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In a small town like theirs, everyone knew everyone else’s business. And everyone knew Ed Teach had Izzy Hands beguiled.
Izzy couldn’t even be upset by it, not really, because every time he kissed Ed, Ed lit up with the most beautiful smile Izzy had ever seen in his life and he just wanted more.
The whole town seemed caught up in Ed’s spell. He was the handsomest person the town had ever seen, and boys and girls were vying for his attention left and right. He’d gone out with members of both genders in the past, but confessed to Izzy during one of their late night walks that he preferred men.
Eventually, Izzy managed to convince Ed to move into his tiny cottage with him. Ed took his role as househusband very seriously, having Izzy’s dinner ready when Izzy returned from the dock, smelling of fish. Ed never cared; he kissed Izzy soundly the second Izzy was in the door, often leading to the two of them eating cold dinner hours later. Izzy didn’t know what Ed got up to in the hours when he wasn’t home, but he did know that Ed could go two, sometimes three rounds a night (with a lot of play in between), and Izzy often yawned and dragged his feet on the way to the docks in the wee hours of the morning. The other boys on the boats teased him, but he could take them all except Jim with his hands tied behind his back, so when he glared at them they all shut up. Until he wasn’t around.
The weekends were Izzy’s favourite and least favourite times. He got to spend all of his time with Ed (and catch up on the sleep he missed out on during the week), but Ed always wanted to go out on the town, to see and be seen, even if it was just to the butcher’s (and the tailor, and the milliner). Izzy parted much more easily with his hard-earned money these days, and he couldn’t even be angry because Ed was always thrilled after these days in town.
“I just love for people to see me on your arm,” Ed always said. “They see me during the week on my own; it’s good to remind them that I already belong to someone.”
And then Izzy would kiss Ed, and Ed would smile, and Izzy would be helpless again.
The one problem was Ed’s pranks. His “tricks”, he called them. They were harmless, mostly, annoyances rather than dangers, and he’d been pulling them since he was small. The older people in the town grumbled about them, having thought he’d have grown out of them by now, but Ed paid them no mind, dancing from one spot of trouble to the next with few consequences. No one could resist forgiving him when he turned those puppy dog eyes on them.
And the tricks were clever. Ed was the smartest person Izzy had ever met, and Izzy knew one day Ed would leave him for a bigger town with more to do, but while he had Ed here he was determined to enjoy it.
He never played tricks on Izzy, but he did drag Izzy into them more often than Izzy liked. Everyone in town tutted that Izzy should know better, but Izzy was fully under Ed’s spell. And he should’ve known better. But when Ed gave him a little smile and leaned in to nuzzle against Izzy’s neck and said, “Please, Iz?” Izzy couldn’t help but say yes.
So when one Saturday he woke up to no Ed, just a note on the table that said “hide and seek, you’re it”, on the outside he knew immediately something was up. This had the scent of one of Ed’s tricks, and Izzy’s stomach roiled at the thought that at the end of the scavenger hunt he would end up at the train station to say goodbye to his love. He opened the note anyway and read the clue.
Near the place where I first laid eyes on you,
When you stopped to tie your shoe.
Where you showed me weeds for stew,
There will you find your next clue.
Izzy rolled his eyes, but smiled, remembering the first time he’d met Ed. Ed had been 7, Izzy 12, and Izzy had been new to town, dragging his feet while walking to class. Being the new kid always sucked, and being new in a small town like theirs was the worst. He’d stopped to check his shoe, hoping it needed to be re-tied so he could waste more time. Ed had stopped to ask if he needed help, and Izzy had been gone for him in an instant. Years later, Ed had asked Izzy why his stew tasted so much better than Ed’s mom’s, and Izzy had taken him to the nearby grove where the garlic mustard grew. Izzy grabbed his jacket and cap and headed out.
When Izzy reached the grove there was another note, with a poem reminding Izzy of another shared memory of his and Ed’s. It took him nearly all day to find all 15 notes Ed had hidden around town, and he traipsed to and fro through the square, inviting many curious looks from the other townsfolk, but he didn’t care.
The last note led him back to the grove, which he was confused about. He made his way back there, and couldn’t help but gasp when he entered.
Since he’d first been there in the morning, Ed had strung lanterns with little candles between the trees, and had set up a picnic on the grass in the middle of the grove.
“It’s going to be dark soon,” Izzy said, trying to hold onto his dignity and not let tears fall. He was mostly successful, and Ed led him gently to the blanket.
“That’s why I brought all the candles,” Ed said, his eyes twinkling. God, Izzy could get lost in those eyes.
“What’s happening here?” Izzy asked, still dazed. “Did I forget an anniversary?”
“No,” Ed said, smiling.
“Then what?”
Ed sighed. “I can see there’s no getting you to wait until dessert. Alright, fine. I wanted today to be a special day,” he said, and Izzy was both concerned and intrigued by the shy smile Ed gave him. “I know you’re afraid I’m going to leave.”
“Ed…”
“No, it’s true,” Ed said firmly. “I know it is, I know you think I’m too good for this town, that I would be better off in a bigger city.”
“I’ve never said that.”
“Not to me,” Ed agreed. “But you know Fang can’t keep a secret to save his life.”
Izzy glared at the picnic basket.
“I love you, Izzy,” Ed said pleadingly. “I don’t want to go anywhere else. Yes, this town is small and their minds are small, but I don’t care! I care about you. So I have something to ask you.”
Izzy’s head whipped around to stare at Ed. “Edward…”
“Marry me, Izzy,” Ed said softly, his eyes wide and pleading. And vulnerable, Izzy realized. Ed was worried about what he would say. “Please. I can’t live my life knowing you think I’m not fully in it with you. That I’m ready to leave you at a moment’s notice. Say you’ll marry me, Iz.”
“Of course I’ll marry you, you twat,” Izzy said happily, grinning broadly. “Of course I will.”
And then Ed was kissing him and all other thoughts flew out of Izzy’s head except one very happy thought: I’m going to marry Edward Teach.