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Chapter Text

Daniel was sitting on the sand of the beach, drawing on an old sketchbook, the sun was shining that saturday with the beautiful blue sky of Puerto Lobos. The white foam of the sea was shining in the sand, while silence flooded the place, Daniel only heard the sound of the waves hitting the shore of the beach.

Ten years had passed after the disaster that had happened on the border.

Ten years and Daniel still remembered everything as if it had happened yesterday.

Police cars flying and hitting on the ground, the entrance to Mexico being destroyed, Sean being shot.

Sean.

Daniel stopped drawing and slammed the sketchbook.

His bitter and empty gaze was lost in the horizon of the sea.

The enormous emptiness and hatred that Daniel felt at that time, is a wound that he didn’t heal, it doesn’t matter how many times he would think of what could have happened if he had been more careful, had he not been so impulsive, had he acted otherwise…

None of that matters anymore, his brother is dead and he cannot bring him back.

He will never forgive that Sean is dead because of him, that after his death nothing mattered anymore, he was alone and couldn’t return to the United States.

His old friends, his grandparents, Karen, his father, Sean...

He couldn’t have any of that again, and if he could he wouldn’t like to ruin everything again and lose another loved one because of him.

Many things had happened after arriving in Puerto Lobos, many decisions and paths he took that he doesn’t feel proud of, that his father would never see with good eyes.

But Daniel didn’t care about it anymore, when he lost the ones he loved most in this world, nothing mattered anymore.

Six years ago Daniel tried to take his life in what it would have been his brother’s 22nd birthday, after he killed a group of hitmen he took the weapon of one of them and aim at himself. He couldn’t do it, he couldn’t, because he was a coward, because he was afraid of death, it was ironic to think how good he was at killing and destroying, but how useless he was to killing himself.

Suddenly Daniel had a strange sensation in his chest and felt someone’s gaze on him. He let out a sigh of annoyance at the thought that the band of “Los Calavericos” were again behind his head, but when he turned his head to look at them defiantly, the whole picture changed at that moment.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It couldn’t be him.

Or maybe yes?

Chris?

Chapter Text

To: Christopher Eriksen

Address: 901 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122, United States.

Dear Chris:

I hope the information I gave you will be very useful. I'm really sorry I can’t help you find them, as you well know, the police kept tracking my movements and I can’t leave the United States, you don’t know how painful it is for me not to be able to go looking for them personally…

Many years have passed since I last saw them, I still remember clearly when I had to heal Sean’s wounds and the pain in my soul I felt when I saw him like that, every day I think of them, how they are, what they will be doing, how they will have done in Mexico…

A part of me hoped that they would try to contact me, but it didn’t happen, I hope it’s because they decided so and not because something happened…

I hope you get lucky on your trip and manage to find them, in the worst case they may not be in Puerto Lobos anymore, if so, the search will be more difficult.

Any help you need, do not hesitate to contact me.

I wish you the best and that you find Sean and Daniel safe and sound.

With love.

Karen.

Friday, August 7, 2026

12:00 p.m

A flight was going to take off at 1:00 p.m, a young blond was dragging a huge suitcase through Seattle airport to go to the ticket office to check in and leave his luggage, the flight would be long so he had brought his small ammunition in his backpack.

A woman with red hair smiled at her behind the counter when she saw the boy approach her.

“Good morning, can you give me your documents, please?” The blond boy greeted her and handed the girl the documents she was asking for.

“Mr. Christopher Eriksen.” The receptionist read while checking his data on the computer. “Here is your boarding pass, I hope you have a happy trip.”

Chris thanked the woman but before leaving he remembered something. “Excuse me I have a doubt, The General Ignacio Pesqueira García airport… That is the airport where I will arrive.”

“Right.”

“It’s not in Puerto Lobos…”

“It’s in Hermosillo.”

“Do you know where I should go to take a bus that leaves me in Puerto Lobos?” The woman was thoughtful with Chris’s question.

“Give me a few minutes” She said before typing on her computer.

“Papá, papá! Estoy loco por llegar a México!” Said the boy next to him. “Extraño comer tacos.”

The man next to him let out a laugh and took his 7 year old son in his arms and hugged him.

“No te preocupes hijo, cuando lleguemos a México es lo primero que vamos a comer.”

Chris looked longingly at the interaction between the father and his son, it had been 3 months since he last spoke with his father on the phone.

“Take it.” The girl offered him a paper with a name and written address. “I hope it helps, when you arrive in the city of Hermosillo take a taxi to this terminal, then you must buy a ticket from a bus that goes to Puerto Lobos.”

Chris took the sheet in his hands.

It will be a great surprise to see them again after 10 years.

“Thanks a lot.” Chris said with a smile on his lips.

The sun’s rays filtered through the window, the sky was dyed orange while a silence flooded the place, Chris could only hear the sound of the plane. The people around him were concentrated watching a movie, reading a book or sleeping.

Chris had a comic in his hands that he had stopped reading an hour ago, he had fallen asleep after Captain Alfred had entered Supervillain’s Sam’s lair. He took his backpack and took out some cereal bars, probably they were going to have dinner soon, but Chris was very hungry.

When he checked what else was in his backpack, he found the old drawing he and Daniel had made. In the drawing you could see careless strokes of a blond boy with a mask, cape and armor, and next to him another dark boy wearing a hooded cape and a mask.

Chris smiled sadly and pulled a sketchbook into his backpack and opened it until he came to a drawing that had the same concept of children’s drawing but much more professional.

He sighed as he remembered everything that happened in Beaver Creek, seeing Daniel and Sean fleeing through the forest, his farewell when Daniel last saw him when he climbed into the treehouse.

Chris had hoped to see them again, that things would be fixed and that all the misunderstandings would be resolved, to have the Diaz brothers again as neighbors and to be able to stay together.

But none of that happened. Daniel and Sean didn’t come back and when Chris asked Mr. Reynolds about them Mrs. Reynold broke into tears.

Since that day Chris didn’t talk about them with Mr. Reynolds anymore.

All he knew is that Daniel and Sean had fled the border after a massacre that no one could explain since the Díaz brothers didn't carry any weapons.

The mysterious deaths of that incident had Chris in suspense, but he was sure of something, Daniel had nothing to do with what had happened.  Daniel, his childhood friend, couldn’t have killed those people.

Chris’s theory is that maybe someone there had super powers too.

From that day on many things changed, from the impact of the news, to things after what happened.

His father had decided to leave Chris with his grandparents living in Seattle for a time, while he resolved his own alcoholism issues.

But Charles never came back, and the times Charles talked to him he always replied that he wasn't ready to return yet.

Chris was patient, but things never happened as he expected.

When Chris graduated from high school, his father called him to congratulate him and sent him a letter of apology for not attending his graduation with money inside.

Every time Chris asked Charles where he was and when he was going back, he always replied that he was still fixing his affairs and that he needed to do it alone. Chris stopped asking the same thing 3 years ago.

Every time Chris talked to his father, it was always about how he was doing and how he was doing with his studies at the university, they didn’t talk beyond that, and every time Chris asked his father how he was doing, his answers were very short.

Chris had started his BA in Interdisciplinary Arts 2 years ago at the University of Seattle, his grandparents were very proud of him.

But 1 year ago a great doubt invaded Chris.

It all started when during one morning at the university, Chris was having breakfast in the cafeteria along with other classmates. On the television they had to watch the news from their seats, journalists made a reminder of the border massacre.

10 years after the border massacre and even the police cannot explain what happened.

The Díaz brothers fled to Mexico, the United States government requested their extradition, but according to the Mexican government the police have not been able to find them.

Please, a minute of silence to the dead at the border.

“You don’t think it’s strange that they haven’t been able to solve how the massacre took place.” asked a boy named Nick who was sitting next to Chris.

“One of the several theories said one of the boys who fled had telekinesis powers.” Answered a girl with dark skin.

“Do you really think that?” Another boy scoffed. “Surely the boys had some hidden bomb they threw and that would explain why the cars flew.”

“But according to the investigations, no weapon was found at the scene of the crime.” answered a girl named Tess. “how could it be a bomb if none of that was found?”

At that time the guys began to debate the theories they had found on the Internet.

A week after Chris investigated online and read all the news portals that talked about the massacre, he began investigating all social networks to contact Daniel and Sean. But none of that worked.

He could only find Sean’s Facebook that had not posted anything since 2016.

He had left multiple messages but none of them were answered.

So Chris started doing his little private investigation. That same year, during his summer vacation he decided to visit Beaver Creek. His main reason was to speak personally with Mr. Reynolds and to be able to get information from the whereabouts of Daniel and Sean.

When he arrived he hoped to find his father in his old house, but when he reached the front of the house it was super careless, his old playground was full of a long lawn that had not been trimmed for years, and his old Tree house was very neglected, it looked as if at any moment it could fall.

His house looked like a place that had not been inhabited for a long time.

Similarly, Chris reached the porch and rang the bell, nobody opened the door. Then he looked out the windows, but they all had low curtains.

A sigh of sadness came from Chris’s lips, this house was full of memories, both good and sad. After all, it was the place where he grew up with his mother when she was alive.

After giving up he decided to walk to the house of Mr. Reynolds. The last time Chris saw them they didn’t look as old as now, but they were still there, together, supporting each other.

They were very surprised to see Chris on his porch, Mrs. Reynold hugged him and told him that he had grown a lot and that he was very handsome. Chris told them a little about his life, that he was studying now at the university and that he had rented a small flat apartment to avoid being a burden for his grandparents while with his part-time work he paid his expenses.

After having a small chat with Mr. Reynolds, Chris asked if they had news of the Díaz brothers.

The face of both changed completely, Mrs. Reynold shook her head.

“Is there no way to know anything about them?” asked a hopeful Chris.

Mrs. Reynold sighed.

“My daughter, Karen, she could inform you better of them, she saw them for the last time before crossing the border.” Mr Reynold replied before taking a small paper and writing his daughter’s address.

“Look for her, she will inform you better about my grandchildren,” he replied sadly.

After the dinner with the Reynolds, Chris decided it was time to return to Seattle and plan his next trip to Arizona.

Before leaving, Mrs. Reynold hugged him tightly.

“Thank you very much for coming Chris, I love you as if you were another grandson.”

His heart stirred, it had been a long time since he had last had contact with Mrs. Reynold, he felt bad for not having visited them before to find out how they were.

He promised himself to visit them again soon.

After returning to Seattle he left days later to Arizona where he would later meet with Karen.

At first Chris thought that Mr. Reynold had been wrong to give the address since he only saw desert when he arrived. But after advancing in his car with the GPS activated, he found a small town near the Grand Canyon.

Chris was surprised to know that there was a small town in a place like this, where you could see RVs and houses made of wood around.

It was not very difficult to find Karen since she was very well known in the place.

When Chris knocked on the door, a blond lady leaned out the window and was a little confused to see him. However, she opened the door to the unknown boy and told him to come inside.

He looks exactly the age of Daniel. She thought.

Upon entering Chris introduced himself and went straight to the point. Karen was surprised that someone else was investigating the whereabouts of her children.

“Count on me in anything that can help you find Sean and Daniel,” Karen said as she took Chris’s hands.

That same night Chris had fallen asleep at Karen’s house, they had talked both of their lifes, Chris told her his story, how he had met Daniel and everything that had happened.

After Karen told him about her life, she told him that she had never stopped thinking about them and that like him, she has been investigating the whereabouts of her children without much success. All she knew was that they had fled to Puerto Lobos and there was no way she could go there.

And that’s how Chris was now on a plane that went straight to Mexico, just 3 hours more and he would arrive in the Mexican city of Hermosillo.

Chris just hoped to find the Díaz brothers safe.

Chapter Text

Chris couldn’t see anything.

Everything around him was dark, he could feel in his shoes some small rocks that hindered his passage. Chris kept walking cautiously around the area and raised his arms to avoid tripping over something.

But suddenly, everything around him lit up.

Around it there was nothing more than barren land with huge rocks that looked like mountains that crossed the ground, in the center of the place there was a huge flashing lantern.

Mantroid?

Why am I seeing it after so long?

Chris blinked confused without understanding anything and kept walking towards the lantern.

Whispers began to sound around him. Chris turned back to see if anyone else was following him, but there was only a huge horizon filled with rocks and barren land.

The sky was gray and the temperature was very cold. When Chris thought he was going to be able to touch the lantern, a huge dark figure rose from the place and opened his red eyes that looked at him menacingly.

"Do you think you will be able to recover your friends?" Said the figure with a mocking tone. "You should accept that you lost them forever, I thought ten years were enough for you to understand that they won't come back to you."

"That's a lie," Chris whispered. "None of this is their fault."

"Do you really think so? Who would want to be friends with a brat like you?" He smiled maliciously. "A loser boy who only knows how to lose his loved ones, or should I remind you of how your mother died for wanting to buy the toy of her son."

"Shut up." Chris cried out loud. "Don't you dare talk about my mother, son of a bitch!"

"Oh Chris, look how scared I am about your threats." The figure responded mockingly. "I don't understand why Daniel saved your life that day, he is as useless as you, your father would be more relieved if you had died."

"I imagine being him and having the burden of my wife dying because my son's useless wanted a toy." The devilish figure was lamented. "What do you think about it? If you hadn't been born none of this would have happened.."

"Enough." Chris replied in distress.

"If the useless one of your friend would not have saved your ass that day, he might not have had to flee the police, and he would be with his grandparents at this time, and not being a fugitive from justice in Mexico."

"I said shut up!" Chris said punching the creature.

The devilish creature broke into Chris's arms and a dark laugh was heard all over the place.

"Chris, I'm not a mortal like you." Chris felt a chill on his back when he heard the creature's voice behind him. "I am everywhere."

And before Chris could face him he felt a blow to his head.

Chris woke up suddenly over his seat on the bus.

What time is it? He thought looking at his watch.

Saturday, August 8.

8:30 a.m

Chris leaned back in his seat and touched his aching head, a headache began to bother him after waking up startled. He hated nightmares, he stopped having them two years after living with his grandparents.

Chris looked at the window.

The landscape had changed, before he saw only trees, now there is only desert.

“Estimados pasajeros, dentro de unos 20 minutos más vamos a llegar a Puerto Lobos, vamos a repartir el desayuno en este momento, y por favor, cuando lleguemos no olviden su equipaje.” A girl communicated through the microphone.

"Dear passengers, in about 20 more minutes we will arrive in Puerto Lobos, we will distribute breakfast at this time and please, when we arrive don’t forget your luggage." The girl repeated in english.

Chris would lie if he said he didn't felt nervous. He feels nervous about everything, meeting with Daniel and Sean after so much time, being in a country alone, not speaking the language.

Chris had taken Spanish classes in high school, and had been studying what was necessary before traveling to Mexico and yet, when he arrived at the Hermosillo airport he had felt lost, however, thanks to the paper delivered by the airline receptionist, he could explain to the taxi driver that he needed to go to the terminal to take a bus.

After spending the night in a hostel near the terminal, luckily the hostel the receptionist could speak English, buying the ticket to Puerto Lobos was another problem.

The employee at the bus terminal, only repeated that he didn’t speak English while Chris tried to explain that he wanted a ticket to Puerto Lobos. However, thanks to his cell phone he translated the sentence to copy it on a sheet paper and give it to him.

"Good Morning!" He was greeted by a girl. "Here is your breakfast, thanks for traveling with us!"

Chris took the breakfast and answered a "thank you".

"Estimados pasajeros hemos llegado a nuestro destino, muchas gracias por viajar con nosotros." The same girl communicated again through the microphone.

"Dear passengers, we have reached our destination, thank you very much for traveling with us."

After Chris left the bus with his backpack and looked for his suitcase, he sat down on a bench in the terminal to eat the breakfast he had been given.

And now what?

Where can he start looking for Daniel and Sean?

The heat began to annoy Chris so he took off his coat.

What if he started asking about Daniel and Sean somewhere known?

What site was known in Puerto Lobos?

Suddenly Chris heard two people speaking in English beside him. It was a couple who were discussing where to visit before going to lunch.

"We should go to the beach and then eat at a restaurant where they sell seafood. You don't think so." A girl with blue eyes and blond hair said to her husband with brown skin and brown eyes.

"We should rest from the trip first baby"

"But it's 9:30 in the morning!"

"Umn... Excuse me.."

They both turned in the direction of the voice of the young man who spoke to them.

"Sorry to bother you, my name is Chris and it's the first time I've come to Mexico." The boy said it embarrassed.

The couple looked at each other and smiled at the boy.

"Are you only here?" The girl asked with a smile.

"Yes."

"But you look so young!"

"I'm 20 years old, I'm adult enough to travel alone."

The boy who was with the girl burst out laughing.

"Smart boy, where are you from?" Asked the dark boy.

"From Oregon, Seattle." Chris replied with a smile. "And you?"

"I am from Texas, Dallas." the blue-eyed girl replied.

"I was born in the capital of Mexico, but we currently live together in Dallas, we are on vacation for our honeymoon." The boy explained.

"My name is Sasha and his name is José, nice to meet you Chris!" The woman smiled. "How can we help you?"

"I'm looking for some crowded place in town, I need to find some old friends." Chris explained. "The problem is that I don't know where to start."

"Why don't you visit the town center?" José asked. "This town is very small, if your friends are here I don't think you have any problem finding them there."

"In addition it is the commercial zone of Puerto Lobos, any shop that you are looking for is there, the rest of the place are houses of the habitants." Sasha concluded.

Chris looked around the exit of the terminal.

"Here is everything super close amigo, walking from here to the center is 15 minutes, you just need your GPS on to not get lost." José replied as if he had read his thoughts.

Chris nodded.

"Thank you very much for your help, really." Chris thanked him sincerely with a smile. "I’m sorry for having bothered you"

"You're so cute." Sasha replied.

"I hope you are lucky in your little search, in the center of Puerto Lobos there are several good restaurants in case you are hungry." José advised him as he winked an eye. "Have fun, Mexico is wonderful."

Sasha said goodbye to Chris and took her husband's hand to address what looked like a small coffee shop in the terminal.

Chris turned on his cell phone and placed himself on the map through his GPS. His main reason here is to find Daniel and Sean, but he had brought his professional camera to take some good photos of the place.

And what better way than walking through Puerto Lobos?

3:00 p.m

Chris has toured the entire shopping center of Puerto Lobos, he had forgotten to count the number of shops and places he had entered, he found Mexican craftsmanship super striking, there were many virgins, skulls and handmade hats.

But there is no trace of Daniel and Sean.

Chris's stomach began to growl and he was tired of walking so much dragging his luggage, so he decided to enter a small restaurant near the beach.

"Buenas tardes! Bienvenido a Don Cangrejo! Qué desea ordenar?” The waiter asked very animatedly.

"Emm, hola, yo no hablo español bien."

"Oh, wait a moment." He responded by withdrawing from the site to go to a dark skinned girl with black hair who was cleaning a table, he whispered something in her ear.

A few minutes later the girl approaches Chris with a smile on her face.

"Good afternoon! Please take a seat."

Chris sighed in relief knowing someone could understand him.

"What do you want to order?"

"Do you have crab soup please?"

"Anything else you would like to order?" She asked as she wrote down everything in a small notebook.

Chris shook his head.

"I will be right back a few minutes with your order."

"Thank you."

Chris felt sad and unmotivated, he had entered every place and asked people who understood English if they knew who are Daniel and Sean Díaz.

No one knew who he was talking about.

And what if Daniel and Sean were no longer in Puerto Lobos? If so, this trip had been a waste of time.

The idea of finding them again suddenly looked so far away again. Karen will be sad when Chris talks to her.

A sigh of discouragement escaped Chris's lips.

The girl who brought his food watched him curiously as she left his plate on the table.

"Hey, can I help you with something?"

"I don't think... I'm looking for someone." Chris replied.

"And what is the name of that person?"

"Daniel and Sean Díaz, do you know them? They came to this place 10 years ago."

The girl shook her head.

"I've never heard that name, Sean... And well, there are many Daniel here, but I've never heard the last name here." The girl replied. "Sorry, are you sure they are here?

Chris took a sip of his soup, his hunger had suddenly taken off.

"I don’t know." He replied sad.

It was 4:00 p.m., Chris was walking near the street while dragging his suitcase, he didn't know what to do now, in a few hours it will get dark and he had no place to stay to sleep. The money he had brought was not much to afford great luxuries.

Suddenly Chris felt someone cover his mouth from behind and point him with something sharp to his neck.

"Shhhhh... tranquilo guerito." A man whispered from behind as he brought the knife to his neck. "Nobody here wants to hurt you... I just want you to give us that suitcase you are dragging."

Chris heard the laughter of other men, they were more than one he thought.

He released the handle of the suitcase and felt someone took it.

"So, I like that you are that kind of tourists, calm and obedient, you better not look back the next 5 minutes when I release you, or this knife will end up in your eye."

Chris raised his hands, the unknown man released and pushed him to the ground. He heard the footsteps of the gang members running away and tears of rage sprouted from Chris's eyes.

It was a bad idea to come here. He thought.

The sky still looked beautiful blue as the sun began to approach the coast.

Chris wiped away his tears and kept walking without knowing where he was going, he thought he should find a place to spend the night and then leave Puerto Lobos in the morning and go to the nearest airport.

Suddenly a person caught Chris's attention.

A boy who was on his back on the seashore was drawing in an old sketchbook, he looked thoughtful, absorbed in his thoughts.

Chris got a little closer to him to see the drawing, but before he could see it the boy with dyed hair closed the sketchbook.

Chris froze a little in the place thinking the boy had noticed his presence, but when he see that his gaze was lost on the coast, he sighed in relief.

This is the moment when I should walk away. He thought.

But the boy's side face looked miserable, as if he had lived the worst tragedy of his life..

Chris wanted to approach him and ask him what was wrong.

Silly idea. He thought, the boy looked dangerous, the best was to walk away.

But before he could keep walking, the dyed hair boy turned sharply to face him while looking at him menacingly.

Chris felt that his heart was going to leave his chest at any moment when their eyes met.

Daniel?

Chapter Text

Seagulls flew around as the sky began to turn orange. The rays of the sun shined on the sea.

A warm sea breeze blew along the coast as the waves crashed against the sand.

Daniel was in shock processing what he saw, Chris watched him expectantly without being able to say a word.

He tried to speak, but his voice wouldn't come out.

It had been so many years, neither of them knew anything about each other since then, many things happened, many things changed.

Chris didn't know where to start, his heart was beating fast of happiness without still believing what he saw.

When Daniel looked at Chris for the first time, his menacing look changed to one of astonishment.

However, a few minutes later his expression changed to an indifferent one and he began to walk towards the right side of the beach, moving away from the boy.

Chris understood the intentions of the other boy and began calling him as he walked behind him.

"Daniel!" He called trying to attract the attention of the dark-skinned boy. "Daniel, stop!"

Daniel continued to ignore him and increased the speed of his steps so he could get away from the freckled boy.

Chris started running after him and before Daniel could stop him, Chris pushed him down.

They both let out a groan of pain as they hit the sand.

"Don't you dare use your telekinesis powers on me." Said a panting Chris with a defiant tone.

"You've gone mad!?" Daniel said with a tone of annoyance while leaning on the sand to get up. "Leave me alone, I don't know what Daniel you are talking about."

"Daniel." He said in a pleading tone. "Please, I traveled here to look for you, we are all worried about you.."

"I already told you, you have the wrong person." Chris was interrupted by the dyed-haired boy who looked at him from above coldly. "Don't bother me if you don't want to get in trouble with me."

Daniel turned around and continued on his way.

Chris sat on the sand as he watched the boy walk away.

Was everything really going to end here?

Without some explanation or reason as to why Daniel was ignoring him?

Unable to have any result on this trip?

Chris got up taking the backpack that had not been stolen and began to follow Daniel.

Chris had been following Daniel for about 10 minutes until the boy finally reached a small house in front of the beach, Chris knew that Daniel had noticed his presence throughout the path, however Daniel decided to ignore him.

The sky began to get dark.

Daniel pulled some keys from his pocket to open the door and before entering, he looked at chris threateningly.

He slammed the door.

Chris stood in front of the porch of Daniel's house and let out a sigh. He opened his backpack and started looking for more cereal bars to eat before sitting on the first step.

It would be a long night, but Chris wasn’t going to give up.

7:30 p.m

Chris opened the first cereal bar and looked for his flashlight and the comic he was reading on the airplane.

Daniel looked at the blond boy through the window while he drank a beer.

11:00 p.m

Chris rested his head on one of the porch railings and closed his eyes. He felt tired after such an exhausting day, he would try to sleep where he was, he couldn’t risk neglecting Daniel.

When he thought the dream was about to reach him, he felt that someone placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey." He was called by a voice.

Chris shook his head half asleep and saw Daniel standing in the front of the door.

"Don't sleep there ... Idiot." Daniel said.

"Am I still dreaming?" Chris said in a playful tone.

Daniel couldn't help smiling, Daniel hadn't smiled for a long time.

"I'm sorry Chris.. for what happened."

"It doesn't matter.." Chris said before sighing sadly. "I missed you a lot."

Daniel said nothing and looked away from Chris, he felt his heart warm.

"You should come in." He said turning away from the door to invite him to pass. "It isn't safe to stay here alone at night."

Chris nodded and took his backpack before entering the house.

Daniel's house was small, the kitchen and the living room were one, Chris saw a couch and a TV, next to those things was the kitchen with a table and a chair.

"I don't usually receive visitors." Daniel said behind Chris. "But whatever you need, tell me."

"Your home is comfortable." Chris said looking curiously around.

Next to the couch was a small bookcase with some books. Chris took out the first book he saw.

To Kill a Mockingbird.

A classic. Chris thought as he returned it to the bookcase.

"Dude, have you had dinner?" He asked, breaking the silence as he watched Chris read his books.

"Cereal bars and .. that .." He said scratching his head. "The truth is that I wasn't very hungry either."

Daniel sighed.

"I saved some pizza from my dinner, if you want you can eat it." He said crossing his arms.

Chris smiled at him.

"I will eat it if you sit with me."

"Where?" Daniel asked mockingly looking at the table that only had one chair. "On your lap? "

"Dude, do you have any problems with people like us who like eating accompanied?" Chris asked. "We can sit together on the couch, of course if you aren't that kind of old man who bothers if someone stain his couch."

"You win." Daniel rolled his eyes and smiled. "Jesus, you haven't changed much, you're still as capricious as I remember you."

“Have you ever seen yourself in a mirror? You were the king of stubbornness.”

Both laughed.

Daniel took the pizza out of the microwave and handed it to Chris who was sitting on the couch, took the TV control and turned on the TV before sitting down.

They remained in silence for a few minutes while watching the TV, Chris took a bite of his pizza.

"Then .. why are you here after such a long time?" Daniel asked as he watched the reporters said the latest news from Mexico.

Chris sighed and rested his head on the couch.

"Dude, we haven't heard anything from you and Sean for ten years ago." Chris replied before giving his pizza a final bite. "When you and Sean entered Mexico it was as if you both had disappeared from the planet."

Daniel remained silent.

"You didn’t send any text message or a letter that you and Sean were fine..." Chris reproached him. "Do you know what your grandparents think? They think you guys are dead, that you both failed to cross the border alive."

Daniel looked away from the TV.

"Karen, your mom.."

"She absolutely didn’t do shit to look for me." Daniel interrupted.

"Dude, your mom can’t travel, she is strained in the United States," Chris explained. "She was locked up in jail for a few years when you both fled, two years ago she was released, but she has been prohibited from traveling, and the police are constantly tracking her to find out if she is in contact with you and Sean."

"Dammit" Daniel cursed. "You talk about Sean as if he were alive."

Chris quickly turned his head to Daniel and looked at him in shock.

OH.

Oh.

They kept silent, Chris felt his stomach churn.

"When we arrived to the border." Daniel continued with his eyes fixed on the TV. "The police were waiting for us at the exit."

Chris remembers when the events at the border were a scandal, everyone talked about what happened, he even remembers when his father watched the news when he thought Chris was sleeping, hoping to know more about what had happened.

"Sean wanted to surrender to police, I didn't want him to do it .." Daniel said bitterly. "It had been his plan after all, to flee the United States, cross the border, live in Puertos Lobos, the town where our father grew up. That was the plan."

"What happened there?" Chris whispered.

Daniel turned off the TV.

"I made the car move forward... I removed who got in our way. We crossed a police shooting, they tried to stop us." Daniel continued. "When we were able to cross the border, I was happy, we managed to get in, we didn't have to worry anymore... but.."

A sob escaped from Daniel's lips.

"During the shooting Sean was shot."

Chris took a deep breath to hold back the tears.

"I couldn't do anything to save him Chris... I saw him die in that car and I couldn't do anything." Daniel covered his face to hide the tears that had begun to run down his face. "I was a moron who didn't realize anything until it was too late."

The house was completely silent, Chris could only hear Daniel's sobs.

"Daniel .." Chris said placing a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "It's too late, you should rest."

Daniel sighed and wiped the tears from his face.

"Tomorrow we can talk more calmly... If you want." Chris had a lot to think about first.

Daniel nodded.

"You can sleep in my room." Daniel pointed to the door where it was. "I'm going to sleep here."

"Hey, it's not necessary, I can sleep here."

"Chris, sleep in my room." Daniel said seriously. "Please."

Chris didn't refuse anymore.

Daniel turned off the lights in the room and threw himself on the couch with the cell phone in his hand.

Chris watched him a few seconds before entering the room and leaving his bag in a corner.

There was only one single bed and a closet.

When Chris lay in the bed he felt his body sink into it.

He felt very tired, his mind still processed everything he had heard.

Sean is dead.

Tears started roll down his cheeks.

Chris didn't know how he would tell Karen this when he called her.

Chapter Text

Daniel wasn’t sleeping.

Yes, he was lying on the couch and his eyes were closed, but he wasn’t sleeping.

Yesterday He had finally been able to sleep 4 hours in the morning, but today? Nothing.

It should be around 7:00 a.m., he felt the sunlight on his eyelids. He had tried to sleep at 4:00 a.m., but he couldn't.

He sighed and got up from the couch.

Another night without sleeping a shit. He thought.

The house was completely silent, Chris must still be sleeping.

Daniel took out a pack of cigarettes he had stored in the kitchen and opened the door carefully to avoid waking Chris. There was no one around the beach, so he sat on the first step of his porch and lit a cigarette, then he took it to his mouth.

The waves of the sea moved smoothly along the coast. Daniel loved the sound of the waves.

A puff of smoke came out of his mouth as he watched the landscape.

Daniel threw and stepped on the cigarette when a brown figure in the distance quickly approached him when she noticed his presence.

"Hey! Kiara!"

The dog greeted him by licking his face while Daniel smiled.

"Where were you? I was already beginning to worry about you." He said while stroking her head, Kiara barked at him as she waved her tail happily.

"Mmm, you must be hungry, I'll get you some food."

But when he got up and opened the door, Chris was on the other side about to open the door too.

"Hey." Daniel greeted.

"Hey." Chris repeated and a huge yawn came out of his mouth. "Good mornaaaang."

"Yes, good mornaaaang for you too."

"You are a dick." He shook his head and looked outside the house. "Oh, do you have a dog?"

Chris walked to Kiara and put his hand toward her to caress her.

"Be careful, she doesn't like strangers." Kiara put her head close to Chris's hand and started licking him. "Well, except you."

"Who doesn't like me?" He smiled and began to stroke Kiara's body. "Boy or girl?"

"Girl, her name is Kiara."

"She is super cute."

"And she's not mine. But two years ago She got hurt in the street, so I brought her here to heal her." Daniel said as he caressed her too. "She stayed with me until she was better, since that day she always visits me every morning."

"That is so cool, I always wanted to have a dog." Chris said. "But my father never liked the idea, and my grandparents had cats, so I could never have one."

"Did you live with your grandparents?"

"Yes.. a while after you left my father decided that he needed to solve some personal problems he had and thought it was the best to me to stay with my grandparents." Chris replied without saying much.

"I get it."

Daniel neither asked nor said anything else.

He entered the house and took out a food bowl for dogs and drinking water.

"I always have bags of food for when she comes to visit me." Daniel said as he brought the food bowl to Kiara. "Although I know I'm not the only one who feeds her, she has the whole neighborhood in her pocket."

Chris laughed.

Kiara barked and wagged her tail happily before eating her food.

"Daniel, don't you mind if I use your kitchen to make breakfast?" Chris asked.

"It depends, if you're going to make me breakfast too, no, it wouldn't bother me." Daniel said trying to sound serious.

Chris rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Well, yes, I was going to make breakfast to you too."

"It's a joke dude."

"You clean the dishes and I cook, is it a deal?"

"Deal."

"Mmm dude." Chris called him.

"Mmm?" Daniel replied that he was lying on the couch writing on his phone.

"There is no bread in the fridge, I only see cans of beers, butter, water, milk, ketchup, a tomato and... an old lemon?"

"Oh shit, sorry, I forgot that I had to go to the market."

"Well, we have the eggs at least."

"What else do you need to cook?"

"I think we're fine, we can eat scrambled eggs and drink the remaining milk, but we should buy food for later."

"Ok." Daniel said as he approached the cupboard to check what he needed to buy. "But before we go to the market, I need to go somewhere. I promise that I won't be there for long."

"Where?"

"Sean's grave."

"Oh."

Both were silent for a few minutes until Chris spoke.

"Can I go with you?"

Daniel looked at him.

"Of course you can, he will be happy to see you again."

After Chris made the scrambled eggs, they both sat down to eat on the couch.

"Not bad, it’s very good." Daniel said before taking another spoonful to his mouth.

"Things you have to learn when you live alone." Chris said.

"Don’t speak for me, I don’t know how to cook."

Chris laughed.

"How are you supposed to feed yourself?"

"Most of the time I eat street food, and if I have to cook because I have no choice, I always cook very simple things."

"Well, it's not that hard, I can teach you if you want."

"I will consider your proposal."

Chris finished eating his plate and sighed.

"Dude, I need a favor from you." He said as his cheeks began to turn red with shame.

"Uh, ok, what happened?"

"Well I don't know if you've noticed it but when I entered your house I didn't have any suitcases."

"Oh, someone stole you?"

"No... well yes, I know, it's stupid."

"Dammit." Daniel cursed "Are you alright? Did he do something to you?"

"No, not really, he threatened me with a knife but nothing happened, he just took my suitcase."

"Mmm, how did he look?"

"I don't know, he was behind me and I couldn't look at him because he was threatening me." Chris said. "Why is that important?"

"For nothing.. I just want to know." Daniel replied. "Sorry dude, it's not very safe here, you have to be careful when you're alone in the street."

"Yes, I know.." Chris said. "My question is if you can lend me some of your clothes? I promise to buy some clothes so I don't keep bothering you."

"I don't mind lending you my clothes, I just think it wouldn't be your style, you know." Daniel said as he looked at Captain America's shirt that Chris was wearing.

"I will make a sacrifice this time if I can wear some clean clothes."

"Ok, ok, I'll give you clean clothes." Daniel said laughing.

After Daniel gave him some clean clothes, Chris went to the bathroom. Daniel took the time to wash all the dirty dishes and put them in their place.

When Chris opened the bathroom door he found Daniel sitting on his bed using his cell phone with more clean clothes next to him.

"Hey, you look great wearing that shirt." Daniel said as he looked at the skeleton drawing.

"You really believe it?"

"Well, that shirt looks more like you than me. I didn't wear it, it was a gift but I didn't like it."

"Mmm, I like it."

Daniel smiled at him.

"I'll go to take a shower too." He said as he stood up and took off his shirt to go to the bathroom.

Chris looked at his chest for a few seconds and then looked away to another place.

"Uh, well .. I'll wait for you outside the house."

"Okay."

Before Daniel closed the bathroom door Chris looked at his back.

When he left the house, Chris saw two kids swimming on the beach.

He took out his cell phone and looked at the charge percentage.

1%

Awesome. He thought sarcastically, his cell phone charger was in the suitcase that was stolen.. so he is fucked up.

He sighed and sat down the first step to look at the beach.

He would have to ask Daniel for his cell phone to call his grandparents and tell them that he was fine, at least he could contact them yesterday in the morning.

And Karen.. Chris has to convince Daniel to talk to her.

He still doesn't know how, Daniel seems to hold a lot of resentment yet.

"Chris." Daniel called him at the entrance of the house, he had another sleeveless shirt on. "Come on."

Daniel and Chris walked together until they arrived at what looked like an old construction that was never finished, next to it was a blue cross with several flowers and candles that had the image of the Virgin Mary.

R.I.P

SEAN

Daniel reached down and took the withered flowers from the vases.

"Later I will bring him some new ones, these flowers are already very withered."

"Daniel."

"What?"

"How did all this feel?" Chris wasn't quite sure to ask this question.

"Like a fucking hell."

"It still hurts?"

"As if it were the first day."

"Dude.. you know, regardless of what you believe, none of this is your fault." Chris said.

"Don't try to comfort me, if I hadn't taken Sean to that damn police shooting none of this would have happened." Daniel said.

"You were a child."

"And nothing will change the result."

"It was too much for you, both were children in a situation that neither could handle, you both didn't know what to do at that time where there was so much injustice on the part of those who had the duty to protect you, you didn't know how to use your powers." Chris replied. "You just tried to defend yourself."

"You know, every night before I go to sleep I think about what it would have been better to do at that time." Daniel's gaze was fixed on the cross. "Obviously what I decided to do was the worst decision of all."

"Daniel.."

"Chris." Daniel said. "If I had accepted Sean's decision to turn himself in to the police he would be alive right now."

Chris didn't answer anymore. Daniel got up and shook his pants.

The laughter of the kids was heard in the distance.

"Let's go, we can get the flowers in the market too." Daniel said and walked towards the street to throw away the old flowers.

Chris stood a few minutes standing in front of Sean's grave, his sad look was fixed on the cross.

"I'm so sorry Sean."

Daniel walked to an old pickup that was parked in the back of his house and took out the keys to open it.

"I didn't know you had a pickup." Chris said as he looked at it curiously.

"Well, yes, this shit is old but I like it a lot." Daniel said as he opened the passenger door. "Come on."

When Chris got in the car, Daniel started the engine and drove back until he reached the road.

Upon arrival, he pressed the throttle forward.

Chris watched the landscape as he felt the wind on his face.

"There is a lot of desert around here." Chris said. "It reminds me of the Arizona desert, but with less vegetation."

"Yes, welcome to Puerto Lobos, you are hardly going to see a tree in this shit, there are only cactus." Daniel answered and turned on the radio.

A Metallica song began to play in the background.

"So, are you going to tell me why that drastic change of look?" Chris asked.

"Uh? Oh, do you mean the tattoos?" Daniel asked amused.

"Well yes, but your hair surprised me a lot."

"The hair thing was stupid, I'm not going to lie to you." He said laughing. "I lost a bet."

"Dude, really?"

"Yes, the first time was because I lost the bet, then I started dyeing it because I liked how it looked."

"Well, the color looks good on you."

"Yes, people always tell me that I have a handsome face so anything I decide to do with my hair would be look good, who knows, maybe I will dye it green or something like this next time... If I'm bored enough to do that. "

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea." Chris said laughing.

Daniel laughed.

"It's a joke, but I miss my original color, so I'll let it grow to cut it later."

"That sounds better."

"What about you? You haven't changed much. You are exactly the same Captain Spirit I met 10 years ago." Daniel asked. "Do you still do cosplay and that shit?"

Chris laughed.

"Dude, you are a dick, jesus." He said as he dried the tears of laughter. "Well, you got me there."

"No shit." Daniel said laughing. "You became an otaku or.. what is the name of the Japanese shit?"

"No, I mean, anime is fine, but I like comics more than manga."

"Well, I don't know what is the difference between a comic and a manga to be honest." Daniel said  "But do you cosplay?"

Chris rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Yes, I've done cosplay, especially Marvel."

"Well dude, that's cool." Daniel said. “You should show me a photo of you wearing a cosplay.”

"Well, thanks I guess?” Chris said amused. “and no, definitely not.”

"What are you studying? I guess something that has to do with arts?"

"Actually, yes." Chris replied. "Interdisciplinary Arts."

"That's great, I'm happy for you Chris."

Chris smiled at him.

"You also draw."

"Yes, but I doubt I have the same professional level you have."

"Well, that's something I have to decide, not you."

"Ok, I promise to show you a drawing of mine next time.." Daniel said looking at him. "After we buy the things we need, but you must also show me your art."

"Deal?"

"Deal."

Both boys smiled at each other.

Chapter Text

Chris looked curiously around, there were many people walking on the streets in the morning. In the place where Daniel had parked his pickup there was a stall with a vendor in each corner.

"Hey, don't get lost, stay close to me." Daniel said when he saw the blond man approaching the stall of crafts to see what they were selling.

"Dude, I'm not five years old, let me see those small pyramids."

Daniel laughed.

"If you want any cliché souvenir from Mexico you should buy a Mexican hat."

Chris ignored him and took a small sculpture that had a Mayan calendar.

"How much does this cost?" Chris asked the woman who was selling it.

"500 pesos, young man." Said the woman. "Take advantage, it's very cheap!"

Daniel took Chris by the arm and approached him.

"Dan! Let me buy something!"

"Dude, that woman wants to cheat you."

"It’s cute."

"500 pesos for a poorly painted small souvenir?"

"Well, but it has a Mayan calendar."

"Dude, she knows you're a foreigner and wants to take advantage of you." Daniel said shaking his head. "If you want something like that I'll take you to a better place later."

"You know what? I want to buy souvenirs just to contradict you." Chris said amused.

"Well, if you want to spend 500 pesos on that ugly souvenir, I'm not going to stop you." Daniel said raising an eyebrow.

Chris laughed.

"Geez, it doesn't matter, let's buy the things we need." Chris said as he pushed Daniel to keep walking.

"Daniel!"

Both boys turned their heads.

A dark skinned boy with green eyes and black hair taken in a ponytail quickly approached the boys as he raised his hand in greeting to Daniel. The boy has several tattoos on his arms and has a nose piercing.

"Man I didn't know you were going to be here today." Said the man surprised while clashing his hands with Daniel's.

"Hey, Alex." Daniel greeted. "It's weird to see you here in the morning."

"Dude, you say it as if I could never wake up early." He said laughing and his eyes stopped on Chris.

Chris felt uncomfortable with his presence, Alex looked at him from head to toe and a smile formed on his lips.

"Hey.. Who is your friend?" He said looking curiously at Chris.

"Alex, don't bother him." Daniel said and sighed. "Chris, he's Alex, my coworker."

"Nice to meet you Chris." Alex said shaking his hand as he winked at him.

"Umm, hello." Chris said returning the handshake and quickly withdrew his hand when he felt the man squeeze it.

"Ignore him, he just likes to bother you." Daniel said while nudging Alex. "Well man, Chris and I are leaving, see you tomorrow."

"Wait, I want to tell you something." Alex said to Daniel. “It’s very important.”

"Hey, anything about work is spoken on the cell phone." Daniel interrupted him as he directed his gaze at Chris.

"It's something I just found out.. Chris, do you mind giving me and Daniel a few minutes?" Alex asked to Chris. "I promise to return him in a few minutes."

"Um .. Sure." Chris said not very sure looking at Alex and then Daniel before walking to a store of crafts.

When Chris walked away from the boys Alex jumped towards Daniel.

"Dude, where did you get him?" Alex asked excitedly. "Your friend is very cute, can I do him?"

"Did you really hold me back for that?" Daniel asked amusedly as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "I doubt he's gay so leave him alone."

"Mmm, do you really think that? I had my gaydar on"

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, I'm leaving, see you tomorrow." Daniel said walking away.

"Daniel! Hold on a minute! Besides your friend being hot, I received a call from Alejandro." He said.

"What did he want?"

"Man." Alex said as he lowered his voice. "The military stopped the boat that was going through Panama."

"Holy shit."

"I told him that he had to send us the packages again or return the money to us."

"Well, what did he say?"

"He is going to return the money to us since he wants the issue of the police investigation to calm down a bit."

"What a shit."

"I already talked to another supplier we have."

"And it will be more expensive."

"Yeah, the supplier is in Mexico, so we avoid another drama like the one that just happened until things calm down."

Daniel clicked his tongue.

"Whatever, when do they arrive with the packages?"

"Tomorrow morning at 3:00a.m." Alex explained. "He told me that we had to wait for them at the entrance of Puertos Lobos."

"Have you transferred the money?"

"No, not yet, I wanted to ask you first what do you think about the new supplier."

"Do it, see you tomorrow."

"Whatever my boss wishes." Alex said winking.

"Tell Andrés to join us too."

"Damn it." Alex cursed. "Why does that guy have to work with us? he ruins all the fun."

"Because he has my total trust and is a good bodyguard unlike you."

"Come on dude, do you still hold a grudge? I swear they had the gun very well saved and I didn't saw when they aimed at you."

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"See you tomorrow."

"Hey, call my sister, she keeps asking me about you! She says she called you several times yesterday and you didn't answer any calls."

Daniel ignored him and went on his way.

"What a jerk is this guy." Alex sighed.

"I will buy it for 250 pesos." Chris pointed out a small pyramid of various colors.

"I sell it at 400 pesos." Said the woman.

"300 pesos?" Chris asked hopefully.

"350 pesos, and it’s my last offer."

"Deal." Chris said as he looked for the money in his pockets, but before giving it to the woman who was happy, Daniel took him by the arm and pulled him to where he was.

"Chris, stop giving them money."

"I thought we had agreed that you weren't going to get in." Chris reproached him as he released his arm from Daniel's grip.

"I don't want those motherfuckers to make easy money by taking advantage of you."

"it's okay, you win, jesus." Chris said resignedly. "Did you finish talking to your weird friend?"

"Yeah." Daniel laughed. "Weird?"

"Yes man, he made fun of me without knowing me."

"Chris, he didn't make fun of you, why do you think that?"

"Dan, didn't you see what he did when you introduced us?"

"Yes? Flirt with you? He does that with whom he thinks is cute."

"Oh."

"Yes, don't worry, I told him you don't go that way." Daniel said laughing as he patted Chris on the back.

".... Alright." Chris said without saying much.

"Well, let's buy the things we need, it’s getting late." Daniel said while looking at the time on his phone.

Chris nodded and followed him.

After Daniel and Chris bought the things they needed, they decided to first leave the flowers in Sean's grave before arriving at Daniel's house.

"Dan is very late, it's 2:00 p.m." Chris said as he entered the house with some bags in his hands and looked at the old clock Daniel had in the kitchen.

"It's never too late to eat, can I help you with something?" Daniel said leaving the bags on the table.

"You can help me chop the tomatoes and the onion, I have to put the pasta in the pot and prepare the pan." He said leaving the bags on the table to look for things he needed.

"Okay."

Daniel took the first knife he saw and began to chop the tomato.

"Dude... did you wash the tomatoes?" Chris asked when he saw his friend chop them on the table.

"... No?" Daniel replied not very sure of his answer.

Chris laughed.

"Jesus, you're gross Dan." He said laughing. "You have to wash them and then you have to chop it into small pieces, those pieces that you are chopping are very large."

Daniel looked at the pieces he had that were the size of a finger.

"What's wrong with that size?"

"Later the sauce won't cook well." Chris explained as he took the knife and chopped a tomato. "See? This should be the size."

"Well, we have a chef over here." Daniel said with a mocking tone.

"This is super basic cooking." Chris explained. "Seriously, how do you feed when you don't buy street food?"

Daniel shrugged.

"Normally I buy TV dinners, I just have to heat it in the microwave, like ramen or pizza."

"Dude, that is disgusting."

"The pizza you ate yesterday was one of those frozen pizzas sold in the supermarket and I didn't see you complaining about the taste."

"You know what people say, if they are giving you free pizza you have no right to complain." Chris said smiling. "But starting today this kitchen is mine until I leave, and therefore we will eat what I cook, none of those disgusting frozen things."

"Shit, I didn't know that my friend's visit included a housewife." Daniel said laughing. "If I had known this I would never have let you into my house."

"Your worst nightmare became true." Chris said laughing.

"Chris, seriously I don't care about it, do whatever you want, this house is now yours too..."

"Well, that's very nice of you, thanks Daniel."

"... I don't care while you cook for me."

"Well, I guess somehow I have to pay for my stay, but you're going to clean the dishes."

"Damn it."

Chris was sitting drawing in one of the beach chairs that Daniel had placed in front of his house.

In the neighboring house, there was a family gathered near the beach, everyone drank and laughed while some children played on the shore.

Daniel left the house with two beers and a sketchbook in his other hand.

"For you." Daniel gave Chris a beer.

"Thank you." Chris said opening and drinking it.

"What are you drawing?" Daniel asked curiously as he sat on the chair next to Chris.

"I'm just practicing landscapes." Chris said as he showed him what he was drawing.

"Shiiiit, dude, that is fucking awesome. It looks like a photo." Daniel said while admiring the drawing.

"Thanks to many years of practice and many afternoons going to the outskirts of Seattle to practice landscapes."

"You have fucking talent." Daniel said as he passed the sketchbook pages, on several pages he could see drawings of faces, animals, landscapes and superheroes. "I mean, you draw amazing, you cook very well. That pasta was delicious."

Chris smiled, his cheeks flushed.

"Thanks, I don't think I'm so amazing but I'm still trying to improve."

"You are the only one who doesn't see how incredible you are, Jesus." Daniel stopped at one of the pages where there was a drawing of two superheroes. "Chris.. This drawing.."

Chris smiled sadly.

"Yeah, it's another version of what we drawn together 10 years ago." Chris explained as he looked down. "You should look at the last page."

Daniel quickly turned the pages until he reached the last drawing.

"Our drawing, wow." Daniel said and laughed. "I really drew so badly?"

"Dude, I also drew pathetic." Chris said. "I was a disaster and thought those drawings were amazing."

Both boys laughed.

"I never forgot you.. well, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be alive right now."

"Man, don't say that."

"I met you at the time I needed more someone to help me.. literally." Chris said. "How could I forget someone who did so much for me?

"Well, I'm glad those damn powers saved you."

"You think I’m lying because I feel pity, but you are special, and I don't think you have those powers for nothing."

"Oh shit, here we go again." Daniel said as he drank of his beer. "I won't have another talk with you about my powers."

Chris shrugged and drank of his beer too.

"I already fulfilled part of our deal." Chris reminded him. "Now you must show me your sketchbook."

"Please, have some mercy, don't be so hard on me." Daniel said in a mocking tone as he gave his sketchbook to Chris.

"How do you want your score to be, from 1 to 10 or from 1 to 100?"

"I think 1 to 10 would hurt less."

Chris laughed and opened Daniel's sketchbook.

He saw several drawings of faces, animals and landscapes of Puerto Lobos.

"Dan, they're awesome!" Chris said admiring Daniel's strokes and the shading he used in each of his drawings. "I love how you draw the shading.. And your strokes, you have a unique technique.."

Chris turned the pages until he got one that caught his attention.

This drawing.

Daniel has it tattooed on the left side of his chest.

"Dude .. Is he your brother?" Chris asked curiously. "You tattooed the drawing."

"Yeah .. I got that tattoo 4 years ago."

"Oh."

Both boys remained silent for a few minutes while watching the sunset.

"I wanted something special on the chest, near the side where the heart is, so I thought a picture of Sean would be perfect." Daniel explained. "I made the design of the picture and I took it to the tattoo artist."

"Well, it looks amazing." Chris said sincerely.

"How did you know it’s Sean's face? I always hide it with my clothes." Daniel asked as he looked at Chris rising his eyebrow. "Little stalker."

"Well, I don't know if you remember, but this morning you did a striptease in the room after I left the bathroom." Chris said with a smile.

"Oh shit, you're right, you were there." Daniel said laughing. "You enjoyed the view, right?"

Chris rolled his eyes and looked straight ahead, hiding the faint blush on his cheeks.

"It's not like there was much to look at, to be honest." Chris replied as he finished drinking his beer.

"That was fucking rude man." Daniel said laughing. "Hey, I'd like to show you something, hold on a minute."

"Okay."

Daniel got up from the chair and entered the house, Chris kept looking at Daniel's drawings.

Many of Daniel's drawings Chris saw a person who looked like Sean but with a beard.

Esteban, Daniel's dad, of course, Chris had read what had happened to him in the news after he began investigating the whereabouts of the Diaz brothers.

Chris suddenly felt sad thinking about what Daniel had to suffer when he was just a child, knowing his father died.

God dammit, there's nothing fair about it. Chris thought bitterly.

When he closed the sketchbook Daniel left the house with something red in his hands.

Chris's eyes were wide with amazement and he got up from the chair when Daniel showed him what he had in his hands, his memories displayed in his mind like a movie.

"Here." Chris said while taking off his cape. "This is your cape."

"Do you remember it?" Daniel asked with a smile on his lips.

"You are the real superhero."

"Daniel, that is my old cape.." Chris whispered without even believing that Daniel still had his cape with him.

"Yes, I kept it with my stuff when Sean and I fled Beaver Creek." Daniel said while looking at the cape with love. "It meant a lot to me when you gave it to me, so I made sure to keep it safe and not to lose it."

Daniel looked at him surprised, and gave him a sad smile.

"Thanks Chris, that is super cool."

Chris touched his old cape and felt his heart beat faster.

"Like you."

"I guess it's time to give it back to the true hero of this story." Daniel said smiling wistfully as he gave it to Chris. "Thanks for everything Captain Spirit."

But before Daniel could do something, Chris hugged him.

"I already have something better back to my life." He said with tears in his eyes and resting his head on Daniel’s shoulder. "And that's you."

Daniel was surprised by the gesture of his old friend, but a few seconds later he smiled and hugged him tightly too.

"Me too." Daniel said, he felt his heart warm.

Chapter Text

Daniel accelerated the car with his powers, Sean's body lay dead beside him.

His tears ran down his cheek as he left everything behind, the sound of the police cars and the helicopter was lost in the distance.

The afternoon sun was being overshadowed by clouds that announced rain, Daniel screamed as he accelerated the car more, hoping to kill himself in the moment, however the car hit some cactus and stopped.

When Daniel woke up from being unconscious, he heard the drops falling on the car while the sky was illuminated by lightning.

He felt a thick liquid falling from his head, and when he touched it, he saw blood.

The rain began to fall harder, Sean's body was still inert next to him.

He felt fear, sadness, despair.

His brother was dead and it was all his fault.

He opened the car door with his powers and screamed at the sky as the rain drenched him.

The sky was lit up by lightning and the sound of thunder was heard above his screams.

“Sean."

“I'm so sorry.”

The nights in Puerto Lobos were humid, in august there used to be hurricanes in Mexico until November.

Daniel liked to wear his sleeveless shirts, as the humidity made him sweat. The clouds that night dulled the town's night sky.

Daniel drove his car in the middle of the night while two people accompanied him.
"On the news channel they said that hurricane Rosa would hit the mexican coast at 5:00am." said Alex as he watched the clouds approach.

"We won't be there until 5:00am unloading the boat." replied Daniel.

"With the friend you have now, I wouldn't stay until 5:00am working either." replied Alex with a chuckle, Daniel rolled his eyes, while Andrés, a dark-haired man stood silently by his side "Now, tell us, who is he?"

"I'm surprised you could speak english to him, but for work, you forget?"

"Dude, I'm a man with needs, who has had to learn some english to relate to tourists, Americans are hot." Replied Alex with another chuckle "your friend is proof of that, but I didn't find him on Grindr, are you guys dating?"

"Because he's not gay." replied Daniel "idiot."

"You, no, your friend, I doubt it."

Daniel sighed, he wasn't going to keep debating with the jerk.

"Here we are." Daniel said as he parked the car near the beach. An abandoned boat was waiting for them near the rocks. "The packages arrived early."

"Excellent service." said Alex as he and Andres got out of the car to open the back.

Daniel raised his hands and moved the boat with his powers until it was near the trunk.

Andrés immediately began to put the packages in the car, while Daniel got out of the seat to keep an eye on the area.
"Don't keep the packages in that position or they won't all fit, you idiot" Andrés reproached Alex who looked at him with hatred.

Alex grumbled as he took everything out again.

"Hey, Dan, could you help us put the packages away in the car so we can finish faster" Alex said to Daniel who was looking at the horizon while he smoked a cigarette.

Daniel shook his head as he looked at him with an arched eyebrow "I like the way Andrés orders them."

Andrés chuckled behind as Alex looked at him indignantly.

The wind was starting to blow hard as the sky was lit up in the sky by lightning, Daniel was arriving just as the storm was making landfall.

Kiara was waiting for him on the porch, her tail started wagging as she saw him get out of the car.

"Hi, are you looking for a place to get through the rain?" asked Daniel in a sweet voice as he stroked her head, Kiara got up and started to lick his face.

"Calm down, Kiara." he said with a chuckle as he pulled her down from his lap, he opened the door and Kiara ran to the corner of the living room wall, there was a small blanket where she laid down, Daniel turned on the light and brought her some food.

The door to the room where Chris was sleeping was kept closed, Daniel turned off the lights and carefully opened the door, Chris was asleep on top of the sheet, (probably because he was hot before he fell asleep) with his powers he lifted him slightly out of bed to tuck him in with the sheet.

Chris slept peacefully, Daniel looked at him with a smile, he felt envious of him, he wished he could sleep like that. However, having Chris with him gave him some peace, he never thought he would ever have his friend around again, his optimism, his values and his sweetness inspired him to be someone better, someone who wasn't lost, stuck in this shitty life.

Chris still didn't make clear why he went looking for him, he wanted to know about him, if he was alive, now he knew, and then what?

The idea of his friend coming back home made him feel empty, Daniel had not been as happy these last years as he was now, when did he feel happy before?, when he got drunk or when he got high?

Whatever is the right answer, nothing made him feel as full as having him around, laughing together at anecdotes from the past, sharing their drawings and comparing them, Daniel couldn't beat Chris at his drawings, he had so much to learn from him.

Chris was bright and warm like the sun.

What will it feel like to lose the sun after living it? To cower in the shadows of a long, cold night that never seemed to end, while he was waiting for death to give him the peace he needed to free his mind of guilt.

Daniel sighed and left the room.

Chapter Text

Chris was sleeping peacefully in the bed, listening to the rain pounding on the roof, until a clap of thunder was heard throughout the house, he quickly woke up with his heart beating fast, he heard Kiara barking in the living room.

A storm. Chris thought when he was more awake, he sat up in bed.

He heard the sound of footsteps in the living room, Daniel must be awake too, when he decided to get up to open the bedroom door, he saw Daniel open the door to the house, a dangerous looking guy (like all Daniel's friends here, Chris thought) handed him a suitcase what looked like his that was stolen?

Chris spied them with the door ajar.

"What you asked for." The guy told him. "It's all inside."

"Thank you very much, Ariel." He replied with a half smile. "Here's your money, there's a little extra for bringing it in with this weather."

Ariel smiled at him.

"Always a pleasure doing business with you, I made sure to teach them a lesson."

"I don't doubt it, see you later Ariel."

Ariel nodded and shook hands with Daniel, then walked away and headed for his car, the rain was pouring down steadily as it was very windy.

As Daniel closed the door, Chris opened the bedroom door to peek into the living room.

"That looks like mine." Chris told him.

Daniel looked at him curiously.

"How long have you been there listening?"

"Enough to understand that you did something illegal." He replied in a mock tone, as he petted Kiara, who came over to greet him upon noticing his presence.

Daniel laughed.

"Everything I do is illegal Chris." He said, as he shrugged as he handed him the suitcase.

"You don't have to be very smart to notice that, Danny." Chris said with a chuckle. "I don't share it...but it's understandable."

"If it's any consolation, they're alive, a little beat up, but alive, besides, they stole from you, that's not right."

"It's fine, It's good to know they are alive." He replied as he sat down on the couch to check what's inside. "How did you find it?"

"I have... contacts." Daniel replied simply, he walked over to Chris to sit next to him.

"Your rough friends." He said raising an eyebrow.

"It's all there." Daniel told him with a fake innocence tone as he gave him a half smile. Chris's heart pounded.

If there was one thing that stood out to Chris about his dearest friend, it was his handsome face, he could easily be mistaken for those Hollywood actors who played the handsome villain, with the style he had now, he could easily tell he was the fuckboy type.

But he already knew what it ended up in falling in love with a straight fuckboy, besides being his childhood friend. Unthinkable.

However, he couldn't help but feel those strange emotions when he gave him one of "those" smiles.

Nothing he couldn't handle, for now.

It wasn't the first time he'd been attracted to some straight handsome friend, eventually, he'd forget about his crush.

"I want to show you something." Chris told him with a small smile, as he pulled a box out of the suitcase, Daniel looked at it curiously.

Oh, oh.

There were two photos in the box, in one there were them when they were kids, that photo had been taken by Sean when they were playing together, and in another was them with Sean.

"Before I moved to Seattle with my grandparents, I took all the treasured memories with me, and I promised myself that when we find us, I would show you the photos in case you had forgotten about me." Chris said as he averted his gaze to the photo where they all are together. "Now, with what happened with Sean, I think you should have this photo.”

Daniel was looking at the photo in detail, they both had a boyish smile on their faces, while their brother was behind them smiling, however, in his eyes, there was a trace of worry.

"Chris, how have you been, with everything that happened?" asked Daniel as he looked directly at Chris, "if you don't want to talk about the past..."

"It's okay Dan." Chris interrupted him and sighed. "It wasn't easy the first few years after you disappeared."

"I'm so sorry." replied Daniel. "I didn't mean to make you feel like I forgot you, I was alone in Mexico, I was a fugitive, the best I could do was to cut ties with you, I didn't want to involve you."

Chris put his hand over his.

"I'm not blaming you." He said as he shook his head and squeezed him hand. "I was a kid from a broken home who held on to I had, you're not blame that my childhood sucked after my mom died."

When Chris removed his hand from Daniel's, Daniel felt his hand grow cold without his warmth.

"I don't hate my dad, you know, after he left me, the first year, I felt like he had abandoned me, I hated him at the time, but later I understood it was the best thing he could have done for me." Chris said as he put the photos down on the top of the small table Daniel had in front of the Sofa. "If we had stayed that way, I would most likely end up in child services for abuse and my dad in jail."

"I didn't know he was abusing you." Daniel said with an angry tone.

"Only when he was drunk, he would get aggressive." Sighed Chris as he leaned his back against the couch pillow. "Something happened that after I met you and Sean he decided to get help and check himself in to cure his addiction, I moved in with my grandparents in Seattle, the idea is that we would get back together.

"You haven't heard from him anymore?"

"I know he's alive, we write letters to each other." Chris said sadly as he looked down at his feet. "But I haven't seen him, I used to tell him to meet us and talk, but after he refused so much I stopped insisting, my therapist told me he most likely doesn't want me to see him in the same state."

"I'm so sorry Chris."

"It's already a closed issue, my therapist has really helped me figure things out." He replied. "I can't help but feel sad for my dad though, my grandparents were a great support to me during my teenage years."

"How are they doing?"

"Fine." Chris told him with a smile, his mood improved as he asked about them. "They weren't happy when I told them I was going to be in Mexico for a month, they care about me a lot."

"A month" Daniel thought. "Chris is going to be with me for a month."

"There's not much to do, I'm an adult right now." He said as he shrugged his shoulders. "They usually support me in everything though."

"That's good, I'm really glad to hear things got better for you." Daniel said as he patted Chris on the back.

Chris smiled at him.

