Afraid of Love
Chapter Nine
"Was that your boyfriend?" Felix asked, still smirking. He was wearing another dress, Berwald remarked. This time it was a pale pink colour. Actually, it was more of a peach colour.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Berwald said carefully. Obviously he wasn't careful enough because Felix snorted and started laughing.
"Yeah right! 'When do you get off work?', 'After you're finished, would you like to come see me?'" Felix placed a hand on his hip. "Yeah, he's totally your boyfriend."
Berwald raised an eyebrow. "How do you know it's a he?"
"Please. How about the name 'Tino'?" Felix smiled and sat on the ground.
"Just how much of our conversation did you hear?"
"Enough. So, who is he? Tell me everything!"
Berwald blushed. "He's no one."
"Liar!" Felix sang. "Come on, tell me!"
Berwald sighed and sat on the grass next to Felix, resigning himself to a long gossip. "Well, his name's Tino. I don't know his last name though."
Felix raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's never a good sign."
"He's Finnish. I met almost two weeks ago, in the shopping centre." Berwald proceeded to tell him about how he had scared Tino, and then how they had later met again in the park. He held out his phone and showed Felix the texts, telling them about their conversation. "He works in that big restaurant. The Castle de Soleil."
Felix gasped. "No way! I was just there earlier!"
"Really? Why?"
Felix huffed and looked away. "I had a fight with Toris this morning. He has been ignoring me for ages! It's not fair. Like, he won't pay attention to my rants, or he'll actually snap at me! Toris doesn't even know what anger is! He can only get frustrated!" Felix sighed and wrapped his arms around his knees. "I just don't get it. Anyway, so I went to that French place. Y'know, to treat myself because Toris was a complete insensitive jerk!"
Berwald was at lost. He had no idea how to comfort someone, especially about a relationship.
"So, what does Tino look like? I might've seen him."
Berwald smiled slightly. "Well, he's a little short. He has blonde hair, pale skin, violet eyes and is a little on the curvy side. But I think he's cute. And he has the most adorable accent! He always seems happy, but I can tell there is something else…" Berwald turned to look at Felix, whose face was frozen over and his eyes wide.
"Uh," Felix cleared his throat. "I think I met him."
"What? You did?"
"Uh, yep. He was my waiter." Felix ducked his head. Uh oh, what did he do? "I was really mean to him! I was in such a bad mood, and I was really distracted! Like, I didn't even realise that I had ordered sushi! And how I got that at a French restaurant I will never know…" Felix peeked at Berwald. "I'm sorry."
Berwald's eyes flashed. He felt something different, his temper that he kept buried deep beneath masks and facades. "Okay, but watch what you say to Tino from now on." He raised an eyebrow and felt a jolt of superiority as he saw Felix gulp. Berwald quickly shook his head and muttered an apology. He had to be more careful; he could never go back to how he was…
"Uh, okay. I promise I'll tell him I'm sorry."
"Tell who you're sorry?" A man asked behind them.
Felix glanced over his shoulder at the man before looking away disinterestedly. "Oh, it's you."
Berwald looked confusedly at both of them. Judging by Felix's reaction, this man was Toris. He felt a flicker of worry. Would he be angry that Berwald was spending so much time with Felix? Granted that they had only really spoken twice, but that fact might be overlooked by the fact that they were in a rocky part of their relationship.
Toris looked at Berwald nervously. "Uh, hi, sir." He held out his hand. "I'm Toris, I work on the boat, too."
Berwald shook his hand, trying to control is strength. "Hello," he mumbled, but maybe it came out as a grumble? "I'm Berwald."
Toris seemed to relax, and he smiled. "Oh, so you're Berwald. Yeah, Felix told me about you. Only good things, I swear!" He added quickly, only half joking. Even though Berwald hadn't intentionally done anything to scare Toris, he still intimidated him.
Berwald noticed how tense Toris still was, so he tried to relieve the man. He chuckled. Judging by Toris' flinch, that didn't work. "So, how are you?" Berwald ventured. That sounded like pretty standard thing to say.
