Chapter Text
“Would the second son of the deceased like to share some words?”
Titch felt every single head turn to him, and suddenly reality hit him.
He hadn’t even realised how long he had been sitting in this funeral. Hadn’t even thought of how much he hated the texture of this black suit. Hadn’t even cried. Hadn’t even acknowledged whatever James had said, if anything.
He felt his cheeks burning, and a hand slowly reaching to grab his.
“No.” He said, and although the room held nothing but silence, Titch could hear every single judgment in their heads.
But they knew nothing. Titch had no words to say about his father. Not that he didn’t love him, perhaps that he did a little too much.
Perhaps he had ruined his life and fixed it at the same time. Perhaps he could tell all these people that if he wasn’t crying it was because his father would never let him.
Perhaps he couldn’t be weak because his father was now.
He rested his head on Derek’s shoulder, and as soon as he did he could feel him smiling.
It wasn’t because he was tired. It wasn’t because he couldn’t hold his head up. He simply didn’t want to.
And he had the right to. He could rest his head on his friend’s shoulder. It was fine. The warmth in his heart he could take.
He let Derek caress his hair once before he put his head up once again, just in time to see how the people around got up their chairs to leave.
Half of them approached him and his brother, James, to shake their hands and express how sorry they were for their loss. And while James cried and smiled at them, all Titch could think was how hypocritical they all were.
They were going to go home and never think about this again. While Titch had to leave with the loneliness and his father’s words ringing through his ears.
“We have to take a look at dad’s will.” Titch said to James. “I’ll have to switch to his farm.”
“I want to work too.” James said, to Titch surprise. “The land is divided by two, no?”
He raised his eyebrow. “You’ve never shown interest in any of dad’s businesses.” He said. “When I worked my ass off at school I had to hear father complaining about how you refused to go. Why now?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m sick of being the one behind.”
And as much as he could’ve argued, he was too tired to. He simply nodded and patted his brother’s back. He couldn’t wait to be out of there.
“Hey.” He turned around as James walked away, seeing a concerned Derek standing in front of him. “It’s late and you must be tired. Why don’t you take a cab like James?”
“I drove here. Can’t just leave my car.” He said dryly.
“I could drive your car back to my place? It’s about 20 minutes closer than yours.”
And as much as he would’ve loved to say no, as much as he hated the loss of control this gave him, perhaps he loved it a little too much. So he nodded. “By the way. I’m saying this as your boss, not your friend. We’re going to have to switch farms. Is that okay?.”
Derek nodded with a small smile dancing around his lips, and so, they both headed to Titch’s car, where he heard himself laugh for the first time in weeks when Derek seemed to be a little too tall to fit. But they managed.
It had been about twelve minutes of a silent drive. Titch felt the wind dance with his hair as he rested his elbow on the open window. He was almost startled when he heard Derek speak. “How are you?”
“Fine.” He lied. “Just overwhelmed. There’s so much land to take over now.” That bit was true.
“Not everything is about work, you know?” Derek said softly. “You’re suffering a loss.”
He thought about his answer for a bit. He thought about Derek’s lips as he softly whispered comfort. He thought about how grateful he was to have him there.
And when he was about to speak, the car stopped.
They opened the door to Derek’s building and walked towards the lift, since Derek lived on the third floor.
He was about to make some dumb joke about how long the elevator was taking, when Derek leaned over him to hit the button. Except he misjudged the space, and suddenly, Titch was pinned against the wall, their shoulders tangled.
He laughed nervously, until he didn’t. Until he decided that for the first time of his life, he was going to let his heart lead the way.