carymono:
AU young/baby Hiddlesworth
they use to be neighbor but then Tom have to move back to England, Chris (, who found Tom almost die in one winter and help Tom out of lost wood,) promise to growth up and go to England to find Tom “I’ll eat a lots and be adult and I’ll go to England to find you! and…and…. you’ll be my wife! we will get married and come back ……and live in Australia forever!”
So this is the cutest thing I’ve seen in a really long time and could not help myself writing something for it… I’m not sorry.
—-
A few months was all they were given. To run around in the dirt and swim in the ocean. To have big bond fires with marshmallows on sticks and to sleep out under the stars with Tom naming off the constellations that spread out across the deep blue sky as Chris fell asleep to the soft sound of his voice and the stories that went along with all the different people and creatures up there. They’d exchange stories from different cultures and got into trouble together, tease both brothers and sisters until they had to run off giggling to hide in bushes. Chris taught Tom how to climb trees and Tom helped Chris start reading chapter books.
It was a short summer they had, followed by what felt like an even shorter Autumn before Tom didn’t come around as often as he used to. Whenever they were together, Tom always seemed like he was growing more distant and thinking too much. The two year age difference always felt so much larger to Chris during these moments. Tom always acted so much older and he was much taller, Chris hadn’t hit his first growth spurt yet and worried often that Liam would soon surpass him in height.
A day came when Chris couldn’t find Tom at the park after school where they always met. He searched down by the little creek they played in, underneath the bridge that crossed over head, but none of the pebbles had been touched since the day before and the little wooden fort they had built together (and with the help of their older siblings) was empty. With fear slowly sinking into his stomach, Chris ran all the way back to his house and, right next door, Tom’s, hoping beyond hope he would be there.
Outside, Sarah was putting suitcases into their father’s car, packing everything away that belonged to her, Emma, and Tom. It made Chris feel terrified and sick as she turned towards him and smiled, simply stating that Tom was in his room. There was sadness in her eyes, which Chris had to stop to look at before nodding his thanks to go inside.
Tom’s room was so bare now. Blue walls empty of all the posters and drawings that they had done together— the one were Chris was surfing on a big wave like he always dreamed of doing, of Tom standing atop the Ayers Rock that he never got to see. There were no toys scattered across his floor or anything on his desk, no books upon his shelves and his bed was just a skeleton without all the pillows and blankets they would share on weekends, huddled together underneath them all with flashlights bright in the dark cave, flipping through picture books and planning adventures together.
It was all gone.
“Tom?” Chris said, his voice soft with him standing in the doorway, trying to figure everything out. “What’s— what’s going on?”
His friend didn’t turn around to look at him, hunched over on the floor with an open suitcase before him filled up with clothes as he attempted to squeeze little action figures into the folds of shirts and sweaters. Chris heard a little sniffle admit from the older boy, his arm moving up to wipe at his face.
Again he asked, even quieter then before, trying to not let his voice shake. “Tom?”
“I— I’m going away, Chris.” He sniffled again, turning just enough that Chris could see that his eyes and nose were all red and puffy.
Chris’s heart jumped into his throat, beating so hard it hurt and making his tummy tighten up, feeling ill. “But…I mean, I can come with you, right? It won’t be long. I’ll come with you too, my mom will be okay with it, she always is, she—”
Tom shook his head and everything hurt that much more.
“You can’t come. I’m going back to see my mum— in England. I’m going to live with her now.”
“But— you’ll be back. Right? You’ll be back.” Chris tried, grasping on to any strand of hope he could. Tom was his best friend and they had so much more to do together. They were supposed to go to the zoo next week with Chris’s dad and brothers. And The Little Mermaid was coming out next month— Tom had promised they would go see it together. Tom had even read him the fairy tale for it so Chris would get excited. Chris said that Tom would make the perfect mermaid, even if he couldn’t swim very well, because he always liked seeing the fish swimming around and Chris could be the Prince, because then Tom would be able to save him and live happily ever after, just like in the book.
