21 days before
Summer. About fucking time.
With all his finals completed, Tom was spending his free time at home. Sitting still for over ten minutes now.
"Stand still. I can't draw you if you're moving, Tom."
"Sorry." Tom said quietly, shifting his folded legs underneath him and glancing down at his white sheets. "Up here."
"Sorry-"
"Stop apologizing." Tord giggled. He held his sketchbook infront of him, comparing his drawing to the real thing. "Almost done.." Tord whispered to himself, chewing on the end of his pencil as he examined his work. Then, with a few more details, and a pinch of eraser marks, he was finished, and soon held his sketchbook towards Tom. Before him was a surprisingly well drawn portrait of his person, sitting cross legged as he was. "Wow! This is really good!" Tom said with a grin that reached his ears. Tord smiled back. "I'm glad you like it, I've been practicing." Tord winked and passed his sketchbook to Tom. "Your turn."
Tom sat in silence for a moment and stared down at the sketchbook before slowly taking it. "I can't draw all that well, and definitely not as good as you can-"
"That doesn't matter, just try your best. Draw me." Tom gulped before taking the pencil in his hand and flipping the book to a blank page. Tord sat in front of him like he was, legs crossed, but this time Tord had his hands intertwined and resting on his lap. Looking down at the clean page almost scared Tom, how is he supposed to draw something as perfect as Tord?
"Draw me like one of your french boys." Tord said in a low voice, making Tom blush and glare down at the paper as he started to sketch. "Stop." Tord only laughed at Tom's embarrassed expression and held his pose.
Tord never realized how hard it was to keep still. The fact that he wasn't allowed to move only made him want to move more, and his legs were on fire from being stuck in the same position. "Are you done yet?" Tord asked, causing Tom to look up. "You've asked that like five times now, shut your face." Tom chuckled and looked back down at the paper, dragging the pencil across the grain. Tord sat there for another few minutes before Tom finally finished.
"Okay, no laughing." Tom hesitantly turned the sketchbook towards Tord, taking a deep breath and hiding his face behind the black hard cover.
The drawing was… Different. Well, maybe different isn't the right word.
Bad. It was bad.
Trying not to break the unspoken promise, Tord held in his laughter and slapped his palm over his mouth to keep himself quiet. "I-it's good-" Tord sniggered, making Tom look up from behind the book with furrowed eyebrows. "You're not fooling anyone, I know it's bad."
Those were the few words that sent Tord over the edge, bursting into laughter and leaning forward with his hand on his chest. It only took him a moment to let the outburst subside. And soon enough Tord took the sketchbook and held it beside his face. "Would you still love me if I looked like this?" Said Tord, looking at the grade four art project scribble and then back at Tom again. "Yes-" Tom said with a huff. "Really? Like, really?"
"I'm going to hurt you."
"I'd like to see you try."
Before Tord could say anything else, Tom lunged at him full force and crashed into him. The sudden impact knocking a faint yelp out of Tord, and the sketchbook flying out of his hands and onto the floor. As his back collided with the mattress Tom grabbed the wrists of the poor stunned boy and pinned them to the bed just above his head.
"T-that's foul play!" Tord squeaked. "I warned you didn't I?" Tom said with a smirk. Tord glanced down at the position he was in. Pinned to the bed by his wrists, Tom hovering over him between his legs, all kinds of thoughts running through his head. "Get off me you ass-" Tord could feel his face getting hotter, and was hoping Tom wouldn't notice. "Swearing? I thought you of all people would know better."
"Oh shush-" Tord did his best to struggle underneath him. Due to Tord's hands being over his head, his black T-shirt rode up on itself and exposed his lower stomach. Tord, noticing this, attempted to shift in place to get it back down, but failed of course.
Tord huffed and flopped back onto the bed, giving up on trying to struggle, and turning his red face to the side in embarrassment. "Aw what's the matter? You too weak?"
Tom took note of how flustered Tord was. He knew that it was very hard to get Tord all red in the face, but Tom wasn't stupid. He knew what he was doing.
Letting go of Tord's wrists, Tom leaned down and kissed just below his jawline, sending a raging heat to Tord's face. "T-that's not fair-..." Tord whispered shyly, bringing his hands to Tom's shoulders and holding on to the hood of his dark blue hoodie. "What's not fair?" Tom said in a low tone, mimicking Tord's while he was mocking him. "S-shut up-.." Tord whispered once again, even quieter than before as Tom placed gentle kisses along his neck. Tord shivering at the contact.
