S H A W N

The train ride almost took two hours until they arrived at King's Cross station in London, by which time the city had turned dark. The moon appeared across the sky so suddenly as if it had missed the night.

    London was not any colder than where they had just come from, but as the mist covered the city like an icy blanket, it certainly made it look more chilling.

    Although, Shawn wasn't supposed to be here tonight to witness any of this; not the houses that flashed past the train's window, not the crowded station in London, and definitely not the opera. But he was secretly glad for the change in his plans.

    "Have you ever been here? In London, I mean," Shawn asked as the two of them sat in a cab, on their way to the grand theatre.

    "When I was younger." Luca nodded. "My father often came here for work, and he agreed to take me with him once. But he was so busy that we never got the chance to visit the city. I had to wait for him in our hotel room. It was quite boring, actually."

    "Boring? London could never be boring!" Shawn laughed. "It's the best city on earth, I'll tell you that!"

    Luca chuckled. "Have you lived here all your life, then?"

    "Born and raised," Shawn said proudly. "But we did live in Puerto Rico for a year, back when I was eleven."

    "Really? I didn't know that. How come?"

    "We were visiting my relatives there for the summer. My brother — who was twenty-three at the time — fell in love with a girl there and decided to get married. He wanted to live in Puerto Rico, so my parents and I stayed there for a year longer."
   "You know, I always wondered how your parents met."

    "Never ask that question in front of my parents," Shawn said gravely. "Otherwise, they will go on for hours, telling that story!"

    Luca laughed. "Then I would love to hear it from them one day."

   "They met in the 1920s. My father was a journalist, and he had to travel to Puerto Rico for work, and that's where he met my mother. He fell in love with her instantly, and decided to drop everything to be with her. His work, his country, his family... everything."

    "But why did he have to leave it all?"

    "Because his parents didn't approve of this marriage. They wrote to him that if he went through with it, they would disown him, saying that they could never accept a woman with her skin color to be wedded to their son. But his love for her was way stronger than his parents' prejudice. So, my father quit his job, left his family, and married my mother, without looking back. Without a single regret. He says that he couldn't have been happier, and that it was the best decision of his life."

    "And did his parents actually...?"

    "Disown him? Yes." Shawn was now smiling to himself as he gazed outside the cab's window. "I've never met my grandparents. I don't even know if they're still alive. But I'm glad that I never got to know them. I'm glad, because I don't want people as pathetic as them in my life, so blinded by their prejudice that they forget that at the end of the day, love's all that matters."

    Luca found himself smiling at those words. "So how come your parents moved back to London?"

    "A year into their marriage, my mother got pregnant with my brother, Sebastian. They decided to move here, because my father could earn more money this way."

    Before Shawn could get the chance to finish his story, the cab slowed down until it stopped in front of the doors of the theatre, where a long line of people stood. When they at last entered the place, Shawn knew it was all worth the wait. He looked around him in awe, feeling like he had opened a door to the 19th century as he walked through the grand hall of golden walls and red seats of velvet.

    "Look at this place," Luca said in a hollow voice, his eyes wondering all around the enormous hall, trying to take everything in.

    Luca and Shawn took their seats, awaiting the red curtains to be lifted. And when the music began playing, the beauty and glory of the magnificent hall was forgotten. All that remained was the heavenly sound, lodged into their hearts.

    Half-an-hour into the opera, however, Shawn began to lose focus. He was squirming in his seat uncomfortably, and his leg had started tapping on the floor fidgety, his breathing becoming unsteady and short.

    He turned his head to the left to see how Luca was doing, but one glance at him was enough to drain Shawn of all his irritation. He saw that Luca had his eyes closed as he softly moved his head to the rhythm, devouring the music. The mere sight of him calmed Shawn down, his fast-beating heart finally easing a bit.

***

The opera soon came to an end, but the boys still had five hours to kill before going to the train station again. During this time, Shawn suggested that he could show Luca around and take a walk through the city together, even go to a restaurant for dinner.

    The streets and sidewalks were wet under their feet from that morning's rain, and the Big Ben was hidden beneath a foggy cloak. The further they submerged into the night, the colder it got.