Tom turned around to finally face Chris, his blue eyes big and wet as he clutched a green jacket in his hands— one of Chris’s favorites, it was big enough to keep them both warm. “I don’t know, Chris. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I don’t know if I’ll be back.”
It was crushing. The idea of losing Tom, of him not being there anymore to laugh and run around and get dirty with. Chris couldn’t take it, feeling tears brim at the corners of his eyes with the very thought of his friend leaving him to go so far away. They’d never see each other again.
“But— but—” His shoulders shook. His body shuttered. The sob broke out from his throat and his tears fell, wetting his cheeks and staining his shirt. “You— you can’t! Y-you can’t—can’t l-leave!” He hiccuped through the words, running a hand over his eyes in an attempt to hide the tears, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. “I don’t— don’t—”
Tom was suddenly there, standing in front of him, wrapping his arms around Chris’s neck. Chris clutched at the other boy’s shirt, hiding his face into his shoulder as he cried and sobbed for his friend that would be gone soon.
They stood together like that for sometime, with Chris crying into Tom’s shoulder and Tom holding him close, squeezing back his own tears. It was not long enough, because Chris knew better. This embrace would probably be their last and here he had thought they’d have forever. There was still so much for them to do and a goodbye sounded so permanent.
After the minutes passed like seconds, Tom finally broke the silence, though he kept his hold on Chris just as tight. “I made a present for you. It’s a book of all the stars and constellations. I drew them all and even wrote the stories on the backs for you to read at night.”
Chris gasped, hiccuped, and clung to Tom even harder. “I don’t want to read them! I want you to read them to me! It’s not the same!”
“I know,” Tom sighed, wishing it better. “But you can pretend.”
Chris whimpered.
“Don’t leave.”
Tom said nothing in reply. He couldn’t say anything else, because there was nothing to make this any better. He didn’t want to leave Chris, but he had to. There was no choice.
—-
Chris stayed until the car was all packed up and Tom’s dad said they had to leave for the airport now. Chris had managed to stop crying, helping Tom drag his last bag out to the car where he was then given the little book laced together with ribbons of all the creatures Tom had ever told him about in the sky. He clung to it, watching Tom climb up into the car next to his two sisters, not wanting to say goodbye.
They stared at each other for a long time, as the door closed up, silent and just watching the other. Chris moved back a bit as the car pulled out, feeling tears rise up once again in his eyes. Tom rolled down his window, waving but didn’t say a word. Chris brought his hand up to do the same, because somehow that was less final then an actually goodbye, but it still sent aches through his chest.
“Don’t forget me, okay?” Tom said just as gears shifted and his dad started to drive off.
And something clicked.
“I won’t!” Chris called back, loud enough for Tom to hear it as he raced up to run beside the car before it could get away too fast. “I’ll come find you later— when we’re older! I’ll come to England and show you how much I know about stars and surfing and I’ll be taller then you!” He yelled, panting softly as he went.
Tom’s face broke out into a little smile, leaning just far enough out the window so Chris could see it, his curly hair wiping in the wind.
“You promise?”
Chris smiled back, right as the car started to pick up too much speed for him to keep up. His legs got wobbly under him, forcing him to come to a tired stop as he watched the car drive down the road. With one final lungful of air, Chris screamed out into their neighborhood, making sure Tom could hear.
“PROMISE!”
And meant it.
—-
The California sky was clear that night after a long day of wearing too much leather and buckles from filming. They sat on lawn chairs, pushed together and huddled under a blanket, looking up at the sky.
“There— right there, it’s the Great Dog. And at his neck— there, Sirius.” Chris pointed up, connecting the faint stars with his finger as he smiled up at the night.
Tom was curled up into his side, smiling softly to himself as he followed Chris’s path, loving the sound of his voice as he spoke about the stars and told him the already well-known stories behind them. Happily, he sighed.
“Thanks for finding me, Chris.”
Chris chuckled, pulling Tom even closer to brush dark curls from his face.
“I promised, didn’t I?”
