𝙒𝙄𝙇𝘿║𝙁. 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙨

CHAPTER SEVEN: HAND IN HAND

Feliks obsessively flicked strands of hair out of his face and examined himself in the mirror. He had to look perfect. Completely perfect. As perfect as he could be, anyway. He looked at the little digital clock on his dresser and found that he had a solid five minutes to silently stew in his thoughts.

His terrified face looked back at him- was he that scared? It was only Five, his best friend since they've been born. His very handsome and nice and smart best friend that had asked him on a date.

A date.

Date /dāt/

the day of the month or year as specified by a number.

a social or romantic appointment or engagement.

Feliks vaguely wondered if he was panicking or not.

He still remembered Five coming up to him after their allocated study time. The others had left and he was collecting his papers. They were going over the statistics of algebra with Pogo and he had been having trouble. He's always been better with History and nothing more. Anything beyond that was too much for his poor mind.

Sliding the last sheet of paper into his binder, he turned around and slammed into a warm body that had been behind him. Luckily, his unnatural strength allowed him to keep ahold of his things, even though he was severely startled.

"Pyat?" Feliks questioned. His friend looked different. His face was a shade of red that Feliks was certain to be unusual for their species and his hands were tightly clasped behind his back, which was as rigid as a metal pole.

"Hi, Fe. H-How was class?" Five stumbled over his words, which was also unusual. Feliks was getting worried now.

"You were there, Fi? We all do class together, da?"

"Have class together." Five corrected on default. He seemed appalled with himself after. "U-uh, sorry."

Feliks' eyebrows raised in alarm, Five was never sorry. Not about burning a book simply because he disagreed with its premise, not about breaking Klaus' electric keyboard when he was keeping the house up all night (though everyone thanked him after that), and not even when he spilled boiling coffee on Allison. He'd just shrugged and walked away to get a new cup.

"Fi, are you... alright?" Feliks asked, setting down his pile of school items. He stepped closer to Five and set his palm against his forehead. "Do you have cold? Shall I get mamushka?"

"No, no!" Five said quickly, taking Feliks' hand off his head and holding it in his own. "I just- well... ugh, hold on."

He was getting frustrated with himself, he always got like this when his attempts to further his powers failed. He was always used to falling asleep to watching Five pace his room muttering about time, distance, and relative theories, or whatnot. Every time he woke up, Five was curled against him and it was always a wonderful morning.

"You take your time, Fi. I stay." Feliks reassured him, taking the boy's other hand and smiling.

Five nodded, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. "Alright, okay. I can do this." He muttered.

Clearing his throat, he stared straight into Feliks' blue eyes. "Feliks, we've been friends forever now and you're the best friend anyone could ask for. Over the years, I've learned a lot from you and you've just- become invaluable. It happened naturally, I realized it one day and I could never pinpoint the time that I became dependant on your presence. And..." He trailed off, gulping. "And I can't live without you, never. Not anymore." His voice cracked.