the mighty fall

<div align=center>William was frightened, he was shaken up and upset. He wanted to curl up under his blanket and never come out again, though he felt guilty. He felt so guilty, he'd freaked out on Gabriel and he thought perhaps had frightened him a little. He'd make it up to him, he didn't know how yet, but he would. William had scampered to Micheal's dorm room and scrabbled on the door. He wanted to be somewhere safe and warm, but he wasn't even sure if Micheal was in his room. He sure hoped so, he just needed to be calmed down a little, or maybe a lot.

William's knowledge of romance was perhaps smaller than anyone else currently attending the school, he had no idea what it entailed, nor what happened past a certain point in a relationship. It had been that which had frightened him, he'd ran away and left poor, confused Gabe alone in his room. That was what was making him feel the worst, what if Gabriel had been left thinking William hated him? He didn't hate him, the poor boy was just scared, and confused himself. Maybe they'd jumped into it too fast, maybe Gabriel had gone a little too far. William didn't really know what to do with himself.</div>

<div align=center>The boy whimpered and pushed himself against the other boy, mumbling something and shaking his head. He hunched his shoulders and began to cry very softly, though mostly because he felt so terrible about it, William hated to upset people, that was perhaps what upset him more than most things. He didn't like to know that he was the cause of someone else's negative emotions. His eyes flickered up to Micheal's, and he frowned at him. "P.. Please don't.." He squeaked, shaking his head again and whining, "I.. It wasn't his fault." He had began to stutter and he was trembling ever so slightly.

He stared at Micheal, he didn't want him to go fuming off to find Gabriel, there was already enough trouble between them and William didn't want to be the cause of even more. "It was.. Was my fault if anything," he stammered, clinging to his friend and tensing up. "I lead him on I didn't... I didn't understand I'm so confused." He whimpered, his sobs becoming just a little more violent, along with the trembles that racked his body every now and then. He drew a breath, he hated feeling confused, he hated feeling frightened. Though unfortunately, both of those emotions seemed to be common to him.</div>

<div align=center>William shook his head, "please don't yell at him!" He whimpered, clinging to Micheal with about as much force as he could muster, which really wasn't much. Truly, it hadn't been Gabe's fault, of course William had more or less been consensual up to one point, at which he had realized what was going on. Though he hadn't really understood the context of what he was agreeing to, poor Gabe most likely thought he'd, well, that he knew about what was going on. As it was, William had absolutely no clue. He'd been sheltered to all of that for the majority of his life. "It wasn't.. It wasn't his fault.." He said again.

He explained the situation to Micheal, what had happened. Though this would have merely confirmed his friend's suspicions, and perhaps would have made him angrier. It was strange to feel anger coming from Micheal, he was so calm most of the time, so mellow. But William felt comforted at the fact that all in all, Micheal was willing to protect him. William sniffled softly, "I didn't understand..." He murmured, whimpering softly. "I didn't know what was going on, it... It frightened me." He squeaked, his eyes meeting Micheal's as he spoke. It had frightened him, he was shaken up.</div>

<div align=center>The boy took a little while to relax, and calm down. He hoped Gabe was okay, he didn't want the boy to think he hated him, because he didn't, and that was what he was worried about more so than anything else. He had stopped crying about a half hour later, and had recollected himself. It had happened now and he couldn't really take it back, nor change it. Gabriel would understand, he had to understand. William had just been scared that was all, he had been scared and confused. He sighed lightly, he'd go and talk to him at some point, though maybe not today.

"Thank you." He mumbled, he didn't want Gabriel to get in trouble for this, especially for the fact that William was in fact too young for that anyway. He wasn't altogether legal yet. He shuffled back a short way, away from Micheal's grip, and took a deep breath, confirming with himself that he was alright, and he was. He stared to the mattress of the bed, and sighed lightly. This whole situation was ridiculous, William thought he was an idiot for freaking out. It was normal for teenage boys to want to do stuff like that, right?</div>

<div align=center>William lay on Micheal's bed for a little while, staring blankly at the ceiling all the while. He sat up a few minutes later, pushing his hair away from his face and looking over to Micheal. "I wanna talk now." He finally mumbled, sighing softly and forcing a small, nervous little smile. He was thankful for Micheal being there, he was glad he'd run here instead of his own dorm, he didn't know why he'd done that, he just had the feeling. Besides, he thought he needed to be away from Gabriel for just a little while, he'd explain to him later, he didn't want to explain it now.

He shifted a little, crossing his legs underneath himself and turning to face Micheal. "I'm okay to talk now." He rephrased, nodding a little. He'd just been spooked, that was all, and perhaps been put off anything past kissing for a little while, but maybe that was the best thing for now. His eyes met Micheal's, and he lifted an eyebrow. There was silence between the two for a little while, though it wasn't an awkward sort of silence, it was a silence that said nothing needs to be said. "At least, I'm pretty sure I am."</div>