#first piece

Wilbur had always been a particularly chivalrous guy, whether you’re in a relationship or not. You could recall the last time you and a group of friends hung out, he offered you his jacket, offered to carry you over a deep puddle. (Which, of course you accepted… the opportunity to be carried like a princess couldn’t be passed up so easily). He would defend you whenever someone would make fun of or tease you. He would shoot daggers to anyone who even attempted to get too close. He’s just protective! You’d tell yourself.

“You’re such a white knight, Wilbur,” or “You’re such a simp, dude.” It was endless, but he didn’t seem to care. Your friends would even go the lengths to call him ‘Simpbur’ whenever he did something particularly romantic, just for you You didn’t care, it was cute.

You weren’t sure why you were so surprised when he finally asked you out on a date. But of course, you said yes. It was hard to resist his sweet eyes and nervous smile. He was too adorable. You two agreed that the perfect date would be at your favorite ice cream place then straight to the park to watch the sunset. It was not only simple, but your two favorite things. Ice cream and the sunsets, (or, maybe Wilbur was that second thing).

The doorbell rings and a knock follows, a short little ‘knock knock’, not even a full three. You hurry to fix your hair in the mirror and rush to the door. You take a deep breath, your nerves silently taking over. You open the door with a kind smile. Wilbur is holding a bouquet of your favorite flowers. He grins nervously and holds out the flowers for you.

“Um.. I, I got these— these flowers for you.” He seems to stumble over his words a bit. You can only lightly giggle and take the flowers, bringing them up to your nose and breathe in the scent, then let out the breath through your mouth.

“They’re beautiful!” You say, tilting your head a bit. There’s a short, awkward silence between you before Wilbur clears his throat.

“I know those are your favorite. I remember you telling me a while back. I would, put them in some water so they don’t die, because I want them to last. Because they’re… you know, your favorite and...” He over-explains a bit and gestures around with his hands… which he tends to do when nervous. It only adds to his charm. You smile and nod, placing the flowers into a pretty vase beside your front door, right where you would be able to see them right before leaving the house.

“I know, Wilbur. They’re very pretty.. thank you.”

He breathes out a quiet ‘not as pretty as you’ (which he hoped you didn’t catch) before nodding. “Yeah! Yeah, um. Of course. Anything for you.”

“So you ready to go?” You ask as you grab your bag from beside the door and sling it over your shoulder.
“yeah- yes! Lets go.” Wilbur nods and waits for you to step out of your place, closing the door behind you. He takes you over to his car and opens the door for you, smiling. How sweet of him!

The car ride wasn’t the slightest bit awkward. You two talked just as you would as if this were a hang out rather than a date. In a way, any one-on-one time with Wilbur felt like a date. Maybe you were just so exponentially head over heels for this guy without realizing, that you took each interaction as a romantic one. You two sang your favorite songs on the way to the parlor his voice sounding better than yours since he sang regularly… you just sang TV Girl about as loud as you could in the shower. There was a difference.

"this song kinda sucks," You mutter, skipping over one of your favorite songs. Often, you'd get bashed for your music taste. Wilbur just shakes his head.

"Nono! go back! i like that song!" Your heart flutters in your chest as he flips back to the other song, allowing it to play fully.

Upon finally arriving to the parlor, Wilbur again, opens the door for you. You thank him and he nods. He thinks about grabbing your hand and linking your fingers, like he wished to do so, so many times before. His fingers would twitch in longing, wanting to connect you two in the kind and gentle manner. He would to it today, even if it was the last thing he did before the date was over.

“Wilbur?” You tap his shoulder, snapping him from his thoughts. He looks at you with a grin. “It’s your turn to order.” You point to the cashier who seemed to be about 19 and way over his job, hinted at by the obviously unamused expression he held. Wilbur’s face reddens with slight embarrassment and he nods.

“Right! Right... um, just a chocolate dipped cone, please.” The cashier nods.

“Your total is $4.76.” he slides forward the little iPad to pay. Wilbur quickly swipes his card before you get the chance to pay for your sundae, and you shoot him an angry, yet playful, glare.

“What? Couldn’t let my date pay for themself. That would be so rude!” He teases, lightly nudging you with his shoulder just before taking his ice cream.

You then both drive to the nearby park, a short drive that was mostly quiet. nothing worth telling, said park has a downhill slope right at the parking. It was perfect for watching the sunset. Wilbur pops his trunk and you both go sit in the back and eat your ice cream. He grabs a blanket after a moment.

“It’s supposed to get cold soon,” he says as he holds his ice cream cone in his mouth, his teeth are too sensitive to the cold but he would rather make you comfortable and suffer for a moment rather than watching you freeze.

“Aw, thank you. Youre the sweetest.” You smile before taking another bite of your sundae. Will smiles and nods, taking the cone from his mouth and biting into the sugary treat. you both sort of sit in silence for a moment while the sun falls behind the horizon. You yawn, covering your mouth, then you lean your head on Will's shoulder. You can hear his breath nearly stop, his body tensing up. Why was he reacting like this? It's not like you'd never done this before. Maybe it was just... a different situation. You both finish up your ice cream, and are now leaned against each other, bodies touching, it's warm enough between you two that you can ignore the chill from the outdoors. You sit in a comfortable silence until he decides to speak up.

