The Secrets Hidden In The Scars

      After eating at the cafeteria, Terrence, Daniel, Jessica, and Helene go to Peter’s room. They cannot overcome the excitement and are still trying to decide who should go to the room first and wait behind the door.       “So what, guys, who’s gonna go to the room first?” Terrence asks quietly.       “May Helene and Jessica go first,” Daniel suggests. “And you and I will come later.”       “But Marshall and I think you two better go first,” Jessica says.       “Yeah, you have something to talk about,” Helene adds confidently, half turning on the trio following her.       “But why don’t you wanna go first?” Terrence asks.       “Just wanna take much more time to get ready,” Jessica replies thoughtfully. “I can’t personally get ready for this talk.”       “We’re all terribly excited,” Helene says softly. “But we should decide it now, ‘cause we’ve almost come.”       “Go with Jessica then, but Terrence and I will wait in the hall,” Daniel says.       “Don’t you wanna go first?” Jessica wonders.       “We want, but we can let you two go forward. As real men. Moreover, you also have something to talk about with Peter.”       “Thanks, of course,” Helene thanks softly. “But I’d like to have two minutes to get ready for the meeting… I'm not ready for it yet…”       “All of us can take two minutes to get ready,” Jessica replies thoughtfully. “But we’ll have to do this.”       “And we’re also terribly nervous,” Terrence sighs tiredly. “Afraid of Peter’s reaction to our appearance.”       “Listen, guys, maybe, you really go first?” Helene suggests. “I’m not really ready to go there right now.”       “Well, if Helene doesn’t wanna go now, I shall stay with her,” Jessica shrugs. “And then get myself ready for this meeting.”       “Are you sure you wanna go later?” Terrence asks.       “Yup,” Helene pronounces quietly. “And if everything goes well, you and Daniel can stay as long as you want.”       “Oh, I wish everything was fine…” Daniel says thoughtfully.       Terrence, Daniel, Helene, and Jessica silently go down the hall of the hospital, meeting some doctors, patients, and visitors on their way. But later, the four come to the door, on which a table with the room number “767” is hanging. The signature “Peter Jackson Rose, 25 years” is written on a special surface with a black marker that can be wiped off. There is a big window in the room, through which it’s possible to watch everything that happens inside, but it’s now half-closed with a curtain. And seeing what happens in the room from the side where the four are standing is impossible.       “So…” Helene pronounces hesitantly, turning on the others. “We’ve come… It’s his room…”       Terrence, Daniel, and Jessica stop and run their eyes over what’s written on the table hanging on the door.       “It couldn’t have been written if everything had been otherwise…” Daniel says quietly with sadness in his eyes.       “Agree…” Terrence agrees. “But regretting is late…”       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, which Jessica breaks hesitantly, embracing herself with both arms and addressing Daniel and Terrence:       “Okay… Terrence, Daniel, go first. Helene and I will wait for you here.”       “Go, guys,” Helene nods. “Try to talk to Peter.”       Terrence and Daniel look at each other with a scare in their eyes, getting a little white from the excitement and understanding how much their muscles tense. But the guys brace themselves quickly, exhale sharply, and slowly come to the door leading to the room, while Helene and Jessica watch them with sadness in their eyes. After hesitating for a second or two, MacClife opens the door carefully and enters the room first, and Perkins follows him hesitantly. The friends see the sickly white Peter lying on the hospital bed and set their dead eyes on one of the two small windows placed on the right of him with his hands folded in front of himself.       But when Daniel and Terrence show up on the doorstep, the blond glances at them, rounds his eyes, and slowly raises himself, leaning on the bed with his elbows. He is obsessed with a wish to be swallowed up by the ground in shame. For everything. For his behavior. For the attempt to kill himself. For making the men spend time on him. Peter, whose blonde hair is a little disheveled, gets obsessed with panic and starts breathing heavier when seeing Daniel and Terrence, who look at him with pity in their eyes and a sense of awkwardness and hesitance. The man would be happy to run away from here, but he is stopped by the terrible weakness after a massive blood loss, the infection, and the time spent motionlessly. However, Daniel and Terrence also want to leave at some moment, thinking of the day when they found the half-dead Rose at his apartment with a shake and horror in their eyes. However, the guys tell themselves they must not let their fears get obsessed with them.       This awkward silence does not last long. Being a little bit more resolute, Terrence crosses the doorstep of the room with white walls and enters it, immediately feeling the smell of cures or something else that makes him wince slightly. Daniel hesitates at first, but then he crosses the doorstep and follows his buddy, who slowly but confidently comes to the bed, on which Peter is lying with his dead, widely open eyes set on him.       “T-terrence…” Peter pronounces in a shaking voice. “D-daniel… Erm… You…”       “Hey, Peter,” Terrence says softly.       “Hi, buddy,” Daniel greets hesitantly, looking at Peter a little scarily.       “How are you?”       “Lousy, honestly,” Peter replies gloomily, moving his eyes to his bandaged wrists. “How I could do!”       “You scared all of us. We thought we lost you.”       “Yeah?” Peter simpers without emotions. “It’s funny…”       “It’s true, Peter,” Terrence says with sadness in his eyes. “Everybody was worried about you.”       “So, I died…” Peter says quietly and exhales slowly. “I thought I’d get peace and give problems to nobody… But no – I ended up on the hospital bed… A young nurse ran here and started to ask some questions… And then she got me dumbfounded by the news… About you and Daniel being with me when I was brought to the hospital…”       “It’s true,” Daniel nods.       “Oh, what storytellers…”       “It’s not a joke, buddy,” Terrence says quietly. “We really found you, called an ambulance, and came here with you…”       “We were waiting for news, worried…” Daniel adds.       “Ah…” Peter laughs without emotions, shaking his head. “Worried… Don’t make me laugh!”       “Did you think we’d let you die after you expressed this wish?” Terrence wonders. “No, we wouldn’t have done that!”       “You could not rush.” Peter puts his head sharply on the pillow and closes his eyes for two seconds. “You could leave me there quietly.”       “Listen, Peter, we…”       “Why did you do it?” Peter wonders, looking at Terrence and Daniel without emotions. “Why? Why did you the fuck me keep suffering? I thought I’d get peace. But no! I am here!”       “We wouldn’t have forgiven ourselves if we’d done nothing, knowing you wanted to do such a desperate thing,” Daniel says confidently.       “Be sure, everybody would’ve been grateful to you and Terrence for letting me die.”       “No, Peter, that’s not true! Don’t say that!”       “Nobody wants your death, buddy,” Terrence says quietly, looking at Peter with sadness in his eyes, and sits on the edge of the bed. “Nobody’s gonna judge you. Everybody’s grateful to us for going to your home just in time and calling an ambulance.”       “I would’ve been very grateful to you if you hadn’t come there and had let me die.”       “Listen, Peter, we’re really very sorry that you’ve had to experience something horrible. We should’ve understood that something wasn’t right with you. There’s our fault for it.”       “How could you help me?” Peter asks without emotions. “How? You could do nothing! Nobody can! Everybody’s powerless! There is only one way – death! But you didn’t even let me do that!”       “No, buddy, we could’ve helped you if we’d known you weren’t fine. We would’ve done anything to make you feel better.”       “Maybe, we wouldn’t have helped you with a thing, but you would’ve told us what made you worried,” Daniel adds softly. “Let everything out. If you’d wanted, we would’ve been ready to listen to you.”       “I see no meaning in explaining something,” Peter says quietly, moving his eyes to the window. “A waste of time.”       “Listen, Peter,” Terrence pronounces quietly. “Daniel and I aren’t asking you to tell us the reasons for your actions. But we really wanna make you feel better. Don’t say anything if you don't want it. Just don’t withdraw yourself from us and let us help you. If you wanna share something, we’ll listen with pleasure.”       “You can do nothing!” Peter exclaims desperately. “Nothing! Nobody can! And I don’t understand why you’re two the fuck here and trying to prove to me that someone’s able to help me.”       “We’re your friends!” Daniel notices. “And we do care about what happens to you. We really worry about you.”       “I don’t have friends, Daniel. I lost them. A long time ago.”       “No, dude, don’t say it. You have friends, who are ready to do anything for you.”       “We really wanna help you,” Terrence says quietly. “Do you think we would’ve come here if we hadn’t cared about you and your problems? No, we wouldn’t have come here! But we are here and ready to help you.”       “Fuck it, Terrence, don’t waste time on me,” Peter replies in a depressed voice. “I’m not worth it.”       “Dude…”       “Daniel and you have more important things. So, work on them. And don’t think about the egoistic bastard that ruined the band and all of your dreams to the fuck.”       “No, no, don’t say it! You’re not guilty of that!”       “I am!” Peter gets up sharply enough and sits up, feeling a slight dizziness. “Guilty of everything! Because of me, the band was getting closer to the breakup.”       “Don’t take the fault on you, ‘cause I’m guilty of that, too,” Daniel says confidently.       “Indeed, Pete, don’t do it,” Terrence agrees. “We’re all guilty of that. First of all, because we didn’t understand that you had problems.”       “You’re not guilty of all this bullshit,” Peter says gloomily in a lower voice. “You didn’t provoke that fucking conflict with Daniel, which happened at my home one month ago. It started because of me. I couldn’t hold myself down.”       “I’m aware. But you’ve got nothing to blame yourself for – that was just your emotions. You just couldn’t hold them down. And I will not deny that Daniel crossed the line, too.”       “I do recognize it,” Daniel confesses quietly with sadness in his eyes. “I understand I went too far and got what I deserved.”       “No, I went insane and got what I deserved,” Peter replies without emotions, locking his fingers tightly. “It all was fair.”       “Listen, Peter, nobody blames you for anything,” Terrence says softly. “Everybody understands your situation and knows your emotions are the consequence of what happened. It’s eating you inside, and you understand that it’s very hard for you to bear it. We know you’d never do anything like that at your wish.”       “Yeah, but nobody has told me about it personally. Everybody’s just blamed me for all the problems. You, Daniel, George… He’s said many times that the band is getting ruined because of me. And he’s absolutely right.”       “George didn’t know the situation. That’s why he was mad at you.”       “I don’t know if he’s aware of the conflict. But I’m sure that he thinks the band doesn’t need me. He was probably, terribly happy when he found out that I wanted to die. He realized that it was minus one problem.”       “No, no, Pete, that’s not the truth!” Terrence protests, shaking his head sharply. “George has never said the band doesn’t need you, and wasn’t happy when we told him about you.”       “Smith is also truly worried about you, and he asks us to keep him aware of your condition,” Daniel specifies.       “Oh, listen, guys, stop calming me down…” Peter moans tiredly, raising his head for two seconds. “I will not believe that someone needs such a worthless piece of shit that ruins everything.”       “We don’t calm you down, buddy,” Terrence replies confidently. “We’re telling you the truth.”       “Damn, MacClife, don’t make me laugh,” Peter smirks contemptuously. “I have no wish to laugh and joke.”       “Listen, we understand you don’t believe us,” Daniel says quietly. “But you made yourself think people didn’t care about you. And you believe it. Listen to what people say. The people that love you. They wouldn’t lie to you.”       “Oh…” Peter moans tiredly. “Listen, guys, why are you wasting time on me? Go home and do your business! Why do you care about my feelings and problems? Nobody cared about it then. Nobody should do it now!”       “Yes, maybe, you don’t trust us and are afraid we wouldn’t judge you or would get mad,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “But I promise we won’t judge you and will try to understand you. You can always count on our support and be sure we'll come to help you.”       “Seriously… I don’t understand… Why are you and Daniel wasting your time on me? And what did you find about me that you befriended me all this time? If you really were friends, of course… And not pretending…”       “What?” Daniel and Terrence wonder.       “Pete, what are you talking about?” Daniel wonders.       “You’ve always been our friend,” Terrence says confidently. “Despite nothing, we ain’t gonna stop speaking to you.”       “Holy shit…” Peter pronounces quietly. “You know so many good people. But you chose me among all of them. And now you’re wasting your time on me… You went to my home, called an ambulance, and went to the hospital with me… Wouldn’t it have been easier to leave me in my apartment and let me die quietly? Or shouldn’t I, idiot, have called you? Should I have called you two minutes before passing out? So, you had no chance to save me…”       “Don’t say it, buddy,” Daniel says with sadness in his eyes.       “Why do you think we’ve befriended you for something?” Terrence wonders. “Can’t we find you our friend just because you’re a cool man? Who always cheered me up when I felt bad because of my problems with Raquelle. If you hadn’t cheered me up, I would’ve fallen into depression.”       “Do you think I’ve always had fun?” Peter wonders a little louder, setting his gaze on Terrence. “No, Terrence, you’re deeply wrong! There were times when I was pretending to be funny and sanguine. While nobody the fuck knows was happening in my soul. I’ve never been truly happy and will never be.”       “I get it.”       “All this time, I’ve been wearing a mask. A mask of a happy man that is always happy with something and finds something good about what happens. Sometimes I pretended that I cared about nobody and gave a fuck about everything. But that was a lie. The open lie. I don’t know what real happiness is ‘cause I’ve never felt it.”       “Has absolutely everything been a lie?” Daniel wonders. “All those smiles, jokes, a good mood, a loud laugh… Is there not just something real?”       “If there was, I’d hardly remember that. I've always suffered… I pretended to be happy and tough in the company of friends. But I whined and wanted to die from despair at home.”       “Say honestly, does it have to do with us?” Terrence asks carefully. “Did Daniel and I hurt you somehow or say something bad?”       “No, you didn’t…” Peter sighs heavily and purses his pale red lips. “But I can’t also confirm you’ve said nothing bad…”       “How did we hurt you?”       “Bragging. Every time you started to talk about how lucky you were with the girl, I felt much worse. It’s not jealousy. It’s sadness from the thought that I didn’t do the same.”       Terrence and Daniel look at each other, starting to feel remorse and a sense of fault for Peter.       “My gosh…” Terrence rounds his eyes.       “Sorry, Peter…” Daniel shows regret and comes closer to the bed hesitantly. “We’re very sorry about what happened…”       “We didn’t know that was a painful talk to you,” Terrence adds with sadness in his eyes. “You’ve never shown it, and we didn’t think it would hurt you.”       “Very sorry,” Peter throws gloomily. “Though, I’ve hinted at the reluctance to talk about my relationships many times. But you two kept hurting me. At first, Daniel couldn’t get sick of laughing, and then you, Terrence, added fuel to the fire.”       “We’re really sorry, buddy. We recognize that we didn’t hear your plea.”       “We didn’t want to hurt you,” Daniel adds with sadness in his eyes. “That was just a kind joke. That wasn’t so innocent, though.”       “It’s the same as mocking someone, who's not able to have children or suffers from some illness,” Peter replies in a low voice. “Try to think about what they feel when a certain bastard laughs at their infertility or illness. And in this case, a person doesn’t have a chance to become the same as everyone…”       “Of course, that’s terrible,” Terrence agrees. “And we’re really ashamed of letting ourselves joke about such a bad thing for you. Although we don’t know what caused it, every one of us should’ve stopped doing it.”       “Especially, me,” Daniel adds quietly. “I understand I did a disgusting thing and betrayed you partly. Because real friends don’t laugh at your problems and say they joke and wish someone nothing bad.”       “I blame you and Terrence for nothing,” Peter replies without emotions. “You aren’t guilty of my problems, because of which I lost the people that supported me. I messed up everything. And I got what I deserved. Because I shouldn’t have hoped that everything would be gone. I’m guilty of having relationship issues with girls.”       “Peter…” Terrence pronounces with pity in his eyes.       “Don’t think you know everything. Everything is much harder than it seems… I became what I am now against my wish. Life made me the one. Everything’s always been against me. Whatever I do, I meet a failure.”       Terrence and Daniel glance at each other and shake their heads.       “We get it, Pete,” Daniel says with pity in his eyes. “And we’re ready to help you. Maybe, we wouldn’t make amends, but we’d feel easier if we made you feel a little better.”       Peter says nothing for a few seconds, thinking about something and setting his dead eyes into the distance. And then he looks at Daniel and Terrence a little hesitantly and asks:       “Would you listen to me if I told you why I did it? I think everything will get clear after that.”       “Yeah, sure!” Terrence nods energetically. “Of course, we will do! What kind of question!”       “Now I’m barely able to think and may miss something. But I can explain when it started.”       “Feel free,” Daniel says confidently and sits on the bed. “You can tell us anything. I promise, neither I nor Terrence will judge you. We’ll understand you anyway.”       “Speak, Peter,” Terrence pronounces. “We’re listening to you closely.”       Peter looks around the whole room and exhales sharply with closed eyes before he starts telling the story of his life:       “This story started at school times. Somewhere in middle school. I got serious problems with my schoolmates and their friends. Of course, everything hadn’t been okay, but it got much worse in middle school. No, I fought with nobody and did nothing bad to them. They just thought I was a freak. I wasn’t sick, mentally retarded, or something like that… No, I’m fine in this case. I was hated ‘cause I never agreed with everyone’s opinion and spoke for myself. That’s why the guys never missed a chance to mock me.” Peter falls into silence for two seconds, tightly locking the fingers on his hands folded in front of him. “They called me a worthless and talentless freak. They devalued my efforts and my goals… They especially loved insulting my appearance… At first, I gave a fuck about that, and they didn’t show that aggression to me in elementary school. But then it got super hard… There was hope to befriend someone when new guys went to our school, but my schoolmates brainwashed them quickly, and they mocked me alongside them. And I couldn’t stand against that crowd alone… Every school day was a nightmare. I cursed everything in the world when I went to school. I could miss lessons and wander on the streets, but I knew nothing would change. They needed a victim, they chose me. Any collective has its outsiders. The difference is that some can fight against the herd, and some are afraid to make the terrible situation worse.”       Peter exhales slowly, falling into silence for two seconds.       “My mother, teachers, and head teacher were aware of my situation, but they could do nothing. I mean, they didn’t want it. My claims made everything worse. When someone found out about it, I was called a snitch, and they bullied me much harder. I felt helpless. The only thing I could do was bite the bullet and bear it. I was dreaming of graduating from that fucking school. And I should’ve done the homework and gotten ready for exams.”       Terrence and Daniel are closely listening to Peter and are already starting to feel sorry for him. Even though, they completely understand that it’s just a part of the story that is definitely going to get them shocked.       “When I went to the high school, what happened struck me down,” Peter says with a much heavier breath. “But I was trying to hold on, at least for the studies and exams. I wasn’t gonna quit school and wanted to get a certificate. I didn’t wanna become an ignoramus. But actually not only did mockeries of my schoolmates couldn’t let me focus. There was something else…”       Peter leans his head back for two seconds, exhaling slowly with a shake.       “The case is that one girl was studying with me. Her name was Kristina… She was, so to say, a queen of the school. All the boys had a crush on her… She was always surrounded by lots of people, but only the best people in her opinion could be a part of her so-called elite. Though, the only thing that got everybody attracted was her eternal beauty. Long blonde hair, amazingly beautiful light blue eyes, breasts, ass… And she was short… She took care of herself, ate healthy food… Nobody saw her eating chocolate or a cake. They said she had to keep a strict diet because she had a fat gene. And because she had a short height, any pound could make her fat.” Peter falls into silence for two seconds and swallows up nervously. “So, I was literally going crazy from her. I’ve always been attracted to short girls. That’s my fetish… Though, I never hoped Kristina would pay attention to me. She had affairs, but they were very short. Nobody dated her longer than two months. By that time, Kristina had literally dated the whole school. There were only pathetic losers like me. She slept with almost everyone. She had an active sexual life, despite being a little gal.”       Peter falls into silence again, nervously pulling a piece of the bandage, with which his wrist is bandaged.       “But on one of those days, I went on two or three lessons. And during a break, that girl came to me. Smiling, flirting, saying compliments… And then Kristina suggested we go for a walk after school. Of course, I was dumbfounded by that suggestion. But she was speaking so sweetly, and I was so blind that I noticed nothing bad. And I, idiot, agreed. I didn’t care whether that was the truth. I was glad that girl paid attention to me. Even though Kristina mainly talked about herself and rarely asked me something, I was getting pleasure. That someone wanted to speak to me. I needed it so badly… And I was so happy that I got the attention of the girl that I liked. I quickly relaxed and didn’t think of looking for a trap about it.”       Peter glances at the window for two seconds.       “We had gone on a few dates before she suggested we date. Yes, she exactly said, ‘I like you, and I wanna date you! Let’s try?’ It goes without saying, I had a euphoria and couldn’t refuse. And… We really started to date… She became my first love. My first girlfriend, with whom everything happened for the first time… The first kiss… The first sex that I didn’t like… Either I was inexperienced, or she was like a log… Though, I didn’t hear her exes admiring her sex skills. She acted like a little whore that started fucking everybody since school. But she was far from a professional at it. But nobody said it openly. And I didn’t hurt her. I blamed my inexperience. Well, she smiled innocently and said nobody would do it for the first time. And… It calmed me down a little. Though, I fell into a stupor, not knowing what to do to the naked girl, who begged me to fuck her and bring her to orgasm.”       Peter puts his hand on his forehead and rubs it slightly.       “At first, everything was fine. Since Kristina was the queen of the school, everyone to stop bullying me. Someone even asked me to befriend them. Besides, I was studying well and knew much more than all of them. They often started to ask me for help with homework. They begged to help them when we had tests. Well, I never refused. I thought my life got better, and I could exhale with relief… I kind of got a love for the school and went there with pleasure. I thought they finally started to love and appreciate me. But that was my stupidest thought…”       Peter leans his head back with closed eyes.       “One day, during a big break, Kristina chirped something in her squeaking voice and said someone was waiting for us at the back of the school. All the guys came there. And then… That brainless blonde got me dumbfounded when she loudly said she’d leave me. She’d leave ‘this talentless freak.’ At first, I thought that was a joke. But Kristina quickly brought me back from heaven to earth and opened my eyes when she said she bet me with her friends. That girl had to date me for two months to get someone’s thing, over which she drooled for a long time. Then I got my clear mind back. I realized I was fooled. I was fooled by the girl, who told the whole school I couldn’t fuck her well, and she was always unsatisfied. Being my girlfriend was kind of real torture. That was a shame… The worst shame I had ever experienced… At that moment, I wanted to die. Die from a great shame… You can’t imagine how disappointed I was when I realized I was betrayed. Everyone was laughing at me, and she was doing it along with them…”       Peter closes his face with both hands, grabbing his hair for two seconds.       “I stopped being a friend to everybody. Those, who had smiled at me one day earlier, said something cutely, and supported me, suddenly got hate for me. They were pretending to be my friends. Make the wish of that fucking Ms. Harper come true. They started to bully me three times harder. That was much crueler. They locked me in a women’s restroom, threw a plate with food over my head, beat me cruelly at school and behind, stole my things, and hid them in different corners… Every day, every single hour at that place became torture to me. I was really ready to give a fuck about studies and skip lessons… And I really did it when I felt unbearable.”       Peter has to fall into silence to find the courage to keep speaking, clenching his hands into fists with his head inclined and holding down his emotions not to shed a tear. However, his eyes look half wet anyway…       “Don’t ask me about my family because I don’t have it…” Peter says coldly and gloomily. “I mean, I had a mother, but she gave a fuck about me. She was pretending that she was sorry for me, but she didn’t actually care about what was happening to me. I think if I’d died, that woman would’ve shed no tears. I asked her to talk to the head teacher or teachers. She did it several times, but it didn’t give me much. I mean, nothing… They had a talk with the guys and believed only their ‘we wouldn't do that anymore.’ And then they threatened to murder me for parts. Everything started with the banal ‘Rose is an idiot,’ ‘Rose is a tall or a slim sausage,’ or ‘Rose is a weak boy.’ But it ended with threats to kill me somewhere in the city and bury me under the ground. There was a case when one six-foot-tall tough guy put a knife against my throat and threatened to cut it. Anyway, I stopped complaining after a few attempts. Yes, I could ask for protection after threats to kill, but I didn’t do it.”       Peter runs his hands over his hair and exhales sharply, while Terrence and Daniel get terribly white, setting their widely open eyes on the blond shaking from the tension.       “Two or three weeks later, I touched the blade for the first time. It happened at my home… I just went to the kitchen, found a big knife, and made a cut on my wrist… That was madly hurtful. So hurt that tears got outta my eyes. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs from the hellish pain. But then I thought it gave me some relief. And… I thought I deserved that pain. The voices of those guys never left my mind and encouraged me to… To start to hurt me. But… I didn’t mind it… A blade got me attracted like a magnet… Later, I cut my hands again. And then I couldn’t stop. It became a habit. Because of which, I couldn’t focus on my studies. I had a lesson and thought of a blade. Something sharp I could cut myself with. I couldn’t live without that pain… I tried to hold myself down when I realized I did it too often, but I couldn’t do it for a long time.”       Peter grabs his throat, understanding that it’s very hard for him to breathe.       “I tried to hide the scars on my hands. But one day, someone saw them and told the whole school about it. The rumors spread fast. Later, everybody started to bully me much harder. They said, ‘such a talentless freak like me deserved the hellish pain.’ Those people made my life hellish. And they quietly did it with the pretense of teachers, who could – or didn’t want to – do nothing. Sometimes I got up and ran away from the office in the middle of the lesson. I stayed in a restroom or at the back of the school and… Made scars. I always had a small blade and a little first-aid kit and harmed myself, while nobody saw it. Only one girl saw it when she was asked to bring me back. She was the only one to treat me well. She supported me, but she did it behind the school when nobody saw it. Because she was afraid she’d become an outsider. Well… As I had nobody to count on, I just tolerated that. Even though I did nothing bad to anyone. I didn’t fight, I didn’t insult, I didn’t steal anything… I did nothing bad to be so hated. I tried to get along well with someone, but I met a failure.”       Terrence and Daniel sitting on the bed with dumbfounded eyes shake their heads slightly, as they get horrified at the thought that Peter had to experience such horrible things.       “I barely lived ‘till the exam and the graduation. On the day when I crossed the doorstep of that place for the last time, I felt happy at the thought that I’d no longer have to tolerate those tortures. Instead of which, I would’ve preferred sitting on an electric chair… I got a little better, but the wound was deep. Curing it was too hard. I mean, impossible… My low self-rating went absolutely down. And I couldn’t forget the way they insulted, humiliated, and beat me… Because of that bitch, Kristina, I forgot how to trust people and panicked when I had to meet new people, I always expected a trap and was afraid they’d betray me again. It was super hard for me to believe, at least someone. Because of that, I never had friends. I refused to get closer because of a fear of tolerating the humiliation again. I spoke for a business and didn’t let anyone get closer to me.”       Peter starts fingering over and scratching his bandaged wrists in the hope of calming down a little.       “But everything changed when I was twenty-one. I met Daniel. We passed the audition for the band ‘Heart In The Fire’. At first, we spoke only for business, but then something changed, and we became friends. I didn’t trust him and expected a knife on my back from him. But later, I kinda… Got used to him. And I realized that he wished me nothing bad. At least, I wanted to think so. I agreed to give him a chance. And I never regretted it, ‘cause we were really a good team. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it for a long time. Believe that I got a friend, who didn’t use me for his goal and was true to me. Daniel never framed me, never did dirty tricks, and always helped me if I needed it. And… It would’ve been bad to stay cold and thankless. So, I answered him back and never refused to help, advised something, made a company or something like that… That time was really cool.”       Peter exhales with a shake.       “Of course, Daniel distracted me from bad thoughts and always knew what to say at a certain moment. But there were moments when I was pretending to be happy. I mean, I seemed the one ‘cause I didn’t wanna show my real emotions to Daniel. I didn’t wanna tell him the truth about what had tortured me for many years. I wanted to share it with nobody. But I'm gonna notice I was pretending completely at the beginning. But when we joined the band, in which there was Marty Patch, whom you know well, I slowly started to get much happier. I had to pretend less and less every single day. With Dan, I really felt better and could forget about the blade for a long time. I just had no time to think about it.”       Peter falls into silence for two seconds and purses his lips.       “But when Daniel met Anna and often started to talk about how wonderful and amazing she was, I started to fall into depression again,” Peter confesses hesitantly. “I thought of Kristina. The memories became obsessed with me again. The memories of the guys from school, their threats, the indifference of the adult people… Every single word of Perkins about how cool he spent time with Anna made me wish to strangle myself more and more. I stopped holding myself and… I started to cut myself at times again… I looked at a razor blade and couldn’t stop. I didn’t realize how my hand started to bleed after cutting the veins…”       Peter falls into silence for two seconds again and looks at Daniel hesitantly, who is watching him with a sad gaze, and says:       “But, Daniel, please, don’t think I was jealous of you or something like that. Vice versa, I was really glad for you and Anna. I liked that girl, even if I didn't know her. I’ve never been jealous of you because you had a girlfriend. It’s just sadness. The pain caused by your stories about her and the thought that I’d never be happy. Because I’d never be able to trust girls again.”       While Daniel keeps looking at him with greater pity, Peter glances aside.       “Well, later, we met Terrence, who had a girlfriend, Raquelle. I’ve always liked their couple, and his news about their breakup got me upset. I always felt truly sorry for Terrence. Even after Daniel and I found out what he did, and Rachel lied about many things to make him look much worse for us…” Peter glances at his hands for a second. “I saw Terrence changed much due to the depression that he got obsessed with because of thinking he was about to break up with Raquelle. And looking at his condition, I sometimes thought he could do something to himself. I wanted to help him and tried to distract him, but that was a temporary effect. No matter how hard Terrence tried to hide his pain, I saw his condition. I understood what he felt inside. Though… Anyone would’ve seen he was losing interest in life and fading away literally before our eyes.”       Terrence getting a little white rounds his eyes, understanding that his heart starts beating faster from the excitement.       “I was truly happy when he said he reconciled with Raquelle,” Peter smiles with the corners of his mouth. “Though, I understood that I should’ve gotten ready for MacClife’s stories about his fiancée. Daniel dinged into my ears about how lucky he was to get Anna. He wasn’t sick of pressing on me, asking me why I refused at least to have fun with someone and reject those, who tried to hit on me. He took me to clubs, bars, and other places on purpose, looked for cuties, and tried to make me come to them. But I always joked and lied that I didn’t wanna have a relationship.”       Peter looks at Terrence and Daniel with pity in his eyes.       “But, please, guys, don’t think I was jealous of you and wanted you to break up with your girls. Not at all! I’d never wish you that! I was able to be happy for you and your happiness. And I just had no right to ruin someone’s life just because mine wasn’t good. The reason for my behavior is not jealousy. It was madly hurtful for me to think of love. I was afraid of this feeling like fire! I was running away from it! I was ready to lock myself at home not to see any girls. After what Kristina did to me, I swore I’d never make a relationship or fall in love with anyone. That’s why I always refused to meet someone. I was ready to sacrifice my happiness not to feel disappointment again.”       