Hollow | BxBxBxB

-17- The Orchard

As the evening drew close and the sky began to darken Connor gazed out of his bedroom window thoughts dancing around his head like firelight. The image of Riccardo's scarred wrists hadn't left his mind since he'd seen it earlier that day. The moment was replaying over and over again in his head stuck on loop.

On one hand Connor wished he'd never seen it, wished he could've remained ignorant to Riccardo's bad habit so he didn't feel so sick with worry, on the other hand he was glad he knew, glad he could now be there for the brunette to support him through whatever was happening with him.

Staring out into the dim courtyard Connor watched Riccardo sat on his usual bench, the Italian had headphones in and his ipod in hand, he was lucky Simon had allowed him to bring it. There was probably some rock tune blasting into his ears in that very moment. It was now or never.

Deciding he'd risk it Connor rushed out his room heading down the stairs, as he walked through the lounge he passed Alex who was playing on the switch, Alex flashed him a friendly smile but was too engrossed in his game to chat, which was lucky for Connor.

Heading into the courtyard for the first time a chilly breeze instantly hit Connor. It was a nice change from the blistering heat that had been soaking the house for the last few days, despite the overwhelming hot weather Riccardo had diligently been wearing sweaters or hoodies, that should've been the first sign something was wrong. Even right now he was wearing a mustard yellow sweater. The color suited him well but his reasoning for wearing it drowned out how cute it made him look. How it stuck to his skinny frame in the breeze.

The courtyard itself wasn't anything special, it was about the size of half a tennis court, a high fence cordoned it off from anywhere else making it a completely private space for the patients, a cobbled path twisted through the luscious, well kept grass. There were multiple well attended flower beds filled with colorful petals. A big maple tree stood in the very corner of the yard, that's where one of the benches was. it was positioned right under the maple tree. Riccardo was sat on it his head down, eyes shut. Connor could tell he wasn't asleep but didn't want to scare the boy as he walked up.

Letting out a fake cough to stir Riccardo Connor began walking slowly up to him, opening his eyes Riccardo looked up in surprise putting a hand over his forehead so he could see who was approaching through the glaring sun. A small smile flickered onto his face as he registered Connor nearing him, he immediately shuffled to the left patting the spot next to him on the bench.

"Hey Connor" Riccardo whispered as Connor sat down. "This your first time out here?"

"Yeah" Connor replied gazing around the courtyard, the air was tinted a beautiful shade of orange as the sun began to set. Birds chirping filled the air and the sweet aroma of flowers wafted around them.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Riccardo commented looking up at the sky wistfully.

"It's really peaceful" Connor answered watching Riccardo, he wasn't sure how to approach the delicate subject with the boy he'd come to adore.

"It reminds me of the orchard back home, the smells, the breeze, the birds, the grass, this tree. It all reminds me of it. It's nice to have a slice of home home, even if it isn't exactly the same" Riccardo stated describing the garden beautifully, even his carefully strung sentences were like poetry to Connor.

"That must be nice, the orchard sounds like it was your safe space" Connor responded quietly as the wind picked up slightly, the force of it made Riccardo's brown hair blow in front of his eyes for a second before the Italian pushed it away nodding.

"It was, I'd love to take you there someday Connor. My grandparents are still over there, they bought our old house after we moved so inherited the orchard as well" Riccardo explained smiling warmly.