Chapter Text
As Riddle zipped up his final suitcase, he let out a long sigh. For the last 2 days, he had been meticulously packing for his first-ever trip outside. Well… he had, of course, left his home. Shopping trips with his mother, that one time he had a 104-degree fever, and when he went to play with- no! He shook his head, tucking a piece of his crimson hair behind his ears. He was better now. He wouldn't misbehave like that again. He had spent the last 7 years proving to his mother he was responsible and could handle having some sort of freedom in the outside world.
Thus, when he presented his mother with the academic opportunity to visit a seaside town that offered many extra classes and eccentric libraries that would help him in his preparation for attending the most prestigious magic school in the country, his mother had researched, and tapped her finger, and finally sighed, saying it would be an adequate way for riddle to spend his last summer before his first year at attending a real school. I mean, he would need some sort of social interaction to not make a fool of himself, right?
When his mother informed him that they would, in fact, be vacationing there for three months, Riddle was hardly able to contain his excitement, immediately causing his mother to threaten to not take him at all if he couldn't properly control his emotions.
Riddle smiled to himself. He had dreamed about spending time on the beach for many years now, and he was so glad he had convinced his mother to allow him to go.
“Riddle, have you finished your packing?” his mother's voice called from outside his room. “We must be departing in 19 minutes.”
Riddle stood up, adjusting the bow that was wrapped around the collar of his short-sleeved button-up, “Yes, mother! Im coming down now!” he looked around, taking in the surroundings of his room, the carefully labeled books and articles, his perfectly organized desk, his blankets and sheets smoothed out and presentable on his bed. Riddle breathed in. This was going to be the beginning of a new chapter of his life; a smarter Riddle, a more sociable Riddle.
His bedroom door clicked shut once he was done fantasizing about his possible new life, and as he made his way down the stairs of his parents' large house.
“And I expect you will keep up with all of the patients in my absence, and of course, you won't have to worry about the yard; Marie will handle that, and I do hope you will call Riddle at least once a week.” his mother's voice never failed to send shivers down Riddle's spine. Even when her cold tone wasn't directed at him.
His father stood there, spine straight and expression tired as his wife listed off everything he would need to keep in mind while she and Riddle were gone, as if he were incompetent without her.
Riddle had never been very close to his father. After all, from the moment Riddle could talk, his mother had practically taken over his life in an attempt to ensure he would live a life of genius and success, continuing the prestige of the Rosehearts’ name. His father had taken a seat on the sidelines. And now that Riddle thought about it, they didnt talk much either. His father was always quite busy with work, and they didnt have much in common except for the fact they were both male, but even then, Riddle had always been lacking in that department, though his father was partially to blame for that.
His mother finally looked over at Riddle, her grimace slightly lightening, “Ah, Riddle, there you are. Honestly i wish you would have gotten ready quicker. You never know when our flight time could be moved!” she walked over to him, immediately smoothing out his shirt and brushing some invisible dust off, “did you complete your packing checklist? It is of the utmost importance that you don't forget anything on this trip, especially your worksheets and textbooks.”
“I assure you, Mother, I have checked my bags three times,” he handed her the paper she had made him a week ago, each box checked neatly, “I have also packed the extra reading material that Grandmother gifted.”
His mother nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips, “Good,” she turned to his father, “please load these bags into the car.” his father nodded, grabbed Riddle's bags out of his hands, and made his way towards the front door.
“Now, this is going to be your first time at an airport, darling. You must not get distracted, no matter how new or appealing something may seem. I have packed low-carb, zero-sugar snacks for you in the front pouch of my bag; the only thing we will need to purchase is water if you so require it.”
Right, Riddle was going to be exposed to many new things today, first of all, this was his first time taking any transportation that wasn't a train or a car, second, this would be the most exposure to people he would have ever had.
“You are only to speak to employees of the airport. If a stranger approaches you, you will not respond, and I will hand it, do you understand?”
“Yes, mother.”
“Good,” she nodded, then started guiding Riddle towards the door, “now, we mustn't keep your father waiting, come along.”
Once Riddle’s father confirmed Riddle was buckled in in the backseat, he pulled out of their long cobblestone driveway and pulled up the directions to the airport. It was a hefty 2-hour drive from their home, and the first 30 minutes were spent in complete utter silence, which Riddle hadn't minded; in fact, it gave him time to get a good start on the book his grandma had given him a few months ago. And he was about 30 pages in when his father decided to clear his throat.
“So, what are you most excited about, bud?” Riddle looked up, surprised at his father's sudden interest in his trip.