Tom was satisfied with Tord's flustered state, and sat up between his legs to look at him properly. Tord pulled his arms to his chest and folded them in an unimpressed manner. "That's cheating and you know it-"
"What, just because I know how to get you excited?" Tom said with a mischievous grin. Tord however did not appreciate the remark so much, covering his face and his ears flushing a bright red. How did Tom know this information you ask? Good question.
Tord is usually very blunt when it comes to conversations, take his confession for example. And it just so happens that the topic was brought up. It wasn't originally about what could and couldn't provoke Tord in a certain way mind you, but as the conversation continued and topics were thrown around it just so happened to get mixed in.
"I hate you.." Tord mumbled into his hands. "No you don't." Tom replied, taking Tord's wrists to uncover his face and kissing him. Tord smiled and shoved him playfully, sitting up so their noses were almost touching. "Stop being so mean-" Tord hummed, Tom responding with a smirk. "Why don't you make me?"
"Oh you wanna play that game?" Tord copied Tom's smug expression and brought his face a little closer, so close that he could feel the heat of Tom's cheeks as they went a deep red. Tord put his hands on Tom's chest in a slow motion. "Maybe.." Tom said, getting quieter as Tord soon closed the gap between them with a passionate connection. He giggled as Tom's weight shifted and soon he was back to lying on the bed, Tom covering his face in sweet and loving kisses. Tord laughing softly and wrapping his arms around him.
Without warning, Tom suddenly attacked Tord's sides, leading to Tord yelling out and choking on his laughter. Tom tittering at Tord's attempt to squirm and struggle. But all he could do was kick at the sheets.
"Stop!!" Tord cried out, his vision blurring with tears as his laughter continued. But Tom didn't listen. And Tord could only protest and do his best to bat his hands away like a cat would a string.
Tom paused, keeping his hands glued to Tord's sides and gazing down at his expression. A panting, blushing mess. Tord extended his arm towards Tom and delivered a weak punch to his shoulder. Tom only snickered at the sad attempt at payback. "You're…" Tord huffed, coughing lightly as he caught his breath. "A jerk…"
"Yeah, I know." Tom said with his signature grin, bending down another time to kiss Tord on the cheek and lean into his ear. "You look kinda hot like this." Tom muttered, earning another weak punch to his shoulder. "O-oh my god shut up." Tord whined, putting his face in Tom's shoulder to hide his obvious rousedness towards the comment.
It wasn't a secret that there was some form of sexual tension between the two, giggling and exchanging suggestive comments. But nothing ever really happened. Though it was clear that the thought of it was present in some shape or form and it couldn't help but escape every once in awhile. Tord knew, Tom knew, but both seemed too scared to bring it up.
"Tom?.." Tord mumbled, lifting his face from the fabric of Tom's sweater. "Mhm?" Tom removed his hands from Tord's sides, setting them against the covers as he leaned back a little to look at the boy underneath him. Tord suddenly felt a spike of ill at ease, his stomach sinking as he realized the reason. He needed to get Tom off him. "Could y-you get up? You're crushing me." Tord faked a chuckle in an attempt to seem more convincing. "How? I'm crazy light there's no way-" He leaned down once more, the feeling of Tom pushing against him made Tord panic and suddenly slam his hands against Tom's shoulders to stop him from going any further. "Wait!-"
"What, did I hurt you?" Tom asked, a bit worried that he was actually crushing him. Well in a certain way he was, just not in the way he thought. "No, it's not that.." Tord said quietly. "It's just, um.. I need you to move your-... Um…" Tord had gotten so quiet at this point that Tom could barely hear him. And he didn't realize the problem until he followed Tord's eyes down and saw just how close he really was, the button of his black jeans pressing against the seam of Tord's shorts. "O-oh- Am I-" Tom sat up quickly and looked down again, Tord sitting up awkwardly and folding his legs.
Tord was somewhat relieved since if he hadn't made Tom move when he did, things would have been a lot worse. And yet a small part of him felt a hint of regret for stopping him, and an even smaller part of him was maybe even enjoying it. "I-I'm sorry I didn't even realize-"
"Tom it's fine," Tord chuckled. "It's really not a big deal." As well as Tord could hide it, he was extremely conflicted on what to say next. The way Tom pinned him down to the bed and whispered into his ear sparked something inside him that he wasn't quite sure of. And yet, he wanted it to happen again. "A-are you sure?-" Tom glanced down between Tord's legs, leading to Tord closing them fully and looking at him with an intrigued expression. "What are you looking for down there?-" Tom was caught off guard and blushed a deep red as he met eyes with him again. "Um.."
