If You Ever Come Back
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, they belong to BBC. Also, the name of the FanFiction and the inspiration comes from the song "If You Ever Come Back" by the Script. If you haven't heard it, listen to that first and then come back to read this. It'll make much more sense then. :)
The first few days after Allan's betrayal are hard on everyone, particularly Will. Allan had been the youngest outlaw's best friend, the one he could tell everything to. Now Will didn't have anyone. Sure, he has Djaq and the rest of the gang, but that wasn't even remotely close to the friendship he had with Allan. Whenever Will would talk or confide in Allan, the dirty-blonde outlaw instantly stopped whatever scheme he was planning and listened. His light blue eyes would soften a bit if Will ever spoke of the period of his life when his mother was sick and his father lost his hand. And yet, when Will told Allan a secret that may have some decent blackmail material in it, Allan's eyes would get that mischievous look in them, and both boys would laugh until their sides hurt.
"You're not gonna tell anyone, are ya?" Will often would ask after revealing a particularly embarrassing secret or story from when he was younger.
" 'Course not, mate. 'Sides, who would I tell, anyway?" Allan would always say in response before telling another one of his crazy jokes he's famous for.
Will looks around the camp for what seems to be the hundredth time that night. All of them are sitting around the fire, eating what Much deems to be chicken, but the rest of the gang silently suspects is squirrel. Will's brown eyes scan over the gang as they continue sitting in a circle and can't quite shake the feeling that something isn't right. To his left, Will sees Djaq alternate between eating Much's so-called chicken and some wild berries she picked earlier in the day. When Djaq feels Will's gaze on her, the gang swears that's her sixth sense, she looks up and offers him a hopeful smile. Out of all the other members of the gang, Djaq is the one who understands Will's feelings about regarding Allan's betrayal the most. She could see the way the two boys interacted, almost as if they were brothers by blood, not just sort-of adopted ones. Djaq also has similar reactions to Allan being exiled from the gang, but not in the same way Will does. While Djaq does like Allan as a friend, and a really good man as well, she would never venture to say that he is her "adopted" brother. Djaq does believe in Allan, just not as much as Will does. The truth is, she didn't want to see Allan go, either.
Will forces himself to return Djaq's smile before continuing looking at his friends. Little John sits beside Djaq, wolfing down his food since the gang had been doing drop-offs most of the day. As Will keeps looking in Little John's direction, the larger man's face seems to change into someone else's. Dark brown eyes seem to transform to a twinkling blue, a laughing look in them. Even John's dark brown hair that's starting to become streaked with gray soon becomes an illusion of dirty-blonde hair that's slightly tweaked in the front. Will blinks his eyes rapidly, almost dropping his plate of food in the process. Once his eyes adjust, Will knows why he pictured Allan A'Dale sitting where Little John currently is. At every meal the gang ate together, you could guarantee who was going to finish eating the fastest. Allan always ate every meal like it was his last before asking Much if there was any more. The sandy haired outlaw always ate on Will's right-hand side, waiting for the opportune moment to snag a bit of food off his best friend's plate when Will wasn't looking. A lot of the time, Will just pretended to not see Allan stealing half of his portion of chicken off the plate, knowing that Allan's high metabolism kept him hungry almost constantly.
Much is sitting down next to Little John, finally, after portioning out everyone's dinner for the night. Will doesn't really know what to think about how Much behaves without Allan in the gang. The former servant had boasted that he knew the traitor was Allan all along. Then again, Much had claimed the same thing about Will during Robin's scheme to lure out the real traitor. In comparison to that behavior, Much also seems to think that Allan may come back. Often at meals, Much will sit out six plates or six bowls, depending on that night's cuisine choice, only to be questioned by Robin.
"Who's the extra plate for, Much?" Robin would ask, causing Much to quickly turn around to respond.
"There isn't an extra plate, Robin. It's for Al-" Much always starts before trailing off, remembering that Allan is never coming back from his exile.
It's almost like Much and the rest of the gang cease to believe that Allan even exists, let alone that he was once part of their gang.
Lastly, there is Robin. He sits next to Much, absent-mindedly eating his "chicken" while staring into the fire. Out of the remaining gang members, Little John and Robin seem to take Allan's exile and betrayal the best. Little John had wasted no time calling Allan out as a traitor, and chose to never speak his name aloud again. As for Robin, the leader seems to believe that Allan can never come back. He thinks that no one is lower than Allan, that no one is as bad a man as he makes Allan A'Dale out to be. That's the one thing Will hates about Robin. The famed outlaw gives Guy and the Sheriff many chances to stop their treason against King Richard, but he only gave Allan one. Allan had gotten one chance to prove his loyalties, and yet, Robin seems to have forgotten that Allan only agreed to Gisborne's deal to stop the torture Guy was inflicting to save his life and return to the gang. Robin should have given him a second chance. Everyone deserves a second chance, Will knows that. This being said, Will keeps looking to the right of him, half expecting Allan to appear any moment like he had never been gone. After forcing himself to eat dinner, Will abruptly excuses himself to go and start on a carving. Maybe the distraction could calm his nerves.