Another clap of thunder rumbled in the house, Kiara woke up again from her deep sleep and began to bark, the light began to flicker until it went out.

"Shit." Daniel said and got up to look out the window.

Chris laughed.

"Are hurricanes very common in Puerto Lobos?"

"In the middle of the year it's very common." He replied and sat down on the couch. “it's 7:00am, you should sleep a little longer."

Chris shook his head and closed his eyes.

"I'd rather stay here with you, talking."

"Then, I'll make breakfast while you get some rest." Daniel said with a smile as he watched his friend rest on the couch pillow.

"I'm supposed to be the housekeeper." muttered Chris.

"But sometimes I can cook too, I won't burnt the eggs this time." Daniel said with a chuckle.

"Don't forget to pour the oil or butter into the pan." Said Chris as he heard his friend walk away.

"You haven't told me about yourself yet." Chris finally said as he finished his breakfast, Daniel looked up at him.

"And what exactly do you want to know about me?" Daniel asked him as he ate the rest of his remaining egg.

"How are you, what are you on right now, honestly?"

"You answered yourself, doing illegal things." Daniel answered him mockingly, looking sideways at him, Chris narrowed his eyes as he folded his arms on the table.

"I know that, but tell me about your life, where did you go last night?"

"I thought you were asleep, are you spying on me again Eriksen?" He said with a mock tone.

"This is a small house where you hear everything, with what you must be earning you could buy a bigger house."

"Auch, are you insinuating me to buy a bigger house?" said Daniel.

"Not a bad idea if it keeps you from sleeping on the couch while I'm here. You need another bed."

Daniel pondered.

"I'll think about it." He said amused. "I don't have a bigger house because I don't want to draw attention to myself, when you're in the drug trade you have to keep a low profile."

"I figured." Said Chris. "You haven't had any trouble with the police?"

Daniel laughed.

"Chris, there is no law here as long as you have someone to pay to keep their hands off of you." Daniel replied as he shrugged. "I have my contacts."

"Your rough friends."

"My rough friends." Daniel replied as he looked at him amused. "Here you have to watch out for other dealers, whoever sees you as a threat to their business."

"Now I can understand why my grandparents were so worried about me being in Mexico for a month." Chris expressed with a smile. "I don't care if I'm with you."

"I have my reputation too." Daniel said with a smug tone. "They know they can't mess with me."

"A man in his 20's, with badly dyed hair, magically moving things out of place." He replied thoughtfully looking at him.

Daniel winked at him.

"….Quite a novelty in town." Finished Chris as he looked into his eyes, felt his chest heat up.

Again. He averted his gaze.

"Are you planning on going back to the United States again soon?" Chris asked as he regained his composure.

Daniel was surprised by the question, he shook his head.

"It's not in my plans to put my family in danger."

"We could come up with a good plan so you don't get caught." Chris insisted. "You don't have to stay there forever. Your grandparents, your mom want to see you."

Daniel sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry Chris, I can't, not after what happened with Sean..."

Ah, now he understood.

"It's okay, I'm not going to insist anymore." Chris said defeated as he leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. "For now."

They were both silent for a few minutes.

"Thanks for the photo Chris." Said Daniel, interrupting Chris' thoughts. "Thanks for everything, for being here with me."

Chapter Text

Chris had fallen asleep on the couch after talking to Daniel.

The storm was dropping in intensity as the morning wore on, Kiara got up and walked over to Chris to lick his face.

"Oh, stop it Kiara." Chris said as he pulled his face away from her. "I woke up already."

As he sat up on the couch, he noticed he had a blanket over his body.

Daniel. He thought, as he looked around the house for him, the house was silent.

"Daniel?" He said aloud, however, he got no answer.

He wasn't here.

Chris sighed and got up, he saw a small note on the kitchen table.

Chris:

I had to go out for work (yes, with this storm, it's the best time, there's no one hanging around ;) ).

I'll be back in the evening, if the power doesn't come back on by noon I left you money on the table in case you want to order delivery (yes, the storm is going to go away by lunchtime).

Atte. Daniel.

"Well, it's a good time to read comics." Chris said to Kiara, who looked up at him from her bed.

He walked over to his suitcase and started rummaging through things. He found his cell phone charger.

Oh, crap. Chris thought as he grabbed his head.

He hasn't been able to contact his grandparents, or Karen, they must be very worried since it's been almost a week since his arrival in Mexico.

Well, his grandparents are going to be a pain in the ass when he talks to them, they were the least happy when he announced his trip.

He took the rest of the comics he had stored and left them on the table, then he lay back down on the couch and read the first comic he had.

About 30 minutes passed when the electricity in the room came on. A small "hooray" was heard from Chris.

He immediately got up and put his phone on charge.

He was going to have to talk to Daniel and ask him to get him a new SIM card, as his was unusable when he left the United States.

At least he already had the numbers of his contacts, his phone turned on.

He took out his headphones and put them on.

He was glad he had saved several songs inside his phone's memory, he was really serious about going well prepared for his trip.

He leaned against the wall where his phone was charging and put on the first song he had in his library.

Moon and Moon by Bat For Lashes.

Chris closed his eyes and focused on listening to the song.

In his moments of sadness or anxiety, that song relaxed him, he couldn't help but think of his mom every time he listened to it.

That song was the only way to feel close to her.

The noise of the rain was beginning to diminish.

And I won’t see you no more

I won’t see you no more

The last keys of the piano played, Chris was about to take off his headphones until the next song started to play.

Daniel, when I first saw you

I knew that you had a flame in your heart

Chris wanted to laugh and shook his head. This had to be a joke.

I found a home in your eyes

We'd never be apart

Chris doesn't remember exactly when he heard Daniel's song from Bat For Lashes, his mom used to listen to the whole album (with a preference for the Moon and Moon song, of course), however, that song started to carry emotional weight for Chris after meeting Daniel.

And when the fires came

The smell of cinders and rain

Perfumed almost everything

We laughed and laughed and laughed

He remembered when they were children, after the first meeting they had in the tree house, when they played at being superheroes, oblivious to everything that was going on in the world, especially Daniel's world.

And in the golden-blue car

You took me to the darkest place you knew

And set fire to my heart

Chris smiled and closed his eyes again, leaned his head against the wall.

Just kids in the eye of the storm

"Hey Daniel, wouldn't you like to stop by for a drink at some bar first?" Alex asked him, as they were in the car on their way home.

"Don't you have any victims tonight?" Daniel said.

"No, just like you, you still have my sister waiting for your call."

"And why do I have to call her?" he said arching his eyebrows.

"And why did you date her, my sister, if you're going to dump her?" asked Alex with some resentment in his voice. "Look, I know you don't want anything to do with her, with anyone really, but you could call her back and just tell her you're not interested in dating her anymore, don't be a dick."

"She was the one who insisted on dating me." He reminded him. "It's not my fault that you're a shitty brother and not warning her that I'm a trash."

"It's my sister dude." Alex said regretfully. "My twin sister, my only sister, so many women there were that night to fuck and you fuck my sister and then ghosted her."

Daniel laughed.

"You're a piece of shit dude."

"I told her I didn't want anything serious, she agreed to the terms."

"She's always been in love with you ever since she met you." Alex reminded him. "You could have told her no."

"Ynez is cute." Daniel told him without taking his eyes off the road. "She'll find someone who deserves her and treats her better, that person is definitely not me."

"When you didn't answer her calls she was in the room crying all day." He said, reprimanding him. “I told her before dating you that you were a piece of shit, and that your reputation in the town should be reason enough to stop insisting on you.”

Daniel sighed.

"I'll talk to her, ok?" Daniel said. "If that'll get you to shut up and drop the subject. I don't have time to deal with this drama shit."

"And don't fuck her again please." He chided Daniel again. "Why don't you go out again with that girl, María was her name? She was perfectly fine with you and your shitty conditions."

"María got married, a month ago."

"No, really?? who did she marry??"

"I have no idea who the fuck he is and I don’t care" Daniel said with a shrug. "I know because at her bachelorette party she called me to get together at a motel and reminisce about old times "for the last time."

Alex started laughing out loud.

"No shit, did you fuck that night?"

Daniel shook his head.

"I'm not with engaged or married women."

"Well, even you have your codes, I'm surprised at you."

Daniel shrugged.

"Let's go out for drinks, it's Friday, we can invite other friends." Alex urged him.

"Chris is waiting for me at the house."

"Invite your cute friend too, it'll do him good to come out with us to some bar."

"You're a pain in the ass, Chris isn't the type to go to a bar for fun."

"That's a reason to take your geeky friend to meet a good bar." Alex replied. "Maybe he'll be lucky enough to touch some tit today."

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Or penis." He said with a cheeky grin.

Daniel coughed.

"We're already at your house, get off." He said as he stopped in front of a house.

"You might as well take the opportunity now to talk to my sister."

"Later." Daniel said curtly.

Alex sighed and opened the car door.

"Meet me at 10:00pm at the California Bar."

Daniel started the car's engine and started up.

"10:00pm." Alex shouted back.

Chapter Text

Some clouds were still visible in the night sky of Puerto Lobos after the storm, some puddles of water were still in the streets, however, the waves of the beach were gently crashing on the sand, Chris was sitting on the first step of the porch of Daniel's house.

In the sea he could see some small lights moving in the distance, some fishermen in the area worked at night, others during the dawn, Chris liked to watch the sea.

In Beaver Creek he admired the sunsets in winter, how the sun's rays reflected on the snow and the sea of trees, he used to make snowmen and then look at the sky.

Then in Seattle something similar happened, however, he used to go to the beach to admire the sunset when he wanted to take his mind off everything.

His life in Seattle was good, he was grateful to the city as he felt it was where he could "come out of his shell", life in the city was very active and noisy, the opposite of his life in Beaver Creek, he met a lot of people when he moved in with his grandparents, he made friends at school that he still keeps in touch with, he could attend museums, art shows and Comic-Con or Anime-Con.

He definitely wouldn't change anything he experienced, he was grateful for the opportunities he had in Seattle, given to him by his grandparents.

Chris wonders what would have become of him if he had stayed in Beaver Creek? with his dad and him emotionally devastated by his mom's death, in a small town with no support.

A gentle blizzard was running as Chris drew in his drawing notebook, Kiara was lying on his feet.

A car approached the house at high speed and stopped in front of abruptly.

Kiara immediately got up and ran towards it.

"Hey." Greeted Daniel to Kiara as he got out of the car. "How are you?"

Kiara started licking his face, Daniel laughed and petted her.

Chris closed his drawing notebook and stood up when he saw Daniel approaching.

"Hey." Greeted Daniel with a smile.

"Hey." Repeated Chris returning with a smile.

"What were you drawing?" Asked Daniel as he pointed to his hands.

Chris looked down at the drawing notebook in his hands.

"Sketches of the sea." He said as he showed him the drawing.

"Hey, you got a really good charcoal drawing." Daniel said as he admired the strokes. "It's nice Puerto Lobos at night."

"Puerto Lobos is nice." Chris said admiring the sea. "The beach is very different from Seattle."

"Hotter." Daniel said with a laugh.

"Totally." Said Chris laughing. "They're much nicer beaches in Latin America, but United States has its charms too."

"I didn't know you were a patriot."

"No, I mean the variety of landscapes." Chris said laughing and shook his head. "I'm not patriot, I even thought at some point to move to another country, I wanted to study in Canada."

"Really? What's stopping you?"

"My family? I don't like being away from them, I wouldn't want to be alone in another country." Chris said with a shrug.

Daniel looked at him.

"With someone, yes?"

"How?"

"I don't know, with a family member, girlfriend or... friend?"

"Mm, my grandparents are too old to move out of the country." Said Chris with a small laugh. "Girlfriend? That's impossible."

Daniel looked at him curiously and remembered what Alex said.

"Friends? None of my friends in Seattle are interested in emigrating." Said Chris. "I don't blame them, Seattle is nice."

"Why?" pushed Daniel.

"Seattle has its charm, plus there's a lot of ev-"

"That's not what I mean." Denied Daniel and asked directly. "Why would it be impossible to go with a girlfriend?"

Chris was silent for a moment as he looked doubtfully at Daniel.

Daniel bit his lower lip. His heart skipped a beat.

“What the hell, why did I ask him that?” he thought.

"I don't like women." Chris began and folded his arms. "I'm gay."

Well, that never occurred to Daniel, it also happened with Sean when he told him he kissed that Finn guy at the farm, he didn't see it coming.

However, that confession made him feel strangely happy.

"So, would you leave the country with a boyfriend?" Asked Daniel, he wasn't thinking, his head was running on autopilot.

He looked at him surprised by the question.

"...Yes? I guess so." Chris said feeling relaxed.

"So."

"So?" Chris repeated without understanding much.

"You're not dating with a guy right now." Daniel confirmed as he lit a cigarette he had from his pocket.

"No, are you dating with someone?"

Daniel leaned his back against the porch railing and blew a puff of smoke into the air reflexively.

"No." He replied simply as he looked him straight in the eyes.

Chris felt strange about the way Daniel was looking at him, he couldn't read the expression on his face.

"How did it go today?" Chris asked, changing the subject. "Anything new at your job?"

"It was quiet." Daniel said as he shrugged. "We left the stuff with our client, we didn't have a problem."

"Oh, that's nice." Chris replied. "Dan, I wanted to thank you for getting my suitcase, I already have my phone charged."

Chris pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed how it turned on.

Daniel laughed.

"Well, you're not incommunicado now, I'll be able to text you like a normal person."

"Letters won't be necessary anymore." He said laughing. "But I wanted to ask if you could get me a SIM card."

"Oh, right." Daniel said. "I didn't think about it, there's no way it'd work your telephone line in Mexico."

"Yeah, my grandparents are going to kill me when I call them."

Daniel took another puff on his cigarette.

"We'll get one tomorrow, don't worry."

"Thanks Dan." Chris thanked him with a small smile.

"You're welcome." He told him, smiling back. "Would you like to go out today?

"Where to?"

"To some bar in this shitty town." Daniel said. "I'm paying... Although I don't know if you're the type to go to a bar and have fun."

"Dude." Complained Chris. "I've been to bars, mostly with my college friends."

Daniel laughed.

"It's just that you seem more like the type to go to a Comic-Con."

"You got me." Chris said with a laugh. "That is, if I have to choose between the two."

Daniel laughed and put out his cigarette.

"There's no a Comic-Con in the shithole." Daniel said as he shrugged and stretched out his hand to Chris. "But will you join me at a bar with some friends? Don't leave me alone with those idiots."

Chris found himself waiting for Daniel in the living room as he played a game on his phone, Daniel asked him for time to change clothes, Chris simply decided to wear his Captain America t-shirt with some jeans he had in his suitcase.

"How do I look?" Daniel asked behind Chris as he left the room.

Chris turned and felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest.

"Too skater-chic?"

"No...you look good." He said feeling his cheeks warm and averted his gaze to the ceiling.

Daniel laughed.

"If I look bad, you can tell me." He said laughing. " I won't get angry."

Chris smiled and shook his head, took a deep breath to control his heart.

"Do you like Justin Bieber?" Chris said and shook his head. "I know, it's a stupid question."

Daniel looked at him blankly and laughed.

"No, why?"

"Your style, it's like him." Chris said laughing.

"You are a piece of shit." Daniel said laughing. "This is my style of dress when I go out to the bar."

Chris started searching from his phone's library and played a song.

Oh-ooh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

“Ha ha ha, how funny Christopher Eriksen.” Said Daniel pushing him while Chris laughed. ”You know you love me, I know you care.”

Daniel began to sing while looking Chris straight in the eyes.

”You are my love, you are my heart” Chris sang with amusement. ”Are we an item? girl, quit playin, we're just friends, what are you sayin'?”

”Said, There's another, and looked right in my eyes.” Daniel sang in response, he and Chris laughed together.

The California Bar was in the middle of the city, Daniel was next to Chris in his car, parking it in front of the bar.

A group of people were entering to the bar laughing, the latin music of the place was loud.

Daniel and Chris got out of the car and walked into the bar.

Several groups of people were gathered at each table, the clinking of glasses and bottles from the bar could be heard as the lights illuminated the place.

"Dan and Chris!" Someone shouted to him in the background. Daniel looked over as he grabbed Chris' arm so he wouldn't get lost in the crowd and saw Alex in the background with a group of people.

"Come on, there they are." Daniel said, Chris nodded and they walked over.

"Bro, you came." Said Alex getting up to greet him, they bumped fists. "Hey Chris."

"Hi again." He was greeted by Chris with his fist as well, Daniel walked over to the rest of the group to greet him.

"Andrés." Daniel greeted, Andrés nodded.

"Mr. Congeniality." Alex replied amused. Andrés rolled his eyes.

"José and Mario." Greeted Daniel to both boys with a fist, both greeted him.

"Long time no see Dan." Said José happy to see him. "A lot of work?"

"More than shit." Daniel replied laughing as he sat down next to Chris. "But that's good. Guys, meet my old friend, Chris."

Both boys greeted Chris with a smile. Chris returned their greeting with a smile.

"He doesn't speak Spanish very well, so I'll have to be the go-between for anyone who wants to ask him questions." Daniel said.

A waiter placed a bottle of rum and several glasses in the middle of the table.

"Where is your friend from?" said Mario curiously as he smoked a joint.

"United States." Daniel replied, and explained to Chris what he was asking.

"You said he was an old friend." Said José as he poured the rum into the glasses. "You're also from the same city where Chris is from."

"No." Daniel replied. "But Chris grew up in Seattle too."

"Interesting." Said Alex as he smoked from Mario's joint.

Chris watched the guys converse, he had a hard time understanding Spanish, however, he understood a little of what they were talking about, Andrés handed him a glass of rum.

"I'm sorry, I don't like rum." Denied Chris with an attempt at Spanish.

"Try it, it's not just any Rum." He said answering him with perfect English. "It has a caramel flavor, it's from the Canary Islands."

"You three know English." Said Mario laughing "Is that some requirement to be part of your gang or what?"

"It's part of the requirements if you want to be part of a group of international businessmen like us." Replied Alex laughing.

Mario laughed out loud.

Daniel slammed down a glass of rum.

"Hey, you're thirsty." Alex said with a teasing tone.

"Like any friday." Daniel said with a half smile.

Chris decided to try it too, the taste was strong, but it had a little sweetness to it.

It wasn't bad.

"What did you think?" Alex asked Chris.

"Not bad." Chris replied looking at his glass. "It tastes good."

"We always order the best." Alex said and winked at him. "We work so hard for a reason."

"You, the one who is the hardest worker." Daniel said with a teasing tone as he drank the second glass.

"Haaa, Danny, you know I'm the harder worker of the two of us."

"So Chris, what brings you to Mexico?" Andrés asked as he smoked a cigar. José and Mario were chatting amongst themselves.

"I came to visit Daniel." He answered without giving many details. "I hadn't seen him for many years."

"Well, that shit is good." Andrés replied. "I thought this kid had no family, no friends when I met him, it's good to know he has someone who cares about him."

"Hey, I care about Dan." Alex said as he pointed accusingly at him.

"Ah shit, you already got drunk." Andrés said as he looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Dan is like my brother." He said as he hugged Daniel by the neck.

"Shit, get out of here." Daniel said as he pushed him with red cheeks.

"You look drunk too Dan." Chris said as he laughed.

"You see, I have to take care of these two kids when they get drunk." Said Andrés with his arms crossed as he shook his head.

"He could have been my brother if he hadn't ghosted my sister." Said Alex complaining.

"Oh yeah?" Chris asked interested in the subject.

"Shut up Alex." Daniel said to Alex, as he glared at him menacingly.

"Dan is a good person, deep down in his heart. Deep down." Said Alex pointing at Daniel who was glaring at him with hatred. "But he's a piece of shit with his girlfriends. My sister was one of his victims."

"And how many girlfriends did Dan have?" Chris asked Alex amused, Daniel looked at him sideways as he took another drink.

"Pfff." Alex said and took another glass of rum. "Actually, they weren't girlfriends, Dan doesn't have girlfriends."

Chris raised his eyebrows and laughed.

"He's a heartbreaker." Alex said as he shrugged. "Hey, have another drink, it's really good."

Chris laughed, took the glass and stood up.

"I want to toast to my dear friend Daniel." Chris said amused as he raised the glass. "The heartbreaker."

Alex laughed out loud and stood up as well, Daniel looked at them both as if they had gone crazy.

"I think your friend got drunk too." Andrés pointed out to Daniel as he looked at them amused.

Andrés' car pulled up in front of Daniel's house, Alex was in the passenger seat singing an Ariana Grande song loudly.

"Chris?" Andrés called out to him as he looked into the back seat. "You're not asleep yet?"

"No." Chris replied trying to stay awake, while he hadn't had as much to drink as Daniel and Alex, he was feeling a little groggy.

"Good." He said as he unlocked the doors to the back seat. "Call me if you need me, I'm going to drop this idiot off at his house.

Said Andrés pointing to Alex who was still singing.

"I already talked to the owner of the bar, the guard is going to take care of Daniel's car for tonight." Said Andrés. "Take care of Dan, he tends to throw up when he's drunk."

Chris looked at Daniel who looked semi-conscious.

"Good luck." He said with a chuckle and started the engine of his car, Chris got out of the car and helped Daniel out, he carried him from his shoulder to the house, while he walked awkwardly because of his drunkenness.

When he got to the front door of the house he heard Andrés car drive away.

Luckily he found the keys in his pocket and opened the door to the house, Daniel walked awkwardly as he leaned on Chris's shoulder.

"Where are we Chris?" Daniel said waking up a little. "Are we in the house?"

"Yes, Dan." Chris replied as he carried him to the bed. "I'm going to take you to your bed."

"Ah." Daniel said letting himself be led by Chris.

As Chris laid him down on the bed, Daniel grabbed his arm.

"Don't sleep on the couch." Daniel told him with a sigh. "It's uncomfortable, stay with me."

Chris looked at him as he thought it wasn't a good idea.

"Please." He said pulling him to the bed.

Chris agreed and laid down next to Daniel, both of them were looking at each other, face to face.

"Did you have fun?" Daniel asked him.

"Yes, very much so." Chris answered him with a small smile. "Your friends are funny."

"They are." Daniel affirmed with a smile. "I'm so glad you had a good time."

"Thank you so much for inviting me Dan."

"No." Daniel denied and leaned his forehead against Chris's. "Thanks to you for being here with me, I've had a great time, you know? I can't remember the last time I was as happy as I am now... here, with you..”

"I..." Chris said as he looked at Daniel's face, he was mere inches from his face, Daniel had very nice eyelashes. "I'm so glad to be here too, with you."

Daniel smiled at him.

Chris felt his heart melt.

” I could kiss him.” He thought, he could do it, they were both drunk, maybe Daniel wouldn't remember anything tomorrow, he felt capable of doing it with alcohol in his blood.

However, a true friend would not do that.

Chris couldn't take advantage of Daniel's condition, he would be a cad if he did, and all to fulfill a fantasy because of his stupid crush.

Before Chris could regain his energy to go to sleep on the couch without falling in the attempt, Daniel grabbed him by the collar.

And then he kissed Chris.

Chapter Text

When Chris felt Daniel’s lips on his he was in shock for a few seconds, unable to process what was happening, however, when Daniel gently moved his lips, Chris’s brain shut down and focused on his senses, he began to respond to the kiss as his eyes closed, giving himself completely to Daniel's kisses.

When Daniel felt Chris kiss him back, he became more confident and gently pushed Chris down of him without taking his lips off, Chris let himself go when he felt Daniel deepen the kiss.

"Oh shit, he kisses so good." He thought and grabbed his head to peel his lips from his a little, however Daniel pushed him back down and tried to stick his tongue in his mouth, Chris opened it allowing it to pass.

Chris thought that moment was like lighting a match and throwing it on the grass, the flame grew bigger and bigger as the minutes passed until it became an uncontrollable fire. His hands were on Daniel's face a few minutes ago and now... he doesn't know anything anymore.

Daniel peeled his lips from Chris’ lips and began to kiss his jaw and neck, when he felt Chris's hands under his clothes, he smiled foolishly and sat up to take off his shirt and kiss Chris's lips again.

Chris felt the sun kissing him, so invasively and passionately, so beautiful and sensual, so bright, he was melting at Daniel's touch.

Daniel started sucking on his lower lip and reached inside his pants, if it wasn't for Daniel grabbing his erection, he wouldn't have noticed all the reactions his body was generating for Daniel. Chris was about to get up from the bed, but Daniel pulled away from his lips and rested his forehead against his.

"Shhh, it's okay." Daniel whispered tenderly and kissed his forehead. "Trust me."

Chris gasped with flushed cheeks, he was about to say something to him, but Daniel kissed him again to distract him as he pulled his shirt off.

And before Chris could understand what was happening, Daniel had unbuttoned his jeans and was kissing his chest all the way down to his crotch, leaving a sea of kisses all over his body.

Chris sat up a little off the bed to look at Daniel, the moisture from his mouth was already on his crotch.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck." Chris moaned, Daniel looked him straight in the eyes as he increased the pressure on his lips, sucking harder as he masturbated him.

Chris threw his head back trying to stifle the sounds in his mouth, Daniel looked at his flushed cheeks and chest full of freckles, his corn-blonde hair was a mess.

He was so beautiful.

Chris was driving him crazy, he loved seeing him like this, so... destroyed by pleasure. Daniel wouldn't mind making him feel that way every night if it meant he could see that kind of reaction in Chris for him, surrendered to him.

Daniel slammed his mouth lower, as he wrapped his tongue around Chris's erection, Chris pressed Daniel's head to his crotch.

A millions of light years away, a sun from an unknown galaxy exhausted its fuel and generated a stellar explosion.

Chris squeezed Daniel's head with his legs as the last muscle spasms generated by the orgasm. Daniel kissed his thighs as he felt Chris stabilize.

However, Daniel began to feel nauseous from the effects of the alcohol, and quickly got out of bed and ran to the bathroom to vomit.

Chris was lying in bed with his eyes closed, breathing heavily as everything around him was spinning, until, without realizing it, he gave in to exhaustion and falled to the arms of Morpheus.

When Chris opened his eyes, he saw a large window showing a snow-filled wooded landscape, he heard the sound of the fireplace next to him as a smell of baking cookies flooded the room.

He was at home in Beaver Creek.

However, the living room looked different, much tidier than the last time Chris saw it before his dad asked him to move in with his grandparents. The house felt... more homey, warmer.

He looked at the window and from the position of the sun, he deduced that it must be 5:00p.m. On top of him, he had a small blanket covering him.

He sat up from the couch when he heard someone humming a Christmas song.

A blonde woman was decorating a Christmas tree that stood in the middle of the living room.

Mom. Chris thought.

The woman turned her gaze to Chris and smiled sweetly at him.

"My son, did I wake you?" she asked ashamed.

"I... No." He replied as he looked at his mom's radiant face.

She was so beautiful, her corn blonde hair fell to her shoulders, her cheeks were covered with freckles, while her eyes were bright green.

He missed her so much.

"How are you?" Chris finally asked as he walked over to her to help her decorate the Christmas tree.

Emily was surprised by the question.

"Very well." She said as she smiled again. "I made you and Charles cookies."

"Where's dad?"

"Your dad stayed behind doing some tutoring at school, so he should be here any minute." She said as she placed some bamboozles on the tree branches.

Chris smiled wistfully.

"Is something wrong Chris?" Emily asked him worriedly.

Chris denied and walked over to the nearest box on the tree to pull out other ornaments.

"Mom." Chris called. "Why did you drop out of college?"

Emily looked at her 6-year-old son next to her, surprised by the question.

"Well, I'm surprised you would ask me that question." Emily answered him. "Chris, you and your dad are the most important things to me."

"But... Didn't you ever think about prioritizing your dreams? Being a great artist, being famous?"

"Chris." Emily said, interrupting her son as she stroked his cheek. "You and your dad are my dreams come true."

Chris began to feel tears welling up in his eyes. Emily looked at her son with concern.

"Chris, why...?" But before Emily could finish the sentence, Chris walked over to his mom and hugged her tightly.

"I love you mom." Chris said simply.

I miss you so much.

I wish you were with me.

Emily was taken aback by the gesture and hugged him back.

"I love you so much too, my super hero."

Everything around Chris began to darken, as he felt his mom's solid body fade away in his hands.

And as if it was a whisper, he heard a few words fade off into the distance.

And someday we will meet again.

I promise.

The sun's rays filtered through the window as the temperature in the room rose after a long cold night, the house was silent.

Chris started to open his eyes as he felt the sunlight on his eyelids, his head was still spinning, but with less intensity, he felt his throat dry. When he wiped his eyes with his hands he felt his eyelashes wet with tears.

Mom.

It had been many years since Chris had dreamed of his mom, after her death, he used to have recurring dreams about her, in his dreams Emily looked radiant and beautiful, Chris thought it was a way for her to tell him that she was fine where she was.

Then she stopped appearing in his dreams, Chris regretted not seeing her anymore.

To this day.

His mind invoked the memory of his last Christmas with her, in early december, Emily was putting up the Christmas tree while Chris slept on the couch after an exhausting day playing in the snow.

However, this dream was different, he was aware of his present.

It was as if the memories of now had been transferred to that 6-year-old boy. When he had dreams of his memories, it was like reliving the scene.

Chris felt his head start to hurt. Ah, yes, the alcohol.

Daniel. Chris thought and felt his cheeks flush as he began to remember what happened that night. His memories, though somewhat blurry, began to play in his head like a movie.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

Chris thought of all the possible scenarios that could have been generated in the situation they were in yesterday, the idea at the beginning was to go out with Daniel and his friends, have a good time like he used to do in Seattle with his college friends at the bar or some pub, and after that, go back home and sleep like a stone because of the alcohol.

He never imagined the scenario where he would end up having sex with his best friend.

I knew it wasn't a good idea to sleep with him, even less in the condition he was in, I knew how that ended, I had already experienced it in the past with a former friend.

He was an idiot, he had fucked everything up.

He had to talk to Daniel and fix the situation.

He looked around, his pants were lying on the floor, he picked them up to put them on.

When Chris got up to go to the living room he felt a little dizzy, he held on to the nearest wall. He would never drink rum again in his life, he preferred flavored beers.

When he opened the door, he saw that there was no one in the house, there was also no note from Daniel telling him where he was and when he was coming back as he usually did when he went out.

Chris felt horrible. He wanted to throw up.

What if he never spoke to him again? he would already have the perfect reason to get away from him (and rightly so).

He decided to sit on the couch to calm the nausea a bit, on the couch table, his photos were still scattered around.

There was the one of him and Daniel when they were kids.

Chris picked up the photo and stared at it for a few seconds.

Both of them, with their childish faces, smiled at the camera.

Chris for a few seconds felt like the photo was flickering, the pain in his head increased.

Chris left the photo on the table while holding his head and leaning his back on the couch, waiting for the pain to subside.

Had the rum made him that sick?

When the nausea subsided, he got up to the bathroom to take a shower, hoping the water would make him feel better.

Downtown Puerto Lobos was full of tourists for the vacations, many street vendors were selling on the streets, others were taking advantage of the crowd to steal the belongings of tourists walking along the sidewalk.

Daniel was walking in the streets wearing sunglasses, he was watching out for the thieves who were on every corner, waiting for the moment to steal the tourists' wallets. He was carrying a bag with the groceries he had bought from the supermarket.

"Hey!" a woman shouted, the person walking next to her ran and headed to the other corner of the street, while the woman futilely tried to chase him. Daniel watched the thief flee, while the woman got tired of running.

At another corner of the street he saw a police car, the policeman in the driver's seat was very focused on the text he was writing on his phone, while his partner was eating a taco outside the car.

Daniel clicked his tongue. He made a small movement with his free hand, the police car began to move forward on its own, the policeman in the driver's seat was startled and began to brake quickly, however, the car ended up colliding with the car in front of him.

The cop who was buying tacos ran to where his partner was, while the owner of the crashed car got out of the front seat to start insulting the cop.

A chuckle escaped Daniel's lips as he watched the scene with amusement.

"Speak of the devil." Said a familiar female voice near him.

Daniel turned his gaze to the girl standing in front of him with her arms crossed.

A girl with dark skin, black hair that fell to her shoulders and green eyes was watching him with hatred. Alex, who was standing next to her was waving at Daniel.

Small town, big hell.

"Ynez." Daniel greeted, nodding his head and walked over to Alex to greet him with the fist of his hand.

"Dan." Alex greeted with a smile. "How's Chris, did he survive the rum?"

Daniel's smile faded as he remembered Chris and whatever they had to talk about.

He didn't even know how he was going to broach the subject.

”Hey Chris, how did you sleep? Hey sorry about last night, you looked really cute drunk, so much so that I wanted to give you a blowjob, I hope you'll forgive me for the audacity and we can carry on as usual.”

Perhaps, if there was such a possibility, he would play crazy on the subject, that nothing that happened last night was true.

And the kiss.

He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel anything, it was the first time he'd ever felt so much from a kiss.

He didn't want to think now, to analyze anything, Daniel never delved into his feelings or the desires of his heart. He lived life to the fullest, doing what he wanted, not getting emotionally involved to anything to protect himself, that kept what little mental sanity he had left after the shitty life he's had. He couldn't take any more loss in his life.

But Chris, Chris was different... he always was.

And he felt like shit for taking advantage of him in the state he was in.

That's not to mention the storm of emotions he felt in his chest remembering what happened last night. Something he definitely wasn't going to process now.

Daniel only knew now that he didn't want to lose Chris, and if he had to fix something, he would.

"Okay." Daniel replied simply returning to his usual serious expression. "I should go."

"Daniel." Ynez said, stepping in front of him to block his path. "I need to talk to you."

"No, you mustn't." He replied, moving Ynez aside with his powers to continue on his way.

"Don't do that shit with me!" Ynez shouted at him behind keeping up with him, Alex walked over to his sister to try and reassure her. "Why don't you have the courage to tell me to my face, are you that much of a coward?"

"What do you want me to say?" Daniel said turning to look at her as he lost his patience, stopping his steps in front of her. "That I'm not interested in you for something else, is that what you want to hear? You're already hearing it, I told you that in the beginning.

"I..." Ynez said with teary eyes.

"Ynez." Daniel interrupted her. "You deserve someone better than me, don't keep wasting your time."

Ynez started crying, Alex hugged her back to comfort her.

Daniel Diaz being a shit again. He was starting to get tired of feeling this way.

He felt like shit watching his friend's sister cry heartbrokenly for him, his sister who had known her since they were 16.

Daniel sighed and looked Ynez straight in the eyes, tired.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely before turning and continuing on his way, getting lost in the crowd.

Chapter Text

On the outskirts of Puerto Lobos, there was a small abandoned house in the desert, a group of men were gathered around the living room table. The sun was in full splendor, shining with an almost blinding intensity in the sky. There was not a single cloud to soften the light of the landscape. The heat was palpable.

"So, what have you got for me today?" One of them asked, he was a bald and bearded man, he has a gash on his left eyebrow. The two men behind him watched the unknown man suspiciously.

The unknown man smiled at him, pulled a package out of his pocket and walked over to drop it on the table.

"Something that's going to help you emerge in your business." He replied with a mischievous grin.

The man looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then looked at the package, he motioned for one of his goons to come over to look at what was inside.

He took the package and opened what was inside.

Photos.

"What does this mean?" Said the man holding the package.

The man standing between the two thugs took the photos from him and began to glance at them.

Daniel. There were several photos of him walking the streets of Puerto Lobos.

"Why are you giving me photos of this fucking kid?" He asked without understanding.

"How have the sales been Leonardo?" The unknown man asked him.

Leonardo sighed and crumpled up one of Daniel's photos.

"You know perfectly well that I sell a shit because of this brat." Leonardo replied with annoyance as he threw the photos on the table.

The stranger laughed.

"As far as I know, you tried to kill him."

Leonardo laughed sarcastically.

"Yeah, it doesn't seem to work on this brat." He replied indignantly. "Turns out he has supernatural powers, it's impossible to kill him."

"And you haven't tried to set him up?"

"Last time he almost killed one of my men." He said with discomfort. “I stopped trying four years ago."

"Are you sure you exhausted all you resources?" He said with a smile as he pulled a picture out of his jacket and handed it to Leonardo.

Leonardo looked at him blankly and took the photo he handed him.

The photo showed a boy who must have been the same age as Daniel standing next to him in some bar, he had blond hair and blue eyes.

"Who is he?" Leonardo asked him.

"One of my informants told me they are childhood friends." He said as his eyes sparkled.

The man looked at him with a scrunched up face and then detailed the boy in the photo.

"And he may be our key to ending the reign of Daniel and his gang in Puerto Lobos." He said with a wicked grin.

Before Daniel entered the house, he decided first to sit on his porch steps and light a cigarette while he thought about what to say to Chris when he saw him.

He had tried to delay as long as possible before confronting him, in the morning when he woke up he was sitting on the bathroom floor (because he had been throwing up until he fell asleep) he decided to take a shower and go to the center of Puerto Lobos to buy the groceries his fridge needed.

But before leaving, he saw Chris sleeping peacefully in his bed, his hair was a mess and his chest was bare, a blanket covered the rest of his body.

He was beautiful.

Daniel used to be more attracted to women, he remembered his first dates when he was fifteen, the first ones were women older than him (he was attracted to girls older than him, he never understood why) maybe because they used to have more initiative to ask him out.

And although that was the pattern, he remembered that two years ago at a birthday party for Alex, a boy caught his attention. He didn't remember his name, that night he had smoked and gotten drunk until he almost passed out, this guy looked at him a lot during the party, and he looked at him too.

The only thing he remembers is that they had both ended up in a motel, the guy had given him the best blowjob of his life and he had fallen asleep after the orgasm.

The next morning, the boy was no longer in the room. Alex didn't know what happened either as he never mentioned the subject to him.

The boy wasn't from town as he never saw him again since that day. After that, he continued to date girls as he normally did, however, lately he had started to lose interest in dating anyone beyond sex which was a biological need he needed to satisfy from time to time.

But he didn't need to pay for sex, there were people like him out there who wanted to just have a good time.

The cigarette smoke left his mouth, as he watched the scenery, that day the beach was very nice, the sky was clear without any clouds in the sky, it had a nice blue tone, what bothered him a little was the heat.

However, the tourists that Daniel saw in the distance on the shore of the beach were the happiest sunbathing and swimming in the sea.

Daniel took a puff on his cigarette for the last time and put it out.

His heart was pounding, the nicotine didn't seem to be working much.

He grabbed the grocery bag and got up to open the door.

When he opened it, he saw no one in the room.

Daniel left the bag on the table and opened the door to the room.

It was empty.

He approached the bathroom and it was also empty.

Daniel was puzzled by his friend's absence, Chris didn't usually leave the house alone without him, after he was robbed, Daniel asked him not to leave the house alone while he was in Puerto Lobos because of how unsafe it was.

Or it could be...

Daniel went back to the room.

Had he really hated him so much for what happened that he left the house?

But he quickly felt relief to still see Chris's suitcase in the corner of the room.

What if something had happened to him?

Daniel was about to leave the house, but before he walked through the door he bumped into Chris, who was on his way into the house. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of him.

"Oh, you were going out again?" Chris said as he saw Daniel's intention to walk out the door.

Daniel looked at him, his hair was wet (he must have had a bath recently), Chris was wearing the black shirt he had given him that has a skull drawing on it.

"No." Daniel quickly replied averting his gaze. "Where were you?"

Daniel couldn't look him in the eye.

"Uhm, I went to buy some stuff at the store around the corner." Chris replied simply.

"Ah." Daniel said.

They were both silent, the tension in the air was palpable.

Chris couldn't read Daniel's expression, however, for a few seconds he saw him frown.

"I... I’m…" Chris began nervously.

"I just remembered... I have to leave for work." Daniel interrupted him still not looking him in the eye.

"On a Saturday?" Chris asked not quite believing him.

"I have to work." Daniel repeated. "I bought some stuff at the supermarket and I got you a SIM card, I left it on the table."

"Aren't you staying for lunch?" Chris asked him hurt.

"I'm going to eat lunch outside while I work." Daniel replied glancing sideways at him before heading out the door. "See you tonight."

Chris was about to say something to him, but Daniel had already left the house.

He's pissed. He thought as he felt his eyes sting.

Daniel didn't want to see him, he hated him.

Chris quickly wiped away the tears that threatened to overflow from his eyes, and took a deep breath, leaning against the wall.

He wasn't going to cry.

Right now he wished he was in Seattle, in his bed locked in the four walls of his room. That was the time he could afford to be weak.

When Daniel came back (because he had to come back, it was his home) he would talk to him.

If Daniel hated him for what happened, Chris would rather Daniel tell him than be distant and not tell him anything.

Chris had planned to make a special lunch for Daniel as an apology. Now, his hunger was gone.

Chris looked at the SIM card on the table and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

He reached over and took it.

Daniel got into his car and started the engine, but before he started driving he punched the steering wheel.

Idiot, idiot, idiot.

He sighed in frustration and grabbed his head.

He was shit with words, how was he supposed to address the situation?

And Chris, Chris didn't seem upset with him.

Chris looked hurt when he told him he wasn't going to stay for lunch with him.

Daniel felt shitty, Chris didn't deserve to be treated like that.

Maybe Ynez was right, he was a coward.

Daniel shifted the stick shift into reverse and pushed the pedal all the way out onto the road and lost himself in the horizon.

The Grand Canyon desert was dotted with sparse vegetation. Cacti, with their sharp spines and bright flowers, stood like silent guardians, while sage bushes gave off an earthy scent when the wind blew. During the day, the heat was intense, and the relentless sun made the rocks hot to the touch.

Karen Reynolds was sipping a cup of coffee while observing the landscape in front of her, she liked the silence of the desert, it gave her soul peace.

A gentle wind was blowing, lifting the sand of the small town.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing inside the RV.

Karen sighed and reached over to take it, perhaps it was David, who had come to the nearest city to buy groceries, she had asked him the favor of buying her a few things when he left Away.

But her expression changed to one of surprise when she saw the name of the person calling her.

Chris.

After a week of not hearing from him, Karen thought that perhaps he had been unsuccessful in his search for his children, and that's why he hadn't contacted her anymore.

She quickly closed the door to her RV and answered the call.

"Hello?" Chris asked.

Karen sighed in relief when she heard his voice.

"Chris...good to hear from you."

"Me too, sorry for taking so long to call you." Chris said apologetically.

"Don't worry, the important thing is that you're okay, How are you?" She asked a little anxiously.

"Fine...I guess." Chris replied without giving much detail.

"I guess?" Karen asked.

"I... I need to talk to you about Sean and Daniel." Chris said.

The call signal cut out a little.

"They... are they okay?" she asked not quite sure she wanted to hear what Chris had to tell her.

"Daniel is...he was with me a few minutes ago, he went out." Chris said, Karen heard a tone of sadness in his voice. "Sean... I'm so sorry Karen."

Oh.

Her legs suddenly felt like they couldn't hold her up, Karen had to lean on the nearby table to keep from collapsing.

"He died trying to cross the border with Daniel, I'm sorry."

The news, so long awaited but dreaded, hit her with devastating force. Her heart contracted, and she felt a lump in her throat. Hot tears began to fill her eyes, blurring her vision and rolling down her cheeks, as her chest heaved with uncontrollable sobs.

She brought her hands to her face, covering her eyes, as if by doing so she could deny the reality of what she had just heard. Her mind flooded with memories of Sean. Each memory was like a knife through her, intensifying her suffering.

She felt a deep anger and helplessness. She wondered why the world had been so cruel.

She dropped into a chair.

The sobs escaped her mouth.

Chris listened to her on the other side sitting on the floor as he was leaning against the wall, he felt very sad, a part of him maybe hadn't been encouraged to get himself another way to contact Karen so he wouldn't have to face the reality of hearing her in the state he was in.

It's all very sad, unfair.

"Sean... I'm so sorry, I'm sorry for not protecting you enough." Karen whispered as she cried inconsolably in the chair.

"You did what you could..." Chris said hurt.

"Not enough...he's dead." She whimpered as tears kept streaming down her face. "I...I want to talk to Daniel...please."

"I promise you, I'll ask him to talk to you." Chris said and sighed. "But he's upset with you."

"And he's right to be." Karen said bitterly.

"No." Denied Chris. "It was for the best, the police are still tracking you."

"I want to be there, with him." Said Karen as she wiped the tears from her face. "I miss him so much."

"I missed him a lot too." Chris whispered.

Karen smiled sadly on the other end of the line.

"Did you talk to your grandparents?" Karen asked him as she tried to steady herself and get a little off the subject of Sean.

"Yeah...they were really upset with me, I don't think I've ever heard them as upset as they were today." Chris said.

"But they already know you're okay."

"Yeah...but I'll have to check in with them every day, they worry about me so much."

"You can't blame them after what happened with your mom."

"Yeah." Chris said and sighed. "When Daniel gets back, I'll talk to him, I'll give you a call."

"Thanks a lot, Chris." Karen said. "Thanks for calling me and telling me what's going on."

"I'm sorry." Chris said again.

Karen shook her head.

"I think now we need to focus on Daniel being okay, it's what Sean would have wanted if he was alive."

"That's right." Chris affirmed.

"Chris, before you finish with the call, are you okay?" Karen asked him more calmly. "I noticed your strange voice when you greeted me."

Chris looked down at the floor.

Was he calm, from losing his best friend?

Chris felt tears well up in his eyes as he remembered Daniel avoiding him today.

"Yeah." Chris lied. "I'll call you later."

Chris cut the call, Karen stared at her phone unable to understand what was going on.

Chris began to cry as he hid his face in his arms.

Chapter Text

Wednesday, May 11, 2025

"Are you listening to me, Chris?" A female voice asked him.

Chris was startled by the question and looked at his friend who was sitting next to him on the couch in his apartment.

"You didn't hear me." Lucy sighed, crossing her arms and throwing a tantrum. "You're being weird today...and I'm telling you my love troubles."

Chris shook his head.

"I’m sorry, Lucy."

"What's wrong with you?" Lucy asked him, her friend was a green-eyed redhead.

Chris met her in his first college class, they were both comic book fans, they became friends immediately when Lucy saw Chris's backpack and the badges he had.

Chris was watching the TV, not really paying attention to what he was seeing.

"He's an idiot...he doesn't deserve you." Chris replied, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "I told you when I first met him, he seemed too immature for you."

"He's a jerk." Lucy said and a small laugh escaped her lips. "A jerk that I like...you know, no one said I had to marry him."

Chris laughed.

"Then you shouldn't suffer for him, just have a good time, okay?" He told her with a sly grin.

Lucy laughed and nudged him.

"Let's hope he doesn't disappoint me."

"I have my doubts." Chris laughed and grabbed the TV remote to remove the boring movie.

Lucy laughed and looked at him.

"You know, it's a big disappointment to the female population of the college that you don't like women." Lucy said and looked at him amused.

"Who said that?" Chris asked looking at her in surprise.

"Some of my female friends feel the same way." Lucy explained.

"I don't understand why they find me attractive."

"Hey, first of all, you're really cute." She said, putting her hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "Second, you're very sweet and kind, and third, you're very smart."

"Uhm, those seem like traits that any boy in our class could have."

"Fourth, no one draws and makes up stories like you."

Chris' cheeks flushed and he smiled sweetly at her.

"Thank you, Lucy."

"That's what I mean, you're really cute." Lucy said pointing at him as a gasp escaped her. "Any boy would be grateful to be with you."

"If only there was one..." Chris said amused.

"Hey, don't be such a liar." Lucy said as she gave him a little push. "And that guy, John, he always stares at you when you walk into art history class, you should talk to him."

Chris shrugged.

"But there's only one person in your head." Lucy said, looking at him with crossed arms. Chris looked at her curiously. "Are you still thinking about Voldemort?"

Chris let out a laugh.

"Voldemort?"

"It's not my fault you're not a Harry Potter fan and don't get the reference." Lucy said pouting with crossed arms. "Damian, the boy you met last year."

Chris looked down at his feet.

"Not as much as before." He said, looking at her with a small smile. "Time passes... Feelings fade with each passing day."

"Don't you have feelings for him anymore, can I introduce you to someone?" Lucy asked him.

Chris nudged her.

"Hey, stop it, let's take it easy." Chris said laughing. "The truth is, I feel good right now."

"Hey, no one said you had to be in a serious relationship, you might as well have some fun."

Chris shook his head.

"It's not the right time, maybe later."

"Why? do you still have feelings for Damian?"

"No." Chris interrupted her thoughtfully. "I feel good right now, focused on my art."

"Damian was an idiot." Lucy said, leaning on Chris' shoulder. "He didn't deserve you...he missed out on the best guy in the universe."

Chris laughed.

"Damian is gone now." Chris said. "Last I heard from him he was getting married to a girl, that was 5 months ago...maybe they're already married."

"What a way to screw up your life." Lucy said surprised. "Poor girl."

"Well, you can't blame him too much... his family is extremely religious, it's what they expected of him."

"Bullshit, all of it." Lucy said. "Not being with the one you love because of a religious belief."

"We didn't love each other." Chris said laughing. "But I was really attracted to him, I guess...anyway, what happened between us was after the party, after that he never spoke to me again."

"Asshole."

"You know... it doesn't hurt me that much that he rejected me, I liked him, but it hurts more that I lost a friend." Chris said nostalgically as he laid his head on Lucy's. "We had a lot in common."

"Don't compare yourself to that idiot." Lucy protested. "There are a lot of guys out there with the same tastes as you."

”Yes, but not with everyone you have that power of even almost feeling what the other is thinking.”

Lucy patted him on the back.

"You need to date more guys." Lucy sentenced.

Chris closed his eyes.

"My therapist would disagree with you."

"What did she tell you this time?" Lucy asked him curiously.

"Something about healing my childhood wounds, about not looking for love in people who are hard to reach in order to prove my personal worth."

"Ouch." Lucy said. "This is why I hate going to therapy."

Chris laughed.

"I find it entertaining."

"Being told the truth in the rawest way possible? No thanks." Lucy said with a laugh. "I think you're one of the best people I've ever met, and you don't need anyone's validation to prove it."

"And still, I'm not planning on dating anyone, at least not for a while."

"Well, good for me, I'll have more time to spend with my friend." Lucy said as she hugged Chris. "I love you so much buddy."

"Me too." Chris said and hugged her back.

Chris woke up from his nap when he felt his phone vibrate in his chest, he had fallen asleep on the living room couch reading a comic book, everything around him was dark.

He immediately checked the time.

11:23PM

Daniel should be here by now. Chris thought as he looked around, expecting to see Daniel in some corner of the room.

His phone vibrated again.

He looked at it and saw several text messages from an unknown number.

Unknown number (11:20):

Hi Chris, I’m Daniel.

Unknown number (11:20):

Sorry, I forgot to give you my phone number when I left you the SIM card.

Unknown number (11:23):

I wanted to tell you that I won't be home soon...so don't wait up for me. I'll see you tomorrow.

Chris was stunned by what he had just read, he saved his number and started typing immediately.

Chris Eriksen (11:25):

Are you that mad at me?

Daniel Díaz (11:26):

What?

Chris sighed in frustration and leaned back against the couch.

Chris Eriksen (11:28):

I'm sorry, I screwed up, I didn't mean to take advantage of you.

Chris Eriksen (11:28):

I feel terrible...I'm so sorry, tomorrow I'm going to find a hotel to stay in so I don't inconvenience you.

Daniel Díaz (11:28):

Chris, what are you talking about?

Daniel Díaz (11:28):

Shit, no, don't do that.

Chris Eriksen (11:28):

What happened yesterday, what else?

Chris Eriksen (11:29):

I can't even remember what happened in detail...but I fucked up...I'm sorry.

Chris felt his eyes fill with tears again, remembering how Daniel had avoided him that morning.

Daniel Díaz (11:31):

Chris.

Daniel Díaz (11:31):

I'm not talking about this shit over text.

Chris feels a pang in his chest and puts the phone down as he curls up on the couch.

Daniel Díaz (11:40):

Hey.

Daniel Díaz (11:40):

Chris.

Daniel was standing in the sand a few feet away from the house, looking at his phone, not quite sure what to do.

The message he sent was still unread, so he decided to call him.

An alarm started ringing from the phone, Chris sat up from the couch when he heard it and looked at his screen.

Daniel was calling.

Chris wasn't quite sure if he should answer, but he decided to press the green button.

"Chris." Daniel said.

"Hey." Chris said in a despondent tone.

"I... how are you feeling?" Daniel asked him.

"How do you think I feel?" Chris said bitterly.

Daniel bit his lower lip.

"I'm sorry." Daniel said.

"For what?" Chris asked without understanding much, his eyes still teary.

"For being a jerk."

Chris didn't know what to say.

Daniel sighed and continued.

"I don't know what the fuck you remember about yesterday..." Daniel began. "But if you feel guilty about something you remember, you're reading it wrong."

"I don't understand."

"Listen to me." Daniel said, getting frustrated. "You weren't the one with the initiative for what happened, I was...I'm sorry."

Chris was silent, processing what he had heard.

Daniel felt a burning in his chest from anxiety.

"I... I was an idiot this morning, I'm really bad with words, I didn't know how to apologize to you for what happened yesterday."

Chris closed his eyes and laid his head back on the couch.

Daniel leaned his head against the door of the house, still unwilling to open it.

"I'm so sorry Chris." Daniel said simply.

"Why did you do it?" Chris started asking as his heart pounded.

Daniel was silent, thinking what to answer him.

"I was really drunk...I wasn't thinking what I was doing." He told Chris simply.

"Was that all it was?" Chris asked him.

Daniel licked his lower lip and closed his eyes.

Chris was lying across from him, just inches away from the other, his cheeks were a little flushed from the alcohol and his blue eyes sparkled as Daniel smiled at him.

His lips were red and half-open.

Daniel's gaze focused on them as his heart pounded.

He felt a strong desire to taste them.

When he took Chris by the collar and kissed him, Daniel felt a quality flame ignite in his chest, it was a sweet fire, a warmth that started on his lips and spread through the rest of his body, he felt a mixture of longing and peace, as if he had found a home in someone else.

A feeling he thought had died with Sean and his father.

All the outside world disappeared, his nightmares, his fears, the gangs, the death that haunted him around every corner.

His thoughts could only focus on Chris and his sweet lips.

"Yes..." He lied.

And whatever the real answer to that question was, he wasn't going to analyze it now.

"Ah." Chris said simply.

They both remained silent for a few minutes.

Daniel was still leaning against the door, hating himself for lying to Chris.

Chris was still on the couch, feeling an emptiness in his chest and analyzing what had just happened.

"I..." Daniel started to say, but before he could finish the sentence he felt the door open.

Chris was standing on the other side of the door, he was wearing the clothes he had worn in the morning, his hair was messy and his eyes were red.

Daniel looked at him not knowing what to say to him as his heart pounded. He felt worse about himself than he was, he wanted to hug him and give him containment.

But before Daniel could take a step towards him, Chris took a step back.

"I'm going to a hotel." Chris told him.

Chapter Text

"I'm going to a hotel." Chris told him.

“What?” Daniel asked him hoping he had misheard.

Chris took a deep breath before answering him, he didn't want to answer him just anything, he felt angry and sad.

“I need... alone time, I need to think.” Chris said tiredly.

And he really needed it, his head was in chaos now.

Daniel blinked uncomprehendingly.

“And what do you need to think about?” Daniel pushed.

“I'm not feeling well.”

“Chris.” Daniel called. “You hate me for what happened, is that it?”

Chris looked at him discouraged.

“It has nothing to do with you my decision.” Chris clarified for him.

“So what then?”

Chris shook his head and turned away to get his suitcase and things.

"Aren't you going to answer me?" Daniel asked angrily as he followed him.

Chris took another deep breath before answering.

“Give me a few days to think and I'll be back.” He said as he stuffed his clothes into the suitcase.

Daniel stood watching him stuff his things into the suitcase still not understanding anything.

"You still haven't answered my question." Daniel reminded him, approaching Chris as he crossed his arms.

Chris closed the suitcase and got up to face him.

"I'm not angry with you for what happened." Chris told him earnestly as he held his gaze. "I don't know how to process everything, I need to think."

Daniel held his gaze as well and moved closer to him. Chris' heart started beating fast as he watched Daniel closing the distance.

"Then let me help you." Daniel begged him.

Not with you near me. Chris thought as he felt all the emotions in his chest at having Daniel so close to him.

Chris took another step back.

“I'll be back in a few days.” He gave him a forced smile as he grabbed his suitcase to head for the exit.

But before he could open the door to the house he felt a pressure on the door, as if someone was pushing on it so it wouldn't open.

Chris looked back and saw Daniel looking in the direction of the door.

"Daniel..." Chris said starting to get angry when he saw Daniel using his powers.

"No Chris." Daniel told him as he looked at him defiantly. "You're not getting out of here like this."

Chris dropped the suitcase and looked at him angrily.

“Open the door.” He told Daniel.

“No.” Daniel answered him again.

Chris's head started to hurt.

“Please.” He asked him again, not wanting to fight.

“If you want to leave... you can find a flight to Seattle now.” Daniel sentenced. “But you're not going to go sleep somewhere else in Puerto Lobos.”

Chris sighed in frustration.

“I'm not leaving Puerto Lobos now.” Chris answered him defiantly.

“Cool.” Daniel said feeling happy for that answer. “You go sleep in the room, I'll stay here.”

“No.” Chris told him insisting. “I need to stay somewhere else for a few days... it will only be for a few days.”

Daniel watched him for a few minutes, not quite sure.

“When are you coming back?” He asked him.

“Give me a week.”

Daniel frowned.

“A week?” Daniel asked.

“If I feel better sooner, I'll come back.” Chris said persuasively.

“Puerto Lobos is dangerous.” Daniel reminded him. "There are a lot of drug dealers and criminal gangs in this shitty town."

“I know, you already told me, I'll be fine at the hotel.” Chris said downplaying it.

Daniel looked at him for a few seconds hoping Chris would change his mind, however, Chris was still holding his determined gaze and sighed.

The door opened immediately.

Chris looked towards the door in surprise and then back at Daniel.

“Ok.” He said finally defeated. “But I'm going to drop you off at the hotel.”

Chris nodded and grabbed his suitcase to head out the door, Daniel followed him as he made a call on his cell phone.

It was 12:30AM, a small blizzard was blowing in Puerto Lobos, the sky was dotted with stars, while the moon was shining in all its splendor in the night sky.

Daniel was driving his car, listening precious by Depeche Mode on the radio, glancing sideways at Chris, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looking out the window at the desert landscape.

He hadn't said a word since Daniel had told him to take him to a hotel.

Daniel shook his head and kept his gaze fixed on the road.

"Are you going to tell me later why you're doing this?" Daniel asked, getting Chris' attention.

Chris kept his eyes on the landscape.

"Yes." He replied, not quite sure if he could keep that promise.

Daniel glanced sideways at him again and stopped in front of a yellow house, the sign on it read "Hotel Doña Martha".

"We're here." Daniel warned Chris who was curiously looking around the area, there were more old houses around the hotel. "There's someone awake inside waiting for you, don't worry."

Chris nodded and looked at him with a small smile.

"Thanks Dan." He said sincerely. "Sorry for the trouble I caused you."

Daniel looked at him and shook his head.

“Sorry for fucking it all up.” He said looking at him seriously. “I understand that you're upset with me now...if I can do anything to remedy it just tell me, okay?”

Chris looked at him not knowing what to say back and gave him a forced smile.

“I'll think about it.” He said playfully as he opened the car door to get out.

But before he got out Daniel grabbed his arm, Chris looked at him blankly.

“Anything you need... call me.” Daniel said looking him straight in the eyes. “When you've already decided to forgive me, you can call me to pick you up.”

Chris looked at him and felt some sadness at the thought that he wouldn't see Daniel for a few days.

“Okay.” Chris said despondently. “I’ll text you later.”

Daniel nodded and let go of Chris's arm.

Chris closed the passenger door and pulled out his suitcase that was on the back seat.

Daniel stayed parked, watching as Chris knocked on the door of the house. When the door opened Chris turned and waved goodbye to Daniel.

Daniel returned the gesture and Chris entered the house.

The person who greeted Chris looked at Daniel and smiled at him.

Daniel nodded and started the car's engine to drive out of the neighborhood.

Alex pushed a brown-haired man against the wall of a public restroom and moved to his lips to kiss him passionately.

The unknown man moaned into his mouth as he felt Alex's hand inside his pants, he quickly began to unbutton his pants to give him more freedom to touch him while continuing to kiss him.

Alex smiled and began to masturbate him as he stuck his tongue in his mouth.

But before he could do anything else his phone started ringing.

“Shit.” Alex moaned, breaking the kiss, and rested his chin on the unknown man's shoulder to look at the screen of his phone.

The unknown man wanted Alex to concentrate on what they were doing, so he started to put his hands down his pants to masturbate him as well, but Alex pulled away when he felt the phone keep ringing.

“Sorry baby, my boss is calling me.” He said winking at the man as he walked away from the bathroom to talk outside, the man sighed in frustration and quickly pulled up his pants.

Walking outside Alex looked around to see if there were people around, but seeing no one he quickly answered the phone.

“Alex.” He heard Daniel's voice.

“Bro, how are you?” Alex greeted cheerfully. “You just interrupted me when I was having a great time.”

He heard Daniel sigh tiredly on the other line.

“I'll call you later...” Daniel said just before hanging up.

"No! It's okay." Alex told him amused. " The man wasn't very hot, I guess you have a more entertaining plan for me at this time of the night."

"Not really, I wanted to ask you a favor."

"Hey, you're very serious today, more than usual, has something happened to you?" said Alex, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I had a fight with Chris." Daniel said without beating around the bush.

"With Chris? Who can argue with Chris?" He asked amused.

But when he got no answer from Daniel, Alex clicked his tongue.

"It was serious then." Alex said, noticing Daniel's mood.

"Yeah... no, he's staying in a hotel for a few days."

"Uhhhh... are you having some problems in paradise?”

Daniel ignored him.

"I need you to keep an eye out for him, the hotel is on the same street as your house." Daniel told him.

"The Doña Martha." Alex said.

"Yes."

“Mmmm, you left the boy well protected with your acquaintances.” Alex said mockingly. “May I know why you argued?”

“No.”

"Then I'll have to ask Chris." Alex said teasing Daniel.

"Good luck with that." Daniel said "I'm going to bed, adiós."

But before Alex could say anything else to Daniel he had already cut the call.

Daniel was sitting on the stairs of the porch of his house watching the beach while smoking a cigarette.

In the distance he could hear the sound of the waves crashing against the sand, the place was quiet, all the neighbors were sleeping.

Several times Daniel had seen Chris sitting in the same spot drawing in his sketchbook while waiting for him to return from work.

Daniel put out his cigarette and opened his sketchbook.

“I love how you draw the shading.... And your strokes, you have a unique technique..” Chris said with a smile as he admired his drawings. The sky was orange and the sun's rays reflected off his blond hair, transforming it into golden strands that danced in the breeze.

Daniel started to draw.

Blond hair.

Blue eyes.

Freckles.

Daniel concentrated on the strokes of the drawing, as the cold night wind rushed along the west coast, kicking up waves that glistened in the moonlight.

Chapter Text

Chris was lying on the bed in the room, the windows were open due to the heat of the early morning, a wind coming from the coast was blowing up the curtains of the room.

His eyes were closed, however, he had woken up half an hour ago and couldn't go back to sleep.

