Blossomed in Love (ManXboy)

Death in the Air.

Damon

I take in the boy in front of me, puffy eyes from crying as he's enveloped in his mom's arms. I just want to comfort him, shield him, keep him safe from the difficult blow that he's been dealt with that is enough to bring even the strongest person to their knees. To lose one's parent especially one that you're close to I can imagine is like a nightmare that keeps playing over and over on a loop.

"Damon I'm sorry Dashiel didn't tell you that he would be shadowing his father today." Dashiel's mom, Bess says as she comes downstairs and sees me. I don't bother correcting her that he did tell me that he would be shadowing today, Dash is not who I'm here for though, it's a different person I'm here for. "But Trip is upstairs." She announces and I also know that, but I pretend to be surprised by the information.

I glance back at Ms Marisol, she's been the Carter-Chen's housekeeper for as long as I've known them so to see her not smiling, in a state of utmost distress at the death of her husband is devastating to every one in the house. The tears run down her cheeks freely and Bess takes a seat near her to quietly comfort her.

"Mari why not let Marco go upstairs and stay with the boys." Bess reasons with her and it takes a while for her to release the iron grip she has on him before giving him a kiss on the forehead and cheek and nudging him with a small tear-filled smile to go with me.

Marco stands up slowly to walk towards me and I stand up too, to lead him upstairs to Trip's room. I take his small hand in mine and just gently lead him up the stairs towards the first room to the right upon reaching the top of the stairs. I don't bother to knock as I just open the door and we enter Trip's room to find him just lounging on the bed. The T.V. is on but he doesn't seem to be watching it as he looks far away in his thoughts and didn't even know someone entered his room.

I nudge Marco to sit on the edge of the bed while I take off his shoes and I take mine off too.

"When did you guys come in?" Trip asks, the surprise evident on his face.

"When you were fantasizing about god knows what." I retort back. Trip and I have always had a teasing kind of relationship, the type you have with your best friend's younger brother. We tease each other back and forth to the annoyance of Dash but there's still mutual respect there at the end of the day.

"Oh shut up Day." I chuckle at his embarrassed face. "Hey buddy, how are you feeling?" He asks Marco who just slightly shrugs in reply, sadness written all over his delicate features as he holds the tears at bay. "I know, I know it hurts buddy." Trip mumbles as Marco rests his head on Trip's shoulder.

Minutes later, Marco is asleep and together me and Trip adjust him and cover him well with the blankets.

"I've been avoiding going downstairs because it smells like death in the air." Aunt Mari is the type of person whose bubbly personality made you smile once you entered the house, regardless of your previous mood, so I understand the smell of death Trip is saying. The whole atmosphere seemed gloomy.

"He's too young for all this." I reply while taking in the delicate boy cuddled into the pillows, his eight year old mind probably too fragile to understand everything that just happened. Trip nods in agreement at my statement and we just stay in silence while watching the T.V. which is playing some movie on Netflix.

Dashiel arrives few hours later from the office along with his dad, uncle George and he comes upstairs almost immediately. His noise wakes Marco up with startling effect and I welcome him with a frown.

"Why d'you have to be so loud?" I throw at him.

"Jeez sorry, sorry buddy." He says to a discombobulated Marco. "Bess told me you were upstairs and I thought she was shitting me so I came to check." He slumps on my lap and I wince in pain at the sheer force with which he dropped on my lap.