Maxwell

            His anguish-consumed soul had been the only thing left behind as the mist engulfed him in the narrow, flower-covered alley.

            He loved being held by it because the color of the mist reminded Maxwell of the eyes of the only person he had ever had a crush on since he was a teenager. The gray that had formed in the twilight had given him a moment of peace and serenity as the sky fell above him as the darkness of the night was devoured by the strange phenomenon. However, the man felt that he was lost in the maze created by the dense fog. He touched his chapped lips with his fingertips, feeling as if he had been kissed by her. The gray veil had covered everything, creating a game of shadows. Everything had become monochrome, like the firmament, which was painted in hues like his soul.

            Everything was like an old movie. Suddenly, he heard a whisper, feeling a shiver run through his body. He closed his eyes, and a memory made its way into his thoughts.

           "What is your dream?"

           Maxwell looked at the young man beside him, who was bathed in moonlight, whose canopy had fallen slightly over them, but did not answer. The mist had begun to gather around them, forming a cocoon. He was mesmerized by how angelic the young man next to him seemed at that moment. It was just the two of them and the mystic brought by the gray cloud.

           Instead, he extended his hand, touching his naked neck with icy fingertips. Sensing the soft touch, he turned his head, looking through his thick eyelashes with childish curiosity. The light from the lantern beside them flickered, reflecting in his eyes. In the mist that had fallen, he looked like a specter.

           He was puzzled, but Maxwell continued to look at him with tenderness and desire, gazing at him. Benjamin tilted his head to one side, inviting him. Approaching him, the brunette nibbled on his earlobe, causing the seventeen year old to let out a sharp gasp.

            "You, the land that surrounds us, and above all, your voice!" He had whispered as he leaned his forehead against the boy's bare shoulder.

             He looked up at him, and noticed that a smile had formed on his slightly swollen lips, which not long ago had been hungrily devoured as the night left its symphony.

Oh, no, no!

I light up the sky for you...

             Benjamin began humming a song he had composed for Maxwell. The brunette smiled and kissed his shoulder, feeling the warmth he emitted, but also the salty taste of his sweat...

            At that moment, Maxwell opened his eyes and the reverie he had fallen into shattered, like raindrops hitting the ground. He felt as if he had fallen into a long, heavy sleep. He had loved the fog all his life, but at this moment he hoped it would clear, and the alley would once again become the spot of color in his life.

            He leaned down and ran his hand through his slightly damp hair. He had shortened it further in recent years. He kept it long while he was with Benjamin, but then, with each passing year, he cut more of it. At that moment, it was touching his jawline, and although he was uncombed, his ears and eyes were slightly visible. He was tired of waiting. One more year he had promised himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the entrance to the alley, but there were only shadow plays created by the branches of the trees that had slightly begun to sway with the touch of a breeze that had suddenly started.

            Maxwell's velvet eyes watched the scene as he rested his head in his palm, sighing. A half-empty brandy bottle was next to him, and he was gently spinning it on the wet cement.

            — Ah, how I would smoke a cigarette now! He had whispered to himself as he stood up heavily, taking the bottle.

             He looked at it. He had always hated the taste of the reddish-brown liquid, but that day had been seven years since he had turned his back on the boy he had been infatuated with. He licked his lip and lifted the bottle to his mouth, only to stop. In his field of vision, a shadow played a trick on him. He tilts his head to one side, narrowing his eyes as his bottom lip quivers subtly, trying to hold back your tears.

             At that moment he was praying that it wasn't another alcohol-induced cloud of his mind.

            A figure appeared among the mist particles, walking slowly as if the ground he was stepping would swallow him up. He had his hands in the pocket of his black hoodie and the hood was covering his face.

            He smiled bitterly, feeling like with every step, he would be chained by nature itself. He looked up from the ground and froze.

            In front of him, there was the person to whom, in the same place, he had said goodbye, although in his soul he had cried out for him. He opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes remained fixed on Maxwell. He had lost weight. The well sculpted body was gone and he looked much paler. Instead Benjamin, under the glasses, his dark circles were quite visible, although at the moment his face was covered by his hood and his hair left loose. It was a ruin. He had run away again, he had run away to the man for whom he sobbed with longing every night.

             Maxwell seemed seraphic at that moment, instead a scowl appeared on his face at the young man's sight. He swallowed and timidly took another step, holding something in his hand, but did not take it out of his pocket.

              "You're going to catch a cold!" Was all Benjamin could say, practically biting his tongue, but he hadn't taken his eyes off of him.

               Maxwell was dressed only in black pants, but the alcohol made him feel warm.

