Page 4 of Butterfly

Teddy exhaled, relaxing his hold until his grip was comfortable again.

His nods were exaggerated, slow, as if he wanted to convince Ollie that was true.

Ollie didn’t need convincing, though.

“I know I have you.” Ollie gave him a small smile. “And I’m so grateful I do. I don’t know…”

Why?

I don’t know why…

Ollie stopped, not wanting to ask in case it broke whatever spell Teddy was under.

Teddycaredabout him.

From the first day Ollie had entered the prison, terrified out of his mind, Teddy had looked after him.

Ollie had no idea how he’d gained his loyalty like that.

It scared him that, at any moment, he could do something to lose it.

Teddy stared down at him, waiting for him to finish.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done without you,” Ollie whispered.

And that was true too.

Rory had been his closest friend, but Teddy was something different.

Ollie didn’t quite know how to explain his relationship with Teddy.

Captain drummed his fingers on the door loud enough to remind Ollie he was still there.

“You know where I am when you’re ready to talk,” Captain murmured, then he closed the door as he left.

Teddy glared after him like he’d just been insulted.

Ollie chuckled softly. “He didn’t mean it likethat.”

Teddy replied by exhaling forcefully from his nose.

“He didn’t,” Ollie repeated.

He squeezed Teddy’s hand.

By the sour expression on Teddy’s face, he didn’t believe Captain’s words were anything but an insult.

Teddy couldn’t speak as such, but he did vocalise his opinions through other sounds, like grunts, snorts, grumbles and growls.

At first, their communication had been limited to yes and no questions, Teddy shaking or nodding in reply.

Then Ollie had realised Teddy could, in fact, read but not write, so he wrote and cut out a selection of frequent words like you, I, want, can, can’t, why, when, where, who, how and stuck them to their cell wall opposite the bed.

It worked for Teddy asking Ollie questions, but they struggled with mutual interactions until Ollie stole a dictionary from the library.

The dictionary changed everything.

Teddy reached beneath Ollie’s pillow, finding the well-thumbed book.

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