Chapter ten
Halcyon's house was quiet and tranquil. The two boys carefully placed Charity down on Halcyon's bed, which still had wrinkled bedsheets from when Aerion had slept there. She murmured a bit before she fell unconscious. Halcyon crawled into bed beside her and stared at her pale face. His lips quivered and his eye twitched.
"What…happened…" he uttered after a few moments. Aerion crawled into bed beside charity putting his warm body against her. Halcyon looked down and coughed to keep him from whimpering. Aerion smiled warmly at him and put a hand on charity's forehead. Slowly she came to and stared at them both. She didn't speak but only stared. Halcyon had not looked up yet and began speaking to Aerion.
"Aerion…I'm scared…I don't know what's going to happen to me now. I like charity…a lot. I don't know if you understand this…But love is something I'm new at, and I don't know how to express it to her." Sparkling tears escaped his grasp and fell onto the bed. Aerion could feel Halcyon shaking on the bed.
" Aerion, I've fallen in love with this girl and I can't even protect her correctly. What type of man am I?" he said suddenly looking up. Aerion removed his palm from Charity's forehead and she fell unconscious again.
Aerion turned to Halcyon and grinned. A warm feeling passed through Halcyon that forced him to smile.
"Stop it Aerion, please just stop." Said Halcyon with a smile. Instantly the warmth vanished and Halcyon smile became an absolute frown.
The night passed slowly and eventually Halcyon fell asleep on Charity's stomach. Aerion stayed up that night and walked around the room going through Halcyon's stuff. Aerion laughed silently as he gazed at a pair of boxers. He had found the boxers of the monkey kissing a banana.
Aerion's next stop was the wooden crate in the center of the room. He noticed there was a picture on it. Out of curiosity he grabbed it.
It was a picture of Halcyon standing between two people; a man and woman. The man was tall and had a lot of brown hair. His hand was placed on Halcyon's head. The man was ruffling his hair. The woman stared at the camera smiling brightly her green eyes covered by her blonde hair, she was very beautiful; they were his parents. The picture was very old and lacked color, but it was in perfect condition.
Aerion placed the picture down and looked at the notebook that also was lying on the crate. It was a seventy-page notebook and appeared like it was used often. Aerion looked back to see if Halcyon was awake before he ran to the window and opened the notebook.
Graphite was smudged all over the book along with random scribbles and doodles. Slowly Aerion began to read the last page. It read;
Today I met this girl in class, her names Charity. You're the only person I'm telling but…she's very pretty. She attends a private school but she's part of some program that lets her attend public schools for a short amount of time. I really miss my old town. But if this girl is going to be with me then I guess I'll be all right…right?
Aerion paused as he noticed several teardrop stains on the page. He noticed a few bloodspots on the page. Then another entry. It read;
I got beat up today, that bastard Hector punched me in the face and nearly killed me. I didn't even say anything to him; he just came up from behind and attacked me. Why do I always lose? All I ever wanted was a normal peaceful life…looks like my only wish will never come true. At least Charity was absent today and the cuts and bruises are on my body, they'll be easy to hide.
Aerion paused as the he took note of the event. Suddenly Aerion jumped as Halcyon stirred on the bed. He quickly closed the notebook and placed it back in the position it was. Then he went back to the bed and sat by Charity. A warm look came over Aerion's face as he gazed at Halcyon and Charity curled up together. They were perfect for each other. A smile fell over Aerion's face and he kissed Charity's cheek. He listened as several bones in her body popped and cracked back into place and the bruises vanished from her body. Before going to sleep he put a blanket over Charity and Halcyon and smiled before going to a corner of the room and going to sleep on the floor.