Berwald' POV
The week seemed to fly by with Mathias and I going to work and rarely getting to see one another due to scheduling. Despite the Dane continually assuring me that he was fine I still felt like he was uncomfortable about our plans. He did come back after seeing Lukas with a more relax and happy aura off him, which help relieve the stress of lawyers. My co-workers didn't help with all the questions they asked when I took down some of the pictures of Tino and I that had adorn my desk.
I had talked to Tino and even though he didn't seem the most comfortable with the situation at first, he eventually agreed to it. He said he would drop them off later on Friday, and that's where I found myself nervously walking back and forth in the living room. "Berwald calm down. Weren't you the one that told me not to stress about this?" Mathias commented from the couch. The night before, I had gone through and deep cleaned the house and rearranged furniture so it opened the room more. Mathias had pulled out an old camping cot he had and found clean sheets for his pull out couch. The Dane finally let out a sigh before pulling me down to sit next to him. "Deep breaths." He said locking my head between his hands as he turned it to face him. "You need to take deep breaths and stop fidgeting before you make me more nervous than I already am."
I did as he said, which earned my head it's freedom along with an approving nod. "Tino should have been here by now." I grumbled. "What's taking him so long?" I found myself asking.
"He didn't give you a set time and I bet he's caught in traffic." Mathias tried to reason. He and Tino hadn't seen each other since our break-up and there was no telling how they would interact, but since Mathias didn't seem to worry about that, I tried not to either.
My leg had started to bounce out of nervous habit and I could tell the blond next to me was about to say something, but a knock on the door stopped him. Shooting up, I rushed to the door and opened it. I must have caught Tino off guard since I notices the slight jump he gave. "Hey." I breathed out.
"Hey." The smaller man replied with a small wave. Mathias came up behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Sup Tino? How you been?" The Dane gave him his usual smile, but Tino's own smile seemed to drop.
"Hi Mathias. I've been as well as I can be under the circumstances." He replied averting his eyes. "Berwald, can I speak to you for a second…..alone." He added flickering his gaze to Mathias then to me.
"Ja." I said motioning for the boys to go inside with the tall blond, to which they obliged. Once the door shut, I looked to the Finn. "What is it?" I asked worrying something might be wrong with one of the boys.
"Do you really think this is a good idea? I mean, he doesn't have the best track record from what I heard at the bar, what with his drinking and multiple partners." His voice was low so not to draw attention.
I could feel my face heat up in rage. "Outside of the bar, how many times have you actually talked or hung out with him?" I asked calmly trying to keep my anger in check.
His body tensed up. "Well, I don't think I have other than the few times he's taken you or me home after a hard night." Before he could go off on a ramble I stopped him.
"So how are you going to judge him? You of all people know how different people can be outside of a work environment." This seemed to frazzle the small Finn more.
He crossed his arms. "That can be true for some, but when you work in such a free environment as a bar you don't have to hide that much about yourself and from what I know of that place, that's how they let their bartenders act." I opened my mouth but Tino help up a hand for me to stop. "I'm just looking out for the boys. I mean this isn't the nicest apartment complex around and I could hear some couple yelling at each other as we drove up. Now before you say more, I'm going to trust your judgment till I see anything different, but please know this isn't something I'm the most comfortable with." He paused to let me put my two-sense in, but all I could do is nod. "Alright then….." There was an awkward pause.
What happened next surprised me. Tino started to cry, but not in full break-down mode, just a few tears finding their way down his rounded cheeks. "Are you okay?" I asked softly.
He let out a sad laugh and brought up a hand to clear the trails. "With all that has happened, I still miss your presence in the house and seeing you here….." He calmed himself I little before continuing. "It just confirms that you're not coming back. You have a place, and a new partner to go with it. You want the boys to visit and stay the night. What am I supposed to do? Sit at home alone?"
When another burst of tears found their ways from his eyes and a sob was released, I couldn't help but pull him into a tight hug. "Shhhh." I tried calming him by rubbing his back like I use to always do. "Don't stay in. Go out, have fun. You need to have time to yourself and not have to worry about dealing with this, even if it is just a night or two."
When he collected himself, he pulled away a bit, but was still in the embrace. "How are you always able to make me feel safe and nervous at the same time?" Tino asked, but I know he didn't expect and answer. "Alright, I guess I don't have much of a choice. Make sure they get to school on time Monday." I nodded again which the shorter blond pulling me in for a sweet kiss to follow. "Have a good weekend." He said after pulling away and heading to his car.
