William Lawedre (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
goldenlawedre) wrote2012-04-04 12:09 pm
goldenlawedre) wrote2012-04-04 12:09 pm
Character History
Birth and Basics
Born to Alexander and Grace Lawedre, a military father and a complacent but overeager mother, William’s history is that of privilege and slightly unusual circumstances. His life, however, has been highly ordinary. He was the younger child of two, three years apart from his sister, Louisa. His name comes from a long line of heritage, dating back to the 15th century in Scotland. There used to be a peerage tied to his name, but it isn’t any longer. It changed too many hands, and somehow, there’s a large gap of time where his family name is lost. Still, he comes from a traditional background with deep-rooted history and ideals.
There’s old money in the Lawedre family, flowing down generations of successful careers in military, politics, and business investments. The heads of his family have a long line of involvement in the army, as most of them have served in the wars of their generations. William is the first in quite some time not to. Just as prominent, however, is politics. The Lawedre name carries a strong lean towards ‘patriotism’, and while William finds it all a bit blind, it is thick in his blood to have a great fondness for England. His mother comes from a business-oriented family, which yielded quite a bit of its own success.
As a result of his privilege, William has been quite well off, sent off to one of the best independent boarding schools in the UK, and nearly every whim that could lead to a hobby was indulged.
About His Family
Due to father’s age-old “friendship” with another military man, Horatio Hart, things in the Lawedre family were not what they appeared to be up until William turned 10. While his father was a married man, it was a poorly hidden and well-known secret that his father was not faithful to his wife.
Alexander and Grace married thinking that a wedding would solidify the "happily ever after" that one reads about. Once married, however, that image quickly faded. What had they done? Their marriage was, to the public eye, a perfect one that yielded two children. As a couple, however, the happiness quickly seeped away. Grace, particularly felt trapped. The couple worked through such issues for a while, but as soon as the year 2000 hit, Grace pushed for a divorce.
Grace and Alexander may have been married, but Grace also knew that Alexander was in fact seeing his dear friend, Horatio. Although both men retired far before the law passed, they had no desire for their lifestyle choices to retroactively impact their military careers. It was not until the year 2000 when the British Ministry of Defence lifted the ban on gays openly serving into the military that the men made their partnership known. Grace had remained legally bound as Alexander’s wife while both parties had their respective affairs--Grace began seeing another man when things became difficult-- without emotional consequences from their spouse. In 2000, a divorce was finalized and pushed through and Alexander and Horatio moved in together. It wasn't messy, but there were certainly emotions involved.
William, who began boarding school at the age of 7, rarely saw his mother due to being away. When the divorce went through, he felt bitter. He was only 10 when his mother walked away, and it was fairly clear that she had used the relationship between Horatio and Alexander as an excuse to do so. His older sister, Louisa, remains on fairly close terms with Grace, but William only contacts her out of familial duty. It isn't that he feels abandoned, but there is a residual hurt there that gives him little reason to call her more than twice a year.
Along that same line of bitterness, William grew up not understanding the need to keep his father and "uncle" a secret. Being a military brat, his father had him in and around bases for most of his primary years. While the ban against gays openly serving in the military was still in place, the rule was something that William was both told about and understood from a young age, even if he didn't agree with it. William's situation is unusual in that his acceptance in a primarily homophobic world has a far wider scope. Now, in 2010, William’s mother and father are friendly and occasionally meet and travel together, though there are few ties or reasons to do so. She never remarried, as she discovered with Alex that marriage is the last thing she wants, though she lives with her long-time lover and went back to her surname, Devereux.
William's sister, Louisa lives in the United States in New York after attending school in the city. She left to study fashion design, and while William isn't particularly close with her, he still keeps in regular contact. During his semester abroad, he chose New York City knowing he would be able to see her more often. She rarely flies back to England, primarily due to expenses.
Horatio Hart has acted as a second father in William’s life for the vast majority of it, though William addresses him as ‘Uncle H’ even now. They are a fairly tightly knit family, although since his admittance to Cambridge, William has felt less obligated to keep in constant contact with his father(s), sister, and mother. Louisa decided against studying in the UK and went abroad to varying schools about the United States, keeping her fairly busy and visits infrequent and few.
