CHAPTER THREE / KINDNESS.
[ Louis' POV ]
Doncaster.
When I walked into my flat, expecting Emily having dinner ready, I was surprised to find her sitting in the middle of the living room instead, with all the lights out, weird music and some candles and incense lightened up.
"What the fuck are you doing?" - I asked, throwing my keys to the little table by the door.
"Meditating, bitch. Isn't it obvious?" - She said with her eyes closed.
"Since when?"
"Not of your business."
"Did you cook?"
"Yeah, it's the fridge."
"Cool."
"A thank you wouldn't hurt, you know?" - She huffed.
"Thank you my lovely friend." - I said, walking to where she was and kissed her forehead.
"That's more like it. How was work?"
"Awful as always. I'm so tired of working there, my boss hates me and my ass is on the line. I almost had to stay an extra hour today, can you believe it?"
She hummed something in response and continued with her meditation.
I shrugged and got my food out of the fridge, heating it in the microwave and letting my mind return to the boy at the park.
And while I was here, having a hot soup in front of me, he's out there somewhere in the cold air of the night.
It wasn't right.
None of this was right.
I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts when Emily turned on the TV and all the quietness and her meditation moods finished.
"You done meditating?"
"Yes, not my cup of tea." - She shrugged. - "I tried though."
"Like fifteen minutes." - I laughed.
She stuck her tongue out to me and put on the news on the television.
They were still playing the images of the manifestation that same morning, it showed not only Doncaster, but cities all around England.
It was a huge movement for missing people.
It had started like five months ago, many young boys and girls had been taken and they never came back.
There was still very little information, the police couldn't get the responsibles yet and none of the already thirty missing people had come back.
But the families and loved ones, weren't losing their hope.
"Ems, I don't want to watch that, my life is depressing enough as it is."
"Don't be so dramatic. Your life is amazing because I'm in it." - She said with a smirk, but eventually obliged and changed the channel.
~
Next morning I found myself waking up to the thought of the guy at the park.
Thinking about his wonderful voice, about how he clearly knew how to play the guitar even if his own was wrecked, and how he didn't even look like he belonged on the streets.
He just seemed lost.
He was just coping because of his music.
That was the only thing left for him.
And it scared me, because once his guitar stops functioning, once his four remaining strings break, he would have nothing to hold on to.
And that boy was too talented, too magical and too broken to ever give up on music.
So, remembering I had my dad's old guitar buried somewhere inside my closet, I hurried to look for it, knowing I never properly learned to play and that it would make someone else happy.
It would make him happy.
I sighed to myself once I found it, taking it out of its case and checking if it was okay after all that time.
And it was a relief to see it was alright.
Emily suddenly entered my room, rubbing her sleepy eyes and standing against the frame door and taking me out of my thoughts.
"Why are you so active this morning?" - She said in her sleepy voice.
"I have somewhere to be before work." - I said taking the guitar with me, passing by her and going to the kitchen.
"Where?"
"The park."
"Why?" - She furrowed her eyebrows.
I quickly grabbed an ice tea from the fridge and as I saw the cookie jar on the counter, I decided to grab some of those too to give to the guy at the park too.
"Since when do you eat breakfast?" - She inquired.
"Not of your business." - I smiled at her and kissed her forehead. - "I'm leaving." - I said, taking my work bag, the guitar, the ice tea and the cookies.
"I'm going to ask you about all this tonight!" - She screamed behind me as I closed the door of the flat. - "Don't be late to work!" - She screamed from inside again and I laughed.
Holding tightly onto the case of the guitar, I made my way to my car, getting more and more excited every second I got closer to the park.
I knew this was going to mean a lot to the poor guy, and to be part of something like that, made me feel complete somehow.
Knowing I would contribute to somebody else's happiness, knowing it would surprise him and probably make him smile, was thrilling.
For the first time in forever, I was going to help someone else.
Someone who wasn't related to me, and I was doing it without getting anything in exchange.
He needed this.
I just knew it.
Due to getting out of my house earlier that morning, I got to avoid the imminent manifestation, so it was easy to park my car on the side of the park.
