from august to december

chapter nine

late that night, the thunderstorm had moved to another city, and it was quiet.

a little too quiet for eden, he hated silence. even when he was alone, there would always be music playing somewhere.

with a long breath, the black haired turned to the side of his bed to look outside the window.
from his bedroom, he could see the beautiful city lights and when it was open, the calming sound of a car driving down the streets could be heard.

even though it was dark, it was still hot, so eden wore just a short pajama and slept in a thin, white blanket.

for a few minutes, he just watched the lights outside go on and off.
he counted everyone of them, with not a single thought in his head.

but he knew that as soon as he would close his eyes, a million voices and memories would be flooding through his mind, and he wasn't prepared.

because his late night thoughts were the scariest he'd ever have.

yelling inside his head, old, dusty memories that he always wanted to hide from his present self would pop up unexpectedly and rob him his sleep.

in fact, eden didn't sleep properly ever since four years.

his mind was still blank, but he was so tired and he knew that eventually he would have to close his eyes to sink into sleep.

maybe a pill would help him, his thoughts told him.

even though he didn't want to fall back into old habits, his mind was still used to them.

eden wiped his slightly sweaty face with his hand and turned to lay on his stomach.

just a small pill won't hurt you.

but tonight, he wanted to be strong, for them, for the people that helped him recover and the people that he promised to be clean for.

he remembered how each of the seven had promised something, to make themself better, a better person, to change the future.

and then, he caught himself wondering if each of them had kept their promises.

it was clear that tonight he would be laying awake for hours again, even when he tried to sleep, so he decided to open his window wide and lean outside on the windowsill.

a soft breeze ruffled his black hair, and not so far away, he could hear the waves of the ocean crash on the beach.

or that's what he thought.
because eden tended to just think a lot.

after long stressful weeks, in this moment, he felt calm and peaceful, as if someone was watching over him and wrapping his arms around his shoulder.

his gaze wandered up to the sky, where the stars and the moon were shining gently, not as bright as the sun.

maybe they were a little shy.

his eyes stuck to the beautiful full moon, and he thought about leo.

whenever he looked at the night sky, he thought about the youngest.

eden climbed on the windowsill and crossed his legs, letting one arm hand loosely out the window.

he rested his head on the window frame and finally allowed his thoughts to wander into all directions.

they weren't as aggressive tonight, not as harmful and loud, maybe because he, himself, felt complete those minutes.

but that tranquility didn't last as long as he hoped it would, because suddenly, there was the same soft knock on his front door as last evening when the sun was setting.