“I was following the pack
All swallowed in their coats
With scarves of red tied 'round their throats
To keep their little heads
From fallin' in the snow
And I turned 'round and there you go
And, Michael, you would fall
And turn the white snow
Red as strawberries in the summertime”
White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
A quick scene between Friedrich and Albrecht after the fight in the basement. This totally happened.
The one after the fight
You could still hear drunken laughter and a blur of deep voices. No matter how hard Albrecht tried to sleep, he couldn't block out the voices that seemed to mock him. In his head, they were still laughing at the image of him falling to the ground with a loud thud, punched by the only person he thought he could trust. Well, turns out he couldn't even trust Friedrich. Even though Albrecht knew all too well that there wasn't much he could have done to protect him and that he was the one who provoked Friedrich, he went flying to the ground in front of his father.
He'd been hiding in his room for three hours now. Yet sleep still hadn't come to take him. He'd like to think it was because of the headache that tortured him ever since Friedrich's fist collided with his head, but it was probably the toxic mix of embarrassment, anger and... longing. The dark haired boy would hardly admit it, but he needed Friedrich sleeping in his room like little kids needed their favourite teddy in their arms. A rock to hold onto in the darkness of a lonely room.
A quiet bang, giggling. Steps coming closer. Now what? Did one of his father's friends not find the way to the damned toilet? Whatever, Albrecht thought darkly, let them piss on my face. It's not like this night could get much worse. His door creaking as light flooded the corner of his bed. Door closing. More creaking.
He didn't exactly know why, but he held his breath. Maybe so the intruder wouldn't notice him, maybe he was getting ready for defence in case the person in his room was about to attack him.
The giggling, however, just increased as a light haired boy landed on top of his bed with a tired „Oompf“, which appeared to be especially funny, since it set off another fit of quiet laughter.
Now it finally clicked in Albrecht's brain what was happening. Friedrich had decided that he had celebrated the victory over his best friend enough and came back to there room. Just stumbled into the wrong bed, it seemed.
The warmth radiating from Friedrich's body was pretty comfortable, but he wasn't to keen on getting thrown up on because he couldn't hold his liquor.
Before Albrecht could even say something, a sweaty hand was starting to examine his pale and cold face. „Albrecht.“ Ah yes, he finally understood that this was, in fact, not his bed so now he could get up slowly and leave him alone.
Turns out, he was awfully, or not so awfully, wrong with that presumption. Now a pair of hands was softly carding through his dark hair. The contrast of white and black un-seen in the dark confines of the room. „Your hair is so soft. But then again...then again so are you in general. So soft and tiny. My little Albrecht.“ Friedrich spoke softly in the dark. And would Albrecht not be so surprised that his friend could talk in coherent sentences, he'd blush wildly at his words.
A sad sigh put an end to the silence. „And now I've hurt you. I know I shouldn't have! You are far too soft for fighting and I thought I'd always be the one to protect you from... guys like me?“ he whispered in the dark, gently caressing his cheek where Albrecht's skin was pink by now.
„It's okay, Friedrich. Just go to sleep, alright?“ Albrecht mumbled more to the ceiling than his friend. He felt a nod against his shoulder before Friedrich started moving. He didn't move to get off the bed though, but crawled up the bed so the two boys were face to face. Nuzzling Albrecht's face.
„You know I didn't mean it, don't you? I never wanted to hurt you, you've got to believe me.“ Friedrich took a deep breath, before he went on with what looked like the beginning of a speech to Albrecht.“But when you started hitting me and everybody was yelling at me, I don't know what happened. I just blacked out and next thing I know, you are lying on the ground. When your father held me back, I just wanted to scream, but you know I couldn't. And then.... you were gone and I was too scared to go after you. Because what if you hate me now? I can't have you hate me, Albrecht, I wouldn't survive that.“
As Albrecht opened his mouth to say something, Friedrich pressed his lips on it, softly kissing him. His hands wandered from his cheek to his neck and hair. Albrecht felt him smile against his lips, deciding just then to kiss back without even thinking about it.
„My tiny, soft Albrecht“ Friedrich mumbled with a smile in his voice before he passed out with his hands still on a now very stiff Albrecht, who didn't dare more. There was, however a smile playing on his lips as he finally fell asleep.
-----
The morning after
Pained groaning tore Albrecht from his well deserved sleep. Friedrich, who apparently found a way to spoon Albrecht in his sleep, rolled onto his back, blinking at the ceiling a few times. Albrecht lay still until he remembered the night before and rolled around so he was facing the blonde.
„Good morning“, he whispered, as he knew that his friend's (or boyfriend?) head probably hurt like 11 elephants trampled over it last night. „Sleep well?“
Friedrich looked confused and pained to say the least when he turned his head to face Albrecht. With another groan, he lay his arm over his eyes to block out the sun. „What the hell happened last night? Why am I in your bed? Or are you in mine?“ the smoky voice mumbled.
To say that Albrecht was disappointed would also be an understatement. So all of last night, it was lost to his friend. The silent apology and the forbidden kiss would always be known to Albrecht alone. Instead of explaining the events of last night, he bitterly sat up in his bed with the words „You knocked some sense into me. Thanks for that.“. He couldn't stand knowing that the kiss probably didn't mean anything to Friedrich anyway. A drunken mistake. Not like they could ever be anything anyway so why make things awkward between the two of them. So he left the room in his boxers, shivering as he quickly locked himself into the bathroom.