I stood there on the porch for a couple more minutes. I know the kiss didn't mean anything. There was no passion in it, but I for some reason it made me feel guilty. After mulling it through my head, I finally decided that since it shouldn't be taken as a big deal, Mathias didn't need to know about it. Letting out a deep sigh, I straightened up and headed back inside.
The sight inside didn't really make me feel any less uneasy. Mathias was sitting in the armchair, leaning forward with his head resting on a hand. One of his legs refused to sit still as he bounced it. Bjon was sitting on the farthest side of the couch, playing on his videogame and ignoring everyone. Peter on the other hand sat closer to Mathias, but he kept his eyes on a yo-yo he was playing with. The room was filled with a defining silence and I didn't like it.
Mathias shot up a motioned for me to follow him to the kitchen. As soon as we crossed the barrier between the rooms, the Dane shut the small window allowing you to look into the living room. "I really don't think they like me at all." He said bringing his hand to his mouth and chewed on his thumbnail.
"Don't say that. You've only just met." I stated pulling his hand away from his face. I can't stand when people bite their nails in front of me.
"I mean it Ber. I tried to start multiple conversations with them of different topics and they just gave me a weird look and continued what they were doing in silence." He turned to look at the doorway to make sure they weren't standing there.
I grabbed on to his shoulders to steady him. This caused him to shoot his gaze back to me. "You need to calm down." I said in a strong and firm tone. "They're like that towards new people." He nodded in understanding. "You have a better bet of getting Peter to talk first, so try and work on him. Bjon will follow after 'cause Peter will drag him in." I began to rub his, now relaxing, shoulders and gripping the bright red fabric of the shirt as I did so. "Let's go back in there and I'll try and help as much as I can." I said pressing a light kiss on his forehead and motioned for him to lead the way.
Upon us reentering, the boys stopped whatever chit-chat they were involved in and went back to what they were doing before. Mathias gave me a look that said 'see' and I shook my head before sitting next in between them. Bjon moved over a bit so he wasn't as close to me, while Peter gave me a worried look. The Dane took his seat in the armchair and waited for me to break the ice.
"How has school been?" I asked shifting so I had a better view of Peter.
Bjon huffed and I knew he was rolling his eyes. Peter on the other hand shrugged. "It's alright I guess. One of my friends was talking about vacationing in New Zealand this summer and she wanted to see if I could go with." He said shyly, hinting that he was asking.
"You want to travel this summer?" I asked sending a look to Bjon who huffed.
Peter shuffled putting his phone face down. "Well, with all the stuff at home I thought it might be fun to do something like that and Bjon said…" At his name, Bjon shot around and glared at the young blond.
"Don't bring me into this. There's a reason I haven't brought this up to either of them!" He shouted before I shot him a look. "Alex wanted me to go to Austria with him." The red-head muttered going back to his game.
I bit my lip and looked to Mathias, who was wide-eyed. Turning my attention to Peter again I mulled it over. "So, you both want to travel out of the country for vacation and you weren't going to talk to me or Tino about it?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
Peter started fiddling with his fingers. "We didn't think either of you would let us go especially with…" He paused for a second glance at Mathias than back to me. "With all this." His voice was barely a whisper. I nodded showing I understood. "But, since you know now, can we go?" A small smile was on his face and I almost caved.
"I think we all need to work on having as much family time for now till everyone is situated with how the new schedules and dynamic will be." I said causing Peter's smile to drop and Bjon to huff.
Everyone grew silent and I could see Mathias getting even more restless., but it surprised me when he spoke up. "Do either of you boys know how to play Halo?" He bounced his gaze back a forth between the boys trying to gage their reactions.
Bjon actually looked away from his game. "Of course we have. I'm the best person I know at the game and I'll in the top 20% online. The real question is do you play Halo or just derp around with it like a noob?"
I was about to get on to him for being rude when Mathias cut in. "Really now? How about you and I put that theory to the test? You and me, each map." He stated getting Peter's attention as well.
"Can I play too? There is no way you can win a one on one. You need someone that knows his tactics." Mathias agreed.
Bjon was not thrilled about it. "That's not fair! Two against one, really?!"
I had a bad feeling about this. "Ber can be on your team than since he's not the best at it and you're such a skilled player. Deal?" The Dane stuck out his hand.
Bjon mulled it over before taking his hand and shaking it. "Fine."