Impress Me Not: The Handyman

Chapter 54

Author's Note: !!!HEAVY THEME WARNING!!! Same day, same warning! This is just the conclusion to Solomon's past, and it has some very dark parts in the beginning. If you are worried that this will affect you negatively, you can either skip past the beginning of this chapter, or just skip this chapter all together. This stuff is not for the faint of heart.

That being said, I'm super proud of these chapters, and really excited for the next ones ahead! Thanks for all the votes and comments!

-Saturn

He didn't want to relive those memories. But it couldn't be helped. His thoughts were overriding all logic and forcing him to sit there and be weak. Solomon hated it. He hated feeling weak. He had spent his whole life learning to be strong. He had always found a way to take care of himself, even when it seemed like the world was against him. He couldn't get everything he wanted back then, but he always could get what he needed, and during those times, that was enough.

But all it took was one thing to make his strength disappear into thin air. He had spent so many days back then where he was barely able to move. He had to force himself to do everything. It was so hard to pick himself back up from that. Even with his friends help, he struggled to do anything. The only thing that kept him going was Maya. He needed to take care of her still. And she had witnessed Somner die, which didn't help her be able to grieve for him correctly. He mostly hid his emotions from her during that time, so that he could be there for her while she was hurting. But he couldn't keep it up. He was too weak.

Every time he thought back to that, he could see it so vividly. He could see Somner clutch at his heart and then fall down. He could feel his hands pushing against his chest. He could remember the blinding fear that he had. He had never thought that he would have to worry about him dying at the early age of 25. There was still so much life ahead for him. There was still so much that they had planned to do together.

He remembered feeling him die against his hands. That only fueled him to keep going. The ambulance was almost there. They just needed to hold on just a little bit longer. There was still a chance. There had to be a chance.

But he just got colder, and lifeless. And, as much as Solomon was wishing and praying, he couldn't feel that loud heartbeat that Somner always had.

The EMTs tried the best they could when they got there. They told Solomon that he did a great job at trying to keep him alive. They raced him to the hospital. But there was nothing they could do. There was no soul in that body anymore. Somner was gone.

The man who was not only his husband, but his best friend. The one that he had known ever since he could remember. The man that angered him to no end, but he loved with all his heart. He was gone.

And that one constant to his life was forever gone, never to return again.

"Solomon, baby," Niko pulled him up from his horrible thoughts. Everything he did seemed to calm him down. "It's okay, baby. It's okay."

People had told him that before to comfort him. It wasn't okay. But, for some reason, when he said it, it was. His breathing started to slow again and his tears started to dry. He had cried enough that day. He needed to pull himself back together. It was always so difficult to do. Everything was heavy, like a thousand pounds were on him.

The waves were comforting at least. He had never seen a beach as beautiful as the one that they were at. Sure, it was small. He had seen plenty of beaches in his life. But this one just seemed to have a magic to it that he couldn't describe.

When he finally came to, he found that he was in Niko's arms again. This man must think he was the most annoying person. He shouldn't be crying to him about an ex. That was the worst thing he could have ever done.