Mathias had always had a great life. He grew up without a father, and he didn't really ever think of it in a bad way. He actually loved his mother and was really close with her. He spent almost every moment with her. Even though he was a very social kid, he never was able to make many close friends because of how much of a momma's boy he was. And when he was 14, his mother decided they should move. She didn't have the best of reputations in their little town where Mathias had grown up, he wasn't born under the best circumstances, so she wanted the two of them to have a fresh start. Mathias was less than thrilled. He was just about to start the best years of his life at school, and suddenly, they were uprooted from that, and taken from a small country town, to a big city.
Their house was in a nice little neighbourhood a bit away from the main city, it was cute and just enough for the two of them. It had a master bedroom and bathroom, two other bedrooms, and a bathroom downstairs. Mathias liked it, but when he walked in, it didn't feel right. This place wasn't home, he knew that. It didn't feel like home. It had a different smell, a different aura. The whole day as he unpacked all of his clothes into his dresser, put his sheets and blankets onto his bed, he just didn't feel right. It was obvious to anyone that this once bright and excited boy was suddenly very mellowed out and depressed. That night, Mathias climbed into bed, staring off at the empty wall, his eyelids heavy. Why did it have to be this way? He just wanted to go home..
Lukas bolted awake, sweat dripping off his forehead, his heart pounding a million miles an hour. His breathing was heavy, early rays of the sunrise dared to peek into his room and brush his hand. He quickly reached up and ran a hand through his hair, his stomach was churning, nausea was rising in his throat. The blonde quickly got up and rushed to the bathroom down the hall, slamming the door behind him. Down to his knees, Lukas quickly dropped with a hand over his mouth, entire body trembling as he tried to hold down what little there was in his system right now. He didn't remember the last time he had even eaten anything.. Once he started to feel better, Lukas got up off of the floor as fast as he could, still trembling like he was in a snowstorm, shuffling to the door of the bathroom and locking it. He gently knocked his head down onto the wood of the door, only for someone to bag on it.
Emil was Lukas' younger brother, who evidently had woken up to the sound of Lukas getting sick. "Are you ok?" He asked, only a little concern to be found in his tired morning voice. "I have to piss.." he told his brother, and Lukas took a shaking breath, unlocking the door to let him in. "Don't look at me like that, I'll only be a minute, now get out." Lukas glared at his brother before leaving the bathroom, tapping his foot anxiously as he waited. It felt like an eternity before the door opened again and Lukas went back in, slamming the door and locking it again. Emil rolled his eyes and went back to his room. "Crazy.."
Tino almost wasn't sure where he was when he woke up, his eyes felt dry and caked in something when he opened them, when he finally realised, he was in his own bedroom, first time in a long time, and one glance in the mirror showed a lot of dark black makeup surrounded his eyes. He groaned quietly as he got up off of his bed, feet wobbly, like he had just gotten off an airplane. He couldn't even remember what he did at that party.. or even if it was a party. It felt more like a fever dream when bits and pieces came up for him. He wondered what if his parents knew about that or not, Tino pondered on it as he poured out a couple of pills into his hands from a bottle on his dresser. He grabbed a water bottle to wash them down before going out to the bathroom, angrily scrubbing off his face. Right, now he would have to face his parents, the religious freaks they were. He let out a much louder groan as he grabbed something to clean out the newest of his piercings, the one he woke up with last week, that being the one right on his eyebrow. He could only imagine how it got there, and in every image, it wasn't the safe way. He winced as the liquid touched his open skin.
Berwald didn't want to admit it, but he wasn't the best son. Ever since his mother's passing, he didn't get along with his father. He was far from the legal driving age where he lived, but currently he was climbing into the car he had left a couple blocks down in a heavily forested area. He climbed up into the driver seat, turned the key, and off he went down the road to pick up each of his friends. If his father knew he was doing this, he would probably be in a huge deal of trouble, and punished greatly for it. But where did it matter? His father left early before him, and came home after Berwald did. So when would he ever catch his young son driving around.
The first stop Berwald made was to Tino's, where the tired looking boy slammed the front door shut behind him and ran up to berwald's car, jumping in and shoving his seatbelt on. "Drive." He demanded, and Berwald took his orders, quickly leaving the front of the house. He wasn't going to say anything, watching Tino's shaking hands as he brought out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Berwald could notice just how bad Tino's hands were trembling as he started to shake his leg in addition to it all, taking a long drag before he rolled down the window to let the smoke pour from his mouth and nostrils. "Don't fucking stare at me!" Tino yelled angrily, and Berwald focused his eyes back on the road instead.
