No. No no no no no. This cannot be happening.
Tino clutched his history test in his hands, his knuckles white from the force of his grip. Tears began to well up in his eyes, but he blinked furiously to clear them away. He didn't want anyone in the class to see him cry. As if an F on a test wasn't mortifying enough.
Though his hands were still trembling, he did his best to calmly smooth out the edges of his test, hiding the deplorable grade from both himself and his table mate. Tino could not believe himself. He knew that history was one of his weaker subject areas, and he never did particularly well on any test. But to earn only 57% on one of the most important tests of the semester? That was a new low, even for him.
I need help, Tino thought, and fast.
Though he was not feeling particularly up to it, as he wanted more than anything to run back to his dorm and cry, Tino forced himself to pay attention for the rest of the hour. He jotted down close to everything that his professor said and listened with full attention when his hand was too sore to continue writing.
When the professor finally dismissed the class, Tino was the first to jump up and flee the room. Remaining focused on the lecture had been enough to keep the tears back, but with the sonorous drone of the professor no longer distracting him, Tino couldn't keep the waterworks in check. He gripped the straps on his bag tightly and kept his eyes on the floor, not wanting anyone to see the flush creeping across his face or the tears that now blurred his vision.
Tino's self-proclaimed "walk of shame" across campus to his dorm seemed to stretch out for miles. Had the route always taken this long? Had there always been so many people milling about after classes?
The walk took absolute ages, but Tino found himself in his hallway soon enough, fighting the urge to run to his room.
You're almost there, Tino, he told himself, just keep it together the last few steps. You're fine, don't let anyone know you're here, don't let anyone know you're upset, don't let anyone know you failed.
Tino's heart stopped when he heard the telltale creak of a door opening behind him, indicating that one of his floor mates was about to come out and see him. Tino was generally well liked by everyone on his floor, so that would probably lead to the other student stopping him to talk. They would see his face, and ask him if something was wrong, and he would start to cry, and he would be ruined.
Don't look at me, don't talk to me, just keep walking, just leave me alone, Tino chanted in his head, hoping against all odds that the other student would just go on their own merry way.
Tino sighed a breath of relief when no one called out his name, but his internal celebration was short lived. Just as he was passing the door to a room merely feet from his own, said door flung open. A tall, broad blonde named Matthias dashed out and slammed into Tino's shorter, slighter frame.
Due to the fact that Matthias had been in a hurry and Tino was a solid (if not significant) obstacle, both boys wound up falling to the floor in a tangle, Tino losing his backpack and Matthias his water bottle in the process. The resounding thunk was impressive, making the fall sound more painful than it really was. Tino was not hurt in the least, but he was already so emotionally distraught that the startling event was more than trigger enough for him to lose his grip. In moments, tears were rolling down his cheeks while he shook and gasped for air.
Matthias immediately untangled himself from Tino, rolling back on his heels. "Oh my gosh, Tino, I'm so sorry! I totally didn't even see you there. Look, I'm kind of in a hurry, and I'm not really in the mood to be destroyed by your boyfriend, so I'm gonna run. So sorry, remind me to buy you a drink later!" Matthias apologized profusely, stringing all of his words together in one breath. He quickly rose to continue on his mad dash to whatever he was probably late for, pausing for a nanosecond to grab his water bottle and call his roommate out to deal with Tino.
Matthias was just disappearing around the corner when Berwald made it to Tino's side. Lucky for Matthias too, because there was murder in Berwald's eyes. Tino and Berwald had been together for little more than a year, but the massive blonde was fiercely protective of his delicate boyfriend. Tino shuddered to think what Matthias might be facing later, glad that at the very least Matthias was faster than Berwald.
"T'no, 're you ok'y?" Berwald asked, helping his boyfriend to his feet.
Tino took one look at the deep concern in Berwald's eyes and completely lost all traces of what little control he had left. Sobs wracked his frame and hot, heavy tears poured down his cheeks.
Berwald was frantic. He stopped touching Tino, afraid he was hurting him. He barraged Tino with questions, asking him where he was hurt, if he was bleeding, if he needed the infirmary, if he needed an ambulance.
Tino was by no means capable of providing Berwald with an intelligible answer, so he simply stepped into Berwald's arms. Berwald's torso was thick and muscled, so Tino could barely fit his arms around his boyfriend to hug him, but he clutched at Berwald's shirt nevertheless. Tino pressed his face into Berwald's chest, staining the blonde's shirt with tears.
Berwald, deeming it safe to provide his boyfriend with physical comfort, bent his knees slightly and wrapped his strong arms around Tino's narrow waist. Tino clutched more tightly to his boyfriend as he was lifted from his feet and carried into Berwald's room. Berwald somehow managed to nudge Tino's backpack into the room with his foot without tripping on it; an impressive feat for someone holding a fully grown boy. Tino was so distraught he barely registered the scraping of his backpack on the floor or loud click of the door closing.