Peter makes another pause, starting to understand that he is getting better as long as he speaks. And honestly, the man did not notice that he broke down for such a long story.       “But as we know, we often get what we’re afraid of and expect less than anything. So, it happened to me… Somewhere three years ago, I met a girl. A very beautiful short girl with incredible hazel eyes. I was introduced to her by my friend, who was never a part of the bullying over me. We started to speak often some time later after graduating from school. And I’m madly grateful to that girl for doing just something to help me.” Peter glances aside. “That girl was very nice to me and asked me about much. At first, I treated her with suspicion, but she was so nice to me that she gained my trust quickly. We became good friends and spent time together often. Being with her was always very cool and easy. That girl is so simple, shy, sweet, not arrogant, not obsessed with herself… She has a breadth of vision and can talk not only about clothes, hairstyles, and cosmetics… In short, just a gift! I’ve always had the great pleasure of spending time with her. I could delay any business to go to a cinema with her or go to her home to watch something. I forgot to think about my promise and felt relaxed.”       Peter grabs his throat and exhales slowly.       “But somewhere one and a half years ago, I started to understand that I was falling in love with that girl. Really. I got attracted to her not only as a friend but also as a girl. I got sexual affection for her. I could easily stare at her, eat her with my eyes and… I undressed her in my mind… And I could easily sacrifice anything for her. I’d do anything to make that girl happy. And I’d ask nothing. Now I do something for her because I love her. And I understand I wanna be more than just a friend of hers. Erm… I’m shaking from thinking that she’d have another man. Seriously! I dunno what I’ll do if she tells me she met and got love for someone.”       Peter glances at his hands folded in front of him.       “You probably wanna ask what’s wrong with it. Well, maybe, it’s great for someone. But for me, that was a catastrophe! I was terribly afraid to love and avoided this feeling ‘till the end. I was shaking from just one word, ‘love.’ The thought that I fell in love with my friend got me horrified. I even wanted to break contact with her. But the yearning got obsessed with me, and I couldn’t resist the wish to see her as often as possible. For me, every single meeting of us was happiness, but every single goodbye and separation was sadness. And yeah… If you believe I told that girl about it, it’s wrong. She still knows nothing about it. I keep being her friend and struggling with my feelings. Unsuccessfully. I’m starting to love her more and more every day…”       It’s easy for Terrence and Daniel to understand that Peter means Jessica and Helene, and he just confessed his sympathy for the dark-haired girl.       “That was one of the reasons why I kept cutting myself sometimes. I told myself such a wonderful girl didn’t deserve my love. She really does deserve all the best. Her tears are like a knife in my heart. I couldn’t quietly watch her feeling sad, crying, and worrying about something. I’ve lately seen her tears often. She smiles and laughs much more rarely and finds stupid excuses for her tears and depression. I don’t know what happened to her ‘cause she says nothing. But that girl has always cried since she saw me cutting my veins. I did it at her home, in the bathroom. I remember her screaming in horror and getting sharply white. I thought my friend would lose consciousness. But… She barely braced herself and helped me treat the cuts… Then she asked why I was doing it for a long time. But I just said I had been doing that since high school.”       Peter falls into silence for two seconds and shakes his head.       “But there’s something that also made me harm myself… One day, you and I went on the road with Liam, Zach, Brad, and Nath. The crowd accepted us well when we went on stage for the first time. I couldn’t believe I made my dream to perform on stage and beat drums come true. It seemed like a wonderful dream, which was the reason why I never wanted to wake up… But I had to do it… Because a few days before the end of the tour, when you two got out somewhere, I checked the Internet… Checked the band’s account, found out how many people watched our videos… And then I checked out the comments… Find out what they posted… Reply to some of them…” Peter moans quietly and runs his hands over his face with closed eyes. “Fuck, I wouldn’t have read them… I checked out Twitter and started to search for tweets about our band… And later, I found hundreds of negative comments about me and our band. But it’s okay, everyone doesn’t have to love us. But I got depression when I began to read the bad comments about me. They said the band didn’t need me… Someone wondered how you could admit me to the band… Many people called me a freak, a talentless guy, a loser… Someone did even call me fate and said that I must’ve lost weight… And someone thought I was a dead fish and must’ve gained weight. After checking the mentions, I saw many similar insults… I didn’t notice good comments, in which people talked about their love for me. I mean, I didn’t search for them. I searched for the worst on purpose…”       Peter shakes his head with sadness in his eyes, setting his dead, half-wet eyes into the distance.       “It became a real hit to me. Because of which, I wanted to die. It struck me down. I always had those comments in my mind and saw them before my eyes… That’s why it was hard to play the drums. But I was trying to do my best not to betray my band. I thought I’d get better later, but I didn’t… I wanted that fucking tour to finally be over. I wanted to go home, lock myself up, and suffer quietly. Though, I became more withdrawn and didn’t almost talk to you and the guys from ‘The Loser Syndrome…’ I just didn’t want… While you were hanging out together or having a rest on free days, I only showed myself for a show. And when it was the day of the last show, I exhaled with relief. Because I no longer had to explain why I wanted to talk to nobody.”       Peter closes his eyes for a moment and falls into silence, clenching his shaking hands into fists.       “But I didn't stay home for too long ‘cause we started working at the studio,” Peter notices in a shaking voice. “I think you remember the day when we came together at my home to work on songs. So… When Terrence left for two minutes, Daniel and I stayed alone. At first, we spoke quietly. But at some moment, he started to joke with me because I had no girlfriend. I held on and bite the bullet, pretending that I didn’t care about it. However, Perkins didn’t calm down and kept, as he thought, joking. And I eventually lost patience and got nuts. I couldn’t hold my emotions down and started to scream at him. Insulted him and blamed him for nobody the fuck knows what, and just told him everything I thought of him. I cursed him in anger and wished his life was ruined to the fuck…”       Peter shakes his head, falling into silence for two seconds.       “I was yelling for a long time… Until Dan started to answer me back. But that’s okay… My last drop was his mockery of me and his claim that I have relationship issues because I was terrible at sex and couldn’t satisfy girls. So, I gave him a strong slap. And I regretted it the next second, ‘cause I got the same one back and heard I was sick. That I should’ve gotten therapy. After that, I attacked Perkins with my fists and began to beat him. Maybe, Terrence would’ve seen it, but I quickly realized that I couldn't have let the situation get much worse. I went to the bathroom to calm down. And… On that day, I cut my wrist again. Not very deeply, but slightly. Though, I didn’t get better. I kept feeling disgusting and understood that I wanted to die more and more. Self-harming became my habit. No matter how much I wanted to get rid of the temptation to cut myself, I could do nothing. It’s something like a drug: it seems you feel good at first, but then this feeling goes. You take this shit because you need it. You’re gonna have a withdrawal if your organism doesn’t get a dose of cocaine or heroin. And you’re gonna wish for more and more.”       Terrence and Daniel, who got much whiter and more dumbfounded by this moment, are so shocked that they cannot say a word, even if they want to do it. The only thing the guys can do is look at Peter with dumbfounded, widely open eyes and blame themselves for the problems that happened to him.       “After that case, I wanted to try something new,” Peter says, looking at his hands with dead eyes. “No, I didn’t take drugs… I decided to harm myself in other ways… Somehow, I burnt my hand with a hot iron… Hit my head and fists against the wall… It happened after the day when we came to the studio all together to work there, but we met a failure. Because Daniel and I started fighting again, and Terrence wondered what happened to us. Even George noticed that. And because I snapped at Perkins with his pretense, he started to blame me for disrupting the work of the band. Peace between us was impossible, and we could forget about our former friendship…”       Peter swallows up nervously, feeling that he is slightly shaking from the excitement.       “After that case, I decided to go somewhere and drink to the hell in the evening… I mixed much and quickly stopped realizing something. And… I really got lost for a while and felt free. To some extent… Happy… But the next day, I had a terrible headache… I felt sick… I was whining about how bad I felt. And having such a terrible condition, I had to go to the studio and try to do something. And of course, I did nothing ‘cause I suffered from a terrible hangover and drank literally all the water I saw in my way.”       Peter falls into silence again, not stopping to look at his tightly bandaged wrists.       “But that pain didn’t stop me. I gave a fuck about my hangover ‘cause drinking really helped me get out of reality, at least for a while. And I wanted to keep feeling pain. I was so used to it that I couldn’t live without it. Though, I understood it was killing me. So, I quickly got a habit of drinking to the heck almost every single day. Alone… Sometimes some gals joined me, but I can barely remember them. Though, I paid for someone’s glasses… And I woke up in a bed with some of them. Naked. So, I could assume I had sex with them. So-called casual sex… And after another fight between Daniel and me, we three went to different sides…”       Peter glances at the window in the room.       “After that, I stopped leaving my apartment and turned off my phone. And two days later, my school friend came to me and wanted to make me do just something. But I felt so bad morally that I wanted to do nothing. My friend pressed on me and said I’d lose all my friends soon. I listened to her for a long time, but got furious when she said the same as Daniel… Reminded me that I had relationship issues… She also thought I was terrible at sex… Well, I got really furious and kicked her outta my apartment with a loud shout. At that moment, I wasn’t ashamed, but now I’m really sorry. Really sorry about what I did to her. That girl wanted to make it better, but I messed up everything again.”       Terrence decides to say something for the first time in a while. But when he barely opens his mouth, Peter keeps speaking, making his friend save his wish to say something for later.       “I was drowning in my depression and sometimes cutting myself as a punishment for living in this world. And one day, the girl that I was in love with came to me. When someone rang at the door, I wanted to kick them. However, when I saw that girl, I lowered my hands. I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I’d done the same thing to her. I could insult, humiliate and even beat anyone… Not her. I could and wanted to do nothing against her. She was talking to me with such pity that my heart squeezed. I really wanted to let her know that she wasn’t just a friend to me when my friend saw the new scars on my hands and asked what happened. But the fear of being rejected and loving someone stopped me. Because of the thought that someone would betray me if I revealed my feelings, I preferred being silent about my sympathy. Understanding that the girl could meet someone, and I’d show happiness and say I’m happy for her.”       Peter takes one more pause to catch his breath.       “I didn’t answer any calls for a long time. And on that day, my phone rang with the pretense of that girl. I refused to answer, but she showed a wish to talk to the one to try to find me. That was George Smith, who told me to go to the agency. I said I wouldn’t go there ‘cause I didn’t wanna show up for you and was afraid Daniel and I would fight with the pretense of the manager. But my friend personally drove me there in her car, making me put myself to order just a little. Well, I did it only for her. Because, as you heard, I was ready for anything for her… And when George suggested we kick me outta the band, I was happy. Because you could find a more talented and responsible person. And I gave a fuck about the band.”       Peter swallows up nervously and shakes his head.       “Well, some time later, I made absolutely sure that I wanted to die,” Peter says in a little shaking voice. “I knew I was acting like an egoist, but I felt so bad that I had no other choice… I was sure nobody would help me… At first, I sent a message to my friends and called Terrence, who was with Daniel, to apologize and say goodbye… And I did what I wanted… Cut me, waited for some time, and fell into the darkness… With the thought that I died… But it didn’t happen… So, I am here, on the hospital bed, with my hands bandaged… Doctors and nurses come here literally every hour. They should kind of make sure I’d do nothing to me…”       Peter exhales sharply.       “Well, here’s the story… I have nothing more to add…”       Peter falls into silence, inclines his head, and sets his gaze on his hands. Silence settles in the air for some time, during which the dumbfounded, terribly white Terrence and Daniel look at each other hesitantly with widely open eyes full of horror, still trying to accept what they just found out. The guys can say nothing and just look at the depressed blond with great pity, shaking their heads slightly and understanding how sorry they are for this poor guy. And while MacClife, Sr., closes his mouth with a hand, Perkins finds the courage to say just something, shaking his head and putting his hand on his forehead:       “Holy shit… I can’t believe it…”       “Oh, damn, Peter…” Terrence pronounces in a little shaking voice, looking at Peter with horror in his dumbfounded eyes. “I… I don’t know what to say!”       “I’m shocked… Just shocked… Fuck…” Daniel closes his mouth with a hand. “I can’t take it at all…”       “Did the school years lead to such horrible consequences?”       “I know it’s been very many years,” Peter replies in a quiet, little shaking voice. “All those people could forget what happened. But I forgot nothing and still clearly remember every single day. Every single moment of the bullying… Every single hit on my body… I remember everything! And I will never forget how that stupid, blonde slut got me ashamed of the whole school.”       “But why?” Daniel wonders. “I know any sociality has its outsiders, but why did they the fuck start bullying you?”       “You two will never understand what it means to be an outsider that everybody mocks just because you aren’t similar to them. Just because I was literally the only blond in the whole school, while the other boys had dark hair. Because my opinion always differed from the opinion of many people. Because I studied better than all of them, but I wasn’t a typical nerd with glasses surrounded by books. It would be okay if I had been ill with something since birth and hadn’t looked like an ordinary person. But I'm absolutely healthy! I’m the same human as everyone! What’s wrong with having almost white hair that got a little darker through the years? What’s wrong with always being a tall, skinny guy, who could eat as much as he wanted and keep the same weight. What’s wrong with not dressing up like everyone else? Not listening to the music that everyone liked? Not thinking in the same way as the bunch of dogs that obey the one they chose as their so-called leader? I still don’t get it… Is that such a real reason to think I’m crazy? Refuse at least to try to understand me!”       “Did you never try to stand up for yourself?” Terrence wonders with sadness in his eyes. “Did you easily let others mock you?”       “Yes, buddy, why did you let them make you something to beat?” Daniel wonders. “If you’d proved you could react to their insults with dignity, they wouldn’t have hurt you.”       “Or they wouldn’t have bullied you so cruelly. Because they would’ve seen you were strong and could answer. Those guys saw you couldn’t protect yourself and didn’t have protectors. It’s a law – only the strongest people, who let everyone know that nobody would better hurt them, survive.”       “Yeah, but who could teach me?” Peter asks with despair. “Who? I’ve always been a timid child that his mother didn’t need! Who disappeared somewhere all day long! Would she have taught me to stand up for myself? Why did she the fuck need it? She cared only about how to get a bottle of vodka and find someone to drink with! My mother was an alcoholic! As long as I remember, there was no day when she didn’t get a bottle. And the whole school knew that my mother always drank. She was shouting that I was her son. And it was another reason why everybody despised me. Moreover, she always started an affray at school when she rarely talked to the head teacher and teachers by my plea. And guys saw her on the streets and told everyone they saw ‘that alcoholic, Rose’s mother, who goes to school and screams like crazy.’”       “And your father? Couldn’t your father teach you something?”       “I have no Father. I mean, I’ve never seen him. There were no photos of him at home. I wouldn’t know that’s him if I met him somewhere outside. I don’t have brothers, who could teach me to stand up for myself. I’ve always been on my own and was growing up without attention. Someone would be happy to do anything without Mother and Father’s lectures. But the realization of absolute freedom didn’t make me happy. I needed Mother’s attention. Her support and pieces of advice. I wanted to become more important to her than a bottle of vodka and all of her pals, with whom she drank. But it didn’t happen. I never got love from her. When Mother was sober, she was cold to me. And when she went home, being drunk to the fuck, she screamed at me, blamed me for all sins, insulted me, humiliated me, and could sometimes beat me with a stick. But she was sober very rarely, and I had to bear those tortures almost every single day… And wonder why she gave birth to me.”       “Was she always an alcoholic?” Daniel wonders. “If she had been one before your birth, she would’ve hardly given birth to a healthy child. Children of alcoholics are usually sick. They always have health issues: heart, lungs, kidneys…”       “Honestly, I’m asking myself about it. But I think she started to drink after my birth. I would’ve really been born sick if Mother had drunk liters of vodka earlier. I don’t know what could make her do it… However, I don’t care about it. I don’t even wanna try to understand that woman. Well… I almost took after her when starting to drink every single day and had sex with girls that I barely knew.”       “Did nobody accept you at school from the beginning?” Terrence asks.       “Yup. They thought I had been a black sheep since childhood. I don’t know why… Either my appearance… Or I was smarter than all of them and got good results… I’m the same human as all of them, but I was chosen as an outsider… Those people were even nice to the guy that was an open nerd, whose world went around books and studies. But I was made an outsider.”       “And didn’t you have other friends from school, except that girl?”       “Nope. And I started to speak with my classmate somewhere in Class 6 or 7. But we got much closer some time before graduation from school after she caught me harming myself in the back of the school. She wasn’t a part of the bullying. Never bullied me openly… She just said nothing, while bullies encouraged everyone… But I didn’t get better. Because she could do nothing. I was alone and had nobody to count on.”       “What about the people behind the school?” Daniel asks carefully.       “Same. In the neighborhood of New York where I was born and growing up, there weren’t many children of my age. And if there was someone, we didn’t speak closely. We just said hello and went to do our business.”       “And how did they treat you?” Terrence asks.       “Probably, badly,” Peter shrugs without emotions. “Their welcome was cold, but their smiles were false. There was no open contempt, but I felt the coldness and wasn’t gonna get closer to them.”       “But, Peter… How could you let everybody bully you so easily? You got psychological trauma after what happened! I mean, you have it, judging your story.”       “What could I do? Try to deal with a crowd on your own! The crowd with many six-foot-tail guys, who would strike you down after barely touching you with a finger. Saying something was worthless… And if I’d started a fight, I would’ve ended up in a hospital with three broken bones and been made disabled. Moreover, I’ve never been able to fight well…”       “So, you must’ve changed it!” Daniel exclaims. “Terrence said right, it’s the law of sociality – only the strongest people survive. You don’t have to attack everyone with fists. But you must answer worthily, so they stop thinking of saying at least one bad word about you.”       “It’s easy to say it when you’re a brave, tough guy, who wouldn’t fear a six-foot-tail guy and would easily hit him. But what should the one, who is afraid of everything in the world do? Who always wanted to sing but was terribly afraid to perform for the public to death! Do you know how much effort I had to apply to go on stage and perform as the opening act of ‘The Loser Syndrome?’ And how long it took to learn to play the drums! I saw the drums for the first time at the audition and had never held drumsticks! I had to pretend that I knew everything and improvise! I don’t know how they actually admitted me to the band, ‘cause my play was terrible!”       “You were admitted to the band because they saw you could play much better. They decided to give you a chance to show yourself. And you really slew everybody by your play some time later. I give a fuck about what Marty said, ‘cause she was always unhappy with us. But everybody confessed that you had a talent. Albert said it, at first. Something stuck in his mind later.”       “Anyway, music has always made me happy, even if that’s a temporary effect. I just couldn’t live without a good album in the genre of rock, punk, or alternative. I’ve loved this sort of music since childhood.”       “I prefer believing it…” Daniel smiles slightly. “You looked happy when playing the drums. You played with great pleasure…”       “At first, it really gave me pleasure,” Peter confesses thoughtfully. “But I recently lost interest and started to understand that I played something just because I had to. And writing songs. It used to be an outlet for me. I felt a little better working on the melody on the drums and guitar. If you remember, I somehow recorded a cool song at Albert’s studio, but Marty deleted all the files on the computer.”       “I’m sorry that I didn’t hear that song. It’d probably be cool.”       “Yeah, but, Pete, why were you silent about what happened to you?” Terrence wonders. “You should’ve known that silence would lead to terrible consequences. I got over that and saw similar things with my own eyes.”       “You heard about the stereotype that men have to be strong and hold their emotions down?” Peter asks without emotions. “So, I followed it. I wanted to hide my real emotions from everyone, hoping I’d be able to control them and not become as soft as a girl. But I was getting worse. No auto-suggestion helped. I mean, it did only when I made myself think I had always been a terrible man.”       “Yeah, I agree with you. But fuck… You must not be silent about such terrible things, because of which you almost buried yourself! Men aren't as cold and heartless, as some people sometimes think. We can feel and show emotions. We may also be sad, worried, and afraid. It’s absolutely fine. Yes, maybe, we control ourselves better, but that doesn’t mean we have no feelings.”       “I let my emotions out in my own way… With cuts… When I felt unbearable, I just went to the bathroom, grabbed a blade, and cut my hands to blood. Or I just screamed at the top of my lungs and crushed something. It also helped me a little… But for a while…”       “Peter, do you understand you’ve gone too far! You do really need help because you will not take it alone. Surviving it alone is very hard. You should have someone to support you in critical moments.”       “And it’s okay that you understand what’s happening to you,” Daniel adds. “Otherwise, you’d have to go to a psychologist, so they put it all together.”       “I thought I could do it on my own,” Peter confesses, locking his hands tightly. “And I did it for some time. Mainly thanks to the time that I spent with you, Daniel. It impacted me well. As I said, I had to pretend to be happy less and less. But those moments were a pleasure for me. It was the first time when I didn’t feel so lousy. When I finally met someone to wish to befriend me. When I realized I got a real friend…”       “Have you really never envied him just because he met Anna and started to date her?” Terrence asks.       “No, Terrence, no way. I’ve never envied you or Daniel, and I've always wished you the best. I just felt pain because I couldn’t have the same feeling. Any conversations about love and girls hurt me.”       “But, Peter…” Daniel pronounces hesitantly with sadness in his eyes. “If you say you considered me your friend, why didn’t you hint at your problems? Why didn’t you openly ask me to close my mouth and stop talking about Anna? Why did you torture yourself and listen to what was unpleasant for you? I would’ve understood it if you’d asked about it!”       “I can give the same answer to most of the questions that you and MacClife care about. I was afraid to show my real emotions.”       “And did you choose to suffer because we were always talking about Anna and Raquelle?”       “If I’d said I didn’t wanna talk about your girls, you would’ve been hurt,” Peter replies without emotions. “You would’ve thought I wasn’t happy for you and even envied you. But I didn’t want you to think so. So, I had to bite the bullet and pretend that I didn’t care about love talks love.”       “Peter…”       “Damn, I can’t believe it…” Terrence shakes his head, putting his hand on his forehead. “I can’t believe we were pushing you to do such a bad thing. If not for those talks, we would’ve avoided a part of the problems.”       “Yeah, dude, we swear we wouldn’t have thought it would hurt you so much,” Daniel adds hesitantly. “We did that as a joke and didn’t think there was something bad about it.”       “It’s okay, guys,” Peter replies quietly. “You’re not guilty of my sufferings… I had many reasons to fall into depression. For example, a fear of falling in love with someone. And the fact that I started to fall in love with my friend.”       “We understand it, buddy,” Terrence says with sadness in his eyes. “We’re really very sorry that the girl dared to humiliate you. I’d also feel terrible if a girl did the same to me.”       “Me too,” Daniel pronounces. “And if I were in love with that girl, I’d get psychological trauma. We completely understand you. And we hope that Kristina will pay for it. So, if she had to keep diets due to a fate gene, we want her to get fat and lose her fans.”       “Yeah! I’d like to watch her if everybody calls her fat.”       “That was really terrible…” Peter replies with despair. “You can’t imagine how bad I felt… What kind of pain that bitch gave me! That prostitute, who jumped from one bed to another since thirteen or fourteen. Her mother and father let her do everything. I’m surprised that their baby didn’t get pregnant by anyone and didn’t come to school with a big belly. She could give a baby to her parents and keep jumping from one bed to another.”       “Didn’t her parents really care that the thirteen-year-old gal fucked lots of men?” Daniel wonders.       “Exactly! And she always said she’d find a sugar daddy to keep living like a queen. Kristina confessed that she had two fears: becoming a pauper and losing the opportunity to buy anything she wanted and getting as fat as a tank and turning from a thin dog to a clumsy elephant. She was stuck on that! Harper washed the brains of her friends and mine when she was pretending that she loved me. And those people listened to her patiently. Boys swore they’d get rich, marry her, and buy anything she wanted, and girls gave her pieces of advice about how to keep a slim waist.”       “Yeah… That whore got a good entourage… Boys were her pussy-whipped, and girls couldn’t stop telling her compliments…”       “Oh, perfect description!” Peter exclaims. “An entourage of the whore! Those people did everything to make her happy. By her order, they pretended to be my friends and laughed at me when she opened the cards. I imagine what they would’ve done to me if I’d given a fuck about all the stereotypes about men and cried before everyone.”       “We completely understand your feelings, Peter,” Terrence says confidently. “It’s really terrible. It's worse than hearing something like, ‘Sorry, you’re very good and sweet, but I can’t answer you, and I consider you a friend’ from the girl you love. It seems like the girl doesn’t wanna hurt you and tries to say it as delicately as possible. But she actually gives you unbearable pain. You can survive it, but it takes a lot of time.”       “She would’ve better rejected me than made me overcome that humiliation… Because of that blonde bitch, I’ll never forget that shame and gonna be afraid to build a relationship with girls ‘till the end of my life because of a fear they’d betray me as well as she did.”       “No, Peter, don’t say it!” Daniel rounds his eyes. “I understand it’s very hard for you. But I’m sure you'll be very lucky to fall in love soon. You’ll meet a girl, who you could trust.”       “No, Daniel…” Peter shakes his head with sadness in his eyes. “I will never forget that hell.”       “Is that why you don’t wanna tell your friend you like her?” Terrence asks.       “I’ll never tell her about it,” Peter cuts off sharply. “I’d better keep it secret than fear being betrayed and rejected. If I open my mouth, our friendship will be over. I don’t want to lose her, though.”       “Why? Is being silent and torturing yourself better? Being just a friend to her!”       “I’d rather be a friend. She hardly needs such a talentless and ugly man like me. She wanna be with a real man, not a milksop. And that girl probably met someone.”       Terrence and Daniel glance at each other, understanding they should do something for Helene and Peter to confess their feelings for each other.       “What if she met nobody?” Terrence asks. “If that girl isn’t indifferent to you?”       “Huh, don’t tell me bullshit, Terrence!” Peter throws gloomily. “We’re not living in a tale! There is no miracle or magic!”       “So, do you think it’s better to be silent and suffer?” Daniel wonders. “To struggle with jealousy in case she meets another man!”       “I don’t care,” Peter replies without emotions. “But I will not tell her that I like her, even if I’m under a pistol.”       “Wrong! I wouldn’t be silent.”       “I’d better try to kill myself again than get over that torture.”       “Okay, buddy, if you don’t wanna do it, nobody makes you do it,” Terrence says quietly. “Moreover, this talk is unpleasant for you.”       “You’re right…” Peter nods. “It’s madly unpleasant for me to talk about it… But the most disgusting thing is that someone cares about me and tries to save me.”       “And we’ll be doing our best for that,” Daniel says confidently.       “Fuck it, guys, I don’t deserve it.”       “Peter, please, don’t say it!” Terrence begs with pity in his eyes. “You shouldn’t make yourself think you’re terrible and don’t deserve anything good. For us, you’re an amazing person, with whom it’s interesting to spend time.”       “Don’t say such loud words. I’ve heard enough over the past years.”       “Damn, Rose, why do you think of what that gang said? Those, who mocked you, were just idiots. Who didn’t know they should’ve supported and protected the weak person instead of drowning him.”       “I can’t ignore insults and humiliations the way you do. Someone hurts you, but you keep walking with your head proudly raised up and telling everyone you give a fuck.”       “You must do the same: someone insults you, but you smile. And I’m absolutely sure that your schoolmates haven’t reached anything good, and that girl became a fat woman that nobody needed.”       “Indeed, blond!” Daniel agrees. “You are not a loser! They are losers! Those, who humiliated and insulted you! Who have probably reached the fuck nothing. Unlike you. Look how much you’ve reached! How much our band has reached! I’m sure we’ll get much more to make our enemies and rivals mad. You can kick the ass of all your offenders if you show them that they were deeply wrong about you.”       “Did you forget we promised each other to be together and overcome any difficulties?” Terrence recalls. “I’ve never forgotten it. It’s really very important to me. Moreover, if I want something, I’m used to getting it. Even if I have many barriers in my way.”       “I don’t doubt that you and Daniel would reach anything you want,” Peter replies quietly. “Every one of you wanna be on stage. And I'm sure you could reach it if you really wanted it. Moreover, you’ve got the source of inspiration and energy – Raquelle and Anna. Those girls would always motivate you for something and wouldn’t let you give up when a bigger part of the way is over.”       “Yes, we want to get success,” Daniel agrees confidently. “But we also wanna help you survive those horrible things and forget about them forever. At first, we screwed it up and weren’t good friends for you. But now it’s time to fix it. Yes, it’s gonna be hard. And it’ll take a lot of time. But Terrence and I are ready to do it. Even if we have to sacrifice the band.”       “What?” Peter opens his eyes widely. “No! No! Don’t even dare to give up on your dream! Don’t sacrifice your band for one pathetic bastard that ruined it.”       “But we’re ready to do it,” Terrence says confidently. “If you need help, we’re ready to give it. No matter what we’d have to do for that.”       “Fuck, guys, you’re insane!” Peter shakes his head, understanding that it’s nice for him to hear it. “Do you really wanna help me, the one that betrayed you?”       “Sure, we do.”       “Terrence, say…” Peter glances at Terrence. “Do you really wanna spend your strength helping me, even if you have to think of your wedding and future children? I know you got sick of solving the band issues! Why do you need it? I don’t get it!”       “But Terrence can’t only be stuck with his fiancée,” Daniel notices. “She’s not the only thing he cares about! He’s got other things to do and interests!”       “And you, Daniel…” Peter looks at Daniel not less surprisingly. “Do you really want to be by my side after what happened? After you heard so many bad things! And you also have a girlfriend that needs attention! Anna can’t love you if you don’t show care for her.”       “Don’t worry about Anna. I’d always find time for her. And she completely understands everything and doesn’t make me stay by her side all day long. And even if you said something bad about me, I deserved it. I shouldn’t have gone too far in my wish to joke.”       “Why do you the fuck need it?” Peter wonders and looks at Daniel and Terrence. “Why, guys? I don’t deserve your help! And I must not live in this world! It would’ve been better if I hadn’t been born. Maybe, my mother wouldn’t have drunk, in case she started to drink after my birth? Maybe, my father wouldn’t have disappeared nobody the fuck knows where. Maybe, everything would’ve been okay if I hadn’t been born.”       “No, Pete, don’t say it,” Terrence begs with pity in his eyes.       “Seriously, buddy, you can do anything you want: screaming, beating us, swearing, and kicking us out of here,” Daniel adds confidently. “But it won’t stop us! We won’t leave you in such a horrible condition. You need help, and we’re ready to give it.”       “We made a mistake when we delayed the visit to you ‘till the end because we were afraid you wouldn’t wish to talk to us. But this time, none of us is gonna leave you. It’s time to show what friendship means to us, and what we’re ready for it.”       “Even if you don’t wanna accept our help and beg us to leave you alone, we will be with you until the end. We won’t leave when you get better. We’re gonna be your friends, despite nothing. The talk is not about the band. It’s about our friendship. The friendship we don’t wanna lose. Especially me… These four years can’t become just a memory.”       “Moreover, everybody is worried about you! We aren’t the only ones to wish you to get well. Raquelle, Natalia, Anna, Edward… They always ask us if we have any news about you and the band. Even my mother cares about you and wishes you the best. You’re not alone, even if you don’t have a family. You’ve got friends that would not leave you in trouble. Friendship is not only joking. It’s also mutual help and support that you get only from the one, who considers you a real friend. And we’re ready to do it. Ready to be friends, who would never judge you and would help you somehow.”       “Please, Peter, let us do it!” Daniel begs with pity in his eyes. “Everybody wanna see you alive and healthy. We wanna help you, but we don’t know how. Now Terrence and I know the reasons for your behavior and are ready to give you everything to make you feel better. Don’t refuse our help… Please… We really wish you the best.”       Peter thinks about what his friends said, moving his eyes down. Something about Terrence and Daniel’s words makes the man understand that these people really express their wish to help him get out of the hole. But the blond cannot trust his friends fully. Not because they might betray him. But because he is terribly ashamed of them.       “No…” Peter shakes his head. “No, I can’t accept your help, guys. I’m ashamed to accept it after what happened between us. After I betrayed you. The case is not about the fear that you’d betray me. I believe you want it. But my conscience doesn’t let me owe you.”       “Stop, Peter!” Terrence exclaims. “I’d understand you if we openly said you were guilty of all our problems and the fact that our dreams were ruined. But we’ve never said anything like that, and we don’t find you guilty of something.”       “We understood your hard situation,” Daniel adds. “And knowing it, we have no right to blame you for something.”       “I can’t,” Peter shakes his head with sadness in his eyes. “I’m guilty of you…”       Peter glances at Terrence.       “Terrence, I’m ashamed of you because you were doing your best to save our band. You’re our leader. You’re the oldest one in our company. You had to do your best to reconcile Daniel and me, but all your efforts were worthless. You were between two fires, but held on ‘till the very end. You stayed strong. Despite the emptiness that you still feel. You kept doing what you should’ve done because you knew nobody would’ve done it for you. And I’m ashamed that you were the only one to think about how to save the band. We all should’ve thought about it. But I gave a fuck about you and the others.”       Peter falls into silence for two seconds, moving his eyes down, and looks at Daniel guilty with sadness in his eyes.       “And, Daniel, I could hardly make amends with you. I behaved like a mean bastard toward you and struck down everything we had gotten through together. We got on well for so many years and were inseparable friends… And then we fought like buffaloes and couldn’t stand each other! It would’ve been okay if we’d just screamed. But fuck… We did attack each other with fists! The former best friends were beating each other’s faces and sharing mutual curses. Oh…”       Peter moans quietly, closing his face with both hands for two seconds.       “If I’d known it would happen, I would’ve better lied, so you didn’t go to my home. Lied that I couldn’t work due to my bad condition or something like that… I wouldn’t have been so ashamed… But no! I messed up everything and put an end to the band and my friendship with you two!”       “You’re not guilty, Peter,” Terrence says softly with sadness in his eyes. “It’s just your emotions. You should’ve let them go somehow. Daniel just pressed on what was hurtful for you too strongly, and you couldn’t take it. Trust me, it would happen early or late. You couldn’t pretend that everything was okay forever and stand his jokes about your relationship issues. Holding your emotions down never leads to anything good.”       “I do know that it would end badly.” Peter exhales sharply, rubbing his hand against his forehead and running it over his hair. “And… I must confess that I got a little better after I told you the full story. It seems like I got rid of a heavy burden.”       “Did you talk to someone else about it?”       “Nope. Daniel and you became the first ones to hear the truth. Even the girl that I like doesn’t know why I cut myself. Though, she’s always known about the scars. Because, as I said, she got me caught on that at her home.”       “Hey, but how did you hide the scars from us?” Daniel wonders. “We never saw them on your hands and wouldn’t have thought you could cut yourself! And I recently started to understand that I had never seen your naked wrists.”       “Easy. I just wore a few wide bracelets on one hand or put on sweaters with long sleeves… Bracelets for the warm weather. Sweater for the cold one. My wrists have really never been naked. I’ve always put on bandages. And since everybody wears bracelets or watches, nobody noticed anything. That was good for me.”       “Sorry for the immodest question, but have you cut only your wrists or something else?” Terrence asks carefully. “Did you give yourself a pain in other ways?”       “As for pain, I said I burnt my hand on purpose and hit my head against the wall. And as for cuts… Somehow, I made a cut on my stomach. On my abdomen. But I did it only once. I made cuts only on my wrists. And as the cut was slight, there is no track on my stomach. Unlike my wrists, on which I’ve always had tons of scars.”       “Fuck, but it’s madly hurt!” Terrence winces slightly. “Ugh! It’s hard for me to imagine it! How could you take that hellish pain?”       “I’m used to feeling pain. At first, I felt pain, too, but then this feeling became fine and usual for me. I started to do that to punish myself… Get a little better… Express my emotions somehow. But at some moment, I started to understand that I wanted to stop doing it. The truth is that I couldn’t stop and live without feeling pain.”       “But that’s not fine!” Daniel exclaims. “Wrong, Peter! You must not give yourself pain on purpose. I understand it’s become a habit, and you can’t stop. But if you keep doing it, the consequences will be terrible. Self-harming has done nothing good to anyone.”       “I know, but it’s impossible to stop it. I can’t control myself.”       “It’s not too late to stop doing it. You just need the help of someone to hold you down when you wish to grab a blade and make a cut. Leaving a person is forbidden in these cases. You must not keep everything inside. Otherwise, you might go insane and end up in a mental hospital.”       “Huh!” Peter hums without emotions on his face and crosses his arms over his chest. “In this case, I should constantly get a dose of a sedative. So, I always sleep or lie on a bed and stare into the distance like a moron. Maybe, I’d wean myself away from this habit. But I can’t be sure it would help.”       “I think a person gets a dose of a sedative only in critical situations,” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “When they’re really inadequate and threaten people’s lives. In other cases, you can only say words of support and give amicable hugs.”       “Only a sedative would help me in my case…” Peter raises his head. “Or better death… Everything would be over…”       “Of course, you won’t come to yourself shortly and will need very much time. Moreover, doctors will prescribe an antidepressant to you. I don’t exclude that you’d also get some psychotherapy.”       “But I don’t want it! I don’t wanna be dependent on tablets and take nobody knows what! What if those tablets don’t help me? Or I get health issues? As people say, I solve one problem and get another.”       “Of course, you have a right to refuse the prescription and therapy,” Daniel notices. “You’re of legal age and capable and can make decisions. Nobody will make you take drugs or go to a psychiatrist or psychologist by force. Your doctor says you’ll get the result only in case you wish to get well. But nothing would change if someone did it against their will.”       “I want no psychologists or tablets.”       “Do you want to keep killing yourself? If something like this happens to you again, you might be taken to a clinic against your will. Nobody will ask if you wanna have therapy or not. Sometimes a person doesn’t know they need help. And they’d give you some sedative.”       “Think, Peter, think,” Terrence advises, clapping Peter on the shoulder. “You’ve got us. You can always ask us for help and a plea to listen to you. We’d do our best for you to get better. We know the problem and are ready to solve it. We’re able to help you believe in yourself and your strength again, and make sure that you shouldn’t listen to what some assholes say.”       “Maybe, you don’t have a family, but you have close friends that could replace it somehow. And I mean not only Terrence and me. There are also Anna, Raquelle, and Natalia. The girls are worried about you and ready to help you, as well. And your friends, who you talked about! Don’t forget them! They’re also afraid something will happen to you. You have so many friends! You can’t complain and say something about your loneliness. And when everybody knows your story, they’ll have greater sympathy for you and be ready to do anything for you.”       While Daniel and Terrence say it all, Peter thinks about something, sometimes looking at his friends with sad eyes. And when Perkins stops speaking, the blond waits for some time and takes a word hesitantly:       “You say you wanna help me?”       Terrence and Daniel nod energetically, looking at Peter with a plea in their eyes, while he falls into silence for a few more seconds before he says with a part of despair:       “Help. Please, guys, help me overcome this hell! Help me forget everything. Make me stop thinking about those insults and humiliations. I wanna live a good life and stop thinking I’m incomplete! I’m sick of recalling all those mockeries and the betrayal of that little bitch, who was loved for her beauty! I am sick of thinking I’m literally a human with an incurable disease. If you think it gives me pleasure, you two are deeply wrong. I’ve always wanted to wean myself away from the habit of cutting myself and forget all the terrible memories that have been chasing me. Fuck! It’s been so many years, but I still think about it and am afraid of everything in the world!”       Peter falls into silence for two seconds, moving his eyes down.       “If you wanna help me, do it then,” Peter says with sadness in his eyes. “Please, Terrence, Daniel… Don’t turn your back on me. I do really need help! I swear, I will no longer reject your help. I can’t do away with it all alone! There is nobody I could count on. I don’t really have relatives. For all these years, I’ve been on my own and have lived with a great lack of love and attention. Now I’m only surrounded by my friends. I mean, my former friends…”       “We will not turn our backs on you,” Terrence promises confidently. “We’ll do our best to help you. For our friendship. To make amends for not realizing that something was wrong with you and pressing on you for a long time.”       “I know I did a terrible thing to you and don’t deserve to get this kindness. But I really need someone’s help to survive this nightmare. I’m sick of drowning in this fucking pool and killing myself. At heart, I understand I want to live, but I can’t find the strength to do it. My depression and psychological trauma are too strong.”       “Don’t blame yourself, buddy,” Daniel smiles with the corners of his mouth. “You’re guilty of nothing. And we’ll help you. First of all, we wanna ask you to remember one thing: you’re a very good man, with whom it’s always been easy to talk. Who can befriend, feel sorry, be loyal, and stay honest. It’s so rare to find people like you. And the fact that you didn’t get mad and didn’t become egoistic and vindictive after what happened is very great. There are so many cases when people become cruel due to their life situation. But you resisted it and stayed a kind man with shame.”       “Nice to hear it,” Peter smiles slightly.       “I completely agree with Daniel,” Terrence smiles slightly. “You are not what you think. Trust the people, who tell you the truth and love you. We’d never lie to you and pretend to be your friends. Of course, both of us have tons of shortcomings, but for us, it would be a very mean thing.”       “I believe you, guys.” Peter falls into silence for a few seconds, gets a little straight, leaning on the pillow with his back, and looks at Terrence and Daniel with regret. “And yeah… If you came here and said you were ready to help me, I’d like to apologize to you. Please, guys, forgive me for acting like a real stinker. I’m really very sorry it happened. I didn’t wanna hurt anyone.”       Terrence and Daniel look at each other with slight smiles on their faces, getting a little happier and thinking the case is getting closer to a happy ending.       “It’s okay, Peter,” Terrence says softly with a smile. “I have no reason to be mad at you. You were, you are, and you will always be one of my best friends.”       “Erm, Terrence…” Peter pronounces hesitantly and glances aside for a second. “Although you and I didn’t fight, I wanna apologize to you for all the difficulties. I didn’t wanna make you mad and consider me a betrayer. Forgive me, in case I hurt you somehow. And know that regardless of all the mistakes, I still think you’re a wonderful man, who always stays himself. Maybe, you’ve got shortcomings, but agree that everybody has them.”       “I repeat, I have no reason to be mad at you,” Terrence says amicably with a slight smile. “And you forgive me in case I hurt you somehow. For dinging into your ears about Raquelle, not knowing those talks hurt you. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known you felt pain.”       “It’s okay, bro,” Peter finds the strength to smile a little wider. “I didn’t think of being mad at you. And I’m glad everything is fine with you and Raquelle. And you’re gonna get married soon.”       “So, do you still call me your friend?”       “What kind of question! You’ll always be my friend.”       “Thanks…” Terrence thanks, not hiding a much wider smile.       While Terrence falls into silence, Peter glances at Daniel and clears his throat before he says hesitantly:       “Oh, Daniel… I… I’m gonna repeat that I’ve never had a bad thought about you. I’ve never blamed you for what happened between us or what happened to me. And I understand why you blamed me for ruining the band and disrupting the work on an album. It wouldn’t have happened if I’d told you the truth. I understand that you wanted to make it better and just wanted to see me happy. And… I’m really glad you decided to help me after what happened.”       Peter exhales sharply, locking his fingers tightly.       “So… Daniel, I truly want to apologize to you for acting so disgustingly. I know I framed the band and betrayed you and our friendship. I understand it and want to ask you for forgiveness. Forgive me for all the bad things I did and said to you… I’m really ashamed of that… And I’m madly grateful to Terrence for not letting us go too far. Otherwise… We would’ve killed each other… Even if I didn’t want it. I didn’t want it to happen. I was holding down ‘till the end, but I could do nothing with myself.”       Daniel does not hide his slight smile, and he understands that not accepting Peter’s apologies would be his greatest mistake.       “Peter, you forgive me for attacking you, insulting, swearing, and acting like a bastard,” Daniel apologizes with sadness in his eyes. “I’m truly sorry about everything I said. I swear, if I’d known how much you were worried about those problems, I would’ve tried to help you. I would’ve done my best for you to stop cutting yourself. And I wouldn’t have laughed at your relationship issues and never said you… An impotent man, who wasn’t able to satisfy a girl. I went too far. I swear, I wouldn’t have thought you had such serious problems. Forgive me, please… I didn’t really wanna hurt you and thought it would be a joke…”       “Not accepting your apologies would be a mistake,” Peter replies amicably with a slight smile.       “I’m gonna be honest, I hadn’t wanted to hear from and see you before George made all of us go to his office. When I saw what happened to you, I couldn’t keep being mad. I realized that something was wrong with you. Because… You were indifferent to us, the band, Smith, and everything about it.”       “I really gave a fuck. About what would happen to the band. About George literally swearing at me. About what you and Terrence thought of me.”       “As well as I did, he thought you became arrogant about the tour. But after finding out what happened, he changed his mind and even apologized to us three.”       “Really?”       “Yup. And… I’d like to add that… While MacClife and I were trying to find out what happened to you, I actually felt a fault not only for you. But also him.”       Terrence moves his widely open eyes to Daniel.       “For MacClife?” Peter wonders.       “He was the only one to care about the band’s salvation,” Daniel confesses with sadness in his eyes. “It’s okay that you didn’t care. But… I also pissed the band’s business off to the fuck and disappeared after you and I fought at the studio. I wanted to calm down. I told everybody I wasn’t ready to meet Terrence ‘cause I didn’t wanna fight with him. And I think I would’ve kept ignoring him if not for the meeting with George. Only after that, we started to speak again. And we acted like cowards. Because we went to you only after you’d called us to say goodbye. We delayed that talk ‘till the end because of diffidence and cowardice… But… I think I should’ve been the only one to talk to you. It was our conflict. Terrence’s guilty of nothing. He was just doing what a frontman should’ve done. So, I must confess that I’m guilty of what happened to the band.”       “What?” Terrence pronounces surprisingly. “Are you serious?”       “Yup,” Daniel confesses quietly. “You were tearing apart between Peter and me, trying to get us reconciled and save the band. I’m really very sorry that you were carrying this burden alone… You had to deal with that shit and do something not to go insane.”       “So, is that why you looked so gloomy when we came here?”       “Sort of. I was terribly nervous about this talk and understood I should’ve recognized my fault for this situation.”       “Damn, Daniel…”       “Don’t blame yourself, Daniel, please,” Peter says quietly. “Since the conflict started because of me, you should blame me.”       “Yeah, but am I not guilty of provoking?” Daniel wonders.       “You didn’t know it hurt me!”       “But I could’ve guessed it!”       “Don’t do it, Dan, it’s okay. You’re guilty of nothing. The fault is all on me.”       “But, Peter…”       “Guys, listen to me,” Terrence meddles quietly. “Our situation is very unpleasant, I can’t deny it. Nevertheless, we can do everything to forget the bad things and try to start it all again. I’d personally love to do it. I’m not gonna hide that tearing between you was really unpleasant for me. That’s a disgusting feeling when your best friends of you fight, and you can’t get them to reconcile.”       “I’m really very sorry.”       “I understand asking for forgiveness and forgiving is very hard. But I really want everything to be the same. Maybe, we’d need some time. But I think having a wish is enough. A true wish. And next, it’s gonna be much easier.”       “Do you think I don’t want it?” Peter asks quietly. “Do you think I have the pleasure to know we aren’t as close as we were a few months ago?”       “Nevertheless, it’s possible if we want it,” Daniel replies hesitantly. “Right?”       “I want it.”       “Me too. I see no reason to say about the end of the friendship.”       “Anyway, forgive me for everything. I’m really sorry.”       “C’mon, dude,” Daniel replies amicably. “I have no reason to be mad.”       “Glad to hear it.”       “But…” Daniel looks at Terrence and Peter. “Would you two forgive me for all the bad things you had to take from me?”       “Relax, bro,” Terrence smiles shyly, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. “You’ve never insulted me. So, I can’t be mad at you. There were moments when I also wanted to piss the band’s business off and refuse to work.”       “Thanks, buddy,” Daniel thanks with a slight smile.       Terrence smiles amicably, and then he and Daniel move their eyes to Peter and look at him questioningly.       “I especially have no reason to be mad at you,” Peter says with a slight smile. “Because I didn’t fight with one, but another was doing it all for the best.”       “Then, the last question…” Daniel says hesitantly. “Can we be friends again? The same best friends that we were before?”       “Sure. I think we were, we are, and we will always be best friends.” Peter smiles a little wider. “At least, I’ve never felt like there is no friendship between us anymore.”       “Honestly, me too. I don’t think we should break any contact after one conflict, ‘cause everyone has them.”       “Oh, listen, you, sentimental girls, let’s stop speaking beautiful speeches,” Terrence laughs shyly. “Let’s just promise that we'll help each other and tell the truth about our problems.”       “Ah, yeah, I got too many tender feelings,” Daniel laughs quietly, stroking down his hair.       “Let’s leave our eloquence for our fans, for example.”       “Agree!” Peter agrees. “I’ll just promise to try to stop cutting myself. I know it’s gonna be very hard, but I’ll be trying. For you.”       “And I promise I won’t press on you too hard and leave you in trouble,” Daniel promises amicably.       “Well, I…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully and falls into silence for two seconds, rolling his eyes. “I will be watching you closely! To make sure you won’t fight again, and Peter doesn’t start harming himself again. You’re gonna be under the close control of the oldest member of our gang.”       “I don’t mind,” Peter raises his hands.       “And I agree,” Daniel smiles shyly.       Daniel and Peter look at each other for two seconds with a slight smile, give each other a hand hesitantly, and shake it slightly but then much tighter. The guys’ smiles get much wider, and they stop behaving with restraint. Terrence watches the reconciliation of his friends with a slight smile on his face, then puts his hand on Peter and Daniel’s hands locked tightly and squeezes them, looking at one and another.       “So, guys, let’s, so to say, renew our oath?” Terrence asks. “Remind ourselves and each other that we'll overcome any difficulties together!”       “I think we can do it now,” Daniel replies confidently.       “I don’t wanna take a step backward,” Peter says.       “Prove that the friendship of men that can be broken by nothing does exist?” Terrence suggests. “And do our best to become an example of it!”       “Yeah,” Terrence, Peter, and Daniel pronounce happily.       The three shake their locked hands up and down and sharply break them, raising them up with a quiet laugh. Then Daniel gets up from the bed, comes to Peter, and takes him in a tight, amicable hug, to which the blond answers with pleasure. When the guys slightly clap each other on the back and step away, Terrence hugs the blond tightly, gives a five to the brunet, and hugs him, too. Then Perkins sits next to Rose, who gets his hair a little disheveled and has to fix his hair when his friend does the same.       “Oh, guys…” Peter pronounces with a slight smile, leaning on the pillow with his back. “By the way, I missed you. Your jokes and your company.”       “We missed you, too, buddy,” Daniel replies with a slight smile. “And please, don’t scare us like this anymore!”       “Yay, man, you really scared all of us,” Terrence agrees and glances at Daniel. “Especially Perkins. The poor guy got his hair standing when he saw that hell in the bathroom.”       “Hey, let’s not come back to that again,” Daniel jabs, raising his hand with the palm of it toward Terrence. “I understand it’s a reason for you to laugh at me, but still.”       “Okay, then tell yourself,” Terrence shrugs with an innocent smile. “Tell us how you fainted when you saw the pool of blood in the bathroom.”       “What?” Daniel resents loudly. “I did not faint! Stop thinking up!”       “Yes, yes, don’t lie. I did see everything well! I was waking you up, while you looked like a half-alive corpse.”       “So, MacClife, did ya see this kind of tough and brave guy fainted at the sight of blood?” Peter chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest.       “Oh, did you know he feared blood and lost consciousness when seeing it?” Terrence rounds his eyes.       “Huh, of course, I knew! Somehow, Perkins fainted in front of me after seeing blood!”       “Rose, shut up, please,” Daniel says quietly.       “Sorry,” Terrence laughs. “I would’ve had the pleasure to tell you how our friend got sharply white and slipped down the wall after barely calling an ambulance.”       “Listen, idiots, you have nothing more to talk about? You thought up nobody the fuck knows what!”       “Don’t pay attention, Terrence,” Peter waves a hand. “When Dan passed out in front of me and woke up, he began to deny everything, as well. This guy can’t stand the sight of blood and always faints when seeing it, but he will never confess it.”       “Hey, how did it happen if it’s not a secret?” Terrence smiles slyly.       “He just cut his hand with a knife. You know what kind of cooker he is, and how he can work with cooking accessories. He decided to cook a couple of sandwiches and almost cut half his finger. He had his hand covered with blood. So, while I was looking for everything I needed to help our victim, Daniel got terribly white and fell into a stupor. And when I came to him, he fell to the floor unconscious. But he was out for a little time and woke up quickly. And then he started to deny everything categorically and blamed the blood loss for that. He kind of lost half of what a human has. Well, because this man exaggerated everything, I made a conclusion that he terribly feared the sight of blood.”       “Yeah… Perkins is so tough and fearless at first sight. But he faints from blood. From what every single human has.”       “MacClife, you should’ve messed up everything!” Daniel resents with his arms crossed over his chest. “When a case is about jokes, your tongue gets super long. You stand in the line to laugh at someone first.”       “Calm down, tough guy!” Peter exclaims, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. “We’ll tell nobody about it ‘cause we can keep secrets. Until you pass out in front of someone.”       “For example, Anna,” Terrence adds with a chuckle.       “Hey, don’t dare!” Daniel exclaims loudly. “Say no word to my girlfriend! If I know one of you told Anna about it, you’ll regret it.”       “Huh, she does know it. You probably told her.”       “I said everything, you, six-foot tail stick.” Daniel threatens Terrence with a finger. “It does have to do with you first. Yeah, don’t dare to tell the others. And especially the band’s fans. If I see at least a hint, get ready for the worst, you two!”       “Okay, okay, the boy that faints when seeing blood, I got it,” Terrence raises his hands up with a chuckle. “Just don’t threaten me, please.”       “I warned,” Daniel looks at Terrence and Peter. “Both!”       “Okay, okay, forget it!” Terrence exclaims. “Let’s better solve another question.”       “What kind of question?”       “About the band, you, empty-headed chump! Did you forget you still have the contracts with the studio and the PR agency?”       “I did not forget! But what should we solve?”       “Actually, it would be better to choose its future. Our project can’t be suspended forever.”       “You decided to disband the band?” Peter asks surprisingly.       “Not yet. But we’ll decide now. And the band’s fate depends on you, Peter.”       “On me?”       “Yes. Daniel and I don’t wanna perform as the band without you. This question is out of the discussion. We don’t need another drummer. Because we know each other well and chose the style that we wanted to work with, it’d be hard to get on with a new person. We’d need very much time to get used to someone we don’t know.”       “It’s true, Peter,” Daniel confirms and starts gesticulating actively. “We don’t want to be ‘Against The System’ if you’re not in. After Terrence and I worked together along with musicians from the studio, we realized that it wasn’t what we loved. We played automatically, without pleasure. We don't have the energy that you gave us thanks to your powerful and imitable play of drums. We feel kind of squeezed…”       “Now we’re saying it because you’re gonna make the decision. If you don’t wanna play in the band or perform on stage at all, Daniel and I will give up on this dream and sacrifice our band, ending the story of ‘Against The System’ that barely started. If you don't wanna come back to the band, it's gonna be your decision that we two will respect. It’s okay if our dreams don't come true. We’re ready to do it for you and our friendship.”       “It doesn’t mean we wouldn’t like to keep doing it. But as Terrence said, everything depends on you. Still… Since you said you’d leave the band, I’d personally like to ask you to come back to the band. In case you don’t want to end this story.”       “Decide, Peter! Whatever your decision is, Daniel and I will do what you want. And remember, we force you to do nothing. If you don’t want it, say it. Don’t agree to do something just because of a sense of duty. Forget about any duties and listen to your feelings and wishes.”       Peter being a little confused swallows up nervously and thinks for a few seconds, not wishing to betray his friends and lose a chance to get what he wants. He suddenly realizes that he is obsessed with a yearning to work on music and a drum play. So, he understands he would make a mistake if he put an end to the story of the band. So, at some moment, the blond shakes his head and, looking at Daniel and Terrence with sadness in his eyes, says quietly:       “No… No… No, guys… I don’t want the band to break up because of me. You two want to get famous and get fame. Terrence, I know how many times you’ve met failure when trying to release at least one song. And I know reaching some success is very hard for such ordinary people as you, Daniel, and me. It’s easy for MacClife ‘cause he’s famous, but it’s much harder for both of us.”       “Dude, don’t say it like you wanna do us a favor and agree to return to the band,” Daniel says. “It will give happiness to nobody. Especially you.”       “I’m ready to do it. At my wish. Because I want the same as you. Nothing has changed. I still want to perform on stage with my own song around the world. And first of all, I wanna get rid of the complexes that I got during my school years. I wanna prove to everybody, who hated and bullied me, that they were wrong when they thought I was an outsider that would reach nothing. I’m ready to reach my goals by myself. They’d hardly reach what we have done for a few months. Despite recording no songs, we already have many fans around the world. Our videos on the Internet have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people and started to follow our successes. We were on the tour with the band, which has millions of fans around the world, as the opening act. We got a chance to sign a contract with the label and record our first album.”       Peter falls into silence for two seconds, looking at Terrence and Daniel by one.       “Does it mean nothing? Could we devalue our successes? Be unhappy that we’ve reached so much in a few months, while others try to get fame for years! I don’t think so! And… Since we decided to reach our goals no matter what the cost, let’s get much more! So, our haters are dumbfounded! And if we had no contract with a studio, we could release music on our own. A contract with a studio lets us record music on their account, but we have the opportunity to release it on our own money. There’s always a choice. You just need to understand which one would be good for you, and which one would help you get closer to your goal.”       Terrence and Daniel smile much wider, not hiding their happiness caused by Peter’s agreement to continue to work on the band’s business.       “Kick the ass of those heartless bastards and that stupid bitch, who dared to do it to you,” Daniel says confidently. “May those, who called you a loser and a talentless man, bite their elbows and envy you. Regret not getting what we’ve gotten. And what we’re gonna reach at the nearest time.”       “Some efforts before we get incredible things,” Terrence adds with his head proudly raised. “Nobody says it will be easy. But I believe we’ll get not less famous than ‘The Loser Syndrome’. We should only work hard and not give up when we run into difficulties.”       “Listen, I do like this mood! If we keep being so ready for work, we’ll get everything.”       “The important thing is that Rose agreed to stay in the band.”       “I’m in,” Peter says shyly.       “Great!” Terrence clicks his fingers on both hands. “The band’s problem is solved, and you two reconciled.”       “Yay, life is getting better!” Daniel notices cheerfully and claps Peter on the shoulder. “Just because the blond came back to us.”       “I started to think this nightmare would last forever. Life is such a strange thing! At first, it seems that everything is so bad, and you wanna hang yourself from despair, but then everything gets better, and you understand you have a meaning to keep living.”       “Oh, listen, guys, let’s not think of bad things and change the subject,” Peter suggests tiredly.       “Okay, okay, I’m silent,” Terrence zips his mouth shut. “No word.”       “Yes, forget,” Daniel raises his hands in front of him.       Peter smiles truly, probably for the first time in a while, with the thought that he is not alone and can always come to his friends, who would do anything for him.       “You know, I got kind of confused and don’t know how much time it’s been since it all started,” Peter confesses hesitantly, scratching the back of his head.       “I believe one month or even more…” Daniel replies thoughtfully.       “Oh, I got lost, as well,” Terrence runs his hand over his hair. “I don’t even know what day it is.”       “The sixth, I think… October, 6th…”       “Hey, what happened to you during the time when we didn’t speak?” Peter asks. “You look tired enough. Especially you, Terrence…”       “Ah, Peter…” Terrence pronounces tiredly. “Don’t better ask me what happened… I haven’t come to myself yet ‘cause it’s not been so long.”       “You have problems? Daniel said you had to deal with much more shit.”       “Well… In short, alongside the band issues, I had problems with Edward. Who had problems with Natalia. To whom something happened. And thanks to my brother, I learned about my sick uncle, who almost killed all of us because of money. And the ‘wonderful’ addition to all of that is often conflicts with Raquelle.”       “Wow… Holy shit…”       “And yeah, I wanna specify: Edward Lockhart is actually Edward MacClife. So, he’s my missing younger brother, who I told you about. And that boy knew about it well when he decided to impose his friendship on me. As he said, he just wanted to win my trust and the trust of my mother.”       “What fucking news!” Peter pronounces surprisingly. “Is Edward your brother?”       “I’m still shocked, too! But I’m powerless, I’ve gotta live with it. With the thought that my brother, whom I wanted to find, was near me all the time. And I didn’t even guess it.”       “Wow!”       “Yeah, a real chaos started in my life after the kid came into my life. He’s kind of quiet and shy, but he is actually… He’s the real pain in my ass.”       “Hey, did Edward and Natalia really have problems?”       “Yup, their relationship got much worse. And my uncle Michael did a great job.”       “But what did he do?” Peter frowns slightly.       “In short… Five or six months ago, Natalia survived violence. While one sick bastard was mocking her, his pals were taking photos of them. And one month ago, my uncle sent those photos to Edward, who, not knowing the truth, thought Rochester cheated on him, fought with her, and claimed about the breakup. At first, she told Raquelle and me everything and explained how those cases were connected.”       “And later, Natalia washed Edward’s brain and made him open his eyes,” Daniel continues. “After that, she was kidnapped by the people of Michael, Terrence, and Edward’s uncle. Of course, they had to apply a lot of effort before they hit MacClife, Jr., on the head and put Rochester in a car. Terrence’s brother was protecting Natalia ‘till the end and not letting them get closer to her. Especially, after she recognized her offender from the company of those deadbeats.”       “Four days later, Uncle showed up and made a trap for Raquelle and me. While Edward and I had to go to Uncle’s home, who thought of killing me with my brother’s help, his henchmen should’ve found my fiancée at our home.”       “And a little later, Terrence and Edward’s father went to Michael’s home. Everyone thought he was dead after the attempt of that man to kill him. And he kicked everybody’s asses! As it turned out, he went there along with the police and Raquelle. She met a familiar cop, who introduced her to the friend of the MacClife brothers’ father. Thanks to their actions, Terrence and Edward’s uncle and his henchmen got arrested and are gonna be on the trial soon.”       “Wow…” Peter opens his mouth, accepting the information that he hears not at once. “What kind of passion…”       “Oh, that’s right…” Terrence agrees.       “I believe you didn’t feel bored, while I was stuck here.”       “I wish I was…” Terrence moans quietly, running his hands over his face. “This story got me terribly exhausted. When it ended, I felt empty. As if I was deprived of all my strength…”       “I get it…” Peter claps Terrence on the shoulder. “I’m very sorry, buddy.”       “But many things got clear. For example, I know my father isn’t as bad as I thought.”       “Your father? You hate him for treating your mother terribly.”       “As it turned out, it was a lie. The lie of my ‘beloved’ uncle, who told me about it when I was a kid. But I didn’t know it… I mean, I didn’t know it was Uncle’s trick. I recalled that man when he confessed everything.”       “Yeah, that bastard is really sick…” Daniel throws gloomily. “To say to the little child that his father mocked the pregnant woman…”       “So, is that why the relationship between Terrence and his father was so terrible?” Peter wonders.       “Exactly!” Terrence exclaims. “If not for Uncle Michael, everything would’ve been otherwise. That sick bastard ruined the lives of everybody. My whole family that he wanted to kill. Just because of the conflict with Father. Because of jealousy over him and his success. Because of him, the life of the MacClifes was unbearable.”       “So, did your uncle fight with your father, get mad and decide to kill everybody?”       “Yup, everybody to be related to him somehow. If the police hadn’t gotten that man arrested in time, he would’ve killed his family, all our friends, and our familiar people.”       “Oh, holy shit!” Daniel exclaims. “But what do all the MacClifes have to do with it if Michael fought only with your father?”       “Just because Father had us in his life.”       “Oh, the logic of that man is amazing…”       “And now, when I know the truth, I’m ashamed.” Terrence glances aside for a second. “Ashamed of my father for ignoring him for so many years and refusing to listen to him.”       “Wait, did your mother know everything?” Peter frowns slightly.       “She did. But she said nothing ‘cause she wanted Father to explain everything. However, Mother didn’t tell Father that Uncle Michael turned me against him.”       “That’s how…” Peter pronounces with sadness in his eyes. “And what are you gonna do?”       “Bury my head in sand with the hope to avoid bad things and not to have to pay for the consequences of this story,” Terrence jokes.       “I’m serious, MacClife. If you know the truth about your father, you should talk to him.”       “Okay, I’m kidding… I don’t know what to do, honestly…”       “So, aren’t you gonna talk to him?”       “I don’t know when I’d find the courage to do it.”       “You’d have to do it, early or late,” Daniel notices.       “I know, but my thoughts are about the court hearing, on which I’m gonna be along with Raquelle, Natalia, Edward, Father, and Mother. We’ll be the witnesses to all the cases of Uncle Michael.”       “You’re lucky you have such a great support group. Nobody can say the trial will be easy, but it’s supposed to be less painful.”       “Yeah, all our friends promised to be on the trial at least on the day of the sentence announcement.”       “Hey, I wanna be there, too!” Peter says confidently.       “Sure, come. It would be much easier if we got two or three more people.”       “If I can, I’ll do it.”       “Thanks a lot, buddy.”       “So, what about you and Raquelle?” Peter locks his fingers. “Why did you say you had conflicts?”       “Luckily, everything is fine now. And Raquelle and I fought just because we didn’t tell each other everything and were excited because of those events.”       “You didn’t say something?”       “Yeah…” Terrence pronounces hesitantly, touching the hair on his temple and the tip of his nose. “There was something…”       “Something serious?”       “Hey, Terrence, you haven’t explained what Lewis meant,” Daniel says thoughtfully.       “Erm, excuse me, what?” Peter frowns slightly.       “Lewis, your doctor, said MacClife was hiding something when he barely looked at him. If he wanted, he’d tell us everything.”       “I guess Lewis meant that I still can’t get rid of the regret about what happened between Raquelle and me,” Terrence replies gloomily.       “Yeah, but that’s definitely not everything we should know about you. Is there a connection between your depression caused by the upcoming breakup with Raquelle and the fact that you ran away from Lewis’ office?”       “Ran away from Lewis’ office?” Peter asks amazingly.       “Lewis started to talk about someone to take it out on someone they love and then regret. So, Terrence got white, got nervous, and started to shake. Of course, I quickly realized what that doctor meant, and why MacClife reacted so. But I got much more surprised by his pessimism and his words about barely holding on and being sure he needed a little to have a nervous breakdown.”       “Is that true, Terrence?” Peter glances at Terrence.       Terrence says nothing for two seconds, setting his gaze into the distance, and exhales sharply before he says quietly:       “Okay, I’ll tell you something… And I hope you won't judge me… It has to do with my relationship with Raquelle and my condition at the period when we were gonna break up.”       “Speak!” Peter exclaims. “What’s wrong?”       “Oh…” Terrence exhales sharply again, closing his face with both hands for two seconds. “So, my condition was much worse than everybody thought. I tried not to show it, but when we just started a band, I felt very bad. Since I have acting experience, it wasn’t hard to pretend that everything was okay. Someone could’ve suspected something if they had read the lyrics that I wrote, but showed nobody.”       Terrence falls into silence for two seconds, understanding that it’s hard for him to breathe.       “I must confess that I often thought of doing something to myself,” Terrence confesses in one breath. “Seriously! If I hadn’t reconciled with Raquelle, I would’ve become someone like Peter and gotten the same depression that he had. I really had thoughts about killing myself… I’m afraid to confess it, but… As some people know it, saying nothing doesn’t make sense.”       Daniel and Peter open their eyes widely and look at each other, being shocked by this confession.       “What?” Peter and Daniel pronounce.       “MacClife, what are you talking about?” Peter wonders.       “I’m serious, guys,” Terrence says in a little shaking voice with sadness. “My stress was stronger than it seemed.”       “Fuck, dude, I can’t believe you said it…” Daniel shakes his head. “That Terrence MacClife himself says something like that!”       “Damn, I thought you were the strongest one of all of us,” Peter adds. “That there would be no difficulties for you… That you’d have no shortcomings…”       “Everybody has shortcomings,” Terrence replies quietly, moving his eyes to his hands. “I’m ready to survive much, but if something happens to Raquelle, and I lose her, you may not even try to save me. I know I sound like a sentimental girl, but that’s true.”       “I'm so sorry, Terrence…” Peter puts his hand on Terrence’s shoulder, looking at him with sympathy. “Of course, I suspected you felt very bad, but I didn’t think you seriously thought about it.”       “I’m also sorry for you, man,” Daniel says with sadness in his eyes, clapping Terrence on his forearm. “Although it’s strange for me to hear it from such a self-confident man, I completely understand you. Because I’d feel the same if I lost Anna… I’ve said how much she means to me many times.”       “It’s okay, guys,” Terrence says quietly. “Raquelle and I reconciled, and I’m still alive. Even after I was almost killed at the home of my sick uncle.”       “Oh, dude, can I call Raquelle your guardian angel?” Peter asks. “That girl is really your salvation!”       “She’s really my guardian angel,” Terrence smiles slightly. “She’s always been the one.”       “Here’s ‘the reason why I’m still alive.’”       “You’re right, she’s really the one I wanna live for. And yeah, she knows everything. We, so to say, shared our secrets recently.”       “Really? Did she hide something from you?”       “A sense of fault for Natalia and me. She thinks the conflict with me started because of her. If she hadn’t fought with her friend, the rape attempt that turned everything upside down wouldn’t have happened.”       “Did she really survive the violence?”       “Oh, she did!” Daniel exclaims. “One sick bastard got the poor girl so scared that she was silent for a few months and told us everything when she broke down. When her silence led to terrible consequences.”       “Poor girl…” Peter shakes his head. “Oh, shit! I’m so sorry for her… Natalia is such a good girl, but she has to suffer so much…”       “Oh, you should’ve seen how she was torturing herself,” Terrence says with sadness in his eyes. “She brought herself to the moment when we barely recognized her. But luckily, she came to herself, even if she’d hardly forgotten that horrible event. And she’s gonna see that man on the trial when she testifies against him.”       “I hope she’ll take it.”       “I worry about her, but I wanna believe everything will be okay. But standing next to that man makes you feel scared. I saw a photo of that monkey and felt goosebumps on my back. Nasty, disgusting, ugly, crazy, dirty, shabby… And the scar on half of the face.”       “Yeah, I saw a photo of that gorilla on TV,” Daniel says. “I don’t know how that homeless fellow with wide eyes could walk on the streets quietly.”       “Really so ugly?” Peter rounds his eyes.       “Oh, my word! When Anna and I saw that deadbeat, we were horrified that the poor Natalia had to stand next to him.”       “As well as Raquelle and me,” Terrence adds. “I’m sure he smells disgusting, doesn’t brush his teeth, and doesn’t wash his head.”       “Ugh, really a homeless fellow!” Peter winces strongly.       “Hey, don’t ya think too many events that were connected by one thing, the scars, happened?” Daniel asks thoughtfully.       “Yeah, I noticed it, as well,” Terrence agrees. “I even said we finally revealed all the secrets hidden in the scars.”       “Only your uncle is an exclusion,” Peter notices.       “Not quite. That man made an attempt to kill Edward a little more than one month ago. He got scars on the small of his back after that. He says they’d hardly be gone forever ‘cause a doctor did something wrong.”       “Wait, wait!” Peter jabs. “Edward was tried to be killed?”       “Yes. By the way, it explains the fact that he disappeared for one month.”       “When we started to talk about it?”       “That’s right!” Daniel exclaims. “Earlier than the end of the tour or some time later after that.”       “And as I understand, has Edward shown up?”       “Yes, on the day of the conflict at the studio,” Terrence nods. “But we found out what happened to him later. He lied that he allegedly went to another city for a job. Nobody knew anything about him. But Edward was in a hospital for two or three weeks. He used the fact that Uncle thought he was dead.”       “He wanted to get off his uncle?”       “Hit the bullseye!” Terrence clicks his fingers. “That man annoyed Edward so hard that he wanted to get off him for some time. Uncle did constantly annoy him. He washed his brains so hard that my brother started to whine. Though, that’s not amazing because that man put him under very strong psychological pressure.”       “My gosh… Poor guy…”       “But that poor guy got his family involved in problems and pretended to be a hero,” Daniel notices. “I mean, the situation of his uncle.”       “Yeah, but it happened that we understood his actions wrongly,” Terrence adds. “Of course, Edward behaved badly, but he did not in all the cases.”       “And now we understand he was fighting for what belonged to him, Terrence, and their father. For the money that his uncle wanted to steal. At first, he robbed his brother and then decided to do it to the other relatives.”       “Honestly, I barely believe such a quiet and shy guy like Edward would meddle in this type of case,” Peter says thoughtfully. “He’s almost invisible and quiet.”       “Oh, yeah, that shy and quiet one did so many things!” Daniel replies a little louder.       “Nevertheless, Edward has lately changed a lot,” Terrence confesses. “Yes, he was really silent almost all the time and barely said something. But later, that guy opened himself a little. I think he didn’t just get used to us. He didn’t feel confident in our company, even if we treated him well.”       “Who knows. Maybe, he’d get a little braver after he’s found non-guilty.”       “What, what?” Peter rounds his eyes. “Found non-guilty? Perkins, what kind of bullshit are you saying?”       “It’s not bullshit, Peter,” Terrence says quietly. “Edward is gonna be on the trial for the murder of the murder.”       “What? For the murder?”       “Yes, but he killed nobody. Edward just saw it and was all alone when the police got him caught at the crime place and got him arrested by mistake. He spent two weeks in prison, where they mocked him cruelly. But then Uncle made bail for his own interests. He was released, but the charges weren’t dropped off. So, when the hearing of that case starts, Edward and another man, whom he charged with the murder, will be the defendants.”       “And… Will he be sentenced?”       “I hope he won’t be. I don’t want my brother to go to prison for nothing. I don’t want those scumbags to mock him again and bring him to a wish to kill himself. Edward still can’t come to himself after the tortures that he took for the two weeks, and is terribly afraid to come back there.”       “And in this case, he’s guilty of nothing,” Daniel adds. “Who would’ve known the police would believe this guy killed that man.”       “If he’s found guilty, we won’t leave him in prison,” Terrence says confidently. “We’ll do our best to get Edward out and get all the charges dropped off.”       “If he’s really not guilty, I hope the judge will make a fair decision,” Peter expresses hope. “But Edward’s gotta prove his innocence.”       “He’s trying to find a guy, who was with him at the moment of the murder but ran away at my brother’s plea. For him, it would be a chance to save himself from twenty years in prison. And if the police prove the fault of the man, whom he called a killer, his chance to stay free will be bigger.”       “That’s good.”       “That’s also good he has support. If nobody supported him, Edward would hardly experience the trial quietly.”       “That guy is definitely a pain in the ass, but I’m sorry for him,” Daniel confesses.       “A pain in the ass for someone, but a beloved person for someone,” Terrence smiles mysteriously.       “Huh?”       “Just wanna say the one to support him and not to let him go crazy is his girlfriend Natalia. Who will definitely become his guardian angel.”       “His girlfriend?” Daniel glances sharply at Terrence. “What kind of girlfriend, the fuck! Your brother left Natalia!”       “Forget!” Terrence chuckles kindly. “They’ve reconciled and can't get enough of each other.”       “Reconciled?” Daniel and Peter wonder.       “Come on!” Daniel exclaims and gets sharply straight. “MacClife? Are you lying?”       “Not at all!” Terrence shakes his head. “Natalia and Edward are together again and may be called a couple of lovebirds.”       “Wow, holy shit!” Daniel smiles widely, clapping his hands. “Why didn’t you say it before, and why were you silent like a partisan?”       “It kinda got outta my mind… I had thought only about how Pete would react to our appearance and whether he’d love to say something.”       “Oh, fuck you! That’s cool they’ve reconciled! I’m happy for them. MacClife, Jr., is an asshole, but Natalia looks cool next to him. And how he was fretting and fuming when your uncle hid her in his house.”       “That rutrag has always lacked attention. So, the blonde is gonna squeeze him and spend literally every second with him. While that beauty is near him. Edward literally shines from happiness and smiles with his twenty-two teeth.”       “I prefer believing you.” Daniel falls into silence for two seconds and shakes his head sharply, setting his surprised gaze on Terrence. “Hey, stop, stop, black-haired, stop! How do you know it?”       “Our lovebirds said it. Yesterday, they went to the home of Raquelle and me and said they were together again with smug faces.”       “And you let him in? You did fight with Edward!”       “Terrence fought with Edward?” Peter opens his eyes widely.       “It happened,” Terrence confesses. “The conflict was very serious, and everything led to a fight, during which we almost killed each other.”       “What a fucking twist!”       “Calm down, blond, everything’s alright now. We talked about everything and eventually reconciled. Edward went to my home to tell us about the reunion with Natalia and ask me and Raquelle for forgiveness. And we couldn’t ignore it.” Terrence smiles much wider. “So, everybody’s happy!”       “Listen, that’s cool!” Daniel exclaims with a slight smile. “Of course, I’m surprised you forgave that walking trouble so easily, but I’m glad everything ended well.”       “I spent a lot of time understanding and forgiving him. At heart, I wanted to reconcile with him because that man is very close to me. I can’t give a fuck about Edward. Even if that guy is a little weird and gets me terribly irritated at times, I love that little asshole. And I’m even happy that he is my brother. Besides, I’m now able to kick his ass and mock him again.” Terrence smiles slyly. “Honestly, I terribly missed it. And I am terribly glad I can educate that rutrag officially.”       “Well, acting like a harsh daddy or annoying peacock that loves saying his kind of clever phrases that nobody needs is your favorite thing to do.”       “I am Terrence MacClife!” Terrence recalls with his head proudly raised. “I don’t have to be introduced! People may not know how much they need me.”       “Get cold, horse. It’s getting too hot in the room.”       “I don’t advise you to undress ‘cause you aren’t home. Otherwise, someone’s gonna pin a photo of your face near an entry to the hospital with the signature, ‘don’t let him in, he scares people by running in his underwear’.”       “It’s so funny!” Daniel chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m kind of rolling on the floor from a laugh and hysteria.”       Terrence imitates the mimic of Daniel, who does the same to his friend, making Peter chuckle quietly.       “Hey, stop showing funny faces to each other!” Peter exclaims. “Better tell, where are the others? I mean, where Edward, Raquelle, Natalia, Anna are… Didn’t they come here?”       “No, they didn’t,” Terrence replies. “Raquelle is on shooting and gonna be busy for the whole day, Anna is probably at home, watching Daniel’s big place and keeping it clear. And our lovebirds Edward and Natalia are supposed to meet the parents of Blondie at the airport and talk to them.”       “Did they leave?”       “Yup, to Mexico. To watch Natalia’s sick grandmother. She wanted to tell them everything, and Edward decided to explain everything to Mr. and Mrs. Rochester.”       “Oh, those people are gonna kick your bro’s ass,” Daniel replies cheerfully. “They won’t forgive him for what he did to Natalia. They might not even let them date.”       “Anyway, I don’t doubt that Edward is shaking like a scared bunny and terribly afraid of the anger of Natalia’s parents. He’s sitting white, curling up in a ball, and waiting to get his ass kicked.”       “Oh, sure!” Peter chuckles quietly. “Since he left Natalia and insulted the girl, may he explain it to her parents.”       “Agree, may he pay for his actions,” Daniel agrees. “But I’m personally sorry for him. At least because I almost died of fear. When I met Anna’s father, I got scared he’d hit me on the head with a baseball bat or a hard stick for influencing his daughter badly and making her worse.”       “Erm?” Peter frowns slightly. “What?”       “I’d like to see your face at that moment,” Terrence laughs shyly, rubbing his hands. “It would probably be a priceless shoot. I’d take a photo of your white face and publish it on the Internet, so everybody admires this masterpiece.”       “I see you’re aware, ubiquitous birdie,” Daniel shakes his head with a quiet laugh, keeping his arms crossed over his chest. “That doesn’t know where to put its long nose.”       “I’ve got a stunning nose!” Terrence raises his head proudly. “Careful, sharp… Just perfect. No rhinoplasty is needed.”       “I can’t remember someone saying it.”       “Hey, Perkins, did ya really meet Anna’s father?” Peter asks amazingly, slightly pinching Daniel being next to him on the hip.       “Yeah, it happened one week ago. And as you see, I survived after that hell. Of course, I got terribly excited and thought my heart would stop, but nothing bad happened.”       “Okay, buddy, tell us how the meeting happened.” Peter puts the hospital pillow differently and leans on it with his back. “Maybe, I’d find out something interesting.”       “Oh, Peter…” Terrence smiles mysteriously. “Trust me, this handsome guy has something to say. Of course, I was already told how that unforgettable meeting happened, but I wouldn’t mind knowing how Perkins put his tail between his legs but then puffed it again.”       “Listen, MacClife, don’t ya think you’ve got a very long tongue?” Daniel asks gloomily. “You’re a worse chatterbox than any girl! Nobody must trust you with secrets!”       “Actually, you didn’t say it should’ve been a secret.”       “You could just be less talkative and filter your verbal diarrhea better.”       “I’m not mocking you,” Terrence smiles innocently. “I just say what I know. And what Rose would love to know.”       “Terrence, if you say one more word, I’ll kick you out of here,” Daniel threatens, still keeping his arms crossed over his chest.       “Daniel, if you say one more word, you’ll reach your red-haired beauty on your feet, not in my car,” Terrence smiles slyly. “That I took from the service today.”       “Oh, yeah, your beater has been fixed! Cleaned, washed, and polished… That old junk is kind of new.”       “So, buddy, didn’t your old baby take such big loads and crush right in the middle of your way?” Peter chuckles.       “Listen, idiots, you’re old girls!” Terrence throws a little louder. “My girl is gonna kick anyone and be way better than your cars.”       “Huh, my car lost virginity when I bought it two or three years ago and touched it,” Daniel replies confidently. “That dolly is a young girl. And your creaking clunker should already be retired. Or at least to go on trash.”       “Still trying to say something funny? Try, buddy, try. Someday, you will surely do it.”       “Go to the fuck, egoistic peacock.”       “Yeah, guys, since when have you spoken to each other like this?” Peter chuckles quietly. “You should only get a reason to start snapping!”       “I believe he just decided to replace you. But our buddy overdid it a little, ‘cause he does it as terribly as he pretends that he’s a wonderful joker that tells incredible pearls.”       “Well, you do it as terribly as you do math in your head,” Terrence snaps with a cute smile. “You’re absolutely worthless at it.”       “Don’t turn up your nose and puff your tail. Otherwise, you’ll crush all the chandeliers and all the walls to the fuck with your crown.”       “Hey!” Terrence gives Daniel a slight clap on the head. “Keep your mouth shut! Otherwise, I will kick your ass. Right here and now.”       “Oh, oh, I am so scared,” Daniel laughs. “So horrified, my God…”       “Daniel Christopher Perkins!”       “Okay, okay, I’m silent, silent!” Daniel raises his hands up. “Calm down! Don’t dare to kill me right here.”       “Better tell us how your meeting with Anna’s father was.”       “Yes, yes, man, speak out!” Peter exclaims. “Where? How? When? I wanna know everything!”       “What do I say?” Daniel wonders. “Somewhere one week ago, Anna and I were walking in the city and were gonna go home. But then she was called by a man, whom she called a father. Well, she and I got white from horror… I thought that man would take Seymour with him. He was so mad. Of course, I also got my ass kicked. Because I allegedly made his daughter run away. But then my girlfriend calmed down a little and quietly explained the motives for her actions. And her father started to treat her better… Then he wanted to talk to me and look at my place. Her father started the third degree for me, but we actually got on well. So, now I can officially say I’m dating Anna, whose father approved of our relationship and accepted me as her boyfriend.”       “So… I’ve gotta only congratulate you, dude!” Peter claps Daniel on the shoulder. “You completed probably one of the hardest missions in your life.”       “Yeah, I almost got my hair gray from fear and was shaking from tension for a long time…”       “I see you used your skill to speak beautifully. And Anna’s father couldn’t resist the beauty of your eyes. He looked into them and got dumbfounded!”       “Not true, it happened by itself! I just stayed gentle and turned on the real gentleman mood. I told him how I met Anna, something about me, my house, wealth, and something else… And I must confess that Maximilian is harsh but easy to talk with. Talking to him is really easy for me. Even nice. Really. I talked to that man for ten minutes and felt no discomfort.”       “Okay, stop!” Terrence laughs shyly. “We’ve understood that you liked each other at first sight.”       “Yeah!” Daniel smiles slyly and raises his head proudly. “Though, how could someone dislike such an attractive man like me? Girls have always run after me. And their parents have fallen in love with me after the first talk.”       “Oh, yeah, you didn’t probably tell Anna’s father that you could easily burn down a kitchen ‘cause you can’t cook, have never cared about cleanliness and order at your home, and may sometimes be a little stupid,” Peter assumes thoughtfully. “If that man knew it, I’d bet that he wants to give his daughter to you.”       “Dream, Rose,” Daniel replies with pride. “First, I told him I was very bad at cooking, but admired Anna’s cooking skills and homework. And second, her father considered me a very clever and educated man.”       “M-m-m, a lifehack from Perkins: if you wanna make a father or a mother of your girlfriend like you, but you are far from perfection, just admire their daughter for what you’re terrible at.” Terrence laughs shyly. “Say tons of compliments before you see the parents of your second half thinking you’re literally their sonny.”       “I hope you turned off the arrogant rooter mood when going to meet Raquelle’s relatives. They could’ve thought you were an incorrigible egoist that would think only of himself, and wished not to let you get closer to your sexy cutie.”       “Dude, egoism and self-confidence are different things. I’m self-confident and don’t doubt I’m perfect, but I’m not egoistic and can think of others.”       “Yeah, but you’re very annoying and sometimes give a person a wish to kick your gorgeous ass.”       “Alright, stop! Better tell us when you’re gonna get married? You’re thinking, thinking… You’ve already gotten a blessing on your relationship, but you haven’t decided to! When do we save money for a gift for you?”       “What?” Peter claps his hands with a little open mouth. “Come on? Perkins decided to marry?”       “He said he’d hope to marry his red-haired beauty someday.”       “Oh, chocolate head, why were you silent before?” Peter claps Daniel on his forearm. “You must’ve started from that!”       “Listen, why did you two get so excited?” Daniel wonders. “MacClife, did you have too good sex? Or did you overwatch porno?”       “Speak out, when you’re gonna propose,” Terrence says cheerfully. “When are ya gonna choose a ring for Anna?”       “How do I know? Yes, I’m really thinking of marrying Anna someday. But not now. I don’t wanna rush. I wanna understand I’m really ready for that.”       “Okay, just something!” Terrence nods with a sly smile. “Come on, come on, tell us more.”       “Terrence MacClife, if you’re talking too much, I’ll not include you on the list of guests at my wedding,” Daniel says, threatening Terrence with a finger.       “Hey, someone said I’d be one of the first guests!” Terrence exclaims, setting his surprised look on Daniel. “Moreover, you promised to make me the best man or one of the groomsmen!”       “Making a peacock like you my best man? Huh, I’d be in the second place ‘cause you’d do your best to get attention on you.”       “Hey, I wanna be a groomsman, too!” Peter exclaims cheerfully. “I wanna give you to your cutie personally.”       “I think I got a better candidate for my best man,” Daniel smiles mysteriously, hugging Peter amicably and clapping him on the shoulder. “Later, I’d find someone to become my groomsman. Well, I’ll ask Edward to become one. And his brother will just stand aside or sit on a chair along with other guests.”       “You know…” Terrence opens his mouth widely and crosses his arms over his chest. “And you dare to call you my friend…”       “Oh, look, MacClife got mad,” Peter laughs quietly. “Jealous… His brother is invited to the wedding and is wanted to be a groomsman, but he is not…”       “Don’t look at me like this, Terrence,” Daniel says cheerfully. “Otherwise, you may kill someone with this look.”       “I’m not kidding, Perkins,” Terrence says gloomily.       “Oh, okay, buddy, okay…” Daniel laughs quietly and claps Terrence on the shoulder. “Calm down! I joked. You’ll get your invitation to the wedding, don’t worry. And you’ll be a groomsman.”       “Remember, I memorized your promise!” Terrence says, threatening Daniel with a finger. “And when it’s time, I’ll remind you of everything.”       “Okay, okay, I got it!” Daniel exclaims, raising his hands in front of himself. “Calm down, you’ve been too excited today.”       “I am quiet!”       “Ah, yeah, I forgot your life started to get better. And sex with your stunning cutie became more frequent and unforgettable.”       “I see everything is fine about you because you shine from happiness.”       “None of your business, my friend.”       “Oh…” Peter crosses his arms over his chest. “Yeah, guys, I see you got on so well without me…”       “Honestly, he got me tired,” Terrence replies, running his hand over his hair. “So, Rose, take this creation to you. I don’t know how you’ve stood him for four years, but he’s annoyed me for one month.”       “Huh, you’d annoy anyone for two minutes,” Daniel chuckles. “You must thank me for tolerating you so long and not kicking your ass.”       “But even if I give you to the blond, it doesn’t mean you won't be under my close attention. I’ve already said I’d be watching you very closely and not letting you fight again.”       “Calm down, daddy, it won’t happen again.”       “We’ll see, Daniel, we’ll do.”       Peter chuckles quietly, shaking his head.       “Hey, I forgot to ask…” Peter pronounces thoughtfully. “Does George know I’m here?”       “Yes, he does,” Daniel confirms quietly. “And he promised to come here. We talked to him about you, and Smith said he’d come to talk to you.”       “You told him what happened?”       “We did,” Terrence nods. “George found out everything from a magazine and told us to explain it. So, we told him the truth. And then Smith asked us to keep us aware of events and tell him any information.”       “Okay… And our fans?”       “They know it, too,” Daniel replies. “They’re really worried about you and want you to get well soon. I personally read everything they posted on social networks. All the fans of the band can’t wait for you to start rocking on and making them happy with your singing again.”       “Oh, yay, girls always whoop when you sing,” Terrence notices cheerfully.       “And…” Peter pronounces hesitantly. “There were… No bad comments?”       “C’mon!” Daniel exclaims. “Not at all! I don’t know where you found negative comments, but MacClife and I saw only positive ones.”       “Well, while they’re waiting for the news about you, our fans are now talking about the video of Edward singing along with the guitar in the underground,” Terrence says. “Everybody’s literally charmed by that little asshole and is still doing their best for the video to stay popular as long as possible.”       “Right!” Daniel clicks the fingers of his hand, pointing at Terrence. “I watched that video! Although I didn’t the fuck understand what he was singing about, that song was really cool, and Edward sang incredibly.”       “Hey, what kind of fucking video?” Peter frowns slightly. “Where’s Edward singing?”       “Oh, you must see and hear it! Now… If I access the Internet on my phone, I’ll show that video to you.”       Daniel puts his hand in the pocket of his coat to take his phone and starts moving his fingers over the big sensor screen.       “Hey, Terrence, why did you quarrel with Edward?” Peter asks. “You always got on well and were good friends!”       “He just said what insulted me a lot…” Terrence confesses hesitantly. “He said many bad things when fighting with Natalia. Edward asked for trouble. So, I got excited and fought with him.”       “Oh, what did he do that you didn’t hold yourself down?”       “Honestly, I wouldn’t like to talk about it. And it’s a very long story. Maybe, I’d tell you everything a little later, but what I’ve already said is enough.”       “Okay…” Peter shrugs. “I will ask you about nothing if it’s unpleasant for you to talk about it. The most important thing is that you reconciled.”       “You’re right, I’m happy, too. Not only because I missed Edward and kept caring about him even after the fight. I just thought it would be hard for Raquelle, Natalia, and me to survive the hearing because we fought with Edward and didn’t wanna see him. Of course, we calmed down a little later, but we thought we’d have no wish or reason to speak to my brother after the trial.”       “I get it. But even if you stopped speaking to him, you wouldn't stop being a family and close people. Even Natalia is a part of your family to some extent, not just your close friend.”       “Agree. Raquelle and I consider Natalia our sister, and she treats us in the same way. That girl has helped us so many times and given us support during hard times. We are madly grateful to her for everything she’s done. I love that girl as my friend and sister.”       “Natalia is a cool girl. I’m very sorry that she had to get through this hell.”       “We did everything to help her. Now it’s Edward’s time to do his best for her to forget what happened once and forever. Though, I’m sure it’d happen ‘cause I see they’re totally in love with each other. They missed each other.”       “They’re a very cute couple,” Peter says with a slight smile. “But I think those two or one of them held down feelings and showed them kinda… Weakly. I dunno… They’re kind of cute when they're together, but something was missing. There are very strong feelings between you and Raquelle, and you show them openly. But those two…”       “I think Natalia was afraid to show her emotions because of the fear that she got after the violence. She confessed that she was afraid to let Edward get closer and become much freer.”       “It’s not amazing after that case.”       “Sorry that Edward didn’t know about the rape attempt before. But I don’t exclude that he was afraid to give her pain at heart and tried to treat her with tenderness.”       “Do they behave in the same way now?”       “No, I don’t think so. I think Natalia realized that Edward wouldn’t harm her and would be by her side. She learned to trust him, and she knows he’ll do nothing bad if she dislikes something. I don’t deny that my bro gave her a lot of pain, but you should agree that jealousy is a disgusting feeling.”       “I get it, but he shouldn’t have brought everything to the breakup. It’s stupid to leave a girl without trying to find out if she doesn’t really need him.”       “We all thought so, and he regretted not thinking about it,” Terrence replies with sadness in his eyes. “But it’s quite explainable. And I understand him, ‘cause I had to get over that, as well…”       “Yeah, your cases are really similar…”       “Hey, Terrence, don’t you know when your father fought with your father?” Daniel asks, still searching for something on his phone. “I mean, what was his age at that moment?”       “Erm… Second…” Terrence frowns slightly, thinking for two seconds. “Father was twenty-five when he married Mother… As she said, she found out about her pregnancy six months later, and I was born one year later. Somewhere one year or one and a half years later, she found out she was expecting Edward, and he was born one year later… And everything happened when I was three… If I counted it right, Father was a little more than twenty when he left Mother. Twenty-two or twenty-three… Something like that…”       “Was your father twenty-five when he got married?”       “Yup, and Mother was twenty.”       “Interesting… Your father got married at the age of twenty-five, and you had the same age…”       “Yeah, that’s correct.”       “Yeah, everything happened almost at the same time,” Peter says thoughtfully. “Well… Not saying about the case of your father…”       “Oh, okay, there’s no point in talking about it!” Terrence waves a hand. “Everything is fine now, and I think we shouldn’t talk about what stayed in the past.”       “Yeah… You’re right…”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds that Daniel breaks looking at the screen of his smartphone:       “Hey, guys, I found the video! The Internet on my phone works terribly, but we can watch the video. Look, Pete!”       Terrence gets up from the bed, stands on the other hand of Peter, bends slightly, and starts watching the video on Daniel’s phone he shows them. When Perkins presses the play button, the sounds of people clapping and the voice of Edward singing on the video, along with the guitar spread throughout the whole room.       “He’s kind of exhausted here…” Peter notices thoughtfully. “As if he was tortured for a long time and got his brains washed.”       “Partly true,” Terrence replies. “This video was taken on the evening of the day when Uncle Michael got arrested. We all had to survive much, and he suffered much more. Uncle deprived him of all his strength. Got him exhausted morally and psychologically.”       “Well, it seems like he had the strength if he decided to sing a song,” Daniel assumes.       “Listen, he signs cool!” Peter notices. “And MacClife seems confident enough here. Not as shy as he is with our pretense.”       “Yeah, his cute but white and tired face got the attention of very many people in the underground,” Daniel notices with a kind chuckle. “And he bribed everybody with his strong voice.”       “Wait, you said he sang this song in the underground… Does someone know where that is? I can’t remember that place!”       “I don’t know where it is, either,” Terrence throws his hands up. “But Edward said it was located somewhere in the center of New York. You imagine where that guy was brought to! After Uncle’s arrest, Raquelle, Edward, Natalia, and I went home somewhere at eight or nine hours. And my brother decided to wander nobody knows where at such a late time.”       “You know, buddy, we don’t actually live on the edge of the city,” Daniel replies. “You could reach the center of the city in a few minutes in a car.”       “So, did you conduct your own investigation?” Terrence chuckles quietly.       “No, I just know that passing underground. Unlike you, I’m not squeamish about using common transport and the subway and going where some homeless fellows in dirty clothes are asking for money.”       “Why am I squeamish? I could quietly get on a bus and go to the subway. Don’t say it as if I’m a prince or a king of blue blood.”       “But you act like a member of a royal family that has too high claims for everything.”       “Hey, quiet!” Peter exclaims. “Lemme listen to the song! I hear nothing!”       Terrence and Daniel quickly fall into silence, and the latter makes the volume louder on the phone. That’s why all the sounds in the room get a little louder. The three listen to the song that Edward is performing in the video for a few seconds, frowning slightly because they do not know the lyrics and noticing MacClife, Jr.’s play and singing are just incredible.       “Listen, someone, explain what he’s singing about,” Daniel says. “I can the fuck understand nothing!”       “He’s singing about romance, love, and everything about it,” Terrence replies, not moving his eyes off the phone. “Well, it’s my brother’s style. He’s our too sentimental and sensitive boy.”       Daniel and Peter move their eyes off the phone and stare at Terrence surprisingly.       “Don’t look at me like this!” Terrence exclaims. “That’s what Edward said! I don’t also know Spanish!”       “Spanish?” Daniel asks. “Does that asshole know Spanish?”       “He says he does. And he showed when he said a couple of words to Natalia. To show up and pretend to be cool. Well, as she said nothing, my brother had visited some lessons before he got kicked outta school because our stepmother stopped paying for his studies.”       “Hm…” Daniel thinks for two seconds. “The only two words I know in Spanish are ‘hola’ which means ‘hello’ and ‘amigo’ which means ‘friend.’”       “Well done, buddy!” Terrence claps his hands with a smile. “Well done! You can show your knowledge to Anna. And if you wanna admire her, go to Edward, so he teaches you a beautiful song about love in Spanish.”       “Why does he have to ask Edward?” Peter wonders. “May he learn the lyrics with this video! It’s a love song! Anna doesn’t know Spanish and wouldn’t guess Perkins would sing half of the lyrics wrongly. He’d pretend it should happen, and she’d be deeply touched, and her tender heart would tremble.”       “Listen, shut up, you two, and watch the video,” Daniel moans quietly. “Otherwise, I’ll turn it off and won’t show you more videos, in which Edward hangs out much more than in this one.”       “More videos?” Terrence rounds his eyes.       “Ha! As if you didn’t know it!”       “I didn’t really know! Raquelle showed this video yesterday, and Natalia told us how she and Edward met the man, who’s sitting next to him and his band.”       “Yeah, your brother rocks on with a street band in those videos. He sings in English, jumps from one side to another like a goat, and makes people scream at the top of their lungs. It seems like that was his solo concert! And Edward acted much freer than he did in this video.”       “So, doesn’t MacClife waste time?” Peter wonders.       “Exactly! Lemme show those videos. Moreover, they were taken on a better camera, and Edward is heard and seen much better.”       Daniel runs his finger over the phone screen for a few seconds until he finds what he needs and gives his phone to Terrence and Peter, saying:       “Here, enjoy!”       The three start watching the video with Edward, who is singing along with Vincent, Hayden, Tracey, and Laurence. Because the quality of the video is much better, the guys can hear the young guy's much more amazing singing. Who stands in the same place at first but gets freer and more confident later, slaying everybody with his strong voice and wild energy that he spreads among those, who are listening to him.       “What he’s the fuck doing!” Peter gets nicely surprised. “Is that really Edward, not another guy?”       “That’s him, him!” Daniel replies confidently.       “He didn’t kind of shave his face for two or more weeks!”       “I know, I didn’t recognize him because of his stubble. I was wondering why this face seemed familiar to me, but then I realized that it was our little trouble named Edward.”       “It’s the first time I see this guy with stubble. He usually always has a perfectly shaved face.”       “Yeah, agree,” Terrence agrees. “In this video, that dude looks like a monkey…”       “And one more reason why I recognized MacClife was the fact that Natalia appeared in the video,” Daniel says. “She was standing close to the band, clapping, and dancing along with everybody… Oh, that’s her, that’s her! Look! That’s Natalia! In the crown!”       “Listen, Rochester was right,” Terrence says with a slight smile, stroking his chin. “That’s really a bomb! You just look what Edward’s doing! Of course, we knew he sang well, but my brother outdid himself this time.”       “Oh, that’s a warm-up. In other videos, he is super wild in a good sense. I did feel crazy energy through the computer screen! Just brainwashing!”       “Listen, his signing a cappella is incredible!” Peter notices with admiration. “You just listen! I feel goosebumps on my back! And how people are applauding for him!”       “Natalia said they didn’t wanna let him go, wishing to hear another song,” Terrence says. “So, Edward didn’t definitely leave quickly.”       “He did literally play a whole show as an opening act!” Daniel replies excitedly. “Here are a couple of more videos of the covers of the coolest songs.”       “Look, look, what he’s doing! Edward did really go insane! How he’s dancing and running from one side to another!”       “Saying the guy from this video is super sweet and shy is impossible.”       “Huh, forget it! He does seem sweet and fluffy. He’s actually a pain in the ass that hides much from us.”       “I don’t recognize Edward,” Peter shakes his head. “That’s really another man! MacClife can’t be so wild and hang out like he’s in his room, and nobody sees him.”       “Yay, bro, you, fucking devil…” Terrence smiles slyly. “Ah, you, pretender… You were pretending to be an innocent girl, who was afraid of everything in the world, but here’s what you’re doing.”       “Hear, Edward, stop running like a hurricane! Have some rest! How do you get so much energy that you’re jumping from one side to another while performing a second song?”       “Huh, the people are jumping along with him!” Daniel chuckles. “He got them infected…”       “What energy!” Terrence pronounces with admiration. “I’m really shocked! I didn’t expect Edward could rock on like THIS!”       “Uh, if only someone gave us the same energy…” Peter sighs tiredly. “I looked at Edward and realized you and I were sleepy flies against him.”       “Yes, yes, I thought the same when watching these videos!” Daniel agrees. “Of course, we have a cool band, but I think we lack something. Some drive… I dunno…”       “Yeah, finally!” Terrence exclaims, clapping his hands loudly. “Finally! Finally, you have realized it! I was trying to make you think we lacked something for a few months. Hallelujah!”       “I did recently realize it! After watching this video, I’m starting to think we’re really sleepy flies against him, as the blond said.”       “We’d definitely need a person with such a powerful energy that Edward has, at least in these videos,” Peter assumes.       “Listen, I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time…” Terrence says thoughtfully, putting a finger on his lip. “What do you think of Edward playing with us? What if we try to give him a guitar and sing along with him once?”       “I think the idea is cool!”       “Yeah, I don’t mind!” Daniel agrees. “I have another guitar that MacClife could play. And I’d give him a microphone.”       “Honestly, I’ve been thinking about it for a long time,” Terrence confesses. “Because of the problems, this thought went outta my mind. But now I’m thinking about it more and more. And after I saw these videos, I got a stronger wish to suggest Edward play with us. And we sound much better with him, I will insist that he becomes the fourth member of the band.”       “I’d be happy if Edward joined us. We should get up and take such a talented guy with us. Before someone pays attention to him and takes him away.”       “Oh, yeah!” Peter agrees. “Someone would cut a throat for these talents. If representatives of the studio or PR agency see these videos, they’ll probably wish to offer him a contract and start working on his career.”       “Right!” Terrence opens his mouth and clicks the fingers of his hands. “So, guys, we must think faster! If we don’t suggest Edward play at the nearest time, we’ll lose a cool potential member. If he joins the band, I’ll be terribly happy.”       “Fuck, it would be cool if he became the fourth member… He could become a guitarist. A lead guitarist.”       “Yes! I play a solo guitar now, but I can start playing a rhythm guitar in case Edward joins us.”       “Genius idea! Just genius!”       “Hey, what does Edward think of it?” Daniel asks. “Does he know we wanna make him a member of ‘Against The System?’”       “After watching that video from the underground, I told him about it yesterday,” Terrence confesses. “But Edward thought that was a joke. Even if I said absolutely seriously.”       “I’ll look at his face when we tell him we really wanna make him a member of the band. He’s gonna have his yawl fall on the floor.”       “But he’d be able to earn money,” Peter shrugs. “Edward complained he couldn’t find a good job and got a pittance for a one-sided job. If he joins us, records an album, and goes on a worldwide tour, he’ll get as much money as he’s never earned. And if someone invites him to act in a commercial or take photos for a magazine, it’ll be another source of money.”       “That’s right!” Daniel agrees with a wide smile. “If someone sees his cute face, he’ll get tons of offers to work on commercials and photoshoots.”       “I think Edward made a good PR for himself,” Terrence notices confidently. “Since those videos have been on the list of popular videos for a few days and are getting more and more views, don’t be surprised if you see a reportage on TV or an article on the Internet.”       “Especially when his brother is Terrence MacClife himself,” Peter notices.       “If he asks, I’ll help him with pleasure. I’m sure that the kid would go too far.”       “Nobody doubts it,” Daniel replies confidently. “Edward isn’t deprived of talent and has quite a sympathetic face. Who would leave that guy without attention!”       “Yeah, I can’t even mock him,” Terrence sighs tiredly. “Because I recognize his talent. And okay, let it be… He got a very good face, too. Of course, he will never reach me, but that rutrag is somewhere close.”       “You didn’t miss a chance to praise yourself to the skies,” Peter shakes his head.       Terrence says nothing and watches the last video along with Daniel and Peter, while the singing Edward, who got excited by the last minute and warmed up all the people that surrounded him to listen. Some time later, silence settles in the air in the room. Daniel turns off his phone and puts it in his pocket, and Terrence sits on the bed in front of Peter, who just looks around. But then the blond says a little hesitantly, running his hand through his hair and looking at his friends with sadness in his eyes:       “You know, guys… I thought about the girls, who I befriended… I’d like to apologize to them and say I didn't want it to happen.”       Terrence and Daniel look at each other and round their eyes after they think about Jessica and Helene, who should have stayed in the hall.       “Your friends?” Terrence specifies.       “Yup…” Peter pronounces quietly. “Who I told you about.”       “Erm, listen, Pete…” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully. “Would you like to see those girls right now?”       “Very much… It would be cool if they came to me.”       “What about talking to them now?”       “Now?” Peter frowns slightly, looking at Daniel questioningly. “What do you mean?”       “We can organize a meeting with your friends.”       “You? Organize a meeting?”       “I’m sure Jessica and Helene would be so happy to see you,” Terrence says confidently.       “What?” Peter rounds his eyes widely. “How do you know their names?”       “Oh, buddy, I’m gonna tell you more. We know their names and know them personally.”       “But how? I never told you about them!”       “Right, you didn’t,” Daniel confirms. “But you mentioned the girl named Helene Marshall and talked about her with great admiration.”       “Helene? But how? How did you find her? You have no common familiars but me! Or…” Peter frowns slightly. “Don’t I know something?”       “It’s easy, your friends found us,” Terrence replies. “Somehow, Daniel and I were at a café and wanted to leave. But we were called by two girls: a short brunette, and a blonde that was a little taller.”       “The blonde’s name was Jessica, and the brunette’s one was Helene,” Daniel continues. “At first, they recognized only Terrence ‘cause he is our ‘Mason Houston, the grown-up favorite boy of all little girls from ‘American Love Affair’.’ But when I introduced myself, Helene recognized me.”       “Yeah, those two wondered if they had met before and later made a conclusion that it was the truth.”       “I only knew that Helene was a brunette, but I couldn’t remember her face. Nevertheless, we understood each other immediately.”       “We talked and found much new about you and decided to go to your home in two hours. But it didn’t happen ‘cause you called me and…” Terrence falls into silence for two seconds. “Said you were gonna kill yourself… Daniel and I didn’t wait and went to your home… We had to break the door in the bathroom… Saw you and called an ambulance. And then we told the girls about what happened. Yeah, they cleaned up your apartment, and Helene took the keys. Ask her to give them to you and bring some things if you need them.”       “Okay…” Peter pronounces thoughtfully. “So, had you met those girls some time before I… Tried to kill me?”       “Yup,” Daniel confirms.       “And were you together all this time?”       “We even passed the test that would show who could give off blood for you.”       “I was told about the blood transfusion. But I didn’t know you did it.”       “Sadly, only one person could help. Thanks to a rhesus.”       “Yeah, we were told if not for the results, anyone would’ve helped you ‘cause we fit thanks to the blood group,” Terrence adds. “The case is that we have Rh+, and you have Rh-. And as the doctor said, a donor could be the one to have Rh+.”       “And if that wasn’t you, who is that person?” Peter frowns slightly. “One of the girls?”       “Your friend Helene.”       “Helene?” Peter opens his eyes widely.       “You got her blood transfused.”       “Aren’t you kidding?”       “Not at all!”       “She literally saved you, dude!” Daniel exclaims. “If not for her, you would’ve hardly survived! At first, you needed the blood transfusion ‘cause you lost much of yours. But then you got an infection due to mistakes in transfusing. And that girl was next to you every day.”       “C’mon? Aren’t you kidding?”       “Ask her! And ask Jessica to confirm that Helene was ready to spend nights near you.”       “My gosh…” Peter shakes his head. “I… I don’t know what to say… It’s hard to believe… She spent her time on me.”       “You must thank her for making these sacrifices for you,” Terrence says confidently. “Who knows what we would be doing if we hadn’t found that girl or had gotten her refusal to help you. Wouldn’t be sitting with you and talking.”       “It’s amazing… I’m overwhelmed.”       “By the way, that girl was terribly worried about you,” Daniel notices. “I’d even say much more than Terrence, Jessica, and me.”       “Aha,” Terrence confirms. “I’ll never forget her hysteria when we had to tell Jessica and her about what happened to you.”       “Holy shit…” Peter wonders.       “If you don’t believe it, ask her about it!” Daniel suggests.       “Are they really here?”       “Yes, they’re here!” Terrence nods. “Do you want them to come here?”       “Erm…” Peter nods, understanding that he is getting obsessed with awkwardness. “Y-y-yes… I want…”       “Daniel, invite them here,” Terrence glances at Daniel.       “If only they didn’t leave,” Daniel says.       Daniel gets up from the bed, comes to the door, opens it, and leaves for a few seconds. Then the man returns along with Jessica and Helene, who are going forward and looking too hesitant. Seeing his friends, Peter presses his back tighter to the pillow, looking at the girls with his widely open eyes full of a scare.       “Helene…” Peter pronounces hesitantly. “Jessica…”       “Hi, Peter,” Jessica greets shyly.       Helene is so excited and shocked that she becomes speechless. She waves a hand at Peter hesitantly with a shy smile on her face, slouching a little and tightly squeezing the handle of her purse.       “How are you doing, buddy?” Jessica asks.       “More or less,” Peter replies. “But I feel a strong weakness.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Peter, Jessica, and Helene stare at each other surprisingly. Remembering what Lewis told them before leaving, Terrence and Daniel look at each other, and then MacClife, Sr., gets up from the bed slowly and pulls his shirt down, saying hesitantly:       “Erm-h, you know… I’ll leave you for a while and go to the cafeteria… Eat something… I didn’t eat enough.”       “Erm…” Daniel looks at everybody and bites his lip slightly. “I’ll go to the cafeteria to drink something, too. I feel like there is a desert in my throat…”       “Moreover, only two people are allowed to be in the room. Lewis said so.”       “Come on, Terrence,” Daniel jabs and starts pushing Terrence in the back. “Stop standing here and showing up… Nobody would pay attention to you.”       “But, Perkins!”       “Exit, I said!”       A few seconds later, Terrence and Daniel leave the room and close the door, while Jessica and Helene watch them with a quiet chuckle. And two seconds later, the girls come to Peter’s bed hesitantly and sit on it carefully in front of him.       “The guys told me how you met them,” Peter says hesitantly. “So, you may explain nothing.”       “We think it’s unreal luck,” Jessica replies softly. “I don’t know what we would do if those guys hadn’t stood in our way.”       “I’m glad you came here.” Peter smiles slightly, folding his hands in front of himself. “Thank you so much.”       “You thought we’d leave you in trouble?” Helene rounds her eyes. “The guys, Jess and I were really worried about you and wanted you to get well soon.”       “It’s true,” Jessica nods. “We couldn’t leave you in such a hard situation.”       “Hey, Helene…” Peter pronounces and bites his lip slightly. “Is that true you give off your blood for me?”       “Yes, Peter,” Helene confirms with a slight smile. “We all gave blood to check it with yours, but I was the only one to get a positive result.”       “We all wanted to help you, but only Helene could do that,” Jessica adds. “And we’re madly grateful to her for that. Thanks to that, you stayed alive. You could’ve come to yourself much earlier if not for the blood infection. But better later than never.”       “I know,” Peter says softly. “And were you really with me every day, as Daniel and Terrence said?”       “When I got some time, I went here and was with you with permission of the doctor,” Helene replies confidently.       “You could only kick her outta here with kicks,” Jessica adds. “If nobody had stopped her, she would’ve forgotten about everything: her job, friends, grandmother, and her business.”       “It’s nice to hear it, but I don’t understand why I deserved it,” Peter replies shyly.       “Please, Pete, don’t say it,” Helene says softly, caressing Peter’s hand. “You’re giving us strong pain.”       “Anyway, thank you so much, Helene. I don’t know how to thank you for that. And… For everything you’ve done to me for the time we’ve known each other.”       “You can thank me if you stop harming yourself and cutting for a reason and without,” Helene replies with sadness in her eyes.       “Not only her, but also all of us,” Jessica adds shyly.       “Please, Peter, never do that again.”       “I promise, girls, I will no longer do it,” Peter promises confidently. “No matter how hard it is, I’ll do my best not to touch a blade. For my friends, who are closer to me than anything in the world.”       “Hey, blond, do you know you really scared all of us?” Jessica wonders. “We did almost the fuck lose you!”       “I almost went insane when the guys told me you tried to kill yourself,” Helene says with pity in her eyes. “Jess and Grandma Scarlett barely calmed me down.”       “Sorry…” Peter apologizes. “Really, girls, I didn’t wanna scare and get anyone upset.”       “Why, Peter? Why did you torture yourself? Why were you harming yourself and trying to kill yourself?”       “I thought I’d solve my problems by myself. But sadly, I was absolutely powerless in front of what I had to experience.”       “Are your problems connected with school?”       “Some of them.”       “Gosh, Rose, were you killing yourself because of those idiots?” Jessica wonders with sadness in her eyes. “Huh! They forgot to think of you, but you keep thinking about how they were mocking you!”       “I forgot nothing. None of their insults, humiliation, and beating.”       “Wrong! Why do you think of those stupid chickens and egoistic peacocks, who have achieved nothing in their lives? They were humiliating you with the hope that your life would be worthless, but everything happened otherwise! A boomerang, as they say, has been back!”       “I never thought I’d reach something,” Peter confesses with sadness in his eyes. “I thought I was the one they called me. That I’d never be able to do something…”       “No, Peter, that’s not true,” Helene replies with pity in her eyes.       “At that time, I considered myself a reject. And the more they insulted and humiliated me, the more I started to believe in it.”       “They just chose a victim. There was nobody else to mock.”       “Exactly! I was their punching bag from the beginning and was in a hopeless situation when nobody could help me. There was nobody to let me know I wasn’t so terrible. Even when I joined Albert Sanderson’s band, it didn’t help me forget everything and believe in myself. I didn’t show it, but I kept feeling like dirt… Dust… Trash…”       “But, Peter…” Helene pronounces in a shaking voice, holding down tears coming to her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell us about that before? Why did you never explain the reason why you were cutting and giving yourself pain?”       “Just wanted to seem strong, as a man should be,” Peter replies quietly, locking his fingers tightly. “And I was lucky that I needed to pretend to be happy less and less after joining the band and meeting Daniel. I could feel a little happier and more confident at some moments. The only thing that got me upset was Terrence and Daniel’s talks about their girls and Perkins’ jokes about not going on dates.”       “You were jealous?”       “Not at all. Something happened and made me afraid to love.”       “Gosh, Peter…” Helene pronounces with pity in her eyes.       “And did you take it out on Daniel ‘cause he started mocking you again?” Jessica asks.       “Yup,” Peter nods. “And when the lads and I were on the tour, I somehow read bad comments about me on the Internet. It struck me down, and I barely held down ‘till the end of the tour. But after that case, I withdrew into myself and didn’t almost talk to anyone. Until the end of the tour and after the return to New York. But I had to talk ‘cause I had to work on songs.”       “And why did you the fuck decide to read bad comments about you?”       “I didn’t wanna read bad comments on purpose. I just wanted to check my accounts and the band’s accounts.”       “You should know that any artist has fans and haters. You must not fall into depression because of haters! You better think of your fans that wanna see you alive. Trust me, I read everything they posted on social networks. Your fans are wishing you to get well and constantly asking if there is some news about you. And even if there were bad comments, there were many replies from the band’s fans, who tore all your haters apart and kicked their asses.”       “I know, but I didn’t think I’d see that after opening the page with mentions of our band.”       “You must’ve closed that page,” Helene says confidently. “And that’s good you didn’t replay to any of those people and didn’t provoke them much more. If you provoke an evil dog, it will attack you and tear you apart.”       “I was gonna excuse myself for nobody. I just read a few comments, closed the page with mentions, and fell into depression.”       “Jessica is right. Even the most famous and favorite persona has haters. There would always be those, who would say bad things about you because of jealousy of your successes. They understand they’d hardly reach the success that you and the guys got.”       “And as your band has such a famous man like Terrence MacClife, it would’ve been weird if you hadn’t gotten noticed,” Jessica adds. “If you want, you can conquer the whole world, get the most prestigious awards, and perform on big stages. Your albums may be well-sold around the whole world. Whole, blond!”       “That’s why I promised that I wouldn't betray my band and would prove that if I wanted something, I’d reach it, no matter what the cost,” Peter replies confidently. “Do you think I don’t wanna get much more than I have? No, girls, I wanna get much more and make our band famous around the world.”       “We know, Peter,” Helene says softly, caressing Peter’s forearm. “Jessica and I heard a part of your talk with Terrence and Daniel and realized you established your relationship and solved the band issue.”       “How long were you standing behind the door?”       “Not, we quickly realized your talk would be long,” Jessica replies. “Helene and I heard some part, and then we decided to go to the cafeteria and drink something.”       “The story is very hard… It was hard for me to talk about it.”       “You told them absolutely everything?”       “Everything I had never said before. About my problems at school… About how that brainless blonde made me a laughingstock for the whole school and turned everybody against me… About how they were bullying me… How I started to cut myself, graduated from school, met Daniel, and met Terrence… About the situation of the comments, the conflict with Perkins, and my depression…”       “Excuse me, what stupid blonde are you talking about?”       “Kristina Harper, the sell-called queen of our school,” Peter replies gloomily.       “The whore that was terribly afraid to become fat and didn’t fuck probably only teachers and little students? Who made all boys lose their minds?”       “And who told the whole school she won a wager after dating me for almost two months. The one, who became the reason why I touched a blade for the first time because of shame and a wish to prove to myself that I could do nothing, and nobody needed me.”       “Seriously? You dated that dirty bitch that began to lie on a bed of boys since thirteen?”       “I wish I didn’t date. That bitch gave me such a strong psychologic trauma that I’ve been afraid to fall in love with someone since that time. Because of a fear that… Someone would betray and humiliate me again…”       “Holy shit, she’s a scumbag!” Jessica says with anger, clenching her hand into a fist. “I hate that brainless prostitute, on whom boys got a crush just thanks to her face and slim waist that could be gone at any time.”       “Second,” Helene shakes her head. “Who’s Kristina Harper?”       “One dirty slut that thought she was too sassy and adult.”       “Self-pronounced queen of the school,” Peter says quietly. “All those people looked into her mouth like dogs and waited for her orders, doing anything she’d say.”       “Aha, she was a bitch!” Jessica exclaims. “I always tried to keep myself far from her, but I could easily get a couple of her dyed hair out and say something why she’d have her eyes popped outta her head.”       “Did you know it but say nothing?” Helene wonders.       “Sorry, Helene. I knew Peter was madly in love with her. But I didn’t know that cow humiliated him.”       “But you studied at the same school as he!”       “I guess I wasn’t at school at that time.”       “Yeah, you left somewhere for two months,” Peter replies thoughtfully. “You went to the teachers and asked them to let you leave for a while. And nobody told you anything.”       “I thought so… I would’ve known what that prostitute came up with.”       “That’s why Peter started to cut himself…” Helene concludes quietly. “Because of that girl… She brought him to the hole.”       “Exactly! If you blame someone, you must blame that scum. Damn, I wish she gained a hundred kilograms. So, no diet helps her become skinny.”       “The school and the absolute indifference of the teachers and my mother to what was happening brought me to the hole,” Peter confesses gloomily. “I had the situation when I had nobody to ask for help and protection.”       “Could your mother quietly watch those people mock you?” Helene wonders.       “She loved only drinks and gave a damn about her son. My mother was always an alcoholic and drank one bottle of vodka every day. If we had some money, she spent it on drinks for her and her drinking buddies.”       “Is that true the whole school knew it?”       “True. Everybody knew my mother was an alcoholic. And they humiliated me also because of that.”       “And your father?”       “I’ve never had him. I can’t remember him and don’t know how he looked. There was no photo of him at my home. And even if I have some relatives, I’ve never known them.”       “And helping your mother was impossible?”       “She didn’t need it! When I graduated from school, she left somewhere some time later. I was about sixteen or seventeen… And I haven’t seen her and have known nothing about her since that time. And I lived all alone in the neighborhood where I was born for a long time. But I wouldn’t be surprised if her love for alcohol had killed her a long time ago. Knowing how much vodka she drank regularly…”       “So, did you live in a bad family that had a single mother, who loved drinking?”       “Yes, I had some money for food, but I can’t say we had everything. We had some money thanks to me… I worked everything I could. Besides, there was a very old cajon, which Mother wanted to throw or sell, but which I literally sank my teeth into. I don’t know how we got it, but I was also earning money by playing it in different places in the city. Although I had no teacher that could teach me to play, I played well, knowing I was getting some money.”       “And how did you learn to play drums?”       “Anyhow. I had never seen the drums before Daniel and I joined the band. Thanks to a great miracle. And as I was admitted, I understood I should’ve met their expectations and worked much to learn just something.”       “And did you learn to play a cajon by yourself?”       “At first, that was fun, but then I understood I liked it and started to play by ear… What I had in my mind… And then I went outside and earned money. The amounts were little, but I was glad to have just something… However, my mother took a bigger part of the money and spent them on drinks. I had only pennies. That was good I sometimes kept some money safe for fun or something from clothes.”       “My gosh…”       “And did everybody from your school know you were from a bad family?” Jessica asks hesitantly.       “Yes. Everybody knew everything about me. And everyone gave a fuck about my problem.”       “Oh, Peter…” Jessica caresses Peter’s shoulder softly. “I feel true sympathy for you… I’m sorry that you became a victim of that herd, with which I didn’t almost speak.”       “I’m also very sorry you had such a hard life,” Helene says with pity in her eyes. “That’s terrible when so many people are bullying one person!”       “And I still don’t understand it…” Peter sighs quietly. “You can’t humiliate a person because of their appearance, talents, tastes, opinion, and just the fact that they’re different. That’s good they don’t want to be like everyone and do aim to be themselves. Be unique. A human is an individual persona, not a clone that’s made by someone and does what they’re made to do.”       “Yeah, but why did you never try to protect yourself?” Jessica wonders. “If you’d shown you could fight them back, they wouldn’t have wished to hurt you!”       “Ha, did you see the boys that studied at our school?” Peter chuckles quietly without emotions on his face. “They had too much strength! And they could easily squeeze me, the one, who was tall but thin and weak, with their big weight. I didn’t have as good muscles as I have now. A play on the drums and workouts helped me fix this shortcoming. My body got muscles and doesn’t seem so skinny.”       “You shouldn’t have started a fight or tried to hit. It would’ve provoked them much more. But you could say something with dignity.”       “Yeah, but I could speak so ‘well’ at that time,” Peter rolls his eyes with a quiet chuckle. “I was a weak man, who couldn’t stand for himself. Who would've taught me to do it if I had nobody to be stronger than I was? Mother? Huh! She would’ve probably taught me to drink a glass of vodka without wincing.”       “But it’s never too late to become more courageous,” Helene notices. “You could do it if you wanted it.”       “What kind of man am I?” Peter laughs at himself contemptuously. “A real man would never behave the way I do. He wouldn’t let anyone insult and humiliate him, beat him… He wouldn’t let others make him a laughingstock…”       “Don’t say it, Pete, please. You’re strong, and you can overcome it. I know it and believe in you.”       “Moreover, you’ve got the people that would help you with pleasure,” Jessica adds softly. “We will all often say you can be brave and confident. And when you start to hear it, you’ll understand that those idiots weren’t right some time later.”       “Thank you so much, girls,” Peter thanks with a slight smile. “I really appreciate your support. And I’m glad that you wanna help me even after I gave you a lot of pain. Just like Terrence and Daniel, who I betrayed cruelly, but who didn’t leave me and promised to help.”       “Real friends never leave you in trouble. And Terrence and Daniel are wonderful people. They’re so gentle, nice, and funny guys, who’re truly loyal to those, who they love. Talking to them is super easy for us.”       “I know. They’re amazing people, and I’ll be grateful for not leaving me to die. They had a choice: saving me or letting me die… But they chose the first way. Despite the disgusting and kind of egoistic way, in which I behaved toward them.”       “This is what real friends do.”       “Jess, I…” Peter glances aside for a second, moves them to Jessica, and looks at her with great pity. “I’d like to apologize to you… Please, forgive me for kicking you outta the apartment and screaming at you. I’m really very sorry for doing that and not being able to control my emotions. At heart, I knew I was guilty of my problems and could blame nobody. But… When you started to talk about my relationship issues, I was mad and couldn’t confess it. Nevertheless, I do recognize you’re right and want to give you my true apologies. And I hope you’ll forgive me.”       Jessica smiles truly, feeling that tears are coming to her eyes.       “Peter…” Jessica pronounces in a little shaking voice and sniffs quietly. “I… I… I’d also like to apologize to you for pressing on you so hard. I’m sorry about being so rude to you. You know I can’t be too soft and have always been a little cruel. I just wanted to assure you to speak out, so you feel better and let me know how I could help you. But that time, I crossed the line.”       “You said the right things,” Peter replies softly, caressing Jessica’s shoulder. “Everybody did… I, idiot, didn’t wanna recognize it. And I almost lost those, who could help me overcome this unbearable pain.”       “I promise I’ll help you. Moreover, I forgave you a long time ago. Yes, I was terribly mad and literally wanted to strangle Helene when she was talking about you and trying to pity me, but… After your suicide attempt, I started to get colder and found the courage to forget about my offense.”       “Thanks,” Peter smiles shyly with a sense of relief. “Thanks a lot, Jess. You’re a very kind person that I adore. Although you couldn’t protect me from those attacks, your support helped me feel a little better. I’m glad there was at least one person, who understood that there was no reason to mock me like that.”       Jessica smiles much wider, looking at Peter with tears in her eyes. Two seconds later, she gets up from the bed, comes to the man, and takes him in an amicable hug that he accepts with pleasure. The girl makes quiet sobs at times, and the man slightly claps her on the back with the hope of calming her down. Helene watches them with tears of happiness in her eyes that are rolling down her cheeks and smiles truly, probably for the first time in a while, seeing that the blond got much better.       A few seconds later, Jessica steps back from Peter and sits on the edge of the bed, while the man glances at Helene and takes her hands softly, saying with sadness in his eyes:       “Helene, don’t be mad at me if I hurt you somehow. You and I didn’t fight, but I gave you many problems. And… I’m really sorry… If there’s something that would help me make amends, just let me know.”       “Gosh, Peter, what are you talking about?” Helene wonders. “How can I can be mad at you? You’ve never hurt me! Don’t ask me for forgiveness for what you’re not guilty of.”       “I’ve always said you’re the special person that I don’t wanna lose. And I’m madly grateful to you for supporting me all this time when we’ve known each other. I’ll never forget that you gave off your blood for me, and it’s now… Flooding in my veins.” Peter glances at his arms. “It’s amazing… You did it for me…”       “I got a chance to save you and did it. I would’ve never forgiven myself if I hadn’t tried to do a test. If I had refused to give off my blood after being told I could be a donor for you.”       “I know,” Peter smiles slightly. “I’m madly lucky Jess introduced us to each other three years ago. I don’t know what I would do without such a wonderful girl like you. For me, you’re like a shoot of the bright sun that gives me something good and light. If you’d been by my side at those horrible times, I don’t doubt you would’ve helped me. Anyway, thank you for coming into my life. I’ll always remember what I must thank you for.”       Although Helene does not understand Peter’s hints, who says it to show some feelings to the girl, she does not hide her happiness and feels how her heart trembles nicely from these nice words.       “Gosh, Peter, it’s so nice…” Helene says with a wide smile. “You can’t imagine how nice it is to hear it. Your words warm up my soul. You always make me smile, ‘cause you’re also like a shoot of the sun that makes me smile even in the darkest times. Despite not always being truly happy and sanguine, your pretense has always made me happy and feel special. I’ve never felt so good with anyone else.”       “I’ve also never felt as good as I feel with you.”       “And whatever people say about you, I’ll always consider you a talented, amicable, and true man. Please, Pete… Don’t listen to what those, who have something against you, say. They wanna do everything to hurt you. Listen to those, who truly love you. You can only trust those people at one hundred percent.”       “With such people like you, Jess, Terrence, and Daniel, I’ll get much better,” Peter replies confidently with a gloss in his eyes, not hiding his smile. “Now I have a reason why I wanna reach my goals to spite my enemies. So, they bite their elbows and regret treating me like a doormat, But I know I wouldn’t do that alone. Without you and your support, I’m nothing. Just a worthless and talentless idiot… And without you, Helene, I can’t feel happy.”       Helene smiles much wider, moves closer to Peter, and hugs him touchingly. The man answers her with great pleasure. Now he needs the hugs of the girl he loves, not just someone’s hugs. He hugged Jessica amicably, but everything is otherwise in the case of this sweet brunette. This hug is much more tender and cuter. The blond feels free to run a hand through the hair of his friend, touch the back of her head with a hand and caresses it softly, while she does the same but is much shyer and more hesitantly.       Jessica does not doubt that Peter is not also indifferent to Helene. Most of his words and gestures, and the way he hugs her say it. Seeing it, the girl wants to provoke a long-awaited confession of love, but does not know how to do it. And while she thinks about it, Peter, still hugging Helene tightly, glances at his friend and smiles at her shyly. She also smiles at the blond and starts to point at the brunette turned with the back of her head on her, showing some gestures with a mysterious smile on her face. However, Rose does not understand the hints and just frowns. Then Taylor sharply relaxes her shoulders and looks at him and Marshall, literally letting him know that he should confess his sympathy for his friend. Then Jessica just decides to leave Peter and Helene alone in the room with the hope that they might have an open talk. The girl takes her phone from her purse, checks something for two seconds, and frowns slightly.       “Oh, I didn’t notice someone called me…” Jessica lies thoughtfully. “I guess I forgot to turn on the sound… Excuse me, guys, I’ll go to the hall, call and come back. Talk about something here.”       Being a little excited, Jessica gets up from the bed and leaves the room quickly. The sound of the closed door makes Helene step away from Peter and look at the whole room.       “What’s wrong with her?” Peter frowns slightly. “She ran away at the speed of the rising wind!”       “I don’t know,” Helene shrugs. “But I bet she decided to get off me for a while. I have a feeling that nobody called her, and she just wanted to get off me.”       “Why do you think so?”       “I dunno… But sometimes I think I whine too much… So, Taylor decided to run away, at least for two minutes.”       “Gosh, Helene, what are you talking about?”       “I’m serious! I’m sure Jessica got sick of watching me and howling quietly.”       “You never annoy us! Don’t say it about you, please.”       “Ah, Peter…” Helene sighs tiredly. “Some time ago, I couldn’t actually stop complaining and whining…”       “Something made you worried?” Peter asks anxiously. “You have problems?”       “Erm…” Helene bites her lip slightly, putting her head on her shoulders. “Oh… No… No, it’s okay… No problems… Sometimes there are just moments when I get upset because of something…”       “I really wonder to know what happens to you. Feel free. If you wanna say something, speak.”       “No, don’t think about it… It’s just girls’ caprices…”       “Were you worried about me so much that you dinged into Jess’ ears about it?”       “Of course, I was really worried about you. You’re a very important person that I don’t wanna lose. I was shaking from the thought that I’d have to hear you died.”       “But now you have no reason to worry about me.” Peter takes Helene’s hands. “Now I’m alive, but weak enough. I promise this time, I’ll do my best to overcome my fears, my hesitance, and my habit of cutting myself. For you and my friends. It’s gonna be super hard, but I’ll be fighting.”       “I know, Peter, it makes me madly happy,” Helene replies with a slight smile. “Nice to hear that you decided to fight this time.”       “I didn’t want to die. I was just in despair because of depression caused by the thought that I had no other choice but to die. I thought nobody would help me. But… Now I understand I was deeply wrong…”       “We’ll help you. I’ll do anything for you, Jessica won’t leave you in trouble, and the guys will help you. I think the lads’ girls won’t stay aside. And music will be your good cure.”       “Ah, Helene…” Peter sighs quietly and glances aside. “All of you will help me distract, and music will help me get lost… But… There’s something that makes me upset…”       “What?”       “You see… After that girl deceived me, I got a trauma… I started to be afraid to talk about love. I shake from just one word when I hear it.”       “Peter…”       “But you know how much I wanna love someone… Start to date a good girl, get married, and educate my children… I wanna have a big, friendly family that I’ve never had… I wanna know I won't stay alone in old age… I don’t wanna be a single man, who's had only one girlfriend… That’s not fine, Helene! I don’t almost have any experience with love things… And I’m afraid to screw it up and make a girl disappointed… I’m ashamed… But I don’t wanna stay alone, without a family. Yes, having friends is cool, but they’ll never replace your family or your beloved person.”       “You…” Helene pronounces hesitantly, trying to pretend that these words do not make her upset. “Are you afraid of love? Or a refusal of the girl you could love?”       “Hard to say. It would be madly hurtful to get a refusal from a girl that I’d like. Everybody fears it, though… I’m not alone in this case… But the worst thing for me is being left by my beloved girl. Somehow, I had to survive it, and I don’t wanna feel this disappointment again.”       “But, Peter, just because the girl betrayed you once doesn’t mean absolutely everybody would leave you. You must not ban yourself from loving someone. You should just look for a good person instead of trusting anyone in your way.”       “I tried to make myself sure that life wouldn't stop after that. But sadly, I could not. I was afraid to fall in love and am now.”       “Excuse me, did you love that girl only for her beauty? Did you get a crush on her because she was eternally beautiful?”       “Exactly. Sadly, we often love someone only for their eternal beauty, though, we don’t guess that a heartless demon might be hidden inside the innocent angel. But someone barely thinks of what’s inside someone at the teenage age.”       “It’s true. And you rarely can meet a person with eternal beauty, a sharp mind, and a wonderful character. Something is always stronger.”       “Beauty, brain, and a good character mean much to me in the same way. But after what happened to me, I started to appreciate loyalty, care, honesty, kindness, understanding, and a wish to support you at a hard time much more.”       “I appreciate all the same and would like to meet someone to have these features. The one that would consider me special and love me for what I am. Of course, I don’t think I’m terrible, but I understand I have some shortcomings.”       “No, Helene, I see no shortcomings in you. For the years of our friendship, you’ve shown the best side of yourself.”       “I’ve never been perfect, Pete. Underneath my surface, there’s so much that someone may dislike.”       “Anyway, I feel much happier with you. I’m calm… And… I don’t wanna be cowardly and indecisive… I don’t wanna disappoint you and be a milksop for you.”       “I don’t doubt you could be determined and courageous. I mean, you are the one if you don’t wanna give up and let your enemies break you down. The power is not only about how heavy and tough your hand is, but also the way you can overcome your fears and doubts.”       “I know… And for you, I could do a lot, Helene. If you asked me about something, I’d crush myself but give you what you want.”       “Nice to hear it,” Helene smiles slightly, moving her eyes down for a second. “But sometimes I think… Your words… Have some hints…”       “Erm…” Peter rounds his eyes, getting a little white with a feeling of a fast heartbeat.       “You never say such beautiful things to Jess. Even if she’s also your good friend, who you’ve known for much longer than me. Sometimes I think you… Wanna tell me something. I dunno… Maybe, I’m wrong ‘cause I… Don’t have a psychological education… But something tells me… It’s happening for the reason…”       “You know…” Peter falls into silence for two seconds, looking at the tense Helene closely. “Sometimes I think you also wanna tell me something… You look kind of scared and excited… Honestly… You’ve lately been less relaxed… I didn’t feel it when we just met. But now… You’re definitely nervous…”       “You wanna talk about it?” Helene asks hesitantly.       “And you wanna talk?” Peter also asks hesitantly.       “We aren’t strangers to each other and have never had secrets… I wouldn’t give you any kind of pain, though…”       “I wouldn’t also like to hurt you. But still…” Peter bites his lip slightly. “Let’s talk about it… And agree that even if there’s something that may hurt us, we’ll remain close people…”       “I agree. I shall stay by your side, despite nothing. Whatever you say now, I promise I will not turn my back on you. You were, you are, and you will be my closest person.”       “Okay…”       Helene and Peter get nervous enough because they realize that they will have to find out something very important that might shock them. But the two understand that if they started this talk, they should bring it to an end. Silence settles in the air for two seconds, and then the girl breaks it hesitantly, biting her lip slightly and looking at the man with a scare in her eyes:       “Oh… You’re first… I’ll speak after you…”       “Sure?” Peter asks.       “Yup. Start.”       “I wanna say…” Peter glances at his hands. “It’s… Gonna be hard for me to say it… Still, we should bring the started case to an end if we started it…”       “You’re right…”       “So…” Peter falls into silence for two seconds and looks at Helene hesitantly. “Despite a fear of loving someone and all my attempts to avoid this feeling, it… It found me. And… The more I tried to get rid of this feeling, the more impossible it was. I can’t say how strong it is, but I think it’s far from weak… I loved the girl only for her appearance, but now everything’s otherwise… I like the girl, who is beautiful and smart. She has an amazing character, a big, pure heart, and a clean soul… She is loyal to those she loves and ready to do many things for them… I can call her dignities forever… In short, that’s the girl of my dream…”       Helene swallows up nervously with sadness in her eyes, feeling the pain after Peter’s words about loving someone.       “So…” Helene pronounces hesitantly. “You… You’re in love with someone?”       “Yes…” Peter pronounces quietly. “There’s the girl that would fit me perfectly…”       “And don’t you want to confess it to her, ‘cause you fear the refusal and betrayal?”       “Guessed.” Peter glances at his hands again. “I don’t know how to live with it, but I must do something with it.”       “Peter…”       “I ain’t sure if you’ve ever had a feeling when you get rejected by someone you like.” Peter looks at Helene with much sadder eyes. “But I’d like to believe you could understand me.”       “Of course, I completely understand your feelings,” Helene replies with sadness in her eyes. “I understand what you felt when that girl humiliated you. And how it’s terrible to open your heart to someone. Because you might easily hear something like, ‘sorry, babe, you’re beautiful and good but not my taste.’”       “And the worst thing is that I haven’t been able to get rid of this feeling. Whatever I do. I thought this love would be gone later, but it didn’t leave, but got much stronger. And it’s getting harder to keep my feelings inside.”       “Gosh, are you gonna torture yourself and keep this secret ‘till the end of your life?”       “I have to. A fear of experiencing disappointment is stronger.”       “But, Peter… You won’t get better if you’re hiding it. Nobody will get better, trust me.”       “I will not hide that I’m in love with a girl, but I will never say who she is and tell her about it.”       “And what are you gonna do? What if friends don’t help you get rid of this feeling? And even if you wanna hook up with a girl, it won’t help you.”       “I’m gonna try to accept it and dedicate myself to music. I have a reason to live – the band that will be broken up if I quit it. The guys won’t wish to keep working without me, and I don’t wanna disappoint them. I wanna do what I love. I do it at my wish, not because of a sense of duty to the men.”       “I think you should tell the girl that you like her,” Helene says confidently. “What if you’re lucky, and she doesn’t deceive you? And make you very happy? You don’t know how she would react!”       “Oh, I dunno, Helene…” Peter leans his head back, setting his gaze on the ceiling. “I can’t be sure about it… If not for my past, I would say it quietly. But I’m afraid to do it. My psychological trauma doesn’t let me find the courage.”       “Do you think your friends weren’t worried when confessing their love to their girls?” Helene asks quietly. “They were also nervous and afraid to be left. But everything ended well, and both are living with their second half.”       “They were just lucky,” Peter replies in a depressed voice. “Lucky that they weren’t humiliated as well as I was. To understand what I feel, you should overcome it. And as it never happened to all of you, you’ll never understand me.”       “Oh, Peter, stop thinking… Just come to that girl and say you like her. And then you’ll find out if you have a chance to be happy.”       “No, Helene, I don’t want.”       “I don’t want you to keep torturing yourself. God shall not let you bring yourself to depression and wish to kill yourself again.”       “I’ll take it, don’t worry about me. Because I’ve been living with it for a long time. It’s okay.”       “If you want, I can help you organize a meeting with that girl. Tell me how to find her, so I can explain everything to her.”       “Don’t do…”       “Please, Pete, stop torturing yourself… When you’re released from the hospital, go to her home or ask her about a meeting and confess it.”       “Oh…” Peter sighs quietly and puts his head on the pillow, setting his gaze on the ceiling. “Well, honestly, I don’t have to go far. Because this girl is with me now.”       “That’s great! Then you…” Helene sharply falls into silence and moves her dumbfounded eyes to Peter. “Wait! What? With you? But there is nobody but me in the room!”       “Haven’t you gotten it?” Peter moves his sad eyes to Helene. “That’s you, Helene! I like you like as a girl. Not only as my best friend.”       Helene did not think she would have to hear it someday. No, she is very happy to hear it and is happy like a child is happy with a new toy. But the girl cannot believe her ears and opens her mouth, opening her dumbfounded eyes much wider, getting sharply white and feeling how fast her heart starts beating.       “W-w-what-t?” Helene pronounces in a shaking voice, literally stopping to breathe. “What did you say? That’s… That’s me?”       “Yes,” Peter confirms with sadness in his eyes. “You.”       “No, Peter, please, don’t joke like this! You want me to have a heart attack?”       “No kidding. All this time, I’ve been in love with you. For you, I’ve rejected so many girls, who wanted to speak to me, preventing their attempts to get closer to me. It has to do with my fear of love and my loyalty. Loyalty to you. I was afraid to betray you. And… When I had fun with other girls, being drunk, I was terribly ashamed of you. I… It was super hard for me…”       “My gosh…” Helene shakes her head and grabs her throat with a hand, understanding that it’s hard for her to breathe because of the excitement and feeling a slight shake in her body. “Damn… Sorry… It’s hard for me to breathe…”       “I was afraid to tell you about it because I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. I’ve always felt good with you. And I didn’t want to be deprived of everything you’ve been giving me.”       “But wait, wait…” Helene pronounces hesitantly, pulling the collar of her shirt. “When did you start to realize that… You liked me?”       “Somewhere one and a half years ago, if I’m not mistaken,” Peter replies thoughtfully. “But honestly, I… Got a crush on you immediately… I thought you were very cute…”       “And were you silent all this time? Gosh! I can’t believe you were hiding it! For so long! One and a half years!”       “You know the answer,” Peter replies gloomily. “Because of the teenage memories, insecurity, and the fear of being rejected.”       “Just don’t say you tried to kill yourself because of me,” Helene says with pity in his eyes.       “Not because of you, Helene. Because of my feelings for you. You aren’t guilty that it happened. You hardly guessed it, ‘cause I tried to be just a friend. But now you know the truth.”       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Helene thinks about something with sadness in her eyes, trying to accept what she just heard. But then the girl breaks it, while Peter does not know if he did the right thing by confessing his sympathy for her:       “You know, Peter… I…” Helene looks at Peter confidently, raising her head and smiling slightly. “It’s easy for me to understand you! Yes! Because I’m experiencing the same. I’m also in love with one man… For a long time…”       “Really?” Peter gets tense, opening his eyes widely.       “Yes, but I’ve been afraid to tell him about it because of the fear that he’d reject me. Because of him, I don’t even look at other men, even if everybody to know me insists that I do it. Especially Grandma, who will literally start looking for a boyfriend for me and is terribly nervous that I’m still single.”       “And as I understand, are you ready to make Mrs. Marshall happy?”       “Yes…”       “Do it then,” Peter shrugs, locking his fingers tightly. “If you’re sure about your feelings, do it. Meet that man and say… You love him… Maybe, you’d start dating him, and your grandmother wouldn't be so worried.”       Helene says nothing for two seconds and smiles at Peter slightly, deciding to tell him about her feelings without fear and not thinking about what it might lead to:       “I shouldn’t go too far. Because that man is you, Peter. Now I can confidently say it. Confess that you’re not just a friend to me, but also something more. That I don’t wanna lose.”       Peter opens his eyes widely, getting sharply white and starting to breathe much heavier with the thought that he cannot be so lucky.       “Me?” Peter wonders in a shaking voice. “Me? You l-like me?”       “I like,” Helene smiles slightly. “Many men paid attention to me, but I didn’t care about them ‘cause I thought only of you. The one I love as a man. Even if someone brought an eternally handsome guy to me, I wouldn’t even try to speak to him.”       “I don’t believe it…” Peter shakes his head. “I don’t believe you’re telling me the truth! It’s a lie! You wanna mock me! Play a cruel joke with me!”       “It’s the truth, Peter, I swear,” Helene says with pity in her eyes. “You can’t even imagine how I suffered because I couldn’t confess what I felt for you. I saw you were shamelessly rejecting all girls and giving them no chance. I was afraid it would happen to me. And I… It would be madly hard for me to take it… Although I’m not so sensitive, there are things that I wouldn’t take.”       “Please, Helene, don’t make me feel worse, I’m begging you. I won’t survive another betrayal. Especially, the one, who means the whole world to me.”       “I’ll never play with the feelings of someone, especially when the case is about love,” Helene says confidently. “Only the one to have no shame and conscience can do it. But I do have them. If I do something wrong and hurt someone, I always regret it and apologize. I swear, I’m not like the girl, who did that thing to you.”       “I can’t be sure you aren’t lying to me. You’ve never had a bad thought about me, but I can’t trust you due to that situation. Now, when you said about it… A talk about love is very painful to me and gives me strong pain.”       “I completely understand you, but I swear on everything in the world that my words are the clean truth. I swear on Grandpa Roger’s grave! Please, trust me. You know I’ve never deceived you or done a bad thing to you. I didn’t wanna say it, but because you said you loved me, I could confess it, as well.”       “And…” Peter pronounces hesitantly, moving his eyes aside for a second. “How long ago did you realize it? Well… I mean… When did you realize you got feelings for me?”       “About one and a half years ago.”       “Just like me?”       “It seems like.”       “And does someone know it?”       “Somehow, I talked to Jess about it. She spent a lot of time torturing me with questions about what feelings I had for you. And I said that I only had friendly ones. But Taylor didn’t believe me. But when that girl started to annoy me, I gave up and told her the truth.”       “You say, Jess…” Peter nods with a mysterious smile. “But does she know about me?”       “She didn’t notice anything like that about you.”       “Still, I bet that she got out to leave us alone on purpose. I don’t doubt that Taylor agreed with Terrence and Daniel. These two got out of here as fast as bullets when you two came here. And not to cause suspicions, that girl decided to leave later.”       “No, Peter, it’s not true. Daniel and Terrence left because your doctor said only two people were allowed to be in your room. Lewis said it to us when we were gonna visit you.”       “Well, okay, let’s think they didn’t agree with her.”       “But my friend wanted to leave us alone. Nobody called her, and she left, so you and I confessed our feelings.”       “I don’t doubt it.”       “Oh, Jess…” Helene chuckles quietly. “She’s a sly fox… She won’t calm down until she gets what she wants…”       “You know…” Peter smiles mysteriously, putting a finger on his lip. “I’m grateful to that sly fox for leaving us alone. Because I would’ve hardly found the courage to say it.”       “You’re right… I would’ve also never found the courage to do it. But that girl chose a very good moment, I must confess…”       “Well… Of course, the confession of sympathy in a hospital room, lying on the bed with bandaged hands, is not what I dreamed about. But it’s better than nothing…”       “And now I hope you’ll be much happier.”       “I will,” Peter replies with a slight smile. “From now on, your old, familiar Peter Rose will not be gone. Maybe, he will even get much happier and better to some extent. Stop cutting himself, falling into depression, and making people worry about him.”       “It would be wonderful,” Helene replies with a slight smile. “I’d like to know you don’t pretend to be happy and sanguine, but you’re really the one.”       “I want the same.” Peter takes Helene’s hand a little hesitantly and squeezes it in his hand, while she shakes slightly in surprise and stops breathing for two seconds. “And I truly hope you’ll help me.”       “With pleasure.” Helene puts a free hand on Peter’s shoulder and caresses it shyly. “You may not doubt it.”       Peter smiles shyly at Helene, who answers him back and notices that there is finally life in his eyes. After hesitating a little, the man takes the girl in a tender and deeper hug. She hugs him as tenderly and touchingly as he does, sniffing quietly with half-wet eyes, and caresses softly the back of the blond’s head, while his fingers that she feels in her hair. They spend a few seconds in absolute silence that may be broken by people’s voices in the hall or the sounds of machines that ring far or near. Then Helene steps back from Peter, shyly smiles at him, and keeps her gaze on his eyes for a long time. None of them rushes to break the hug and gets confused because their faces are at a close distance. Peter and Helene look at each other hesitantly, examining some parts of their faces and sometimes moving their looks down or aside. They literally forget how to breathe and understand that their hearts stop, and their bodies get covered with goosebumps. Because of some fear, their hands get sweaty, their throats get sharply dry, and their hearts are about to jump out of their chests.       Nevertheless, none of them wants to step away from each other. They understand what might happen, but they do not try to prevent it. People and sounds around them stop existing. The brain starts turning off slowly and literally insists that it’s time to make one of their little wishes come true. Helene and Peter do not resist the affection and look into each other’s eyes closely with a tender smile with a wish to open the window and ventilate such a hot room. They have to give a damn about their fears and doubts when the tips of their noses contact slightly. That’s why the nice warmth spreads all over the body. And the close look into each other’s eyes makes their hearts beat much faster.       At some moment, Peter or Helene slowly bring their faces to one another and let their shaking, open lips contact slightly, and do it several times a little hesitantly, feeling a little squeezed but quiet enough. And when they feel more confident and see that they do not mind this turn of events, the man and the girl get each other involved in a hesitant but touching and tender kiss. Helene puts her hands on Peter’s shoulders hesitantly and then squeezes his biceps, which are not as big as before but still tough to touch. And he hugs the girl by the shoulder with one hand and holds her by the back of her head with a free hand. At some moment, they hesitantly start doing something to each other’s hair, hold the face with one or two hands, or caress the cheeks, silently rejoicing like little children and not believing it’s really happening.       Some time later, the door of the room opens sharply, and Daniel crosses the doorstep, not noticing what’s happening because he is checking something on his phone. And even when the man runs into the blond’s room, he does not move his eyes off the screen and jabs very quickly:       “Peter! I need…”       Daniel moves his eyes off the phone, glances at Peter, and opens his mouth widely when seeing his buddy kissing Helene. Because of the surprise, the man nearly lets his phone fall on the floor and swears silently, setting his widely open eyes on the couple that does not notice him. However, Daniel comes to himself quickly and finds the courage to say:       “Oops! S-sorry… I won’t bother you… Erm… You can think I went to the wrong room…”       Daniel quickly gets out of the room and closes the door, being shocked by what he saw. And two seconds later, Peter and Helene break the kiss and laugh shyly.       “Oops, that was awkward!” Helene exclaims with an innocent smile.       “Good boy, Daniel, you did a very good thing,” Peter chuckles quietly. “Otherwise, you would’ve had problems.”       “I hope he wouldn’t bring MacClife and Taylor here.”       “You care about it?”       “Me? Not at all!”       “That’s wonderful!”       Peter connects his lips with Helene’s ones more confidently, putting one hand on her cheek and another on the back of her head. The girl answers it back with pleasure, holding him by the forearms and putting a free hand on his chest, through which she can feel the man’s fast heartbeat. But a few seconds later, Helene and Peter decide to step away, holding each other by the elbows and showing their wide, true smiles. There are blushes on their faces that are especially seen on the white face of Peter. Who felt truly happy for the first time in a while. Just like Helene, on whose tanned skin they are shown not so brightly. The girl and the man just look at each other for the first few seconds, sharing a smile and a tender look and holding each other’s hands. But some time later, the brunette breaks it shyly as she shrugs with an innocent smile but still looking into the blond’s eyes:       “We’ve been caught… And we’re gonna be attacked with questions about what we were doing.”       “They can do what they want,” Peter replies in a soft, quiet voice. “I don’t wanna hide anything from them anymore.”       “I… Was madly scared to do that. But as they say… A risk is a noble thing.”       “And…” Peter glances down for a second and looks at Helene hesitantly, biting his lip slightly. “I hope I… Didn’t screw it?”       “Not at all,” Helene shakes her head with a wide smile and caresses Peter’s cheeks tenderly. “I really liked it. I felt really great. And I’d repeat that again with pleasure.”       “Me too… Moreover…” Peter laughs shyly. “You smell very nice… I don’t know what, but I really like it…”       “And you smell a hospital and cures,” Helene chuckles kindly.       “Yeah…”       “But I don’t care about it… Moreover, for the warmth that you give me, I’d do anything.”       “Nice to hear it.” Peter starts moving his eyes aside shyly at times. “And… If it happened… We could try… To get a little closer to each other. If you don’t mind it, of course.”       “Of course, not! If I got a chance, I ain’t gonna miss it. I was waiting for this moment for too long to refuse it so easily.”       “Me too. And I don’t regret what happened.”       Helene smiles much wider and looks down shyly, while Peter looks at her with tenderness and thankfulness. At some moment, the man softly caresses the girl’s cheek, enjoying her velvety skin. She smiles shyly and runs her hand through the man’s wheat-blond, little greasy hair, looking into his amber eyes that finally got happiness. Then Peter smiles shyly and takes Helene in a tender, touching hug, starting to run his hands over her back and putting his nose in her shoulder, which he kisses cutely at some moment. None of them suspects that Daniel has been watching them all this time, keeping his arms crossed over his chest. Seeing that Peter finally looks happy, Perkins smiles shyly, silently thanking Marshall for literally breathing into Rose and bringing him back to the people, who did not want to lose so badly.       

