Willem grunted quietly when Mathias leaned against him but otherwise made no move to push him away. He would never say it, Mathias knew, but they both needed each other in a way. Their companionship was very precious to both of them, and Mathias knew neither of them were willing to lose the other for anything or anyone. Which was what made Lukas's complaints and moodiness all the more stressful to deal with, but he wasn't going to worry about that for the time being.

They reached the building all too soon, Mathias reluctantly sliding in the card key to open the door. The trek through the building was quiet, save for their muffled footsteps against the carpeted floors and the dull thud of the stairwell door closing behind them as they made their way up to their floor. The deserted hallway stretched in front of them, the pale moonlight making patterns play on the carpet through the windowpanes that lined the outer wall.

Sometimes Mathias cursed the fact that he had to come to this school. Especially after nights like tonight where Lukas only made things worse and made it all the more difficult to live his life freely. He didn't hate Lukas and he never had, but certain behaviors of his always seemed to find a way to push Mathias almost to his breaking point. If it weren't for the fact that the relationship or engagement or whatever they even really were… if it weren't for the fact that his family's name and image were on the line, and the fact that Mathias's parents would surely end up cutting him off from any money or inheritance that he would likely receive, then Mathias would have already left and disappeared somewhere. It wouldn't have mattered where. After all, that had been his plan after high school anyways.

Now he was cornered between a rock and a hard place, because now he had to maintain this facade of a relationship and deal with all of Lukas's bullshit on top of it. He had thought that when he had made the deal with his parents that he would have at least had time to breathe and spend time with Willem unhindered like he had originally planned…

“Mathias, the door,” Willem prompted, shifting his duffel bag to the side and giving Mathias a gentle nudge with his elbow.

Right, the door. “Sorry. Haha. Guess I was spacing out. Sorry about that,” Mathias chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and unlocking the door.

Willem merely gave a noncommittal grunt and stepped inside the room, dropping his bag on the ground near the foot of his bed. Whenever Mathias stepped inside and locked the door behind him, he flinched slightly with surprise as Willem gripped his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

Gazing up into the other's sea-green eyes made his heart leap in his chest at the incomprehensible emotions that he found there, turning his eyes into stormy seas that Mathias almost felt that he could drown himself in. The emotion there was a drastic change to the dead lifelessness that had reigned earlier.

“Did he hurt you?” There was a growl to Willem's voice. It shocked Mathias with the intensity.

“W-What?”

Willem took a slow breath, his teeth clenched. “Did. Lukas. Hurt. You.”

Oh. Mathias shook his head, letting out a small bitter laugh. “No, there was just more bickering, as per usual. It wasn't as bad this time though.” That much at least Willem didn't have to worry about, though Mathias knew he was bound to worry about him one way or the other. Something seemed different about Willem's reaction this time. It was like something had set him off, but Mathias couldn't put his thumb on what it could be… “Why--”

“You're wearing my hoodie.” All of the emotion seemed to drain right out of Willem as his shoulders slouched with fatigue.

At the statement, Mathias couldn't help the embarrassed flush that crept its way up his neck, making him feel uncomfortably warm under Willem's gaze. “Am I? I didn't notice. I had just grabbed one and tossed it on when I went to go find you. I must have grabbed one of yours by accident. Here, I'll take it off and--” Mathias was cut off by Willem's hand resting on his when he went to lift the bottom hem of the shirt up.

“Matt, it's fine. I don't mind if you wear my clothes. We're close enough to the same size. I'm not that much taller than you…” He trailed off, his eyes darkening slightly as he gripped Mathias's chin between his fingers and holding their gazes. “I would just be wary about wearing anything around Lukas, because of the way he would take it and how he would be bound to react. That's not something I'm willing for you to go through. Do you understand?”

His throat felt dry as he paled, nodding as far as he could. He hadn't even thought of that possibility. And Mathias knew that Willem hadn't meant for it to, but those words sent a cold chill of fear down his spine, making him shiver. Lukas would end up seeing the shared clothing as a sign of possession, of ownership, of Mathias belonging to someone else, and that would make him absolutely livid. There wouldn't be anything stopping Lukas from taking his fury out on first Mathias and then Willem. Mathias wouldn't put it past Lukas enjoying having Mathias and Willem watch one another have the shit beaten out of them.

Feeling that the message was conveyed, Willem gave a short nod before letting go and backing away in order to flop down on his bed in the darkness of the room. His eyes closed with a groan.

Mathias felt almost dizzy from the sudden lack of contact and the loss of warmth, watching as Willem settled onto the bed. The faintest snores echoed from his lips as he almost instantaneously fell into a deep slumber. He stood by the door, watching the other for several more moments before shaking his head wearily. Walking over to where Willem lay, he gently removed the other's shoes and pulled his legs fully onto the bed before draping a light blanket over his sleeping form.

Willem looked peaceful in his sleep as Mathias reached out and wiped away some of the paint smeared on his cheek. If only things could be simpler… If only life could've been simpler and kinder to the both of them…

Letting out a sigh, Mathias shook his head, sitting on the edge of his own bed and staring at the other's silhouette for several long moments. It was moments like these that made Mathias resent Lukas, resent his parents, resent Lukas's parents for messing up the plans that he had been so carefully making before the stupid arranged engagement occurred. Most importantly though, he resented himself for not acting sooner.

In the end, he supposed that none of it really mattered though, not when Willem didn't feel the same. After all, why else would he constantly be trying to tell him to fix things with Lukas? And yet every time that he kept going to Willem for advice, Mathias kept expecting a different answer, kept hoping for a different answer.

Biting his lip, he curled up on his side, pulling the fabric of the hoodie close around him and slowly inhaling the scent. Maybe it was stupid or naive, but even after everything that had happened and that continued to happen, Mathias still had hope…