CHAPTER FIVE Cold, Kind Hands And The Comfort We Sought From Them
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CW! Brief suicidal and self-harming thoughts and gory imagery.
WHEN ADRIEN FOUND HIS BODY HE WAS COVERED IN A THICK LAYER OF SNOW, LIKE HE HAD BEEN LYING IN WAIT FOR HOURS. The landscape was unmarred by any structures or life forms⸺an endless frozen wasteland of snow, ice, and sloping hills. Strong winds whipped through the valley with a vengeance, burning the skin on his cheeks raw and chilling his lips until they started to turn purple and blue. It was hard to see through the funnels of air and snow that kicked up in the gale, the draft making his eyes water and making it difficult to see anything that wasn't a few feet ahead. Which wasn't really much to begin with. It was snowing in every direction you turned your head.
But up ahead, submerged in the snow save for an arm and half of his face, Adrien could just barely make out Willy's body. Seeing him was like an electrical shock being sent through Adrien's body. If it weren't already hard to breathe in the cold air he was shrouded in, his lungs would have seized in his chest, panic ladened in every breath. And, though he was already trudging through the deep snow, he pushed his legs harder, stumbling and struggling through every step. His feet were weighted down by the snow that piled up against his legs, but he tried his best to push onwards.
"Willy!" Adrien would have liked to think that he had yelled it, but his voice came out as more of a wheeze.
But it wasn't like it mattered anyhow. The closer he got to Willy, buried beneath the snow, the bluer his brother seemed to grow and the more it confirmed that he'd been laying there for a very long time. Long enough to give him frostbite. Long enough to stop his heart.
Adrien could feel the tears welling in his eyes but with a strong gust of wind they dried where they were, unshed. He dropped to his knees beside his brother's head, his hands shaking as he reached out to brush away the layers of snow that coated his cheeks. Only half of Willy's face was visible above the top sheet. Frost crept along his jaw like tiny snowflakes settling into place.
Adrien swept his hand through the snow, forcing his hand downwards until his palm met the back of Willy's neck. Once he had a firm enough grip, he pulled as hard as he could, dislodging his body from where it was shackled to the ground with ice. The snow fell away like it hadn't been weighing Willy down only moments before. And once he was free, Adrien couldn't hold back the sob that tore through his chest and burned his lungs with a pain he'd never imagined could exist. His hands lost all their strength and Willy's body fell back to the ground, ice clinging to his skin and turning it black. Almost as if he'd been burnt and felt to reap the violence of the frigid environment.
Willy's eyes were staring up at him, unblinking and lifeless. Adrien could feel that stare burning into his skin even as he squeezed his eyes closed to force the image out of his mind. Tears streamed down his face in heavy streams and left behind red, raw lines on his cheeks.