Other (somewhat) notable family members include: his Aunt Lavinia and Uncle George (his father’s siblings), his Grandmother Annabella and Grandfather Robert (his father’s parents), Grandfather Henry and Grandmother Francis (his mother’s parents).
Childhood and Education
William was sent off to Westminster School, a famous and well known boys boarding school at the age of 7, continuing his studies up until the age of 18. After that, he applied to both Oxford and Cambridge with the intention of going into law. While he had applied to both (as well as other colleges) in an effort to remain prudent, his heart was set on Cambridge, where his best mate had begun attending one year before. Upon his acceptance to Cambridge, he refused to open any other letters and entered the tripos for law with the intention of becoming a barrister and potentially a politician. He currently studies in Downing College at the university, halfway through his second year. He has studied abroad once, spending a short two months in New York City at New York Law School.
Classical education through Westminster means he has studied several languages, including Latin, Greek, and an additional elective of French. Because he doesn’t often use what he learned of Greek, he is forgetting most of it. Latin, however, he recalls well and his French is passable.
William has been surrounded around all things military. Growing up, William was taught riflery, horseback riding, and hunting. The rest of his hobbies were indulged so long as he held interest, including cricket, football (as in soccer, as some may well know it), and working on cars. William currently owns, due to his utter love of old automobiles, a 1958 Austin Healey Sprite that he’s been working on for the last two years, so he is well versed in cars. His father also required a study in some form of music. William chose the piano, which he studied beginning at the age of 6. Formal lessons stopped once he turned 18, but he often piddles about at the keys.
In terms of conflict, there really wasn't any until a few years after it became public knowledge that his father and mother were divorcing and that his "uncle" and father were moving in together. William was 10, and due to the fact that H retained the "uncle" title, there was no ridicule at boarding school for a while. Most 10-year-old boys have no issues with divorce, per se, and had no reason to give trouble. It wasn't until William mentioned H in a fatherly capacity that he realised his generation is not so accepting, still.
Once William reached an age when most children understood what "fag" and "ponce" mean (not just using the terms as insults without base) it became a bit more of a problem. While he himself felt no shame regarding his family, other boys (and later, girls) did. They tried to harass him by calling his father and H derogatory names, making his mother to be a victim or (if they learned that she knew of the arrangement) a complacent whore. Calling Alex or H gay did not offend William, and provoked no response. Nor did William feel the need to defend his father. (Anyone who has met Alex knows him to be a highly intimidating army man. He can defend himself.) It was when schoolfellows attacked the character of Uncle H or his mother that he finally got defensive.
At the age of 13, William got into his first and only fight one evening at boarding school. Another boy began insulting not the sexual preferences of his father or H, but instead spat that H was just "a ponce of a homewrecker." So began a shouting match.
As you can imagine at an all-boys boarding school, nothing is really all that private. Word of the fight spread and in less than five minutes, the boys had gathered a crowd. William threw a punch, his and the fight's first. Everyone knew what had been said, and even though the opinions amongst the other school boys divided them, none could resist seeing a fight break out in Westminster. It wasn't much of one; William was terribly inept at defending himself, and although the other boy beat him soundly and badly, he continued to verbally defend H as he was struck.
Richard, also a student of the same boarding school, came to watch the fight the whole school was talking about, but instead, found it to be William and dragged the younger out of it. At two years older, he staved off the assaulting student and with help from the frantic teachers who belatedly found the commotion. Once separated from the fight, William was taken by the Headmaster and his father was contacted. With a black eye, bruises along his body, and a few busted knuckles, William was a sorry state. Yet the discipline between the Headmaster and his father was severely different. The Headmaster threatened consequences, told him the severity of his actions, and punished him accordingly. His father, however, was more upset that William was so stupid about picking a fight he couldn't win. Their conversation went something a little like this:
Will: I'm sorry, father.
Alex: You got in a fight, William.