              The man looked at him but didn't answer, just shrugged and took another mouthful.

             "After seven years is all you want to tell me? Why are you back now?" He asked, suddenly feeling the tone of his voice rise, losing the calmness and tenderness that Benjamin had come to know.

               He flinched and tried to say something, but his words stuck.

               "I am sorry!" Finally he managed to say something, feeling his heart pounding.

               He had hoped for something that was no longer there.

               "Do you feel sorry for someone who has no personality?"

              Suddenly Maxwell told him in a hoarse voice, but when Benjamin looked up from the ground again, he was hit by a strong smell of alcohol and fresh grass, stopping him, seeing him inches from his face. He felt a sting in his chest at the words, but he took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on the brunette, playing with the object in his hand. He didn't realize he had moved.

              "I'm a wreck, don't you see?" He suddenly screamed.

                "You're not the only one, my friend," Maxwell finished and turned his back on him, but his heart was pounding in his chest as his whole body had been taken over by a suffocating heat.

                He tossed the bottle into the bush in front of him and ran his hands through his hair, brushing it back, leaving his eyes fully visible. He smiled sadly, because he had waited for that moment for years, and when it came, they were lost.

              "Maxwell," was all he could say and his voice choked. It was too late to apologize.

              "What happened to you, Benjamin?"

               Suddenly, the brunet turned on his heel and shakily lifted his hood, only to find an emotionally broken young man unable to stop his tears mixing with the splatter of the rain that had started. Maxwell felt a lump in his throat, and ran his finger over the lips of the young man sitting next to him, who began to sob. Everything he held with him from that day was unleashed with a single touch.

               Tears were also formed in Max's eyes, but he was fighting them because he was tired of shedding them. He had never been good at showing his true emotions, and now he was afraid to show them, out of fear that he would be trampled on again.

               Benjamin looked for an answer to the question but could not find it.

               The touch suffocated him, wanting more. He leaned towards the brunette's hand, but he slowly withdrew it, lingering, like an invitation.

             "I do not know what you are saying?" he finally answered, lying like a coward.

             The man sighed, pulling his hood back over his face, hiding his pained expression.

            "You're just a more mature copy, but otherwise the Benjamin I knew is gone."

             They were harsh words that cut through the young man, but he had lied to himself all those years, that the chosen path was the best for him, rather than stuck in that alley. He was a lost soul, clinging to anything to be devoured there, and his soul to be scattered over the place where he had grown, where he had become a man, where he was.

             With that, Maxwell turned to him and pushed him back gently, creating an abyss between them and their words becoming a maze.

            "I waited for you, I will wait for you again, but I'm tired. You were right, only someone who has no personality can wait like an idiot for someone who no longer wants him."

            With that Maxwell snorted and bent down, picking up the bottle again.

            "It is not true!" Benjamin suddenly yelled, letting his voice ring out.

             "Don't make that face, Benjamin, I couldn't bear to see you go again."

            "Let me be your dream, please..."

            "You have your own world, in the center of the spotlight. I've been following you... that's where you belong, not here."

           "Maxwell, there's nothing but darkness and loneliness."

            Maxwell sighed and looked up at the sky that was filtering a light rain, waking him from his drunken stupor. He looks at the bottle and throws it into a tree behind Benjamin with force, shattering the bottle into pieces.

             The young man stood still, clutching the object until a trickle of blood began to trickle between his fingers.

            Maxwell tried to move away, but suddenly he heard Benjamin's voice and a tap on his shoulder, so hard he could feel his nails digging into his skin. He hissed and turned to say something to him, only to find before him a young man who had practically lost his mind. In his hand he held a pair of sharp scissors.

           "I'm going to prove to you that for me, that world is nothing but the emptiness of my life!"

            He cried bitterly, his voice hoarse. He took off his hoodie, throwing it at their feet, and grabbed his long hair with one hand, and began to cut it, leaving the dark haired man perplexed by the gesture.

            He reached down and stopped him.

            "Enough fool!" Maxwell yelled at him and pulled him into his arms, feeling their hearts connect on the alley that destroyed them...

            He stood like that for several minutes, until Maxwell took Benjamin's face between his hands and looked at him intently. A spark flickered in his gaze and without thinking he crushed the lips he had craved for so many years.

            The alley gives them back their lost souls as the rain consumes their bodies.

             He stood like that for several minutes, until Maxwell took Benjamin's face between his hands and looked at him intently. A spark flickered in his gaze and without thinking he crushed the lips he had craved for so many years.

             The alley gives them back their lost souls as the rain consumes their bodies.

Part III and last it  will be written in the upcoming month