Love, William

Chapter 9 - Love, William

Did you go and see Charlie? I know he would appreciate you being with him for a while. I wrote to him too, he seems to be doing better but I think he wishes he could be closer to the family as you are.

How are you doing with everything? I know you had the liberty to visit your dad more often in the hospital. I wish I could do more for you – you sounded pretty worried in your letter and I hate seeing you like this.

I know it's not much, but I want you to know I am here for you if you ever need to talk about anything. I know it's hard to let your guard down as the eldest in the family and I know you think you constantly have to keep your composure and be strong for your younger siblings but know that you can share your worries with me.

Sending you a tight hug,

Theodora

—

The second Theodora got Bill's letter at breakfast she got up and went straight to her dormitory. She wanted to know how Bill was doing with everything that has been going on, completely ignoring the suspicious looks she kept getting from her two best friends whenever she hid Bill's letter from them.

Dear Theodora,

I apologize for needing so long to reply to your last letter. I visited Charlie in Romania and I can say that my visit made him miss family a bit less. I promised him that I will send him letters more frequently to inform him of everything and he seemed more relaxed because of it.

I don't even know how to reply to your last letter.

You have no idea how much your words mean to me. It's comforting to know that I can talk to you and I am not going to lie that writing to you has helped me through these past few months.

With so much going on it's nice to sit down and open your letters. There's no point denying that I caught myself several times waiting for one or getting an owl and hoping the letter is from you. I am looking forward to every single one I get because I know that no matter what you're going to write you will make my day.

I am doing fine. Dad has fully recovered and is home now and already making jokes about his accident so I think it's safe to say he is going to be okay.

I am not going to lie, the whole incident shook me pretty hard but we can't dwell on the past. He survived thanks to Harry and at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

Will I go too far if I tell you that I wish you were here and not at school? I miss having you around and at times corresponding with you through letters isn't enough.

Please ignore the last paragraph and just know I am deeply touched by your last letter. Thank you.

Love, Bill

Theodora couldn't stop rereading his letter. She never imagined this is going to be Bill's reply. She just wanted to let him know she is there for him. It wasn't a big deal at all but she couldn't help to stop the warm feeling in her chest when she saw just how much it meant to him.

She kept staring at his signature.

Love, Bill

She read all his letters more than once and she was certain that he never wrote anything next to his name before, let alone that word. What is she supposed to reply to him?

He told her he missed her and that he loved corresponding with her. She felt the same way. She was longing for his letters every day but is she going to admit that to him? He did, so perhaps there's no harm if she expresses that she feels the same.