Fire In Our Bones (NovaHD)

Chapter 12

Cooper hadn't been too concerned at first when he couldn't find Aleks that morning. Sometimes he liked to go outside in the early hours of the day, even if it was a particularly cold morning today. It was when Aleks was nowhere to be found outside either, that he began to worry.

His worry increased ten fold when he noticed that all of Aleks' things were gone and the couch didn't look slept on. And his worry turned to horror when he saw the note on the kitchen table. It was folded in half and written on it was simply, 'James'.

Cooper swore.

He hadn't known how bad it was. The fool boy had finally lost his mind. Or maybe it had been gone long before. He had been spectacularly oblivious after all.

Cooper's hand wavered over the folded piece of paper. It was obviously for James, but he was curious as to what the hell Aleks had been thinking, so he picked it up and unfolded it. It was a piece of the notebook paper that he had given him and this fact made Cooper feel more guilty than it should have. About half the page was taken up with Aleks' neat writing. He began to read.

Hey James,

First of all, I know that you're going to be mad because I didn't tell you that I was leaving. Best friends telling each other everything and all that shit. I don't want to make you feel guilty and tell me not to go, because I need to do this. You need to trust me on this. Please James, don't come after me.

The last thing I want though is for you to think that I'm not grateful for everything you've done for me. It's too much, I know and I can never repay you. You have always been my best friend, but you don't need me. Cooper's there now. Tell him I'm grateful, ok?

I know that this sounds dumb, but I can't fully explain why I'm doing this. It's just something that I feel like I have to do. I guess it just seemed like a good time to part ways. It had to happen.

I'll miss you James. You saved my life, and sure you've been an asshole most of the time, but you've always been there and that's more than I could do for you. Maybe I needed you too much and it wasn't fair to either of us.

Thank you, for everything.

Love, Aleks

P.S. I mean it about not trying to find me. Please. This is for the best.

Cooper sighed and dragged a hand over his eyes heavily. He folded up the letter again and set it back on the table. What was this going to do to James? Aleks had left so little behind. There was so much hiding behind the simple words he had written, but it wasn't enough. Nothing he could have written would have been enough. Cooper knew James well enough to know that he would be shocked and devastated and probably furious as well. Furious at Cooper and Aleks, and himself most likely. Honestly, they all deserved it. Everyone had messed up this time.

He sat down by the table, dreading calling James down. Cooper knew what he would want to do and honestly, he didn't know what the right thing was in this situation. But when he thought about Aleks all alone, out there where being alone meant that every second was a ticking time bomb to disaster, he knew what he would do. Aleks was a good person, even if he was misguided and completely oblivious.

Cooper knew that he couldn't stall any longer. Standing up, he took a deep breath, braced himself and yelled, "James!"

-Last Night-

It was cold, really cold. Of course Aleks had picked the coldest night of the year to go off on his own. He was chilled to his very core and all the way through his bones. He already regretted leaving, just a bit, but he kept plodding forward, placing one foot in front of the other, over and over, again and again. This is for James, this is for James, this is for James.