Disclaimer: I don't own Professor Layton or Claire or anyone else in this story, they belong to Level 5 games and nobody else!
Learning how to love.
Hershel's eyes were wide with terror and his breath hitched, the upper half of his body hanging over the edge of a ravine to which a young boy about his age was grabbing hold.
This lad was a boy who wore dark glasses, had red hair, wore an orange neckerchief and sported a purple jacket. He grabbed tightly on to Hershel's wrist with one hand and held on tight to a golden mask with the other. The boy frowned sadly as he looked up at the other boy with the Afro whom was trying to heave his friend up to safety.
"R-Randal, I can't hold on!" Hershel yelled desperately, watching his friend dangle with helpless eyes.
The boy, named Randal, gulped as he apologised pitifully "I was so close. I'm sorry, Hershel. I let you down. Tell Angela I'm sorry!"
Despite Randal's pleas for forgiveness, however, Hershel shook his head in defiance. He was going to have none of this and he felt his chest hurt from either the thought of losing Randal or having to explain to his friends where the boy had gone. He shook his head and perished the thought, he was going to pull Randal up and there was nothing that could tell him to do otherwise.
He swallowed, beads of sweat trickling down his face, and he yelled "I can't pull you up. Now drop the mask and give me your other hand!"
Randal ignored him and proceeded to give his friend the mask which he had been holding in his other hand. He smiled sadly with a braveness glimmering in his innocent yet clever eyes and swung his free arm upwards with the mask ready to be passed over.
He swung in Hershel's tight grip, much like a pendulum and he said "Take the mask, it's yours. You must solve the last puzzle, Hershel.."
"Here!"
Randal began to give the golden mask to his friend but, before Hershel could receive it, the man's hand slipped through his fingers and he fell into the black abyss below with a begging look glued to his face with his eyes big and still sparkling with courage although he gasped very shortly with fright as he plummeted downwards.
His breath hitched in his throat while Hershel's eyes widened with shock. He had just let Randal fall! He reached his hand out towards him still even though his friend had just vanished into the ravine below. Layton blinked back the tears and he gave a very loud cry for his lost friend's name...and his voice echoed into the pitch black abyss below:
"RANDAL!"
Claire couldn't believe what she had just heard.
Randal fell into a ravine?...Hershel had watched his very best friend perish even though he tried so hard to save him. She felt her heard break into two and she couldn't hold back and look of remorse that had crept upon her round face while her mouth had formed an open-mouthed frown.
She now understood what happened to make the lad so brooding.
Anyone would be suffering with eternal injuries after going through such trauma. The young girl simply looked at Hershel's dishearted parents and she could clearly see that they two felt saddened of what had happened to the boy that had been recently lost to them all and they couldn't help but feel their hearts snap as they sat there with their heads low.
Claire remained silent and adjusted the frames of her glasses over her eyes and she looked off to the side sadly. That poor man...
Roland, regardless of the sadness lingering in the air, continued "Ever since then, the boy shut himself inside. He isn't allowing anybody to really chat to him and his ol' friends are shunning him as if the whole accident is his fault..."
Claire sighed. She had always wondered what it would have been like if someone should have to carry the burden of loneliness all on their own and now she understood that someone had been forced to carry that burden all alone. Nobody was reaching out towards him and nobody seemed to care and pretended he wasn't there whence he was present in the area.
She looked up, a renewed determination shining in her eyes, and she gently patted Lucille's limp hands in assurance as she managed to gently smile at both Lucille and Roland Layton.
"D-Don't you worry none," She said with a quivering smile "H-Hershel won't be alone anymore with me around."
Claire didn't know what she was going to do.
How could she help heal such a badly broken heart? It was clear that the young man was going through hell and he was already so alone in this world...however it seemed that he wasn't completely destroyed. He had some qualities that would make him still a good person still salvageable, almost like a gentleman.
Her eyes lit up like lights.
A gentleman. Maybe that would help him get motivated. But it seemed that she would have to ponder more on that thought later on since maybe all the man needed was some comfort, he was already languishing enough as it is and he didn't need somebody to tell him what to do and such.
