Happy August you guys! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, because I certainly had a tough time writing it.
And thanks for the kind reviews. This isn't a popular pairing and I was surprised to get two reviews already. Bless you guys.
Anyway, happy reading.
❅❄❅ When the Snow Falls ❅❄❅
"Hello there," a kind voice greeted Ivan. He looked up from his book and saw a new face.
"Hi," Ivan responded. The happy green eyes and the way the other boy clutched onto the things he was holding comforted Ivan; he clearly wasn't there to hurt him.
"I'm new here," The other replied. "And I saw the book you were reading. I love The Series of Unfortunate Events," he held out the book he was holding. "I'm on book four,"
Ivan smiled sincerely at Toris. "I'm on book five, I'm a slow reader, though, and you may catch up to me if I'm not careful." Toris laughed.
"I'm Toris, what's your name?" he asked.
"My name is Ivan," he told him. "Wanna be friends?" Toris nodded excitedly.
Ivan couldn't help but notice Maks standing several feet away, watching. He didn't want to think of Maks, or if he cared about Toris talking to him. He made a new friend, that's what Ivan cared about most at the moment.
Upon arriving at Francis's house, Matthew wondered what sort things he and Ivan did when they were together. Every time he came over, the two of them would do all kinds of ridiculous things. Last time, they stole every pillow in the house, stacked them on Francis's small-sized bed and ended up wrestling on it. Last summer, they threw glow sticks into the fountain next door after dark and swam in it before getting caught. Because Matthew was a couple of years younger than both Ivan and Francis, he would not be surprised if they did more mature things. But, yet again, he couldn't imagine Francis doing something more 'grown-up' then making penis-shaped pancakes (which he, of course, didn't mind what shape they were in. Pancakes are pancakes, Matthew loved them to death.)
The first thing Matthew did was throw his bags down, slip off his jacket, and jump onto the bed. He laid his face comfortably on one of the soft pillows. Francis joined him, grabbing his legs and pushing him to the other side of the bed to make room for him. Matthew kicked at him, his giggles were muffled.
Ivan walked in soon after and removed his coat. "Hey, Ivan!" Francis called, pushing Matthew's legs away. "See that can on the dresser over there?" Matthew looked up from the pillow and glanced at the dresser. He squinted to read the label. Silly string, Matthew thought, seriously?
Ivan grinned and grabbed the bottle after discarding his jacket onto the floor. Francis held his hand out, only to be sprayed in the face instead. Francis stopped smiling and gave Ivan the look of 'I trusted you, but you betrayed me'. He gently brushed the colorful strings out of his hair.
"Now, now…" Ivan nailed him again; Francis spit some out of his mouth. "Oh this is war," Francis growled and grabbed his shoulders, throwing him onto the pillows. Matthew yelped and grabbed a large pillow to shield himself from the screaming French man and the massive amounts of silly string flying all around the room. The two eventually went quiet other than the sound of something hitting the floor across the room from them. Francis laughed evilly.
Matthew looked up from the pillow and grabbed his arm. Francis flinched and shot him a glare.
"You can't get it now," Matthew told him.
"Why can't I?" Francis asked.
"The floor is lava," Ivan giggled as Francis turned his head and stared down at his carpet. After a minute of silence, there was a quiet sound of chirping.
"Pierre #2, is that you?" Francis called, worried. He sat up and leaned forward a little, as if to listen more closely. A small white bird came into view from down the hall. It chirped back and landed on the doorknob of the bathroom door. Francis owned about 6 of them, all named Pierre, living together in a rather large cage in the living room. Francis let them out a lot, and how he trained them to be housebroken is a huge mystery.
"It's unsafe for you!" He cried loudly. "Stay there, I'm coming!" Francis crawled over Ivan and jumped down onto the discarded coat on the floor. He carefully put his feet up onto the bottom lining of the hallway walls and slowly scooted towards the door.
The bell rang to return to class. Toris gathered his things and waved goodbye to Ivan before leaving. Ivan slipped his book into his bag, and to none of his surprise, he felt someone creep up by him.
"Who was that?" Maks asked, sounding bitter.
"Toris," Ivan gave a short answer, not looking up.
"You told him to get lost, right?"
"Come on, Maks," Ivan got up and took Maks's wrist. "Let's get to class," Maks jerked his arm away from Ivan.
"Yeah, come on," he grabbed onto Ivan's arm. Ivan cringed from the pain. "Let's get to class."
Ivan sat up and brushed the silly string off his clothes. "Always an adventure coming over here," he laughed, glancing at Matthew.
"I'm not complaining," He set the pillow aside and grabbed a couple of strands out of Ivan's hair. His arm began to shake under Ivan's view; he quickly withdrew his hand and nervously ran his fingers through his own hair. Ivan didn't seem to notice Matthew's edginess and just chuckled, removing another piece from his shirt and putting it on Matthew's head.
