Wilhelm
All Saturday night, Wilhelm stared at his ceiling, rehearsing and re-rehearsing what he was going to say to each group, until he saw the sun beginning to peek through his dorm room window.
Ugh. He was so not ready for the day to begin. He rolled over to grab his phone off of his desk, and he noticed an alert. How had he not heard it buzz? He must have fallen asleep for some of the night after all.
Two new messages.
He snapped open his phone in one quick motion and pressed on the app.
The first message was from Simon.
2:43am
Simon: My brain hurts from practicing what to say tomorrow. You?
Wilhelm smiled at his phone. Simon was doing the same thing he was. It's not that he didn't trust that Simon liked him, and maybe even loved him, but Simon played his cards close to the vest. It was hard to know sometimes with him. Wilhelm felt those little butterflies start flapping in his stomach. Simon was in this with him. Maybe not as much as Wilhelm, but he was in it.
The second message was, predictably, from Felice.
5:01am
Felice: You ready?! T - 5 hours!
Wilhelm groaned. Of course Felice would have to remind him almost to the minute. Thankfully, he realized that it was only 7:00am. Three more hours to pretend this wasn't happening.
Realistically, though, part of him wished it was actually already 10:00. That way, he could rush to get dressed, have a quick breakfast, and then be off. Felice would kill him if he wasn't at least an hour early, but it least it would be a few hours less of twiddling his thumbs in miserable anticipation.
Instead, Wilhelm decided to go for a run. Honestly, he hated running, but it was the single best way to get his mind off this whole mess of a day. And he was good at it. He didn't know if it was his long legs or all the running he ended up having to do for rowing, but he could run 5km without really breaking a sweat and 10km without his legs starting to ache. He could just pop in his Airbuds and go.
He texted David so that the guard could get changed for the run as well, and he laced up his shoes, threw on his sweatshirt and sweatpants, and carried himself out the door. David was already ready to go when Wilhelm reached the hallway.
That was the one thing about David. He never minded a sudden change of plan. Wilhelm knew that he was just thrilled to leave the boy's hallway or not have to sit outside History class all morning long. A run was the bright spot in David's workday.
As his feet hit the dirt path around the school, he thought about how different his life was than when he had arrived at the school just 5 months before. Simon had once asked him if he had known he liked guys before meeting Simon, and Wilhelm couldn't really give him an answer. He guessed he probably knew deep down. He never showed much interest in girls, but he always avoided the men's locker rooms unless it was absolutely necessary. It was just always so uncomfortable for him. And he didn't know how to not look around. Who could? Even if just to compare your equipment to everyone else's.
Erik knew. He was sure Erik had known for forever. When Wilhelm had told him about Simon during their last call, the one during the Parent's Day luncheon, Erik hadn't asked who the girl was, or what she looked like. He had said, "You've met someone". Your crush. Everything gender-neutral. Even when he was saying how he didn't want details, he referred to "it", the relationship, not the person. Those were just not terms anyone would choose if they didn't at least have a suspicion that there might have been something else going on. He definitely knew.
Wilhelm couldn't get past that. Erik, by all accounts, was able to read people with impressive accuracy. He had amazing insight into other people's lives. He could tell if something was up even if you didn't say anything, and he also knew how to make it better. But, were there other people who also had had questions about him in the past? Had his parents discussed it while brushing their teeth at night? Did the castle employees raise their eyebrows when he said or did something that seemed gay? Who else had had the same suspicions as Erik?
He guessed they were right. He was painfully in love with another guy. But, was it because he was a guy or was it because he was Simon? Would the next person he liked be named Inesa? Or would it be another guy? Or would there even be another? And did it matter?
As he lost himself in thought, his feet hit the ground quicker and quicker until he was at least 200 meters in front of David.
"Hey, circle back, Wilhelm!" David called.
Wilhelm did as he was told to give David a chance to catch up. He looked up at the bodyguard, who was panting loudly, and then looked at his watch. They'd been out for over and hour. He decided to have compassion for David and turn back, even though Wilhelm could have kept going. When David noticed the direction they were going toward, he looked visibly relieved.