She slowly stood up, despite Lucille and Roland's insistence for her to lay back down but before she could take a single step the door opened and standing in the doorway was a knackered-looking Hershel.
The man had his hand to the door and his whole body looked like it had been dragged through the mud from china and back. There was even a few bruises that Claire had managed to catch a glimpse of as he stood there for moments at a time before he quickly took action by whirling his face towards the left.
Claire wasn't fooled.
She saw those bruises covering the right side of his face and nobody could tell her otherwise.
Lucille's head perked up in surprise as she looked at her son.
"Hershel, dear," she began with wide eyes "are you feeling alright?"
Hershel didn't respond but he kept his sad gaze to the floor below. He muttered something incoherent with his hands clutching into fight fists, clearly something was bothering him -it was probably the injuries- and the fact that his teeth were gritted was almost enough to give everything away.
Finally he answered "I-I'm fine!"
The fact that his voice was squeaky and his eyes were squeezed tightly shut proved that he was hurting. He sullenly darted up the stairs without saying so much as another word with his sleeve flying up to his eyes and his hushed voice laced with somber sobs made it obvious that his heart was hurting.
He ran so fast up the stairs that by the time Claire and everyone else managed to move their legs the door to the lad's room had already slammed shut.
Claire, Lucille and Roland stood in the hallways in front of Hershel's bedroom door with regretful looks on their faces. The hall was darker and had a more morbid air hanging around since the only light that came into the dull hallways was the light shining from the open door of the bathroom.
The trio didn't say a word.
Lucille and Roland looked at each other worriedly before they headed back downstairs while Claire stayed put.
When she listened closely, she could hear the muffled sobs of Hershel from behind the closed mahogany door and she couldn't help but feel pity. That poor kid had lost his friend whom died right before his eyes because he let a life literally slip through his fingers.
The young girl had to do something, anything, for the boy. He had saved her from a gang of guys earlier so she had to do something to rescue him from the anguish he was suffering from right now. She spoke softly to the door, loud enough for the grieving young man barred up inside the room but not loud enough for Lucille and Roland hear him;
"Hershel...no matter how many people you push away, I will always be there right by you." She vowed, sinking down to the floor with her back against the door and she closed her eyes in order to closely listen for any reply that Hershel may or may not give her.
As expected, Hershel continued to sob quietly to himself...
She eventually let herself drift off to sleep with her back against the door as she let her head fall with exhaustion. Claire let all thoughts of how to make the young 17 year old feel better drown all her subconscious thoughts and cloud all of her better judgement.
Time blurred on and when Hershel finally resurfaced, he had a hand pressed to his bruised cheek and he opened the door a bit which was not opening the whole way because when it did try and open, it very lightly tapped Claire's back.
Looking to see what caused the obstruction, Hershel Layton's eyes widened when he saw Claire laying against the door fast asleep. He was deeply confused. Had she been there the whole time? The man with the Afro couldn't help but allow the corners of his lips to curl upwards to form a very small smile.
Claire had done this for him?
Hershel sighed softly as he retreated back into his room to grab a spare blanket. He returned a minute later and draped the blanket over the girl's front before tucking it around her whilst being careful not to awake her. He felt his heart warm up slightly as he tried to imagine why she had done this for him? It wasn't like he did something of any use in return to deserve her kindness.
After making sure the blankets were successfully bundled around her, Hershel closed the door again to lull Claire back to her slumber deep and he decided to get some sleep of his own since he had exhausted himself from all the crying he had done...not to mention, his work had taken a lot out of him with the new bruises on his face.
Softly shutting the door, Hershel whispered to nothing and nobody in particular as he had his back pressed against the wall and he looked out into the world outside. It looked so vibrant and classical, so soft and delicate and the dark blue blanket that was the skies were dotted with bright little stars that twinkled in the skies lining his bedroom window.
If he closed his eyes, he could vaguely imagine touching one of those stars. It made him feel...somewhat content.
A/N: That's the end of this new chapter of "Learning how to love", I said I'd update it! Anyways it seems that Hershel is still greiving over the loss of Randal and is thinking about a lot of things...including his abusive job at that lemonade shop.
What else will happen when Hershel decides to confront Angela and Henry?
Find out in the next chapter!
-Chloemcg