FALLING | MxM (completed)

Chapter 78

Edited

Edwin was sitting in the dining room, playing with his food and watching Dr. Edward interact with a patient on the table across the room. A sudden noise made him jump as someone sat next to him and basically threw their food tray on the table. Bringing his hand to his heart due to the shock unconsciously, he looked to the side to see who the sudden visitor was. It was none other than Hector; the source of his misery. All of their misery, actually.

With the appearance of Hector, so many things had changed. At first, the six of them would gather repeatedly, always in one of their houses but after the first month, when nothing any of the doctors did or said changed anything or made Hector give them the info they needed to know, they all kind of... gave up.

They would all message Edwin daily to know if there had been any progress, but they hadn't visited in maybe two weeks, or more. They all kind of drowned themselves in their works, wanting to avoid the fact that their friend wasn't with them anymore.

Edwin couldn't blame them for not being there, though. He himself wanted to just run to a faraway place or strangle Hector enough to make him leave. Preferably the latter. The only ones that had visited every second day were Max and Joe. Max hated Hector even more than Edwin, and Edwin had been the one who had to witness all the filth Hector did! Joe, on the other hand, had become quite friendly with the stranger. Hector would sit with him, even joke around with him and listen to him talk about the song he had composed or the dramas that were going on in the company. At those times, Hector would sit and listen to him for hours like a kid who had been thirsty for his father's attention and was finally getting it, euphoric and with heart-shaped eyes, nodding to every word and laughing loud at every joke Joe managed to come up with.

Edwin couldn't do it. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't get close to Hector. It was like the guy had built this wall that pushed him away every time he wanted to get just a bit close to him. If Edwin would sit next to him in the yard, Hector would reply to his greeting with a smile and a nod, and the next second he would stand up and walk away. Edwin felt helpless. Utterly, completely helpless.

Surprisingly, Ian had been the one to call him on a daily basis and ask him about how he was doing. The CEO had been on a business trip for over two weeks now, traveling from country to country to a chain of conferences, promoting their new software that was getting quite a lot of attention. Ian was sweet. He was the epitome of sweetness, but there had always been this distance between them, the one the ex and the new partner would always have, and Edwin had always felt that space was there because he himself had put it there. But now, it seemed like he couldn't feel more comfortable with anyone other than Ian. Not even Brad and not even Kurt, who he had wanted to call a countless amount of times, but didn't.

Finn had been mostly MIA. After the day they got Hector to the hospital, that is. Ian had mocked him about what Hector said, having two crushes from both genders, wanting to brighten the mood, but Finn had frowned and left without a word. He hadn't talked much in their group chat, nor had he paid a visit. Only asking Edwin if Aiden was back in their private conversation. Edwin's answer had always been short: no.

To say that he missed Aiden was an understatement. He missed him with every cell, no, every atom of his body.

You'd think just because the looks were the same, one would get the same vibe, but no, Hector and Aiden were different in every little detail. Even the sound of their chuckles, the way they walked, or the way they held the spoon was different.

Aiden would open his mouth as wide as he could and raised his eyebrows if he was shocked or surprised. Hector only listened until the end of the sentence in silence and tilts his head, instead. Aiden would run to the person who needed help or would react fast if he saw someone falling, whereas Hector only stood still and watched others handle the situation. The only exception had been Joshua. He would only react properly when it came to the long-haired boy. Which was why Edwin was shocked when he saw him sitting next to him, instead of the younger boy who was sitting at another table, alone.