"What, checking if your plan worked?" Tord joked, expecting a somewhat goofy response. Instead, what he got was a far more blunt reply. "Well, yeah-" Tom said quietly. "I mean, um. I don't know-" Tord was a bit stunned, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "W-were you actually seeing if-" Tord cut off quickly, clearing his throat to try and break the awkward atmosphere as his face flushed. The two went silent. Until Tom spoke once again.
"I'm sorry.."
"Tom it's okay."
"B-but I made it weird and-"
"Tom no you didn't, it really didn't bother me trust me-" Tom intertwined his hands and set them on his legs, looking back up to him slowly. "It didn't?.."
"Yes, it didn't. You don't need to be all shy and guilty about it, really it's okay." Tord could feel his face start to glow as he replayed the incident in his head, the familiar ache sparking throughout his body. God this is such a mess. Not the situation however, no, Tord.
Tom noticed of course, he had gotten quite good at reading how Tord was feeling. It was the little things. Like how Tord's accent was always much stronger when he was flustered, and how he always slurred his Rs. That was the big give away. And in this case he has shown signs of both.
The topic was soon brought to an end when Tord suggested they do something else, Tom agreed and watched as Tord jumped off the bed and picked up his sketchbook, setting it down neatly on Tom's bedside table and leaning his head out of the window. "Want to go for a little walk?"
"Isn't it supposed to rain?"
"There are literally no clouds, we'll be fine. Come on!" Tord chirped and left the room, Tom jumping to his feet and following close behind him. It was nice to get out of the house again, walking blindly purely for the fun of it.
"Where are we going anyway?" Tom asked, Tord tugging him forward by his hand. "Honestly, I don't know."
"Okay now I know we're going to get lost."
"We'll be fine, I know the area pretty well." Tord paused for a moment and looked at the boy beside him. "I have an idea, come on." Tord said with an excited expression, pulling Tom behind him.
As they walked Tom took note of each house they passed by. White, white, brown, white, beige. Every house with it's own personality, it's own attitude. But he soon grew tired of it and turned his attention to the boy pulling him along by the hand. A yellow hoodie, tight black shorts, his usual flats, and a small silver chain around the back of his neck from what Tom could see. He hadn't seen him wear that necklace in a while. Tom smiled at the small detail, watching his horns bounce lightly with every step.
Before long Tord suddenly took a sharp turn into a small back path leading to a large open field, surrounded by a border of fenced houses and large trees sprinkled all over the open grass. "Whoa." Tom spit out, gaining a grin from Tord. "I know right, I used to come here a lot."
"Do you not anymore?"
"Well, it's better with a friend, more fun that way. And I just didn't have anyone to take here." Tom continued marching through the grass, small mushrooms and ferns catching his eyes.
Tord didn't stop walking until they reached a dark red fence, the condition of said fence lacking in show. The wood was old and worn down, the paint peeling off in large strips of hardened colour. Tom couldn't help himself and pulled off one of the pieces, the slick sound of wood made him smile with satisfaction. Tord let go of Tom's hand and crouched down, kicking open a few loose boards. "Whoa whoa what are you doing-"
"Keep it down or we'll get caught-"
"Get caught doing what??" Tord shushed him and motioned towards the fence, triggering Tom to crouch and watch as Tord crawled through the small opening. Tom stuck his head in and looked around. A garden, a big one too. Full of greenery and vegetables. The small hole Tord had crawled through was hidden by a large wall of tomato vines, being held up by skinny poles of wood. It was obviously located in someone's backyard, and that's what made Tom worry most. "Do you know who lives here?" Tom whispered, earning a grin from Tord that only spiked his nervousness. "Well, yes and no. Just come on, I promise it's worth it."
Tom gulped hard before getting on his knees and squeezing through the small hole, Tord moving back more to make room for him. "Now what?" Tom said as he rubbed his side, which got caught on the chipping wood on his way in. "Follow me." Tord got on his hands and knees and began making his way through the hidden garden soil, passing more vines of various foods and plants. The smell of raw earth and sweet greenery filling his nose as he ducked to avoid a leaf about the size of a dinner plate.