Will: I know, and--
Alex: Look at yourself. All bruised and bashed.
Will: At least I won the argument.
Alex: You were beaten up, son. Richard had to drag you out of the fight.
Will: ...but my logic was sound; I was the only one that made sense. I defended Uncle H, and they've got nothing!
Alex: You defended Horatio but you couldn't defend yourself. Don't you ever pick a battle you can't win. I don't want you throwing the first punch ever again, because you can soundly argue your way out of nearly anything, William. They'll either understand, or they never will. Yet the moment you throw a punch at them, you're arming your enemy with something, and that's the stupidest thing you can do. Don't give them anything to hold over you. Anything.
Will: You're not mad about the argument?
Alex: Have you ever seen me fight, William?
Will: ...no.
Alex: I'm a retired Brigadier who separated with his wife in order to take another man into his home. I've a lot to fight for besides England. I can fight. Yet you will never see me brawl for any of it.
That afternoon, William learned that things hadn't happened as quietly as his family made him believe. His father, H, and his mother had taken a lot of heat from their own communities about the reshuffling of the Lawedre family, and had kept it away from the boys as long as they could. Protection can only extend so far. William hasn't fought since. If anything, it was one of the aspects of his life that motivated him to become so skilled with argument. Naturally talented with it, William had a reason to make it better. The scandal also, from a fairly young age, shaped his idea of fairness. Even as a child, he saw a level of injustice that he wished to change. Now, he has an eye for it, and it motivates his desires to become a Crown Prosecutor and eventually make his way into politics.
The Relationships Overview
William has lived in two houses his whole life, consecutively. The first until the age of ten, the other when his father and Uncle H moved in together. While Uncle H had lost his wife not long after his son was born, he had still brought the young boy, 2 years William’s senior, into the house. His name is Richard Hart, and although they hardly gave one another notice as they grew, it was in their teenage years that the two established an easy and indivisible friendship.
As most children believe, when their ages are single digits, a year is a monumental gap between people. William and Richard hadn’t been raised together. Boarding school saw to that. Their friendship formed after time had let them grow up enough; too much of who they were remains a secret only the other knows, and such secrets make birth from adolescence.
It was just before William turned 16, during summer between terms, that they became friends. After that, the two became rather inseparable, wreaking the havoc that boys typically do out of boredom and being smart kids with too much to say.
While I risk diverting too much attention away from William, Richard is a highly important part of his life and deserves a full explanation. Richard is a highly social being with a unique “collection” of friends. It is a small and intimate crowd of interesting fellows and an arrangement that suits no one else save for them. He’d acquired them all through a mixture of handshakes, dark glances, and a toss around in bed, most of them by all three. Richard is an often well-dressed individual, a bit vain and altogether smug. A keen individual with a knack for easy charms, Richard is a master of silence and what hangs in the air with a particular look. In many ways, Richard is William’s opposite. Richard holds people at a distance, is far more than shameless, and while highly intelligent finds that he would rather things be easy and laid back. Where William knows exactly where he wants to be in five years, Richard is undecided. The two men know their differences and play them off of each other.
Surface wise, things between them are as easy and simple as they were four years ago. As a pair, they are complementary in ways one wouldn’t expect. They both eagerly and skillfully walk a semi-permanent line between cheeky and charming. Things aren’t quite the same, however, in 2010. At least not at a deeper level, a level that neither is willing to talk about.
William has dated--some them seriously--quite a few women. While he is unafraid of far more casual relationships, William oftentimes grows attached to those he dates. None of them have been to Richard’s liking. A few of these previous relationships are as follows:
Lydia Hester: A girl who began attending Westminster once he entered Upper School, Lydia was the first “serious” relationship that William had. While the two spent what time the school would allow them together, they were not as serious as one might expect. Hormones got the best of them both, however, and once they’d slept together, things changed. William wasn’t quite sure what to make of the suddenly clingy and lovey-dovey Lydia. While clearly the girl found the experience so emotionally charged, William was not so quick to commit to a word like “love”. As teenagers sometimes do immature and stupid things, so did Lydia, and in an effort to make William jealous, she ended up hurting him and the two split bitterly.
