TODD’S HAND is circumscribing neil’s tighter than neil
figured todd THOUGHT he was. instead of WINCING
as todd’s fingers flushed the color from neil’s, he traces
slow circles with his thumb on his hand. they’re at the
edge of town, the vermont sky OILY && drenched in
the filmy state of the morning. it’s a messy palette of
colors that seem almost too PRETTY to be REAL
superficial, as if a WATERCOLOR PAINTING had been
taped over the sky.
there’s a sudden moment of stark PANIC vaguely
familiar but SHEER in its terror nonetheless, swelling
in neil’s chest, his heart feeling as if it were descending
into a watery GRAVE. they didn’t have much money, they
were alone, neil almost KILLED himself, what if it was all
just a mess of hormones && GRIEVANCES that would
lead him to end todd’s shot at a good LIFE, what if it was
a whim like his father said, they didn’t know what they
were doing, they
the wintry dawn of vermont had TAINTED todd’s cheeks,
the blood blooming in them, a warm contrast to the seemingly
ETERNAL season around them. his eyes appear to have
something placed in them that neil can’t quite put but has
rarely seen before. snowflakes visit todd’s eyelashes.
somehow the sky isn’t the most breathtaking view
within neil’s reach at the moment. && they will be okay.
as neil unfurled his fingers and RELEASED his former fear
from his metaphorical GRIP, the events of the morning finally
caught up to him. a slow && warm exhaustion settled over
him, his body a column of drowsiness. neil tries to STIFLE it
at first, then remembers his company, && lets go. he squeezes
todd’s hand best he can considering the circumference of todd’s
hand around his. a groggy smile tugs at his lips as he draws
cash from his jacket pocket.
❝ my FATHER has got us taken care of. ❞
STEALING wasn’t a typical concept to fall under neil’s list
of morals then AGAIN, he wasn’t usually running away with
the possible love of his life pretty boys at three in the morning
to start a new life. so for NOW, he lets himself smile. he lets himself
kiss todd on the side of the head UNNECESSARILY and forget
about the wild chemicals in his body.
❝ where to, mr. anderson? ❞
A short laugh of disbelief comes from his mouth
as he looks down at the cash in Neil’s hand.
“ Neil, you didn’t-------- ”
But he cuts himself off in that thought, because
Neil DID and----more importantly----he COULD.
they were no longer BOUND by the rules of their
parents, their world finally existed outside of their
reign, and they could do all the things neither of
them had even DREAMED of actually getting the
chance to before.
( and for TODD, there was a LOT )
Neil asking him where they should go came as a
SURPRISE to Todd. It was the other boy, after all,
who had decided on running away ( or maybe,
ESCAPING was a more suitable word for it ) in the
first place. Todd didn’t think that he should get to
choose where to go when the decision could very
well lead them towards a brand new DESTINY for
BOTH of them.
Despite this, a new smile draws itself onto his face
as he replies. For once, he speaks CONFIDENTLY.
If Neil had in mind he wouldn’t have asked for Todd’s
choice in the first place. The fact that he did ASK him
to pick showed a TRUST in Todd’s decision-making.
( Even if it was something as random as a direction )
And it was Neil’s trust and faith in him that made him
believe in HIMSELF for once.
The farther away they could possibly get from sickeningly
white winters and sharp, biting cold air, the better.
