Chapter Text
Till really did try to pay attention during math, he already passed the class, even if it was a close call most times. This time it was even more difficult to process everything since he was still trying to do that for the previous 10 minutes that had ensued before class. Every time he looked to see the series of numbers on his arm he felt weird, embarrassing to look at.
"Ugh, how irritating..." he muttered.
Ivan was smart to write his number on his arm though, since Till almost didn't see him again that day. Almost.
Till wasn't the most social person. If he wasn't hanging out with Sua and Mizi, he was in the art room all break. Most days he didn't want to go home straight away so he'd sit in the schools practice room until everything started to lock up. He has permission, of course. The student council president, Luka, seemed to think his talent for music is a good thing. He lets Till stay until he's done with any work him and other council members are busy with. Luka can be stuck up or a bit weird sometimes but he seems nice enough? He must like music or something.
Back to Till.
He takes off his guitar case and sets it near the window, orange light painting the room. He checks the time - 5:12pm. He grabs a chair before setting up, making sure everything is ready and then starts. Till is amazing at his instrument, singing too. He even does percussion sometimes - the thing that got him interested in music was a toy xylophone he was gifted when he was young. His favorite thing was definitely being able to be creative, expressing himself through his art. He's working on perfecting the song he's trying to learn, so lost in the music that he apparently doesn't notice the other person in the room.
Ivan walks into the lonely room, door creaking as it's pushed open.
'Till looks so focused' He thinks to himself. He watches him in the doorway for a while, letting admiration wash over him. Ivan knew he was always good at music, but he had gotten so much better since the last time he saw him. The guitar player is facing the window, eyes trained on his own fingers pressing the strings of his instrument. Ivan doesn't wait long before walking over.
Till suddenly feels a hand from behind him rest on his shoulder, startling him.
"UH- shit, oh my gosh, sorry um-" He turns to see an all too familiar smile.
Oh, great. It's Ivan.
"Hi~ Till."
Silent glaring. He picks the hand off his shoulder and starts playing again. It's a different song than before.
"...You sound pretty good. Remember the old elementary school band and choir? You always sounded good in that too."
"I know."
Another pause, the soft music filling the space that silence would sit.
"You should go back to what you were playing before. … Till?-"
"I will once you leave!" Till shouts. "All your gonna do is interrupt me! Talking about nothing I want to hear from you. Your not gonna tell me any of the important stuff! Your not gonna talk about where you went, o-or how..." He trails off.
How you left me alone.
Ivan doesn't have that expression on his face - that smile Till could tell was fake since he'd first saw him today. He looks confused, but at least he looks genuine now. "You think where I've been is... important? That's important to you?"
Yes.
"No. Fuck off. All you're gonna do is talk and I don't want that."
"Can I try listening instead?"
Another silence.
"...Yeah."
After being given permission, Ivan sits down. His head resting against the leg of the chair Till sits on, and he goes back to the song he was playing before. Tills own mind betrays him, because he feels weirdly calm in Ivan's company. He thought for sure he'd get awkward and mess up, then go home early but he's acting fine. Ivan seems pretty calm too, even though the only sound is Till playing. It's amazing, no matter how annoyed Till will get at Ivan, or how much Ivan will mess with Till, they're always gonna work well together, they fit together perfectly despite being so different.
---
Till finally starts to pack up after checking the time on his phone, now 7:55pm. He puts his guitar case on his back and the chair where he got it from.
"I'm ready, lets go" Till looks towards Ivan, he nods.
They walk together down the halls, talking about nothing specific - mostly just what's on their minds, how Ivan's first day was, laughing over stupid things. Till wanted nothing more than for Ivan to just explain everything to him, tell him how sorry he was for leaving and didn't tell anyone, where he's been and how it went. But he doesn't feel angry anymore, so he can wait. He's known for a long time that for some reason Ivan has an inability to take himself seriously. It's probably got something to do with that. For now, this was okay.
Now outside the school gate, they leave to go home in opposite directions. Ivan turns, but Till grabs hold of his sleeve to say one last thing
"Uh, sorry. I mean about today in the music room. I uh... it's fine now, you can tell me that stuff a different time."
Ivan smiles. "It's okay, I don't mind. No need to apologize. See you tomorrow?"
Till smiles back. "See you tomorrow."
Even though it's still quite early, as soon as Till reaches his bed he crashes. He's too tired to do homework, that'll be a problem for future Till.