Gregory rode his bicycle down a winding road. With his three friends by his side, he felt like he was flying. A light sheen of water covered the asphalt. The sky was overcast, laden with thick grey clouds. He could smell the rain on the air, and the delicious scent of rain-soaked earth. The leaves of the surrounding trees had fat drops of water on them, and he knew it was only a matter of time before the clouds burst again.
Their tires left slim tracks as their bicycles crisscrossed down the wet road. Gregory kept his eyes on Adonis' back as Adonis pedalled furiously. Gregory pumped his legs quickly, pedalling with all his might till he pulled up alongside Adonis. A car honked, and they scattered to the side of the road at the sight of the blinding white headlights. It hovered close to the pavement as it sped down the road.
Louis raised a shaking fist and said, "You could have just flown over us; dumbass. You are driving a hovercar; you can alter your elevation—we can't." The car disappeared around the bend, then Louis flipped his middle finger at it.
The car had made Gregory fall behind Adonis; he pumped his legs and pulled up alongside him again. Wind whipped their hair and pressed their clothes to their body. Adonis gritted his jaw and narrowed his eyes, focused. Safety goggles protected his eyes as he raised his butt off the seat and hunched over the handlebars.
Without a word, the race began. Adonis took the lead; water splashed against his bicycle's fenders. He tried to stay in front of Gregory, blocking his path, but the road turned into a hill and he strained as he switched gears to get up it. Gregory overtook him with a sly grin. The rain started then. It was a sudden burst, but it was intense. It soaked their clothes and washed their skin. Adonis' safety goggles kept his eyes safe, but it stung Gregory's bare flesh. He slowed down then, unable to see clearly and Adonis overtook him.
Adonis stopped before a tree with a red triangle; he rested his bicycle against the side. The rain made his white shirt, see-through. Gregory's chest squeezed at the lovely sight. His brother was all-but-forgotten; he swallowed. Being around Adonis was dangerous for him.
Gregory leaned his bicycle against a tree nearby. He noticed Louis and Jonas staring at Adonis non-too subtly. Adonis also had some kind of black thing wrapped around his chest. It didn't resemble a bra or a bandage, it was something else. Gregory wanted to ask what it was but wasn't sure how.
A protective instinct stirred within him and he handed Adonis his jacket so that they would no longer be able to see his skin.
Adonis took the jacket, a puzzled look on his face. "What's this for?"
"You look cold," Gregory said.
"It's fine; I'm coldblooded. I don't need it."
"Just wear it, Adonis."
Still puzzled, Adonis put it on and asked, "Happy?"
"Immensely."
Louis, being the least sensitive one of them all, asked "Are you wearing a bra?"
Adonis' ears turned red. His mouth pulled into a tight line. "I have man boobs, alright? And this hides them. Now, mind your own business."
The boys, excluding Adonis, laughed.
Gregory had seen Adonis' naked chest before when the guy was about eight or ten, but after puberty, he got self-conscious and always wore a shirt when they went swimming. 'Man boobs,' Gregory thought with a wry smile. He laughed. And though it wasn't super funny, he continued to laugh for a good minute or so.
Adonis asked, "Are you done?"
He nodded; a massive grin on his face.
Adonis said, "I would say something mean, but you just lost your brother, so I won't say it... this time."
Gregory said, "Whatever you say, vice-captain."
Adonis looked skyward.
Jonas said, "You know push-ups might help."
"They don't. My doctor says it might go away on its own," Adonis said without looking at them. "Let's go find the treasure before I accidentally kill one of you and bury you here."
Gregory imagined Adonis doing push-ups with his brows knitted in concentration as he tried to get rid of his man boobs. He laughed again, slapping an undeserving tree as he passed. It had been a few weeks since Chris' death, but he had been trapped in a dark tunnel for so long, he didn't think he would be freed so quickly. He was happy to discover that he could still laugh and smile. Rain continued to beat them, but he no longer had to stare at Adonis' beige skin through the wet shirt. The jacket, though baggy, covered him well enough.
They started across the red earth. Since it was raining, they didn't take out the map. Adonis followed the red arrows he had put on trees, he paused in front of a large stone then turned back. They found trees with yellow arrows then blue; the whole thing was a confusing tango. Every now and again, Adonis would see a stone or log that would make him pause and turn around. "You do know where you are going, right?" Gregory asked.
