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Callum drew his arms around himself, the cold air hitting him hard like icicles, and bent forward before beginning to walk. His blond hair, atop which sat a fuzzy woollen hat, fell over his forehead, but he couldn't find the willpower to take his hands out from between the warmth of his jumper, so he resorted to blowing air from his mouth to blow his hair away, which worked only slightly.

When he reached inside the school building, he breathed a sigh of relief and slowly untangled his frozen arms from around him. He stood there for a minute to allow the warm air unfreeze his body and mind, before making his way up the stairs amidst a crowd of younger students, cursing as he got shoved, and finally reached his classroom. He peeked in.

Aiden sat on his usual seat, which happened to be beside his. He bit down on his lip and entered.

Despite having spoken to Aiden over the Christmas holiday, he had still felt awkward talking to him, and thus had ignored his phone calls. He prayed that Aiden would accept his poor excuses, but thankfully, he didn't even ask. Instead, as he sat down slowly beside him, Aiden looked up with a beaming smile and greeted him with an enthusiastic "Hello."

He returned his greeting with a tight lipped smile. "Hey."

The chubby boy shifted on his seat to face him and began to rummage inside his bag, from which he pulled out a Rubik's cube. Still beaming broadly, he deposited it on his table and said, "You were playing with your cube the other day, and it in–intrigued me, so I got a book on this and learned how to solve it. And I can do it now, though – though sometimes I have to check the algorithms."

This surprised Callum, and he looked at the boy appreciatively. "Really?" he asked, picking up the cube and jumbling it up again. "How fast can you do it?"

"Eight minutes," he laughed shyly. "I haven't learned the faster method yet, I thought it'd be bet–better if I started with the easier method."

"That's good actually," Callum smiled. "When I first learned it, it took me over twenty minutes. I'm not a good memoriser."

"When did you first learn it?" Aiden asked as Callum put the cube in front of him, and he began to turn it around, eyes screwing up in concentration.

"Five, I think. I found one lying around, and I kept pestering one of the sisters of the orphanage until she gave up and bought me a book." He paused and looked at him. "I first managed to solve it on my own at the age of eleven. Took me six years, so you're doing good."

Aiden laughed, loudly this time, so unlike his usual demure manner. "But you were a child."

"Do you want to learn the quick method?" he asked, watching Aiden who struggled to solve the Rubik's cube, glancing every now and then at the clock which hung opposite them on the wall.

"Sure."

As he shifted in his chair, Aiden's eyes fell on his chest, where he stared for a moment before asking, quietly, "Did your – uh – boyfriend give that to you?"

He shuffled uncomfortably, wishing that he hadn't worn that jumper. After the last time Harry was home, the mere thought of him felt painful to him. He remembered the way Harry had aggressively pushed him against the wall and how he had told him that all he did was complain and how Callum himself had accused him of reaping benefits of being the Chosen One. Who would have thought that the first meeting with the lanky, scrawny boy sitting on a swing where both of them had been awkward out of their wits, would change into something like this?

He pulled uncomfortably on the hem of his jumper. "His mother knitted it for me actually."

"Oh, that's nice." And it sounded like he genuinely meant it. Callum gave him a grateful smile.

During lunch, the two boys were settled at the school grounds, underneath a large tree. Aiden sat with his back pressed against the wood, while Callum lay sprawled on his stomach, his chin rested on his hand while he tried to complete his homework which he had received just today, so that he could have enough free time at home.

"What was the third step again?" Aiden asked, his brows furrowed in confusion as he tried to remember the exact algorithm.

"I'll write them down," he replied and ripped one of the pages of his copy and jotted down the steps.

_/_/_/

Callum was greeted, as always, by the happy barks of Four who bounded toward him as soon as he entered his house and kept jumping to reach his face. He smiled faintly and pushed him away, before dragging himself up the stairs to his bedroom, hoping, despite himself, for a snowy white owl to stand perched on his windowsill, with a letter tied to her leg.

But there was no owl, and with a sigh, he flopped down on his bed, bringing his hands up to rub at his eyes.

He kept thinking of Harry, although it's been over two weeks since he had last seen him. There was a strange feeling inside him – not hurt, as he had felt initially, nor sadness, nor anger. He simply felt hollow. There was no longing for him to touch him, to run his fingers through his messy hair, to kiss him, and yet, there was a strange desire to see him, hold him close, pretend that nothing has gone wrong and that they could return to their silly games of I state, and drawing patterns on his hands, and fighting over who Four liked more.

The pug climbed onto his bed and nestled next to his arm. He laughed suddenly. "Now that's unfair, you know? I keep neglecting my cats because of how much time you take from me." He paused. "I'm such a bad parent, aren't I?"

Four gave a pleading whine, which Callum ignored. Pushing himself up and rising to his feet, he began to search for a shirt to wear, while the dog continued to whine loudly.

"Don't guilt me now," he said warningly, pointing an admonishing finger at Four. "I'm conflicted enough as it is. Harry's mad at me, Aiden probably fancies me and I have no idea what to do about it, and now you're trying to get me to –" he halted, biting his lip to stop the laughter that was threatening to escape.

He was talking to his dog about his love life.

Shaking his head, he changed and left the room, deciding to ignore Four for the day and spend some much needed quality time with his other numbers.

_/_/_/

it's 3 am and I have maths test tomorrow what am I doing

I don't want the story to end and I here I am, updating two days in a row