Black Rain

Black Rain- Chapter Fourteen

~ Five Years Later ~

It had been years since Chris had seen Eddie, yet the beautiful boy still never left his mind. He still found himself thinking of Eddie everyday. He still missed him, just like when Eddie first left.

Chris had turned to move on. He tried to make himself happy. He was still living in the same place, and he was engaged. With Stone. He wasn't sure how it happened, but it just happened.

Over the years, Chris began to realize he couldn't stay stuck on Eddie for forever. That's why he tried to move on. But the sad part was, he was still stuck on Eddie, and he couldn't understand why. He couldn't understand why it had been years and Chris still missed him, and longed for him to come back.

Stone had graduated from high school, and not too long after him and Chris began to see each other. Chris tried so hard to set his mind on someone else other than Eddie. Three years into their relationship, Chris had proposed to Stone, thinking maybe it would bring him closer, and he could stay focused on Stone and only Stone.

They had been engaged for almost two years now, but something was still holding Chris back from actually getting married. Stone was ready, and had been planning it out from time to time, but Chris would always tell him not to rush into it.

Stone knew about how Eddie had ran off. But he didn't know how much it actually hurt Chris. He didn't know that Chris still thought of Eddie. He didn't know Chris still had dreams of Eddie. Stone thought Chris was completely over it, because Chris never talked about him anymore.

Mike stayed in contact with Chris for a while, just to talk about Eddie, and ask each other if either had seen him. Chris enjoyed hearing Mike tell stories about Eddie. Some of them were quite entertaining. But overtime, Chris had stopped answering the phone and he had stopped giving Mike a phone call. Eventually, Mike stopped calling. It wasn't that Chris didn't want to talk to him, it was just that he didn't want to hear about Eddie anymore.

He knew good and well Mike would never see him again, just like Chris would never see him again, and Chris had to try to focus on a life with Stone, although he deeply wished he was planning a life with Eddie instead.

"Where did this come from?" Stone asked. The two were cleaning out the basement, and trying to organize things a little.

Chris looked and seen it was the guitar Eddie had given to him. All these years, Chris had still kept it. He never forgot about it; he knew it was in the basement. For a while, he kept it in his bedroom, but looking at it seemed to make him miss Eddie even more. So he moved the guitar to the basement, just so he wouldn't have to look at it everyday.

"It's just an old guitar I have." Chris said, not giving Stone an explanation where it came from, or how he got it.

"Wanna get rid of it, or keep it?" Stone asked. Chris didn't even hesitate.

He could never get rid of the guitar Eddie had gave him. Although it was painful to keep, he didn't want to lose it, because it was a gift Eddie had given to him for a memory, and he would always cherish it.

"Keep it." Chris smiled. He took it from Stone, holding it in his hands. He ran his fingers over the strings softly, playing over in his head that Eddie had once touched those chords, and it was as if he could feel Eddie's touch again.

"I think we're pretty much done here, don't you think?" Stone asked. His hands were resting on his hips as he looked around the room. Chris sat the guitar down and nodded his head.

"Yeah, I think so."

Stone smiled and ruffled Chris' hair. "Great. I think I'm going to take a shower."

"Alright. I think I'll stay down here for a bit, just to look through a few boxes." Chris told him. Stone placed a kiss on Chris' forehead before heading back up the basement stairs.

Chris sat down in the floor. He pulled the guitar across his lap, and began to play a few songs on it. The guitar was badly out of tune, so Chris fixed it, until it sounded perfect again.

"Chris!" Stone began to yell from the bathroom. Chris sat the guitar down again and pulled his body off the floor.

He followed Stone's yells from the bathroom. He opened the door; Stone was covered by the shower curtain. He peeked his head out of the side and smiled at Chris. Chris couldn't deny that he was adorable at times.

"Could you hand me the shampoo please?"

Chris nodded his head. He picked up the shampoo bottle and handed it over to Stone. Stone thanked him before closing the curtain back and continuing with his shower.

* * *

Chris laid in bed, alone to himself while Stone was at work. He pulled the free pillow into his chest. Stone's scent now covered it; no longer Eddie's. He could smell coconut on it, which seemed to be Stone's favorite shampoo.

He held tighter onto the pillow, longing just for a scent of Eddie to return. But Chris knew it never would.

Why can't I get over him?

Why can't I stop thinking about him?

Five years... he hasn't left my mind.

Will he ever leave my mind?

Will I always be longing for him to return?

Why did he have to leave?

Why couldn't he just come back to me?

Stone, think about Stone.

Stop thinking about Eddie.

Get over Eddie. He's gone.

You have Stone. You're not alone. Stop acting this way. 

Chris' mind was racing with thoughts and wonders. So much that it began to hurt him inside. Such a great pain, it nearly made his body feel numb. Why does love have to be so hard?

Chris sighed and pulled himself into a sitting position. He grabbed a cigarette from the night stand and lit it up. Stone had told him many times not to smoke in the bed, but he never listened.

He took a long inhale before exhaling. He watched the smoke float in front of his face, until it disappeared. He heard the front door being opened, meaning Stone was back home. He could hear his soft footsteps beginning to climb the stairs.

"I thought you might've been asleep. And what did I tell you about smoking in the bed?"

"Sorry. I had a bad dream." Chris lied as he put his cigarette out.

"Again?" Stone sighed.

He climbed into bed next to Chris. Chris was now laying down beside him. Stone wrapped his arms around Chris and pulled him close.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to comfort you. It was just a bad dream though, baby. It'll be okay." Stone whispered in his ear.

Chris had many bad dreams before. But they weren't the type he had lied to Stone about. They didn't scare him. They upset him. Because they were always dreams about Eddie coming and disappearing again. But Chris could never tell Stone that.

"I'm going to go back to sleep," Chris whispered. "Goodnight."

Stone placed a kiss on his lips. "Goodnight."