Todd returned to their room later that night, book in hand.
"Hey," Neil said, looking up from his desk. Todd nodded in response and walked towards his bed. Neil removed his glasses and focused on his roommate. "Are you alright?" He asked. After a brief pause he spoke again: "The other guys, well, actually just Knox, he was talking about you. He said you seem off."
"Oh… Knox said that? I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me," Todd replied, glancing away as he spoke.
"No, come on. What is it?"
"It's nothing, seriously." Todd watched with distressed eyes as Neil pushed himself up from his chair and approached the blonde boy. Todd turned to face Neil as he eased closer. The dismay that showed in his eyes was heartbreaking.
"Is that so?" Challenged Neil in a quiet and delicate tone. With their faces inches apart, he reached his hand towards the hair covering Todd's eyes and gently brushed it back towards his ears. "Whatever it is, you can tell me about it. I'm here for you," Neil assured with a sincere smile. Todd's eyebrows softened as he searched Neil's eyes for any hint of infidelity. He listened to the hum of the radiator and tried to extinguish his doubt.
"I know you are. Neil-" Todd's words were choked short at the sound of yelling alongside running feet in the hallway. Both boys turned their heads towards the door as they drew apart. The bolted to their feet as Charlie and Knox burst through the door with a wiggling blanket in their arms.
"Get in the back! Get back there!" Charlie whispered aggressively. "I'll keep an eye out at the door." On his toes, Knox fled to the head of Todd's bed, clutching the blanket to his chest.
"Hey, what gives?" Neil whispered, annoyed. The two intruders shushed him. Just then the headmaster's voice came booming through the hallway.
"KNOX! DALTON! I'll be damned before you get away with this! Where have you gotten off to?" His words echoed through the vents in the small room.
"We had to come here," Charlie pleaded after a few minutes of silence. "You guys are never in trouble. And besides, maybe this will cheer Todd up!" Knox peeled back a corner of the blanket to reveal a black wet nose.
"We found a puppy," Knox explained sheepishly. The silence was deafening.
"You found a puppy," Neil repeated with a less than enthusiastic tone as the right side of his face tensed up. "And why exactly are you getting us involved in this?" Another brief silence was broken by Knox.
"Please Neil, we gotta keep him here. You don't want to throw him out into the cold, do you?"
"Well, I sure as hell don't want to keep him in my room!" Neil retorted, agitated. "The headmaster could walk in any minute and have us expelled! Besides, Todd's allergic."
"It's fine," Todd added quietly, unnoticed by the other three boys in the room.
"If you really think you can keep it here you've gone nuts," Neil continued. "What if-"
"Neil!" Todd interrupted. Stunned by his on confrontation, he realized that all eyes were on him. "I-I.." he began. He searched for the words, desperate to avert the attention away from him. "Let's just keep it here tonight. I'm tired, okay?" Neil gazed at Todd and his tenseness melted as he remembered the moment they shared only a few moments ago. The dim lights accentuated the curve of his roommate's lips and in the moment, Neil would do anything to return to his side as he was before.
"O-okay, we'll take it. Just for tonight," Neil said softly. Charlie sensed the agitation in the room and nodded to Knox.
"Here you go. Keep him warm. And oh, you'll need this." Knox pulled out a small bag of treats, stolen from the headmaster's closet. "The dog in the hallway is getting fat. I don't think these'll be missed." The duo crept out of the room, taking care to avoid the floorboards they knew would creak under their weight.
Neil studied Todd as the charcoal-furred puppy licked the blonde boy's cheek. A smile finally began to creep across Todd's lips. "You know," Neil started with a smirk. "He kind of looks like you." The smile Todd bore a moment ago quickly faded into a frown.
"Oh, what do you know?" he retorted. Sensing genuine offense, Neil approached him once again, taking a seat next to him on the bed.
"Can I see him?" Neil asked. Todd nodded and offered the blanket to him. Neil cradled the puppy. It had been so long since he had so much as pet a dog. His parents demanded that their house remain in pristine condition, so there was no room for a furniture-destroying pet. "Yeah.. you know what, he does look like you, Todd..." Neil stated again, with a playful but gentle smile. "He's stunning. He's even got the same big blue eyes as you. Kind of iridescent and filled with life." Todd glanced up from his feet to find his roommate gazing at him with a familiar warmth.
"Neil," Todd began. "You remember the end of school last year… don't you?" Neil's fixed eyes illuminated as one corner of his lip turned upwards. He nodded, and Todd continued "It's just that, I… uh, I, we didn't see each other all summer."
"I know," said Neil. "Todd… I missed you so much." He leaned in, tilting his chin towards his chest. Their foreheads could almost touch.
"But, what I want to know is, um…" Todd trailed off. Neil pulled back again.
"What? Todd wait - are you worried that I forgot about you?" Neil snickered at the thought.
"Well, uh, yeah," Todd finished. Neil stood up then, and carried the bundled dog to the head of Todd's bed. After layering his blankets over the sleeping animal he returned to the flustered boy's side.
"Todd," Neil whispered through a radiant smile. "There's a dog in your bed, and you're allergic. I think you had better share mine with me." Anxiety and delight fluttered across Todd's face in unison, a perfect representation of what his heart felt. Unable to speak, the blonde boy swallowed, nodded, and stood up. He let Neil take his hands and allowed himself to be led to the opposite side of the room. He sat down on his roommate's bed and waited for Neil to turn the light off. The moonlight shone through the window just enough to illuminate both of their figures. When Neil returned to the bed, he sat down, giving Todd his full attention. "You," Neil whispered, once again pushing a stray lock of Todd's coarse hair back, "are irreplaceable to me." The two figures, frozen in desire and moonlight, pressed their foreheads together.
"Thank god," sighed Todd, smiling. The tension in the room was shattered as their lips pressed together in unison. Passionately, Neil pressed himself closer to Todd until he pushed him onto his back. They drew apart slowly and Neil, gazing into Todd's eyes, collapsed next to him on the bed. Todd ran his left hand tenderly through Neil's soft brown hair, euphoric. "I was afraid I'd lose you," Todd said almost inaudibly. Neil shifted slightly and smiled at him.
"As long as I'm still breathing… you'll never lose me." Todd buried his head into Neil's neck, which smelled of musk with a hint of sweetness. Neil turned his head to the side and fell asleep with his nose nestled in Todd's blonde hair.