Ten

"Earth to Scott, Scott, can you hear me?" Kaden chuckled, nudging his friend in the arm. They were at the office and from the very beginning of that day, Kaden knew there was something wrong with his friend. For one thing, Scott did not start the day with his usual piss and moan. Besides, they have been at work for almost four hours now and he had not said a single word. Scott had not even come to Kaden's office, which was really what had set the alarms off in his head in the first place. Something was wrong. Or different. Or amiss. 

Wincing at the nudge, Scott came back to reality and looked at Kaden resentfully, "What?"

"Spill," Kaden ordered in the least demanding and most curious voice.

It was practically coffee time, which meant no work and lots of fun in their offices. Clearly, Scott had lots of sharing to do, which knowing the man was not slightly fun on his part. That made Kaden extremely happy. 

"What is it, grandma? Can't wait to gossip?" 

Kaden laughed. "Actually, it's not gossiping, it's news." He might have some spilling to do himself.

"News?"

"Aha," Kaden nodded. "I spill mine if you spill yours."

"That goes a little differently," Scott teased.

"Want me to show-"

"Ah, just shut up and get on with it," Scott chuckled.

"Decide. Should I shut up or talk?" When Scott went to throw a crumpled paper at him, he said, "Guess who I ran into the other night?"

"Luke Skywalker?" 

"Don't be silly."

"What? He's the only one whose presence at last night's 'party' could be categorized as news and not gossip," Scott shrugged.

He did have a point but, "Matilda Dahl."

Eyebrows as high as they could possibly go, Scott repeated, "Matilda Dahl?"

Kaden nodded smugly. Last night was incredible. Fiji turned out to be the room she was staying in and they sat there all night talking, ordering room service, and reading. It was like reliving the past. 

"The Matilda Dahl?"

"How many Matilda Dahls do we know Scott?" 

"Fair enough," Scott said. "Wow, she's back, and you're most likely in love with her all over again. Am I right or am I right?"

Scott's tone was a bit condescending. For what it's worth though, he had all the right to be; he was the one who sat through all of Kaden's oh-my-poor-heart lamentations when the girl left years ago. He and the other three. 

"I never stopped loving her," Kaden shrugged. 

"Right," Scott sighed. "You and your love stories."

"You gotta believe it'll happen to you so it will."

Scott stared at his friend, "I believe she left and you broke. Don't get me wrong, she's my friend too and I'm happy she's back but what she did back then was a dick move."

"We all make mistakes," Kaden tapped his fingers on the table he was leaning against, avoiding his friend's eyes. He was doing it again: defending Matilda. 

"If I know her then I don't think she sees that as a mistake," Scott stated. He was not trying to be an ass. He was just worried about Kaden. "But, I'm happy you're happy." The 'even though I know it won't last' went unsaid and Kaden was grateful for that. It was the honeymoon phase, where Kaden got to ignore all the heartache and cling onto the little positive things. He nodded."So, your turn."

"I met this girl," Scott sighed. "She's very fascinating. We talked about things that matter, you know. And she got me, Kaden. She got me like no one has ever done. It was a very pleasant experience."

"Cool, what's her name?"

Scott hesitated before saying, "Yeah, exchanging personal information wasn't among the things we talked about."

Kaden guffawed. "You're kidding me! Are you fucking kidding me, Scotty?"

"Nope." A hint of a blush blossoming on his cheeks as he looked away. 

"Did she at least leave a shoe behind or something?" 

"Oh fuck off," Scott threw his paper cup at a laughing Kaden, who, of course, dodged.

###

He almost did not want to twist the key in the lock because he knew silence and loneliness were the only things waiting to greet him as soon as he opened the door. It was late though, and he had work in the morning. So, drinking was out of the question. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, he unlocked the door to his apartment defeatedly and stepped inside with a sigh and a shudder.

It was cold. Not because of the weather, the heating system was keeping his house warm enough. It was another kind of cold. However, tonight, right next to silence and loneliness someone else was waiting to welcome him home. Not that the lump on his couch looked welcoming in the slightest. 

"Hunter?" Harmonee let go of his briefcase and rushed to his little brother's side. "Hunter are you alright? Hunter?"

The man groaned and with difficulty opened one eye. One bloodshot and bruised eye. "I'm alive," he croaked before attempting to turn on his left side. That elicited another groan and a curse that would make a sailor blush. 

Unfazed by his brother's colorful vocabulary, Harmonee prodded, "Are you?" Then as his little brother chose to not dignify that with an answer, he frowned and as per usual, let it go. "Come on, let's clean you up and take care of you."

"You're not my mum," Hunter protested.

"Yet you come to me every time an asshole decides to break your bones," Harmonee pointed out. 

"At least there's a cure for broken bones," Hunter grumbled under his breath. Harmonee chose to ignore that. 

Harmonee helped his brother into the bathroom where he gently shed his clothes, wiped out his scars and iced his bruises. 

All this in silence. 

It was his fault.

He neglected to take care of his little brother when it mattered, now he had to live with the guilt. The price. 

Silence.

Loneliness.

Guilt.

Hunter.