“Well, there will be many academic opportunities that will help me expand my horizon,” Riddle smiled to himself. Just the thought of the town's grand library made him giddy, but that was short-lived as his father let out a slightly annoyed sigh.
“No, bud. I meant what activities are you excited for? Like sports, you're going to do sports, right? When I was your age, I was the captain of my school's football team. You need to get a head start for when you begin at that prep school.” But before Riddle could calmly explain he hadn't considered football nor any other sport, his mother butted in.
“Nathan, you know he will not be doing sports! I won't allow it! We cannot have him getting injured on this trip!” Riddle saw how his father's eyes narrowed in the mirror. His mothers doing the same.
“Riddle, darling, why don't you listen to one of your audio textbooks, the one about the history of the town. We can have you going somewhere without knowing the history,” she said in a too sweet voice, and riddle, not able to catch the clear attempt his mother was making to distract riddle, just nodded.
“Of course, mother,” he reached into his carefully organized backpack, quickly finding his little cassette player that was very clearly much older than he was, but when he powered it on and put on the attached headphones, no matter how many times he attempted to click the ‘play’ button, it wouldn't work. He furrowed his eyebrows as he turned the thing over. He didn't have a screwdriver, so there was no way he could replace the batteries now, he sighed, about to speak up and inform his mother he had, in fact, made a mistake when he noticed his parents were talking in hushed tones. Ones, he wasn't supposed to hear.
“Well, what am I supposed to think? He doesn't play sports; in fact, he never leaves his room. I mean, he looks like a girl! And it doesn't help you dress him in those little shorts and lacy shirts!” his father whispered through gritted teeth.
“You think I don't know that?! Why do you think I don't want him doing football?!” his mother hissed.
“Well then, sending him to a sleep-away boys' school is really going to help that,” his father said sarcastically, causing his mother to growl.
“I won't have you commenting on how I raise my son, just drive, Nathan,” she crossed her arms as his father sighed, shutting up.
Riddle looked down at his navy blue dress shirts, tugging at the lace that adorned the ends of his sleeves, suddenly feeling very self-conscious of how he presented.
The rest of the drive was spent in complete silence; Riddle continued to present as though he was listening to his cassette. And when the airport finally came into view, Riddle's parents didnt say a word as they got out of the car and started unloading. Riddle slipped out and closed his door quietly, slipping his neat messenger bag across his chest and fixing his bangs.
“Riddle, say goodbye,” his mother's voice snapped Riddle out of his trance. He nodded, turning to his father.
“Goodbye, father, I will see you again in three months.” Nathan just nodded, didnt say anything, didnt hug his son, he barely acknowledged him. It would have hurt Riddle's feelings if he weren't used to it already.
The second he entered through the automatic doors, he was already entranced. There were hundreds of people all walking somewhere at the same time, some rushing, some taking their time. Not to mention no two people looked the same, well, obviously, but Riddle had never seen so much diversity in one place. The second thing that surprised him was how insanely loud the place was, having so many people in one confined space ment that all of the sounds blurred and overlapped together, immediately overwhelming riddle and in turn causing him to freeze up for a moment before realizing he was falling behind his mother who was walking a fairly quick pace and running to catch up with her.
It was too loud, too bright, too much. Something riddle had never felt before.
As they made it to the TSA line, Riddle's mother finally turned around, about to state something to Riddle when she noticed the state her son was in, in which his cheeks were turning pink as his eyes darted around, his breathing unsteady as tears started to form. She scowled, lowering her voice.
“Riddle, what do you think you are doing?! We haven't even made it on the plane, and you are already making a fool of yourself!” She grabbed his wrist, “I will cancel this trip and call your father to come pick us up right now if you don't put your act together this instant!” Riddle forced a deep breath that turned into a strangled sound, causing his mother to look away, her annoyance clear on her face, “honestly, I shouldn't have thought you could handle this-”
“No, mother, I can! Please don't cancel it!” Riddle tugged at his mother's sleeve as he wiped his tears, forcing more deep breaths that slowly started to sound more normal. When she saw this pathetic display, she scoffed, about to scold him again, when the TSA worker called her forward.
“Good morning, ma’am, I'll just need your passport and your daughter's boarding pass, please,” the worker spoke in a sweet tone with a smile too genuine for how early in the morning it was. Riddle's mother's anger just increased at the word daughter, but she just sighed, mumbling something under her breath as she dug through her purse and finally pulled out the items she had been asked for. As the TSA woman scanned the passport, Riddle's mother glanced over at him, as if ensuring he had decided to cease his little tantrum, and when she saw that Riddle's face was now back to normal, she smiled to herself.
