All the Beautiful Things

III

A/N: I DON'T EVEN LIKE YOU WHY DO YOU WANT TO GO AND MAKE ME FEEL THIS WAY?! I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENED, I KEEP SAYING THINGS I NEVER SAY

iimagineeverestaslukehemmingsandcalumasashtonirwinohmygodpleasedon'tkillmeiswearimeannoharm

If you can figure out what that says I'll dedicate a chapter to you

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"I DON'T KNOW why you bother with him. He's boring, rude, and never looks anything but spaced out. Are you sure he's not a robot or something, Calum?" Casper asked after school one bitterly cold day after school, when the boys were meeting up to talk for the first time all day. Their gazes followed Everest Tanner as the tall blonde exited the building alone, walking slowly while listening to whatever nature sound was playing through his earbuds and shifting his green backpack from one shoulder to the other, flexing his muscles as he did so.

And those arms were spectacular.

"He can't even see colors! It's messed up!" Calum exclaimed, leaning against the silver rail. Jealously flashed like lightning through his dark eyes, but Calum didn't notice it, as he was too busy rolling around on the floor like a lunatic while shouting "it's faster if you roll!" in between Casper's words. The brown haired boy's friend friend did not like Everest Tanner at all. He hated how the boy was quickly capturing the devoted attention of Calum, and for whatever reason it bothered him. Calum had never really been infatuated with anyone before, but from the day he first spoke to Everest, the blonde was all he was willing to talk about.

Casper hated hearing about how much Calum wanted to show him the things that made life beautiful. Of course, he thought the idea was perfect, but he wouldn't admit it. It was obvious that Everest was born without any personal way of connecting with the world. While other people all saw Earth in their own way, with their own things to love and hate, Everest didn't have this, and it made him dull. Nothing excited him, no sights made his heart leap in wonder or gave him the feeling of happiness when he saw, smelled, felt, or heard that special something.

For Calum, his love was for all natural things outdoors, and real photos of people. No poses, they were too fake. For Casper, it was athletics. He felt an incredible passion for anything that required intense physical activity, it made him happy and triggered his sense of love. Everest had nothing like this, and having nothing that triggered happiness was sure to ruin any person. Even if that person never knew what the emotion felt like in the first place.

While he rolled around wildly on the floor, his hair infused with so much static electricity that it stuck up completely, Calum watched Everest leave in the least creepy way possible. He scanned the blonde hair and plan white t-shirt and black skinny jeans that the boy wore. His arms hung loosely at his sides and he walked with no personal difference that made him stand out. His feet were pointed perfectly straight, his shoulders didn't move the slightest, and his posture was perfect. Perhaps the flawless way of walking was Everest's own brand of personal difference.

Calum stared at him fondly, imagining him with a wide smile on his face. He was sure Everest's smile would be beautiful. It would strike a match in his cobalt blue eyes and light his entire face up, catching the eyes of anyone nearby with its dazzling brilliance. It wasn't only a smile that Calum pictured him with, either. Because the only look Everest ever wore was that of absence, Calum couldn't help but wonder what he looked like when he was sad, angry, tired, embarrassed, and everything in between.

And it was these imaginations, these dreams of seeing Everest express his emotions, that motivated the brown haired boy to go on and work harder at helping his emotionless friend. He wanted to be the one to pick up Everest's seemingly eternal pile of broken pieces. He had to be the one to pick it up, because he could tell that the blonde was slowly disappearing. His lack of feeling may hide it from Everest himself, but to one who paid attention, the boy looked just moments away from collapsing and drowning in his own emptiness.