Lukas was barely ready to go when Berwald got there, yelling goodbye to his father whilst Emil shoved him out the door. Lukas ran downstairs, getting into the back since Tino was in the passenger seat, Emil sitting as far from Lukas as possible. The four of them were pretty silent, all but the few times they heard Lukas have a tough time swallowing his own spit from the backseat. Berwald sometimes had a bit of a hard time believing he was really friends with those two, he wasn't very close with Emil other than driving him to school, he could get home just fine on his own. But when it came to Lukas and Tino, they had a lot of issues and Berwald wasn't sure how to help a lot of the time. He didn't mind being the designated driver when the other two had their fair share of issues. He had come and picked up Lukas more than once to discreetly take him to a doctor because he was throwing up blood, and he picked Tino up maybe once or twice a week from some sort of party he shouldn't be at.
The three arrived at school, and Tino quickly got out so that he could go off somewhere else. Emil said thank you for the ride as he left to walk down the street to his own school, while Lukas sat for a moment. He seemed almost out of it, like he was sleeping with his eyes open. Berwald leaned back, snapping his fingers in the pale boy's face. Lukas came back and looked up at his friend, clearing his throat before he exited the car to go to class. Berwald sighed softly and made sure to lock the doors before he walked with Lukas down the sidewalk.
"You don't look very good.." Berwald said to Lukas, fixing the strap of his book bag on his shoulder. Lukas shrugged as a response. "Do you think you could eat something..?" Lukas shook his head almost as quickly as he heard the word 'eat'. Berwald nodded slowly. "Ok.. Just know I have some easy stuff for you in my bag.."
"I don't mean to be rude.. Sorry.. I just don't think I can right now.." Lukas tried to say, feeling the jabbing pains in his abdomen that seemed to never disappear. He knew why, but he really didn't have any choice, he couldn't fix that. He wished he could, but he couldn't.
The two of them got into the building and Lukas opened his locker, taking a few deep breaths. He didn't feel well again, staring at his books, they seemed to sway. He told Berwald to go ahead and go without him when the bell rang, saying he had to go to the restroom, Berwald telling him to be careful as he left for their first class of the day. Now that Berwald was out of view, Lukas shut his locker and made his way to the restroom.
Mathias had decided the restroom was a good place to be before he got the guts to go to his first class. He was staring at himself in the mirror, plastering smiles on his face and practising how to introduce himself to people. Things like his name, saying hello in different tones of his voice. That's when someone opened the door. Mathias quickly shut himself up as a wobbly looking blonde walked in, only making it a few feet in before Mathias watched in horror as the boy's eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed onto the tile floor. Mathias had to contain his fear, covering his mouth as he slowly crept closer to the limp body on the floor, crouching down and shoving his shoulder. Was he even ok..? He noticed the guy was still breathing, and took a breath of relief. Now he just had to figure it out, how he would get him to the nurse or something. Mathias peeked into the hall, not seeing anybody at all in the halls with him. He groaned quietly before going back inside and looking at the guy on the floor. Mathias took a deep breath before carefully picking him up under the arms and dragging him over to the door, opening it, and started again, trying hard not to drop him as he drug him down the hall.
While it was happening, Lukas felt pretty strange. It wasn't new, he had felt this way before, but it was weird. When his eyes opened a sliver to take in his surroundings, he was close to the ground, but being moved. He couldn't bother to look around anymore before his eyes shut again, and he just let the feeling of being taken somewhere overwhelm him. When he opened his eyes again, he felt someone put something cold on him. He tiredly looked over to see the school nurse, putting a cold water bottle under his neck. Right, now he got it, Lukas assumed he went down again.
"Mr. Bondevik. This is a recurring situation. Am I going to have to call your father this time?" He asked, and Lukas shook his head. "Would you like to tell me why you collapsed in the bathroom first thing in the morning?" Lukas shook his head again, and the nurse sighed. "Look. I get it. You're a teenager and you're having issues. But if you can't explain this to me, I'm either calling your father, or I'm calling an ambulance. Does that make sense to you?"
Lukas hugged himself and frowned. "Just didn't get enough sleep last night. I promise, I feel fine, I'm just tired." Lukas didn't want to tell the truth, if he did, he knew for sure his father would be called, and then he would have to go to the hospital again, which he was not wanting to do. The hospital was his least favourite place, it just gave him bad vibes and bad memories. The nurse figured he couldn't do anything more and sighed.
"You scared the boy who found you half to death. On his first day. You'll have to apologise to him, he's waiting outside for you. Said he wanted to make sure you were alright." Lukas was confused. Some new kid dragged him all the way down here? He could only imagine it was to get something to talk about to other people, Lukas knew people talked about him already. He was just a scrawny sick kid people could push around whenever they wanted, only when Berwald wasn't around, he was like the one protector that Lukas had. He hugged himself after the nurse let him go, and was met by someone he hadn't seen before standing on the wall.
Mathias quickly gained his composure and wiped his palms, which had gotten a bit sweaty, on his pants. "I uhm! Are you ok?" He asked, clearing his throat. Lukas looked at him with extreme confusion, wrinkling his nose. "I.. I'm Mathias, I kinda.. Watched you pass out in the bathroom."
