Chapter Text
Titch sighed as he worked on the field. The deal was his best bet to fix things up around and the whole ordeal did make him realise things he didn’t want to admit.
His brother taking up Margaery’s deal just to try and prove something to him, to Titch, made his stomach turn. Titch had never wanted James to prove anything to him, he just wanted him to wake up and start doing something, maybe actually learn to farm. Titch never intended for James to feel so bad about himself to make the decision of leaving.
From far away, Titch recognised the sound of tires screeching against the stone path. By the force of the screech, Titch knew that it must be James, and he must be angry.
“BROTHER!” Yeah, that confirms it. James was mad at him, again. Titch watches him approach and leaves his shovel to the side to confront his brother.
James slowed down his pace, a scowl painted on his face, “What did you do?” His voice had lowered, almost menacingly.
Titch put his hands behind his back and shrugged, “I know everything,” Titch stepped closer to his brother, “I know about the curse. I know about how you flipped the profits of this land,” His face softened as he looked into his brother’s eyes, them reflecting how broken James was, “And I know about broken dreams,”
James' scowl deepened, “I had ten thousand aubergines that were gonna go across that man’s desk,” he said, pointing in the direction of where his car was, “I wa- I was gonna own everything! Everything! And-”
Titch couldn’t take it anymore, “It wasn’t right,”
James’ anger just grew, “I’m gonna go back. To Margaery, the old one. I’m gonna change that curse!”
“Can you stop fighting, for one minute? You’re brothers,” The oh so familiar voice made the brothers jump, their attention fixed on the taller man.
Derek took a deep breath, avoiding Titch’s gaze, “Look, I- I didn’t come to stay,” Titch’s chest started to hurt, no, no, please , “Just came to give you these,” Derek gave each brother a small bottle, that they recognised, came from Margaery’s tent.
Derek rubbed his right hand against his pants to get rid of the sweat, “I bought a new iPhone Max, and I gave it to Margaery. And in return, she gave me potions that would make both sides of the field grow well. Neither of them perfectly, neither unrelenting, but well. Like it should be for brothers. You don’t have to feed on each other. You can- You can work together,”
Derek rambled and rambled but Titch didn’t hear a single word he had said. His heart skipped a few beats, his chest hurting from all the love he felt for the boy. He went through all this trouble for the farm? For the brothers? For him ? Now he was even more sure that he couldn't let Derek go. Then, Titch remembered something.
“We-”
“You can love each other-”
Titch interrupted Derek’s interruption, “I don’t know that we can work together because-” Titch took a deep breath and looked at Derek, his gaze an apologetically one, “Before you went to see Margaery, I went to see her. I- I asked her to-” he took another deep breath, directing his gaze to the ground, “To undo all the work she’d done so that the land would be barren for both of us, and in return,” Titch lifted his gaze up towards his brother and gave him a soft smile, “she would give you your footballing skills back,”
James gasped, “You did what? For me?”
Titch nodded, his smile never leaving his face as he watched his brother run to pick up his football and play with it. Titch saw Derek’s face fell and he felt bad for a moment, but the excitement of what was going on in front of his eyes was so much bigger.
“So,” Derek switched his gaze between each brother, “you’re saying I gave her an iPhone Max,” his gaze finally landed on Titch, “for nothing?”
Titch’s whole face softened and he started to shake his head, “No, Derek, Derek, Derek,” he said, motioning for him to get closer and grabbing his hands as the taller man did, “You did your good deed after I did mine,”
Derek pulled his left hand away from his grip, “Don’t hold that hand, broken fingers,” Derek’s pout was adorable in Titch’s point of view, though the reminder made him grimace.
“Look, Derek,” Titch said softly, gesturing at the field, “This land, when I came back to it, I thought it’d be barren,” Titch let his hand go as he kneeled down excitedly, “Look!” Titch picked an aubergine from the field and stood up to show Derek, “An aubergine!”
Derek attempted to give the blonde man a smile, hating how much happiness he was feeling in seeing the man in front of him this excited, “That’s pretty good,”
Titch leaves the aubergine to the side, ready to confess everything right there and then. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw James looking at the football amazed about the recent tricks he had just performed. Titch decided to first fix things up with his brother and then take his time with Derek.
Titch nodded in approval towards James.
James approached Titch, excitement filling his eyes, “Brother, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he walks over and puts his hands on Titch’s shoulders, trying to convey his feelings that way, “I was drunk,” at Titch’s lifted eyebrow, he felt the need to clarify, “on- on power. I was drunk on power,”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,”
“Just for one moment I wanted to feel what it was like-”
Titch shook his head, stopping his brother in his tracks, “It’s alright. I was so hard on you all these years. I’m so sorry,”
“Oh,” James scrunched up his face, trying not to cry, as he launched himself against his brother, hugging him tightly. They won’t admit it outloud, but that was the best hug they have ever had.
As James walked away again, Titch turned to Derek, who sported such a soft smile that made him want to kiss him so badly. Wait for a moment Titch , he thought.
“Derek?”
“Yeah?”
Titch smiled at him, kicking the unused potions aside and grabbing his right hand again, “I owe you an apology, too,”
Derek huffed, “Yes, you do,”
“But not just that,” Titch took a deep breath, ready to say those three words, “Derek, I love you,”
Derek’s whole demeanor changed, his face lighting up in hope, “Yeah?”
Titch moved his right hand up to caress Derek’s cheek, “Please, grow this land with me,”
Titch felt Derek’s subtle nod under his hand, “Alright,”
Titch grinned back at Derek’s grin, he then lowered his voice so only Derek would hear him, “And I will give you the most unrelenting aubergine you’ve ever seen,”
Derek’s grin widened, blushing madly at the innuendo, “Alright!”
Titch couldn’t take it anymore. He brought his left hand from Derek’s hand to his cheek, and pulled him down into a passionate kiss that Derek found himself reciprocating to more than gladly.
In the distance, Titch could hear James’ whistles and comments for them to find a room. Another time, he would’ve been annoyed, even outraged at the insinuation, but the sweet moment with Derek was far more important right now.
And Titch knew, from now on, things would only get better.