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     By the time a few days passed, the two friends managed to place the 'happening' far back into a corner of their minds, and acted as if it never happened. The fact that the stripe on Matthews's cheek had faded helped a lot their case, though they couldn't avoid the occasional uncomfortable moments in which the subject would come up. Even then, they would manage to wave it off and continue on their merry way.

     About William and Oliver, well, Will brushed off the fact that the blond stole his scarf for the night, not looking into it. In fact, the last time Matthews saw them together, they were chatting cleverly of some book the brunette was holding as they leaned against another.

     Currently, Matthews was in his math class, waiting for everyone else to finish the problem on the blackboard so that the teacher could affirm his being right. Yes, he was that confident.

     He tapped his pencil on the table, looking out the window casually. Sadly, his two best friends didn't share the same math class with him, but they did a few others. Yes, they were two years apart, but at the orphanage that didn't mean much. There were far too many children for there to be separate classes for each age, but younger kids handled it thanks to their cleverness.

     Matthews himself was in a math class more advanced than his age asked. He was surrounded by people in their early and late 20s. Oliver was near him, in fact, attacking the page of his notebook with an eraser.

     "Matthews, could you stop with the tapping of that pencil?" his rather young professor asked nonchalantly, not looking up from the math book he was holding.

     The black haired man did as asked, neatly placing the pen on his desktop and turning to look out the window once again.

     But then, after a few moments of silence, he squinted.

     He could hear his pencil rolling steadily, which was curious, since it stood in that position for a while with no problem and there had been no force exerted upon it to induce the movement. He moved his head in time to see it rolling off the edge of his desktop, and heard it tap the ground.

     His math teacher looked at him from above his rectangular glasses, and just as he was about to excuse himself, the situation took a rather bizarre twist.

     As if echoes to the tap of his utensil, a chorus of instruments hitting the ground erupted, and he looked around to see his classmates frantically trying to grasp their objects before they slid off their tables. Pens, pencils, erasers, even notebooks scattered across the ground, sliding towards the front of the class, and it was then that Matthews noticed the entire room was inclining.

     His stomach dropped and his breath caught as he saw the panicked expressions around him.

     Was this happening? Why? All of a sudden, with no reason or warning, it was really happening.

     And the only thing he could think of was his friends.

     A static noise managed to overcome the mess in the classroom, and the speaker at the top corner of the room made itself heard. It was Mr. Quin's voice.

     "The ship is having difficulties. Do not panic! Evacuate the classrooms quickly and cling to the walls. Go to the highest floor, in the room at the end of the hall. Don't rush or panic." he commanded, but his voice was giving away the fact he wasn't taking his own advice.

     Matthews took that as his cue to stand up and run towards the door, but a hand tugged him back roughly.

     "Where is William!" Oliver demanded, searching his eyes intently.

     Matt's mind was simply blank, he couldn't think any straighter than the angle of the room, let alone remember his friends' classes. All he knew was that he had to find them, whether or not he had to use rationality to do so.

     A slap to the face seemed to get him out of his daze, though.

     "Ah-ah, it's ah- Fuck damn!" he stressed, hissing as the grip on his arm got rougher. "Chemistry! Chemistry!" he gasped, nodding at Oliver, just in time for the man to race out of the room.

     He followed him quickly, but once in the hallway he went the opposite way towards the English classroom, slaloming between the bodies of students, professors and guards running the opposite way. There were obstacles like papers and random objects causing him to slip and stumble, but his pace didn't slow down a bit until he reached the room.

     Gripping the door frame as the airship suddenly tilted the other way, he took a few moments to find his balance, and then entered.

     "Veronique!" he yelled, running to the corner in which his friend was hunched, two professors and a guard trying desperately to get him moving.

     As he made his way through them, he could see the horrified, sobbing mess that was his friend, his turquoise eyes distant. He was hyperventilating gravely as he gripped at his black strands.

