Work Text:
William settled in the corner of the bathroom, one knee pulled up to his chest as he rested his elbow on his leg to balance his phone. He absently scrolled through the internet, occasionally checking his text messages to make sure that the others weren’t trying to get in contact with him to see where he was.
His back pressed against the cold tile, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up over his head and shadowing his eyes in a deep rim of darkness. He dragged the pads of his fingers over the back of his phone case and let out a deep breath, the sound of the pipes gurgling startling him out of the silence.
The only sounds to be heard in the bathroom were the rattling of the air conditioning and the occasional water dripping from the faucets. And besides him, the room was completely void of anyone else. No one usually came into this bathroom during lunch, especially not on a nice sunny day like today. There were closer and more convenient bathrooms to go to if they needed to, and if William was being honest, there weren’t enough active classrooms down this area of the school for people to find worth in showing up down here.
A lot of freshmen probably didn’t even know that the bathroom existed. But since William wasn’t the biggest fan of dealing with the loud and crowded courtyard, he had discovered many quiet places in the school. During lunch, he could go to the English classes or the art rooms which usually were pretty empty (but that often required him talking to a teacher which didn’t always turn out to be the best thing). Sure, the art teacher was cool. But William didn’t like talking to adults very much.
So that left either the few quiet bathrooms or some sort of storage closet. And it wasn’t like William was any stranger to sneaking into locked rooms. The storage closet was just a lot more cramped… and dark… and not ideal for William to sit in when he was trying to calm himself down from a panic attack.
Which meant that he had to hide out in the bathrooms during lunch so he didn’t have to deal with people. Sometimes Vyncent joined him, sometimes he was alone. It just depended on the day. But it was pretty constant for William to hide out with his lunch either in one of the stalls or sitting in the corner near the sinks which was usually blocked off from the rest of the open space.
Today William was just sitting comfortably, relaxing in the little bit of solace he could gather from such a large school and preparing himself for the rest of the day. When he was still in middle school, William would have done homework during a time like this. Or he would have read a book or written poetry not fit for the eyes of anyone else.
But it wasn’t middle school anymore. William was just as much of a loser but now he had none of the work ethic.
So he scrolled through his phone, lurking on social media and sifting through different posts. He shivered in the chill of the air and wrapped one arm around his torso to try and preserve some warmth.
His sandwich sat mostly untouched in his lap, William had pretty much only picked at the crust or ate some of the toppings. Not the full sandwich. He wasn’t that hungry anyway. Dakota would make him eat later when they were back at the base and he’d get sick if he ate too much.
The sound of footsteps down the hallway alerted William of an approaching presence, eyebrows raising slightly. He tensed and waited, the steady but almost frantic thumping sound echoing against the tile.
William looked up to see the bathroom door swing open, an initial moment of panic flashing through him as his brain worked to come up with a plausible excuse as to why he was sitting alone in the school bathroom eating his lunch. Or he could go invisible and hope that the other person didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary and just move on. The last thing that he needed was for someone to think he was even weirder than they already did. Eating lunch in the school bathroom definitely wouldn’t be one of the weirdest things that he’s done at this school.
So William braced for someone staring at him, maybe even a question, silent judgement, or even the worse type of vocal judgement. Any of the things that happened when someone walked in during lunch (as rare as that was). He tensed up and pulled his shoulders up defensively, waiting for the worst.
But instead of any of that, there was just… nothing. William waited a few seconds before peeking one eye open only to be greeted with Dakota standing a few feet away, the door slammed shut behind him and Dakota flinched at the noise. His entire body tensed up and his hands twitched to go up to his head, fingers curling and clenching into fists.
“Hey, Dakota…” William muttered, holding his hand up in an awkward wave, glancing at the way Dakota was standing with his legs pressed together in a stiff almost formal position. His shoulders were stiff and practically pushed up to his ears, pulled back in an almost defensive way.
The black headphones that he usually wore were placed over his ears, the cord spiraling down the front of his chest and disappearing into his pocket. His flannel was halfway buttoned up, a few of them buttoned in the wrong hole which made the entire shirt look lopsided. Even his hair was disheveled, frizzy red curls stretched out in front of his face and puffing up all over the place as if he had been electrocuted.
