The Halls of Westwood [BxB]

Chapter 15

"Oops... Didn't tell your little boyfriend?" Sage teased. "By the way, hey Beau. I missed that pretty face"

"He's not my-" Aiden paused and took a deep breath. "Okay, first off I'm considering it. Second, mid-life? Seriously?"

"I had an ongoing bet with Olive that you'd either be in prison or dead before you were thirty" Sage shrugged. Aiden rolled his eyes and rested his head back against the seat.

"Words cannot describe how much you infuriate me" Aiden groaned.

"To be fair, Olive's bet was twenty. I was being generous" Sage chuckled. Aiden sighed and closed his eyes hoping for a long and peaceful drive to the airport. He still had a strong dislike for planes but had grown somewhat used to them since starting school at Westwood. There was a long drive to the airport due to the crowded streets and when they got there Aiden waited at Beau's gate with him since his flight left almost an hour before Aiden's and Sage's.

"If you change your mind..." Beau quietly mumbled as he finished writing out his number across the back of Aiden's hand. Aiden bit back a laugh and resisted the urge to reach out and play with Beau's hair or brush his cheek...  So instead he just pulled the boy into a quick hug.

"Have a good flight, alright?" Beau hesitated before nodding. They called their goodbyes and awkwardly parted ways. It was weird to leave the room without kissing Beau's forehead or holding him a few seconds longer. It always felt like words were dancing on the tip of his tongue but he never knew what to say.

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Beau hesitated as he stood just a few feet from the cemetery. He knew the way to Lukas's family grave sight by heart. He used to visit Lukas's mother every year on her birthday with him... It was weird. Without Lukas, a place that was once so familiar felt foreign... Almost like he wasn't even in the same place.

His fingers awkwardly tugged at the hoodie strings of Lukas's old hoodie. By now, any clothes that Beau had brought with him to Westwood that once belonged to Lukas no longer smelt of stale mint and morning rain. If he was desperate enough he could trick himself into thinking he smelt Lukas's cologne or he could still feel his warmth. But it was all just another lie he told himself.

Beau clenched onto the strings as he forced himself down the familiar dirt path. He passed family grave sights with last names he had memorized. Last names of people that had gone to school with him. People whose families had lived there for generations... People who now hated him.

His throat tightened and his footsteps stopped as soon as he spotted a familiar tombstone. It was only fourteen years old but a layer of dirt had built upon it. A gorgeous angel was carved alongside a name written a delicate cursive; Mary Edwards. Beau bit down on his bottom lip and kept his gaze low as he forced himself forward.

That was when he saw it. A granite slab with Lukas's name engraved in identical cursive. There was a photo underneath of Lukas... Beau had been with him when it was taken. He had gone camping with Lukas and his dad next to a river. Large boulders sat along the river's edge and Lukas had climbed after Beau despite being terrified of heights...

His beautiful blonde boy was sitting on top of one of the boulders with a dazzling smile on his lips. His pretty pale eyes shimmered in the sunlight and his messy and untamed blonde hair fell over his forehead. He wore a baggy flannel and jeans like he always did... He looked happy.

Beau hesitated before sitting down and resting his head against the cool granite. His heart ached as he closed his watering eyes and ran his fingers along the wet grass. His bottom lip quivered and he took a shaky breath as he tried to picture Lukas. He tried to smell the stale mint that always seemed to linger on him. He tried to hear his gentle voice talking about nothing and everything all at once...