Whoa. That can't be right. 200 HITS TO THIS STORY? Haha, you guys are awesome, thanks for helping me reach this milestone! I is a happy kiddo right now. I FINALLY managed to see Spring Awakening on stage last week, and I must say it was AMAZING…right up until the infamous Vineyard Scene. You all know how much I love Hansi and Ernstie, but the cast I saw didn't do well with them. Ernst was much too bold, and Hanschen had a way of speaking that sort of ruined the image of a confident, smooth-talking narcissist. But life (and this story) goes on, enjoy the chapter!
Hanschen woke up before Ernst the next day to the sound of flustered knocking at the door. He quickly and silently leapt into his trousers and shirt before opening the door for Ilse. She didn't bother with a greeting, simply got down to the point. "Has he woken up yet?"
"Yes, but keep your voice down, he's asleep now."
"Oh." she glanced around, "I can't stay long, I really just thought I'd check up on him, and go."
"Well, you're here, you may as well sit for a moment." he opened the door further.
She hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded and stepped in.
He led her into the kitchen to avoid waking Ernst and sat across from her at the table. Again she skipped the pleasantries and drove to the head of her question. "So how long have you two been together?"
"How did…who told you?" if the news had already spread out of the village, they were truly damned.
She laughed softly. "No one had to tell me anything, Hansi. Ernst seemed more flustered than usual at Moritz's…you know…" she swallowed hard before continuing, "And I knew he had to be seeing someone-"
"How would you know that?"
"Because he was so unbelievably happy. Bumbling, shy, and flustered, but happy nonetheless. Think about it! What reason would someone who's about to flunk out of school, who has the most disgustingly neglectful parents I've ever known beyond mine, who has trouble making friends because he's so damn shy have to be happy?" She smacked her palm on the wood surface of the table. "Love!"
"How'd you trace that to me, then? I know for a fact nobody saw us the night we…connected. Who's to say he wasn't in love with Anna or Thea?"
"That's the part I had trouble with." she confessed, "But he didn't seem particularly attached to any one of us when we played by the river, and eventually I decided it had to be a boy. As for which boy…" she grinned smugly, "To be honest I would've guessed it was Melchior, all the girls seemed to like him, and Ernst has always been like one of the girls, but it was always you he was staring at, always you he tried not to talk about. And then when I found him the forest he wouldn't stop saying your name, and I just knew."
There was silence for awhile, Hanschen had actually been stricken silent. He knew Ernst had been sincere in the vineyard, but it blew his mind to be reminded how deeply emotion could run.
"What are you two going to do?" Ilse whispered, suddenly concerned, "The village knows, they're all taking sides, it's a wonder they haven't barged in here, but they think you're in Berlin as well." the words tumbled out in a rush from her mouth.
Hanschen took several deep breaths before he said anything. "Ernst thinks it would be best if one of us stayed, came up with some excuse, and one of us disappeared. I said no initially, but now I'm wondering if that's the only way out of this." his voice shook dangerously and the piercing blue eyes were stung with tears for the first time in months.
"Oh, Hanschen," Ilse extended a hand.
"Don't." he muttered roughly, pushing it away. "I just…we're shit out of luck here. Even if I emptied my parent's savings, it wouldn't be enough to get us as far as we need to get, not both of us. Either we live apart or get burned at the sta-" he halted abruptly as the door opened to reveal Ernst, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Morning Hanschen." he mumbled, leaning in to kiss him, then pausing as he noticed Ilse.
"Hello Ernst." she waved awkwardly. "Glad to see you're feeling better."
"Yes, I've conscious for three days now." he pulled up a chair between them to talk. "Hanschen and I were discussing our options last night though, and er… we've hit a rough patch."
"Yes, he told me." her face was troubled. "I think…I should be leaving now, actually."
Ernst started in his seat. "But you've just gotten here!"
"I know, and I really do wish I could stay! But I was just supposed to pop in for a moment and check on you, then leave. I…I'm meeting someone." she blushed, pushing away from the table and trying to leave before they could ask about it.
"I smell a romance!" Hanschen called as she fled out the door.
"You're awful." muttered Ernst.
"Only when I want to be, dear." he pressed his lips to Ernst's. "You didn't seem to mind last night." Last night. The options. Shit out of luck. He pulled away suddenly from the kiss, face expressionless.
"We still haven't got a plan, do we?" Ernst asked quietly, eyes cast down to avoid Hanschen's.
Ten minutes later, Hanschen still hadn't said anything, hadn't even moved. Realizing it was a lost cause, Ernst stood and retreated to the bedroom to draw. Hanschen entered nearly an hour later, eyes gone from expressionless to dead cold.
"I'm leaving." he announced in a flat monotone, ignoring Ernst's protests and stuffing random articles of clothing into a satchel. "Don't try and stop me, I spent the last hour thinking about it, I'm not about to be swayed. You'll stay here, tell them all you found God in the woods, realized the error of your ways."
"And am I going to see you again?" Ernst asked incredulously.
"To put it bluntly, no." he swallowed, "We started a war in this town, even the tiniest sign I've returned will only fan the flames. We're through after tonight. This isn't how I want it, but-"
"No." Ernst's voice didn't shake, or freeze up. There was strength in that one word, more than Hanschen had heard before. "I spent months watching you, listening to you, hoping that one day, even if only for a second, you would see me, you know? Look past the stumbling, foolish, general oddity that I am and love me, even just a little. And then that night in the vineyard, Hansi, I promised myself I wasn't going to let something as great as you pass me by."
"I don't think you understand the severity of this situation!" Hanschen snapped, "We are at a point where we can't win. The bloody system doesn't work for me or for us anymore, it works against us, and the option we have now is to split or die!"
"I'll die either way!" Ernst fired back.
"Not because of me, you won't."
Ernst took firm hold of his arms, forcing eye contact. "We need to try. Just give it a chance. If anything goes wrong, I'll take the blame, say I talked you into it, whatever it takes! Just please, don't make me leave you."
Hanschen knew he'd been had now. There was nothing logical in Ernst's plan, nothing safe, nothing certain, and a million things that could go wrong, but there would be no denying the look in those round, dark, doe eyes. "Alright. We've got one night to come up with everything we need and get going." he kissed Ernst lightly on the lips. "I think we'll be alright darling."
Okay, don't be mad, I know not a lot really happened in this chapter, and I'm sorry for that, school's been completely insane lately. I have two options for how this story can end, and neither of them are happy, but once I choose I'd guess there'll be two or three more chapters, and maybe an epilogue. Hope you've enjoyed it so far!