(Hockey Bxb) Whistle In The Wind -𝐕𝐈𝐈-

╔══《”I believed you were crazy,》══╗
you believed that you loved me.”

       “Stop! Get away!” Aksel yelled, standing up. Laughing, Lucien focused on the television in front of them.

       “Admit I’m better than you!” Lucien smirked.

       “I refuse!” Aksel interjected. The two had been arguing back and forth for hours.

       “I win! Hah!” Lucien grinned, standing up to cheer.

       “I give up!” Aksel complained, throwing his controller on the ground. The two were sitting on bean bags in Aksel’s room.

       “Yes!” Lucien cheered. Throwing themselves on Aksel’s bed, both boys’ chests puffed heavily. Who knew video games could get them so worked up. After a minute of silence, they had calmed down completely.

       “What time is it?” Aksel asked, unmoving from his spot on the bed. Huffing, Lucien sat half up, reaching for his phone in his back pocket. The screen lit up, the time reading 6:32 p.m. at the top in big white letters.

       Lucien angled the phone toward his friend, letting Aksel read the number. Nodding, Aksel acknowledged the time. “Dude, you really gotta get a new lock screen. The generic apple one is kinda lame,” Aksel commented, “Not to be mean.”

       “Hey what’s wrong with this one? It’s not generic, it’s the moon. The moon is cool!” Lucien argued with a pout.

       “I wasn’t trying to diss the moon! I’m just saying,” Aksel shrugged, “Usually lock screen’s are like, a pretty sunset, or something sentimental.”

       Pausing, Lucien chose his words carefully. “It’s not like I have a girlfriend, or partner, or whatever,” he mumbled.

       “We gotta get you one, man,” Aksel said, standing up. “Come on, let’s go get some dinner,” he urged. Not having to be told twice, Lucien hopped up. He was hungry, hungry enough for the famous ‘Lien family’s cooking’.

       While he didn’t know Vál’s favorite color, or even his middle name, he did know he was a killer chef. And, he did know, he supposed, his in depth skin care routine.

       With his mouth watering, he followed on Aksel’s tail as they bounded downstairs. Lucien knew it was love at first sniff, rushing into the kitchen. At the table, three servings of fettuccine alfredo and breaded chicken were present. One smaller portion, and two heaping portions. Vál sat on one side, and Lucien and Aksel’s spots were next to each other on the other side.

       They had unofficial-official seats at the dinner table. In his seat, Lucien was sitting across from Vál.

       Looking up from the sink, Vál smiled at the two. “I wondered when you would smell dinner.”

       “Du er en helgen (You’re a saint), takk (thanks) Váli,” Aksel beamed, taking his designated seat. Quietly, the two others followed suit, the sound of scraping chair legs against hardwood floor echoing through the room.

       “I was just saying–” “–that I have to–” “–find Luc a girlfriend, “Aksel piped in between chews of food.

       “Ew, dude, chew with your mouth closed,” Lucien grimaced, “And I don’t want a girlfriend! I’ve told you this already,” he whined.

       “Okay but, what are you gonna do if I’m busy! You have no other friends, let’s be real,” Aksel joked, the humor not quite reaching Lucien.

       Looking up from his plate, Luc made eye contact with Vál. He had a couple noodles hanging out of his mouth, as he paused mid bite. His eyes were big, and he stared back.

       Not looking away, he replied, “I have friends. Plus, I don’t mind being alone. I actually usually prefer quiet,” he turned to glare at the boy next to him. They both knew Aksel was the opposite of quiet.

       “Heyyyy! Does that mean you don’t like being with me,” he sulked.

       “You’re the exception. If I didn’t like you, you would know,” Luc scoffed, turning his attention back to the plate of steaming hot food. Not wasting a second, he scooped a comical amount of food onto the small fork. Unhinging his jaw, he shoved it all in, eating it all in one bite.

       “Dude, not to be weird, but, you’d give like, really good blow jobs.” Aksel’s comment made Lucien choke, the food only halfway down his throat. Swallowing painfully, he began to cough. “I said not to be weird! I was just saying that because you’re jaw is like super wide!” he panicked, attempting to explain his thought process.

       “Please! Vál, defend me!” he begged, Lucien still coughing. “It’s a totally normal thought!”

       “I don’t know, Axe,” Váli said in a hushed whisper. “It’s kinda weird to think about your best friend like that,” he smiled nervously, finding the courage to joke. A moment later, Lucien’s coughing turned wheezing.

       His signature laugh reverberated around the room, the sound making Vál’s smile break out into a wide grin. After five whole minutes, Lucien found himself calming down.

       “That…Was funny…” he gasped, out of breath. Shortly after, conversation resumed. Conversation meaning Aksel talking away while Luc and Vál sat in silence. Every couple of seconds, the two would look up from eating at the same time.

       Did this always happen? Luc questioned once they sheepishly looked away for the 10th time that dinner. Lucien had always known Váli, but now he had started seeing him. With a shaky breath, Lucien tried to squash the uncertainty creeping into his thoughts.

       Before he could register the passing time, he was standing next to Vál by the sink. His sleeves were pulled up to his elbows, and a sponge was in his right hand.

       He sometimes did the dishes with Vál, but this felt different. This day, Luc could feel Vál. He could feel his left arm ghosting by his right arm. It was taunting him, begging him to lean over. Inches separated them, Lucien’s touchy personality screaming at him to press the two limbs together.

       A distracted mind led to a distracted body. The dishes he was supposed to be cleaning were still soiled in the sink. He zoned back into consciousness, noticing that he had been scrubbing the air. Vál never commented on it. The two worked side by side in silence. Like always.

