15 years old
Anthony went on a late-night run because he had to take his mind off things and couldn’t sleep. He could feel the nervous energy pulsing through him, his therapist said it was anxiety, but what the bloody hell did she know about it.
Running helped, it tired him out and sometimes he went on until the only thing he could focus on was the burning of his lungs and the pain in his legs. He would regret it in the morning but for now, he just wanted to be able to sleep and think about something else.
They were one week into their summer holiday and Anthony had the idea that his world was shifting. He could feel it in the weeks leading up to the summer and it only got stronger since they got here. He had blamed the nerves because that’s what it always had been.
He just had a bad case of sweaty palms and a heart that tried to thump out of his chest every now and then. He could ignore that, maybe outrun it. If he just knew why he suddenly felt so uncomfortable, but also so comfortable at the same time, when he and Aziraphale met for yet another two weeks of summer holiday.
During his run, he came across a place he hadn’t been before. There was a nice clearing, it was quiet but he could hear the sound of water. He quickly found that there was a small stream nearby that ended in a lovely pond. The place would probably even more quaint by daylight and he knew that Aziraphale would love it. It was a long walk away from their resort and he also knew that Aziraphale would hate that.
“I promise that you’ll love it!” Anthony tried to convince his friend once again to do something. “S’not even that far.”
Aziraphale huffed as a response but agreed anyway. After a change in shoes, they set out to find the spot that Anthony was so excited about. He also carried a backpack with him and wouldn’t tell Aziraphale what was in it. After leaving the resort, Aziraphale already wanted to argue about ‘not even that far’ because he felt like they already passed ‘that far’ after five minutes of walking.
He made a point of huffing and puffing throughout the entire walk just to show Anthony how much he didn’t like it. Anthony just had a sly smile on his face the entire time and teased him lightly.
It did take them some time, but eventually, Anthony stepped into the clearing backwards, his eyes on Aziraphale, his back to the clearing, and hands in the air with a small ‘tada’. He wanted to see how his eyes got bigger with delight and how the corners of his lips twitched upwards.
“So, was I right?” Anthony asked, just because he wanted to hear it.
Aziraphale looked a bit unsure. “Well, I like it. But what are we supposed to do here?”
It wasn’t exactly the response that Anthony wanted, but he already anticipated that he wouldn’t be as happy because of the walk here. So he grinned his sly smile once again, walked around the clearing without saying a word while Aziraphale watched him. He suddenly stopped somewhere close to the pond and dropped the backpack on the ground. He pulled out a large beach towel and beckoned Aziraphale closer.
“C’mon then. I promised you that you’d love it.”
He hesitated for a moment, but walked over and lowered himself to sit on the red beach towel anyway. Anthony started pulling more things out of the backpack, a brown paper bag, Tupperware with something red inside, and a bottle of water. It took Aziraphale a few seconds before he realized what this was and he positively beamed at Anthony.
“A picnic?” he asked delighted. “You packed that for me?”
As a response, Anthony waved vaguely with his hands. “Knew you wouldn’t love it without food.”
He was right, it looked more quaint by daylight.
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