Jun 20, 2011 09:28
Chapter 10. Burning like Snow
“You are ice and fire, the touch of you burns my hands like snow.”(Amy Lowell)
A new kind of excitement started boiling in the boys’ blood. Chris was able to buy his first bass, though he had to sacrifice his old drum kit for it. His parents agreed to pay the difference, glad that the new instrument wouldn’t occupy place in the house anymore like the previous. As an early birthday present for Chris, Linda, Matt and Dom put their money together and asked the little town’s best bass teacher to give classes to the former drummer, who proved to be a hard-working student. Matt and Dom eagerly awaited the moment when Chris would play bass well; they encouraged him continuously and remarked amazedly on the progress Chris made every time they met in the garage.
That afternoon, Dom had to leave his two friends alone because he went to the railway station to wait for his sister. Matt and Chris felt particularly lazy - they had excuses though, they had worked really hard that week - so they decided to go to Linda’s and chill there. Dominic flung himself into work those days to forget the problems waiting for him at home and he expected the others to work as much as him. Chris and Matt teased Dom by calling him a slave driver and they showed the restless drummer the blisters on their fingers, a gesture which always made Dom feel guilty, but he knew that their hard work would be repaid in the future.
Chris and Matt had to hurry to Linda’s house because an unexpected snowstorm was determined to make Teignmouth completely white. They all sat in the warm and cosy living room with a cup of tea in their hands. While Chris was doing Linda’s chemistry homework - a subject she wasn’t good at - she teased her brother:
“Holy Mary, how come you’re relaxing on a Friday afternoon, Matt?” Linda pulled a fake shocked face. “How can you bear leaving the poor homework staying undone?!”
The brunet just rolled his eyes at his sister’s mockery and after taking a sip of his tea, he replied: “Well, we don’t have rehearsals at all over the weekend, so I have plenty of time to do all my homework and I don’t have to bribe others to do it for me.”
“Tsk tsk, when did you become so sharp-tongued? I’ve always told you that Dominic has influenced you greatly,” Linda retorted.
“Speaking of Dominic, did you think about a proper birthday present for him?” Chris asked as he was checking the results of his calculations.
“Oh my God, thanks for reminding me about it!” Linda kissed Chris’ cheek and ran to her room.
She came back leafing through a newspaper and showed the boys an advertisement: “There’s a new music shop in Exeter, I thought we should go there and have a look. Maybe we can find some cool stuff, who knows.”
“Great idea, I bet Dom needs some drumsticks!” Chris said and looked at Matt. “So, what do you say, Matt?”
The brunet pouted before he even realised his gesture and Linda already noticed his reluctance: “Hey, what’s wrong, Matt? We don’t have to buy anything from there if we don’t like their merchandise.”
The thin boy brought his knees to his chest and leaned against the armrest of the couch.
“It’s not that, I just don’t know if I can come with you; next week is going to be quite busy for me.” He stopped, unsure if he wanted to share the next piece of information. “Besides, I kind of already have a surprise for Dom,” he added, a soft blush colouring his prominent cheeks.
“Really? What’s that?”
“A surprise is called a surprise because it is not revealed until the appropriate moment,” Matt replied with a smirk.
“Fine, keep it a secret, why should I care about you and your secret surprise,” Linda huffed and instead of gouging the information out of her brother, she put her arms around Chris’ neck and ignored everybody else.
“Ah, don’t be so sulky, sis! It’s just a little gift, but it’s quite personal and I really think that Dom should see it first. Besides, I’m almost sure that he will show it to you,” Matthew tried to placate his sister with his soft words and pleading eyes.
“Okay, I know that you two are good friends, I guess it’s normal that you’d like to give him something special,” Linda concluded and their little misunderstanding ended there.
The youngsters spent a pleasant afternoon making plans for the winter holidays and even for future concerts of Carnal Mayhem.
“By the way, I think you should change the name of the band,” Linda stated, “it sounds so brutal and raw. You are not like that!”
“How do you know that?” Chris asked playfully, showing his brilliant white teeth. “We know that your brother is a vampire. However, a less known secret is that I’m a werewolf!”
The three teenagers laughed cheerfully, but Linda managed to put ideas into Matthew’s head, who was determined to ask Dom about the name change. Linda was right; they needed something that would represent them and their music. The violence and grotesque suggested by their current name didn’t go well with their lighter pieces like Unintended. He knew there was a word or a group of words that comprised every feature of their art and even though he wanted to finalise the name giving process, Matt knew that it would eventually cross their minds.
The thin boy got up, and borrowing a thick scarf from his sister before he walked home with his eyes fixed on the dusky sky. His eyes widened at the soft dance of the snowflakes, giggling as some of them landed on his eyelashes and nose. Though he was not particularly fond of winter games, Matt wished his friends and he would have some fun next week, a snowball fight never being more tempting…
* * * * *
“So, did you have fun with Athena over the weekend?” Matt asked his desk mate eagerly, as soon as the Maths teacher was out of the classroom.
