Vivian fiddled with his car keys as he walked out to his sedan. The reason why was the fact that he was being accompanied by the Prince.

Philip had insisted on joining him and immediately cancelled his ride when Vivian mentioned that he was going to visit Theodore right after the club meeting. Vivian had explained to the club that Theodore could probably find a script with his connections, and if not he was surprisingly good at creating unique play scripts. Vivian should have realized how much of a drama buff Philip was since he had been wearing a prince costume since the moment they met two hours ago.

Philip kept rambling about acting tibits the whole way to the car and then switched to his favorite movies during the short ride to the library. Unsurprisingly, Philip was a huge fan of fairytale retellings. Vivian finally opened his mouth for the first time and commented on that, starting Philip down another rabbit hole.

“I get it from my aunt. She is an author that specializes in retellings. She has three huge bookshelves in her study with hundreds of different fairy tales told in different ways. That’s how I knew about ‘King Thrushbeard’. I’m surprised you knew about it as well. Of course I don’t know much about you since you only transferred today.” Philip chuckled, then gave Vivian a chance to share about himself.

Vivian didn’t share much though as he unbuckled his seatbelt and reached for his door handle, having arrived at the library while Philip was getting dragged towards the rabbit hole. “I just like the Grimm Brothers and hearing the true origins of those overly optimistic retellings everyone knows. The truth is usually a lot crueler than people think.”

Vivian got out of the car and grabbed his messenger bag from the back seat. Philip quickly followed, already having his designer rucksack with him in the passenger seat. Vivian noticed for the first time the red sequins forming a solid circle around a gold sequin crown in the bottom left corner. Of course. Was there anything about him that didn’t scream “obsessed with princes”? No wonder everyone called him “Princey”. He was even still wearing the costume. How would Theodore react to him?

Vivian sighed but still kept walking, his hands tightly clutching in his hoodie pockets and face hidden by the the hood. One step at a time. He kept reminding himself, pushing off the voices swirling around his head. Then Vivian realized that with all of the commotion with the drama club his anxieties had let up a little during the meeting. It was almost like old times when Vivian had sat in Theodore’s play practice in elementary school. He didn’t talk much back then either, but he was able to function and input ideas. Then today in the meeting he temporarily forgot about his obsessive worrying and spoke up. Maybe his stepfather was right about this being a new beginning, even if he was using his past connection to drama to bridge the gap.

When Vivian and Philip went into the library Theodore was putting protective covers on a pile of books. He immediately noticed Vivian and waved him over.

“Hey kiddo. I’m just wrapping up now.” Theodore whispered as he winked. Vivian saw what he was trying to do, but didn’t give him a response to the pun. Not that Theodore was even expecting one, Vivian rarely replied to his constant puns.

“I’ll be in the play section then.” Vivian started to walk away, but Theodore stopped him.

“You’re not going to introduce your friend?” Theodore looked towards Philip who was rocking back and forth on his feet excitedly. The tassels on his shoulder also swinging back and forth.

“He’s not my friend.” Philip suddenly stopped rocking and looked sad at Vivian’s correction. “He is in the school’s drama club and wanted to meet you. Philip, Theodore. Theodore, Philip.” Vivian waved his hand between the two, then promptly left and searched for the section about plays. Leaving the two behind to get to know each other, knowing Theodore wouldn’t share anything personal about Vivian.

Theodore’s personality seemed like he would be the type to gossip and share everything about Vivian, but he was surprisingly tight lipped and understood Vivian’s avoidance of sharing. Vivian wondered sometimes why Theodore and him got along so well, but would then remind himself that Theodore had practically raised Vivian by himself. Vivian had also picked up through the years that Theodore wasn’t on good terms with his own parents and had been disowned. Perhaps he just wanted to give Vivian what he couldn’t have himself.

Vivian found the section containing play scripts and started browsing to see if there was anything he could use. Unfortunately, “King Thrushbeard” really was an unpopular fairy tale to recreate. There was no way that a small town library like this one would have a version, but Vivian figured he could at least check.

“Hey Vivian, why did you leave me behind?” Philip suddenly poked his head around the corner of the aisle. He didn’t give Vivian a chance to respond before continuing. “Anyways, Theo invited me over for dinner, but I probably should head home for the day. Do you think you can take me or should I contact my aunt to pick me up?”

“I can head out as soon as… my father… is ready.” Vivian looked up just in time to see that Theodore was standing behind Philip. His eyes were wide and watering, his fingers to his mouth to stop himself from making any noise. Vivian’s face immediately snapped downward as it lit up bright red. At least he probably just made his stepfather’s day.

Philip didn’t notice the interaction between the two, and continued the conversation. “Theo just finished up, so we can go as soon as you are done. I’m going to head out to the car now.” Philip turned and headed back to the front of the library, his perfect prince demeanor never fading.