He refused to open his eyes and face the world again on this new day.

His phone was off, when he arrived at the hotel he had decided to turn it off to avoid writing to Daniel, his head was a mess, he felt horrible about what had happened, how he had given in to what had happened that night because of his stupid crush.

He remembered very well that he had kissed him, a lot, but he couldn't quite remember how the whole situation had come about, that Daniel had initiated it? Yes, but he couldn't deny that the contact of his lips had been enough to make shut down his brain and after that, his body reacted to the stimuli of every touch.

He wasn't even sure if he could still call his feelings as a “crush”.

A person with a crush wouldn't be feeling so miserable right now.

And even if it wasn't a rejection directly, Chris felt that way.

Daniel didn't need to find out about his feelings for him, ever.

And how could he supposed to do that when having him around made his heart race and his mind vaguely remember what had happened that night?

Maybe Lucy was right, he should have dated more guys, if he had dated more guys he would have played down what had happened.

Maybe he wouldn't be imagining thousands, millions of scenarios in his mind when his eyes met Daniel's.

Maybe his heart wouldn't beat so hard when he saw Daniel's smile.

Maybe he wouldn't be thinking about him as much as he was going through right now.

And if so, if there was any chance that Daniel would reciprocate his feelings (impossible), what future could they have? (it was a way of justifying himself and soothing his broken heart)

He lived in the USA (he didn't care).

Daniel lived in Mexico (he didn't care).

Daniel could NOT return to the U.S. because the police were still looking for him after the massacre at the border (valid point).

Daniel's life was now in chaos, it was known that anyone involved in the drug business did not live very long.

And just the thought of that made Chris very scared.

He would return to the United States in September.

Daniel would stay in Mexico.

And then what?

Would they communicate by phone? (he couldn't, he risked getting involved in the case of the massacre at the border, he could go to jail for concealment if they found out he was in contact with Daniel if they intercepted his phone)

Would they only communicate by letter? (this was an option)

Would he leave Daniel alone in Mexico until he was killed in a gang fight? (no, he wouldn't let that happen regardless of the fact that now he just wanted to run away from him until his heart was ripped out).

He had his powers, he was powerful in Puerto Lobos, he had control of the town.

But who was to guarantee that it would always be like that?

Chris finally got out of bed and walked over to his suitcase to get his laptop out.

He sat down and turned on his computer, when he was able to access his desktop he quickly activated his computer's VPN and went to the browser.

Puerto Lobos > News

“Plague of pickpockets in Puerto Lobos: tourism affected” - 2018

“Spectacular heist at the central bank: more than 1 million stolen” - 2020

“Local gang hideout raided by another gang: 2 casualties” - 2022

"Cocaine spreads to record levels, driving up violence and mortality" - 2024

"Has the war on drugs failed?" - 2025

Chris sighed after reading the news portals and turned on his phone before heading to the shower.

As the water fell on his face, his thoughts turned to everything that had happened in the last ten years.

Ten years had passed and his life had changed so much.

Ten years waiting to hear from Daniel again and ten years of waiting to see him again.

None of this would have happened if the police had acted differently, if they had had the tools to handle the situation better.

Esteban and Sean would be alive if things had gone differently and Daniel would not have gone through what he did, he would have had the chance to have a better life.

Karen would have been able to hold her children again.

How much suffering would he have been spared if he could change the past?

As Chris emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his shoulders, he walked over to his phone and turned on the screen.

7 unread messages.

Chris unlocked his phone screen and 4 names popped up on his screen.

Unknown number:

2 messages

Karen Reynolds:

2 messages.

Daniel Díaz:

4 messages

Karen Reynolds (8:30AM):

Hello Chris, how are you?

Karen Reynolds (8:33AM):

I hope you are well and so is Daniel.

Chris sighed, he didn't want to worry Karen by telling her he'd had a fight with Daniel.

Chris Eriksen (9:21AM):

Hi Karen, I'm fine, Daniel too, and you?

Chris Eriksen (9:21AM):

Sorry for not calling you...we've been busy with some things, I promise to call you back as soon as we can.

Chris Eriksen (9:22AM):

Sorry for the delay.

Chris looked at the unknown number on his screen and pressed the message.

Unknown Number (9:01AM):

Hey Chris, this is Alex, Daniel's friend.

Unknown number (9:01AM):

I'll buy you breakfast, I'll be at the hotel at 9:30AM.

Chris read the message in confusion and then shrugged his shoulders.

Maybe he could get more information about Daniel from Alex.

His heart pounding as he read Daniel Díaz's name on the screen, he pressed the button.

Daniel Díaz (7:39AM):

Hi Chris, how did you sleep?

Daniel Díaz (7:50AM):

I need your professional opinion.

Daniel Díaz (7:50AM):

I hope you like it.

Daniel Díaz (7:50AM):

[Photo attached]

When Chris opened the photo he couldn't help but feel a warmth in his chest.

The stroke was soft, careful, as if each line had been carefully thought out, each shadow delicately placed. Seeing his own face drawn by the one he loved brought a knot to his chest.

It was impossible not to imagine that Daniel had looked beyond the surface in creating this drawing.

For a moment, he felt a pang of sadness. Seeing his face through the eyes of someone who didn't know what he was feeling was a way of confronting the distance between them. No matter how close Daniel was to his heart, the chasm of the unspoken seemed unbridgeable.

Then the bedroom phone started ringing.

And for a few seconds, Chris wished it was Daniel.

“Good morning, Chris?” The receptionist asked when Chris answered the phone.

“Hi, it's me.”

“Alex is looking for you.” She told him.

Chris took one last look at the drawing Daniel had sent him before looking at the time on his phone.

9:30AM.

“Tell him to wait for me, I'll be right down.”

He quickly got dressed and put on his shoes.

When Chris came down the stairs, Alex was talking to the receptionist in spanish, who seemed to be laughing out loud at Alex's comments.

Alex's eyes immediately focused on Chris when he saw him standing next to him.

“Chris, how are you?” Alex greeted him as he put his fist together with Chris'.

“Good, and you, how are you?” He greeted him back with a smile.

“Can't complain.” He said with a half smile. “Daniel gave me a new job.”

“Ah yes, what is it?”

“I'm a nanny for tourists now.” He said seriously.

Chris looked at him apologetically.

“You don't have to do this you know, I can take care of myself.”

Alex held his gaze for a few seconds and then started to laugh.

“You should have seen the look on your face.” He said letting out a few laughs.

Chris looked at him blankly, but laughed a little.

“It's a joke Chris.” He said as he patted him on the back. “Let's go to my car.”

“Where are we going?”

“We're going to a really good restaurant for breakfast.” Alex said winking at him.

The sun was shining, there was not a single cloud in the sky, the wind from the coast was soft and refreshing.

When Chris approached Alex's car which was parked at a corner of the hotel, he saw a girl sitting in the passenger seat, and when he looked closely at her, he recognized her immediately.

That girl.

He had talked to her when he was looking for Sean and Daniel after arriving in Puerto Lobos, she was the only waitress in the restaurant who could spoke English.

The girl also looked at him too and was surprised to recognize him.

She was very pretty, with black hair and green eyes, the color of her skin brought out her features.

“Chris.” Alex said with a smile. “She is my twin sister, Ynez.”

“It's good to see you again.” Chris said smiling at her.

Ynez smiled back.

“Nice to meet you and see you again.” Ynez replied back.

Alex blinked blankly.

“You two...you know each other?” He asked in surprise.

Ynez and Chris laughed.

“Something like that.” Ynez replied trying to keep from bursting out laughing.

“Thanks to your sister, I didn't starve to death the day I arrived in Puerto Lobos.” Chris said laughing.

“I was the only waitress who understood Chris.” Ynez said looking at Chris amused.

Alex looked at them in surprise and then started laughing.

“What a small world.”

“How small is Puerto Lobos.” Ynez replied, Chris laughed.

“Well, since I can skip introducing you both, can we go to breakfast? I'm starving.”

“So Chris, tell us about yourself.” Alex said eating from his plate as he watched the boy with interest.

The three of them were sitting at a table in a restaurant called “Doña Tere”, Doña Tere is a small restaurant located in the center of Puerto Lobos.

Since it was sunday, the locals tended to wake up later, but tourists could be seen hanging around town.

“What do you want to know about me?”

“Tell us about yourself.” Ynez said curiously. “The only thing I know about you is that you are a childhood friend of Daniel's.”

“And that you're an American.” Alex added. “From Seattle.”

“I live in Seattle, but I wasn't born there.” Chris corrected him. “Daniel was born in Seattle.”

“See, those things we want to know, we didn't know Daniel was from Seattle until he mentioned it with you when we were at the bar together.”

“No?”

“Daniel doesn't usually talk about his past.” Ynez said.

“If you weren't born in Seattle, where were you born?” Alex asked.

“I was born in Beaver Creek, which is in Oregon.”

“I've never heard of that city.” Alex said thoughtfully.

“It's not a city, it's a town.” Chris said laughing.

“You must have had a lot of fun there when you were a kid.” Ynez said laughing.

“I didn't have many friends, but I still knew how to have fun.” Chris said, remembering his childhood. “My dad hated Beaver Creek.”

“Your dad lives with you in Seattle?” Alex asked.

Chris shook his head.

“I haven't seen him in years, I moved in with my grandparents before he left.”

“Are you another case like us where your dad went out to buy a pack of cigarettes and didn't come back?” Ynez asked amused.

Alex let out a laugh, Chris laughed and shook his head.

“My dad has a problem with alcohol because of my mom's death when I was a kid, he left me with my grandparents to get help since our living together was getting difficult.”

“Oh shit, I'm so sorry Chris.” Alex said seriously.

“Our dad was also an alcoholic and he left us” Ynez added before eating from her eggs.

“I'm so sorry.” Chris said.

“It's okay bro, he did us a favor, he was hitting our mom.” Alex said with resentment in his voice. “Our mom died too, 4 years ago, she had cancer.”

“It's me and Alex against the world.” Ynez said.

Chris felt sad for them, at least he had his grandparents, but what about them?

“It must be hard.”

“We've managed to get by despite everything” Alex said. “So don't feel sorry for us, you're studying right?”

“Yes, Interdisciplinary Arts.”

“I love it.” Ynez said.

“Ynez loves art too.” Alex said as he looked at her with a smile.

“Really?” Chris asked looking at her with interest.

“I'm practicing to be a tattoo artist.” Ynez said excitedly. “You could get tattooed by me sometime.”

“I'd love that.” Chris said with a smile. “I don't have any tattoos, I think it's about time I got one.”

“My sister is very talented.” Alex said excitedly. “You won't regret it.”

“For now I'm practicing and saving money as a waitress since I want to have my own tattoo studio.”

“That's great Ynez.” Chris said excitedly.

The alarm on Ynez's phone started ringing.

“Oh shit.” She said looking at the time on her phone and shoving the last few loaves of bread into her mouth before getting up. “I gotta get to work guys, see ya.”

“Hey, I invited Chris to breakfast, not you.” Alex complained as he watched his sister get up from her chair.

“I owe you.” Ynez said as she kissed Alex on the cheek. “See ya Chris!”

Chris waved goodbye as he watched Ynez walk towards the exit.

“I really like your sister.” Chris said before eating his eggs.

“I love her, she's the most important person in my life.” Alex said as he watched her leave.

“I've never had siblings...but I understand how it must feel like.”

Alex smiled at him.

"Hey, I heard Daniel didn't take you to many places in Puerto Lobos, would you like me to give you a tour after we finish our breakfast so we can make the most of Sunday?"

“I'd love to.”

Chapter Text

"So, the business is closed." A grey-haired man said cheerfully as he shook hands with Daniel, who was standing in front of him with Andrés.

"It's a deal." Daniel said as he shook his hand, Andrés smiling next to him.

They were both in a warehouse outside of Puerto Lobos, the gray-haired man was accompanied by two men with a menacing presence.

“The packages are in the car.” Daniel said as he motioned for him to follow.

When he reached the car he opened the trunk, many brown packages were neatly arranged, the gray-haired man took one and opened it carefully, he took some and tasted it.

He smiled after tasting it and looked at Daniel then nodded.

“Top quality.”

Daniel smiled at him.

“We always sell the best quality.” Andrés said as he looked at the man with a raised eyebrow.

The man laughed.

“I know...it's just that for a moment I considered changing suppliers because of the prices.” The man said sincerely. “But the quality was crap, you can't sell that crap for a lot of money.”

“Did you consider changing suppliers?” Andrés asked dangerously.

The gray-haired man shrugged and gave him an apologetic smile.

“Dude, you know how this works...if they offer you lower prices, more profit for us” the gray-haired man said. “You guys sell it to us and we take care of distributing it all over the country.”

“Where do you plan to send these packages?” Daniel asked curiously.

“To Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Jalisco.”

“I heard that the candidates who won the governorships of Sinaloa and Jalisco are coming with projects to eliminate drug trafficking in those areas.” Andrés said.

The gray-haired man laughed.

“How many times have I heard that shit in my 66 years of life?” He said laughing out loud. “All politicians lie, they only care about power and money.”

“Sounds like you know both governors.” Daniel said looking at him amused.

“Sure, González and García? Pfff” The man said laughing. “Miguel García's brother is known to have a human trafficking business smuggling drugs across the U.S. border and Luis González's cousin has been arrested for micro-trafficking.”

“Arrested?” Daniel asked curiously.

“Well, you know the ones they arrest in the drug business is because they are very stingy and don't bribe the police.” He said shrugging his shoulders. “Now he's free and paying the bribes so the police won't keep investigating him.”

“They are all lying rats.” Andres said with a laugh.

“The drug business leaves a lot of money, it's not in the best interest of any of our politicians to put an end to it, even more so now that it's known that they're all involved.” Said the gray-haired man as he signaled his men to take all the packages from the car. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you guys, the money will be in your hands within the hour."

Daniel and Andrés nodded.

When they removed all the packages from the trunk, Daniel and Andrés got into the car.

“Where do I drop you off?” Daniel asked Andrés as he started the car.

“Drop me off in downtown Puerto Lobos.” Andres said, pulling out his cell phone to check the time “My son is waiting for me.”

“How is he?” Daniel asked him without taking his eyes off the road. All around them was desert, sand kicked up from the paycheck as the car passed by on the road.

“He's fine.” Andrés said with a smile on his face. “He'll be with me for two weeks before he goes back to Banámichi with his mom.”

“Great.”

Arriving in the center of Puerto Lobos, there were few tourists walking around, but a boy of about 9 years old was waiting on a bench with a small suitcase next to him.

“Thank you so much for bringing me Daniel.” Said Andrés putting his fist together with Daniel's. “See you.”

Daniel nodded and said goodbye to Andrés who got out of the car.

Before starting the car again to go home he decided to smoke a cigarette.

“Santiago.” Andrés said to his son, Santiago raised his head when he heard his name and smiled when he saw his dad.

“Dad!” the boy shouted and ran to hug him, Andrés took him in his arms and hugged him.

“I missed you so much my son.” Said Andrés sweetly.

“Me too dad.”

Daniel lifted his cigarette to his mouth.

“Court is in session. Judge Diaz... presiding over the case... of the last... Chock-O-Crisp.” Esteban said looking at Sean and Daniel in amusement.

A puff of smoke came out of his mouth and he threw the cigarette out the window.

Daniel started the car and took off down the road to get out of downtown Puerto Lobos.

When he arrived at his house he saw Kiara waiting for him at the door.

“Hey, long time no see.” Daniel said with a smile and approached her to pet her.

Kiara wagged her tail and approached him to lick his face.

“Ok, enough, don't lick me so much.” He said laughing as he pushed her away.

Kiara sat down on the ground and looked up at him.

“I'm going to get you something to eat, just wait a minute.” Daniel told her as he opened the door to the house.

A few minutes later Daniel came out with a dog bowl full of food and put set it down next to Kiara.

Kiara barked happily at him and walked over to the food.

Daniel petted her and sat on his porch step before pulling his phone out of his pocket and checking his chat with Chris.

Daniel Diaz (7:50AM):

[Photo attached]

✔︎ ✔︎Leído

Daniel read and sighed, deciding to text Alex.

Daniel Diaz (1:44PM):

Hey.

Daniel Diaz (1:44PM):

How's Chris?

Daniel put the phone down next to him and stood watching Kiara eat.

When the phone rang Daniel immediately picked it up and read Alex's messages.

Alex Fernández (1:45PM):

Hello to you too.

Alex Fernández (1:45PM):

I'm fine, thank you for asking.

Daniel rolled his eyes.

Alex Fernández (1:45PM):

Chris and I are having a great time.

Alex Fernández (1:46PM):

[Photo attached]

When Daniel opened the photo, it was a selfie of Alex and Chris with the Puerto Lobos lighthouse in the background.

Alex had taken a selfie of the two of them together, Alex was showing his middle finger to the camera and sticking out his tongue while Chris showed two fingers to the camera with a smile.

Daniel couldn't help but feel a little jealous when he saw the photo, he should be in that selfie next to Chris.

Alex Fernández (1:47PM):

Chris didn't know about the Puerto Lobos lighthouse.

Alex Fernández (1:47PM):

You are a terrible host.

Daniel Díaz (1:48PM):

Cool.

Daniel opened the chat with Chris, Chris still didn't respond to his message, so he wrote him again.

Daniel Diaz (1:50PM):

If you don't answer, I'll assume you didn't like it.

To Daniel's surprise, Chris immediately wrote back to Daniel.

Chris Eriksen (1:50PM):

I really love your drawing style.

Chris Eriksen (1:50PM):

Is it necessary to answer that question?

Daniel smiled and decided to be bolder with his answer.

Daniel Díaz (1:51PM):

It's necessary if that way I get some answer from you.

Daniel Díaz (1:51PM):

I miss you.

Daniel knew Chris wasn't going to respond to that message.

But he really wanted him to know that he missed him.

Chris liked getting up in the morning to make breakfast, the smell of scrambled eggs and bacon and the sound of the oil usually woke him up.

When he woke up in the morning on the couch he felt an emptiness in his chest as he heard the house quiet and no particular smell.

And those little details he could easily perceive made him understand his feelings perfectly.

Every beat of his heart towards Chris fills him with a warmth he would like to embrace, but at the same time, this closeness reminds him of the abyss of loss he fell into before. Love suffocates him, for to accept his feelings is to open the door to a pain he already knows too well. Guilt over his father's and Sean's deaths haunts him, convincing him that anything he touches could lose him. He'd rather deny his feelings because loving again means risking losing another part of himself, and he's not sure he can survive another loss.

Besides, what could he offer Chris when he hasn't even finished elementary school? gang fights, hired killings and drug trafficking?

Daniel would rather die of sadness than Chris to have the same life as him.

Chris deserved better, his future was bright, as bright as he was.

Chris had to return to Seattle in September and he had to continue his life in Puerto Lobos, as it had always been.

Daniel watched the beach scenery and cuddled Kiara who snuggled up next to him for comfort.

After Alex gave him a tour of Puerto Lobos, they ate giant quesadillas for lunch on the street and then headed to Alex's house.

“And this is my home, sweet home.” Alex said happily as he opened the door to his house, Chris looking around the living room curiously.

It was a bigger house than Daniel's, despite having an old facade on the outside, inside it was very nice, Chris could tell that they have done very well with the “business”, it had a 150-inch plasma TV on the living room wall with some speakers on the sides and a huge coach.

Chris saw the latest PlayBox model that came on the market on the living room table.

“In the back is my room and my sister's room.” Alex explained as he motioned to where the rooms were. “And that door over there takes you to the kitchen and the other one is the guest bathroom.”

Chris walked over to the bookshelf Alex had, all the books he had stored had spanish titles, he walked over to the family photos, one had Alex with Ynez on the beach, and there was another one of the two of them with a gray-haired lady.

“She was my mother, rest her soul.” He said as he saw Chris looking at the photos. “At one point Ynez and I thought about moving, but this house has so many memories that we decided not to, our mother raised us here, so we decided to remodel it.”

"Your house is very nice." Chris said.

Alex smiled and walked over to the couch to sit down.

"Hey, did you enjoy the little tour of Puerto Lobos?" Alex asked then let out a laugh. "I know, it's a pretty small town."

Chris laughed and walked over to sit next to Alex.

"I did some sightseeing when I got to Puerto Lobos too, it's a small town but cozy." Chris said looking at Alex. "I didn't know the facts you gave me, like the history of how the lighthouse was built, so I appreciate that."

"There's a lot of history in Puerto Lobos, it's a small town, but it has its charm." Alex affirmed. "You should go to Paredones."

“What's that?”

"Paredones is a beautiful place about an hour and a half drive from Puerto Lobos." Alex explained as he pulled up photos on his phone and showed them to Chris. "It's right on the beach, it has a stunning sunset."

“It's beautiful.” Chris said impressed by the photos.

"It is." Alex said proudly. "We could go with Ynez next weekend"

“That would be great.”

“We could invite Daniel too.” Alex said looking at Chris.

“Yeah... he could come too.” Chris said as he averted his gaze from Alex.

Alex watched him curiously.

“You don't look very confident.”

Chris shook his head.

“It's okay, don't worry about it.”

"Well, I don't think it's a good idea either, my sister's still mad at him." Alex said thoughtfully.

Chris looked at him doubtfully.

“Did something happen?”

Alex sighed.

“You don't remember, you were too drunk.” Alex said laughing. “Dan and my sister had something that wasn't serious, my sister was hoping to change Dan's mind, but Dan doesn't want to have any romantic relationship...with anyone.”

Chris looked at him with a poker face.

“Uhmm, that sounds like it didn't end well at all.” Chris said, looking at the wall.

“My sister is really hurt, but she's better than she was a few days ago, I guess she accepted it.” Alex said with a shrug. “Daniel was always clear about his intentions... so there's not much to blame either.”

And what happens when he's not clear with you? Chris thought.

Now that he remembered, he had received a message from Daniel 3 hours ago, but hadn't read it yet.

And he wasn't in the mood to read it either.

“But nothing to do, that's just the way it is.” Alex said with a shrug as he got up from the couch. “Make yourself at home Chris... Ynez and I are going to a cantina in the evening for a bite to eat and a few beers, would you like to join us?"

Chris felt tired, he had been on the street all day with Alex, however, he still hadn't been able to get any information out of him about Daniel and his arrival in Puerto Lobos, Alex always changed the subject, maybe over a few beers Alex could give him more information.

“I'll go only if there's no rum on the menu today.” Chris said laughing.

Alex laughed and shook his head.

“No rum, just my sister, you, me, and some burgers with some craft beers on the side.”

The thick aroma of tobacco and tequila enveloped him as he pushed open the cantina doors. The place was lit by dim lights reflecting off the bottles lined up behind the bar. The sounds of rude laughter, glasses clinking and mariachi music filled the air, vibrating in his ears with a mixture of joy and melancholy.

The worn wooden tables were filled with men chatting about life, the walls were decorated with yellowed photos and the Mexican flag hung in one corner, fluttering barely in the breeze coming in from the half-open door.

“Let's sit here.” Alex pointed to a table in the middle of the place, Ynez and Chris took seats next to him.

“I'm starving.” Ynez complained, leaning back in her chair. “There were so many tourists at the restaurant today, I didn't have time for lunch.”

“Hey, but how was the tip?” said Alex mockingly.

“Can't complain.”

"Okay, so you're inviting us today." Alex said cheerfully, clapping his hands.

Ynez rolled her eyes but couldn't help laughing.

“Sure, sure. But next time, you're in charge, huh?”

Alex leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table with a smile.

“I will, but only if the beer is the best.”

A waiter approached, drying a glass with an old rag.

“What can I get you?” he asked as he wiped the glass.

"Three beers. Don't bring the cheapest, my sister's paying today." Alex said laughing.

"You're an idiot." Ynez said laughing.

"Do you want something to eat?" He asked as he wrote down the order on an old notebook.

“Three burgers, is that okay?” Alex asked, Chris and Ynez nodded. “And that would be.”

The waiter nodded and walked away, leaving a trail of tobacco smoke behind him.

Ynez watched the waiter walk away, then let out a sigh, resting her chin on her hand.

“I always get to pay when I don't expect it.”

“Maybe you should stop working so hard then.” Chris said with a smile as he leaned back in his chair.

“And let the bills pile up? No, thanks. At this rate, I'll be the owner of the restaurant in a few months.”

“Owner? More like slave to the job, don't you think?” Alex said with a grin on his face. Ynez punched him gently in the arm, though he couldn't help but laugh.

Chris watched them both, amused by the dynamic between the siblings. The waiter approached with the three glasses of craft beer.

“You saved my life.” Alex said as his eyes sparkled at the sight of the beer.

The waiter rolled his eyes and laughed.

"I'll bring you your food in a few minutes."

“What about you Chris?” Ynez asked with interest after the waiter walked away from the table. “Have you enjoyed your stay in Puerto Lobos?”

Chris took a sip of his beer, enjoying the fresh taste, before answering with a smile.

“The beaches are amazing, but what I liked most is the tranquility of the town. It's like time slows down here.” Chris said thoughtfully. “The whole thing is...like an escape.”

“Yeah, it's got that magic, doesn't it? Although the tourists alter it a bit, but it still has its charm.” Ynez said with a laugh.

"I like Puerto Lobos with tourists." Alex said before putting his beer in his mouth. “It's extra money coming in for the merchants in town.”

“You guys were born in Puerto Lobos right?” Chris asked.

“That's right.” Ynez confirmed, before sipping from her glass. “We've lived here all our lives.”

“Our house, it was our grandfather's.” Alex explained. “It was left to our mother as an inheritance.”

The waiter came back to drop off the burgers and quickly left to wait on another table.

"So when did you two meet Daniel?" Chris asked.

Alex and Ynez exchanged brief glances before Ynez answered, playing with a fry on her plate.

“Daniel came to town about ten years ago.” Ynez explained. “But Alex didn't exchange words with him until he was sixteen.”

“After my mother died, well... I needed to generate more income to take care of me and Ynez.” Alex explained, leaning his elbows on the table. “I guess you've noticed that Daniel and I are in dirty business.”

“Something I've noticed...” Chris replied.

“I was selling small amounts of drugs to tourists” Alex began. “I was buying from Daniel at the wholesale level when he managed to bring it into Mexico, until he offered me to be his coworker as I have several contacts in Mexico.”

"Has Daniel always been involved in the drug trade?"

Alex shook his head.

“He used to be a pickpocket, I guess you know about his powers...”

“Yes.”

Ynez watched him for a few seconds and decided to ask him.

“When you arrived in Puerto Lobos... you asked for Daniel and Sean... Díaz.”

“Yes.” Chris said, knowing where the comment was going.

“I told you I didn't know who they were because there is no one here named Sean.” Ynez said.

“I know.” Chris replied and sighed. “Sean was Daniel's brother, he was killed by the police when Daniel escaped to Mexico”

The silence between the three of them was palpable. The bustle of the cantina seemed to fade, leaving a tension-laden void between them. Alex looked down, processing what he had just heard, while Ynez seemed frozen, her hand still covering her mouth.

“Sean...dead? I didn't know Daniel had a brother.” Alex said in surprise. “He never mentioned it.”

Chris nodded slowly.

“Sean was everything to him, and when he lost him, well... he changed a lot. That's why he decided to cut all his ties in the United States, including me.”

The three were silent, Ynez and Alex were still processing what they had heard.

“What a shitty life.” Alex said as he leaned back in his chair. “Daniel told me that his father was killed by the police before he ran away, but I didn't know he had a brother who ran away with him.”

“You know...now I can understand it a little.” Ynez said looking at Alex. “It makes sense to me why he's like that, now I understand why he's so reserved”

But before Chris could say anything else the door to the cantina burst open, letting in a draft of cold air that contrasted with the smoke and alcohol laden atmosphere. Alex, Ynez and Chris looked up instinctively. A tall, stoutly built man dressed in a black leather jacket entered the bar.

Alex frowned as he recognized the newcomer. The man removed his sunglasses, revealing dark, intent eyes that scanned the place as if searching for something or someone.

Alex leaned forward, his fingers twitching around his beer glass, hinting at his growing tension.

“What's wrong, Alex?” Ynez noticed immediately.

Alex wasn't taking his eyes off the man, who was now approaching the bar, talking quietly to the bartender.

“That guy... he shouldn't be here. Not in Puerto Lobos.” Alex said.

Ynez and Chris exchanged glances, confused.

“Do you know him?” Chris asked him.

Alex nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off the man.

“He used to work for Daniel. I saw him around town a few times, but... I haven't heard from him in months. Something's wrong.”

The man in the leather jacket ordered a drink and took a seat at a secluded table with a clear view of the entire cantina. His eyes swept quickly over the other patrons, but Alex noticed a hidden tension in his every move, as if he were on a mission.

“What are you going to do?” Ynez asked him uneasily.

Alex stood up from the table, his eyes were fixed on the man.

“I'm going to follow him. Something doesn't add up.”

“Alex, wait, we don't know why he came or what he's after.” Ynez said, but Alex was already moving, his gaze steady, determined not to let the newcomer out of his sight.

The man seeing Alex approaching smiled and got up from his chair to leave the cantina again, Alex followed him.

“Shit.” Ynez said as she looked around, Chris didn't understand what was going on.

“Should we go?” Chris asked concerned.

“Let's wait a few minutes for my brother to come back...maybe it's not that bad.” Ynez said trying to calm Chris down.

The atmosphere in the cantina changed in an instant. The usual sound of laughter, conversation and clinking glasses was replaced by a tense silence as the front door burst open. This time, it wasn't just fresh air that entered. Five rough-looking men, dressed in black and armed with automatic rifles, burst in.

One of them, a bearded man with a scar on his cheek, raised his rifle and took aim at the ceiling, firing a single shot that echoed like thunder in the small space. The echo of the shot caused the bottles on the shelves to vibrate and several of those present shrank back in their seats, terrified.

Ynez had jumped up, frightened, and was gripping the edge of the table with her white knuckles. Chris looked at the men with a mixture of surprise and concern.

“Nobody's moving! We're looking for someone!” The scarred man shouted in a hoarse, commanding voice.

The man's eyes moved quickly around the room until they stopped on Chris. Time seemed to stand still as two of the armed men began to advance toward him, their footsteps echoing menacingly on the wooden floor.

The men grabbed Chris's arms. Chris tried to resist, to struggle, but the kidnappers' strength was too much.They lifted him easily, dragging him toward the exit as he tried to wriggle free.

“Alex, Ynez, help me!” Chris shouted, desperate.

Ynez froze for a moment, paralyzed by fear. Her heart pounded as she watched her friend being forcibly carried away. And then, as she watched him disappear toward the door, something inside her exploded.

“Chris!” Ynez cried out in desperation, her voice cracking with panic.

Her scream echoed throughout the cantina, breaking the silence and filling the air with palpable fear.

As Chris was being carried by the men, one of them held a handkerchief to his nose, he tried to resist, shaking his head to one side, but as soon as the handkerchief brushed his nose and mouth the world around him began to darken until he fell unconscious.

Chapter Text

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

The sky was tinged orange and purple as the smell of marigold flowers permeated the air. Colourful altars decorated with old photographs, sugar skulls and flickering candles appeared in every corner of the town. It was November 1, the beginning of the Day of the Dead in Mexico, a day when life and death intertwine in a celebration of memory and love. With laughter, music and traditional food, families gathered in the cemetery to await the arrival of their loved ones from beyond the grave. As the families carefully arranged the photographs, they made the bread and sweets that their loved ones had loved so much. A sixteen-year-old Daniel was kneeling in front of a blue cross, carefully placing marigold flowers and candles around the grave, next to the flowers was a basket of fruit and sweets.

Daniel sighed and stopped in front of the grave. His eyes scanned the name engraved on the cross.

R.I.P

SEAN

He missed him.

He missed Sean beyond words, he missed him in the everyday moments, in the jokes he no longer had anyone to tell, in the feeling that something was missing, always. Looking at the grave, he felt small, helpless, as if life had torn a piece of his soul away, leaving a hole that could never be filled. A lump in his throat prevented him from crying, but his thoughts overflowed in a sea of memories, searching for a last connection, a farewell he never had.

Every time he looked at his brother's name engraved there, the weight in his chest became unbearable.

This was my fault. He thought, over and over, like an all-consuming mantra.

He remembered that day, every wrong decision, every moment when he could have done something different and maybe saved him. The guilt surrounded him like a shadow, dark and persistent, following him wherever he went.

He felt he didn't deserve to go on, not while his brother was dead because of him. Every smile that escaped his lips since then tasted bitter, as if living had become a betrayal. He hated himself for failing, for not being fast enough, strong enough, attentive enough. It was a pain that came not only from the emptiness of loss, but from the knowledge that he had been the cause.

As his tears fell silently to the ground, he wished he could change everything, that he could turn back the time and offer his life in place of his brother's. But he knew that was impossible.

“Forgive me.” Daniel whispered, though he doubted he would ever be able to forgive himself.

On the other hand, he was also filled with a sadness that he would never be able to bury his father beside Sean's grave.

Memories of his father came flooding back with an overwhelming intensity. It was a different pain to the one he had felt at Sean's death, but just as deep, like a wound that would not heal, but throbbed slowly. He remembered the figure of his father, always firm, always sure, always kind to him, and now that he was gone, the void in his life was enormous. This time it wasn't guilt, but a sense of abandonment.

The deaths of his father and Sean had made him feel vulnerable, more aware than ever of the fragility of life, and how each moment he shared with them was a gift he had failed to fully appreciate.

Daniel pulled out a drawing he had made of his father and carefully placed it among the marigolds surrounding Sean's grave. He lit the candles one by one, the warmth of the flames dancing across his face. His eyes closed as he clasped his hands, but his mind was not on a conventional prayer.

He didn't believe in God.

But at that moment, more than ever, he wished there was something beyond death, something that could offer comfort. He didn't know what to believe, but he wanted to imagine that his father and Sean were somehow together, at peace, somewhere he couldn't see or understand. He clung to that hope because it was the only thing that made his pain bearable.

The wind off shore stirred the flames of the candles he had just lit, and Daniel murmured a prayer, hoping with no certainty, but with all his heart, that they would be able to hear him.

When Daniel heard about the kidnapping, it was as if the world had collapsed beneath his feet. The shock knocked the wind out of him and for a moment his mind went blank, unable to process reality.

"Chris has been kidnapped." Alex had told him desperately in a phone call.

It felt like life was ripping the last thing he had left. A mixture of despair and terror washed over him, filling every corner of his being. His heart pounded violently, and fear settled in his chest like a cold stone.

Guilt tormented him as well. He thought this was his fault too, that he hadn't done enough to protect Chris. The wounds from Sean and his father's death reopened, and the pain multiplied, choking him. Every time he closed his eyes, he imagined the worst. Images of Chris in danger, suffering, overlapped with memories of Sean's death, and panic paralysed him.

Daniel felt powerless, vulnerable, as if he were trapped in an endless cycle of loss and suffering. The thought of losing Chris was unbearable, a nightmare come true. He felt that if anything happened to Chris, he could not survive it. He had no strength left, no more pain he could bear.

At that moment, all that remained was a mixture of despair and fear, a feeling that the world was falling apart once again and there was nothing he could do about it.

When Daniel was reunited with Alex, Ynez and Andrés, he could not contain the anger that consumed him when he saw Alex. All the pain, guilt and fear he had been repressing exploded in a single moment of pure rage. He grabbed Alex by the shirt tightly, shaking him.

"I told you to keep an eye on him!" Daniel shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. "Where the fuck were you when they took him?!"

Alex's face reflected the same horror and guilt Daniel felt, but it that wasn't enough to appease him. Memories of Sean and his father assaulted him mercilessly, like ghosts that would never leave him alone. The images mingled with his fear for Chris, creating a tangle of agony that consumed him from within.

His hands shook for a moment and he let go of Alex, stepping back as his legs faltered. Anger wasn't enough to drown out the fear. Nothing was. He felt the desperation tearing the air from his lungs, the weight of the world crushing him once more.

"If something happens to him... I won't be able to bear it..." he murmured, almost voiceless, his words barely a whisper lost in the chaos of his mind.

"...I'm sorry." Alex said with teary eyes as he felt a huge guilt. "I...that man who worked with you and who you kicked out of Puerto Lobos came into the bar...I assumed something wasn't right...I followed him, I was tricked...I got knocked out...I.... I'm sorry Daniel."

"You should never have taken your eyes off Chris!" Daniel shouted. "If you'd been with him when he was kidnapped, he'd be here with us now!"

"This shit is nobody's fault!" Ynez shouted as tears streamed down her face. "It's obvious they were following him and it was all planned, they were waiting for the opportunity to kidnap him!"

Daniel turned to Ynez with eyes full of fury. Although his words were true, he couldn't accept that there was no one to blame, that it was all a cruel twist of fate. The weight of helplessness suffocated him.

"I don't care if they were planning it or not!" He shouted, his voice cracking again. "Chris is somewhere, scared, alone... and I wasn't there to protect him. No one was."

Ynez took a deep breath, trying to hold back her tears, but she couldn't stop her voice from shaking.

"Do you think we don't feel it, Daniel? We're all heartbroken... We all want him back. But we have to keep our heads if we want to find him."

Daniel clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Pain, anger and guilt consumed him. All he wanted was to find Chris, but he couldn't stop thinking about what a mess his life had been, the universe was punishing him.

"I don't know how to keep my head when every second that passes could be his last..." Daniel whispered, his voice cracking.

Andrés, who had been silent until that moment, moved closer to Daniel. He placed a firm hand on Daniel's shoulder, forcing him to look into his eyes.

"We'll find him, Daniel. We won't let this end badly. But you have to be with us. If you get lost in your own pain, you won't be able to help Chris. What he needs right now is for you to be strong and to look for him.

Andrés' words echoed in the air, echoing in Daniel's mind. He wanted to hold on to that promise, but he felt his strength fading with every second that Chris was gone.

Finally, Daniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm the chaos inside him. He nodded.

Then, Andrés' phone started ringing.

When Andrés looked at his screen, he looked back at Daniel, Alex and Ynez who were staring at him in silence.

"Looks like we already have a lead on where he might be." Andrés said before answering the call.

There was an abandoned house on the outskirts of Puerto Lobos, a small house that stood in the middle of the desert. The walls, once painted white, were now cracked and covered with dust, as if time itself had forgotten it. The wind whistled through the loose boards.

A man was tied to a chair, while being guarded by two other men around him, his face was marked by weariness and despair. A candle lit the room.

As Daniel walked through the door along with Alex and Andrés, he detailed the face of the person gagged in the chair.

"Mario." Daniel said as he glared at him.

Mario was at the bar with Chris, Alex and José that day.

"You traitorous son of a bitch." Alex spat. Mario was filled with fear, his pleading eyes reflecting the desperation of being found out.

“Let him talk.” Daniel ordered one of the men guarding Mario. The man reached over and quickly removed the cloth from his mouth.

Mario let out a groan of pain.

”Just tell me where he is.” Daniel told him coldly as he glared hatefully at the man. “Otherwise... I'll make your death so slow and painful that you'll regret every second you stabbed me in the back.”

“He offered me a lot of money!” Mario cried desperately, looking at Daniel with pleading eyes. “He told me that if I gave him information about your friend he would make me a millionaire-!”

But before the man could finish the sentence, Daniel, consumed with rage, used his telekinesis to quickly lift him into the air. The man began to scream in pain, his body writhing as if he was being choked.

Daniel glared at him, feeling a surge of power as the man screamed and screamed. The scene was chaotic; the echoing screams echoed through the house, and the air was thick with tension.

”How about this, Mario?” Daniel shouted, his voice cutting like a knife. “Do you like seeing other people's pain? Does it make you feel better?”

Trembling, Mario looked at Daniel in horror.

“Stop it! Stop it, please! I'll tell you what I know! I swear!”

Daniel, still holding the man in the air, stared at him.

“Talk! Now!”

“He took him to a building near Puerto Libertad! It's an abandoned place! I didn't mean to... I didn't know they'd do that!” Mario stammered, his voice cracking with fear.

“Who's the bastard who ordered the kidnapping?” Daniel asked him menacingly.

Mario hesitated for a few seconds, but when Daniel saw that Mario was unsure about giving him the information, his bones began to shake.

“Leonardo!” He shouted in horror. “The man who paid me for the information told me he worked for Leonardo!”

Ah, that motherfucker. Daniel thought as he laughed ironically. He would kill him, he promised himself, he would kill him with his bare hands.

“And who is this man who paid you?” Daniel asked him impatiently.

“This man worked with you.” Mario shouted, waiting for Daniel to let him go. “He's the man you threw out of Puerto Lobos for stealing money from you! Please don't kill me!”

“Pedro.” Alex said to Daniel. “He's the man I saw in the bar who set me up.”

Daniel let Mario's body fall to the ground. Mario was breathing heavily as he felt that his left arm and leg had been broken. Daniel approached him menacingly and knelt down to his knees until he was level with him, Mario looked at him in horror.

"If I ever see you in Puerto Lobos again, I swear I will have no fucking mercy in killing you." Daniel whispered to him, every word infused with lethal venom.

Mario nodded quickly, sweat beading on his forehead as his lips trembled.

"I understand, I understand. I'm never coming back... please, just let me go."

"It doesn't matter anymore what you understand." Daniel replied, standing up again. "What matters is what I'm going to do to you if you ever cross my path again."

With a final look of contempt, Daniel turned and walked over to Alex and Andrés, who looked at him with a mixture of concern and determination.

"Come on, we have to find Chris before it's too late." Daniel said, his voice now determined.

"Do you know where to go?" asked Andres, adjusting his jacket.

"Yes." Daniel replied, remembering the address Mario had mentioned. "He's in a building near Puerto Libertad, I think I know which one it is... we won't waste any more time."

As they left the abandoned house with the two men who guarded Mario, the night loomed over them like a menacing shadow. Daniel could feel time slipping away, every second that passed could be crucial to Chris's life.

Puerto Libertad was a small fishing village just like Puerto Lobos, it was a two hour drive from Puerto Lobos. Daniel used his powers to make the car go at 300 km/h.

They arrived at the abandoned building at 3:00 am. In front of the building, a group of armed men were waiting outside the building, their aggressive posture indicating that they were ready for anything. In front of them, Daniel could see Leonardo, his face a mask of confidence and arrogance, with a contemptuous smile on his lips.

"Daniel." Leonardo said with a mocking tone. "I didn't think you'd get here so soon. Have you realised that you are walking to your own doom?"

The armed men moved slightly, forming a semicircle around Leonardo, displaying their weapons. Daniel felt anger and fear mix inside him, but he kept his cool. He knew that Chris's life depended on him.

"Where is Chris, Leonardo?" Daniel asked, his voice calm despite the storms of emotion raging inside him.

He couldn't dare do anything to Leonardo, he still held Chris hostage.

Leonardo took a step forward, with a mocking laugh.

"Do you think you can intimidate me with those looks? He's exactly where he belongs. But maybe you don't like what they've done to him."

Daniel's heart stopped for a moment, but he wasn't going to let fear control him. He knew he had to act quickly. The stones began to rise around him.

"I'm not here to play your games." Daniel said, preparing to face not only Leonardo, but all the men around him.

Leonardo shook his head and made a sound of disappointment.

"If you dare to use your powers against us... I will give the order to kill Chris." He said with a smile on his face.

Andrés and the two men accompanying him stood behind Daniel.

"Daniel... you better calm down or this trip will be for nothing." Andrés said to Daniel.

Andres' words were a reminder to keep a cool head.

Leonardo smiled, enjoying the tension between them.

"What are you going to do?" Leonardo asked him, looking at him amused. "Let's negotiate and your friend will live."

"What the fuck do you want?" Daniel asked him, glaring at him hatefully.

"That's easy enough to answer, brat." Leonardo said, his smile a mixture of contempt and amusement. "If you want me to release your friend, you have to let me kill you."

The words hit Daniel like a punch in the stomach. Horror gripped him.

How could he be so sure he would release Chris? The thought of losing Chris was unbearable, but he couldn't let Leonardo get away with it either.

"What kind of game is this?" Daniel asked, his voice trembling between anger and disbelief. "I'm not going to get killed by a coward like you."

Leonardo shrugged.

"It's not my problem, but if you don't do as I say, Chris will pay the price. I've already lost so much, my business is bankrupt because of you, I have no qualms about ending this once and for all."

Andrés stepped forward, his voice was firm.

"You don't have to do this Daniel, there are other ways to resolve this without giving up your life." He told him. "Chris could die anyway, we have no guarantee that he will keep his promise."

Daniel's eyes focused on Leonardo, feeling the anger boiling inside him.

"I won't let you manipulate me. If you think you can control this situation, you're wrong."

“Tell it to me, the one who's holding your friend hostage.” Leonardo said, satisfaction shining in his eyes. “The only way to save him s to give yourself up. Take it or leave it.”

Daniel felt trapped, as if he was in a macabre game where the rules were against him.

The atmosphere of the place was charged with palpable tension as Daniel, facing Leonardo and his men, struggled between fear and despair. Chris was in danger, and the only way to save him seemed to be to surrender to his enemy.

Daniel felt the weight of the decision on his shoulders; his friend's life was at stake. His mind whirled, weighing the options as Leonardo looked at him with a smirk, convinced he had won.

“All right, I'll do as you ask.” Daniel finally said, his voice ringing with a mixture of resignation. “But you can't kill me until I have a chance to see him. I need to know if he's okay.”

His statement shocked his friends, who exchanged looks of horror and disapproval.

Leonardo leaned forward, his eyes shining with anticipated victory.

"That's what I wanted to hear, but don't forget this isn't a game. The men I have here are loyal, and they won't hesitate to kill Chris if you don't keep your word."

But just as Leonardo gave the order for them to show Daniel that Chris was still alive, thick smoke began to billow from the windows of the building. Several men began to run out, screaming.

"What the hell?" Leonardo shouted in confusion.

Daniel's eyes focused on the roof of the building as his heart pounded.

Chris was on the roof of the three-storey building, his eyes were watery as blood came out of his nose, but determination shone in his eyes.

Chapter Text

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Chris sat on the dusty floor of his grandparents' basement, surrounded by boxes he hadn't touched in years.

Each one contained pieces of his childhood, things he had saved as a child. He lifted a lid and, inside, found action toys, old T-shirts and notebooks with pages full of drawings. It was strange how the most insignificant things could take you back to a place in time that seemed to have been forgotten, but never really was.

He pulled out an old notebook, its yellowed pages sliding carefully under his fingers. When he opened it, he found the same stories he had written over and over again, in his childish but determined handwriting. Superheroes, villains and cities he had saved. There was his alter ego, the hero he had always wanted to be. In his drawings, he wore a red cape, and his hands could stop any disaster. He was powerful, invincible... nothing like him.

He looked up and saw a basketball hidden away in one of the boxes. He picked it up and turned it slowly in his hands. The sound of the rubber rubbing brought back memories. Then he remembered.

Chris remembered exactly what his father had said that morning in Beaver Creek.

"Look, not everyone is born to be a basketball star. Not even me. You're probably gonna change the world." Charles told him, looking at Chris with a half smile. It was more than a compliment, it was a promise of sorts.

"I hope so." Chris had replied to him.

"I know so."

But Chris didn't believe it. He couldn't.

How could he change the world if he couldn't even keep his own family together?

His mother had died because of him, and his father had gone away to cure his alcoholism, promising to come back for him, but he never did.

He hadn't been able to change anything.

And yet he liked to imagine that he could, and maybe that would explain how he had survived all these years, how he had used his imagination to create superhero stories, that he was a superhero as a defence mechanism for all the pain he had lived through those years.

Chris had found refuge in his imagination where he could save the day and protect those he loved. In his stories, he was always the hero his family needed, the one who never failed, the one who never let them down. It was a way to escape, to give his life meaning when everything around him seemed to be falling apart.

Whenever reality became unbearable, he would immerse himself in these fantasies. He would draw his alter ego fighting giant villains, defying the laws of the universe, fixing what was broken. It was his way of holding on, of clinging to a hope that, however fragile, had allowed him to survive.

He sat on the edge of the old armchair and looked at his old notebooks, filled with drawings and notes of stories he had created. There it was, on every page, the trace of that child Chris, dreamy and vulnerable, searching for meaning in the midst of chaos. But what was left of that boy now?

After all these years, he understood that maybe he couldn't change the world the way he'd imagined, but that didn't mean he didn't have the power to make a difference. Maybe being a hero wasn't about saving everyone or fixing the impossible, but finding a way to move on, to heal, to try to be better than he was yesterday.

Maybe his real story had yet to begin. One where he didn't have to fly or fight monsters to prove himself. One where he would just learn to live with his scars and keep going. And maybe, just maybe, he could change the world in the process, even if it was just a small part of it.

Chris awoke slowly, with a foggy mind and a feeling of confusion. He had trouble opening his eyes, as if they were glued shut, and when he finally managed to do so, the blurred vision that greeted him made no sense.

The place he was in was unfamiliar. The grey walls, the low ceiling and the darkness in the room created an oppressive feeling. The cold of the floor beneath his body chilled his bones, and when he tried to move, he found that he could not.

He tried to raise his hands, but they were tied behind his back with something tight and rough that hurt his skin. His head ached unbearably, as if a thousand needles were piercing his skull. He squirmed slightly, his aching muscles protesting at any effort, and a fragment of memory began to emerge.

He had been somewhere public... a cantina? Yes, that was it. He had been drinking and chatting with Ynez and Alex, but then a group of armed men had entered the cantina and taken him away by force. Something had been put in his nose, something that had made him lose consciousness. Then darkness.

Chris's heart began to pound in his chest as he realised what had happened. He had been drugged. And now... now he was here, tied up, kidnapped, not knowing where he was, by whom or for what purpose. A shiver ran down his spine, not just from the cold, but from the fear that slowly crept into his mind.

What now?

How could he escape?

Chris looked around.

The room was empty.

Chris gasped, his survival instinct urging him to move. He made a first attempt to free himself, pulling his arms sideways, but the ropes barely gave way, resisting each tug. The friction burned.

He tried again, this time twisting his wrists desperately, searching for some angle that would allow him to loosen the bonds, some weak spot. He could feel cold sweat running down his forehead, his breathing quickening as his frustration grew. His hands were starting to go numb, but he couldn't stop.

He dug his feet into the ground, pushing as hard as he could, trying to slide towards a wall or something to cut the ropes with. His body, exhausted by the drug that still seemed to be circulating in his system, barely responded to him. He could feel the trembling in his arms, the strength draining away with each failed struggle. The bonds remained tight, unbreakable.

Jaw clenched and teeth grinding in anger, Chris leaned back, his back against the cold concrete wall. He was breathing hard, his chest rising and falling erratically. The red marks on his wrists were obvious, the stabbing pain beginning to turn into a constant burning.

"Come on..." He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse, trying to keep the fear from completely overwhelming him.

But try as he might, struggle as he might, the ropes seemed to tighten more with every movement. Finally, exhausted, he let his head fall forward, his breathing labored and his heart pounding. He couldn't escape - not like this.

He heard a faint sound, like footsteps, and turned his head towards the door. He couldn't see much beyond the darkness that filled the room, but there was someone behind the bedroom door.

Chris stood motionless, his muscles tense and his mind clouded with fear and exhaustion. He could hear the distant echo of footsteps in the hallway. Every sound, every creak made him hold his breath. He had given up trying to free himself, his wrists burning from the ropes that refused to give way. He closed his eyes for a moment, wondering if this was the end.

Suddenly, a faint creaking sound broke the silence. The door in front of him opened slowly, and the dim light streaming in from the corridor cast a shadow across the room. Chris looked up, his heart pounding in his chest. Fear washed over him as he waited to see who had taken him.

"Chris..."

The voice was soft, low, full of urgency, but recognisable. Very recognisable.

"Alex?" Chris whispered, barely believing what he was seeing.

Alex slipped into the room and quickly crouched down beside Chris. His expression was serious, his eyes shining with a mixture of concern and determination. He pulled a small knife from his pocket and, with quick but precise movements, began to cut the ropes that bound him.

"Are you all right?" asked Alex, though the answer was obvious.

"I don't know." Chris replied in a whisper, watching his friend work quickly.

The ropes gave way and Chris felt a surge of relief and pain at the same time as he was able to move his arms. He looked down at the deep reddish marks on his skin. His body ached, but the disbelief of seeing Alex there in front of him overcame every other sensation.

"How... how did you know...?" Chris tried to formulate the question, but his mind was still clouded by the confusion of not knowing what was happening.

Alex gave him a quick look, somewhere between relief and urgency, as he helped him to his feet.

"There's no time for explanations now. You just have to trust me. Come on, we have to get out of here before they come back," Alex said, and although his tone was firm, there was a hint of affection in his voice.

Chris nodded, Alex motioned for silence with his finger and lips, and opened the door to the room again.

As they stepped out into the hallway, Chris saw a man lying on the floor, he looked unconscious.

"He was guarding the door, I had to knock him out so I could get in to save you." Alex whispered to him as Chris watched the man carefully.

Quickly Alex moved down the corridor as Chris followed him until they reached a spiral staircase that led them to the second floor.

Alex descended the spiral staircase with silent agility as Chris followed close behind, his legs shaking but he couldn't stop. He felt each step like an echo in his chest, fear mixed with adrenaline driving him forward. The air in the corridor was thick. Any noise, any misstep and they knew they would be trapped.

When they reached the first floor, Alex signalled for them to stop. He peered cautiously around a corner, scanning the area with watchful eyes. Chris took a moment to catch his breath and leaned against the wall for a moment. His hands were still sore from the restraints, but the pain was insignificant compared to the urgency to escape.

"This way," Alex murmured as he pointed to a half-open door.

They crossed the corridor quickly but carefully. As they approached the exit, Chris could hear distant voices. Someone was moving, somewhere in the building.

"They're looking for us." Chris said softly, his heart racing.

"I know." Alex answered without looking back. "But we're close, just follow my tracks."

Finally they reached the door. Alex opened it slowly, with a barely audible creak, and the cool night air enveloped them. Chris felt a brief rush of relief, but knew they were not safe yet.

Just as they both took the first step towards freedom, an armed man appeared to their right, just outside the door. His face was hard, with an expression of surprise that quickly turned to anger. In one swift movement, he drew his weapon and pointed it directly at them.

"Stop!" The man shouted.

Chris froze, but Alex didn't hesitate. In the blink of an eye, he took a step forward with a swiftness that surprised the gunman. He disarmed him with a precise punch to the jaw, throwing the weapon to the ground as the man tried to react. Before the man could regain control, Alex landed a punch straight to his stomach, making him double over and struggling to breathe, and in that instant, with a deft move, he grabbed him by the throat and threw him against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

"Come on." Alex said as he kicked the man's gun away.

Chris could barely take in what had just happened. The speed with which Alex had acted stunned him. They stomped hard in the sand, moving away from the man's unconscious body.

Alex and Chris hid behind the wall of the building as they watched Daniel and Leonardo's gang face each other, barely breathing as they watched the scene from a distance.

"The brat got away!" shouted Leonardo angrily.

Daniel smiled when he heard that his plan had worked. His dark gaze swept over Leonardo's men as if to crush them, as if they were mere puppets. Energy began to vibrate in the air, causing small objects around him to lift off the ground. The ground beneath his feet shook slightly.

Daniel raised his hand in a determined gesture. Leonardo's men froze.

Suddenly, without warning, a shot rang through the air. The dry sound of the gun broke the tension. Daniel stopped dead in his tracks, his smile disappearing in an instant. Chris, who was watching him with wide eyes, felt time stop for a second.

The shot had been accurate.

Daniel fell to his knees on the floor, his hand on his chest where blood began to gush out, soaking his clothes. The echo of the shot still echoed in Chris's head as he watched, unable to react, horror frozen on his face.

"No!" Chris screamed, but his voice was drowned out by the chaos.

Daniel fell forward, lifeless, his body hitting the ground with a thud. Alex pulled Chris to hide behind the wall, but Chris could barely move, staring at Daniel's crumpled body.

The world crumbled around Chris. Daniel's body lay limp, blood soaking the sand, the echo of the gunshot still ringing in his head. Everything moved in slow motion, distorted by the pain and horror that overwhelmed him. Alex screamed, but his voice seemed distant, muffled by the disbelief that enveloped Chris.

No...it can't be.. He thought as the chaos around him seemed to grow denser, more suffocating. He wanted to do something, anything, to change what had just happened, but his legs did not respond, his body seemed anchored to the ground.

Suddenly a strange sensation came over him. It was as if time had actually stopped, but not because of the despair he felt, but because of something else. Something inside him was awakening, an energy he had never felt before. The air around Chris began to vibrate, reality itself seemed to distort.

His hands trembled as a warm sensation spread from his chest to his fingertips. The sound of the gunshot still echoed in his ears, but it no longer mattered. Time began to reverse.

The world around him crumbled and reassembled at the same time, the lights, the sounds, the voices receding into the past in a mad rush. Daniel's body was no longer on the ground and the bullets returned to the muzzle of the gun. The scene before him melted away like a blur and then, in the blink of an eye, Chris found himself back in the dark.

He opened his eyes sharply, gasping. He was no longer in that place, no longer witnessing Daniel's death. No, now he was back.

The room where he had been tied up was just as he remembered it. Ropes squeezed his wrists, the tightness palpable again. Chris's breathing quickened, confused at first, but then he remembered. He had returned to the point where it all began.

He could feel the dampness of the room, the musty smell in the air, and the pressure of the ropes against his wrists. The door was still closed, and silence surrounded him. The sound of his own pulse echoed in his ears as he tried to control his breathing.

At first, he couldn't process what had happened. It had all been so fast, the gunshot, the pain of seeing Daniel drop dead, the despair that had paralyzed him... and then, suddenly, he was here again. Tied up. In the same room where it had all started.

Chris gasped, his mind a whirlwind of jumbled thoughts, and for a moment he didn't know if what he had just witnessed was real or just a terrible nightmare. But the weight of the ropes around his wrists reminded him that this was no dream. It was real. Daniel had died, and yet now he was back. How?

He had felt it... that strange warmth, that energy that seemed to come from deep inside him. And then time... he had gone back. But how? How was that possible?

Images of the scene he had just experienced flashed through his mind, like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces he did not yet have. He went back... back to the past. He didn't understand how he had done it, but he had. His breathing became erratic, emotions clashing, the relief of having another chance, the fear of what it meant, and most of all, the disconcerting realisation that there was something inside of him that he didn't understand.

He felt that the world had changed for him in an instant. Everything he thought he knew about himself, about reality, was shaken by this new truth, it had the power to turn back time. But confusion consumed him. He didn't know if it was something he could control, if he would do it again, or if it had perhaps been a knee-jerk reaction to desperation.

He'd had a chance to save Daniel, but the fact that he didn't fully understand how he'd done it filled him with uncertainty. It was as if he was walking a tightrope, not knowing if the force he had unleashed would hold him up or let him fall.

As he struggled to calm his breathing, one thing became clear in his mind amidst all the confusion, he had to act. He knew now that he could change things. He didn't know how, but he had done it before and he would do it again.

As he heard the distant echo of footsteps in the corridor, he began to think of a plan to stop the sniper from killing Daniel.

Now it was up to him to save Daniel, just as Daniel had saved him 11 years before.

Chris made two attempts to change the future.

In the first, he was shot.

“There's a sniper on the roof.” Chris whispered to him, taking Alex by the arm and leading him towards the stairs that led to the top floor of the building. “We have to find him or someone could get hurt.”

Alex hesitated for a moment, but the assurance in Chris's voice made him follow. They ran up the stairs. Adrenaline kept Chris focused. He knew that, if he didn't act fast, history would repeat itself. Daniel would die again.

As they reached the rooftop, moonlight illuminating the night sky, at the end of the platform, he could see a silhouette with his back to them. The sniper was there, lining up his scope.

“There!” Chris told him, pointing at the sniper.

Alex nodded and drew his weapon, but before he could take aim, the sniper turned and fired. The shot echoed across the rooftop, and Chris felt the impact before he heard the hit. A stab of pain shot through his chest. His body slumped backwards, and the world fell apart again. The sound of the gunshot faded, and again, everything became distorted.

The warmth in his chest returned. Time receded.

At the second attempt, Daniel was shot again.

He and Alex rushed down the stairs, this time to warn Daniel before it was too late. The sniper still hadn't fired. Chris was breathing heavily. Their goal was simple: alert Daniel and stop the sniper.

When they reached Daniel, Chris yelled.

"The sniper! He's on the roof, he's going to shoot!”

Daniel looked up, his face set. He closed his eyes, and within seconds he was using his own powers. The building began to shake and the ground shook. The sniper didn't stand a chance; the building collapsed around him, crushing him in the rubble.

But before Chris could breathe a sigh of relief, a shot ripped through the air. One of Leonardo's mercenaries had taken advantage of the chaos and fired. The shot struck Daniel in the chest and his body fell to the ground.

Chris felt the crushing despair again. Time began to rewind again. The scene unfolded before his eyes and Chris found himself back where he started.

His hands trembled as tears streamed down his face. He could not fail again.

His head began to hurt, he felt a sharp pain, a pressure that grew with each passing second. His vision began to blur, his vision distorted, the shapes around him blurred.

Alex slipped quickly into the room. His eyes scanned the room for Chris and found him tied to the floor, breathing heavily. The smell of damp and confinement permeated the air, but what struck him most was the state of his friend.

"Chris." Alex said as he ran over to him.

He knelt down in front of Chris and with determined hands began to untie the ropes that held him down. As he loosened the knots his eyes caught something he hadn't noticed before, a thin line of blood running from Chris's nose down to his chin. Alex stopped for a moment, startled by what he saw.

"What have they done to you?" Alex asked, his voice full of concern as his eyes searched Chris's face for any visible wounds.

Dazed and dizzy, Chris struggled to look up. At first he didn't understand what Alex was talking about. His mind was still gripped by the dizziness of the headache and the urgent need to change the future. His priority was to save Daniel, there was no room in his mind for anything else.

”What...?" He stammered, his voice hoarse and weak. Then he saw Alex's expression, the fear reflected in his eyes, and felt something strange in his face. He raised a trembling hand and touched his nose to the warm wetness of blood.

A shiver ran down his spine. He hadn't realised he was bleeding.

"It's nothing... they... didn't... do anything to me." Chris replied, his voice barely above a whisper. He was still processing what had happened to him. It wasn't them. It wasn't his captors. He knew the nosebleed was a result of his own power. The wear and tear, the turning back time again and again... his body was paying the price.

"Chris, what's wrong?" Alex insisted, now clearly more concerned about his friend's health than any external threat. He wiped the blood away with the sleeve of his jacket, but new drops quickly formed.

Chris' eyes, unfocused by the pain and pressure in his head, could barely answer. But there was no time to explain. He had to save Daniel. He had to move on.

”It doesn't matter...” Chris muttered, struggling to stand as Alex helped him up. “Alex, listen to me... I need you to help me.”

“That's why I came here, to save you.”

Chris shook his head.

”No, it's not just that.” Chris said in a halting voice, struggling to stand with Alex's help. “There's a sniper on the roof. He has orders to kill Daniel. We can't let that happen... but I have a plan.”

Alex frowned at him, still worried about Chris' condition but hanging on his every word.

“A sniper?” Alex repeated incredulously. “How do you know?”

"There is no time for explanations. Just... trust me. The only way to keep him from getting killed is to get everyone out of the building." Chris continued, the urgency in his voice palpable. "If we torch the place, they'll have no choice but to flee, and we can protect Daniel."

