Beautiful Secrets (Cranksepticeye Fanfiction)

~2.11~ Sweet Sixteen

Sixteen moons, sixteen years
Sixteen of your deepest fears
Sixteen times you dreamed my tears
Falling, falling through the years . . .

It looked like he had been crying all night. He probably had. When I touched his face, I saw it was striped with tears. I held him in my arms, and we swayed while the song played on.

Sixteen moons, sixteen years
Sound of thunder in your ears
Sixteen miles before she nears
Sixteen seeks what sixteen fears . . .

Over his shoulders, I could see his room was in shambles. The plaster on his walls was cracked and falling and his dresser was overturned, the way a thief tosses a room during a break-in. His windows were shattered. Without the glass the small metal panes looked like prison bars from some ancient castle. The prisoner clung to me as the melody wrapped around us.
Still, the music didn't stop.

Sixteen moons, sixteen years
Sixteen times you dreamed my fears
Sixteen will try to Bind the spheres
Sixteen screams but just one hears . . .

The last time I was here, the ceiling had been almost completely covered in words detailing Jack's most innermost thoughts. But now, every surface of the room was covered in his distinctive black handwriting. The edges if the ceiling now read: Loneliness is holding the one you love / When you know you might never hold him again. The walls: Even lost in the darkness / My heart will find you. The doorjambs: The soul dies at the hand of the one who carries it. The mirrors: If I could find a place to run away / Hidden safely, I would be there today. Even the dresser was marred with phrases: The darkest daylight finds me here, those who wait are always watching, and the one that one seemed to say it all, How do you escape from yourself? I could hear his story in the words, hear it in the music

Sixteen moons, sixteen years
The Claiming Moon, the hour nears,
In these pages Darkness clears,
Powers Bind what fire sears . . .

Then the electric guitar slowed, and I heard the new verse, the end of the song. Finally, something had an ending. I tried to put the earth and fire and water and wind dreams out of my head as I listened.

Sixteenth Moon, Sixteenth Year,
Now has come the day you fear,
Claim or be Claimed,
Shed blood, shed tear,
Moon or Sun - destroy, revere.

The guitar died out, and now we were standing in silence.no
"What do you think-"
He put his hand on my lips. He couldn't bear to talk about it. He was as raw as I had ever seen him. A cold breeze was blowing past him, surrounding him, and exhaling out through the open door behind me. I didn't know if his cheeks were red from the cold or from his tears, and I didn't ask. We fell onto the bed and curled into one ball, until it would have been hard to sort out whose limbs were whose. We weren't kissing, but it was like we were. We were closer than I'd ever realized two people could be.
I guess this was what it felt like to love someone, and feel like you had lost them. Even when you were still holding them in your arms.
Jack was shivering. I could feel every rib, every bone in his body, and his movements seemed involuntary. I untangled my arm from around his neck and twisted so I could grab the pieced quilt from the foot of his bed and pull it up over us. He burrowed into my chest and I pulled the quilt higher. Niw it was over our heads, and we were in a dark little cave together, the two of us.
The cave became warm with our breath. I kissed his cold mouth and he kissed me back. The current between us intensified and he nuzzled his way into the hollow of my neck.
Do you think we can stay like this forever, Ethan?
We can do whatever you want. It's your birthday.
I felt hum stiffen in my arms.
Don't remind me.
I brought you a present.
He held up the cover, to ket just a crack of light in. "You did? I told you not to."
"Since when did I ever listen to anything you say? Besides, Mark said if someone says not to get them a birthday present that means get me a birthday present and make sure it's something special."
"That's not true of all people."
"Okay. Forget it."
He let the quilt drop, then snuggled back into my arms.
Is it?
What?
Something special?
I thought you didn't want a present?
Just curious.
I smiled to myself and pulled down the quilt. The cold air hit us both at the same time, and I quickly pulled a small box out of my jeans and dove back under the covers. I lifted the quilt up so he could see the box.
"Put it down, it's too cold."
I let it fall, and we were surrounded by darkness again. The box began to glow with green light, and I could make out Jack's slender fingertips as he pulled off the silver ribbon. The glow spread, warm and bright, until his face was softly lit across from mine.
"That's a new one." I smiled at his green light.
"I know. It's been happening ever since I woke up this morning. Whatever I think, just sort if happens."
"Not bad."
He stared at the box wistfully, as if he was waiting as long as he could to open it. It occurred to me that this was possibly the only present Jack would get today. Aside from the surprise party I was holding off telling him about until the last minute.
Surprise party?
Whoops.
You'd better be joking.
Tell that to Ridley and Mark.
Yeah? The surprise is, there isn't going to be a party.
Just open the box.
He glared at me and opened the box, and more light came pouring out, even though the gift had nothing to do with that. His face softened and I knew I was off the hook about the party. Who knew? Mark was right after all.
He held up the necklace, delicate and shining, with a ring hanging from the chain. It was a carved gold circle, three strands of gold - sort of rose colored, and yellow, and white - all braided into a wreath.
Ethan! I love it.
H