Ellie Ginger: In New York City, William stumbled upon Ellie when he chose an arbitrary place to eat and she waited on his table. A small town girl, Ellie was as much a foreigner to the city as he, and the two formed one of the only ongoing casual relationships William had. For two months, they had few dates, a half a dozen dinners, and more nights of hooking up than anything. They both knew it was temporary, and while feelings were there, none were ever admitted to. They haven’t spoken since Will returned to England.
Abigail Dowager: After losing both her parents to a car accident, Abigail has been under the care of an overprotective uncle since her teens. A girl with a fascination for history and the mystical, William ran into her at a local museum that her family ran. The two share century-old family names and William is attracted to the strange events that seem to follow her. She is accident prone, and constantly avoids near disaster, which he finds utterly charming. He calls it “not good, not bad, but definitely some luck” and asks her on a date. While the Uncle--whom William attests is more than standoffish and even menacing towards him--doesn’t approve of the two going out, the pair ignores his wishes and becomes very close. They date seriously for nearly six months before Abby takes matters regarding William’s confusion and curiosities about Richard into her own hands. She breaks off the relationship, becoming William’s second closest friend, and in some ways, the nagging voice in the back of his head.
Little Picky Details
Question: What exactly is this tension between he and Richard?
Short answer? William is suppressing feelings for Richard, mostly because he worries that by acting on them, he'd ruin everything.
Long answer? William and Richard are complicated in that they have been the best of friends for years and that puts all sorts of strain on even the idea of making something more out of it. William has a very clear track record of being with women; as far as Richard knows, William is entirely heterosexual. Richard, however, is openly gay and has been for a long time. His track record with relationships is nearly non-existant, as he is the man of one night stands, friends with benefits, and the occasional fling that is over within two weeks. That being said, William isn't exactly sure where he stands sexually. He's been with women for the majority of his dating life. (In fact, he only had one relationship with another guy, and it went terribly for him.) He knows that what he feels is deep for Richard because no matter how many times he tries to, he can't shake it. He's dated other women, and yet no matter how crazy he seems to be about the girlfriend, none of them can pull his heart away from being set on Richard. Still, William doesn't know how this falls into things sexually. His experience with homosexuality is very little, and while he feels entirely comfortable flirting and charming women (and their pants off), with Richard he feels out of sorts. It isn't the most easy thing in the world to flirt with one's best friend, particularly when William isn't 100% positive he's actually bisexual. Part of him wonders if Richard is his complete exception to heterosexuality.
What makes it even more complicated is that Richard is, as stated before, William's best friend. If there is even the slightest possibility that Richard doesn't share the same feelings, William knows he could absolutely ruin the closest relationship he has with anyone. From an outsider's standpoint, it's easy to just say "Go for it!" Yet this is someone, when you think about it, William wouldn't be able to just walk away from if things really were ruined. Their fathers are together, which makes their lives inextricably intertwined. They'd run into each other constantly even if they didn't seek one another out. Ruining their relationship would put a strain on the family in its entirety.
It doesn't help that their fathers are together. No, they aren't blood related by any means, but there is something to be said for being the children of the two men who are together, and have acted as parents toward them. The fact that Richard and William weren't raised together eliminated any "brotherly" feelings they might have had. They don't view each other as siblings, but were Alex and H to get married, by law they would be. No such marriage has happened, nor do the fathers plan to. Still, that puts a damper on any instincts William might have had to pursue his romantic feelings toward Richard Hart.
Lastly, Richard has had no serious relationships. Ever. It's difficult for even William to believe that he could serve as the exception to what is seemingly a rule with Richard to keep anyone around for more than two weeks. Who is to say that Richard wouldn't bore of him in a week or two? That quick replacement would hurt, badly. He's risking so much by even acting on his feelings, and even assuming Richard feels the same way, things could go poorly still.
There's a lot on the line, basically, and those things aren't something William is willing to risk. At least not yet, anyway. Needless to say... their fathers suspect something, but haven't approached either of the boys about it, or discussed it. They're rather hoping it will all fade away in time. Nobody wants that mess.
