Etching Our Way (Broken Tracks 1)

“Anytime,” I reply, staring at him for a beat before setting the untouched bottle of water on the counter and turning on my heels.

I hear him behind me as he walks me toward the door and I open it, turning to face him and looking around the desolate entryway. “Nice house by the way, have you guys just moved in?”

“No… it was... Natalia’s dream house,” he murmurs, cringing at his own words.

“Oh, it’s... erm. It’s… nice.” Did that come out like a question?

“Ye

ah… she...” He clears his throat again, shaking his head before shuffling on the spot. “She had big plans for the interior, but we… we never…” His hand reaches up and rubs the back of his neck again awkwardly as we stare at anything but each other’s faces.

I break the silence, needing to get out of here as I’m reminded that he married my old best friend. “Well, I’m sure it would’ve been beautiful.” He lifts his head and as our eyes connect, I see the sadness sitting there but there’s also something else that I can’t quite decipher. Considering I used to know him so well, I’m confused that I can’t work out what is shining in their depths. “So…” I point behind me and he nods in reply before I spin around, taking a couple of steps toward my car.

“Harmony.” His voice travels on the wind and I come to a stop briefly. “I…”

I wait for several seconds, but when he doesn’t say anything else I continue walking toward my car, needing to get out of the awkward atmosphere that has surrounded us.

Bastille—Oblivion

Ocean Park Standoff—Good News (Thompson Remix)

Grace—How To Love Me

Sam Smith—Latch(Acoustic)

Ariande Grande—One last time

It’s been three days since Clay’s meltdown and after having decided I needed to seek him some professional help, I contacted several counselors in the area, hoping that I could get an appointment with one of the ones that were recommended to me.

I finally got him in with one of the best in the city and he’s scheduled in this afternoon. It’s time for him to work through his emotions and to try and move forward—at least as forward as he can.

He shouldn’t be feeling all of this, especially not at his age. He should be laughing every day, playing with his friends, and generally being a kid and having fun.

He seemed better this morning, at least happier than he has been since Saturday. It’s a start and I think it has something to do with him knowing that he’s seeing someone today; either that or the fact that he gets to have the afternoon off school.

I walk out of my office building and to the waiting car that Edward stands beside, ready to go and fetch Clay from school and to start this whole process of getting him help.

“Your mom tried to bribe me to bring her,” Edward says, chuckling as we both get in the car.

I groan and shake my head as I lean back in the seat. “I’m surprised you made it out alive.”

“Oh, trust me, it wasn’t easy and I’m firmly in the bad books.”

I wince but don’t say anything because she doesn’t need to be here. From what I understand, the counselor will be on her own with Clay so that he can talk openly and honestly.

I shake my head before pulling my cell out of my pocket, clicking onto the messenger app and opening the messages from Harmony.

When I learned that she was on Facebook from Nate, I signed up and sent her a friend request. Once she finally accepted it, we started to message each other. Although I know that we have a long way to go, I finally feel like we’re getting to the stage where we can be friends again.

When we were together back in college, this kind of thing wasn’t around; if I wanted to speak to her I had to call her or go to her place. The internet has made it so much easier to keep in touch with people and to also form relationships with each other online.

In a way, I’m glad that we’re getting to know each other all over again. It’s a fresh start, and although we both have extra baggage and we’ve grown up a lot since college, we’re still—essentially—the same people deep down.

My thumb hovers over the keyboard as I think about the art show tickets that I got from one of the board members this morning. As soon as I saw them, I knew that I was going to ask her if she wanted to go with me.

I take a deep breath and start typing out a message.

TRISTAN: So... I have two tickets to an art show. Would you like to come and teach me all about shapes and colors?