Chapter Text
It was an unusually warm Saturday afternoon when Todd collapsed onto his bed in a heap of limbs, letting out a deep sigh as he sank into the mattress. The night before there had been another meeting with the dead poets, after which, he and Neil had stayed up talking in the darkness of their room for hours.
Unfortunately for the boys, the late hour in which they had finally gone to sleep did not change the fact that both had arranged to study in the morning after breakfast. Neil, getting help from Cameron with the new topic they were learning in mathematics, Todd, studying the content from their last latin class with the help of Meeks (and distraction of Charlie).
Meeks, eager to get away to keep working on an old radio project he had started building with Pitts last year, was satisfied with the duo's progress after going over the terms only once. Cameron on the other hand, was tougher on Neil (at the boy's own request), and when Todd had glanced over to their table to see if they were done, the only signals he received from Neil were the rolling of his eyes and the imitation of a rope circling his neck. Neil struggled with math more than any other subject and whilst he despised staring at numbers all day, he was grateful that Cameron knew how important it was for him to keep his grades up and was willing to help him out.
Todd lay on his stomach with his face pressed into a pillow, briefly contemplating how difficult it would be to flee education and assume a new alias to find a job somewhere he could live out his life without ever having to open another textbook again. Perhaps he was being slightly overdramatic.
He turned to lie on his back so he was looking at the ceiling, vaguely registering the sound of shouting - probably Charlie - a loud set of footsteps - probably whoever Charlie had shouted at - and more shouting - definitely Mr McAlistair telling the boys to keep quiet - coming from the hallway.
Instinctively, Todd’s head turned towards the noise, always curious of the trouble Dalton managed to get himself into. It was when he shuffled to his side and faced Neil’s bed that he spotted it first. A brown, fluffy paw peeking out from under the other boy’s pillow. Usually Todd was the kind of person who liked to mind his own business. He had no interest in snooping around other people’s property or finding out their secrets.
Today, his curiosity got the best of him.
Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Todd stood up and took a step towards the object. He leaned in towards it, lifting up the pillow and gently pulling at the paw until it was hanging from his hand. A small, light brown bear that had a little blue ribbon around its neck. Bringing his other hand up to hold its body, Todd turned the bear to face him and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. As he was looking at the bear, he heard the squeak of a handle and an all too familiar laugh.
“That’s crude, even for you Charlie!”
Neil was still looking back as he entered the room, arms stretched up over his head. The door closed behind him and he finally looked into the room to see Todd, a smile on his face, bear in hand, shaking it left to right.
“Who’s this?”
Todd would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the way Neil’s cheeks flushed pink when he spoke. He held out his hand and gave a slight tilt of his head before Todd passed the bear over to him.
“He- It’s! None of your business!”
Neil gave a pointed look as he stuffed it under his duvet before continuing.
“Knox is down by the lake and Charlie’s heading there too, you wanna join?”
He discarded his sweatshirt on the floor and went to pick up a book from his nightstand whilst Todd stood waiting at the door and replied.
“Yeah sure, sounds nice”
He waited for Neil to pass him on their way out before piping up again with another grin
“By the way, I think it’s cute”
Again, Neil’s cheeks coloured in embarrassment, but he knew there was no real judgement in Todd’s teasing. The remainder of the day was spent at the lake, it wasn’t until they heard the bell signalling dinner that the four boys trudged back up to the school. Neil, who thanks to being shoved into the lake by Charlie, was in dire need of a shower before he could go inside the hall, so the rest of the boys went ahead without him. By the time he had gotten a plate and sat at the table most of the others had finished their meals, Todd included.
Neil waved off their offer to stay, insisting that since the delay was Charlie’s fault he was the only one obligated to keep him company whilst he ate. The poets minus Neil and Charlie left, chattering away as they walked towards their rooms.
Todd was the last to reach his door, whilst being in one of the furthest away rooms could be irritating, part of him relished in the extra privacy and protection from the noise at the other end of the hall that it offered. He went inside and was almost surprised to see the little bear, sitting in pride of place on Neil’s bed.
Todd smiled to himself as he got ready for bed, choosing to say nothing of it when Neil joined him ten minutes later. The two boys made light conversation before both became tired enough to sleep, and the next day when Todd arrived back to their room after his shower, he was happy to see that the bear was still in its place, proudly propped up in the middle of Neil’s pillows.