Alex hesitated for a second, but nodded with determination.

"In the next room there's gasoline. They were storing it for the generators. I..." Alex fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a small box. "I have matches."

Chris let out a sigh of relief, though the pain in his head still throbbed relentlessly.

"Perfect. Take me to the room, and give me the matches. Then, I need you to get out of the building and get behind the wall. Keep an eye out in case those men try to shoot Daniel. You... you'll take care of that."

Alex helped him move into the next room, where a large gasoline can rested in the corner. Without a word, Chris took the gasoline in both hands, his fingers trembling as Alex passed him the box of matches.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Alex asked with a tone of doubt in his voice.

"I have to." Chris replied, struggling to keep his composure.

With a stern look on his face, Alex nodded and headed for the stairs, taking one last look at Chris before disappearing.

Chris, now alone, began pouring the gasoline down the wooden stairs of the building, making sure to cover each flight with the flammable liquid. His head throbbed with almost unbearable pain, each step seeming to drain his energy. But he couldn't stop. Not now.

When he finished, he pulled a match from the box and lit it. Flames danced in his gaze, reflected in his eyes. He tossed the match toward the sodden stairs, and in an instant, the fire came to life, spreading rapidly. The flames filled the room, consuming the wood voraciously.

Chris watched for a moment as the fire began to devour the building. He heard screams from the rooms on the first floors. He took a deep breath, feeling the pressure building in his head, as if his brain would explode.

Chris leaned against the wall and waited.

A few minutes later he saw a shadow running quickly from the stairs leading to the rooftop towards the first floor of the building, fleeing from the fire.

”I can't miss... not again.” Chris whispered to himself, before climbing towards the rooftop.

Each step was heavier than the last, his vision blurred, and the walls around him seemed to distort. The pounding in his head was unbearable. The fire was growing behind him, and his head was throbbing as if it would explode at any moment.

As he reached the rooftop, adrenaline pushed him on. The tears kept falling, not just from the physical pain, but from the emotional burden.

Daniel watched Chris from a distance, his heart pounding as their gazes met. Smoke enveloped the building, the screams of men echoed in the distance, but none of that mattered to him. In the midst of all that chaos, Chris was there, standing on the rooftop, his nose was bleeding, his face was scarred with exhaustion and his eyes were watery, but filled with a fierce determination.

”Chris...” Daniel whispered, a deep, overwhelming relief swept through him.

Chris was alive.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment, concentrating, and then, in one smooth but steady motion, he lifted Chris into the air, gently, taking care with every movement so that he wouldn't be hurt any more than he already was.

Chris felt the tug on his body, but he didn't resist. He was tired, physically and emotionally, and in that moment, he felt an indescribable relief as he let himself be carried by Daniel's power. As the wind shifted his clothes and the fire continued to consume the building beneath him, his eyes searched Daniel's.

When Chris reached Daniel, he embraced him with all his might, clinging to him.

Tears fell uncontrollably, mixing with the blood that still stained his face. Chris clung to Daniel as if his life depended on it, his breathing ragged as his body trembled. He felt the warmth of Daniel's body, the security of holding him in his arms, and for a moment, the outside world ceased to matter.

"I did it..." Chris murmured, his voice was broken. "You're... you're alive."

Daniel didn't understand what he meant, but he pulled him tighter against his chest, as if with that embrace he could make up for all the pain. He didn't want to let go, he couldn't. He felt that if he did, everything would fall apart again. So he held him, in the midst of the chaos.

"Chris..." Daniel whispered as he felt his eyes fill with tears, his voice filled with guilt. "I'm so sorry."

Daniel's words hung in the air as he hugged him with an intensity that mirrored everything he felt. He couldn't put into words what it meant to have Chris in his arms, how important he was to him. He couldn't lose him. Never.

Daniel loved him.

He loved him more than anyone else in the world.

And he would give his life to keep him safe.

Then, he felt the urge. He wanted to kiss him. It was a desire that hit him hard. His heart pounded, and for a second, as he held Chris in his arms, the thought of sealing his lips with his own crossed his mind. But Daniel stopped himself.

It wasn't the time. It wasn't the place.

Leonardo, who was watching the scene dumbfounded, pulled a gun out of his trousers to shoot Daniel.

Just then, a shot rang through the air.

Leonardo stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide open in surprise. His body wavered for a second before collapsing to the ground, inert, from a single shot that had pierced his skull. The gun slipped from his hand as he fell, his life slipping away in a breath.

From behind the building, Alex lowered the gun, his breathing ragged with adrenaline. He had been waiting for the right moment, he had followed Chris's orders to the letter, and when he saw Leonardo draw the gun, he didn't hesitate to act.

Leonardo's men hesitated for a moment, their terrified gazes fixed on the limp body of their leader. But confusion soon turned to fury, and without a second thought, they began to draw their weapons, ready for revenge.

Andrés, with an expression of sheer determination, advanced with the two men accompanying him. Their guns were already in their hands, ready to fire.

Daniel’s eyes filled with hatred and his body still shaking with adrenaline, stepped forward, leaving Chris behind his back. His chest puffed out with each heavy breath, and the latent power within him began to stir, driven by the rage that now consumed him.

Without hesitation, he raised a hand and an invisible wave of energy burst from him. Leonardo's men, who were ready to fire, were hurled backwards as if a hurricane had rammed them. Their bodies flew through the air, hitting the sand and debris with brutal force.

Screams of panic echoed as the men began to understand the magnitude of Daniel's power. Some writhed on the ground in pain from the impact, while others tried to regain control of their weapons. But before they could raise their guns again, Daniel took another step forward, his eyes blazing with uncontrollable fury.

“If you don't run away now, I'll kill you all!” He shouted with hatred. The ground beneath his feet shook with the intensity of his power, and the rubble of the building shook as if in response to his fury.

The air around them vibrated, and Leonardo's men, though still trembling with fear, understood the message. They knew that if they did not leave, it was a death sentence.

One by one, they began to retreat, their weapons falling to the ground as they tried to escape. Desperation engulfed them, and soon, some broke into a frantic run, fleeing as far away as possible.

As the last of the men disappeared into the distance, Daniel slowly dropped his hands.

Chris, reeling with pain and fatigue, watched from a distance. Despite everything that had happened, a mixture of relief and fear filled his chest. He knew Daniel had had no choice, but seeing him use his power like that made him shudder.

Andrés approached Daniel, but cautiously.

"Daniel, let's go." He said calmly, putting a hand on his shoulder. There was no time to lose. Even though Leonardo's men were gone, the building was still burning. "The police and firemen will be here any minute."

Daniel nodded, taking his eyes off the horizon, where the last stragglers of Leonardo's men were fleeing.

Chapter Text

It was 6:00AM and Chris couldn't sleep.

He was caught in a spiral of anxiety.

He had arrived in Puerto Lobos two hours ago. The physical exhaustion he felt contrasted with the constant tension that kept his mind alert. Despite being in the safety of Daniel's home, his mind refused to relax, reliving over and over again the horrors of Puerto Libertad, the kidnapping, the guns, the fire, the death, and his powers that he still didn't fully understand.

The double experience of seeing Daniel die had scarred him deeply. The fear of losing him, or worse, of not being able to protect him, kept him awake. He felt that, at any moment, the same men who had tried to kill them would return, and he would be helpless, asleep and unable to act. The thought of not being able to save Daniel paralysed him more than the physical exhaustion.

Chris tossed and turned in Daniel's bed, searching for relief that would not come. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Daniel fall, saw his body collapse as if it was happening all over again. His breathing quickened and his hands twitched on the sheets.

He knew Daniel was safe, just a few metres away, in the same house, but the sense of danger never left him. Reality and memories blurred in his mind, making it impossible to distinguish between what was happening now and what was already over.

Finally Chris got out of bed, unable to sleep any longer. His bare feet touched the cold floor as he walked towards the door. He wanted to make sure that Daniel was still there, that everything was all right, even if his mind told him otherwise.

As he opened the door to the room and saw the front door ajar, Chris approached.

Daniel was sitting on the front steps of his house, smoking a cigarette.

Chris sighed with relief and sat down next to Daniel, feeling the tranquility of the moment as the sky began to light up with the first colours of dawn. Shades of purple, pink and yellow painted the horizon over Puerto Lobos.

The sea in the distance reflected these soft hues, and the rhythmic sound of the waves accompanied the silence between them. Daniel seemed lost in thought as he watched the horizon.

Chris closed his eyes for a moment, letting the fresh air of dawn touch his skin. Tiredness still overwhelmed him, but this view, this moment shared in silence with Daniel, was an anchor.

"Every time I wake up from nightmares I usually sit here and watch the sunrise." Daniel said, breaking the silence.

Chris looked at him for a second, watching as the glow of the sunrise began to illuminate his face.

Daniel took a puff on his cigarette and let the smoke out slowly.

"Can't sleep?" asked Daniel, his voice raspy but calm.

Chris shook his head, watching the colours in the sky grow more intense.

"I... no, I can't help but think about everything that's happened." Chris said as he watched the light of the rising sun reflect off the sea.

Daniel nodded before taking another puff on his cigarette.

"I'm so sorry Chris." Daniel said, finally looking Chris in the eyes guiltily. "I should have been there to prevent the kidnapping."

Chris looked at him. He wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault, that no one could have foreseen what had happened, but the words stuck in his throat. There was still so much he couldn't process, from the powers he was just beginning to understand to the reality of losing and recovering Daniel in such a short time.

“It's not your fault.” Chris finally muttered, staring at the horizon. “It all happened too fast.”

“Maybe.” Daniel replied. “But it doesn't change the way I feel. I wish I could go back in time and do something to stop you from going through all this.”

Chris looked at him in surprise, he wanted to tell him about his powers.

But he thought it was too soon to talk about it, maybe later when he could understand it better.

“We're here.” Chris said. “That's all that matters now.”

“That's right.” Daniel said as he looked at him with a half smile and held his cigarette closer to Chris. “Do you want some? It will help calm your anxiety.”

Chris looked at the cigarette and couldn't help but remember his old home in Beaver Creek. He picked it up and took a puff, but he started coughing loudly as his throat burned. Daniel let out a small laugh, not mocking but full of understanding.

"Yeah, take it easy. It's not for everyone." Daniel said as he gently took the cigarette from him and held it between his fingers.

Chris, still coughing, gave a shy smile.

"Definitely not my thing." he muttered, rubbing his chest to ease the sensation. "The last time I tried smoking was when I was nine years old, I'd stolen one of my dad's cigarettes."

Daniel let out a small laugh when he heard the story.

"Really? Nine years old?" he said, raising an eyebrow as he stubbed out the cigarette on the floor.

Chris nodded, his smile was still shy, but something in his eyes sparkled as he remembered this anecdote from his childhood.

"Yeah... it was a disaster." Chris said, looking at him with amusement. "I learned my lesson. But now, with everything that's happened, I thought maybe it could help calm things down... like you said."

"Sorry." Daniel said with a laugh. "I'm not exactly a role model, you know? I don't have the best ideas. I'm not like you, Chris."

Chris looked at him with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

"Me? Why do you say that?"

Daniel sighed, resting his elbows on his knees as he watched the horizon where the colours of dawn were slowly fading and giving way to daylight.

"Because... despite everything you went through, you found a way to keep us safe. That thing you did, setting fire to the building to distract them from killing us, was brilliant." Daniel said, looking at him with a half smile.

Chris smiled slightly, although the admiration in Daniel's words made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"It wasn't that brilliant... It was more an act of desperation. I wasn't even sure it would work." His voice was soft.

Daniel shook his head, his smile was more sincere now.

"No. It was, and you saved us. Sometimes I think you don't give yourself enough credit for what you can do." Daniel's words were simple, but they carried weight, they were full of honesty.

Chris looked down, feeling a mixture of emotions. It was strange to hear those words from someone he considered the strongest.

"I'm not as strong as you think."

Daniel stared at him, his expression was serious.

"Neither am I, Chris. But that doesn't mean that we can't be strong together."

Chris looked at him, not really understanding what he was referring to.

They both stood in silence as they watched the sunlight already rising fully into the sky.

Daniel looked at Chris out of the corner of his eye and gave a small smile.

"You know, I've been a lousy host since you came to Puerto Lobos, I'd like to go to Paredones with you now."

Chris looked up, a little confused by Daniel's comment, remembering that Alex had told him about that place when he went to his house.

"Paredones? Why do you want to go there?" Chris asked blankly.

"It's a special place for me, it's quiet. I usually go there when I need to get away from it all for a bit." He paused and looked into his eyes. "Maybe it would help you. A change of scenery is always good when things are so messed up in your head."

Chris thought about it for a moment. He wasn't sure if getting out of town would calm him down after everything that had happened a few hours ago, but something about Daniel's invitation sounded comforting. Perhaps a walk with him would be the distraction he needed.

"All right." he said finally, letting out a small smile. "Let's go to Paredones."

Daniel stood up, extending a hand towards Chris.

"You'll like it, I promise."

When Chris took his hand, he felt the gentle pressure of Daniel's hand as he rose. The contact reassured him.

The car was moving down the road, the soft roar of the engine mingling with the sound of the wind coming through the half-open windows. Chris was in the passenger seat, looking out over the landscape. All around him, the desert of Puerto Lobos stretched out in all directions. The pale sand merged with the golden sunlight, creating an almost surreal contrast with the deep blue of the clear sky. Only a few scattered clouds crossed the horizon, like brushstrokes of white on a blue canvas.

As they approached the beach at Paredones, the scent of sea salt began to mix with the smell of coffee and freshly baked bread they had eaten at the previous stop. Chris held a cup of coffee, feeling the warmth of the drink soothe the knot of anxiety that still hadn't quite left him.

Daniel wore sunglasses, one hand on the wheel and the other on the open window, driving with an infectious calm. His eyes were on the road, but every now and then he glanced at Chris, as if to make sure he was all right. The wind, warm but pleasant, played with Chris's hair, ruffling it slightly.

The landscape was barren and vast, with sparse vegetation and low mountains in the distance that barely seemed to break the monotony of the desert. Occasionally a group of cacti or scattered rocks would appear in the distance, but the general feeling was one of loneliness, of a place where the world felt wider and time passed more slowly.

"How do you feel?" Daniel asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

Chris looked out the window and watched as the horizon seemed to melt into the sky. He took a deep breath, letting the fresh sea air and the scent of the desert fill him.

"Better." he finally replied, his voice barely a whisper over the sound of the wind.

Daniel nodded, his eyes were still focused on the road, though there was a glimmer of relief in his eyes at Chris's answer.

The wind continued to come in through the window, playing with their hair.

"Do you only come here when you need to think, or have you always done this?" Chris asked.

Daniel shrugged as he adjusted the steering wheel to take a gentle curve in the road.

”A bit of both. I started coming here when I was 17 years old.” Daniel said as he looked sideways at him. “When I first came to Puerto Lobos I didn't want to leave the town until I met Alex.”

“Oh.”

Daniel laughed.

”I was too depressed after Sean's death to want to know any other place. I was more focused on surviving so I didn't feel like my brother's death was for nothing.”

Chris looked at him for a moment. He knew that Sean's death had affected Daniel deeply, and Chris could relate to the feeling of having lost something vital, something that couldn't be replaced. But hearing Daniel talk about it in such a direct way made him see the burden he still carried on his shoulders.

“It must have been hard,” Chris said, his voice was low, as if he didn't want to break the calm of the moment. “To keep going when everything seems... lost.”

Daniel nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off the road, though his lips twisted into a bitter little smile.

"Yes, it was. There was a time when I felt like I was just running, with no clear destination, just surviving. But then I met Alex, and he showed me this place. It wasn't just a place to run away from, but a place where I could remember the past without it hurting so much. This place helped me to understand that it's not just about surviving... it's also about learning to live."

Chris understood what Daniel meant. Sometimes, certain places allowed the weight of memories to become lighter, if only for a little while. Sometimes, nature had this way of soothing the pain, as if the world was able to absorb a little of that burden.

He understood it perfectly because he did the same thing in Seattle, when he went out of the city to calm his mind from bad memories and draw landscapes.

"And how did you manage to... move on?" Chris asked with his gaze fixed on the horizon. "After everything that happened, with Sean, with your dad, with everything, how do you not let it consume you?"

Daniel was silent for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully. Finally he answered in a quiet but determined tone.

"It's not that it doesn't consume me. Sometimes it does, but I've learned that I can't live just for that pain. Sean wouldn't want that for me. So I carry it with me, but I don't let it define me."

They were both silent for a few seconds until Chris spoke.

"I want you to know that you don't have to carry this burden alone. I know we haven't spoken in a long time, but from the moment we met again, it felt like the distance and the years hadn't changed anything between us." Chris said as he looked directly at him, his voice was full of sincerity. "I always thought about you...how you would be. I don't regret for a second that I came looking for you."

Daniel smiled, his eyes shining with a mixture of gratitude and something deeper, something Chris couldn't quite decipher at the time. The wind was still playing with his hair.

"You have no idea what it means to me that you're here, with me." Daniel said, his voice softer, but laden with sincerity. "I thought about you a lot too and... I think about you, more than I want to admit."

Chris felt a warmth in his chest at those words, as if something inside him, a part of him that had been tense for so long, had finally relaxed. He looked at Daniel, wanting to say something else, but the words caught in his throat.

”I...” he started, feeling the blush rise to his cheeks, but stopped himself, unable to find the words to express what he was feeling without ruining the moment.

Daniel glanced sideways at him and, as if he knew exactly what Chris was trying to say, turned his focus back to the road, but his smile was still there.

“You don't have to say anything now. The important thing is that you're here, and that's... that's enough.”

The car drove on towards the beach, the scent of salt intensifying as they neared the sea. The waves lapped gently against the shore, and the rhythmic sound of the water seemed to synchronise with Chris's heartbeat.

When Chris and Daniel arrived at Paredones, the scene unfolded before them like a tableau vivant. The golden sand glistened in the warm sun, while deep blue waves lapped gently against the shore, leaving a trail of white foam that quickly disappeared. The sea breeze caressed their faces.

Rock formations loomed in the distance. These rocks, weathered by time, made a striking contrast to the softness of the sand. A few seagulls circled above them.

The desert landscape surrounding the beach merged with the horizon. The silence and tranquillity of the place enveloped Chris and Daniel, giving them space to breathe and connect with their thoughts.

As they took their first steps on the sand after taking off their shoes in the car, they both felt the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the sea. As they approached the shore, the waves danced at their feet, and for a moment, all that mattered was the present, the sound of the ocean and each other's company.

Chris looked out over the horizon, lost in thought, when suddenly, he felt Daniel grab his arm with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked, but before he could process it, Daniel dragged him out to sea with an infectious laugh. Chris was startled, his protests drowned out by the sound of the water, as Daniel guided him towards the energetically approaching waves.

At first contact, a wave crashed into his legs, the cold water drenching him almost immediately. Chris screamed, a scream that quickly turned to laughter at the sight of Daniel's playful expression.

"Daniel, you're crazy!" he exclaimed, trying to break free, but Daniel just held him tighter, enjoying the freedom of the moment.

With each incoming wave, Chris got a little wetter, his clothes soaking wet, but he couldn't help but smile at Daniel's joy.

"I'm going to kill you for this!" Chris joked, but there was a mixture of amusement and surprise in his voice.

Daniel turned around, his eyes sparkling with sunlight and the happiness of being there at that moment.

"So what? it's just water!" he said, letting another wave wash over him, laughing out loud as the salty water splashed over his face.

Daniel couldn't resist the temptation to play with Chris some more. With a mischievous grin on his face, he turned around and, in one swift movement, began splashing water at him. Each time Daniel lifted a hand, the water sparkled like diamonds in the sunlight and dispersed in a fine rain that fell on Chris.

"Come on, don't be a spoilsport!" Daniel shouted with a laugh as a particularly large wave drenched him and sent jets of water towards Chris. Surprise and laughter filled the air as Chris tried to dodge the water, but couldn't help laughing out loud.

"That's not fair!" Chris exclaimed, trying to shield himself with his arms as he took small steps backwards, but Daniel followed, increasingly determined to ruin his attempt to stay dry. With each splash, the heat of the day became more bearable.

Finally, Daniel stopped and threw a final splash of water at him with a knowing smile.

"You look cute soaking wet!" he said, laughing as Chris, now completely wet, could only look at his friend with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

With a spark of determination in his eyes, Chris decided it was time for revenge and lunged at Daniel, who was still laughing and trying to catch his breath. Throwing himself at his friend, Chris tried to push him into the water.

Daniel stumbled a little in surprise before he could react. The force of Chris's swing sent him flying backwards just as a wave crashed onto the shore. In an instant, Daniel was underwater.

"You didn't see that coming!" Chris exclaimed, laughing as Daniel emerged from the waves, his hair dripping with water and his face lit up with a mixture of surprise and amusement. Without thinking, Chris lunged at him again, determined to push him back into the water.

Daniel, trying to regain control, grabbed Chris around the waist and with a sudden movement pulled him towards the shore, sending them both tumbling to the sand with laughter that echoed like the children they had been at Beaver Creek.

"Well done Captain Spirit, you held your own very well." Daniel said as he laughed and tried to catch his breath, his eyes were fixed on Chris who stood laughing in front of him, his cheeks were red from the sun.

"Good fight Superwolf, you almost beat me." Chris said with a grin on his face.

Daniel looked at him with a wry grin, still lying on the sand trying to calm his breathing. The sound of the waves accompanied the echo of their laughter.

"Did I almost beat you?" Daniel replied, sitting up slightly, his hands resting on the sand. "I think you need to brush up on your fighting skills, Captain Spirit."

Chris chuckled, his eyes twinkling.

"I was just giving you a chance to make yourself look less bad, Superwolf. You know I'm generous."

Daniel laughed and threw a handful of sand at him, softly, as a joke.

"Oh, yeah, right. Generous..."

They were both silent for a moment, their breathing was still ragged but calmer now. There was something about this silence, the sound of the waves and the salty breeze that enveloped them, that made the world feel perfect.

"Remember when we used to play like this at Beaver Creek?" Daniel said suddenly, breaking the silence. His gaze had softened, his voice was low but warm, full of nostalgia.

Chris nodded, his smile was changing to a softer one, laden with memories.

"Yes... I'll never forget that winter, the snowball fights... everything seemed simpler then."

"It was." Daniel replied, looking towards the horizon.

Chris looked sideways at Daniel with a sad smile. He decided to distract him from whatever he was thinking about.

"I think we should take our t-shirts off and leave them to dry on a rock. I don't want to spend the rest of the day with my clothes stuck to me." He said amusedly as he shook the sand out of his clothes.

Daniel let out a small chuckle and nodded.

"Good idea, I don't want to walk around in this all wet."

They both took off their t-shirts, keeping only their shorts on, and wrung them out before hanging them over one of the nearby rocks. The sun and the sea breeze would do the rest.

Once the t-shirts were hung over the rock, Chris stared at the horizon for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Daniel.

”What now?” he asked with a smile, but then his stomach growled, interrupting the moment. “Because, seriously, I don't know what we're having for lunch. We're literally in the middle of nowhere.”

Daniel shrugged with a half smile and a calm expression.

“Relax Chris, did you really think I would drive you all the way out here without a plan?” he said as he walked to the car. “When I bought breakfast I bought lunch too.”

Chris looked at him with a mixture of surprise and relief.

“Really? What did you buy?”

Daniel reached into the back seat of the car and pulled out a paper bag that had been hidden under some towels.

“Nothing too fancy, but enough to keep us from starving.”

He pulled out some sandwiches wrapped in paper and a bottle of water.

“Sandwiches, water... and I think some fruit too.”

Chris smiled gratefully.

“See, I knew I could trust you.”

After lunch, Daniel and Chris decided to explore the beach some more. They walked barefoot, feeling the warmth of the sand beneath their feet as the sun began its slow descent towards the horizon. All around them, the beach of Paredones unfolded like a forgotten corner of the world, there was no one around.

The wind continued to caress their faces as they walked in silence, both immersed in the beauty of the place. Every now and then, one of them would point out an interesting rock formation or a small pool of water between the stones left by the tide.

After a while of walking, Daniel broke the silence.

”Hey, I need you to help me with something.”

Chris raised an eyebrow, curious.

”With what?”

Daniel smiled and pointed to the car they had parked nearby.

”We're going to set up the camping tent.”

Chris looked at him, confused.

”The camping tent? Weren't we just supposed to come for the day?”

Daniel laughed slightly and shook his head.

"No, I never said that. We're going to sleep here, of course. I've got a camping tent in the boot. I want us to go up there." He pointed to one of the big rocks jutting out in the distance. "To set it up. And then, when night falls, we can have a campfire."

The surprise on Chris's face was obvious.

"You were really planning all this and you didn't tell me?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Daniel replied, patting him on the back. "I couldn't think of a better place to spend the night. Imagine, the sea, the stars, the sound of the waves. Come on, it'll be amazing."

Chris smiled, unable to help but share Daniel's excitement.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go set it up."

They both walked back to the car, and with some effort, pulled the camping tent out of the boot along with some sleeping bags. Then, with Daniel's powers, they carried the equipment to the top of the rock and began to climb up to the rocks that Daniel had pointed out. From there the view was even more breathtaking, the beach stretching out at their feet, the ocean stretching out before them like an endless blanket.

"This place is perfect." Chris murmured, gazing at the horizon with a mixture of awe and satisfaction.

Daniel nodded.

"Now, let's get to work before we're too late."

The two began to skillfully set up the tent, sharing laughter and comments as they did so. The sun continued its slow descent, and as the tent took shape, the temperature began to drop.

"Done." Daniel said as they finished setting up the tent. "Now let's make the campfire. The nights here are cold."

Without waiting for an answer, he walked back to the car, leaving Chris on top of the rock, watching as Daniel pulled more stuff out of the boot.

Chris watched him in amusement.

"Where do you get so much stuff, you got an inflatable in there too?"

Daniel laughed as he carried with his powers a small bag of kindling, some rocks to surround the campfire, a lighter and a portable cooler.

"No, but I brought what I need to have a good time. You'll see."

Within minutes, they were working together to build the campfire. Daniel arranged the stones in a circle on the rock and, with Chris's help, they placed the wood in the centre. The sound of the lighter broke the silence, and soon the first flames began to dance, casting warm shadows over them and the surrounding rocks. The crackling of the wood as it burned accompanied the quiet rhythm of the waves in the distance.

"That's it." Daniel said. He opened the cooler and took out a couple of beers, offering one to Chris. "Here you go. And yes, I bought some snacks too."

Chris took the beer with a smile, opening it as he watched Daniel pull out a bag of chips.

"You're a genius, you know that?"

"I like to be prepared." Daniel replied with a grin as he opened the bag of chips and set it down between the two of them. Then he sat down next to Chris, letting his feet dangle over the edge of the rock, swaying them slightly as they looked out over the ocean.

The sea breeze was blowing gently, and the sky was beginning to darken, revealing the first stars. They both stood in silence for a moment, listening to the crashing of the waves, the crackling of the campfire and the soft crunch of the chips they ate between sips of beer.

Chris took a swig, enjoying the cold taste that contrasted with the warmth of the campfire.

"This is perfect." he muttered, looking up at the stars slowly appearing above them.

Daniel nodded, gazing at the horizon.

"It is." Then he turned his eyes back to Chris and added with a smile on his lips. "I knew you'd like it here."

They both stood there, sitting on the rock with their feet dangling, talking about anything and everything as the stars lit up the sky. The combination of the sea, the campfire and each other's company created a moment neither would soon forget. The laughter, the sound of the sea and the silence of the desert enveloped them in an indescribable calm.

"It's been a while since I've been camping." Chris said without taking his eyes off the starry sky.

Daniel turned his head towards Chris, curious.

"Why haven't you done it more often? Living in Seattle gives you a thousand opportunities to camp in amazing places."

Chris sighed and took a sip of his beer before answering.

"My grandparents are too old for that now. They can barely get around without getting exhausted. Taking them camping... it would be too much for them."

Daniel nodded silently, understanding.

"You could have done that with your friends, couldn't you"' Daniel asked, not judging, just curious. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind an escape from the city."

Chris laughed softly and shook his head.

"My friends... they're very much city people. You know, the kind who'd rather go to bars and concerts or stay at home playing video games. The idea of spending a night in the middle of nowhere, with no signal on their phones scares them more than it excites them."

Daniel laughed.

"I can already see them losing their minds because they can't upload a photo to Instagram or see how many likes they're getting."

"Exactly." Chris smiled and gave Daniel a sideways glance. "It's not that I don't have fun with them, but sometimes... I get the feeling that we don't have the same idea of what it's like to relax. For me, being here, away from everything, under this sky, with the sound of the sea... there's nothing like this."

Daniel nodded, letting the echoing waves fill the small space between them.

"Not everyone appreciates the disconnection, the silence... the feeling of being truly alone with your thoughts. Sometimes I think people are afraid of that."

Chris looked at Daniel, surprised at how well he had captured the essence of his feelings.

"Yeah... it's like people are afraid to be alone with themselves."

Daniel looked at him for a moment before smiling.

"I knew you would understand."

They both continued to sit on the rock, with the sound of the sea and the warmth of the campfire enveloping them in a calm and relaxing atmosphere. Chris watched at Daniel. There was something about this moment that felt different, more intimate, as if words were not necessary.

After a while, Daniel broke the silence, his voice was low but warm.

"Being with you is like this... quiet, easy. Like everything fits together again, like it used to."

Chris glanced sideways at him, noticing that Daniel had let that confession slip out without much effort, but the weight of the words didn't go unnoticed. An unfamiliar warmth settled in his chest.

"I feel the same way." Chris replied. "It's like... we've never been apart."

Their eyes met for a moment. Neither of them looked away. The distance between them felt smaller than it really was.

Daniel smiled.

"Sometimes I think about what would have happened if things had been different...if I'd stayed with you in Beaver Creek."

The sincerity of his words made Chris's heart beat a little faster and he could imagine a million scenarios in his mind.

"I don't know... but we're here now, aren't we?" he murmured, trying to hold on to the moment.

The closeness between them was palpable. The laughter had faded and all that remained was this connection, this gentle tension that had enveloped them all day. Chris noticed that Daniel looked down at his lips for a moment before looking back up into his eyes and suddenly he felt it, that electricity running through his skin.

Without thinking, Chris tilted his head slightly towards Daniel, almost unconsciously. Daniel did the same. Their breathing became slower, deeper, as if the air between them was thicker.

The silence grew heavier, the world around them fading away. The campfire crackled softly, the sea still whispered in the distance. And in that moment, when there was no more space between them, their lips finally brushed against each other, first in a gentle touch, as if they were both testing the waters.

Chris felt a knot form in his stomach as his heart pounded, each beat resonating in his chest. He paused, hesitating for a brief moment, but Daniel didn't pull away. In fact, he pulled him closer, cupping his face gently.

Their hands found each other's face, their fingers traced invisible lines on the skin, as the kiss grew deeper, more intense, with each passing second. Chris's heart was still pounding and for a second he thought Daniel could hear it. But Daniel was the same, he could feel it. His breathing was faster, his chest rising and falling against Chris's.

When they finally parted, Chris opened his eyes, feeling the heat on his cheeks. Daniel was staring at him with the same intensity, his breathing was also ragged, but there was a calm on his face that hadn't been there before. As if the chaos inside both of them had calmed down, at least for a while.

In the middle of that starry night, with the sea and the desert as silent witnesses, something had changed for both of them. It wasn't just the kiss, nor the moment they shared under the endless sky. It was as if an invisible barrier had been broken between them.

Chapter Text

Chris stands at the top of a hill in Puerto Lobos.

The cold air brushes his skin, but he can't feel it. Confusion envelops him, he doesn't know how he got there.

His gaze moves across the familiar landscape that now seems alien, he could observe the whole town from the distance he was in.

Suddenly, a thunderous noise breaks the silence, a huge wave, colossal and furious, approaches the coast.

His heart pounding uncontrollably, Chris watches, paralyzed with horror.

The wave roars like an enraged monster, and the image of the town shifts before his eyes, houses, stores, everything he knows, is trapped beneath the sea. The devastation feels inevitable, and in the midst of the anguish, his mind cannot help but focus on Daniel.

Where is he?

Is he safe?

Chris feels a pang in his chest, tormented by the idea that he could be trapped in that chaos.

The image of the wave devouring the town merges with Daniel's, and he feels helpless, as if his voice cannot pierce the roar of the sea.

Fear consumes him, and in desperation, he cries out Daniel's name, but his echo is lost in the din.

The vision of the wave sweeping through the town began to fade, but in its place, the scene was transformed. The landscape changed, the hill vanished, and Chris found himself back in that terrifying instant.

The gunshot echoed through the air like a deafening, relentless echo. Confusion turned to palpable terror as the reality of the nightmare gripped him.

Suddenly, he felt as if he was trapped in a time bubble, reliving every second of the horror. Daniel, he was hit by the gunshot. The dry sound replayed in his mind, louder and louder, sharper and sharper.

Chris stood transfixed with his eyes unfocused, feeling time stand still again. The image of Daniel's body falling to the ground replayed over and over again, the echo of the gunshot echoing like a curse.

With every beat of his heart, panic gripped him. The sand beneath his feet became a sea of blood, and the echo of the gunshot filled his head. His breathing became erratic, his chest compressed as if an invisible hand was squeezing him.

He was reliving that scene, horror was flooding his mind, and helplessness was taking his breath away.

“No!” Chris shouted, even though he knew no one could hear him. His voice was drowned out in the chaos, in the deafening noise of his own thoughts.

Daniel lay there, sprawled on the floor, and Chris couldn't stop thinking it was his fault. He wanted to run to him, to scream that he was there, that he could save him, but his legs wouldn't respond. The world was crumbling around him, and anguish washed over him, like a tsunami of crushing emotions.

His vision blurred, the edges of reality began to blur, and Chris felt himself sinking into a dark abyss. Panic enveloped him, and the air became heavy, as if choking him. At that moment, the line between dream and reality blurred, and Chris felt trapped in an endless cycle of pain.

Suddenly, a piercing scream escaped his lips.

Daniel, who had been sleeping next to him, felt Chris's trembling and the anguish in his movements. Without thinking, he leaned into him, shaking him gently, trying to wake him from the nightmare that gripped him.

“Chris, wake up...” Daniel whispered in a soft, but firm voice.

Chris' eyes snapped open, and as they came into focus, they met Daniel's alarmed gaze. In that moment, reality hit him, and a flood of emotions overwhelmed him. Without thinking, he threw himself at Daniel, hugging him with desperate strength, as if he feared he would fade away.

Tears began to well up in his eyes, and Chris sank his face into Daniel's shoulder, sobbing loudly. The anguish of the nightmare overflowed into his heart, and the pain he had felt turned into a wrenching cry. Daniel held him firmly, wrapping Chris in his arms, conveying all his warmth and comfort.

“Shh...I'm here, I'm here.” Daniel murmured, stroking Chris' back tenderly, trying to soothe him as his own heart broke at the sight of him suffering.

Chris let the tears flow, feeling both relieved and vulnerable in Daniel's arms. In the midst of his pain, he found refuge in his closeness.

As the tears fell, the echo of the nightmare began to fade, replaced by the quiet beat of Daniel's heart.

They were both inside the tent, and Chris knew it was dawn as he watched the golden sunlight begin to filter through the fabrics. The dim lighting created a warm and cozy atmosphere, contrasting with the emotional storm he had felt moments before. The gentle morning breeze was seeping through the cracks.

Daniel stroked his back in slow, steady movements, trying to convey all the calmness to his.

Chris clung to him as if he were his anchor, and little by little his breathing began to match the rhythm of Daniel's chest. Feeling Daniel's arms around him, his hand tenderly running down his back, was all he needed to calm down. With each caress, the fear was fading.

Chris took a deep breath, letting the warmth and security of Daniel's embrace calm him completely. They were silent for a moment longer, until Chris dared to lift his head and look into his eyes, doubt and pain still present in his gaze.

“I need to...” he murmured, his voice barely a whisper. “ I need to tell you something... I need to tell you what happened after I was kidnapped.”

Daniel looked at him with concern, but also with infinite patience, as if he understood that it was something Chris needed to tell him now.

“...Did they do something to you?” asked Daniel with a tone of fear in his voice.

Chris shook his head.

“In my nightmare you died and...it wasn't just a dream. I watched you die that day.” continued Chris, his voice was shaking as he said the words out loud, as if just uttering them would bring the anguish back to him. “I saw how...how someone shot you. I couldn't do anything, just... watch you fall. It was... it was real, Daniel.”

Daniel frowned, not letting go of Chris, trying to take in what he was telling him.

“What do you mean it was real?” he asked quietly, not understanding.

Chris swallowed saliva, searching for the right words to explain himself. He felt vulnerable, but he couldn't keep that to himself any longer.

“After you were shot, it felt like... like time stopped. Everything got weird, and... I don't know how I did it, but... I made it. I went back and saved you.”

Daniel looked at him silently, his eyes full of surprise and concern, but no trace of disbelief. He was just standing there, listening.

“I know it sounds crazy, and you don't have to believe me.” Chris said, his voice was cracking. “But I saw it, Daniel. I saw you... and that image is still here, in my head. That's why...that's why I can't help but feel that any moment could be your last.”

Daniel took a deep breath, and without letting him go, answered him with the same calm that had been holding him all that time.

“You're not crazy, Chris. I believe you.” He stroked his hair gently, not looking away. “I don't know how it happened, or why, but what you're feeling...I feel it too. And I'm here for you, for whatever you need. We're not going to let anything bad happen to us, okay?”

Chris nodded, feeling the weight in his chest ease.

“There's something else...” Chris said, his voice barely audible, as the memory of the nightmare came back to him with painful weight. “In the nightmare, I saw a huge wave...wash over Puerto Lobos. Everything, absolutely everything, disappeared under the water, and I... I was on top of a hill, watching everything being destroyed.”

Daniel looked at him intently, without interrupting him, allowing him to bring every part of that torment to light.

“And as I watched everything fall apart, all I could think about was you.” Chris continued. ”I didn't know where you were, I didn't know if you'd made it out, and... I felt like I was losing you again.”

Daniel nodded slowly, his gaze charged with empathy and pain, as if he could feel Chris's fear as his own.

“It must have been horrible, Chris.... But I want you to remember something.” Daniel said softly. “We're here, both of us, right now. Everything's okay, and I'm here with you.”

Chris sighed, trying to let Daniel's words give him comfort, though the fear lingered, like a shadow that couldn't quite dissipate.

“I know... but I feel like I can't help it. It's like that nightmare, that image of seeing you disappear or losing you, is burned into my mind... and I don't know how to handle it.” Chris confessed, letting out all the vulnerability he had so far tried to contain.

Daniel took his face in his hands and looked him straight in the eye, conveying a determination Chris hadn't expected.

“Then let's handle it together. Whatever comes, we'll face it together. If you need to talk about this a thousand times, I'll be here. And if someday that wave comes, Chris...let's face it. But until then, you don't have to carry all this alone.”

Chris felt a lump in his throat as he took in Daniel's words. Unable to contain himself, he hugged him again, clinging to him, grateful for that unconditional support. Although the fear had not disappeared, Daniel's embrace and his words had made the burden feel a little lighter.

Daniel kissed him on the forehead, letting his lips linger there a second longer, conveying a deep calm.

“Come on, Chris.” he said softly. “Let's break down the tent and head back to Puerto Lobos. You need a good rest, and I know you'll feel calmer there.”

Chris nodded.

Together, they began to pack up the tent, working in silence, as if they both understood that nothing more needed to be said.

When they finished packing and stowed everything in the trunk, Daniel gave him a comforting smile and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“Shall we?”

Chris took one last look at the place where they had camped. He knew that, although that place held beautiful memories of the previous day, now it was better to go back. He sat in the car and, as soon as Daniel started the engine, Chris let out a sigh, as if the thought of driving away lifted a weight off his shoulders.

The winding road back to Puerto Lobos stretched out in front of them, and the sun was beginning to rise, tinting the sky with warm colors. Daniel drove in silence, but every now and then he would throw a quick glance at Chris, making sure he was okay.

After a few minutes, Chris leaned back in the seat and looked up at Daniel, feeling a little more relaxed with each mile they drove.

“Thank you for this...for listening to me and believing me.” he said softly.

Daniel gave him a soft smile and, without taking his eyes off the road, gave his thigh a squeeze.

“You don't have to thank me for anything, Chris. We're in this together.”

When they arrived at Daniel's house, Chris barely waited for the door to close before heading for the bedroom. Weighed down with exhaustion, he plopped down on Daniel's bed, feeling the softness of the mattress envelop him. He sank his head into the pillows and let out a long, tired sigh. The familiarity of the space, infused with Daniel's subtle scent, gave him the calm he needed.

As Chris closed his eyes, trying to relax and let go of his nightmares. Daniel walked over to the table where he had left his phone turned off the day before. He turned it on, and the screen flickered as the messages he had received while they were camping began to pile up.

7 unread messages.

When Daniel unlocked the screen of his phone, 2 names appeared on his screen.

Alex Fernández:

6 messages.

Andrés Pérez:

1 messages.

Alex Fernández (1:50PM yesterday):

Hey Daniel, how are you, how's Chris?

Alex Fernández (1:50PM yesterday):

Ynez wants to see Chris, can we stop by your house in the evening?

Alex Fernández (1:51PM yesterday):

Ynez found Chris' phone, apparently one of the gang members threw it in the street when he was taken from the cantina.

Alex Fernández (5:43PM yesterday):

Hey, let me know if you're okay.

Alex Fernández (8:59PM yesterday):

We stopped by your house and there was no one there, call me to see if you're okay motherfucker.

Alex Fernández (10:00PM yesterday):

An acquaintance told me he saw you buying some things before leaving Puerto Lobos. You could have told me you were going camping to avoid worrying me. I hate you.

Daniel sighed before answering him.

Daniel Díaz (9:01AM):

Chris and I were in Paredones, come with Ynéz tomorrow morning, now Chris needs to rest.

Daniel Díaz (9:01AM):

I will tell him his phone is fine. Tell Ynez thank you.

Alex Fernández (9:02AM):

YOU APPEARED.

Alex Fernández (9:02AM):

Ok, see you tomorrow.

Alex Fernández (9:02AM):

We need to talk.

Daniel arched an eyebrow.

Daniel Díaz (9:03AM):

Ok. See you.

Andrés Pérez (3:10PM yesterday):

Hey Daniel, how are you, is Chris doing better?

Daniel Díaz (9:04AM):

Everything's fine bro, thanks for asking.

Andrés Pérez (9:08AM):

That's good.

As he checked the inbox, out of the corner of his eye he glanced over at Chris, who was still lying on the bed, an exhausted expresión was on his face.

Daniel smiled slightly to see him there, relaxed at last. Then, concentrating on the messages, he answered quickly, though he couldn't keep his attention from returning again and again to Chris. When he finished, he put the phone down quietly and walked over to the bed, sitting down gently beside him.

Chris opened his eyes just slightly, just enough to see Daniel beside him, and he sketched a tired smile.

“Am I interrupting you?” murmured Daniel, gently brushing Chris' shoulder with his hand.

“No...” replied Chris, moving a little to give him space. “Stay here, please.”

Without saying a word, Daniel settled in beside him, stretching out next to him on the bed. They both lay in silence, listening to the leisurely beat of their breaths as exhaustion wrapped around them like a soft blanket. Chris, feeling Daniel's warmth and closeness, let his eyes slowly close, allowing himself to let go of the tension he was carrying.

Daniel was watching him, tenderly stroked his arm.

With the weight of the anguish slowly melting away, Chris allowed himself to rest, knowing that, when he awoke, Daniel would still be there, by his side.

Chris awoke slowly, feeling the warmth of the sun sneak through the window and fill the room with a calm, golden light. From the position of the sun, he knew it must be around two o'clock in the afternoon.

His stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten for hours, but the murmur of hunger soon faded as he felt the familiar weight of Daniel's arm around him.

Daniel was still sound asleep next to him, breathing in a soft, steady rhythm, his fase was relaxed and his expression of peace unwilling to be interrupted by Chris. The closeness of his body, the faint whisper of his breathing, and the warmth that enveloped him brought back a calm that he felt overflowing.

Chris sighed and closed his eyes again, letting himself be carried away by the security of that embrace. He felt tiredness pull him again, inviting him to surrender to sleep once more. In a last thought, he was grateful for the simple comfort of that moment and, cradled by Daniel's presence, he let himself be overcome by sleep once more, unhurried and unafraid.

Chris woke up again, this time with the sunlight already much softer, filtering in warm tones that were beginning to herald dusk. He blinked, adjusting his view of the room, and realized that it was already five o'clock in the afternoon. He had slept soundly, much more than he had expected, and felt a strange mixture of calm and exhaustion throughout his body.

Turning over, he realized that Daniel was still there, still asleep beside him, though his arm was no longer around him. Chris slowly sat up, taking care not to wake him, and stretched his arms a little, feeling his muscles waking up after so many hours of rest.

Hunger made its presence felt again, reminding him that he hadn't eaten for most of the day. He glanced at Daniel, who was still asleep with an expression of absolute tranquility, and a faint smile tugged at his lips at seeing him so relaxed. Feeling a sudden urge to do something for him, he decided to quietly get up and prepare something to eat for the two of them.

He stood up, walking to the kitchen without making any noise, and started looking in the refrigerator for what he would need to prepare something quick. The afternoon was quiet, and the atmosphere in Daniel's house was cozy.

Chris opened the refrigerator, pulling out some basic ingredients, eggs, cheese and a couple of tortillas he found on a shelf. He decided to make some simple tacos. As the ingredients sizzled in the pan, the aroma began to fill the kitchen.

He was concentrating on carefully folding the first taco when he heard soft footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Daniel, who was rubbing his eyes, still with a sleepy expression and tousled hair.

“Already awake?” Chris asked with a soft smile.

Daniel nodded, smiling a lazy smile as he reached over and wrapped his arms around Chris from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“Smells amazing.” he murmured, not letting Chris go. “How do you feel?”

Chris let the warmth of that embrace envelop him for a moment before answering.

“Much better. I slept...quite a bit.” He chuckled a little, remembering how he had fallen into a deep sleep. “Thanks for sleeping with me, really.”

Daniel squeezed him a little tighter before releasing him and taking one of the tacos from the pan.

“Always, Chris. I'm always here for you.” He took a bite and smiled. “Although if you keep cooking like this, I might be the one who starts having those nightmares just to have you make me something like this.”

Chris laughed, relieved to see Daniel's spark of humor before eating a taco.

Daniel looked at Chris with a thoughtful expression. Still with the half-eaten taco, he paused, clearly assessing how to bring up the subject.

“Hey, Chris...there's something I've been thinking about since you told me about...well, about turning back time.” began Daniel, watching him curiously.

Chris looked up, somewhat puzzled, with the last piece of taco bringing it to his mouth.

“What thing?”

Daniel sighed, setting his taco down on a plate.

“It's strange that you also have... how shall I put it? Powers. I thought mine was weird, but seeing you... I don't know, it makes me wonder if there are others like us out there.”

Chris frowned, trying to process what Daniel was saying.

“I never thought about it.” he replied, remembering the exact moment he discovered his power. The desperation, the pain, and that feeling that something in him had awakened. “I thought it was... some sort of reaction to everything that happened with you.”

Daniel nodded.

“And maybe it is, but that doesn't explain why we both have different powers. Telekinesis, turning back time... sounds like something much bigger than I imagined.” He was silent for a moment, then looked at Chris with a mixture of determination and concern. “Don't you feel it's possible there are others?”

Chris swallowed, intrigued and, at the same time, a little frightened by the idea.

“I hadn't thought about it, but...it makes sense. I mean, if you and I have powers, it's not so far-fetched that others have them too.” He paused, trying to find the right words.

Daniel nodded and, after a pause, looked at Chris with a serious expression, as if he was about to share something very personal.

“You know, when I was a kid and discovered my powers... I hated them.” He confessed, looking down, as if reliving a painful memory. “I felt that, because of them, I had lost my normal life. I couldn't do simple things without fear of something getting out of control, and instead of getting excited about what I could do, I just wanted them to disappear.”

Chris looked at him, surprised and touched. Before he could respond, Daniel continued.

“And, when I saw you the first time... when you thought the telekinesis powers were yours and you got so excited...” Daniel paused, smiling somewhat sadly. “I wished I could give them to you. I thought you'd use them better than I did. That you'd make them yours in a way I never could.”

Daniel sighed, averting his gaze for a moment before turning his focus back to Chris.

“You would have used these powers for something good.” he murmured, with a mixture of bitterness and admiration in his voice. “You would have done what you could to protect those you love, or people you don't even know. I, on the other hand...”

Chris interrupted him, looking Daniel straight in the eye.

“You saved my life.”

Daniel smiled softly and looked into Chris's eyes.

“You saved my life too.”

Daniel paused before continuing, his eyes lowered.

“But... I've used my powers for the opposite. For things that aren't right. I've used it to do bad things, to... survive the only way I knew how, I guess.”

Chris took his hand and squeezed it, looking at him sympathetically before speaking.

”We all have our own stories and reasons for doing what we do.” he said quietly. "Survival, protection... it's not always black and white. Maybe you used your powers that way, yes, but that doesn't make you a bad person. Not even close.”

Daniel let out a soft, somewhat incredulous laugh.

”You think so? Sometimes I feel like I've crossed a line and there's no going back.”

Chris shook his head.

”What I believe is that we all deserve a chance to choose what we want to do with our lives and, more importantly, who we want to be. It doesn't matter how you used your powers in the past. The important thing is that you can do something good with them now. Help us and protect those we love.”

Daniel looked at him, more relieved than he expected.

”Perhaps... I can learn to use this power in a different way.” he murmured with a small smile.

Chris smiled and moved a little closer.

”No maybe. I'm sure you can.”

Daniel smiled softly and gave him a slightly wistful look.

”If anyone deserves to have powers, it's you, Chris. I know you'll use them to protect those you love, to do the right thing.”

Chris sighed, remembering everything he'd been through to get his powers.

”Of course, when I was a kid, I dreamed of having powers. I thought I could change my reality, make things easier, maybe even feel... special.” He paused for a moment. “But now, after everything I went through to activate them, after all the pain I felt watching you die...”

Chris looked away before continuing.

“I'm not sure I really want those powers after paying that price. At least not in the way I thought before.”

Daniel watched him in silence, taking in every word.

”But...” Chris went on, looking up at him again and cracking a small smile. “I'm grateful to have them. Because even though it cost me everything, I was able to save you. And if having them means I can be here with you, then... it was worth it.”

Daniel felt a lump in his throat and without a word he reached over and wrapped his arms around him, as if he needed Chris to understand what it meant to him.

”Chris, you don't know what this means to me.” He pulled away just enough to look into his eyes. “Sometimes I think it's all too much for anyone.”

Chris hugged him back, pulling him tight against him, as if he was trying to say everything in that gesture that words couldn't express. They stayed like that for a few seconds, silent, feeling each other's presence.

Daniel closed his eyes and breathed deeply, taking in Chris's smell, a familiar, comforting smell that seemed to erase all his worries. Guided by an almost unconscious impulse, he slid his lips to Chris's neck and kissed him gently, letting the warmth of the moment wash over him.

Chris shivered at the touch of Daniel's lips. His hands clenched a little tighter, letting the gesture envelop him.

Daniel just managed to pull away, breaking the embrace long enough to look into his eyes. They stood like that for a moment, looking at each other in silence as the golden evening light filtering through the windows bathed their faces.

Daniel studied Chris's face in detail, it was a unique map of detail that he loved to discover.

His blue eyes seemed to contain fragments of the sky, a deep blue that changed hue with the light, always radiating a serenity that he found hypnotic.

On his pale skin, tiny freckles spread across his cheeks and nose, forming constellations that Daniel would have counted endlessly without tiring. His blonde hair, soft and slightly tousled, took on a golden hue in the rays of the evening sun, adding an air of nonchalance that made his every feature seem even more perfect.

Without looking away, and with his heart pounding, Daniel leaned forward purposefully and his lips met Chris's softly.

Chris was slightly startled by the unplanned gesture, but responded to the kiss, moving his lips gently against Daniel's as he felt a whirlwind of butterflies in his stomach.

He wasn’t yet sure what they were, had not yet defined what they felt or if there was a 'we'. After that kiss in Paredones, they talked about everything that came to mind and let the night pass until sleep overcame them and they fell asleep together in the tent.

But Chris felt so strongly for him that he didn't care to define it, he was willing to take anything Daniel could offer him just to stay by his side.

When Daniel felt Chris kiss him back enthusiastically, he smiled before taking his face to deepen the kiss, gently sliding the tip of his tongue into his mouth.

Chris, inexperienced, tried to keep up, responding awkwardly to the kiss as his arms wrapped around Daniel's shoulders.

He felt himself getting lost in the kiss, no one had ever kissed him like this, with such intensity and tenderness at the same time.

Daniel's every move seemed to be made for him, awakening sensations he had never experienced before with such intensity.

As Daniel moved his lips against Chris's, he felt a primitive fire burning within him, a pulse throbbing in his chest and spreading through every fibre of his being. Like a river released from its course, desire flowed, powerful and wild, awakening his deepest instincts.

With determined hands, Daniel reached around his waist and lifted him up with almost instinctive ease, sitting him on the kitchen counter as the sound of something falling to the floor was heard.

Neither of them seemed to mind as barely a second later their lips met in a deep, lustful, unreserved kiss. Chris wrapped his arms around Daniel’s neck, intensifying the kiss as his legs moved to give him more room, inviting him closer.

Their breaths mingled as the kiss became more intense, charged with pent-up desire. Their lips met again and again, exploring each other urgently.

Daniel slid his lips gently from his mouth down Chris's neck, leaving a trail of warm, deep kisses, pausing now and then to suck gently, sending a rush of pleasure through Chris's skin. Chris closed his eyes and let himself be carried away by the sensations stirring inside him, feeling the excitement build, slowly overflowing like a flame that was beginning to burn out of control.

Chris loved him deeply.

At that moment he felt that if Daniel asked him to, he would be able to give him the world.

There was no turning back in his feelings, he was completely devoted to him.

Daniel held him tightly, pushing him gently back against the wall of the counter, their bodies meeting with increasing intensity. Their lips met again in a passionate, deep kiss as he leaned his body over Chris', enveloping them in an almost magnetic closeness. The tension and excitement of the moment seemed to fill the air and together they lost themselves in the moment, in every touch and every sigh they shared.

Daniel lowered his hands to Chris's thighs to pull up his shorts and before he could do anything else he felt Chris gently push him back with his hand to look into his eyes.

As Daniel looked at him blankly, he noticed that there was more than doubt in his eyes, he could see the insecurity in his eyes. The vulnerability in his gaze made him pause for a moment, wondering what was really going on in his mind.

“Are you... are you sure about this?” Chris asked him as Daniel couldn't look away from his lips, red from the previous kisses. “You won't regret it later? You won't... you won't run away at dawn?”

Daniel felt a pang in his heart at his words because he knew he didn't want to run away, he didn't want to regret it.

He took a deep breath before replying.

“Fuck... no, I won't regret it.” He said quietly as he closed the distance between their faces. “And I won't leave… I won't.”

I love you.

I want to stay by your side, forever.

But those words never left Daniel's lips.

Before Daniel could close the distance between them, he felt Chris's lips on his as his hands gently cupped his face, guiding the kiss with a quiet intensity.

As Daniel let Chris lead the kiss, he took the opportunity to slip his hands between his shorts until he reached his erection and began to masturbate.

Chris broke the kiss as small moans escaped his mouth and Daniel began to spread more kisses down his neck.

Immediately Daniel felt Chris's hands slip into his own shorts as he rested his face on Daniel's chest.

When Chris reached his erection, he felt Daniel cupping his face again with his free hand and pulling him into a deep kiss as he moaned into his lips, full of urgency and desire.

You are my torch, guiding me to the end of the tunnel.

Don't go away.

Stay with me.

Daniel's mind screamed those words as he felt the lust consuming him, his eyes closed, focused on all the sensations Chris was making him feel at that moment.

In that moment, just before they both came, he felt their bodies merge, every touch, every sigh becoming a shared echo, an exchange so intense and deep that nothing else existed, just the moment, just them.

Chapter Text

Puerto Libertad Tragedy: Abandoned Building on Fire and Deadly Gang Conflict

Puerto Libertad, Mexico

A confrontation between rival gangs ended in tragedy yesterday, leaving one dead in front an abandoned building located on the outskirts of Puerto Libertad. Flames engulfed the structure while witnesses reported gunshots and screams coming from the scene.

The chaos began around midnight, when two armed groups clashed in what appears to be a territorial dispute. According to local sources, the building had previously been used as a meeting point for illicit activities. During the confrontation, a fire broke out and quickly consumed the building.

Among the rubble, authorities found the body of a man with a gunshot wound. Although his identity has not been confirmed, it is believed that he may be related to one of the gangs involved.

The fire, described by authorities as "suspicious", spread rapidly due to the presence of flammable materials in the building. Local firefighters worked for hours to control the flames.

The community of Puerto Libertad is shocked by the events, demanding answers and measures to stop the escalation of violence in the area. The police have launched an investigation and are asking for the cooperation of the locals to identify those responsible.

This incident is an alarming reminder of the dangers facing the state of Sonora in its fight against organized crime, a challenge that continues to mark the daily lives of its inhabitants.

Yesterday, 8:01AM

Alex was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in his hands. The warm, comforting aroma filled the air, a contrast to the uneasy feeling growing inside him. The local newspaper, crumpled at the edges was spread out on the table.

His eyes were riveted on the headline, "Puerto Libertad Tragedy: Abandoned Building on Fire and Deadly Gang Conflict"

He sighed deeply, letting the steam from his coffee caress his face as he scrolled through each line of the news story. With every word, memories of that night pounded in his mind. He knew all too well what had happened in that building, knew how close they had come to losing everything.

The rustle of paper between his fingers echoed through the kitchen as he reached the paragraph mentioning the body found in the rubble.

"A man with a gunshot wound..." he muttered to himself.

He lifted the cup, taking a slow sip as he immersed himself in his thoughts.

Alex set the cup down on the table with a soft thump, leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over his face. What had happened was hard to ignore, but what troubled him most not the past, but what might come next.

The sound of light footsteps announced her arrival before she crossed the threshold. Ynez entered the kitchen enveloped in the fresh scent of soap, her still damp hair falling in waves over her shoulders. She was wearing a casual outfit, dark shorts and a black T-shirt.

"Good morning." she said with a quiet smile as she walked past Alex, who looked up from the paper to respond.

She walked over to the coffee pot and poured the coffee into a cup, moving with the comfort of someone who already knew every corner of the house. Then she sat down across from Alex, crossing her legs and blowing on her coffee before taking the first sip.

"What are you reading with such concentration?" she asked, arching an eyebrow as she watched him. Without waiting for an answer, she reached out a hand towards the newspaper, taking it from Alex's hands.

The headline stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes ran over the words.

"Wow..." she commented, frowning as she read the details of the news item. With each line that progressed, her expression hardened. When she finished, she let out a heavy sigh and set the mug down on the table.

"Does Daniel know anything about this?" she asked, looking up at Alex with a tone laden with concern.

Alex, who had already picked up his coffee cup, shook his head as he took a sip. Then he set it down on the table.

"What happened yesterday was reported in the newspaper? I doubt it very much." he replied calmly.

Ynez pursed her lips and looked at the headline again.

"And when do you plan to tell him?"

"When he gets back from his walk to Paredones with Chris." replied Alex, shrugging his shoulders. "There's no rush. What happened in Puerto Libertad shouldn't affect him...at least not directly."

"It shouldn't." repeated Ynez. She set the newspaper down on the table, her eyes were still fixed on the headline. Then she stared at Alex, slightly, as she picked up her cup of coffee again.

"And what is your fear?" she asked, her tone curious, but with an underlying tinge of concern.

Alex leaned his elbows on the table and let out a long sigh. He ran a hand through his hair, as if searching for the right words.

"It's not good to attract too much attention." he finally said, with a seriousness that did not contrast with his usual relaxed tone. "This kind of news always attracts unwanted glances."

Ynez cocked her head to one side, studying him with a mixture of skepticism and concern.

"You mean Daniel?"

Alex nodded slowly.

"To Daniel, to Andrés, to us, to the whole environment we've built." He said, dropping the words with weight. "A spark like this may be enough to ignite something bigger. Something we can't control if we don't lower our profile."

Ynez was silent for a moment, her eyes returning to the newspaper.

"I guess you're right." she said at last, setting the cup down on the table. "But sooner or later, the looks are going to come after Leonardo's death."

Alex clenched his jaw at the sound of that name, averting his gaze to the window as if to avoid the intensity in Ynez's eyes. He remembered how the men's eyes bugged out when he shot him.

"I know." he replied after a moment of tense silence. "But I'd prefer that 'sooner or later' to be much later. We're not ready to deal with that kind of attention, not now."

Ynez crossed her arms, her posture now more defiant.

"And what do you propose, Alex?"

Alex let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing his temples.

"We have to stay out of it now, we can't afford to attract more trouble."

Ynez stared at him, her lips pressed into a hard line.

"You can't control everything, Alex."

He looked at her then, his expression was darkened with worry.

"I know, Ynez." he replied in a low tone, almost a whisper. "I just hope we'll be quiet for a few weeks until the rest of the people forget what happened."

The weight of his words seemed to hang in the air. Ynez averted her gaze back to the newspaper, her fingers drumming softly on the table.

Alex remained silent, watching as Ynez went back to reading the paper. His gaze, however, was not really there, he was now thinking about Chris.

Since Chris had come into their lives, everything seemed to have changed for Daniel. And, consequently, for all of them.

Alex had a suspicion that Chris meant something more to Daniel, something that went beyond an old friendship. The way Daniel had reacted Chris' kidnapping, and how he reacted to seeing him alive in Puerto Libertad... had been enough to arouse Alex's suspicions.

Chris was Daniel's Achilles heel.

Alex closed his eyes for a moment, letting himself sink into the gravity of that realization. If he had noticed it, how obvious was it to others? To those who were not only watching them from the shadows, but who were waiting for any opportunity to strike.

Gangs.

After what happened in Puerto Libertad, Alex was sure the rumors would have spread by now. And if those gangs ever connected the dots, they would know exactly where to strike to take territorial control away from them.

Chris was not only an emotional weakness for Daniel; he was a potential weapon, a chip that any enemy would use without a second thought to get to Daniel. And, by extension, to get to all of them.

Ynez looked up from the newspaper, noticing Alex's prolonged silence and the distant expression on his face.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, arching an eyebrow with curiosity and a hint of concern.

Alex reacted slightly, as if her words had brought him out of a trance.

"Nothing." he replied quickly. He grabbed his coffee cup and took a sip, avoiding looking directly at her.

Ynez studied it carefully, clearly unconvinced.

"It doesn't look like anything." she insisted, leaning slightly toward him. "Is it about Daniel?"

Alex shook his head, letting out a short laugh.

"Stop analyzing me, Ynez. I'm just thinking about work stuff, nothing important."

She frowned, but opted not to press him further. She let out a sigh and turned her attention back to the newspaper, though it was clear she was still watching him out of the corner of her eye.

