in case there's another storm

chapter 2

The rain finally wholly let up, and Sebastian pulled away, wiping his nose with his sleeve. It was gross, but it was the easiest thing he could do right then.

It felt a lot more awkward now that there was no reason for them to be together. Was there any reason in the first place?

"T-Thanks." Sebastian stood up as the bell rung. He'd have to hurry and get his things before anyone got the chance to mess with his stuff, if they haven't already.

Claude rose to his feet once more and watched as the younger quickly adjusted his clothes, though tremors still ran through his hands and it made it difficult for him to properly pull up his tights, and he assumed the rush he was in wasn't helping, either.

"Yeah, it's no problem... Are you okay?"

He really was an idiot.

"Yep." Sebastian sniffled again and bolted out without another word, and Claude was left to stand there, completely dumbfounded.

Their time together had trudged along as slow as syrup, and now he was just alone and cold and that guilt was still eating at him. It wasn't a big deal surely, since when was it his obligation to take care of someone else? Especially considering he didn't even know him!

Though Claude told himself it again and again, he found himself planted to where he stood, even when other boys came in and shoved by him to get to the urinals.

It wasn't his job to take care of Sebastian, it wasn't, and Claude finally trudged out to sneak outside and smoke.

During lunch, Sebastian hid away in the library. In his favorite corner, there was a big beanbag chair, and it was quiet, and no one ever came over there. He got to curl up and pull out his sketchbook and spend his free twenty-five minutes in promised peace. Most recent in his sketchbook was a study of shading with watercolors, so he decided to flip to a new page and start something all new. Humming softly, he chewed on the chapped skin of his lower lip as he absent-mindedly drew.

When he paused to check the time and take a step back and look at his drawing as a whole, he realized when he saw the eyebrow piercing and the cold eyes and the messy hair that he had made a mistake. Color was already rising to his cheeks and ears as he slammed the book shut and shoved it into his backpack.

The bell rung, and there wasn't enough time to worry why he had to draw Claude of all people. He can just throw away the paper when he got home.

Sebastian's last class of the day was math, the only class he had friends in. Well, a friend. He wasn't often there, between school field trips and this and that, but when he walked in to see him sitting there, he felt like there was a weight lifted off his shoulders. Seeing William was the always happiest part of his day.

"Hi," he greeted with a heavy sigh, taking the seat next to him. Hopefully the teacher wouldn't ask him to move back; the boy next to his assigned seat was always especially mean to him.

William looked up, and his face lit up at the sight of Sebastian, pupils dilating and cheeks flushing. "H-Hello!"

It fell quiet between them, it always did, but Sebastian didn't mind. He just took out his book and rested his head on his desk, and William couldn't help but stare. The way his lashes fell against his cheeks and his glasses slipped down his nose, the way his pretty lips fell open... His heart could burst right there.

"You're gonna sleep through class," he murmured, affectionate gaze only shifting when Sebastian's eyes opened.

"Promise you won't wake me up if I do?"

"I promise."

Of course, all of William insisted otherwise; as much as he had to help Sebastian with Algebra, there were no reason for him to be sleeping through class, or any reason for William to be condoning it, but that sweet voice was impossible to resist.

He'd never be able to say no to Sebastian, and so he made no move to wake him, even as the bell rung, and as the teacher called role, and as they started into the lesson. Halfway through taking notes for both him and Sebastian, he looked over to take a moment and just admire. When William looked at him, it felt like they were the only two in the world that mattered. He always got that fluttering in his chest and he never had any answers for it.

A jolt ran through Sebastian and William immediately flinched as well, scrambling to look away in time. Sebastian slowly sat up fully and rubbed his eyes, whining sleepily.

As his friend focused on furiously taking notes, he looked over to him and smiled a bit. William really was kind, he was lucky to have a friend at all, but even more so, someone like him. Very gently, Sebastian set his hand on his arm, whispering, "Thank you."

The touch sent tingles all throughout him and his heart pounded hard in his ears, but he just nodded and smiled in his direction before he focused back on writing. Class would end soon. He wished there was any free time to enjoy with Sebastian before it would be time to go.

Until class ended, Sebastian just laid his head back down. He was so sleepy still from the event this morning. He could've fallen back asleep, but the lights were turned back on, and William very bashfully poked his shoulder, handing him a neatly-written page of notes.

"Thank you," Sebastian said again, covering his mouth as he yawned. "I promise I'll make it up for you."

Sebastian was one for promises.

William smiled even bigger this time as he nodded, waving his hand. "Oh, it's alright. I don't mind at all. I would do it whenever you asked." Clearing his throat, he fixed his glasses and packed up his things, willing the burning heat in the tip of his ears to fade.

"Still, thank you."

Sebastian didn't pay any mind to that blush, and he smiled big, folding his notes away before he stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulders. He and William didn't really have anything in common, but sometimes he wished they did, so they could talk about things that weren't math. The bell rung, he thanked William for the fourth time, and he watched all the students leave. Sebastian wasn't in the mood to get picked on right now, so he waited until the initial release crowd had cleared out before he even thought about leaving. Peeking out of the window, he saw that most students were just waiting for their parents, and the ones he had to worry about were probably already gone by then.

Saying goodbye to his teacher, he smiled shyly and left slowly. Sebastian didn't have anywhere in particular to be, and he wanted to be as sure as possible that he could walk home without any problems.

And he was certain that there weren't going to be any problems, until he was almost out of the front doors, and he walked straight into someone with torn up, black converse and a frayed hoodie.

--

good night

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