

——

Broderick read over his writing once more before sealing the letter and dropping it off at the post office. He was thirty-one years of age now and had finally taken it upon himself to break the silence between him and his family. He'd meant every word written, but still wavered on whether or not he would ever see them all again. Now that he has called Banemount home for the past many years, he couldn't imagine himself ever wanting to leave it all behind to grace his parents with his presence once more.

Over the years, he'd come across the articles of Mr. and Mrs. Thorne's sorrowful messages to their lost son, and every time he could feel their pain through the papers. They were essentially begging for him to come back with the promise of welcome and acceptance, but Broderick couldn't bring himself to go even if it would quell the hearts of his parents. He had other things on his mind day in and day out, and they all revolved around his constant yearning to take care of and fulfill his duties as a lover. Always, he remained at Neville's side, just as he was now.

After the quick stop at the post office, Broderick walked alongside his one and only as they trekked through the City of Banemount. It was a lovely day in Spring, a rarity, and Broderick had promised to take him to the gardens outside of the Northern part of the city. 

While on their way, it wasn't a new thing for Neville to become distracted and wander off. Although they were much older than the sixteen and seventeen-year-olds they had been when they first met, there was still a great amount of youth that clung to Neville, as if his young beauty refused to allow him to age like any other person would. A little taller, he was still rather slender, his face etched so lovingly, and his brunette hair had grown a bit past his shoulders. Every day, Broderick thought himself the luckiest man in the entire world to have someone so stunning at his side, with not only a pleasantly beautiful face, but a warmth and tenderness so carefree, that his mere existence was like a gift to be a part of. How lucky Broderick felt to have been able to have what he did now.