poetry books ➶ tomtord au

honeybee // trista mateer

     tom was back in the same position. next day. another day with tord. relaxing himself on tord's bed and letting a hushed sigh escape his lungs, he glared around the room out of the small amount of boredom which poked and pushed at him whenever he decided to sit in silence next to tord. fairy lights hung from wall to wall that were turned off due to the fact the sun was still very high in the bluest of skies. 

     honestly, tom never knew what to do whenever he came over. it didn't always end like it did yesterday. that was the first time tord and tom even did something social. worthwhile. flashing back to the taste of mint chocolate chip ice cream and the saturated colors that were formed as spheres inside of waffle cones, a heat lightly toasted tom's cheeks and left a small smile on his warm face for seconds that would turn into moments longer. 

     the window was closed this time; no wind gliding into the room. instead, the steady humming of a fan spinning was located in the corner of tord's room. now that tom actually took the time to examine the tops and bottoms of the bedroom that belonged the poetry loving boy, tom noticed how many books lay scattered across the soft, black carpet of the room. every cover different. every title different. 

     tom already knew all of them were poetry books.

     "do you wanna read one of them?" 

     tord's voice surprisingly piped up, startling tom. once tom got himself together after the terrible jumpscare, he met tord's grey irises that reflected light like mirrors.

     "nah. i'm not really a fan of poetry-"

    "nonsense! here, take a look at this."

     closing the book he was reading lightly and extending his arm out, tord offered the rather thin book over to tom, who only rolled his 'eyes.' taking the book out of respect though, he stared at the cover. 

     titled 'honeybee' with the author being 'trista mateer,' tom did the only thing he thought to do. not caring to read the back or any of that, the black eyed boy noticed some of the pages were bent at the top; folded to keep the page marked. picking at random, he opened the book at one of the folds, and read what the page had to say out loud to himself. 

-

     "i called you honeybee for seven years. 
     now the bees are disappearing
     and so are you.
     i still can't find anything poetic in that."  

-

     tord's heart warmed as the words from the poem rolled off tom's tongue and into the open, empty space. tom had picked one of tord's favorite poems among the pages. but, even if it was tord's favorite poem, it definitely wasn't tom's. 

     "that's.. depressing." 

     the smile that had been formed out of pure happiness by tord had turned into a frown crafted from disappointment. he had hopes that tom would like it, honeybee was full of emotional pieces such as the one he just read. he had his hopes too high it seemed. 

     "tord- are you okay? you look like you're about to cry." 

     "what if i am tom?" 

     an utter silence lingered in the room like a ghost traveling in circles that as controlled by the spinning of the fan. tom rubbed the back of his neck in the dead quiet. tord didn't break eye contact with the boy though. it was off putting. not right.

     "i.. i'm sorry?" 

     tom wasn't sure if he should've made it sound like less of a question or not. he didn't except tord to be so offended when he said that it was depressing. tord took his apology in vein.

     "you better be."

     tord cared a bit too much about poetry. no matter the book, it was as if poems were his princess- or prince, and he was the knight that had protect them no matter what. he was very passionate, which often wasn't good in petty cases like these. tom only let out a sigh when he dropped the book back on tord's lap; forcing a smile as he got up from the comfortable bed. 

    "i'm gonna go. see you tomorrow tord." 

     the atmosphere in between the two was drenched in bittersweet as tom headed to the door. tord watched silently with intent as tom was already at the knob, turning it to the left. tord had regrets for even saying anything at all. he wished he wasn't so dramatic. he wished he didn't fall so hard for tom. he wished to understand all of the things he never could.

     "see you tomorrow."