Wayne Manor loomed over the car as we glided up the winding driveway towards it's front. I watched it grow larger and larger as we continued on, and I felt a stone sink in my chest. Looking away, I turned to my mother who was looking in front of her calmly. I took a quick look back at the building before saying to her, "It's bigger than I remember."
"Everything is bigger after you've been away for a long time." She gave me a small smile, "It's going to be fine, Bethany."
"Is it?"
"It's not like it's going to be forever," she had a harshness in her voice that I was only too familiar with, "We're only staying for the season."
"Yeah," I said, "Which is a whole season too long."
"Oh, hush, Bethany! So you and Bruce had a falling out, who cares! I'm sure he's put that silliness behind him."
"Here's hoping." I said to myself as I looked back out of the window.
Our driver came to a stop at the front steps of Wayne Manor and we opened our doors to get out. Rising from the car, I looked up at the building and let out a breath I had been holding. It was a beautiful building, there was no doubt about that. And I missed it. I really did. I had spent a lot of my childhood growing up in this manor, and in a small way, it felt good to be back.
"Is that Bethany Elwood?" came a voice from the front door.
Turning my attention downwards, I saw an older man walking down the front steps of the house. I couldn't help but smile as I moved to meet him, "Alfred Pennyworth! Oh my God it's been ages!" I entered his waiting hug and I held him tight, "I've missed you so much!"
"And I, you, Miss Elwood." Pulling away he smiled, "Well let's have a look at you. You've grown up a very well. The last time I saw you, you were this high." He held out his hand to the height of an eleven year old child.
Laughing softly I said, "Yeah… that would be about right."
"Well, it's a joy to see you here at Wayne Manor again. Master Wayne is excited to have you back as well."
My smile fell a bit at the mention of the master of the house, but I forced it back to its original form, "I'm sure he is."
"Is that Alfred Pennyworth?" My mother called out from behind me.
"Mrs Elwood, it's a pleasure to see you." Alfred embraced her. "Welcome back to Wayne Manor."
"Thank you, Alfred, it certainly is glad to be back."
"Well come on in, come on in! Master Wayne is in the parlor waiting for you. Why don't you head on in, and I'll get your luggage."
"Thank you, Alfred." I said. My mother grabbed me by my arm and moved me up the stairs. Opening the door we entered the massive foyer and the stone in my chest lifted a little. I could picture my younger self running through the room laughing as I was chased by a young boy. My mouth became dry as we continued to move through the room to the door leading through to the parlor. Bursting through them, my mother turned and found the sole occupant of the room and let out a happy scream.
"Bruce Wayne! Oh my gosh, I can not believe it's really you!" She left my arm and went over to hug an attractive young man. He smiled at her and embraced her willingly. He had dark brown, almost black hair, and he was very well toned. He looked nothing like the boy I remembered growing up with. "My goodness, Bruce," my mother was saying, "You are the spitting image of Tom! So good to see you."
"It's great to see you too, Margaret." Bruce's voice was a nice baritone and smooth.
"Thank you so much for having us for the summer."
"I honestly couldn't think of anyone else I would rather have as my guest than you, and Bethany."
"Speaking of Bethany," my mother turned away from him and gestured towards me, "You remember my daughter."
Bruce looked at me for the first time since we came in the room and he looked shocked. "Bethany?"
I gave a small smile and a wave, "Hey, Bruce."
He came up to me and went to offer a hug, but held out his hand instead, "Its um… its good to see you."
I took his hand and replied, "Yes, its been a long time."
"Oh come on you two," my mother said, "You haven't seen each other in years, give each other a hug!"
Bruce and I looked at each other and gave an awkward laugh. Bruce opened his arms a little and I did too, leading us both of us into an awkward hug. The hug started off weird, with the two of us gently patting each other on the back, but by the end of it, it had morphed into an almost genuine hug.
Pulling away, I gave Bruce a smile, "Well, that was better than I anticipated."
Bruce chuckled, "Yeah, it was."
"Well what are you waiting for, Bruce!" My mother came over to stand between us, "Show us around! We haven't been here in over ten years! Let's see the place!"
Bruce smiled, "Oh, well, alright. This is the parlor, obviously." My mother took Bruce's arm and followed him through the house as he gave us a tour. I walked behind them or off to the side. As we entered each room, I found that they were all exactly the same as they were when I was younger. As I looked around each room, I remembered sitting on the chairs and reading the books, or listening to Tom and Martha tell stories to us as my parents went out to dinner. I remember Alfred looking after Bruce and I as we ran through the rooms after his parents died. Each and every room was so familiar to me that by the end of the tour I found all of my worries about staying here over the summer had nearly vanished.
We ended in the dining room where Alfred came out with a cart of tea. My mother left us to take a cup and stayed to talk to the butler. Bruce and I stood awkwardly with each other as we tried to think of something to say to each other.
"The house still looks the same," I said. "After all of these years."
"Yeah, well, after the fire, I thought I would rebuild exactly as I remembered it."
"There was a fire?"
Bruce looked shocked, "Margaret didn't tell you?"
"No, she didn't."
"Yeah, um… there was a fire a few years ago that took down most of the house."
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry that happened." I looked around, "It's amazing that you were able to rebuild it like this."
Bruce gave a short laugh, "Yeah, that's where being stinking rich comes in handy."
I smiled, "That it does."
"It really is good to see you again." Bruce gave me a genuine smile, "These halls seem a lot brighter with you in them."
I let out a laugh, "Geeze, Bruce. How long were you thinking of that line?"
Bruce chuckled, "Was it really that bad?"
"Oh yeah," I laughed, "Awful."
Bruce rubbed the back of his neck acting embarrassed, "Well, I guess I'm not as smooth as I thought it was going to be."