"Sunset's pretty." He mutters. You nod in agreement. "I think you're prettier though." He adds after a second. it makes your cheeks burn with blush and a smile crossed your face.

"That's just not true." You giggle, shaking your head. Will takes a breath to regain confidence and wraps an arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer against him if it were possible. You look up at him with a grin.

"You know i couldn't ever lie to you." He mutters, looking down at you... soaking in your beauty. His eyes drift from your eyes down to your lips. He couldn't tell you how long he'd been resisting this.

resisting the urge to feel your lips pressed against yours in a passionate kiss, to feel your breath mingle with his in such love and longing.

"i know you wouldn't." You mumble, looking up, your eyes meet his for a brief second before you notice them drift to your lips. you can't help the smile playing at your lips. "What're you looking at?" You tease, lightly nudging him. his face reddened and he glances away.

"Not.. nothing."

"Nothing, huh?" Your fingers brush over the top of his hand, his breath hitches. He was so nervous, it was honestly cute. Soon, you link your fingers with his and you can feel him practically melt.

"I've wanted to ask you out for so long." He whispers after a moment of silence, rubbing his thumb gently along yours. It causes butterflies to fly loose in your belly.

"So why didn't you?"

"Don't think i could handle being called 'simpbur' one more time." He chuckles, shrugging. You look up at him, and he was already looking down at you.

"I always thought that was stupid." Your grip tightens around his hand. he inches even closer to you.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." You confirm it, and it's silent for a second as you both inch closer. your brain was screaming at you to just go for it. so, you did. Your lips collide against Wilbur's, it's a sweet (yet somewhat awkward) kiss to begin with, but you two ease into it. He tilts his head and grabs your chin between his index and his thumb, and you lean closer. Your hands rest on his chest as you two enjoy your long overdue kiss.

Wilbur's lips are warm on yours and his hands begin as sweet and innocent, but he grows a bit eager. his hand trail down and rests on your thigh, which takes you by surprise. His lips leave yours momentarily and connect to your neck, and while the feeling is nearly euphoric, you have to pull away. It was a bit too soon to do anything more than kisses.

"Will.." You whisper. He responds in a gentle and careful voice.

"Yes, darling?" He looks up at you.

"This is... amazing but I... I'm not ready for.." Your words trail off. Wilbur simply smiles and nods in understanding, returning up to give you one quick kiss on the lips.

"That's alright. I'll wait my whole life if I must."

Your heart flutters as his promise and you nod.

The girl was a bit smaller than Rain, and way smaller than the other man. She had brown hair that fell over her shoulders in natural waves, almost reaching her elbows. With a groan she leaned against the wall, putting her head back. “For fucks sake…”. The taller man just shot her a quick look before focusing on the door again. Rain was curious, looking at the girl with clear interest. She seemed to have noticed his curiosity, turning her attention towards him. “Are you new here?”. Rain nodded slightly, tilting his head to the side. “Yeah I uhm...I just finished my training.”. “My condolences.”. Before Rain could ask what she meant by that, the door opened again, but this time there wasn’t someone else brought in.

Instead they were called out into a hallway, where three men were already waiting. Rain swallowed hard, eyeing them nervously. They were muscular, reminding him of the guards back at the academy. Each man grabbed one of them by the arm, causing the girl to curse and Rain to flinch. The grip of the man was strong, he could feel him pressing his flesh together, causing an aching sensation. He was sure there would be a bruise there later.

They were led down a long hallway, passing several closed doors on the way. Rain assumed that there were other people like them locked in there. He could feel his heart racing in his chest and his fingers twitched nervously behind his back. When he shot a nervous glance towards the other two, he noticed that they seemed oddly calm. As if this wasn’t the most terrifying thing he had ever experienced. The uncertainty was killing him.

He felt his throat closing up, a heavy knot in his chest and he had to try his hardest to fight back the tears that were starting to form in his eyes. Now the girl looked over to him, a slight look of concern in her face. She leaned slightly towards him, speaking in a low voice that was almost a whisper. “Hey, crying usually just makes it worse. Trust me. I know it’s hard, but-”, the man that held her arm pulled her back, causing her to stumble and almost fall. “Hey! No talking!”. She tried to turn her head around to glare at him but he just pushed her forward again.

The other guy shot them a look, raising an eyebrow. But he stayed quiet, presumably not wanting to get into any trouble as well.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, Rain was using the time to try and focus on his rapid breathing to calm down. Still he felt his whole body trembling when they finally reached the end of the hallway, a big door awaiting them.

It was pushed open and revealed a big room that was buzzing with all kinds of noises and voices. The light was dim, coming from seemingly really old lamps that were hanging from the ceiling. On the walls there were desks and podesta, which had all kinds of equipment lying on and around them, most of them were also equipped with a mirror. There were people running around everywhere, some working on hair, others putting on collars and other accessories on what Rain could only assume were people who were getting prepared for some sort of show off. At the end of the room was another big wooden door, he was almost sure he could hear a faint sound of applause coming from there. He felt his breath picking up again, looking around the room, wishing his arms were free so he could put them around himself, to shield him from the chaos. The men brought them over to a mostly empty corner, where he was pushed down on a chair in front of a mirror. He shot a quick look towards it, before looking down again, causing his blue dyed curls to fall over his forehead.