From in front of him, Tom heard Tord coo in delight. "Perfect" he said, keeping his voice down as he reached for the damp stem of a rhubarb plant.
"Is that rhubarb?" Asked Tom. Tord nodded and handed him a freshly picked stalk, the large leaf tugged off and now lying in the soil. "I've never had rhubarb before." Whispered Tom, sitting on his legs. Tord gave him a look of surprise. "Are you serious?" He Whispered back, now holding a stalk of his own and ripping off the leaf, planting himself in front of Tom and sitting properly. "You're really missing out." Tord said as he bit into the end.
Tom looked down at the rhubarb stem in his hand and admired the fade from red to green, and seeing Tord enjoy the food gave him a new found confidence. So without hesitation, Tom reluctantly bit into the soft flesh of the veggie. As the juice poured into his mouth Tom was hit with a sudden sour sensation, like a mouth full of static, and pulled his face away from the stem to spit out the bite. The chunk of green hitting the ground. Tord only laughed quietly.
"Too sour?"
"I didn't know it was gonna taste like that!" Tom raised his voice, getting a small shush from Tord. "Well what did you expect?"
"For it to be sweet or something-"
"Try the end, the red parts usually sweeter."
Tom looked at the end of the stem, now anxious about taking another bite. But of course he did anyway. The taste was still tart, and almost as sour as the last one, but Tord did have a point. It was mildly sweeter.
"How is it?" Tord said with a smile, somehow already down to the center of his rhubarb. "Well it's certainly sweeter." Tom said, chewing his bite and fighting back the urge to spit out the piece. "I never expected it to taste like this- I mean I've had rhubarb pie before, but it tasted nothing like this does. Also why do they put vegetables in pies? That's just wrong."
Tord giggled. "Well my mom puts zucchini in her cakes, but you can't taste it."
"Did she put zucchini in those cupcakes?"
"Oh probably." Tom cringed. "Ew."
"Oh shut up you liked them."
"Not anymore." Tom joked, Tord took what was left of his rhubarb and hit Tom with it, luckily Tom was quick to cross his arms and block it. The fight continued, the stems becoming swords as they were swung from side to side. And between each attack a short giggle was exchanged between the two. But Tord suddenly came to a dead stop when he heard the sound of a screen door sliding open, and the voice of a middle aged woman. She didn't sound happy.
"Who the hell is in my garden?? I suggest you come out before I grab the damn hose and soak ya!" The woman cried, a strong colour of anger in her voice. "God damn city kids, should have stayed where I was on the edge of town-" she grumbled, her voice getting louder as she started to approach the garden. Tord looked at Tom in a state of panic, yet a smile spread across his face. His eyes screaming "go!". Tom dropped the rhubarb and shot around, crawling as fast as he could with Tord shortly behind him. Just as the woman began pushing away the leaves and plants, Tom managed to slip out of the hole with Tord tumbling after him. Without missing a beat Tord slammed the loose boards back into place and pressed his back against the fence to hide, Tom doing the same.
The woman groaned and began to dig through the bush, pushing past the vines of tomatoes that concealed the now closed entrance. Tom and Tord both sat in silence as they heard the lady bend down and pick up the half eaten rhubarb from the other side of the fence. "My rhubarb!.. Y'all better stay out of my yard ya hear?? If I catch you in here again I'll deal with ya myself!-" she yelled, expecting them to be far away by now. Her ignorance making Tord grin.
As her heavy breath soon disappeared and the screen door was dragged shut, Tom let out a sharp exhale he didn't know he was holding in. "I've never gotten that close to getting caught before-" Tord said, his voice still quiet in fear that the woman was still lurking out of sight. "This was a really bad idea."
"Yeah." Tord agreed.
"Let's not do this again."
"Okay."
The two went silent for a moment, until Tord looked at him.
"That was really fun-"
"Yeah-" Tom chuckled.
"I know a yard that has raspberries if you--"
"Lead the way." Tom said in excitement, leaping to his feet and tugging Tord up by his now messy hoodie sleeve.
"Garden raiding" is what Tord called it. It's not everyday that you get to trespass on someone's property, and Tom knew it was wrong. But god was it fun. Running with reckless abandon into the arms of mischief. And to think, he was doing this because of Tord. He was having the time of his life because of Tord.
And he couldn't help but wonder.
Where would he be without him?