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The blonde opened his eyes, or at least he thought he did. He was in his childhood house, the house they previously resided in prior to a certain incident.
Leonhardt looked around the living room, the furniture barricading the doors, thick planks of wood covered the windows. Though there were still gaps in between every plank. He, his father, and his mother sat in the middle of the room as he could hear the roof of the house creaking from the strong winds outside their house.
The winds were so strong to the point that Leonhardt could see that the tree in front of their house has collapsed onto the street.
His parents were hugging him tightly. His mother, humming a lullaby, trying to calm down his trembling son, even if it didn't help that much. His father had both his arms wrapped around the kid to keep him safe if ever something happened.
Tears started welling up in Leonhardt's eyes, eventually falling down his red-tinted cheek. His father wiped away the tear and whispered to the blonde kid's ear.
"It'll all be alri—"
A loud noise came from one of the windows. Glass shattering, wood planks snapping in half. Everyone's gaze averted to the source of the noise and everything went black.
| Break |
Leonhardt's eyes opened immediately and he shot up. The boy was covered in sweat, tears running down his cheeks, and was breathing heavily. He was going to have another panic attack. He could tell, but couldn't stop it... Without a certain someone.
Ever since the incident in Leonhardt's hometown happened, he's had this reoccurring nightmare. A storm passing by their house, a storm so strong, it earned the name 'Catastrophe'. During this incident, he lost his father. Leonhardt didn't remember how his father had died during that incident. The last that he remembered was the window shattering and the planks breaking.
Years later he and his mother were forced to move to a safer place after that. They didn't want another scenario like that again and living in that house just kept stirring up memories from when his father was still alive and it was devastating.
Leonhardt and his mother now lived in a small neighborhood named "Rhodes Island" and had to attend a high school nearby named "Terra Highschool" or "THS" for short.
And with this new environment, Leonhardt had made friends with a kid across the street. This kid had brown hair, amber eyes, a slim figure, and was rarely seen smiling, but if Leonhardt asked for him to smile, he'd do as told immediately. This was a privilege that only Leonhardt had. His name was Ayerscarpe, and he is Leonhardt's boyfriend.
| Flashback |
It was around 6:00 PM, the orange light from the sunset flooded Leonhardt's room while Ayerscarpe and Leonhardt were playing a game on Leonhardt's game console.
"Hey, Ayers. wanna make this game a little interesting?" Asked Leonhardt, making the brown-haired boy beside him look in his direction, one of his brows raised. "I'm listening."
"Whoever looses has to tell the winner a secret they've been keeping."
Ayerscarpe looked into seemingly nowhere, thinking if this was a good idea. A small pout appeared as he was deep in thought, Leonhardt chuckled at that.
Ayerscarpe always has been the type to think twice, no. Thrice before doing or agreeing to something.
Then an imaginary bulb lit up above Ayerscarpe's head. He could use this as a chance to confess to his friend. Ayerscarpe had always known that Leonhardt wasn't straight from the little pansexual pin on his backpack. Though the blonde hasn't told Ayerscarpe directly that he was pan.
Ayerscarpe looked into Leonhardt's kaleidoscope-like eyes and stated "game on."
The two started playing. Ayerscarpe tried his best to not make it obvious that he was trying to lose on purpose by groaning and playfully punching Leonhardt's forearm whenever the latter damaged him.
In the end, the blonde-haired boy emerged victorious with a "Yahoo!" which made a small grin creep up on Ayerscarpe's face.
After Leonhardt's celebration, he turned to his friend with widened eyes. "Okay, spill."
Ayerscarpe put a hand on one of his cheeks, taking a deep breath, and heaved a sigh before leaning closer to Leonhardt. "I like you."
Leonhardt froze in place, a tinge of red appeared on his cheek, making its way to his ears and down his neck. With one swift motion, he grabbed a pillow from his bed and put it on his face, leaving his eyes exposed and staring at Ayerscarpe.
"Hold on just a minute, did I hear that right? Am I tripping? Did someone spike my orange juice? Am I halluci—"
Ayerscarpe giggled at that, something he rarely does, and repeated "I told you I like you."
"Oh-" the blonde kept silent, wrapping his head around the predicament he was in.
The silence worried Ayerscarpe, he thought that he may have scared away his only best friend with a confession. He thought that he'll have to live without Leonhardt's presence every day. A million thoughts came to his head before the blonde in front of him coughed, snapping the brown-haired boy out of his trance.
"I-... I like you too." He muttered quietly, just loud enough for Ayerscarpe to hear. Suddenly, he felt arms wrap around him. Ayerscarpe was hugging him. Which is pretty out of character for him, Leonhardt was the one that gives unexpected and spontaneous hugs.
The blonde laughed softly and hugged back, ruffling the brown hair of Ayerscarpe. "I'm glad you decided to tell me," Leonhardt whispered.