“Alright miss, if you could just confirm your name and age for me?” she looked right at riddle, and riddle gave her a confused look right back, but just as he was about to correct her, stating he was in fact not a girl, but male, his mother turned her head slightly, giving him a look that screamed ‘just do as your asked’. Riddle sighed.
“My name is Riddle Rosehearts, my Birthday is August 24th, 2003.” The woman's eyes widened as she heard riddles voice, but quickly hid her surprise under another smile.
“Perfect! You two are all set! Have a safe flight!” Riddles mother nodded, pushing him forward towards the metal detectors.
“Alright, people! You know the drill, all electronic devices bigger than a phone need to be out of the bag, no undocumented magestones allowed!” a security guard yelled at the top of his lungs, making Riddle flinch. He looked up at his mother, silently asking her what he needed to do.
“Put your bags on the conveyor belt there,” his mother pointed to the left of them. Riddle's gaze followed her finger to the moving belt that everyone was placing their items on, and followed her direction. But he couldn't quite lift his final suitcase up; he struggled for a few seconds before someone grabbed the bag from him, placing it where it needed to be. Riddle looked up, surprised, just to be met with the eyes of a tall man.
“There you go, didnt want you to get crushed,” the man joked, but Riddle just froze up again, his mother's rule about not talking to strangers echoing in his mind, and after a few seconds of silence, the man cleared his throat, walking along. Riddle finally looked around before his gaze landed on his mother, who was signaling to him to join her in the line.
Once they made it through the metal detectors and got their bags (Riddle's mother helping him get his this time) she finally let out a sigh.
“Remember, if you are hungry, I have packed snacks for you, and do tell me if you become thirsty, alright?”
Riddle nodded, “Yes, mother, of course.”
When they arrived at the gate, Riddle was exhausted. He looked down at the nice silver watch his father had given him on his eleventh birthday, 10:02 am. He smiled, they would board in exactly an hour and 37 minutes, and take off in an hour and 59 minutes. That would give him just enough time to eat one of the snacks his mother had packed and take a 20-minute nap to recharge his senses from the overwhelming day he had had so far.
“Mother, may I have one of the snacks, please?”
She slowly grabbed her bag, opening the front pocket, “Would you prefer something savory or sweet?” She didn't glance at Riddle.
“Sweet, please,” Riddle didn't fail to notice how his mother's mouth turned slightly downward at his answer, but nevertheless, she handed Riddle a bag of unsweetened dates, “do not forget to add that to your calorie tracker, it's exactly 236 for the whole bag, so try not to eat the whole thing.”
Riddle nodded, taking it from her. 236 calories, there were 8 in the bag, meaning each date had exactly 29.5 calories, so if he were to eat 4, that would be… 118 calories. Riddle opened his bag and took out the small notebook he had used for the past 2 years to track every bit of food he ate. He slowly wrote in the dates and the amount of calories before setting it down beside him and reaching inside the bag, taking out the first date and pressing it lightly against his lips, taking a small nibble, the sweet taste filling his mouth in an instant, causing him to smile. He always savored every bite of the food he was given, especially fruit. He managed to make those four a little dates last him 40 minutes. And as he took the last bite, he handed the bag back over to his mother.
She hummed, “Good, that leaves you with 1232 calories left today.” She smiled, “Good job, Riddle.” A warm feeling bloomed in his chest. Compliments from his mother were rare, but when they did happen, they never failed to fill him with joy. He nodded.
Not long after that, Riddles mind slipped into a dull slumber. He was awoken by an announcement that it was time to board. So he got up and followed his mom into the line, lowering his head in a desperate attempt to avoid eye contact.
When they finally got on the plane, he let his mother walk in front of them, but because he had been keeping his head down, he almost ran into her, thank the Seven that didnt happen. But as he looked up, his mother was smiling at him. They were not in the general seating area anymore; instead, they were in a place that looked to be much fancier. There were also much fewer people.
“Surprise! I got you a window seat!” his mother stared at him with excitement in her eyes, “That way, you will have good lighting for when you read your textbooks on the flight there, isn't that amazing?”
Riddle forced a smile. He didn't truly see the appeal, but he was grateful to his mother anyway, “That is great! I'll read double the pages.”
Riddle's mother smiled, letting him get in the comfortable-looking seat first before she sat down next to him.
The rest of the flight was spent comfortably. Riddle didnt have much anxiety outside of the actual takeoff process, he had done his research on how airplanes functioned, he had the basic understanding it was quite unlikely anything dangerous would actually happen to them on their 3 hour and 47 minute trip, so he allowed himself to relax in his seat and get lost in a medical textbook, happily awaiting the moment he would arrive in his vacation paradise.