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“Did you know, I had a crush on you for an entire year when I was sixteen.”
Baileywick raised an eyebrow, looking over at Cedric as he finished his cup of tea. He set it down in its saucer. “Did you?” he finally asked.
The sorcerer blushed, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t know why he was telling him this but the secret was out now so he might as well keep going. “I did,” he said. “You were always so elegant and moved so gracefully in the castle. You still move like that today. I suppose as a teen I just...enjoyed that. My sister was admiring nobles and knights and my crush was with a steward,” he softly laughed.
“I knew you had a crush.”
Cedric sputtered, flailing his arms briefly at this information. “You knew?!”
“It’s hard not to figure it out when a teenager stares at you when they think you’re not looking. Your cheeks always turned the faintest pink color when you did it too.”
The sorcerer groaned, covering his face with his hands. “I thought I was very good at hiding it!”
“You were horrendous at hiding it, Cedric. Everyone in the castle knew.”
“Everyone knew?!?” Cedric cried, eyes widening in horror.
“Your father and Roland the First didn’t know about it. Also I think some of the laundry staff didn’t know either,” he said with a shrug. He looked over at Cedric when he heard a soft thud on the table. The younger man had banged his head onto the tabletop, keeping his forehead firmly pressed to it. He chuckled, patting Cedric’s head in comfort. “It was rather sweet,” he offered.
“I’m surprised you never said anything about it!”
“Why would I?” he asked. “You were sixteen. It is perfectly normal for teenagers to develop crushes on adults while discovering themselves. You grew out of it, didn’t you?”
He groaned, covering his head with his arms. “I always wanted to tell you but I was too scared…”
“Well I would have turned you down so that’s good for you,” Baileywick chuckled. Cedric looked up and he shrugged. “It would have been improper at the time. You were sixteen and I was forty-four.”
“What’s the difference between then and now?” Cedric asked.
“You mean besides you being in your late thirties and being a full grown adult?” Baileywick snorted, tweaking the end of Cedric’s nose.
“Still...I can’t believe you knew!”
“It was very flattering at the time.” Baileywick smiled at him, playing with one of his bangs. “I suppose teen you would be very happy with how things turned out twenty-two years later.”
“I suppose...even if you are an old goat now,” Cedric said. He laughed, rubbing his arm when Baileywick lightly slapped him.
“Cheeky!”
“You chose to be with someone as cheeky as me!”
“A sign that I am growing senile no doubt.”