Closed Bonding Time

[Estella Fuentes]

Essie and Ares had been living with each other for a while now, and so far Essie thought it had been great. It was convenient for both of them as they worked together and both desperately needed to move out of their family home. It also brought them so much closer and Essie was feeling like she could go to him about absolutely anything. She felt this was reciprocated up until recently however. Ares had been down lately and Essie knew it was the whole situation between him and Jordie. It has been tough for the both of them, however she knew that Ares wasn’t telling her something as he hadn’t spoken about it in a while. She wasn’t even sure Ares made it to Jordie’s graduation, and now that Jordie had left school, she didn’t even know if they were hanging out. She suspected they had broken up, but Ares just needed to admit it to her.

As Essie made it home after a well deserved shopping trip at Makutu Mall, she dumped her bags onto the couch and called out for her friend. “Ares, are you here!?” she shouted, wondering if he was home. After she heard no response, she sighed, heading towards the hallway, where she noticed the door to his bedroom was closed. “Guess you won’t be getting any chocolate frogs then.” she said, hoping this would get his attention.

 

[Ares Kuya-Tine]

Ares didn’t know how to feel lately. He had broken up with his boyfriend over post, and the more that he said it in his head, the worse it sounded. He felt like a terrible person, and maybe he didn’t even deserve a boyfriend if he was going to behave like that. Jordie was probably enjoying his time without him anyway. He was just another stress to the boy and added to his already busy schedule.

As Ares heard Estella come in the front door, he stayed lying on his bed looking up at the ceiling, unphased. He didn’t feel like talking to her as he didn’t want to admit what he had done to anyone, even though he knew Jordie was probably telling everyone himself. He didn’t want any of it to be real and just hoped if he stayed on his bed long enough he would eventually wake up and realise it was all just a dream. As Essie then mentioned chocolate frogs, Ares sighed, slowly sitting himself up on his bed before speaking. He knew she wouldn't be giving up any time soon anyway. “Fine, you can come in.”

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Essie smirked as she finally heard Ares speak. She rushed over to her shopping and took the bag of chocolate frogs that she bought before letting herself into his room. He was sitting on the bed, and Essie smiled at him, holding the bag out in front of her. “Here you go, but we are sharing. Now move over.” She sat herself on the bed next to him and made herself comfortable before reaching into the bag for a chocolate frog and opening it up. “Oh, I’ve got Dumbledore! Do you have him?” She passed it over to her friend, knowing it wasn’t much use to her anyway, and then put the chocolate frog into her mouth. “So, tell me what’s been going on. Why aren’t you hanging out with Jordie now that he’s graduated?” She wanted him to be straight with her and so figured jumping straight into it would help with that as he knew that she was being serious.

 

[Ares Kuya-Tine]

Ares watched as Essie sat herself down with the bag of chocolate frogs. He also took one out of the bag and nodded as Essie showed him her Dumbledore card. “Yeah, I’ve got heaps of him.” he said, opening up his chocolate frog to reveal Bertie Bott. Excellent, he didn’t have many of him.

Ares couldn’t say he was surprised to hear what Essie had to say next. He knew the question was bound to come up soon, especially since they were living together now and he was home a lot more than usual. “Nothing’s really been going on. That’s literally it. We haven’t been hanging out.” There was a little bit of attitude in his voice, but he honestly didn’t care. Why did Estella have to be so nosy all of the time? He instantly regretted letting her invade his space, even though he expected this to happen. He just didn’t know how ready he was yet to admit the truth.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Essie frowned as Ares responded to her question. “That’s not good enough.” she said sternly, her attention completely gone from the chocolate frogs. “Something has happened, and you can’t lie to me, Ares.” Essie frowned, trying her best to be sympathetic but also a little fed up at the fact that she had been kept so in the dark and Ares was not budging. Part of her felt as though Ares didn’t want to be her friend anymore, and the woman had already lost so many of her friends; she couldn’t bear losing another one. “Please, Ares.” she begged, her voice a little softer. “You can trust me with anything. And I know that I may sound a little hypocritical saying that, but you’re my best friend and I honestly just want to help.”

