Fifteen going on sixteen

[Archie Renner]

Celebrating Orwell's birthday was something Archie wanted to make bigger and better every year so he was disheartened when he received an owl from his parents that asked him not to bring Orwell home for the christmas holidays. He was not happy to comply to his parents wishes so easily but given the circumstances and the uncomfortable situation within his family increasing with every letter he received from home there was not much else he could do. He had no choice but to force himself to downsize his plans for Orwell's party and settle for nothing more than a small cake, two old party hats and a messily drawn card instead of an elaborate party at his house to show how much he loved his best friend. It was unfortunate that his plans changed so suddenly but in his eyes it was necessary. This was Orwell's sixteenth birthday, a milestone in his life. A small birthday party to celebrate it was better than no party at all so he did his best to pull something together last minute.

He slipped out undetected from the great hall during dinner so he could tip-toe towards the wild patch and set up in secret. Archie's sole task that day had been to plan the party and keep word of it away from Orwell and he hoped he succeeded because the element of surprise would distract from the sudden change in plans and make their two-person celebration all the more special. The sunset that threatened to become twilight made the perfect backdrop for the party as Archie pulled one of the cone-shaped cardboard hats on his head and stood with the cake in one hand, and the hat and birthday card in the other as he waited, knowing his beloved best friend would arrive at any minute.​

 

[Orwell Brocken]

Orwell had put his books away, tidied up his part of the dorm room, which really was a rare occurance, he was generally swamped in books and in whatever thing he was working on for the Wild Patch Club, but knowing he was heading back to his community soon he knew it would be better to be able to come back to a somewhat clean room, it didn't take too long, most of what he had were books, books piled high and the flowers, but that was really it, he didn't have enough clothes to just throw everywhere, and he cared about the few items he had that he was always sure to treat them correctly. The teen let out a small sigh as he sat on his bed, as much as he knew that going to Archie's for the holiday was not something he needed to do, it felt strange that he wouldn't be seeing Archie for two weeks, though he'd more than once invited the teen to his home for the holidays, it was definitely a little more fun to be with Archie in his house, that beach, Orwell had to admit was something else.

While he loved being able to jump into the lake, or visit the waterfalls, he knew it was just different, and eventually as he put the last item to take back home, and then glanced around the room, he had arranged to meet Archie at the gardens in a few minutes so that they could do a little cleaning to the garden before they had to leave the room, and he realised that if he didn't left quickly he would be late. He grabbed the jumper that Archie had gifted him and then slipped it on as he left the dorm room. He ran a hand through the currently neon pink hair as he made his way through the school, walking through it, not caring that it was likely heading towards curfew and just made his way to the gardens and then spotted his best friend easily, he skipping happily over to him, he noticed that something was different, and as he got closer he noticed the party hat, and the cake in his hand and the clear attempt at a birthday party. Orwell seemed to stop dead before just breaking out into an all out run and easily slowly and wrapping his arms around his best friend in a warm and large hug, he couldn't believe his best friend would do this for him. He pulled away and looked up at him, "Do I get a hat?" he asked pointing to it with an eager grin on his face.
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[Archie Renner]

Archie exhaled sharply as Orwell's body collided with his own. He took a moment to recover and moved one foot back to steady his balance before returning the hug in full force, planting kisses all over the top of Orwell's head and squeezing him back despite his hands being occupied by holding the cake and the other things for the birthday party. As Orwell pulled away Archie placed one last, wet kiss on Orwell's forehead. Two weeks away from each other meant a substantial loss of cuddle time and Archie wanted to make the most of the little time they had before they parted ways for christmas. This birthday party was not only a way for Archie to show his appreciation for his best friend, but for him to make the most of the time they had before the holidays started. He nodded and smiled when Orwell pointed to the hat and wasted no time putting the hat on his best friend and gently pulling the elastic string around Orwell's chin, careful not to accidentally pinch him in the process.

