Chapter Text
Alex-
It was 11:53. Wednesday night.
He had nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Alex groaned loudly, throwing his last piece of paper into the already overflowing wastebasket. He had been writing for days and days, but no matter how much he wrote, nothing came out to his liking.
He was practically going insane.
He'd been slaving over the same paper for days now, a paper that any other time would've taken him half the time. It was ironic, the one time he was actually running out of time, he couldn’t write. He put his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes. He had no idea how far his colleagues were, seemings all his classes had been canceled due to a raging blizzard, leaving him to his own anxieties that he was falling behind. Of course, he had no way to be sure, but he had the feeling.
Bang Bang!
His head shot up, nearly giving himself whiplash. What lunatic would be here in a blizzard? He wondered. Maybe I'm just imagining things. He turned uneasily toward the door and held his breath.
Bang Bang Bang!
He glanced at the window, the sill had been caked in a thick layer of snow, and was further covered by a massive snowdrift hugging the class closely. There was (so he thought) no possible way anyone could be out in such weather. He stood up slowly, cautiously making his way to the door. As he gripped the door handle, he had to tug about three times before finally wrenching it open, and was immediately greeted by a cold blast of wind and snow in his face. He wiped it off, then saw the source of the knocking.
John.
His eyes widened. John's face was beet red, which accentuated the horrifically blue color of his lips. Not only that, but he was shaking violently, and his ponytail looked so stiff he was fearful it might fall off altogether. He broke himself from his daze, grabbing his half-frozen friend by the arm and pulling him inside.
“John? What in the name of God are you doing here?” He exclaimed. John was supposed to be about a hundred miles away.
“R-roof caved in, I was p-planning to surprise you but the house fell apart in the storm.” He shivered, rubbing his hands together. Alex’s eyes widened, not only at the explanation but at how sickly he looked. Half dead if anything. It terrified him.
“How far away was the house? Are you okay? God John, you look so cold!” Alex rambled, rubbing John's arms to warm him at least a bit.
“I-I'm fine, It had to have been a few blocks. I-I was running out of firewood anyway." John gave him a weak smile. "So... sur-surprise!”
Alex laughed, pulling John into a hug.
“It really good to see you, but by God, you need new clothes. Here, one second.”
He wasted no time rushing into the next room, grabbing a plain white shirt and some casual brown pants, ones he hardly wore. When he got back, John looked significantly better.
“Here you go, it may be a bit big, but they should do, I’ll get some tea and blankets-”
“Alex you really don’t have to do that,” John cut him off, taking his thawing hair out of its ponytail. Alex shook his head, already making his way into the kitchen.
“I know, but it’s nice to have some company. Just maybe not in the form of frozen, possibly hypothermic- now also dripping on my floor.”
He chuckled as John's eyes went wide. His brown curls, which had been frozen stiff, were now dripping wet, beading down the side of his face and onto the floor in feeble drops. He turned to Alex, smiling sheepishly.
“Don’t think you have a towel, do you?”
John-
John took a sip of his tea, silently rejoicing from the warm drink he had been given and the fact he was able to feel his fingers and toes again. He had never been that cold in his life. He sighed, leaning his head back.
“You sure it’s alright that I crash here? I mean, I really don’t want to intrude, and if you have things to do...” he frowned, looking up at Alex from his spot on the floor.
“Are you kidding? I’m not sending you back out there. Besides, I don’t mind you being here at all, I need to take a break from writing anyway,” Alex said, taking a drink from his cup. John nearly choked on his drink.
“Did I hear correctly? A ‘break from writing’? Are you okay?” He questioned. He knew Alex, and one thing he knew for sure was that he took writing very, very seriously.
“I’ve been working on that argumentative paper forever now, and I’m coming up dry, John,” He ran a hand through his hair. “I think I just need a day or so to clear my head.”
John set his cup down, still eyeing his friend curiously.
“You’ve never had a problem with those before," he noted. "Lots on your mind?”
“I guess. I don’t know what the deal is.” He sighed. “Maybe I’m just losing my touch. I bet everyone else finished it with ease.”
“Or maybe you just have a bit of writer's block?”