Alex, meanwhile, tried to keep up a calm facade, but his mind was still spinning frantically.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Ynez again, breaking his train of thought.

Alex gave her a small smile, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"Sure." he lied, standing up with his empty cup in hand. "I'm going out for a while. I need some air."

Ynez followed him with her eyes, still wary, but said nothing. As Alex walked out of the kitchen, his mind was already working on the next step. He knew it would be complicated to bring Daniel to his senses, but there was no other way.

The room was plunged into silence, only the faint whisper of the wind caressing the curtains. The first rays of morning filtered through the fabric, bathing the bedroom with a golden light that danced softly on the walls by the movement of the curtains.

In bed, Chris and Daniel were cuddled together, their bodies intertwined as if they were two pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly. Daniel slept soundly, one arm protectively around Chris, his rhythmic, slow breathing filling the space with an infectious calm.

Chris opened his eyes slowly, blinking as he felt the morning light on his face. For a moment, he lay still, letting the warm feeling wash over him. His mind, alert from memories and nightmares, was quiet that morning.

He turned his head slightly and found Daniel's face, relaxed in sleep, with a few strands of hair falling over his forehead. Chris couldn't help a small but sincere smile. Daniel's presence at his side reminded him that he was safe, that he had survived everything fate had thrown against them.

He brought a hand carefully to Daniel's arm around him, touching it gently as if to reassure himself that it was all real. His chest filled with a warmth he hadn't felt in a long time, a sense of peace that felt almost foreign to him.

He had slept well. He had had no nightmares, no startles, no shadows to haunt him in his dreams. He had had a deep and restful sleep. And waking up with Daniel made everything feel even better.

Chris let out a quiet sigh, closing his eyes for a moment longer, enjoying the instant before the day really began. For now, there was no rush. It was just the two of them, sharing a perfect silence under the golden rays of the morning.

Chris felt a light touch on his arm, a gentle caress that ran over his skin like a warm murmur. He opened his eyes again, blinking to get used to the daylight.

The first thing he saw was Daniel, awake, looking at him with a warm smile that seemed to light up the room more than the sun itself.

Without a word, Chris slowly turned around, settling himself so that he was facing him. The movement was quiet, almost reverent, as if he wanted to prolong the moment as long as possible.

"Good morning," Chris murmured, his voice still heavy with the weight of sleep.

"Good morning," Daniel replied, in a soft tone that echoed in the short distance between them.

Chris watched him for a moment, observing the details of Daniel's face, his eyes that always seemed to hold an undertone of melancholy, the lines of his relaxed jaw, and that sincere smile.

"How did you sleep?" Chris finally asked, his curiosity peeking through the glint in his eyes.

Daniel let out a relieved sigh.

"I don't remember the last time I slept this well." he confessed. “I always have nightmares.”

Chris remembered the times when Daniel had mentioned that he used to have nightmares and that he got little sleep as a result.p>

He never wanted to probe further because he knew the answer, but…

"Nightmares about what?" Chris finally asked.

Daniel's face darkened for a moment, his gaze drifting to the light streaming in through the window, as if he needed a few seconds to put the words together.

"About Sean," he said at last, his voice was low "Of his death. I always see it...the shooting, the chaos. And then...then I wake up and I can't go back to sleep."

Chris felt his heart shrink as he heard the confession. He reached out a hand, placing it on Daniel's arm gently, as a gesture of silent support.

Daniel looked at him then, his expression softening a bit, though the weight of his words was still there.

"Last night was different," he added, smiling with a mixture of gratitude and vulnerability.

Chris smiled back, his heart filled with warmth.

Silence enveloped the room, they only listened to the whisper of the wind coming through the windows. Neither of them felt the need to speak, the tranquility of the moment was enough.

Chris let his gaze roam over every detail of Daniel's face. It was as if he wanted to burn that image into his memory, the long eyelashes falling softly over Daniel's closed eyes, the contour of his relaxed jaw, and the slight movement of his chest as he breathed.

His attention was diverted to Daniel's hair, which was falling messily on the pillow. It was longer than Chris remembered seeing it, reaching almost to his shoulders. But what really caught his attention was the contrast between the dyed blond and the dark brown roots that were starting to become more and more obvious.

Chris gave a small smile as he noticed that. The blond had its own charm, of course, but he couldn't help but miss Daniel's natural color, that shade that had always felt so authentic, so much his own.

His mind traveled for an instant to memories of his childhood, when Daniel had short, tousled hair. That brown was part of his personality, it was a connection to a simpler past.

Daniel, oblivious to Chris's thoughts,, sighed softly and settled back a little more on the pillow, his expression one of complete calm. Chris wondered how long it had been since he had seen him so at peace, without the usual worries that always seemed to haunt him.

The wind brought a fresh scent from outside, mingling with the warmth of the room. Chris reached out a hand, tempted to touch Daniel's hair, but stopped himself at the last moment, wanting to preserve the moment as it was, perfect in its silence.

I miss you like this, he thought, he didn't say it out loud. But maybe he didn't need to.

Because in that instant, even in silence, it seemed that Daniel understood everything.

Daniel's eyes snapped open, as if he sensed Chris's intentions. He looked at him with a mixture of amusement and curiosity, and a half smile appeared on his face.

"What are you thinking?" he asked playfully, as his eyes sparkled with that mischievous touch so much his own and he touched his hair.

Chris felt the heat rise to his face like an unstoppable torrent. He knew that Daniel had guessed what he was about to do.

"Nothing!" he quickly replied.

Daniel arched an eyebrow, clearly amused by Chris's reaction. But before he could say anything else, Chris decided to change the subject, touching his fingertip to Daniel's left cheek.

"Your scar..." he said, his voice low but clear. "I've always seen it, but... I've never asked you what happened to you."

Daniel's smile faded almost immediately. His expression became more serious, though not with harshness, but with a mixture of resignation. He brought a hand to his cheek, touching the scar gently, as if to erase the memory it represented.

"It's an old story." he muttered, averting his gaze.

Chris didn't insist, but he didn't turn his attention away from him either. After a moment of silence, Daniel sighed and turned again to look at him.

"It was a few years ago, in one of those confrontations with the gangs." began to say, his tone low and measured. "We were making a deal, but things got out of hand. Someone pulled a knife, and... well, you can imagine the rest."

Chris remained silent, feeling a knot in his stomach. It wasn't just the scar that worried him, but the life Daniel was leading, marked by risks and violence.

"Did it hurt you a lot?" he asked in a whisper, as if he feared his question would break the fragile moment between them.

Daniel looked at him again, and his expression softened. A tired smile formed on his lips.

"I didn't feel it so much at the time." he confessed. "The adrenaline and the emotions.... But afterwards, when it was all over and I was alone, I did feel a little pain."

Chris didn't break eye contact. The words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat, as if his mind was processing them faster than his mouth could articulate them. Finally, he took a deep breath and spoke, his tone filled with a mixture of hope and vulnerability.

"I hope that someday you can leave this life behind." he said, his voice was barely a whisper, but every word was loaded with meaning. "That you can find your place in the world...a place that doesn't involve more violence."

As he spoke, a thought crept into his mind, clear and certain, as if it had been waiting to come to light.

I hope you will be with me when that time comes.

Daniel stared at him, his expression was soft, but with a tinge of surprise that he did not quite manage to conceal. There was a brief silence, in which only the soft whistling of the wind could be heard.

"I hope so too." finally replied Daniel, his voice was low, but with a firmness that left no room for doubt.

Chris nodded slowly, feeling a strange calm as he heard those words.

Daniel averted his gaze to the window, letting the silence envelop them again, carrying with it a peace they both needed. Chris watched him in silence, not knowing how much longer he could enjoy this peace, but determined to treasure it while it lasted.

The soft knock on the door broke the silence of the moment. Daniel blinked, as if he had suddenly remembered something important, and quickly sat up in bed.

"What's wrong?" asked Chris lifting his head off the pillow.

Daniel ran his hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it already was, as he stood up.

"It's Alex and Ynez. They asked me to come and see you. They want to make sure you're ok."

Chris sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh... okay."

Daniel searched the floor and his closet for his clothes. Within seconds, he was dressed in a tank top and joggers.

Chris got up as well, stretching before looking for something to wear. Daniel turned to him to say something, but his words caught in his throat when he saw him.

There, on the right side of Chris' neck was a small but noticeable hickey.

Daniel felt an unexpected heat rise to his face, though he quickly looked away, pretending not to notice.

Chris, oblivious to everything, raised an eyebrow at Daniel's expression.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing." replied Daniel quickly, standing up and moving toward the door.

Chris looked at him for a second longer, slightly suspicious, but finally went back to concentrating on getting dressed.

Daniel approached the door. However, as he turned toward the kitchen, he stopped in his tracks. On the floor, near the table, was a glass tumbler broken into pieces.

He stood motionless for a moment, staring at the disaster as his mind flashed back to the chaos of the night before. Flashbacks began to flood him.

He kissed Chris passionately, sitting him on the counter as their lips met again and again. He remembered how the glass had fallen to the floor.

Daniel blinked, coming back to the present. A slight warmth came over his cheeks at the thought what had happened, but he quickly forced himself to act. He bent down and began to pick up the shards of glass carefully, inwardly cursing himself for not having it sooner.

He finished cleaning up the mess in a matter of minutes, sweeping the corners to make sure no fragments were left behind.

Finally he walked to the door and opened it to find Alex and Ynez waiting for him with impatient looks on their faces.

"It's about time." commented Ynez, crossing her arms.

"Are you going to let us pass or do you want us to keep enjoying the sun out here?" added Alex with a smirk.

Daniel let out a sigh and stepped back to let them in, making sure to keep his face neutral as he tried to erase the memories of the previous night from his mind.

As he closed the door behind them, he heard Ynez sigh deeply. Before he could say anything, he saw her head straight for Chris, who had just left the room with a somewhat shy smile on his face.

"Chris!" exclaimed Ynez with a mixture of relief and excitement, throwing herself into his embrace before he could react. She wrapped him tightly in arms, as if to make sure he was really there.

"I was so worried about you." she said, her voice tinged with emotion as she hugged him even tighter.

Chris, surprised at first, eventually smiled and returned the hug, patting her gently on the back.

"Thank you, Ynez. I'm fine now...really."

Ynez pulled away slightly, but did not let go completely. She looked him up and down, as if inspecting every detail to make sure he was safe.

"It's just that when I saw you being kidnapped and I couldn't do anything..." Her voice cracked a little, but she quickly pulled herself together. "You don't know how relieved I am to see you here, safe."

Chris opened his mouth to respond, but Alex, who was watching the scene with a faint smile from a distance, interrupted in a mocking tone.

"Careful, Ynez, you're going to choke him. I think he already understood that you were worried."

"Shut up, Alex!" she retorted, not even turning to look at him. Then she gave Chris one last look, this time with a more relaxed smile.

"I'm so glad you're okay."

Daniel, who had been watching silently, felt a small pang in his chest. He wasn't used to seeing Ynez so emotional, but deep down, he also shared that relief.

Alex crossed his arms as he watched the interaction between Ynez and Chris, staying in place with a seemingly relaxed posture. But when Chris moved slightly to the side, the collar of his shirt slipped, exposing a glaring reddish mark on his skin.

Alex blinked as his eyes focused on the hickey for a moment. This was no longer just a suspicion. This confirmed everything.

His jaw tensed slightly as he averted his gaze to Daniel, who was standing by the door, watching the scene with his arms folded. Alex said nothing at the time.

With a smooth motion, Alex straightened up and moved toward Daniel.

"I'm going for a walk. Come with me." he told him in a firm tone, though he kept his voice neutral enough not to raise suspicion in front of Ynez and Chris.

Daniel arched an eyebrow, confused by the sudden request, but nodded after a few seconds.

"Sure." he replied.

"Let's Ynez and Chris catch up," Alex added, shooting a meaningful glance towards Chris before opening the door and stepping out, waiting for Daniel to follow.

Daniel frowned slightly, but decided not to ask questions yet. He glanced briefly at Chris, who was now sitting on the couch next to Ynez, talking quietly, and then followed Alex outside.

The cool morning air greeted them as they stepped outside. Alex walked a few more steps and stopped, turning to Daniel with a serious expression that he recognised immediately.

"What's wrong?" asked Daniel irritably.

Alex sighed, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets as he looked at his friend with a mixture of frustration and concern.

The sound of the wind filled the silence between Alex and Daniel. Both were close to the beach, far from the reach of the windows of the house. Alex kept his gaze fixed on Daniel, looking for any reaction, but his face remained impassive, impenetrable as always.

"I always thought you would never be able to fall in love, ever since I met you," Alex said seriously. "I thought that kind of feeling didn't exist in you, that it was something you couldn't understand or even allow yourself to feel, you were always... different that way. Cold, closed off."

Daniel's eyes narrowed but he said nothing, his posture relaxed, though his jaw tensed just perceptibly.

"Well..." Alex took a deep breath, his frustration obvious. "Now I can understand a bit more why, but... I never, ever thought that a guy, a foreigner, who just showed up a few weeks ago, your old friend, would be the one to awaken all these feelings in you."

Daniel tensed slightly, but said nothing. There was no surprise in his eyes, but a deep calm that only made Alex's anxiety grow more. The silence stretched for a moment, it was heavy and dense. Alex couldn't stand it any longer.

"You're changing," Alex finally said, his voice heavy with concern. "Chris is making you more fragile. You don't see it, but I do. And worst of all, soon your enemies will notice. They're going to know. And they'll attack you through him."

The memory of Chris's kidnapping loomed between them like a dark shadow. Daniel clenched his fists, but still didn't speak, remaining as stoic as he could.

Alex reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded newspaper. He held it out to Daniel, his gaze fixed on it. Daniel took it with some hesitation, unfolding it to look at the headline highlighted on the front page.

Puerto Libertad Tragedy: Abandoned Building on Fire and Deadly Gang Conflict

Below, a photograph showed the scene with police patrols and the remains of the building after the fire. Daniel quickly read the details of the article, his jaw clenching tighter and tighter with each word.

"Leonardo is already dead," Alex said, breaking the silence with a deep voice. "But you let the others go because you couldn't kill them in front of Chris. The gangs must know what happened by now."

Daniel crumpled the newspaper in his hands, his gaze fixed on an invisible spot on the floor.

"If Chris is so important to you," Alex continued, taking a step towards him, "send him to the United States now. Before the gangs make any moves against you to take territorial control."

Daniel looked up, his expression hardened.

"I have everything under control."

"Control?" Alex said, shaking his head. "Do you know how this business works? The leaders who survive are the ones who keep the people they love the most far away... far away. They can't be here, they can't be a target. And you know that."

Daniel frowned, his tone was colder.

"I told you I had everything under control."

Alex stared at him, his eyes reflecting a mixture of frustration and concern.

"I hope so. I hope you really have everything under control, because this isn't just about Chris' life or yours. If you fail, you won't be the only one to pay. Me, Ynez, Andrés, his family...all of us...will be in danger too."

Daniel watched him in silence, his face a mask of neutrality, but his eyes reflected an inner storm that those words had unleashed. Alex took a step back and pointed to the newspaper in Daniel's hands.

"Think about what I told you."

Alex turned and walked back towards the house, leaving Daniel alone with his thoughts.

Chapter Text

The sound of the sea surrounded him like a constant whisper, but inside Daniel felt a chaos that he couldn't silence.

The cigarette burned slowly between his fingers, the smoke mingled with the salty breeze, and his gaze was lost in the horizon. The sky that morning was too serene a blue for the whirlwind inside him. Alex was right, he was changing, but he couldn't help it. I didn't want to avoid it.

Ever since Chris had shown up in Puerto Lobos, it had been as if something had been breaking and rebuilding inside him at the same time. It had filled him with a light he didn't even know he needed, but at the same time that light was illuminating the dark corners he'd always preferred to ignore.

Daniel brought the cigarette back to his lips and closed his eyes for a moment, letting the smoke fill his lungs before releasing it with a long sigh. How was he going to let him go? The thought of Chris returning to the United States in September was a constant reminder that this, whatever they were building, had a limited time frame. Worse still, if he sent him home early for safety's sake, it would be like breaking something that was just beginning to heal.

But he couldn't just think of himself. The shadow of Puerto Libertad was still there, and with it the certainty that his enemies would not stop. Alex was also right about something else, Chris was making him vulnerable. A risk he couldn't afford to take.

He stubbed out his cigarette on a rock and stood up. He had been gone long enough; Chris must be wondering where he was.

Arriving at the house, he heard the laughter coming from the living room even before he opened the door. He pushed open the door slightly and the first thing he saw was Chris, sitting on the couch with a relaxed expression on his face that almost made him forget everything else. Ynez was next to him, gesticulating excitedly, while Alex, leaning against the wall, made a comment that elicited another chuckle from Chris.

Daniel stood in the doorway, not moving. The warmth of the scene hit him hard, an image that seemed drawn from a life he never thought he could have.

But his eyes kept coming back to Chris. Everything he did, everything he said, even the way he laughed, filled him with peace. A peace that was as addictive as it was dangerous.

"There you are," Ynez said when she noticed him, interrupting his thoughts. "I thought you were lost on the beach."

Daniel gave a faint smile, but didn't respond. He just moved toward them, his gaze still fixed on Chris, who was now watching him with a mixture of curiosity and something that seemed... tender.

That look always disarmed him, as if Chris knew exactly what was going on in his head, even if he didn't want to admit it.

Daniel crossed his arms as he watched the three of them in silence.

Chris gave him a smile that made him feel like the world had stopped for a moment.

"We saved you some coffee," Chris said, pointing to the glass of coffee that Ynez had placed in front of him.

Daniel approached with slow steps, still holding that slight smile that seemed more like an automatic reflex than anything real. He took the coffee wordlessly and took a sip, letting the warmth run through his body.

"You okay?" Chris asked quietly, tilting his head to the side as if trying to decipher.

Daniel nodded, but didn't answer right away. Everything about him was fine... except for the constant pressure in his chest every time he thought about the ticking clock that would bring that damned flight back to the United States.

"Yeah," he said finally, setting the cup down on the table. "I just needed some air."

Ynez, always perceptive, raised an eyebrow as she watched him.

"You're not worried about something, are you?"

Daniel shrugged, and Alex, as if to deflect attention, chimed in with a sarcastic comment.

"If you're worried about something, it probably has to do with how many cigarettes you have left."

Chris chuckled, and Daniel couldn't keep the corners of his lips from turning up slightly. It was impossible not to smile when Chris did that.

"Well," Ynez said, standing up. "While you're here, I'll make sure you don't disappear again. When Chris and I were making coffee, we found broken glass on the floor. You should be more careful when you clean up, someone could have cut themselves."

Daniel raised an eyebrow, pretending not to understand.

"Glass?"

Ynez glared at him as she pointed to the kitchen table.

"Or are you going to tell me that broken glass has absolutely nothing to do with you?"

Alex let out a laugh as Chris widened his eyes with a slight blush on his cheeks. Daniel kept his expression neutral, but a flash of amusement crossed his eyes.

"Must have been the wind," he replied calmly, raising his coffee cup to his lips to hide the smile that threatened to escape.

Chris looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and embarrassment, and Ynez let out a snort before shaking her head.

"Sure, the wind."

The atmosphere in the room was once again filled with laughter and light banter, but as Daniel watched Chris, he noticed how his eyes avoided his own, traces of that blush still present on his cheeks.

And in that moment, when the world seemed to turn on its own axis, Daniel made a silent decision, he would do whatever it took to protect this small fragment of happiness, even if it meant defying the rules of everything he had built so far.

The house was silent after Alex and Ynez left. Only the low hum of the ceiling fan and the distant murmur of the waves breaking on the shore could be heard. Daniel plopped down on the sofa next to Chris, keeping a minimal distance but enough for their arms to brush against each other from time to time.

Chris had his phone in his hands, his eyes glued to the screen as he checked the messages he had received in the days since his phone had gone missing after the kidnapping. His expression was one of surprise, nostalgia and sometimes laughter, depending on the message he was reading. Daniel watched him in silence, enjoying the serenity of the moment.

"Have you told Ynez what happened between us?" asked Daniel, finally breaking the silence.

Chris looked up, surprised by the question. He put the phone down and turned slightly to face Daniel.

"Yes," he admitted with a hint of nervousness in his voice. "I told her what happened in Puerto Libertad... and I couldn't help but mention what happened next."

Daniel raised an eyebrow, obviously interested.

"How did she take it?"

Chris sighed, playing with the edge of his shirt as he searched for the right words.

"I was worried at first. I knew Ynez had a... crush on you and I didn't want to hurt her. But she took it well. She even said she was over it."

A flash of relief crossed Daniel's face, though it came so quickly that Chris almost didn't notice it.

"And did you mention anything to her about your powers?" asked Daniel, his tone was now more serious.

Chris immediately shook his head.

"No, not that. That's a secret between us."

Daniel nodded slowly, a shadow of relief and something else crossing his eyes.

"Good. Let's keep it that way. It's better that no one else knows."

Chris nodded.

Daniel leaned back on the couch and glanced sideways at the cellphone Chris had put down.

"What messages did you get?" he asked curiously.

Chris picked up the cellphone again, checking it as he spoke.

"I was replying to my grandparents. They texted me, worried that I was taking too long to contact them. You know how they are."

Daniel nodded, imagining the conversations with Chris's grandparents, who always seemed to care about him, even from a distance.

"I've also contacted some friends in Seattle," Chris continued. "They're fine, but they're asking me when I'm coming back. I guess they're starting to notice my absence.

A fake smile that Chris didn't see crossed Daniel's face, but he said nothing.

Chris sighed before adding.

"Karen texted me too."

Daniel tensed at the sound of that name, though he tried to hide it. His jaw clenched slightly as he waited for Chris to continue.

"She wanted to know how I was...and how you were," Chris said in a calm but somewhat guarded tone.

Daniel didn't answer immediately. His eyes focused on a distant point as he processed the information. The last time he had seen his mother, the whole world had collapsed around him when he and Sean had left Away. Ten years had passed without a single attempt to reconnect, and even though Chris had told him that Karen had been imprisoned for hiding them, the resentment still beat in a corner of his heart.

"And what did you tell her?" he finally asked, his voice lower than usual.

Chris watched him closely before answering.

"I just told her you were fine... that you were busy."

Daniel nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off the ground. There were so many things he wanted to say, so many questions that had plagued him for years, but none of them seemed to find their way to the surface.

"Did it bother you that I answered her?" asked Chris, breaking the silence that was beginning to drag on too long.

"No," Daniel said quickly, shaking his head. "It doesn't bother me. It's just... I don't know what to think."

Chris hesitated for a moment before putting a hand on Daniel's.

"Maybe she just wants to know if you're okay."

Daniel pursed his lips but didn't pull his hand away. It was a small gesture, but in that moment it meant more than either of them could admit.

He remained silent, leaning back against the sofa, his eyes lost somewhere on the ceiling. His body seemed relaxed, but Chris could feel the stiffness in his shoulders, as if he was ready to fend off any comment that struck a nerve.

Chris decided to get to the point.

"She wants to talk to you."

Daniel's body tensed instantly. He slowly turned his head to look at Chris, his expression a mixture of disbelief and something darker.

"Karen?" he repeated, his voice heavy with scepticism.

"Yes," Chris replied carefully. "She asked me to tell you that she wants to talk to you."

Daniel let out a bitter laugh and leaned his head back against the back of the couch.

"Talk to me? Now? After ten years, she remembers she has something to say to me?"

Chris pursed his lips and watched him silently for a moment before answering.

"I know it sounds strange, and... I understand why you feel that way. But there's something you might not know, something you should consider before you decide not to talk to her."

Daniel frowned, obviously fascinated but still defensive.

"What's that?"

Chris took a deep breath, as if preparing to jump off a cliff.

"Before I came to Mexico, after talking to your grandparents, they gave me Karen's address. I went looking for her because I didn't know where to look for you."

Daniel stared at him, his expression one of surprise.

"You went to see her?"

Chris nodded, his voice soft but firm.

"Yes. And she helped me. She was the one who gave me information about where you might be. She told me about Puerto Lobos... I wouldn't have come this far without her help."

Daniel looked away, gritting his teeth as he took in Chris' words. His free hand clenched into a fist over his knee, but he said nothing.

Chris continued with a mixture of gentleness and urgency as he gently squeezed his hand into Daniel's.

"I know it's complicated... I know you hold a grudge against her for not looking for you after... after what happened, and I understand. But she's been through a lot too. When I talked to her, I could see how much what happened hurts her. Maybe she wasn't perfect, but she did the best she could with what she had at the time. And when she had the chance, she helped me to find you."

The silence that followed was heavy, filled with unspoken emotions. Daniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling slowly.

"What do you want me to do, Chris?" he finally murmured, his tone one of defeat.

"I don't want to force you to do anything," Chris replied, his voice was heavy with sincerity. "I just think you should listen to her. For you, not for her. So you can let out a little bit of all that stuff you've got inside you."

Daniel opened his eyes and fixed them on Chris with an intensity that almost made him recoil. But instead of a curt reply, he nodded his head, almost imperceptibly.

"I'll think about it," he said, his tone softer than before.

Chris gave him a small smile, grimacing with relief.

"That's enough for now."

Daniel let out a long sigh and, as if the conversation had drained him of all energy, he leaned back on the couch and rested his head in Chris's lap. He closed his eyes for a moment, but the tension in his features didn't disappear.

Chris, surprised by the gesture, remained motionless for a few seconds before raising a hand and gently stroking Daniel's hair. He said nothing, waiting for the silence to give Daniel the space to continue if he wished.

"My mother left us when we were kids," Daniel finally murmured, his voice was barely audible, as if the words were a heavy burden to carry.

Chris stopped his caresses for a moment, but quickly continued, offering comfort with the gesture.

"Sean was 7 years old and I was just a few months old. One day she just took off. She didn't leave a note, she didn't explain anything.... She just disappeared." Daniel opened his eyes, but looked not at Chris but at the ceiling, as if reliving those moments.

"My dad had to take care of everything. He worked hard to give us what we needed. Sean always tried to fill the gaps she left for me, like it was his responsibility. But I could see how it affected him too... he had clearer memories of her".

Chris didn't interrupt, although a lump formed in his throat.

"When I saw her again," Daniel continued, his voice more emotionally charged, "I thought I had found a way to forgive her. I wanted to believe that what had happened was part of something we couldn't understand. But then..."

He paused, his jaw clenching.

"Then she never came for us... never came for me, not even a message. Nothing. I understand now that the police were after her and maybe she couldn't, but... it doesn't change how I feel. It was years, Chris. Years she wasn't there when we needed her most.

Daniel's voice finally broke and a heavy silence fell between them. Chris felt an emptiness in his chest to see him so vulnerable, so disarmed in the face of something that had scarred him so deeply.

"I know," Chris said finally, his tone softer but firm. "Karen told me."

Daniel lifted his head slightly in surprise but said nothing. Chris took a breath before continuing.

"She told me about those years, about what happened to your father, how she tried to protect you when things got complicated. She also told me that she knew she hadn't been the best mother, that she couldn't change what she had done, but that... she was sorry for hurting you. That she always missed you."

Daniel leaned back again, his gaze lost as he took in the words. Chris continued to stroke his hair, as if to tell him that even if he couldn't erase the pain, he was there to hold it.

"This is difficult, I know. I don't want to justify what she did, but I think you want to make it right, even if it's too late. You deserve that."

Daniel didn't answer right away. He closed his eyes again, breathing deeply as the silence between them seemed to carry more emotion than any words could express.

"You're right," he finally murmured, barely above a whisper but loud enough for Chris to hear.

Chris couldn't help but smile as he continued to stroke Daniel's hair, enjoying the silence. It was a comfortable silence, one of those where no words were necessary, just the presence of the other. Daniel, relaxed under his touch, seemed at peace at last.

As his fingers drew lazy circles through Daniel's tresses, Chris' mind wandered to a place he hadn't expected, his father.

The mention of Karen had unearthed something Chris thought he had forgotten over the past few weeks, but there it was, floating in his mind like a leaf in the wind. He remembered the last time he'd heard from him, a brief phone call back in May. Had it been that long? Now it was the middle of August and the emptiness of his absence felt heavier than ever.

He wondered how he was doing. Would he still be on the road to sobriety? Would he be happy, even a little?

Chris always tried not to dwell too much on these questions, but at times like this it was impossible not to.

He remembered the dark years when Charles hadn't hit rock bottom. The empty bottles strewn around the house, the angry words that came out of his mouth, and how those words sometimes turned into something worse. But he also remembered something else, the day Charles left him with his grandparents in Seattle.

There was pain in that goodbye, but also hope. Chris knew his dad was trying to do the right thing, even if it cost him. It was an act of love, the kind that hurts more than it heals.

As he stroked Daniel's hair, Chris felt a pang of guilt. He had gone so long without really knowing how his father was. Letters and phone calls were never enough; they always left a void that nothing could fill.

Will he be all right? he thought, his smile fading slightly. Will he be alone?

The weight of these questions weighed on him for a moment, but he shook it off quickly. He didn't want to be consumed by melancholy.

He glanced at Daniel, whose breathing was more leisurely now, almost as if he were about to fall asleep.

For now, this was all that mattered.

Saturday, September 02, 2017

Chris stared silently out of the car window, the golden reflection of the sun illuminating the massive buildings rising on the horizon. It was a majestic sight, but it brought him no comfort. Every kilometre they drove brought him closer to his grandparents' house and further away from home, from his life with his father.

He pursed his lips, trying to control the lump that was forming in his throat.

The interior of the car was silent, except for the low hum of the engine and the occasional creak of the leather seat when Chris moved. His mind wandered, trying to escape the sadness that consumed him.

Without realising it, his thoughts took him back to that summer night three months ago when everything had changed.

It was the early hours of midnight, but he was awake. He couldn't sleep. He had tiptoed out of his room and sat in the hall listening to the news, which his father was watching. The news filled the screen, "Massacre on the US border".

Chris remembered the blurry images of the border in ruins, with destroyed police cars everywhere. The reporters were talking about a shootout and the two young men who had disappeared. "Daniel and Sean," he had whispered in disbelief. His mind tried to process what he had heard.

These boys had been his friends, his playmates. They had shared afternoons of laughter and secrets. Now they were runaways. How had it come to this? Why had it gone so wrong? Chris had never found an answer, but the images of that night were etched in his memory.

He came back to the present as he felt the car slow down. His father's voice broke the silence.

"We're almost there," Charles said without looking at him. His tone was calm, but there was something about it, something tense and fragile.

Chris looked at him, but didn't react. He simply nodded, lost in thought again, as the car moved forward through the streets lit by the warm glow of the sunset.

The car turned onto a quieter road, away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre. Chris could feel the air in the car getting thicker by the second. He glanced sideways at his father, studying his profile. Charles had his eyes on the road, but his hands were tight on the wheel, his knuckles white. He knew this wasn't easy for him. It wasn't easy for either of them.

Chris swallowed hard and forced himself to look out the window again. Memories of Daniel and Sean still haunted his mind, but now they were mixed with something else, fear. What if he never saw his father again? What if this decision Charles was making to 'get better' ended up separating them forever?

The car pulled up to a large house, with a manicured garden and a driveway that seemed welcoming, but Chris only felt a pang in his chest. There stood his grandparents, two kindly figures he had known since childhood. But they were not his father.

Charles switched off the engine and sighed deeply. It was the first time Chris had seen him like this, vulnerable, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

"Chris," he began, turning to look directly at him. His eyes were red, though he tried to keep his composure. "I know this is hard... and believe me, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish things were different. But I have to do this. I have to fix myself so that when we get back together... I can be the father you deserve.

Chris said nothing. He pursed his lips and lowered his eyes to his hands, clasped in his lap. His words didn't erase the pain, but he couldn't be angry with him either. Not when he could see how much he was suffering too.

"Will you be back soon?" Chris finally asked, his voice breaking. It was a question he knew he didn't have a clear answer to, but he needed to hear something, anything, to calm the fear that tightened in his chest.

Charles leaned over and placed a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Of course I will. And in the meantime, I'll call you whenever I can. We'll write to each other. None of this means I'm leaving you, son. I just... need some time to get better."

Chris looked up and found him smiling, but it was a sad, broken smile that made him feel the knot in his stomach even more.

"It's okay, Dad," he murmured, though inside he wanted to scream that it wasn't ok, that he didn't want to stay, that he didn't want his dad to leave him.

Charles got out of the car first and walked quickly to open Chris's door. The boy followed with slow movements, as if each step brought him closer to something irreversible. The air outside was cool, but it did nothing to soothe the burning in his cheeks or the weight on his chest.

Chris stood by the car, holding his backpack like a shield. He looked at his grandparents' house, then at his dad, then back at the house. Everything seemed so normal, but he knew nothing was.

Charles crouched down to his level and put his hands on his shoulders. He looked at him with that mixture of guilt and love Chris had learned to recognise.

"Chris... I know you're angry. And I know you don't understand why I have to do this now." His voice trembled and Charles pursed his lips, trying to control himself. "But I want you to know that I'm doing this because I love you. Because I want to be better for you. So that you'll never have to carry my mistakes again."

Chris felt tears begin to form in his eyes. He shook his head quickly, trying to be strong, but a tear escaped and slid down his cheek.

"I'm not angry, Dad. I just... I don't want you to go."

Charles hugged him then, wrapping his arms around him tightly as if to burn the moment into his memory. Chris sank into his chest, clinging to his jacket, wishing the hug would never end.

"I don't want to go either," Charles whispered into his hair. "But this isn't goodbye forever. I promise I'll come back for you."

When they finally parted, Chris felt the cold air where his father's warmth had been. Charles sat up, stroked his head one last time and picked up the backpack he'd left on the floor.

"Come on," he said, pointing to the door. His grandparents were waiting for him with warm smiles on their faces, though Chris could see the worry in their eyes.

Chris walked towards them with slow steps, each one heavier than the last. When he reached the porch, he turned one last time to his father, who was still standing by the car, watching him.

For a moment, Chris thought Charles would run up to him, change his mind and take him back to Beaver Creek.

But he didn't.

"I love you, Dad," Chris murmured, although he knew he hadn't heard him.

Charles raised his hand in a farewell gesture and got into the car, his hands shaking on the steering wheel. He wanted to pull over, run to him, hug him and promise him that everything would be all right. But he didn't. He had to stand his ground.

Chris watched as he started the car and drove down the road until it rounded the corner and was out of sight. Its gaze was fixed on the void.

Chris stood there feeling smaller than ever.

For the first time, he felt completely alone.

Chapter Text

Daniel had woken early that morning.

Chris awoke shortly after, to the distant sound of waves and the warmth of the sheets still wrapped around his body. He slowly woke before crawling out of bed, still feeling the weight of Daniel next to him.

As a newly acquired habit, he prepared breakfast for both of them before Daniel left.

“I'll be back this afternoon," Daniel had told him before he left, grabbing his keys before approaching him.

Chris tilted his face as Daniel said goodbye with a quick kiss on his lips. It was nothing deep, but it was enough to make his chest feel warm even after the door closed behind him.

The house fell silent.

Chris was rearranging some things in the living room when his attention was drawn to the coffee table, where the photos he had left in a mess still lay.

He sat down on the couch, surrounded by the soft morning light filtering through the curtains, and began to carefully stack them. Among the old photos, he added some he had taken with his instant camera in Puerto Lobos.

The table was full of memories captured in photos.

The lighthouse towering over the cliffs, silhouetted against the grey sky.

The beach with its golden sand, scattered with footprints.

The sun setting over the sea, tinting it with warm hues in the golden hour.

The starry sky at night, so vast and deep it seemed to absorb everything.

Chris ran his fingers over the photos, remembering the feel of the salty wind on his skin in Paredones, the sound of the waves breaking against the rocks. Puerto Lobos had become a refuge for him, despite everything he had been through there.

Then he took another small stack of photos and spread them out in front of him.

Seattle.

The concerts he had gone to with his friends, jumping through the crowds.

The parks in autumn, with dry leaves on the ground.

The spontaneous portraits of his grandparents, with their warm smiles.

His grandparents' cats huddled by the window, the rain pattering on the glass.

A lump formed in his throat. He looked at each picture wistfully, with that bittersweet feeling that these moments were thousands of miles away. That he would have to return to them one day.

Chris sighed as he stacked them with the rest of the photos.

But as he looked through them, his eyes stopped on another.

It was an older photo, alien to the others.

His breathing stopped for a moment as he recognised it.

It was him, as a child, standing next to his mother.

His fingers ran along the worn edge of the photo, feeling a pang of nostalgia in his chest. His mother smiled warmly, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders. Chris, his cheeks rounded from childhood, clung to her with a beaming expression.

Chris felt a lump in his throat.

Memories swamped him in an instant, like an unexpected wave sweeping him out to sea.

He remembered the nights when she would come home from work, tired but with a smile on her face, and sit with him in the living room playing video games until her eyes could no longer stay open. He remembered the times she would make fun of his defeats, exaggerating her reactions just to make him laugh, or when she would celebrate each of her victories as if they were the greatest achievement in the world.

He always ended up laughing so hard his stomach hurt.

He also remembered the days when she would come home with a new issue of AWESO and hold it behind her back while he jumped around trying to guess what it was. She would always wait until the last second before handing it to him, prolonging the moment with a mischievous smile.

And at bedtime...

His mother would sit on the edge of his bed, the dim light from the hallway illuminating only her silhouette, and read him the comics before bedtime. She would do the voices of the characters, laugh with him at the funny moments, and at the end of each story she would lean over and kiss him on the forehead.

”Sleep well, darling.”

Chris felt his breath catch.

He couldn't remember the last time anyone had said that to him.

He held the photo in both hands, as if he could hold on to those memories.

But as he did so, he felt something strange. A slight vibration ran through his fingers.

The sound of his own breathing mixed with a subtle echo, like a distant whisper that didn't quite belong.

Something in the photo seemed to be moving.

Chris blinked, feeling a shiver run down his spine.

The photo was still the same... but for a second he almost thought he heard his mother's laughter.

Chris held the photo tighter as his pulse quickened. The sound faded as quickly as it had appeared, but it left an empty feeling in his chest that was impossible to ignore.

He must have imagined it.

But then he heard it again.

An echo of soft laughter, full of warmth.

The same kind of laughter that echoed in his room when his mother tickled him or teased him while they played. A sound that shouldn't be there.

Chris felt a shiver run down his skin.

His eyes scanned the photo more closely.

At first glance, everything looked the same. But on closer inspection he noticed something strange at the edges of the photo. As if the light in the photo had changed slightly. As if... it was moving.

Chris squinted, trying to convince himself that it was just his imagination, but then he saw it.

A faint flash of light.

And the murmur of a voice, distorted and distant, calling his name.

Chris felt the air around him thicken. His body tensed, his mind screaming to drop the photo, to leave it on the coffee table and walk away. But his fingers didn't respond.

He didn't want to let it go.

He couldn't.

The sound became clearer.

And suddenly everything disappeared.

The world around him ceased to exist.

Chris felt a tug in his chest, as if he was being ripped out of reality. His vision blurred, an intense dizziness engulfed him, and when he tried to breathe, the air felt too thick, too alien.

He blinked.

And when his eyes focused again, he was no longer in Daniel's house.

The smell of freshly baked cookies filled his nose.

Sunlight streamed in through the window of a kitchen he knew all too well.

And there, with her back to him, was his mother leaving a camera on the table with a smile on her lips.

Alive.

Humming a song as she cooked, unaware that her son, the son who no longer belonged to that time, was watching her with his heart about to break in his chest.

Chris froze.

His breathing became shallow, as if he was afraid to make the slightest noise and break the illusion.

But it wasn't an illusion.

He could smell the cookies she was baking as the warmth of the sun caressed his skin through the window, and the murmur of his mother humming a tune he hadn't heard in years was so real it almost brought tears to his eyes.

It was a memory. No... more than that.

He had returned.

His mother turned, still unaware of his presence. Her bright blonde hair fell over her shoulders. She was wearing the same clothes she wore when she worked in kindergarten.

Chris felt his chest tighten.

She was just as he remembered her.

He felt a lump in his throat, but he couldn't move, couldn't breathe.

His mother turned a little more, and then her gaze met his.

And she smiled.

”The cookies are almost ready.”

Chris felt a punch in the stomach.

That voice.

Her voice.

He had lost it in his memory, fading over the years, but now it was here. Clear, alive, full of the warmth he had missed so much.

His mother didn't seem to notice his expression of utter confusion. In her mind, he was just her son waiting for his mother's cookies.

Chris wanted to speak, but his lips were unresponsive.

His mother reached over and ruffled his hair lovingly, causing him to shrug reflexively.

"Come on, son. Get changed so you don't ruin your super costume with the cookies."

If only she knew.

Chris clenched his fists. His breathing became erratic and his vision blurred.

It couldn't be real.

But it was.

His mother was alive.

She was here, with him.

And if she was here... then the accident hadn't happened yet.

Chris felt a shiver run down his spine.

If he is here at this time, if he traveled here...

Could he prevent it?

Could he save her?

Chris took unsteady steps towards his room, feeling as if each step was pulling him deeper into a dream from which he did not want to wake. The carpet beneath his feet was the same as always, the door creaked in the same place it always did. Everything was there, untouched, as if time had never passed.

The light from the window illuminated the small bed with its star sheets, the drawings he had made as a child still hung on the wall. Crayons were scattered on the desk, along with a few action figures, worn from use. His collection of AWESO comics lay in a corner, some open, as if he'd read them just before rushing off to the kitchen.

Chris stood in the doorway, feeling a pang of nostalgia in his chest.

The last time he had been here, in his reality, was before his father had taken him to Seattle to live with his grandparents. He remembered the room being left exactly as he had left it that day.

But here... here his childhood world still existed.

Chris walked slowly, his fingers brushing the furniture, the toys, the drawing sheets. He took off his red cape and held it carefully. Captain Spirit.

A tremor ran through his hands. His mother had made him this cape, promised him that superheroes like him could do anything.

Was it true?

Could he really do anything?

Now, with his powers…

Chris looked up and saw it.

The mirror.

His reflection was looking back at him, but it wasn't the reflection he was expecting.

It wasn't his current self, it wasn't the young adult who had been through all kinds of experiences.

It was him.

Him, in his superhero costume.

In his black T-shirt with the AWESO emblem, with the red cape tied around his neck, with his childish face full of illusion.

Chris felt a shiver run down his spine.

The boy in the reflection was staring back at him.

But the most frightening thing wasn't the reflection itself.

It was the way the child version of him was smiling.

As if he knew something he didn't yet understand.

Chris took a step back, his heart was pounding.

The reflection was still smiling.

And then, the boy raised a hand and rested it on the glass.

Chris felt his breath catch, his own trembling hand raised reflexively until its fingers met the coldness of the mirror.

And at that moment, an idea flashed through his mind with the force of thunder.

If Captain Spirit was really a hero...

Then he had to save his mother.

Chris swallowed hard, his heart pounding.

He pulled his hand away from the mirror, took a breath and let go of the Captain Spirit cape, dropping it on the bed. With shaking hands, he removed the costume, not looking too closely at the toys and comic books around him. The feeling of nostalgia threatened to overwhelm him, but he couldn't let it go.

Not now.

As he left the room, the aroma of freshly baked cookies completely enveloped him. The warmth of the house, the golden light streaming in through the windows, the feeling that all was well... it was a mirage of a past he thought was lost.

When he reached the kitchen, her mother was already serving the cookies on a plate, with that satisfied expression on her face that he missed so much.

"That's better," she said when she saw him, smiling as she ruffled his hair affectionately. "We wouldn't want to ruin your superhero costume with crumbs, would we?"

Chris smiled automatically, as if his body remembered the gesture before his mind.

"No, I guess not," he replied, taking a seat at the table.

His mother sat down across from him and slid the plate of cookies in his direction.

"They're still warm, so be careful."

Chris nodded and took one, feeling the comforting warmth of the cookie in his fingers. He tasted it and almost sighed at the taste he had forgotten so long ago.

It was perfect.

Just like always.

His mother looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well?"

Chris swallowed and nodded enthusiastically.

"They're the best cookies in the world."

His mother let out a soft, amused laugh.

"That's what you say every time I make them."

Chris was silent as he looked at her.

He didn't want this moment to end.

He didn't want to lose her again.

And then, for the first time since he'd been here, the idea settled in his head with absolute clarity.

He wasn't going to let her leave this day.

He wasn't going to let her die.

Chris allowed himself to enjoy the moment a little longer. He savoured the cookie as if it were a memory come true, and allowed the warmth of home to envelop him. His mother was still smiling, with that expression that made everything seem all right, that the world was a safe place.

But then she took a sip of coffee and looked at the clock on the wall.

"Your father will be home any minute. I have to go out and do some shopping before it's too late."

Chris felt the air leave his lungs.

The sound of his chair scraping the floor as he moved was the only thing that broke the sudden silence.

His mother picked up the dishes, oblivious to the way Chris's face had become completely tense.

She was going out.

She was going out.

The image flashed through his mind like a lightning.

He saw her, in her jacket, saying goodbye with a quick kiss on his forehead before walking out the door, assuring him she'd be back soon.

The memory was so vivid that he could feel it.

The sound of the door closing.

The childlike excitement of knowing his dad was almost here.

The waiting.

And then... the phone call.

The world collapsing around him.

No.

Chris clung to the edge of the table, the blood pounding in his ears.

Not this time.

His mother was already grabbing her purse off the rack, as nonchalantly as ever.

Chris stood up so quickly that his chair almost toppled over.

"Wait."

She stopped in her tracks and looked at him curiously.

"What's wrong, darling?"

Chris opened his mouth but had no idea what to say.

He couldn't just yell "Don't come out or you'll die" because that wouldn't make any sense. Not in this reality.

So he did the only thing he could think of.

He forced himself to smile.

"Could you... stay a little longer?" he asked, his voice was barely a whisper. "I want to keep eating cookies with you."

His mother looked at him for a moment, surprised by the pleading in his tone.

Chris held his breath, his heart pounding in his chest.

Finally, his mother smiled tenderly and put the purse down on the table.

"That's all right. I think the shopping can wait a little longer."

Chris let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

But he knew it wasn't going to end here.

He'd just bought a little more time.

He had to make sure she didn't walk out that door.

Because if she did...she'd never come back.

Chris kept a smile on his face, but inside, his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. If his mother left later...would the accident still happen? Or could he really change it?

He couldn't risk it.

He focused on his mother. The way she sat back in her chair, the way she snapped another cookie between her fingers and dipped it into her coffee, oblivious to the angst swirling in her son.

Chris stared at her.

If I don't let you go...you'll stay with me, won't you?

"Mom...can we play a board game today?"

Emily looked up from her coffee, surprised by the request.

"A board game?"

Chris nodded quickly.

"Yes. It's been a long time since the three of us played together. You, Dad and me." He made the best pleading expression he could. "It could be Monopoly, or that detective game dad likes?"

Emily cocked her head to one side, amused, but with a hint of doubt in her eyes.

"Honey, I don't know if today's a good day. I wanted to go out and buy something..."

Chris felt his stomach twist.

"But today I want us to be together..." he said, leaning back a little against the table, his hands clutching the edges as if his own strength could hold them there. "No matter what we play, I just want to be with you and dad."

Her mother seemed to be having an inner debate.

"Chris..." Her voice was soft but still hesitant.

Chris pursed his lips. He had to insist.

"Please, mom." His tone became a trickle. It wasn't fake. It was real. Everything inside him trembled with the need for her to stay. "I promise you can do whatever you need to do tomorrow, but today... today I want you to stay with me."

Emily looked down at her coffee cup, her finger tracing circles around the rim.

Chris could almost see the struggle inside.

Finally, her mother sighed and leaned back in her chair, a resigned smile on her face.

"Well... I guess I can take a rain check."

Chris blinked.

"Really?"

Emily shrugged with a smile.

"Yes, I still have time. I don't have to buy it today. And if my favorite superhero wants to play with his family, I can't say no, can I?"

Chris felt a lump in his throat, but this time it was pure relief.

She wasn't going out.

She wasn't going out.

His mother was alive and he had managed to stop her.

Emily ruffled his hair affectionately before getting up from the table.

"Let's get everything ready before your dad gets here, shall we?”

Chris nodded quickly, feeling the air fill his lungs again.

I made it.

For the first time since he'd arrived, he felt like he could breathe.

The sound of a car parking in the driveway made Chris tense up. He recognised the engine. His stomach tightened in the same way it did when he heard his father pull up to the house in those distant days of his childhood.

Emily wiped her hands on a dish towel and smiled before walking toward the door.

"It must be your dad."

Chris could barely nod. His heart was pounding, still trying to process what he had done.

The door opened and Charles appeared in the doorway in a jacket, his hair ruffled by the wind. His exhausted expression vanished as soon as he saw Emily.

"Mmm... something smells good in here."

Emily laughed and leaned in to kiss him on the lips. It was a quick, everyday kiss, but filled with a warmth that Chris hadn't felt in years.

"I made cookies. But you'll have to share them with our son."

Charles laughed before turning to Chris.

"Chris!" he said excitedly before walking over and giving him a tight hug.

Chris felt the familiar warmth of his father's arms, a hug that had become sparse and cold in his reality. He held on a little tighter than usual and closed his eyes.

Dad...

When Charles pulled away, he looked up at him with a proud smile.

"So what's the plan today, my two favourite people?"

Emily put an arm around his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.

"I was thinking of going out for a while, but Chris convinced me to stay. We're going to play a board game, the three of us, just like old times."

Charles arched an eyebrow, then smiled.

"Really? That sounds like a great idea."

Without hesitation, he started to help Emily clear the table to make room.

But Chris stopped listening.

Something was changing.

The air became heavy, as if an electric current was vibrating through the room. A faint flash flickered at the edges of his vision.

His reality was shaking.

Chris blinked.

The table, the chairs, the warm sound of his mother's laughter... everything seemed to begin to fragment, like a distorted image on an old television.

No... No.

He had succeeded.

He had saved his mother.

The light began to surround him, enveloping him in an ethereal glow that grew stronger with every beat of his heart.

"No!" he tried to scream, but his voice was drowned out by the void.

His mother's face blurred. His father became a blurred silhouette.

Everything melted into a blinding light.

Chris felt a tug in his chest, as if he were being ripped out of that moment.

And then... nothing.

Just darkness.

Until he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet again.

The smell of cookies was gone.

The sound of the TV in the living room, the warmth of the kitchen... it was all gone.

Chris gasped and opened his eyes with a start.

He was in a different room.

It wasn't Daniel's house.

It wasn't his childhood home.

It wasn't his grandparents' house.

It wasn't his apartment.

The air was different, cleaner but strange, with a faint scent of lavender and freshly brewed coffee. There was a wooden bookshelf filled with books, a desk lamp on, and a window with white curtains that swayed gently in the morning breeze.

It was all too real.

With slow, almost shaky steps, Chris moved across the room. His hands trembled as he brushed the surface of the desk. He didn't recognise anything, yet there were photographs of him on the wall, newspaper clippings pinned to it, drawings that looked fresh.

He turned and felt a shiver run down his spine.

There was a full-length mirror in the corner of the room. Chris moved cautiously forward, feeling that something was terribly wrong.

As he saw his reflection, he felt the air rush out of his lungs.

He was not the child who had just shared cookies with his mother. He didn't have the small stature of his childhood, nor the Captain Spirit costume.

This was him. At his current height, with his dishevelled hair falling over his forehead, with the same face he had seen in the mirror every morning at Daniel's house.

He blinked several times, waiting for the image to change. But it didn't.

The reflection was the same.

His real age.

He had changed the future...

And now he was trapped in it.

“God...” he whispered, taking a step back.

The reflection stared back at him with the same awe and horror.

Chris swallowed hard.

He had made it.

But at what cost?

Chapter Text

Chris felt the weight of the room closing in on him.

Everything in this room had his essence, but it was a life he had not lived.

With cautious steps he began to walk around the room, feeling the strangeness of moving in a space that somehow belonged to him. His fingers brushed the edge of the bookshelf where he found books of literature, some of science fiction, some of fantasy, some of art history. There were also notebooks with notes and a few comic books stacked in an untidy pile.

The desk was spotless, with a modern lamp and a laptop connected to a graphics tablet. He hesitated for a moment before opening it, but curiosity got the better of him. The screen was lit up with a coastal landscape in the background, and in one corner of the screen was an open document with what appeared to be a half-written essay. He frowned as he read the first few lines. It was his essay.

He stepped back, feeling his chest tighten with each new find. He looked at the walls and noticed photos pinned to a corkboard, photos showing happy times in unfamiliar places, photos of him and his mother, both smiling into the camera. There was one in particular that caught his attention, him with a group of young people, smiling in front of what appeared to be a university campus he didn't recognise...

Was he at another university?

He took a breath, trying to calm the growing anxiety creeping up his back. His eyes darted to the bedside table where his mobile phone lay. He picked it up with shaking hands and the screen lit up with notifications. His heart pounded as he saw the messages.

Mum (8:30am):

Good morning sleepyhead. Breakfast is ready. Come down anytime.

Mum (8:31):

I left you some coffee if you need it.

Chris let out a shaky sigh. His mother was there, in the kitchen, waiting for him.

Trying to find more information, he opened his email. He quickly scrolled through the messages until one caught his eye.

Working Group - Final Project.

When he opened it, he found several colleagues discussing an ongoing project. The college mentioned in the email signatures stopped him in his tracks.

Eugene State College.

Chris blinked. In his reality, he was studying at Seattle University.

What else had changed?

The sound of footsteps on the stairs startled him. His whole body tensed.

"Chris, are you awake?" called the familiar voice from downstairs.

He froze. His mind refused to process it.

He had spent years imagining what it would be like to hear her again. He had dreamed of her, of the way she said his name, of the warmth in her tone. But now she was here. Real. Alive in this timeline.

He turned to the mirror one last time, searching his reflection for some sign that this was all a dream. But his own face, with its disorientated expression, was staring back at him.

Chris took a deep breath and left the room.

Opening the door, he found a hallway lit by the natural light streaming in from a large window at the far end. The wooden floor creaked softly under his footsteps as he moved forward, trying to take in every detail of his surroundings.

He descended the stairs carefully, noticing for the first time how spacious the house was. It was different from the one he remembered at Beaver Creek. Emily's touch was evident in every nook and cranny, the well-kept furniture, the colourful pictures on the walls, the soft carpets that made the morning light even more welcoming.

When he reached the living room, his eyes were drawn to the number of plants decorating the room. Pots of various sizes were placed on shelves, on the floor, on side tables. There was a vibrant energy in the atmosphere, something that felt so real and warm that it was almost alien to him.

He took a few more steps forward and stopped in front of a table full of photographs. He looked at them carefully, shuddering slightly as he realised how different they were from the memories he had of his former life. There were many pictures of him and Emily at different stages of his life, on the beach, in the mountains, in a park, celebrating birthdays. Some were of Emily with her parents, Chris's grandparents, smiling happily.

But then he noticed something.

There was no recent photograph of Charles.

He frowned and looked around the table. There were photos of his father, but they were all old, from when he was a child. They showed Charles smiling, holding Chris or playing with him in the garden of what looked like his old house.

But after those photos... nothing. No photos of Charles today. No photos of him with Emily in recent years.

Chris felt a knot in his stomach.

What had happened to his father in this reality?

The sound of footsteps snapped him out of his thoughts. Emily emerged from the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her hands, and paused as she noticed Chris's expression as he held up an old photograph of him and his father.

"Do you miss him too?" Emily asked quietly, looking at the photo Chris was holding.

Chris looked up at Emily, letting the image of his mother burn into his mind with a mixture of nostalgia and strangeness. She looked different. Older than he had seen her as a child.

The first grey hairs were woven through her blonde hair, reflecting like silver threads. There were more pronounced lines at the corners of her lips and across her forehead.

Emily gave him a wistful smile and sighed, as if she understood his silence.

"I miss him too." Emily continued. "Not a day goes by that I don't think about him."

Chris swallowed and felt his throat tighten. He needed to know what had happened.

"You know, I love this photo," Emily commented with a nostalgic smile. "Your father always said it was his favourite. He kept it in his locker when he played for the Trail Blazers."

Chris felt a small twist in his chest.

Emily sighed, leaning against the door frame as she turned the cup in her hands.

"Sometimes I still find it hard to believe... how everything can change in a second," her voice softened, as if she was speaking more to herself than to him. "That flight, the last one he took with the team... To think that his greatest dream was also what took him away."

Chris felt the ground shake beneath his feet. A shiver ran down his spine as he processed the information.

His father hadn't died of alcoholism, hadn't been trapped in the misery of Beaver Creek... in this reality, he had achieved his dream, only to lose his life in a completely different way.

And he had never been there to see it.

Chris looked away from the photo, feeling a tight lump in his throat.

"I miss him so much." His voice came out softer than he expected, almost a whisper.

And he did.

But not in the way Emily thought.

He didn't miss the version of his father who had achieved his dream only to lose it all in an instant. He missed the man he had left behind in another timeline, in another reality. The Charles who never recovered from the loss of his wife, the Charles who lost himself in alcohol and hopelessness. The Charles who, despite everything, had been his father.

For a moment, his mind took him back to Beaver Creek. To his wooden house with its cold fogged windows. To the days when he had seen him slumped on the couch, staring blankly at the television, not really watching it. To the last time Chris saw him before he left, when they didn't even say goodbye properly because there was so much left to say.

And now... now his father didn't even exist in this world, in this timeline.

Chris felt a pang in his chest, a mixture of sadness and guilt. Maybe his father had been happy in this reality before he died. Maybe he had moments of real joy, a life he could never have in his own. But that didn't make it any less painful.

The silence between him and his mother lasted a few seconds longer. Emily looked down at her coffee, lost in her own thoughts, her expression wistful. And Chris felt the need to do something. To hold on to the only thing he had in front of him at that moment.

He took a step towards his mother and, without thinking too much, wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

Emily tensed slightly, surprised by the sudden gesture. Chris wasn't the type to hug for no reason. But after a moment's hesitation, she set the cup down on the table and returned the hug tenderly, running a hand down his back.

Chris closed his eyes, feeling the warmth and familiarity of his mother. A sense of relief and fear washed over him at the same time, as if the simple act of holding her reminded him of how much he had missed her without realising it. How much he had longed to feel safe.

His chest tightened and a burning sensation rose in his throat. He didn't want to cry, not now. But the weight of everything he was going through grew stronger in that moment, making him take a deep breath to hold back the tears.

Emily stroked his hair gently, as she had done when he was a child.

"I love you so much, Chris." She murmured, her voice full of affection.

Chris swallowed and nodded against her shoulder, not trusting that his voice wouldn't shake as he tried to answer.

For at that moment, more than ever, all he wanted was to stay there, to feel that despite everything, he still had a home to cling to.

Chris slowly pulled away from the embrace, taking a deep breath as he tried to regain his composure.

Emily smiled tenderly at him and stroked his cheek.

"I made you those eggs you like so much," she said with a warm smile. "Come and have some breakfast before they get cold."

Chris felt a comforting warmth in his chest. It was a simple, everyday gesture, but in that moment it felt more significant than it should.

He smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, Mom."

With quiet steps, he followed Emily into the kitchen. The familiar aroma of breakfast hung in the air, filling the room with a sense of home. The table was set with a plate of scrambled eggs, toast and a glass of orange juice.

Chris sat down and picked up his fork, ready to eat, when he noticed his mother sitting next to him with her laptop open in front of her, he couldn't help but be curious.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously, popping a bite into his mouth. He couldn't help but sigh when he tasted the eggs.

Just like he remembered.

Emily typed something before answering, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"I am preparing the curriculum for my students at Blackwell Academy. The new term starts in September and I want everything ready in time."

Chris stopped chewing for a second and blinked in surprise.

Blackwell Academy?

He'd never heard that name before. He couldn't remember having a school called that anywhere in his previous life.

What town was it in?

He tried to remember, but found no answer. His mother worked at an academy that sounded so... prestigious. It was strange to think of her teaching teenagers, marking papers, guiding students. The Emily he remembered was always surrounded by children, drawing with them in kindergarten, and in the evenings making illustrations of her family to share on the internet.

Chris looked up and scanned the kitchen with his eyes, trying to find some clue as to where they were. He looked at the appliances, the little decorations on the table, the magnets on the fridge. But there was nothing to give him a clear answer. No name of a town, no hint of what state it might be.

His chest tightened uneasily. He didn't know where he was. He had no idea where he was in the country or the world.

He chewed a little more slowly, he had to find out without arousing suspicion.

He took a sip of his juice and then looked up at his mother, trying to sound casual.

"So what made you decide to live here?" he asked, keeping his tone light, as if this was just a simple morning chat.

Emily stopped typing for a moment and looked away from him, a thoughtful expression and a nostalgic smile on her lips.

"As you may know, I was a student at Blackwell Academy until I graduated..."

Chris kept his expression neutral, but inside he felt a slight twinge of surprise.

Had she studied there?

Maybe, he had read about it when he was a child, but now he couldn't remember...

Emily sighed softly and leaned her elbow on the table, turning her coffee cup a little in her hands.

"After your father died... well, everything changed for me." Her eyes grew more melancholy, lost in memories.

Chris nodded.

"I was working in Beaver Creek as a kindergarten teacher... but then they advertised for new teachers at Blackwell Academy, and... I decided to give it a try."

Emily put her cup down on the table and looked at him with a mixture of tenderness and sadness.

"The thing with your father was... very difficult. I couldn't stay in Beaver Creek. Everything reminded me of him, of the life we'd built together, of what we'd lost." She lowered her voice a little, as if it still hurt. "I needed a change. A fresh start for both of us. So I applied to Blackwell's and, to my surprise, they accepted me. It was the sign I needed. So we packed our bags and moved to Arcadia Bay."

Chris nodded slowly, taking in the information. So that was why they were here. His mother had wanted to get away from Beaver Creek, away from the memories of his father, and Blackwell had been her escape.

Emily, on the other hand, spoke so matter-of-factly about Blackwell and Arcadia Bay that it was disconcerting. To her, it was all normal. For him, it was like hearing about a completely different world.

He looked down at his plate, nudging a piece of egg with his fork as his mind worked at full speed. Arcadia Bay. Blackwell.

Arcadia Bay.

In his memories, somewhat blurred by time, he thought he'd heard on TV about that tornado-ravaged town in 2016 in his timeline....

Chris looked up and fixed his attention on his mother.

"So what's it been like living here?" he asked with apparent curiosity, trying to make his voice sound nonchalant.

Emily smiled softly.

"Different at first." she admitted. "It took some getting used to. It doesn't have the same small town feel as Beaver Creek, but it has its charm."

Chris nodded before sipping his glass of orange juice.

Emily sighed, resting her elbows on the table as she stirred her coffee calmly.

"I'm not going to lie to you... I had a hard time adjusting to being alone at first when you left for college..." she confessed with a wistful smile. "The house feels too big without you."

Chris felt a small knot in his stomach.

"I missed hearing your guitar in the living room, finding your sketches all over the place... even complaining about you leaving the lights on." Emily laughed softly and shook her head. "But at the same time, I was so proud of you. I always knew you'd make it."

Chris tried not to look too surprised.

"Eugene State College was a great choice..." Emily continued. "I knew that going to Eugene meant that you would be far away, but also that you would be in the right place to grow as an artist."

Chris felt a shiver run down his spine. Eugene. He couldn't remember ever considering studying there in his own life. But in this one... he had.