"You also get a cake, and this card." Archie announced, holding the cake and card in his hands towards Orwell. "Read the card first!" He said as he sat down on the ground, assuming Orwell would sit down with him. He put the plate the cake was on in his lap and clapped excitedly after he properly gave the card to his best friend. Writing the card and drawing all over it was the first thing Archie had on his to do list that day and although he wasn't an artist by any means and running around throughout the day with the card in the back of his pocket had roughened it on the edges, he was still extremely proud of it and couldn't wait to see Orwell's reaction. It had 'Happy birthday' written on the front in big capital letters and the inside had a messily written message dotted with 'I love you's' and doodles of love hearts among other things to show how much he indeed loved his best friend if it wasn't obvious enough already. Archie rocked back and forward impatiently with a wide grin on his face as he watched Orwell read the card, grinning even wider with every reaction on the other boy's face.
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[Orwell Brocken]

Orwell enjoyed the kisses on his head he felt like snuggling up next to him and knew that he would definitely miss all the kisses and hugs from his best friend which would be sorely missed over the holidays. He raised his head slightly as the taller boy placed the party hat on his head and smiled up at him when the hat was on his head, "Is it going to tell me my house?" Orwell asked him with a small smile, bending his head down and picking Archie in the cheek with the top of the party hat. He adjusted the hat slightly on his head after doing so, suppressing a little laughter and then grinned up at him with such a bright expression and just so happy to be spending one of these last few nights with his best friend celebrating his birthday, and Orwell knew that the next time it was Archie's birthday he had to do something for him, he was always shown so much love by his best friend he couldn't wait to be able to return it. Orwell looked at the cake and card and felt small tears prick his eyes at just the work Archie put into it, and took the card from him with a little smile, wiping his eyes with his sleeve of the jumper before almost tearing it open.

Orwell looked at the card and read the writing on it, before then sitting down in front of Archie as he read the card, as he looked at all the little kisses and other things that he had doodle on the page and found himself chuckling, classic Archie but he didn't even mind about it and he knew that the effort was there and the work his friend had put into it, he appreciated it so much, and just looked back up at him and wrapped his arms around his friend in a hug, just so happy to have received such a thing, a card was far better than just being wished a happy birthday in passing. He pulled out and then just smiled at his friend, "Cake!" he exclaimed loudly and then placed the card down at his side and waiting for the other boy to share the cake he had made, "I want cake!" he said to him really excited about eating the cake, just spending time with Archie in this moment. He took the cake from him and looked it, he picked up a bit of icing on his finger and then with a little smile booped him on the nose with the icing unable to stop himself from letting out a little chuckle of laughter.
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[Archie Renner]

Hearing Orwell chuckle at the card gave Archie a sensation of butterflies flying around in his tummy because seeing his best friend happy affirmed to him that his efforts to pull a birthday party together with less than a day's notice were appreciated. Planning something, no matter how small or simple was not Archie's strong point because he was in many ways a typical Gryffindor and prefered to dive into things head first without any sort of plan. He was proud of himself for managing to find two party hats, drawing a card and getting the house elves in the kitchen to bake a cake by the time sunset arrived and he was beyond the moon to see Orwell happy with the small party and appreciating the effort Archie made that day.

Archie squeezed Orwell with all his affection and might when he was hugged again. His hands were free and he could stretch his arms around his best friend properly now that he was no longer holding the cake, card and party hats in wait for Orwell to arrive. He watched Orwell marvel at the cake and snorted loudly with laughter when Orwell booped his nose with the icing. "Wahhh!" He cried out in mock distraught as he lent back and attempted to lick the icing from his nose with his tongue to no avail. He unfortunately just could not lick the icing from his nose no matter which way he tried so he eventually gave up and wiped the icing away with his hand. Giving up was not in his nature but he was sure he looked comical while he was still trying to lick his own nose and that was all that mattered. Having fun before the holidays began was the entire point of this party apart from celebrating the fact that Orwell was now one year older and fun was impossible for Archie if he wasn't acting silly most, if not all of the time. "The cake is rainbow and it has chocolate icing!" He exclaimed, picking up the butter knife that was on one side of the plate and handing it to Orwell. "It's your birthday, so you gotta cut the first piece!" Archie felt his stomach rumble at the anticipation of eating the cake and silently hoped Orwell would cut a big piece for him to devour. It had only been a short amount of time since he ate dinner but the newly baked cake just looked and smelled too delicious for him to wait another minute before trying it.
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[Orwell Brocken]

