[Fic] Candles
Title: Candles
Author: xmidnightblazex
Word Count: 1502
Warning: Fluff. Sickening fluff. Also un-beta'd.
Disclaimer: I wish it were real.
Summary: As long as he has Tom he has everything he ever needs.
Rating: PG.
Note: Written in just over an hour for dusk037 with a sprained finger. (: I hope you like it as much as I do <3. I'm actually really proud of it.
Even though the twins are only ten, Simone trusted them enough to let them stay home while she went out grocery shopping. Tom had promised her a dozen times over that he would take care of everything and he usually did a good job at least when it came to watching Bill. Tom tried to be the man in the house and she thought it was sweet.
What she, and the twins, hadn’t been expecting was for a thunderstorm to roll in not ten minutes after she pulled out of the driveway. The weather man had called for rain earlier that morning but they had quickly learned that the new weather man didn’t know what the hell he was talking about so they thought nothing of it. Until now.
In the last ten minutes Bill had taken to hiding under his blanket. He hadn’t paid any attention to the thunder storm until the power started to act up. His bedroom lamp was flickering on and off every few seconds now. Bill was too paralyzed to move and Tom was downstairs doing something that involved a lot of clattering and banging around. Tom was always making a lot of noise, whether it be by running around, playing his guitar much too loudly or blasting the television.
A bolt of lightning lit up Bill’s room. He squeaked, ducking beneath his flannel blanket. It’s only lightning. Tom’s right downstairs. Why Tom wasn’t upstairs cuddling with him Bill didn’t know and didn’t like one bit.
The lights flickered. Bill’s heart skipped a beat. “T-Tomi?” he shouted, staggering towards his bedroom door. There was no way in hell that he was going to be caught upstairs alone when the power gave up the fight. “Tomi, where are you?” he called down the stairs. There was no hiding the shake in his voice. He didn’t mind power outages so much when their parents were home. He would go curl up with Simone until it was over but now she was on the other side of the town and Tom wasn’t answering him.
“Where the heck are you?” he shouted, louder this time. The lights in the hall flickered. Bill whimpered, grabbing for the railing. “Tomi, Tomi, Tomi…” His heart raced as he carefully headed down the steps. He could hear Tom moving around downstairs, probably in the kitchen. Of course he ditches me for food of all things. There could be worse things, Bill figured as he staggered down the steps. Like girls. Girls were a big no-no. Even at the ripe age of ten, Bill had everything figured out. He and Tom would grow old together, live in the same mansion. A mansion because they were going to be famous rock stars one day soon and no girls were going to be permitted inside the house. Except Simone, who would have her own bedroom in the house but not on the same floor as theirs. They needed their privacy.
The lights flickered a third and forth time before he heard the tell tale zappp. The lights went off at once. “Tomi!” Bill screamed. It was so dark he couldn’t see the rest of the stairs. He held tight to the railing. “Please, come here!” Bill whimpered. Thunder crashed, so loud it could have been just feet away. There was no fighting his tears after that boom. He heard footsteps coming at him fast and just barely noticed Tom’s shadow, slightly darker than the rest of the room before he felt him.
“Don’t cry. ‘M right here, you’re okay now, Bill.” Bill let go of the railing to throw his arms around Tom’s neck. He pressed his face into his brother’s shoulder, breathing in deeply. “The lights will come back on soon.”
“You promise?” Tom always kept his promises, no matter what they were. Tom nodded.
“Of course, of course…” he whispered. “Here, take my hand. I have a surprise.” Bill perked up. Tom’s surprises were the best. Anything of Tom’s was automatically the best. There could never be any competition.
“What is it?” he asked, groping around until he found Tom’s hand. Tom tugged his hand and together they made their way down the second half of the stairs. Bill pressed his free hand flat against the wall when they were finally off the stairs. Tom led him down the hall. At the end of the hall he could see various flickering lights coming from the kitchen. “What’s that?” he asked.
“Your surprise,” Tom said simply. He dragged him the last few feet into the kitchen then stepped aside to let Bill look. Tom had taken what seemed to be all the candles they had and placed them all over the counter and kitchen table. On the table was a bowl of chips that Simone had specifically told the twins not to touch. She should have known better. “This is why I didn’t come sooner. I couldn’t find the matches but I had to before the lights went off,” he explained, puffing his chest out proudly.
Bill melted. “You did this for me?” he whispered, letting go of Tom’s hand. “Tomi…” he turned to Tom, eyes sparkling in the candle light. Tom had little to no time to brace himself before Bill came crashing into his arms. Tom stumbled back, hitting the wall but Bill was giggling and smiling and everything was right in their own little world.
“I didn’t want you to get scared.”
“I wasn’t scared,” Bill whispered against his neck. Tom shivered. “Thank you so much. You’re the best brother ever.”
“Ever?” Bill nodded rapidly, Tom smirked. Of course he was the best brother ever. “We should eat those chips before Mom gets home and yells.” She was going to yell at him anyway for playing with the matches but Tom didn’t care if he got grounded (again) for playing with fire. Bill was happy now and they were safe.
“Chips!” Bill sang, slipping out of Tom’s arms much too fast for Tom’s liking. “I’m starving. I haven’t eaten anything all day long.”
“We ate dinner just before Mom left!”
“Nuh uh. You’re lying.” He leaned carefully over a candle that smelled vaguely like clean laundry to grab a handful of chips. He turned back to Tom, taking the biggest one in his hand. “Open up.” Tom blinked, staring at the chip. He opened his mouth, half expecting Bill to shove the entire chip right in but Bill was slow and careful for once in his life. Tom doubted it would happen again.
The flickering light of the candles lit up Bill’s face beautifully. Not that Bill wasn’t always beautiful because he was but the candles enhanced it. “I love you,” Tom said, swallowing his mouthful of chips. Bill’s face turned crimson. Even though Tom couldn’t tell, he knew by the way Bill giggled and looked away.
“I love you too,” he took another chip, feeding it to Tom just as slowly. “Thank you.”
“The lights will come back on soon.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind,” Bill smiled. “I like the candles. They smell good and you put them together all for me. I don’t want the lights to ruin it.” Tom beamed, his smile widening even further when Bill leaned in and pressed a big wet kiss to his lips. They didn’t kiss often but when they did, Tom cherished the moment.
Later, when the lights came back on, the twins scurried around the house to turn them all off again so Tom’s candles wouldn't go to waste. As they would meet up in different rooms including the stairwell, the living room and Simone’s bedroom they would stop for a brief second to smile and share a kiss before they scampered off in different directions only to meet up a minute later to kiss and smile again. It was Bill’s first real romantic encounter but it wouldn’t be his last.
In twenty years Bill would come home from a long, exhausting day at the studio, ready to rant and rave about the new band they were trying to sign with, only to find their house (a mansion, just like he always imagined) completely dark with the curtains drawn tightly shut.
Tom would meet him in the kitchen. Candles of all different shapes, sizes and smells would decorate every free spot of counter, table, stove and fridge top that Bill could see. Tom would be standing in the middle of the kitchen, one hand behind his back. Bill would walk slowly, clearly confused to meet Tom halfway. He would watch Tom drop to one knee a foot in front of him and whisper the question Will you spend the rest of your life with me? They could never be married but Bill wouldn’t need the ceremony, he wouldn’t even need the beautiful silver ring (but that was a perk) that Tom would slide onto his finger. After all, he would have Tom and Tom alone was all Bill would ever need no matter their age.