Finders, keepers - 9. Prompt 460

“Who invited you?”

Getting ready for the party, I just knew I would get that question again tonight. Someone always wondered who I was and then why on earth George let some teenager accompany him to parties. No one ever understood. Maybe that was just as well. We couldn’t exactly be open about our relationship.

“Levi, are you about ready? We have to go now or we’ll be really late!” George’s voice traveled up the stairs of our little cottage. I gave a frustrated groan and tried to tie my bow tie yet again. Staring in the mirror, I took a good look at myself. Seeing the other reason we moved about so much, the reason George was never able to settle down and maybe build more of a reputation and a bigger practice for himself.

Our lives were so entwined with each other, but George’s life was also an important part of the life of the town where we lived now. Any town where we lived. For the past decade or so, we had moved around every other year, just to keep our relationship a secret and not raise suspicion.

We could of course never tell anyone about us, even if we sometimes suspected people knew and didn’t say anything. Where ever we went, George was so beloved by all his patients and maybe they were afraid to lose him. His position as the community doctor made him popular with the wealthier people.

My youth was also beginning to be a problem. George was 35 by now and the difference in our age was more noticeable for each year. Despite all the time gone by, I still looked like a 19 year old boy even though I was close to 100 by now. I wanted to throw something at the mirror in anger over the useless young man who stared back at me. I could do nothing to hide the fact that I didn’t age and I hated it.

Staring at myself, memories of our life together flooded me.

After we came home from the hospital, there were months when George couldn’t do much due to his injury. It frustrated him that he wasn’t able to work or earn money, even if I assured him we had enough. Still, he was used to being the doer of the two of us. Now, he had to rely on me for a change. It didn’t go down well with him. He had fended for himself since he was 12 years old and now he couldn’t anymore.

This inability made him short tempered and we had our first fights. Stupid things, like needing help in the bathroom or not being able to get out of bed could set him off and I tried to bite my tongue since he was injured. Still, the irritation was there. He noticed and then we would argue about me not telling him when he went too far. Through it all though, we never once discussed not being together. Our love was somehow above all that quarreling, untouchable. Still, I wished it would stop. Not even the war ending could lift his spirits.

As George got gradually better, his mood brightened. He still needed something to do. Not just now, but with his life. Being a farm hand wasn’t an option anymore.

Due to his injuries, he spent a lot of time with our local doctor, Dr. Stone, who first helped him care for his wounds and then also showed him how to regain strength and mobility. It turned out the first doctor had been right; his leg would never be the same. It made George feel like a cripple, but I thought George with a limp at home was much better than a dead George at the front. I told him over and over again that I didn’t care and gradually he started to believe me.

The doctor soon realized George had an interest in medicine beyond his own healing and they spent a lot of time discussing different medicinal topics. I tried to take an interest, but they pretty quickly lost me with all the jargon and long words in Latin. George even started to help out at the practice, first answering the phone and then helping in treatment. He would come home, all shiny eyed, and talk for hours about pretty gross things he’d seen or done. It made him happy, so I was happy.

One day, he came home even more excited than ever.

“Levi, you won’t believe what Dr. Stone said?” He was so giddy he wrapped me in his arms and spun me around the room. I laughed at his enthusiasm, even if I didn’t know the cause.

“There’s a scholarship for war veterans! I could go study medicine at the university!” I just stared at him. Medicine? Was that even possible? Scholarship aside, it must be terribly expensive. And would he be able to study like that? He was smart, but his schooling was not the most solid.

“Stop that! I can see you thinking about every possible problem. I can do this, we can do this. I just know it!” He leaned in and kissed me. With his lips on mine, all that worry just faded away and I could finally listen to him.

“Doc Stone said he would help me with applications, recommendation letter, all I need. He said I’m a natural at this.” He kept babbling and I somehow lost track of what he said, simply listened to his excited voice and delighted in his animated and happy explanation.