Born to Alexander and Grace Lawedre, a military father and a complacent but overeager mother, William’s history is that of privilege and slightly unusual circumstances. His life, however, has been highly ordinary. He was the younger child of two, three years apart from his sister, Louisa. His name comes from a long line of heritage, dating back to the 15th century in Scotland. There used to be a peerage tied to his name, but it isn’t any longer. It changed too many hands, and somehow, there’s a large gap of time where his family name is lost. Still, he comes from a traditional background with deep-rooted history and ideals.
There’s old money in the Lawedre family, flowing down generations of successful careers in military, politics, and business investments. The heads of his family have a long line of involvement in the army, as most of them have served in the wars of their generations. William is the first in quite some time not to. Just as prominent, however, is politics. The Lawedre name carries a strong lean towards ‘patriotism’, and while William finds it all a bit blind, it is thick in his blood to have a great fondness for England. His mother comes from a business-oriented family, which yielded quite a bit of its own success.
As a result of his privilege, William has been quite well off, sent off to one of the best independent boarding schools in the UK, and nearly every whim that could lead to a hobby was indulged.
About His Family
Due to father’s age-old “friendship” with another military man, Horatio Hart, things in the Lawedre family were not what they appeared to be up until William turned 10. While his father was a married man, it was a poorly hidden and well-known secret that his father was not faithful to his wife.
Alexander and Grace married thinking that a wedding would solidify the "happily ever after" that one reads about. Once married, however, that image quickly faded. What had they done? Their marriage was, to the public eye, a perfect one that yielded two children. As a couple, however, the happiness quickly seeped away. Grace, particularly felt trapped. The couple worked through such issues for a while, but as soon as the year 2000 hit, Grace pushed for a divorce.
Grace and Alexander may have been married, but Grace also knew that Alexander was in fact seeing his dear friend, Horatio. Although both men retired far before the law passed, they had no desire for their lifestyle choices to retroactively impact their military careers. It was not until the year 2000 when the British Ministry of Defence lifted the ban on gays openly serving into the military that the men made their partnership known. Grace had remained legally bound as Alexander’s wife while both parties had their respective affairs--Grace began seeing another man when things became difficult-- without emotional consequences from their spouse. In 2000, a divorce was finalized and pushed through and Alexander and Horatio moved in together. It wasn't messy, but there were certainly emotions involved.
William, who began boarding school at the age of 7, rarely saw his mother due to being away. When the divorce went through, he felt bitter. He was only 10 when his mother walked away, and it was fairly clear that she had used the relationship between Horatio and Alexander as an excuse to do so. His older sister, Louisa, remains on fairly close terms with Grace, but William only contacts her out of familial duty. It isn't that he feels abandoned, but there is a residual hurt there that gives him little reason to call her more than twice a year.
Along that same line of bitterness, William grew up not understanding the need to keep his father and "uncle" a secret. Being a military brat, his father had him in and around bases for most of his primary years. While the ban against gays openly serving in the military was still in place, the rule was something that William was both told about and understood from a young age, even if he didn't agree with it. William's situation is unusual in that his acceptance in a primarily homophobic world has a far wider scope. Now, in 2010, William’s mother and father are friendly and occasionally meet and travel together, though there are few ties or reasons to do so. She never remarried, as she discovered with Alex that marriage is the last thing she wants, though she lives with her long-time lover and went back to her surname, Devereux.
William's sister, Louisa lives in the United States in New York after attending school in the city. She left to study fashion design, and while William isn't particularly close with her, he still keeps in regular contact. During his semester abroad, he chose New York City knowing he would be able to see her more often. She rarely flies back to England, primarily due to expenses.
Horatio Hart has acted as a second father in William’s life for the vast majority of it, though William addresses him as ‘Uncle H’ even now. They are a fairly tightly knit family, although since his admittance to Cambridge, William has felt less obligated to keep in constant contact with his father(s), sister, and mother. Louisa decided against studying in the UK and went abroad to varying schools about the United States, keeping her fairly busy and visits infrequent and few.
