First Snowfall of the Season
OneshotDisclaimer: I do not own the Dead Poets Society. If I did, would I be writing this? However, if you do and you want to give me the rights to at least Neil, I will take him.
A/N: I was going to write a Charlie/Knox oneshot but then I thought of this for Neil/Todd. If you have any suggestions for any pairings or oneshots that you'd like me to write, just send me a message and I'll more than likely love to do it for you. As always, please enjoy and review! I'm getting a ton of hits so I know someone is reading them out there.
Wake up! Todd, get up! Come on already!
Todd groaned and gave up on trying to sleep when Neil wouldn't stop smacking him with the pillow. "What do you want, Neil?" he asked while yawning. He forced open his eyes to find that it was still mostly dark. Todd propped himself up on his elbow in confusion. Nothing was wrong since Neil's voice sounded too bright and cheery for whatever time it was. Hoping to find an answer to that question, Todd squinted as he looked over at the clock on his desk. The hands informed him that it was currently 5:15am on their side of the country. "Let me rephrase that. What do you want at 5:15 in the morning?"
Neil was already back over at the window. The pillow had been dropped on the floor once Todd was talking to him. His gaze was scanning over the grounds of Welton. His eyes were reflecting the excitement he was feeling inside. "It snowed! It's the first snowfall of the season!" He bounced up and down slightly before turning back to face Todd with a grin that lit up his face.
Todd's annoyance at being woken up so early quickly disappeared when he took in the look on Neil's face. For being so early in the morning Neil looked so alive. He loved it when Neil was happy. Neil's happiness was all it took for Todd to get going in the moment. "So why are you waking me up to tell me this?" he questioned. The quieter boy knew where this was going. Neil had woken him up to drag him out into the frigid weather.
Neil raised an eyebrow. "So I can drag you out there with me," he responded nonchalantly. Todd knew him well enough to figure out his reasons for doing things. He hurried over to the closet and pulled out his coat, a scarf, gloves and boots. Not bothering to change out of his pajamas, he pulled on the clothing before ripping Todd's blankets from off of his bed. "Get up, Todd!"
Muttering under his breath, Todd finally got up and pulled on the same articles of clothing from his own wardrobe. Before he could even finish pulling on his last glove, Neil had grabbed him by the coat and yanked him out of their room. Since no one else was up, the two of them had to be quiet. Getting caught out this early wouldn't go well either. The two traveled down the hall in silence, down a couple of stair cases and down another hall. Using the same door as they did to get out for society meetings, they soon found themselves out into the snowy wonderland.
Todd breathed in deeply, letting the freezing air fill his lungs to their capacity. Nothing could ever beat the smell of freshly fallen snow. It hadn't seemed to be snowing for too long yet. The ground and foliage were covered but it wasn't very deep. Neil and Todd walked off more towards the woods. They didn't want to be seen or overheard by a faculty member or someone who would fink on them. Todd shoved his hands into his coat pockets, as they grew closer to the forest before them. For awhile the only noises heard was their breath as it escaped from their lungs and the sound of snow being squished beneath solid boots. Once they were far enough out they stopped and looked around a bit more.
"It's beautiful," Todd sighed.
Neil nodded in agreement. "It really is." His eyes roamed over the tree line before landing on the slightly shorter boy. He smiled to himself at the sight of Todd's bed head hair and his rosy cheeks from the cold. Todd's breath could be seen from the cold temperature and that only caused him to smile more.
Feeling Neil's gaze upon him, Todd turned to look at him. "What?" he asked. He was beginning to feel self-conscious. It wasn't hard to make him feel that way either.
The actor shook his head. "Nothing really."
Todd backed up a step. He was wary of what Neil had been thinking. "Are you sure it's nothing?"
Neil laughed. "You don't trust me, Todd?" he asked teasingly.
Todd stared at him for a moment in disbelief. "I…you…Neil!" he stammered.
Neil's laughter only got worse. "Relax Todd, will you? I was only joking. Really though…it was nothing." He didn't think Todd would take it too lightly for him to admit he was admiring him in the early morning light.
Todd shrugged as he straightened out his scarf. He was just going to try and ignore his paranoia. It was too early. He could be suspicious of someone if he wanted to be. He turned his back on Neil for a moment to look out at the lake. It had frozen overnight. As Todd began to yawn, he was suddenly tackled into the snow from behind. He let out a surprised yelp as he landed face first in the snow with Neil on his back. Todd quickly managed to roll over to where his back was on the snow instead and he was looking up at his best friend. He narrowed his eyes up at Neil as Neil kept him pinned. "See! I was right! I knew it was something!" he exclaimed.
