The Night

Chapter I: Ophelia

The Night

Chapter I: Ophelia

---

For those who are 18+:

To read the Explicit version of this chapter, please visit my author profile for links.

---

June 28th, 2024

At least the sky never lies, thought Roxas; his blue eyes caught the creamsicle daytime, ears humming. Midday at Market Street. On a Friday, of course: the one day heavy noise of foot traffic and obnoxious crowd chatter manage to reach this crow's nest of his—a tall building, it's top just out of sight. It's the perfect view of the heavy crowd trailing in from Station Heights and the Tram Common. At this time of the day, most are normally coming home from work, some are there to enjoy the weekend, and few are trying to escape the chaos... like Roxas.

He leaned toward the edge of his vantage point, which is just above his room. The only access to it is through his window, or the fire escape reaching up from the Back Alley. Here, he was high above the masquerade wading beneath him. His fingers dangled over the edge like those of a whimsical puppetmaster—trailing his little hollow figurines across fake lives with scowls that are masked by fake smiles. Fake laughter. Fake everything.

Beneath each shell is a core of hypocrisy and dark secrets. It's a town that has poisoned itself with judgment; no smart man here would divulge even the lithest of truths. Rumors drop like ink bombs and are seen by every eye, heard by every ear, and stain every surface—forever marring, unforgiving, life destroying. At least his watchtower is safe, and at least he can do as he pleases here without a worry.

Roxas' other hand languidly rolled a glinting blue orb against a cemented crack in worn brick. It's his prized possession. His gaze lingered on it, and a rare smile crept across his face. This is one of four orbs pulled off of a trophy he'd won in a Struggle match; the poisonous town's favorite sport. The other three are in possession of his only friends: Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Their grinning faces and hearty laughter resonated in the reflection of the object, and Roxas clutched it. Behind his own smile was pain, and quietly he reconsidered his plans to leave. The plan was to run away at the end of this summer and never return. Within an hour, every loose end could be tied up, and he would never have to look back again.

But something in his friends' pure eyes drove him to regret the very thought.

"Hey-o!" Came a sarcastic drawl from behind, "You waiting for Romeo, miss Juliet?"

Roxas rolled his eyes, and couldn't help the chuckle that shuddered out of his chest. As he turned, he laid a melodramatic hand against his heart, and romantically cooed. "Where for art thou... Hayner." Roxas bat his eyelashes in the girliest way possible, and Hayner doubled over in laughter.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I thought you we're my dude-friend!" His torso heaved in giggles, and Roxas shook his head at the lameness of the comeback.

"What are you doing up here anyway?"

After having regained his composure, Hayner stood upright with his signature cocky smirk smeared across his face. "Pence, Olette and I haven't seen you around all day, so I volunteered to sniff you out. I figured, this is your 'almost-as-usual' usual spot, so I might as well check here. Detective Hayner strikes again!"

Roxas wanted to say something about getting away with it and meddling kids; instead he shook his head and leaned back across his ledge to watch the still-loud sea of people. It didn't take long for Hayner to join him, and they stayed there for a while: staring down upon the blob of townsfolk and standing close enough where Roxas could feel the warmth resonating off his friend. Slowly, the static of the noise was driving Roxas insane, and Hayner's proximity was making him slightly uncomfortable. When he forced himself to glance over to his friend, Roxas noticed how sullen the other teen was.

"So uh," He blurted out with sudden concern, "Is something wrong?" Hanyer's response was a look of confusion and Roxas pushed himself to obey their regular social norms; tip-toeing across the guidelines that were internally set for his friend. "Er... you seem slightly less obnoxious today. That's all." He flashed a crooked grin to lighten the mood, but Hayner's sudden dimness did not falter.

Leaning his back against the structure, Hayner sighed. "The real reason I vouched to come find you is 'cause I need someone to talk to." He turned his somber brown-eyed gaze onto Roxas' blue concerned one. "It's about Olette."

Of course, despite their seemingly polar-opposite personalities, Hayner and Olette are the perfect couple. They communicate well, work together easily, and are so deeply in love that it not even a fool could deny it. Of course, in any relationship, all it takes is one doubt.... especially in this town of poison.

"I love her, and I want to be with her past high school—Hell, past college!" Hayner continued, "But I'm afraid I'll get tempted. You know me, man; I've got a hair-trigger in my brain, dude... if I see something I like I go after it. What if I do it while I'm with her?" He ran his fingers through his slicked sandy-blond hair, "I just gotta stop being tempted. I wanna get a taste, and never have to need it again."

"Wait, are you saying," The disgust in Roxas' tone was very evident, "you're going to cheat on Olette now because you're afraid you'll do it later?"

Hayner picked up on it quick, "Whoa, dude!" He reached over to grip Roxas' shoulder, "Listen, I'm a horny bi teenager, alright? You know it, I know it... fuck, it's so obvious even Olette knows it. Thing is, I don't want to fuck anyone, I just... well maybe... I dunno. I mean..." The deep scowl on Roxas' face jarred Hayner to continue, "I just want to get rid of this carnal desire. Like, do some sexy stuff, get it over with, and let my desire finally center Olette."

The pause that followed was more grating than the Friday bustle could ever be, but both boys bared it. Roxas heavily contemplated Hayner's words, and the only advice he could think to give was a punch to the face. Olette didn't deserve anyone going behind her back for any reason—and in this town, there really was no one Hayner could trust with his exploits without metaphorically shining a spotlight on himself and holding a flashing neon sign that says he cheated. At this point, he might as well post fliers across the Tram Commons with his scheme listed for the entire populous of Twilight Town to read.

Seeing no positive outlook, Roxas hung his head, "You should really just keep it in your pants. There's no one here that you can really trust with something like that, especially in this awful place." He felt Hayner lift his chin, and his face got hot when he realized how close his brown-eyed friend suddenly was.

"Well," Hayner said slowly, his smirking lips closer now than ever before. "I can trust you, can't I?"

A ball of unease curled in Roxas' gut and rolled up his throat as he pleaded with Hayner to not put such a heavy burden on him, that this could ruin their friendship, destroy their lives, and that this town has unforgiving eyes. However, not a single word had actually passed his lips as Hayner pulled him in for a kiss. Roxas did not move or resist; how could he? After all, he wanted Hayner more than anyone else in this world. Most of his life he'd had a crush on the other man, but because he was tentative Olette had made a move before he could and he missed his shot.