Chapter Ten

❝When the weight is on your shoulders,

remember that diamonds are made under the weight of mountains.❞

The sound of an alarm.

     Imagine hearing that at 4:30 in the morning on a Monday.

     It was moments like these where Theo questioned himself why he decided to share an apartment with his best friend. Yes, it was in a sudden spurt of the moment when he hopped in the last flight available, and yes, it was something that he needed to do for himself while knowing there was no other choice.

     But Zach fucking Wright.

     Theo groaned and stretched his arm over his head to deactivate the damn thing, but much to his annoyance, only swayed empty space. He briefly pinched his nose in frustration before kicking the thin blanket off of the mattress and stomping outside the room. He was careful not to wake Chase up, who was sleeping soundlessly on Theo's bed.

     He banged Zach's door open and strode towards the desk that had the damn alarm ringing like it was the end of the world.

    "You left it on again, dickhead," he muttered, shaking his friend up without remorse. Zach began to groan and blinked repeatedly. "You could've woken Chase up. And now you're late."

     He knew Zach liked getting things done first thing in the morning, but he forgot how early. Dawn hadn't even set yet.

     And there were new things to consider — Chase.

     Theo wasn't ready to talk what happened. And it seemed that Zach wasn't too inclined, either. In fact no one had brought it up again, including Chase himself, who had returned to his normal happy mood. So as a default, they decided to let the incident slide for a while.

     Even if that could make things worse.

     With the effects of the alarm still ringing in his ear, Theo decided it was time to start the day anyway. After dragging himself to the kitchen to make some coffee, taking a quick shower, and putting on a black T-shirt and gym shorts, he joined Zach in the living room.

    "You're going to the gym with me?" Zach asked, dumbfounded.

     Theo rolled his eyes. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just insult me. And no, I'm not. I'm going for a run."

     It was common knowledge that he wasn't as active in sports as the blond was. While Zach had excelled in almost every sport offered in high school, Theo spent his better time in the art room, sketching, sketching, sketching. It was a wonder how the two eventually cross paths.

    "A run," Zach repeated, clicking his tongue. "Huh."

    "Oh, shut up. You go do your thing, I'll do mine," he prompted. "And for the record, I'll be sticking around the District, so I'll probably catch up with you later."

    "Are you sure you're not trying to catch up with someone else?"

     He stared at him. "What, El?"

    "Who the hell is El?"

    "Eleanor." The blond merely blinked. "Lenny?"

    "My my, Theo." Zach smirked, crossing his arms and leaning against the kitchen island. "Already creating personal nicknames. You've got it bad."

    "We're friends, for fuck's sake."

    "Yeah, and that's exactly what you told me you weren't going to be a few days ago." He trudged forward and smacked Theo lightly in the head. He swatted his friend's hand away with a scowl. "I can't stand her cheery voice all the time, she's so annoying, goddamnit — "

    "I don't sound like that."

    "I don't sound like that."

     He grabbed the apartment keys. "I'm out," he said deadpanned, walking across the floorboards.

    "Say hi to her for me!" Zach called out.

     Theo flipped his middle finger behind his back.

***

     Sweat was dripping across his back and down his temples. His erratic breaths and the music blasting from his headphones were all that he could hear, and the cool air whispering against his skin was drowned out by the warmth of the sun.

     He didn't know how long he'd been running, but it was certainly a significant amount of time. The streets were now filled with a few people roaming around, as opposed to how empty it was before. He'd already passed the entirety of the District, all straight and around, but without consciousness he found himself walking near Bond Beach.

     Or maybe it was with consciousness — it was like every road led to the beach. Like it was truly the heart of the town.

     In the distance, someone caught his attention.

     Eleanor was walking towards him. Or, better yet, towards her shack, which was behind him. In her arms were boxes overflowing with decorations: Christmas lights, party hats, the usual bunch. She hadn't noticed him yet, which gave him the opportunity to give a longer look.

     Her dark hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, sporting a casual T-shirt and shorts. He noticed that this was her preferred attire: something simple and easy to walk around with. Made sense, since she was always busy with that shack of hers. And she was slim, but not too skinny, which Theo thought was probably a figure most girls would kill for.

     But it was her eyes that drew him in.

     He never saw in another girl's eyes what he saw in Eleanor's. There was a sort of childlike curiosity in her gaze that made him wonder what on Earth she was thinking about, like she saw the world in colours that didn't exist yet. And whenever those eyes were fixed on his face, Theo felt like he was a painting, and she the art critic. Analysing every stroke, every visible shadow, every mistake.

     She caught him.

     Fuck. He stared for too long.

    "Theo!" she yelled, waving frantically.

     Was it too late for him to pretend to not have heard her through the music and turn around?

