As You Wished

Unspoken Promises

The lakeside house felt like stepping into a memory. Night had wrapped itself around the old place, making everything soft and distant from the real world. In the upstairs bedroom, golden lamplight carved out their own private universe while the lake murmured its ancient secrets just beyond the window.

Kael and Elior had finally settled on the edge of the bed, the awkward tension from their drive over slowly dissolving. This house knew too much about them. Every corner held fragments of who they used to be, back when the future seemed possible and uncomplicated.

Elior studied the exhaustion written across Kael's face. "You went straight to the café, didn't you? Never even stopped home."

"Had to find you first." Kael's voice carried the weight of ten years in those simple words.

Guilt twisted in Elior's stomach. "Your parents have been waiting all day. Your mom probably spent hours cooking everything you loved as a kid."

"She did." Kael's smile was tired but genuine. "I can already picture it. Corn soup, that roast beef recipe she got from your mom, chocolate cake with way too much frosting."

"And your dad?" Elior already knew the answer.

"Oh, he's got spreadsheets." Kael rubbed his temples. "Career projections, political strategy, a timeline for when I should announce my engagement to someone appropriate."

The weight of being Leon Arvenhart's son had never lifted, only grown heavier with his father's rise to Prime Minister. Elior understood that pressure intimately.

"But you came here instead," Elior said softly.

Something shifted in Kael's expression. Before Elior could process it, strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him close with desperate intensity. The embrace felt like coming home and breaking apart all at once.

"They never stopped trying to stay connected," Kael murmured against Elior's shoulder. "Video calls every Sunday, care packages full of homemade cookies, flying halfway across the world for my graduation ceremony."

Elior felt Kael's breath warm against his neck. "Dad even rescheduled a NATO meeting to be there. Can you believe that? A f*****g NATO meeting."

"But it wasn't enough," Elior finished quietly.

"No." The admission came out broken. "None of it was enough because you weren't there."

Elior's body remembered this closeness even after all these years. His muscles relaxed despite himself, melting into the familiar warmth. "I know your mom follows my career. She comments on everything from some account called 'ProudMomLaura' or something equally subtle."

That earned him a genuine laugh. "She's not exactly covert. Always bragging to reporters about your latest album or movie deal, even when they're supposed to be interviewing her about Dad's policies."

"Must be awkward," Elior said, though his heart clenched at the image.

"She never stopped loving you," Kael said simply. "Neither of them did. Even after everything that happened."

The guilt Elior had carried for years threatened to choke him. "I threw myself into work after you left. Took every job, every tour, every recording session that came my way. Thought if I stayed busy enough..."

"Did it work?" Kael's fingers had found their way into Elior's hair, gentle and achingly familiar.

"What do you think?" Elior's laugh came out harsh. "I'd be on stage in front of thousands of people, and I'd still scan the crowd looking for your face. Every f*****g time."

Kael's arms tightened around him. "I buried myself in academics. Double majored, took research positions, internships at consulting firms. Built the perfect resume for the perfect political career."

"Your parents must have been thrilled," Elior said.

"They were. Dad kept showing me off to his colleagues, talking about his brilliant son who was going to revolutionize international policy." Kael's voice turned bitter. "But every achievement felt hollow. Like I was just going through the motions of someone else's life."

The conversation was stirring up things Elior had spent years trying to bury. "Do you ever think about that last night? What we promised each other?"

Kael pulled back enough to meet his eyes, and the intensity there made Elior's breath catch. "Every single day. Those words got me through the worst of it. When I wanted to drop everything and come running back to you."

"Even when you were building that new life in London?"

"Especially then." Kael's thumb traced along Elior's cheekbone. "It was like being tethered to this place, to you, no matter how far I ran."

Silence settled between them, heavy with everything they couldn't quite say yet. The old grandfather clock downstairs marked the passing moments with steady precision. Kael's eyes drifted closed, exhaustion finally claiming him.

In that half-conscious state, his mind wandered back through the years, landing on a sun-bright playground filled with children's voices.

Four-year-old Kael stood frozen in the middle of Rainbow Kindergarten's yard, his round face flushed with embarrassment. His too-big uniform hung awkwardly on his small frame, perfectly pressed thanks to his mother's meticulous care.

The push came without warning. Rough hands sent him tumbling to the dusty ground, his pristine clothes immediately stained with dirt.

"Look at fatty!" The voice belonged to Marcus, the biggest kid in their class. "He's like a bowling ball!"

"Let's see if he bounces!" Another boy, James, picked up a handful of pebbles.

Little Kael bit his lip hard enough to taste blood, fighting back tears that would only make things worse. His chubby hands scrambled to brush dirt from his uniform, but the laughter cut deeper than his scraped knee.

"What's wrong, fatty? Gonna cry for your mommy?" Marcus taunted.

That's when salvation arrived in the form of a scrawny boy with wild hair and fierce brown eyes. Elior crashed into the circle of bullies like a tiny hurricane, all protective fury and righteous anger.

"Get away from him!" Elior planted himself between Kael and his tormentors, chin raised in defiance despite being half their size.

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Oh great, it's Elior the psycho. What's your problem?"

"My problem is you picking on my friend," Elior shot back, fists clenched at his sides.

"Friend?" James snickered. "You're friends with the fat kid?"

"Don't call him that!" Elior's voice cracked with fury.

"Why not? Look at him. He's obviously fat." Marcus gestured dismissively at Kael.

Elior took a threatening step forward. "Say it again. I dare you."

The bullies exchanged glances. Everyone knew Elior's reputation for throwing punches first and apologizing never.

"Whatever, psycho," Marcus muttered, already backing away. "He's not worth it anyway."

"Run along before I tell Mrs. Henderson what you've been up to," Elior called after them.

They scattered like guilty birds, leaving Elior alone with the boy he'd just defended.

Little Elior's fierce expression melted into something infinitely gentler as he crouched beside Kael. "Hey, are you hurt? Let me see that knee."

Kael shook his head but couldn't hide the blood seeping through the dirt on his scraped leg.

"Oh man, you're bleeding." Elior dug through his pockets with the focused intensity of a battlefield medic. "Here, I've got a band-aid."

The dinosaur bandage he produced was slightly crumpled but clean. Elior applied it with surprising gentleness for someone who'd just been ready to fight half the playground.

"There. T-Rex is gonna keep you safe now," Elior said solemnly, patting the bandage with careful fingers.

Kael stared up at this strange, fierce boy who'd appeared from nowhere to save him. With the innocent directness only children possessed, he whispered, "Are you a guardian angel?"

Elior's face lit up with delighted laughter. "Nah, I'm just regular. I'm Elior. What's your name?"

"Kael," he answered shyly.

"Kael." Elior tested the name like he was tasting something sweet. "That's a really cool name. Want to be friends?"

Something warm and hopeful bloomed in Kael's chest. "Really? You want to be my friend?"

"Course I do. Friends protect each other, right?" Elior held out his hand. "Come on, let's go play on the swings."

That moment crystallized in four-year-old Kael's memory. The feeling of being chosen, protected, valued by someone who barely knew him. It was the beginning of everything.

The memory faded like morning mist, leaving adult Kael blinking in the soft lamplight. Elior was still there, still in his arms, no longer the scrappy kid with grass stains on his knees but the same person underneath. The same fierce loyalty, the same way of making Kael feel like he mattered.

"You're smiling," Elior observed quietly, studying Kael's face. "Good memory?"

"The best," Kael said, his voice rough with emotion. "Just remembering the day my guardian angel found me."

Outside, the lake continued its eternal conversation with the shore, whispering promises the darkness couldn't break.