It was a cold winter's night, probably the coldest he had ever been in his entire life. The light of the red exit sign that hung above the door to his right was blinking constantly, and the street lamps were barely able to do anything to illuminate the pavement. To his left was the road, and on the other side of it nothing but trees and darkness. It was snowing, and no matter where one looked at, they wouldn't be able to see anything.
He couldn't stand up from the shock. Right now, he was lying on all fours over the sidewalk, right by the hospital's emergency exit, where the nurse had just left them, telling them to wait ten minutes before they came looking for them to pick them up. That had been seven minutes ago, and three minutes before that, Connor had lost the ability to stand. He kept sobbing uncontrollably, and with every shed tear he found it harder and harder to breathe; up to the point of impossibility.
"C-Come b—back!", he cried loudly, giving in to despair. "Don't l-leave me! C—Come back! I-I'm s-s-sorry...!"
But he wouldn't come back. He had turned around and walked away, without looking back at the little boy lying on the ground, unable to stand up on his two feet.
"F-Forgive m-m-me..."
Connor cried inconsolably, without anyone in the world to help him.
He had never felt more alone.
It was dark, and it was impossible to see or hear anything besides the wind blowing. The hospital door was closed, but the lights on the other side were all on. Still, nobody bothered to peek through the window to see the small child there. Then, between the sobs and the gasps seeking air, Connor noticed something lying on the ground, not too far away from him. Something that glistened in the snow, reflecting the little light the street lamps provided.
He reached out and took it with his right hand, holding it close to his chest. He got on his knees, and upon further inspection, realized it was his father's silver wristwatch, completely intact.
Connor used his woolen gloves to clean up the snow that was covering the device. When his dad wore it, it had always looked polished and fancy.
And now, it was all but ruined...
-"... Connor?"—he heard from his left, leaving the trance he had gotten himself into a going back into the real world—"Connor, are you alright?"
After blinking a couple of times, he saw that he was at the exact same place he had been a few seconds ago, before he had started thinking back to old memories. Connor sat on the Grace's living room, on the largest couch. To his right was Mikey, on the same couch as him. To his left was Grace, who was looking at him, concerned. Behind him, Lilly and Oli had both pulled out chairs from the dining room for themselves, waiting quietly. And Troye was standing guard right next to them, too jumpy and tense to sit down. He stood with his arms crossed and an unreadable expression on his face.
And in front of him, across the living room's small table, on a one-person sofa chair that didn't match the rest of the room at all, sat Dustin, his older brother. The older brother he hadn't seen in ten years, and who appeared now, one day, out of fucking nowhere. He was rubbing his knuckles with his right hand, and looking directly at Connor as he bit his lip from time to time, nervous habit Connor recalled from their younger years.
Connor then realized he didn't know where Alexis was. He started looking around the room, until he spotted her, sitting on the staircase, watching the scene from behind the wooden bars that formed the railing, grasping one of them tightly with both her hands, her red beanie covering the most of her hair.
YOU ARE READING
Algid (#TronnorAU)
Random"Let me tell you the story, about what happens when a heart as cold as ice meets one made of gold." What happens to the things that nobody can remember? Are they forgotten? Did they mean anything at all? Did they even exist at some point? All his li...
