Palazzo Pitti, Brunelleschi, 1457
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"You're going where for the weekend?" Ash asked as if he couldn't believe his ears.
"Back home? It's not that big of a deal. It's just Oxford, not the U.S."
Ash rolled his eyes. "I know you don't live in the States. I'm just surprised they're letting you out. From what I understand, you've got every prefect and teacher watching you for reasons other than just wanting to dominate you in bed."
"And I can vouch for that."
"So how...?"
"Let's say I pulled some strings."
"Knowing you, 'pulling strings' has the literal meaning of pulling clothes off. You didn't sleep with somebody again, did you? Isaac, you're my best friend. When you engage in these activities, I'm scared for your well-being."
"I know, I know. I promise I didn't. Besides, this was a rare case in which that wouldn't have even been an option if you knew who I was dealing with. Perhaps God was in my favor yesterday—actually, I highly doubt that. It'll be more accurate to say God felt like someone else deserved punishment yesterday."
"I'm trusting you, Isaac, but just know that if I have to rescue you and your drunk arse from a pub in the middle of the night again I'm going to throw you into River Thames and pretend you never existed."
"Trust me, whatever happens this weekend, I don't believe I'll need a reason to get wasted at a bar this weekend. I've already accepted reality—nothing can hurt me at this point. See you soon, Ash."
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✦ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Isaac, being the easily distracted person that he was, arrived at his train only five minutes before its departure. People stared as he scrambled into his first class seat. With nothing to entertain him, he merely stared outside the window for the entirety of the ride, observing nature. Not that he minded, for he loved the spring season. He loved the idea of renaissance—rebirth—of all things beautiful after a season of long nights and frigid temperatures.
He loved the way flowers brought vibrant colors into his dull and tiresome life. His favorite flower was the white daisy, clean and pure, because it reminded him that not everything in life was tainted and corrupted by the cruel world he lived in.
Spring gave him his achingly needed hope. It was the perfect time to begin a new period of his life; it was time for his own renaissance per se. From the moment he first arrived at Eton, he spent every night agonizing over his past and how he left things at home, and he was tired of having no control over his thoughts. His beautiful spring always became bombarded with thunderstorms when he remembered his dreaded past.
"Did you get what you wanted, Isaac?" A stern voice greeted him when he returned via window in the middle of the night. "I don't understand you. I give you everything you could possibly need. If it's more money you want, you could just ask."
He scoffed. "William, you always tell me this, but have you ever bothered to ask why I do this?"
"I don't ask because I already know why, Isaac. There's endless ways to earn money, but what you do is unacceptable."
"I'm many things, Will, but ignorant is one I try my best not to be. I'm well aware that I'm in no desperate need of money, have you ever considered that? You've taken into account reasons for my decisions that aren't money related. You're just a coward."
"I'm a coward? For not wanting you to contract a disease from a stranger? For not wanting you murdered by a psycho?"
"For ignoring the truth."
Isaac remembered escaping to his room, leaving William in shock and confused. Unbeknownst to Isaac at the time, that was how he ended his last night as an Oxford resident. It was the night William decided to send Isaac away as a solution to the insanity.
He knew the current state of their relationship was blurry. Unfortunately for William, it was their undefined boundaries that gave Isaac all the more reason to take advantage of the situation. Considering his plans, he started to believe maybe he was the devil people made him out to be.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✦ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Isaac arrived at his house just as the sun was meeting the horizon. He'd never been more anxious in his life as he stood at the front door looking for his keys in his bag. Before he could get his key in the door, it swung open to reveal the man he'd been so desperate to see after all this time.
"Isaac?" William asked, a perplexed expression on his face. "What are you doing here, and at this hour?"
"I missed you." He gave a weak smile at first, but felt better when he saw that there was still warmth and not wrath in William's eyes, though he did look like he lost some weight.
"Well then, come in, it's cold out. Take a seat, I'll make us some tea. It's actually good that you came, I think we have quite a bit to discuss."
Isaac stepped into his familiar home. He walked to his couch, the one he spent countless hours every afternoon laying on and reading novels after he finished his classwork. Looking around the room, he noticed nothing changed at all from the day he was sent to boarding school. He smiled at the stack of his favorite books that were still on the coffee table, The Picture of Dorian Gray on the very top. He absolutely adored that book and its questionable morals that created a hell-storm of controversy upon its first release.