He forced a smile.

"Yes... it was a great opportunity."

Emily gave him a warm look and reached out to stroke his hand.

"And look at you now. My son, the artist."

Chris felt a lump in his throat. He didn't know what kind of life he'd had here, but something about the look on his mother's face... the way she looked at him with pride and unconditional love... made him want to believe, if only for a moment, that everything had been all right in this reality.

Emily gave his hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it and picking up her coffee cup again.

"But hey, as long as you keep coming to visit me on holiday or summer like you do now, I won't miss you too much." She joked, arching an eyebrow with a playful grin. "Though if you ever decide to keep me waiting... I might have to find you and lock you in here until you get back to class."

Chris let out a laugh, even though his mind was still trying to process everything.

"Are you going to trap me with breakfast and kidnap threats?"

"Exactly. And if that doesn't work, I can bring in our neighbour, the old Mrs Robinson, to give you one of her rib-crushing hugs."

Chris laughed more heartily this time, although deep inside he felt a small emptiness. Who was Mrs Robinson? He had no idea, but she must be someone important in this reality.

"Mom, I didn't know you were so ruthless." He joked, pretending to be horrified.

Emily laughed quietly and shook her head.

"I can be worse when it comes to my son."

Chris smiled, feeling a warmth in his chest that was both strange and comforting. No matter what the reality... his mother would always love him.

Having finished his meal, Chris calmly got up from the table and carried his plate and glass to the sink. He turned on the tap and let the water run as he began to wash away the remains of his breakfast. All seemed quiet until he heard the sudden sound of a chair moving behind him.

"Christopher Eriksen."

His mother's tone was so serious that Chris felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Were you with anyone last night?"

Chris frowned, confused, and barely turned his head towards his mother, who was staring at him with narrowed eyes and crossed arms.

"What, no... Why would you say that?"

Emily pointed directly at her neck with an expression that mixed surprise and amusement.

"Because you have a hickey there."

Chris froze.

"What?"

His heart skipped a beat and he reflexively moved his hand to the side of his neck. He felt the warm skin under his fingers, the faint relief of something... Shit.

Before he could think of an excuse, his mind was flooded with vivid images.

Daniel approaching him in the kitchen, his lips trapping his with a sweeping intensity. Daniel's smile before he kissed him again, hungrier, with more desire. Hands clutching clothes, bodies pressed against the counter, breaths coming in ragged gasps. Lips trailing down his neck, biting, sucking, leaving marks.

Chris felt the blood rush to his face.

Oh God.

How long had he been at it?

Had Ynez and Alex seen it too?

"I... it's nothing," he stammered, turning away immediately to continue washing his plate, eyes wide as saucers.

Emily chuckled and walked over to the table, propping herself up on her elbows with an expression of pure mischief.

"So it's nothing, huh?" she said amusedly. "You're telling me that giant hickey magically appeared?"

Chris pursed his lips, feeling the heat burn his cheeks.

"I... I don't know how it happened..."

"Are you sure?" crooned Emily, "So tell me the truth... is it someone from Arcadia Bay? Or do you have a secret boyfriend who came to see you?"

"Mom!"

Chris covered his face with both hands, feeling like he was going to die of embarrassment.

Emily laughed, clearly enjoying her son's discomfort.

"Oh my God, yes, he's a secret boyfriend!" she exclaimed, holding her hand to her chest as if she had made the world's greatest revelation. "Chris, why didn't you tell me? Since when? What's his name? Is he handsome? Am I going to meet him?"

Chris wanted to fall apart right there.

"He's not a boyfriend!" he protested, turning sharply, his face still as red as a tomato. "I don't even know how... how this happened!"

The memory of Daniel, his warm breath on his skin, the way he'd looked at him with that hungry gleam in his eyes, his body pressed against him as he devoured him with kisses... Chris felt a shiver run down his spine.

Emily looked up at him with a mischievous grin, but then cocked her head curiously.

"Ohhh, wait... You didn't know you had that on your neck either?"

Chris swallowed and looked away.

"N-no..."

"Oh, Christopher!" Emily put her hands to her face, somewhere between amused and shocked. "You're telling me you spent the morning with a mark like that on you and didn't even notice?"

"Mom, please stop!"

Emily laughed heartily, seeing how distressed her son was.

"Oh, darling, take it easy. I'm not going to judge you..." she said, holding up her hands in peace. "Just tell me one thing... Was it someone important? Or just... fun?"

Chris felt his stomach tighten.

Important.

The word hit him like a sledgehammer. Because the truth was, it was.

It was important, very important.

Daniel wasn't just anyone. But he couldn't tell her that.

He didn't even know where Daniel was in this timeline.

So he just pursed his lips and looked down.

"It doesn't matter, Mom."

Emily watched him silently for a few seconds and then smiled tenderly.

"Well, when it does matter... you tell me, okay?"

Chris nodded slowly, feeling a lump in his throat.

"Yes, Mom..."

Chris finished washing his plate and glass in silence, still feeling the heat on his face. His mother had sat back down, smiling to herself as she checked her laptop, but he could barely concentrate on anything other than Daniel.

What would he be doing in his true timeline?

Would he be okay?

Had he noticed his absence?

But then his mind wandered to a question that had not occurred to him until now.

What had become of Daniel in this timeline?

Chris stared at the water running down the sink, feeling his heart beat faster. Did he even exist? Had he grown up in Puerto Lobos? Had his life been different?

Where was he?

Chris turned off the tap slowly, feeling anxiety settle in his chest.

He leaned against the kitchen counter, biting the inside of his cheek. Daniel used to live in Seattle before everything went to hell in his reality... but that didn't mean that in this dimension his life would have been the same.

Had he lived in Puerto Lobos, as in his timeline? Or perhaps somewhere else?

His mind began to fill with unanswered questions.

Were his parents still alive? Was Sean with him? Had he had a normal life?

The thought of a Daniel growing up without tragedy, without running away, without living in the shadow of persecution, brought a strange feeling to his chest. What kind of person would he be in this timeline?

His breathing became heavier. Part of him desperately wanted to know the answer... but another part was afraid.

Before he could sink any further into this mental whirlwind, his mother's voice snapped him out of it.

"Chris, darling, what are you doing today?"

He blinked, snapping back to reality, and barely turned his head in her direction. Emily was looking at him with a calm expression, still checking her laptop, but clearly waiting for an answer.

Chris let out a small sigh and, instead of answering immediately, looked away from the kitchen window. Outside, the sky was clear and bright blue, the sun shining brightly in every corner.

"I want to go for a walk," he finally said, his voice sounding firmer than he had expected.

Emily raised an eyebrow.

"A walk? Where to?"

Chris took a second to answer, not taking his eyes off the horizon.

"To Arcadia Bay."

His mother smiled softly.

"Sounds like a good plan."

Arcadia Bay was a small coastal town in Oregon, surrounded by the vast Pacific Ocean and deep green forests that stretched as far as the eye could see. Its crisp, salty air always brought a sense of nostalgia, as if time slowed down on its quiet streets and secluded beaches.

Chris walked along the worn pavements of the town centre, his hands in his jacket pockets and his eyes fixed on his surroundings. Despite the good weather, the town still had that melancholic air, with its old buildings, small local shops and the sea breeze carrying the sound of waves in the distance.

He passed a bakery with outdoor tables where a few people were chatting with cups in their hands. In the distance he could see a fishing shop, its wooden sign a little worn.

Chris took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the salty air. He couldn't deny that Arcadia Bay had its charm, but also a feeling of emptiness that he couldn't explain. Perhaps it was because this city didn't exist in his reality.

His pace slowed as he reached a crossroads. From there he could see the road leading to the lighthouse on the cliff. The sight sent an involuntary shiver down his spine. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to go there.

Without thinking too much, he headed in that direction, letting his footsteps lead him.

Chris walked along the path that led to the lighthouse, feeling the sea breeze grow stronger as he climbed. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below was constant, a distant echo that seemed to whisper something impossible to decipher.

The path was flanked by tall pines that swayed gently in the breeze, and the scent of salt and damp earth filled the air. Arcadia Bay might be a tranquil place, but for Chris it was a reminder of the unknown, of all that was different about this timeline... and of what he might never discover.

When he finally reached the top of the cliff, the lighthouse stood before him, imposing and lonely. Its white structure contrasted against the clear sky, and for a moment Chris felt a strange tightness in his chest.

He stepped to the edge of the cliff and let his eyes wander to the horizon. The sea stretched as far as the eye could see, endless and serene, as if nothing in the world could disturb it. But Chris knew that appearances could be deceiving.

He pursed his lips and shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling the weight of his own thoughts.

In his reality, Arcadia Bay didn't exist.

But here it was intact.

Which meant that things had happened differently.

Or someone had made a decision that changed everything.

He turned slowly, taking in his surroundings. From there he could see part of the town, with its pitched-roof houses and quiet streets stretching down to the bay. In the distance, the iconic 'Two Whales Diner' sign stood out among the buildings, and for a moment, Chris was curious.

Maybe he should go there. Order a coffee, sit and watch, try to absorb more of this reality in which he now existed.

But his attention returned to the lighthouse, to the dirt track that surrounded it. He walked to one of the wooden fences and put his hands on it, feeling the rough texture under his fingers.

Chris sat down on a bench. He took his notebook and pencil from the backpack he had brought with him and, without much thought, began to draw.

His strokes were light at first, just lines sketching the outline of the lighthouse and the sea stretching to the horizon. Then, little by little, he added more detail, the waves breaking gently against the rocks, the seagulls circling over the bay, the texture of the trees swaying in the wind.

Time seemed to pass around them. The sun rose slowly in the sky, bathing the landscape in a golden light, and Chris just kept on drawing. He lost himself in the sound of the waves, in the salty breeze, in the calm rhythm of Arcadia Bay.

He wasn't thinking about alternate timelines. He didn't think about his father, he didn't think about his mother, he didn't think about Daniel. There was only this moment, the peace that this town offered him.

When he had finished, he looked at his drawing in silence. There was something nostalgic about the scene he had captured, something he couldn't explain.

He stood there until the sun was high in the sky. Then, with a sigh, he closed his notebook, put his things away and got up.

It was time to go home.

When he arrived at the house he noticed something unusual, the door was ajar and the silence inside was different. He entered cautiously, expecting to find his mother in the living room, but found the house empty. He walked over to the dining table and there, neatly folded, was a note with money on it.

Chris picked up the paper and read the words written in Emily's handwriting:

"Dear Chris,

"I'm having lunch with a friend. I've left some money on the table so you can buy something to eat. (;

I love you very much.

Mum."

A shy smile crept across his face. The note, simple and full of affection, dispelled the worry for a moment. As much as he would have liked to have his mother by his side right now, it was comforting to know that he had taken a moment to enjoy and care for him.

Chris decided to search the house for something that would help him better understand the past of this timeline. He began to delve into the forgotten corners of the house, opening drawers and going through old shelves.

Amongst a collection of photographs and newspaper clippings, his hands came across a trunk that seemed to have been there forever. Intrigued, he opened it carefully. Inside, among the old objects and paper memorabilia, he found something that stopped him in his tracks, a yellowed, folded newspaper.

He spread it out on the dining table. The front page carried a headline that, at first glance, looked like a fragment of a painful past.

"Tragic End: Trail Blazers Players Die in Crash."

Los Angeles, CA

Tragedy struck the basketball world last night when a private plane carrying several Portland Trail Blazers players crashed outside Los Angeles. The flight, which was travelling from Portland to California for an exhibition game, lost contact with the control tower minutes before impact.

According to preliminary reports, the plane experienced mechanical failure while flying over the coast and, after an unsuccessful attempt at an emergency landing, crashed in a mountainous area north of the city. Rescue teams arrived at the scene, but no survivors were reported.

Among the victims was Charles Eriksen, a former college star and one of the team's most promising players, whose career has been characterised by hard work and dedication. “It’s a devastating loss for the basketball family and for everyone who knew him, especially his family," the Trail Blazers coach said at a visibly distraught news conference.

Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident. Meanwhile, the sports community and the team's fans have expressed their grief on social media and outside the Trail Blazers' arena, where candles and tributes have been left in honour of the fallen players.

The NBA plans to hold a tribute to the victims in the coming days.

Chris froze, as the words stuck in his mind. The photo of his father with his team, taken years ago, appeared next to the article. The news was painful to read.

The echo of the tragedy mixed with the loneliness of the moment. Every word of the article seemed to echo in the silence of the house, reminding him of the absence, the uncertainty and the life that had somehow been left incomplete. With the newspaper in his hand, Chris dropped into the chair, feeling the weight on his shoulders.

Chris stared at the newspaper with fixed eyes, but his mind could no longer focus on the words. His chest felt heavy, as if the air itself was saturated with guilt. The news of his father's accident hurt not only because of the loss, but because he knew that deep down, he was the one who had caused it.

By saving his mother in this timeline, he had changed the course of everyone's life, especially his father's. A man who, with the support of his wife, had pursued his dream of becoming a professional basketball player. That drive to live more fully, to not let go of the opportunity to give his family a better life, had dragged him into the fatal fate of the plane crash.

Chris got up from his chair and began to walk aimlessly around the house, his mind clouded. The walls no longer comforted him. Everything in this house was a reminder of the choices he had made, choices that had cost him more than he was willing to pay.

He walked down the hallway, arriving at his mother's room. There, on the bedside table, he saw the photograph of himself as a child with his mother.

The same photo he had used in order to change his mother's fate.

Did he really want to return to the other reality?

The question repeated itself over and over in his mind, echoing like an empty echo. Now, in front of this picture, he felt something inside him crack.

Here, in this dimension, he had grown up with his mother. They had shared happy and painful moments together and he had had a deep connection with her, she had been supportive, loving and caring. Although life had been difficult, the love she had given him had been real.

Was it worth losing all that?

In the other reality, his father had never died in the accident, but the distance from him had left a wound that never closed. As much as his father had been alive in this timeline, alcoholism, grief and absence had created an unbridgeable gap.

Why couldn't he have both?

Why couldn't there be a reality in which he could have a complete family, a life in which his mother was alive and his father was alive?

Chris took a step back, his heart pounding. Over the years he'd dreamed of having a real family, one that wasn't broken by tragedy, ghosts of the past or emotional voids.

He had always longed for it, but never thought it would mean having to choose between one life and another.

Could there be only one way to be whole?

In his mind, the pieces of his life's puzzle seemed to fall apart. He had managed to save his mother, but at great cost... the chance to build a relationship with his father had been banished, trapped in another time, another life.

Was this what he had wanted?

Perhaps the answer was not so simple. Perhaps the real question was whether he could live with the guilt of choosing a life that had allowed him to heal some wounds, but left him with deeper ones. The absence of his father, the choices that had led him to where he was now, the broken connections... it all weighed heavily on his soul.

Chris walked slowly down the hallway, not knowing where to go or what to think. His thoughts were in chaos and the last thing he wanted was to make an immediate decision... All he wanted was to find some peace, some quiet. The house, though empty, seemed to offer just that, a place where he could be alone, disconnected from all that was tormenting him.

When he reached his room, he stood in the doorway for a moment and looked around. Everything was in its place. Soft afternoon light streamed in through the window and the silence of the room enveloped him. Without a word, he walked over to his bed, flopped down on it and closed his eyes for a second, feeling the weight of everything he had experienced that day.

The silence was comforting. There was no pressure.

But then something caught his eye. In an almost forgotten corner of the room, he saw a guitar leaning against the wall.

Without thinking, he got up and walked over to the guitar. He picked it up with an instant familiarity, as if he had never put it down. He sat down on the bed and laid the guitar on his lap, letting the weight of the strings and the body of the guitar keep him in the moment.

His fingers glided gently over the strings, playing a few notes at random, with no definite pattern. He wasn't looking for anything in particular, just the sound. A melody that would help him clear his mind, if only for a few minutes.

Gradually, his fingers began to find a more fluid harmony, a quiet rhythm that seemed to calm the storm inside him. It was as if the music was speaking to him, soothing him. Each chord seemed to absorb some of the turmoil he was feeling, each note like a small release from his mind.

He closed his eyes and let the melodies flow. He didn't think about the future, he didn't think about the past. He was just there, in the moment, with the guitar in his hands. As he played, he felt lighter, as if the music was an escape from the storm of emotions that had invaded him.

The soft sound of the guitar enveloped him, but despite the momentary peace he felt, one person still haunted his mind.

Daniel.

Daniel's presence in Puerto Lobos had been a kind of anchor for him. The way they shared simple but profound moments, moments that were difficult but brought them closer together, the way conversations flowed with a naturalness he hadn't experienced in a long time, all this had become something he was missing now. There was an inexplicable peace when he was around, a stillness that seemed to fill the emptiness Chris had carried for so long.

But now, in this new reality, everything was different. He didn't know what had happened to Daniel. He was filled with doubt. There was something deep inside him that he felt he needed to know, not just out of curiosity, but because in some ways Daniel had been more than a friend. He had been a constant, a refuge in the midst of chaos.

Suddenly the strings stopped playing as Chris dropped the guitar onto the bed. The thought of Daniel unsettled him, but it also spurred him to action. He had to find him, to know what had become of him in this world.

He got out of bed, went to the window and looked out without really seeing anything. The calm was gone and all that remained in his mind was the need to know about Daniel, to understand what had happened to him in this reality.

He had to find out.

Chapter Text

The basement was cold and dim, with a single light bulb illuminating the space with a yellowish glow. Chris walked down the last few steps and rubbed his hands together to warm them. The place was full of stacked boxes, old tools, and furniture covered with white sheets.

He made his way through the clutter to a corner where he found an old chalkboard leaning against the wall. He dragged it to the center of the room, dusted it off with the sleeve of his sweatshirt and picked up a black marker. His breathing was the only sound in the basement as he began to write.

To the left of the blackboard, he wrote, “Original Reality.” Underneath, and began jotting down the facts:

- Mom was hit by a car.

- I was raised by my grandparents in Seattle.

- My dad left Beaver Creek.

- I met Daniel and Sean when they were hiding out at the Reynolds' house.

- Daniel had powers and escaped with Sean to Mexico.

- Sean was shot by the police at the border.

- 10 years later I was reunited with Daniel in Puerto Lobos.

- Gangs. Drugs. Danger.

Chris bit the inside of his cheek as he looked at the list. So far, it all made sense. But then, he turned and wrote on the other side of the board, “New Reality.”

This time, his strokes were slower, as if each word confirmed the unrealness of his situation.

- Mom is alive.

- Dad died in a plane crash in LA.

- My mom changed jobs.

- We moved cities.

- I grew up in Arcadia Bay.

- ¿????????

He was silent for a few seconds, looking at the differences between the two columns. There were so many things he still didn't understand... but what bothered him most was what he still couldn't answer.

In the center of the blackboard, he wrote in large letters: Where is Daniel? Is Sean alive?

The name weighed on his mind.

What had become of him in this timeline?

He felt a slight shiver as he remembered all that Daniel had gone through in his other reality, the fear, the constant running, the loss. What if in this life things had been even worse?

Chris put the marker down on a table and rested his hands on the board, trying to think of a direction. He had to figure it out. He had to find it.

Chris took a deep breath, leaning his back against the cold basement wall. His thoughts drifted back to the first time he met Daniel, in December 2016. He knew the year perfectly well because, in his original reality, his mother was gone. She had died two years earlier. And that Christmas, Chris had spent it alone with his father.

The memory hit him hard.

Christmas morning had been cold. Chris woke early, with the small hope that his father had remembered what he had promised him the day before, to go shopping for a Christmas tree together.

But after eating the breakfast Charles had cooked for him that morning, he found him on the couch, with several empty beer cans on the table and a basketball game playing on the television.

Chris had tried to ignore it. He set about cleaning the house, picking up the bottles, and trying to bring some warmth to the morning. But when he shook his father's shoulder to wake him up, it all came crashing down.

Charles woke with a start, staring blankly and frowning. The hangover and the alcohol were speaking for him.

Without thinking, he ran outside. He headed for the backyard, his chest burning and his eyes filled with tears. He wanted to run to the tree house, his only safe place.

And then... he slipped.

One of the old wooden planks he was using as a ladder creaked under his weight and broke in an instant. He felt gravity pull him down, his body falling into the void.

But he never touched the ground.

At the last second, before his head hit the snow, he felt something invisible stop him in mid-air. His body floated for a moment, suspended in nothingness.

When Chris raised his head, he saw a boy his age looking up at him with arms outstretched and eyes wide open. His breathing was labored, as if he had just exerted himself enormously.

It was then that he met Daniel.

Chris came back to the present with a start, his gaze fixed on the blackboard.

If his mother never died in this reality....

If they moved out of Beaver Creek before December 2016....

Which meant that he had never met Daniel.

Chris felt a shiver run down his spine.

He needed proof, he needed to know if his memories were just a discarded possibility in this timeline. Without a second thought, he hurried up the stairs to the living room and began to search.

His eyes swept the room until he saw it, a bookshelf with several photo albums stacked in order. He picked them up with shaking hands and quickly flipped through the first few pages. Dates were handwritten at the bottom of each photo.

He searched for 2016.

His fingers stopped on one page in particular. There he was, with his mother and grandparents, in Seattle.

A Christmas photo, but not in Beaver Creek. Not in his old house.

His chest constricted. There was no trace of Daniel or Sean. There was no record of his life intersecting with theirs.

On his timeline, he had a photo next to Sean and Daniel.

Chris felt a punch in his stomach. He slammed the album shut and, wasting no more time, ran up the stairs to his room with the photo book pressed against his chest.

He entered his room and immediately turned on the laptop, his fingers tapping the keyboard in desperation as he typed into the search engine.

“Díaz Brothers border 2017.”

His heart pounded as the results loaded. When the first news item appeared, he felt the world stop.

“Border tragedy: two brothers die in shootout while trying to cross into Mexico.”

Chris stopped breathing.

His eyes scrolled through the article, his mind was refusing to process what he was seeing.

Sean and Daniel... they had not run away.

They had not fled into an uncertain future.

There was no Daniel to grow with the burden of his power and no Sean to protect him from everything.

They had died.

His throat tightened. He felt like he was going to throw up.

Everything he had changed, everything he had done... had led to this.

And now, in this reality, Daniel was dead.

Chris slowly turned away from the screen, his eyes wide, and felt something inside him shatter into a thousand pieces.

His mind played the same thought over and over, like an endless echo.

I killed him.

Desperation rose in his throat, burning him from within. He had believed that by saving his mother he was repairing something, making his life better. But now he understood the truth in the worst possible way.

This wasn't about saving someone with no consequences. It was about trading lives.

If his mother lived... then his father and Daniel must die.

The cost of his happiness had been too high.

Chris slumped back in his chair, staring at the screen, unable to look away from the headline confirming the tragedy. His chest was rising and falling with uncontrolled breaths, his mind spinning without finding a way out.

He had imagined many things when changing the past, but never this.

There could be no reality in which Daniel was not somewhere in the world. He couldn't bear the thought of someone like him simply... ceasing to exist.

His vision blurred. A burning filled his eyes before the first tear rolled down his cheek.

"No...” he whispered, his voice trembling. "This can't be happening..."

He clenched his fists, feeling despair turn to anguish, guilt crushing him mercilessly.

He had saved his mother... but was it worth it if it meant losing his father and Daniel?

For the first time since he had arrived in this reality, he felt as if his body couldn't take it.

As if his own existence was meaningless in a world without Daniel Díaz.

Chris felt the air grow heavier, as if suddenly the entire weight of the universe had settled on his shoulders. His hands trembled, his lips parted in a futile attempt to breathe, but he could not. Something inside him snapped in a way he had never felt before.

The lump in his throat burned, tight, suffocating, and before he could stop himself, tears began to slide down his face. Silent at first, hot little drops that fell into his lap as he continued to watch the news on the screen, unable to look away.

Then, he sobbed.

A choked, desperate sound erupted from deep within his chest. He folded in on himself, pressing his fists against his eyes as if that could stop the flood of emotions tearing him apart from within.

But he couldn't.

The crying enveloped him completely. His breathing became erratic, gasping, choppy from the sobs that shook his entire body. He tried to inhale, but each attempt broke into a new wave of crying.

He had changed everything.

He had saved his mother.

But in the process, he had doomed Daniel and his father.

Chris dropped his head in his hands, feeling smaller, more helpless than he had ever felt in his life. Thick tears soaked his palms, his chest rose and fell erratically as despair consumed him.

It was his fault.

This was all his fault.

He had tried to be a hero... and now, everything was worse.

A broken moan escaped his throat as he squeezed his eyes shut, wishing with all his might to wake up in Daniel’s room in Puerto Lobos. To wake up with Daniel by his side, with his life intact, with the knowledge that, cruel though the world was, at least Daniel was alive.

But when he opened his eyes again, he was still in this reality.

And Daniel was still dead.

The last rays of sunlight filtered through the window, bathing the room in amber and gold, while the rest of the space was plunged in gloom. The dim light danced on the walls, casting elongated shadows that moved slowly in the breeze coming through the half-open window.

Chris had sat on the floor, his back against the bed, his body still shaken by the remnants of his crying. His eyes were burning, puffy and red, his breathing an irregular whisper as he tried to calm himself. But the feeling of emptiness was still there, immense, heartbreaking, squeezing his chest as if an invisible hand was plunging him into an abyss.

He didn't know how much time had passed. Everything felt blurry, distant, as if he were floating in an alien reality.

Then a sound broke the heavy silence.

Footsteps on the stairs.

Chris blinked, disoriented, and looked around. The light had changed, the sunset tinged the sky with shades of orange and violet. He had lost track of time.

The sound of footsteps came closer, and a familiar voice startled him.

“Chris?”

It was his mother.

Panic gripped him for an instant. He quickly wiped his tears with his sleeves, tried to take a deep breath, but the lump in his throat was still there, tight, cruel. He had no time to pull himself together.

The door opened softly.

Emily poked her head in and looked at him with a quiet smile, but it vanished as soon as her eyes fell on him.

Chris looked down, trying to hide his face, but it was too late.

Emily walked in without saying anything at first, frowning slightly.

”Honey... what's wrong?”

Chris clenched his fists on his knees, feeling his chest shrink again.

”N-nothing,” he replied, his voice hoarse and cracked.

Emily closed the door softly and walked over, crouching down in front of him so she could get a better look at him.

”Chris,” she said in a softer tone, her gaze sweeping over his face with concern. “You've been crying.”

It wasn't a question.

Chris swallowed, but couldn't hold her gaze.

Emily didn't immediately insist. Instead, she reached up and gently brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead.

“Son... tell me what's wrong,” she whispered, her voice full of tenderness and patience.

Chris felt the burning in his eyes return with force. His lips trembled, and though he wanted to answer, he found no words.

Because what could he say to her?

How could he explain to her that he didn’t belong to this timeline? that everything she knew about him, about his life, about his history, was a mirage constructed by an alteration in time?

How could he tell her that, even though he had her back, his father and Daniel had died because of him?

His throat closed up.

“You don't have to tell me now,” she assured him, ”but I don't want to see you like this. I don't want you to keep everything to yourself, Chris.”

Chris clenched his jaw, feeling the storm inside him grow even more.

His mother was there.

In front of him.

Alive.

And he wanted to collapse in her arms and cry like when he was a child.

Emily didn't push him. She just stood there, beside him, holding onto his silence as if by her presence alone she could sustain him. Chris felt her warm fingers on his, such a contrast to the cold that had settled inside him that he almost pulled back.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

”Just...” he murmured in a choked voice, ”I had a bad day.”

Emily watched him patiently, as if she could see past his words, as if she knew it wasn't just that.

”A bad day?” she repeated softly.

Chris swallowed, forcing himself to nod.

”Yes. I woke up...with my head all messed up,” he admitted. “Thinking about… a lot of things.”

His mother tilted her head, looking at him with those green eyes he missed so much.

”About Charles?”

Chris's breath caught in his throat.

Emily sighed and slid her thumb over his hand in a reassuring gesture.

”I know we don't always talk about it,” she said in a slow tone. “But you can do it. We can do it together.”

Chris felt the guilt crushing him with more weight than he already had.

He couldn't tell her that he had changed everything.

That, in his timeline, his father was still alive, but a man destroyed by alcohol and grief.

That, in his timeline, Daniel also existed.

That in this timeline... Daniel didn’t survive.

Chris looked away, watching the lengthening shadows cast in the room by the evening light.

”I don't know if I'm ready to talk about it,” he muttered.

Emily squeezed his hand once more before slowly releasing him.

”It's okay,” she replied tenderly. “But when you are, I'll be here.”

Chris nodded silently, feeling a knot tied tightly in his chest.

Emily stood up and ruffled his hair affectionately before heading for the door.

”I'll go downstairs and get dinner ready. If you feel like eating, I'll be in the kitchen.”

Chris didn't answer, just watched her disappear behind the door.

And, when he was alone again, he hugged himself and rested his forehead on his knees, letting out a long sigh.

Everything inside him told him that something was wrong.

And, even though his mother was here, alive, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing.

No... that someone was missing.

Chris squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

Chris descended the stairs in silence, thoughts still tangled in his mind. Outside, night had already fallen completely, and the lamps in the living room cast a warm light that softened the gloom.

The atmosphere was quiet, too quiet.

From the kitchen came the unmistakable aroma of Bolognese sauce, a smell that brought back memories of his childhood, of nights when his mother cooked while he talked endlessly about his favorite comics or the stories he made up in his head.

As he walked through the kitchen door, he saw her back to him, serving pasta on two plates.

Emily looked up when she noticed his presence and, with that smile that always comforted him, invited him to come closer.

”Just in time,” she said, sliding the plate back to its place at the table. “Come, sit down.”

Chris swallowed, trying to ignore the weight in his chest.

With a silent effort, he walked to the table and took a seat.

His mother sat down across from him and, for a moment, watched him silently before picking up her fork.

”I hope you're hungry,” she commented softly. “I know it's been a long day.”

Chris looked at his plate, and then at his mother.

Despite all the chaos in his mind, all that had changed, all that had been lost....

At least, for tonight, he could pretend everything was okay.

Chris picked up his fork and stirred the pasta on his plate, forcing himself to find some normalcy in the moment. He took a deep breath and, in the most relaxed tone he could fake, broke the silence.

”How… did lunch go with your friend?”

Emily looked up with a flash of surprise, but soon her expression softened with a smile.

”Very well, actually. I hadn't seen her for a long time since she moved away,” she replied as she cut a piece of bread. “It's funny, we've spent years saying we should see each other, but always ended up putting it off.”

Chris nodded, encouraging her to continue as he put a bite of food in his mouth.

”And how did the reunion come about?”

Emily set her fork aside and leaned her elbows on the table with a thoughtful air.

”I was just passing through Arcadia Bay on a business trip, and since I had a few hours free, she called me to see if we could have lunch. It was a nice coincidence.”

Chris felt a pang in his chest when he heard the name of the city. Arcadia Bay.

Chris forced himself to smile slightly.

”I'm glad you could see each other.”

Emily looked at him gently and nodded.

”You have to seize opportunities when they come.”

Chris felt a lump in his throat.

Yes... take advantage of opportunities.

Emily took a sip of her water before settling her eyes on Chris intently. Her gaze was soft, but there was a tinge of concern in it.

”Are you feeling better?”

Chris looked up, blinking as if the question had taken him by surprise. He forced a smile and nodded slowly.

”Yes... a little better. I guess I just had a lot on my mind.”

”That part of you has always been hard to carry,” she said with a sigh. “When you're sad, you put up a wall that's impossible to break through. You keep everything to yourself, and sometimes I feel like I don't even know what's going on in your head.”

Chris looked down at his plate, absently twirling the leftover pasta with his fork.

Emily put down her silverware and leaned her elbows on the table, fingers interlocked.

”I know you're an adult now, that I have to let you work out your own problems. But that doesn't mean I don't care. It frustrates me that I can't help you when I see you like this... like today.”

Chris swallowed, feeling his chest tighten.

”I'm sorry...I don't mean to make you feel that way.”

Emily smiled tenderly and shook her head.

”You don't have to apologize, sweetheart. I just want you to remember that I'm here, okay? No matter what it is, you can count on me.”

Chris looked up and met her gaze with his own. His mother was alive, in front of him, offering him the support he had so often dreamed of having.

And yet...

He couldn’t tell her anything.

Because, as much as he wanted with all his being to cling to this new reality, in his heart the truth still burned.

Chris cleared his throat, trying to find a natural way to deflect the conversation. He couldn't let his mother notice how stirred up his insides were.

“By the way, Mom...there's something I don't quite remember,” he said in a casual tone, fiddling with the edge of his napkin, “Where did we spend Christmas in 2016?”

Emily looked at him with a slightly surprised expression, cocking her head curiously.

”Christmas 2016?” she repeated, thoughtfully. “What a strange question, Chris... Why do you want to know?”

Chris shrugged, forcing a smile.

”I don't know... I was thinking about it earlier. I guess I just got curious.”

Emily looked at him for a moment longer, as if trying to read between the lines, but finally sighed and leaned back in her chair.

”Well... that year was hard, remember?”

Chris swallowed and nodded slowly, though not for the reasons she thought.

”It hadn't been long since your dad's accident, and the house felt...too empty,” Emily continued with a sad smile. “I didn't want us to spend Christmas alone, so I suggested to your grandparents that we go to Seattle. I thought it would do us good to be with them.”

Chris was silent for a moment, processing the information.

In his original timeline, he spent that Christmas in Beaver Creek, alone with his father.

In this one, his mother was alive and they had been in Seattle with his grandparents.

He was never in Beaver Creek that winter.

And that meant his theory was right.

He had never met Daniel.

Emily noticed the way Chris's face subtly changed with her answer. His gaze was lost in the pasta without really seeing her, and the slight smile he had tried to maintain faded, leaving in its place a shadow of melancholy.

His mother put her fork down on her plate and leaned her elbows on the table, leaning slightly toward him.

”Chris...” Her voice sounded soft, full of that tenderness that only a mother could offer. “Does this have to do with what happened to you today? Whatever it is that's got you like this... it's because of your dad, isn't it?”

Chris felt a lump in his throat. It wasn't exactly about that, but in a way it was.

He took a breath and, without looking up, murmured.

”It's just... sometimes I still find it hard to believe. That it happened before Christmas.”

Emily sighed and brought a hand to Chris's, squeezing it affectionately.

”I know,” she said in a whisper. “So do I.”

Emily squeezed his hand tighter, as if to take the sadness away from her son. Then she smiled a little smile.

”Well, enough sad faces for today,” she said softly. “What do you say we watch a movie when we finish dinner? We can pick an old favorite... I'll make popcorn, just like when you were little.”

Chris looked up and saw his mother's warm expression. He knew she was just trying to cheer him up, that she wanted to make him forget for a moment whatever it was that was weighing him down.

”You don't have to do that, Mom...”

”Of course I do,” she interrupted him with a mischievous smile. “It's my duty as a mother to make sure my son doesn't go to bed with that funeral face.”

Chris let out a light laugh, but it didn't reach his eyes. He sighed and nodded, shrugging his shoulders.

”Okay...”

Emily smiled wider and stood up.

”Great. I'll get the popcorn ready. You pick the movie. But nothing too depressing, please.”

Chris watched her walk toward the kitchen and felt a pang in his chest. He wanted to enjoy this moment with his mother, he wanted to hold on to that warmth...

Chris and Emily were lying on the bed, covered with a blanket as the sound of the movie filled the space with special effects and heroic dialogue.

Emily let out a soft laugh and shook her head as she watched the scene and ate popcorn.

”I love this movie,” she murmured wistfully. “It reminds me of when I was a kid. I used to watch it at my grandparents' house with my cousins....”.

Chris turned his head to look at her curiously.

"Did you have cousins who were as fanatical as me?”

Emily laughed heartily.

”Oh, of course. Only they'd never admit it. They always said they watched these movies only because I insisted, but then they knew every line by heart,” she sighed with amusement. “I remember one time one of them put a towel on his back and jumped off the bed trying to fly like Superman. He hit the floor so hard we almost got caught by our parents.”

Chris burst out laughing, imagining the scene.

”And what did you do?”

"We got under the bed and pretended nothing had happened." Emily smiled mischievously. “Although his limp the next day almost gave us away."

Chris laughed again, but the warmth of the moment felt bittersweet in his chest. He looked at his mother, her face was illuminated by the reflections on the screen, and felt a lump form in his throat.

He wanted to cling to her, to tell her how much he had missed her, how much he wished this were real....

But it wasn't.

This wasn't his life.

It wasn't his home.

Chris averted his gaze, pretending to focus on the movie as his hands closed over the blanket. He knew it wasn't right to cling to this moment, but...for now, just for one more moment, he wanted to pretend it was.

The movie was moving along, but Chris could barely concentrate on the story. His mother was still laughing softly at certain scenes, completely immersed in nostalgia, while he watched her out of the corner of his eye, recording her every gesture in his memory.

The glow of the screen illuminated her face with intermittent flashes. She looked relaxed, calm... alive.

Chris swallowed hard.

If he closed his eyes and let himself go, he could pretend this was real. That his mother had never died. That this house was his home.

But deep down, he knew the truth.

He knew that every second he spent here, every minute he clung to this reality, took him further away from his own.

From Daniel.

The lump in his throat tightened even more.

Emily noticed his silence and, without looking away from the screen, slipped a hand under the blanket and placed it on top of him, giving it a gentle squeeze.

”You know you can count on me for anything, right?” she whispered.

Chris froze.

”I know,” he replied, his voice barely a trickle.

Emily sighed, stroking his hand tenderly.

Chris closed his eyes for a moment.

He didn't want to lose this.

He didn't want to lose her again.

But if he stayed, it meant his father and Daniel were dead.

And that was something he could never live with.

He let out a shaky sigh and squeezed his mother's hand in silent thanks.

The room was in semi-darkness, lit only by the dim glow of the television, where the movie credits kept rolling in an endless parade of unfamiliar names. The sound was barely a murmur in the background, drowned out by the quiet breathing of his mother, who had fallen asleep with her head resting on his shoulder.

Chris didn't move.

He just looked at her, feeling the warmth of her body against his, listening to the slow rhythm of her breathing.

It was so easy to imagine that this had always been so.

That he'd never lost her.

That he never had to learn to live with her absence.

With slow movements, he slid his hand out of the blanket to take the photo that lay on the bedside table.

He looked at it in the dim light of the photo.

He, a little boy, with his mother holding him, smiling with an eternal happiness caught in the photo.

A silent sob formed in his throat before he could hold it back.

Tears slid down his cheeks without him being able to stop them, falling on the photo he held between his fingers.

He didn't want to do this.

He didn't want to leave her.

He didn't want to lose her again.

He looked at her.

The soft lines of her face, the way her hair fell over her forehead, the absolute peace in her expression.

His mother.

His mom.

He loved her so much.

Loved her with everything she was.

And maybe, in another life, in another universe where everything was fairer, they could meet again.

Chris closed his eyes tightly, clutching the photo to his chest.

He looked at the photo again.

He took a breath.

And he let himself go.

The sound of the door closing echoed through the house.

Chris stood in the living room, his heart cringing, staring at the doorway where his mother had just exited.

He knew what it meant.

He knew she wasn't coming back.

Tears clouded his vision as his body trembled. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to run after her, to stop her, to tell her not to go.

But he didn't.

His tiny fists clenched tightly, nails were digging into his skin.

Outside, the sound seemed more distant, as if the world was slowly receding from him. The room began to darken at the edges, fragmenting into flashes of light that flickered like dying stars.

The past was returning to its channel.

Reality was correcting itself.

Chris sobbed, his frail body shaking from crying.

He knew he had done the right thing.

He knew he had to let her go.

But then...why did it hurt so much?

The house around him vanished in a blinding glare.

And with it, the last vestige of a life that could never be.

Chapter Text

Everything went back to normal.

First, he felt the wet heat of tears sliding down his cheeks. Then, the barely perceptible trembling of his fingers and the firm pressure of the mattress under his back. He heard distant footsteps echoing in the room. Everything blurred, as if reality resisted taking shape.

Chris blinked.

His eyes were burning, but he managed to slowly focus on the ceiling. He was lying down, he understood that when he felt the blanket over his body. He recognized the smell of old wood. He was in Daniel's bed.

His throat closed.

The memory came back with force, the moment when he had decided not to save her. He had had his mother in front of him, alive, warm, laughing. And he had let her go.

"I'm sorry, Mom..." he whispered in a broken, barely audible voice.

A sob escaped before Chris could stop it, and he squeezed his eyes shut, as if by doing so he could contain the sadness overflowing in his chest. The pain was a deep pressure that spread like a silent echo through every corner of his body.

His mother.

Her smile.

And he... had had to let her die.

Chris put a hand to his mouth to stifle his tears. He was shaking. He felt like a part of him had broken for good.

From the living room came the sound of a glass hitting the table, and a voice muttering something under its breath. Daniel. He was at home. Back. Alive.

Chris swallowed, trying to calm himself. He was back. He was back in his reality, with Daniel. With his father, albeit distant. With the wounds he knew. The world he understood.

But that didn't alleviate the guilt.

It didn't bring his mother back.

He stood like that, silent, his eyes filled with tears and his heart overflowing, wishing someone could hold him, if only for a second.

Chris forced himself to sit up in bed.

It cost him. His muscles were tense, as if the time travel had drained his soul. But he did it. He sat up slowly, letting the blanket fall around his waist, and stood for a moment staring at the floor, breathing hard.

Inhaled through the nose. Exhaled through the mouth.

I'm fine, he said to himself.

I did the right thing.

It was the right thing to do...

He inhaled again. To exhale.

But then, the image crossed his mind again, his mother walking out the front door of the house, turning to see him with a smile, unaware of what was about to happen.

And his stomach cringed as if he'd been punched.

Chris felt the tears building up again. They stung his eyes. They made him blink hard.

"I'm sorry..." he muttered, barely a whisper of a voice.

He stood there for a few more seconds, caught between guilt and the need to move on. Because he had to. Because he could no longer change what he chose. Because Daniel was alive.

And that meant everything.

With effort, he got out of bed. His legs trembled a little, but he held himself up, determined. He advanced silently to the door. The wood creaked as his hand touched the doorknob. He hesitated for a second. He closed his eyes.

Inhaled. Exhaled.

Then he opened it.

And he saw it.

Daniel was standing in the living room, his back turned, checking something on the table. But... something didn't fit. Chris narrowed his eyes. His breathing stopped for a moment.

His hair.

Daniel's hair was no longer long and dyed blond. Now he wore his old haircut, shorter, messy, with strands falling over his forehead. And his natural color, dark brown, that warm shade Chris had learned to love when they were kids.

Chris's heart skipped a violent beat.

What did I...?

What did I do?

Did something change? Am I... am I in another timeline? Another reality?

Terror paralyzed him. He felt the walls closing in around him, the floor trembling beneath his feet. He stood motionless in the doorway, unable to speak, unable to breathe, staring at Daniel as if he were a stranger.

And then Daniel turned around.

Their eyes met.

Chris felt his blood run cold.

But what he saw in Daniel's eyes wasn’t confusion, or distance, or anything to indicate that he no longer knew him. It was pure concern. Daniel frowned instantly, and as he saw Chris's puffy eyes, his expression changed completely.

"Chris...?" he asked, putting down what was in his hands. He took a step toward him, quickly. "Shit... what happened, are you okay?"

Chris didn’t respond. He couldn't. He just looked at him, still caught in that mixture of confusion, fear and relief. His lips trembled. His chest rose and fell with difficulty.

Daniel closed the distance in two strides and stopped in front of him. His gaze was intense, his voice low, soft but urgent.

"Hey… dude." he said, raising a hand to brush his arm. "What's wrong with you, why are you crying?"

Chris closed his eyes. Just for a second.

It's him, he repeated to himself.

It's my Daniel.

But still, something inside him felt broken.

Chris shook his head, slowly, as if the words were costing him more than anything else at that moment.

"Sorry." Chris mumbled, barely audible.

Daniel frowned even more. His gaze wandered over Chris's face as if searching for clues, wounds, something to explain what he was seeing. He took a step closer, his jaw tense.

"What happened?" he asked urgently. "Did they do something to you? Did someone come? Did they hurt you?"

"No." Chris hastened to reply, shaking his head harder. "No, no... No one did anything to me."

"So, what happened?" insisted Daniel, not taking his eyes from his.

Chris swallowed saliva, feeling the pressure in his chest, as if his heart wanted to collapse again.

"I had a nightmare." he finally said, quietly.

Daniel watched him, motionless. The silence between the two was thick. Daniel's eyes seemed to search for something beyond words, something that didn't fit.

"Really?" Daniel asked gently, but firmly.

Chris nodded, forcing himself to keep a calm face. He gave him a sad smile, one he knew was fooling no one, but it was all he could offer at that moment.

"Yes. It was just that."

Daniel didn't seem convinced, but he didn't insist. Instead, he took his arm gently, as if he needed reassurance that it was there, tangible, real.

"I'm fine." repeated Chris, in a quiet voice. "It was just a bad dream."

Their gazes held for a few seconds, and Chris breathed slower, trying to control the trembling that still ran down his back.

Then he looked away, noticing the change in Daniel's hair again.

"What about your hair?" Chris asked, with a slight hint of confusion and a hint of tenderness. "I thought I was going to have to get used to blond forever."

Daniel blinked, surprised by the change of subject. Then, without letting go of his arm, he shrugged.

"I went in the morning to get a haircut. I got sick of it. I thought it was time to stop dying my hair blonde." he said, and a slight smile tugged at his lips. "Is it weird?"

Chris looked at him a moment longer, his eyes were still glazed over, but that faint smile on Daniel's face brought him some peace.

"No." said Chris, softly, letting his eyes settle on him a little more. "It's perfect...I missed seeing you like this."

Daniel stood silently looking into his eyes.

His words, so simple and so full of something more, floated in the air like an unexpected caress. Daniel looked at him intently, as if trying to memorize every line of his face at that instant, eyes still wet, cheeks flushed, voice trembling... and yet, he had that sincere tenderness, overflowing in the midst of sadness.

He felt something in his chest.

A warm, gentle pressure, almost uncomfortable because of its suddenness. As if his heart responded without asking permission, as if that "I missed seeing you like this" had touched a corner he hadn't wanted to look at for a long time.

He said nothing.

Daniel just looked at Chris, lips parted, as if he was going to respond and didn't know how.

And then, without thinking too much, his hand slid a little further up Chris's arm, as if he couldn't help but want to hold him close, to hold him in this reality.

Chris looked down for a moment, feeling the warmth of that hand on his arm, it was a simple gesture that spoke more than a thousand words.

None of them said anything.

But something was understood.

Something between guilt, relief, loss and reunion.

Daniel didn’t move his hand away.

Nor did he look away.

Chris was still there, vulnerable, with a smile that seemed held by fragile threads. And Daniel was looking at him as if trying to decipher him, as if every part of him mattered more to him than he was ready to say.

But he could no longer ignore it. Not after all.

"Chris..." he murmured, barely audible. "Whatever you dreamed up... you don't have to carry it alone."

Chris looked up, surprised by his tone of voice. There was something in Daniel's voice that he hadn't heard in years. A sincere, unguarded softness. No barriers.

"I'm fine." repeated Chris, reflexively.

Daniel looked at him for a second longer, then shook his head softly.

"You don't have to be."

He took a step closer. Then another. There was no more space between them.

"I know you don't want to worry me...but you worry me anyway, you know?"

His voice was low, as if he was afraid of breaking something if he spoke louder. And his eyes... those brown eyes that seemed to be back to their usual self, looked at him with a mixture of tenderness and fear. As if he too was dealing with his own inner fears.

Chris felt it so close, so real, that it was hard not to break down again.

"Sometimes it's hard for me to understand what you're feeling..." continued Daniel. "But it doesn't mean I don't want to know. It doesn't mean I'm not here."

Chris swallowed saliva, a lump in his throat. His chest rose and fell slowly, trying to keep himself whole.

"Dan..."

"Just tell me if you need me to stay. Or if you want me to hold you, or... if you prefer silence. But don't lock yourself away. Not with me."

Chris looked at him. For a few seconds, he just looked at him. As if that gesture was the only thing he could do without falling apart.

And then he nodded, barely, as one who surrenders to the simplest truth.

"Stay and… hold me." Chris whispered.

Daniel didn't hesitate. He hugged him firmly, with one hand on his back and the other on the back of his neck, as if he wanted to protect him from all possible worlds. And Chris, feeling that warmth, that weight, that certainty... dropped his forehead on his shoulder and finally breathed.

There, in that embrace, time seemed to stop.

And for the first time since returning, Chris felt he had done the right thing.

When the embrace was loosening, Chris didn't pull away immediately. He stood there, breathing more calmly, as if he finally had permission to do so.

Daniel released him gently, keeping his hands on his shoulders for a moment longer, then gave him a soft smile, the kind that peeks out when no more needs to be said.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked. "I made coffee...well, I tried."

Chris let out a short but genuine laugh. That sound was enough to ease the tension between them.

"Did the coffee pot survive?"

"For now." replied Daniel with mock solemnity. "But I make no promises if I try to cook tomorrow."

Chris followed him into the kitchen with calmer steps. He sat in the chair next to the counter while Daniel poured two cups. The aroma of coffee filled the air and, for a moment, everything seemed normal.

"You look different." commented Chris, watching him closely as he blew on his mug. "Not just the hair...it's like...I don't know. You're more you."

Daniel shrugged, pouring himself sugar without looking directly at him.

"I guess I needed it." Daniel replied. "To feel more like I used to...like when things were less complicated."

Chris watched him silently, with a warmth in his gaze.

"It looks good on you. I don't know if I told you that already."

Daniel looked at him out of the corner of his eye, and smiled.

"Yes. You told me. But you can say it again anytime you want."

They shared a little laugh, that complicit laughter that only exists between two people who have already crossed the threshold together.

The silence returned, but it was comfortable now. Like a pause for breath.

And then Daniel leaned his elbows on the counter and looked at him more seriously, although without losing the softness in his voice.

"I've been thinking about what you told me...about Karen."

Chris looked up, alert.

"Yes?"

"Yes." nodded Daniel. "And... I think I want to. Talk to her."

Chris' eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and excitement. For a second he was speechless, until a smile slowly crept onto his face, brighter, more alive.

"Really? Are you serious?"

Daniel nodded.

"I don't know what's going to happen...but I'd like to try. Not for her. For me."

Chris set the cup down on the table and, without thinking, leaned forward a little.

"Thank you." he said with his eyes shining, this time not out of sadness. "Really...thank you for trusting me."

Daniel lowered his gaze, as if he was having trouble sustaining the intensity of that moment, but his lips formed a faint smile.

"I don't know if it's confidence." he joked. "Maybe it's just that you look so convincing when you hug me half crying."

Chris let out a hearty laugh, and with that the atmosphere was filled with a new lightness, something akin to hope.

For the first time in a long time, it seemed like everything could be going a little better.

The afternoon sun was streaming through the curtains, casting the living room in a warm, soft hue. On the couch, Chris and Daniel were sitting side by side. They weren't touching, but their bodies were close enough to feel each other's warmth. The silence around them was not uncomfortable, but expectant.

Chris held his phone in his hands. His finger had already pressed the call icon, and Karen's name was flashing on the screen. The tone began to ring, long and slow, as if every second was stretching longer than necessary.

Daniel was staring at his own hands, resting on his knees. He was hunched forward, his shoulders tense and his jaw clenched. He was breathing deeply, but didn't seem to relax.

Chris noticed out of the corner of his eye. He turned the speaker down a little and gently turned his face toward him.

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly, though he already knew the answer. It gave him a chance to change his mind.

Daniel was slow to answer. His eyes wandered to the phone for a second, then he looked straight ahead again.

"No." he admitted truthfully. "I'm not sure of anything."

Chris nodded.

"But you're here."

Daniel let out a short, humorless laugh.

"Yes... damn, you're right."

The dial tone continued, impassive. And Chris felt his own pulse quicken, even though he wasn't the one who was going to speak. He looked at Daniel, trying to convey with his eyes that he wasn’t alone.

"She wants to hear you, Daniel. I promise."

Daniel inhaled through his nose, closing his eyes for a second, as if preparing for a blow. Then he opened them again, and this time he nodded with a small, almost imperceptible movement.

"Just...don't let go of me, okay?"

Chris looked at him. His words were simple, but they took his breath away for an instant. Without much thought, he reached out and rested his arm on Daniel's hand, firm but gentle.

"Never."

At that moment, on the other end of the line, the call was answered.

"Hello?" Karen's voice sounded a little agitated, as if she had rushed to answer. "Chris?"

Chris swallowed. He looked at Daniel once more, then cleared his throat.

"Hi, Karen...yes, it's me." His voice sounded firmer than Chris expected. "There's someone here who wants to talk to you."

Daniel's heart was pounding as if it wanted to escape from his chest. Chris held out the phone, not letting go of his hand.

"Whenever you're ready." Chris said, as calmly as he could muster.

Daniel looked at the phone as if it were a living thing. Then he took a deep breath, and held out his hand.

He held the phone to his ear, but for a moment he couldn't speak.

Karen's voice sounded on the other end, a little clearer, charged with urgency and pent-up emotion.

"Chris? Are you there?"

Daniel swallowed saliva. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before answering, his voice low, almost trembling.

"No... it's me."

There was a silence that went on too long. And then, on the other side, Karen's voice broke into a whisper.

"...Daniel?"

"Yes." he replied, barely audible.

Choked sobs were heard on the line. No words, no reproaches. Just crying. As if everything he needed to tell her was already contained in that sound, in that outpouring full of love and pain.

Daniel clenched his jaw. His eyes clouded over.

Chris, at his side, without saying anything, squeezed his hand gently.

Evening light streamed in through the windows of Ynez and Alex's house, tinting the walls with warm golden hues. In the living room, the sound of buttons being pressed filled the air, accompanied by laughter and teasing.

Daniel was sitting on the couch, frowning, his fingers flying over the PlayBox control. Next to him, Alex kept teasing him.

"You look like you escaped from a cheap shampoo commercial." blurted out Alex, with a mocking laugh, not taking his eyes off the screen. "What happened to your rebellious, blonde era?"

"Shut up." muttered Daniel, pushing the buttons tighter. "I look good."

"Sure thing, fifteen-year-old."

Daniel shot him a murderous look, but couldn't help a small smile escaping his face. Alex laughed again as he beat him another round of the game.

In the next room, the atmosphere was different. Quieter. More intimate.

Chris was sitting across from Ynez, hands on his legs, fidgeting his fingers nervously as he watched her prepare her materials. The needle, the gloves, the small bottles of black ink.

"So?" asked Ynez, looking up at him with a smile. "Do you already know what you're getting tattooed, or are you still winging it on the spur of the moment?"

Chris pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. He had carried it there all day, almost like a charm. He held it out to her without a word.

Ynez took the sketch and carefully unfolded it.

It was a simple drawing, hand drawn, but loaded with meaning, a raccoon sitting on a road between trees, under a starry sky. The raccoon holds a yellow flower in its paws. In the background, the road fades into light.

His story, his memories.

Ynez looked at him silently for a few seconds, then raised her eyes to him.

"Chris..." she whispered. "It's beautiful."

Chris looked down, feeling his chest tighten.

"I drew it last night. I wanted it to be something to remind me why I keep going. To remind me...that I can do it."

Ynez nodded slowly, with a soft smile as she put on her gloves.

"Then let's get it right."

From the living room, Alex's voice boomed through the house.

"Another victory! Admit you're rusty!"

"Shut up!" replied Daniel, exasperated, causing Chris to let out a small choked laugh.

"Always the same." muttered Ynez, sketching a smile as she readied Chris' left arm. "Well...ready?"

Chris nodded, feeling excitement rise in his throat.

"I’m ready."

And then, as the needle began to gently chime, Chris closed his eyes.

He knew that moment... was the beginning of something new.

Chapter Text

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

The silence of the desert enveloped the small road, only the slow creaking of the tires on the gravel could be heard. The car, old and dented, glided like a ghost, although no one was behind the wheel.

Daniel was sitting in the passenger seat. His eyes were red and his knuckles were white from clenching his fists. Sean's body, wrapped in a blanket, occupied the back seat. He wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing.

Daniel didn’t speak. He didn't cry. He was just breathing heavily, as if something had been stuck in his chest for hours. As if he had broken inside.

He had driven for miles, driven by nothing but rage and fear. He knew that no one in town could see him like this. No one was supposed to see him. So he had slipped away in the early morning, with his brother's corpse, looking for a place where he could say goodbye.

The car stopped in a small abandoned lot in Puerto Lobos. No one was passing by. No one would interrupt him.

He climbed down. The blanket dragged some of the dust as it slid across the seat. Daniel held it as if it were glass. As if it could still break more.

Slowly, he carried it near a group of rocks. He knelt down. The earth was hard.

He didn't have a shovel.

So he raised his hands.

His power, unstable, vibrated in the air like contained electricity. With each movement of his fingers, the earth opened up. In fits and starts. Sometimes soft, sometimes violent, throwing stones, crunching roots. As if rage betrayed him. As if pain escaped him through the cracks.

"Sorry..." he whispered, not knowing to whom he was speaking. "Sorry, Sean..."

His voice cracked. He covered his mouth with one hand as tears fell. He leaned over the body, sinking his face into the blanket. His brother no longer held him. Sean was no longer protecting him. He was no longer telling him that everything would be okay.

Now he was alone.

The pit was ready. Daniel didn’t move for several minutes. He just stood there, Sean’s body in his arms, trembling.

Finally, with a last glance, almost as if still waiting for his brother to wake up, he laid him down in the dirt hole. He covered Sean’s face with the blanket. He didn't want to see him like this. He couldn't.

And then he closed the pit. Slowly. With trembling hands and a broken heart.

When he finished, he stood. The earth was still hot. The air smelled of dust and salt. The moon was watching him silently.

"I promise." he murmured, his voice almost inaudible. "I'm never going to need anyone ever again."

He turned around, leaving the makeshift grave behind. The car was still where he had left it.

And Daniel, dry-eyed but soul shattered, climbed back on. Without looking back.

The sky was still tinged with shades of pink when Daniel knelt in front of the grave.

The place was still hidden, as if it were part of a secret that no one else was supposed to know. The ground was covered with a thin layer of dry dust, but Daniel had carefully cleaned it. He had replaced the wilted flowers with new sunflowers and lit a couple of small candles that flickered softly in the sea breeze.

He remained silent. Just watching.

Minutes passed... maybe more.

He didn't talk. He didn't cry.

He just took a deep breath, feeling his chest tighten with every thought that crossed him. All that he had lost. Everything he had done. Everything he still couldn't forgive himself for.

Daniel clenched his fists.

So much time had passed since that day, but the pain was still there. Silent. Loyal. Nailed deep inside.

"I failed you." he murmured, not looking at him. Just lowering his head, letting the wind carry his words away. "But I'm trying now... I'm trying to change, I swear."

A faint buzzing sound interrupted his thoughts.

The cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

Daniel took a moment to react, as if the call came from another world. He pulled it out and, as he saw the name on the screen, something inside him loosened.

Chris.

He hesitated for a second before answering.

"Hey."

"Where are you?" the voice of Chris sounded soft, a little sleepy, but full of that warmth that sometimes disarmed him.

Daniel looked at the grave again. The nearest candle was shaking.

"In the same place as always."

Silence on the other side. And then, a breath.

"Do you want me to come there?”

Daniel looked at the horizon. The sun was beginning to rise, tinting the clouds with a faint gold.

"Yes..." he replied, almost in a whisper. "But take your time."

The heat started to set in early that day.

Chris noticed as soon as he opened his eyes, the air was thick, almost sticky, and the sun was already streaming through the curtains of the room, tinting everything with a golden light. He reached out, looking for Daniel... but the bed was empty.

The place still retained his smell.

He lay there for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling, his mind slowly waking up. He remembered the call the day before, Karen's broken voice on the other end of the line, the way Daniel squeezed his hand tightly. That night, after the visit to Alex and Ynez's house they had gone to bed without talking much, just feeling like the world seemed a little lighter.

Chris got up calmly after talking to Daniel, showered and dressed in light clothes, the morning promised to be hot, and then went to the kitchen. He decided to prepare some breakfast, something simple, some sandwiches, cold water. He prepared enough for both of them and packed everything in a backpack.

Just as he was about to leave, something moved near the porch.

Chris smiled as soon as he saw her.

"Kiara!" he said softly, opening the door carefully.

The little mongrel dog that used to hang around that area wagged her tail enthusiastically. Her tongue was sticking out and her eyes were sparkling. Chris bent down to pet her, and she licked his cheek energetically.

"You always so punctual." he whispered affectionately, scratching her behind the ears. "Wait, I'll give you something."

He quickly went into the kitchen, took out some food that was left in a small bag and served it to her in a makeshift bowl. Kiara ate happily while Chris stared at her tenderly. There was something special about those moments. Something that made everything hurt less.

Before leaving, he stroked her back once more.

"You're so cute...I'll see you later, okay?"

He walked along the dirt path that led to the meeting point with Daniel. The air had that salty smell that only Puerto Lobos could offer. The sky was a radiant blue, and the sun was shining high. From a distance, the gentle murmur of the sea could be heard, occasionally interrupted by the cry of a seagull.

Chris took a deep breath.

It felt good. Calm, even.

Yesterday Daniel had spoken to Karen. And he himself had made the decision to get a tattoo with Ynez, he felt a slight itch in his arm. They were small steps, but important ones. Everything seemed to be, in some strange way, starting to heal.

And yet...

The memory of his mother came back from time to time, without warning. Sometimes it was her laughter, sometimes her face just before the accident. A fleeting image, like a shadow passing through the light.

Every time he appeared, something in his chest sank. As if there was a piece missing that he could never get back.

But today...

Today would be a different day.

And that was enough.

Chris walked for about twenty minutes in the bright sunshine of Puerto Lobos. The heat was starting to hit hard, but the coastal breeze still cooled the air enough to make the walk pleasant. The dirt road took him past some old houses until he finally saw it.

In the distance, silhouetted against the blue of the sea, Daniel was standing, looking towards the horizon. His figure still, steady, almost motionless, as if he could blend into the landscape. Chris couldn't help but smile. He knew that every time Daniel visited Sean's grave, he ended up getting lost there, right at that point where the sea touched the sky.

He held the small bag with the sandwiches he had prepared, hoping that something so simple might cheer him up a little. He was about to raise his hand to wave when he heard the roar of a motorcycle approaching.

It was a quick, dirty sound that crossed the nearby street like a bolt of lightning.

And then, the shot.

He felt the sharp impact in his abdomen, like a fiery punch. The air rushed out of him, his legs faltered. He raised his right hand, instinctively, with the intention of turning back time.

But it wasn’t enough.

Another bullet pierced his right arm.

The scream caught in his throat as the blood began to gush hard, hot and dark, soaking his shirt.

His eyes, still open, searched desperately for Daniel. The world seemed to be reeling.

The world was spinning.

Chris felt his knees buckle, the bag with the sandwiches falling to the ground before him. The hot sand greeted him roughly, sticking to the blood already soaking his shirt. The pain in his abdomen was like liquid fire, and his right arm hung useless, numb.

Then he heard it.

"CHRIS!" Daniel's voice was a desperate cry, it pierced the air like thunder.

With effort, Chris looked up.

And he saw it.

