「reputation」➳ garrance

「end game 」

laurance knew that was code for "i don't want to deal with gene and ein," but he went along with it.  "sure.  i'd like to find a new book to read."

garroth's eyes brightened.  "oh!  i suggest you read a shakespeare play!  let's see... i think you'd like macbeth—no—hamlet—no—julius ceaser—"

"how about you read me your favorite play," laurance chuckled at how cute the blond was being.

garroth blushed.  "you're very much capable of reading it by yourself, laurance."

"i know," he replied, "but i like hearing you act out the characters."

"fine," garroth huffed.  "only if you read some of the characters as well."

"deal."

garroth smiled like a dork as they made their way to the library.  it was mostly empty—as always—with only a few students scattered around and the old librarian behind the oak desk.  bookshelves filled with books were along every wall, as well as rows of them going to the center of the room.  wooden tables were arranged in the center of the room.  the library was usually only a place to go when you had study hall, never somewhere you voluntarily went.

"is the library always this creepy?" laurance whispered to garroth.  this was his first time he had been in the library.  again; libraries were never a place someone would voluntarily be at.

garroth laughed.  "you get used to it after a while."  he would know.  for him, this library was a place he'd go voluntarily.

"well, hello there, garroth," the old librarian greeted.  she wore fifties glasses, and her gray hair was falling out of her bun.

"hello," garroth smiled.  "how are you today?"

"great!  thanks for asking.  looking for anything special?  or the usual?"

"the usual," the blond answered, pulling laurance to the back corner of the library.

"is this where you kill me?" laurance asked as the entrence to the library became farther and farther away, to which the blond scoffed.  "i'm just saying—an orphan arriving in an extremely small and religious town, he becomes really good friends with the most charming boy he's ever seen, only for that charming boy to lure him with some shakespeare and kill him.  Sounds pretty sketchy to me."

garroth stopped walking and looked at the other boy.  "i didn't know you were an orphan."

laurance froze.  he normally didn't tell people.  "oh, y-yeah.  my parents were in a car crash, about five years ago."

"i'm sorry."

"it wasn't your fault," he shrugged.  "i guess i wasn't meant to have parents."

"that's not true," the blond said, sincerity in his eyes.

"hey, what about that shakespeare?  i still don't know what we're reading."

"right," he said, taking a few steps to the last shelf in the corner that held dramas.  "don't judge me, but my favorite play is romeo and juliet."  garroth glanced at laurance, expecting there to be disgust written on his face, but it looked like the news didn't bother him.  he took the only copy the school had from the shelf and lead laurance to some leather chairs next to the window.

"so, who am i going to read?" laurance asked when they settled in the chairs.

"well, there are many parts, but the two main ones are obviously romeo and juliet.  since you're new to this, i think you should read only romeo or juliet.  i can read everyone else."

"romeo," laurance said immedietly.  "definetly romeo."

garroth let out a shaky breath.  this meant he was juliet.  "okay.  let's start."

they got started, reading in soft voices.  when garroth was reading, which was most of the time, laurance couldn't help but look at him.  his expression changed with each character he played, as well as his voice.  laurance wanted to kill anyone who said this boy couldn't be in a play, because the joy on his face from simply reading a play was enough to know this was his passion. and when laurance was reading romeo, with much less conviction and expression, garroth stared at him.  laurance may not have had the acting down, but whenever he read he would concentrate deeply.  it was as if he was sucked into the world of whatever he was reading.  and his voice—god, his voice—was so smooth and he read so fluently that garroth felt like he was floating down a river somewhere tropical.

"'o, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do.  they pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair,'" laurance read out loud.

"'saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake,'" garroth read.

"'then move not, while my prayer's effect i take."

they pause for a moment at the stage direction on the page.  it says that romeo kisses juliet.  they look up at each other with red cheeks."

garroth continued reading.  "'then have my lips the sin that they have took.'"

"'sin from they lips?  o trespsass sweetly urged give me my sin again.'"

the stage direction, once again, said to kiss.  they ignored it again.

"'you kiss by th'book,'" garroth said, staring directly into laurance's baby blue eyes.

suddenly, the bell rung, signaling the end of lunch.  the boys jumped a little, so deep into the story.

"that was fun," laurance said.

"yeah, it was," garroth agreed.

to say their wasn't some awkwardness in the air would be a lie.  maybe garroth shouldn't have picked the most romantic shakesperian play, but the blond couldn't help it.  it was his favorite, and for whatever reason it felt fitting.

laurance got up.  "uh—i have physics now."

"right," garroth nodded.  "i'll see you in english, yeah?"

"see you then," the brunette smiled as he left the tiny little nook.

garroth couldn't bring himself to go to his next class.  he wanted to stay, savor the moment while it was still there.  a warmth grew in his chest area.  he had never felt this warmth before, but he knew the brunette boy had something to do with the feeling.

➳➳➳

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~grace ♡