Work Text:
While the first faint hoots of owls began to cry into the black of night and crickets surfaced from their dormant state, Todd Anderson was sitting against the headboard of his bed, crumpling up yet another pathetic attempt at poetry and tossing it into the garbage. He sighs, slamming his head against his notebook for the nth time that night.
“Useless brain,” He murmured, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
From the other side of the room the door clicks open and slams shut, accompanied by worrisome, heavy sobs heaving from someone. Todd sat up quickly and met his roommate’s desperate gaze.
Neil looked awful. His usually meticulous, slicked back locks were now askew at every angle. He was hunched over himself on the edge of his bed, his mismatched eyes bloodshot, and his breathing was shaky. His knuckles were pale, gripping on his bedsheets in desperation, nearly ripping them out from under his mattress.
Todd rushed to his roommate’s aid, kneeling in front of him.
“What happened?” He whispered.
“Cameron,” Neil whispered shakily. “Called my eyes the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.”
In any other circumstance this would have seemed silly, but Neil was incredibly insecure about his eyes. They were mismatched, the left was a shimmering olive green and the right was a deep brown. In Todd’s opinion, they were gorgeous. He was enthralled with them the moment he met his roommate and that infatuation hasn’t left him since.
“You know he’s just a jerk, Neil,” Todd sighs, “But that doesn’t take away the fact that that’s just plain rude.”
Neil shakes Todd off of him, wiping his eyes.
“I know, you’re right.” He shudders, “It still hurts, though.”
Todd stands and cups Neil’s shoulders between his hands.
“Get some sleep, okay?”
“But I’ve got work to do…” Neil groaned.
Todd shook his head, “You finished it earlier, Neil.”
“Oh,” Neil blushed, “Right.”
He fell back on his bed, pulled his blanket over himself and rolled over.
Todd crept his way back to his bed with a newfound writing inspiration.
••••
Mr. Keating’s class came quicker than Todd would have liked it to. He’d been writing all night and Neil was constantly nagging Todd to show him what he’d written. Neil’s wishes would be granted soon enough. Perhaps too soon.
“Come on,” Neil whined for the millionth time, shooting Todd a begging glance. Neil intertwined his hands for dramatic effect, “Please!”
“No way.” Todd commanded, sitting down and shoving the poem in his blazer pocket.
Neil sighed, relenting only to put his glasses on before he was breathing down Todd’s neck once again.
“What’s going on here?” Nuwanda sits on his desk, ruffling Neil’s hair.
“Todd wrote a poem,” Neil crossed his arms and pouted, much resembling a three year old. “And he won’t show it to me.”
“Todd!” Charlie gasped, “You’re torturing the poor boy!”
Todd kept quiet, fiddling with his thumbs anxiously as Mr. Keating took his stand atop his desk with a victorious grin.
“All right,” Keating leapt down, “Who would like to go first?”
Todd slunk down in his chair, crumpling the poem in his pocket. He tried to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible, which was difficult considering he was sitting at the front of the room. Mr. Keating instantly spotted Todd’s discomfort and picked him to go first. Todd muttered something to himself that Keating couldn’t quite figure out.
“I’m glad you are so willing, Mr. Anderson,” Mr. Keating smirked devilishly.
Todd’s footsteps echoed through the classroom, the only other things being heard were mild taunts primarily from Nuwanda.
Todd pulled the poem out of his pocket, fingers trembling. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and sighed. He scanned the crowd and met Neil’s anticipating and joyous gaze and felt a wave of relief and anxiety wash over him.
“As the leaves turn shades from green to brown,
And the warmth of the world is stripped from us all,
I seek solace in the warmth of those around,
Particularly a young…”
Todd took a deep breath, swallowing the fear that nearly choked him. He screwed his eyes shut and let the rest of the line fall loose from his tongue.
“ ... man with whom I’ve fallen,
For.”
Neil’s eyes shot up with a low gasp, meeting Todd’s as he let them fall open. The author took a shaky breath, his gaze focused on the page as he tried to block out his peers. Todd had his roommate’s full attention, a jealous frown forming across his lips. Todd continued.
“The boy with the forest eyes,
The one who stole my heart;
The one who taught me not to fall apart.”
Forest eyes. Green eyes. Neil looked around the class, scanning the boys’ eyes. The only boys that had green eyes were Pitts and Cameron. The redhead was immediately out of the question; Todd couldn’t stand Cameron’s stuck-up and snobbish nature. Pitts, however...he was probably the one. Sweet, smart, tall, handsome; everything that Todd could possibly want in a man. Neil slumped back in his seat, heartache crushing his chest.
“Golden flecks of sunlight reflect upon the crisp lenses,
His eyes parallel the booming oak trees,
One as dark as the ancient bark,
The other as bright as leaves.”
