17 Last Times

⤹9❁ Dead

Hey! I'm back with a new chapter. How's everyone? Thank you for waiting!

Please don't forget to check out my new book called "The Lullaby Nights". I believe it turned out really good!

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𝓓𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓪

I inhale deeply. The air feels god damn fresh but also heavy and sticky due to the rain that's just lashed down. Nevertheless, today was clement, and now the sky, washed-out blue, has almost cleared up. I look up at its vastness. A few clouds still linger around, ashy-yellow, thanks to the sun that charges their drenched, cotton bodies with its soft glow. A blurred rainbow stretches across the firmament like a professional gymnast, beautiful and dressed up in colours.

I think of Imaan. I remember Mason telling me that she's a rhythmical gymnast. Is this what she looks like when she performs? As engaging as the rainbow?

What happened to the hobby of my own? When was the last time I sat down and wrote something? - a poem at least. I can't even remember.

"Gotta love the smell of rain." Nathan inhales deeply. "Especially when it's enhanced by the subtle notes of roads and pavements."

I close my eyes and breath in. I must agree. I've not felt this . . . serene . . . since forever, or at least that's what it feels like. My eyes open back at the sound of a laughter. A very young one.

"What's his name?" I ask, staring at a boy, maybe eleven-years-old, dark-haired and very slender, trying to keep his balance on a skateboard. His face, dappled by numerous freckles and endowed with prominent eyebrows, is rigid. He's focused.

"Henry," Nathan fills in.

My sight averts from the boy. "It might sound a bit strange, but I would have never expected to see your friend look after a kid."

Nathan furrows his brows. "How come? Of course Jeremy would look after his little brother."

"Well, to begin with, I never knew he had one, and he didn't appear to me as someone . . . quite capable of being responsible."

Nathan casts a look towards the ramps, on which the boys are playing. "I know that you two don't really like each other, but Henry means the world to Jeremy. He wouldn't let anything bad happen to that kid."

My eyes follow after Nathan's. His friend is hunched down, both hands resting on Henry's little shoulders as he gives him a motivational speech. I don't think the kid has ever skated down a ramp before. He's definitely going to end up on his bottom.

With the upcoming fall visualizing itself in my head, I move my eyes to Jeremy. From what I've seen in the past (when I was already with Nathan but it was yet too early for Will to interject into my relationship), he's an outstanding skater. I have never seen him slip off the board before, yet now, whilst he's pulling his hoodie over his head to take it off, and his T-shirt moves up with it, I can spot quite a few bruises and scabs, some on his stomach and ribs, some on his forearms.

I turn my attention back to Nathan. "Does Jeremy fall off the board often?"

Nathan huffs, amusement mixed with jealousy. "I bloody wish." His eyes, electric green thanks to the sun that pierces through clouds, land on me. "Why?"