Until he'd even met Archie he'd never once tried anything so filled with sugary items, the nature of the community they lived in meant that doing something of that sort was just short of being almost completely impossible. The boy was however unable to stop himself from laughing at Archie and the little smudge of icing on his nose, the boy had just been unable to stop himself from doing so it was just too tempting and he'd just done it knowing if any of his friends would be okay with it it would be his best friend, the person he loved most in the world, where the feeling was pretty mutual too. The boy grinned happily at his best friend and couldn't help but look at the cake with fascination, he loved rainbow, and honestly couldn't wait until the second term where he could once again run the LGBT+ pride event with the rest of the wild patch, he loved having his hair in a rainbow colour and was interested in trying to work with other groups to improve it, to make it bigger and better, just what ever he could do to improve upon what he'd already managed.

The boy looked at the cake and then too the butter knife from Archie, he wasn't sure how much he wanted, but was sure that Archie would want a big slice and he was therefore going to give Archie a far more generous portion that he was going to give himself. The boy easily cut into the cake and then cut a very large portion, likely even too big and put it on the plate to be able to give to Archie, "Here," he handed the boy the slice cake, knowing it was always better to serve before himself, and then gave himself a slightly smaller slice of cake but still likely too big for him to be able to eat, "We can feed the rest to the birds," he told him, place the remainder of the cake on the ground beside them before using his finger to pick up the slice of cake and stuffing it into his mouth. It definitely wasn't the most polite way to do it but it didn't matter to him. He made of noise of enjoyment as he tasted it, and then couldn't help but think of this as perfect, he was so happy that Archie had even bothered with all of this for him, "Thank you Archie, this is so perfect, I love you so much," he told him between bites of what was a delicious cake.
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[Archie Renner]

Archie could barely contain his eagerness to finally try the cake. Apart from seeing Orwell's reaction to his birthday card and to the impromptu party in the gardens, eating the cake was the thing he had looked forward to most that day. He took the piece of cake Orwell handed to him and immediately shoved as much of it in his mouth as he could. The smile on his face did not falter as he chewed his oversized mouthful and savored the sickly sweet flavor of the cake and the chocolate icing enveloping his mouth. He continued to eat his slice of cake and chewed so vigorously that when he opened his mouth to speak again, his lips and parts of his cheeks were smudged with chocolate icing. "This cake is so good!" He said before eating another mouthful and enjoying every second of it.

Archie finished eating the piece of cake as quickly as he started and dusted his hands together after he swallowed the last rainbow crumb. He attempted to clean his face with his sleeve to no avail and couldn't hold back his laughter when he realized the state of his own face in comparison to Orwell's. They were both so eager to eat that their faces were now smudged with icing. Archie continued to roar with laughter and nearly fell back. He loved food and ate without any manners and it had been that way for as long as he could remember so his own face being a mess was far from a surprise. It was the sight of Orwell that threw him into a fit of laughter he could barely handle. When his laughing was for the most part subsided Archie used his other sleeve to wipe the tears from his eyes. This party was turning out to be one of the happiest and funniest things he had been part of during the whole semester and he was more than glad about that fact. He felt a sense of belonging and love that he could only feel around his bestest friend in the whole wide world and that was the most important part of that day besides having fun and celebrating said best friend's sixteenth birthday.

blah​

 

[Orwell Brocken]

Orwell loved cake, and though he ate it a little less politely than he would usually, he was just so eager for his cake than he barely hesitated in stuffing the cake in his face with a happy expression on his face, he loved his best friend, and he loved the effort the other boy had put in to making this the greatest party that he'd had, the other one the previous year had been as great but anything with his best friend was the best thing he could do, and it was a good way for them to be able to end the year which was what he wanted to. It was just the best birthday that he could've asked for and he hadn't even thought about it, Brock hadn't once given any thought to what he wanted for this and yet here he was. It wasn't a long celebration, since curfew was coming shortly and Orwell knew that neither of them, could really afford to get into more trouble, this semester he'd been well behaved, he'd not been dragged by the Defence against the darks professor once which was actually an achievement, he'd done all the spells on the animals in the transfiguration without walking out once and he knew that it would be better to keep this up. So, after they'd finished the cake, and laughed sufficiently at their icing covered faces, the boy bid his best friend in the world goodnight with a large and tight hug, holding the older boy closer to him until Archie pulled away to leave.