Adonis said, "Do you know where I buried the treasure? No? Then your opinion is unnecessary; I know what I'm doing."
They walked deeper into the woods. Fat drops of rain slipped off the needle-shaped leaves of pine trees. Adonis stopped in front of a maple tree with 'X' marked on the bark. He smirked and said, 'You doubted my navigation skills, but here we are."
Gregory couldn't argue so he simply watched Adonis without talking. Adonis took a spoon out his back pocket and started to dig; his safety goggles hung by its strap around his neck. Rain followed the curve of his cheek and clung to his long eyelashes. Gregory squatted down next to him. He grabbed Adonis' wrist and took the spoon from him. He moved faster than Adonis. After many spoonfuls of earth, they saw the tip of a wooden chest. Gregory dug some space around it to give it the freedom to move. An earthworm crawled over the top. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Adonis stiffen, preparing to flee in case the worm somehow got magic powers and flew at them. Gregory gently nudged it off the lid with the spoon. With it gone, he lifted the chest out of the hole.
It didn't have a lock, and he opened it with ease. The inside was empty. "What's this?" he asked.
"You don't understand, do you?" Adonis said, "Soy el tesero."
Gregory chuckled. Only Adonis would do something like this. "You bought me all the way out here for an empty chest?"
"I brought you all the way out here...." Adonis looked up at the sky. "So, you could get out of your head and remember that there are people that love you and care about you. We are not Chris, but you might find that we are not all bad, and you might even start to like us a bit."
He felt Jonas and Louis each put a hand on his shoulders. The twinkle in Adonis' blue eyes as he tilted his head to look at Gregory made Gregory think that he could tell the boy that he loved him there and then, but for the sake of their friendship, he stayed silent.
He hadn't cried once since he had heard the news of his brother's death. But now he felt warm tears welling in his eyes. The sudden loss of his brother sucked the breath from his lungs and left him gasping. He had never imagined that his brother would die. He had never imagined that when he turned fourteen, one of the people that he could count on to have his back would be gone forever. Warm tears dripped down his skin. He was an ugly crier, but he told himself he would only cry in front of them this once. His face contorted with pain.
His parents didn't understand him. Didn't try to understand him. His brother had, but Chris was gone forever. He felt guilty for telling his dad to go ahead with the speech that shamed Chris. His tears mixed with rain, and he spoke softly, "H-h-he wasn't a terrorist. I know they said he was on TV, but Chris wasn't planning to kill anyone. He was trying to help." He couldn't say anything else. He rubbed his eyes, trying to stop the tears.
"You can cry," said Adonis. "For all we know, it's the rain."
Jonas said, "Lots of rain today."
"Oui. Après la pluie le beau temps," Louis said wistfully.
Adonis helped Gregory to his feet and pulled him into a wet hug. Gregory hugged the smaller boy. He didn't know how long they stood like that, him crying like an idiot while Adonis rubbed his back. Adonis said, "Everyone needs a good cry once in a while."
Adonis held the sides of Gregory's face and pulled his head down till their foreheads pressed together. Gregory saw Adonis' pink lips moving faintly as he spoke, "Eres mi media naranja."
Gregory laughed through his tears. "Did you just call me an orange?"
"My other half. You are my other half. But the literal translation is 'you are my half orange' so you're not wrong."
Gregory smiled. He had lost one half and gained another. Adonis knew how much Gregory's brother meant to him, and Gregory appreciated the effort the boy was putting into making him feel better. He held Adonis tighter, and Adonis tucked his head into the crook of Gregory's neck.
"Group hug," said Jonas.
Jonas and Louis added their bodies to the mix, and then they broke apart. Adonis sniffled. He looked like he was about to sneeze. If they stayed out too long in this weather, they might get sick. Jonas said, "Should we head to my place? I'll tell my mother to make cookies."
Jonas' mother made the best cookies. Gregory could use something sweet to cheer him up. He said, "Alright. Let's go."
Adonis reached for his hand; their fingers-cold, wet, and covered in soil- interlocked as they walked back to their bikes
Gregory squeezed Adonis' hand. "Thanks."
"De nada."
***