Written for the CMBYN Love Song Challenge, using the prompt 'Bed of Roses' by Bon Jovi.

* Please do not translate or repost this story.

Elio sits down at the piano, last night's clothes still strewn all over the room. His head thumping. Flashes of the party and the walk home running through his mind. The girl. Some blonde.

He doesn't even know her name.

A wave of nausea washes over him, but to drown the hangover, he grabs the bottle of vodka left on the piano last night and he takes a swig.

"Fuck," he mutters to himself, as he lets his fingers slide over the keys of the piano.

He sets the bottle down, and somewhere in the back of his mind he remembers a song he had once played. It was a hot summer, the summer when everything had changed.

He had played this song for Oliver, but he had forgotten about it since. Something about the emptiness in the pit of his stomach right now bringing him back to the way he had felt at the end of that summer. Bringing him back to the boy he had once been.

He grabs his notebook, rips out a piece of paper, and he begins to write.

Dear Oliver,

I wonder what you would think of me if you were here to see me right now. I'm a mess.

I miss you.

It happened again. I dreamt of you. For a moment when I woke up, I thought you were there with me. So I went out, and I got drunk. Tried to forget. But it's still you. Every fucking summer, I am seventeen again. Last night it was some blonde. I think that she's still in my bed.

Why do you keep doing this to me? Why can't you let me forget?

Where are you, Oliver?

I want to be there with you. I want to lie next to you and feel you close. I want to wake up next to you.

Do you still think of me?

When you close your eyes, do you know that I'm thinking about you?

It's lonely, living with the memories. With the knowing that you are all that I'm ever going to need. All that I will ever truly want. I will go out, and I will keep doing this. I will try to make myself forget, but it takes just one song. One look someone gives me. One touch, and I am seventeen again. You are right there with me.

But you're not, are you? You are out there somewhere with your wife. With your family.

Do you even remember at all?

Elio

Elio reads through the letter, the words blurring before his eyes. He sighs as he folds up the letter, before bringing it up to his lips, and pressing a kiss to the paper.

He then shoves it back into his notebook with the dozen of other letters he never sent. The letters he writes in the middle of the night, in the early morning. When the memories hurt too much.

He closes his eyes, and for a moment he can feel the gentle breeze on his skin. Oliver's lips on his chest, his fingers gently caressing his thigh.

A voice makes him open his eyes, and when he looks up, he finds the blonde from last night standing in the doorway. Looking even worse than he's feeling.

"I just wanted to say goodbye."

"Sure…"

"Olivia," the girl says, making Elio chuckle. "What? Is that funny?"

"No. It's not," Elio sighs. "Have a good day, Olivia."

The girl shoots him a dirty look, before leaving the studio. Leaving Elio sitting there, his fingers mindlessly sliding over the keys of the piano.

He grabs another piece of paper, and he writes down 'For Oliver' with a newfound determination. Not sure if it's the vodka, or the fact that he has nothing left to lose.

Dear Oliver,

I miss you.

Forever yours,

Elio

Oliver's heart skips a beat as he reads the note, still recognizing Elio's handwriting. He looks down at the tape attached, a note on it, 'For Oliver' written on it.

He sticks it into the cassette player, the first notes enough to make him fall back into his chair. He clasps his hands over his mouth, unable to hold back his tears. Elio's song so familiar, bringing back so many memories and emotions, that for the longest time after it has finished, he can't bring himself to move.

When he finally gets up, he checks the note again, his eyes reading over the 'Forever yours' over and over again.

He grabs the cassette, his coat and the keys to his car, checking the return address on the note once more. Knowing fully well that he has his responsibilities here, that he can't just get up and drive off. But how can he stay here, stuck in this life, knowing that Elio is out there still thinking about him? About that summer.

That he remembers too.

What if they could have another chance? He can't just let that go to waste, can he?

Elio is just about to head out – to get drunk and try to forget – when there's a knock on the studio door. He opens it, not sure who to expect. But when he finds the man of his dreams staring back at him - now older but still very much the same – he feels the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Oliver? What are you doing here?"

"I miss you, too."