     "Veronique, I'm here, we must go! It's dangerous here, I swear I'll get you to safety, just please move! Please, please don't panic!" he begged, knowing how much of a lost cause the panicking people were in situations like that.

     As if having received a gift from the Gods, Matthews sighed thankfully as widen, terrified eyes focused on his.

     Arms wrapped around his neck, and he leaned in to grip his thighs and wrap them around his waist. Then he stood up, hand touching the wall as he exited the classroom, professors and guard on his tracks.

     "Mattie! Mattie, Mattie, Mattie!" his friend whimpered, his embrace stronger than his slender arms led to believe.

     Making his way down the mess in the hall, well- making his way up, considering the angle, Matt managed to reach the stairs, which people had difficulty climbing. As if on cue, the airship tiled once more, almost forcing people to the upper floor.

     Gripping the railing with one hand and gripping his friend's waist with the other, he strode up the steps, but stopped in his tracks when he reached the middle.

     "Matthews!" he heard in the maze of screams, and he sharply turned around to see Oliver, his hands lost in the mess that was his hair. He kept stumbling as people pushed past him, but his desperate eyes remained on his friend.

     "William! He's nowhere! I can't find him, Matthews!" he cried, panting.

     Matt gripped his friend tighter as he started sobbing. "Willie!"

     "I'll get Veronique to the safe room and if Will's not there, I'll find you and we'll look for him." he stated, then hurried up the remaining stairs and to the next row.

     You'd think running up three floors would be exhilarating, especially considering the crowd on the stairs and the conditions, but the gravity of the situation -pun intended- forced everyone's legs to forget of limits and capability, and so by the time they reached the last floor, their limbs were numb, but still managed to get them down the hallway and to the room.

     As Matt opened the door, he faced the big, dark wooden room, and ran towards the many mattresses at the side of it. The room was specially for that kind of situation, being at the highest floor in order to assure people little damage upon landing on, if manageable, water. The impact would also be lesser even if they were to crash on land, and the mattresses would surely help.

     The mattresses, which were currently lacking Will.

     Matthews hurriedly placed Veronique on one of them and knelt in front of him, wiping at his face. "Please stay here, I'm going to go find William, all right?"

     "Mattie!" Veronique whined, gripping at his lower arms and shaking his head. It seemed his vocabulary extended no further than his best friends' nicknames.

     "He might need help, Veronique!" Matt tried to reason, connecting their foreheads as if that would get his point across.

     Then he pulled back, and watched thankfully as Dimitri held Veronique against his chest, to keep him from running at Matt but also offering comfort as he rubbed his arm. With a nod towards the bully, the dark haired man turned around and ran for the door of the room.

     However, just as he was about to exit, Oliver entered with a furious expression, dragging with him none other than William, thank the Gods. The brunette was desperately gripping on a book as if his life depended on it, eyes scanning the rows frantically.

     Matt sobbed in relief and followed the two men towards the mattresses. He slumped down next to Veronique, the boy making his way in between his legs and arms. Oliver and William sat down on Matthews's left.

     "Where was he!" he demanded, darting an arm across Will's shoulder, his other one gripping Veronique.

     Oliver rubbed his face in frustration and then turned to dart a murderous look at the book. "In a corner of the bloody library, reading that book, for fuck's sake!"

     "I must finish it, I must finish it, I have to finish it before we're dead." William shakily murmured, going as far as skipping a few pages to get nearer the end.

     "Kevin grows to be a sociopath and murders his father, sister and 9 classmates on the prom night! Now can you fucking focus on surviving!" Oliver yelled, gripping the book and slamming it on the ground. No one flinched at his uncommon behaviour since everyone was upside down, the airship soon to follow.

     Will's hands winced and trembled their way into his hair. Looking ahead of him, he kept his mouth shut and tired to restrain his emotions from overwhelming his expression, but the tears flooding down gave it away, as well did his widen brown eyes.

     "Why'd you read it with me if you knew the ending." he whimpered, obviously trying to focus on anything but survival.