The hitman was slowly rising in the air, as if some invisible force was dragging him by the neck. His legs kicked at the void, and his hands tried in vain to hold on to something. Blood began to trickle out of his mouth, a thick trickle down his chin.

Daniel stood there, eyes alight with fury, arm outstretched toward the attacker, controlling him without touching him.

Chris felt a shudder.

No... he thought, with a lump in his throat. He didn't want to see that. He didn't want Daniel to have to do that.

But he could no longer speak.

His vision suddenly blurred. The sound was distorted as if underwater. He could barely hear the thud of the body falling to the ground, inert.

And then, darkness.

Blood.

It was the first thing he felt. Warm, sticky, spreading down his abdomen, down his arm. The sensation clung to his skin like a wet, suffocating blanket.

Shots.

One. Two. The echo in his ears. The dry sound of metal tearing flesh. A high-pitched hum that enveloped everything, that erased the real world and reduced it to noise and flashes.

The body.

That man... floating through the air. Feet dangling, hands twitching, mouth open in a mute scream. And then, the blood. Dark streams staining his face, spurting from his lips as if he were drowning in his own fury. Neck twisting, eyes rolling.

No...

Too late.

The thud of the body falling to the ground. Inert. Dead.

Silence.

And then...

Red lights. Flashing. Twisting and turning, flashing behind their closed eyelids. Voices. Shouts. Hurried footsteps. The distant siren of an ambulance, cutting through the hot afternoon air.

"He's losing a lot of blood!"

"Pressure in the abdomen, now!"

"CHRIS!!!"

That voice. Daniel. Broken. Desperate.

Chris wanted to move, to say something, to reach for his hand, to calm him....

But his body did not respond.

And the emptiness dragged him back.

Darkness.

Again.

Chris used to wonder how time really worked.

He had been doing it since he was a child, long before he discovered that he could alter it. He remembered clearly those classes at school, when his teacher talked about the planets of the solar system and how, in each one, the days lasted differently. On Mercury, a single day could last more than a thousand Earth hours. On Jupiter, only about ten. Everything depended on rotation. On the invisible movements that guided the celestial bodies.

That had always fascinated him.

The idea that, out there, in some corner of the universe, time didn’t behave the same. That perhaps, in another galaxy, someone was living an instant that here would last for years... or a lifetime that was only a breath on Earth.

Now, with his eyes closed and his body floating in that kind of limbo, Chris couldn't help but wonder if he was trapped on one of those planets.

One where time stretched and shrank like a rope. Where seconds hurt, and minutes felt like days.

Or maybe...

Maybe he was simply on his own planet.

One he shared with no one else.

One shaped by his memories, his fears, his pain.

One where he could still hear Daniel's scream echoing in the distance.

His planet.

Silent. Fragmented. Solitary.

The sound came first.

An intermittent, distant beep. Like an echo in the water. Then the smell, disinfectant, metal, plastic.

Chris opened his eyes.

The white light from the ceiling blinded him for a second. He blinked, confused. His body ached, every part of him, from his back to the right arm he could barely move. His mouth was dry. His heart, disoriented, pounding as if he didn't know what time he was in.

"Chris!" said a trembling voice. A warm hand took his.

He turned his head with effort. Ynez stood there, tears sliding unabashedly down her cheeks. She wasn't smiling, but her eyes were shining with a mixture of relief and fright. As if she had been holding her breath for days.

"You're awake..." she whispered. "God, Chris...I thought that..." her voice cracked.

Chris tried to say something, but only managed a hoarse sigh. His throat burned.

Ynez approached, carefully, squeezing his hand a little tighter. Her face was tired, her hair tied up sloppily, and a jacket on top that was clearly not hers.

"You're in Caborca." she explained, slowly, as if she was still coming out of a dream. "There was no time...in Puerto Lobos there are no hospitals, so.... we brought you here. You're a one-hour drive from Puerto Lobos."

Chris blinked.

Caborca. One hour. Had they been driving while he...?

He wanted to ask about Daniel, but before he could say a word, Ynez seemed to read his mind. She lowered her gaze, swallowing saliva.

"He's not here." she said, barely audible. "He wouldn't come to the hospital...but he saved your life, Chris. He carried you in his arms all the way to the ambulance...he wouldn't let anyone else touch you. He was..." she paused, searching for the word. "He was destroyed."

Chris felt a pressure in his chest.

He didn't know if it was the physical pain... or something much deeper.

The memory of blood. Of Daniel's gaze.

Of Daniel's voice screaming his name.

And then... darkness.

Chris still couldn't say much, but his eyes were clearer. Ynez took a deep breath and carefully ran her fingers through his hair, as an older sister would do with a little brother who had just survived a nightmare.

"The doctors said you're going to be fine." she began in a soft voice. "It was serious, yes, but... none of the bullets hit vital organs."

Chris looked at her, unblinking.

"The shot in the abdomen only hit arteries, that's why the bleeding..." she continued. "And the one in the arm, well... it was ugly. But it's going to heal, too."

She paused, as if she didn't want to blurt it all out at once. Then she stroked his hand, tenderly.

"You're going to be able to get out of the hospital in a few more days. They said, if you remain stable, maybe in a week you could be out. But you need rest...a lot of it.

Chris barely nodded, in a slight nod of his head. He couldn't speak, but he understood. He was alive. He was going to make it.

"They gave you pain medication, so it's normal for you to feel half lost." she added, smiling with a hint of sorrow. "But you're here, okay? You're still here."

Ynez carefully wiped away a tear running down her cheek.

"You scared us..." Ynez muttered. "We thought we'd lost you."

Chris closed his eyes for a moment.

And in the darkness, he saw the bullets again. The blood. Daniel's silhouette lifting the killer from the ground.

And then, nothing.

Chris half-opened his lips, with effort.

"Why isn't Daniel here?"

Ynez stopped stroking his hand. Her expression changed immediately, as if a shadow had crossed her face. There was no trace of the warmth of a few minutes ago. Her eyes hardened, and her breathing became heavier.

"Chris..." she said quietly, as if hesitating to say it.

Chris tried to sit up, but a stabbing pain in his abdomen forced him to let out a groan and stay in the same place. Ynez rushed over, gently pressing his shoulder to keep him from moving.

"Shhh, take it easy. You can't force yourself yet."

"Where...is he?" repeated Chris, his voice firmer, even if he felt torn to shreds inside.

Ynez looked at him. It took her a few seconds to answer.

"Things got ugly, Chris...very ugly."

Her voice cracked a little, but she took a deep breath and continued.

"What happened to you...the attempt to kill you...was a declaration of war."

Chris blinked.

"War?"

"Yes." Ynez nodded slowly. "There are rules. Even among the gangs. You don't cross certain boundaries, you don't touch people close to them without justification, let alone make such direct moves into other people's territory. What they did with you... it was like spitting in Daniel's face."

Chris felt a shiver.

"Who...?"

"Not everything is known yet. But Daniel does know something... Alex won't tell me anything." Ynez lowered her gaze, swallowing saliva. "Ever since they took you to the hospital... he hasn't stopped. He's hunting. He's looking for everyone involved."

Chris gritted his teeth. Not from the physical pain, but from the image that formed in his head, Daniel alone, eyes full of fury, his power unleashed, his rage like a storm. The same one he had seen before he passed out.

"Is Daniel okay?" he whispered.

Ynez didn’t respond immediately. She just looked at him.

And that lack of response was more than enough.

"They're taking action." continued Ynez, not taking her eyes off Chris. "They closed all the exits out of town. Daniel had his men split into shifts to patrol the entrances. Andrés is in the warehouse setting up all the weapons, and Alex...well, Alex hasn't taken off from Daniel."

Chris looked down. The distant hum of a machine in the hospital filled the silence, but in his head, the sounds were different.

Gunshots.

Screams.

Leonardo's body falling to the ground.

Puerto Libertad.

The night everything fell apart.

He hadn't wanted to think about it since it happened, but now the image came back like an electric current running through his chest.

Alex, shooting Leonardo at point blank range. Daniel, looking away.

And him, Chris, there in the middle of it all.

"Maybe..." whispered Chris, more to himself than to Ynez. "Maybe this started there."

Ynez frowned.

"What is it?"

Chris looked up, his eyes duller than before.

"Leonardo. The guy Alex killed in Puerto Libertad. He was from the other group, wasn't he?" he asked, his voice tense. "The kind they're responding to now."

Ynez nodded slowly, as if everything suddenly clicked in her mind as well.

"He belonged to the Sánchez. Or at least he worked with them."

A long silence fell over them both.

Chris pressed his fingers against the hospital sheet. Suddenly, all the warmth of the sun he had felt that morning faded away, replaced by an icy guilt creeping down his spine.

"So now... what's going to happen?"

Ynez looked at him with enormous sadness.

"Now there's going to be blood, Chris. Lots of it."

And the worst part is, try as he might, he can't take back everything that's happening.

Chris swallowed.

He didn't want to ask.

He didn't want to know.

But the image was still there, etched in his mind like a botched tattoo, the hitman's body rising into the air, blood pouring from his mouth, Daniel's shadow with eyes alight with rage.

And yet, something inside him clung to the idea that, perhaps, it had been a hallucination. The pain. The shock. The loss of blood.

Maybe... maybe he'd just dreamed it all.

He turned his face toward Ynez, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

"The man who shot me..." he paused, looking for a way to continue. "What... what happened to him?"

Ynez didn’t respond immediately. She lowered her gaze, pursing her lips. Her hands, which moments before had gently caressed his arm, now clenched into fists on her legs.

Chris felt the air stop in his chest.

"Ynez..."

She looked at him, and her eyes, big and green, were filled with a different pain. A pain that came from certainty, from the inevitable.

"Daniel killed him." she said, unadorned, not softening the truth. "He lifted him up with his telekinesis. He didn't... he didn't give him a second. He strangled him in mid-air. I didn't see it, but Alex told me."

Chris closed his eyes. The memory came back with frightening sharpness, the hitman floating, the spasms of his body, the dull sound as he hit the ground.

He had not dreamed it.

"I wanted to think that..." he began, but stopped. "That I'd hallucinated it all."

Ynez sighed, and her voice was softer this time, more fragile.

"He did it for you, Chris. There was no other way. He was late by seconds...and he saw you bleeding in the sand. It wasn't just anger. It was fear."

Chris felt a lump in his throat.

In the middle of everything that was going on, there was him.

Immobile, wounded... and, for the first time in a long time, completely lost.

Chris said nothing.

He stared at the white ceiling, unblinking, unmoving. The hum of the machines around him seemed louder all of a sudden. The sound of the heart monitor, the distant footsteps in the hallway, everything became background noise.

Ynez was still by his side, but she didn’t insist. It was enough to see his face to know that something inside him had just broken.

Chris pressed his fingers against the sheet, as if he needed to hold on to something that was still real.

Daniel had done it.

There was no doubt about it.

And he had done it for him.

But that didn't make it any easier to accept.

The scene came back again and again in his mind, the floating body, the thick air, the blood falling to the ground. It wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a vision altered by trauma.

It was real.

It was all real.

And as much as he knew that Daniel had no choice, as much as he understood the reason…

something in his chest tightened, as if love and terror were trying to occupy the same space inside him.

Chris swallowed saliva, this time with difficulty.

He didn’t cry.

He didn't say anything.

He just... stood there, still.

With a lost look.

Arm bandaged.

Heart beating too hard.

And with an emptiness in his chest that he no longer knew if it came from the wound, from the memory...

or from the man who wasn’t there to hold his hand.

A shot echoed loudly in the shed, bouncing off the metal walls like thunder. Someone screamed. Another body fell.

Daniel didn’t flinch.

He stood by the rusted door, staring coolly into the room, where one of his men still held the smoking gun, trembling slightly from adrenaline. In the background, blood was beginning to spread under the motionless body of one of the survivors of Leonardo's group.

The morning in Puerto Lobos had a dry, dense heat, as if the air had been soaked with rage. Daniel pushed the door hard, went outside and lit a cigarette with his fingers stained with dirt and gunpowder. The first puff didn't help calm his pulse, but at least it made him breathe.

Then, he heard footsteps behind him.

"He woke up." said Alex, crossing his arms, leaning against one of the vans. His tone was calmer than usual. "Ynez just texted me. Chris opened his eyes."

Daniel froze for a few seconds. The cigarette froze halfway to his lips.

Alex noticed it immediately. The tension in his body barely loosened. His shoulders dropped, as if he could finally exhale, holding his breath.

"I told you so." added Alex, with a mixture of reproach and resignation. "You should have sent him back to the United States when I told you."

Daniel didn’t respond.

He took a long drag on the cigarette, his eyes fixed on the dusty horizon of Puerto Lobos. The smoke drifted slowly out of his nose while in his mind still echoed the gunshots, the blood, and Chris's eyes filling with fear.

He had felt him die in his hands.

And that... that was something he was never going to forgive himself for.

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Alex after a few seconds, his voice was already without reproach, just laden with weariness. He knew that the air was more tense than ever. That everything was getting out of hand.

Daniel tightened his lips around the cigarette. He looked down at the floor, where the bloodstained footprints of that shed seemed to follow him like a constant reminder. His silence spoke volumes.

"Are you going to see him?" insisted Alex, almost carefully.

Daniel didn’t answer immediately. He just inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment as if he needed to contain an invisible wave that threatened to break him from the inside. Finally, he exhaled.

"No." he said. His voice was low, but firm. "I'm not going."

Alex frowned.

"What are you saying?"

"That as soon as Chris gets out of the hospital, he's going to get on a plane. He's going back to the United States."

Silence.

He could only hear the distant sound of a seagull, and the faint crunch of gravel under his feet.

"And you...?" Alex looked at him incredulously "Are you going to tell him?"

Daniel gritted his teeth and looked down. The cigarette trembled barely between his fingers.

"No. I can't. I don't want to see him...not after this."

Alex snorted, but said nothing. He knew that arguing was pointless. Daniel had already made up his mind, and when he did, not even the whole hell of hell could make him back down. And yet there was sadness in his expression. Because he knew what this was going to do to Chris.

And he also knew that, even if Daniel tried to hide it with silences, violence and cigarettes... it was going to destroy him too.

Daniel didn’t speak again. He just stood there, with his cigarette burning between his fingers and his eyes fixed on nothing. He felt how the north wind hit his face, dragging the smell of sea salt mixed with dried blood.

The shed behind him was still silent, but not inside him.

Inside there was noise. Shouting. Gunshots. The echo of Chris's voice calling him just before he fell. The exact memory of the moment when the hitman's body buckled in the air, when he squeezed him mercilessly, when he felt him die by his hand. The blood in his mouth. The glazed eyes.

And then...

Chris's body, bleeding out in the sand. So fragile. So human. So his own.

He closed his eyes.

Daniel had seen him inches away from death. He felt his heart break inside him. His worst fear, his worst damn nightmare, had been a second away from coming true. And the worst part was that Chris hadn't even had time to defend himself.

If his arm hadn't been hit first...

A knot tightened in his stomach. The cigarette had already gone out, but he still held it between his fingers. He angrily threw it to the ground and crushed it with his foot.

This can't happen again, he thought.

They will kill him. If he stays here... they will kill him.

And he knew it. Because the hell that had now broken loose had no turning back. The attack on Chris hadn’t been a simple mistake. It was a warning. A direct provocation. A war.

And he couldn't protect him from that. Not even with all his powers. Not with all the rage he could muster. Because sometimes, it just... wasn't enough.

He looked again at the sea, in the distance.

Chris.

That blue-eyed boy who had come into his life as a whisper from the past, and who now, unwittingly, held him from within.

Daniel ran his hand over the back of his neck, taking a deep breath.

"He has to go." he muttered to himself.

And although he said it out loud, as if to convince himself, inside a crack was slowly beginning to open.

Because he knew he was choosing to protect Chris...

At the cost of losing him.

Chapter Text

Chris had his eyes fixed on the hospital ceiling.

It was white, but with gray spots in the corners, as if the paint had never dried properly. His abdomen burned. Every time he took a deep breath, the bandage seemed to remind him that he was still alive... but it hurt.

Ynez entered the room with a small glass of jelly in one hand and her cell phone in the other. Her hair was a little messy, but her eyes were as attentive as ever.

"Another jelly?" asked Chris with a weak smile.

"If you ask the nurse, you're on 'soft diet.' If you ask me, this is culinary disrespect." she joked, leaving the little glass on the bedside table for him.

Chris looked down. He unwillingly stroked the bandage on his right arm, as if trying to remember how it had come to this. As if maybe by touching it... he could understand why he hadn't come to see him.

"Ynez... I'm sorry." he muttered, without looking at her.

"Why?"

"For having you here. For getting you into this. You haven't slept at home since everything happened...and it's because of me."

Ynez looked at him gently. She sat in the chair next to the bed and gently tapped his leg.

"Stop talking shit, Chris. I like taking care of my friends. Besides, do you think I feel like going back to Puerto Lobos right now?" she paused, sighing. "I'm staying at a hotel near here. It's quiet. And it has hot water. I'm better off than I am over there, believe me."

Chris nodded silently. The lump in his throat tightened again. He didn't want to ask again. But he needed to.

"And Daniel?"

Ynez swallowed saliva. She looked down for a second, as if the question weighed on her.

"He didn't come." she said, and that was all she said.

Chris didn't respond. His eyes were once again fixed on the ceiling. He felt that if he spoke, his voice would break.

"He's... doing his own thing." Ynez rushed on, as if she's trying to justify him, but without sounding too convinced. "Things are still tough in Puerto Lobos."

Chris pursed his lips.

His world.

Of course.

And he wasn't part of that world.

"What's Caborca like?" Chris asked, changing the subject, almost automatically.

Ynez blinked, surprised, but played along.

"It's quiet. Dusty. Lots of little shops selling the same things. There is a nice church in the center and a taco stand that is open until three in the morning. Oh, and if you see a bakery called "La Guapa", don't go in. They charged me double for some coconut candies."

Chris smiled, for the first time in days. It was weak, but real.

"Thank you for being here." he said, not looking at her this time, because if he did, he was going to cry.

Ynez stood up and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Don't thank me. Save that energy for when you get out of here."

Chris frowned slightly at her response.

"Have the doctors said anything to you?" he asked, barely turning his head toward her.

Ynez smiled, this time with a lighter gleam in her eye.

"Yes, as a matter of fact... Today in the morning they talked to me while you were sleeping. They said that if all goes well, you'll be discharged tomorrow."

Chris blinked, processing the news as if he wasn't ready for it. He'd been lying there for so many days, wrapped in the smell of disinfectant and the weight of silence, that the thought of getting out...overwhelmed him.

"Tomorrow?" he repeated, almost in a whisper.

"Yes. Your wound is already healing nicely, and your vital signs are stable. You're going to have to continue to take care of yourself, of course, no heroics... but you'll be able to get out."

Chris looked down at his hands, squeezing them a little. He felt a strange pang in his chest, a mixture of relief and emptiness. Part of him had wanted to leave from day one. But another part...another part was still waiting for a door that wouldn't open.

"Then... I'm off," he muttered, more to himself than to Ynez.

She watched him silently for a few seconds, as if she could guess what he was feeling without him having to say it.

"Yes. But we don't know where yet," she said softly. "And that... that's something you need to talk to Daniel about, isn't it?"

Chris didn't answer.

She got up and walked to the window, looking out for a moment before speaking.

"You could stay in Caborca, you'll be safer here while things are sorted out in Puerto Lobos," she said with a coy smile. "Besides, the city isn't as boring as it seems. It has its charm, more than most people think."

Chris looked at her in surprise, unable to help but smile at her enthusiasm.

"You would stay here?" he asked in a low voice.

"Sure," she replied. "The city has more to offer than you imagine, good tacos, friendly people, and even a bakery that, even though they overcharged me, is worth trying again."

Chris felt that for the first time in days that idea of staying outside of Puerto Lobos didn't sound so bad.

"So... maybe it's not so bad," he muttered, relaxing his shoulders a little.

Ynez sat down next to him again, this time with a more hopeful look on her face.

"We're going to get through this, Chris."

The afternoon sun illuminated the hospital exit the next day, the warm light seemed to caress every surface of the place. Chris, still with the bandage on his arm and abdomen, walked carefully as Ynez helped him forward. Outside, under the blue sky and the distant sound of traffic, someone was waiting for them.

Alex was there, standing next to a black suitcase on wheels. When Ynez saw him, her face lit up and she didn't hesitate to run to hug him tightly, as if clinging to a piece of stability in the midst of chaos.

"Alex!" she exclaimed with relief.

Alex returned the hug and then turned to Chris, who was looking at him with a mixture of surprise and exhaustion. He was pale, dark circles under his eyes.

"Chris." said Alex, approaching him with a smile that was mixed with joy and wariness. "I'm so glad to see you looking better."

Chris tried to reciprocate the gesture, but his smile was fleeting, it was a flash that faded as quickly as it was born. His eyes, restless, scanned the surroundings again, the parking lot, the sidewalk, even the inside of the car parked nearby. No one else was there.

"Alex... Where is Daniel? "he asked at last, and his voice, though low, carried the weight of a disappointment that was already beginning to become a certainty.

Alex held his breath for a second, as if the words he needed to say were stuck in his throat. His eyes, which moments before were shining with relief, now avoided Chris's, seeking refuge in the cracked asphalt of the parking lot.

Finally, he sighed.

"He can't come." Alex said, and though he tried to keep his voice steady, there was an almost imperceptible tremor in it. "He's still in Puerto Lobos... sorting things out."

Chris didn't respond immediately. His fingers closed slightly around the edge of the shirt he was wearing, wrinkling the fabric. The eyes, once tired, now bored into Alex...

"Really?" he asked, and this time his tone wasn't just one of disappointment, but of skepticism, as if Alex's every syllable had been carefully measured. "Still? After more than a week?"

Alex pursed his lips. He knew there was no way to hide the truth, but he couldn't let go of all the weight inside him either. Again, he sighed, this time with his shoulders slumped, as if the simple act of breathing exhausted him.

"I'm sorry, Chris." Alex murmured, and this time he did look into his eyes, allowing the young man to see the shadow of guilt that clouded them. "I'm sorry...for everything."

The silence was tense, charged with all that was unsaid.

Ynez, who had been watching the exchange with an increasingly tense expression, squeezed Chris' arm gently, as if to remind him that he wasn't alone.

But Chris barely noticed. His mind was already far away, in a dusty seaside town, wondering how many more excuses he would have to hear before Daniel finally chose to be there with him.

Ynez broke the silence, her gaze lowered to the black suitcase next to Alex's feet.

"Hey Alex... what's that?" she asked, pointing at it with a chin gesture, as if afraid to touch something she shouldn't have.

Alex swallowed before answering, but didn't look at Ynez. His eyes were fixed on Chris, as if he knew that the following words were going to generate discomfort in him.

"It's yours, Chris." he said, his voice lower than usual. "You have a flight tonight. Back to Seattle."

The air seemed to freeze. Chris blinked, slowly, as if his brain refused to process the words.

He felt his heart shatter.

"What?" the question came out harsh, almost a broken whisper.

"Your ticket is already bought," Alex continued, crossing his arms, not out of frustration, but as if trying to hold something inside himself. "Daniel asked for it. He wants you to come home. Away from... all of this."

Chris felt the ground give way under his feet.

"Daniel made that decision?" Chris burst out, and this time his voice did crack, but not from weakness, but from anger, from that icy rage that is born when you realize that someone else has mapped out your life without consulting you. "Him? Without asking me?"

Alex didn't flinch at the outburst. Instead, he clenched his jaw, as if Chris's every word jabbed something in his chest.

"He knows you wouldn't leave willingly." Alex replied, with a calmness that sounded like surrender. "And after what happened...Chris, you can't stay here."

Ynez opened her mouth to intervene, but stopped herself. There was nothing to say. The suitcase was packed. The ticket, bought. It had all been decided elsewhere, by someone who hadn't even had the courage to tell Chris in person.

Chris took a deep breath, but the air didn't get into his lungs.

Seattle.

House.

Security.

Words that now sounded like exile.

"Damn it..." muttered Chris, looking toward the horizon, where the sun was beginning to tint the sky orange. "Damn it, Daniel."

And this time, not even the wind dared to respond.

Chris took a step forward, he had forgotten the pain of his wounds for the rage he felt in his chest. His eyes, once tired, now burned with an intensity that made Alex recoil almost imperceptibly.

"All right." said Chris, his voice was low but sharp as broken glass. "If that's what Daniel wants...I'll go."

Alex opened his mouth to respond, but Chris didn't give him time.

"But tell him one thing for me." Chris continued, clenching his fists until his knuckles paled. "That if he wants to send me away, at least have the balls to say it to my face. That he doesn't hide behind you like a coward."

The air between them was electrified. Ynez held her breath, as if any movement could trigger something irreversible.

Alex swallowed dryly, his expression was oscillating between guilt and frustration.

"Chris, it's not like that." tried to soothe Alex, but Chris was already spinning on his heels, the physical pain nothing compared to the knot of betrayal tightening in his chest.

"No. Don't give me explanations that even you don't believe." interrupted Chris without looking at him.

Alex reached out urgently, catching Chris' forearm before he could pull away completely.

"Hold on, Chris. It's okay." Alex's voice, now firmer, tried to calm the storm he had unleashed. "I'll talk to Daniel. I'll tell him he needs to talk to you, in person. This can't end like this."

Chris paused. His shoulders were tense.

"None of this matters anymore." he murmured, but the tremor in his words betrayed the open wound. "If he didn't have the courage to come today, he'll have less later."

Ynez, who had remained silent. She reached over and slid her hand over Chris's bandaged arm with a gentleness that contrasted with the tension of the moment.

"Chris..." Ynez's voice was a thread of calm amidst the chaos. "Let's go to the hotel. Get some rest. Don't make any decisions now."

Chris closed his eyes, taking deep breaths, as if trying to drown the fire that was consuming him inside.

"No decisions to make, Ynez." replied Chris, but this time without anger, just exhaustion. "The ticket's bought. The suitcase, packed. They've already decided for me."

Alex gritted his teeth, frustrated with himself.

"It's not like that." Alex insisted. "If you don't want to leave now, you won't leave. Or at least, wait to talk to Daniel and have him explain everything to you..... Give him that chance."

The silence stretched out again, but this time it was less dense. Chris looked up at Ynez, whose eyes were pleading with him not to leave like that.

Finally, he nodded, an almost imperceptible gesture.

"Let's go to the hotel." he relented, directing the words to Ynez.

Alex exhaled in relief, though he knew the battle was far from over.

"I'll go get Daniel." he promised, picking up the black suitcase and dropping it in the back seat of the car.

Chris didn't respond. He only allowed Ynez to lead him to a cab, away from Alex.

Chris was sitting in a plastic chair outside the room he would share with Ynez. The sun was beginning to set, tinting the sky with shades of orange and pink that blended with the desert dust surrounding Caborca. The warm breeze gently rustled the leaves of some nearby dry bushes.

His eyes were lost in the horizon, but his mind was traveling to a much darker place.

He remembered the cold, sharp impact of the bullet through his abdomen, the stabbing sensation that stole his breath. He felt the burn on his right arm as he tried to turn back time, trying to fix the irreversible. He remembered the paralyzing fear as he watched Daniel use his telekinesis to kill the hitman.

But now, as he watched that calm and quiet sunset, he felt an icy emptiness that would not go away.

Daniel hadn't had the courage to see him and tell him that he wanted him to go back to the United States. He hadn't visited the hospital or called to check on him. Chris felt abandoned, as if he was a piece of his world that Daniel had decided to let go of without saying goodbye.

The nature of the desert, beautiful in its calm, seemed to contrast with the whirlwind of emotions inside him. The stillness of the place made him feel small and alone, at the mercy of decisions he couldn't control.

He took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts in the serenity of the sunset, but a shadow of sadness lingered, drawing an invisible line between where he was and where he wanted to be.

As the sun slowly descended, Ynez appeared walking towards Chris with a sandwich and a bottle of water in her hand. She offered them to him without a word, and he gratefully accepted. They sat together in silence, letting the sky paint warm hues before their eyes.

After a few minutes, Chris broke the silence in a low, somewhat tense voice.

"I'm sorry about earlier Ynez... I feel really bad. "His gaze was riveted on the horizon, as if searching for strength there. "It's not against you guys...I feel a lot of anger towards Daniel...for not being here with me, for not telling me what he really thought, for sending me back to the United States without telling me anything up front."

Ynez sighed and looked at him with that mixture of fondness and sadness.

"Daniel has always been like that, Chris." she said in a calm voice. "He makes decisions without much care for how other people feel and.... He doesn't know how to express well what he really feels."

Chris nodded slowly, letting those words sink into his mind.

"Remember when I told you I had feelings for him?" asked Ynez, looking at Chris with some nostalgia. "Before I found out you guys...had a thing."

"Yes." he replied, without looking up. "That... was, a thing. Nothing more than that."

Ynez smiled a sad smile.

"Daniel has never had partners, never gets romantically involved with anyone. Now...it makes sense to me that it's because of his fears...because of his losses."

She moved a little closer, lowering her voice.

"Before, I would have been jealous of you." Ynez confessed to him. "I've never seen Daniel smile like that when he looks at you since I met him..."

Chris looked at her for the first time that afternoon, surprised by the sincerity of her words.

Ynez looked at him intently, that deep gaze that seemed to read beyond words.

"And Chris..." she began softly. "Honestly, I don't feel like what you and Daniel have is just a 'thing'. I see real emotions on both sides...it's not just a whim or a passing moment."

Ynez paused for a moment, searching for the right words.

"Since you came to Puerto Lobos, you've made Daniel a better person. Not only have you taken him out of his comfort zone, but you've pushed him to face his fears and open up more..." her voice cracked a little, but she remained steady. "It's not easy to see it, but he changes with you."

Chris felt those words go straight to his heart, and for the first time, the anger began to transform into something softer.

Ynez sighed and leaned a little against the back of the chair, looking at the horizon.

"Life sucks." she said with a bitter smile. "Sometimes it hits you so hard that you end up building a shell to protect yourself from the world, so you don't feel so much pain. Me and Alex for example, we've been through so much shit because of our father... and things got worse since our mother died."

Chris looked at her sadly, as he remembered his own mother.

"I'm so sorry Ynez."

Ynez shook her head.

"No... it's okay, the worst is over."

She was silent for a few seconds, her eyes searching Chris'.

"But then come those rays of light...those moments...those people who come into your life and show you that there is another way of looking at things. That the world is not just bumps and hurts, but also hope and new opportunities."

Ynez looked at Chris with sincerity.

"And you are that ray of light for Daniel."

Chris looked down, trying to assimilate those words. A knot tightened in his chest, but there was something in Ynez's voice that calmed him, as if someone finally understood the internal chaos he felt.

The sun finished setting behind the mountains, tinting the sky in shades of orange and violet. The silence between them was no longer uncomfortable.

"Ray of light, huh? I sound like a superhero." he said with a half-smile, looking up at the sky that was already starting to turn deep blue.

Ynez laughed with him, it was a light laughter that only comes out when the soul breathes.

"Totally. The sentimental hero with awesome powers and trust issues." she joked, tapping his arm gently. "All you're missing is the suit and shouting out the name of your attacks."

Chris laughed, reflexively bringing his hand to his abdomen as he felt a slight tug on the wound.

"Don't make me laugh like that." he grumbled with a grimace, though his eyes sparkled with relief. "God...I swear I needed that."

Ynez looked at him, really smiling this time.

"Sometimes all you need is a good laugh, even if everything is shitty."

Chris nodded and took a sip of water.

"Thank you, Ynez. For... being here, for telling me all that. For the sandwich too." said Chris, raising the sandwich a little as if toasting with it.

"You're welcome, that's what we're for." she replied, nudging him lightly with her shoulder.

Chris looked sideways at her, with a tired but genuine smile.

"I don't know what will happen with Daniel... but hearing what you said makes me feel... less alone. Like I'm not so wrong for wanting to stay, at least a little longer."

"You're not wrong." said Ynez firmly. "And if you decide to stay, I've got your back with Alex. Same if you decide to leave. Whatever you do... you have the right to decide for yourself, not just obey what someone else decides."

Chris looked up at her, grateful, and then looked up at the sky, where the first stars were already beginning to twinkle timidly.

"You know," Chris said after a moment. "I never thought I'd end up in the middle of the Mexican desert in this condition, talking about feelings with you."

Ynez let out a laugh.

"Life is a soap opera, Chris. Only without commercial breaks."

They both laughed together, and for a moment, the pain felt lighter.

The room was shrouded in quiet gloom. Only moonlight filtered through the window, casting the silhouettes of the cacti in the hotel garden against the walls. The air was warm, and the distant buzzing of desert insects could be heard.

Chris slept next to Ynez in bed, both wrapped in the same thin blanket, still wearing their clothes after falling asleep watching a movie. The dim glow of the muted TV screen was barely perceptible.

Suddenly, Chris opened his eyes.

There was no specific noise that woke him up. It was more of a sensation. A subtle discomfort that stirred his chest.

He blinked, getting his eyes used to the darkness, and then he saw it.

The door to the room was closing softly, as if someone had quietly exited seconds before. Chris sat up immediately, his heart was pounding. He looked at Ynez, who was still sound asleep, her breathing was calm, oblivious to his startle.

He got up carefully, without making a sound, and crossed the room at a slow pace. He opened the door cautiously.

Outside, the Caborca night enveloped him with its warm breeze. The sky was starry, and a nearly full moon hovered over the horizon. And there, sitting in the same plastic chair where Chris had spent hours chatting with Ynez, was Daniel.

He was leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees, his hands were clasped. His head was down, as if he were talking to the ground or to his own thoughts. The dim lights of the hotel garden barely illuminated him, giving him a spectral, almost unreal air.

Chris stood frozen in the doorway for a second, unsure if he was dreaming.

But it was him. The tousled dark hair, the tense body, the shoulders heavy with something Chris couldn't see from there.

The night air smelled of hot earth and desert dust. He could hear the soft rustle of a branch blowing in the wind and the faint hum of a nearby lamp post. But all that faded in the face of the figure in front of him.

Daniel had not been aware of his presence.

He was completely absorbed. The way he sat, back slightly hunched, fingers interlocked tightly, brow furrowed despite the calm exterior...this wasn’t the version Chris knew in his more confident facade. This was not the haughty Daniel, nor the cool, controlled leader. This one seemed more... vulnerable. Human.

The moonlight fell on his face from an odd angle, and Chris could see the dull gleam in his eyes, as if he were fighting something inside as well.

He wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to have left him, to have decided to move away. Why come back now, in the middle of the night?

Chris lightly squeezed the door frame with his hand, as if that would help him hold on. There were so many things he wanted to tell him, so many emotions that had been building up like a knot in his chest since he woke up in the hospital without him by his side. Anger, yes. Pain. But also, there was a part of him that flared up just seeing him.

Daniel, on the other hand, just stood there, motionless, staring at the ground as if the universe weighed on his shoulders.

And Chris couldn't help but wonder...how much of that weight had to do with him?

He took a step forward. The faint crunch of gravel under his feet broke the silence.

Daniel looked up and quickly got up from his chair.

Their eyes met in the middle of the night, in that instant suspended in time neither knew whether to speak or to continue pretending that silence was enough.

Chris took a step closer, barely perceptible, as if afraid that any movement would break that delicate balance between them.

"What are you doing here...?" Chris asked in a low voice, hoarse from interrupted sleep, from unreleased emotions.

He didn't sound upset. Not yet. He sounded confused. Hurt.

Daniel looked down, as if the floor held an answer he couldn't find in Chris's face.

Chris pursed his lips and folded his arms. The breeze brushed his bare feet and made him aware of the night chill, but he didn't move.

"Are you going to be quiet?" he continued. His voice barely trembled, but there was a visible tension in his shoulders, in the tiny tremble of his fingers. "Or did you come to make sure I leave in the morning?"

Daniel was still unresponsive. He was just breathing, a little more agitated now. As if he was fighting himself inside.

Chris frowned, hurt.

"Why didn't you go to the hospital?" he asked suddenly. More direct. Sharper. "Were you afraid to see me like this...or did you just not care about me anymore?"

And then he swallowed. The last sentence came out softer, more vulnerable.

"...Was it that easy to forget me?"

The desert wind blew between the two. And for a moment, there was only the sound of the night, of the dust moving, of the echo of what neither had dared to say yet.

Daniel raised his head slowly, his eyes were glassy in the moonlight, and for a second, Chris felt he wasn't seeing the cocky kid who thought he was invincible, but someone completely different. More tired. More human.

"It wasn't easy..." murmured Daniel, his voice barely a whisper, as if he found it hard to admit. "I haven't stopped thinking about you for a single damn second since you were hospitalized.."

Chris swallowed, but said nothing.

Daniel clasped his hands together. The veins marked on his forearms tightened.

"You were almost killed, do you understand that?" his voice became rougher, more broken. "They almost killed you because of me. Because they..." he interrupted himself, lowering his gaze, as if the very idea physically pained him. "They wanted to hurt me. And you were there. You were... you were the perfect way to do it."

Chris took a step closer, feeling the anger mix with something much deeper, fear.

"I don't care about that. I can take care of myself...I have my powers now."

Daniel looked up quickly, his dark eyes alight with frustration.

"But not this time." his voice sounded final. Almost desperate. "Not here. Not with these people. This isn't like your home, your college. This life...it's dirty. It's ugly. And it hurts. Here they kill without thinking. And if they kill you, Chris..." his voice cracked again. "How do you think I could live with myself?"

Chris felt a lump rising in his throat.

"Daniel..."

"How do you think I might feel if one day I get a call telling me that your body turned up in a ditch? Or that you were never found?" Daniel's voice became lower, more charged with real fear. "I wouldn't forgive myself. Ever. Because all of this...all of this is happening because you're with me."

Chris blinked, his eyes burning, and then he said it. Because he couldn't keep it to himself anymore.

"I'm in love with you."

The world seemed to stop. The wind among the cacti, the buzzing of insects, even their breathing. Everything froze.

Daniel looked at him as if he had just been shot straight in the chest. His lips parted, but no words came out. Only the muffled sound of his accelerated breathing.

Deep down, he knew it. But hearing it like that, so clear, so real, stirred something that even he didn't fully understand. Something that had always been there, nudging, hidden behind the fear.

Chris looked at him with sparkling eyes.

"I don't care if you don't feel the same way." His voice was soft, but firm. "I... I'm happy when I'm with you. That alone is enough for me."

Daniel closed his eyes tightly. He ran his hands over his face, as if he wanted to erase what he had just heard. As if it hurt.

"...This life is not for you, Chris." he whispered, not daring to look at him yet. "I don't want to see you dragged into this. To what I am. To what I have to do to survive."

"I don't care." replied Chris with a tremor in his voice. "I already told you. I don't care... I just want to be with you."

And then Daniel looked at him. With the saddest eyes Chris had ever seen him with.

"But I do care..." said Daniel. "Because you deserve better... you deserve a future that isn't stained with blood. You deserve to wake up without fear. You deserve everything I can't give you."

Chris took a step closer, so close now that only a breath separated them.

"And you?" Chris asked quietly. "What do you deserve, Daniel?"

The question was left hanging in the air.

And for the first time, Daniel didn't know what to answer.

Daniel looked down again, his eyes glittering from the lunar reflection and something deeper stirring inside him.

"What do I deserve, Chris?" he asked quietly, brokenly. "To go on with this life...this damn life where every day is a countdown Do you think I deserve anything else? Because I don't. Nothing I do is going to make up for what I've done..... There's no redemption for me."

Chris looked at him with a clenched heart. He felt like he was losing him with every word.

"I have to stay here." continued Daniel, his voice was firmer, though it hurt to hear it. "I have to fix everything that's going on. If I leave now... everything I built falls apart. And not because of power or money. It's my responsibility. It's my fault. I have to face it."

Chris took a step closer, so close that he could feel the warmth of Daniel's body, the slight trembling of his hands.

"...And I don't want you to pursue that life." said Chris in a voice laden with pent-up emotions. "I don't want to see you die in this desert for something that doesn't have a happy ending.... I don't want to visit you in a grave. I don't want to mourn you..."

Daniel clenched his fists.

"Chris..."

"Let's… let's run away together!" interrupted Chris, with an impetus even he didn't know he had. "We can go... To another country. Not back to Mexico, not back to the United States. We can start from scratch. No one will know who we are there. We can be free... you and me."

Daniel looked at him, his lips parted and his eyes filled with something that seemed somewhere between longing and fear.

For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine it. A parallel universe. He and Chris, walking along an unknown beach at sunset, the sand was warm beneath their feet, the sound of the waves erasing all traces of the past. Or perhaps in a distant forest, where the trees whispered secrets in a language only they could understand. Laughing, unarmed, no shadows stalking their steps. No names to bind them to what they had been.

Just them. Happy.

But the image vanished like smoke.

Because he knew that by choosing his freedom, he was signing the sentence of those who were once his only family.

Because if he left, he would leave his gang exposed. They would kill them. They would go after their family. And worst of all, it would be his fault.

Daniel looked down, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.

"I can't." he muttered at last.

Chris felt something break inside. Tears threatened to come, but he held them back, barely.

"Isn't there anything I can do to change your mind?"

Daniel raised his head and looked at him sadly.

"No."

Chris felt his heart shatter. He took a deep breath, but the air didn't go all the way in.

"So... is this goodbye?"

Daniel nodded, slow. Painful. Every millimeter of that gesture was a knife.

"...Yes."

They were both silent. Daniel pulled a folded envelope out of his back pants pocket and placed it in Chris's hand.

They were the tickets for the plane leaving for the United States in the morning.

Chris looked at them. He didn't want them. He didn't want to leave. But he knew he couldn't force Daniel to change his mind.

He felt a lump in his throat, burning, unbearable. His hands trembled slightly as he held that envelope, as if it weighed tons.

Daniel watched him in silence, his lips were tight, his chest rising and falling with difficulty. Finally, he said in a low voice, loaded with everything he hadn't said before.

"I'm going to miss you, Chris..." his voice cracked a little as he said his name. "Very much."

Chris raised his eyes, red with tears, and looked at him in pain.

"Me too." he whispered. "More than you can imagine."

Daniel took a deep breath, trying to support himself. But even he, who used to hide everything, who had learned to harden his soul, could not stop his voice from trembling at the next sentence.

"I just want you to be happy... I really do. To be safe. Where no one will hurt you."

Chris, unable to contain himself any longer, stepped forward and clung to him, hiding his face in his shoulder. The crying came out again, quiet at first, then choked and halting. Daniel wrapped his arms around him tightly, as if he could never let go again.

I am afraid, but to live in a world without you.

"I don't want to leave you." whispered Chris against his neck. "I don't want to lose you."

"You will never lose me." replied Daniel, closing his eyes, pressing himself tighter against him, as if he wanted to melt his body against his. "Even if we're not in the same place...you're part of me. You always will be."

Silence fell for a moment, full of unsaid emotions. The desert wind blew between them, caressing the remains of what could have been.

They slowly parted. Chris looked at his face one last time, as if trying to memorize every detail, the curve of his jaw, the tiny scar on his cheek, the immense sadness in his eyes. And Daniel did the same with him.

Without another word, Daniel turned around. He walked to the car. He opened the door.

Before going up, he stopped.

His mind began to race.

What if they did leave?

What if they really left everything behind, found a corner of the world where no one knew them?

What if for once, just once, he thought of him... of them...?

He opened his eyes and turned slightly, just enough to see Chris behind him, standing with his arms crossed over his stomach, as if he was holding himself up so he wouldn't collapse. His eyes were still wet. His gaze, broken.

And then he felt it.

Doubt.

The treacherous urge to run to him and say, "Let's go. Now. Anywhere. Far away. With you."

But the image of Andrés, Alex, of his people, crossed his mind.

The enemy gang waiting.

The retaliation.

The blood.

Their family.

If he disappeared... it wouldn't just be words or threats. They would be corpses.

He lowered his head, his eyes beginning to sting with anger and sadness.

I wish I could choose you without fear... Without consequences.

And without looking back, he got into the car. The engine roared softly, and the car drove off down the dirt road, disappearing into the night.

Chris stood there, still, staring at the place where he had gone. He felt something inside him shut down. The tears fell without permission. Silently at first, then with low, broken, uncontainable sobs.

The door behind him opened slowly.

"Chris...?" the voice of Ynez was soft, concerned.

He didn't turn around at first. He only murmured.

"Daniel left... He left me. He didn't want to stay with me..."

Ynez approached him slowly, wrapped him in a hug from behind. Chris dropped the tickets to the ground, and broke down completely in her arms. The sound of his crying melted into the desert wind.

Chapter Text

The world could end tomorrow... thought Chris, as he remembered Daniel getting into the car and driving away without looking back.

"The world could end tomorrow for me" he said to himself "and still life would go on, just like nothing."

Chris couldn't stop thinking about him. As the car drove through the streets of Hermosillo on its way to the airport, his mind kept coming back to Puerto Lobos. To Daniel.

To everything they had experienced together.

The salty breeze, the nights under the stars, the laughter that seemed to have no end. The enormous, almost unreal happiness he felt during those weeks, reuniting with his childhood friend. Falling in love, without wanting to, without being able to help it. And now... now he was back in reality.

About to catch a flight back to the United States, not knowing when he would see him again.

Alex drove in silence, attentive to the road. Ynez, in the co-pilot's seat, was casting furtive glances towards Chris, full of concern and sadness. As if she knew that what Chris was feeling at that moment, could not be fixed so easily.

Chris still felt the wounds in his arm and chest, felt dull twinges that reminded him of the gunshot and how close he came to death. But no physical pain compared to what he felt inside. His heart still ached with a cruel intensity, he felt a latent emptiness that Daniel had left behind when he abandoned him.

That morning, as Chris opened his eyes, he wished with all his being that none of what had happened the night before was real. That Daniel's goodbye had been just a bad dream. That he was in that bed in Puerto Lobos, breathing next to him.

But the reality was crueler.

There was no Daniel beside him.

And he wished, desperately, that he could rip his heart out of his chest and throw it away. He didn't want to feel anything. He didn't want to remember the way Daniel had looked at him before he left, or the words he said to him before he walked away forever.

All he wanted was to forget.

But he couldn't.

Because loving Daniel, even when it hurt, was the most real thing he'd felt in years.

Chris leaned his forehead against the car window, letting the cool glass soothe some of the burning he felt in his eyes. He had cried silently for hours, but he had no tears left. Only a still sadness, stuck in his chest like a splinter that could not be removed.

He watched the landscape of Hermosillo pass slowly in front of him. Unlike Caborca or the dusty little town of Puerto Lobos, this city had more buildings, more cars, more trees. People walking in a hurry, traffic lights flashing, signs for stores and cafes... but, despite all that, in the distance still stretched the desert.

The same desert that surrounded Puerto Lobos. That sea of dry land that seemed eternal, unchanging, indifferent to human pain.

Chris looked at it as if he expected to find some sign there. Something that would tell him that everything he had experienced with Daniel had been real. That he had not dreamed it.

Because now, in the middle of the city, with the noise of the engine, the muffled voices of the radio and the hum of the cars passing by them, everything began to feel distant. As if Daniel belonged to another world.

A world he was leaving behind.

Even though a part of him screamed that he didn't want to leave.

A part of him wanted to disappear. To dissolve into the dry air that hovered over Hermosillo, to become nothing so as to no longer feel that heartbreaking weight in his chest.

He hadn't experienced so much pain since that time.

Not since his father left him at his grandparents' house, with a broken promise and a forced smile.

And he never came back.

Chris remembered clearly the confusion of those days, his innocent certainty that it was only temporary. That at any moment his father would come back for him, hug him tight and take him home like it was nothing.

But that moment never came.

And now, reliving all that through Daniel was like receiving the same emotional slap in the face. The same wound, open since childhood, was bleeding again.

Daniel was gone too.

He had looked Chris in the eye and, even knowing what it meant to him, had walked away.

Chris forced himself to swallow saliva, to take a deep breath, not to break down again.

Maybe he should stop expecting so much from others.

Maybe it was time to understand that he was worth much more than what people seemed to see.

That his love, his devotion, his heart... could no longer be placed in the hands of those who did not know how to hold them.

He had to start protecting himself.

To not let himself be broken so easily.

But at that moment, as the car continued on its way to the airport and the desert shimmered in the distance, it still seemed impossible.

Ynez remained silent.

She had wanted to say something to him ever since they got in the car, ever since she saw him with a blank stare, his eyes swollen and his body hunched under the weight of pain. But she couldn't find the words. And maybe, she thought, it was because they didn't exist.

Nothing she could say to Chris could comfort him at that moment.

There was no phrase that could soothe him.

There was no comfort that could erase the way Daniel had left him.

So she just stood there. Attentive to every movement, to every trembling sigh he tried to conceal. Sometimes she watched him out of the corner of her eye, her heart cringing, wishing she could hug him, tell him he was going to be okay, that he was strong, that he deserved better.

But even that seemed unfair to her.

Because she knew Chris didn't want pretty words or empty promises.

All he wanted was for Daniel not to be gone.

And that, neither she nor anyone else, could change.

The car slowed as they approached the entrance to the General Ignacio Pesqueira Garcia International Airport. The metal letters on the facade reflected the morning sun, gleaming with cruel indifference.

That was the end.

The line that separated his world with Daniel from the world that awaited him back in the United States.

Chris looked at the shiny airport floor and remembered something. Something small, almost buried, but that now hurt more than ever.

He remembered his mother.

He saw her many times on the living room couch, with a blanket on her legs and a cup of tea, watching superhero movies, she also liked to watch love movies.

Always the same ones, he thought as he smiled sadly.

He remembered one that she watched a lot, he didn't remember the name, but he did remember that there was a girl about to leave a city, and that, before taking the plane, she is caught at the last moment by someone who loves her. Sometimes she cried, and Chris didn't understand why.

Until now.

He wanted to look back, and find Daniel standing there, with that stubborn, broken expression, asking him not to leave. That he should stay. That together they could get through everything that was happening.

But he knew that wasn't going to happen.

Not for someone like him.

He sighed, and forced himself to lift his head. To move forward. To put one foot in front of the other. Because all he could do now...was hope that Daniel was safe.

Alex parked without a word. He got out of the car, circling the vehicle to open the trunk. Ynez didn't say anything either. She only turned to look at Chris, her eyes were soft, sad, filled with a mute compassion.

Chris didn't move at first. He took one last look at the dry horizon that could be seen from the parking lot. Far away, between buildings and concrete, the desert still breathed. Like an echo of what had been. As if calling him to stay.

But he already knew he couldn't.

He took a deep breath.

He forced himself to move.

Every muscle in his body protested, as if his soul resisted letting go of that piece of life that still bound him to Daniel.

"Are you ready?" asked Ynez, her voice soft, barely a whisper.

Chris nodded, not looking at her. His voice caught in his throat. He got out of the car, closed the door carefully, as if he was afraid of breaking something else inside himself.

Alex handed him his suitcase without a word. It was strange to see him so serious, but deep down, Chris appreciated it. The silence was less painful than any attempt at consolation.

The three of them walked toward the entrance. As they got closer, Chris felt the air grow thicker, harder to breathe. Each step was a goodbye.

To Puerto Lobos.

To that summer.

To Daniel.

To a part of himself he didn't know if he was ever going to get back.

When they were already in the boarding area, the silence became thicker. Screens announced flights, voices over the loudspeakers called out to passengers, and everything around him seemed to go on as if the world wasn't crumbling inside him.

Chris stood still, with his suitcase to one side, watching without seeing. The cold lights of the airport gave everything an unreal air, as if he were trapped in a scene that did not belong to him.

Ynez didn't wait any longer. She reached out and hugged him tightly, wrapping him in a gesture that said much more than any words. She sank her face into his shoulder, and it was then that tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"Forgive me." she whispered, barely audible, her voice breaking. "For not being able to help you stop it from ending like this."

Chris stood still for a few seconds, unsure how to respond. Then he lifted his arms and wrapped them around her carefully, as if he was afraid he'd break completely if he held on too tightly.

"It's not your fault, Ynez." he managed to say, in a breathless whisper.

She nodded between sobs, but didn't let go.

"You didn't deserve this..."

Chris closed his eyes tightly. He couldn't cry anymore, but he felt something tearing inside again. The pain wouldn't go away. It was just morphing into a kind of numbness, as if his soul had been left behind, trapped in Puerto Lobos.

After a long moment, Ynez pulled away a little and held his face in her hands.

"Promise me that you're going to be okay." she said, her eyes red but steady. "That you're not going to be turned off by this."

Chris swallowed hard. He wanted to promise. He wanted to say yes.

But he couldn't.

He just nodded, barely.

And that was enough for Ynez to hug him once more, tighter than before.

Ynez wiped her tears with the back of her hand, trying to regain some of her composure as the airport voice announced that Chris's flight was about to board.

She looked at him, as if to memorize every detail of his face, and then smiled sadly.

"Please...write me, okay?" she said, a lump in her throat. "I'm going to look you up on social media. I don't want this to be a final goodbye. Don't forget me, Chris."

Chris felt something in his chest soften at those words. Despite the pain, despite the chaos he'd been through, Ynez had been a constant beacon. An unexpected friend who gave him comfort when he needed it most.

"Of course I'm going to write you." he replied, with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, but was sincere. "And don't worry...I never forget my friends."

Ynez smiled through her tears, and hugged him once more, this time more calmly. As a necessary closure. An act of genuine affection that needed no further explanation.

"Take good care of yourself, okay?" she whispered in his ear. "And if you ever come back...I'm going to be here."

Chris nodded, saying nothing more. He knew that, if he spoke, his voice would crack.

Then, the loudspeaker blared again. It was time.

Alex approached quietly. With a serious expression on his face, but his gesture said more than he usually allowed.

Without saying anything at first, he hugged Chris. Firm, warm, with one hand on Chris' back and the other giving him a couple of gentle pats, as if he wanted to make sure he felt it, that he wasn't alone.

"It's going to be okay." murmured Alex against his shoulder, in a low but confident tone. "We're going to keep you updated on everything that happens in Puerto Lobos... Ynez will take care of that."

Chris nodded, swallowing hard. He felt grateful for that gesture. For Alex's calm, strong presence, who had been a silent pillar since everything fell apart.

"Thank you, Alex. For everything." Chris said sincerely. "Really."

Alex gave a slight nod of his head, accepting the thanks without the need for big speeches. Then he seemed to remember something and reached into his jacket pocket.

"Ah, I almost forgot." Alex said, pulling out an object. "This is yours."

Chris frowned for a moment, until Alex held out the phone. His phone.

"Daniel kept it when you were shot. He had it all this time."

Chris took it carefully, as if it were something fragile. He looked at it silently, surprised, as if that little device was now a time capsule of everything he lived through in Puerto Lobos. A part of him that he thought was lost. And the fact that Daniel had kept it....

He said nothing. He just nodded, with a slow, mute gesture, full of thoughts he couldn't put into words.

"Thank you." he whispered, without looking up from the phone.

Alex patted him on the shoulder one last time and, with a half-smile, winked at him.

"Take care of yourself, gringo."

Chris let out a small laugh through his nose, dry, but real. He appreciated it more than he could express.

Then, without further ado, he turned toward the gate. And walked away, heartbroken....

It was close to five o'clock in the afternoon when Daniel emerged from one of the holds he had, adjusting his jacket after a meeting with his men. The heat still hung heavy in the air, dry and dusty, typical of Puerto Lobos.

He glanced at his watch out of the corner of his eye.

Chris should have landed in Seattle by now.

He felt an immediate emptiness in his chest.

No matter how much he repeated to himself that it was the right thing to do, that he had done it for his sake, for his safety... the hole was still there.

Whenever those thoughts assaulted him, he took refuge in logic.

Chris is safe.

He's where he belongs.

Far away from all of this.

But try as he might to convince himself, the silence that surrounded him only made it more obvious how much he was missing Chris.

And inside, something in him ached.

More than he was willing to admit.

Daniel began to walk through the streets of Puerto Lobos, his pace slow, aimless and unhurried. The meeting was over, but he was in no hurry to get home.

The sea breeze was blowing through the streets of the town, raising small clouds of dust and bringing with it the salty smell of the sea. That same breeze that had so often accompanied him on his walks, in the silences shared with Chris, in the days when life seemed less heavy.

And now, walking alone, that breeze felt colder. Emptier.

The sun was beginning to descend on the horizon, tinting the sky in shades of gold and orange, but Daniel barely noticed.

Every step he took took him further away from Chris's presence.

From his blue eyes, from his sincere laughter, from the way Chris hugged him as if he feared nothing.

From that warmth that for a few weeks had made him forget the world he inhabited.

He passed by the pier where he once saw Chris walking barefoot on the sand.

He clenched his jaw.

He had to keep reminding himself that he had done it for him.

That Chris deserved a life away from all this.

Away from guns, gangs, and decisions that could kill him in a second.

But knowing that didn't make it any easier.

Because now, he knew what it was like to have someone like Chris in his life and lose him.

And in that instant, he understood.

The emptiness.

The weight of absence.

The echo of a house that no longer held the one you loved.

He remembered what Sean had once told him, when they were running from the police as they traveled across the country, in hushed tones, like someone sharing a secret too big to keep, that his dad had spent several months sad after his mom left them. That he barely spoke. That he seemed like a ghost alive, walking among the furniture in the house as if expecting her to appear through the door again at any moment.

At the time, Daniel didn't understand.

He thought it was exaggeration.

He thought you had to move on.

Keep going strong.

Not let yourself fall.

But now... now he understood it well.

Because being in this house without Chris... it was like living inside a memory that hurt with every step.

And the pain, though silent, was still there.

Daniel closed the door behind him and the hollow echo of the empty house greeted him like a sentence. The silence was thick, tangible, as if it filled every corner with Chris's absence.

He leaned against the wall for a moment, closing his eyes.

The distant murmur of the sea was still coming through the cracks in the window. That breeze he had so often ignored, now caressed his skin like a phantom presence.

He walked through the house without turning on the lights. He knew every corner by heart. The floor creaked beneath his slippers as he made his way to the room Chris had used, to his bedroom. The door was ajar. Everything was in order. As he had left it.

Because while Chris was still hospitalized, he had packed his suitcase for him.

He put away every piece of clothing, every comic book, every crumpled piece of paper carefully, as if they were treasures.

And it was then, among those things, that he found them.

Photos.

Dozens of them, old and new.

Chris had been capturing moments without anyone noticing. Photos of the beach, of the town roads, of Alex, of Ynez laughing, even some of Daniel himself... taken on the sly, from afar, with the delicacy of someone who doesn't want to be seen but can't help but stare.

Daniel had saved almost all of them. He had put them in an envelope and put them in Chris's suitcase.

Except for one that he kept and put away.

And then he saw it as he opened his nightstand drawer.

Chris had posed in front of Paredones beach, with the wind messing up his hair, the sky was completely clear and the sea stretching out like a paradise behind him.

His eyes were shining.

He had that smile... the one he didn't fake.

The one that Daniel had trouble looking at without something in his chest reacting.

He felt a pang in his heart. As if for a second, the whole wall he had built to protect himself crumbled all at once.

Because he loved Chris.

And he had let him go.

He held the photo between his fingers for several minutes, motionless, his gaze locked on that face that now seemed so far away.

And for the first time since Chris left, he dropped his head into his hands and took a deep breath, as if he couldn't hold it in any longer.

The plane landed with a slight shudder that woke Chris from a restless, fragmented sleep. The lights inside came on in warm tones, but to him, it all seemed far away.

He now found himself walking down the disembarkation hallway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The glass walls revealed the gray sky characteristic of the Pacific Northwest. Thick clouds covered the city as a fine drizzle fell on the windows.

He moved forward in silence, surrounded by people talking on the phone, laughing, carrying heavy suitcases, or simply hurrying to their next connection. It all felt unreal.

The American flags hanging high, the bilingual welcome signs, the coffee shops with shiny Starbucks logos, the souvenir stores with mugs that said I Love Seattle, postcards with the Space Needle and T-shirts with smiling clouds... Everything he recognized, but nothing felt familiar.

After Puerto Lobos, this seemed like another planet.

The trip had been long. And more than long, it had been exhausting. Not only because of the hours in the air, the paperwork, the waiting... but also because of the weight he was carrying with him. A weight that came not in the suitcase he was holding, but deeper inside. In his chest. In the soul.

And then, without wanting to, without being able to avoid it....

A couple of tears escaped.

Quiet.

Slowly.

Salty like the sea he had left behind.

He thought of Daniel.

In his dark eyes.

Of the way he hugged him one last time, as if begging him not to leave.

Chris pursed his lips and kept walking.

He was home now.

Or at least, at what was supposed to be home.

But his heart...was still far away.

Chris shuffled towards the exit, feeling the airport buzz become a distant hum. He just wanted to get to his apartment, drop his suitcase, lie down...and not think about anything for a while.

But then he heard it.

"Chris!"

It was like a spark in his memory.

He stopped in his tracks.

His heart immediately skipped a beat.

It couldn't be.

The crowd was still surging around him, people were rushing back to their lives, but Chris stood still in the middle of the aisle, his soul on pause.

That voice.

He hadn't heard it in months.

Years, even, in person.

And yet his body recognized it before his mind did.

A mixture of anger, fear, nostalgia, and confusion raced through his chest.

He turned slowly.

As if afraid to break the spell.

And there it was.

A man was approaching him, with slow, careful steps.

As if he didn't know if he had permission to be there.

As if he didn't know if he should back away.

His light brown hair, short, with a messy fringe that fell to one side, was now full of gray. The beard did not hide the lines of years and regret.

And his eyes...

Blue.

Identical to his own.

And full of fear.

Chris looked at him.

And for a moment, the whole world faded away.

He could only see that man.

That face he knew, that he had loved and hated, that he had cried over so many nights when he was a child...

And who was now there, standing in front of him... as if his absence had not been real.

A lump tightened his throat.

He opened his lips, barely.

Trembling.

"D-dad?"

Chapter Text

The night breeze caressed the shore with a melancholic softness, lifting grains of sand that slid like whispers over the towel where Chris and Daniel sat. In the distance, the murmur of the sea broke in a steady sway, while the sky, clear and vast, unfolded above them like a velvet blanket of stars.

Chris had his knees bent, arms wrapped around them, gaze lost in the constellations. The salty air filled his lungs and soothed him, though his skin still burned slightly from the fresh ink of the tattoo.

"I really like your raccoon," Daniel said, breaking the silence with a sincere tone. His eyes were fixed on the design peeking from the edge of Chris’s sleeve. "He's sitting there... on that path between trees. And that sky... it's the same one we have now."

Chris smiled softly, glancing down at his arm.

"He's there because that's me. The path... it's everything I've walked to get here," he explained, tracing the tattoo's outline with his fingers. "And the yellow flower he's holding... that's my mom. It was her favorite. She'll always be with me, even if she's not here anymore."

Daniel looked at him for a moment, saying nothing. Then he lowered his head and placed a hand over his own chest, right where his tattoo was.

"I get what you mean," he murmured, eyes still on the sea. "Sometimes I feel like I carry him here... like I could still talk to him."

Chris watched him silently.

"Do you think there's something after death?" Daniel asked suddenly, turning his face just slightly toward him, wearing that vulnerable expression he only showed during moments like this. "I don’t know... something more? A place, a... something?"

Chris took his time to answer. He looked up at the sky, searching for a sign among the stars.

