vase of hyacinths

❀

    A happy story goes like this:

    Finn survives the bullets. The Landers hit him thrice; once on the arm, twice on his left leg. He cries out Christopher's name before the once-vibrant world is soaked in red.

    Chris makes to turn around, to help him. But to do so means suicide; Finn knows this. Therese knows this. So she drags Christopher away, forces him to move in the other direction from Finn while Chris screams and screams his name.

    Chris is hyperventilating; Therese's tears stream down her face. They can't do anything now. They can only pray.

    They come back for him at sundown, when the Landers are sure to be asleep. The digger is still where it was, partially intact: the Landers couldn't drive it, so they had no use for it. A gentle hand reached out to shake the injured driver, and he groans as he wakes up from the red of the pain-haze.

    Everything is crimson, and dimly lit. Mandeep is here; Fatima is here. But to Finn, the only person that matters is the lovely boy in front of him.

    The red recedes.

    The rest is a blur, and all Finn can remember is waking up again on a cot in the mines, his leg patched up and his arm in stitches. He blinks as a chocolate bar is waved in front of his face by a familiar scratched brown hand.

    "Hey, Finn," says Chris, his worried trembling the only thing contradicting his cheerful voice. "I got your favorite."

    Finn stares up at him, at his warm brown eyes, and decides that today was the day he wants to hug the sun.

    Chris yelps as Finn throws his arms around him, pulling him close and hugging him tight.

    "You came back for me," Finn says softly, burying his head in Chris's chest. He feels the other boy's breath on his head, hears his heart beat against his ribcage. Feels the tears on his cheek mingle with his own.

    "Of course," Chris breathes. "Anything for you."

---

    A happy story goes like this:

    Elena and Chris were fighting again. This was a daily occurrence- one would disagree with something (Chris), the other would explode (Elena), and the result was fiery arguments that could last for hours on end.

    The invasion had frayed their friendship.

    Mandeep just wanted a break. She was tired. She was hungry. Darcy had cut her foot on a random shard of broken metal, and Mandeep had to patch up her wound. Finn was an absolute angel; helping keep Darcy calm and still as Mandeep bandaged the gash on the toddler's foot.

    Finn kept glancing worriedly in the direction of Chris and Elena. They could just make out the words being flung across the room like hot coals.

    "... It's impossible, Elena! I refuse to kill another person. We've seen our parents die in front of us. I don't want to repeat that, enemy or not!"

    "Oh, so you don't want to fight, is that what you're saying? You'd rather we all die!"

    The door of Chris's room slammed open, and Elena stormed out, her eyes blazing. "You're a coward, Christopher."

    She was gone, and a moment later, a faint sniffling noise could be heard.

    Mandeep stiffened. Was Chris crying?