Icarus Reincarnate || The Secret History

seven

A week later Henry kills himself. 

No one saw it coming.

Henry exudes immortality-- so much so that Richard began to think this was all some sick joke. I, on the other hand, am inclined to be more believing. I once told Henry I would come back from when I hit rock bottom in his housing because I'm not Icarus and I never aimed for the sun nor came near it. 

Henry, however, became the sun. He burned so indefinitely eventually there was no choice but to swallow himself whole. I should have told him the brightest stars die quicker. However, he probably knew considering Henry excelled in astronomy. The others saw his pure greed that night when Henry asked me to remove my shirt for no reason other than to feel like a king looking down on his lowly subject. They all have terrible faults, but I could feel the discomfort on my skin. 

Henry was euphoric on power thus efficiently turning the people close to him away. 

Apparently, Charles began beating himself up about what happened to me. He spilled to Julian about everything and the man just up and left, shortly before Henry's demise.

Camilla told me Francis left, his disinterest in school becoming unbearable in Henry's absence. Charles is still around and still has anger issues but I have grown to trust him enough to be in the same room without a fight or flight strategy lingering in the back of my mind. 

I think I loved Richard, for him I endured. I think he liked me too, at some point. Regardless, I endured too much for too little of a reward and he cozied up with Camilla in the end. I adore her, I really do. They look good together, but it hurts nonetheless.

Shockingly enough, Bunny is the one who changed throughout school the most. As we became closer, he became less bigoted. Our last summer I invited him to intern with me through a connection I had from my prep school in Asheville. 

"North Carolina? And what would we do there, slaughter pigs and roll in the mud?" I roll my eyes and we continue our drive back to school from the movies. "We wouldn't be rolling in the mud, we'd be teacher's assistants. I'm working in the English department but they asked for a history assistant specifically." Bunny loudly protests about menial wages and the lower working class. 

A week later he accepts the job and I realize Bunny has grown quite a bit. The guy I met would have probably blown up at me for offering him my help. That summer right before our senior year Bunny and I came back to school with work experience, a mountain glow, and a tighter friendship. He shed his superfluous spending a bit and realized nature can be a better hobby than blowing money that isn't there.

Richard and Camilla broke up but remained close enough for us all to hang out from time to time. 

There was a lot of speculation about me and Bunny dating but, to be honest, I was fond of him as a brother. He grated my nerves incessantly and we bickered half as much as we talked. However, I wanted the best for him and he knew it. I think that's something he was missing for in a friend, a caring component the others lacked. 

Upon graduation, we parted as family. He shed his rude shell but still kept his loud and satirical essence. I happened to grow a backbone because of him. 

I used to find it foolish when people claimed some people enter your lives just to teach you a lesson. I always thought you should hold on to people and never let them walk away, but Bunny and I needed to part ways. Should we grow closer it would likely end in a relationship and that kind of thing would never work for very long between us two. 

His loud parents take a picture of us and complain about the lack of grandeur in our graduation ceremony and I suddenly put a little less blame on Bunny for how he was when we met. 

Finally, we're alone and it's time for us to part ways. I look at Bunny tearfully. "What are you making a face like that for?" He asks, several decibels quieter than his usual volume. "I'm annoyed." I mumble wiping away a tear. "What have I done this time?" A small grin falls on his face, equal parts happy and sad. 

"Nothing. It's just that I don't know when you'll annoy me again. I hate it." Suddenly his hand wraps around the back of my head and he pulls me to his chest to hide my tears from the straggling graduates. 

"It's your fault for getting a job in England, honest to god what goes on in your head?" I laugh through my tears. "Who knows anymore. I just wanted to see..." I sigh unable to finish my sentence. Luckily, I know he understands that I want to see what's on the outside of the superficiality of Hampden.

"Well once you've seen enough, let me know." I look up at him with widened eyes and his are thinking with a sparkle only Edmund Corocan possesses. Suddenly I'm kissing him. The first kiss I've initiated is with Bunny. 

I want to laugh at the irony and cry because I'll miss him so much. 

"I'm going to leave now." He whispers clearly a bit choked. "Seeing a six-foot-three-inch man crying is a horrible sight I'd rather not subject you to." I sigh. 

"I'll see you?" I ask and he nods. "Of course." 

Then Bunny is off.

I think about him often while in England. My journalist job is invigorating and the people I've met are wonderful and real. They're all great people I'd rather not lose but I want Bunny with me. I want to see his reaction to everything I've come across. I think about him less in time. 

After three years have passed I find myself only thinking of him when I go to the movies or when I see kids who are studying and swapping their homework, probably cheating. In those times I smile and move on. 

I close my journal where I just finished recounting my memories of being the grecophiles onlooker when the doorbell to my apartment chimes.  I set my pen down and open the door without checking considering the only person to ever visit me is a coworker named Ishita who appears at random. 

However, the shock that encompasses me when a familiar loud blond stands before me is unmatched. "Bun." I whisper raising a hand to my face in surprise. "You're here. How?" 

He smiles sweetly. I've never seen such a soft smile on his face but immediately decide it suits him. "You took too long to come back and I'm fairly impatient, you know." 

He steps inside and gives me a hug much like the last one we shared. "Are you happy to see me?" I smile into his chest. 

"Still fishing for compliments I see. But yes, I missed you more than what's reasonable." He lets out a content sigh in thought. 

"These past three years I had a good look at myself. Something started to bug me immensely. I was a devil, a devil who hurt you. Like a saint, you cared for me anyways. I hate who I was then and don't want to hurt you again. So let's remeet each other as who we are now and do it all again." He seems hesitant, I know vulnerability is taboo for him. 

I smile brightly to ease the tension. "Will you still be loud and too sarcastic for your own good? I can't possibly fall for a complete stranger, you know." The tension is gone. 

"Oh, I promised to annoy you and I plan to-- for a very long time."

________

A/N: The main character is flawed and so is Bunny. I never thought I'd write fanfic where a main character of color ends up with racist, homophobic, rude Bunny but here we are. To be honest I think he could have had this kind of character development if the people around him were honest rather than doing everything in their power to placate him. Additionally, I wrote the main character based on many of my flaws. Going to PW schools for most of my life I struggled with confronting people when they were racist and let a lot of things slide just so I wouldn't end up alone.

Honestly, I met a boy like Bunny. Too loud, tall, and blond. But he more much sweet, still ignorant though. Where he helped me with confidence I helped him with common sense and we're entirely different than we were six years ago. We've drifted apart but I'm hoping we'll meet again after college. 

I don't know if I explained my reasoning for making this as I did well enough but I thought I'd try. Again, thanks for reading!