Theodore hung back as Vivian put the book of plays he had been flipping through back on the self. Before he could say anything though, Vivian spoke up quietly. “We can talk about it when we get home Theodore.”

“Don’t you mean ‘Dad’?” Theodore had a goofy smile on his face as the two started on their way out.

“Yeah, yeah…” Vivian adjusted his bag and then slouched with his hands in his hoodie pockets, embarrassed.

Philip was standing outside the car still when they came out of the library. Vivian forgot that he had locked the car out of habit. He muttered an apology and unlocked the doors. Philip offered the front seat to Theodore, but he insisted Philip take it. Probably so he could watch the relationship between the two students from the backseat.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vivian was surprised to find out that Philip lived only two blocks away. As Philip reached for the car door Theodore pointed that tidbit out.

“Oh, so you guys were the ones who moved into the navy blue house. That place has been empty for so many years.” Philip beamed.

“You know it then? You should come over and have dinner with us sometime this week then.” Theodore pushed for Philip to join them for dinner again. Why was he so obsessed with inviting Philip to dinner? “Your aunt is going to be out of town this week anyways, right?”

Vivian looked at his stepfather in the rearview mirror, confused. When did he get to know that? Vivian reminded himself that he shouldn’t underestimate Theodore’s personable skills or his information network.

“That would be awesome Theo! I’m not a good cook so I always end up just microwaving leftovers.” After Philip thanked Theodore for his offer and promised to come to dinner later in the week, Philip got out of the car and went into his house.

Vivian quickly pulled out of the driveway, not letting Theodore move up front, hoping he wouldn’t say anything before they got home. Unfortunately Theodore didn’t let Vivian get the silent drive that he wanted. Leaning forward between the seats with his goofy dad grin, he started to pry. “Soo, I see you found someone to be chummy with already.”

“Look who’s talking, you already seem to know more about him than I do. You even have a nickname.” Vivian refused to let his stepfather have the satisfaction of learning where on the friendship scale Philip placed. “I only met him two and a half hours ago, and you already invited him to dinner…”

“So I might have gotten a little excited at you making a new friend on your first day here… Can you blame me when I saw your face didn’t have the constant pained expression you have had since your mother and I split up? I can see that he would be a good friend for you, just based on your interactions and chemistry. He’s even trying his hardest to be your friend already. He mentioned that you were both in the same club. Does that mean you joined the school drama club?”

“I needed something to do as I waited for you, and my homeroom teacher is the adviser. I figured I could just peek in, but they insisted I had to join.” Vivian shrugged off Theodore’s questioning like it wasn’t a big deal, but they both knew it was. Vivian had stopped attending Theodore’s practices for a reason. That he was voluntarily joining the school drama club without a second thought was a humongous deal.

“He also mentioned that you told the club that I would be providing the script… What play are you planning on doing?”

“‘King Thrushbeard’…”

“Oh… That’s an interesting choice for a school play.” Theodore looked at Vivian worriedly.

Vivian didn’t say anything as he pulled into their driveway. He knew what Theodore was thinking about, and wasn’t sure if he should say what he was about to say next, but he knew Theodore would hear about it eventually. Vivian couldn’t risk someone else questioning Theodore’s reaction, not knowing how he would react.

Vivian took off his seatbelt and let it slip right before he exited the car. “I was the one to suggest it.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Theodore just sat in the car with wide eyes and his mouth gaping for a moment. He was quick to follow Vivian inside though when he came to. “You were? You suggested ‘King Thrushbeard’? Even though… back then…” Theodore couldn’t get the words out.

“Surprisingly, yeah. New beginning and all that, right?” Vivian shrugged his bag off before curled up on his part of the couch. “They needed a unique play and couldn’t agree on any, then suddenly it was slipping out of my mouth.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“I guess I am... yeah… Yeah, I am… It could be a way to rewrite the past.”

Theodore almost fainted. Vivian was being optimistic. He couldn’t remember the last time Vivian was like this. It had to be right before that fateful play practice three years ago. Theodore knew for sure now that this move was what Vivian needed. Vivian could start everything over without “she who shall not be named”.

Theodore knew she wasn’t OK with change and was set in her ways, but she ruined her son’s life completely with her words and actions. He wished he didn’t have to take her son away from her, but he couldn’t stand the thought of him staying in that toxic household. It didn’t seem like Vivian wanted to stay either, since he jumped on Theodore’s suggestion to go with him instead of staying with her.

Theodore tried to let Vivian stay in the area he grew up in by living in a small apartment in Eastedge, but She was still there and had her strings of influence in every part of Vivian’s life. Theodore thought hard and finally decided that no matter how hard it would be for the two of them, they had to leave the scope of her power. Theodore was comforted now that it seemed to be the right choice. If it turned out that it was the wrong choice, he wasn’t sure how he would be able to make it up to Vivian.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(TBC)