me and you {tordmatt}

eight

tord sat on his bed, legs criss-cross and his red school binder sitting on his lap. on the other hand, matt was busy lying on his stomach on the floor, occupied painting a picture with watercolors.

they had gone to school the day after their little 'incident', immediately being sent to the office and getting suspended for a day as well as a week's worth of detention. to add to the punishment, they had to do all the schoolwork they would miss during their suspension. (matt, of course, wouldn't.)

so there they were, peacefully enjoying each other's presence in tord's room.

matt suddenly dropped his paintbrush into the cup of ugly brown water and sat up on his knees. "i'm bored."

there goes the peace.

tord's green eyes flitted over to look at matt. geez, why did his heart skip a beat? "okay. i can't help. i want to finish my work before you drag me off on another one of your adventures."

"i think that's the most i've heard you speak, larsin."

"..."

matt giggled and rolled his eyes. "i'm only teasing!" he stood up and plopped down on the bed next to tord, one leg hanging off the edge. he leaned in to get a good look at the paper, causing tord to lean black in a flustered manner.

"gross. math." matt stuck his tongue out.

"but i like-" tord began.

"you can just leave that for later, can't you? c'mon, give school a break. we just got suspended so we might as well make the day useful!" matt hopped to his feet and tugged the straps of his sky blue overalls cheerfully.

tord furrowed his eyebrows. "exactly; by doing our homework."

"tord, we've talked about this."

"no-?"

"let's go!" matt grabbed tord's arm and dragged the poor norwegian out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ten minutes later, they were standing in front of a canyon who's dirt path wound down a hill into a dense forest.

"here we are!" matt cheered.

"..you- you don't plan on taking us down to that forest, do you?" tord asked anxiously, squeaking softly as matt gave his shoulder a small pat.

"actually, i do," matt replied. he looked up, the sun shining brightly in the clear blue sky. "a couple days ago i came here by myself and found a lake."

"by yourself!?" tord exclaimed.

"well, yeah, you said you were doing a project and couldn't hang out. don't worry; it's not too far from the entrance." matt reassured.

"i don't think this is a good idea, matt..." tord murmured uneasily as matt gently led him down the path, rocks crunching underneath their feet.

"it's fine, okay, tordsy? it's really bright outside and i'm basically a forest expert." he smiled warmly at the worried teen.

"i kind of doubt-"

"shhhh."

they reached the forest, pushing their way past low-hanging branches and thick underbrush. the sound of gentle waves soon came into earshot as they neared a parting in the trees. as they got there, an average sized lake was spread out in front of them, the sun causing it to sparkle in a dazzling way.

"wow.." tord breathed out, his eyes widening.

"pretty, right?" matt purred as he left tord to walk away.

"y- yeah." he stuttered, having to regain himself and then follow the taller boy. "how did you... never mind."

matt kicked his shoes and socks off, leaving them at the foot of a tree. he ran off towards the shore and picked up a rock, flicking his wrist and watching as it skimmed gracefully over the surface of the water before finally splashing down.

tord took off his shoes as well, not having been wearing socks. he picked his way over to matt, avoiding stepping on any particularly sharp rocks or suspicious-looking plants. "you know how to skip rocks?" he asked in amazement.

"uh-huh," matt nodded, looking at tord with shining eyes. "my dad taught me how in one of the places we moved to." he suddenly flicked his gaze to the water, eyes losing the cheerful glint they always seemed to have. "yeah."

tord felt a crippling sense of guilt. god, he'd made matt feel bad. that's not good. he quickly grabbed matt's hand, pressing it against his chest in a stupid attempt to bring his spirits up again.

"i, um- how about we play in the water a bit?" tord asked. "i- i'm actually kind of scared of it, though, but that's okay!"

matt's smile slowly returned and he brought tord into a tight hug. "you're so dorky."

tord's eyes fell half-lidded and he smiled in relief, hugging matt back. "i know." he replied.

"now, time to splash you!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

tord and matt broke off into a giggle fit as they trudged back to where they'd left their shoes, water sliding down their legs from when they'd waded up to their knees.

"your face was so priceless!" matt laughed, arms wrapped around his midsection.

tord snickered quietly, nodding. "yours, too!"

the sun was almost done setting. it turned the sky into a beautiful array of orange, red, and pink, almost like smeared paint on a canvas that blended perfectly together. a cool breeze blew over them, chilly and admittedly unsettling.

tord slipped back on his shoes, hugging himself as he glanced around. by the time matt was finished pulling on his lavender knee-high socks and hi-top converse, the sun was barely an orange line behind the lake.

matt sighed contentedly and watched as it finally disappeared.

instead of focusing on the natural beauty around him, tord's gaze was strictly glued to matt. his heart pounded heavily in his chest and with each breath he took he struggled.

matt finally noticed tord's staring and looked at him, tilting his head. "are you alright? you look like you've seen a ghost." he frowned worriedly and cupped one of tord's cheeks in his warm palm.

tord gulped. for some reason, he was on the brink of tears. "matt." he whispered.

"tord?" matt furrowed his eyebrows. that scared look didn't look right on his face. "is something wrong...?"

"please forgive me after this, matt, but i can't not do this anymore."

tord leaned up and pressed his lips against matt's.