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“How?”
“I-I don’t know.”
“How.”
“I-I just said… I really don’t know.”
“Todd.”
“Yes?”
“How.”
“Neil, please don’t ask me again. I honestly don’t know.”
It must have been the one or two in the morning, and while the rest of Welton slept peacefully in their beds, classes just a few blissful hours away, Neil and Todd had a minor dilemma in their midst.
Todd’s bed had broken.
Broken may be too harsh. It wasn’t as though Neil had taken a bat and smashed the frame to pieces - he was so genuinely soft-spoken and shy that there was no way he was harboring a secret violent nature. No, what had happened was that the wooden bed frame holding his mattress up had literally snapped as he lay sleeping, resulting in his waking up folded like an obtuse angle.
“But these beds can’t be that old.” Neil whispered in disbelief, squatting to examine the splintered wood with his flashlight. “I mean,” he looked up at Todd, “have you been jumping on your bed lately?”
Todd, flustered for some reason by the question, responded quickly, “T-there was that chase for my poem, and Cameron’s poem, a few days back.”
Neil nodded, but Todd's answer still hardly resolved anything. Sure, the chase did involve several of their friends, plus a set of bongo drums at some point (how or why Charlie was so prepared is the real mystery), all parading around the room throwing two notebooks around, but it couldn’t have done that much damage to the bed frame.
"I don't suppose you have any duct tape," Neil mused, laughing.
Todd's lips straightened into a line at the suggestion.
"No, I guess not." Sighing, Neil rose back up and looked at Todd, “Well, drastic times call for drastic measures,” A brief pause lingered between them and then, “looks like we’re sharing my bed tonight.”
Choking sounds, not words, were what first came out when Todd opened his mouth. After getting over the initial shock, he sputtered, “W-what? No. My bed is still fine, the frame is all. I can just drag my bed out and sleep without the frame-”
“Look, you’ll hurt your back, and then what? Plus, there's hardly any room in this room for you to 'drag out your bed'.” Neil responded briskly.
“Neil, please. It’s fine. Look, I’m sorry I woke you up, but really, this is my fault and I can-” Todd cut himself off when he took in Neil’s dubious stare, accompanied by an arching eyebrow. Put that away, he thought, that and everything else.
Because of course, Neil slept only in his knickers, and Todd stood there dumbly in his full set pajamas, feeling like a pre-teen left alone with his older brother’s gorgeous friend. And, just like when he was actually in these types of situations back home when he was left alone with his older brother’s gorgeous friends, Todd had to evacuate the situation as soon as possible.
“I-I appreciate the fact that you’re offering, but honestly, I can make do with what I've got.” He insisted.
Neil’s stare continued to wear him down. After crossing his arms, he said, quiet and even. “Todd, I’m offering.”
Flickering his eyes from the damaged bed of his, back to Neil, then back to his damaged bed, Todd had about a 5 to 10 second window to consider before Neil dropped his offer. The mattresses on the bed frames, he knew, could already make someone's back sore when in their proper places, so the floor must really be harsh. Plus, if he did choose to bunk with Neil for the night, it wasn’t like… anything was going to happen. Long as he slept with his back towards Neil, and woke up first, lest he encounter his morning ‘friend', and have to conceal something more embarrassing than his poetry.
If Neil was offering, obviously he didn't mind, so maybe it best to take him up on the offer (and yes, get to sleep next to him, without actually sleeping.. with him).
This thought process had to have been longer than his window of time for answering allowed. He could see the shrugging of Neil’s shoulders as he began to turn back to his own, still sturdy, bed.
Todd finally surrendered, turning to him. “I-I really shouldn’t...but…” He paused, “If you’re comfortable with it then...”
A yawn stretched over Neil’s mouth and he nodded, “Great. Took you long enough. Now, get in and get to sleep.” He said, shuffling towards his bed lazily and climbing in, holding out his blanket open for Todd to slide in.
Todd awkwardly climbed in after him and settled in, trying his best to avoid Neil's eyes the entire time. He felt guilty about making Neil share his sleeping quarters for the night all because of some faulty wooden chips and because sore backs are immensely uncomfortable. After kicking his feet out the covers a bit so they covered them both evenly, he turned his back on Neil and tried to make himself smaller.
"Todd... you ARE allowed to sleep like a normal human being, you know." Neil commented. Todd could feel the wry smile even with his back turned. "Not like some kind of," He waved his hand, searching for a word to combine with the action, "stiff." When there was no response, Neil settled in, pulling the cover over himself, facing the wall. "Goodnight, Todd."