Brock had stayed out in the garden with the intention of only staying out a little longer, since he did have things to tidy up and was sure it wouldn't take too much time, however the king of flowers worked carefully and slowly, and as it turned out there was a lot to do, to ensure the plants remained fine while he was in his community and he without a watch barely noticed the night fall around him, he worked away, growing increasingly tired as he did so, tiredness filling his eyes and eventually all the work he was doing in tidying up, make him feel more than a little hungry but he pushed it down as he continued to work. He tidied up the area of the Wild Patch, he was animatedly talking with a bird as he tidied the flowers and petals, the bird was eating some of the extra bird feed which he had put out. However out of the corner of his eye the ravenclaw noticed someone approaching the gardens and he knew instantly that this wasn't a professor, he'd know that face anywhere, he bid farewell to the bird and wondered out the make shift hut approaching the taller boy, "Archie?" Brock asked tentatively, unsure of why he was back, no that he wasn't happy to see him, he always was, but Archie had gone to bed? Or had he just imagined Archie leaving and the boy had been stood in front of him the entire time.
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[Archie Renner]

Archie was happy beyond words when he and Orwell parted ways for the night. His stomach was full of cake, his face covered with remnants of chocolate icing that refused to be wiped away with his sleeve and he felt an underlying sense of accomplishment at the successful party as well as warm fuzzies from the love he felt towards his best friend. There was nothing that could have ruined his mood that was safely as high as the clouds. Or so Archie thought as he ascended the castle stairs and as he arrived to the familiar space of the Gryffindor common room. At first he had busied himself by getting ready for bed, brushing his teeth and changing into his pyjamas as per his usual routine but it was when he no longer had any distractions and was laying in bed alone with his thoughts did his overriding feelings of loneliness and fear of what would happen when he returned home for the holidays begin to sink in. He tossed and turned, searching for any signs of sleep for longer than he cared to admit. It was when he still did not feel tired in any sense of the word and felt frustration at his inability to get to sleep quickly in his stomach that he finally gave up, kicked his blankets away and stood on his feet so he could walk all the way down towards the wild patch and seek comfort from the only person who knew him in and out and could cheer him up no matter what.

His bare feet felt cold as he walked from the stone floors of the castle to the grass of the great lawn, and lastly to the soil of the gardens. When his eyes fell on Orwell's familiar silhouette in the darkness he stopped dead in his tracks and did not say a word even after Orwell said his name. His feet curled in the soil and his hands balled to fists at his sides as he tried desperately to keep himself together but his emotions were all too much and there was nothing he could do to stop himself from bursting into tears and running to catch his best friend in a suffocating hug. He quietly sobbed into Orwell's chest for a few minutes before he was able to compose himself enough to get out any words. "I can't sleep." He whispered between between sobs. "I can't stop worrying. I'm so scared all the time." Despite Archie's origins, his life had been happy and he had never faced anything horrible and did not know how to handle the feelings of sadness, fear and insecurity that had recently taken over his life since he had come out of the closet and his father dismissed his existence. He could only distract himself from it so long before the feelings devoured him. He was shut down and could not feel anything but the heaviness in his chest and the looming sense of dread of returning to the divide between his parents and the feelings were only growing worse as the holidays drew closer. I'm so sorry, Brock. I'm sorry. I've ruined your birthday and I'm just so sorry."

this is poop but it's better than nothing​

 

[Orwell Brocken]

As the word left his lips, he continued to step towards his friend who was still a little far away but he could tell that something was wrong, he couldn't see the usual smile that was on his best friend's face, and that was how he knew something had to be wrong. Orwell took another tentative step forward wondering if the Archie in front of him was real or if Orwell was just dreaming, "Archie? You okay?" he heard himself say, somewhat loudly towards his friend, but it was as he began speaking that his best friend seemed to begin crying and running for him. Brock was immediately concerned by this, and he held out his arms to catch his best friend, which he did, wrapping his arms around him immediately when he landed in his arms, he could feel Archie sobbing into his chest and he could do nothing but hold on tightly leaning his head against his friend's head. He knew Archie had been upset recently and had made it his person mission to make him feel better, but this felt horrible. At least he now knew that Archie hadn't just been a figment of his imagination or tiredness, but was actually there. Orwell held his best friend, feeling so lost and unsure of how to provide him with comfort and be able to help with it, Orwell felt anger boil inside him at who had caused this.

