# 37 Secret
Ronald and William knew each other's secrets. They were simple and didn't really need to be kept as one, but it was the one thing they didn't want other people to know.
Ronald loved to garden and William couldn't swim.
William found out one day after coming home from work and not finding the youth anywhere. He had first assumed that Ronald was out at a party or pub, but it was far too early to be doing either of those. The apartment building had a decently sized backyard and had a garden, but no one ever bothered to take care of it, that was until Ronald got his hands on it. William had watched out their bedroom window to see him pulling weeds and digging holes to plant flowers. He must have been out there for a while because once he returned in the house he was full of dirt. He had a pot in his hand and placed it on the windowsill, watering and caring for it. William smiled and hugged the boy from behind, making him jump and spin around. He still had on the gardening gloves and a large hat, his face a mess. But the man could still see the blush. William cleaned his face of dirt and removed the boy's hat, kissing his forehead and holding him close. Ronald knew he found him out and he just knew William was going to laugh in his face.
"It's alright you know, you bring the life to this place."
Guess he was wrong.
Ronald found out about William's inability to swim when they had gone to the beach. The man had told him it was because he almost drowned as a child, so he stayed far away from a large body of water. He wanted William to swim, in case he had a soul to reap and the person died of drowning or suicide in the water. He didn't want to lose him so he tried every now and again to teach William how to swim. He managed only a handful of times and the progress was slow. Ronald always thought of it as funny when he saw William flail his arms and legs in the water while he held him up, for someone at his age he shouldn't look so adorably childish.
"Ronald please, I don't want to do this."
"Look, you have to do this, and when it's all over you will thank me."
Truth be told, William was thanking Ronald every second it went on for, even if he never wanted to do it.