"I always will"

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«Are you good?»

Artem glanced over at Kostya, rubbing his hand on Kostya's back.

«Yeah. Sure. I'll be fine.»

Kostya went into his dressing room and stared into his reflection, smoothing down his hair and straightening his jacket. He moved his eyes over to the picture of Kristian, hung up on the mirror with a piece of tape.

«Mélovin! We're going to start playing soon, get ready!»

He sighed, took a deep breath, and went out on stage.

Autumn came to us

And you sit alone alone

In the dark room

In his arms he himself

Crowds were cheering, and he saw a dozen posters and flowers being thrown around in the air.

Hold on, we're near

Hold your thoughts out

And know what's around

Everything is pale black as usual

The audience was opening up at the back. Had something happened? Kostya kept on singing, trying to ignore it. It was probably nothing. He closed his eyes.

We'll see the world once

Colored, familiar to the pain

And do not worry, we're all here

With you, with me, and it's not

The song reminded him so much of Kristian. That was the problem. Kostya was able to live his life, but could never fully move on. It was the small things that stopped him. A familiar scent, a person with the same hair... even just seeing a couple in the streets brought a stab to his chest. The memories would well up in him, and Kostya would find himself falling into his old habits, scrolling through their messages and photos. He'd bring up the sound of Kristian's voice, just a simple «hey» made his heart sting in memories and forgotten love.

With you, with me, and it's not

With you, with me, and it's not

With you, with me, and it's not

With you, with me, and it's not

If only Kostya could go back in time, to value the times they had. Just sitting next to each other, holding hands, Kristian's head resting on Kostya's shoulder as they watched the stars... He wanted no-one else. Not Benjamin, or any other person. Someone who understood, who made him smile and made him cry, someone to dance around with in the middle of the night. Someone he had tossed away. Kostya had ripped Kristian out of his heart, leaving a void that he was unable to fill with music.

Autumn came to us

And the dark world has found you

We thought together

That I will not go away from you

The crowd was clearly splitting up now, dividing like it had been cut by a knife. Someone was walking through, clearly not stopped by the other people around him.

Hold on, we're near

Hold your thoughts out

And know what's around

Everything is pale black as usual

Kostya signaled for the music to stop, and the band reluctantly quit playing.

«What's going on here? Can someone tell me what's happening?»

Nobody spoke, the silence was crushing, with the scent of sweat and tension flailing in the air.

A young man came up, close to the stage. The band around him hinted that they should keep on playing, but he just looked at his boyfriend moving closer to him.

Kristian tired climbing over the security fences, but guards were holding him back and trying to move him away.

«Let me come through! I need to see him! Don't you know who I am?»

«Guards, let him come up on stage.»

In the blink of an eye, Kristian stood before him, with glistening eyes. Kostya's stomach clenched.

«What the hell are you doing here?» he whispered.

Kristian looked anxiously at Kostya, probably realizing the consequences of the things he'd done.

***

«K-Kostya... I...» Kristian's voice was shaking.

«I'm sorry for making a fool out of you. I'm sorry, I'll just...» he began walking backstage.

«Kristian, wait!» He stopped up, the lump in his stomach grew.

«I'm sorry. For everything.»

Kristian turned around, slowly.

«I know.» Kristian's voice was barely a whisper, just a breath of air.

The silence was paralyzing, the only thing that broke it were the muffled whispers of Melovinators.

«Can you forgive me?» Kostya asked, his voice frail and thin.

«I always will. Kostya, I'll always love you, you know that?»

***

It was as if the entire universe clicked together, all knots were resolved. Kristian still loved him, and that was all that mattered.

«Oh, uhm... Were you going to continue the show?» Kristian asked.

«I guess...»

«Which song was playing?»

«З Тобою, Зі Мною, І Годі. Last chorus.»

«Give me the microphone.»

Kristian signaled for the band to start playing, and before they knew it, they were singing together, Kostya's voice filled with happiness and Kristian singing in rusty Ukrainian.

We'll see the world once

Colored, familiar to the pain

And do not worry, we're all here

With you, with me, and it's not

We'll see the world once

Colored, familiar to the pain

And do not worry, we're all here

With you, with me, and it's not

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