After a few moments he listened to what he was saying straining to hear him over the the sobs, and Orwell could only just hold his friend closer tightening it as much as he could, and felt little tears prick in the corner of his eyes, he just wanted his friend to be happy, to just be happy and was so saddened that his friend was having to suffer through such a horrible thing. He muttered small shushes to his friend as he rubbed his back, unable to keep his own tears from falling from his own eyes. He shook his head as the boy continued, although he seemed to have stopped crying, but the feeling of sadness was still very overwhelming and he didn't know what to say to him. Orwell remained in the hug, "Archie, you haven't ruined anything," he assured him while rubbing his back as he did so, "My birthday was perfect," Orwell told him, repeating the statement several times whispering it to his best friend, because this didn't ruin his birthday. Orwell pulled away slightly, and easily lifting Archie's gaze to his meet his and wiping the boy's cheeks with his sleeve and he just met his gaze, "It's going to be okay," he assured his best friend, he nodded at him, trying to get him to understand that it was going to be, "You're the bravest kid ever Archie, you've stood up to Styx bro, you took a punch for the wild patch," he continued trying his best to make Archie feel less upset about it, trying to make him feel better, and the only thing he could really think to do was wrap his arms around him again and just tightly held his friend, "I love you," he told him giving Archie a comforting kiss on the side of his head since couldn't really reach the top of Archie's head given the height difference between them.
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[Archie Renner]

The truth was, Archie did not know how he was going to handle returning home for the holidays without Orwell by his side. He felt anxious, every bone in his body was terrified and his chest only grew heavier with the sadness he was letting out in sobs. The birthday party he threw was supposed to be both a happy celebration of Orwell turning one year older and a happy farewell before the pair of best friends parted ways or the holidays. Yet all it did was set in the reality that Archie was going to return to his divided, arguing family without his best friend, his kindred spirit, the only person he trusted the most in the world to keep him sane through the madness. All the emotions building in his body as the holidays loomed closer had overwhelmed him and were hitting him in full force. The reality of the holidays was right in front of him and there was nothing he could do to stop himself crying over everything he was keeping to himself to save Orwell from worrying, and the fact that his crying had ruined the birthday party he worked so hard to plan. Despite Orwell's statement, Archie refused to believe the party was perfect. A perfect party was meant to be fun from beginning to end and never involved the party planner crying until he was practically dehydrated.

Orwell's continued words of comfort did nothing to hinder the tears falling from Archie's cheeks or soften the sobs escaping his mouth but he certainly appreciated the gesture and did not flinch when Orwell pulled away and wiped the tears from his cheeks with his sleeves. He kept his gaze on his best friend and attempted to believe the words he was hearing but it seemed pointless, a brave kid would be able to stand up to his family and fix whatever was broken in him that had caused his father to hate him so much, and a brave kid definitely wouldn't be trapped in the situation with his family in the first place. He sniffled as his eyes shifted to his now dirt ridden feet and his emotions finally began to subside. He was unsure of what to say or if he could even speak after developing a dry lump in his throat from crying so much so he was glad when Orwell pulled him in to another hug. Once again Archie buried his head in Orwell's chest and attempted to find comfort in his best friend's warmth, inhaling his familiar, Orwellish scent and pretending like the life he lived and loved so much did not feel so fragile like it was about to crack and fall away underneath him. "I love you too." He whispered, his voice barely audible as he continued to cling to his best friend for dear life.

lol​

 

[Orwell Brocken]

Orwell had never once dealt with anything like this before in his life, though not easy, he had never been faced with a friend that needed help like Archie did and Orwell didn't know how equipped he was to deal with it. The teen knew how to fight the state, and other than yelling at the source of the issue or just holding the taller, Orwell could not provide any other support. He let his best friend lean on him as he rubbed the boy's back, not sure how best to move forward, wanting to give him the world and give him happiness but clueless on how, and still feeling the heavy tiredness from the day. The king of flowers could feel Archie clinging to him, a lifeline he wasn't sure he was providing and the boy decided that he couldn't have Archie weeping all night, that couldn't be, he needed to be the Gryffindor for once brave face on as he helped his friend and so he very carefully pulled away slightly and led the taller boy to a little open patch of grass just off the wild patch area, Orwell had learned this entire garden area by heart, since he helped tend to the other flowers even if this was in no way his job to be doing so, the teen found peace in it, but it meant he could remain glued at Archie's side and guide him without even looking.

