Claude woke up earlier than usual, questioning his surroundings. The events of the evening before came to his remembrance in a horrid flood, and he sighed. He was at Will's. He sat up, wanting to move on with the day and- hopefully- forget or at least feel better about what had happened.
He shuffled in to Will's tidy kitchen, searching for food. There was really only one way he knew how to thank Will and Arnold for letting him crash- and that was cooking breakfast. He knew Will would be grateful to be relieved of the duty, and- from what he knew of Arnold- gifts of food would always be appreciated. As he mixed and stirred and poured, it was nice to be able to forget things. He was concentrated on the task before him, and not the (currently) gloomy outlook of his life.
The smell of cooking food was obviously enough to wake all three sleeping inhabitants of the apartment. Will sleepily wandered into the kitchen, providing Claude with some much needed company.
"How did you sleep last night?" He asked with a yawn and a stretch.
"Fine," Claude shrugged. "Thanks."
"It's no problem," Will smiled. "I just wish there had been somewhere more comfortable to put you."
"I was plenty comfortable," Claude reassured him. "I don't roll off the couch in my sleep like I used to in high school, so that's a plus."
Will laughed. "Yes, that is a big plus." There was a comfortable pause. "Omelets?" Will asked, in reference to the yellow substance Claude was pouring into a pan. Claude nodded. Just then, Arnold shuffled in, and slumped into a chair at the table.
"Smells good, Claude," he mumbled, pushing his glasses up his nose. There were lots of things that Claude appreciated about Arnold, and one of them was that the kid didn't need to ask any questions. He didn't act shocked to see a very worn and tired looking Claude in his kitchen cooking eggs. He didn't need to grill him with questions about why he was there and what had happened. He just accepted the fact that Claude was there, and that something upsetting had obviously happened. Arnold was simple.
"Morning, Arnold," Will greeted. Arnold laid his head on the surface of the table, looking as though he'd just laid his head on the world's softest pillow.
"Mmmhmm," he greeted in response, his lids drooping- though he was obviously fighting to keep them open.
"You like tomatoes, right, Arnold?" Claude asked. Not really noting that Arnold had almost fallen asleep again. Arnold pulled himself up from his slumped over position.
"Dude," he said, grinning sleepily, "Whatever you put in those things, I'm gonna eat."
"Good to know," Claude laughed, as began to fill the omelet.
"Hello everyone," greeted a singsongy voice. Claude looked up in time to see Grell- which was slightly odd as it wasn't anywhere close to noon. Grell greeted Will with a small kiss, and curiously looked over Claude's shoulder. "Breakfast," he sighed with satisfaction. "Looks great."
Will must have briefly told Grell the night before about Claude sleeping in their apartment. He also must have tactfully reminded Grell not to mention anything to Claude, for which Claude was grateful. In Grell's defense, he tried to be mindful of other people's feelings. His brain filter just didn't work as well as everyone else's- which could often be irritating.
As the four males sat down to eat their breakfast, there was a satisfying silence. Arnold perked up plenty when a steaming omelet was placed in front of him. He gave Claude an audible- and perfectly coherent- thanks, before digging in. Grell pulled his long red hair into a loose pony tail before eagerly scarfing down his food. Claude and Will ate slowly, enjoying the company, but not needing to stay much.
"What are your plans today?" Grell asked Sebastian, a large bite of omelet tucked into his cheek. Claude set down his fork, shrugging.
"Not much," he said. "I do have to go smooth things over with Alois, though," he mused aloud. Alois may have handled the previous evening's situation maturely, but that didn't mean he wasn't hurt. Claude knew him too well for that. And though it wasn't even Claude's fault, he felt he needed to make things up to Alois, maybe actually have a chat about what direction he was intending to take their relationship so there would be no future confusion.
"Oh," Grell said. "Well, you're welcome to stay here all day, too," he smiled. "We're having an end of exams celebration of sorts."
"And it's gonna be kick ass," Arnold added. "Will and I told Grell that Nicholas Sparks movies were outlawed."
"I'll probably be back here later in the afternoon, if that's all right," Claude admitted. He was met with enthusiastic responses from all three of his friends.
The park was a place that Claude usually neglected, not really having time to wander around aimlessly and admire trees. Being here now, though, was sort of calming. He and Alois were walking side by side in silence. Claude was sure Alois knew why he had asked him here, he just felt like he should elaborate on the subject more. He was struggling to find words, however, that would adequately convey what he was feeling. Luckily Alois broke the silence for him.
"You know you don't owe me anything, right?" he asked, giving a small smile.