"I want to believe there is," he finally said. "That there's something more. Because if not... where does all the love we feel go? Where do the words we never said end up?"

Daniel remained still, breathing deeply as a colder gust of wind swept between them.

"Maybe... they don’t go anywhere," Daniel whispered. "Maybe... they stay with us."

And for a moment, neither of them said a word. The sea kept speaking for them. And above their heads, the stars continued to shine.

Daniel remained silent for a few seconds, staring at Chris’s tattoo with a look that seemed to get lost between the ink details and the real stars above them.

He reached into the pocket of his jacket, rummaging until he found a crumpled cigarette. He brought it to his lips and, with the lighter trembling slightly in the ocean breeze, managed to light it. He inhaled deeply, letting the smoke disappear into the night air.

"It really suits you," he murmured then, looking at the tattoo again. "It's... very you."

Chris lowered his gaze with a soft smile, as if those words tickled something deep in his chest.

"Thanks," he replied, looking up at him. "And I liked your new haircut. You look... more like yourself too."

Daniel let out a barely audible chuckle, tilting his head.

"More like me? Is that good or bad?"

"It’s good," said Chris with a smile that lingered, his eyes shining with honesty. "I like it."

Daniel held his gaze for a second that felt eternal before looking away with a smile of his own. The cigarette burned slowly between his fingers, casting a warm, fleeting glow on his profile.

He brought it to his lips again and inhaled calmly, as if the smoke could soothe something burning inside him. Then, he turned his face slightly, glancing sideways at Chris.

"Chris," he called softly, almost like a whisper getting lost between the distant sound of the waves.

Chris turned his head toward him, curious, his eyes reflecting the stars above.

And then, without saying another word, Daniel exhaled gently, releasing the smoke right in front of him, letting it wrap around Chris like a warm and fleeting mist. For a moment, it was just the two of them in that suspended space, the stars, the sea, the smoke, and the silence.

Chris blinked, surprised by the gesture, but didn’t move away. He stayed still, watching him intently, as if there was something in that small act he didn’t quite know how to interpret... but could feel deep in his chest.

Then, a small smile formed on Chris’s lips. One of those soft smiles, but full of truth. One that said more than a thousand words.

Daniel saw it. He felt it.

And it was the only answer he needed before leaning forward, slowly, with a determination that rose from the silence. His face moved closer to Chris’s, closing the distance between them, as if that moment belonged only to them and nothing else mattered.

Their lips met with a quiet certainty under the starry sky, there was no past, no future, just the two of them in that moment.

No past. No future.

The first drops of rain began to fall, tapping gently against the fogged glass of the fast food restaurant.

Chris sat silently at the table, his gaze lost in the window. The memory still pulsed inside him, fresh and intense, as if it had soaked into his skin along with the ink of the tattoo he’d gotten with Ynez.

The beach. The kiss.

Chris lowered his gaze to the empty table.

He thought about Daniel.

Where could he be? What was he doing?

He hoped he was okay.

That he wasn’t alone.

That, somehow, he was thinking about him too.

A twinge tightened in his chest, soft but persistent. Though there were miles between them, Chris felt like something invisible was still pulling at his soul, like a thread that wouldn’t snap.

"Hey, I’m back," Charles said, breaking the silence as he set the tray in front of Chris with a light smile. "I got you your favorite."

Chris blinked, snapping back to reality. He looked up just as Charles sat across from him with two wrapped burgers and their drinks.

"Well… at least it was your favorite when you were ten," he joked, raising an eyebrow. "Still the same?"

But then he stopped and looked at him for a moment. He scanned him in silence, as if the image before him was difficult to reconcile with the one he kept in his memory.

"Damn…" he murmured with a soft, almost sad smile. "You’re huge. I can’t believe how much you’ve grown… You’re a man now."

Chris watched him silently, as if he needed to register every detail to convince himself it was real. The man sitting across from him wasn’t as he remembered. His father’s hair was lighter than he’d imagined, with silver strands spilling without shame among the light brown. Wrinkles carved deep lines around his eyes and forehead, and there was something in his expression… something tired. Defeated, even.

He wasn’t the strong man his childhood mind had once idolized.

And seeing him again, sitting there with a burger and a trembling smile, was… jarring.

Like being thrown without warning into a distorted version of his childhood.

Where were you?

Why did you leave me?

Why now?

Thousands of questions shot through his mind like lightning, disordered, sharp, like stones against glass. But none left his mouth. Not one.

His throat had closed, and his heart beat somewhere between nostalgia and anger.

"Mmm… yeah," he murmured, barely audible, lowering his gaze to the burger wrapped in greasy paper before him. "I think I still like this one."

He made an effort to sound casual, almost indifferent, as he slowly began to unwrap the food, not looking at him.

As if the burger were the most interesting thing in the universe. As if he weren’t falling apart inside.

He didn’t want Charles to see him like this.

He didn’t want to give him the power to see his pain, his confusion, his anger...

How was he supposed to react?

Was he supposed to be happy? Smile? Hug him? Thank him for showing up after all these years of absence?

Or did he have the right to feel this way, split in two, between a child who still needed him and a young man who no longer trusted him?

Chris chewed in silence, without lifting his gaze.

And in that moment, the only thing he could do was that, chew, breathe deeply, and keep the wall up.

Even if something inside was already beginning to crack.

Charles didn’t say anything for a moment.

He just watched him.

Maybe he was waiting for Chris to say something else, to break the ice, to ask a question, anything that would give him permission to speak.

But Chris kept his eyes on his food, avoiding his gaze like it was too bright, too familiar, too painful.

The low hum of the restaurant filled the space between them, the distant chatter of other tables, the mechanical hiss of the fryer, a bell ringing every time the kitchen door opened.

And yet, the silence between the two of them was the loudest thing in that moment.

Charles took a sip of his drink and set the cup on the tray, making a hollow sound that seemed louder than it actually was.

"You’ve changed a lot," he finally said in a low voice, almost a sigh.

He tried to smile, but it fell apart before it could fully form.

Chris gave a single nod, still without looking up.

He kept chewing in silence, slower now. The bread tasted like nothing.

"I guess I have too, huh?" Charles tried again, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. His voice carried clear nervousness, like he didn’t know where to put his hands or what to do with the guilt hovering over the table.

Chris swallowed with difficulty and set the burger aside.

There was a knot in his stomach. He didn’t know if it was hunger or bottled-up anger.

"Yeah... quite a bit."

Silence again.

This time, heavier, denser, more uncomfortable.

Like the table was too small for so much unresolved past.

Charles cleared his throat, uneasy. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. He couldn’t find words that didn’t feel hollow.

Chris didn’t want to hear promises or half-hearted excuses.

He didn’t even know if he wanted to hear anything.

He only knew it hurt. That sitting across from him hurt more than he had imagined.

Charles clenched his hands on the table for a moment, looking at his son with a mix of insecurity and nostalgia. His fingers tapped nervously on the edge of the tray, and after a few seconds of hesitation, he spoke.

"Chris... I..." he swallowed, as if the words were harder to say than anything else in his life. "You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. I just... I want you to know I’m here. That I want to try."

Chris slowly looked up.

His blue eyes locked onto Charles’s, sharp, loaded.

They weren’t the eyes of a child seeking comfort.

They were the eyes of someone who had waited too long and no longer knew if he wanted what was being offered.

"What are you doing here?" he asked suddenly, without preamble. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was firm, almost defiant. "How did you know I’d be at the airport at that time?"

Charles tensed.

He hadn’t expected the question, or maybe he had, just not so soon or so directly.

"Your grandmother called me," he finally answered, lowering his gaze slightly. "She said you were in Mexico... that you were coming home."

Chris stared at him without blinking.

"And you decided to show up... just now. After... how many years?" He let the question hang in the air because he knew the exact answer.

Since he was ten years old. Since that last conversation. Since Charles left him with his grandparents and never came back.

Charles lowered his head for a moment. His voice trembled when he spoke.

"I know I don’t have the right to ask you for anything. Not forgiveness... not for you to believe me. But I needed to see you. Even if it was just for a few minutes."

Chris pressed his lips together and looked away again.

His hands trembled slightly, but he wouldn’t let it show. Not here, not in front of him.

"Well, now you’ve seen me," he murmured, turning his gaze back to the rain-fogged window. "I guess that’s enough, right?"

And silence fell between them again. But this time, it wasn’t just uncomfortable.

It was sharp. Full of everything they had never said.

Charles remained silent a moment longer. He lowered his gaze, as if gathering courage, as if the truth he was about to speak weighed too much.

"It’s not just now," he said in a low, hoarse voice. "I thought about looking for you many times. About coming to see you. But... I couldn’t."

Chris frowned slightly, still not fully looking at him.

Charles took a deep breath.

"Do you remember...?" he began, his eyes clouding a bit. "That night... when... when I left that bruise on your arm."

Chris tensed.

The words hit him before he could fully process them.

And then the image came. Clear.

He was only nine years old. His father was drunk, more than ever. The bottle of whiskey still sat on the table.

The yelling. The slamming door.

The strong hand, too strong, grabbing his arm, shaking him with blind rage.

And then, the fear. Pure fear.

The fear of seeing a stranger in his father’s eyes.

Charles covered his face for a moment with his trembling hands.

"After your mother died... I... I fell apart, Chris. I became something I hated. And the worst part is, you were there... and I wasn’t even capable of seeing you. Of protecting you."

He looked at him, finally. His eyes were wet.

"How could I be a good father to you in that state? What example was I going to give you? When every time you looked at me... you only saw a broken man."

Chris didn’t answer right away.

Tears began to gather in his eyes before he could stop them. They stung. They weighed on him.

He blinked quickly and wiped them away with the sleeve of his hoodie, as if he could erase what he was feeling just like he wiped the tears from his face.

"Change?" he asked, his voice cracking but clear. "Get real help? Try for me? Because I needed you too. After Mom died, I went through hell too... and you abandoned me. Did you ever think about that?"

Charles closed his eyes as if Chris’s words had cut through him.

Chris took a deep, difficult breath, like all the air had thickened around him.

"Did you ever think about how I felt after you left?" he added, unable to stop a single tear from slipping down his cheek. "That every time I looked in the mirror, I wondered if I was the reason everything went wrong? If you didn’t come back because of me..."

The silence that followed was different.

It was an open wound. Raw.

And for the first time, it was laid bare between them.

Charles drew in a shaky breath, and when he spoke again, his voice was more broken, not trembling from fear, but from naked, unguarded sincerity.

"You and I are very different, Chris... We always were," he said, with a half-smile full of pain, like he’d always known it. "You… you were strong. You are strong. Better than me in every way."

Chris looked at him, surprised by the confession.

"Look at you now... in college, with a future, smart, kind. With a compass, despite everything." Charles’s voice dropped with each word. "I’m just surviving... You’re living. Dreaming. And that didn’t come from me. You got that from your mother."

The mention of his mother made Chris’s throat tighten. He looked down, another wave of emotion rising in his chest.

"If you’d stayed with me... alone, back in that damn town..." Charles shook his head. "I’m not sure you would’ve made it. Because I wasn’t a good father. I wasn’t a good example for you, Chris. Not then."

Chris clenched his jaw. He closed his eyes for a second before raising his gaze again.

"And you think I cared about that?" he said in a pained whisper. "You think I cared whether you were a good father or not?"

He leaned slightly toward the table, not raising his voice, but filled with raw, pure intensity.

"I just wanted you with me. I wanted you to fight for me. To show me you loved me as much as you said you did... by trying to change. To heal. Not just for you, but for both of us. I didn’t need you to be perfect. I just needed you to be there, next to me, trying."

Charles’s chest rose and fell slowly, as if breathing had become a struggle under the weight of his son’s words.

Chris swallowed hard, the tears returning, but this time, he didn’t wipe them away.

"I never stopped waiting for you. Sometimes I’d fall asleep with my shoes on... just in case you came during the night. I told myself that if I heard your car outside, I’d run out of my room and leave with you."

There was a pause.

"But you never came back."

The silence that followed was brutal. Almost sacred.

Charles didn’t dare speak yet.

And Chris didn’t know if he had any words left to say.

Chris looked down for a moment, breathing with difficulty. His throat burned, as if the words had scraped him raw on their way out.

And then, still not lifting his head, he murmured.

"I miss her too."

The silence thickened.

His eyes filled with more tears instantly. He let them fall, silently, while his voice, barely audible, broke as he continued.

"I think about her every day."

Every day.

Since she left.

And in that moment, without being able to stop it, his mind betrayed him.

A flash. An impossible image.

The other reality.

His mother alive.

Smiling.

Hugging him tightly, like she used to when he was a child. That warm, secure feeling, like the whole world could vanish and he’d still be okay, just because she was there.

Her voice telling him everything would be alright. That she’d always be with him.

Chris shut his eyes. He wanted to hold on to that image, to that illusion his heart had buried deep. But it didn’t last.

It couldn’t last.

"Sometimes..." he said with a trembling sigh, unable to hold the emotion back anymore, "...I imagine what life would be like if she were still here… with us. What her voice would sound like. Her laugh. And I hate myself a little for starting to forget her."

Charles looked at him, completely broken.

His eyes were red, his jaw tight, his face full of guilt.

But he didn’t speak. Not yet.

He just listened. Because in that moment, Chris was finally saying everything.

"And also..." Chris continued, finally lifting his gaze, his eyes bright and red, "...I missed you too."

The words hit like a wave.

"I missed you every day since you left, even when I didn’t want to. Even when I promised myself I wouldn’t. Even when I said I didn’t care... it was never true. Never."

Charles brought a hand to his mouth, trying to contain himself. But he couldn’t anymore.

His shoulders shook. His face twisted.

And the tears, those he had repressed for years, began to fall uncontrollably.

He didn’t cry like an adult. Not with dignity.

He cried like a man who had just faced everything he’d avoided for years.

Like a father who finally understood the damage he had left behind.

Like someone who had lost too much.

Chris watched him in silence.

And for a second, the child within him... the one who had waited with his shoes on each night... cried too.

Charles covered his eyes with one hand, trying to contain the sobs, but it was useless.

Everything he had locked away for years was pouring out now without permission, the guilt, the grief, the shame.

He wasn’t the father Chris had needed.

He wasn’t even a whole man.

Chris kept watching him.

And though his own tears were still falling, he didn’t move from his seat.

He didn’t get up.

He didn’t comfort him.

Because part of him still hurt too much.

But seeing him like this... so shattered... hurt as well.

For years, he had imagined this moment, seeing him again.

Sometimes he imagined him standing at his door, with a smile and open arms.

Other times, he pictured him begging for forgiveness.

And many times, he simply imagined him dead.

But now, there he was. In front of him. Crying like a child...

And Chris didn’t know what to do with that.

The tray with the half-eaten burger remained between them, a ridiculous symbol of what this reunion had become.

An ordinary scene, draped in years of silence, pain, and words never spoken.

Chris wiped his face with one hand, no longer hiding his tears.

Then he turned his gaze to the window, where the rain continued to fall gently.

Each drop hitting the fogged glass was like a heartbeat.

An echo.

A reminder that they were here. That they had finally said it all.

Charles murmured something, but his voice broke halfway through.

It was unintelligible.

And maybe it didn’t need to be understood.

They remained like that.

Facing each other.

Not touching.

Not hugging.

Just... breathing the same air.

Full of memories, absences, of a shared sadness that, for the first time, was no longer invisible.

And for the first time in many years, both of them knew the other had suffered too.

It wasn’t forgiveness.

It wasn’t forgetting.

But it was something.

A crack in the wall.

And sometimes, that was enough to begin.

The rain had stopped being a whisper and now struck furiously against the roof and windshield.

Each drop bounced as if trying to break through the glass, and the streets turned into shattered mirrors reflecting the amber lights of the streetlamps.

The windshield wipers worked without pause, marking a monotonous rhythm that filled the silence between them.

Chris gripped the steering wheel tightly. Charles had handed him the keys without saying much, just a curt, "You drive, I am not in a position to do that."

And Chris hadn’t argued.

The car glided smoothly over the wet asphalt, raising small waves as it passed through deep puddles.

The sound of the engine and the rain was their only company.

Chris glanced sideways at Charles.

His father’s face was half-hidden in the car’s shadows, lit only occasionally by the streetlights. His eyes were fixed on something beyond the window, as if he wasn’t even really there.

Chris looked forward again. He hesitated for a few seconds.

Then, he decided to break the silence.

"Where have you been... these past few months?" he asked, his voice barely louder than the pounding rain.

It wasn’t an aggressive question. Nor a gentle one.

It was direct. Cold and honest, like the water falling outside.

Charles blinked, turning his head slowly toward him, though he didn’t respond right away.

He just took a deep breath, as if searching for the right way to answer, if one even existed.

Chris, seeing he wasn’t going to speak, tightened his grip on the wheel and spoke again.

"A little over a month ago, I went to Beaver Creek..." he said, eyes fixed on the road. "Before going to Mexico."

Charles turned slightly toward him.

"I stopped by our house looking for you," Chris continued, his tone loaded with something that wasn’t reproach but wasn’t neutral either. "I thought maybe... I don’t know... you might be there."

He allowed himself a brief glance at his father before returning his eyes to the road.

"But the house was empty."

The sound of the rain filled the silence that followed. Charles sighed again.

"I stopped living there a long time ago," he finally replied, his voice low, almost swallowing the words. "Many years ago."

Chris nodded slowly.

"I figured as much," he murmured.

Silence settled between them for a few minutes, it was heavy, but not uncomfortable. Chris turned on the radio; a soft melody began to drift into the car, blending with the patter of rain on the windshield.

"I lived in several cities," Charles broke the silence, eyes fixed on the road. "Worked in construction."

Chris glanced at him. Charles continued.

"Nothing steady... I bounced from place to place. Dallas, Portland... even some time in Nevada. I worked wherever I could, building walls, fixing roofs, hauling materials..." He let out a joyless chuckle. "Honestly, I never stayed long enough to call anywhere home."

His voice lowered a bit, as if he were speaking more to himself than to Chris.

"Sometimes I slept in cheap motels, other times in the car... or on a coworker’s couch. Construction pays, but it’s not always enough."

Charles sighed.

"I guess I got used to not putting down roots anywhere. It’s easier to leave when nothing ties you down."

Chris hesitated before speaking.

"Did you really try to get help... after you left me with the grandparents?" he asked, his voice laced with a mix of curiosity and caution.

Charles didn’t take his eyes off the road.

"At first, yeah," he replied after a short silence. "But I couldn’t stick with it. I relapsed fast... and ended up living on the streets for half a year because of it."

Chris felt a knot in his stomach but said nothing.

"Until..." Charles tensed slightly. "Something happened that made me change. Something that forced me to seek real help."

His tone dropped, cutting off any attempt to dig deeper.

"I don’t want to go into details," he said, focusing again on the road and letting the sound of the rain fill the remaining space.

Chris kept his eyes on the road, but his thoughts were far from the yellow lines sliding beneath the wheels. His father’s words echoed in his head, like puzzle pieces that never quite fit.

He felt curious, an intense stab, to know what had made Charles change... but at the same time, a part of him wasn’t sure he wanted to know that truth.

He inevitably remembered those days they lived together. The nights Charles came home smelling of alcohol, his voice louder than usual, his steps unsteady. The times he got into fights at bars, when the booze pushed him to pick fights over nothing, ending with a split lip or a bruised eye.

They were rough memories, stained with fear and shame, and they still hurt. Chris clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on the wheel, as if that might push the images away.

The sound of the radio kept filling the car.

Charles broke the silence again, his voice a bit hoarser, almost faint.

"That’s how I’d sum up my life these past years..." he murmured. "A bunch of odd jobs, cities that meant nothing, and nights spent trying to convince myself it didn’t hurt to be alone."

Chris swallowed, a slight sting in his throat. He didn’t take his eyes off the road, but his voice came out with the same firmness as before.

"Did you also stop getting into bar fights with strangers?"

The question lingered in the air for a few seconds. Charles took his time to answer, but when he did, a sad smile barely touched his lips.

"Since I stopped drinking... yeah." he said. "It was harder than I thought. Not just quitting alcohol... but stopping myself from looking for excuses to hit someone."

Chris nodded, saying nothing at first. But then, with a lower voice, as if he were confessing more to the rain than to his father, he murmured.

"I got into a fight at school once."

Charles frowned, surprised, and glanced at him for a second before turning his eyes back to the road.

"You?"

Chris let out a brief, ironic exhale.

"Yeah. It was years ago. A kid said my dad was a drunk, always getting into bar fights... that he’d probably end up like one of those guys who sleep on the street."

Charles said nothing. He just stayed still, jaw clenched, as shame began to tint his eyes.

Chris continued.

"I couldn’t take it. I shoved him against a locker and ended up getting punished." He paused. "I never told anyone. I hid the letter from you."

The silence that followed was denser than before. Charles lowered his head slightly, staring at his own hands resting on his legs.

"I was a shitty father..." he said, his voice broken. "And the worst part is... all I ever did was make you ashamed of me."

Chris didn’t respond right away. He kept driving, though his eyes were slightly glassy. The road stretched endlessly ahead of them, long and dark, as if it had no end.

"Yeah... you embarrassed me," he admitted honestly. "But I missed you too."

Charles closed his eyes for a moment, and something inside him cracked. Not because of the reproach, but because of the sincerity. Because despite everything... his son had still waited for him.

And that hurt more than any punishment.

The words lingered between them, like a mist that wouldn’t dissipate with the car’s heater. Outside, the rain didn’t stop, but the world seemed to fade around that vehicle sliding over the wet asphalt.

Chris said nothing more, and neither did Charles.

They sat with only their thoughts and the soft song coming from the radio.

Charles leaned his head back against the seat and let out a long sigh, like he was trying to exhale years of accumulated weight. He remained silent for a moment, but then his voice, faint and trembling, filled the space between them again.

"You know what haunted me most on those nights alone?" he said, without looking at him. "It wasn’t the cold, or the hunger... It was imagining you growing up without me. Thinking that one day you’d forget my face. That someday you’d tell someone, ‘My dad’s dead,’ just so you wouldn’t have to explain anything."

Chris looked down for a second, his grip on the steering wheel loosening slightly.

"I didn’t forget you," he replied softly.

Charles gave a sad smile, loaded with guilt and something like relief.

"I know," he murmured. "And sometimes I wonder if it would've been better if you had..."

Chris pressed his lips together, struggling against the lump in his throat. The rain kept beating down hard, but everything else had gone silent inside him. Only that moment remained. His father beside him, broken, but there. And all the things that had never been said.

Charles turned his head slightly, glancing sideways at him. His eyes, though tired, looked clearer than they had in a long time.

"I know I don’t have the right to be here with you now," he said sincerely. "I know I don’t have the right to ask questions, or to intrude on your life. I don’t even know if I deserve to know what you’ve been doing all these years..."

Chris glanced at him briefly, but didn’t interrupt.

"...but I still have to ask," Charles continued, his voice trembling with seriousness. "Why did you go to Mexico?"

The question landed like a soft but sharp blow.

Chris didn’t answer immediately.

He looked straight ahead, at the lines on the road blurring beneath the rain, and thought about everything that had led him here.

He tightened his grip on the wheel again, as if the leather could contain everything he didn’t know how to say.

And finally, he spoke.

"I went to find someone..."

His voice came out firm, but wounded. He said no more.

Charles waited a moment, as if he expected Chris to finish the sentence, but the silence that followed was enough to understand he wouldn’t.

He studied his expression for a few seconds longer, trying to read something in it.

But getting no more detail, he simply nodded softly.

And didn’t ask anything else.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

The house was cloaked in shadows.

It was five in the afternoon, but the light outside was already fading. The last golden rays of sun slipped through the curtains like fingers too tired to hold on.

Chris, only seven years old, stood silently near the front door, watching it slam shut with a force that made the walls tremble. They had just returned from the Eugene Willow Hill Cemetery. His mother now rested beneath the cold earth, while inside their home, grief floated like dust in the air. Heavy. Unescapable.

The silence that followed was not peaceful. It was suffocating.

His father hadn’t said a word. He had walked straight to his room, the door left half-open, and collapsed on the bed. Chris could hear him crying. Muffled, raw sobs that cut through the stillness like broken glass.

Chris wandered the house in silence. First to his own room, where toys were scattered in a forgotten mess and the curtains still had her scent. Every corner whispered her name. Her laugh. Her warmth. Her hands that used to fix his sheets, her voice humming low while brushing his hair.

He wandered slowly, like a ghost in a home now too big and too empty.

And then, without a sound, he pushed open the door to his father’s room.

Charles was still lying there, curled inward, back trembling from the weight of his own sorrow.

Chris didn’t say anything.

He climbed onto the bed with quiet steps and sat beside him. He was so small then. So fragile. But he didn’t cry. Not yet.

Charles turned when he felt the mattress dip. His eyes were red, hollowed. And when he saw his son, those wide, solemn eyes staring back at him, something inside him gave way.

He reached out and pulled Chris into his arms.

Tightly.

As if he could stop everything from falling apart just by holding him close.

“We’re going to be okay,” he whispered, voice cracked and trembling. “We’re going to be okay. I promise.”

Chris didn’t answer.

He just let himself be held.

And he believed him.

Chapter Text

The town was silent, but it wasn’t a peaceful silence.

It was a dense, heavy silence, interrupted only by the distant bark of a dog and the metallic echo of a stray gunshot in the night.

Daniel walked through the streets of Puerto Lobos, his hands still trembling and stained with blood that wasn’t his. The air reeked of gunpowder, sweat, and smoke. His shirt clung to his body with sweat, and each step thudded like a reminder of what he had just done. Of what he could no longer undo.

He stopped beneath a flickering streetlight that cast a yellowish glow, making him look more tired—older—than he really was. He lit a cigarette with clumsy fingers and inhaled hard, as if the smoke could rip from his lungs the guilt that burned inside him.

But the smoke erased nothing.

Not the blood.

Not the memory of the eyes of the last man he had seen fall.

The night wrapped around him, immense and suffocating, as if all of Puerto Lobos were breathing his guilt.

And then he thought of Chris.

How far he was from all this. How, at least, he was safe now—far from the bloodstained streets, far from the war that devoured him day after day. That thought, small as it was, eased his chest for an instant. As if remembering that Chris was safe were the only thing keeping him upright.

The echo of a voice broke the silence.

“Daniel!” It was Alex, shouting from afar.

Daniel tensed instantly. He had already felt it—someone had been following him through the alleys. The crunch of a step on gravel confirmed it. A shadow emerged with a gun raised.

But Daniel was faster.

He pulled the pistol from his back pocket and fired first.

Chris heard a gunshot in the distance as lightning carved through the darkness like knives, illuminating fragments of his life as if they were shards of the same broken mirror.

First, the door closing behind his mother. The sharp thud of the frame and the silence that followed.

She never came back.

Then, his father driving away, leaving him with his grandparents. Charles’s car shrinking into the distance until it disappeared.

Another flash, and he saw his own body tied up, the cramped room of the kidnapping, the sense of helplessness freezing his blood.

Another, stronger, blinded him and forced him to relive the bullet tearing through Daniel in Puerto Libertad—watching him fall to the ground as life slipped from his eyes. And then… the shot in his own chest. The cold, the darkness closing in around him.

Everything became a distorted echo, as if he were at the bottom of the sea. Memories floated around him, warped, unreal, while invisible bubbles rose toward a surface he couldn’t see.

The silence shattered all at once. Gunshots. Screams. Echoes crashing against the invisible walls of that unreal sea.

And then, the world changed.

He was on top of a hill, looking down.

The town of Puerto Lobos lay before him. And in a matter of seconds, the waves swallowed everything. Houses, streets, lights… all of it devoured by the sea.

Chris jolted awake, drenched in sweat, struggling to breathe, his heart pounding in his chest. For a moment, he didn’t know where he was.

It wasn’t Daniel’s room. It wasn’t Puerto Lobos.

He blinked several times until he managed to remember—he was in Seattle. In his apartment.

A sharp pain lanced through his head. He pressed a hand to his forehead, trying to calm it, but it didn’t help.

And then, unable to hold it back any longer, he began to cry.

“Shit…” he muttered between sobs, his voice broken.

Tears ran hot and uncontrollable down his cheeks. Everything he had seen in that dream—the memories, the gunshots, the death—crushed him like a slab on his chest. He couldn’t push aside everything that had happened.

And in the middle of that pain, he couldn’t help thinking of Daniel.

Wondering if he was okay.

If he was still alive.

He forced himself to sit up. The mattress creaked under his weight as he leaned to the side, groping in the dark until he found his phone on the nightstand.

The screen lit up at once, blinding him with its blue glare in the dimness of his room. He squinted, hoping for something, anything to appear. A message. A missed call. A breath.

He unlocked the phone with trembling fingers and checked his inbox.

Nothing from Daniel, as he’d expected.

But there was nothing from Alex. Or from Ynez either.

His chest tightened even more. He swallowed, swiping again as if repeating the motion could change reality. There were no new notifications. Only the cold emptiness the screen threw back at him.

Chris let his back fall against the wall, the phone still in his hand. A lump burned in his throat. The desperation of wanting to know if they were okay—if he was okay—seared him from the inside.

He opened the messages app and, without thinking much, began to type.

Alex… do you know anything about Daniel?

He stared at those words for a few seconds, his thumb hovering over the screen. His heart hammered, as if hitting “send” could unleash something he wasn’t ready to face.

He deleted the message in one swipe.

He tried again, this time typing Ynez’s name as the recipient.

Is everything okay over there?

Another pause. The cursor blinked, cruel, in the bedroom’s silence. Chris pressed his lips together, feeling the tears threatening again. And he deleted that message too.

The phone stayed in his lap, the screen shining on his trembling fingers. He wanted to know. He needed to know. But fear paralyzed him. The fear of getting no reply. Or worse—of getting one.

Chris squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a ragged sigh. The phone buzzed faintly against his leg, but it was just a useless notification—nothing that could bring relief.

He set it aside and covered his face with both hands. The silence in his room weighed as heavily as the war in Puerto Lobos.

He thought of writing again, insisting, forcing an answer that would calm him for a few minutes. But the fear was still there, knotted in his gut. He closed the messages app and set the phone face down on the bed, as if turning off the screen could also turn off the noise in his head.

He rubbed his face and, without fully getting up, fumbled in the nightstand drawer until he found the bottle. The cold plastic crackled in his hand.

He opened it.

He tapped the bottom with his index finger. A pill fell into his palm. He set it on his tongue and took a sip of lukewarm water from a forgotten glass, feeling the lump in his throat scrape as he swallowed.

He lay on his side, knees drawn close to his chest. The room was still; only the far-off hum of the city seeped in through the closed window. His eyes burned. He thought of Daniel again—of his voice, of the way he said his name when no one else was listening.

“Please… be okay,” he murmured, not knowing if he said it for Daniel or for himself.

Drowsiness came first like a slow tide, pushing down from his eyelids through the rest of his body. The tears dried on the pillow, and the headache receded just enough to let him breathe. His mind tried to cling to another worry, another image.

And at last, sleep pulled him under, deep, where not even Daniel could reach him.

“Chris…” The deep, slightly hoarse voice yanked him out of sleep. “Wake up.”

He opened his eyes with a start, disoriented. His heart was still racing, as if the echo of the sea and the gunshots were still chasing him. The soft morning light was slipping into the room through the curtains.

“Come on, breakfast is ready,” Charles insisted from the doorway.

Chris slowly turned his head. His father was leaning against the frame, hair tousled, wearing the same rumpled clothes as the night before. He looked tired.

For a moment, Chris didn’t know if it had all been a dream or if he was still trapped in it. The room, his bed… nothing matched the chaos he had just lived in his head.

He ran a hand over his face, trying to clear it.

“I’m coming…” he muttered, his voice rough.

Charles nodded slowly and left, closing the door halfway. Chris heard him move toward the kitchen.

Chris rubbed his face again and felt the strange weight in his body—a dense fatigue running through his muscles, as if he were still stuck in the dream. He knew it was the pill; it left him drained, but at least it had done what he needed: silencing the noise in his head for a few hours.

He took a deep breath. The anxiety was still crouched in his chest, but not as fierce as before. Moving slowly—almost gingerly—he reached for the phone on the nightstand. The screen lit up and gave him the same answer as before: nothing.

No message from Alex.

Not one from Ynez.

The emptiness was still there, cold and brutal.

Chris pressed his lips together and hesitated for a few seconds. He could set it down again—sink back into the endless waiting. But this time, something inside him refused.

He opened the messages, found Ynez’s name, and began to type.

How are things over there?

The cursor blinked beneath the words. His thumb trembled over the screen, but he didn’t delete the message this time.

With a sigh, he sent it.

The confirmation appeared at once.

Message sent.

Chris kept staring at the screen, his heart pounding, knowing the only thing he could do now was wait.

Silence spread through the room until, from the kitchen, he heard his father’s voice calling him.

“Chris! Breakfast is ready.”

It wasn’t a harsh shout loaded with impatience, like when he was a kid and took too long to come down. It was a calm voice, patient, almost warm. The contrast hit him harder than he expected.

He immediately remembered those mornings when his father lost his patience at the first delay—plates clattering onto the table more out of frustration than hunger.

Chris let out a breath, ran a hand through his messy hair, and decided to get up. He walked slowly toward the kitchen, his feet dragging a little over the cold floor.

When he arrived, he found Charles cooking eggs, the pan steaming on the stove.

“Good thing you’re up now,” Charles said, glancing up with a half-smile. “That way your food won’t get cold.”

Chris watched him in silence for a moment—his father there, simply serving breakfast as if it were the most normal thing in the world. As if there weren’t all those years of distance between them.

Charles set two plates on the table, each with scrambled eggs and warm toast. Then he opened the fridge and took out a carton of orange juice, pouring it into two glasses with an automatic gesture, like he’d been doing it all his life.

Chris kept watching in silence, leaning on the back of the chair before sitting. There was something strange about seeing his father like this—so… ordinary.

“No beer this time?” he joked, trying to lighten the mood, though his voice came out tinged with both irony and tenderness.

Charles paused for a second with the glass in hand. Then he let out a soft, dry, but genuine laugh.

“Doesn’t go with breakfast… or with anything, really.” He set the glass in front of Chris and sat across from him. “Just juice now. Healthier, right?”

Chris raised an eyebrow, surprised by the reply. He wasn’t the same man from his memories. And for a moment, he almost felt like he was seeing someone new in front of him.

“You didn’t have to get up earlier to make breakfast,” Chris said, lowering his gaze to the plate. His voice was soft, almost awkward. “You could’ve rested a little longer.”

Charles shook his head while he broke a piece of toast with his hands.

“Just because you’re an adult now doesn’t mean I can’t make you breakfast.” He gave him a tired but sincere half-smile. “I’ve owed you this for a long time.”

Chris stayed quiet for a few seconds, his fork suspended midair. He didn’t know what to say. He only nodded slowly.

Charles looked around as he took a sip of juice. His eyes drifted over the simple furniture, the stack of books in the corner, the papers with sketches on the coffee table.

“Your apartment’s cozy,” he said in a calm tone. Then he looked back at him. “When did you move out of your grandparents’ place?”

Chris hesitated a few seconds, turning the fork between his fingers. He didn’t want to go into too much detail, but something inside him wanted to give his father more of his life.

“After I finished high school,” he said at last. “I didn’t want to feel like a burden to them anymore.”

Charles watched him in silence, not interrupting.

“I found a job I could juggle with college,” Chris went on, shrugging. “And I do freelance art gigs too. That’s helped me pay the rent. It isn’t much, but… it’s mine.”

For the first time since they’d begun breakfast, Chris lifted his gaze a little more. There was a hint of pride in his words, simple as they were.

Charles smiled softly.

“That’s incredible, Chris…” he said sincerely. “I’m proud of you and of what you’re accomplishing with your life.”

Chris lowered his gaze to his plate, trying to hide the rush of emotion those words stirred in him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard something like that from his father.

Charles took another sip of juice and, after a few seconds of silence, asked gently, “Do you really live here alone? Or… does someone share the place with you?”

The question took him by surprise. Chris lifted his eyes just a little, weighing his father’s tone, trying to read the intention behind the words. But he couldn’t pin it down. Something inside him tensed, shutting tight.

“I live alone,” he replied, his voice a little drier than he intended. “Sometimes my college friends drop by… but that’s all.”

Charles nodded slowly, respecting the answer without pressing.

Silence settled between them again, denser than before, as if Chris’s invisible walls had slid back into place.

Charles turned the glass in his hands, thoughtful, as if searching for the right way to say something. At last, he lifted his gaze to Chris.

“I did a lot of thinking last night…” he began carefully. “And I think I’m going to go to Beaver Creek.”

Chris looked up immediately, surprised.

“Beaver Creek?” he repeated, almost in a whisper.

Charles nodded slowly.

“Yeah. It’s been many years since I left and…” He drew a deep breath. “I’d like to go back. Look for some things I left there. Things I abandoned because I couldn’t face them at the time.”

A brief silence fell, heavy with meaning.

Chris lowered his gaze to his plate. The fork spun between his fingers, aimless, as his father’s words lodged in his chest. Beaver Creek. Just hearing the name stirred up too many memories—some warm, others steeped in pain.

“The house, the neighborhood, the snowy winters… Mom…” he murmured at last, a trace of nostalgia in his voice.

He lifted his eyes to Charles, who watched him in silence.

“If you decide to go… I want to go with you.”

Charles blinked, surprised, as if he hadn’t expected that response. His lips tugged into a shy smile that couldn’t quite hide the emotion running through him.

“Really?” he asked, his voice a little lower.

Chris nodded slowly.

“Yeah. I don’t want you to go alone. And… I think I need to go back to that house too.”

The silence that followed was no longer heavy. It had a different shade—a strange blend of fear and hope that, for the first time in a long while, they shared.

Maybe it was the first step toward finding their way back… not just to the past, but to themselves.

The sun was sinking slowly over Puerto Lobos, tinting orange the improvised crosses rising from the sand. The desert wind carried dust and silence. No one spoke. Only the creak of nailed wood and the distant murmur of the sea cut through the stillness.

Daniel stood at the front, his group lined up behind him. His fists were jammed in the pockets of his jacket, his eyes fixed on the names handwritten across each cross. They had fallen defending their territory, defending their own—his family. And even though they all looked at him like a leader, inside he felt each death as another weight he would never be able to shake off.

Alex, Andrés, Ynez, and the rest of the crew, along with their families, stood with him in silence. No one dared speak, because they knew words were useless in a moment like this. Daniel drew a deep breath, holding back rage and grief, until finally he leaned down and set a flower on one of the graves.

He wanted to say something—a promise, anything… but no words came.

Silence was the only thing he could offer them.

Around him, the men and women who had fought at his side bowed their heads. Some shut their eyes; others clung to the shoulder of the nearest comrade. The families of the fallen were there too, faces carved by tears that fell without a sound, as if the desert swallowed them at once.

Daniel swallowed, feeling his throat close. Inside… each cross was a knife driven into his chest.

Alex stepped forward and set a hand on his shoulder for a moment—firm, silent. Andrés remained at his side, rigid, like a statue broken from within. Ynez, on the other hand, couldn’t hold back a strangled sob. Daniel didn’t look at her, but that sound cut deeper than any bullet.

Daniel lowered his head, letting his eyelids fall shut. The desert wind wrapped him immediately—cold and abrasive, like a caress. It shook his jacket, as if the earth itself wanted to remind him he was still alive while others lay beneath it.

For a moment, he allowed himself to stay like that, eyes closed, the wind running through him, as if it could carry off a little of the weight crushing him from within.

And then, like a thread unwinding in the dark, a memory slipped into his mind.

The sun was barely cresting the mountains, staining the sky a pale blue. It was seven—too early for anyone else to be awake. Outside of Puerto Lobos, where the noise couldn’t give them away, Daniel had lined up several glass bottles on the hood of his car. The glass gleamed with the newborn light like tiny lanterns.

Chris held a gun in his hands, unsure, his fingers tense and his pulse unsteady. The morning cold mixed with the discomfort crawling through his body.

“I don’t know if I’m really cut out for this…” he murmured, barely dropping his gaze to the pistol.

Daniel stepped in behind him, close enough to take the hand holding the gun. His grip was firm, steady—lending a calm Chris didn’t feel.

“You told me you liked baseball, right?” he whispered near his ear, guiding the position of his arms with care. “Precision, strength, focus.”

Chris let out a nervous laugh without taking his eyes off the bottles.

“Baseball has nothing to do with this…” he replied, his voice a thin thread.

Daniel tightened his hand slightly over his.

“This is necessary, Chris. After what happened in Puerto Libertad… you have to understand. We’re never safe here. They’re always waiting for a chance to attack. That’s how this world works. And if you ever have to defend yourself, I don’t want you to hesitate.”

Chris pressed his lips together, a knot forming in his stomach. Finally, he nodded in silence.

Daniel noticed and leaned in a little more to correct his stance.

“Look, it’s not that complicated…” he said calmly. “First, keep your arms straight and steady, but don’t lock them. Breathe deep. Feel the weight in your hands. When you think you’re ready… squeeze the trigger.”

Chris swallowed, focusing on the bottles gleaming on the hood. The cold metal felt like it was burning his skin.

Chris took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

The shot cracked through the dry morning air, ringing in his ears. The bottle stayed intact on the hood, bright, as if mocking him.

“Damn it…” Chris muttered, dropping the gun. His arms trembled from the tension, his heart racing too fast.

Daniel let out a brief, rough laugh that managed to soften the moment.

“Easy,” he said, giving his shoulder a gentle tap. “It’s your first shot—no one hits it on the first try.”

Chris turned toward him, frustration written plain across his face.

“But I don’t know if I’m cut out for this… I don’t want to…”

Daniel shook his head slowly, stepping in very close again. His hands found Chris’s, correcting the grip with a patience that felt strange in someone so used to violence.

“Listen to me. The only thing you did wrong was your stance. Your hands are shaking because you’re thinking too much.” He pressed his chest lightly to Chris’s back and guided his arms forward again, steady. “Look at it like when you held a bat. Focus on the target, not on the fear.”

The warmth of Daniel’s body contrasted with the morning cold. Chris swallowed, feeling every movement, every correction.

“Relax your shoulders,” Daniel whispered, lowering his voice to almost nothing. “Let the weight fall into your arms, not your head.”

Their fingers brushed for an instant as he adjusted the grip. Chris held still, breathing hard, eyes fixed on the bottle waiting a few yards away.

“Now… when you’re ready… shoot.”

Chris held his breath for a few seconds and squeezed the trigger more calmly this time.

The shot rang out and, at once, the bottle shattered—exploding into a rain of glass that glittered in the morning light before hitting the ground.

Chris opened his eyes in surprise, smoke curling from the barrel in front of his face. He glanced toward Daniel, as if he needed confirmation he’d actually done it.

“I did it.”

Daniel gave a proud smile, small but sincere.

“See?” he said without letting go of his hand. “I told you you could do it.”

Chris let out a shaky breath, a strange mix of relief and fear running through him. The broken bottle still glittered on the ground, a reminder of what he’d just done.

Daniel watched him in silence a few seconds more, then loosened his grip—though he didn’t step away entirely.

“It’s not about liking it,” he murmured seriously. “It’s about being ready. I don’t want you to ever go through what you did in Puerto Libertad again.”

Chris lowered his gaze to the gun still warm in his hands. He didn’t look entirely sure; his fingers were still trembling around the grip, as if he might drop it at any moment.

“Only if you have to,” Daniel whispered, as if the words were hard to say. “Promise me that if that moment comes again… you won’t hesitate.”

Chris didn’t answer. And in that silence, Daniel understood he was asking him to carry a shadow he himself had borne for years.

The memory unraveled, swept away again by the desert wind.

Daniel opened his eyes once more before the crosses, the dry breeze tangling in his hair. The silence was still there, crushing—but inside him, Chris’s voice kept echoing.

Chapter Text

"Has it ever happened to you?"

Daniel was lying on his bed, the room sunk in half-light, barely lit by the pale moon that slipped through the curtains. He stared at the ceiling, as if there were something up there only he could see. Chris, beside him, couldn’t take his eyes off Daniel’s profile. He could hear the slow rhythm of his breathing, feel the warmth of his body so close and, even so, he felt him far away—trapped in an inner world Chris could hardly peer into.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked, breaking the silence in a soft voice.

"That your mind can never stop thinking," Daniel answered without taking his eyes off the ceiling. "That you feel like you’re in a race that never ends, and you can’t help feeling exhausted… exhausted by your own mind and your feelings."

Chris blinked, shifting his gaze to that same ceiling, as if he might find an answer in the shadows. He swallowed, recognizing in Daniel’s words an echo that was all too familiar.

"Yeah… I get it," Chris murmured. "And you can’t help it. As if controlling your thoughts were impossible… and in the end they’re the ones that control you."

Daniel tilted his head a little, as if the weight of those words were settling on the pillow beside him.

"I’ve felt like this for ten years," he said; his voice barely trembled. "And sometimes I wonder how I’ve managed to stay alive."

Chris’ gaze locked on Daniel with urgent reflex, as if someone had struck a nerve.

"Don’t say that," he blurted out in a tight whisper before he could hold himself back.

"I’m sorry," Daniel replied, and for a second the hardness that usually protected him cracked; his voice sounded younger, more tired. "I didn’t mean for it to sound so… hopeless. It’s just that there’ve been days when everything weighs so much that I can’t see a way out."

Chris pushed himself up a little, resting on one elbow so he could face him. The light slipping through the curtains drew soft shadows on his face; in the dimness, his eyes were fixed on Daniel.

He didn’t know exactly what to say, so he did the only thing that felt honest: he reached out and laid his hand over Daniel’s.

"You’re not alone," Chris murmured. "I’m here. If you want to talk… or if you’d rather stay quiet and I steal your pillow, whatever you need."

Daniel squeezed Chris’ hand tightly. For a moment, silence stretched between them until Daniel let out a long sigh, as if he’d been holding his breath for years.

"I don’t know how to talk about this without making it sound bad," he said. "There were nights I thought I was going to die. Sean, my dad… everything piled up and I didn’t know how to let it out. I hid in anything that made me forget, but that shit always comes back… no matter what I do."

Chris felt something loosen in his chest; the mention of Sean painted a precise image in his mind: the child Daniel used to be, and all he had lost. He didn’t want to promise magic cures.

"Then stay with me tonight. Let me be here when that shit comes back. I’m not going to leave you alone."

Daniel lifted a hand and cupped his face. A tingling ran through Chris’ stomach, like butterflies launching into flight as his heart pounded. Daniel pressed his forehead to his, and in that contact allowed himself to rest, as if that closeness granted him a breath of air.

"Thank you," he whispered, barely a thread of sound. "I don’t know if I deserve someone staying for me, but… thank you."

They stayed like that, wrapped in the half-light, each with their own ghosts, with the sense that maybe two people could hold each other up when the mind turned into an endless race.

Chris closed his eyes, Daniel’s forehead still resting against his. He wanted to etch that feeling of peace into his memory—the one he’d searched for so long. When he opened his eyes again, the reality was different.

There was no half-light or shared breathing anymore, but the engine’s roar and the vast forest stretching out before him.

The road unfurled before them like an endless ribbon, flanked by damp woods that announced autumn in every orange leaf falling onto the asphalt. The air there was different: fresh, heavy with the scent of pine and wet earth. Light filtered between the tall trunks, and Chris couldn’t keep nostalgia from biting at his chest. Every kilometer brought him closer to Beaver Creek, and with it to a past he had never quite managed to bury.

He let out a sigh, unable to stop the avalanche of memories washing over him—the winter mornings playing in the snow, his mother’s voice calling from the porch, the laughter of a child who seemed to belong to another life. He turned his head for a moment: his father was quiet, staring at the forest through the passenger window. The stiffness in his shoulders had eased a little, as if the decision to return relieved and burdened him at the same time.

The sun was slipping behind the mountains, tinting the pine tops orange. For a long while, they didn’t speak. Only the hum of the engine and the crunch of leaves under the tires filled the cab. It was Charles who finally broke the silence, in a rough voice.

"It’s been many years since the last time I was here."

Chris glanced at him, surprised by the tone.

"When was the last time?" he asked.

Charles took a while to answer, and when he did, his voice came out cracked.

"The same night I left you with your grandparents." His fingers clenched over his knee, tense. "I saw no reason to stay here."

Chris tightened his grip on the wheel.

"I grabbed a backpack with the basics," Charles went on, not taking his eyes off the road stretching out before them. "I locked up the house, got in the car, and left. I didn’t even look back."

The words hung in the air like an echo that wouldn’t fade. Chris swallowed with a dry throat just as the green sign appeared ahead of them.

"Welcome to Beaver Creek."

The knot in his chest tightened. They were back again, in the place where everything had begun.

Chris recognized every twist in the road. The forest, the scattered houses, the cold air. He had been there before, when he’d visited the Reynolds looking for answers about Sean and Daniel.

He wondered if it would be a good idea to see them again, to tell them he had found Daniel in Mexico after so many years. But he dismissed the thought quickly: he wasn’t even sure Karen had told them anything… maybe the best thing was to keep quiet, at least for now.

Charles looked at him out of the corner of his eye, one eyebrow arched.

"You didn’t ask me for the address," he said, as if he’d just realized it. "How do you know where to go?"

"I told you I’d been here before, remember?" Chris replied, eyes on the road.

Charles nodded slowly.

After a brief silence, he spoke again:

"Did you miss coming back here?"

Chris let out a humorless laugh.

"I think what I miss isn’t the town… it’s a memory. None of the people I love are here now, and that changes everything."

Charles glanced back at him and nodded gravely.

"I feel the same."

The car rolled a few more meters beneath the shade of the pines before Charles resumed the conversation.

"And Seattle?" he asked cautiously. "Did you like growing up there with your grandparents?"

Chris drew a deep breath, letting memories filter in.

"It wasn’t easy at first. That first year was hard… getting used to living with them, to a new school, to long commutes in the city. Everything was different. In Beaver Creek everything was close; over there I felt like everything was enormous, like I was getting lost."

He shrugged, and a small glint softened his features.

"But over time I met incredible people. I made great friends, both in school and at university. That’s what helped me feel like I belonged there."

Charles shifted in his seat, breaking the silence after a few seconds.

"The truth is… I hate small towns," he confessed with a tired huff. "I always preferred city life: the noise, the lights, the motion. I felt like that’s where things were happening, that I wouldn’t get stuck in the same place forever."

Chris glanced at him, surprised by the sudden sincerity.

Charles lowered his voice a bit, almost with a nostalgic smile.

"But your mom loved the opposite. Emily adored small places, surrounded by nature. She wanted us to have a quiet home, where you could hear the wind in the trees and not traffic. When we found out you were coming into the world… she asked that we try it somewhere like that. And that’s why we ended up in Beaver Creek."

He paused, as if savoring the memory and the pain all at once.

"I did it for her."

Chris swallowed, not knowing what to say right away. The forest opened before them, the same trees that had watched a life grow that they’d barely had together.

"I’m sure Mom was very happy here."

Charles nodded in silence. His lips trembled slightly, as if he wanted to add something, but the pain of remembering her closed his throat.

The road widened until, finally, the house appeared before them. Chris’ stomach tightened: the weathered façade, the dark windows, everything seemed frozen in time. He parked slowly in front of the entrance, the headlights bathing the old steps in light. For a moment he left the engine running, as if that noise could fill the emptiness the house projected, until at last he turned the key and shut everything off.

Night wrapped around them. Only the hush remained, broken by the soft murmur of wind dragging the autumn’s dry leaves. The wet, green grass shifted gently, and the tree branches swayed, dropping leaves that gleamed for an instant in the moonlight before touching the ground.

Chris stayed still, watching. Beside him, Charles kept his eyes down, as if he wasn’t yet ready to face what lived within those walls. The air felt dense, thick with invisible memories.

Chris turned slightly toward him.

"Are you ready?" he asked in a low voice.

Charles slowly lifted his gaze. His eyes were fogged with a sadness that seemed infinite. He said nothing, just nodded, and opened the car door to step out, the weight of years showing in his steps.

They both walked to the entrance. The crunch of dry leaves under their shoes seemed too loud in the stillness of the night. Chris followed a few paces behind his father, his eyes fixed on Charles’s hunched silhouette as he approached the porch.

At the steps, Charles paused. His hand trembled as he fished an old ring of keys from his jacket pocket. The metallic clink as they knocked together broke the silence, as if stirring buried memories awake.

Chris watched in silence, holding his breath. It was strange to see him like that: vulnerable, stopped in front of the same door they had crossed a thousand times in the past

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Chris whispered.

Charles didn’t answer. He slid the key into the lock and turned it slowly, until the click echoed in the air. He pushed the door open with a deliberate motion, and the hinges creaked, worn down by the years.

Darkness greeted them like a wall. Inside, the house lay in shadows, with only a thread of moonlight seeping through a dusty window. The air was heavy, damp, steeped in the stale smell that forms over time.

Chris stepped in behind his father. The wooden floor creaked under his weight, and for a moment both of them stayed still, as if simply being there were already too much.

The dimness revealed the outlines of furniture covered in a fine gray dust. The dining table was still in its place, with a wrinkled, abandoned tablecloth. On top, a broken cup lay off to one side, as if someone had left in a hurry and never returned.

Chris’ eyes roamed the room until they landed on a bookshelf. The photo frames were still there: himself as a child, and in another, a younger Charles, with bright eyes that now seemed to belong to a different man.

In a corner, dust-covered, some of his old toys remained. A knot tangled in Chris’ throat: he remembered winter mornings playing on the carpet while his mother watched from the kitchen. He could almost hear her laughter echoing between the walls.

Charles stood in the doorway, hand still braced on the door as if he needed the support. His eyes moved slowly, taking in every detail—every trace of the past that still lingered.

"Everything is… the same," he murmured, his voice barely a frayed thread.

Chris swallowed and took a few steps forward, running his hand over the back of a dust-covered armchair. The touch sent a shiver through him; it was like laying a hand on a memory that had never left.

He made his way down the hallway on unsteady feet, as if he feared that simply walking through that house might undo him. He knew every corner, though dust and years had draped everything in a strange veil. His fingers grazed the wall, tracing the flaking paint, until he stopped in front of a door.

He opened it slowly. The squeal of hinges sounded in the dimness, and there it was: his old room.

The air inside was colder, as if time itself had chosen to freeze there. The small bed was in its place, covered by a child’s quilt now faded. On the nightstand rested a rusted toy car, and on the wall still hung a few crooked drawings, yellowed by the years, that he’d made as a kid.

Chris stood frozen on the threshold, his heart thudding hard in his chest. The sight dragged him back at once to another time: mornings when his mother would open the curtains and let the light in; afternoons inventing superhero stories with his figures; nights when Emily’s voice tucked him in with a bedtime story.

A prickling gathered in his eyes. He swallowed, trying to hold the feeling in, but his breathing trembled. He took a couple of steps inside and sat on the edge of the bed. The mattress creaked—too small for who he was now—but laden with memories that weighed more than he did.

Charles appeared behind him, stopping in the doorway. His eyes traveled the room, but he didn’t say anything. The silence was so dense it felt like they were both listening to the house’s ghosts.

Chris lowered his gaze to his hands.

"It’s like she’s still here," he murmured, not needing to clarify who he meant.

Charles closed his eyes for a second, breathing deep.

"I know."

Chris kept his eyes down, rubbing his palms together as if he needed to anchor his thoughts to something physical.

"Sometimes I think that if I close my eyes… I can still hear her. Mom coming through that door, asking if I’d brushed my teeth yet or if I wanted her to tell me one more story before bed," he said, his voice breaking.

Charles stood rigid in the doorway, as if the weight of Emily’s memory were crushing him. He finally took a step into the room.

"I hear her sometimes too," he confessed, voice rough as gravel. "Her laugh, the way she said my name when she was angry… or when she was happy."

He swallowed, and his gaze darkened.

"I should never have let the pain consume me so much after losing her… I’m so sorry, Chris."

Chris looked up. There was something in his father’s tone that moved him—something he’d rarely heard: sincerity without defenses.

"I needed you…" he murmured, the words dropping like a blunt blow. For a moment, the silence filled the room again, but this time it wasn’t a hostile void—it was one they shared.

Charles ran a hand over his face, as if he could erase years of guilt.

"I know. And I’d give anything to change it." He sat on the edge of the bed beside him; the wood creaked under his weight. "But at least I’m here now… if you’ll still let me be."

Chris looked at him, heart caught between resentment and the deep desire to believe him. He felt something inside soften—just a little—but enough for him to reach out and rest his hand over his father’s.

Charles looked at him in silence and, slowly, squeezed Chris’ hand. They stayed there, eyes fixed on some distant point in the room: the yellowed drawings on the wall, the remains of a childhood stopped in time.

"Are you going into your room?" Chris asked after a moment, his voice low.

Charles didn’t answer. He rose with slow steps and went out into the hallway. Chris watched him go, memories flooding in: not everything had been shouting and fighting. He remembered when, as a kid, his father would play the villain in the living room while Chris, the superhero, defeated him with laughter and make-believe blows. There had been good moments, and thinking of them hurt even more.

A muffled sob pulled him from his thoughts. It came from Charles’s room. Chris stood at once and walked slowly to the half-open door.

He found him sitting on the edge of the bed, hands shaking around a bottle of perfume—the one Emily used to wear. The scent, faded after so many years, still floated in the air, bringing with it a memory that was too alive.

Charles’s face was crumpled, tears running unchecked. Chris stood in the doorway, moved. Seeing his father—the man who had always tried to look strong, even in his worst version—now completely broken, undid him.

“I could never love anyone the way I loved your mom,” Charles confessed, his voice ragged, without lifting his gaze. “No one—ever. No matter how hard I tried.”

A lump rose in Chris’ throat. He moved without thinking, leaned in, and wrapped his arms around him. Charles tensed for a second, surprised, then hugged him back with force, as if that were the gesture he’d needed all those years. He collapsed against Chris, hiding his face in his shoulder, letting himself be held.

Chris closed his eyes, holding back tears of his own.

They were no longer a son and father divided by resentment, but two hurt people who, at last, found each other in shared pain.

And the house, at last, let them breathe.

The bar was full of smoke and voices, glasses knocking against wood and music far too loud to think. Daniel had gotten lost at the bottom of his glass, in the harsh taste of alcohol that no longer managed to blur enough. Every drink burned, but the silence waiting outside burned worse.

He leaned back in his chair, scanning the room: faces he barely knew, other people’s laughter. He clenched his jaw, trying to convince himself it was enough, that he could keep hiding there. But when he closed his eyes, it wasn’t the bar that appeared, but Chris’ voice, soft and stubborn, repeating in his head: “I’m not going to leave you alone.”

Daniel clicked his tongue, like he could erase those words, but deep down it hurt to admit they were the only thing keeping him upright. He finished his drink in one go, felt the burn travel down his throat, and rested his elbows on the table. The smile that formed on his face wasn’t happy at all—just a desperate attempt not to let anyone see him discouraged.

Alex and Andrés approached through the noise, pushing their way over with tired gestures.

"Daniel… let’s go home, I’ll drive," Andrés said, voice firm but worried when he saw the state he was in.

Daniel shook his head, lifting his empty glass just a little.

"Not yet," he answered, clipped, like the idea of returning to that silence would choke him more than the bar’s smoke.

Andrés and Alex exchanged a worried look. Alex sighed and clapped him on the shoulder, resigned.

"Do what you want… just don’t lose yourself too much."

They both left, swallowed up by the crowd. Daniel stayed where he was, watching the lights flicker like they meant to make him dizzy. He forced himself to breathe deeply, searching in the strangers’ faces for something that might distract him from what he really felt.

That was when he noticed it: a gaze fixed on him. He turned slowly and found it. A girl, sitting a few tables away, was watching him without hiding it. When their eyes met, she smiled with a calculated softness and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear without looking away.

Daniel held her gaze just a heartbeat… longer than necessary. He didn’t return the smile, but he didn’t dodge it either. There was something in that look he didn’t know whether to read as an invitation or an escape—and in his state, maybe both meant the same thing.

She didn’t hesitate to get up. She walked toward him with steady steps, weaving between tables with a smile that didn’t fade. Daniel couldn’t help letting his eyes travel over her: blonde hair falling in waves down to her chest, shining under the bar’s yellowish light, and blue eyes with that depth anyone could get lost in. She didn’t seem to be from around there; something in her bearing, in the way she moved, made her stand out from the place’s usual loud, worn-out crowd.

"Do you dance?" she asked, her voice clear against the chaotic murmur of the room.

Daniel raised an eyebrow and lowered his gaze to the empty glass.

"I don’t think that’s a good idea," he muttered, uneasy, toying with the rim.

She watched him patiently, tilting her head.

"You look sad," she said bluntly, her smile still there. "You’re way too handsome to be here alone. You need to move a little, let yourself go."

Daniel was going to shake his head, to toss out any excuse that would make her leave, but he stopped when he locked onto her blue eyes. There was something hypnotic in that color, something familiar that stirred him up inside, like a memory he couldn’t quite catch. And before he realized it, he nodded.

She smiled, satisfied, and took him by the arm to pull him toward the dance floor. The lights flashed in dizzying bursts, the music thudding against every wall, and Daniel let himself be led—more by the magnetism of her gaze than by any desire of his own.

In the middle of the crowd, she looped her arms around his shoulders, closing the distance with a natural ease, like they’d known each other for a long time. Daniel, however, still felt trapped between two worlds: the immediate temptation in front of him and the persistent shadow of everything he was trying to forget.

The alcohol began to seep through him, numbing his judgment. She started to sway with the beat, and he, almost without noticing, followed her. He let himself be swept along by the place’s pulsing cadence, by the strobe of lights that made the whole world blur around him.

At some point he closed his eyes, hands at her waist, letting the music carry him—chasing the foolish idea that maybe he could forget all that was consuming him. He danced like he could peel the hurt off with each movement, like the noise could drown out the voice that never left him alone.

When he opened his eyes again, her face was very close to his. He could make out the tiny freckles on her nose, details that seemed to brighten in the reflections of the bar’s lights. And suddenly, for a heartbeat, the image shifted: it wasn’t her anymore. Chris’ face appeared in her place, so vivid it knocked the breath from him.

Before he could think, the girl closed the gap and kissed him. And Daniel, tangled up in his confusion, needing to cling to any illusion that might rescue him from the emptiness, kissed her back. He did it with his eyes closed, feeling that—even knowing it wasn’t real—it was Chris who returned the gesture he both feared and longed for the most.

When the kiss ended, Daniel opened his eyes. Hers shone beneath the flashing lights—intense, certain. But they weren’t the eyes he had imagined. They weren’t Chris’.

A hollow split through his chest, as if everything he’d felt a moment before fell apart in silence. He drew back just a little, his voice a thin, frayed thread.

"I can't do it... I’m sorry." he murmured, unable to meet her gaze.

She stared at him, confused, discouraged, not understanding what she’d done wrong. Daniel didn’t explain. He simply turned and lost himself in the crowd, each step clumsier than the last, until he forced his way outside.

The cold night air hit him full on as he stepped through the door. He leaned back against the bar’s wall, let his spine slide down until he was sitting on the ground, and buried his face in his hands. Everything spun: the alcohol, the lights still flickering in his memory, the weight of what he was trying to forget.

There, in the middle of the darkness, with the world revolving around him, Daniel stayed still, feeling broken, sad, and incomplete. Loneliness was the only thing still waiting for him outside.