Orwell guided him so that he sat down on the grass next to him, and then pointed up to the night's sky where the stars were in full view, and he got Archie to lie down next to him before he continued to point up at the sky, beginning to explain what the star was and what it meant, and then moving on to another one. Orwell had never thought much of his astronomy knowledge would come in handy, but it was, he was just sitting with his best friend, prattling on about this star and the next, glancing at her friend every so often with bright but tired eyes. He didn't know how much it would help him just talking like he was but he felt that at least the sound of his voice might lull the boy to sleep, calm him down and make him focus on just his voice and the stars he was pointing at, rather than what awaited him alone where Orwell would not be able to reach. It was more annoying to Orwell that he couldn't do anything to help, he was so close to just begging the boy to stay with him in the community over the holiday but to bring that up would return to the issue of the upcoming holiday and this wasn't what he wanted to do, so Orwell just continued, laying next to his friend and describing the stars above them.
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[Archie Renner]

Archie was not keeping track of the time. He did not care that curfew had likely come and gone since his untimely return to the wild patch that night, nor did he care how long it took for the emotions consuming his mind, body and very existence to finally dwindle down and fade away to their usual state. Concealed, barely, as an underlying pang in his chest that kept him from feeling normal. But concealed enough to be manageable, welcomed even, after a break down such as the one he just had in front of Orwell and certainly what he preferred to crying his already tired eyes out on a day that was supposed to be happy. He sniffled, nuzzling his face into Orwell's neck. Taking in his best friend's warmth and comforting scent one last time before finally pulling away and allowing himself to be lead through the darkness. His feet were still cold and covered in dirt. But this and the possibility of stepping on a thistle or one of the precious, well looked after plants in the wild patch was the last thing on his mind as he blindly followed his best friend's lead to a patch of grass.

He remained silent as Orwell guided him where to sit down and then lie, listening intently to everything Orwell said and attempting to keep his eyes on the parts of the sky he was pointing to. His vision was too irritated from tiredness and blurred from tears for him to focus on anything, but he appreciated the gesture and smiled a little whenever Orwell glanced over to him with the kind, loving eyes he knew all too well. It comforted him and soon enough he felt his mind haze over, and knew his best friend's voice would eventually lull him to sleep as it had done in the past. So he snuggled as close as he could to keep the warmth he was losing in the night air, curling up to rest his head on the other boy's chest and tucking his arms between them as he sighed and snuck in a quick affectionate kiss to Orwell's cheek. It of course hadn't occurred to Archie in his desperate emotional state to throw on a sweater or even a pair of slippers before leaving his dorm, but it gave him an excuse to cuddle into Orwell further and focus on the night sky, listening in wonderment as each constellation in view was explained to him in detail and soaking in the love and comfort only his best friend could provide.​

 

[Orwell Brocken]

Orwell definitely didn't mind just talking about the stars with Archie, he had no trouble rambling on and on about them, he was pretty happy to just do this, if it made Archie feel better, and it helped push away his own hunger that he was currently feeling. The ravenclaw knew his knowledge of the stars would always be useful to him, and he could tell with the way that Archie was snuggled into him that it was making a difference to him, he was no longer crying and just feeling more peaceful than before and that was what Orwell had set out in the short term to do, help his friend sleep, it didn't even occur to him that if Archie did fall asleep he would not be able to get him into the dorm, occasionally Orwell cursed that they'd been sorted into two different houses, it was his only barrier at school to spending all of his time with Archie and though Orwell had a pretty large disregard for the rules he was trying his best this semester to pay more attention to them.

