Norman looked over at Vincent, who was grinning with a look of fiery determination as he clutched his new uniform, and sighed, a bittersweet smile forming as he thought about the boy. The two had known each other for years, sharing so many fond moments together, it was heartbreaking to Norman to think of all of that was to be thrown away in the coming months. But alas, here they were - preparing for the first ever world war. Norman felt sure they would be the first ones to die, which scared him more than almost anything (not that he wanted to admit it). The thought of losing Vincent, though, terrified him most.
You see, the two were certainly close - that's for sure - but Norman couldn't help feeling like maybe he was too attached to Vincent. Often Norman would find himself thinking of the man, thinking of how sweet his smile was or how lovely his voice sounded. Sometimes he'd even imagine something crazy like the two of them buying a cozy ranch on a farm somewhere and living there, and every evening Vincent would make the two of them a warm mug of tea and Norman would light the fire and bring them blankets to cuddle up in. In fact, Norman concluded that he was most definitely too attached to him. But there was something about the tall, blue-eyed brunette that he just couldn't get out of his head.
It was in the middle of Norman's little daydream that Vincent noticed him staring, "What are you thinking about?"
He had caught the boy off guard, "Huh? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Nice weather, isn't it?"
Vincent chuckled and shook his head, "Sure is. Say, what are you thinking of doing this evening? It's our last day before we leave to fight, you should probably make it count."
"Me? W-Well," Norman still hadn't quite recovered from his embarrassment yet.
"You gotta say goodbye to anyone special?" Vincent teased.
Norman laughed, "Not a chance, you know I've never dated a person in my life - never had the guts."
He shrugged, "I wondered wether you'd had a sudden urge to confess to your dearest love before sailing away to stare death in the face, not knowing if you may ever return to your sweet darling!" Vincent joked, flailing his arm around dramatically.
The blonde just rolled his eyes, "If I confessed to my true love, you'd be the first to know."
"That's silly, surely they'd be the actual first person to know." Vincent chimed.
Norman then looked down for a moment before the door burst wide open and their conversation came to a halt. A tall lady with dark brown hair and ocean eyes stormed in, "Vincent Harper, how dare you think about leaving without saying goodbye to your mother!"
The brunette just groaned, "Jesus, mum, I was gonna say bye, I was just-"
"A-bah-bah!" she interrupted, "Waving out from the window of a train isn't good enough, young man. And as for you, Norman, I honestly thought you'd be more sensible than to let him think this was acceptable."
Norman just looked at her as though she were absurd, "How is this my fault?"
The lady silenced him, "My goodness, the two of you sure make a rude pair."
Vincent tried to calm her, "I'm sorry, I was going to visit you right after I finished packing - honestly I was."
She simply tutted before she met his gaze once more, "You still better! Oh, my little baby's going to war, how ever will I cope without you?" She began to tear-up, grasping Vincent's muscular arm tightly.
"If I'm seeing you in a few minutes anyway, can we do this later? I still need to finish packing..." he said, squirming out of her clutches.
She suddenly glared at him with a truly venomous look. She released him and hissed, "Why not?" before leaving abruptly.
Norman also turned to frown at the brunette, "You're absolutely horrible."
Vincent shrugged, "I'm just trying to manage my time as best I can. Anyway, what's one thing you're looking forward to for when we get back in Christmas?"
The blonde pondered on this for a moment, "My presents?"
Vincent laughed which made Norman smile, "Trust you... I can't wait to open my own bakery."
The other boy raised an eyebrow, "Do what now?"
"Open a bakery," he repeated.
"Honestly, I didn't think you could cook."
"That's because I can't - but I can bake." Vincent smirked.
"Oh, I do apologise. How could I possibly have muddled to two? Especially considering the fact there's such a big and obvious difference." Norman replied sarcastically.
"Ha ha," Vincent began, "You just wait! I'll hand you a nice croissant as a side dish for when you end up eating your own words."
"Scary." he teased.
This part's kinda short but I wrote it quickly and tbh I can never to commit to writing super long chapters. Btw what do you think Elinor? XD
