Your Turn - A Dear Starboy Oneshot

Your Turn

Tom slammed his door behind him. His father hollered and screamed at him, but he refused to leave. The shouts became distant as he looked to his windowsill.

The letter still sat there.

His eyes welled with a fresh round of tears, which streamed down his face like a waterfall.

Maybe that's a bad comparison...

He gingerly lifted the letter off the ledge, trying desperately to read it through his blurry eyes. His vision was too fuzzy, but he read it all the same.

He already knew what it said.

Tom gazed through his open window at the hundreds of stars splattered across the night sky.

'I'm with the stars now.'

The shimmering stars all bled into each other, like a painting that wasn't quite dry yet.

The window across from his now looked miles away. As he pulled his eyes from the drawn curtains, the ground seemed to beckon him.

Before, he had worried the fall would break his legs. Now he wished it was much more than that.

Why don't you join him?

The thought dragged him to his window, pulled him over the ledge and dangled him twenty feet above the ground.

The fall is too short, Tom thought. Still, he refused to move. Like a million little strings had him tied down to that very spot. If he tried, he could break them. But instead, he let them be.

It's your turn, Tom. Go dance across the night sky with Tord.

Forever.

It was so tempting. So unbelievably tempting.

The tiny strings started pulling him. Just a little at first, but soon, more and more until he was leaning so dangerously far that he would've fallen.

But then, Tom gazed up.

The beautiful golden stars captured Tom, locking him in a daze for what felt like hours. He could still hear Tord's laughter. He could still see his smile.

Join him.

...

...

...

No...

Tom slid back on the ledge, keeping his eyes to the stars.

This wasn't what Tord wanted.

This wasn't what Tom wanted.

Tord had gone because he believed there was nothing left for him here. But... there was.

There was so much left for him.

This world was full of so many beautiful, wonderful things that Tord would never get to see.

But Tom...

Tom would see them all.

Every mountain peak and every river valley.

Every pastel rainbow and every shimmering stormcloud.  

Every joyous laugh and every painful call.

Tom would see it.

The bucket list, Tom thought.

He had to finish it.

Tom's eyes scanned the beautiful field of stars.

I'll join you one day, Starboy.

And I'll tell you all about it.