Checking the clock before I got out of the car, made me realize I had like twenty minutes to spare, and I was going to spend it on listening to the guy play his new guitar.
I walked through the park and to the same spot where I found him the day before, but this time there was no music guiding me to him.
The park was completely deserted and quiet, though, to my luck, the guy was exactly in that same spot, but this time he was sleeping.
I hated myself for wanting to wake him up, but the truth was that I really wanted to give the guitar to him and watch his expression, so I quietly sat down on the grass in front of his asleep body, left my things on the side, and slowly moved to touch his shoulder.
The guy practically jumped out of fear and moved away from me just at the simple touch.
"I'm sorry." - I said rapidly, lifting my hands in the air.
His eyes were showing me how frightened he was and after I tried to move my hands back down he flinched.
"I'm not going to hurt you." - I whispered, afraid he would run away at any other sudden movement. - "Sorry for waking you up." - I smiled softly and then waved at him. - "Hello." - I said timidly, not wanting to scare him anymore.
"Hello." - He mumbled, finally looking up.
"I came here yesterday."
"I know." - He whispered back.
"Do you remember?"
"It's hard to forget the only person that ever talked to me."
"What? Nobody talks to you?"
"I'm not worthy."
I frowned, not knowing how to approach him or exactly what to say to the stranger, and noticing this was going so differently from what I had planned this morning.
"I'm Louis." - I tried.
"Pretty name." - He mumbled.
"Thank you, can I know yours?"
"No." - He said shyly, no evil in his tone.
"Uhm, okay. I just…" - I turned around and picked my guitar from the grass behind me. - "I found this old guitar in my house and I never learnt to play, so when I saw it today I remembered that yours is broken, and I want you to have it." - I said, extending the guitar towards him.
He raised an eyebrow at me and shook his head.
"I can't."
"Why not?" - I asked, not believing he wasn't taking a free guitar.
"Because it's yours."
"And I don't use it. It's literally accumulating dust in my closet." - I insisted.
"Still, I can't."
Why isn't this making him happy?
I sighed and tried to think of another excuse for him to accept it.
"Okay, hear this out. I'll let you borrow my guitar here, you can play for people and make your fair money. In exchange, you'll give me some lessons on how to play.
What do you say? It works for both of us, I'll finally learn how to use it, and in the meantime you can have it for the rest of the day."
Harry bit his lip and looked at me like evaluating his options.
"You really want to give me your guitar?"
"If you teach me how to play." - I smirked, knowing he was giving up.
"And you'll come here so I can teach you?"
"Yes."
"I don't even play that good."
"I saw you playing with a broken one. You have technique. I can tell." - I smiled.
"But I… this is too much." - He said, finally grabbing the guitar from me with his trembling hands.
"Believe me, it's not." - I smiled softly. - "I also brought you these." - I said, taking out of my bag the cookies I grabbed that morning. - "I believe you ate the bar I gave you yesterday, so here you have something for today." - I said, extending the cookies to him.
"Why?"
"Because everyone deserves to have a meal. Even though this is not much." - I shrugged, smiling at him.
"You're really kind." - He whispered more to himself than to me.
I tried hard not to let his sad tone get to me, I wanted to show him I was treating him as an equal and not out of pity.
"Look, I have to get to work, but I'll see you afterwards and we can have our first teaching session, what do you say?"
He looked up at me with happiness irradiating from his beautiful eyes for the first time.
"Yes, okay."
I smiled widely back at him, finally satisfied that the boy was smiling.
"Great! Can I know your name before I go?"
"I… I think my name is Harry." - He whispered almost inaudibly.
"You think?"
"I don't remember much." - He said, looking down at his lap and I noticed his eyes started saddening again.
"Uhm… okay, I'll call you Harry for now." - I smiled again. - "It's a pretty name too."
"Thank you." - He blushed slightly.
"Okay, Harry." - I emphasized on his name, making him smile again. - "I'll see you after work."
He nodded and I slowly got back up, picking my bag and walking away from the park, not before hearing him saying one last thing to himself.
"Best day ever."