Logan

64. So Long

*Natalie's POV*

The next few weeks were a blur, I found myself sharing more in the group sessions, I was steady on medication, I found myself sleeping more through the night than ever. Occasionally I'd let Aeron hold my hand, but when he came close enough to kiss me I could never follow through. He never let it get to him, he would just squeeze my hand and say, "This is enough for me."

One day, a large package arrived for me, Aeron, Frankie, and Canyon. When we opened it, there were separate packages enclosed for each of us. Aeron got the books he'd been telling us about, Frankie got candies, and Canyon got a new sketchbook. As for me, it was a ukulele with a note from Damien that said, 'they wouldn't let you have the guitar, so I hope this is ok' and an instructional book with some disney songs inside of it.

I noticed Canyon's curiosity with the ukulele, but after a few moments of looking at it, he walked out of the room. When he came back, everyone had all decided to sit on the patio. It was getting warmer now, so Frankie and I spent time chatting while Aeron became lost in one of his books. I occasionally saw Canyon sneak glances at the ukulele, the same glances I'd seen in Logan or Damien when looking at a new guitar.

I looked over to see Aeron looking at me, and Frankie stole a look between the two of us. We hadn't seen him express an interest in anything musical, ever. Aeron motioned for me to talk to him inside, so I followed him.

"I noticed he keeps looking at your ukulele," Aeron whispered.

"I know, but I thought he didn't even want to listen to music?"

"He didn't back at Christmas, that's for sure."

I squinted a bit, "Yeah, but Christmas means a lot of different things for people. It can either be good or bad feelings. Who knows?"

"Maybe we'll see a new side once you get better with your ukulele huh?" Aeron gave a small smile, before walking back outside, my hand in his.

When we came back outside, Frankie and Canyon were playing tic-tac-toe, and it was a nice day.

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*Canyon's POV*

"Play something for me," Aric demanded, "since you're so good." Aric's smirk played at my heart strings, and he passed the instrument to me.

I sighed, "Alright, but I can't promise it will be any good. I haven't practiced with the ukulele for a while..."

"Come with me, My love, To the sea, The sea of love, I wanna tell you, How much, I love you..."

Real life snapped me out of that memory.

Natalie was in front of me, "Canyon, are you alright? Canyon?" When I looked up at her, the tears were down my face, and it was already too late to contain them.

"Canyon, you're crying," I clung onto her, wrapping my arms around her, burying my face in her neck. She froze for a moment, before wrapping her own arms around me.

"It's alright," her voice was soft, but I couldn't stop crying.

I couldn't stop crying.

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*Natalie's POV*

When we were finally able to calm Canyon down, he'd decided to go to his room to lay down for a while.

A while turned into a few hours, but we were fine with it. Tonight they were screening the animated "Tarzan" in the community room, so we got our blankets and snacks together to join in. Aeron and I sat together, while Frankie sat next to me, and Canyon was next to Aeron.