At that line, Neil squeaked. His cheeks visibly reddened, while some of the class burst into laughter. Cameron nearly fell off his chair.
“Settle down!” Keating cried. He turned to Todd. “Keep going, Mr. Anderson.”
“We took a stroll through the namesake of his nickname,
Running down the dirt-drawn lines cutting through the foliage,
And I pray that when he linked our arms it wasn’t just to toy with me,”
Neil covered his growing grin. Oftentimes on weekends he would drag Todd outside into the forests next to Welton. Neil would always pester Todd to go over his lines and Todd never had the will to decline. He loved how passionate Neil was about acting, and loved watching him rehearse. The way his energy sparked and flowed as he went through lines and blocking. Every inch of his craft drenched in unwavering determination.
Eventually Neil would tire of saying the same words over and over again and they’d skip rocks across the lake, chattering about the latest gossip (most recently the fact that Knox had gone down to the local public school and professed his love to some girl named Chris).
Most of their days at the lake would end with them sitting in the grass watching the sun slip below the horizon. Last time they were there Todd took a step further than usual, resting his head on Neil’s shoulder as they watched the sunset. Neither of them said anything, although Neil looped his arm around Todd’s, holding him close. Neil would never admit it, but he thinks about that moment every day.
“With each sunrise comes his burning inquiry,
‘You’re writing a poem? When can I see?’”
Neil chuckled; was he really that impatient?
“Someday, my sweet, someday you’ll know,
As soon as our relationship peaks in allegro.”
The room was silent. The only sound came from the clock ticking away each second Todd was still standing in front of the class. Jaws dropped in awe and snickers came from Cameron and Charlie.
The young poet shook out of his trance at the sound of Mr. Keating’s sincere applause. The rest of the class cheered, Charlie wolf whistling suggestively.
Todd slumped back into his seat in embarrassment. He turned back to Neil anxiously. Neil hid his face in his hands, and Todd couldn’t quite gauge what Neil was feeling other than the fact that his blush had spread to the tips of his ears. Todd turned back to the front of the class, curling up in his seat and longing for the day to end.
••••
As the day drew to a close, Todd once again found comfort alone in his room. Todd stood beside the radiator by his windowsill, looking over the sea of stars just outside the frosted panes. His fingertips grasped his mug of tea gently, the heat fogging up the world in front of him momentarily.
Footsteps clicked through the dorm room and came to a halt at Todd’s side. Todd knew who it was but was too scared to look because if he saw his roommate there it would all be so real.
“That poem you read in Keating’s class...It was beautiful, Todd.”
Todd took a sip of his tea and grinned like a lovesick fool, covering his mouth nervously with the back of his hand.
“Thank you.”
Todd set his mug down on the windowsill, paint chipping below his drink. He stared out at the constellations above and sighs, getting lost in his thoughts. How he’d love for Neil to put his arm around him and whisper nothings in his ear. He’d rest his head on Neil’s shoulder and Neil would place a kiss on the top of his head. He would turn to Neil, and inch their lips closer, and closer…
Neil chuckled, taking Todd out of his daydream. His grin reached the corners of his cheeks and created creases at the ends of his eyes. Genuine, gorgeous; oh how Todd was smitten.
“What is it?”
Neil reached forward and brushed some tea from Todd’s lip. His thumb hovered over the poet’s lips for a moment before moving his hand to rest on Todd’s cheek. Todd melts like putty into Neil’s gentle caress, practically nuzzling himself closer to his roommate’s delicate touch. Neil smiles, muttering something under his breath.
“What is it now, Neil?” Todd whispered, lips curved ever so slightly.
“You look really pretty in the moonlight,” Neil snaked his hands around Todd’s waist. “And I really want to kiss you.”
Todd gasped, face lighting up pink.
“Is-is that okay?” Neil inquired, “Can I kiss you?”
Todd shut him up quickly, pulling Neil down by the collar and pressing his lips gently against his roommate’s. Heavenly bliss didn’t begin to describe kissing Neil Perry. Neil moved his lips in harmony against Todd’s, moving his hands to rest on Todd’s curved hips. Todd rested his hands on Neil’s surprisingly toned chest—God, that image would be the death of him—and moved himself as close as humanly possible into Neil’s embrace.
Todd unwillingly broke the kiss, only to let oxygen refill his lungs. Neil’s cheeks were red and pupils were blown up like balloons.
“That was…” Neil chuckled, “Wow.”
“Yeah,” Todd nodded, “Wow indeed.”
Neil leaned down and pressed his forehead against Todd’s, gently rubbing their noses together with a loving giggle.
“Oh, boy with the forest eyes,” Todd muttered against Neil’s lips, “You’re more beautiful than you’ll ever realize.”