from august to december

chapter thirty three

the sun was out.
it was warm, it reminded the men of august.
and august wasn't fun.

like the situation right now wasn't fun.
"what the fuck, eden?" matio stepped on the gas pedal roughly, his hands gripped the steering wheel so harshly his white knuckles were showing.

his voice was crooked, eden's face was pale and as matio accelerated the car, eli started breathing faster and a familiar feeling of fear built up in his stomach.

"i-i'm sorry i couldn't tell you earlier, he begged me to keep you out of it," the black haired answered with regret in his voice and yuri softly reached for his hand to intertwine their hands and give him his strength.

but matio just stared at the street. memories of his brother flashing through his inner eyes.
"how did you meet him? how did you even know it was him?"

eden cleared his throat and squeezed yuri's fingers, which the other returned before leaning back in the seat and letting the black haired talk.

and so he told him, about when he had met up with val in the park and came across a man with a slightly broken guitar, black, greasy hair and a cold and hostile aura.

"wait what did you say was the song called?" matio asked lowly and the grip on the wheel of his hands had loosened, as if he was a little relieved.

"sixteen."

now, matio stepped from the gas pedal and the car slowed down, there was a little smile on his face, just big enough for eden to see it through the rear view.

the assistant chuckled.
but then the smile disappeared, catapulting him back into reality.
"can i see him?"

eden took in a sharp breath and yuri noticed, holding their hands tighter together.

"we can just make it seem like i didn't know, please, i gotta see him again," matio continued, stopping at a red light and turning around on the driver's seat to look at eden, a begging expression on his face.

the black haired fluttered his lashes before opening his mouth to say something.

"before you deny it," matio gasped. "he's my little brother, and that song he played, he wrote it for me when i got my first job when i was sixteen."

the other men's eyes widened.
and eden tilted his head to the side.

there were minutes of silence and yuri's hand started to sweat in eden's.
the only one that noticed the light had turned green was eli.
but he didn't say anything.

after a few more seconds, a car honked behind them and matio flinched before turning around and starting to drive again.

the black haired still hadn't said anything.
"okay, how do you wanna see him?" he finally answered with his soft voice while gently letting go of yuri's hand to lean it against the seat of matio.

-

now, a few hours later, matio walked through the city. clothing stores and restaurants to his left and right.
there was the huge garden eden and "val" were at the other day, with the big fountain in the middle were countless of coins were inside, thrown by people who thought their wishes would come true if they did.

he scratched his face and brushed through his dark hair, taking big steps towards the corner where his brother was always playing for some money.

if he was actually doing it for money nobody knew except himself.

there was an old black and white striped hat laying in front of him, not many people were walking by, a broken guitar leaning against the brick wall.
also a stray cat laying on a cotton blanket on the cold floor to keep her warm.

but matio's brother was nowhere to be found.

the assistant sighed heavily.
he should've known this wouldn't work, he should've known better to let go of his past, his brother hated him because he had failed at helping him.

"excuse me, can you move?" someone was asking and tapping on matio's shoulder.
he was frozen in his spot.

that voice.
he recognized it.

"hello?" the other person now walked in front of the dark haired assistant, waving in his face.
but his hand dropped when he looked into his eyes.
the slightly smaller man couldn't even stop his jaw from dropping and he would've nearly dropped the piece of bread in his hand.

"what the fuck," he breathed out and looked away, clenching his jaw and his gaze hardening.

"milano," matio replied with a genuine smile, still not believing his brother was actually in front of him right now and that he wasn't dreaming.

"why are you back?" the assistant asked hopefully, tilting his head to the side making his glossy eyes more visible.
he was so relieved to be back with his brother.

but milano wasn't.

"none of your business," he replied coldly.
"who told you i was here?"

"nobody, i just recognized your guitar," matio lied and hid his hands in his jean pockets, trying to lock his and his brothers eyes.
however, milano refused to look him in the eyes.

he kept staring away from him, to his right where he was coming from a few minutes ago, wishing he could turn back time where he didn't have to face his brother again.

"milano?"
"what?"
"i'm sorry."

the younger brother chuckled sarcastically.
"you're sorry?" he mocked, now finally turning his head and mustering the older.
their eyes met and it was cold, for both of them.

it was as if the temperature had dropped a few degrees, matio felt helpless to the sudden pain in his heart.

"you know what, matio. you might still be my brother, and you will always be. and i'm not mad at you anymore for pressuring me into doing something i didn't want to. but i won't take your apology for it," milano explained.

"you ruined a future for me. i could've been a musician, but you locked that path for me so i could be your little puppet and be your assistant in the company."

matio flinched at the words.

"when i've never been the person to be a follower. i have had such a hard time to get back on track after i ran away.
you wanna know why i'm back? the girl i ran to cheated on me."

the younger brother looked up to hide the tears in his eyes.

"i forgive you, if that's what you need to move on from me, but i don't want to see you ever again. you're my brother and you'll always be, i just can't look you in the eyes and see you as one."

"no matter how many times i'll tell you i'll make it work?"

milano sighed and looked away again.

"no matter how many times you'll tell me you'll make it work again."

with that, milano walked off, taking the guitar and the cotton blanket as he did, the stray cat following him.
and the older just stood there. he was smiling. he was so incredibly hurt by the situation that all he could do was laugh and convince himself it hadn't happened just now.

that's when he finally understood his brother and also eden, it was a coping mechanism to just pretend the reality wasn't real.

and it sure worked well.