from august to december

chapter twenty seven

section 2, september

and the days passed, the sun went down and back up again, every day mushed together as if it was a huge blur.

the atmosphere between eden and yuri had calmed a lot over the past month.
because it was september already.

"so, you're still down to get ice cream?" the dark haired asked, grabbing his car keys.
his hair had already gotten so long it always fell into his eyes and eden wondered how he could even see something.

"yeah, if you go cut your hair," he scoffed in return and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"oh please, you like my long hair, don't you?" the other teased and smirked, but the smile wasn't returned nor acknowledged by eden.

he blankly stared at him and the feelings in his eyes were gone.
and so was the glow.

he may had talked to him, he may had forgiven him.

a little.
not all of it.
but a little.
and enough to meet him normally again and speak normally with him again.

but that was it for now.

yes, it was a hard pill to swallow for both of them, but maybe their love was only meant to last for a certain amount of time, like a deadline. and now, they had to start a new project with a new deadline.

"i'm sorry, was that too much?" yuri asked worriedly, tilting his head to study his friend's face more.

but eden shook his head.

"i'm just, no, never mind. let's go."
but yuri wasn't the person to give up anymore.

"you can tell me what i did wrong, i will be better."

eden widened his eyes.
what?

and he had the audacity to believe yuri didn't change.
he thought this was all just a huge bluff and his ex boyfriend was still the same cold hearted person he was before.

"yuri, what made you change so drastically?"

the other shrugged his shoulders.

"guilt. i felt guilty for wasting years not being a full person."

the black haired raised his eyebrows at the words as he didn't quite understand what the other meant.

"there is this thing, it's called the golden rule," he explained
"and what does it say?" eden questioned.

"well," yuri put his car keys down on the kitchen counter as quietly as possible because it was already pretty late and shino was deep sleeping upstairs.
"it's this thing to always be the person to be more when the other person is being less."

eden's gaze softened, he leaned against the doorframe.

"if someone is cold to you, you don't have to be cold in return. you need to be the comfort, because that's what you would have wanted. people aren't cold for no reason, it's because they are scared to let someone into their most vulnerable part."

"were you scared, yuri?"

"oh, i was so scared. i was so scared somebody would break me apart, so i just pretended i didn't have anything anyone could damage. no emotions. no thoughts. no..."

"love."

"exactly. however, inside all of those lies, deep in my heart i always knew that that wasn't me. there was something there, something so warm and loving that was too shy to come out."

eden tilted his head. he yawned and tucked the ends of his blue zipper he always wore when it got a little cold. eli had gifted it to him when he turned nineteen.

"kinda like you pretended to be the sun when you were the moon."
"what do you mean?"

the black haired cleared his throat and stepped closer to his friend, their eyes staying locked the entire time.

"you felt like you had to be narcissistic, like you were the center of the universe and nobody else mattered, but, actually, all you were was a little moon, with just enough light to see the street you're walking on."

yuri smiled.

"what a little poet you are, huh?"

eden took another step, so that their bodies were almost touching.
and yuri instantly held his breath.

"do you like me being poetic?" he asked with a low voice, leaning against the kitchen counter where yuri's car keys were laying on.

the other didn't quite know how to respond.

"you were always my favorite poet."
"and you were always my favorite artist."

both grinned a little.
and maybe eden had forgiven yuri a lot more than he realized.

love makes one do crazy things, it makes one forgive and forget, it makes one cry, it makes one smile, it gives one every emotion there is on this planet.

"i have to show you something," eden interrupted the comfortable silence there was between the both of them and gripped the older's wrist, pulling him up the stairs into his old bedroom.

it was dusty, it smelled like nobody had opened a window there for ages.
but shino hadn't touched a single thing.

"there is something i didn't take with me when i moved out," he explained while flipping the light switch, and a weak flickering light tried its best to illuminate the room.

eden immediately lifted the mattress of his old bed and something was laying there.

a little red book.

"what is that?" yuri asked curiously, moving to stand next to the black haired and examining the a little crooked pages.

"it's a little poem for everyday in the three years you weren't here with me," eden voiced out, the sound of it very weak resonating in the room.

"so, 1,095 poems. and they all connect to a huge story," he said further.

yuri's mouth dropped a few inches before he recollected himself to look at the younger.

"to our story."

his eyes were a little watery, and the dark haired couldn't help himself but to wrap his arms around the tiny body of the other and stroking his back.

it felt like before.
it felt like how it was when everything was okay.

"i'm sorry, i'm so sorry eden, i love you, i love you so much, i can't even explain it to you," yuri's voice was so shaky nobody else could've understood his words.

time was running against the both of them.

and they both broke into tears, holding each other so tightly as if the world was ending.

"yuri, i love you too," he moved a few inches away, "hey, look at me. i forgive you. i forgive you for everything you've done."

the other cupped the younger's face in his hands and moved his face a little closer, but he hesitated.

it was then when eden closed the gap between their mouths.
and they kissed, so lightly.
they kissed away the past where they hated each other.

and in september, it was like it was before, not exactly, but close enough for both to believe it was.

suddenly, somebody knocked on the door very softly and both of them jumped away from each other.

"sorry to interrupt, but i couldn't sleep until i've told both of you."