So, taking a little break from what's going on with Ludwig and Feli... I've planned some stuff for other couples. This is a SuFin chapter I've been really excited about getting down. Each side-pairing will most likely be a one-shot type thing every three or four chapters in the main story. I'm probably gonna write some EstLat, some LietPol, and maybe even some RusCan (hehehe my unpopular OTP). Please let me know if you wanna see some other things like this, or even another chapter of SuFin.
Also, (I apologise for not putting this in earlier) there will be heavy instances of bullying in this story. Sorry if I triggered you before!
Thanks for reading, and please review!
Tino Väinämöinen was in a pretty good mood that Wednesday morning as he walked into the school building out of the cold. He'd walked all the way there from his house, half a mile away. It was about 40 degrees outside, though it was a cold that he knew he could handle. He was wearing his blue and white varsity jacket with a fur-lined coat underneath, a white beanie on his head.
He'd gotten the letter patch on his jacket for playing ice hockey in freshman and sophomore years. He truly did love the winter, the snow outside, as well as sports like hockey. It seemed more appealing to him than beaches in the summer, even. He especially loved Christmas, and the time around it. He always had. His Christmases as a child had been filled with wonder, like every child's should have been, and that happiness he got around the holiday had never stopped coming. It was only November, only just starting to get colder and deeper into the fall, and his head started buzzing with excitement about the snow that was sure to come.
He walked toward his locker, stopping in front of the long rows of metal doors. His locker was relatively close to the main enterance, so it didn't take him long to reach it. Hanging up his jacket and coat on the thick wire hooks in the back, he removed his books from his bag and slumped it on the floor of the locker.
As he removed his hat, he felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to face a familiar tall figure; his best friend, and boyfriend, Berwald Oxenstierna. "Berwald!"
Berwald hadn't been to his locker yet, and was standing in the otherwise empty hallway with his black backpack and his long, dark coat. His short hair looked like it hadn't been brushed that morning, but Tino figured that was an easy fix. Berwald didn't smile, but his expression tightened, and Tino just smiled wider. He shut his locker and grabbed Berwald's arm with one hand, holding his books with the other. "Come on, let's go put your stuff away."
As they walked through the building towards Berwald's locker, buses started to arrive from picking up sleepy high-schoolers from their respective bus stops. Tino just held the taller boy's arm as the halls started to stir with life. They reached the locker and Berwald dialed the combination, placing his coat and bag inside. "Have you got what you need for geometry?" Tino tried him. Berwald nodded, barely gesturing to the book in his hands. "Then let's go!"
They arrived in the class, and it passed by uneventfully, the two of them occasionally passing notes or Tino leaning over to help Berwald with a problem. In fact, until lunch, they actually had a pretty good day.
See, Berwald had something called selective mutism. It ties a bit into social anxiety, where he is withdrawn and shy, with trouble expressing himself. He fully has the capability to speak, but he will not talk to anyone except Tino.
It's a bit of a mystery why it was Tino he chose to trust in the first place, but Tino's alright with it. He understands that he's the only one Berwald can trust, so he goes through quite a bit of trouble in his daily life in order to make sure Berwald is happy. He makes sure the tall blonde takes his anxiety medication, he walks around the school with him, he even spoke to their class counselor about it to make sure he and Berwald were in all the same classes. He'd dealt with this since freshman year.
When the bell rang for them to be released for lunch period, the two of them set off at a lazy walk down to the cafeteria. Tino rambled on about different subjects as they walked, and Berwald made tiny reactions to spur him on in his near-one-sided conversation.
They reached the door to the huge, crowded room, and stepped inside, getting a few upward glances from the 'popular' table (heh, they must've sounded like middle schoolers) and more than one snicker could be heard as Berwald leaned down to faintly mumble something in Tino's ear. "L'ts g't in l'ne." Tino nodded vigorously, taking Berwald's arm again as the two of them strolled to the back of the lunch line.
Berwald could hear them whispering, no doubt, and Tino wished he'd just forget about it. People were always going to spread rumors and such (even if they were true). They approached the lunch lady and Tino asked for a slice of pizza for him, and one for Berwald. Both of them held out their cheap Styrofoam trays as the lunch lady plopped some 'fresh' dominoes' onto the smooth white surface.
Tino paid for both of them and they stepped out of the lunch line, to go and sit where they usually do; along the wall, near the soda machine. It was out of the way, and near enough to the edge of the crowd that the two of them could easily walk out of the lunchroom if Berwald started getting uncomfortable or panicking. They sat down on either side of the table, facing each other, Tino's back to the door.
At this point, Tino started rambling about a movie he'd seen last night, and Berwald listened with slight interest. Tino had been watching an action movie, and he complained about how bad the CGI was. Berwald took a bite of his pizza, glancing over to the door for a moment.
A group of boys was coming into the lunchroom, laughing and horsing around. They weren't anyone either of them knew, but rumors spread fast in highschool, so they knew who the pair was. In fact, the entire school had already guessed at their 'secret relationship'. They were stared at in the hallways, and the whispering never stopped, even when they were in earshot.
One of the boys looked over to them and pointed them out to his friend. They laughed, saying something Berwald couldn't hear. The friend laughed, saying something back. The group of them stood casually by the entrance of the lunchroom.
Suddenly, a black-haired boy walked towards them, coming up behind Tino. He put his hand on the back of Tino's head and shoved. Tino's body jerked, turning slightly to the left, hands reaching up to swat away the hand that was already retracting. The boys by the door howled with laughter, and Tino whipped around with a look of disbelief. "Ha! Having fun with your boyfriend, faggot?" The black haired boy said.