Matthew smiled and brushed it out. He watched as the string feel down into the space between the two. "That's a nice scarf," he muttered and picked up one end. The light tan color didn't go too well with the long-sleeved, dark grey shirt he was wear, but it was pretty. Matthew ran a hand across the fabric, in awe of how lovely it felt. "It's so… Soft."
"Thanks," Ivan replied. "My sister made it for me years ago," Matthew looked at him, confused. Years? How is it still in such a good condition?
"Pierre #2!" Francis's voice brought their focus on the host, who was across the hallway, still scooting, slowly but surely, to his bird. "No need to worry, I have come to rescue you from the deadly flo-" The bird hopped off the doorknob and flew into the room. It landed on Matthew's knee, turning to look at Francis as if it was taunting him. "Pierre #2!" Francis squealed. He struggled to turn around without touching the floor. Ivan and Matthew watched, trying to hold in their laughter. "Oh forget it, I'm hungry." He stepped down from the lining and disappeared into the kitchen.
Matthew cupped his hands and gently picked up Pierre. The small bird chirped and looked back at him curiously. He was used to the birds flying around the house but as friendly as they were, one had never landed on him before.
Ivan gently petted its head with a finger. "I wonder how he knew which Pierre it was,"
"I'm almost sure he doesn't, he just wants to impress us," Ivan chuckled. Pierre jumped out of Matthew's hands and flew onto Francis's TV screen. "We should go with Francis, I'm starving."
"Yeah, but um," Ivan spoke, making a face. "Let's wash our hands first, birds are icky,"
Matthew laughed. "Alright, let's go then."
"My parents wanted to move to Fletcher but we moved here instead," Toris sat by Ivan on the swing set. Toris lived on the next street over and they had decided to meet at the swings one afternoon. "Not that Wye isn't as nice. It would have just been more pleasant to be closer to my old friends,"
"How many friends did you have?" Ivan asked, curious.
"A few, I'm not too good at socializing." He replied. "There was Eduard, Ravis and then my best friend Feliks. You should meet them someday, I'm sure they'll love you,"
"That sounds great," Ivan felt himself jitter in excitement.
"Yeah, do you have any other friends?" Ivan's delight was instantly replaced with anxiety.
"I do," he answered, quietly.
"Who?"
"His name is Maks, he's my best friend," Ivan shuffled uncomfortably in place and sighed.
"I'd like to meet him, and then the three of us can all be friends," Toris chirped happily.
"Yeah," Ivan's stomach cramped up. "My sisters are expecting me to be home soon, I have to go."
"Okay, see you later," Ivan smiled slightly and got off the swing. "Have a good night, I enjoyed meeting you today!" Toris called.
"I-I enjoyed meeting you, too," Ivan turned around and waved. "Good night, Toris," As he turned back around, Ivan sincerely felt happy again.
Matthew squirted some soap onto his hands and quietly rinsed. Ivan was a few feet away at the other sink. After drying his hands, he felt cold, wet droplets splash onto his back and neck. Turning around, Ivan flicked water at him again. Alfred did this to him, almost every night when they washed hands before dinner. Matthew, though, would play a little hardcore.
Ivan giggled and wiped his hands on the hand towel before heading out the bathroom door. Almost by habit, Matthew grabbed the hand towel that Ivan had left behind and rolled it up diagonally. Smack, Matthew had whipped him almost perfectly on his left butt cheek. Ivan jolted up and let out a squeal.
"Ivan, oh my goodness," Matthew dropped the towel, instantly regretting his actions. What if Ivan was triggered by that sort of thing? "I am so sorry, my brother Alfred does that to me and that's my immediate reaction but that's absolutely no excuse," Ivan burst into laughter.
"It's fine, Matthew," Ivan assured him, picking up the towel.
"Oh, good," Matthew giggled quietly. "You may hit me back if it isn't." Ivan put the towel up to his face and gently dried the tiny droplets that he flicked onto Matthew's face a few moments ago.
"Why would I hurt you, little Matthew?" Ivan kept his eyes on Matthew's. "You're so kind and gentle…" Ivan withdrew the towel and held it close to him. Matthew didn't reply, his cheeks turned red and he barely nodded.
"Mes amis," Francis walked in holding a bag of crackers in one arm and a can of spray cheese in the other. "It's snack time, and I can't do all the snacking," He glanced down at Matthew. "Ahh," Francis opened his mouth a little.
Matthew did the same back. Francis gently set a cracker partway in Matthew's mouth and sprayed cheese onto the other end. "Thank you," Matthew said, but the words came out inaudible.
Ivan opened his mouth the same way Matthew had done. Francis sprayed cheese on his nose. "Not so fun when it happens to you, huh?" Francis wiped the cheese off with a cracker and took a bite from it.
