Isn't Life Lovely?

Chapter 2

Sebastian awoke, his eyes stung from the tears that had fallen all night, his back was sore from the constant moving he had done.
He checked his phone, the time was 4:23am, he sighed as he moved the blinds away from the window, the slightly dark sky lit his room to a hazy navy colour. He cracked bones, stretching out on his bed then curling back up.
He finally sat up as he saw the flash of the sun in the horizon, he looked around his small room, his kitchen was just a plug-in portable stove and a bigger-than-mini fridge, his closet was just a small rack with clothes neatly placed on it, his bed was a pullout, although he never bothered to put it back into the boring couch it had been, he never felt that he needed to. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and finally stood, this time stretching higher.
His long, blue shirt covered his red plaid boxers. He sighed, shuffling across the wooden floor towards his small stove, the sun was finally peeking up, shining through his window and warming his back.
He took out his pan and lightly oiled it, grabbing 2 eggs from his fridge he waited for the oil to be sizzling and put the eggs in, slightly turning the heat down.
Sebastian got out the blender and took out his milk, sugar, vanilla and ice and blended it, hoping that other people were awake so he wasn't being rude. He heard his phone ding and he pulled it out, flipping his eggs in the process, he noticed his friend, Melanie had texted asking to come over. He sighed and a small smile grew on his face, Melanie had been his good friend for a while, and never really judged him for anything he had done, although he hadn't really done much.
He texted her back, inviting her over happily, he took his breakfast to his small coffee table and sipped his drink quietly as the sun shone down on his walls, leaving a warmth behind. Finishing up, he cleaned his tasty meal and placed his dishes in the washer, promising that he'd put them away after Melanie had left, he decided to clean up his bed. As he made his bed, his hand ran along a hole in the wall, it being made from his girlfriends drunken anger, he rubbed his eyes and forgot the memory, knowing it would just make him sad.
He jumped at the sound of knocking at his door, he hadn't even gotten dressed! He quickly pulled on some shorts that were on top of his small pile of clothing for the wash, he opened his door and Melanie on the other side smiled widely.

"Hey Sebby!"
"Hi.. you know I don't like that name! What did you want here anyhow?"
The two hadn't met up for a while, the last time was a month and a half ago, and Sebastian couldn't be bothered to text her.
She frowns slightly, her eyes looked sad for a moment.
"Getting straight to the point, I see. I'm here for a social check, I haven't seen you in a while. I'm worried for you.."
Sebastian shook his head and looked at his bare feet, shuffling as he noticed her shoes were on, mud was tracking on his clean wood floor.
"Do.. Do you mind taking off your shoes...? I don't want Doris thinking that I'm a slob."
His friend nodded and slid them off, putting them on his neatly place mat in the corner near the doorway. Doris was the little old lady that spent her days cleaning people's room and sorting out the small dust bunny's that would sneak in from the corners.
"How's Jill?" she asked quietly, her voice was almost hushed.
"She's ok.. I mean, I never see her anymore, she's staying with Louise I think..."
Melanie put her hand on his shoulder awkwardly for a sign of sympathy, and took it off when the silence was too much. The tense silence could be cut with a dull knife, and the sound of people downstairs getting ready for the day could be heard. She studied his features quietly, noticing the bags under his eyes. His glasses placed on his nose, hiding his tired blue-green eyes strategically.
"Well, do you have any wine? Or is it too early?" she giggled as she said the last bit, standing up and going towards the fridge.
"I don't really.. drink? Do you want some sweet milk smoothie?" Melanie looked surprised at the thought of her friend not drinking, but she nodded anyhow.
After Sebastian had gotten the drinks, they talked until their smoothies were finished, and had decided to go out and walk towards the pond. It was soon to be winter and the cold was almost here, and to stay for a few months. They continued their walk, Sebastian wasn't laughing as much as Melanie, but was still smiling at the small jokes she had made on the way.
They arrived at the small pond, and they had spent most of the time on the bench, watching as kids had ran from the small school across town to skip stones and create gentle ripples in the quiet water.
Melanie sat as Sebastian laid his head in her lap, her short black hair was thrown over her shoulder so it wouldn't block her hazel eyes. They always knew that there was nothing between either of them, and they didn't mind, they had been friends for so long that it would be different to be "together", and they had always laughed at the thought. Melanie was always a great support, and was always there for late night rants, although it wasn't often, she was going to support him through anything.