The teen smiled at his best friend as he found himself in a small lull, "Do you think we'll win cutest couple in the superlatives again this year?" he asked, the thought suddenly entered his mind as he stared at the stars, at night, Orwell's mind was always busier, moving between thoughts quickly and never settling on one thing too long. His green eyes searched Archie's face for an answer to his question, though he imagined that the answer would be yes. It wasn't that Orwell minded winning it at all, he loved Archie with all of his heart but he wasn't in love with him. Perhaps more people thought they were a couple, and they just didn't realise, "Do you think people actually really think we're a couple?" he couldn't help the small amount of laughter which followed the statement feeling pretty ridiculous saying it, sure Orwell was happily pansexual, but Archie would always just be his best friend, a brother, to him. The teen couldn't help but continue to laugh for a little while, just feeling an almost infectious feeling with the giggles, the late time of this and his tiredness, probably factoring into how he found it funnier than it was.
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[Archie Renner]

Archie was focusing all his attention on the comfort Orwell was giving him and the stars shining above them. The unrivaled feelings of love and warmth he always felt around his best friend were second only to the stars Orwell was describing and soon enough Archie's heart felt less weighed down by sadness and his shoulders burden free from guilt. He sighed and snuggled into the other boy even further as his mind continued to haze and the feelings of tiredness previously warded off by his overwhelming emotions began to slowly return. He giggled quietly at one of Orwell's descriptions before letting out a loud, whale sounding yawn that embodied all the sleepiness that had returned to his body since lying down. It even surprised Archie, how sleepy he had become since being in the arms of his best friend and feeling like he was safe and at home; something he did not realize how much he missed that year. Orwell was home to Archie, whether or not his real home with his family was crumbling underneath him and he was always going to be thankful he had that.

He closed his eyes, momentarily letting sleep overcome him before he opened them again at Orwell's words. Unexpected, yet funny, they caused Archie to giggle quietly again before he opened his mouth and conjured a sleepy sounding answer. "Two people make a couple, right? and we are cute. So we are the cutest couple." The 'cutest couple of idiots' was something he conveniently left out in his state of tiredness. Regardless if the rest of the school thought they were romantic or not, Archie was happy with the cute couple title all the same and was proud to hold it with his best friend two years running. To him, it didn't matter if other people knew they were just best friends or thought they had been dating all this time because all that mattered was the fact that they were both happy and secure in their friendship. Archie certainly was in that moment, and closed his eyes, letting sleep take over again as he pondered the thoughts about how much he loved his best friend and how happy he was to be so close to someone so special in his life. Though he could not act like himself around his family anymore, he could always be himself around Orwell and that was one of the many things he adored about his unique, open minded, multi coloured haired best friend.
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[Orwell Brocken]

The boy hadn't ever realised really, just how much Archie had come to mean to him, everything about the other boy was like a familiar sense of home, that Orwell had always thought he lacked. Prior to school, Orwell had been more introverted and less willing to do things, a little bit of an outsider in his community, but school and Archie had helped him thrive. Forever would he be grateful to him for doing such a thing for him, the encouragement, the support and the unwavering loyalty. Brock let his eyes shift to as he glanced at Archie as the boy spoke sleepily, and Orwell nodded in agreement, giggling a little with Archie as he did so, "We are the cutest," he agreed with another little giggle and an adamant nod of his head, they were indeed the cutest. Orwell glanced at his friend who seemed to be growing tired and was certainly more settled and he just leaned in and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Orwell figured that Archie still needed a little bit of calming down, and soon he would be tired enough to sleep properly within his own dorm. Orwell looked back up at the stars above them, talking about them, about the shapes and what they meant, essentially Orwell was spouting all that he knew about the stars.

It wasn't until a little while after that Orwell looked back properly at Archie and he just stared a little at him, before realising that at some point in all of Orwell's mutterings about the stars, his best friend had fallen asleep. Orwell sat up slightly, shaking the larger boy to see if that would wake him up, doing so exceedingly gently, and it didn't seem to, Orwell knew they couldn't stay out here, he pushed through his own tired mind as he glanced about their surrounding area, this would be the worst place to get caught. He needed to get them both inside and hopefully get Archie into the Gryffindor common room, preferably without waking him, and so the King of flowers made a snap decision, he detached himself from his best friend and headed back to the wild patch shed, from within he grabbed his jumper quickly and then slipped it on before going back to Archie, after a little difficulty and a little struggle, Orwell got Archie on to his back like a piggy back and began the what now seemed like a really long trek up to the gryffindor common room.
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