     Oliver took that as his chance and leaned to kiss him hungrily, and William didn't even think a second before letting his hands venture in the blond jungle as he kissed back louder than necessary. 

     Matthews couldn't blame them. Hell, those were probably everyone's last moments, and all around he could see couples kissing, confessions flowing and apologies being accepted. And he had yet to confess, but wasn't planning on.

     He just slid his arm away from Will's shoulders and wrapped it around Veronique, placed his head on his and crossed his legs, wrapping his friend with his body.

     If he was to act based on his feelings and go for a kiss, it could only end two ways. Veronique would turn out to not return his love and he would feel confused, betrayed even, causing them to end on an inconvenient note. If he was to return his love, they would end on a sad note because they would realize how much time they wasted by not having confessed earlier.

     So, in order to end on a happy note, he just hugged him tightly and tried to mute out the prayers all around him. Yes, the orphanage was for geniuses whose only God was science, yet in such drastic situations that was their last alternative. Matt didn't join them, instead focusing on the trembling body he was covering as if he'd manage to protect him once the impact happened.

     And then...

     Then nothing.

     For the impact never happened.

     The airship suddenly leaned at a straight angle and stood like that as if moments ago it wasn't aimlessly waving. A heavy silence occupied the room at once, every person looking around in awe, probably illuminated at the idea of a God actually existing.

     Only, God -if there actually was to be one- didn't have a hand in that.

      Mister Grimerson did.

     His steps echoed in the silence as he walked in the room casually, his suit as immaculate as his hair and expression. After running a hand down his striped tie, he placed his arm behind his back next to the other and looked at each one of the students and staff, expression quizzical.

     "It had been a setup. The captain might have had a little bit more fun than intended, but the airship was never in any serious danger."

     The silence stretched on.

     Really, how else could the orphans react? It was their principal they faced, they couldn't go ahead and spit or scream at him, despite how much they felt the need to.

     However, it proved that the silence happened just to let things sink in, because the next thing Grimerson knew, everyone was freaking out. A voice yelled above them all, managing to basically wrap up everyone else's thoughts.

     "You bloody lunatic! People could have gotten hurt! People did get hurt!" a man complained, pointing around him. Indeed, some persons had gotten injured from the aimless movements of objects and the panicked crowd hadn't been gentle either.

     Bogeyman raised a single eyebrow at the orphan, his expression daring him to continue his idea. "Silence." he demanded, gravely enough for people to obey.

     "I see no logic in announced emergency exercises." he spoke, this time addressing everyone. "As you all saw, people acted on instinct and not a dozen exercises will fix that. It's impulse. Yes, people got hurt, but that only serves as mistakes to learn from the next time something happens for good." he lectured, straightening his back and tilting his head daringly.

     A few moments of silence followed, people slowly managing to comprehend their safety, until loud steps could be heard approaching the room and the door slammed open.

     "You bloody bastard!" Mister Quin screeched, his appearance opposed to his partner's. His striped tie was barely knotted anymore, his jacket forgotten somewhere in the airship, the sleeves of his pale green shirt pulled up and his expression frantic.

     Grimerson frowned in inconvenience at that, having gotten more disrespect in these past few minutes than he had gotten his entire career.

     And then Mr. Quin hugged him tightly, shoving his face in shoulder. "I looked everywhere for you!"

     That mustn't have been a part of Bogeyman's plan, because he looked utterly uncomfortable at the moment. He sucked his lips in and raised his arms awkwardly, unable to decide between patting his back or just standing there. He wasn't a hug person, that much was clear, but after much restraint, he tentatively wrapped his arms around him, rolling his eyes and clenching his jaw.

     Matthews only by that point managed to realize that everything was fine. They would truly be okay. And all the fear and nervousness he had blocked out before in order to be responsible and collected, now broke loose as he started crying like he never did before.

 

     It was only deductible he wouldn't get any sleep that night, much like most of his roommates. Still, everyone kept silent, thinking on most probably a common subject, that of how things could suddenly end without waiting for their approval, despite there being so many things to say.

