AN: I've been watching too much TV.

Philly

By: anybodihearme

Originally Uploaded: Wednesday, June 27, 2018

"You ever been in love?" Kevin asked the two strangers sitting next to him.

The sky above them threatened rain. The ground was already damp from the downpour earlier. Thankfully for them, however, the bus stop had a shelter that protected them from the rain and the bitter cold winds that blew their way.

"Yeah," the man said, looking Kevin up and down before turning to the woman on his left. "She's my soulmate," he smiled. "We're in love."

"Aw, that's adorable," Kevin said, giving them a half-smile despite the silent protest of pain. A gash marinated his left cheek. It was more like a bruise despite the wound being open with a few dried flakes of blood. "I love love," Kevin continued. "I have a soul mate too, you know? That love at first sight, want to live forever, love is eternal, forever burning kind of love." Kevin nodded his head. "Love."

The woman and man exchanged glances between one another. Hesitating for a moment - and only a moment - the man scooted closer to the woman, putting a great deal of distance between them and Kevin. With a slight shove of his foot, he pushed his duffle bag further under the bench they were sitting on as the woman clutched her purse closer to her chest.

"Eddward," Kevin licked his lips. They were slightly chapped. "That's his name." His voice held a certain longing that made the woman look closer. In his eyes, she could see a certain sadness and regret that tugged at his heart. Maybe even his soul. "See, the problem is that when I first met Eddward, I was with another woman, so I kind of cheated on her. Which," Kevin said, looking at the man and woman from the corner of his eyes. "If I was to be honest with you, wouldn't have been a big deal except it turned out that the woman was a raging lunatic." Kevin snorted as he humped his shoulders. "When she found out that I cheated on her, she freaked out, trashed my apartment, slashed my tires, and shot my boyfriend."

"Dude," the man interrupted. "Are you okay?" He asked, finally looking at Kevin's current physical state for what it was. Despite the weather, Kevin was dressed in nothing but a pair of dark jeans and a thin long-sleeve sweater. Granted the sweater would keep him warm, but not to the extent the clouds threatened. His face was bruised with a few stains of blood on the hem of his worn-out sweater. Not to mention that his fiery red hair was ruffled in a manner that suggested he was far from "okay."

If they were to have known him personally, they would have noticed that his emerald green eyes were dull and seemed to lack that spark of mischief he was known to possess.

"What?" Kevin's eyes winded. "You think I'm crazy?" The man and woman fell silent. "Why do you think I'm crazy?" Kevin leaned closer to them but they didn't answer his question despite the desperation laced in his words. Kevin shook his head and went back to leaning against the glass wall. "All I ever wanted for the past year was to be with the love of my life. How is that crazy?" He trailed off. "Maybe the where she trashed my apartment part." Kevin looked at them with a grin that made them both shiver. "No?" He joked. "Maybe it was the part where she shot him."

The woman leaned into the man closer, hugging him to her chest as if she could protect him from the redhead stranger that found his way to the exact same bus stop where they sat, waiting for the bus.

"Okay, look." Kevin waved his hand in between them. "I'm not crazy," he said as he dropped his hand. Kevin paused, taking a deep breath and watching it turn into clouds in front of him. "Look, the point is that I finally had the chance to hold the man I love in my arms, and what does he do? He jams a chunk of fucking glass into my neck," Kevin sneered, gesturing to the wound on his neck.

"Aaden," the woman whispered, clutching the man's sweater to the point where her knuckles turned a shade close to white.

"Listen," Kevin held his hands up as if he was trying to prove that he was not a threat to him. "Here's my advice," he said as turned to face them. "Live it up. Enjoy this love while it last because a couple of days ago I was in love. Now my neck hurts, my soul is crushed, and I'm sitting in a bus stop in Delaware."

"You're in Philly."

"I'm in Philly!" Kevin shouted. Looking at the woman and man, Kevin began to laugh a laugh that held no humor. Instead, it was bitter and all he could do was run his hands through his hair and down his face. "God, it's even worse!" Groaning, Kevin all but forgot about the woman and man sitting next to him as the bus pulled up in front of them.

Without hesitating, the man stood up and hauled the woman up along with him. Grabbing their bags, he ushered her onto the bus, leaving Kevin sitting there alone and in the rain.

"Love," Kevin snorted as he watched the bus drive away. "It's so damn fickle."