"I guess not."
My mother turned to look at us, "Alfred and I are going to the kitchen to catch up. Why don't you two go to the city or something. Catch up with each other."
Turning to Bruce I smiled, "Wanna show me the gardens?"
"Sure."
Bruce offered me his arm and I hesitantly took it. We walked outside and strolled down the stairs to the gardens. I looked around and again was flooded with memories of playing on the hills and in the bushes. Bruce walked with me silently letting me take in the past. We rounded a corner and came within eye shot of the old green house. I gasped when I saw it's foggy green windows. Instantly, I heard a young Bruce taunting me.
"You want me to be your boyfriend!"
"I do not!"
"Yes you do! I read it in your diary."
A young me opened the greenhouse door and ran for the manor, "I'm going to tell my mom."
"Aw, little Bethy gonna tattle on me?"
"Stop it, Bruce! I mean it! You're not being very nice."
"What are you going to do about it? It's my house! I can do and read whatever I want."
"Yeah, but you still shouldn't be a jerk about it."
"Look, just admit that you want me to be your boyfriend, and I'll stop bothering you."
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Because you said it yourself! You don't want to date someone who is in the fifth grade!"
Bruce laughed, "Well duh, that would be totally lame! If anything, I should be striving to date people in the ninth grade. Older women are more experienced."
"Yeah right, like they would date an eighth grader."
Bruce shrugged, "They might date one with a lot of money."
"Screw you, Bruce!"
"Yeah, you know you want to."
The younger me looked shocked at what he just said. Walking up to him, she opened her hand and slapped him across the face. Bruce looked at her with shock.
"I'm going to tell your mother and my parents you hit me."
"You're gonna have to prove it first." I said.
"Well fine, you're going to come with me and tell them yourself."
"Says who?"
"Me!"
I turned away from him and began running away, "You're going to have to catch me first."
"Bethany! Come back!"
The younger me began to run around the green house to try and escape the angry young Bruce Wayne. We turned the corner and Bruce caught me with ease. Grabbing a hold of me, we wrestled for a moment before I got out of his grasp. We were standing just behind the greenhouse near a small circle of bricks.
"Just leave me alone, Bruce!"
"No! It's my house and I get to do whatever I want."
He grabbed ahold of me to drag me back to the manor, but I managed to put my hands on his chest. With a great effort, I pushed him away from me and towards the circle of bricks. Bruce's legs hit the bricks causing him to lose his balance. He stood there for a moment, his arms circling, trying to move him forward, but to no avail. He gave a scared look as he fell backwards into the circle. There was the sound of his body hitting a floor of wood, then the sickening crunch of that wood breaking away. Bruce yelled out in terror as he fell through the wooden flooring and down a dark, damp well.
"Bruce!" The younger me ran to the edge of the wall, "Bruce!"
"Bethany!"
Snapping back to myself, I looked up to see Bruce staring at me. Shaking my head, I said, "I'm sorry, what?"
"Where did you go?"
Looking from him to the green house, I shrugged, "I was just… remembering, is all."
Bruce nodded, "Remembering the fight."
"And the push."
Bruce cringed a bit while nodding, "And the fall."
"I'm so sorry I did that to you. I never did apologize."
"How were we supposed to know there was a well there."
"Still… it was a shitty thing for me to do."
Bruce shrugged, "I lived through it. Doesn't that make me stronger?"
I nodded, "I guess."
We were both silent for a moment. Then Bruce said, "I did blame you for what happened that day."
I looked up at him in shock, "What?"
"It's the reason my parent's didn't ask for you to come back that following summer."
I nodded, "I guess that makes sense. Though, to be honest, I didn't want to come back anyway."
"You didn't?"
"No. We said some nasty things before you fell, and I was just being petty."
"I'm sure the second fight years later wasn't that much of a help."
I frowned, "You mean the year you tried to force me to be your date to your private school prom?"
Bruce frowned, "I don't look at it that way."
"Right, because you weren't the one being treated like property."
"I would never-"
"But you did, Bruce."
"You're really still upset about that?"
I pushed Bruce away, "Yes! You acted like a petulant, rich, entitled prick!"
"Excuse me! My parents-"
"No! Don't you dare bring Tom and Martha into this. They had been dead for years before this happened. Sure, you could have been harboring some pent up rage over their death, but there is grieving, and there is being an unnecessary douchebag."
"That's a bit uncalled for."
"Is it?" Pushing him away, I turned and began walking back up to the house.
"Are you seriously trying to walk away?"
Turning to him I said, "Yup."
"You're honestly pissed about a few cheap shots I made years ago?"
"You're honestly still pissed about me accidentally pushing you into a well years ago?"
"I think one seriously outweighs the other."
I stopped walking and turned to him, "Yeah! One was an accident. I had no idea that you were going to trip into that well! You however, knew exactly what you were doing! Massive difference." Turning back around I continued to walk back to the manor.
My mother and Alfred looked up at my sudden entrance into the dining room. Setting down her tea, my mother exclaimed, "What on earth-"
"I'll be in my room until dinner. Don't even think about getting me down any earlier." I made it halfway up the stairs before Bruce came in.
"Where the hell did she go?"
"Bethany went to her room, Master Wayne. She says she will be staying there until dinner."
I heard Bruce scoff, "Good! Let her stay in there!"
"And where do you think you're going?" My mother called after him.
"I'm going to my room! I have work to do."
I reached my door and had just entered my room as Bruce was entering the hallway. Glaring at him, I slammed my door shut. A few moments later I heard his door slam shut as well. Grabbing my laptop I went out onto the terrace outside my French door windows, and I set up for a long few hours of watching movies.