"No, I know," Claude nodded. "I just… felt that you deserved some decency. Some closure of sorts," he shrugged.
"I'm fine," Alois chuckled lightly, though Claude could easily see through his lie. Alois looked just as tired as Claude felt, and he was hardly his usual upbeat self. Sebastian's dirty work had taken its toll on both Claude and Alois, and certainly not in the way it was intended to.
"You're a terrible liar," Claude said, half serious, half teasing. "Last night you said something about… waiting. Or being patient, I forget."
"I thought we were just gonna forget about that whole embarrassment," Alois mumbled nervously, kicking at the ground.
"There are some things we can't ignore, Alois," Claude sighed. "And as much as we would like to forget things and move on, we both know it isn't helping either of us."
"Okay," Alois said, raising his saddened blue eyes from the ground. "I confess, I had really hoped we were going to get back together. I fantasized about it, sure. I wasn't really sure if you liked me, so I was just… waiting. Waiting for whatever you decided. I still like you, Claude. I never stopped. But I have grown up a little, and I swear, I wasn't just waiting around for the chance to get in your pants."
"I've been… confused," Claude started. He was stopped by a scoff from Alois, which was followed by a short laugh.
"Not really," he said. "I'm sure that somewhere deep down you like me, but I'm not your sole focus anymore. You know what you want." Claude was slightly taken aback and unsure of what to say. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to decide whether he should confess, lie, or pretend to have no idea what Alois was talking about. "I'm not stupid," Alois laughed bitterly. "I know you like Sebastian. You'd be stupid not to. You just… you gotta be careful with his type."
"Alois, I-" Claude started, but faltered again.
"You've looked out for me long enough," Alois smiled, a little more genuinely this time. "It's time for me to stand on my own two feet. I can step aside and let you be happy for once," he took Claude's hands in his small, slender ones. "You're always looking out for someone else, Claude. But you have to promise me you'll be careful, because Sebastian knows that's the kind of person you are. He knows that no matter what he does, you'll forgive him. You do everything you can for the guy and he always leaves you in the dust. I know you love him, but sticking around while he beats the heck out of your emotions is only going to hurt you."
Claude was silent for a moment, studying Alois' earnest expression. He sensed deep down in his gut that the kid was right, but he wasn't quite ready to admit it just yet. As the day passed, Claude realized he may have blown things out of proportion. Honestly, he'd done the very same thing to Sebastian. He'd brought Alois into the apartment and was making out with him on the same damn couch. Claude of all people should have been able to understand that sometimes things just happen. He pushed Alois' advice to the back of his mind, however he took great care in not completely burying it. "You really have done some growing up, haven't you?" he asked, with a half-smile.
"Hell yeah, I have," Alois said, releasing Claude's hands and breaking out into a grin. "I didn't go through puberty for nothing." The two friends resumed walking. "Thanks for the closure or whatever the hell that was," Alois muttered quickly. "There were some things that really needed to get off my chest."
"There were some things I really needed to hear," Claude muttered in return.
"Just do me a favor," Alois said, flashing his infamous half-grin. "Tell Sebastian that you like him, because the bastard's not going to figure it out on his own. No offense, but he's kind of an idiot."
Should he tell Sebastian? It was something he promised himself he'd never do. But Alois was right yet again. Sebastian would never pick up on it alone. And, what the hell? It was his birthday tomorrow. He might as well give it a shot.
"Yeah," Claude laughed. "He kinda is."
A\N:Well... I disappeared for a while there. But I have officially moved into college (which is part of the reason that I have been not updating... hahaha)! I had my first week of classes and whatnot, and there was SO MUCH READING D: So, hopefully, I'll be able to juggle my schoolwork, potential job, and writing so that you guys don't get pissed (and so I don't get pissed, 'cause writing is a GREAT stress reliever, believe it or not.) I'm sure the lot of you have started school too, and I hope that is going well for you! Anyways. Hopefully I don't lose this flash drive again- that's why I haven't posted. Moving sucks. LoL. (PS- LET'S CELEBRATE! I got a new laptop, so there's no more slow, grueling pen and pencil method! Not to hate on those of you who like that method, of course. I just... I'm a typer. I mess up and change my stories too much to use paper.)
In other news, things are wrapping up for this fic, but NO WORRIES. I'm planning on writing a sequel of sorts xD There's so much Seb\Claude tension right now... I can't take it! D: Also, I've only recieved one lemon vote. Just so you are aware... XD "Votes" are still being taken. You can let me know if you want a lemon in the comments. Or you can PM me. Whatever floats your boat.
