pizzaface | ✓

26.

THE TENSION felt thick.

Roderigo and Esmeralda were scoffing potatoes down heartily, making scattered dry comments and erupting into short bouts of laughter, yet in contrast Myron's eyes were trained towards his plate, Noel's onto the floor.

For some reason the potato was incredibly dry in his throat, so Noel had began to drink a lot of water to combat this, but then this had meant his belly was now full up, rendering him unable to take another bite out of his meal. So he sat there, trying so hard not to think about anything, trying not to relay the previous events in his head until Myron spoke.

"Let's go to the backyard."

"Isn't it a bit late for that darling?" Esmeralda had frozen mid chew, directing her attention onto Myron's conflicted expression.

"I-I just need to talk to Noel. Please."

Esmeralda nodded absentmindedly, going back to chewing her potato and laughing with Roderigo, leaving Noel to shuffle out of his seat and follow Myron to their backyard.

It was dark outside, too dark that Noel could hear crickets spark into the air and see the moon in its full glory, it bathed an eerie, iridescent glow on the wet grass, transforming what would be Myron's ordinary backyard into a fairy's playground, it was magical in a weird sort of way.

Myron was the first to sink to his feet on the damp grass, his clothes crumpled at his sudden collapse and without a word Noel followed.

"What happened?" Myron was the first to speak, he was hyperaware of how close Noel was, he could smell his shampoo, it smelt like crushed berries from the village market.

"I could say the same for you."

"W-what do you mean?"

"Your sisters."

Myron drew out a heavy breath, he could feel the fabric from his jeans getting increasingly wet, forcing him to slump into a position onto the floor, his legs splayed out and his head tickling against the grass. "I, I guess I've been kinda cryptic."

"Sometimes...it feels like I don't know you at all." Noel breathed out in what he hoped was in his head, but judging from Myron's expression he had blurted it out stupidly.

"That's why I brought you here...Wood Acre is a part of me in a way..." Myron's words were slow and calculated, as if he was dragging out each word longer than necessary.

"You don't have to tell me, you don't owe me anything, if you're uncomfortable talking about it, then we won't talk about it." Noel's voice was strong and determined, he was staring pointedly at the moon before craning his neck to peer at Myron's splayed position. "I never even apologized for earlier, for getting mad over nothing."

"I totally forgot about that to be honest.....and...I want to tell you."

"You don't have to."

"I want to." Myron's voice had reduced to a hoarse whisper, causing Noel to drop to the floor as well, his legs stretched out next to Myron, his face looking up.

"Okay."

"They, they died. Mira and Ashley, here, in Wood Acre...they were conjoined twins...sorry I'm not making sense." Myron let out a frustrated gasp, furiously scrubbing through his short hair. "Um...with conjoined twins, or at least in our case, it got to a point where they both can't be alive...and when we told them, they disappeared." Myron closed his eyes, his eyelids fluttering ever so slowly, Noel could see a deep furrow begin to form by his eyebrow and all he wanted to do was smooth it away. "And, and the police found them dead. They had drowned. Together." Myron had began to scrub at his hair again, his fingernails had began to smart, he opened his eyes gingerly, relaxing when he felt Noel breathing quietly beside him. "Straight after that my parents wanted to move out of Wood Acre, they didn't talk about it, we never talked about it, I just remember coming home from school and all our belongings were packed into boxes, and we were gone, far away from here." Myron bit at his bottom lip, fighting the urge to scratch at his hair again. "I just wanted closure. I didn't want to forget them. I didn't want them to become a fleeting memory, I didn't want to leave Wood Acre behind forever." Myron turned his head to look at Noel, who's face remained firmly on the moon. "So I came back on their anniversary, and I brought you with me."

"I-"

"I don't want to mention it anymore."

"Okay."

"How was seeing your Dad?" Myron was one hundred percent sure he witnessed Noel flex his jaw in anger, his eyes turning cold. "It hurt a lot. All I feel is anger at the moment, but I also feel really disappointed and-" Noel's voice cut off abruptly, he didn't want to say it, he didn't want to speak it into existence, but he could feel Myron's eyes peeling him open, chipping away at his layers and leaving him raw. "Unwanted."

Suddenly he felt a warmer, larger hand encompass his own, Myron squeezed his hand lightly against Noel's and for a while they just lay there, nothing but the silent crickets song and the magical moon tainting their sombre scene. Noel chose not to overthink, instead he just enjoyed Myron's hand in his, and how their clothes slightly brushed up against each other and how if he just shifted a little closer, Noel could count each and every one of Myron's eyelashes and thick bushy brows.

"Hey Myron."

"Hmmmm"

"I bet they're together now, and they're happy, wherever they may be, they're happy."

"Me too. Noel. Me too."

Myron then turned to face his head next to Noel, his nose slightly brushing against Noel's. "We are the crystal gems."

Noel let out a small chuckle, causing Myron's face to feel hot. "We'll always save the day."

"And if you think we can't."

"We'll always find a way."