in case there's another storm

chapter 1

this is also posted on ao3.
characters belong to yana toboso but pls dont steal my variations of them thank you mwah
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Sebastian's fingers curled around his pencil in a tight fist, staring out of the window. Rain poured down, and thunder rumbled menacingly in the distance. Walking into school, it was starting to drizzle, and he had been hoping it would calm down, but it only got worse.

Maybe he could tough it out; maybe he could just hold his breath and focus on work, but then lightning flashed and thunder followed immediately, and it sounded like it was directly above them. He couldn't tough it out. He hopped up and sprinted out the door, barely remembering to grab the hall pass from it's hook on the wall. The teacher didn't try to stop him, and part of him wondered if they would laugh at him for running out.

Sebastian was already the subject of ridicule, and it was obvious that he would be running away from the storm.

He couldn't bring himself to care in that moment, and he hurried into the nearest boy's bathroom, slamming and locking the stall door behind him. Curling up on the floor, the boy buried his face in his trembling knees. It was all so overwhelming, it was all so loud and scary and right there, pounding in his ears, and he couldn't do anything about it but sit there and cry. Then the bathroom door swung open with an announcing squeak, and his eyes opened wide.

If he was caught crying in here, he could never live it down. Never in a million years, if he was caught crying on the bathroom floor, like a baby, would this school let him forget it. Sniffling, Sebastian held his hand to his mouth and watched the shoes pace this way and that across the floor. He chewed on his palm and tried to just breathe, but he was so close, how could he calm down?

And then those torn up, black Converse stopped right in front of his stall.

Sebastian curled up further. He wished he could just disappear.

It felt like the whole world came to a stop, even the pounding storm outside, as the stranger knocked on the stall door.

"Hello?"

Did he reply? Was he supposed to? What would he say?

Tearfully, Sebastian managed out a weak, "H-Hi."

"Are you crying in there?"

Why did it matter to him?

The surprisingly harsh and defensive response that immediately rose in his head shocked him, but he wouldn't disagree with it. Why did it matter to this stranger if someone was crying in the bathroom?

Sebastian didn't reply, and eventually the teen pressed on, "I could hear you. I know you were."

The white-turned-grey toe of the Converse kicked at the ground lightly.

"Can I come in?"

Again, that mean response sprung to Sebastian's lips.

Why did it matter to him?

"No," he said, sniffling once more, "I don't want you to."

"But you're crying. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Sebastian pulled the sleeves of his peach-patterned sweater over his hands, wiping at his cheeks. The rain picked up, knocking at the window again and again.

"But you're crying," the teen protested again. "I can't just leave someone in here who's crying."

Claude really didn't know what had gotten into him. He wasn't usually this compassionate, or this caring, but there was something about knowing exactly who it was that was in there that made him feel guilty if he had just left the boy in there. There weren't too many boys at this school who wore white tights and fluffy skirts, in his defense. He would've noticed Sebastian anywhere.

Sebastian still didn't reply, but Claude still didn't budge.

Instead, he took a seat beside the stall, stretching his legs out with a sigh. First period was just getting started, anyways, he had plenty of time to kill. Idly, he picked at loose threads on his hoodie, and wondered why Sebastian was holed up in there.

That guilt was growing. Of course he knew why Sebastian was hiding away. As if he didn't see the way people snickered towards him and the way boys would trip him and take his things and insult him behind his back. Was this some God's way of trying to get Claude to make right for his actions, to help him make up for all of those times he watched Sebastian getting picked on and he just turned away from him?

He was an idiot.

But then the lock of the stall opened, and slowly the door drifted open, to reveal a teary-eyed, red-nosed, mess of a boy.

Sebastian's stomach lurched a bit when he caught sight of who was waiting for him on the other side. He scooted back until his spine was digging into the porcelaine of the toilet. Claude never messed with him directly, but he and his friends always seemed to be around when it was happening.

He tried to seem tough, sniffling and holding his chin up, but thunder rumbled and his lip started quivering.

"You're afraid of storms."

Sebastian was in shambles. Tears hung to the rim of his circle-lense glasses, he was seconds away from crying, and there was nothing Claude could do about it.

Why was he so obsessed with fixing a problem he didn't cause?

"Come here.. You can sit with me until it lets up," he promised, opening his arms to Sebastian, who eyed them warily.

It could be a trap... As Sebastian contemplated it, he decided he'd rather take the risk than keep sitting here alone. He crawled forward into the offered arms, tense as a drawn bow, and he didn't even relax a bit until they had sat in silence for a few minutes.

Maybe Claude really was just being nice, even though he didn't seem like the type.

Slowly, even as the storm continued on overhead, Sebastian relaxed into the older's side, trying to focus on taking deep breaths. He wanted to say something to break up the silence, but he had nothing. He tried to not think about the fact that he was being held in public by a handsome boy.
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