Dakota’s eyes darted over to William sitting in the corner, his forcefully neutral expression (almost too expressionless to be Dakota) melting into a deeper frown, eyebrows furrowing and his nose twitching. William could see the way that he was visibly shaking, large and desperate tremors running down his spine and making him look fidgety and ready to collapse. Just his knees alone wobbled so violently that William was beginning to stand up to catch him in case he collapsed (which he looked very much on the verge of doing).
His chest rose and fell with each gasping breath that he sucked in, lips slightly parted and bleeding from him picking at the skin. Dakota’s face was concerningly pale, but his cheeks flushed a dark red color that spread across the bridge of his nose and down his neck like a really bad sunburn.
Unshed tears filled his eyes, making the amber color of his irises practically glow and Dakota took a shaky inhale, wringing his hands so tightly that William could hear his knuckles crack. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking around like he was still unsure of what to do.
Dakota opened his mouth to say something but after a second or two of nothing happening, he closed it again before trying again, eyes darting everywhere around the room. His face seemed to flush darker, the sound of his rapid breaths seeming to echo in the cold bathroom.
If he wasn’t already visibly panicking, his silence would have been enough for William to be able to tell that something was wrong. Dakota was never quiet when he entered a room, and if he needed William for something during lunch, he usually ended up scaring the spirit out of William. But he didn’t do any of that. Dakota hadn’t moved from where he was standing, hovering in the same spot near the door shaking and trembling.
Slowly moving his lunch to the side, and zipping up the bag so that it didn’t get dirty, William looked over at Dakota with a concerned expression. He tilted his head to the side, stretching out from his curled-up position and trying to think what the best course of action would be. William could hear the sounds of kids shouting from the halls, a group of friends walking by and talking loudly, or even the steady drone of the courtyard that William didn’t notice until now. The pieces began to fall together in his mind.
Dakota brought his hands up to his face, limbs twitching slightly and tensing up. He clasped his palm over his mouth to muffle the pained squeak that bubbled up from the back of his throat. He dug his nails into his cheeks, holding his hand against his jaw and trying to stop the shaky sobs that caused his breathing to hitch and speed up.
“Hey,” William whispered, significantly quieter this time but he knew that Dakota could hear him, even with his headphones on. He opened his arms slightly, a silent invitation that he was sure Dakota would understand.
Dakota whimpered and ducked his head, shakily stepping forward with an uneven gait. His left knee nearly gave out and he stumbled with a yelp, pulling his hands up to his head to clasp over his headphones, the soles of his shoes squeaking against the tile. A few tears left streaks against Dakota’s face as they slipped past his closed eyes and ran down his cheeks. He hunched his shoulders and practically curled in on himself, shaking so hard it looked like it hurt.
This time, William did stand up, using the wall as an anchor to get himself to his feet. He approached Dakota cautiously, not wanting to scare him but at the same time fearing that he was about to collapse.
Dakota stepped forward to meet him in the middle, all but collapsing against William’s chest the moment that he was in range, hands going to grasp onto his shirt.
William barely caught him, wrapping his arms around Dakota’s lower back to keep him upright and stable. Dakota trembled harder, clinging to the back of William’s shirt desperately, holding on as tight as he physically could, making small whimpers and whines the entire time. His legs practically gave out, making William struggle to hold him up for a little bit before he was able to shakily grab his footing once more
William dragged his fingers over Dakota’s lower back, tracing gentle patterns and absently rocking him back and forth for a few seconds. Dakota descended fully into sobs, the last bit of his resolve finally crumbling as the weight of his cries made him breathless and weak.
He choked on his own tears and coughed, headphones digging into the underside of William’s chin. His face was warm as he pressed it against William’s chest, a small fever wracking his form. One that William could feel burning against his skin even through the fabric that separated them. He smoothed a hand through Dakota’s hair and held his shoulders steady.
“Hey, you’re okay,” William muttered, holding him just as tightly as he clung to him. He breathed out a small sigh and held Dakota close. He was short enough to be able to fit just underneath William’s chin and tuck within the crooks of his arms and shoulder.