***

      Terrence just left the cafeteria and is now slowly going down the halls of the hospital all alone, and checking something on his phone. But when he ends up on the second floor, the man decides to look around and sees Jessica walking for nothing with her arms crossed over her chest. Terrence puts his phone in his pocket and goes to her, and she turns on him when she notices him.       “Where’s Daniel?” Jessica asks. “I thought you were with him!”       “Melted in the air,” Terrence shrugs. “We were together, but then we lost each other.”       “He’s probably somewhere here. I dunno… Went to the restroom, for example…”       “I don’t know… Anyway, he isn’t a little boy and won’t get lost.”       Silence settles in the air, during which Terrence looks at the whole hall and notices a few doctors going by him with folders in their hands. And then the man frowns slightly and glances at Jessica.       “Hey, what are you doing here?” Terrence asks. “Why’s Helene not with you?”       “I left her in the room of Peter,” Jessica replies. “They have something to talk about.”       “Should I tell you what happened to him? Or do you know everything?”       “I know. Helene and I heard a part of the talk of you, Daniel, and Peter. And the blond also told us some details.”       “Yeah, I wouldn’t have imagined he had such a hard life,” Terrence exhales with sadness in his eyes. “Honestly, I was overwhelmed when I heard his story.”       “Oh…” Jessica sighs heavily. “I couldn’t imagine everything would be so hard… And I’m starting to wonder why people, who differ from everyone, often get bullied and considered outsiders. Is being different from everyone bad? I don’t get it…”       “It’s always happened: weak people never survive among strong people. They’ve gotta become the same. When you’re with people, you must be ready to stand by yourself.”       “And the worst thing is that when one person rules a whole nerd, protesting against who would be your greatest mistake.”       “Everybody has their leaders, kings, queens, and captains.”       “The girl, who humiliated Peter, ruled the whole school. The one to dare to go against her became an enemy of her fellows. Only fewer people could show her where she belonged and let her know that she and her dogs wouldn’t better hurt them.”       “Was she really so beautiful that all the boys fell in love with her?”       “Yes, she was very beautiful but never had brains. Though, boys didn’t care ‘cause everybody had a crush on her appearance. She was terribly afraid to get fat and literally got everybody exhausted with talks about diets and losing weight. She panicked when she gained at least one gram.”       “And as I understand, did she study poorly?”       “She didn’t study well. But our teachers didn’t almost bother her because of her rich parents. They often helped it financially. They were someone like sponsors… The teachers often made that gal get up and proudly said that her mother and father bought something for school or did something else.”       “Didn’t they buy good scores for her?”       “No, they didn’t buy a perfect certificate, as far as I know. Nobody cared about her studies, mainly because of what her parents were doing for school.”       “Okay…” Terrence falls into silence for two seconds. “So sorry Peter became a victim of this situation… It’s hurt that he was made something to beat for nothing.”       “Yeah… One madam told everybody who to love and who to hate. And those dogs listened to her. They never had their own opinion! Or they were so afraid that the whore could make their life worse that they had to do it.”       “And the worst thing is that nobody tried to do anything. Nobody even tried to protect Peter or help him somehow. I don’t understand how they could treat someone to get bullied by literally the whole school.”       “Ah, Terrence, I don’t also understand this heartlessness…” Jessica replies quietly. “Peter has always been a normal guy. He is not ill, he’s not ugly, he’s not deprived of brains, and he has his opinion… Nobody wanted to show at least some sympathy for him.”       “I’m so sorry for him… He didn’t deserve all of that…”       “I hope all those dogs…”       Jessica does not finish her thought because the excited Daniel runs to Terrence and her from nowhere with a phone in his hands.       “Damn, there you are!” Daniel exclaims. “I was looking for you everywhere! I wanna tell you something!”       “Daniel, where were brought?” Terrence resents, looking at Daniel gloomily and crossing his arms over his chest. “What kind of ability to disappear right in front of my nose?”       “Oh, c’mon, I left for two minutes, but you got excited…”       “Yeah, could you warn me about it?”       “Listen, MacClife, don’t get excited, please. If you get better, I went to the restroom at first, and then George called me and said he wouldn’t come today.”       “Wouldn’t come?”       “He’ll come tomorrow. He said he had some important business that he couldn’t delay.”       “Okay, tomorrow then.”       “And yeah…” Daniel smiles mysteriously. “That’s not all. I have something to tell you.”       “Really? Speak!”       “Ah, guys…” Daniel pronounces and starts to work his hands actively. “You can’t imagine what I just saw! I saw something that got me overwhelmed! That’s just a bomb!”       “So, Perkins, did ya see aliens?” Terrence chuckles. “Or something cooler?”       “If I do, I’ll give them a greeting from you and ask them to visit you,” Daniel shakes his head with a chuckle.       “But what happened? Why are you so excited, as if you saw something that scared you to death?”       “It didn’t scare me, it got me surprised.”       “So, did ya confuse the doors, see someone’s blood, and almost pass out?”       “Very funny, idiot!” Daniel throws gloomily, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. “You decided to remind me of that over and over?”       “So, why else could you be so dumbfounded? Only at the sight of blood! Or your potential father-in-law with a bat in his hands.”       “Close your mouth, Terrence. Otherwise, I will no longer let you come to the instruments in my garage! Make you bring yours! And hide all of mine from you! So, you don’t dare to touch them!”       “Hey, hey, don’t get excited, man!” Terrence raises his hands up. “I joked! I must say nothing!”       “Your jokes have lately been especially stupid.”       “Okay, relax, tough guy, it’s okay.”       Daniel says nothing and just hums quietly, keeping his arms crossed over his chest and looking at the whole hall.       “Erm, excuse me, Daniel, what did you see, if it’s not a secret?” Jessica asks carefully. “If you’re so excited, that’s something serious.”       “Oh, yeah…” Daniel smiles widely. “I saw something very interesting… You just can’t imagine what! SUCH a thing is happening there!”       “Listen, dude, stop pulling a cat’s tail and explain what happened clearly,” Terrence crosses his arms over his chest, rolling his eyes.       “And what do you mean, ‘such a thing is happening there?’” Jessica frowns slightly.       “I mean, something is happening in Peter's room,” Daniel specifies.       “Something bad?”       “No, vice versa! Very good! You won’t believe it, but Peter is kissing Helene right now.”       Terrence and Jessica glance at each other and look at Daniel surprisingly.       “What?” Terrence and Jessica open their eyes widely.       “Kissing?” Jessica asks loudly.       “Aha, I think we know who the blond has been not indifferent to all this time,” Daniel smiles mysteriously. “That’s Helene! Because of her, he refused to meet girls!”       “Wait, are you sure they’re kissing there?” Terrence asks.       “I do swear! I saw it! With my own eyes!” Daniel points two fingers at his eyes. “Now we know who he was afraid to tell about his love.”       “And did you see everything from start to end?”       “No, not everything. I just decided to go to Pete’s room and tell him that George wouldn’t come here, but he asked me to tell him to get well soon. But he was kissing Helene. With great pleasure! They didn’t mind it at all.”       “Wow!” Jessica smiles slightly. “So, the blond also got a crush on Marshall!”       “Yeah, what a twist,” Terrence strokes his chin. “Of course, we all saw that Helene was worried about Peter too much to be his friend. But I didn’t think it would end well. I thought Rose and Marshall would keep being silent.”       “I did tell you that she was secretly not indifferent to Pete,” Jessica says confidently. “My intuition didn’t betray me.”       “And Rose always smiled cutely when talking about her for a reason,” Daniel adds.       “Right!” Jessica puts a finger on her lip. “And I believe they confessed their love to each other and realized that their feelings were very mutual.”       “It seems like you left them alone for the reason. Because an idyll is happening in the room… Cute gazes, caresses, hugs… M-m-m… I watched them a little… Got tender feelings and got happy for the blond. He’s freaking happy now!”       “Listen, guys, I don’t know what about you, but I wanna watch it so badly,” Terrence says cheerfully. “See what’s happening in the room, while we weren’t there.”       “The guys aren’t gonna be happy if we get them caught and don’t let them enjoy these incredible minutes.”       “Huh, they got you caught when you went to the room and saw that scene,” Terrence chuckles kindly. “And I’m gonna be very unhappy if you put your curious nose in there again.”       “I saw that cute scene accidentally! How did I know those two would wish to kiss? I cannot foresee the future!”       “Indeed, guys, let’s watch them?” Jessica suggests with a slight smile. “At least from far! I do wanna watch Marshall, who smiles in super rare cases. But who’s finally able to make her grandmother happy, who’s wanted Rose to be the boyfriend of her granddaughter.”       “Let’s come to the room and watch them through the window,” Terrence suggests. “And when they’re sick of being cute, we’ll come to them and make them explain it all.”       “C’mon, c’mon! I wanna see that!”       “Oh, fucking spies…” Daniel blunts under his nose.       Jessica and Terrence go to the room that is near the place where they were talking, while Daniel follows them behind. Later, the three come to the window of Peter’s room, which is half covered and full of some things.       “So what?” Terrence asks quietly, while Jessica is trying to see something through the open part of the window. “What ya see?”       “They aren’t kissing,” Jessica says, squinting slightly. “But they’re sitting on the bed, hugging and talking about something. Smiling very cutely… Rose’s stroking Marshall’s hair, and she’s holding his hand…”       “So, is there no hint for a kiss?”       “I don’t see it. But they look so happy, as if they had something. They’re kind of blushed and have disheveled hair.”       “They’ve already kissed,” Daniel notices.       “Listen, they’re cooing so cutely there,” Jessica smiles widely. “I guess they’re as happy as little children ‘cause they’ve finally opened to each other.”       “And how happy we are! We can be happy for Pete, ‘cause he has a chance to get a very cute girlfriend.”       “Yeah, it seems like we’re gonna have another cute couple soon,” Terrence assumes with a wide smile. “These lovebirds look so good with each other. I’ll be very happy if something happened.”       “I was right when telling the blond to pay attention to Helene,” Daniel says confidently. “Of course, I didn’t almost remember her when meeting her for the first time, but I liked her. So, he listened to me.”       “And I was right when I told Helene to pay attention to Pete,” Jessica confesses. “And her grandmother has good taste. She knows everything about cool guys. Mrs. Marshall began to match her granddaughter to Rose after Helene introduced her to him. She wanted them to be together, ‘cause she’s literally in love with that guy.”       “I guess her dream came true,” Terrence says thoughtfully, carefully trying to watch what’s happening in the room through the half-open window. “As well as ours.”       “Uh, I do feel, guys, we’re gonna thank Helene for getting Peter outta depression and wishing to make him happy soon,” Daniel assumes thoughtfully.       “We must thank Helene anyway. Because she saved Peter by giving off her blood for him and being next to him after he got an infection.”       “No matter how much I wanna argue with you, I can’t do it. Because you’re right. But I get the itch to do a bad thing to you.”       “If you do it, you’ll get an instant answer that will make you happy,” Terrence promises quietly with a sly smile. “I’ll kick your ass so hard that you’ll be afraid to mess up with me.”       “Better kick the ass of your brother. That kid went loose and is doing very bad things.”       “Well, he’s gonna get his kicks out of the line. Do you think i’ll leave that creature unpunished? No, buddy, my beloved little brother is gonna walk on his toes and do everything I tell him.”       “I do know you’re our vengeful guy that nobody should mess up with,” Daniel says with a chuckle. “That’s why I try to do it as rarely as possible. I can expect anything from you.”       “Just don’t make me a monster! I’m not the one!”       “Oh, I'm not the one, I’m not the one. Don’t pretend to be innocent. We know you’re sly. Know what a showoff you are.”       “Say it to yourself, my dear friend. So to say, remind yourself not to show up too hard.”       “Huh, do you think you’re the only one to go with a puffy peacock tail?” Daniel chuckles. “No, I will not let you sit on a throne like a king and wear a crown. Which has crushed all the chandeliers, walls, and ceilings.”       “You’re talking too much, Perkins. Not for a business.”       “As if your words have something important.”       Terrence gives Daniel a clap on the head, while his friend just chuckles quietly, avoids another one, and strokes his hair down. They carefully watch what’s happening in the room for a few seconds, but then they have to step away from the room because Helene notices them after she glances at the window and lets Peter know that someone is watching them. And because the door of the room is half-open, Daniel, Jessica, and Terrence may hear the blond’s loud voice:       “Daniel, stop staring at us. You can come in, the green light is up! Terrence, you, too! Bring your asses here!”       Helene’s voice pronounces shortly after this:       “Jess, you can come in, too! Stop staring at us along with these two!”       After looking at each other, Jessica enters the room, and then Daniel and Terrence follow her, laughing quietly. They see Peter keeping his arm around Helene’s neck and the girl, who is holding his hand. Both of them look smug and happy and smile slightly, as they look at the people, who enter the room and open their mouths slightly.       “What a fucking twist!” Jessica exclaims loudly.       “Hey, friends, I don’t understand…” Daniel pronounces, shaking his head with a wide smile and pointing at Helene and Peter sitting on the bed. “How do we get it?”       “You think there’s a meaning in it?” Helene rounds her eyes with an innocent smile.       “Yay, dude, you saw everything well,” Peter replies with a slight smile. “Do we have to say something to you?”       “At least confirm that my eyes didn’t lie to me.” Daniel throws his hands up and points at Jessica and Terrence. “These two don’t believe me!”       “They didn’t lie, my friend, didn’t lie.”       “You know, as you two are sitting happy and blushed, we can believe Perkins,” Jessica says thoughtfully.       “But we were shocked when this creature ran to us and said he saw you kissing here with his widely open eyes,” Terrence adds.       “And yeah, he did a very good thing when he got outta here,” Peter smiles mysteriously. “I think it’s one of the fewer right things that he's done in his life.”       “Huh, got out?” Terrence chuckles loudly. “Not the heck at all! Dan was watching you for some time, while you were cooing!”       “I saw this smug face at that window.” Peter points at the half-closed window in front of him. “Naive… He thought nobody saw him!”       “Damn, I thought you were swimming in love and tenderness!” Daniel claps his hands. “I thought I’d watch the guys quietly, get tender feelings… But no, the blond head got me caught!”       “Sorry, dude, but you’re a worthless spy,” Peter chuckles. “As well as a cooker, mathematic, sportsman…”       “Huh, okay then!” Daniel proudly raises his head. “But I’m a madly talented guitarist, wonderful singer, and perfect lover!”       “Yeah, the only thing you can do is play guitar,” Terrence replies with a chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest. “Though, you will never reach my level.”       “Oh, yeah, nobody can praise themselves better than you. And not everybody can stand and not fall, wearing such a heavy crown on their head.”       “Don’t try to repeat – it’s dangerous for life. At least, for yours.”       “You don’t try to ask for trouble. Otherwise, you’ll get a very hard hit on your gorgeous head.”       “It would change nothing.”       “Oh, okay, Terrence, shut up at least for a while!” Daniel waves a hand sharply. “You’ve gotten me exhausted for the time I’ve had to spend with you.”       “Gosh, Terrence, Peter, leave Daniel alone!” Helene moans tiredly. “Why are you mocking him?”       “Me?” Peter points at himself, rounding his eyes. “Huh! I don’t need him!”       “He always starts it!” Daniel exclaims, pointing at Terrence standing next to him. “I’m standing quietly, but he wanna say some peals that make nobody laugh.”       “Oh, c’mon!” Terrence chuckles. “Your jokes haven’t been actual for ages! And your generator of jokes got crushed!”       “Generator got crushed,” Daniel teases, showing some funny faces. “Blah-blah-blah!”       Terrence wants to say something, but decides to be silent and just claps Daniel on the back of his head. Then he gets a clap on the head from his laughing friend. Meanwhile, Peter watches them and laughs shyly, and Helene and Jessica shake their heads and roll their eyes. Only a few seconds later, the guys calm down a little and stroke their hair down.       “Hey, you could come in the room earlier,” Peter says thoughtfully. “Instead of spying on us with the thought that nobody would see you. We were doing nothing bad here.”       “We just let you finish your business,” Jessica shrugs with a slight smile, comes to Peter, and claps him on the shoulder. “How we could bother two cute people, seeing the smiles of who is priceless!”       “Listen, you, sly foxes, was it an agreement?” Helene asks. “Did you agree with each other? At first, Terrence and Daniel left, and then Jess found a reason to go away.”       “Aha,” Peter agrees. “We don’t doubt that nobody called Taylor. And if someone had done it, she would’ve surely forgotten to recall ‘cause she’s suffered from holes in her memory since childhood. She can easily forget the easiest things and often loses something outside.”       “No, we agreed about nothing!” Terrence exclaims. “Daniel and I left ‘cause we wanted to drink water, and Lewis warned us that only two people were allowed to be in the room.”       “Right, and there are four people now,” Daniel notices thoughtfully and scratches the back of his head. “Yeah, guys… I bet that Lewis doesn’t caress our heads…”       “Oh, I forgot about it,” Jessica smiles innocently. “Though, I can’t remember what he actually talked about.”       “I said she had holes in her memory,” Peter throws his hands up. “She can’t remember what she did two hours ago!”       “Oh, oh, you better shut up!” Jessica rolls her eyes. “Marshall did already annoy me with her jokes about it, but now you do it, Rose!”       “Sorry, friend, but I see no meaning to deny that you’re starting to be like an old, forgetful woman. If it’s happening to you now, I’m afraid to imagine what will happen when it’s your time to retire.”       “You’re an old woman!” Jessica exclaims loudly and claps Peter on the back of his head. “Go to hell, idiot!”       “But he’s right, Taylor,” Helene smiles innocently, putting her arms around Peter’s neck and putting her head on his shoulder. “Soon, you’re gonna have to record everything you do. Or find someone to make sure you forget nothing.”       “Okay, a sweet couple agreed! I shouldn't have introduced you to each other!”       “But we can say that Jessica agreed with us about nothing,” Terrence says confidently. “She was walking down the hall when I met her. And then Daniel was pleased to come to us after disappearing right in front of me.”       “Disappeared to come here and look what we were doing,” Helene smiles slyly.       “Actually, I wanted to tell Peter something,” Daniel confesses.       “Trying to make us sure that it wasn’t an excuse to watch Helene and me?” Peter chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest.       “No, I swear I didn’t know what you were doing! How could I know you’d love to kiss?”       “Okay… But what happened? What piece of important news made you run into the room like a hurricane?”       “Actually, nothing important…” Daniel scratches the back of his head and strokes his hair down on the top of his head. “I just received a call from George and was asked to tell you he wouldn’t come today.”       “So, should I not expect him?”       “He said he’d come tomorrow. And he wished you to get well.”       “I see…” Peter glances at his hands folded in front of him for two seconds and looks at Daniel with sadness in his eyes. “Is he mad at me?”       “No, he is not now. When Terrence and I told him what happened to you, George felt truly sorry for you. Smith confessed that he thought you didn’t allegedly wanna work. And he changed his mind about you, Terrence, and me. Since we’ve said, that man apologized to us and recognized that he was unfair.”       “And did you do it at your wish?”       “We knew we couldn’t hide it.”       “And we told him about it earlier than we got ready,” Terrence confesses. “The next day after your suicide attempt, we were in the hospital, found out that Helene could give off blood for you, said goodbye to her, and were gonna leave. But then George called me and told us to come to the agency, where he started a scandal at first.”       “So, did he find that out?” Peter frowns slightly.       “Yes, from a magazine that he gave us to read. They wrote about what happened. Something was true, and something was rumors and guesses. And there even were photos that someone posted on the Internet, saying you were in them.”       “Photos?”       “There were Terrence, you, and me in them…” Daniel says hesitantly. “Along with doctors, with whom we came to the hospital… The photos weren’t very clear, but we could be easily recognized.”       “Yes,” Terrence confirms. “I saw them in the morning of the same day.”       “And I did it somewhere two hours before going to the hospital. I saw the article in a magazine that my girlfriend read.”       “Okay…” Peter nods. “I’m glad George got it all. And honestly, that’s good he won’t come.”       Peter leans his head back for two seconds.       “I have no strength to tell the full story again. It was super hard for me. But I knew I should’ve made things clear.”       “We understand it, buddy,” Jessica says softly. “But the important thing is that you told us everything and made the situation clear. Now we know what we can say and what we cannot.”       “Don’t filter your words. Say anything you want.”       “Nevertheless, we’ll watch our mouths better.”       “And we’ll not leave you alone,” Helene adds softly.       “And we’d like to see you and Helene together. In my opinion, you look cute together.”       “Anything’s possible,” Peter smiles mysteriously.       “Yeah, Marshall! I did tell you that there was such a handsome guy near you all this time. But you didn’t notice it. I mean, you pretended that you didn’t notice. You weren’t actually indifferent to him and rejected all men for this reason.”       “And did you leave the room to make Pete and me talk about it?” Helene asks with a chuckle.       “And I don’t regret it. Your smug faces and happy smiles are worth a lot. But if I hadn’t given you a kick on your asses, you would’ve been silent that you went crazy for each other.”       “So, blonde, congratulations, your mission has been completed,” Peter replies cheerfully.       “Oh, yeah, I’m so proud of me,” Jessica rolls her eyes. “But I’m sorry that I didn’t realize that you weren’t indifferent to this beauty earlier. Even if I heard all your touching words about her and saw the way you treated her. I would’ve matched you together a long time ago. And Mrs. Marshall would’ve started to dream of her granddaughter’s wedding and the birth of children.”       “Jess, you’ve got a very long tongue,” Helene replies shyly and smiles slyly. “And you’re as sly as a fox!”       “Is this how you thank me for letting your tender heart calm down?”       “Oh, my gosh, who I messed up with…” Helene rolls her eyes.       “Look, guys, how happy she is!” Jessica exclaims, coming to Daniel and Terrence and clapping them on the shoulder. “Memorize these faces because seeing this happiness and such wide smiles is a rare thing. And pay attention to this blond-haired creature.”       “Listen, guys, life is getting better,” Terrence notices cheerfully. “Better and better!”       “Oh, yeah, I feel that the sun starts shining brightly above our heads,” Peter agrees cheerfully.       “Yes, yes, Rose, keep thinking in this way,” Daniel encourages cheerfully. “Now you must get rid of your depressive thoughts.”       “You’re right, dude,” Peter agrees, putting his arms around Helene’s neck and pressing her closer to himself, while she smiles shyly and caresses his bandaged wrists tenderly. “Now I have no reason to suffer… I should only wean myself away from a bad habit.”       “No more blade!” Daniel threatens with a finger. “Don’t dare to cut yourself again! And remember, those idiots are not the reason to kill yourself. May the past stay in the past. And you must live in the present and think of the future, which will have no place for those dogs.”       “Nice words, buddy,” Terrence agrees confidently. “Let’s accept what happened to us and get some experience that we’ll need in the future. What happens to us happens for the best in many cases.”       “I support you completely,” Helene replies cheerfully.       “So, let’s try to think about what happened to Pete not to make him much more worried,” Jessica suggests shyly.       “Aha, let’s talk about our potential couple,” Daniel smiles mysteriously. “And cute moments that we’re gonna watch almost every day.”       “Daniel!” Peter and Helene pronounce at the same time.       Daniel raises his hands with a quiet chuckle, and the others start laughing quietly. And a few seconds, someone knocks at the door, making everybody fall into silence and get frozen and making Helene step away from Peter, who lets her go, and Lewis enters the room with a gray folder in his hands.       “Excuse me, I will bother you a little,” Lewis says quietly and closes the door.       “Oh, Mr. Todd,” Terrence pronounces amazingly. “Hello again.”       “Hello, hello. I see everything is fine here. I heard you laughing when I was coming to the room.”       “As you see, the atmosphere is wonderful,” Jessica shrugs with a shy smile.       “Very good,” Lewis comes to the bed and starts examining Peter’s wrists. “So what, Mr. Rose, how do you feel? Do you complain about something?”       “No, everything is fine,” Peter replies thoughtfully. “Just like in the morning – a little weakness. Well… Maybe, my brains work poorly… And my hands barely obey me.”       “It’s not amazing. Your organism experienced strong stress. And you should work your hands and legs. You were motionless for a long time, and your muscles atrophied. But if you try hard, you will be able to walk and work with your hands in a few days.”       “When I do, I will do.”       “Alright then.” Lewis takes a flashlight from a pocket on his hospital robe and checks Peter’s pupil response. “By the way, I see your mood got much better. You were indifferent to everything and did not talk to me this morning. And you even started to smile.”       “Many things changed since that time.”       “I hope it’s for the positive.”       “Sure.”       “Glad to hear it,” Lewis nods, saying something under his nose, takes a pen from a pocket, and writes something on a piece of paper that he takes from the folder lying on the table. “By the way, your friends were worried about you. Especially Ms. Marshall. I would say that she was worried about you much more.”       “Yes, I got it,” Peter replies with a slight smile. “It’s nice to know someone cares about me.”       “You have such a good support team, but you decided to kill yourself. And the people are so good and trustful.”       “Yes, it was a little egoistic. But I’m madly grateful to them for saving me and promising not to leave along with my problems. I feel I owe them and will try not to do that anymore.”       “So, as I see, you understood that you’d never get better if you were silent about your problems.”       “Yes, I need my friends’ help to solve my problems.”       “And they will help you, don’t worry.”       “And I promise I will no longer touch a blade and harm myself consciously.”       “Well… Promise or not, I will prescribe some tablets. If you feel you are about to have a nervous breakdown, just take one tablet. It’s nothing special, just a sedative that gets you rid of tension and helps you relax.”       “Alright, thanks.”       “And if you feel very bad, make an appointment with a psychologist. And while you are in the hospital, you can talk to me. I have two high educations, and I’m a psychologist thanks to one of them. If a patient wants to talk, I listen to them with pleasure and give them advice. And I shall help you if you wish to tell me something.”       “Thanks, doctor, but I told my friends everything I wanted to say. My story was long enough. But I got much better after I told everything.”       “That’s good, Mr. Rose, that’s good.” Lewis stops recording something and glances at Peter folding his hands in front of him and fingering over.       “Yeah, your friend said you played in the band along with them,” Lewis says thoughtfully.       “Yes, I play drums,” Peter shrugs.       “And you know, young man… I have a sixteen-year-old daughter, who loves your band so much. She got a love for it after being at one of your shows. You were performing as the opening act…”       “Really?” Peter rounds his eyes. “Does she know about me?”       “Yes, she learned it from the Internet, and I told her I was working on you. And she asks me to do my best for you to get well. Layla doesn’t know you woke up. But I shall tell her some news today.”       “Alright.”       “And here’s what I will tell you: don’t leave your band, Peter. You can reach very much if you are purposeful and hard-working.”       “I’m not going to leave the band,” Peter says with a slight smile. “My friends will be back in the studio to keep working on an album.”       “That’s good,” Lewis nods in approval. “I’m very glad. The men said if they didn’t have you, there would be no point in performing. Mr. MacClife and Mr. Perkins said it was their dream.”       “We will not give up on it.”       “And my daughter said if your band had a show in the city someday, she would come to listen to you.”       “We will be waiting for her at our show,” Peter smiles much wider.       Lewis claps Peter on the shoulder with a slight smile and comes to Jessica, Daniel, and Terrence standing aside and watching what’s happening, while Helene keeps sitting on the bed and looking at everybody silently.       “Ah, yeah…” Lewis pronounces thoughtfully. “It seems like there are more visitors that are allowed… I said that only two people were allowed to be here.”       “Erm…” Daniel, Helene, Terrence, and Jessica pronounce hesitantly, looking at each other.       “Oh, we’re sorry, Mr. Todd,” Jessica apologizes. “We forgot what you said. We were so happy that Peter opened up to us that we forgot everything.”       “Anyway, we can leave,” Daniel says quietly, pointing at the door. “Should everybody leave? Or only one or two?”       “No, no, people,” Lewis shakes his head. “It’s alright. Stay if you want. I said it because I thought your talk with Peter would be bad, and you would get him excited. But since this guy looks happy enough and accepted you, stay.”       “Can we really stay?” Helene specifies.       “Sure. Moreover, it would be better for your friend. He definitely needs you. So, you shouldn’t betray him and shower him with mud.”       “Don’t worry, Mr. Todd, we will treat Peter well,” Daniel promises confidently.       “That’s good then.”       “We did everything you asked us about,” Terrence says confidently. “None of us made Peter talk about his problem by force. He told us everything after we let him know that we could trust him.”       “I got it. And I’m very glad it happened.”       Lewis glances at Peter and comes closer to the three, while Helene is sitting on the blond’s bed and watching the others along with him, caressing his hand tenderly.       “How’s everything hard?” Lewis asks quietly.       “Very hard,” Jessica replies with sadness in her eyes. “Bullying at school, fearing to love, living in a dysfunctional family, and reading bad comments about him…”       “Oh, my gosh… I’m so sorry about this guy. School bullying is a very common thing that, sadly, will never be gone.”       “They bullied him for nothing. Just because he didn’t look like everybody and didn’t aim to become one of those gray mice.”       “And people often dislike this type and humiliate them.”       “We know.”       “And what about a fear of love? What provoked it?”       “A betrayal of one girl,” Terrence says. “He was in love with her, and she pretended to be his girlfriend for some time. And then she got him ashamed for the whole school and said she bet him like a thing.”       “Oh, my gosh…” Lewis shakes his head. “Poor guy…”       “That’s why Peter was afraid to love someone and did his best to avoid it.”       “But it didn’t save him from getting feelings for Helene,” Jessica adds.       “Ms. Marshall? Peter is in love with her?”       “Yes,” Daniel smiles slightly. “As it turned out, their sympathy for each other is mutual.”       “That’s how.” Lewis glances at Peter embracing Helene cutely with one arm and saying something to her. “He looks at her so tenderly. And I knew about the feelings of this girl because she revealed them during one of our talks.”       “She will not betray him,” Jessica says confidently. “Helene is very good, kind, and not as mean as the one, who did such a terrible thing to Peter.”       “Yeah, I like Ms. Marshall, as well. I felt sorry for her because she gave herself to this guy and was ready to do anything for him.”       “At first, it was a little strange because she was too worried to be just a friend. But now we’ve found an explanation.”       “Now we count on Helene,” Daniel says with sadness in her eyes. “We will do our best, but this girl is the one to be able to breathe into Peter. Besides, he said he had no family. Nothing is known about his father, and his mother was really an alcoholic and treated Peter indifferently. She could even easily beat him. That woman left home when he was seventeen and never came back.”       “My gosh…” Lewis shakes his head, closing his mouth with a hand.       “We were shocked when Peter told us this story,” Terrence confesses with sadness in his eyes. “He was literally crying but holding on.”       “I can imagine how hard it was for him. Oh, God… What a trauma… He will be very lucky if he comes to himself and finds the courage to keep living without looking back.”       “We will do our best to help him,” Daniel promises confidently. “Peter counts on us, and we can’t betray him. He has nobody else but us. And I completely understand what that is because I also have nobody after my parents’ death.”       “I’m glad you understand your responsibility,” Lewis replies softly. “You really have no right to betray Peter and hurt him again. He will hardly survive the second betrayal.”       “We know, Mr. Todd.” Daniel glances at Peter and Helene, who do not pay attention to the others and are talking about something cutely.       “I hope this girl will really be loyal to him,” Lewis expresses hope. “Otherwise, he will hardly wish to date someone again. Even if Peter wants to marry and become a father, a fear of being betrayed will stop him.”       “We believe it will happen,” Terrence says with a slight smile. “Helene is a good girl. She will not betray Peter and leave him.”       “It would be great, Mr. MacClife.”       “Excuse me, Mr. Todd, but when is Peter going to be released from the hospital?” Daniel asks.       “He will surely stay under our attention in the nearest few days,” Lewis replies thoughtfully. “You see that he is weak and should work his muscles. Don’t think that Peter would get up from the bed and run immediately. No, it’s going to be hard for him for some time. But if he tries hard, everything will be fine. Although he is awake now and does not suffer from the consequences of the loss and infection of the blood, your friend should get the energy.”       “And how long would it take?” Jessica asks.       “I can say nothing. But don’t hope that he will go home today, tomorrow, or in the next few days. Maybe, Peter will stay here for a week… Maybe, two… Maybe, three… I don’t know. Everything depends on him and his organism. But since he is a young and tough enough guy, the rehabilitation will take less time.”       “Yes, sure,” Daniel nods. “We get it. May he stay here as long as he needs.”       “And remember, as little excitement as possible. Don’t start conversations that might make him think of his old habits. Show Peter your support and prove that he was not wrong when he decided to trust you and tell you the truth about his life and himself.”       “We will not provoke him and start talking about his past,” Terrence replies confidently. “Now it doesn’t make sense to think about it. And the less he hears it, the sooner Peter will come to himself.”       “Good, I’m glad you understood me.”       Lewis turns on Peter, who is busy talking with Helene with a shy smile on his face, takes his folder from the table, and fixes his glasses on the bridge of his nose, saying:       “Alright, girls, men… I will leave you for some time. But when I’m back here again, I will ask you to leave the room because Peter needs to have some rest. He must sleep much to get well soon.”       “No problem,” Terrence shrugs with a shy smile.       “Thank you so much, Mr. Todd,” Jessica says with thankfulness. “Thank you for not letting Peter die. I say it on the behalf of all of us.”       “Nice to get thankfulness,” Lewis smiles slightly. “I finished my part of work and will keep doing the other, and now it’s your time, Ms. Taylor, Ms. Marshall, Mr. Perkins, and Mr. MacClife.”       “Sure,” Daniel promises confidently. “Thank you again.”       “Alright, I will check on a few more patients and go to drink coffee with a pie.”       “Thanks, doctor,” Peter thanks with a slight smile.       “Good luck to you all,” Lewis glances at Peter. “And you get well, Mr. Rose.”       Lewis turns around and leaves the room quickly, closing the door and going somewhere to do his business.       “Hey, what were you talking about?” Peter frowns slightly. “What kind of important thing did he tell you if Lewis started to speak in a whisper?”       “We just talked about you,” Jessica shrugs with an innocent smile. “What could we talk about? Only about you, my sweetheart!”       “Well, maybe, he wanted to talk about something else…”       “Oh, yeah, we could talk about the delicious pies that Lewis was gonna eat.”       “Damn, he wouldn’t have better said it!” Terrence exclaims, running his hand over his stomach. “I do wanna eat a big pie with fruit jam…”       “You did eat a few minutes ago!” Daniel wonders and claps Terrence on his stomach. “If you eat some pies and éclairs every five minutes and drink coffee, you’re gonna have a big belly.”       “Listen, guys, why did you actually show him the way to the cafeteria?” Peter laughs shyly. “He might eat everything and leave nothing! And people would be hungry because of this forever-eating elephant that swallows everything that he could put in his mouth.”       “Huh, as if you two eat like birdies!” Terrence chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’d sell your soul for something delicious!”       “Yeah, I noticed it,” Jessica laughs shyly. “And the amazing thing is that you eat a lot but stay as slim as sausages.”       “It’s all my genes, my dear Jessica.” Terrence raises his head proudly with a sly smile. “My parents gave me all the best. I can eat anything as much as I want, but I always stay as thin as a cypress. You know what a wonderful shape my father has! He’s not young, but he is still thin and fit. And my mother has always had a gorgeous body. I’ve never seen her big.”       “Oh, alright, stop talking!” Daniel moans tiredly, closing Terrence’s mouth with a hand. “My head hurts because of you!”       “Look, Perkins, your insults of such an irresistible man like me may lead to some consequences,” Terrence says confidently when he moves Daniel’s hand off his mouth. “You’re gonna get fat if your girlfriend doesn’t make you keep a diet and stop pleasing you too much. And knowing you barely work out, you’re gonna be a barrel by the age of forty.”       “I’ll kick you outta here if you don’t close your mouth.”       “And I won’t drive you home in my beloved car.”       “You wanted to say, jalopy?”       “Maybe, you shut up? My head also hurts because of your worthless comments.”       “Hey, calm down!” Helene moans with a sly chuckle. “I’ve lost count, trying to remember how many times you’ve mocked each other.”       “C’mon, may they fight,” Peter says with a sly chuckle. “I wonder who’s gonna win a battle of two tough guys, who believe they’re most irresistible and handsome and are sure they could do literally everything. Maybe, Dan will show MacClife where he belongs and let him know that his fiancée and lots of fans are the only ones to admire him.”       “Uh, I wish Edward was here!” Daniel exclaims cheerfully. “The kid would quickly deal with this narcissus with a peacock tail.”       “Huh, I’m gonna kick the ass of that rutrag!” Terrence chuckles. “May he not even dream of doing it to me! No, no, no!”       “Oh, guys, stop it already!” Jessica meddles confidently. “Let’s better change the subject and talk about something good and nice.”       “For example?”       “For example, whether we should expect some grandiose news from Peter and Helene.”       “What kind of grandiose news?” Helene asks amazingly, gets up from the bed, and comes to Jessica.       “Ah, friend, don’t make your eyes innocent,” Jessica smiles mysteriously. “You know everything well… When do we buy a bottle of champagne to drink for a new couple?”       “Hey, where are you rushing?” Helene slightly claps Jessica on the shoulder. “You’re becoming like my grandmother Scarlett more and more. Now she tells me to get a boyfriend, but then she will talk about a wedding, about a grandchild, about a second one, about a third…”       “Be sure, Marshall, when that woman hears you and Pete confessed your love to each other and kissed, she…”       While Jessica and Helene keep talking aside, Terrence and Daniel come to the bed and sit in front of Peter.       “Hey, Peter, you won’t get off us, too!” Daniel says cheerfully and slightly smashes his against Peter’s forearm. “We’re also waiting for a piece of grandiose news about you starting to date this cute girl.”       “What the fuck?” Peter laughs shyly. “After I barely confessed my love, someone is literally trying to bring me to an altar.”       “So what, buddy, when are we gonna celebrate the beginning of your relationship with Helene?”       “It doesn’t exist!”       “So, it will do! You must not lose this girl. If you lose, you’re gonna be an absolute moron.”       “Even if I start dating her, it doesn’t mean you two will know something,” Peter smiles mysteriously. “I shall think whether I want to tell you something.”       “No, buddy, you will hide nothing from us,” Terrence shakes his head with a sly smile. “We wanna know all the details.”       “Huh, sure! You’d shake the soul outta a person until you heard everything you want.”       “Yes, yes, Rose, don’t dare to screw it up and lose Helene,” Terrence says cheerfully with a wide smile. “She’s a cool girl! We do completely approve of her as your potential girlfriend.”       “Why are you so sure I’d start to date her?”       “Huh, are ya gonna keep befriending her after you kissed her with such pleasure?” Daniel wonders. “No, dude, you just can’t be friends after this!”       “Hey, just because we kissed doesn’t mean we’d start dating! And get into a bed!”       “Yeah, but you’re close to it!” Terrence notices with a sly smile.       “I said everything, MacClife.”       “Relax, bro!” Daniel says confidently, clapping Peter on the shoulder. “When it’s time, we will teach you the secrets of seducing girls. My methods do work in the case of Anna at one hundred percent. So, it’s gonna work with Helene.”       “Aha, I’ll teach you what will automatically make you a perfect lover,” Terrence adds with his head proudly raised. “Moreover, you know that I can literally do everything, and girls go crazy at one touch of a hand or a finger of mine.”       “Listen, perfect lovers, go to the fuck!” Peter replies with a laugh. “Both!”       “Be sure, Helene’s gonna be super delighted,” Daniel says confidently. “With such skillful and handsome guys, even the shyest, innocent girls become free and are ready to give themselves to our hands.”       “Should I be surprised and start admiring your abilities at sex?”       “I wouldn’t mind it. I love getting praise. You may praise me, but don’t do it to MacClife. He’s become too insolent.”       “Don’t be jealous, Perkins,” Terrence smiles slyly. “And accept that you’re too far from me. I mean, you two are too far. As well as my beloved bro, Edward.”       “I hope the kid won't take a bad example from you and become as insolent and shameless as you,” Peter expresses hope.       “If you knew how I love when someone takes an example from me. And I love helping other people get better. I’d help Edward, teach you everything I can, and show Daniel some of my secrets, which let me stay successful.”       “Yay, Terrence, you’re incorrigible…”       “Oh, c’mon, don’t pay attention to this narcissus!” Daniel waves a hand. “You better remember that an incredible time is waiting for you soon. Loving someone to love you is the paradise, without which your life doesn’t make sense.”       “I love, but I am single and have no relationship yet.”       “Don’t worry, blond, it’s a matter of time. But MacClife and I must know you left the club of single men first.”       “Well…” Peter rolls his eyes with a sly smile. “I’ll think if I’ll tell you… I haven’t decided if I should share this happiness with you…”       “Hey, what kind of news!” Daniel resents. “What do you the fuck mean, ‘I will think?’ Is it okay that I told you I started to date Anna literally the next day? So, I tell you to give me a debt”       “No, Perkins, you do have to give me a debt as well as MacClife. You two will buy me a new door for the bathroom and pay for installing it on your account.”       “Well, we’ll do it at the nearest time.”       “Excellent!”       “Hey!” Daniel exclaims. “You… So… Don’t avoid a talk! Don’t start a talk about doors… Huh! In short, Rose, when you and Helene decide to start dating, you immediately call me.”       “And don’t forget to give me a debt,” Terrence adds, threatening Peter with a finger. “As you heard, I reconciled with Raquelle earlier than Daniel, you’ll have to tell me about the beginning of your relationship with Helene. First. I also wanna be happy for you.”       “Oh…” Peter laughs quietly and raises his hands. “Okay, okay, lads, calm down! I promise you’ll be the first ones to know about the beginning of my relationship with Helene.”       “I hope you understood me well. Right?”       “I did get everything! I shall tell you some cool news, and you and I will agree on introducing your girls to Helene.”       “Good!” Terrence exclaims with a wide smile. “That’s better!”       “Much better, buddy!” Daniel adds with a smile.       Peter chuckles kindly, feeling much better from the thought that his friends promised not to leave him and rejoicing that his feelings for Helene are mutual, and he got a chance to get happy with the one, who would definitely not betray him.       

***

      It’s about four o'clock. Raquelle does not rush to go home after the shooting and decides to walk in the city and enjoy the warm and sunny weather. A senseless walk leads to the desert coast, where she walks in a slow step, watching the waves of the ocean coming and going and washing the yellow, loose sand. And later, she gets a call from Alicia, who wants to find out how she is doing.       “Are you serious?” Alicia wonders. “Has Edward reconciled with you, Terrence, and Natalia?”       “Yes, Aunt, he apologized to us,” Raquelle replies with a slight smile. “He went to the home of Terrence and me and asked us for forgiveness. And we couldn’t ignore it.”       “And have Edward and Natalia reunited?”       “Yes, they’re together again. I mean, they reconciled. And when we found it out, these two asked Terrence and me to pretend that they didn’t break up but just fought seriously. As that cute couple said, they didn’t feel that they broke up and kept believing they still dated.”       “So, if it’s so…”       “You can’t imagine how happy I am it happened. I started to think we’d never spend time together. But it happened otherwise.”       “Of course, I don’t approve of what Edward did, but why shouldn't we give a person a chance to get better? Moreover, I’ve got no right to judge him because that guy is nobody to me.”       “Agree, he did a disgusting thing to us, but that guy regretted it, came to Terrence and me, and apologized.”       “You’re right,” Alicia replies softly. “I’m glad he got better and established his relationship with you, Natalia, and Terrence.”       “We three are happy, too,” Raquelle smiles much wider, fixing her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose. “Especially Natalia. She was ready to do anything to be with Edward. And she suffered much because of their fight.”       “God shall not let them make these mistakes.”       “Ah, Aunt…” Raquelle laughs shyly, stroking down her hair that is blowing by the wind. “I doubt these two would have a reason to fight at the nearest time. Now they have an idyll and don’t get sick of showing it.”       “Really?” Alicia wonders happily. “That’s so wonderful, then!”       “I’m sure if not for that terrible situation, everything would’ve been fine. And my friend is really sorry that she made my fiancé’s brother think the rape attempt was a betrayal.”       “She did a bad thing, but I completely understand her and know what the poor girl felt at that moment like nobody else. You know that I experienced something like this.”       “I know…” Raquelle sighs quietly. “But thank God, everything’s been solved. And I think this situation was good for them. They got a lesson that they would need in the future.”       “That’s good if Edward and Natalia really want it, everything will be alright.”       “I hope everything will be wonderful now.”       “You know, although I like that couple and think they look so cute together, their feelings seemed passing to me. I didn’t believe their relationship would last for too long.”       “We all thought so, not just you,” Raquelle laughs shyly. “And we didn’t understand why we had a feeling that one of them held themselves down or was shy. But now we know why… Natalia was just so horrified after the rape attempt that she thought Edward would like to harm her. So, she didn’t let him go closer and kept him in the distance.”       “After hearing about the rape attempt, I understood what the problem was.”       “Luckily, it’s all over now, and Edward and Natalia proved that their relationship would exist for a long time. Well, I personally believe in their love and am sure they’ll be very happy.”       “May they be happy if they feel so good with each other.”       Silence settles in the talk for two seconds, during which Raquelle keeps walking in circles on the coast, coming to the water at some moment, running her hand over the surface of it, and feeling a slight coldness.       “Yeah, what about Terrence and Edward?” Alicia asks. “Have they reconciled, too?”       “Yes, those two have reconciled,” Raquelle replies with a slight smile. “And I’m really glad for them. Because despite nothing, Terrence is still closely attracted to his recently found brother, loves him truly, and was worried about him, even when he was terribly mad.”       “So, doesn’t Edward really have such bad thoughts about his brother?”       “No, Aunt. Actually, that guy loves Terrence with all his heart and didn’t want them to stop speaking. Edward was so true when apologizing to us that we two couldn’t resist.”       “Yeah, people are right when they say that brothers and sisters love each other, despite any conflicts and fights. Your mother and I could often fight but were very close, and Terrence and Edward are attracted to each other.”       “Agree…” Raquelle laughs shyly. “To be honest, I did even miss their arguments and funny fights. If only you knew how much they adore it. You should only give them a reason to start beating each other with a laugh. And then they start playing a catch.”       “I don’t know brothers and sisters that would never fight for fun. You get this habit in childhood and don’t forget it through the years.”       “Of course, they didn’t grow up together, but it seems like these guys lived in the same place. It doesn’t look like their parents separated them in early childhood.”       “I get it,” Alicia replies with a slight smile. “Still, I’m glad this conflict has been solved.”       “But I must confess that Natalia pushed Edward to apologize to Terrence and me. She said he was really afraid to come to us and couldn’t find the courage to do it. Though, he understood that nobody would ask us for forgiveness instead of him. So, my friend decided to help him a little.”       “That girl impacts him well, as I think.”       “It’s true. If not for her, Edward would’ve done many more terrible things. Besides, he’s always been hesitant, too shy, silent, and a little cowardly. As if he was afraid to show his real side. But Rochester helped him feel freer, as I think”       “Edward is the opposite of Terrence, as I think. Your fiancé is always confident, resolute, and brave… He never inclines his head and keeps his back straight and his shoulders spread widely… That man knows what he is and doesn’t doubt himself or what he does.”       “Agree, but I think Edward has lately been a little braver and more confident. I think he got kinda used to us and feels free to be himself. Though, that guy was afraid to say a word and was always silent, being as quiet as a mouse. He was afraid to tell his opinion and show the real side of him.”       “I don’t know… Since he found the courage to meddle in such a dangerous case with his uncle, who could’ve easily wiped him off the face of the earth, that guy is not so terrified. He’s got a power…”       “I think the secret of this transformation is simple. Love changed him for the best and made him braver and more confident. Edward knew that if he had been cowardly and hesitant, it would’ve destroyed all of us. And when Natalia was in trouble, that guy had to put pieces of himself together and forget about his fears.”       “I think he wasn’t one since birth. The events that have happened to him are the ones to blame. They made him an insecure man. Think yourself, my sweetheart: he saw the murder with his own eyes, he felt unnecessary at his father’s house, he didn’t get his love, he got arrested for the murder, he was in tension because of his uncle, who was insulting and humiliating him…”       “Yes, Aunt Alicia, you’re absolutely right, Edward had to listen to insults and humiliations all his life. And he was cruelly beaten and tortured in prison. It’s not surprising that it made his mental health worse. Nobody would bear it.”       “Although I don’t approve of his actions, I’m sorry for Edward,” Alicia confesses with sadness in her eyes. “No matter if he asked for it or not, nobody should experience such terrible things.”       “I hope he will forget everything and feel more confident with Natalia’s help. The worst things are over. We should only experience the trial. With the hope that Michael and his gang would be put in prison, and Edward would be found non-guilty.”       “God shall help you. Natalia will surely help him experience the trial and change for the better. And he will wish to change for her. Because he knows she needs a brave man, not a cowardly milksop.”       “I think so,” Raquelle replies with a slight smile. “Natalia is doing it well! Even if she needs the support after what she experienced.”       “I know, poor girl…” Alicia says with sadness in her eyes. “My heart bleeds when I think about it… That’s good Terrence and you gave her your support. She would’ve surely destroyed herself.”       “I’m even afraid to think about it.”       “Yeah, what about the reasons why Edward made Natalia pretend?”       “It’s gonna sound weird, but Edward confessed that he wanted to ask Terrence and me for help, so we found out what happened to Natalia and told him everything. But he didn’t do it directly, he just hinted.”       “Really?” Alicia wonders. “So, was your grandfather right when assuming something like that?”       “Yes, I didn’t believe him and thought that was stupid. But Edward confirmed that he made Natalia pretend with the thought that we’d guess everything.”       “That was very stupid. But Edward is a guy, from whom we can expect anything. What happened proves that he is a dark horse.”       “Terrence and I thought much about this assumption, but everything was put in the right places when Edward told us about his plans”       “It’s okay that he explained everything… But I hope he’ll no longer do such stupid things and learn to solve problems with his girlfriend by himself and ask for help personally.”       “I think he got a good lesson,” Raquelle says with a smile. “All these events taught him much. I’m sure he’s not a stupid guy and will understand everything well.”       “That’s good if it’s true…”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Raquelle moves her hair aside, while it gets into her mouth because of the strong wind.       “So, is there something else to say?” Alicia asks.       “Erm…” Raquelle stutters, biting her lip slightly. “We know nothing about the trial… And Terrence got another reason to be a little happy because Peter, the drummer from his band, finally woke up.”       “Really? Has Peter woken up?”       “Yes, Aunt. Yesterday, Terrence got a call from Peter’s doctor.”       “Gosh, I’m so happy!” Alicia exclaims happily. “And how’s he doing? Is he okay?”       “Yesterday, he was fine, as the doctor said. And now I know nothing. Today, in the morning, Terrence went to the hospital along with Daniel, the bassist of the band, and two friends of Peter. They wanna talk to him and try to find out what made him do that.”       “So, has he told you nothing yet?”       “Not yet. I was on the set all day and just finished my work. And now I’m walking in a quiet place… In the nearest few days, I’m gonna have a few more shootings and then will take a break until the end of the trial. I already agreed about everything with my managers.”       “Will you tell me everything when you know something?”       “Sure, Auntie, I shall do! But I can only say that Terrence was terribly nervous this morning ‘cause he didn’t know how it would be over.”       “I get it,” Alicia replies softly. “But I hope Peter would get well and not wish to leave the band.”       “The most important thing is that he’s alive. We’re happy he actually survived. The situation was so hard that we started to lose hope, but everything ended well at the last moment.”       “Oh, I can’t wait to know how the talk of Terrence and that guy would be over.”       “Me too, Aunt… Me too…”       “Hey, did Terrence go with Peter’s friends and that Daniel?” Didn’t Edward and Natalia go? And Anna?”       “I can’t say anything about Anna ‘cause I haven’t spoken to her for a long time. And Edward and Natalia are having a hard time… They were supposed to have a serious talk with the parents of my friend. Today, Mr. and Mrs. Rochester planned to arrive here from Mexico to talk to their daughter.”       “Okay… But I think Natalia’s parents will understand their daughter. And if Edward tries hard, they’ll forgive him. Yes, excusing himself for them is gonna be harder. But I’m sure he will get on well with them.”       “Something tells me everything’s gonna be fine, and that cute couple would be able to keep dating,” Raquelle assumes with a smile.       “And when do you know how it was over?”       “I shall talk to Natalia tonight or tomorrow.”       “Okay, sweetie, I shall be waiting impatiently.”       Raquelle smiles shyly, still walking on the whole coast and being close to the water.       “Hey, Grandpa Frederick told me you were going to become a godmother,” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “Is that true?”       “Yes, my girl,” Alicia replies confidently with a wide smile. “My friend Amelia has a daughter, Hailey. She is almost six months old, and Amelia and her husband Raphael are gonna christen her. So, they once said they were gonna make me her godmother. And I agreed with pleasure.”       “My gosh, that’s awesome!” Raquelle smiles widely. “Congratulations, Auntie Alicia! I’m sure you’re gonna be an amazing godmother.”       “Thanks, honey! Honestly, I’m super excited. And I want to be a wonderful godmother for Hailey.”       “I know you won’t disappoint Amelia and her husband and will be the best godmother to that girl.”       “Aw, my sunshine, how it’s nice to hear it. And it’s nice to know your life and the lives of your close people are getting better.”       “Well, I’m glad you’re fine.”       “Maybe, you and I will meet soon because I’m going to do my best to support you and the others, at least on the sentence announcement.”       “Really? Will you go to the USA?”       “I shall not promise, but I shall try to.”       “Then I’ll be waiting for you with impatience! I miss you so badly and would like to see you.”       “I promise you’ll get my support,” Alicia replies confidently. “And if something goes wrong, your grandfather will be by your side. He said he’d obviously go to the hearing.”       “Although we’re gonna get a great support team, the support of someone else would be very good for us.”       “I know, honey…”       Alicia falls into silence for two seconds, and then Raquelle hears a nice melody ringing on the phone.       “Oh, Raquelle, excuse me…” Alicia says hesitantly. “But someone’s calling on my mobile phone. What if that’s something important.”       “Alright, I will not bother you,” Raquelle says amicably with a slight smile. “I shall call you when I know what’s happening to Peter, and how Natalia and Edward’s talk with her parents was.”       “Okay, I shall be waiting. Bye, sweetie!”       “Goodbye, Aunt Alicia.”       Raquelle puts her phone in her purse and keeps enjoying the warm but windy weather, slowly walking on the sandy coast and breathing in the clean air. At some moment, the girl stops in front of the ocean and starts watching the big waves brought up and carried away by the wind, not caring about her shoes that got wet from the water and covered with lots of sand and smiling shyly with the thought that life is going to be much better.