you in my voice (bxb)

huit

"I guess." Eden shrugged. His hair was tucked under the same beanie that it always was. Fay noticed that he appeared discontent from his own answer.

With a lopsided and small smile, Fay went to join Eden. They both sat in silence, leaning against the side of the house. It wasn't until Eden finished the cigarette and lit another one that he spoke up. "Were you heading home?"

Fay took the cigarette from Eden, drawling in a breath of smoke, then handing it back. "Yeah. Drama club."

"Makes sense." He mumbled in return. The cigarette was already starting to wear. The grey fog tumbled out of his nostrils and polluted the space in front of him. "Why are you here?"

"Dunno." Fay shrugged. He was watching as the golden glow of the sun began to fade into the sea of dark blue. It was starting to get late. "Figured why not."

Fay didn't really know why he felt like stopping. It wasn't like the boy was his friend. In fact, Fay didn't really like him all that much. He was sick of their constant comparisons and the endless list of no similarities whatsoever and the way that Eden seemed so rude. Yet, he found himself next to him, sharing a cigarette that tasted like shit. Fay was pretty sure that Eden had a very serious nicotine addiction based off of how often he was found smoking. It was yet another thing that seemed to be clouding the mysterious boy.

"It's getting late." Eden eventually murmured, pressing the end of the cigarette into the side of the house and sighing. His green eyes briefly met Fay's brown ones as he looked around.

"I know." Fay said. The sky was quickly losing the last of its glow, becoming darker and more blue by the second. That was the first time that he had watched a sunset in a very long time. He forgot how beautiful they were. It was one of those small things that he hadn't even realized he missed seeing.

"Shouldn't you be getting home?" Eden asked.

There was a pause in which Fay thought about it. It was far easier to prolong his time away from home rather than to actually go there. Home was where things were all over the place. Some days things were okay, normal almost, and others it was pure hell. There was no way of knowing which day it was going to be until he went there. "I guess."

"Something stopping you?" He was more perceptive than Fay thought he was. Something about his expression said that there was more to it than simply that.

"Not really." Fay said. "It's just nicer out here. I haven't watched the sunset in years."

At those words, Eden gazed back at the sky. There were a few stars gleaming in the sea of blue. Then he shrugged. "I see it all the time. It's nothing special."

"I think it's beautiful." Fay told him. "Do you watch it set all the time?"

"Rise, set, they look the same pretty much every time." By the bags beneath Eden's eyes, Fay had a feeling that Eden didn't get much sleep. He wondered if he was always awake for every sunset and sunrise.

"Maybe." He halfheartedly agreed, but he didn't really mean it. Fay remembered when he still lived in France. His papa used to watch the sunset with him every night. That was why he had mixed emotions about the whole thing. Those memories were fond because they were wholesome. That was before everything fell apart. It was hard for him to look back on Papa and think positive thoughts. "But maybe you're not looking at it from the right angle."

Eden raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Today's sunset is entirely unique simply because it's the only sunset that will ever be on this exact date and time." Fay said. "That makes it perfectly beautiful for that one reason. It doesn't have to look completely different to be completely different."

Eden seemed to contemplate Fay's words for a few seconds. He turned them over in his head a couple times, deciding what exactly to make of them. Then finally, he turned back to the sky. He took in the dark blue hues. "I suppose you're right. Maybe I haven't been properly seeing it."

As they fell into another bout of quiet, Fay considered heading home again. Something told him that Maman was waiting on him. He knew that was most definitely the case, but he didn't feel the need to rush. If Char could get away with coming home on his own terms, then it was only fair if Fay could too.

"Eden?" A female voice broke through the silence. They both turned their heads to see a woman stood out on the porch, looking at them both with a quirked brow. "Who's this?"

Fay recognized her as the woman who was seen shopping with Eden. She had a golden hue to her shoulder length hair, whereas Eden had a white hue in his. They didn't look alike whatsoever. She was slightly tanned and her features were oddly sharp. Eden was pale and had a much softer bone structure.

"Fay, this is Destiny." Eden seemed to have folded in on himself, his posture slumped. He didn't quite meet Fay's eyes. "Destiny, this is Fay."

"What a cute name." Destiny complimented. Her blue eyes lit up as she took in Fay. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I just came out here to let Eden know that it was ready."

"Thank you, but no." Fay shook his head, politely declining her offer. They weren't even friends. "My maman is expecting me home."

"Are you foreign?" Destiny asked, clearly engrossed in Fay's accent, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Moved here from France a while ago." Fay told her. He fully expected that question since it was one that he got more often than not. Eden had asked a similar thing.

"How interesting." She nodded.

"Yeah." Fay replied awkwardly, not really sure what to do now. Then finally, he stepped away from Eden and towards the sidewalk. "Anyway, bye, Eden. Nice to meet you Destiny."

She waved and wished him a goodnight. The rest of the way home wasn't spent singing like the first half was. This time he was too deep in his own curiosity to worry about what song from which musical he should sing.

Eden introduced the woman by her first name. Was she his sister? They didn't look alike at all. And she also looked far too old to be his sibling. Every family had its own strange dynamic, Fay could only imagine what Eden's was.

Brushing it off, he continued on home. That was where Maman and CeCe were waiting, Vi and Char both in good moods. He was beyond happy to find out that today was a good day without things being thrown or tears being spent. Today was the first normal day he had in a while.