Other (somewhat) notable family members include: his Aunt Lavinia and Uncle George (his father’s siblings), his Grandmother Annabella and Grandfather Robert (his father’s parents), Grandfather Henry and Grandmother Francis (his mother’s parents).
Childhood and Education
William was sent off to Westminster School, a famous and well known boys boarding school at the age of 7, continuing his studies up until the age of 18. After that, he applied to both Oxford and Cambridge with the intention of going into law. While he had applied to both (as well as other colleges) in an effort to remain prudent, his heart was set on Cambridge, where his best mate had begun attending one year before. Upon his acceptance to Cambridge, he refused to open any other letters and entered the tripos for law with the intention of becoming a barrister and potentially a politician. He currently studies in Downing College at the university, halfway through his second year. He has studied abroad once, spending a short two months in New York City at New York Law School.
Classical education through Westminster means he has studied several languages, including Latin, Greek, and an additional elective of French. Because he doesn’t often use what he learned of Greek, he is forgetting most of it. Latin, however, he recalls well and his French is passable.
William has been surrounded around all things military. Growing up, William was taught riflery, horseback riding, and hunting. The rest of his hobbies were indulged so long as he held interest, including cricket, football (as in soccer, as some may well know it), and working on cars. William currently owns, due to his utter love of old automobiles, a 1958 Austin Healey Sprite that he’s been working on for the last two years, so he is well versed in cars. His father also required a study in some form of music. William chose the piano, which he studied beginning at the age of 6. Formal lessons stopped once he turned 18, but he often piddles about at the keys.
In terms of conflict, there really wasn't any until a few years after it became public knowledge that his father and mother were divorcing and that his "uncle" and father were moving in together. William was 10, and due to the fact that H retained the "uncle" title, there was no ridicule at boarding school for a while. Most 10-year-old boys have no issues with divorce, per se, and had no reason to give trouble. It wasn't until William mentioned H in a fatherly capacity that he realised his generation is not so accepting, still.
Once William reached an age when most children understood what "fag" and "ponce" mean (not just using the terms as insults without base) it became a bit more of a problem. While he himself felt no shame regarding his family, other boys (and later, girls) did. They tried to harass him by calling his father and H derogatory names, making his mother to be a victim or (if they learned that she knew of the arrangement) a complacent whore. Calling Alex or H gay did not offend William, and provoked no response. Nor did William feel the need to defend his father. (Anyone who has met Alex knows him to be a highly intimidating army man. He can defend himself.) It was when schoolfellows attacked the character of Uncle H or his mother that he finally got defensive.
At the age of 13, William got into his first and only fight one evening at boarding school. Another boy began insulting not the sexual preferences of his father or H, but instead spat that H was just "a ponce of a homewrecker." So began a shouting match.
As you can imagine at an all-boys boarding school, nothing is really all that private. Word of the fight spread and in less than five minutes, the boys had gathered a crowd. William threw a punch, his and the fight's first. Everyone knew what had been said, and even though the opinions amongst the other school boys divided them, none could resist seeing a fight break out in Westminster. It wasn't much of one; William was terribly inept at defending himself, and although the other boy beat him soundly and badly, he continued to verbally defend H as he was struck.
Richard, also a student of the same boarding school, came to watch the fight the whole school was talking about, but instead, found it to be William and dragged the younger out of it. At two years older, he staved off the assaulting student and with help from the frantic teachers who belatedly found the commotion. Once separated from the fight, William was taken by the Headmaster and his father was contacted. With a black eye, bruises along his body, and a few busted knuckles, William was a sorry state. Yet the discipline between the Headmaster and his father was severely different. The Headmaster threatened consequences, told him the severity of his actions, and punished him accordingly. His father, however, was more upset that William was so stupid about picking a fight he couldn't win. Their conversation went something a little like this:
Will: I'm sorry, father.
Alex: You got in a fight, William.
Will: I know, and--
Alex: Look at yourself. All bruised and bashed.
Will: At least I won the argument.
