Circles

Third Cycle: Love, Chapter I

Two months later, they were taking the bus to the hospital. Noah had returned to class some time ago, and luckily, Erick hadn't even come near him. He didn't know if it was because Alister had "talked" to him before coming back or just because he felt guilty, but he didn't care. He didn't want to have anything to do with any of his classmates now, especially not with his former "job". He had Alister back, and this time he wouldn't mess things up. Anyway, maybe he wouldn't even be able to go to college, and since the money he had saved was enough to leave home and support himself for at least a while, he wouldn't have to force himself to do something like that again. As long as Erick didn't open his mouth and decide to tell everything to his brother, things would be calm. It didn't benefit him either.

The situation with Jake was completely different. The guy had tried to reach out to him on several occasions, not understanding the situation, while Noah simply ignored him every time he saw him, until he lost his patience and yelled at him that his father had beaten him because of Jake's fault. He was angry, and that time he said things he regretted later, but he couldn't contain himself. It was his fault that he couldn't draw now, and it was his fault that they had beaten him. Immediately, Jake recoiled, and feeling terrible about the situation, Noah stopped getting close to him so that his father wouldn't hurt him anymore, breaking all contact immediately. That's when Noah truly hated him. He hated him and at the same time hated himself for allowing himself to trust someone other than Alister. He knew from the start that Jake would betray him and leave him behind at the first sign of trouble, like everyone did, and that final test only confirmed it. It was only a matter of time before it happened, and even though he knew it, he couldn't help getting attached to him; at that moment, he needed to believe it would be different.

Nevertheless, Jake was an idiot who never knew when to keep quiet, and now he had Alister back, which was what mattered. Alister was different. Alister would never leave him overnight like Jake had done.

As the autumn landscape passed by the bus window, Noah leaned against Alister's shoulder like a wounded animal, swayed by the motion and the caresses he bestowed on his head.

"I wish I could stay like this forever," he murmured.

"Things will get better. I promise."

"I wonder... if Dad were to disappear one day, things would be much easier, don't you think?"

"Yes. But Dad won't vanish just because we wish it."

"Yeah, well... I know he doesn't love me, but still, he raised me... I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him. It's just a hypothetical scenario."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. If only we could live happily just the two of us, that would be fine. I could forget everything."

"It's not that simple," he sighed.

"Of course it is... we could run away, Alister." Noah lifted his head and gave him a hopeful look, as if he had the solution to all the problems.

"You know it's not possible."

"Why not? We just have to decide and that's it."

"Dad would look for us, you know that. I don't want to imagine how he'd react to you..."

"The solution to that is for him not to find us," he smiled triumphantly.

"You're so stubborn."

"Just let me dream for a moment. I want to believe we're going to another city on this bus and we'll never come back. Imagine all the fun things we could do!"

Alister smiled.

"Alright, where are we going?"

"Let me think."

"You don't even know where you want to go?" he chuckled.

"Don't make fun of me! I haven't been to many places, and you know it... Ah! I want to go to the beach!"

"Why do you want to go there? It's just sand. It's annoying."

"It's just because I remember Mom. I was really young, so everything's blurry. But I'd never forget the sea. It was so big that I held onto her hand with all my might because I was scared..."

Noah began to play with his hair while looking at an unreachable place, so Alister took his hand.

"Alright, when all this is over, we're going to the beach."

"Do you mean it?"

"Yes. I promise. Even though it will be just a day trip."

"Yay!"

"Get ready to get off, we're almost there. I'll help you with your things. Does your arm hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt."

"Good. Let's hope they can take that off today."

"The first thing I'll do is draw for hours."

"Hey, don't even try it. The doctor warned you that you need to do exercises before getting back to activities."

"Yeah, yeah... come on, we'll miss our stop."

They walked through some small streets, venturing into the city as Noah smiled at the idea of regaining his freedom. As soon as they arrived at the hospital, they called him in for the doctor's appointment. Alister accompanied him, as always, although he hated being in that place. Things were better than they thought, so the doctor decided to remove the cast and start rehabilitation. Another doctor who was also present in the room showed him some exercises he had to do every day, several times a day, and that was it.

When they left the appointment, Noah could hardly hide his happiness; he hadn't realized how much the cast had been bothering him out of habit.

"Do you want to eat something? - Alister asked him with an amused look, while Noah hopped between the lines of the street."

"I'm fine, I want to go back home" he smiled, "Ah... I never thought I'd say that!"

"Let's buy something quickly to celebrate and then go."

"Oh... it will be great! The first thing I'll do is draw you, what do you think?"

"The exercises..." he warned with a stern voice."

"Yes, yes! I promise to be good, it just seemed to me that it would be great to have a portrait of you..."

"Noah, What are you talking about?" he laughed.

"No... it's just..." the boy gave him a desolate look, and Alister immediately understood what he meant.

"Why are you worrying? Everything will be fine. I won't leave you alone."

"Yeah... " he murmured, his gaze lost.

Alister sighed.

"I have a better idea: how about giving me that portrait? Then I could show off how well my little brother draws..."

"No... don't do that!"

"Are you embarrassed?"

"Yes... I'm not good, and you know it..."

"Alright then, just draw something for me, would you?"

Noah looked at him in silence for a moment, as if he really wanted to tell him something but didn't dare.

"Someday..." he finally said, "I'll make a portrait for you that you can be proud of."

Alister smiled genuinely.

"I'll wait for you then."