14. The Stars

2.29.20

Kody's POV

My heart was broken into shreds when I was called for breakfast. I stumbled down the hallway holding in my tears.

"Good morning," my father greeted when I came into the kitchen.

"Hi," I responded shortly because I was unable to get energy to say anything else.

"You've been asleep for two days, I was starting to get worried."

"Two days!?"

"Yeah."

He turned on the news, and we both went back to eating our meals.

"Breaking news! Prince James of Carbuos has chosen a queen," the newscaster announced. The blood drained from my face, and I looked up to see him smiling with someone else. My heart was snapped in half and crushed under a herd of cows.

My father quickly turned off the television, but it wasn't fast enough. I was crying before I could even register that the tears were coming.

"It was all fake!" I wailed while he ran around the table to comfort me. My body was on fire from the pain of betrayal. I wept with no end in sight for the tears; I trusted him! I should have listened to my upbringing on the streets.

"Sweetie, I know that it hurts, but the world will keep spinning," Papa reassured. Everything in my body hurt to no end, and I was lucky that there was a trash can near my head because I vomited again. He had held that girl close to him while smiling brightly. I quivered uncontrollably because of the loss of James's warmth, and soon threw up once again.

Papa lifted my now dry heaving form up just like James had when I was hurt and walked me back to my room. "I know that you just slept, but please rest. Your body will need it to overcome this," he commanded before leaving.

Maybe this is all a horrible dream, and I can wake up in his arms. This feeling is truly hell on Earth.

Mason's POV

It broke my hurt my heart to see my son like this. I never should have trusted that James kid even if he was a pairing. The apple never falls far from the tree.

I think that that kid had thrown up more in the past week than I had in my life. I don't blame him because it's a sign that his body grew reliant on his pairing. He was so weak and small already, and this had just increased that in him.

I was currently sitting in my office after carrying my son to bed for the second time in three days. I was physically restraining myself to my chair so that I didn't drive myself over there and yell at James.

A quiet knock hit the door, and I stood up. Kody lingered outside of my door.

"What do you need?" I asked quietly. He still looked unsteady, but a little bit better.

"C-can I sleep in here? I don't like being alone right now?" my beautiful son asked quietly.

"Of course you can. I have a couch over there," I said while pointing at the black couch on the other side of my office.

He staggered up to it and collapsed onto in a heap of flesh. Kody was out like a light, and I have to wonder where time went. Just yesterday I was tucking him into bed, and now he was dealing with heartbreak. Time flies by too fast sometimes.

Suddenly, a phone call came in on my phone. I picked up, and a frantic voice whispered from the other end, "listen! The news is blowing this way out of proportion."

"I won't talk to you. Your selfish and rood behavior is hurting my son," I responded while walking out so that I didn't disturb his sleeping form.

"It isn't my fault! My parents are insane."

"You were happy, James. Happy with someone else."

There was a strange sound on the other end of the line that somewhat sounded like a head banging a desk. "We're just friends. She's lesbian and I love Kody. I have to be perfect for the people or my parents will kill Kody."

"Yeah? Well you're the one killing him currently."

"What do you mean?"

"His body is too weak to take all of the stress that being separated is putting on it. That kid has thrown up more in the last three days than I have my whole life. He isn't doing well, James."

"If my parents find out that I'm anything less than an angel, they will kill him! He'll get over me eventually."

"James... You're a coward," I stated before cutting the line.

I opened the door to see that Kody was lingering near it. "I heard everything. I guess... I guess I can get over him if I need to."

"He needs to man up, Kodes."

"I think now that I know he hadn't forgot me I can move on."

My only son walked down the hall normally for the first time since James left. If only I knew that I should have followed him.

Kody's POV

I got to my room and immediately left through the window. What my father didn't know wouldn't hurt him. I walked over the ground while looking for anything familiar. There it is... The track that James and I had taken. I'm coming for him whether he likes it or not.

James's POV

Kody's father hung up, and everything that he said was true. I was a coward and just like my parents. I am hurting Kody more than I could even imagine.

I went to sleep with Natalie as far away from me in the same bed, but there was an unsettling feeling deep in my chest. It felt like I should be concerned, yet I didn't know for what. I got out of bed when the moon rose and sat against my window. I still felt the most comfortable facing the moon, but she seemed colder tonight.

I felt my entire facade fall to the floor like garbage, and I cried silently. I'm sorry, moon. I just don't want him to lose his life because of me.

"James?" Nat asked behind me.

"Yeah?" Stupid voice crack.

"It's okay. I think I found my pairing too."

"Who is it? Spill the tea!"

"It's... It's Angelica."

"Oh is that why she randomly got pissed at me?"

"Yeah. I know that it's different because you can't see Kody, but cheer up."

"I should"

"And come back to bed," she prompted.

"Fine!"

I lay down next to Natalie with a different attitude. I would be happy because he would want me to be. I will haul myself through life with the hope that I could see him again one day. I wished that this didn't have to happen, but I need him safe. Let the moon be my witness, he will never be harmed in my proximity. This I swear by the stars.