Things happened so fast after that. George applied and got in, much thanks to his recommendation from Dr. Stone. This meant we had to live apart again, but only during the weeks. George always came home for the weekend. I tried to convince him to stay one more than one occasion, to let him experience a little more of student life. He simply looked at me and shook his head.

“I didn’t make it back alive from the war and my life, only to not live that life. My life is here with you. My life is you.”

And that was that. End of discussion.

After years and years of studying hard, George graduated. Dr. Stone and I went up to the ceremony and then out to a quiet dinner. I was so excited to have George home full time again, but I had to put a rein on my feelings. I was afraid Dr. Stone would figure us out and get us in trouble. Still, I was sure my eyes betrayed me. I was just so happy, as was George. So what happened that evening shouldn’t have surprised me.

“So, are you boys going to be staying in town? You know I need an extra set of hands at my practice.” Dr. Stone had been asking George to come work with him and we were tempted. It would be a great way to start his career. At the same time, he had known us for quite a few years now and our secret was getting difficult to keep. George and I exchanged a look over the table.

“You know, I really hope you don’t let any private concerns stop you, if you are indeed interested. I have no opinion about anyone sharing a house, cousins or not.” My jaw just dropped. Dr. Stone seemed sincere, but I could hardly believe his words. Was he actually saying what I thought he was saying? By the look in his eyes, I got the message he knew. He knew we weren’t cousins, but something else entirely. And he didn’t care. George reached out and grabbed my hand. I started and tried to pull my hand back, but George held on.

“I would very much like to work with you. If it’s not a problem?” We all knew what George was in fact asking.

“I’ve told you I want the same. Nothing you do will ever be a problem, George. And that goes for you too, Levi.” Dr. Stone’s words were final. It was decided.

So George started working at the practice. With George making quite a lot of money, I didn’t have to work anymore. This was probably for the best, since me not ageing was starting to show, at least in my own mind. It was so obvious to me, this unnatural state I was in. Never changing. I was convinced the people I worked with had to notice, even if no one said anything. If I stayed home or didn’t go out much, people wouldn’t start asking questions. I began to stay indoors and my world revolved around George, who quickly became a very popular doctor to the town’s people. He was invited to all kinds of different functions as one of the more important persons in the community. At first, I went with him, but pretty soon I got tired of trying to make small talk to all these people I had nothing in common with. They didn’t take me seriously, since I had no education and it showed in my lack of grasping the references and jokes they made. I simply didn’t understand what they were talking about. We had row upon row about me going or not going, but in the end George finally got my point and he stopped asking me. This meant a few lonely evenings, but I preferred it to being under close scrutiny from various mothers looking to marry their daughters to the young doctor, trying to figure out how to get rid of the cousin. In my darker moments, I used to think that if they only knew his background, they wouldn’t have been so eager.

Then one evening, I had gone with him to the five year anniversary of his joining Dr. Stone’s practice. He had been adamant I would be there. So I complied. Standing by his side and trying to look pleasant and nice, person after person came up to us and congratulated him. In the crowd, we suddenly spotted a familiar face. Carl. We hadn’t seen each other since the war ended. He smiled as he came up to us.

“George! Levi! I haven’t seen you in ages!” He looked at George and then at me. Immediately, the thoughts of that afternoon came to my mind and I could see he was thinking about that too. George didn’t seem to notice and started talking about his work and what a nice evening this was. Carl’s eyes were on me, a strange look on his face. I avoided his stare by looking out over the room, but I could feel him watching me. Then he spoke.

“My, Levi, you haven’t aged one day. It’s almost eerie…” George fell silent when he heard Carl’s words. The three of us stood there, silent. I could hardly breathe and my instinct was screaming at me to just run, get out. George stopped me with a hand on my arm, squeezing hard.

“Good genes, you know!” George made an attempt to laugh it off, but I knew and he knew this was it. We had to leave. Before our secret was out.

