Howdy there, I'm back with another request. This is one from my friend ohcysP since she's really a huge fan of Shaurence. It was slightly tough writing something that could be IRL but I like how it turned out. :')
-Shane's POV-
The sound of hail hitting my window gradually causes me to wake up. I don't need to put on my glasses and look at the clock to see that it's an unearthly hour.
I frown but snuggle up against my sleeping partner. I've always been a really light sleeper, it can't be helped.
Laurence grunts in his sleep, making me suppress a chuckle.
He's always been my polar opposite. If I'm not good at something, he's amazing at it. Of course that means he's also a very heavy sleeper.
I take a moment to smile thinking about how we got together. All of the little mind games Drew got us involved in to try to help me out and all of the years we spent playing together. My smile gradually fades when I remember how abruptly the band ended. To rid myself of those thoughts, I close my eyes and breathe in Laurence's scent. He smells always so nice.
After maybe a few hours of just lying in Laurence's arms, listening to the hail hitting the window harder, I feel him start trembling. We've been sharing a bed long enough to know that he's having a nightmare so I gently kiss him on his forehead, leaning down to whisper in his ear. "It's not real Laurence, you're still asleep."
His face curls up in anguish but I notice him relax at the sound of my voice. "Sleep, still real." He murmurs tiredly, taking a deep breath and returning to his dream again.
Hearing this reply, I frown. I know exactly what he is probably dreaming. "Laurence?" I try, making sure not to wake him if he's gone peacefully back to sleep. He doesn't reply at all, letting me know that he is actually asleep. I kiss him on the forehead lovingly before slipping out of his grip. I take my phone with me, putting on my glasses.
I stop by in the bathroom to splash cool water onto my face. The sight of droplets on the lenses of my glasses makes me wipe them with the sleeve of my pyjamas, staggering into the living room.
Come on Kier. I know you're not that careless.
I open my laptop and see that he's online on Skype.
"Hey Kier, r u up or did u just leave Skype running?" I type, hesitating for just a second before pressing the send button.
After keeping an eye on the small clock on the corner of the screen and watching 2 minutes pass, I go onto the Internet, seeing if I can spot any information on Twitter or Facebook to see what Kier's been up to. I send him a direct message on Twitter just to be sure he sees it, feeling bad that I'm not even looking at what fans have tweeted me.
He instantly replies.
"Hey Shane, this is a little early, isn't it? What's up?" His reply reads.
I manage a weak smile, grateful that he can still act like we're still friends and nothing has changed. "Nm hbu?" I reply casually.
It takes a while for him to reply, the small icon telling me that he's writing appearing before. "How r the others? R they doing alright?"
"Drew's still wading through the archives, I get nice messages from Luke." I hesitate when I'm about to mention Laurence. "U should try 2 fix things with Laurence."
"Can we continue this on a Skype call?" His message reads when he finally finishes posting it.
"Sure." I reply.
I wait for Kier's icon to take over the whole window before replying. I'm slightly nervous when I see he's got his camera on. His bare shoulders make me slightly awkward.
"Hi Shane." He greets.
"Hey." I manage.
He frowns at my monosyllabic answer. "Do you wanna have camera?"
I sigh but click on the camera option, removing the paper tab I have covering it for when I'm not using it. I force on an awkward smile, still being uncomfortable in front of the camera.
"You look fine Shane, you don't need to look so uncomfortable." He manages to laugh to make me relax.
"I look like I've just woke up." I admit, forcing myself to avoid looking at the small square in the corner of the screen.
"I'm in my boxers mate, you look a lot more organised than I do." He chuckles.
"Did you want me to call to put me through this?" I challenge.
His expression goes from mocking to genuine. "Yeah, I figured what we'd be discussing is rather sensitive so it's in general safer to talk here. The last thing we want is for one of us to be hacked and that whole conversation made public." He points out seriously.
"You mean, you'll be hacked, star." I almost mock.
He smiles at the joke but nods with honest concern. "Laurence doesn't need to be hurt by that."
"I stand by my earlier point, you need to sort things out between you." I boldly tell him.
He nods. "You're not wrong by saying that. I have been trying but I have yet to successfully get in contact with him." He explains. "I really do want to try to make up to what I did to you lot and I really don't blame him for being so angry at me but I don't want to be a strain on your relationship."
"How would you be a strain on my relationship with Laurence?" I ask.
Kier gives a look of 'that's obvious' but eventually replies. "Shane, if you even bring up talking to me with him, he won't take it well. I don't want my inability to get in contact with Laurence to be something harmful to yours and Laurence's relationship."
"Isn't there something you can try to do to change that?" He's just about to answer when I cut in. "Something you perhaps haven't tried already?"
He considers it for a moment, his frustrated expression fading before he answers. "There's one thing I could try, I'll probably get to it after rehearsals tomorrow. Thanks for reaching out to me, Shane. I do miss all of you, you know that right?"
"Sometimes it doesn't seem like it but I understand, you just needed to build your own environment. Take care of yourself, you deserve it after all the hard work you put yourself through." I smile in a friendly way.