Berwald suddenly felt a wave of anger flash through him. Placing his hands on the table, he stood up quickly, glaring hard at the kid. He pushed his chair back and moved around the table, grabbing the kid's jacket sleeve before he could even react. He pulled his arm back and, making sure his thumb was curled around the bottom of his fist, collided his knuckles with the boy's jawbone. The kid's head twisted around, and Berwald heard a crack as the bones in his neck popped.
The boy whipped back around, grabbing at Berwald's collar and yelling profanities. By now kids were standing up to watch the scuffle, forming a vague circle around them as the kid flung a disorganized punch at Berwald's shoulder. The tall blonde was pushed backwards, stumbling for a step or two. He now realized that there was a crowd forming around him.
The kid moved to his left, coming up and punching him again, this time dead on in the nose. Pain shot through his face, his glasses being knocked askew. Berwald roughly grabbed the kid's shoulders and shoved him away, watching as he tripped and fell onto the ground.
"Berwald!" He could hear Tino cry out behind him now in a desperate voice, and he turned his head toward his boyfriend. Tino's eyes were watering and his expression was panicked, clutching the back of the chair tightly. Berwald looked back to where the kid was sitting on the ground, holding his jaw where Berwald had punched him.
Moments later, school officials and the principal were rushing over to break up the crowd. One of them grabbed the boy with the black hair, and the principal pulled Berwald by his wrist toward the office. The crowd was starting to die down, people talking loudly and asking those who could see what happened. Tino followed Berwald and the principal quickly, ducking into the office door before it even closed. Another school official took the black-haired boy by the shoulder and into another door in the office, while Berwald was taken into the principal's office. Tino moved quickly inside. The principal opened his mouth to speak, but Tino shut the door behind them and grabbed Berwald's wrist where the principal had just let go.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The man said, looking into Tino's wide eyes.
"I c-can't leave! He won't talk-"
"He will talk, and he will tell me what that was all about."
Berwald said nothing, wiping his bleeding nose on the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
Tino knew Berwald wouldn't say anything, anyways. "He was just defending me! That kid, h-he hit the back of my head, and Berwald just overreacted, I swear it's not his fault!"
"Berwald, do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Berwald said nothing, just held Tino's hand and looked at his shoes.
"This markets to a three-day suspension and a call to your parents. This is unacceptable behavior."
Tino spent the rest of the day sitting quietly in the office, holding Berwald's hand reassuringly.
They took the bus home, purposely sitting in the front so they wouldn't be noticed. They were noticed, of course, and they heard the whispering again, this time worse than before. Tino tried to ignore it as he doodled things in a loose-leaf notebook while Berwald watched. He'd just finished drawing a picture of Hitler in a ballerina outfit before the bus' brakes screeched, and the doors hissed open. They hurried out, speed walking toward Berwald's house before they were confronted by anyone else who got off the bus.
Both of them were wearing their varsity jackets with the words 'VARSITY HOCKEY' printed on the big patch on the back. Ivan Braginski was the captain of the team, and they were tough. The past few years they'd gone to state finals.
They reached the house, and Berwald used his key to get in the front door. Yellow light could be seen from the kitchen where Berwald's foster mother stood, talking on the phone. The taller blonde closed the door quietly, and they stepped upstairs with as little disturbance as possible.
Berwald had been put into the foster system in eighth grade after being removed from an abusive home. He'd been moved around to different homes for a while until finally settling here in freshman year. He'd then started to talk less and less, suffering with social anxiety and minor depression. Tino had been his only constant friend. They'd had other friends in freshman and sophomore years, like Mathias, Lukas, Emil… however, fights had separated Berwald and Mathias, leaving Lukas and Emil to choose between them. They'd stuck with Mathias, of course, and Tino made sure Berwald was alright.
As soon as they'd gotten to Berwald's room and shut the door, Tino flopped down on the bed with a heavy sigh. "Are you alright, Berwald?" The taller boy sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Are you 'lright, T'no?" Berwald looked over with a mostly blank expression, but Tino could read the concern in his voice. "Th'y w're whisp'rin again t'day."
"I know, Berwald. But it's alright! We've told each other countless times before, it doesn't matter what other people think! I am your boyfriend and nothing's gonna change that. I don't know what you're so afraid of." Tino held Berwald's steady gaze.
"God, T'no. You're too good f'r me." Tino sat up and pulled himself up next to Berwald, leaning into his side.
"I'm the one who should be saying that. But you don't need to get caught up in defending my honor, or something!" Tino bit his lip, wrapping his arms around Berwald's waist. He looked up at Berwald's troubled expression.
"Why do y' ev'n bother w'th me?" Berwald asked.
"I… I've got to heal you." Tino smiled, taking his weight off of the other. "Come on, do you want some help with your geometry homework? I can get the assignments for you so you don't get behind…"
That's just a challenge for them, Tino supposed, just a little hurdle in their relationship. He needed to be there for Berwald, because if he wasn't, he didn't know what Berwald would do.
Mentally collapse, maybe. Tino thought. Let's just hope it never comes to that.
The two of them settled down on the comforter on Berwald's bed and began to study.
Screams. I thought I'd never finish that.
PLEASE PLEASE let me know if you want to hear more about Berwald and Tino! I'm not currently planning on putting any more chapters about them in, so if you want me to continue this, you must review, anonymously or not!
Thanks so much for reading!