Winged

Chapter 14

Timothee and Evan spent every given moment together.

Every day for a whole week, they would get up, have breakfast during which Timothee was trying to teach Evan how to catch cereal with his mouth – not quite managing it though – and after breakfast, they were taking their bikes to the Bivium Centrum where they would meet the rest of their friends. Later on, if Lily or Marls didn't decide to have a karaoke night all together, they would just roam around Bivium, through roads Timothee had never seen, and when they would get tired they would sit on this cliff and wait to see the sunset. And when the night sky would take over, giving them the fair view of the bright stars, they would be at their home. Laying on their backs on the lawn staring up at them. Evan would never shut up though. Always talking about the stars, the sky, or whatever came to his mind honestly.

But Timothee didn't mind it. He would just sit there, staring at him, listening to whatever he said. He was able to hear his voice again, to feel his touch, to have his laugh filling the room, to sense his presence as a whole and not some ghost. Half of the time actually he didn't even know what Evan was talking about. He just sat there, with his eyes glued to him. Taking in as much as he possibly could, trying to create this vivid image of him in his mind so he could always keep it. Just in case. Just in case something would happen and he couldn't see him like that anymore.

It was fascinating. How a person can change you that much. Timothee could sense himself changing. He could feel his insides twisting in a weird way whenever Evan did certain things. In a way, he didn't enjoy. He wished it would stop but it was like the mangy thing was not going away anytime soon.

It was the last night of their week. The next morning Evan would wake up from the couch – since they had not cleaned up Timothee's room yet – and would lazily go upstairs to get ready, then he would tease Timothee, probably earning a hard smack on his head, and would leave to go see little James. And Timothee would be alone again.

"...And then she just disappeared, you know? I mean. I don't know why she did but I know that I ended up dancing on my own, in a slow song." Evan was saying. They were laying on the grass, their heads turned towards the stars as they talked, and Timothee was actually listening to Evan. Because right now Evan was telling him how his first crush ditched him in the middle of a school dance, and Timothee would absolutely not miss an opportunity to learn of Evan's embarrassing life events.

"No way!" Timothee started laughing, the image of a thirteen-year-old Evan dancing on his own in a school dance oddly funny to him. I mean he did think that the girl who did that was a right bitch but he couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Well, you were probably a posh boy, with thick accent, thinking you were like the most handsome boy in the room. Your ego is basically higher than my expectations from people."

"Well, I was that. But I was also just a boy you know. I just wanted to have fun, be like all the other boys my age. Fall in love with a girl." Evan said, his voice soft, not even a hint of joking in it. It was like he was making a confession. A confession buried deep into his chest that was now coming unraveling up in the surface. Though what Timothee had really noticed was the last sentence. The way it had come out of his lips. Like something he wanted but never managed to achieve. Just deeper than that. Like something was hiding behind this desire. Something Timothee could see but could not explain.

"Fall in love with a girl? I'm sure you had a bunch of them swooning over you." Timothee slightly chuckled. And there was a pain in his chest at that, like the idea of Evan falling in love with a girl was punching him straight in his chest and heart. Dumb thing, Timothee thought, even though he just did not want to search further on it. In case he found something he didn't like.