Alex: You were beaten up, son. Richard had to drag you out of the fight.
Will: ...but my logic was sound; I was the only one that made sense. I defended Uncle H, and they've got nothing!
Alex: You defended Horatio but you couldn't defend yourself. Don't you ever pick a battle you can't win. I don't want you throwing the first punch ever again, because you can soundly argue your way out of nearly anything, William. They'll either understand, or they never will. Yet the moment you throw a punch at them, you're arming your enemy with something, and that's the stupidest thing you can do. Don't give them anything to hold over you. Anything.
Will: You're not mad about the argument?
Alex: Have you ever seen me fight, William?
Will: ...no.
Alex: I'm a retired Brigadier who separated with his wife in order to take another man into his home. I've a lot to fight for besides England. I can fight. Yet you will never see me brawl for any of it.
That afternoon, William learned that things hadn't happened as quietly as his family made him believe. His father, H, and his mother had taken a lot of heat from their own communities about the reshuffling of the Lawedre family, and had kept it away from the boys as long as they could. Protection can only extend so far. William hasn't fought since. If anything, it was one of the aspects of his life that motivated him to become so skilled with argument. Naturally talented with it, William had a reason to make it better. The scandal also, from a fairly young age, shaped his idea of fairness. Even as a child, he saw a level of injustice that he wished to change. Now, he has an eye for it, and it motivates his desires to become a Crown Prosecutor and eventually make his way into politics.
The Relationships Overview
William has lived in two houses his whole life, consecutively. The first until the age of ten, the other when his father and Uncle H moved in together. While Uncle H had lost his wife not long after his son was born, he had still brought the young boy, 2 years William’s senior, into the house. His name is Richard Hart, and although they hardly gave one another notice as they grew, it was in their teenage years that the two established an easy and indivisible friendship.
As most children believe, when their ages are single digits, a year is a monumental gap between people. William and Richard hadn’t been raised together. Boarding school saw to that. Their friendship formed after time had let them grow up enough; too much of who they were remains a secret only the other knows, and such secrets make birth from adolescence.
It was just before William turned 16, during summer between terms, that they became friends. After that, the two became rather inseparable, wreaking the havoc that boys typically do out of boredom and being smart kids with too much to say.
While I risk diverting too much attention away from William, Richard is a highly important part of his life and deserves a full explanation. Richard is a highly social being with a unique “collection” of friends. It is a small and intimate crowd of interesting fellows and an arrangement that suits no one else save for them. He’d acquired them all through a mixture of handshakes, dark glances, and a toss around in bed, most of them by all three. Richard is an often well-dressed individual, a bit vain and altogether smug. A keen individual with a knack for easy charms, Richard is a master of silence and what hangs in the air with a particular look. In many ways, Richard is William’s opposite. Richard holds people at a distance, is far more than shameless, and while highly intelligent finds that he would rather things be easy and laid back. Where William knows exactly where he wants to be in five years, Richard is undecided. The two men know their differences and play them off of each other.
Surface wise, things between them are as easy and simple as they were four years ago. As a pair, they are complementary in ways one wouldn’t expect. They both eagerly and skillfully walk a semi-permanent line between cheeky and charming. Things aren’t quite the same, however, in 2010. At least not at a deeper level, a level that neither is willing to talk about.
William has dated--some them seriously--quite a few women. While he is unafraid of far more casual relationships, William oftentimes grows attached to those he dates. None of them have been to Richard’s liking. A few of these previous relationships are as follows:
Lydia Hester: A girl who began attending Westminster once he entered Upper School, Lydia was the first “serious” relationship that William had. While the two spent what time the school would allow them together, they were not as serious as one might expect. Hormones got the best of them both, however, and once they’d slept together, things changed. William wasn’t quite sure what to make of the suddenly clingy and lovey-dovey Lydia. While clearly the girl found the experience so emotionally charged, William was not so quick to commit to a word like “love”. As teenagers sometimes do immature and stupid things, so did Lydia, and in an effort to make William jealous, she ended up hurting him and the two split bitterly.