Neil busted up in laughter at Todd's reaction. He didn't care if anyone found them in that position. With Todd on his back in the snow and Neil pinning him there. It didn't exactly help that his body was covering Todd's to keep him down but he was secretly enjoying it. "It isn't my fault you know me so well." He grinned down at Todd before reaching over and brushing some of Todd's hair away from his eyes. He hesitated for a second before quickly brushing the snow away from his hair as well to where it looked like he had a better reason for doing something like that.
Todd's cheeks began to turn redder. This time however, it wasn't thanks to the cold. It was thanks to Neil's actions. He cleared his throat and licked his lips as he tried to come up with something to say. "Enjoying yourself?"
Neil nodded. "I am, actually. You're…what's the word…extremely comfortable." He watched in pure amusement, as Todd's reddening grew even worse before his eyes. Neil could feel his heart beating faster now, nearly ramming itself against his ribcage. He was nearly certain that if Todd couldn't hear it, he'd at least be able to feel it. The longer the two stared at each other in silence, the more of an urge Neil felt to close to the distance between them. Suddenly feeling unsure of himself, Neil did the first thing he could think of. He sat up quickly, grabbed a handful of snow and shoved it down the front of Todd's pajama shirt. Neil removed himself just as quickly since Todd practically sprung up from the ground in disdain.
Unable to help it, Neil laughed as he watched Todd try to remove all of the snow from his clothing. He placed a hand on his side as it began to hurt from how much he was laughing. Todd finally managed to get out all of the snow before turning to Neil in a mixture of both anger and amusement. "Neil Perry, you are horrible!" he shouted before laughing. "I think you deserve some payback of your own." Neil's eyes widened as Todd knelt down to scoop up some snow. He began to back away as Todd stepped toward him. "Todd! No! Don't do it!" he pleaded. Since Todd wasn't listening to him and he didn't feel like having a freezing chest, he took off running across the snow-covered field.
Todd took off after Neil moments later when it registered he was trying to make an escape. It didn't take too long for Todd to catch up to him. He grabbed onto Neil's coat and tugged on it, causing Neil to stop running and practically slam into him. Not wasting anymore time, Todd shoved the snow down the back of Neil's shirt and let go as he laughed. Watching as Neil flailed around to get the snow out, he backed up to take in the sweet taste of revenge. Neil calmed down soon enough and the two of them began laughing all over again. Deciding for a momentary truce, they headed off towards the woods together for a change of scenery. It didn't take long since they knew their way there so easily.
They entered a circling of trees to find the snow around it undisturbed. Todd leaned against a tree as he worked on catching his breath. All of their running and laughing combined with the cold was really giving his lungs a workout. Neil was in the same condition as he was as he stood in front of him.
Neil drew in a deep breath before managing to speak. "Are you glad I woke up now?" he questioned hopefully.
"Despite the fact that my chest is now freezing, yes," Todd admitted with a nod.
Neil smiled. "I'm glad." Their breathing had finished regulating but still Neil stood so close to Todd. He wasn't sure if it was because of the cold effecting his brain or that if he really was getting braver. Mr. Keating had been so avid about carpe diem that some of the boys had taken it to heart. Neil couldn't hold back any longer. His heart was ramming against his ribs again as he searched Todd's eyes. Todd was standing completely still as he stared back into Neil's eyes. His own heart was beating wildly now as well. He wasn't sure what was going to happen but he had a feeling that he would like it.
Knowing it was now or never, Neil leaned in the rest of the way and gently pressed his lips against Todd's. Even though it was freezing out, Todd's lips were warm and inviting. Before he could begin to panic and pull back, Todd was kissing him back. Relieved, Neil grabbed onto Todd's coat to pull him away from the tree and closer to him, deepening it slightly. Todd's own hands were clutching onto Neil's coat. Neil eventually pulled back and opened his eyes. When he met Todd's gaze, he grinned as Todd smiled shyly at him.
Todd could barely think straight. When he felt something cold and went land in his hair, he looked up towards the sky. "It's snowing again." He looked back at Neil with another soft smile.
Neil didn't even look away from Todd to look at the new snow that was coming down. "Hm. I think I love the second snowfall of the season even better." The response he received was a brighter smile from Todd as he was pulled into yet another kiss. He couldn't wait to see what happened on the third snowfall and he had a feeling neither could Todd.