Glass shattered against cold hard marble. Breaking into a million tiny pieces. Obliterating any chance of renewal. He stood still, the sound of breaking echoing through his body. He looked around for the source. Searched the ground for evidence of a crime. Only to discover that it came from his heart; spreading shards all through his body, leaving him bleeding, aching, suffering in silent agony. Eyes turned to him. Did they hear it too? The unmistakable sound of a heart fragmenting.
"Sonny?" That was his name, he was sure of it. He didn't know who said it but he recognized the question. There was not enough air in his lungs for him to breathe much less reply to the inquiry. Like the soft tick of a hand on a clock his damaged heart contracted and released, shocking his system and telling his feet to move.
"Sonny?!" The name shouted in a desperate question. He moved pass it; the words choked up in thick air. Hands clutched at his chest, grabbing cloth and flesh but doing nothing to ease the pain of the virgin beats and uneven rhythm of his heart.
As the pain eased and air flowed from dry lungs to choked veins he looked around him. Everything so familiar yet nothing like it was an hour ago when he walked this path to the church. An hour ago when his heart was still whole. Before encountering the hard reality of lies. Lies that had become marble, with no cushion for a heart made of glass.
"Sonny? Please?" There was that name again. Dripping vinegar on fresh wounds. It belonged to him but oh how he wanted to disown it. His wounds pinched and burned from the contact but he managed to remain standing. Goose bumps went unnoticed as the cold air licked his skin; he must have left his coat inside. But that did not matter. He didn't feel cold; just hurt, blinding hurt. "Sonny. I'm so sorry. I never meant…"
"Don't, please don't." Words break free from lips that remembered every kiss. Every whispered word of love and ecstasy. "Will…" His voice cuts on that name; a name more familiar than his own. Bitterness lace a tongue that had grown use to the taste of honey.
"I know you're angry, but just let me explain." Angry? God he wished that was how he felt. That you could project on to someone or something. But this, this was agony that he could share with no one. Sharp pieces tearing at flesh and bone, protected by a wall of skin that felt nothing like his own. "Nick and Gabi wanted to raise the baby as their own and made we promise not to tell anyone. I really wanted to tell you Sonny, but I…" Words flowed through the air then fell like stones at his feet; building a wall that left only blue eyes and blonde hair visible to him.
Fear and regret reflected from the ocean blue orbs. A stench of desperation permeated his nostrils. He knew the words that could relieve the foul smell. Words that could erase the guilt staining the ocean blue. They were his to use but trapped behind thorns. "You are a coward. Nick and Gabi didn't force you. You took the easy way out." Pain intensified as a heart fought to stay alive. The broken pieces beating their own rhythm.
"I didn't want to lose you." A soft whisper should have sent pulse rising and toes curling for all the right reasons. Now it crushed the final pieces of glass left whole.
"How romantic." He stood motionless, unmoved, as the object of his love crumbled before him and the final stones fell into place. Obscuring all from his sight. Gone were blue eyes that would take his breath away, blonde hair that felt like home beneath his touch and soft lips that promised truth. "I can't be…I can't…see…you…I." All turned to shadow as the air grew thicker.
The first real breath, since words turned cold, overwhelmed his lungs and left him shaking. Run. The hard ground stretched forth. Feet pulsed as heal pushed up against dirt. In an instant everything was gone. A key, holding entry to a life and ready to unlock whispered dreams, turned to dust in the wind. One thing remained. One action still in his control and the pieces of a heart pulsed in his chest with the need for it. Run. Run. His entire body shook as it figured out the combination; right leg, left leg, arms pumping...go.