"Thanks, you know if things don't work out, you're welcome to have a place in Inklings." He offers.
"As much as I appreciate the offer, I couldn't do that to Drew and Laurence. They're in shambles enough as it is." I honestly reply.
"Keep an eye on them will you?" He looks directly into the camera, giving me the impression that he's looking straight at me.
"Don't worry Kier, I'll take care of them." I answer.
"Alright, bye Shane." He smiles, doing his little wave he does.
I smile back at him as I end the call.
-
I wake up to find that my hair is being softly stroked. I turn over onto my back to find that I had my head resting on Laurence's thighs.
"Morning Shane. It was clearly a bad idea to check Twitter in the middle of the night." The taller of the two of us laughs softly.
"Uh huh." I tiredly groan.
He chuckles at my answer. "Oh dear, does this mean I have to make you breakfast and some tea?" He almost coos.
I beam up at him, nodding.
He smiles back, kissing me on the forehead before slipping out from underneath me to go into the kitchen. I snuggle into the warmth that his side of the sofa has, noticing with a small smile that he's also put a sheet over me to keep me warm. I take out my laptop again and go through it, seeing it has my browsing through Twitter last night that I must've been doing before I fell asleep.
I didn't even think I was that tired.
After not long, Laurence enters the room with a steaming mug on a tray with some breakfast. "Why did you move onto the sofa anyway? Did I steal the duvet in my sleep or something?" He smirks as he sits down on the armchair on the other side of the coffee table while he lies the breakfast tray between us.
I sit up with a yawn, helping myself to the food. "No, I just was being kept awake by the hail. Figured I'd make myself tired elsewhere but must've fallen asleep in the process." I reply.
He believes me. "So, anything happened on Twitter overnight?" He socially asks.
"The Twitter-verse is turning as normal." I shrug.
He nods, amused at my behaviour. "I was thinking of having a lazy day today." He tells me while I'm drinking some of my tea, actually pretending that I haven't burnt myself. He smirks a little as my shoulders tense up at the burn.
"I actually was thinking that I should treat you to dinner." I reply, going for the food that I know I can't burn myself on.
"Going out or staying in?" He checks curiously.
"Staying in. I was thinking I'd either cook you your favourite or we could just order some food." I answer simply. "It's up to you."
"We'll order some food." He replies.
"Glad to be reminded of how much you hate my cooking." I reply, just about to bite into the food when he leans forwards and pulls my wrist towards him, taking a bite out of it instead. "EXCUSE YOU!" I complain as he chews and swallows, giggling.
"You deserved it." He laughs.
"How?" I pout, leaving it to the side and taking the plate to be sure that he can't have any more of my breakfast.
"You know I love your cooking. How come you let me kiss you but refuse to let me share food with you?" He smirks, knowing fully well that this topic is always embarrassing for me.
"It's just weird for me." I murmur, blushing furiously.
"As weird as having my tongue in your mouth?" He chuckles, seeing how my cheeks go an even darker shade.
"Stop it Laurence." I try to avoid showing the fact that I'm blushing so much.
He decides to do so by finishing the part I'm not going to eat now that it has his saliva on it, still grinning at me.
I try to use this to think of a way to get him back. Of course, nothing really worthwhile comes to mind. I try to reassure myself with the thought that I'll be able to get him when he least expects it.
-
After spending the whole day watching TV, snuggled up against Laurence, the doorbell rings. "I'll get it." I murmur, getting up and waddling to the door, still tired.
I freeze up when instead of a delivery guy, Kier's at the door, holding the bags with our food inside. When I look up, I see the delivery guy getting on his bike.
"I know he doesn't want me here but let me in so that I can talk to him. It's the only way I can tell we can fix things." Kier tells me.
I step to the side to let him in, partly worried about how Laurence will react. Kier nods, walking into our home. I can't bring myself to look at Laurence's face when he sees who's arrived.
"What's he doing here?" Laurence growls.
"Don't take this out on Shane, it was my decision to come here." Kier counters. "Can we talk privately?"
Laurence doesn't say anything for a while before leaving the room and slamming the door behind him. Kier follows him.
I'm extremely nervous with the thought that two of my best friends are probably having a screaming match in the other room, so I pick up my dusty guitar, plugging it into the amplifier and deciding to connect headphones to avoid making them both come in here to yell at me.
I lose track of time and notice that I have company, taking off the headphones to pay full attention. I'm relieved when it's Laurence, giving me a soft look, rather than the betrayed one I had feared.
"I know that you wanted Kier to make things up to me-" He starts.
"-I didn't think he'd turn up here-" I try to defend just in case, remembering what Kier told me last night.
"-It's really okay. You don't have to deny it. I'm not that mad, anymore." He sighs. "I'm still a little burned over the life we all lost but I know that he's still him, not the stranger I was beginning to believe he was."
I instantly put down my guitar to pull him into a hug, snuggling into his strong engulfing arms.