The first thing he saw as he made his way up the steps and into Forest Ridge was Simon, sitting on the steps right outside the entryway.
"Hey," called Simon, smiling at Wilhelm. "I tried to call you but you didn't pick up."
Wilhelm grinned ear to ear, and without answering, surreptitiously led Simon into his dorm room, David following a good 50 paces behind. You had to hand it to him, David knew when he wasn't wanted. Wilhelm made a mental note to give him a nicer-than-normal Christmas present.
It also helped that the place was deserted. 8 o'clock on a Sunday in a high school dorm was the equivalent of 5 o'clock in a regular house. No one was even thinking of replacing their comfy pajamas for real clothes yet. Tiny miracles.
As they crossed the threshold of Wilhelm's room, Simon pulled Wilhelm into a long, carnal embrace.
"I just wanted to see you," Simon whispered into Wilhelm's silky hair.
"Hey, hey," murmured Wilhelm, pulling Simon away and clasping onto his shoulders. "This is going to go great. It's going to be fine."
Simon let out a small laugh. "Oh, yeah?" he said, his brows raised.
"Yeah. They're going to say, 'Who are those awesome, cool guys we've been going to school with all year? We'll do anything they want!'" Simon's head fell onto Wilhelm's shoulder as he gave out a big belly laugh.
"That's how it's going to go?" he replied, as he put his arms around Wilhelm's neck and stared into Wilhelm's eyes.
"Of course. Why wouldn't it?" said Wilhelm with a chuckle, the words soaked in sarcasm.
"Come here," muttered Simon. He pulled Wilhelm's mouth to him and licked Wilhelm's lips. Wilhelm could feel the sweaty salt on his own skin, but Simon didn't seem to mind. He pressed himself closer to Simon. Wilhelm felt the tension rising in his veins. His heart began to pound. When he felt like he was going to explode, he thrust Simon onto his bed.
Simon let out a quick yelp, but once he realized he had fallen onto a soft surface, he groaned under Wilhelm's weight. Wilhelm fell to the side, throwing his arms around Simon's waist as their tongues became entangled in each other's mouths. Wilhelm forced up Simon's sweater and kissed down his body until he reached Simon's navel.
Simon's soft touch was like lightening to Wilhelm's body. He looked up at Simon and, holding on to Simon's pants, whispered, "You want to?"
Simon looked at Wilhelm and nodded with a charged sigh. Wilhelm quickly pulled off Simon's pants, and met with an erect bulge. He slipped the penis into his mouth quickly and started to flip the tip with his tongue. Simon's whole body went rigid beneath him. Yes, Wilhelm thought. He pushed his mouth deeper. A loud grunt emanated from Simon's lips. He thrust his lips up and down, up and down, going farther each time. Simon's body twitched in time to the rhythmic motion. Wilhelm could feel Simon's member begin to quake.
"I'm gonna..." groaned Simon, not able to finish his sentence and coming in Wilhelm's mouth. Wilhelm gulped hard and swallowed before coming up to Simon's side.
He hadn't planned to swallow. He always thought he'd gag too hard if he ever tried, but he was surprised to find that it wasn't as repugnant as he had thought. It wasn't great, by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't the worst thing he'd swallowed.
He grabbed a glass of stale water from his desk and took a swig, hoping that would cover it a little. Simon flopped his hand onto Wilhelm's chest. He look absolutely drained.
"That was the best part of my month. Wow," Simon muttered through panting breaths.
Wilhelm grinned widely. It felt good to give someone that level of pleasure. He didn't know why, but he felt accomplished, like he'd unlocked a video game level or something. Simon had loved it. And, surprisingly, Wilhelm had loved it, too.
Wilhelm looked at his phone and grunted. 9:52. They had to get up and quick. Felice had told them to meet her at 10:00am. Wilhelm looked around at the clothing strewn haphazardly around the room. Even at their fastest clip, there was no way.
Wilhelm smiled to himself as he rolled onto Simon. Worth it.