Two Broken Wings

Chapter 8.2

Reggie's POV

I wake up after a while and Luke is making his way out the studio doors. I swear I heard him crying so I get up and follow him to see if he is alright.

When I go out there he's sitting on a tree branch staring up at the moon. Streams of tears were rolling down his face and my heart broke to see him so sad. He's such an amazing guy, so whoever hurt him is a real jerk.

I climb up the ladder and he quickly whips away his tears and plasters on a smile. "Oh hey Reg." He sniffles, trying to sound cheerful.

"Hi." I say, sitting on the same branch next to him. His eyes filled with pools of tears as he tried to hold them in. "You wanna talk?" I ask.  He doesn't answer, just looks away but I still saw the tear drops escape from his eyes and gently trickle down his face. I wrap my arms around him in a gentle hug. "It's okay." I whisper in his ear. "You're aloud to cry."

I hear him sniffle some more before he lets out a sob and my shoulder begins to collect his tears. "It's my fault Reggie." He cries. "He's gone and it's all my fault. I was a horrible big brother."

I had no idea Luke ever had a sibling, but now wasn't the time to ask about them. Now was the time to listen. I begin to rub his back, a technique that always works to calm me down.

"If it weren't for me he'd be alive. My parents pretend like he never existed, but he did. He had three beautiful years Reggie." Luke continues. "Way longer than the doctors said he would make it. Three years. And I'll never know if it could have been longer or not."

"It's okay." I say. "It wasn't your fault."

"But you don't even know." He cries. "My brother died because I made him laugh and his lungs couldn't handle it... he died because of me." I continue to hold him in my arms and rub his back. I feel so bad he's hurting and grieving, but I don't know how to help him. After all the times he's helped me and I can't even help him this one time. After a minute of silence Luke says in a muffled voice, "It should have been me."

"Don't say that." I say.

"No, it actually should have been me." Luke says. "Liam...my brother, had a rare lung deficiency that runs in our family. It skipped over my dad and me. I should have gotten it instead of him." Luke says, tears still streaming down his face. "It should've been me."

I don't know what the right thing to say is, so I don't say anything. I just continue to hold him in a hug and rub his back. His arms stay wrapped around me tightly, but I didn't mind it at all.

After a few minutes, Luke sniffles and pulls away, whipping the remainder of his tears from his cheeks. His lips even curve into a slight smile as he looks at me. "Thank you." He says, even though I didn't do much. As long as he is feeling better though. "I think I just really needed to get that all out, I mean I haven't even told Alex how I feel. Thanks for being here."

"Of course." I say. "Always." I will always be there for Luke, just like he was always there for me. I looked into his beautiful hazel eyes and my stomach began to feel weird. I don't know why but it's like they're little butterflies flying around in there. Luke's smile grows and that's when I realize he was staring into my eyes too.

I quickly avert my attention elsewhere. I glance up at the sky and stare at all the shinning stars, trying to find a constellation.

"The stars are pretty, aren't they?" Luke asks looking up too.

"Yeah." I say, my heart fluttering as I talked like I was nervous, but the good kind of nervous. I didn't think such a thing existed but I don't know how else to describe my feelings. "They are."

"Remember that time back in third grade when we went camping in my backyard and we tired counting all the stars?" He asks. I let out a little laugh and smile. I can't believe he remembers that.

"Yeah, yeah I do." I smile. "You gave up after fifty and I went to a hundred twelve."

"I never stopped counting stars." Luke says. "Every time I look up at the night sky, I count stars and I always thought of you."

"Y-you thought about me?" I ask. I don't know why but it never occurred to me that Luke would ever think much of me again after he moved. As far as we knew we were never gonna see each other again. Of course I thought about him almost everyday but that's because he was my only friend beside my sister. I just figure Luke moved on with his life, but to hear he thought about me made me feel so good inside. Like I mattered.

"Of course, you're my best friend." Luke says.

I smile and so does Luke. We sit up in the tree in comfortable silence for the rest of the night while sleep slowly began to take over. I rest my head on Luke's shoulder as my eyes flutter closed, refusing to open. It was just so peaceful and calming it was difficult to stay awake. Luke is the only person who I can sit in silence with without it being awkward.

Luke must have thought I was asleep because he then very carefully picked me up and carried me down the tree and back into the studio. I am too tired to say or do anything as he lays my down in my sleeping bag and covered me with a blanket.

Luke's POV

The sleepy boy next to me laid his head on my shoulder and his eyes were shut. He looked so peaceful like that and I didn't want to wake him just so he would go back inside to go back asleep. So instead I picked him up and carefully carry him down the latter to the tree. He was super light, like very light. I could feel his ribs as they pressed against my tourso. It was a little concerning how light he was.

Reggie's arms gently wrapped themselves around my neck as he held onto me, burying his face in my chest. As gently as I could I laid him down in his sleeping bag and covered him with a blanket. He slightly smiles in his sleep and I smile too. He is so cute.

If only I could tell him how I feel about him without ruining our friendship.