       Yes. This was Vál. Lucien knew Vál. He was his best friend’s younger brother. He had known him almost his whole life. This was familiar. However, with every new thought, a new bead of sweat emerged on his neck.

       Nothing about Vál had changed. Lucien confirmed this by turning his head to look at the boy next to him. His hair was the same white-blond. His skin was as pale as it always had been, his eyes as blue. Has he always been this…

       “Luc! Come on!” Aksel screamed from the bottom of the stairs. “Your mom wants you home by 8, so we have time for one more game!”

       Pausing his hands, Lucien looked up. Unsure of what to do, he hesitated. “You can go,” Vál spoke quietly. Nudging Luc with his hip. “I won’t be offended, don’t worry,” he joked with a smile.

       “Okay. I promise I won’t leave my duties next time,” Luc chuckled, returning Vál’s humor. Taking a step back, he wiped his hands on his sweatpants. “Um…” he stalled. “Do you still wanna facetime tonight?” he hinted. “You can say no.”

       “Of course, silly,” Váli tittered. “You’re not pressuring me, I like having someone to talk to,” he reassured. With a huge grin, Lucien scurried out of the kitchen. He was satisfied, knowing he wasn’t forcing Vál.

       Tumbling into Aksel’s room, Lucien attempted to distract himself. Barreling himself onto the queen sized bed, he landed on the mass of blankets and pillows. “Your bed’s so comfy,” he muffled, face down.

       “I know, you tell me every time you’re here,” Aksel confirmed. His attention now drawn to his best friend. “And you’re here a lot,” he added.

       “Well you always offer your house, and who am I to decline!” Lucien chirped. “You have attachment issues,” he bantered.

       “I do not…” Aksel yowled, intoning humor. “Okay fine! You’re my best friend! It’s not like either of us have anybody else,” Aksel complained. The air in his room grew heavier as the conversation switched from light hearted and joking, to serious in the matter of seconds.

       “Like always.”

       “Hey Luc. Can you promise me something?” Aksel asked hushed.

       “Of course.”

       “If you ever like, meet someone,” I have. “please tell me.” I haven’t. “You can tell me.” I won’t. “I’ll be happy for you.” No you won’t.

       “Okay, I’ll tell you, don’t worry,” Lucien responded, knowing he was lying to his best friend’s face. He hated lying to Aksel. But this wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.

       “Good! And if I meet someone, you already know I’ll tell you first! Who else would I tell?” he bubbled, his eyes twinkling.

       “You know you have a brother right? A brother who is only a couple months younger than me,” Lucien stated. “Brothers are built in best friends.”

       “You know me and Vál aren’t close,” he sighed, “He’s always so closed off. Like, like keeps everything to himself. He takes all the weight, and won’t let me help him.”

       “Some people are like that: stubborn,” Lucien agreed. “But I don’t know dude. Was he always like that?” Luc asked, genuinely curious. Silence encompassed the room. Aksel didn’t answer. Seconds passed. Excruciating seconds. Luc’s mind screams at him. You’re so dumb. Why would you ask that! It’s too personal. He’s not gonna talk to me about his brother’s issues. I don’t even know why I’m intruding! I’m like a parasite. Ugh. I need to fix this, the silence is too awkward.

       Before Lucien could open his mouth to dismiss his previous question, Aksel beat him to it. “No… Now that I really think about it, Váli was a happy kid–a very happy kid,” he sighed.

       “Tell me about it,” Lucien tempted his friend. He felt selfish, using this moment for his selfish motivations. But. He thought. If Váli wont tell me, and he definitely won’t, I have to find out some other way.

       Is this wrong, and an invasion of privacy? Yes. But Lucien couldn’t help the curiosity. He couldn’t stop the wonder he felt around Váli. He had never been a curious person, but the peculiar boy had drawn out a side of Luc he had never seen before.

       “He used to always have this huge smile on his face,” Aksel started. “He was clumsy, always falling over and bumping into things. I remember he always had Band-Aids on his knees and elbows. He was always all scraped up, for a long time it was like that,” Aksel laughed at the memory.

       “Despite it though, he was a happy kid. He laughed all the time. You had to tell him to stop. He would laugh forever if he were allowed to.

       He was so energetic too! He had endless energy.” It wasn’t hard to tell that Aksel’s description of Vál was all backwards. One second with Váli would tell you that he rarely smiled genuinely, and he was always cautious with his movements. He hung to the sidelines. That was the Váli Lucien remembered.

       Even though Lucien grew up with the brothers, he was always too much in his own world to notice the changing behavior in Vál. By the time he had changed drastically, Luc had forgotten what he had evolved from in the first place.

       “He didn’t have a care in the world… Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention. Maybe he was changing, but I was too distracted with my own boring life to notice. Am I a bad brother?…”

       Sitting up, Lucien looked Aksel in the eyes. “Come on, you are a good brother. It’s not your responsibility to be his caretaker. I know you care about him, but you can’t blame yourself for him growing up.”

       “When was the last time I saw him smile?”

       “At dinne–“

       “Truly smile.” Silence hung in the air again. Lucien had no answer to sooth his best friend. He seemed calm, but he too was racking his mind for the image. Was his smile on facetime genuine? He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure what Váli’s real smile looked like. What if I’ve never seen it?

       “Why am I so bad at not noticing that things are wrong until it’s too late? I’m too self-centered to notice the people close to me are struggling. Like Váli and….” Aksel looked up, his eyes boring into Lucien’s face.

       But Lucien let no falter show in his demeanor. He had become a professional at hiding. He has been hiding it for three years, after all….

Question of the chapter: Do you play video games? If so which ones?

╚══《Word count- 2,111》══╝

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