"Goodnight," He replied, softly, fingers curling around the covers nearest his face and closing his eyes.
+
Todd moved a bit in his sleep, which caused quite a stir for Neil, who was a fairly still sleeper.
He already felt a draft the left side of his torso because Todd hogs the blankets when he sleeps. It wouldn't be a problem, if it was, maybe May?
But this was November, so Todd needed to be a little compassionate for him here.
After several failed attempts, admittedly because he was afraid to wake up the poor boy, Neil tried to win back some share of the blanket by tugging it away from Todd. "C'mon, Todd," He pleaded internally. "At least you have long sleeves right now." Finally, at last, Todd had loosened his grip and Neil was able to sheath himself in the warmth of his blanket and oomph-
And now, along with some of the blanket, his very own, right arm of Todd Anderson.
He tried to ignore the hammering in his chest, as he had been doing for the past hour since being presented with the opportunity to slip Todd into his bed. The broken bed frame had been a blessing to Neil, who had lacked so much courage to even ask Todd if he'd ever had a girlfriend, just to make sure the boy was playing for his team. In the dark, he couldn't tell if Todd was fully asleep or half awake or whatever, but as far as the limp right arm and now limp right side of Todd flopped onto his right side, he must have been clonked out. Neil could tell that a blush was seeping onto his cheeks and even somewhere else.
Play it cool, Perry, he thought to himself. There wasn't much he could do about moving closer without surely waking up Todd. Knowing Todd, waking up in the position he was currently in would result in a quick sitting up, followed by several stammering apologies. Perhaps, it was better for him to hope that Todd would inadvertently shift at some point away from Neil so he wouldn't wake up completely horrified with himself.
On a second thought, nevermind, he was dying over here, might as well try.
Turning ever so softly, as to avoid having Todd move his arm and body away from their current positions, he shifted himself so that he was facing Todd.
He looked more peaceful in slumber than he did when he was awake, body rising peacefully in perfectly paced intervals. Eyelashes long and brushing the skin below his eyes, his lips pulled to a soft pout. Neil was having a hard time not doing something stupid with him sleeping like that next to him, like kissing him or sighing dreamily like those girls in the movies did or kissing him or something. Funny how he's never had more courage right now then he's ever had around Todd before.
Todd, whose arm was still around his right side.
Fuck.
+
Todd was right when he woke up hours later, before Neil. As expected, especially in these circumstances, his little morning 'friend' bid him good morning. Luckily for him, his back was towards Neil, so if he woke up, he wouldn't see. He also woke up earlier than he was meant to, they still had two hours or so until they should start getting ready for class.
But just as Todd was taking in these bits of information, he was noticing something else. The added weight on his right side.
He was being little spooned by Neil.
Oh god, not now, not now, not now. Todd gasped and leaped out from Neil's grasp, spilling onto the floor in a heap.
Neil, coming to because of yet, another, sound of something hitting the floor, brought his head up from the pillow and squinted, "Please tell me my bed isn't broken too." He said groggily.
Todd remained where he was on the floor, in an attempt to conceal himself, pulling his legs up against his chest. "Neil, I-I woke up, a-and, y-you," He sputtered, hushed and embarrassed. "I d-didn't want to make you feel..." He trailed off, searching for the right word, "uncomfortable," He finished.
Nodding, clearly ready to doze off again, Neil asked, "Todd, just get back in bed, okay?"
"What.." Todd whispered to himself, standing up. "T-that's not.. Neil."
Pushing himself up on his elbow, and then pushing himself up so that he was depending on his hand for support, Neil squinted at Todd, "It didn't make me uncomfortable. Actually, it made me feel the complete opposite. So, get back in for another hour and repeat what just happened." Was he really saying this? Oh god... oh well. Carpe diem, after all. He was going to seize Todd for all he's worth. "Clearly... you were fine too." He commented right before Todd could launch into another sorry rant, a smirk turning up the corner of his lips. He flicked his eyes from Todd's face, down to the tent of his trousers, and then right back to Todd's gaze. Completely unapologetic.
Todd half gasped and laughed, a shy smile playing out. After a moments pause, he ran his finger over the lining of the covers from his side of the bed. "So... it's alright if I..?"
Neil pulled back the covers, revealing once more his bare torso and knickered self, a sight that Todd had never so openly lusted over until now.
"Only if we don't sleep," Neil responded coyly, pulling the covers over Todd as he climbed back in, and then over themselves.
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