FALLING | MxM (completed)

Chapter 7

Edited

It was late night on Sunday when Edwin arrived for his shift after having spent the day with Kurt and some friends at the arcade. He was worn out but still had to do his shift besides bringing back Vincent to the hospital. Chad was kind enough to let the boy go for a few hours, and Vin had caused no problem while outside.

It was around 2 in the morning when he noticed a sound coming from a room in the basement. Someone was playing the piano. He knew where the instrument was. He also knew that the door had been locked for quite some time now. Was one of the staff playing?

When he arrived at the doorframe, the room was too dark to recognize the player, but when the clouds moved away, a muscular figure was visible behind the old grand piano, playing and lost in his own world. It was Aiden.

The melody he was playing was plain sad. Like the soul was being tortured nonstop, torn into a billion pieces just to be put back by the softer parts of the melody, before getting ripped apart again. Edwin moved closer silently, not to interrupt the older guy. He noticed the tears on Aiden's cheeks when the moonlight shone on him. He recalled Aiden smiling during his morning visit to him before he left. He seemed to be in a good mood, so what could have changed during the few hours he was away? Suddenly a thought came to the doctor's mind.

In the reports of the evening, he read that someone had come to visit Aiden.

Now he needed to talk about this with the singer. As his doctor. Not that he was genuinely worried or curious or anything.

Aiden finished playing, then grabbed a notebook from above the piano and turned towards the door when he noticed Edwin. He didn't react much, just looked at the other for a mere second before heading out toward the yard, sitting on one of the stones by the fountain. He opened the notebook and started writing something down. Edwin just watched him, as he was focused on what he was doing and not paying any attention to the doctor's gaze on him. After what seemed like 5-10 minutes, he threw the notebook away furiously and buried his face in his palms. His breathing pattern unsteady. Edwin hurried to his side and sat beside him, hugged his shoulders, and pressed Aiden's head to his chest, stroking his hair. The action seemed to have calmed the patient down a little as he lowered his hands to his lap and breathed in deeply.

"I'm trash, aren't I? I ruined everything. I ruined it all by my own hands and now I can't even write a goddamn song anymore." Aiden whispered in a broken, hoarse voice, leaned back from the doctor's embrace, and looked at the fountain.

"Does it have anything to do with the person who visited you today?" Edwin asked carefully.

"No? Yes? I don't know. I mean, it's not like I can do anything about it." He sighed.

"Who was he? Was he the voice you wanted to get rid of?" Edwin looked at the other's facial features closely and noticed how his expression turned dark and sad at the mention of that.

"You know, I was never really capable of loving someone. I never felt anything special, not even toward my family. But then he came along and I started feeling and doing things I always laughed at when I saw others doing. I never got the point of kissing until it was him I kissed. He loved me unconditionally, although I put him through hell by always being away at the times he needed me to be by his side. He was having it rough, but not once did he complain about it. And now I wish he had. I wish he would've yelled at me and punched me and just-... I wish he'd told me how hard it was for him, before..." Aiden stopped himself from talking when he couldn't stop his voice shaking from holding back the tears.

"Before what? You can cry, Aiden. It's okay." Edwin said quietly, his hand squeezing the broad shoulder.

Aiden turned to look at him with eyes a little wide, as if in shock. He quickly turned away though, at the fall of the first tear. "He and I, we... we had a company together. Well, it is his, and I just invested in it at the beginning. He had asked my lawyer to buy my shares cos otherwise I'd have to go to the company meetings every once in a while and he really doesn't want to see me anymore. I told Hugo, my lawyer, to just transfer them without selling, and today..." Aiden took a deep, shaky breath. "Today he came here all angry, saying how he didn't need the pity and made me sign the papers while he transferred the money on the spot cos I refused to do so through Hugo."

"But didn't you say he loved you unconditionally? How can he not want to even lay eyes on you now?" Edwin was confused.

"Love isn't forever, Edwin." Aiden laughed bitterly.

Edwin felt like he needed to change the subject, maybe brighten the mood a little. He pointed at the notebook. "Were you writing lyrics?"

"Trying to, not writing. That is just complete garbage."

"Mind if I take a look?"

"Go ahead, I don't care." The singer shrugged and looked away.

Edwin walked over, picked the notebook up, and walked back to his seat. He was amazed by what he was reading. "But this is amazing! This would be a great song, Aiden!"

"It's garbage, Edwin. Don't try to flatter me." Aiden stood up and disappeared behind the doors to the hallway. He sat there reading the lyrics again.

'The dark night and the cloudy stars

Do you sometimes think of me as the world goes on?

The pages we could never write

And our shadows that still have their fingers entwined

That very place we said goodbye

I watch that street from afar

Cos I'll never have the bravery to meet again

But I'll always be here if you let me in'