"What should we do with this, Robin?" Little John asks sometime later, referring to Allan's bunk and what few belongings he left behind.
"I hadn't thought of that," Robin admits, scratching the back of his head as he thinks.
"We should get rid of it," Much speaks up, always having to get his own two-cents in.
Will had to get them to leave Allan's stuff in the camp. It is the only assured way he can keep a spot in the gang open for Allan if he ever comes back.
"No! Allan wouldn't want that," Will convinces, trying to get the other outlaws to see his point of view.
"He's a traitor, Will," Little John nearly yells.
"And a good man! He's helped the poor just as much as we have. He went undercover as a slave for us! He allowed Gisborne to torture him to protect us! Allan A'Dale is a good man, whether you think so or not. And Allan loved every single one of us. We're his family," Will suddenly says, his voice getting louder and a bit angrier by the second.
That's highly out of character for Will, so it shocks the gang to hear him like this. And yet, is actions are understandable. After all, Will has always been the one closest to Allan. Robin gives the order to leave Allan's belongings in camp, in order to make Will happy.
Later that night as Will gets ready to head for bed, he imagines things as they were. He imagines Allan racing him to their bunks to see who would take first watch between the two of them. Allan often would win, leaving Will to take the shift after Robin which is halfway through the night. That would leave Allan with the first shift, meaning he could sleep all night without any interruptions and be the last one up in the morning. The things Allan did to get out of chores or lack of sleep always seemed to grow in number. After Allan's betrayal, Will's taken up two watch shifts since he hasn't been sleeping much lately anyway. The times of the shifts are those in which Will believes Allan may come back under the cover of night. If he does, Will is going to be waiting to welcome him back with open arms.
Allan tosses and turns in the king-sized bed, trying to get to sleep. Life has changed so much for him in the past few days. He lost the gang, the only real family he's had in a long time, all thanks to his stupid deal with Gisborne. Out of all the outlaws, Allan misses Will and Djaq the most. Will in many ways feels like Allan's little brother. Will always seems relaxed when he's around Allan; he seems to let his guard down and not be so serious all of the time. Allan clearly remembers the time Robin took all of them down to the nearby lake for a "free day." Allan had joked around with Will, even going as far as pushing the youngest outlaw into the lake. The two boys even made a rope swing to jump off of into the water. The rest of the gang, particularly Little John, thought that Will and Allan were being too childish and immature as they raced up and down the banks and even tested who could stay under the water the longest. That had been an amazing day for both boys. Allan misses Will the most out of the gang, because Will actually feels like a younger brother to the blonde outlaw. The two of them shared many secrets and stories and sometimes even snuck out to the tavern every week or so during a quiet night at camp. Will, more often than not, had to support a stumbling Allan all the way back to camp after the sandy haired thief had too many drinks. Djaq helped Allan a lot after his brother died, for that he would always be grateful. She believes in him, sees that he is a good man underneath it all. At one time, Allan thought he had a crush on her, but now she reminds him of a sister.
The second thing that changed was Allan now has more food, money, clothes, and shelter than he's had his entire life. Some days he almost forgets he has nightclothes to change into, since he's used to sleeping in the same clothes. The bed's definitely an improvement to sleeping on animal furs and his makeshift pillow, but it seems too big at the same time. Allan would rather sleep on his small bunk in the outlaws' camp, hearing Will's light breathing on the bunk below him and the crickets chirping, than sleep in a silent room in the castle in a bed far too big for him. Allan's barely slept since he left the gang, thoughts of his friends and old life keeping him awake. He would do anything to go back to the gang, his family of outlaws. Allan often wonders if they would accept him back into their ranks if he ever did come back home.
"Would they forgive me?" Allan whispers in the dark room.
He rolls onto his left side.
"Do they think about me?"
Allan rolls onto his right side.
"Would they take me back?"
He now rolls onto his stomach, letting out a sigh.
" 'Cause I would give anything to be back with them," Allan drowsily says before rolling onto his back, trying to drift to sleep and remembering that tomorrow is another day.
Author's Note: And there it is! My first fanfic in the Robin Hood BBC fandom. I just finished watching the whole series in about a month and thought of this idea while watching Series 2. I hope all of you liked this, and please leave a review with what you thought and/or how I could improve further stories for this fandom. Thanks for reading this; it means a lot! Have a good day/afternoon/evening! :)