rumored nights

<div align=center>It felt like an age since William had been waiting, he hadn't talked to Gabriel since that incident, it felt strange to be waiting for him now, they hadn't arranged anything, William didn't even know if Gabe wanted to talk to him. He felt so bad about it that he was getting nervous, and his nerves were making him jittery. William hated feeling jittery, he couldn't get his words out very well if he stuttered, and it delayed him. He hated it. He hated himself. The boy sighed and slumped to the floor, drawing his knees into his chest and resting his elbows on them.

The hallways were awfully lonely up here, everyone was in lessons and there was a cold chill that made William shiver a little. He tilted his head back to rest it against the wall and frowned. He had half a mind to run away, this was stupid, he wasn't even sure that Gabriel was even in there. He just had to wait until the class was dismissed, which he thought was pretty soon, though he started a little when the door opened. A flood of students left the room, none of which he really noticed, he dropped his head to his knees and groaned softly, staying where he was, pressed up against the wall.

I'm an idiot.</div>

<div align=center>William's head slowly turned to look at the other boy, he stared at him for a little while, he'd been there for a little while, it had been roundabout the time he was doubting he'd come to the right room. There was silence between them, William wasn't really sure what to say, and it was evident that Gabriel was a little surprised to find him here. Nonetheless, William wasn't going to move and he wasn't going to run away. He wasn't going to yell at the other boy, he didn't want to, he didn't feel the need to. He merely looked away from him, and tucked his head back into his knees.

What am I doing? He asked himself, biting his lower lip. He felt like he was going to cry, but he wouldn't let himself cry, he cried all the time. It made no difference whether there were tears or not. He tensed up a little, he had no idea what he was doing here, nor what he was going to say. He didn't have anything to say now, he thought he had when he'd come down here to wait for Gabe, but now... It was different now, he wasn't really sure what to do now.</div>

<div align=center>William shook his head just a little, he was trying desperately not to run away at the moment, and he just kept telling himself to stay here, it'd be fine. He didn't want to even look at Gabe, he felt too awful. He felt too nervous. If he hadn't wanted to see him again, he wouldn't have begged Micheal to leave Gabe alone, he wouldn't have told him it wasn't Gabe's fault. William didn't think the other boy was to blame, most boys of William's age knew about all that, why would he be any different? As it happened, he was, and William cursed himself that he was. He wondered why he'd crawled back to Gabriel, the reason might have been there, but it was at the back of his mind. William didn't really know what he was doing here, he'd just wanted Gabe, that was all...

His breathing was ragged, and just a little bit sniffly. Though it sounded like he was sick rather than that he was crying. He lifted his head, and looked up at Gabe, meeting his eye for the first time in a little while. He still had no idea what to say to him, or what even to do. He sighed, and frowned, still completely silent. Perhaps he should apologize? But the words wouldn't come out.</div>

<div align=center>The boy merely shuffled over to him and tucked his head underneath his chin. He hooked both arms around Gabriel's waist, and snuggled into him. "I'm sorry." He murmured, his breathing softening slightly, he let his eyes flutter shut. William felt better for being close to him, he'd missed him over the past few days, and he felt terrible for being too scared to talk to him. Micheal had explained some things to him, and he felt better about the whole situation. His grip tightened on Gabe suddenly, and he quivered a little, whimpering quietly. William was crying very softly, he felt so guilty.

He hated feeling guilty, and he hated the fact that Gabe had gone three long days thinking that Bill hated him. He frowned, and put on a brave face. He looked up at Gabe and blinked, "I just.. I didn't really understand." He murmured, he wanted to explain it all to Gabe, but he didn't really know how to. He wanted to ask him some other things, too, but those questions were far too embarrassing for William to get out, especially right now, besides, Gabriel might take them all the wrong way, and that was just about the last thing William wanted.</div>

<div align=center>William nodded a little, blushing hard at the warmth of the kiss. He thought they might perhaps be in the way of others here, but the hallways were deserted apart from them for now, and Bill was thankful for it. He wasn't really very good at public affection, kisses in front of others made him feel embarrassed and he didn't really like it. Hand holding was one thing, but anything past that made him blush like anything, though then again, everything made William blushed. One hand moved to the top of Gabe's head, and he began to pet him absently. "You haven't done anything wrong." He mumbled, nuzzling him softly. "It wasn't your fault."

William well and truly had decided that he was the one in the wrong and that Gabriel hadn't done anything wrong, he shook his head and returned the kiss, tentatively at that. He still didn't understand many of these odd little feelings, he supposed it was just what came along with liking someone a lot. But it was odd, he got along better with Micheal really, but there was something about Gabriel, and he didn't know what that was, he wanted to be close to him and he wanted to make him smile. He thought about asking Gabe about it, but he wasn't all that sure he'd know the answer, the boy shook his head and asked Gabe about them anyway.</div>