Ellie Ginger: In New York City, William stumbled upon Ellie when he chose an arbitrary place to eat and she waited on his table. A small town girl, Ellie was as much a foreigner to the city as he, and the two formed one of the only ongoing casual relationships William had. For two months, they had few dates, a half a dozen dinners, and more nights of hooking up than anything. They both knew it was temporary, and while feelings were there, none were ever admitted to. They haven’t spoken since Will returned to England.
Abigail Dowager: After losing both her parents to a car accident, Abigail has been under the care of an overprotective uncle since her teens. A girl with a fascination for history and the mystical, William ran into her at a local museum that her family ran. The two share century-old family names and William is attracted to the strange events that seem to follow her. She is accident prone, and constantly avoids near disaster, which he finds utterly charming. He calls it “not good, not bad, but definitely some luck” and asks her on a date. While the Uncle--whom William attests is more than standoffish and even menacing towards him--doesn’t approve of the two going out, the pair ignores his wishes and becomes very close. They date seriously for nearly six months before Abby takes matters regarding William’s confusion and curiosities about Richard into her own hands. She breaks off the relationship, becoming William’s second closest friend, and in some ways, the nagging voice in the back of his head.
Little Picky Details
Question: What exactly is this tension between he and Richard?
Short answer? William is suppressing feelings for Richard, mostly because he worries that by acting on them, he'd ruin everything.
Long answer? William and Richard are complicated in that they have been the best of friends for years and that puts all sorts of strain on even the idea of making something more out of it. William has a very clear track record of being with women; as far as Richard knows, William is entirely heterosexual. Richard, however, is openly gay and has been for a long time. His track record with relationships is nearly non-existant, as he is the man of one night stands, friends with benefits, and the occasional fling that is over within two weeks. That being said, William isn't exactly sure where he stands sexually. He's been with women for the majority of his dating life. (In fact, he only had one relationship with another guy, and it went terribly for him.) He knows that what he feels is deep for Richard because no matter how many times he tries to, he can't shake it. He's dated other women, and yet no matter how crazy he seems to be about the girlfriend, none of them can pull his heart away from being set on Richard. Still, William doesn't know how this falls into things sexually. His experience with homosexuality is very little, and while he feels entirely comfortable flirting and charming women (and their pants off), with Richard he feels out of sorts. It isn't the most easy thing in the world to flirt with one's best friend, particularly when William isn't 100% positive he's actually bisexual. Part of him wonders if Richard is his complete exception to heterosexuality.
What makes it even more complicated is that Richard is, as stated before, William's best friend. If there is even the slightest possibility that Richard doesn't share the same feelings, William knows he could absolutely ruin the closest relationship he has with anyone. From an outsider's standpoint, it's easy to just say "Go for it!" Yet this is someone, when you think about it, William wouldn't be able to just walk away from if things really were ruined. Their fathers are together, which makes their lives inextricably intertwined. They'd run into each other constantly even if they didn't seek one another out. Ruining their relationship would put a strain on the family in its entirety.
It doesn't help that their fathers are together. No, they aren't blood related by any means, but there is something to be said for being the children of the two men who are together, and have acted as parents toward them. The fact that Richard and William weren't raised together eliminated any "brotherly" feelings they might have had. They don't view each other as siblings, but were Alex and H to get married, by law they would be. No such marriage has happened, nor do the fathers plan to. Still, that puts a damper on any instincts William might have had to pursue his romantic feelings toward Richard Hart.
Lastly, Richard has had no serious relationships. Ever. It's difficult for even William to believe that he could serve as the exception to what is seemingly a rule with Richard to keep anyone around for more than two weeks. Who is to say that Richard wouldn't bore of him in a week or two? That quick replacement would hurt, badly. He's risking so much by even acting on his feelings, and even assuming Richard feels the same way, things could go poorly still.
There's a lot on the line, basically, and those things aren't something William is willing to risk. At least not yet, anyway. Needless to say... their fathers suspect something, but haven't approached either of the boys about it, or discussed it. They're rather hoping it will all fade away in time. Nobody wants that mess.