Lukas blinked a few times before he sighed and started to walk away, hearing Mathias follow him. 'Look, I'm not really the guy you should be talking to on your first day. Why can't you just.. Join a sport and talk with those people? You look like a sports kid." Lukas turned around, trying to be dramatic but only making himself dizzy instead and stumbling. Mathias was quick to catch him and help him back up. Lukas flushed a bit and pushed away. "I don't need any help.. I'm ok.."
Mathias was about to speak up when he saw someone walk into the hallway, quickly going over to Lukas and putting a hand on his shoulder. They stepped away for a moment to speak, and then Lukas looked back at Mathias, asking him what his class was supposed to be. After getting a response, Lukas said he would help him find it, since it might be hard to find, and started to walk away with his friend. Berwald, who was keeping a close eye on the new guy, he didn't quite trust him yet, especially around someone like Lukas.
When they got to the classroom, the three of them walked in, all going to sit in their spots, other than Mathias who talked to the teacher first, saying he just got lost, so he didn't embarrass Lukas, then was given a seat. Mathias wasn't sure exactly how to feel, and he just messed with his shirt. This was his first day, and he was already at a negative number of friends. What was he supposed to think about that? He helped someone who was, he assumed, hurt, and he didn't even get to learn his name. Maybe this was the start of something, who knew, Mathias could only learn in time. And he felt tired, beyond belief, he took a deep breath and shut his eyes, only a short rest..
"Mathias." Lukas, shoved the Dane's shoulder as he walked away, fixing his hair and humming. Mathias shot up and wiped his mouth, fresh drool on his chin. "You're so lazy. Maybe I wouldn't have to tutor you if you didn't fall asleep in every class. Come on. We'll meet Tino and Berwald outside." Mathias yawned and stretched, getting up and shoving his books into his bag, running after his slim friend. Mathias had to admit it, after Lukas started to recover, he found he walked a lot faster than before, but there was no complaining needed. Mathias managed to catch up and walk by his side, having to speed up quite a bit. He watched the way Lukas' hair fell into his face with every step, how each curl framed his cheeks. During the time Lukas was recovering, Mathias noticed that Lukas' hair got a lot thicker too, it had been thin and wiry when they first meant, and now it was thick and wavy.
When the two of them got outside, they got into Berwald's car, Mathias going on and on about class that day while Tino lit a cigarette. It was a hot day, right before summer break, and Berwald had the windows down as he started to drive away towards their destination for the weekend. For the past two years, Berwald had been in a different home, somebody else's. And who might that be but none other than Mathias. He had apparently made Hilda feel so bad for him she talked to his father and convinced him to let her take care of him until he graduated. At first, it felt surreal. Now, Berwald felt like he had always been there. He was more than glad to have a woman who felt so loving, a new mother, although Mathias was a pretty annoying brother sometimes.
The four of them didn't really speak on the drive, the only sound was the wind blowing through the windows and the faint sound of music playing on the radio. They finally arrived at their base of operations, the Khøler household. Hilda met them on the porch to say hi, giving Mathias and Berwald their usual hugs and kisses, telling Lukas he looked well today, and plucking the cigarette away from Tino with a laugh, as if it was a silly joke. The group all went upstairs into Mathias' room, all sitting down in various places as they started to talk about homework, and who had what to work on so that they could help each other do it. Lukas was just needing some help with a history assignment, so Tino took another smoke break out the window while the others did their work, he could always copy off of Berwald later too. Tino knew how to pay Berwald back for those favours, and simply without any money either.
The night seemed to approach faster than they imagined, and at eight, Lukas said he was going home, he would catch the bus into the city. The three told him goodbye, and Tino asked if he could spend the night, since it was too late for him to go home. Hilda told him as long as he was up for school in the morning. Tino said he wouldn't even be noticeable in the house, and that made her laugh as she went off to go and get ready for bed herself. Mathias kicked the two out of his room to sleep, Tino was fine with this, he was closer with Berwald, and he had business with him tonight.
It's not to say that people didn't know about these two, most just assumed by the way they spoke to each other. Nobody dared to say anything about it though, they would just be glared down. But they were easily the sneakiest when it came to their relationship. Tino was just sensitive about letting people know, since he was always the single one, while Berwald had a different reason, that being he was doing the same with Lukas. He hated to play them both on, and for the past year? He felt really guilty, but he liked both of them, and he didn't want to choose yet, in the future he would though. For now, Berwald was spending this night with Tino, he almost had the other's body memorised by now. The way he could navigate it without even looking enthralled him. And as they had their fun in the next room over, Mathias didn't even have a clue, out cold asleep.
In the morning, the three woke up around the same time, and left after a short breakfast, piling into the car to go and pick up Lukas. It was their last week, so the four of them decided on what they would do on their last day, all of them chatting over each other and over the radio, which Tino had turned on while enjoying a cigarette. They finally agreed on a few tubs of ice cream and a joyride through the countryside, Mathias once more reminding everyone that they can't get any ice cream with nuts in it, because they seemed to every time despite him reminding them. He was pretty sure they were doing it on purpose, mainly because Tino told him as such. But hey, these were his people, and he honestly felt really glad to have them.