They had walked back slowly, talking about his aggressive girlfriend who had made his life hell, but he couldn't break up with her as it would break her heart. Melanie disagreed.
She had never liked the thought of Jill hurting her friend, but she couldn't do anything until he agreed to break up with her. She knew that it wouldn't be any time soon.
Melanie said her goodbyes to Sebastian, he closed the door behind him and sat down on his bed, turning on his projector and watching as the reel began to move, the picture appeared on his wall and he sat back, watching as the people on the screen moved in their world. He checked his phone and saw a message from Micheal, he had wanted to come over. He texted him and said he could. He wondered if he should change, but he decided not to as he heard a small knock come from his door.
"Come in!"
The door opened and the red head peeked in, quietly stepping in the door. He wiped his shoes and took them off, setting them down on his mat asking with a white box and walked towards him.
"Thanks for inviting me... I was incredibly bored."
Sebastian smiled at him.
"Would you like a drink? I've got coconut water..? Or I could make a smoothie?"
Micheal looked thoughtful. "I could go with some coconut water I guess."
He nodded and got two glasses, filling them with the creamy clear liquid, he put some sugar in each and handed it to the older man.
Micheal thanked him, sipping quietly as the movie continued. They smiled at each other as the people on screen continued in their little world, making gestures, sounds and of course conversing. Sebastian hadn't been paying attention much to the movie anymore, he studied his friends features, his usually gelled back red hair was messy in front of his sparkling green eyes, which were shining from the light on the wall. His glasses were placed gently on the bedside table.
The movie finished and the reel continued to roll on, the blank white screen silently stayed. Micheal looked over at his younger friend and smiled, his black curly hair fell in front of his blue-green eyes. His glasses were placed on his freckled nose, leaving a red mark after the man would take them off.
Sebastian felt a like a magnet, being compelled by another, his heart was beating fast. Suddenly his stomach growled, and he sat back, embarrassed.
Micheal laughed out loud, quickly covering his mouth, letting small giggles out.
"Oh shush... I didn't have lunch or dinner.." Micheal finally let himself laugh again and went over to his shoes where he had left a box, it was letting steam out from warmth. He handed it to the slightly smaller man and smiled as his eyes widened at the sight of chinese noodles along with little nuggets of bread covered chicken. They sat back down on the bed and ate the food together, chatting in between bites.
"I've never learned about your hobbies and what you do?" Sebastian asked, and looked at the taller one.
"Well, I'm a pianist, and I play other instruments.. i'm a newspaper editor."
He cut him off quickly and stood up, walking to his 'closet' and pulled out his keyboard from behind his clothes, he hadn't played in a while, but he knew how to play some songs that he'd taught himself. He plugged it into an outlet and handed it to the other man on the bed.
"That was so random! Do you just have that hanging around?" He laughed.
Sebastian blushed and smiled at him, punching his shoulder lightly.
"Well...? Go on!"
Micheal sighed and began to play an intricate piece, his fingers glided over the keys so naturally and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

After his piece was done, Sebastian stared at the red-head in wonder, his heart began beat fast again as he finally caught his breath. Micheal looked over at Sebastian and blushed at the way the other stared at him, he couldn't help but notice the small singular freckle on the right side of his neck, his eyelashes were longer than his own, and his bottom lip had a small scar. He couldn't help but run his index finger along it, feeling the slight indent of it, he looked up at him and noticed his eyes were filled with small tears.
Sebastian felt horrible, his girlfriend wasn't ever as caring as his friend seemed to be, the way his hand was placed carefully on his cheek.
"What's wrong..?"
"It's just... you're so much more than my girlfriend.."
He nodded in understanding, he had once been in the same problem as his friend.
"If you're unhappy.. maybe you should give her up... she's obviously not treating you well!"
He sighed when Sebastian leaned back, shaking his head.
"It's late, I should be going back.." Micheal said decisively, standing up and walking towards his shoes.
"I'm sorry Micheal.." he said quietly, tears once again beginning to fall down his cheeks, he took off his glasses and wiped his eyes once his friend had left.