Splash~~
The night was relatively warm for fall; the trees rustled with a breeze that warmed the skin upon contact, and the ground only brought a slight chill to bare feet. The light around the city lit up the heavily foggy streets enough for a person to see maybe a quarter of the way down the block before hazy gray was all that could be seen.
Drip!
On a night like this one, where most daren't venture out of their homes, it was perfect for a nice bath; or, in this case, a skinny dip. No one would set foot in the water, the fear of being swept away and having no way to get back was too great; but there was little choice. It was either today when the air was thick and warm, or tomorrow when it would be chilly, and the chance of being spotted by people on moonlit walks would be greater.
Sigh…
Even after bathing he still felt gritty; for once his skin was its natural pallid color, but the heated air caused sweat to break out right away effectively killing off that clean feeling he'd normally get. All he could really do was rub himself dry with the ragged towel he had and hope it would cool down quickly; until then, he simply lay there staring up through the fog.
Slowly, as the night dragged on, the fog cleared and the temperature dropped; he stirred awake from his resting place on the dock to pull on his craggy clothes. Before he could, though, he caught sight of his reflection in the water.
He'd hardly seen it before.
It was distorted, of course, by the gentle rippling of the water; but he could still make out the handsome features. His skin seemed flawless, hardly marked even through all the hardships he'd faced. His mouth was set in a firm line, neither angry nor happy, giving him a sort of tough look (though he never really felt all that tough). Finally, the trait he liked most was his eyes, which were a light blue and they seemed to do more than just see; they watched and studied his every move… they seemed to stir something up, deep inside…
…like he needed to remember something…
A smile slowly tugged across his lips, making the reflection's look all the more stunning. He hadn't known he was so beautiful; but the conformation was there, staring right at him through his-
Quickly he retreated from the image, a delicate hand closed over his left eye and buried into his black hair; his gaze turned to one of wonder, "But I don't-" his low muttering was cut off by a loud splash of water before him, and curiously he looked towards the sound. His hand dropped back to the wood as he leaned over to inspect the sound.
There, in the water where he had just spotted his reflection, was a hand jutting up from the depths of the cold darkness. It swished and wiggled before him; it's desperate begging was silent, but clear, and that was something he couldn't refuse. He grasped the flailing limb and pulled with all his might; slowly the other was pulled from the water and they collapsed together on the safety of the dock.
Moments of silence passed, only broken by their deep heavy gasping; but when they'd clamed down the position the rescued had landed in became all too uncomfortable. He could distinctly feel the other's heart pounding wildly against his own as they lay half tangled together, and their bodies were now drenched in freezing water, "A-Are you ok?" he stuttered feebly and tried to sit up despite the heavy weight on his chest. There was no verbal response, but the other used his shaky arms to lift his dripping body from his naked savior. A familiar smile crossed the man's face, but that in itself was overwhelming; the one hovering over him was the spitting image of his reflection, or what he had thought was his reflection.
Finally the reflection spoke, his lips were still curved into that gentle smile and his voice was soft enough to match, despite the slight roughness it had to it. "Trey…" a shudder wracked through the boy laying on the dock and once it had passed he hurried from under the illusion's body. His voice trembled in an attempt to question the being, but all he could get out was a tiny squeak.
"Trey…" his name was repeated again and he shrunk behind the towel he'd gathered to hide his body. The other only smiled a little wider and extended a pale, transparent hand, "It's ok, Trey, there's no need to run from me."
Despite the creepy situation and the fear coursing through him Trey felt compelled to reach out and grasp that hand once again; slowly he reached out and let his fingers slide into the reflection's grasp. Their fingers entwined and he was tugged into the other's embrace.
For a moment he could only tremble in the warm embrace of the apparition; but the arms were somehow comforting and he relaxed into the loose hold, "Who are you..?" He finally managed to ask one of the questions that had been buzzing in his head since this confusing situation arose; he hoped desperately to clear the haze in his mind.
The ghost tensed at the question and his answer was strained, "Of course you wouldn't know…" he said it in a mumble; his words more for himself… as if to scold for hoping… "It's been too long for you to remember." Carefully a free hand worked it's way through Trey's hair; the motion stopped to hold his smaller body closer.
…remember..?
"It doesn't matter, if you know me or not." The reflection said at last, "I just want you to know that I'm here, Trey; you might not know it, but I've always been there for you." He was pulled closer still until he could feel something warm press against his neck, just behind his ear, and the tickled heat of breath soon followed, "I always will be there for you."
Suddenly it all clicked into place and, before he could even think, the words had left him, "Do you really mean that, Jake?" His small fingers clutched into the damp fabric of the reflection's shirt and held on as tightly as possible, "You'll really stay here with me..?" the gentle nuzzling behind his ear stopped and drifted away to allow blue eyes to stare out at the vast expanse of water.
A long, unsettling pause set between them in which both of the boys found something more interesting to look at; yet their heated contact still remained. The embrace seemed to calm, and quietly the younger repeated his question, almost as if the silence hadn't been, "You really won't leave me..?"
Finally a set of carefully chosen words were uttered almost too quietly, "I'll be here… maybe not always physically, but I won't ever leave you." Trey held tightly as his long dead brother tried to pull away and he pressed his still naked body right up against him, "I can't stay like this any more…"
"B-But you just said..!" Trey stuttered uselessly and took his turn at pressing his nose against his brother's neck, "You just got here… I don't want you to go yet." The elder sighed softly and gently plucked trembling fingers from his shirt before placing a light kiss on Trey's forehead.
"I'm not going." He said sternly, his eyes silently commanding relaxation, and slowly Trey sunk weakly into his arms, "I'll be right with you, and when you really need me, I'll come back to hug you." He squeezed his arms reassuringly around him before slowly pulling away again.
A rush of questions filled Trey up: 'Why had it taken so long when he'd needed this comfort before?', 'When would they see each other again?', 'Could it be, that hugs just weren't good enough?', 'Would he just end up forgetting again?', 'Was this even real?'… the questions went on, non-stop; but Trey pushed them aside. It was more important that they were together now, and he only had so long before Jake was gone.
They stood awkwardly for a moment, Jake now looked relatively dry and Trey held the previously forgotten towel tightly over his chilled body. They fidgeted in place, neither really knew what to say as a farewell, until finally Jake took a step back; his form seemed to be slowly fading into the dawn light that was gradually starting to bathe the earth. Trey reached out and quickly laced his fingers with his brother's once more.
Their eyes had locked again while Jake took another step back and then another, he pulled Trey along right to the water's edge while he floated magically above, "I love you."
It was probably the strangest thing that Trey ever thought his brother would say so seriously, but it seemed so fitting to hear him say it then, "I love you too." He replied as their hands broke apart and Jake took another step back. They kept their gazes steady, ignoring Jake's rapidly fading body, and slowly a pair of smiles crossed their faces.
"See you soon, ok?"
"Yeah… I hope so."
Then, all at once, the rest of Jake faded into the quickly rising sunlight; and Trey was left shivering, alone, and wrapped up loosely in a towel.
Strangely, though, the shivering of his body was like nothing; because inside, when he thought of Jake, he just felt warm…
By: Andyouthinkimcrazy
