A/N: I wanted to make yet again a new fanfiction for GlenxJack. They are one of my favourite pairings in Pandora Hearts, which happens to be the most awesome manga ever. So, all rights go to the creator of such awesomeness, Jun Mochizuki.
Also, the first word that comes to my mind when I start to write about Glen (Oswald) is 'melancholy'. And after a talk with Tarademi which is an awesome author in , I decided that it would suit Glen more if his eyes were red or black instead of violet.
I don't know how I still manage to find time for writing with the exams and all.
Anyway, enough with my boring bubbling. Enjoy!
Discaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts as I mentioned above.
Beauty from pain
Jack sat on the piano bench, his whole attention fixed on Glen.
His friend's long, elegant fingers danced over the piano keys as he played a complex piece, and it was a mystery to Jack how Glen managed to make such a difficult symphony- one that Jack would think there was more than one person playing if he wasn't sitting next to Glen- seem so easy to play and accesible to listen.
For a moment, Jack closed his eyes and let himself get lost and immerse into the music that surged all around him like a rapid stream of notes and music flourishments that seemed like they spoke directly into his heart.
The music got louder, a crescendo that quickened like a pulse, like something alive, and then it stopped without a warning altogether.
Jack opened his eyes and shifted on the piano bench in order to look at his friend.
Glen had lowered his hands from the piano keys, and the almost blissfully calm expression his face took when he played was gone as his eyes focused on Jack's face, shadowed by the melancholy that was so characteristical a trait of Glen once again.
'' Put your hands on the piano, Jack.'', Glen said, and when he saw the quizzical epression on Jack's face, a small half-smile curled his lips slightly upwards.
'' I thought you wanted me to teach you, but if you don't, I'm sure you can find another tutor.'', Glen said innocently, and Jack rose to the bait of Glen's clumsy attempt to tease his best friend, saying defiantly ''No, you are fine as a tutor. Let's get started.''
Glen sighed and Jack could almost see the gears in his mind working, considering if trying to teach the always irresponsible and light-hearted Jack how to play the piano was worth his time and the disturbance of his peace of mind.
Jack supressed a laugh and said aloud '' You're worrying too much, Glen. Your hair is going to turn white before you get old.''
Glen's expression was comical, and this time Jack doubled over with laughter.
It always took Glen off guard, knowing that Jack could actually understand more things about him than he would have liked and had a gift in guessing his thoughts and his reactions, more out of familiarity with Glen than out of the things about himself Glen let slip around other people.
Glen pitched the bridge of his nose with the points of his thoumb and forefinger and said dramatically ''Let's get it over with.''
Jack smiled, knowing that Glen had come to like having Jack around and him appearing in the most inappropriate of situatuions. The head of the Bakervilles would smile more often when he was with Jack, and the sorrow that always haunted his beautiful violet eyes would be lifted, even if it was only for a while.
The blond put his hands on the piano keys, secretly wishing that he wouldn't destroy anything with his clamsiness, and Glen placed his own hands on a higher octave.
Jack had never played the piano before. The custom in Sablier was that noblemen get at least a primary music education, but he had been accepted as legitimate son of the Vessalius family only recently.
In the houses of his rich clients and in balls and gallas there was invariably a massive and imposing black piano placed somewhere where all the visitors could see it, but Jack had never tried to play in one before.
The piano in the Baskerville estate was not in common sight though, and that had surprised Jack at first, but then he understood.
Glen wanted to be alone when he played.
Jack knew that his friend would always take the pain he was feeling and turn it into something beautiful. That was what happened when his finders touched the piano, and the first time Jack was with him while he played, he had sat enchanted and listened in silence even minutes after the music faded in a diminuendo and remained alive only in his mind.
Glen played a simple tune, and then he positioned Jack's hands and instructed him on how to play.
Not long after that, Jack was capable of pressing the keys and playing the short melody, but the sound didn't come out the way he wanted, not like Glen's.
When he told this to his friend, Glen laughed and said ''This was your first lesson, I'm sure that with a couple more you'll be better than you would have expected.''
Jack smiled mischievously, nudging Glen playfully with his elbow '' Does this mean that you plan on having me around for more lessons?'', he asked.
''Um,mm.'', Glen murmured and he started to play again, absent-minded.
However, when Jack heard the first slow, sorrow-dripping notes, he felt his eyes widening and his heart clutching a little.
This was Lacie's song, the one she would always hum to herself and would make her happy, no matter how sad it was. This was a different arrangement for piano, but still, there was no doubt it was exactly the same melody.
Glen stopped as if he had realised just now what song he had been playing. For a moment there was an unease silence between them, and Jack's fingers bit into his palm, hard. He held his breath, waiting for the happyness Glen had been feeling while he played the piano be replaced by instant guilt and pain at the reminiscence of Lacie.
Glen lowered slowly his hands, and when he looked at Jack, his gaze was dripping with a sorrow much more greater than his usual melancholy.
The dark-haired man shifted on the bench to face the blond, and with his heartrate accelerating inexplicably, only then did Jack realise how close to each other they actually were, their thighs almost pressing together and their faces just a breath away from one other.
Glen raised his hand, and for a moment Jack thought dazedly that he was going to touch his face, or maybe caress his long hair, ever so lightly.
Stupid!, a little voice inside him scolded him, this is Glen you're thinking about and not any of your clients that don't mean a thing to you.
Jack was too distracted to pay any attention to it.
Glen's skillful from years of piano practicing fingers, however, didn't touch Jack.
He stroke the earing hunging from Jack's ear, making the emerald green dangling jewelery balance on his open palm, and he asked in a slightly choked voice as if he was only talking to himself.
''This was Lacie's earing. I almost forgot it, but not her...never her.''
Jack sighed, letting out the breath he had been holding, but Glen didn't give him the chance to answer, as if he had regreted mumbling something like that.
They kept intently locking gazes, and then he turned his attention back to the piano and continued to play the same sorrowful melody that seemed to touch a string in Jack's heart.
''Maye we could cooperate, you know. I could make the music and you could make a music box or a pocket watch. It was her melody, after all.'', Glen said.
''That would be...nice'', Jack answered in a low voice, unintetionally wondering if Glen could ever lead a happy life again since Lacie was gone.