The room that Berwald shared with Matthias was small, but despite the lack of space to work with, it was very clear that two completely different individuals lived there. One side of the room was utter chaos. There were clothes (dirty? clean?) scattered everywhere. Loose sheets of paper and miscellaneous text books were spread indiscriminately on the floor, a desk, and a bed. The desk and bed were complete train wrecks.
The other side of the room was neat and orderly, with everything clearly having a place of its own. The bed was made, there was no laundry in sight, and the desk appeared untouched. It was this side of the room that Berwald carried Tino to. With a gentleness he did not outwardly appear capable of, Berwald placed Tino on the small futon under his bunk. Tino was clearly reluctant to let Berwald break contact with him, so Berwald found himself half reclining on his futon with Tino somehow still wrapped around him and crying into his chest.
While Tino cried, Berwald did his best to soothe him by petting his hair, rubbing his back, rocking, and whispering words of comfort. He didn't know what was wrong, but he knew Tino well enough to know that he would speak up when he was ready. All he needed for the moment was someone to hold him while he let go of whatever was upsetting him.
Before long, Tino began winding down. His chest stopped heaving and he loosened his death grip on Berwald. Slowly,he pushed himself up so that he was just sitting on his boyfriend's lap. With a heavy sigh, he finally turned to face Berwald.
Berwald gently wiped away the tears that were beginning to dry on Tino's face, stroking his boyfriend's cheek with his thumb. Tino leaned into Berwald's touch, glad for the contact.
"D' you wan' to t'lk 'bout what's b'therin' you?" Berwald asked quietly, "You don' have to 'f you don' wan' to, but 'm here to l'st'n."
Tino took in a long, steadying breath, and explained to Berwald that he had just failed the most important history test of the semester outside of his final exam. He said that now he had at least a D in the class, because he had never done well on previous tests. He explained that he was always so confused in the class, and he could never just pay attention or remember anything gone over in class.
"I don't understand," Tino said, tears beginning to run down his face once more, "I try so hard in that class, but no matter what I do, I still let myself down. I don't know what to do anymore. I was hoping at least for a B, even a B-, but it looks like that's never going to happen."
Rant finally over, Tino fell back into Berwald's arms. Tino wasn't sure what it was about Berwald's arms, but being in them always made him feel better. They were so big and strong and warm. When Berwald hugged Tino, the smaller boy's entire torso would disappear behind all the muscle. It was comforting to know all of that muscle was there to protect Tino and make him feel safe and loved. Tino traced small patterns on Berwald's chest with one finger, listening to the sound of his boyfriend's strong heartbeat and steady breathing. Though he was still upset, he had completely exhausted himself from crying, and the warm reminders of Berwald's existence were beginning to lull Tino to sleep.
"Well, Tino," Berwald said, "We c'n t'lk 'bout it more l'ter, but I act'lly h've an A 'n h'str'y. I can try m' best to h'lp you."
Tino let out a long yawn, stretching against Berwald. "Really?" He asked drowsily.
Berwald smiled down at Tino, his heart squeezing at the sight of his adorable boyfriend falling asleep in his arms. He pressed a soft kiss to the smaller boy's forehead. "Y's, r'lly. We c'n t'lk 'bout it 'fter your nap."
"My nap?" Tino asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Y's, your nap." Berwald began to stand up slowly, helping Tino along. He grabbed Tino's bag and guided the boy down the hall to his own room, knowing that his boyfriend had had a stressful morning and needed a nap to recharge.
Tino fumbled with his key so much that Berwald had to take it from him. Berwald was standing behind Tino, so he had to reach his arms around the smaller boy to get at the lock. Tino leaned back into Berwald as he did this and hummed happily. For a moment, an image flashed through his head of Berwald doing the same thing in the future, but instead of opening a dorm room so Tino could take a nap, he was opening the door to their first home together. Tino allowed himself a smile smile, but was soon ushered into his room by Berwald.
Tino's roommate was nowhere to be found, so Berwald came in to make sure Tino got into bed. He helped Tino out of his shoes and jeans, then tucked him snugly into bed.
Tino was so happy for the love and attention he wriggled with joy under the blankets. Berwald smiled widely, then brushed the hair from Tino's face and gave him a long, loving kiss. For just an instant, Berwald imagined he was tucking Tino in after a long day at work. Berwald wished more than anything that he could crawl into bed with his boyfriend and hold him while he napped, but it simply wasn't allowed. He didn't want Tino to get in trouble, especially with his slightly homophobic roommate.
"I love you," Berwald whispered into Tino's ear.
Tino smiled, but couldn't respond, because he was already fast asleep.
Berwald grinned, kissed Tino once more, then slipped out of the room to find Matthias and beat him to death.
...
Hey all! Thanks for taking the time to read my story! I really hope you liked it. I actually wrote this and posted it on tumblr back in January, but since I've had this fanfiction account for longer without actually including anything, I thought I should transfer my works of fanfiction to this site as well. Right? Well, if you're interested, you can also reblog or like or do whatever with this story on my tumblr blog under the same username: blog/waterfromsand Always know that I am open to any future fanfic ideas that you might have, so feel free to message me here or on Tumblr! Thanks kids c;