"I'm glad too."
| Flashback End |
A few quiet sobs escaped Leonhardt as he grabbed his phone on his nightstand and opened up his messaging app and looked for Ayerscarpe. It didn't take long since he only chats with a handful of people. He typed his message
•Ayers
•Ayers
•:(
•Ayerscarpe?
•Babe?
•You awake?
No reply. Leonhardt assumed he was sleeping, so he did what a boyfriend in need does. He called Ayerscarpe. He waited a few seconds before the phone made a 'ting!' sound, meaning that Ayerscarpe answered the call.
A sleepy groan came from the phone, "Leon? What're you doing awake at this hour?"
Leonhardt let out a shaky breath, still holding in a sob. "I had the nightmare again..."
"Say less! I'm on my way." A worried and more awake voice came from the phone, making Leonhardt calm down a bit.
"S-stay safe—" Leonhardt stated before ending the call.
Since the two literally lived across the street from each other, Ayerscarpe was there at Leonhardt's house's porch, wearing a white shirt and boxer shorts within a few minutes. Pulling out the spare key that his boyfriend gave him and opened the door, walking in.
He quietly walked up the stairs to Leonhardt's room, hoping that the latter's mother doesn't get awoken. Once he got there, he knocked 3 times before the door opened, revealing the scared Leonhardt that was on the brink of having a full-on panic attack.
Ayerscarpe immediately threw his hands around the blonde, whispering reassuring words into his ear
"It'll be alright now. I'm here, I'll do anything to help."
Ayerscarpe pulled away from the hug, earning him a Leonhardt that was clinging onto him for dear life. He felt bad for his partner. He had to deal with this every so often. He didn't mind when Leonhardt called for him because it was an excuse to see him in the middle of the night.
"P-please... Please don't leave me." The blonde pleaded in a broken tone, making Ayerscarpe's heart pang.
"I'll stay right here with you until you're okay."
He walked into the room and closed the door behind him, all this while Leonhardt was still clinging onto him. "What do you want to do? Can I do anything to calm you down a bit?"
The blonde stayed there, still holding onto Ayerscarpe for dear life, thinking how he had such a wonderful and caring partner. He rubbed his cheek onto the brown-haired boy, "Cuddles, hugs, and kisses. Y'know, the usual..."
Ayerscarpe wasted no time and wobbled his way to the bed of Leonhardt and sat in the middle of it. He motioned for the shorter boy to sit on his lap, a soft expression on his face.
The blonde happily did as told and made his way into Ayerscarpe's lap. He immediately felt the warm and comforting embrace of his partner. He could've melted into the hug right then and there.
"Ayers?"
The taller boy hummed in response, waiting patiently for what Leonhardt had to say.
Leonhardt drooped his head slightly, his hands on Ayerscarpe's to prevent him from pulling away from the hug. "Don't you ever get tired of me having to call you in the middle of the night and make you come over?"
Ayerscarpe tightened his embrace on the blonde, making Leonhardt shiver momentarily. The brown-haired boy leaned over to plant a kiss on the shorter boy's cheek.
The thought of his boyfriend thinking that he was getting tired of him was devastating. Was he not showing his love and affection enough? Ayerscarpe thought to himself, but there was no time to overthink because Leonhardt was waiting for an answer and Ayerscarpe was sure that the blonde would panic more if he took long to answer the question.
Ayerscarpe heaved a sigh and spoke in a calm manner.
"You know that I won't be tired of you ever, right?" The taller boy asked, then chuckled. Though, it seemed like he had more to say.
"No matter how many times you ask me to come over, even if it's in the middle of the night, I won't mind. It's an excuse to see your handsome face. I also don't mind the fact that you need comfort from time to time, to be able to hold you tight while whispering reassuring words into your ear is enough to make it worthwhile."
The taller boy continued to ramble on about how he wasn't going to get tired of his boyfriend anytime soon. Head over heels, I tell you.
All of Ayerscarpe's words brought a smile onto the blonde's face, seemingly calming him down a lot.
"And lastly, I know this may sound sappy, but remember that I fell in love with you, and that includes your flaws. So don't think that I'll be annoyed or tired of you just because of something that you can't control."
Leonhardt was feeling a lot better now after that. He nuzzled Ayerscarpe's chest, and muttered: "I love you so much, you dork."
Ayerscarpe leaned in once again to give the shorter boy a kiss on the cheek. After doing so, he headed for his ear and whispered in the raspy voice he knew that Leonhardt loves so much.
"I love you too, my rabbit"
The blonde snorted at the pet name and chuckled, even though he thought it was cute and he totally doesn't mind if his boyfriend continued on calling him that.
"You and your cheesy pet names." Leonhardt teased with a smirk plastered on his face
"Pfft. Don't act like you don't like it." Ayerscarpe shot back, earning him a laugh from the blonde.
"Alright, alright. I admit it's kinda cute."
And just like that, the two spent the whole night chatting and cuddling with each other, eventually falling asleep in each other's arms.
| END |