Fic: Ever After
This is just my little take on some things, HH-wise. It started as several little bits jotted down, which eventually got joined together and other bits added in. I've probably deleted at least as much as I've actually left here. I wish I was a good enough writer to explore some of these ideas further, but skill not withstanding they demanded to be shared. Any feedback is gratefully received.
Ever After
Horatio’s father had said he was a solitary boy, slow to make friends. No one would ever have said that of Archie Kennedy. Archie had greeted Horatio with a joke and a grin, chattering so constantly that it did not matter that Horatio was incapable of speaking. They made an unlikely pair, one fair where the other was dark, one cheerful where the other was solemn. Horatio was swept along by Archie’s enthusiasm, grateful for the friendship even as he wondered why Archie thought him worth the bother.
When Jack’s shadow fell over Archie, and silence with it, Horatio stayed close by. Only Horatio allowed Archie his silence in comfort. Only Archie allowed Horatio his silence without question. Quiet companionship was what Archie most wanted, and what Horatio had most to give, and in the silence their friendship blossomed.
But Maria, she is all questions. She wants to understand but she cannot. She wants to understand because she cannot. She won’t leave him alone, least of all when all he wants is to be left alone. Archie understood. He did not need to ask questions, because he knew already. God how he missed him. Somehow, his life had been divided into before and after. He could not precisely remember what had caused the split. He only knew that before, there had been Archie. A solid, comforting presence without judgment, wanting only whatever Horatio offered, and giving so much more in return. And after, there had been no Archie, no reassuring companionship, only loneliness and questions he did not know how to answer. Sometimes he questioned his own sanity, how was it that he remembered Archie so clearly and yet no one ever spoke of him? Not even Mr Bush whom he was sure had known Archie, not even on his own wedding day when Bush stood beside him in Archie’s rightful place.
Maria asked why he was still surprised to see her in the mornings, and it was one more question he could not answer. Every morning that he awoke to the feel of a real bed beneath him, and a warm body beside him, for one glorious moment he forgot there was before and after. There was only before and the warm body was Archie’s, alive and well. It had to be Archie, didn’t it? Who else would possibly be in his bed? He wanted to love Maria, truly he did. Because of her he had a home and a family. But as he sat before the fire, or held his son in his arms, he could not help but cast Archie in his place and wish that Archie had been the one whose life was split down the middle.
Ever After
Horatio’s father had said he was a solitary boy, slow to make friends. No one would ever have said that of Archie Kennedy. Archie had greeted Horatio with a joke and a grin, chattering so constantly that it did not matter that Horatio was incapable of speaking. They made an unlikely pair, one fair where the other was dark, one cheerful where the other was solemn. Horatio was swept along by Archie’s enthusiasm, grateful for the friendship even as he wondered why Archie thought him worth the bother.
When Jack’s shadow fell over Archie, and silence with it, Horatio stayed close by. Only Horatio allowed Archie his silence in comfort. Only Archie allowed Horatio his silence without question. Quiet companionship was what Archie most wanted, and what Horatio had most to give, and in the silence their friendship blossomed.
But Maria, she is all questions. She wants to understand but she cannot. She wants to understand because she cannot. She won’t leave him alone, least of all when all he wants is to be left alone. Archie understood. He did not need to ask questions, because he knew already. God how he missed him. Somehow, his life had been divided into before and after. He could not precisely remember what had caused the split. He only knew that before, there had been Archie. A solid, comforting presence without judgment, wanting only whatever Horatio offered, and giving so much more in return. And after, there had been no Archie, no reassuring companionship, only loneliness and questions he did not know how to answer. Sometimes he questioned his own sanity, how was it that he remembered Archie so clearly and yet no one ever spoke of him? Not even Mr Bush whom he was sure had known Archie, not even on his own wedding day when Bush stood beside him in Archie’s rightful place.
Maria asked why he was still surprised to see her in the mornings, and it was one more question he could not answer. Every morning that he awoke to the feel of a real bed beneath him, and a warm body beside him, for one glorious moment he forgot there was before and after. There was only before and the warm body was Archie’s, alive and well. It had to be Archie, didn’t it? Who else would possibly be in his bed? He wanted to love Maria, truly he did. Because of her he had a home and a family. But as he sat before the fire, or held his son in his arms, he could not help but cast Archie in his place and wish that Archie had been the one whose life was split down the middle.