Then He Smiled [BoyxBoy]

Chapter Twenty-Four

Hours blended into days, stretching and warping time in a way that I'd never experienced before in my life. I was suddenly thrust into a world where I barely knew what day it was. It all felt the same to me. My only thoughts consisted of school work, Fin, my dreams, and the occasional Faris/Cameron drama.

I remembered telling Fin about ignoring the dreams, not looking into them too much, but I secretly could not get them out of my head. Every time I closed my eyes before falling asleep, I was sucked into another day in the life of Arnold and Zach.

It was like watching an in depth reality TV show centered around their relationship, but definitely not in chronological order.

Some dreams were of the couple before they even were a thing, and others were of some pretty heated hookup sessions. The latter would not have bothered me so much if I wasn't haunted by them.

But I was haunted by them.

In my head they were ghosts.

I knew Arnold and Zach were no longer alive. It was like staring at an old black and white photo of men in war and knowing that they didn't make it to the finish line.

I never admitted it to Fin, I never told him of that heavy feeling in my gut, but I sensed that he felt it too. Whenever we spoke of the two, which we tried to avoid as much as possible, we would always use words in past tense because we just knew.

"What happened this time?"

Fin was whispering, his voice heavy with sleep. I shuffled towards him, feeling the side of my leg press against his, warmth instantly rushing through my bones.

It was no longer dark outside, the crack under the door and the distant sound of movement around the building was proof enough, but Fin's room was dark. He liked to draw the curtains over the small window between the two beds.

I could barely see the outline of his body, he was leaning his head agains his hand, elbow digging into the sheets to hold him up.

This time, I told Fin, Arnold and Zach were happy.

It was a rare case, I discovered, after several visions and dreams. Arnold never lived a happy life, the only silver lining he could find was Zach.

This time, Arnold and Zach were not interrupted, and their happiness somehow felt as if it could last forever, even to myself.

They sat in a familiar looking garden, with trees of so many kinds that bore all sorts of flowers and fruits. I could almost smell it in my dream, the scent of freshly trimmed grass and apples. Rich, blood red, juicy apples.

The sound of birds chirping was the first thing I noticed, and the breeze as it blew calmly between the green leaves.

Summer. A bright, round sun in the middle of a pale blue sky, few clouds in sight.

Arnold and Zach were sitting on a wooden bench, dressed in their usual out dated attire, their front buttons undone and their sleeves rolled up to accompany the heat.

"One more year," Zach said, and he laced his fingers with Arnold's.

The other boy didn't look as optimistic. "That's a long time."

"We'll get by. We always do."

"That's another year of hiding in the shadows, lying-"

"It will be worth it," Zach insisted. "My cousin-"

"Promised to help," Arnold filled in. "I know."

Zach smiled. "Just think of all the things we'll get to do. Together. We can go anywhere, do anything we wish."