So we left. Dr. Stone was devastated and tried to get George to change his mind. I even tried once, but got the telling off of the century for even daring to suggest he should carry on his life without me. Getting a new position wasn’t hard, since Dr. Stone gave George a glowing letter of recommendation. We decided to live our nomadic existence from then on. I didn’t need anyone else in my life, but I felt sorry for George who was more in need of friends. In each new place, we had to make appearances at various parties. I always hated it, but I endured them for George’s sake.

And here we were now. On our way to yet another party. I gave up on my bow tie and decided to let George handle it for me. I went downstairs. George stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting. He was all smiles, even though I was making us run late.

“You need help with that?” He pointed at my neck.

“You know I do. I hate these things.” I threw my hands up, venting my frustration.

“Bow ties or parties?” George bit his lip in concentration. I giggled, wondering yet again if he did the same in his practice when he was treating a patient.

“Both…”

“Well, we’ll be in and out in a flash. I promise. There!” With a satisfied expression, George stepped back to grab his coat and a small box that sat on a small table by the front door.

“What is that?” I asked curiously. He just smiled.

“It’s a gift for the hostess.” I left it at that, not interested in whatever trinket he had bought for whatever wife was hosting tonight’s party.

At the party, things turned out exactly the same. George worked the room with me in tow and I did my best to not look completely lost. They talked politics, which was fine to some extent since I read the paper, but then people started talking about literature or some play or worse still the opera and I was lost. Out of the blue, one matronly looking woman turned to me and smiled. It wasn’t a particularly nice smile though, but rather condescending.

“So, how are you enjoying living with your uncle?” I stared at her. Uncle? She thought George was my uncle? I glanced at him, but he hadn’t heard her. Taking in his appearance, I suddenly saw what she saw. George could be old enough to be my uncle, by the looks of it.

“Are you going to university soon or do you have more school first?” She apparently thought I wasn’t older than 18 or 19 years old. All possible implications of her assumptions suddenly hit me. What would happen if they figured out the nature of our relationship? Would they see George as a dirty old man? Me as his little plaything? The woman’s eyes seemed to be looking right into my soul, piercing straight through me. A stupid, irrational thought, but I couldn’t stay in that room a second longer. I heard her annoyed mumbling behind me as I turned and fled.

I ended up in a garden. The setting summer sun was still warm and I sank down on a bench, upset but not sure why.

“Levi?” George’s voice was concerned. I could feel him sitting down close behind me. He put his arm around my waist. I tried to scoot away, but he held me still.

“Someone will see…” My warning fell on deaf ears and instead he moved even closer.

“Then let them see. What’s wrong?” His other hand reached my right hand and grasped it.

“She thought you were my uncle.” I could hardly say the words, they were so awful.

“So?” George sounded surprised and confused.

“My uncle!” I spun in his arms. “She looks at us and sees you as much older. It will only get worse, George! What will we do? We can’t move away from that!” I noticed my voice had got really loud and tried to regain some control. “We move and move to outrun time, but we can’t, can we? Time is always in our way, taunting us. Making fun of us, of our love! Time will tear us apart! Don’t you see?” I took a deep breath and caressed George’s face.

“No matter what we do, how we try and hide, we can’t hide from time. Maybe, we should just give up? It will only get harder and harder if we…”

“No!” George grabbed my hand and held my wrist a bit too hard. “No, Levi! I will not let you talk like that! You belong to me! No one or nothing will separate us!” He realized what he was doing and softened his hold on my arm.

“I don’t know how many times I must tell you this, but you are my world, Levi. I will do whatever it takes to have you in my life. You say time is our enemy, but what is time? A perception? An idea? It’s nothing unless we allow it to be something. Besides, time can be a symbol of my love for you.” He reached inside the pocket of his pants and took out that small box. I looked at him. This time, I was the confused one.

“Any time, I will love you and do anything for you. I love you more than you will ever know, Levi.” He handed me the box. With shaking fingers, I opened the wrapping carefully. Inside, laid a beautiful pocket watch.