let's stay together even tomorrow

Chapter 1

"Perhaps it is the greatest grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone."

-Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

The 5 boys went too far long unchanged and that became their biggest downfall and it began to destroy them. Nothing lasts forever and they had to decide when that will be, and whether to hold on or to let go.

Now four boys are kneeling, with strangely solemn looks on their faces as they gaze at a photograph of a young man smiling, his eyes shining brightly. White lilies engulf the picture and it makes him look even more beautiful. Cries echo through the room from the corner. Silence. Casey shifts, his knees starting to hurt but his heart aches more. It was a strange sight, for people passing by, seeing such nice-looking men, bawling their eyes out. But what do they know? How could they know the relationship these 5 boys had? Their strong bond? The bond that had started in childhood when they met at night in a park playground that was too old for its own good. Casey feels a warm hand cover his own as hot tears paint his face.

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14 Years Ago

The August summer heat was almost always unbearable in Casey's small hometown, but at least it got cooler at night. Casey always preferred the night to day, maybe for some specific reason; perhaps because his dad was asleep and couldn't hit him, and his mom's berating words weren't flooding his ears every moment. School had just started up again, and Casey already felt tired.

She was careful when sneaking out, so as not to disturb the quiet hum of the apartment. There is a moment where she swears she almost woke up one of her older brothers. Sharing a room is not fun, especially for growing kids. Just as Casey looks around her surroundings, she realizes she forgot a jacket. Stupid, how could you be so stupid? She could hear her father's voice echoing from the depths of her mind.

Shaking her head to discard any more negative thoughts, Casey heads to her favorite place in her small world, the park's playground.

Once she arrives, Casey is greeted by her older cousin Finn Hart. Although they treat each other like siblings. Lately, they both have been coming to the park at night to escape their parents. Apparently, the shitty abusive genes run in their family. At the ages of 8 and 9, the older stands just a few inches taller than Casey. He is wearing a bloody slit in his left eyebrow and a busted bottom lip. As for Casey, her deep bruises hide silently underneath her clothes. Casey's eyes furrow up in worry, a delicate hand coming to poke at her cousin's lip. The older smiles silently before grabbing Casey's hand and closing his eyes.

Then they sit, swinging on the swings as the wind starts to pick up. Finn turns to Casey, "Are you sure you're not cold?" Casey bites back a shiver and shakes her head no. But... she is cold. But the need to impress her cooler cousin outweighs that fact.

A few minutes pass and Casey decides to stand up to circulate heat in her body. As she makes silly little dance moves to make Finn laugh, she spots two small figures by the slide, watching them. She immediately stops, which makes Finn look over in the direction of the two small figures.

As if their brains were just little gears, something clicked in their minds, they remembered their faces. Casey bites her nail, a habit of hers, "Oh, I know them! I've seen them around school." Finn hums and jumps off the swing. "Well, Cas, let's go say hi." And now the cousins are cautiously making their way towards the slide.

The thick awkwardness wafting through the air is almost suffocating to everyone except Casey, her pure curiosity taking over. Another beat of silence passes them as the breeze picks up once more. One of them steps forward, he smiles with eyes that shine lightly. "Hi, I'm Jesse Quinn." It's hard not to smile back at the boy, so the cousins decide not to fight the urge and smile back at him. "I'm Finn Hart, and this is my little cousin Casey Hart." Casey rolls her eyes at the comment but Finn moves on, gesturing to the other boy. "And who are you?" The other just stares up at Finn, and Jesse laughs, "This is Micah Erikson. He's a little shy but that's because he's a baby." A sharp gasp comes from the boy, "I am not a baby! I just turned seven." The boys erupt into a fit of laughter.