 

[Ares Kuya-Tine]

Ares rolled his eyes as Estella snapped a little at him. He looked away from her as she spoke, expecting her to whinge about it and maybe even get angry and storm out. Ares almost kicked Essie out of his bedroom himself until he heard her begging. He looked over at her, noticing the desperation in her eyes. He just sighed, annoyed, and lay down in his bed, his eyes looking up to the ceiling. He couldn’t look at her. “I-I broke up with him.” he said simply, his voice breaking a little. The words felt like a dagger to the heart, even as he said them. Guilt gnawed at his insides. It had been so long since the pair of them spoke, but there wasn’t a day that went by where he didn’t think about him. The way he felt so comfortable holding his hand. It was like they were two pieces of a puzzle perfectly matching. But there was nothing Ares could do now.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Essie watched as Ares lay back in his bed. He was about to break and she could feel it, so she kept silent as he did so. When he spoke, she pursed her lips. She already knew that they broke up, but the fact that Ares was the one to do it was a little shocking. Clearly he was hurting and Essie wanted nothing more than to help him. After all of the bad she had done in her life, helping him would hopefully make up for it all. “I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but I think it would be good to.” Essie said, moving a little closer to him. She lay her head next to his on the pillow, getting comfortable. “What made you make that decision?” She didn’t want him to feel like she’d made the wrong one, even though she definitely felt as though he did. She couldn’t imagine Jordie having done something horrible, and so the whole situation was just very confusing for her. She hoped that Ares was comfortable enough with her to make sense of it.

 

[Ares Kuya-Tine]

Ares huffed a little, frustrated as Essie spoke again. “You’re right - I don't want to talk about it.” he said angrily, turning to face the other way as Essie tried to lie down next to him. He kicked the chocolate frogs off the bed, hearing them spill all over the floor. He didn’t even care anymore. Who did Essie think she was invading his privacy like this? “I made the decision for me, okay? There’s nothing else for me to say, so please just leave.” Ares could feel his eyes water, and he brought his knees up to his chest, just hoping Essie would walk out before he broke down again. But he knew Essie better than that. There was no way she was leaving any time soon, and all Ares could do was try and hold himself together.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

As Ares kicked the chocolate frogs off the bed, Essie couldn’t help but hold her breath. She had obviously touched a nerve with him, but one that she knew she had to. She knew from experience that the only way to deal with issues was to face them head on, and even though Essie was slightly terrified, she knew she had to keep pushing with him. She paused for a moment to see if he had anything else to say before speaking again. “Clearly this is making you more upset though. You need to go and talk to him. It’s not too late, Ares. You need closure.” she sighed, sitting up in the bed. “Remember when Nico broke up with me?” Essie was bringing back old memories, but it was the only thing she could think of to try and convince him. “Everything was so awkward, and yes it was all my fault, but it was never truly resolved until we spoke again and cleared the air. I’m not saying you should get back with him…” Except, she was. “But at least just speak with him, tell him how you feel. I don’t know what exactly happened, but now that he’s out of school, things may have changed. I’m sure he’s breaking as well. Please Ares, just trust me. You will only just keep losing sleep until you do something about it.” Essie sighed, getting out of the bed to collect the chocolate frogs off the floor. She hoped her words meant something to him, even if he decided to completely ignore them.

 

[Ares Kuya-Tine]

Ares stayed silent as Estella began to talk again. Of course she was bringing up herself in all of this. Comparing her perfect life to his was definitely not going to make him feel better. But as she spoke, part of Ares was trying to make sense of it all. Could Jordie really also be hurting? Jordie had too many other things to worry about, so surely this was at the back of his mind? Ares was the one who had barely anything going for him, and Jordie didn’t deserve someone like that. For all Ares knew, Jordie had probably found someone else, and going and trying to talk to him might make him feel even worse.

But then as Essie climbed out of the bed, Ares thought back on her words. She was right - they were both out of school now, and Ares didn’t know where Jordie’s headspace was. If he was dating another guy, perhaps it could help Ares let go of him. It was the unknown that was making everything so hard. Love felt like the sweetest melody with Jordie, and even if their relationship was in the past, he left an unforgettable mark on him. If he was to not even bother to try and get closure, it would be a chapter that could never finish.

And as Ares heard Essie’s footsteps leave the room, he felt as though another part of him was controlling his body, staggering out of his bed and grabbing his coat off his nightstand as he headed for the front door. He didn’t care how raggedy he looked, or how big the circles were under his eyes, he needed to complete the final scene of this chapter.