Class Is In Session

Chapter 5

Oswald woke up to the relaxing feeling of hands in his hair, brushing it back off his face and shifted towards to source it was coming from. It was something solid and warm. It was really nice. He flickered his eyes open and looked up, just now noticing Ed looking down at him with a far away daze, fingers still playing with his hair.

"Morning, Ed." He whispered and smiled lazily up at him, not bothering to move.

"Hey Os." Ed whispered back and curled a strand of hair around his finger. Not that Oswald was complaining, considering it felt rather relaxing, but what exactly conspired during the night that brought on this sudden... touchy behaviour? Dare he say, intimate.

"You feeling okay?" He asked after nearly a minute of silence and Ed still playing with his hair, looking faraway.

"Hmm? Oh yeah. I'm fine." He suddenly took his hand away and rubbed both his eyes, digging his nails in and making Oswald wince. "Your hair was just really soft, I couldn't help myself." He smiled innocently and got up, heading in the direction of the bathroom most likely to shower.

Oswald was left laying there on the bed confused out his mind. What was going on? Why was he playing with his hair? They don't do that? Plus, he looked like something was troubling him but was trying really hard to mask it. Oswald knows Ed. They tell each other everything. And he can tell when something is bothering him no matter how hard he tries to hide it. He'll find out eventually.

He decided go get dressed and eat some breakfast, but not willing to have another peanut butter incident he opted to just eat some purple grapes instead. He always ate the purple ones and left the green for Ed, it was kind of their thing. Like a ritual.

When he was scrolling through his phone and sucking the juice out of one, Ed came up behind his chair still half naked like last time and leaned over him, stealing his green grapes and getting water on the table. Oswald gulped and looked down at the drip marks which Ed seemed to notice too.

"Oh, sorry." He lifted up the bottom of the towel and rubbed it against the table, drying it. If you were to look close enough you would be able to see things that you couldn't un-see. Which was exactly why Oswald averted his eyes as quickly as possible, his face as red as the grapes he was sucking on. Oh god. He had to spit it out. Or swallow it. Or something before he chokes. Why is he so flustered? "Oswald?"

"Uh-huh?" Oswald asked not looking at him, finally just swallowing the damned thing.

"You okay?" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow and finally pulling the towel back down again. "You look kinda funky."

"Oh no, I'm good. I just choked." He smiled up at him. "All better now."

"Okay, be more careful then." He ruffled Oswald's hair again and went to the bedroom to get dressed. Why does he keep touching his hair? If he keeps this up is there even any point in styling it today? Besides, he's the one who's supposed to be asking if his friend is okay, not the other way around. Goddamn.

"What the hells going on?" He whispered to himself.

Ed came out five minutes later fully dressed and sat across from him with a small smile. Oswald was going to speak up but he beat him to it.

"Listen, I have to apologise. I've been, as you put it, an asshole." Ed said seriously, looking him in the eyes. When he noticed Oswald's confused look he leaned forward. "You've been adamant that you've not wanted to participate in any of these new upcoming social events. I understand. I mean, you've dealt with shit from people over the years, making fun of you and hurting you. Both emotionally and physically. I can see your anxieties." He sighed and shook his head. "I was too busy trying to finally be rebellious and have a good time, do the exact things my father wouldn't have wanted for me, that I never stopped to consider how you felt. I was being selfish."