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“ok, bye bye dear, i’ll see you later,” ranboo insisted, ushering his wife out the door of their quaint little house in brighton. he saw her meet up and lock arms with mrs. smith, who lives next door with her own husband, tobias, and begin walking down the street towards the local library.
ranboo was eternally grateful that he and linda were still barely considered young enough to not have any children, as he truly did not want any with her but knew that wouldn’t be an option. though his parents kept nagging him about it every time they had dinner after sunday mass, they simply said they would rather be more financially fortunate first.
and not to mention, at the ripe age of 19, ranboo was committing 2 major sins. the first, letting his secret lover in through the back door while his wife was out at the library. the second, that lover was a man, also married with his own wife accompanying linda at said library.
as ranboo opened the door, tobias stepped into the room with rosy cheeks and a cheesy grin spread across his face. as soon as all the doors and windows were shut, he made himself very comfortable in ranboo’s arms. with tobias’ arms around the tall man’s neck and ranboo’s arms around his waist. ranboo affectionately smiled down at him and spun them in small circle.
tobias took ranboo’s hand and walked to the corner of the room, where a phonograph sat idle on a small table. he turned it on and let the classical music gently play as he took ranboo’s body as a part of his own and demanded he held him close, swaying with him and smiling into his chest. “i hate that we have to hide this, ranboo.”
he smiled something watery and bittersweet. “at least we have something for now. i like to imagine it, you know. one day, it could just be us. in a sweet little match box with a beautiful green lawn. it’d be lovely, toby.”
tobias hummed. “don’t call me that, it’s too-“
“childish, i know. suits you, though.” ranboo finished his sentence easily. the shorter boy pulled ranboo even closer to himself so he could rest his nose in his neck.
“but, god, i wish we could live life like a couple. maybe we should run away some day. build a cabin in the woods.” toby smiled at the idea, nuzzling even further into the crook of his shoulder.
ranboo smiled. “there’s one, a few hours away by foot i believe. it needs some work, but we could make-do, i believe. if i do recall, it’s the one we explored once when we were supposed to find a nice green space for the paper.” toby was a photographer for the town’s paper and ranboo a journalist, they often would venture out around the town and its outskirts to find stories or just have fun and get paid to do it. it’s how they grew close, despite living next door.
toby hummed at the thought and pulled away from ranboo to hold him at a bent arms’ length. “my love, i’d run away with you any day of the week. but, i fear they’d come after us. thinking we’ve gone missing or some foul thing. if we’re safe tip-toeing about, it may be better to stay that way for a while, yeah?” he reasoned. neither of them liked any options they had. but, as both of their parents and wives were horrendously against any homosexual behaviors, it really was safest to pretend to love the wives they didn’t choose and love each other in private.
••
that lasted a long while, 7 months nearly, and they were celebrating their 1 year anniversary. luckily, as it was a saturday night, some of the women of the town were holding a small wine and dinner gathering. so, the lovers were left with empty houses and full hearts.
holding each other and sharing gentle kisses, pretending this was forever, and daydreaming that it could be occupied their time. they slow danced in the foyer and kept each other warm on the couch. eventually, ranboo, with a snoring toby on his chest, began to doze off in front of the fireplace. both boys were finally laying content with each other.
unluckily, tobias’ closest friend, tommy, decided he would be walking right into his dear friend’s home with no knock or acknowledgement of any sort. “tobias?” he called into the house. when he received no response, he walked right in and headed straight to the main room. tommy was appalled by what he saw, yelling a sharp “toby! ranboo! wake up this instant!”
they scrambled to their feet, jolted out of their peaceful slumber. ranboo stood slightly in front of toby, as if attempting to protect him. “tommy, please-“
“no, there’s no explaining this. i had my suspicions of you two for months now, i can’t believe you would do this. to your wives, to your family, to god! unbelievable.” toby grabbed onto ranboo’s wrist, trying to ground himself as his world crashed around him. “no matter what you try to say to me, i’m telling everybody. i’ll put it in the papers if i have to. are we clear? get out of here.” tommy demanded.
toby pulled ranboo behind him and ran into the bedroom he shared with his wife. he cupped ranboo’s face in his hands and looked into his eyes. “look at me, love. go out the back door and get some clothes from your house. a bit of food as well, if you can. we’re gonna get out of here. i’ll handle tommy. just run, boo. you know where.”
ranboo nodded, kissing his forehead and scrambling out the door. toby brought his attention to tommy, who was still angrily standing in the main room. “tommy, listen to me,-“
“i won’t listen to anything you say to me, tobias.” he stated, kicking at the rug on the floor.
“we’re leaving. i don’t care about the rest of you, we’ll be somewhere safe. tell the police, tell the church, tell our families, i don’t care. just let us run. we don’t want to be here anyways. you’re not taking anything from us.” toby pleaded, just wanting tommy to leave him be long enough to run.
tommy begrudgingly agreed, running off to the parlor presumably to tell the women of the town that the well loved journalist/photographer were actually having a homosexual affair.
a few hours later, with multiple bags on his back, toby found himself at an abandoned log cabin in the woods. there, ranboo sat in a dusty chair by a window, looking for his lover to finally arrive. as soon as they met eyes, both of them dropped everything and ran to each other. they made contact and the dams behind their eyes immediately broke.
“how are we going to eat? and live? we’re so young, boo. i don’t know what we’re meant to do.” toby cried.
ranboo shushed him gently, telling him about the town on the other side of the woods, only 45 minutes on foot. nobody knew them there, they could buy food and clothing as necessary with the money they had saved. it’s not like they were paying any rent or dues for a cabin in the woods nobody had touched in years.
they decided that if need be, they would grow some flowers to sell in the square for some extra money. but they would be okay, and though they were unsheltered and afraid, they were freer than they had ever been.
“i love you, ranboo.”
“i love you too, tobias.”
••
later on, an older innkeeper who kept a close eye on the two boys selling flowers in the square every sunday asked for them to come in and chat. she told them that she lived with her female lover upstairs in the inn, and that there was an extra apartment she never rented out that they were free to stay in for as long as they would like. they quickly agreed, and lived calmly as they helped out with the inn, and when the two older ladies passed they took ownership of it themselves.
ranboo had promised toby that it would all be okay, and it was. they made a living and kept a home, and everything was alright. the townspeople had their suspicions that the two were not just business partners, but they’d both obviously been through enough in their lives and were never pressed about it (which they were both very grateful for.) nothing was ever ideal, as slurs and mud were thrown at them when they left the inn by the drunkards from the bar next door, but they kept themselves sane and healthy, and that’s all they needed.