Episode 5

..**Chapter 5...

...A New Sunrise** ...

.........

Some time ago, a story ended up blank, without a definitive ending, and without even being told the ending.

Even the white walls seemed quieter than usual. An uncomfortable silence that made Dario Mancini's heart pound, anxious.

Dario had dropped the bomb, now it was time to wait. He stared at Benjamin who said nothing, and perhaps didn't even have an answer.

"Dario, I…" he stammered, searching for words that were available in his blank mind.

Dario, knowing what that meant, frowned. He certainly didn't expect a no. However, that hesitant beginning of a sentence meant only one thing: "denied".

"Ben, just think, okay? I'll give you time, I…" the gray-haired man shook his head. He couldn't accept those words… not that "I love you, please stay with me".

"I don't want you, Dario."

Dario's heart stopped, stopped for a few tight seconds. He blinked a few times, digesting those words.

"H-How so?" He gathered his few remaining forces, trying to understand this being who dared not even look up for a second.

"I don't want to be with you! Do you understand now? Or do you want me to draw you a picture?" He bit his lip. Love, love, love. Why did all the teenagers his age only talk about this?

He didn't understand why they bragged so much about this futile feeling. Did Dario love him? Is that a joke?

Dario was just another one of those people who got everything confused. He was sure to hurt him one day. First of all, wouldn't it be more rational to nip it in the bud?

He should cut it off, before his brain acted according to his stupid heart and only worked for Mancini.

"Dario. I'm not interested in these futile things." With every dry word spoken by the younger one, the brown-haired man shrank and felt his chest heavy. His eyes burning, he bit his lip, bit it so hard that he began to taste iron.

""Futile,"you say…?" What was he thinking when he decided to talk about his feelings? His voice was already choked, and even sharp at the end of his speech. "Everything we lived…" He forced his throat, trying to at least sound firm and confident. "Everything we lived… meant anything to you?" He looked at him intensely.

...After everything they'd been through, was it really possible that Benjamin hadn't felt anything?...

"..."

He kept his jade eyes fixed on the floor. His voice, Dario's voice, sounded like it was going to fail at any moment. He wasn't crying, was he?

Without the courage to look up and meet that intense green, he kept his gaze on the ground, already releasing the first drops of sadness and pain. Which luckily, or not, the other wouldn't see, since his head remained lowered.

"And what was it supposed to mean, Dario?" He countered.

It was all so confusing. His chest hurt so much. Why? Why was it him who was rejecting someone? What was this feeling?

"Haha" he laughed ironically, and even nervously. "To me… to me it meant a lot. Every moment we lived. Every second I spent by your side, my heart raced." He lowered his gaze, melancholy.

"Raced? Don't make me laugh. Right… something I will cherish forever is the sex." Mancini looked at him incredulously. Just that? Didn't he like anything else? "You're the wrong guy for me anyway. Just a drug dealer, nothing more."

"…"

Dario remained silent. Yeah, he was right. He was a nobody without the help of his family, which he didn't even get along with. What future would he have? As his family always made a point of telling him: "He was useless..."

"You're just confusing yourself, Dario. Love? I bet you don't even know what that means."

"And by any chance, do you know, Benjamin?" The aforementioned one's eyes widened. No, he didn't know. And he was skeptical that he didn't need to experience this idiotic feeling, which by the way, doesn't even exist.

"No, and I don't need to. Only idiots do idiotic things."

"Don't you think you're the idiot here?"

"What?"

"You're the one who's denying the existence of love. Yes, it exists. Don't say that what I feel is just confusion, you have no right and you don't know what I feel, or don't feel."

"So be it. Stay with your idiotic feelings. And don't try to lecture me, I don't take sermons from people like you."

"People like me? And what kind of"people"am I, hmn?" He was indignant. He was willing to know what the one he had declared his feelings for thought of him.

"Don't play dumb with me." He walked a few steps, refusing to look at him. He didn't need him, he didn't need love. It was okay… "Don't look for me anymore, and see if you can get over these feelings you have for me. Goodbye, Dario Mancini."

The last sound he heard before his own cry was the sound of the infirmary door closing.

Just like the sun that afternoon, Benjamin Walker was gone. But just as when the sun sets, Benjamin would have to return, the sun would still have to rise the next day.

In Benjamin's case, fifteen long, painful years from now.

[…]

He sighed with relief. Benjamin had finally finished arranging the furniture in his new apartment. Located on the second floor, right below would be his ballet studio, and now, his source of income.

His financial situation was stable for now, at least until the end of the month, when he would meet his bills.

His studio was located in one of the most famous neighborhoods in New York, and tomorrow would be the grand opening.

"I'm done!" He put his hands on his waist, everything was working out. "Tomorrow is the big day…" he smiled, watching the sun set on the horizon, through the huge glass window.

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