Toris blinked. "Uh, I'm fine."
Felix snorted. "Of course, now you're fine. What happened to being all stressed and annoyed, huh? Or is that just to make me piss off!" he snapped.
Toris winced and sat beside Felix, who looked away. Berwald, feeling awkward yet again, decided to fiddle around with his tools and whatnot. "Felix, I didn't mean to upset you."
"I don't care." Felix mumbled, a lump growing in his throat. There was no way he was crying! Secretly, though, Felix loved the attention that he was finally getting from Toris.
Toris wrapped an arm around Felix. When it wasn't shrugged off, he continued. "Felix, I'm sorry."
Felix slowly looked back at Toris, his eyes watering. "You're sorry?"
Toris nodded. "I'm sorry, I should of payed you more attention."
Felix sighed and rested his head on Toris' shoulder. "Okay, I forgive you. Oh, by the way, I spent like fifty dollars at a restaurant today." Well, now seemed as good a time as ever. "I blame the drinks I ordered. But you can't be mad at me now that you just apologised! It was your fault anyway."
Toris decided that it wasn't worth arguing about it. "Okay, it doesn't matter."
"Really!?"
"Yep. So, what were you guys talking about?"
"Uh, I was rude to Berwald's boyfriend. But I didn't know it was his boyfriend!"
"He isn't my boyfriend." Berwald corrected.
"Not yet." Felix countered.
"Where'd this person go?" Toris asked, looking around. "Don't tell me that you made them cry, Felix."
"No! Tino was the waiter who served me at the place where I spent… a lot…" Felix trailed off.
Berwald nodded. "He's coming here after six."
Felix squealed. "This is going to be so much fun! Okay, I have lot's to teach you." Felix stopped and gasped. "Wait!" He turned and jumped onto Toris, forcing him to the ground and burying his face in Toris' chest. "What if he hates me now? No, I've ruined everything! I was looking forward to hanging with Berwald's boyfriend and now he won't like me!"
"He still isn't my boyfriend." Berwald knelt beside Felix. "I'm sure Tino will like you, once he realises that you weren't at your best before. You two would both get along."
"…Really?"
"I'm sure."
"Well that's great!" Felix sprang up from Toris, who was concentrating on breathing. "I just have to say I'm sorry and everything will be fine! Now," Felix looked at Berwald in the eyes, dead serious. "I have to teach you about flirting."
-six-thirty-
Okay, so maybe Tino had been a coward and texted Berwald instead of calling him. It had turned out to be too much temptation for Eliza and she had attacked him for the phone. Literally, she had jumped on top of him and refused to let go of him. He had scratches from her nails to prove it! And then Roderick had turned against him! That traitor! Tino was mortified when he read over the texts to see that they had made it look like he had asked him out. And in the end Tino still had to ring Berwald. Maybe that had been Eliza's plan all along…?
But there was something he was forgetting. Berwald had agreed to 'Tino' asking him out. What was that supposed to mean? Did Berwald realise how Eliza and Roderick had meant it? Or had he thought it was just a normal thing?
Tino shook his head. Of course he didn't think of it as anything else. And Tino didn't want anything other than a friend. But he could still remember Berwald telling him he loved him… He sighed. That had to have been a mistake. Or a joke. Heck, Tino may have even dreamed it up! Besides, who would want Tino? He was stupid, he was pathetic, he was tainted…
'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.' Tino thought as he saw Berwald up ahead. And he could see two others with him! Sure, Tino was a friendly person, but that didn't mean he wanted to meet several other people all at once!
'Too late now.' Tino thought as Berwald looked up and waved. He forced a smile onto his face and hurried over to them, looking ever the happy, bubbly person. "Hey Berwald!"
"Hello, how's your elbow?"
Tino shrugged. "It's fine. It'll be back to normal soon enough." He turned to the others. "Hi, I'm Tino."
A man with long brown hair held his hand. "Hi, I'm Toris. It's nice to meet you, Tino."