It didn’t take long until a woman appeared behind him, eyeing him through the mirror. “Hmm aren’t you a cutie!”, she smiled at him and instinctively he smiled back. He always had to be polite. “T-thank you Miss.” She laughed, clapping her hands in delight. “My oh my, you must be fresh out of training huh? So well behaved!”. He nodded slightly, feeling a knot in his stomach. His hands were trembling again but he kept the smile on, wanting to make a good impression. He didn’t want to get hurt already. She gave him another reassuring smile before starting to comb through his hair with her hands, causing him to flinch slightly, immediately freezing afterwards, hoping she didn’t notice it. “Now, you are already so adorable, I won’t even have to do much! Just need to comb your pretty little curls out a bit and maybe…”, she paused, considering something, “A little blush would surely look good too, give you a little more colour!”. He had no idea what to say to that, so he only nodded, hoping that was enough. Judging by her satisfied expression, it seemed as though he had been right, causing a wave of relief to wash over him. He was doing something right.

While the woman brushed his hair, he just sat still, enjoying the unusual feeling. Normally when someone touched his hair it was being pulled or torn. This was much nicer. Through the mirror he could see some of the other people in the room and he recognised the taller man from earlier. He was leaning against a wall, seemingly waiting for something. His expression seemed pained and from what Rain could see, it looked like he was leaning slightly to the left, putting off weight from his right leg. He took a second to ask himself what the reason behind that might be, when something else caught his attention. The big door at the opposite site of the room was pushed open and two people stumbled inside, hands cuffed in front of them, connected to a metal collar around their throats. Even from his point Rain could see that they looked absolutely terrified, a mix of shock and fear written over their faces. He felt himself getting nervous again, what was behind that door that was so frightening? The woman that was still taking care of his hair seemed to have noticed the slight shift in his posture, because she gently patted his hair. “Oh don’t worry sweetheart, it’s not as scary as it seems! It will all be okay if you just behave, can you do that?” Rain nodded slowly, yes, he knew that! He just had to behave, then it would be okay. She smiled at him again. Someone gave her a sign and she sighed, running a last hand through his hair. “Okay, You’re up sweetie. Good luck out there!”.

Rain was brought into another new room, but this one was different. There was a thick red curtain on one side and the ground was made of a dark wood. It took him a minute to put the pieces together and realise that he was standing on a stage. Behind him four more people appeared, two guards and...his eyes grew wide when he recognised them. It was the girl and the guy he had been in a room with earlier. He hadn’t expected to see them so soon again or ever really. The girl was glaring at the man who had a hard grip on her left arm, making her struggles to get free unsuccessfully. Not that it would have had any use anyway. The light was dim, but he could see them better now, noticing a long scar on her right cheek. She had covered it with her hair earlier, but now it was brushed out of her face, making it clearly visible. “I swear to god, if you don’t get your hands off me right now-”. The man just laughed at that, “Then what? Huh? What’s a little girl like you going to do?”. She looked like she was about to respond something, presumably not very polite, when the man that had a hand on Rains shoulder spoke up. “Come on man, there are more important things we need to deal with right now.”, he sounded annoyed and his grip got tighter, causing a quiet whimper from Rain. The guard just rolled his eyes, pushing him toward the middle of the stage. Just now he noticed the rings and chains that were attached to the ground. His eyes grew wide again and he could feel his breathing getting faster. He tried to struggle but the man just dragged him along, pushing him onto his knees and connecting the handcuffs to one of the rings on the ground, rubbing painfully at the already sore flesh, bringing out another soft whimper.

The man disappeared from his view and he wanted to turn his head to see where he went, but he was frozen in fear. No idea where he was or what was going to happen, in a room full of strangers. Suddenly he felt dizzy, the room starting to spin around him, his breath and heartbeat picking up. He felt something close against his ankles, hearing a clicking sound. It felt cold and heavy. Trying to focus on the feeling, he barely noticed what was going on around him. “-not going to happen dickhead”, he hadn’t heard the first part of the sentence, but the angry voice got him back to the present again, turning his head to the brown haired girl next to him. “I didn’t ask you to do it, I ordered you to.” She just scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. “Yeah right. Well, too bad that I really don’t give a shit about that.” He narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist and for a moment Rain was sure that he was going to hit her. But once again the man who had brought him in stepped in. He simply went over to them and kicked the girl in the back of her knees, causing them to give in and hitting the hard ground. She sucked in a sharp breath, immediately trying to get up again, but he quickly secured the cuffs to the ground, making it impossible. He just ignored her cursing at him and turned to the third man, who had now managed to bring the other guy down as well. Rain shot him a quick look, noticing the pained expression from earlier again, as he was shifting on his knees, seemingly trying to get more comfortable in the unaturall position.