You Are My Escape (G/T) (Completed)

16

Matt spent a lot of time staring out the window after Ezriel's disappearance, twirling the flower between his fingers.

He knew that it wasn't something meant to last, that the fairy had places to be and they both had different lives to live, but he only wished it had lasted longer. He had so many questions for the blonde he wanted to ask today, about him and his life and his entire existence, but he knew that he'd likely never get the chance to know. 

Yet he could still feel something strange inside of him whenever the thoughts of him arised. It was different from his normal emotions, as if something was inside of him that had been placed there by someone else. He'd felt it ever since last night, but it took well into the next day before he remembered their active promise. This had instilled some hope in him that Ezriel might return someday again, forced back by the connection in some minor way, but he knew it was practically childish to believe in.

After all, everyone always ends up leaving him.

He sighed and tucked the little flower behind his ear, getting ready to go downstairs. Tanya would be waiting for him, as she was almost every morning, but he couldn't complain about the work. 

She had taken him in nearly six months ago now, when he had nowhere else to go. He'd been traveling with just his backpack and his guitar for a while when they met. Tanya was impressed by how people flocked to the streets when he played in town, and his many stayed to listen, and when he was done playing for the day she had offered him a deal on the spot. If he would be willing to play at her restaurant to attract customers, she would let him stay in the suite upstairs instead of in the cold. Matt was near giddy to be able to perform on an actual stage, as small and worn down as it was, and accepted without ever looking back.

Winter hit them hard though, and despite it being his dream playing the tunes just wasn't paying the bills. The two had struck another deal, with Tanya basically hiring him to do opening shifts on the days that he didn't have a show, but he was happy to help out and the routine just kind of… stayed.

The two had become very good friends as the months had passed, being the one constant in each other's lives, so it was no surprise that Tanya could tell something was up with him when he got to work. She questioned him about it, but Matt only shrugged it off as not getting enough sleep. What he hadn't been prepared for though, was her comment about the flower.

"Where'd you find that?" She asked casually, pointing to it when it caught her eye. 

"Just last night, went on a walk." Matt lied, not looking up from his task.

Tanya could tell that he was being dismissive and not in a great mood, so she decided not to pry or ramble off about her extensive plant knowledge this time.

"It looks nice, is all." She shrugged. "Forget-me-nots are beautiful."

...

Matt's days continued on like nothing happened, but he couldn't take his mind off of the events even if he tried. He kept the flower on him all the time even after it wilted, practically unable to part with it. It was his only was of knowing that it hadn't all been a dream.

Ever since he first saw Ezriel in the alley he'd been smitten by those shining golden eyes. Everything about him was just so unforgettable, from his unique hair and clothes to his perfectly sculpted face and alluring smile. But to discover that he was a fairy-- a creature Matt had only heard tales of woe and misery of-- and had been nothing but kind to everyone around him? That was truly unforgettable.

Days passed, and he still couldn't help but fantasize about running into him again. He was digging himself into a big rut the more he thought about things, and it was getting harder to pull himself back to reality. He hadn't played any songs since that night, or even touched his guitar really. And while work had become more of a blur than usual, he did remember going up to Tanya at some point near the end of his shift with a question. 

"Do you remember that blonde guy at my last show? The one who was here all night?"

"The one that was eating you up with his eyes for your whole show? Yeah I remember him, he spoke kinda weird."

"Heh, yeah. But can you let me know if you see him around again?"

His boss raised an eyebrow, curiously agreeing. 

But as more bleak days passed, it seemed like Ezriel wasn't going to return. It was back to his boring old life, but now so much more distracted as his brain ran with the concept of faries in general. Did nobody else know they existed? How many of them were there out there? Were the people around him fairies as well? Could Ezriel be one of them, but wearing a different face?

It was a week later when Tanya pulled him aside.

"Look," she started, unsure how to go about things. "I can tell that you're not doing good. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"What do you mean? Talk about what…?"

Tanya rolled her eyes. "You keep glancing around all paranoid, and you look like you haven't slept in days. I could use the hands down here, yeah, but not when they're as distracted as yours." She huffed. "I'm giving you some time off, to sort out whatever's bothering you in your head. Go chill upstairs for a bit, dude."

It was an order from his manager as much as it was a concerned suggestion from his friend, and Matt found himself following her guidance nonetheless. He walked upstairs feeling like a ghost, glancing at his guitar on the wall and the mound of crumpled papers in the wastebasket beneath it. He'd tried to write lyrics to cope with his thoughts, but nothing he wrote could truly capture how he felt.

He let out another long sigh, and walked past the kitchen to go mope in his bed. He had plenty of crushes before, and had been in a few relationships too, but he'd never had someone take up as much of his mind as Ezriel. He'd worked himself up over it, over someone who wasn't even coming back, and he was tired of letting himself do this. 

A few hours of nothing passed as he continued to lay there, glaring up at his ceiling. But he was getting hungry, and despite not wanting to move he figured he should probably try and find something to eat. 

But once he found his way back to the kitchen, his heart almost stopped in surprise. There, on his windowsill, was not one wide-eyed fairy, but two.

And Ezriel was one of them.