"Ivan, darling," Ivan heard his sister call from the next room over. "Maks is here," Ivan gradually made his way to the doorway and peered out. The last time he was with Maks, he was still angry about Toris. Ivan was terrified, trying to think of a reason he had come over.
Maks walked past Katyusha holding a bag. "I brought you something," he said in a calm, kind voice.
Ivan scooted out from the doorway, feeling uneasy. "What?" He felt the need to ask why. Maks handed him the bag.
"Your bookshelf looks empty, and you enjoy reading, right?" Maks was smiling, but Ivan couldn't help but feel like he was forcing it.
"Yeah, I do," Ivan replied. "Thanks."
"Let's go play," Maks walked past him and headed to his room.
"Oh, okay," Ivan followed after him. Maybe, he thought, maybe Maks is genuinely trying to do something nice for me.
Matthew was almost sure they all had moved every bit of food from the kitchen into the bedroom. At least it was an orderly feast neatly laid out on the floor. There was a large platter filled with at least 9 different kinds of chips, several liters of sodas, and even a plate piled with a mountain of marshmallows, complete with a tiny flag on the top.
They ate and had small talk, until Francis got a brilliant idea.
"Let's play 'never have I ever,'"
"Huh? We don't have any drinks," Matthew cut in.
"We can use the clothing method instead." Francis responded, crossing his arms.
"You just want to get naked," Matthew accused him.
"Hey, if I just wanted to get naked I would have done so already,"
"I want to play," Ivan interrupted Francis. "It sounds fun,"
"Okay then!" Francis rejoiced. "Ivan, you can go first."
"Never have I ever…" Ivan thought for a second. "Puked in public,"
Matthew gently removed one of his hockey wristbands. "I was 8, and I got sick on an amusement park ride," Francis and Ivan made a grossed out face.
"My turn," Francis began to think. "Never have I ever shaved my legs."
"We know," Matthew said, taking off another wristband. "This is the first time I've actually been the only one who has done things for this game," The two others giggled. "Never have I ever been drunk," they stopped snickering and tossed in a shoe each.
"Ivan, where have you been?" Maks asked when Ivan arrived to the front of the school one Wednesday morning with Toris. Maks' voice startled him, but he took a deep breath and smiled, ignoring the rather vicious tone in his voice.
"Toris and I walked to school together."
"We were supposed to walk to school together," Maks kept his eyes directly on Ivan's. Ivan felt himself start to get nervous.
"I told you I was going to walk with-"
"And I told you were going to walk with me," Maks interrupted.
"But," Ivan shuddered out, Toris touched his arm.
"I'm going to class, see you later," Ivan just nodded at him.
After Toris had left, Maks grabbed Ivan's hand and pulled him into the building. "Now let's get to class ourselves," Ivan bit his lip and followed after him; because why fight something you know you can't overpower, anyway?
The game continued and slowly got more and more dirty. Matthew sat there with his shirt, pants and a sock left; Ivan had his shirt still on, but managed to give up his pants rather than his scarf. The game (thankfully) had ended before Francis could lose the only piece of cloth on his body that shielded the others from seeing a sight they don't want to see.
Francis called it quits and left the room with some empty bowls and plates. Matthew and Ivan continued talking and snacking. Ivan began to open up more and seemed to speak more freely to Matthew than he had in the car. He spoke all about the things he loved, like warm weather and flowers, and the trips to his hometown in Russia, though he didn't remember much about when he actually lived there. He laughed a lot, and rather sincerely. The more they talked, the more Matthew felt at ease around Ivan. Until he mentioned his trips to therapy, Matthew almost forgot all about what Francis had told him.
Francis walked into the room in a fast-paced manner. "We need to go, now," he pointed across the room to the discarded bottle of silly string. "Someone get that."
"Where are we going?" Matthew asked.
"To the park," Francis grabbed his shoes and a jacket and went to walk out the door.
"Don't you need your pants?" Ivan asked.
"I'll live, we need to go!" Francis threw on the jacket and slipped on his shoes. "You'll find out why in a minute,"
Maks seemed to constantly be everywhere Ivan was. He'd always come around with that large, intimating smile. Even if he wasn't around, Ivan swore he could feel Maks was watching him. Ivan tried to express his discomfort, though, but Maks always got defensive.
"But Ivan, we're best friends."
And "After all that I do for, why are you trying to get rid of me?"
It wasn't until about two full weeks of constant stare downs and guilt did the daily anxiety attacks start. They progressed from once a week to sometimes twice a day. Ivan began to constantly check his surroundings, even when he was alone in his bedroom. He started to not be able to sleep as well or much, and when he did, he kept his closet light on.
Slowly, he began to close himself off from his family and Toris.