from august to december

chapter fifteen

like expected, in the early afternoon it started raining.
just when in the clinic they started to open their snack buffet and offer some tea and small slices of cake.

eli loved these hours of the day, he had quite a sweet tooth, and now that he was finally doing better over the last months, he was feeling excited about it again.

he almost hopped to the blonde haired lady standing behind the counter, serving the other patients, a laugh on her cute face when she saw the young man happily eyeing the candy in front of him.

"enjoy your last afternoon buffet before they send you out into the world later," she giggled and placed his favorite cake on a paper plate.

eli returned the cute chuckle and almost snatched the strawberry cake from her, but instead of getting mad, she just played along and laughed.

it was all so carefree today, no drama, nobody punched their walls or was having a screaming tantrum.

as if the stars aligned today.

and for the red haired, they definitely did, he would be released later today, back into the world after a year and a half spending his time behind the walls of the clinic.

in his eyes, he had recovered from his addiction, and his therapist was the proudest of him out of everyone.

maybe his mom would be proud, yes, she would definitely be proud of her little son, watching him from above.

the red haired smiled and poked the slice of cake, he was sitting cross legged on the orange couch, the tv was playing a cartoon movie, other patients gathering around it, the yellow hoodie he was wearing was hanging loosely from his body and complimented his skin tone.

"hey, i heard you're leaving today?" a voice suddenly asked from beside him.

it was jake, his short black hair falling onto his forehead.
his skin was clean and glowy, he was doing much better as well.

however that doesn't stop someone from holding onto prior beliefs.

the rain was softly hitting the relatively large windows, they were old and dirty from all the pollen that were flying around.

"yeah, yeah i am," eli answered enthusiastically while finally shoveling a piece of the strawberry cake into his mouth, chewing it happily.

that would be one thing he was going to miss, his favorite cake, it tasted fluffily sweet in his mouth, the best taste ever for him.

the other laughed.
"i'm happy for you, i'm hoping i can get out of here soon, too, to see my wife again," he explained and let his gaze wander to the tv.

he furrowed his brows, a slightly annoyed expression on his handsome face.

eli couldn't help but notice how good looking he was, his gentle but sharp side profile and the glowing eyes.

"your wife?" he repeated, trying to hide his slightly disappointed voice.

"oh, yeah, i miss her so much, you can't even imagine," he quickly replied and backed off a little, away from eli.

the red haired blinked a few times, not quite knowing what to do.

"that's sweet, i hope you see her soon," he mumbled, the cake still his mouth before he also moved his eyes away from jake, pretending to watch the movie.

he swallowed thickly, now silently eating his cake, the black haired man still sitting beside him, from time to time he could feel his gaze on him.