Breaking His Concentration (Alhaitham x Kaveh)

Chapter 34: Forget Me

Alhaitham's POV

It had been two days. Two days and I hadn't seen a trace of him. I had walked out of the cave and into the scorching desert all by myself. I tried not to think about him. I tried not to think about how his voice carried itself through the cave as he begged me not to leave him. I tried not to think about all of it. Life would be much easier if I had never fallen love with him. If I never understood what pure, untainted love felt like. He found a way into my heart, wrapping it in wire as he held me in his arms. I was so in love with him. And walking away from him, leaving him in the cave was the hardest thing I had ever done.

But we don't work. We are polar opposites on every side of the spectrum, we would never work. Maybe in a distant life I would find him again, in a life where circumstances were different. But we could never get over our differences and that was apparent now more than ever. So I hadn't bothered him. I had taken the past two days off work, drowning myself in work as I tried not to think of his ruby eyes locking onto mine. He hadn't come back to get his stuff, it was still making dust in the attic but I didn't care much. All my anger for him had drifted away on the breeze, it was a distant memory. Instead now, I felt something much different. It was as if someone had reached into my chest and taken one of my lungs out. It was difficult to breathe now.

I found my heart pounding out of its chest when I thought about his eyes. I found my mind drifting away from my work as I tried to read new academic tomes. And I found myself lying in bed at night glancing at the ceiling, tears pooling down my face. Was this..... was this what grief was? All I had left of him was the small black cat that would poke its nose into my room once in awhile. I couldn't bring myself to throw it outside it was so small. So I left food and water out for the poor thing she found herself jumping into my bed at night, curling at my feet. I suppose I didn't mind the company now that he was gone, but it was still a reminder of the things I had lost. I sighed to myself, I was sitting on the couch like I always was, trying to read a book. The past few days had been so lonely I hadn't found time to leave my house. But that was going to change.

I snapped my book closed and threw it on the table, running my fingers through my hair as I took a deep breath. I was going to go outside today and I was going to enjoy myself. I was going to go to the local bar and have a drink. And maybe, just maybe I could try and find someone to distract myself from him. That's it. That was the plan. I rushed to the door and grabbed my keys off the hook, shoving them in my pocket as I shoved the door open. The autumn wind greeted me and found itself into my hair, blowing it off my shoulders as my eyes shone at the sight outside my door. Sumeru didn't experience seasons like other places, it seemed to be eternally hot. But there were a few months were all the colors shifted, everything turned muted and the air grew cooler. Those were my favorite months.

I marveled at the beauty outside my door, desperately wishing Kaveh was at my side to witness this. No. I shook my head. I was trying to get away from him today. I took a few steps off my porch and looked up to see the sun starting to dip behind the clouds, casting an orange glow around all the land. It was beautiful. As I started walking down the paved streets I noticed not a single soul was around. I liked it better that way.

"Alhaitham?"

I heard someone call, it was so faint and quiet I thought it was in my head. I blinked a few times and looked around, but I couldn't see a single person around me.

"Alhaitham!"

The call was a bit louder this time, filling my ears with their sweet voice. I slowly turned my back, looking down the path where the sun was setting. It shone in my eyes, I had to raise a hand to block it from flooding my eyes. But at the end of the path, several yards away was a man. He was about the same height I was and had blonde hair, a faint smile sitting on his face.