5SOS Book of Imagines

LRH // Quiet

He doesn't talk. He just stares off into space as if forgetting that he was still living, that he was meant to live on. When she left, he forgot who he was, he forgot how to live, he forgot everything.

He seldom eats. His food is always left untouched, most of the time even thrown away. He'd take the bowl of soup and carelessly spill it on his bedroom floor.

He keeps to himself. His whole demeanor changed, it was like he was a different person or more so, it felt like he wasn't a living person anymore.

He blasts music in his room, never stopping it. Ever. 24/7. There's always music in there. One time his family tried turning off the loud, rock music and he threw a huge fit. He screamed at the top of his lungs, clawing his chest, clutching his head and crying. He cried like something was hurting him, like something was choking him as if he was being burned alive. He cried like he was going to die.

He only stopped crying when they played the music again. His tears stopped flowing; his heart rate slowly returned to normal, he crawled away from everyone's touch, sitting on his chair facing the window, closing his eyes as if breathing in the loud music. They decided just to keep it on, lowered the volume just for him to hear, and gave him a set of headphones to use if he wants the highest volume.

They've decided to cater to his unusual needs just to keep him healthy. They've realized that he sometimes pick on his sandwich when there's music playing. He eats-even a little-when there's music and his family couldn't care less why or how as long as he stays healthy. They can't bear to lose him. They might break like he did when she left him.

He's broken and there's a little to no chance he's going to be okay again.

She talks more animatedly. She feels more alive than she ever did when she was in that small town. She finally felt free, because she is. She'd left everything from her past and did what she always wanted to do, to pursue her dreams and live in the huge city.

She's finding out more and more about herself. She's shaping her identity in accordance to what the city is teaching her. She's venturing on deep waters, exploring herself physically, getting drunk on bars daily but she enjoys it-or so she says.

She enjoys a huge company. She's seldom alone, always with her new friends, going places, and meeting new people. She's too blind to see there's an impending destruction from what she's doing. Maybe she knew it, but chooses not to recognize it.

She thought leaving was the only way to be free. She thought forgetting her past was the only way to start a better future. She had her mind wrapped around the city's glory and beauty that she missed the treasure that she already had: him. In the end, she chose to throw away what she had. No, she didn't throw him away, not quite. She killed him, it's as good as that. She had broken him beyond repair, beyond recovery. She left so sudden and so painful that there was no chance he could be the same again.

She's happy and right now she believes there's no way she won't ever be.

Months pass and she continues to be eaten by the city's dark, disguised claws while Luke continues to survive, day by day. It was barely called living when he spends his days locked up in his room.

One afternoon when the sky was overcast, when Luke was looking out the window with a song called Seven Nation Army playing in the background, his mom approached him.

"Son, can we turn off the music?" she asked softly, testing his son's reaction. Today was a good day for Luke, he ate everything in his plate - a banana, a sandwich and he was able to finish his orange juice. Liz figured maybe his son would talk today.

Luke glanced at her from staring out the window. He shook his head, lips trembling, fear in his features.

"But why? Don't you like it when it's quiet? It will calm you down more," Liz even reached out to touch his shoulder and she sighed when he didn't flinch. She held him tight.

"Sometimes," Luke said, his voice low and quiet, almost drowned out by the music. Liz leaned in to hear, tears brimming in her eyes, he's talking. Luke took a deep breath and continued in a raspy, but clearer voice, "Quiet is violent."