bzzt bzzt.
the ever annoying noise of tom's phone buzzed obnoxiously under his pillow.
he let out a husky groan and stretched a limp hand under his pillow.
he clicked his phone on and squinted at the screen, trying his best to ignore the buzzing crackle at his ears and the black spots invading his vision.
'9:20- maths exam today'
tom slammed his face back into the
previous dent he'd formed in the pillow before forcefully pushing himself out of the warmth of his bed sheets.
he sluggishly hauled his body over to
his drawers, scanning all his clothes for his school uniform. his hands viciously tore at the different garments before grabbing the proper clothing.
his hands were quick to pull his shirt
off and discard it as his fingers nimbly
buttoned up his new one. silk fabric
was heavy in his hands as he tightly
wrapped the tie around his neck and
yanked it into a knot.
it took him less than five minutes to
get dressed and style his hair into his
trademark up-do, and look
intimidating enough to scare off those
wanting to be social, he hoped.
he didn't bother with his breakfast, not even a snack to munch on. he
was much too stressed today.
tord was by his window as usual.
skillfully flicking up dark ruby cherries and catching them in his mouth. to him this was a luxury. simply blissful.
his morning schedule looked a
little like this:
6:30 - awaken
7:00- watch kittyboy get ready
7:30- watch kittyboy leave
7:40 -get dressed
8:00- parents leave house
8:20- beauty routine
8:40- nap
9:40- eat cherries
his next plan was to make some
fluffy almond pancakes but his
train of thought was shattered by
the splintering sound of a door
being slammed.
tord spun his head to the window of
the neighbouring house, missing his
cherry which promptly bounced off his button nose.
tom had arrived home and looked...
terrible.
his hair was completely messed up,
slightly matted. it most likely had been grabbed or balled into a fist.
his clothes were entirely creased, his
jeans were chalky white up the side. his tie was loosely hanging over his broad shoulder and his top two buttons were undone.
sweat patterned his face, red cheeks, it rolled in droplets down his neck.
tord dreamily gazed at him. the only thing he could think of was how the
modern male model looked with the
whole disheveled style. he had to push
his fantasies aside and help his 'friend.'
he plucked up a cherry by it's browning stem and aimed it at the window panes.
tom lazily looked up at the window
but just shook his head. he seemed
almost sad. the faintest trace of fear
lingered on his lips.
tord lightly pushed open his own
window.
"kittyboy?"
"i'm not in the mood, tord."
tom remained quiet as he paced around the room. he kicked at his wooden bed posts and screamed into his pillow.
tord patiently sighed. he chewed
on a sweet cherry and blocked out
tom's whining.
on the one day my outfit is perfect,
pretty neighbour ignores me.
"um. tom. quick question."
“tord, i already told you i'm not in the mood.”
"why are you home?"
"what?"
"school ends later. surely. it was
different in norway, but it's only
common sense."
tom simmered slightly. tord knew he
was right but was he ready to be tom's
personal problem solver?
"tom. why are you home?"
tom inhaled a deep breath before
leaning over his window ledge. his
hands gripped the window sill so tightly that the wood cracked off until his knuckles turned white.
"i had an anxiety attack during my
exam. nothing important, just my
nerves fucking me over."
tord felt his face and stomach drop.
anxiety attacks. he'd had a few and
they were god awful. who'd have
thought the stoic, cool guy neighbour would have anxiety?
"are you home alone, tom?"
"yes."
"do you want to come over?"
"thanks but no thanks. i'm unstable
right now."
"then.. do you want a cherry?"
tom nodded as tord tossed the cherry at him. tom snatched it up and started
gently nibbling the sleek red skin.
"anxiety huh?"
"don't get all smug, tord."
i'm not. i just had an idea for our
first voyage."
"i told you i'm not going on illegal
voyages."
tord paused before adjusting his pink
rose crown. tom was still shocked
at how there weren't already bees buzzing around it.
"what if i told you it was legal."
"nope."
"safe."
"nope."
"away from all humanity?"
"... maybe."
tord beamed and clapped his hands
joyously. like a little kid.
"great! meet me back at these
windows at 9:00."
"9:00 at night?!"
"yup! wear something pretty for me."
"i will literally wear a trash bag with
holes for my limbs."
"please don't."
"i'm just teasing."
the two boys shook on it and turned to continue their personal duties.
