Red String of Fate

Reunion

Time was wreaking havoc on Pierre too.

He was usually fine with the slow passage of moments. It gave him time to think, or to pay more attention to what was happening around him. But it seemed his tolerance of slow-moving clocks was being sorely tested. He kept glancing up to see if the hands had moved, only to find they'd only inched forward the tiniest bit. He peeked over his shoulder at the boy in the back corner, who he now knew to be Henry. From the way he kept fidgeting in his seat and tugging on the collar of his shirt, Pierre could guess that he was getting impatient too. He was sure that the brunette had just as many questions as he did, and perhaps a lot more.

...He's gorgeous...

How many times over the last ten years had he imagined Henry's face? How many times had he snuck him into his drawings or paintings, just to be able to see his eyes again? The boy he'd called as his angel ten years ago had grown into the nickname as if it had been his destiny. He felt a sudden longing to pull Henry into his arms just like he had when they were children, and he silently cursed the dragging minutes for keeping them separated even longer. Ten years is nothing compared to an hour, Pierre thought to himself, but it's still an hour too long for me. Henry glanced over at him, and Pierre flushed a little at having been caught. Henry shyly smiled at him, and his heart fluttered. He remembered that smile quite well-in fact, he'd painted it onto the angel he'd created that morning. Maybe he could show it to him later?

If Miss Selva noticed the secret looks passing between the two of them, she didn't say. Pierre was quite certain she'd caught them staring at each other quite a few times already. And he was also sure that she would have noticed the little waves the two exchanged every so often when they caught each other's gazes. She simply carried on with the lesson, pretending she didn't see what they were doing. For the time being. As class (finally) came to a close and the students began to pack their things, she raised her voice over the chatter and beginnings of chaos and said, "Henry McCrae and Pierre Hautecourt, come talk to me after class please." The two boys mentioned blushed heavily, and shared another look that Miss Selva purposefully did not call out in front of their peers. The bell rang, and as their fellow classmates scurried out the door Miss Selva walked back to her desk, beckoning for Henry and Pierre to follow.

Feeling somewhat sheepish and the tiniest bit annoyed that Miss Selva was preventing them from talking to each other in private, the two boys shuffled up to the front. It was almost unbearable for them to be close enough to touch, to reach out and pull each other into a desperate hug and not let go for who knows how long, but having to restrain themselves because an outsider was watching them. Pierre was very tempted to reach out and brush their hands together but it was a little too late for that. They were standing in front of Miss Selva's desk now, and she was watching them with a curious little smile on her face. After watching them both shift uncomfortably for a few seconds, she leaned forward in her seat. "Couldn't help but notice you two couldn't keep your eyes off of each other during class," she stated simply. "Care to explain what all that was about?"

Henry flushed and looked down at his shoes, while Pierre kept his head upright despite his pink cheeks. Deciding to throw all caution to the winds, he spoke up first. "We knew each other when we were children," he explained in a soft voice. "We were incredibly close to each other, and then we got separated." Miss Selva raised an eyebrow, but didn't interrupt. "We haven't seen or heard from each other in a very long time," Pierre went on," so seeing each other here of all places..." He looked over at Henry, who shyly raised his eyes to meet his gaze. "I don't think either of us could really believe it," Pierre finished, smiling gently at his green-eyed angel. Henry smiled back at him, and Pierre had to fight the temptation to reach out and touch his hand. He looked back at Miss Selva quickly. "I'm sorry if we were a distraction," he apologized.