Dominic smiled bashfully, ready to tell his friend every detail: “Oh yes, I forgot how funny she is. It was really awesome to spend the weekend together. She also promised to stay for my birthday, so I’m…”
“Hey kids, what are you doing?” Chris asked as he walked in with Linda, both wearing lazy and smug smiles.
“Erm, just talking,” Matt answered as he suspiciously eyed the chipper pair who definitely had something unusual about them. “Hey, are you going home or why are you wearing your bags?”
“AHA, the lovebirds are skipping classes!” Dominic stated and added with a sly smirk: “I’m sure your parents will be happy to hear the news.”
Linda stifled a yawn and looked at her boyfriend: “Do you think we should enlighten them or leave them in their ignorance? Okay, here’s the deal: all our classes for today were cancelled due to the teachers being ill, so we are free now.”
Matt and Dom huffed with jealousy at the thought that they had to rot in school for other four hours.
“Anyway, we thought about going to Exeter,” Chris said and smirked when Matt snapped up his head. “Thought you two would like to join us.”
“We can’t, we still have classes, unlike you,” Matt pouted in disappointment. However, Dom’s mind was running wild with ideas.
“Oh, come on, guys, we’ll have so much fun!” Linda teased and fluttered her eyelashes at Dom, who seemed easier to convince: “Just imagine, we could go to the cinema, walk around in the city, fool around in the shops. Just a little vacation. Please, boys, play truant once in your lives, for the sake of the LICHRIDOMA gang…”
Matt and Dom looked at each other, the blonde biting his lower lip, tempted to cave in. His friend saw the hope in the aquamarine eyes, but Matthew was still not sure: “We have important lessons today and anyway, how could we slip out without being caught? Mrs. Nelly at reception is a pretty tough lady.”
“Oh, Matt, if Mrs. Nelly is your biggest concern, I will take care of her,” Dom smirked mysteriously and he already started packing away his things.
Chris and Linda shared a short victory kiss and told them that they’d wait for their friends outside. While Matt put on his coat and grabbed his backpack, Dominic revealed him his genius escape plan.
“So, I have this idea: we go to the receptionist, tell her that you’re not feeling well and that I need to take you urgently to a doctor. Just stay pale like this, okay?”
Matt snorted before laughing in the hallway: “Just stay pale? Jesus, Dom, what an intelligent instruction!”
“Shut up, smartass, I’ll do the talking. Just make those puppy eyes at Mrs. Nelly and I’m sure she won’t be able to resist them,” Dom rattled off, putting his left arm on Matt’s shoulder as if he was helping him descending the stairs.
In the meantime Matthew wondered if Dom spoke out of experience about the impossibility to resist his ‘puppy eyes’. Did he imply that he wouldn’t be able to refuse Matt’s requests? The guitarist blushed at the thought and the reassuring heaviness of the blonde’s arm on his shoulder filled him with pleasure.
Matt dared a glance to his right, but he didn’t expect Dom’s face to be so close and he certainly didn’t expect those aquamarine eyes to look at him so openly, with a mix of excitement, secrecy and mischief. As a bonus, Dominic flashed his brilliant smile, unaware of its effects on his friend’s heartbeat. Matthew’s eyes widened and the intensity of their shared stare completely befuddled the poor boy, to such an extent that he remained silent in the next minutes.
“Boys, I hope you are not trying to sneak out of the school building,” a severe-looking woman admonished the two friends, eying them suspiciously.
“Oh, no, Mrs. Nelly!” Dom hurried to say and he hoped that the quiver in his voice would be attributed to the “panic” that seized him. “I’m just worried about Matty, my friend, he wasn’t feeling well all day and he’s suddenly turned so pale! He should be seen by a doctor urgently!”
Matt looked at the elderly woman with a pained expression, his face contorting as if a pang took over his weak body. Mrs. Nelly believed the act, but she only wanted to let Matt go, a decision to which Dom protested vehemently:
“But Mrs. Nelly, look at Matt! He can’t walk on his feet! Do you want him to faint on his way home? What if he freezes until somebody finds him?”
Matt took advantage of his “feeble” state and to make his role even more realistic, he snaked his arm around Dom’s waist to make sure that he had enough support.
“All right, Mr. Howard, I’ll let you leave as well, but if I hear that you two went drinking or doing something stupid, I swear I’ll never let you miss any classes. Understood?”
The boys mumbled ‘yes’ and they exited the building slowly, stifling their fit of laughter that threatened to burst out in any second. When they reached Linda and Chris and made sure that they were out of eyeshot, the four youngsters laughed cheerfully at their wicked escape plan, hurrying to the bus that would take them to Exeter. The day was very promising - Matthew noticed as he smiled at Dom and looked out the window of the bus to admire the peacefully falling snow.
* * * * *
“Oh my god, guys, we have to see this movie!” Linda exclaimed excitedly as they arrived in front of the cinema.
“What? Which one?” asked Matt who arrived a bit later, afraid to hurry on the slippery sidewalk.
“Interview with the Vampire,” the girl said and pointed to a banner. “Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise play in it, I’m sure it’s great!”