If there's one thing that Isaac appreciated about society, it was the minority that dared to challenge it. He had to respect them, because without them society would be reduced to survival of the fittest and animalistic instincts. The world needs Aristotles, Platos, Sophocles. They need Galileos, Luthers and Copernicuses—they just don't realize it until well after their existence. It was such a shame really, that several of these people died believing their life was for naught. Isaac didn't know what he'd rather do himself: live a life accepted by society, dying mediocre and recognizable by few, or live as he pleased, dying extraordinary but shunned by all.
William returned with his favorite tea and cranberry scones. They sat awkwardly together and drank tea without saying anything before he forced himself to break the deafening silence.
"When I was sitting on the train, I spent every hour observing the spring flowers. I never really noticed how they blossomed on nearly every plant—at least, every plant that I saw from Eton to here." Isaac paused and stared at the books as tried to find the right words to express himself. "Oddly enough, I started thinking about bouquet prices. Why the hell are they so bloody expensive? Flowers grow in abundance! One must really love their lover if they're willing to pay these absurd prices. Say, Will, have you ever bought a bouquet for you lover in the time that I've been gone? If so, are you mad?"
"I actually haven't had the time for one...why so curious?"
"...Because then I'd be very upset, William." He frowned. "Dare I say...crushed?" Isaac gave a pitiful smile. "Heartbroken, because I would've wished those flowers were for me instead."
William averted his gaze.
"Isaac...are you drunk? You shouldn't talk like that to another man—think of the implications. I don't think you're speaking with a clear mind."
"But I am. I am entirely aware of my words, actions and innuendo. The problem is that I am completely and utterly sober, yet I am still proceeding with what I am about to do. My mind has never been as clear as it is now."
Isaac figured it was either now or never and reached out to caress his face with his hand. A rough stubble scratched against the soft tips of his fingers.
"You always knew what I did when I snuck out in the midst of my lonely nights—knew how I embraced strangers for money. Yet to you that was all there was to it, right? I've come to tell you the truth, the truth that in my eyes, every stranger I've embraced had your refined face."
He moved his fingers from his jaw towards his lips, running his thumb over the bottom one as William opened his mouth just slightly to allow entrance.
"Do you know how many times I've accidentally moaned your name while being pleasured by another?"
"Isaac...stop..."
"Or how many times I intentionally did so, while pleasuring myself? Oh, the wonderful fantasies I've had." He brought his own lips just centimeters across from William's.
"Do you know how intensely I long for you right now? How my body aches for your touch?" He wanted a response, but left his question answerless when he barely brushed his lips against the other's. He could feel William's hard reluctance. But also felt that same reluctance evolve into submission as William opened his mouth to moan and respond to the kiss.
His lips had the texture and temperature of ice, but Isaac still felt blissful. He never expected to delight in the taste of William's honey sweetened tongue as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was on the verge of losing himself completely, and it wasn't until he was shoved violently onto the cold floor that he regained self awareness.
"We can't do this."
"Why not?" Isaac shoved his hand between the older man's legs to feel his growing lust. "Don't act like you don't want me too."
William closed his eyes to breath deeply, as if he were battling an internal war. "This...this is vile. It's sin."
"Will..." his voice trailed off.
"You shouldn't have come. Get out," he said with growing anger that made his voice shake, "Right now." The warmth of the man's hazel eyes transformed into complete fury and disgust, but he couldn't tell if it was aimed at him or William himself.
"I said, get the hell out of my house!"
Isaac was scared for his life. He didn't expect a happy ending to his confession, and he definitely wasn't expecting a somewhat reciprocated kiss, but it now looked as if William wanted him dead. Of all the outcomes he predicted, this was the one he never imagined: pure hatred. Hot tears forming, and the last thing he wanted was for him to see the pathetic mess that he secretly was. He got up and ran out the door. Isaac made the decision to be extraordinary, but it cost everything he had.
It was late, all the trains and bus stops were closed. He didn't know where to go during this haunting hour—he just knew he could never return home again.
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turns out I only wrote this book to flex all of my ap euro knowledge
it'd mean the world to me if you left a
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