𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, ph.

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀𝐱. without nightmares.

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝐱. —— without nightmares.

─ i ─

"This is the guest bedroom, there are pillows and blankets in the closet, so just take as many as you want, this bed isn't very comfortable," Pick nodded towards the furniture, pointing at it with the flashlight on his phone. "My room is just on the other side of the hallway, so if anyone will want to murder you, scream. Maybe I'll wake up," the senior shrugged, making Rome shove him with his elbow.

This wasn't funny at all; Rome loved watching conspiracy theories and creepypastas at nights, so he could tell Pick about at least a hundred cases where people disappeared from their bedrooms. And what about psychos living in the ventilation? Rome didn't want to mention it, but this house was big enough to have an intruder like that. He wasn't being paranoid, it's just that the thought of being alone during the storm and the blackout was freaking him out a bit.

Rome didn't say anything about that, though, because really... he felt kind of awkward right now. If he allowed himself to think about it before, he knew that if there ever would be anything to happen between him and Pick, Rome would have to be the one to take the first step; but he didn't expect it to happen so soon. The boy didn't want to do anything that Pick wouldn't be comfortable with, of course kissing a boy for the first time could be quite the big deal for someone who never even thought about that before, that's why before kissing him, Rome gave Pick an appropriate amount of time to move away if that's what Pick wanted.

But even then, when Pick stayed exactly where he was with eyes stuck on Rome, the younger boy didn't expect Pick to kiss back. Well, that was the outcome he hoped for, but... Yeah, Rome didn't think that far ahead. He was kind of dumb like that sometimes.

Rome knew that he liked Pick well enough before, but after kissing him, the scary realization finally settled in. He didn't just like Pick, he was in love with him. He was so in love with the older boy and it was terrifying because Rome knew, he just knew, that Pick would never be able to reciprocate his feelings with such intensity. Rome didn't even know if kissing back meant that Pick liked him. It was the senior who wanted to do it again, it was Pick who held Rome closer and traced the skin on Rome's hips with his fingers. But it could very well mean nothing to Pick, it's not like he didn't kiss dozens of girls before.

Even if that wasn't something Rome wanted to think about after his moments of happiness, he still wouldn't fool himself like that. He was already too good at being bad for his mental health. But, he wasn't completely negative either. If he thought that there's no chance of Pick falling in love with him, he wouldn't even try. Rome wasn't going to give up that easily, his mom always said that people can't just wait for the life to hand everything to them, that much he remembered.

With all that being said, Rome had no idea how to act around Pick in their current situation, so he thought it's best to sleep on it and see how they'll feel in the morning.

The rain kept hitting against the windowsills, the guest room didn't have curtains, so Rome could see every lightning followed by a thunder. He wasn't really afraid of storms, he simply hated them because they always brought back bad memories, so he had trouble with falling asleep that night. And when he finally did, it wasn't a peaceful sleep.

The palette of Rome's nightmares was quite wide, he often thought about talking about them to someone, and by someone, he meant a therapist, but his dad would prefer to jump out of the window than to send his son to a shrink. Rome knew it's ridiculous, he should do what's best for him, but he was still too dependable on his father to be able to fully decide his life.