The boys looked at each other with incredulous expressions, rolling their eyes and thinking ‘Is she serious?!’ Despite their discontent grimaces and pouts, Linda kept nagging them until the boys agreed, though they were looking longingly at the Forest Gump placard. However, they still had more than an hour to kill until the screening, so the cheerful group headed for the city centre. The historical buildings and the famous cathedral were always beautiful, but covered by snow, they looked downright fabulous.
Linda didn’t forget though about Dom’s birthday present, so she made signs with her eyes and hands to Chris and Matt. Unfortunately, at first her brother didn’t understand what she was trying to signal, so he almost asked loudly what she wanted to say, but luckily Linda came up with a spontaneous plan:
“Hey, boys, Chris and I will go to this bookstore on High Street, Dad asked me to buy him a guidebook. Go ahead and buy the tickets, we’ll join you in ten minutes.”
“Okay, just don’t be late!” Dom warned the couple.
“No worries, mum!” Chris replied cheekily before disappearing.
“So, we’re alone,” Dom stated as he and Matt walked casually towards the cinema.
Matt smiled bashfully and put his cap right. The thin layer of snow which settled on the cars was too tempting, so he reached out and grabbed a handful, only to form a neat snowball, which, of course, landed on Dom’s coat.
“HEY, you’re such a cheater!” Dom exclaimed before he hid behind a car and launched an attack of snowballs, while Matt teased Dom and between his loud fit of giggles threw a few snow bombs back.
A couple of minutes later, however, everything stilled. Matt was way too curious to wait in his shelter, so he got up and looked around, confused by the strange silence that settled on the street. He tiptoed to the car that served as Dom’s cover, but his friend was gone. Just as he was about to panic, Matthew felt a sudden coldness at the back of his neck.
“REVENGE!” Dom shrieked, laughing as he put some snow under his friend’s pullover, his guffaws getting even louder when Matthew started squealing and bouncing to shake the snow out of his clothes.
“You’ll be so sorry for this, Dominic James Howard! I promise you that you won’t get off cheaply!” Matt threatened with fire in his eyes.
“Oh, I can’t wait!” Dom laughed as he ran away from Matt’s fury, only to bump in a tall figure.
“Hello, kindergartners, the movie starts in five minutes! Be grateful that we bought your tickets too!” Chris scolded his friends and shepherded them to the cinema’s entrance where Linda was waiting.
“When will you two grow up?!” she huffed impatiently, hooking on Chris and not even looking back at the snickering boys.
The youngsters found their seats easily and sat down. Dominic took off his coat and cap, ruffling his hair. He looked at Matt’s red cheeks and glowing face, which brought forth warmness and affection inside him. At the same time, Matt noticed Dominic’s smirk with satisfaction and he was incredibly happy to be there with their friends, instead of getting bored at school.
The movie was better than the boys expected; it wasn’t the typical horror with rivers of blood and macabre scenes. Matthew glanced in Chris and Linda’s direction and was jealous that they could cuddle at the terrifying scenes. However, both he and Dom leaned closer to each other, until their shoulders bumped.
“Oh sorry, just wanted to ask for some popcorn,” Dom mumbled embarrassedly, grateful that his blush couldn’t be seen in the dark.
Matthew offered the box of popcorn; however, Dom’s eyes were glued to the screen and his hand missed the box, grabbing Matt’s knee instead. The brunet sang out, surprised by the sudden touch, but started giggling heartily, which dissipated the awkwardness. Dom apologised laughing as well, even though the whole theatre glowered at them.
After the movie ended, the four friends went to the bus which would take them home. While Chris and Dom discussed some details of Interview with the Vampire, Matt managed asking Linda if she and Chris bought anything in the “bookstore” which was, of course, the cover of the music shop. Linda nodded excitedly, but they had to end their whispered conversation when the bus arrived, for which they were extremely glad because the winter wind was cruel. After all, it was already December.
“So, are you still sad that we missed some classes, Matt?” Dom asked smiling contentedly.
“Hell, no! We had so much fun! Thanks, Dom; I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much! I actually feel drunk by giggling all day!” Matt leaned against the seat and chuckled at the memory. “Oh and don’t think I forgot about my revenge!”
“Jesus, Matt, I’m so scared now!” Dom teased the brunet after they got off the bus.
“Hey, guys, I guess you find your way home, right? Linda and I will go to her place, this cold weather is insufferable,” Chris called, as he wrapped his arms around a trembling Linda.
“Okay. Thanks for the great afternoon, see you tomorrow!”
“Bye!”
Matt and Dom walked fast, but Matt’s impish mind still didn’t quit coming up with weird ideas to revenge Dom’s snow attack. ‘For a start, a nice snowball would be enough,’ he thought and the blonde certainly didn’t expect such a quick counterattack. However, Dominic ran ahead and Matt chased him, fuelled by Dom’s ceaseless teasing:
“You’ll never catch me, Matt!”
“Never say ne…”
But Matt’s reply stopped abruptly, replaced by a piercing scream. Dominic turned back and his eyes widened with sheer fear.
“Matt…”
[type] fluff,
fanfiction,
[era] teen muse,
[series] you are my sun,
muse,
belldom,
[type] friendship,
[type] h/c,
[type] first time,
[pairing] belldom