William shuffled backward, dragging Dakota with until he felt the cold tile press against his back. Dakota just moved with him, dragging his feet on the ground and flinching any time his shoes squeaked. But he didn’t protest or try to pull away, if anything he seemed to cling on tighter when he thought that William was trying to leave him. He gasped and cried out, red hair tickling William’s neck as he dug his fingers into William’s back.
William slowly eased them both down to the floor so they would both hopefully be more comfortable while he tried to comfort Dakota who shook and trembled. Dakota sat between William’s legs with his face buried against his chest, hiding away from the blinding fluorescent lights that seemed to flicker overhead. He pawed at the front of William’s shirt and hiccuped, his shoulders shaking with every desperate breath that he took. William held him tightly, trying to be a comforting presence even though he knew that he was probably the worst for that job.
Shimmying off his sweatshirt, Dakota whined and cried at the loss of contact for the few seconds that William needed to pull his arms away. His face was blotchy and coated with tears, hiccuping sobs tearing themselves from his throat. He tried to cuddle closer to William, clinging impossibly close.
William wrapped his sweatshirt around Dakota’s shoulders, tucking it tightly around him and hoping that it would offer comfort. Dakota brought the fabric up to his face and rubbed it against his cheeks, shaky breaths making him wheeze. William bundled him up and wrapped Dakota in his arms to tuck him close.
He hummed softly, the sound reverberating in his chest where he knew that Dakota would be able to feel it. Dakota hummed back weakly, pulling the hood up over his head and squeezing his eyes shut so that he didn’t have to face the rest of the world. His chest continued to rapidly rise and fall with each short, quick breath that he took.
William just sat there and rubbed his back gently, allowing Dakota to cry it out and hopefully provide a calm enough presence that he could pull himself down from his panic. Dakota clung to him tightly, sniffling and whimpering softly into the sleeves of William’s sweatshirt, fidgeting with the fabric and sliding his fingers over the stitching. He felt the fabric of each individual patch that William had, using it to ground himself.
Nothing really needed to be said. Not now at least. William could wait until Dakota was calmer and in a better headspace for conversation. Even as he worried about what set him off, that needed to wait until later. Definitely not now. Not when Dakota was still hiccuping and sobbing quietly, trying to muffle his cries as he sank deeper into William’s grasp, muscles going lax as he seemed to settle.
His original panic had begun to die down as he was able to relish in the dark silence provided by his headphones and William’s sweatshirt. He picked at a loose thread of William’s shirt and messed with the matching bracelet that he wore. The single blue bead twisted around the leather cord and Dakota spun it around, feeling the texture of the braid and fidgeting with the strands.
The wheezing breaths that he took sounded painful, and with the little hiccups that showed he was still crying, William could imagine how awful he felt. His cheeks were feverishly warm and he was sure that Dakota would be asleep by the time they got back to the base at the end of the day. Maybe he should text Tide to pick them up.
Dakota leaned his face against William’s chest and curled his knees up to his own chest, his other arm wrapping around William’s torso as he shifted his position slightly. He clung just as tightly to William, settling so that he didn’t have to grab as hard to make sure he could maintain contact.
The tears continued to fall down his face, soaking into the front of William’s shirt or the sleeves of his sweatshirt that Dakota pressed against his mouth. William just held him flush to his chest and ran his thumb over Dakota’s cheekbone to wipe his tears.
Sure, he wasn’t the best at offering comfort, but William would hold Dakota as long as he needed, smoothing a hand over his back and tracing gentle patterns. Dakota sniffled and pawed at his face with his fist, relaxing fully against William with his head drooping towards his chest.
Dakota’s eyes slipped shut, the first steady breath in a while spilling from his lips. He swallowed thickly and rubbed his eyes, a yawn pulling itself from his throat. He let out another whine and grumbled incoherently under his breath. William muffled his small chuckles and pressed his face against the top of Dakota’s head, squeezing him a little tighter.
Lunch was going to end soon. But William wasn’t entirely opposed to skipping history class if it meant that Dakota would be alright for the rest of the day.