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“Are you sure about this?”
The moonlight still shone through the windows with the broken curtains. Birds were just beginning to chirp their morning tune. The neighbors next door had finally settled their argument after hours of guttural noises. It was four in the morning.
Yet Leo and Black were waking up to start the day. The very long day, if someone was to ask Leo. Unlike his boyfriend, he was the exact opposite of a morning person when he had a say in it. Days off were celebrated by sleeping until midday, sometimes even more, and doing nothing.
And Black usually respected that. “Come on, Leo, you can’t just back out now.” Except today. Today was going to be different, the blonde had decided about a week ago. There was something that he had wanted to show Leo for weeks, only to be avoided with every excuse in the book.
Until he had finally run out of them and saw no other option than to agree to Black’s strange idea of waking up at four a.m. if, and only if, he let him have that last pastry that he had bought. It was a fair enough trade, they both decided.
“I’m noooot…” Or at least it had been back then, before Leo had found himself being dragged out of the very comfortable bed sheet cocoon he had rolled himself into. He gave a long, drawn out yawn as he reached for whatever shirt he had dumped on the floor; there was none.
Not until his eyes caught the moment Black tossed it straight at his face. “You got to stop leaving your clothes all thrown out, y’know?” He said with a chuckle, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I told you we were going to wake up early and you still went to bed late. Your fault.”
Leo huffed. “Don’t give me that,” he whined, dressing himself. “You went to sleep at the same time I did and you still look amazing.” He couldn’t help but laugh when he watched Black’s cheeks turn a soft shade of red, easily visible to him despite the darkness of the room.
It was just on of the very few perks that the All-Seeing Eyes brought him.
Though he also ignored the very obvious warmth in his own face. The night before had been somewhat active, bodies touching as they continued to grow accustomed to one another.
(In Leo’s opinion, Black provided him much more warmth than any blanket he had ever bought.)
“Come on…” the blonde argued timidly as he turned away, and Leo could tell that the redness had crept up to his ears. “You’re gonna miss what I want to show you, and if you do I’ll make you stay up.” He laughed with a hint of mischievousness that hinted that Black was absolutely serious.
It had taken a while to notice, but Leo had noticed over time that Black was very much like his sister. The way he laughed, how the other would tease him, even his pouts and wistful expressions were far too similar for him to not notice the difference.
Sometimes, they left a bittersweet taste in his mouth. Other times, they brought a smile from where he didn’t know even existed. But that was the usual when the White was involved. Even now, half a month after the incident, it was hard to talk about her without shedding some tears on both sides of the conversation.
“Yeah, yeah…” Leo stood up from the bed with a groan, bones and muscles complaining in unison over so much activity at such an early hour. In the back of his head, he berated himself for thinking that a cannoli was enough compensation for this.
But if it was something that Black considered important, then he wouldn’t want to miss it for the world. “Where are we even going though, at this time of the night?” The both of them knew that the streets he lived on were nowhere to be waltzing around in the middle of the night. “Unless you got a bodyguard, I don’t think that we can be out and about right now.”
Another chuckle escaped Black at the comment, as he reached to take Leo’s hand in his own. “No, I don’t have a bodyguard.” He said, “Though I do believe that your boss would do the job just fine.” The grip on his hand tightened just slightly, as if to reassure himself of Leo’s existence. That he was there and alive—
—unlike his sister’s presence. She was there, Black knew this; it was what kept him alive and sober during the first month of her absence. He knew she was around in every cloudless day, in every gentle breeze that eased the summer heat he dreaded so much.
Though these small gestures only made him yearn for her hand in his, to see her drooling, sleepy face. He missed his sister.
“We’re not going anywhere.” Black finally admitted, guiding the half-asleep Leo to the couch in the living room. A few bottles, water and beer, rested empty on a small table, along with some dirty shirts that were scattered on the sofa.
The look of betrayal on Leo’s face told him all he needed to know. “Don’t look at me like that, I never said we were leaving the house.” He led the both of them to the sofa, sitting on the shirts that needed to be washed. “I just said that I wanted to show you something.” A muffled complaint came from Black’s shoulder. “You’re going to like it, I promise.”
The mop of hair that rested on his shoulder moved, and Leo shifted his attention to where Black’s was: the window.
Every once in a blue moon, Leo would occasionally consider himself lucky in certain aspects. His beaten up fridge that cooled things better than at home, the diner that served free coffee, the fact that he has not torn a hole in his stomach due to the free, unlimited coffee; just a few of the things that his luck had given him.
What he saw today, though, trumped all of the others by a mile and a half. Through the, recently cleaned, windows, the two of them were able to view the sun as it began to rise over the horizon. The rays of the sun peeked through the tall, ruined buildings of what was once New York City, and into their living room, filling it with color. Dark purples made way for brighter colors such as red, pink, and even some orange and yellow was mixed in there to make Leo’s broken down apartment into something out of a painting.
It was breathtaking.
“Sometimes,” Black began in a small whisper, as he leaned against the shorter male. “Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, I like to look at the sunrise.” When Leo didn’t respond, he turned to him, a small smile on his face. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”
And it was. The colors, the way the light filtered through, the shadows it made on the taller buildings—all that and more was just so mesmerizing that the brunet was at a loss for words. Part of him wanted to run for his camera and take pictures of such a wonderful moment.
But another part, the major part of him, just wanted to stay in the couch and hold William’s hand. Something in his head kept telling him to stay, to not miss a single moment of this, like a little nagging voice.
“White…” Leo said, so quiet that even Black was unsure if he had heard him right, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “I-I mean…” he stuttered, “she’s probably seeing this too, no?”
There was a moment of silence, and he’s certain that he screwed up and upset Black because he was stupid enough to mention his sister in this conversation and-
-and yet the smile on the blonde’s face was not the one of an upset person. “Yeah. She probably is.” He choked up, blue eyes filling with tears that were quickly wiped away by the sleeve of his shirt. “She probably watches this every day.”
Seeing his boyfriend in such a way, vulnerable but happy formed a knot in Leo’s throat; he could already feel the tears stinging his own eyes. “Well, today we can watch it together.” He sniffled, bringing Black’s arm over his shoulder as he moved closer towards him.
Black didn’t respond, not verbally at least. Instead, he hugged Leo closer against him, blue eyes fixed on the sunrise. “Yeah. Together.”