     And Matthews ran through them, imagining himself voicing them to Veronique.

     He would do it, that much was certain. That day just opened his eyes widely. They were on a humongous airship, slaloming between storms and flying thousand miles away from civilization and its hospitals. All of the orphans' lives simply relied on the shoulders of a drunken captain whose face they had yet to see.

     Basically, any second -hell, any picosecond, a small mechanism could simply cease to do its job, which would be enough to end the lives of 162 orphans, a dozen of well known geniuses, nameless staff members and two principals with matching ties. As that realization slapped Matthews in the face mercilessly, he swayed Will's dangling scarf out of the way, stood up from the bed and went for the door.

     His roommates didn't question him, too caught up in their own thoughts to mind him.

     Matt closed the door behind him, looking at his right to see the hallway leading towards the stairs. He wasn't one to get spooked, but considering the lack of light except for the pale moonlight sneaking through the window at the end of the hall, Matt felt pretty uncomfortable.

     However, as he looked to his left towards his destination, the atmosphere took a sudden drift from scary to romantic.

     With a soft click, Veronique closed his own door and looked up to mirror Matthews's awed expression.

     Despite being dark, Matt could see him clearly. He was wearing an oversized brown shirt reaching just above his knees, from where his stockings began. His hair was as ruffled as Matthews's from the lack of sleep. Matt himself was only wearing a sleeveless black tee and grey boxers, but the lack of clothing didn't concern either of them.

     No words were exchanged. They just hesitantly walked towards the other, unaware if they had the same purpose, despite it being obvious by the look in their eyes.

     And then, upon reaching in front of another, Matthews leaned in eagerly, lips parted, back hunched and hands behind his back- he didn't trust them in the situation.

     However, instead of a kiss he received a hug.

     What did that mean?

     "What does this mean..." he murmured, but returned the gesture nonetheless, happy to have even gotten that far. The intimacy between them made his muscles twitch nervously, in a good way. In the best of ways.

     "What do you think it means..." Veronique snapped, voice muffled by his friend's chest.

     "Well, you rejected my kiss to offer me a friendly hug. That made it sort of clear..."

     The boy shook his head, tightening his grip. "Your name should be Mutt rather than Matt. I might as well just call you Muttie from now on." Veronique said, apparently back to his self. "Clueless mutt you are."

     "Now, now. If you're going to turn me down, might as well be nice by it." Matthews teased, sighing as his friend pulled away from his arms to cross his own.

     "Mattie. I..." he scoffed, shaking his head and looking around. He eventually uncrossed his arms to play with the hem of his shirt, almost as if purposefully exposing his thighs. Though Matt knew him better than to think that. "I yadda yadda you and stuff."

     And despite his childish words, his tone was as soft and honest as if he straight up confessed. Still, it didn't cease to make Matthews grin amused.

     "Well if you yadda yadda me and I yadda yadda yadda you, then why won't you let me kiss you?"

     Veronique gaped at that. "What do you mean yadda yadda yadda. As if you yadda yadda me more than I do you!"

     It was comical how he was saying it with such a serious expression, really.

     "Well, I believe that's the case. I mean, I'm not the one refusing the kiss here." Matthews reasoned, raising his palms. This was not going as he imagined, but it was Veronique after all. It was bound to be a bumpy road.

     "There you go being a mutt again!" Veronique exclaimed, rubbing his cheeks up and down as if trying to wipe the blush off. " 'ts just- ah..." he sighed, shoulders slumping down.

     "Hmm?" Matthews encouraged.

     "I don't know how to... stuff..."

     His vocabulary really was sort of limited for a supposedly genius boy, in stressing situations at least. Which made him all that more eatable from Matt's point of view. Eatable? Eatable.

     Matthews took that as his cue to step closer to him and lean again, head tilted. He managed to wipe the grin off his face enough to keep his lips in a kissable position.

