Different similarities

Chapter 5

"Will you ever tell me the reason behind you moving here?" I looked at him with a hint of hope in my eyes. My skin was still burning from Jean's touch from earlier.

"You're so stubborn, you know that right?" Jean's lips curved into a smile.

"Is that a yes?"

He stopped to look at me and as he did so I swear I saw something behind those brown eyes. A hint of sadness? Jean let out a small breath and continued walking. We walked in silence until he broke and started talking.

"It's a sad story" He warned me before moving further with his monologue.

"If you're uncomfortable..." I felt bad for pushing and annoying him with my questions.

"It's fine. I just don't know where to start." He furrowed his eyebrows and shifted his gaze towards the ground. "My parents died in a car crash." My stomach rolled over and I stopped.

"That is the main reason behind me moving here." Jean's smile tried to assure me that he's alright, however his eyes spoke volumes about how hurt he felt.

"I-" My mouth closed along with my mind. I didn't know what to say. "I had no idea, I'm really sorry" I took his hand without thinking.

"It's alright, I don't want you to look at me differently just because I lost my parents. I'm just Jean." The sadness in his voice almost made my heart shatter.

"How do you feel now?" I asked.

"Exhausted" We continued walking hand in hand.

"You're sad" I statted.

Jean patted my head, when I said that, smiled and let go of my hand.

"I don't think I'll ever get over their death." The moon perfectly lit his face up, at that moment one tear escaped from his eye.

"You miss them?" I kept asking dumb questions.

"Every moment I'm reminded of their absence. It hurts, but that's alright, because I have my grandparents and they're amazing." Jean's voice broke and then we just walked in a rather uncomfortable silence.

I wanted to ask him more, I wanted to comfort him, to hug him, but something held me back, some invisible hand was not letting me speak about it more so instead I just thanked him.

"Why are you thanking me?" Jean furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Because I know it's hard to talk about it and you still did, I don't think you know how strong you are" I smiled sadly. His eyes sparkled for a second, nevertheless we continued walking.

We were already in my street when Jean took my hand in his again and turned me to face him:

"I know I don't know you at all but it was good to finally speak to someone about it, thank you"

The invisible hand had let go of me and I buried my face in his chest. I let myself hug him as tight as I could. After a few seconds I felt his hand wrap around my shoulders, pulling me even closer. Jean's head rested aside of mine for a moment.

We separated after the hug and I made him promise me he would call or text me if he needs someone to talk to. When I got back home I went straight to bed, the clock on my nightstand reminded me that it's midnight.

Midnight was a strange time of the day. Technically it's the time that the day starts from, however I see midnight like a restart button that repeats days. I would like to repeat this day. Something in my brain tells me I wouldn't do anything differently but lay in his hands a little more, a few more minutes or even just seconds. Yes, even a few seconds would be enough just for now...