FALLING | MxM (completed)

Chapter 18

Edited✔️

"Aiden, this is amazing! I'm gonna send it to the production crew and we're gonna record it as soon as you're out. If the others agree, I think we'll make this the title song of the album." Luis was currently paying a visit to the hospital to check on Aiden's process. "Will he be discharged as previously planned, Dr.?"

Chad shifted in his seat a little. "Well, he has made a lot of progress. He is completely clean and hasn't had a breakdown for over two weeks now. But I don't know what happens once we cut him from the medication. I would prefer to keep him a little while longer, but it's his choice at this point. He'll have to come by often though, cos we still need to observe his condition while minimizing the pills."

Luis turned to Aiden, who had been sitting there quietly for the past 30

minutes or so, while he checked his songs and talked with the doctor. "What do you think? Do you wanna stay? If not, you'll be out next week." There was something soft in his voice like he was talking to a kid. Aiden wanted to point out that the dude was half his size, but didn't say anything. He just shook his head.

Luis nodded in understanding. "We're thinking about a concert when you get out. Your fans miss you dearly and it would be a good way to reunite."

Aiden didn't hesitate to semi-shout, "NO!"

Luis and Chad were taken aback by his sudden outburst. "Why not!?"

He wanted to make up an excuse, so it took him a little longer to answer. "I... I..." Not being able to come up with any excuses as his mind went blank, he sighed. "Fine." He should have just said the truth, that he didn't think he would be able to sing those songs again, but he just gave up. His fans loved them, and he knew he couldn't just ignore them forever.

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"I heard you'll leave us soon." Lucas said, walking into their room.

Vincent looked at him and then at Aiden in horror. "WHAT? You're leaving? No, no no no. Not you too!"

Aiden was feeling sorry for his friend.

"Yes, he is. And you should try to get well soon so you can leave too, Vin. Do you know for how long you've been here?" Lucas said, sitting down next to the boy.

"NO. I don't wanna leave. Ever." He pouted.

"But your family misses you. Your friends miss you. Do you know how many visitors you have each week that you decide not to show up?"

"I hate my family. And the one I want to see never visits, so I have no reason to see anyone."

Lucas looked at him with sad eyes, clearly feeling sympathy for the boy. Aiden had been here for almost three months, but Vincent always refused to talk about his family and why he was here. Lucas caressed the younger boy's hair for a while, teasing him and tickling him before he left the room.

As soon as there were only the two of them, Vincent crawled into Aiden's bed and cuddled with him tightly. "Please don't leave. Not you too..."

Aiden caressed his hair gently and looked into his eyes. "I have no choice, Vin. They're gonna discharge me. It's not my choice, really. And I have to go back to my career." He paused. "Who left you? Who has left our Vincent?"

"Everyone leaves. My best friends in high school left me. My parents abandoned me and Christian left me, too."

"Christian? You've never mentioned him before. Was he your friend?"

Vincent hummed, playing with Aiden's shirt buttons. "I loved him so much, but my parents scared him away."

Aiden had just found out Vincent was gay, but he was more curious about why his parents did that. He didn't know if he should ask him cos he didn't want to make him sad.

"Did Christian love you too? What did he look like?"

"Hmm, he loved me too. He was so cute. He had these puffy lips and his cheeks were just so so cute. He hated them, said he looked chubby, but it was so beautiful on him. He would just crawl on me when I was reading in bed and beg me to go out with him cos he was bored. He always mocked me about my nickname, though. Said I didn't even bother coming up with a good one and picked an alphabet instead."

"He must've been very beautiful, from what you explained. What was your nickname?"

Vincent smiled. Like he remembered Christian, and that made him smile. "Z. My nickname was Z."

Aiden's eyes widened to the point of jumping out of his scalp. He knew a Z. But Vincent could not be the Z he had heard of, right?! Lifting his head from the pillow and sitting up on the bed, he asked: "Vincent, what did you do before coming here? What was your job?"

Vincent looked at him, confused. "I was a music producer. Is something wrong? Are you in pain? Why are your eyes so big?" Vincent sat up in front of him.

Aiden couldn't believe it and also couldn't close his open jaw. "So you're telling me that you are Z? The Z? The person who made mannequin and white flower? For real? How! How the fuck did you end up here?"

Vincent smiled crookedly. "Yeah.... This— This is my parents' gift to me." He gestured around the room.

"What do you mean? Did they put you here? But why? You were legendary with the songs you made and then one day when I finally got your number to offer collaboration, someone said you no longer worked."

Vincent was playing with his sleeves, looking down. Aiden recognized he had just bombarded the poor boy with a million questions and felt bad immediately. Moving closer, he took his hands in his and made him look up. "it's okay, Vin. If you don't wanna talk about it, I understand. It's just that you were a genius in what you did."

Vincent's eyes were glossy. "I moved out as soon as I was 18. I moved to another city cos I wanted to be away from my parents and the people I used to call friends. I became friends with Christian through another friend from who I learned producing. And when my parents found out about Christian and the fact that I was gay, they..." Vincent looked to the side, clearly not comfortable with the topic. Aiden squeezed his hands to reassure him it was okay. With a deep breath, he continued, "One day, they told me we were going to see someone, and I just followed them like a fool. I fell asleep the whole ride and when I woke up, I was in a place that looked like a hospital but not like this place at all. There was screaming all over the place and I swear I saw a priest once. They told me I was ill, and that they were going to fix me. I was there for a long time. When they finally let me go, I went to the studio, but I couldn't find Christian. My friend said he left. He said Christian told him he didn't want anything to do with me anymore. After that, I couldn't make even a beat. That friend said I had become clumsy and asked why I looked so different. He said I used to have a strong personality and now I was just like a baby who didn't know his way around. I... I can't remember how I used to be. I can't remember many things but I never forgot Christian. In time, I started having breakdowns and my parents took me home with them. A little while after, there was news of this hospital that had homophobics running it, basically torturing gays in order to make them straight, and that's when my parents knew they had screwed up. Feeling sorry, they searched and found this place. The heaven for crazy people like me. And that's how my story ends."

Aiden had forgotten how to breathe. Listening to the younger boy's story, he wanted to go and beat the shit out of his parents, tell them Vin wasn't ill in the fucking first place. He noticed how Vincent's voice and personality had changed while talking about his past. It was like he was a different person, an actual adult, and not his usual clingy, pouty self. After clearing his thoughts, he noticed that Vincent had started crying quietly while having his head hanging low. Aiden moved even closer and took him into his embrace. Hugging him tightly and wiping his tears, he placed a kiss on his head. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay." After a while, Vin fell asleep in Aiden's arms and he couldn't help but wonder what had actually happened to this Christian guy? Did he really leave Vin like that? He had to find out when he was out of this place.