    "If we go this way, we'll end up near the river Thames," said Shawn, pointing left.

    "All right." Luca nodded. He was silent for a minute, thinking. "Thank you, by the way."

    "You don't have to thank me for the tickets every ten minutes. I told you, they were no trouble —"

   "I'm not talking about the tickets." Luca shook his head. "Thank you coming to the opera with me. I know how difficult it must've been for you to sit there for two hours."

    At those words, Shawn's breath was driven from him. He tore his gaze away from Luca, avoiding his eyes. "Why would it be difficult? It's not like we were forced to listen to Arthur sing. Their voices were actually tolerable." He tried to joke to escape the confrontation with a grin, but he knew he couldn't fool Luca.

    "You know wat I mean," Luca said quietly.

    Shawn frowned, sighing. "I really don't know what it is... I've been like this my wyhole life. I was even worse when I was a kid."

   "Restless?"

   "Restless, angry, forgetful, unable to focus, too much energy that I don't know what I'm supposed to do with," Shawn confessed, vexed in mind. "Mum says I take it after my dad." But Shawn then smiled lightly when he suddenly remembered something. "Do you know what my dad always told me?"

    "What?" Luca asked as they strolled down the street, their hands buried in their coats' pockets to shield them from the cold.

    "Only in pure chaos can I truly find peace," said Shawn, smiling at the memories. "I think that's why he became a journalist. He liked traveling the world, going dangerous places, trying different things... When the war began, he even became a war correspondent."

    Luca's eyes widened in surprise. "He did?"

    "Yes." Shawn nodded, turning left again until the river finally came to sight. "My brother, Sebastian, was just as bad as us."

    They walked closer to the edge of the river, leaning against the railings as they gazed into the seemingly still water, with the London Bridge visible in the distance.

    "I'm glad that I was too young to remember the war. But there's this one day that I could never forget, no matter how hard I try," Shawn spoke in a quiet voice, staring ahead.

    "What happened?" Luca asked in a careful tone, his green eyes fixed on him.

    Shawn realized that this was the first time he was going to tell the story to someone, but Luca seemed to be the only one he trusted enough to share his darkest memories with.

    "I was only four back then, and my brother was sixteen. We used to share a bedroom," he began to say, almost hesitant. "One night, I was woken up when I heard shuffling around the room. When I opened my eyes, I saw that my brother was trying to get out through our bedroom window. He had a large backpack on his shoulders and I realized he was wearing the army uniform. I don't know why I didn't do anything. I should've stopped him. But I only watched him leave."

Shawn went on,

    "The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my mother crying. I was too young to understand any of it, but as it turned out, my brother had secretly joined the army. He had faked his identity and lied about his age, just so he could fight the war. I knew it was all my fault. I could've stopped him. But now, if he died, I knew I was the one to blame. With my father away, it was just the two of us; me and my mum."

Shawn paused for a moment, taking in a shaky breath.

"It was a quiet night. Too quiet. We were just sitting in the living room that suddenly we heard the sirens. I — I can't forget the feeling. The fear... the horror... everyone screaming while we all ran into the underground shelters, not sure if we were going to survive to see another day. And all I could think about was that I hadn't said goodbye to my brother. I didn't even know if he was still alive or not."

    Shawn then smiled to himself bitterly. He could remember his mother's embrace as she whispered calming words in his ears, fading out the sound of the bombs above them.

    "I know that the war ended and none of us were hurt, but..." He fell quiet, gulping. "Sometimes, when it gets too quiet, I can still hear the sirens..."

Shawn closed his eyes, remembering. He hated it. He hated that he could still remember it all. He hated that his demons always took the better of him.

    His head suddenly snapped up when he felt Luca gently hold onto his hand which was resting on the railings. Their eyes met in the quiet of the night. It felt as though Luca was wordlessly trying to make him understand that he wasn't alone. That he would never leave him.

It was a promise descended into a single look. Into a brief moment of silence.

    Shawn smiled to himself, giving Luca's hand a gentle squeeze in return. And as he did, he could feel the sirens and his demons fading away, falling silent forever.