Love Out Loud

Swim the stress away

It has been over a month and three weeks since Estella's last visit and Derek felt like his whole body had been casted in concrete,his whole body ache,Smith was rarely home same goes with Xavier who was working his ass off for uni,he was mostly alone,he signed and looked at his watch,it was 6:45pm,he shrugged before strolling around the house

Eric had a beautiful garden at the back of the house,the flowers there were so beautiful,their fragrance made Derek smile,he sat on the stone bench and shut his eyes letting the cool breeze blow on his face bringing him peace and comfort, suddenly he was pulled into one of his dreams but it felt so real,it was the last time he saw his mother,he was in the garden with her picking roses,that beautiful smile she always carried plastered on her face,he always loved to follow his mother around,she was the sweetest person ever,he shot awake when Ian's face suddenly appeared in his face,he blinked calming his harsh heartbeat

"You still torment me till date,why will you not let me have peace?"he held his head in his palms and cursed as he felt the tears of frustration building,he stood up when into his room"I could use some stretch"he changed into his swimming trunks,he was nervous,it's been awhile but he needed something to take his mind away from his surroundings,so he played his favorite music from his phone just to keep him conscious, leaving his phone at the edge of the pool he swallowed"well,here goes nothing"he jumped into the pool and smiled the moment the water flowed around him,he felt at peace,he loved swimming right from childhood,he had even made some money from swimming,so he pushed himself harder imagining he was in the competition again,

He swam from one end of the pool to the other enjoying the movement of the water around him,he closed his eyes and savored this moment,his phone began to ring so he began to swim back to get it but half way through the pool the image of Ian his mother choose that exact period to flash in his mind and he held his head as he began to panic,he didn't believe in magic or trance but he could not explain what was happening to him because his body suddenly forgot how to move and he began to sink as the last memory of his mother began playing again in his head

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"Mum!"the seven year old Derek called running around on chubby feet"hey,young man stop running or you'll hurt yourself"his mother hadn't finished speaking before the boy went tumbling down on his knees,his mother ran to him and pulled him up"see you hurt yourself baby"she looked at him and saw as his bottom lip quavered and tears simmering in his emerald orbs but none of those tears spilled out,his mother shook her head and hugged her son carrying him to sit in the stone bench that was inside the garden, she gently pulled his bottom lip out of his mouth and cradled him in her arms

"You know it's okay to cry right,tears doesn't mean weakness,in fact sometimes tears is the biggest source of strength, crying will not make you weak baby"he looked at his mother with trusting eyes and smiled"I'm a big boy,big boys don't cry mama"she rolled her eyes but smiled"yea,my son is the strongest, now let mama see that injury before it begins to fester"his knees were scraped and it was bleeding a bit too much,so she carried him and headed to the house

"Let's get the first aid kit in the house baby"he nodded as he latched into his mother's neck for support,an evil snicker made them stop at the edge of the pool and when they turned around they saw Ian in his young full glory"ah,I hate encroaching on this wonderful mother son dialogue but I hate it,it disgust me"-"what are you doing here Ian?"his mother questioned moving backwards as he approached"I'm here for you honey, come back with me and I'll be gentle in punishing you,how could you leave me for my ex?"she shook her head"please leave me and my family alone Ian, you've done so much bad things to us,go away"

But as she turned to leave Ian jumped on her making her drop her son, she struggled as he held her throat"leave my mother alone"he tried prying his hands away from his mother but got kicked furiously when falling he hit his head on the edge of the pool and fainted, Derek tried controlling his body out of the pool but the scene would not go away as he watched the man drag his mother's lifeless body away from the pool and into the secluded part of the garden there was already a pit dung,he saw him put his mother in and covered the hole, covering the fresh soil with a grass rug that looked so much like part of the garden

How come he forgot this part of his life,his father came running towards the pool when he saw him and Ian his himself so well,just as his father lifted him and ran out of the swimming area he felt his submerged body being lifted out of the water,he heard voices but they came from far

"Hey baby,baby,come on breathe for me okay"he felt pressure on his chest and lips connecting with his own, breathing was difficult all his inside burned finally after some time his eyes shot open as he dissolved into a fit of coughing and throwing up excess water from his lungs

"Eric?" Eric didn't say anything but looked at him with disappointment,he gently stood up with Eric's help"Eric?"still nothing,he just held his shoulder and stared at him like he was looking into his soul but the next next word he spoke broke Derek's heart"do you hate me that much that you seek suicide as an escape route?"Derek flinched at the pain and hostility attached to his voice"I'm sorry Eric"Eric nodded swiping angrily at the tears in his eyes

"You're sorry! you're sorry Derek,how could you,I know you're hurt but why would you choose to hurt me like this, have I not been there carrying your burdens and doing everything possible for you to be happy?was it not enough that you choose suicide,does this not mean you're being ungrateful and selfish?"Derek had tears coming out of his eyes now"no no no baby, listen to me,I didn't plan it to be like this,I was just bored and I needed to keep myself busy until you come,I just lost control,I swear baby I could never try to take my own life believe me please"

Eric just nodded and carried him bridal style after picking up his phone, Derek tried talking to him on the way but Eric totally shut down,tears falling from his eyes,he carried Derek into the bathroom"step into the tub Derek"Derek caught his wrist"I swear,you have to believe me baby I didn't try to take my life please"-"stop Derek,did you know how hurt I am right now,I saw you drowning,what would have happened if I came a bit late,I was few minutes away from loosing you, please just take a bath and be warm my brain is about to shut down"

He left him inside the bathroom and came out clutching his chest as he cried,he pulled his soaked clothes away and dried himself with a towel before changing his clothes and sitting at the edge of the bed, Derek came out a moment later with swollen face and red puffy eyes"I'm sorry Eric"Eric didn't say anything,he just pulled him into a hug and whispered into his ear"stop talking, sleep"he knew Eric was crying and was totally disappointed in him but he really didn't try to kill himself why would Eric not believe him,he heard him sniff and tried to face him but Eric held him still"Don't, please"and so they cried in the darkness of the room until they surrendered to painful sleep

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Hi! I'm sorry for the late update, been busy at work and no time to write bit I'm trying to put it all together,please I'm writing from my phone so there might be lots of typographical errors Don't judge but feel free to point them out,just few chapters before love out loud comes to a wrap,I'm missing this characters already 🥺🥺🥺but we gat to move on right?see you soon love you💜💜💜