from august to december

chapter sixteen

the usually clear sky in summer was filled with thick clouds today, they took up the entire surface.

"no, i don't believe there is anything wrong with loving who you are," val giggled as he turned his head to look at eden, who was quietly looking at said clouds, his mouth a little open as he imagined to see shapes in them.

as he heard the words of his friend, he also turned his head to return the eye contact.

both of them were laying on the grass on their backs, their arms stretched out to feel every piece of it, softly running their fingers through it.

especially val, who was occasionally ripping out pieces of it.

"then why does everyone tell me there's something wrong with me?"

there was pain in his voice, it was thin, as if he was really hurt, and not just playing his emotions like he always did.

"you know, you gotta go insane sometimes, what would we do with an average mind?" the other explained as he adjusted his head and placed an arm underneath it.
a few strands of his brown hair were framing his dark brown skin.

"and people with average minds will always tell you there's something wrong with you, when it's not you, it's their fault for not understanding you."

that was a reason why eden always searched for comfort in val out of the other five, because his words weren't only reassuring, they were also realistic in way that was comforting.

val smiled softly, little dimples showing on his cheeks.

"there's not a single thing that isn't beautiful about you, there's not one i can name."

the black haired chuckled, looking back at the sky, his mind wandering.

"what do you think about shino?" he asked, closing his eyes and preparing for a long answer of his friend.

they were doing what they always did, laying on the floor, observing the sky and talking.

talking, for hours, both of them loved to talk, none of them were capable of listening.
eden even less than val, he could solely listen to his own stories.

maybe that was one thing that wasn't as beautiful about him as the brown haired had described him.

and this val eden was meeting was just a romanticized version of the real one anyway.

"i don't quite know what you want me to say," val said, breathing out a sharp breath.

"how would you describe him?"

val pursed his lips as if he was going to say something, but then quickly closed his mouth again to overthink his words.

he had to pick the right words to satisfy eden with.

"i mean, he's a good guy by heart, he really is, but-"

suddenly, his voice was gone.

and there was an empty space beside eden.

his head snapped into the direction of where val's deep voice was coming from a second ago, only to find nothing.

there was nothing anymore, the smell of his cologne was gone, his head was no longer resting on his arm comfortably and the wind didn't blow any strands of them into his eyes.

he wanted to scream, but he couldn't.
and he knew why, it was because there was no feeling left inside of him.

it was just burning, his chest and every bone in his body was burning, but he knew that he wasn't imagining this, val was laying beside him just a second ago, he could have felt his touch if he would've reached out.