Tino stared at him with a tight smile. Did he really have to shake his hand? He knew it was polite, but still… He didn't want to touch someone, especially someone that he had just met. Toris, who was feeling a little awkward, dropped his hand and gestured to Felix, who was currently hiding behind him.
"This is Felix, by the way. He's a little shy around strangers."
Tino felt a little relief at that. At least he wasn't the only one who had that problem. He tried to peer around Toris to see Felix, but the man wasn't letting him. Finally, Felix peeped his head out and looked at Tino fearfully.
Tino gasped. "You're the guy from the restaurant today!"
"He remembers!" Felix crowed. He shoved Toris towards Tino. "It was all his fault! All of it! He made me angry this morning so I was like a total jerk to everyone! Including you!" Felix grabbed Toris and hid back behind him. "I'm sorry…"
Tino bit his lip, feeling a little bad for Felix. Everyone said things they didn't mean when they were in a bad mood, Tino especially. He guessed he could forgive him. Besides, Felix seemed a little delicate. Tino would have to be a little careful right now if they were going to be friends.
Tino walked around to Felix. "Hey," he said softly. "It's okay, I don't blame you."
Felix's eyes peered out from his blanket of hair. "Really?"
Tino smiled. "Yeah, it's fine."
Felix beamed and grabbed Tino, enveloping him in a hug. "Yay! This is great! We are going to be such good friends. What do you like? Do you like clothes? Ooh! I know the best outfit for you!"
Tino was rigid. 'It's okay,' he told himself. 'Just calm down, he'll let go soon…. He's not letting go! He's not letting go!" Tino squirmed a little. "Uh, Felix? I would really appreciate you letting go. Yeah, thanks." He said, stepping a few steps back. He felt a shudder run through him. Great first impression.
Felix looked at him confusedly, but he didn't comment on it, thankfully. "Oh by the way, Toris is my boyfriend. So I just want you to know that we are totally cool with you being gay and all."
Tino raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's nice."
Felix blushed. "I mean, if you are gay! It's fine if you're not, I was just saying. And someone might be crushed if you were straight, but that doesn't matter." Felix cleared his throat and looked at the other two who were coincidentally looking away from him.
Tino cleared his throat. "Well, thank you, but I really don't think that my, uh, sexual preference is really important."
Felix nodded. "Yeah, okay." He grabbed Tino's wrist, ignoring his flinch. "Hey, why don't we go over there and talk." He said quickly, dragging Tino over to a bench right on the edge of the Harbour.
Berwald felt a little jealous that Felix got to spend more time with Tino than himself. But that feeling quickly left him as he heard Tino laughing and growing more comfortable around them.
Toris laughed. "It's nice to see him warm up to a stranger so quickly." Berwald nodded, not realising that they were both thinking of different people. Toris snorted. "I hope that Felix doesn't scare him too much." He lowered his voice. "We both noticed how much he flinches whenever someone touches him, right?"
Berwald nodded. "He does that a lot. He virtually attacked me when I picked him up. He said he'd prefer pain over contact…"
"Wait, what? When did you pick him up?"
Berwald blushed before catching Toris up. Toris did his best to help Berwald by correcting his social mistakes. He did his best to help him understand boundaries, but Toris wasn't sure that Berwald got it. He still thought that picking up a stranger was fine. Toris tried to tell him that the only time he should pick a stranger up was if they were injured, but Berwald was still disagreeing with him. They'd get back to that later.
Suddenly there was a shout behind them. "Felix!" Tino cried out as he struggled to hold onto him, desperately ignoring his haphephobia*. Felix was about to fall into the Harbour and was desperately clinging onto Tino for support.
But Tino wasn't enough and they both tumbled into the dark water.
AN: Heyo, my creatures! HAHAHA CLIFFIE! Aren't you guys happy? I updated like two days earlier! WOOOOH IT SHALL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!
Just so you know, haphephobia is the fear of being touched, especially in an intimate of sexual manner. Some react to being touched (eg, hugging) by freezing up, crying or something else that I have forgotten. But it gets better with people they're more used to.
Later creatures. Please review! With rainbows! And chocolate! And more reviews! And Berwald hugs….
