Streetlight

3

It's the middle of the night. The sky is cloudy, and the only useful sources of light are the lit streetlights, all around the park. There is not even the slightest hint of wind, and it isn't even that cold to begin with. It's a very average night, that's for sure.

And it is quiet. At first.

There is at first a distant sound of small, plastic wheels rolling on a rough surface, which gets closer as the slow flowing of time takes its course. It's accompanied by the sound of firm footsteps stepping on concrete, one at a time.

Together, those sounds make it to one of the park's paths.

There is a guy, with an unzipped large brown jacket, a plain white T-shirt, blue jeans and black shoes dragging a grey suitcase, along with a large black bag on the side of his torso. His left hand is holding on to the bag's lace, the other is dragging his luggage.
He looks ready for a journey, that's for sure.

His half-opened eyes are looking down on the floor, his expression is neutral, maybe even lost.

He keeps on walking, each step ticking like a clock, each step slow, but timed perfectly.

Aiden, with his slow walking, eventually makes it to one of the many streetlights of the park. It has a bench and a trashcan just below it, and it definitely seems like a pretty convenient place to sit in, but it wasn't something he worried much about.

The streetlight flickers though. How many years did it have?

Aiden gets under the light coming from that streetlight, until he hears heavy running. At first, it's from somewhere further into the city, but Aiden still freezes on the spot.

The noise gets closer, and closer, until it slows down to completely stop a few steps behind Aiden himself. Then panting and huffing take the place.

Between the huffs, the person behind shouts
"AIDEN!"

Aiden slowly turns around.

There is a guy holding himself on his knees. He seems pained, maybe from all the running.

He breathes for a few seconds, before passing his hand through his short brown hair.

"... Nathan. Why did you follow me?"

Nathan got up and looked at Aiden with a look full of grief and worry. His hands were tense, and one was grabbing his own purple hoodie.

"What are you doing, Aiden?"

Aiden looks to the side, on the road, again.
"What the fuck do you think I'm doing!? I'm moving away. I talked with my employer yesterday and told him I decided to take their offer for that place in the next city. I already told you about that before I went out."

"... Why?"

Nathan wanted to beat himself up over that question. He knows the answer, but deep down he doesn't want to acknowledge it.

Aiden turned his look again to Nathan.
"Are you seriously asking as if you didn't know? As if we didn't discuss this not long ago?! I saw everything. I caught you with her half naked in our bedroom! It was JUST what I needed to decide if I should go to that place."

Aiden pauses and takes a breath. It's awkward and frustrating to remember everything again, and talk about it out loud, as it had happened not long ago. He feels confused, embarassed and angry, to the point where his head starts to spin a bit. He looks away again, passing his hand through his mid length brown hair, playing with it, just to get his mind off somewhat.

"... And you know I planned for us to go there together anyway, one day. I was waiting for us to be ready or for something to happen, I guess. But now I'm going alone and you're not invited."