Euphonic (BxB)

Chapter 1: Reunion

The studded metal plates under Finnians's soles felt wobbly. As if they could give in at any given moment and drop him into that deep, pitch black, seemingly never ending body of water. But, naturally, everything must come to an end, he came to terms with that over the past few days.

His mind went blank as his attention, slowly but surely, drifted to the waves in front of him. Beautiful. So beautiful, yet so sad.. or rather disappointing? In the colder days at least. When he closed his eyes he could almost feel it. The salty, fresh breeze hushing past his skin. His fingers buried in the warm sand, as he sits there, just to sit and enjoy the tide barely kissing his soles with each wave. Oh how he longed for the summer. But instead of warm sunlight, it was a splash of cold water that touched his face. His lids flew open as he rolled his eyes, wiping the droplets of water off his cheeks with the back of his hand. The depressing reality snapped back in. A thick blanket of grey clouds embracing the world around, as far as his sight could reach.

"What a waste.."

He mumbled to himself as he, once again, had to push his hair out of his face. He didn't keep track of how often he had to do this by then, but the amount of knots in his hair and the way the strands clung to each other spoke for itself. Maybe it was about time for a haircut. The wind was truly something else on the sea- Not that it's a whole lot better on sturdy ground...

A quiet sigh escaped his lips as his eyes trailed over the woken water, and there it was. A small town, sitting on the coast of a lonely island. A place that held too many memories to forget, but he would do anything to forget it. Brinecliff, his birthplace, and his parent's final rest.

• • •

"I'm so sorry you have to find out like this.."

The voice coming through the broken speakers was high and shaky, drowned out by the usual noise of his phone and the wind on the other end of the line. As if the woman he was talking to was trying her best not to break down. And suddenly everything felt.. empty. Silent tears, that had slowly built up over the course of the call, started rolling down his pale cheeks. He held the phone as tight as he possibly could with his trembling hand, firmly enough for his knuckles to turn a yellowish white colour. A deep breath, or more like an overwhelmed gasp, filled the painful silence that hung in the room, trying to hold in all the emotions that were about to break free. With all of the power he was able to gather he tried to reply in a strong tone, but his voice still came out sounding broken.

"Thank you, Jeanette."

Was everything that escaped his throat, three simple words. He wanted to be strong. Be strong for his aunt and himself. And as the two of them said their goodbyes, without a whole lot of following words, he hung up. The air in his living room felt heavy, the news he received made it feel heavy. Caught in a storm on sea. What an unworthy death.. He thought to himself as sudden regret washed over him, regret for the lack of contact- regret for the many fights- regret for never visiting and regret for hating them with every atom in his being.

• • •

"Aight boys, get ready to dock!"

A raspy and deep voice gained his attention and he finally managed to push himself away from the cold railing, turning his head to the middle of the boat. Mr. Delmar, fitting name for a boatsman, he thought. For as long as he could remember the old man was sailing the ferry from the mainland to Brinecliff. He was a popular face amongst the townspeople, knew everyone and got along with everyone. He could swear his appearance never changed.. maybe a few more wrinkles here and there, but otherwise everything stayed consistent. A deep breath filled his lungs, as he tightened his grip around the handle of his big, dark brown suitcase. The front of it was decorated by all kinds of stickers, most of them a proof of all the places he had visited. Judging by the young mans luggage alone, it was easy to tell he would be staying for a bit.