AN: First chapter with a significant deviation from the mostly-chronological chapters. Just another reminder to be sure and check the chapter ritle to see when we are, so stuff can make sense.
It figures that they'd serve tacos for lunch at school that day.
Schroeder had already been having a rough morning. He'd told Lucy about it on the walk to the cafeteria:
He'd stayed up late the previous night, engrossed in some new composition of his, and forgot to set his alarm for school. After Lucy had let herself into his house when he failed to answer the door, they'd been running so late that he didn't have time for his routine breakfast bagel. So he ended up hungrier than normal by the time noon rolled around.
Then, his morning classes consisted of two tests in subjects he wasn't very fond of, and he wasn't feeling very confident about the results of either one. The aforementioned music-writing had been a way to procrastinate from studying.
In another class, he was paired with Charlotte for an in-class assignment. He didn't dislike Charlotte, but she always got offended when you asked her to speak more quietly, he hadn't felt like trying to bring up toning it down, and being in close proximity with her for nearly an hour had overloaded his senses.
And, to top it all off, it was Taco Tuesday. Lucy had most of Schroeder's safe foods committed to memory, and tacos were not a part of that list. The poor sap couldn't even get a decent meal in his stomach.
Lucy offered him her muffin, so he could eat it in addition to his own, and he had eaten it after declining it at first, but he wasn't able to get anything else to eat. In fact, after they had sat down at their usual spot with their friends, he didn't do much but stare at the pattern on the tabletop.
Schroeder didn't always participate in the table's conversation. That wasn't abnormal. Normally, when he was silent, he was looking at his friends as they talked, or occupying himself with something else, like homework, or tapping his fingers to whatever sonata was stuck in his head.
Today, he only stared, and fidgeted with a button on his vest.
As she ate her lunch, Lucy stayed mostly silent, too. She recognized this behavior. He was shutting down. She'd seen it happen several times, but it was the first time it had happened since they started dating.
His shutdowns always worried her, but before, she mostly just tried to ease up on him when she saw him like that. She figured Schroeder didn't want her bugging him, even in a friendly way, when he was in that state. But things were different between now; it was the first time it had ever occurred to her that stepping in might actually help him.
Lucy nudged Schroeder's shoulder. "Hey. Let's go to the music room for the rest of lunch."
He looked her way and blinked numbly. "Why?"
"Because I want to."
It was a few seconds before he replied again. "Will the teachers even let us?"
"They're not paying attention to us. And besides, it's not like we're gonna be missed here, either."
Charlie Brown and Sally were bickering about something inane, Linus was engrossed in his meal, watching the Browns go back and forth, and Pat and Marcie were having their own conversation at a low volume. It was as good of a time as any to step away.
She stood up and looked at him expectantly until he did the same a few seconds later. Linus was the only one who noticed. "Where are you guys going?"
Lucy replied, "We're two teenagers who are courting each other and we're sneaking off to an empty classroom. What do you think we're doing? We're gonna go canoodle."
"Oh, Jesus Christ," Linus said in a flat yet exasperated tone as he rolled his eyes.
Just as she guessed, Lucy and Schroeder were able to escape both their table and the teachers unnoticed. The last thing they heard was Sally raising her voice from across the room about her opinion on vacuum cleaners and being shushed by the faculty.
As they slipped out the cafeteria door, Schroeder frowned. "Lucy, I don't really feel like, uh… canoodling right now. I'm really tired."
"Relax, I just told him that to gross him out." She took his hand. "It's a sibling thing."
"Oh." The bags under his eyes persisted. "Then I don't feel like playing the piano, either, if that's why you're taking me to the music room."
Lucy's saddle shoes clacked against the linoleum of the hallway. "That's exactly why I'm taking you somewhere quiet. If you're telling me you don't even feel like playing the piano, we need to fix that."
He didn't respond.
After another turn, they reached the music room, which was completely silent. If you didn't know better, you would have thought school wasn't in session that day; you couldn't even hear any noises in nearby rooms. Motes of dust danced in the rays of sunlight coming through the windows, and the more shadowy parts of the room looked cozy and calm.
She led him to the grand piano, and they both sat down on the bench.
Lucy squeezed his hand. "You don't have to play. There's just no other double seats in here, and of course, I wanted to sit with you."
It was so quiet, she could hear Schroeder breathing. He stared at the keys, but didn't reach for them. A deep, slow sigh entered and then left his lungs.
She laid her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes as she felt his muscles relax a bit. They stayed quiet for a few minutes, their sides pressed together as they felt the rise and fall of each other's breathing.
The silence was only broken by a soft statement from Schroeder. "You're right. This is helping. How'd you know I was shutting down?"
"I know you. And I know you like peace and quiet."
Lucy lifted Schroeder's hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles one by one. A wave of gratification washed over her when he shivered in response to her touch, but she tried to remember her primary goal and ignored the urge to start fluttering her eyelashes at him and kicking her feet.
They sat together for a little while longer, and when she thought to glance at the clock, she saw there were only five minutes left until the bell rang.
Better say something. She didn't want it to startle them both. "Class is in a couple minutes. Are you feeling okay?"
She saw Schroeder open his eyes and look at the clock as well. He said, "Well, I'm certainly better than I was."
"Do you wanna skip and go get something to eat at Sparky's?"
"No, I can hold out until the day's over, I think. Thanks for the muffin." He sighed again, but it didn't sound wistful. "You know, sometimes I really like being autistic, but sometimes it's a real pain in the ass."
Lucy nuzzled his shoulder with her cheek. "Well, if you ever need a minute, just let me know and I'll help you. Or I'll just tell everyone else to shut up. They'd listen."
He rested one hand on the keys and gently pulled the other hand away from hers. "Do you mind?"
"Of course not. Play some Ludwig for me if you're feeling up to it."
Piano notes filled the empty classroom, relatively simple at first, but then more intricate. All of them were soothing.
Schroeder asked, "Do you remember what this one is called?"
"Hmm…" Lucy shut her eyes again, scrunching them up as she thought. "His third piano concerto, right? But you skipped the orchestra part."
"Right." He smiled. "Do you know which movement?"
She pursed her lips in thought, but shook her head.
"The second. Largo."
"Of course. Should have known."
"It's okay. You still get an A plus."
