Expelled and needing to transfer for his final year, Liam had known immediately where to go. It was the place that'd taken everything from him; that'd ruined him so absolutely it'd twisted his personality beyond recognition.
The place where he'd met...
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For as long as Charlie could remember, his body had been a chamber for the noise. A crashing, unrehearsed orchestra clattered through his nerves and swelled in his ears, impulsive cymbals clashing like the thunder, strings stretched taut with ever-tightened anxiety, and drums battering violently in his rage like the rush of his heart.
ㅤHe'd become so used to it, he hadn't even realised until it'd stopped. The air was still. Silence was brittle. And in its place, one clear note: the stairs.
ㅤThe growling wind that whipped his wet hair into his eyes was frozen, the storm holding itself back in shock. Blood no longer pounded deafeningly in his ears; and his lungs had stopped gorging for air. For a moment, time held its breath, and then he heard the rain.
ㅤIt hissed and thrashed.
ㅤHe'd been a barely-conscious animal, having suddenly found himself sobering from his fever—more aware of the world than he'd ever been.
ㅤWater dripped off his hair's spiked ends, slicing down his cheek to his chin, and finally onto the ground below.
ㅤThe ground. Charlie blinked slowly as his blurred eyes focused on it. Rain rushed through the cracks of the concrete like a river, falling off to the next step, and then the next, and the next.
ㅤAs his gaze traced down each stair, stopping when it landed on what was at the bottom of it.
ㅤ"...Rowan?" he croaked.
ㅤNothing.
ㅤ"Rowan?" he tried again; his small voice trembled with his legs.
ㅤThe only response received with the mocking applause of returning storm smashing everything around him. Discarded wood and metal rattled in the skip like bones, laughing.
ㅤCharlie wobbled back from the edge, his gaze fixed. His eyes wouldn't avert, no matter how much he begged, whimpering as the unmoving body of the boy seared into his memory.
ㅤWhy did I do that?
ㅤHe let himself sob this time, his heart stabbed by every single word he'd pierced the boy with. "Rowan, please wake up." His plea was drowned easily in the rain.
ㅤ"Fucking get up!" he screamed. But it was no use, Rowan's misshapen body didn't flinch as it lay still, thoughtless to the weather that assaulted it.
ㅤCharlie's hands shook over his numb lips. "Oh my God, why did I—? I'm so sorry. I don't know why I—"
ㅤThe promise echoed in his ears like laughter, chewed in that grotesquely fond smile he'd once loved.
ㅤYer gonna be just like me when you grow up, it grinned.
ㅤBile burned up his throat, and Charlie bent over, retching up dry. "Oh God. I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm so fucking sorry."
