"What is love in this temporal life, if not just a distraction from the pain that doesn't seem to end."
After losing his best friend to an unexplained suicide, Mateu finds himself left to pick up the pieces with his best friend's younger brother, Fe...
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The thing about Ferran was that to get answers from him, you had to let him reveal them to you. He wasn't the type who would respond well to questioning. I could never be direct with him, he simply couldn't, or wouldn't give a satisfactory answer. I had to take extra care around him, always hinting, never direct. I guess that was the only way he knew how to communicate.
Rafel himself told me that.
I remembered it had been a warm afternoon. I was just relaxing on my bed, a book in my hand, reading as I enjoyed the warm sunlight coming through from the window.
"Mateu Espina engrossed in a book," Rafel said as he entered the room. "Never thought I'd see the day."
Rafel had gone out to hang out with some friends, but I hadn't expected him to come back too early. It was still a pleasant surprise, I guess.
"Well now you've seen it," I shot back.
Rafel had plopped himself beside me on my bed, ruffling my hair playfully to my chagrin.
"La Dame aux Camelias. . ." Rafel said. "Didn't think you were the romantic type."
I only rolled my eyes as I put the book away, into the drawer of my nightstand.
"Guess you don't really know a lot about me."
"Maybe," he said. "But you won't ever get to know every single thing about someone. We don't even know that much about ourselves."
"You know, sometimes you just say the most introspective things," I remarked snarkily. "You don't seem like the type to ponder a lot through your thoughts."
"Guess you don't really know a lot about me either," he shot back without missing a beat.
I could only smile. I loved how he always knew what to say.
"I thought you went out with the guys," I said, changing the subject.
"I was," he replied, stretching his arms out in front of him.
"Oh?"
Rafel only shrugged.
"I got tired I guess," he said. "Yeah, I do like socialising but sometimes I just rather spend that time alone, you know?"
"You're not alone right now," I teased, sitting up and joining him at the side of the bed.
"I don't have a choice now do I?" he said jokingly.
I only nudged him gently.
"What's troubling you?" I asked.
The boy's lips curled up into a soft, sad smile.
"I was just. . . thinking about my brother," he said, looking down at the wooden floor. "I'm worried about him."