Alex had opened his mouth to respond when another burst of wind cut him off, making an awful howling noise. Suddenly, the door flew open, hitting the wide wall with such force the two nearly dropped their drinks.
“Christ!”
They both stood up simultaneously, John taking a step back, and Alex running to the open door.
“Okay, we’re good. It was just the wind,” Alex said, throwing himself into the door to shut it. He turned the lock. “That storm doesn’t seem like it’s letting up one bit. Maybe even getting worse.”
“Yeah, well I guess you can count on classes being dismissed tomorrow, then,” John chuckled, walking back over to his spot on the floor. He wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. The house had seemed to lose a third of its heat just in those few seconds, proving just how bitter the storm really was.
“Oh lovely, well, maybe I’ll get lucky and the storm will hold out for the rest of the week.” He said, scowling.
“You’ll get it, Alex, you always do. Maybe you just need to sleep on it.”
“Maybe. Speaking of which, maybe I should be hitting the hay. You can stay up if you want-”
“Are you kidding? I’m exhausted,” John stood up, laughing. “So uh, where do I…?”
“Oh,” Alex furrowed his eyebrows “Yeah, I sorta forgot there’s only one bed. I can just sleep on the floor-”
“Alex I’m not going to let you sleep on hardwood, if anything, I can,” John said.
“Yeah, but then I’ll feel bad," Alex put a hand on his chin, pondering for a moment. He held up a finger with a sudden idea. "Say, why don’t we just both sleep on the bed, and whoever falls off first stays on the floor!”
John laughed again, “Okay, but no kicking or pushing!”
“Awww,” Alex fake pouted, throwing out his bottom lip.
“Alexander, the point of going to bed is sleeping. You man-child.”
Alex smiled and stood up, “Fine.”
John did the same, following Alex through the doorway on the far side of the room. He looked around in the hallway, which was very dimly lit. When they reached the bedroom, and John couldn’t help but notice the bed, which was neatly made. It looked as though nobody has slept in it in weeks. He walked over to the desk in the corner, running his fingers against the surface. He pulled back, noticing dust on his hand. There were only a few things in the room: the small desk, a lamp, and a small leather chair in the corner.
“I know, not much. I usually don’t end up making it to the bed, I just crash on the desk in the living quarters,” He said, practically reading John’s mind. “I forgot what my bed even feels like.”
John watched him as he walked over to the side of his bed, falling face-first into it. He couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction.
“Oh wow, It's so soft!”
John walked over, sitting on the edge of the bed. It was a queen-size bed and a pretty comfortable one at that. The sheets were thick, and the pillows looked incredibly soft. As a kid, John always slept in a folding spring bed, The springs would always dig into his back, leaving marks every morning when he got up. Needless to say, he wasn't quite used to the 'luxurious' life. He looked down at Alex. Who hadn’t moved from his face down position.
“Alex?”
“Hmm?”
“Who’s that?”
John pointed at a picture sitting on the far edge of the desk, which he had just noticed. Alex lifted his head.
“Oh, her? That’s my mother.”
John looked more closely, the painting was of a woman, who seemed to be in her mid-twenties. She looked as healthy as ever.
“Wow, she was very pretty.” He said, noticing her eyes. He looked back over to Alex, whose eyes looked virtually the same. Sparkly, chestnut brown eyes.
“Thanks,” He flipped his hair, looking up. “It’s where I get my good looks.”
The response made John crack up. “Oh right, Mr. Appealing,” He teased.
Alex grinned, standing up. He pulled up the sheets and laid down, pulling them up to his neck.
“I missed this.”
John did the same. Usually, he would sleep on top of the covers, but he was still rather cold and the bed was incredibly warm.
“And I could definitely get used to this!” John said, sliding down farther into the sheets.
John didn't have any problem sleeping in the same as Alex, if anything, he was completely used to it. He shared beds with his siblings most of his life, and during the war was no different. It was fairly common.
“Well, let’s see if anyone ends up on the floor,” Alex chuckled reaching over to the lamp. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
He blew out the candle, and the room was enveloped in darkness. John fell asleep nearly instantly.