~
9 o'clock.
tom had settled on wearing a thin
leather jacket, white v-neck, and ripped jeans. nothing special, but he hadn't a reason to dress extravagantly.
the brunet slid open his window to see a familiar boy pushing open his own.
tord was wearing a blush pink cotton
shirt hidden under a silk black bomber jacket with white crosses threaded into the sleeves. his hair was rather messy and slightly damp. he hadn't bothered with jewellry, but did have a single black choker.
he immediately noticed tom and
waggled his fingers in a typically
flirty manner.
"good evening, kittyboy."
"evening, tord."
"ready for an adventure?"
"sure."
tord swung his legs over the ledge and
half twisted his body.
tom awkwardly knelt by his window ledge. there was no way he'd risk his life to go on a midnight journey with practically a stranger.
tord swiftly dropped from the window and landed on a thick branch of the tree between the houses. an old
chestnut tree that had been there for
generations. he rotated his head to
see the nervous wreck named tom, watching from a distance.
"are you mad?!"
tom's hands rested on his hips as he pulled a baffled expression.
"yes." tord was for once dead serious, his eyes glinting against the dark night atmosphere.
"i'm not jumping!"
"please, tom."
"nope."
"if you fall, i'll catch you."
tom pondered the thought for a second before hesitantly clinging to the window frame.
did he trust tord? absolutely not.
so why was he obeying?
one foot reached the stony wall
of his house.
he looked back at tord, both eyes locked onto his every movement. silver and red. tord looked so different from this angle. he looked so-
slip
grab
thud
tom felt his body slam into a solid
object. his hand was no longer gripping the window, but found its way to hold something else. something warm. with fingers.
wait.
fingers?
tom pulled himself back to see tord
smiling warmly at him. both of them on the tree branch.
teetering dangerously backwards, tord wrapped a protective arm around kittyboy's waist, both holding hands with astonished expressions on their faces. tord seized the moment to pull tom's waist closer and jump from the branch, to the ground.
once on the ground, tom backed away
and patted himself down; as if looking
for any damage marks.
"thanks."
"no problem, i had a feeling you'd suck at sneaking around."
tord didn't leave a second for his friend to protest in his defence before walking past the tree, and into the lane behind them.
tom jogged to keep up and tugged
at his leather sleeves.
"where are we going?"
"a place only i know of."
"which is?"
"near. now shut your mouth, boy."
tord took a sharp right towards the local forest.
a white metal sign scribed with metallic black lettering was nailed into the damp soil bordering the forest.
starbank forest
tom followed like a curious toddler till
he heard a distant noise.
a sound of pure serenity.
running water. a nearby stream.
he'd never been in the woods so far before so he wouldn't know if they had a stream, but the woods didn't have a stream.
tord pushed aside a large green leaf
covering the pebbled path they'd been
following, his eyes lighting up like a
kid's on christmas morning.
"we're here!"
tom mimicked the action and pushed
past the lush foliage. his jaw dropped as his head spun.
a silvery rocky cliff covered in wispy
ivy spirals covered the horizon. white
jets of water flowed down the cliff face and right into the silvery pool below.
a waterfall.
tom gasped as tord began pacing up
to it, his hands tracing the corrugated
stone protrusions. birds cawed from
the trees overhead.
tord eventually sat himself on a smooth rock beside the water, letting his shoulders sink inwards and back fall onto the stone.
tom perched beside him, one leg
straightened with his foot planted
into the dark soil, the other resting
on the rock.
"beautiful, right?"
"yes. it is."
"i noticed this place the day we moved
into town."
"you found this so soon?"
"of course. i thought it'd be a nice
stargazing spot."
"it's always the stars with you."
"yup. i want to be one."
"you are a star."
tord giggled and hummed to himself. a song tom has never heard.
tom watched the fireflies glowing as they danced among the darkness. time shifted as the clouds in the sky dissipated into a sheet of black.
"so. this is your new safe haven?"
"i guess so. it seems like it could be
a new home."
"what about the home beside mine."
"that's a house. not a home. home is
where the heart is."
tord let out a shallow breath as he
widely grinned up at the moon. full and round, like a pristine white plate.
"how about i share this new haven?"
"what do you mean?"
"you said... you're unstable and...so am i."
"so?"
"you are the only other person to know about here. let's make it our place."
tord held out his hand. stray black
tendrils of a tattoo peeked out from
under his sleeve that tom had never
noticed before. tom took the hand into his own. the contact was icy but soon became comforting.
"yeah... our place."