     The answer came right after, as Eleanor began speeding up her walk and making her way towards him. But her walking faster only resulted in the boxes tipping over her hands, and not for long, decoration after decoration began tumbling to the ground.

     Theo let out a grumble in his throat before running towards her.

    "Why are you always carrying things you know you can't carry?" he scolded, remembering the time she dropped all those water bottles the first time.

     She looked sheepish. "They didn't seem too heavy."

     The two straightened up, having collected the fallen decors back into the boxes. He nodded his head towards them. "What's the occasion?"

     Eleanor had to tilt her head to actually look at him because the boxes were taller than her. "I'm running a trial for the Firelight Festival," she grinned, lifting one hand to pat the boxes but quickly retracting it once they started tipping again. "Uh, it's this annual festival and all, and it's my first year organising it — I just want to be a good sponsor, you know?"

     Theo tried hard not to laugh at her struggle.

    "Okay, I'm taking them," he said, lifting not one but all the boxes from her hands.

     She just stared at him and he rolled his eyes. "Come on, El, before I change my mind."

     El. It came out more natural than he'd thought.

     She grinned and followed suit.

     It wasn't very long until El and Theo arrived at Anchor's. The beach was still slightly deserted, and no one in the shack was present other than the two. He tapped the box awkwardly.

    "So was it always your plan to decorate all this by yourself?"

    "Someone was supposed to help me," she kicked the box lightly with a chuckle. "I guess they decided not to show up."

     Her tone was teasing, and even her smile was apparent, but her eyes told a different story. She was disappointed. Theo frowned, surprised that it bothered him.

    "I can help if you want."

     El's eyes crinkled in the corners. "I'd like that."

***

     To be honest, it wasn't Theo's fault.

     He'd simply been following El's instructions until one of the wooden panels near him decided to fall by itself. Okay, so it had been his fault, but not entirely. He wasn't even putting much pressure onto the platform, and now it looked like it just suffered from an earthquake.

    "You've got to be fucking with me," he breathed out.

    "What was what?!" El called from the back.

    "Uh," he replied with a frantic voice, "you should, uh, come here and see for yourself!"

     When El stood next to him, he was ready for the wave of anger. This was her shack; her property, and he completely ruined it. Everything he touched became a fucking nightmare.

    "Oh," she tilted her head. "It's fine, it gets that way sometimes." She reached into a shelf and got out a toolbox, then crouched down and began fixing it with a few screws.

    His guilt multiplied.

    "Let me help," he sighed, crouching down too.

    "No, really, it's fine." She turned to him and smiled. "I've done this before."

    "Didn't know Bob the Builder had a secret twin."

     El paused. "Was that a joke, Theo?"

     Was it? "Huh," he leaned back. "I guess it was."

     She giggled then, a surprised kind of laugh, one that she had to restrain. And just by witnessing that, Theo let out a light chuckle, too, and then they were both laughing like two idiots.

    "So what's your story on all this?" Theo started, leaning against the counter. The panel was fixed, and they were about done with the preparations. But one look at the old, shabby shack and it made him wonder: how did it manage to stand so long?

     El followed his gaze. "I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours."

     She jumped on the counter and patted the spot beside her.

     He hesitated. When he first decided to come here, his only purpose was to get all this behind him. To leave his past the way it was. Not to bring them to light again. It was the only thing of which he was certain at that time.

     But he learned, quite literally, that your past had a way of coming back to you. Running away didn't fix anything; in fact, it made it that much worse. Chase was a true manifestation of that.

     It was only a matter of time, he knew, before he laid himself bare.

     He was just surprised as to who.

    "Can I trust you?" he blurted.

    "My immediate answer would be yes, but that's only because it's coming from me." She cocked her head. "The better question is, do you think you can trust me?"

    "You always have better questions," he muttered, "but not better answers."

    "Isn't it the questions that really count?"

     He didn't totally disagree.

     Do you think you can trust me?

     Theo didn't believe in fate, but there had to be a reason why they met that night. There had to be a reason why he'd poured all of his haunted thoughts to her; why she was the one who found his sketchbook; why she met Chase and witnessed everything — there had to be a reason.

     There had to be a reason she kept coming back.

     He gazed at her. It was dawn now, and the sunrise was making her deep brown eyes look like molten gold. They were the same eyes he'd trusted that night. The same he'd studied under the flickering street lamp. The same ones he'd regarded when she met a ghost from his past.

     No judgment. No hostility.

     Just kindness.

     He was tired of running. So he walked over, hopped on the counter and sat next to her.

     Then he took a deep breath.

A/N:

Don't y'all just love slow-burns?

Slow-burn friendships & relationships — always gets to me.