     However, despite advancing further and further, the mouth he had in view didn't approach but moved away in rhythm with his. Matthews simply moved his eyes up to stare at Veronique from underneath his bangs, expression blank. Until a wide, menacing grin flashed across his face.

     Matt started walking, Veronique mimicking him backwards. By blocking his path now and then, the young adult managed to lead his friend into a wall, pinning him against it simply with his presence.

     He approached him close enough for their breaths to tangle into another. The teenager was watching him amazed, his panting loud and clear in the dead silence around them. Matt looked down his body in a couple seconds, taking note of the way his toes rubbed together.

     And then he lowered his head, brushing his lips up and down his neck in search for a certain sport, at which his friend simply jumped out of his skin, trying to slide up the wall and away from him.

     However, when Matt pecked the spot he found to be the softest, Veronique yelped and with a shudder his body went limp, trailing down the wall and curling to the floor, hands gripping at the spot.

     The young adult knelt next to him and crouched to trail his front teeth up his earlobe.

     "What in the bloody heavens are you doing to my body!" Veronique screeched, rolling like a log to the other wall.

     Matt followed him on his fours and placed two hands next to the sides of his head, trapping him at once.

     "If you won't allow me your lips, I figured I'd at least get the rest..." he murmured, letting his elbows tap the ground in order to lower himself enough for their noses to touch. "And do believe me, I know one's most sensible places like the back of my hand. So, what's it going to be?"

     "Kiss! Kiss... just- nnngh." he groaned, turning his head away. Matt took the opportunity to lean and plant the softest of pecks on his collar bone, at which the teenager trembled violently. "All right I said kiss! But-"

     "But?" Matt questioned, trailing his nose up his shoulder. "But what?" he asked threateningly above another soft spot.

     "Nothing!"

     With a hum, Matthews raised his head to caress Veronique's lips with his, unable to restrain the grin that followed when his friend shuddered violently. And then he kissed the soft mouth for the briefest of seconds before Veronique turned his head away, again.

     Closing his eyes, Matt smiled happily at the knowledge of finally having got the kiss he's been craving for more than he cared to admit. Yes, it had been more of a peck, but the tension in the air made it so much more.

     "This is embarrassing! Just tell me how to do it or something." the teenager demanded.

     Matthews sat back on his heels and pulled his friend up, chuckling. "There's no guide in this, it just happens."

     "Yes, that's what everyone says to us kiss-virgins, then they go ahead and laugh when we fail."

     "Look." Matt reasoned. "How about you kiss me instead?"

     Veronique started scratching at his stockings, looking at him uncertainly. Then he shifted his bottom on his heels and started tapping his knees nervously. "Fine." he murmured.

     And then he leaned in, eyes squinted, lips pursed and neck stretched.

     And Matthews lost it.

     If there had been orphans that managed to get sleep after the setup emergency exercise, they were now awake because of the laughter that dominated the entire floor.

     "I knew you'd laugh! Bloody hell, this is the most awkward first kiss in the entirety of evolution." Veronique groaned, rubbing his face in distress.

     Matthews then gripped his hands, pulling them away from his face and swallowing his laughter back. "So be it."

     And then, finally, he leaned in to bite at his lower lip. Then, he simply started a row of pecks- slow, repetitive and continuous pecks, all together creating the idea of a kiss. There wasn't much motion other than that, so Veronique successfully contributed, his hands shyly making their way up Matt's chest, whereas Matthews's hands determinedly trailed up his arms, shoulders, neck and hair.

     And at some point, the short pauses between the peck ceased to happen, which led to a legitimate make out.

     It was a tad too needy, dripping wet and clumsy.

     It was perfect.

Dedicated to Fanquinine XD She was the closest to guessing what happened, by commenting "Ship crashes?".

So here are some other guesses left by fans:

• William dies (over my dead body! I have to say he's my favorite character for one reason or another :D)

• Will-Veronique-Matt threesome (uh...nope)

• They get into a fight (neaaaah)

• Atomic bomb destroys world and the orphans survive but later die of hunger. (...?)

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