The Painter

rain (8)

(A/N: this is sorta a filler but it's also  important to the plot so whatever lolz)

friday, september 27th, 4:30 am.
the next morning.

"hey! hey, william, wake up!"

anthony's hushed, frantic voice woke william up almost immediately, causing him to sit up quite quickly. after giggling at how quick william was to respond to him, he continued.

"look outside! it's raining! it looks so fun. we should go out there."

william, who was still half asleep, rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and blinked a few times, trying to chase the tired haze away. anthony was on his knees at his side, bending over him and shaking his shoulders to wake him up.

"wh-what? what do y-you mean? wait, what time is it? it's still dark out!"

a mischievous glint sparked in anthony's excited eyes, and william had to fight back a grin because he was just so adorable.

"it's four-thirty. now let's go outside!"

william looked a mess. his blonde hair was fanned across the pillow, and his eyebrows were knitted with confusion. he looked from anthony to the raging storm outside, and cleared his throat.

"i-in this weather?" he asked, tired voice now dripping with judgement.

anthony just gives him a wild grin and shrugs, like it's the most normal thing in the world. as if on cue, a flash of lightning strikes the damp ground outside.

"yeah, it's just a bit of rain, it'll be fun!"

where does he get all of this energy?

william cocks his head to the side and raises his eyebrow. "just a bit of rain?"

thunder booms again outside and anthony's grin grows. "yeah, just a bit of rain- big scary storm, same thing."

william shivers and lets himself fall back into their makeshift bed. the pile of pillows and blankets was more of a nest than anything. william felt safe in his cocoon of warmth and didn't want to compromise that- even for anthony. well, that's what he told himself, at least.

"yeah," he agrees. "big scary storm." he shivers again, this time exaggeratedly for anthony's benefit. he was a great actor when he wanted to be.

"you should come with me," anthony says, inching ever so slightly towards william. "unless, of course, you're too scared?" he smirks and cocks his eyebrow, challenging him.

thunder booms again, like it has a personal vendetta against anthony and wants to take william's side.

"you really, really want to go?" william queries, as if he still can't believe it, eyeing the storm wearily through the window.

"yeah, it's gonna be fun. you should come with me."

william thinks about it for a moment. "no."

"come on," anthony whispers encouragingly, sandwiching willaim's right hand between two of his, causing william to blush. "come on, come on!"

"no."

anthony pouts. "you're so boring. fine, stay cocooned, my little butterfly," he says with a dramatic flourish. "i'm off to have the time of my life."

as anthony is grabbing his coat from the coatrack by the door, he hears william speak.

"how cold do you think it will be?" he asks in a small voice and anthony knew he won.