Work Text:
William Schofield didn’t realize how strenuous growing old was, not until his back started aching in his forties, his hair started going gray in his fifties, and his knees started getting weaker in his sixties.
Now, in his seventies everything aches, but thankfully there’s nothing new. At seventy-seven years of age, he’s content with his life, despite the pains he sometimes gets. He really couldn’t ask for more, he has a house with a garden, he has two pups, Specs and Tipsy, he has his lovely sister, and his darling nieces. Oh, and of course, he has Tom, the love of his life, his companion, the man who has kept him whole for the past five decades.
They’re both old men now, not the boys they once were. Since Will’s not a spry young man turning old, but an old man getting older, he recognizes the various benefits of aging. As he and Tom have grown up, their relationship has continuously gotten stronger and more rewarding. These days, they’re able to just enjoy each other, unlike when they were twenty-something years olds, rushing about, getting their lives in order after the war.
Now their lives are in order. They’re old farts living on Tom’s family farm with a couple of dogs and a loving family, what more could a man want?
Of course for him, the true question isn’t “what more could a man want?” it’s more “what can a queer achieve living in England in the 20th century?”
The legal answer to that question is, well, nothing, but that’s what the English government says. William Schofield’s answer to that question is everything that he’s achieved himself. Queers may have been dealt a poor hand in English society, but you just have to make the most of the hand you're dealt, and that’s what Will’s done. He's queer and he’s gotten pretty much everything he’s wanted from life.
Well, everything except the right to live in the open with Tom. To those who don’t have to hide that part of their lives, it may seem like a small task, but to those who actually do, it’s a life or death situation. During the war if anyone found them out they could’ve gotten killed, no explanation given to their families. Nowadays, they could still get killed, and it’s been what, fifty years? Tom even met a bloke who got castrated, bloody humiliating that is. Whoever let that happen is one horrible individual.
They’ve gotten through it though, they’ve avoided death and castration and prison for the past five decades. Living in the countryside, a good distance away from neighbors, it’s not as much of a problem anymore. It was certainly an issue in London, but they left the city not long after the Blitz. Tom’s mother begged for them to leave, so they left. At that point there wasn’t much reason to stay.
Now they’re content, living on a farm, in an illegal relationship. The illegal part is certainly a bother but what can you do?
Will walks into the living room from the kitchen, music from the record on the turntable hitting his ears. Tom’s sitting on his preferred chair reading The Outsiders with Specs at his feet.
“Reading that coming of age novel again? A bit older than the target audience, aren’t you?” Will jokes while sitting down next to Tipsy on the couch.
Tom has a look of suffering in his eyes, “I suppose I am, but how was I supposed to turn down our darling niece’s offer of a book club? Her mother would’ve had my head on a stake if she found out that I threw away a chance to get her daughter to read a ‘real’ book, it wasn’t really a choice.”
The niece in question is actually Will’s grandniece, Jane. Will was like a surrogate father to his nieces after their father had died, and when Tom came into the picture he also took up a fatherly role. Because of this, Tom and Will are more similar to the role of grandfathers than granduncles.
Will laughs, aware of how much Jane’s mother hates that Jane exclusively reads comic books, “Fair enough. Would you like some tea, love? I’ve put the kettle on.”
“Tea sounds great, I need a little caffeine in order to finish that bloody book for when Jane arrives. I hate when she gives me that disappointed look, it hurts my heart,” Tom sighs, shutting the book and getting up to turn on the telly. Unlike Will, Tom’s never been much of a reader, but he’ll pick up a book once in a while, especially if Will or one of the nieces or nephews suggests one.
“She’s just like her mother, isn’t she?” Will says with a chuckle, then frowns as he’s realized what he’s said, “Don’t tell her I said that though.”
Tom smirks as he settles back into his chair, now with Specs on his lap, “I most certainly will, don’t you worry, dear.”
As he gets up to get the tea, Will gives him a mock glare, knowing that Tom would never dare tell Jane that she’s like her mother. Jane’s currently in her rebellious faze, which is part of the reason she avoids books like the plague, since her mother reads classic novels like it’s her job (which may be Will’s doing).
Tipsy also gets up, trotting along behind Will. Tipsy has always been more attached to him and Specs to Tom, despite being from the same litter and raised the same. Perhaps it has to do with how much time Will spends sitting around and reading. Tipsy always has been a bit lazy.
Will starts to fuss with the tea. Always black tea, neither Tom nor himself enjoy fruity teas, despite having an orchard. He pours the tea into the mugs that their nephew, Joe’s son, made for them a few years ago. One sugar for Tom, no sugar for himself, that’s how they’ve had it for the past five decades.
As he picks the cups up to bring to the living room, he hears Tom call his name. It’s not particularly unusual for Tom to shout for him, he is one of the most expressive people Will has ever met, but he still goes into the living room as quickly as he can.
“Yes, love?” Will asks, standing in the doorway. Immediately noticing Tom’s shocked face, he puts the mugs down on the console table near the door and comes further into the living room, standing next to the chair Tom is sitting in. It takes him a moment to realize what has caught Tom’s attention, but it becomes abundantly clear when he hears the word ‘homosexual’ come out of the television.
“This act allows men over the age of twenty-one to engage in homosexual acts privately, but imposes heavier punishments on street offenses. The Sexual Offences Act will be covered in more detail later tonight. In other news, a historic building in Londo-” the news announcer is cut off as Will turns off the TV, now equally as shocked as Tom.
He looks at Tom and sees a steady stream of tears running down his face, coming out faster as the seconds tick by. Slowly, he reaches for Tom’s hand and pulls him up, bringing him into an embrace.
“It’s finally happened,” Will says as he places a kiss onto Tom’s hair, pulling him in even tighter.
They stand there for what feels like hours, letting it sink in. For the first time, they can’t be arrested for their love. Their lives, which they’ve worked so hard for, can’t suddenly be upended just by being together. This act isn’t going to magically change society’s view on them, they’re not going to be able to go out holding hands into town, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Getting old is tough. It’s hard to watch yourself get older, gaining wrinkles, having your hair thin. It’s even harder to feel yourself getting older, having your joints hurt, getting random aches. But there are so many positives. You see your family grow, you gain wisdom, you start to enjoy the little things in life.
In William Schofield’s opinion, the best part of getting old is seeing the world change. The changes are gradual, but when you look back to when you were twenty, those seemingly gradual changes suddenly don’t seem nearly as small.
Fifty years ago, William Schofield had kissed Thomas Blake for the first time, terrified that if they were caught that they would be beaten, arrested, or killed. Now, when William Schofield kisses Thomas Blake, he knows that the world isn’t quite as cruel as it once was.