-You're the worst brother i ever had ! - screamed the youngest of the only two inhabitants of that apartment. The boy, with his huge honey-colored eyes flooded with tears, escaped while crying, not knowing where he was going.
-I'm ... the only brother you have - the tall young man whispered to himself, standing in the middle of the room, his head down, letting out tears that he was determined to clean with the sleeve of his dark T-shirt.
Aiden, stumbling because he did not know where his tired little feet were running, walked through streets flooded with happy people who walked from sidewalk to sidewalk, looking for the gifts they would give to the people they loved so much during the Christmas season.
That made him cry even more. Now he was feeling lonely, no longer with Frank's arms to protect him from the cold, the dangers of the streets for a ten-year-old boy, and the sadness that had plagued him. He missed him and wanted to go home with him ... but he did not know where he was.
Frank, still inside the apartment, had stuck to the window, hoping to see his little brother back, but minutes passed and he did not show up. He was alone in those damp and frozen streets, surely lost.
-God, i'm a monster ! - He screamed, frustrated and desperate, and pulled his brown hair, taking his jacket and leaving the apartment, praying to find the child.
Through tears of despair, asking people if they had seen a ten-year-old boy, with honey-colored eyes and dark hair, tired and cold, Frank walked around the neighborhood and its surroundings until midnight.
-Fuck ! .. Aideeeen ! - A heartbreaking and desperate scream escaped from the depths of his being. That child was everything to him, since he was only thirteen years old and had found him abandoned in a corner of that couch when his father killed his mother and then ran away. It had always been his Aiden, his beloved brother, the only one with open arms for him, with those eyes so kind that with only one glance they managed to tear a smile from him.
He was convinced that good things always comes in small packages. His little brother was the best thing that had happened in his life, in fact, it was the only thing he had ...
Frank leaned back against the grimy wall nearest him and let himself slide to the floor, hugging his knees, protecting himself from the cold while his weeping broke the perpetual silence of the night.
Already his little feet could not bear the fatigue. He had them numb, his hands were scrubbing his arms with despair, his breathing could be seen as white smoke escaping from between his parted lips. His little body was shaking frantically from the cold.
There was a point where he could not keep walking anymore and he fell on the sidewalk. Little white flakes of snow began to fall on his skin. The cold was wreaking havoc on his body, which burned with fever.
He opened his eyes tiredly, alarmed by that cry that said his name. There he saw Frank, desperate. He saw him cry and the only thing he could do from his collapsed position was to cry quietly too, without being able to warn him of his presence, but the determination was stronger than the cold and with a weak voice he tried to get the attention of the older one.
-Fra ... Fra ... nk ... -
The one with the brown hair looked up and there, lying in front of him, was his little brother, shaking in spasms because the fever that was surely attacking him.
Without thinking twice he ran to him and threw himself on his knees beside him, hugging him tightly as he kept crying. He felt immediately how that little body burning with fever was shaking in his arms.
-Oh My God, Aiden, you're burning with fever- he whispered in a worried voice as he took off his jacket and wrapped the younger one in it. -Just let me stand up and take you to ... - But his attempts to try to get up were in vain, his legs numbed by the cold, it was obvious that pants like those would not withstand such low temperatures. At times like these he hated having to suffer poverty.
-You ... you too, Frank - the boy said, his little voice breaking, while weakly and tenderly caressing his brother's cheek as he smiled warmly.
-Aiden ... Aiden, forgive me ... I was not a good brother, I never knew how to take care of you as I should, I dragged you into a shitty life and now you are suffering because of me ... you are the only thing I have and I would die if I were to lose you ... I love you brother - whispered the older one with tenderness and despair while caressing the face of his little brother, wiping away the tears, while hugging him tightly, crying.
-No ... Fran..k .. don't cry ... I don't care ... I don't care about any of that ... I just ... I just want to be with you ... -
His voice faded more and more, from his throat began to come a breath that was more agitated with each second that passed. Frank was beginning to fear what would happen in a matter of hours, he feared for the life that hung by a thread held only by his hands.
The hours passed, their bodies trembled in a suffocating and sickly way. They sweated and cried, hugged each other and looked each other in the eye. The honey-colored ones of the major looked at his reflection in the same-colored ones that the youngest had. Their eyes smiled and they said everything that they had never said before.
At about eight o'clock in the morning the sky began to clear up. Frank was startled, opening his eyes when he realized he had fallen asleep, and the worse part was that the child lying on him was inert. He shook him a little, whispering in a weak voice his name several times incessantly , until he saw him open his eyes with difficulty, eyes that were tired, completely injected with blood and swollen.
-Aiden ...-
-Frank ... I ... I ... would you hug me again? - the little one asked, still trembling, but smiling, as in those happy times ... if they ever had them ...
The eldest did not have to hear another word to wrap the child in the strongest hug he could while at the same time he passed one of his hands through the dark and wet hair that fell on the child's pale forehead.
When they separated, their eyes met again, those eyes that were the same in both of them. They observed each other with affection and fear mixed in their looks.
Bathed in sweat, tears, melting snow, and completely trembling and feverish, they saw in the distance, sneaking through the buildings, an orange sun rising, ready to illuminate those two lives that were being slowly consumed by darkness.
They had seen that sun so many times ... so many times that for them those were the happiest moments of their miserable life ... lying down and embraced in the only bed, watching the red dawn through the window, like that time when after walking the whole day they arrived at the beach and among the waves that exploded on the coast could be seen a crimson sun sinking in that blue horizon ... and there were more memories, more memories that made them cry with force, hugging and screaming with their worn out voices how much they loved each other.
-No, Aiden ... don't look at me like that, don't tell me this is the end ... Don't go away little brother - Frank sobbed, hugging the frail child's body tightly.
-Don't cry ... we'll meet again one day, if you close your eyes ... - that was the last thing the child said, tenderly stroking his brother's cheek, then closing his honey-colored eyes slowly in a tired gesture, relaxing his body and dropping that white and small hand.
-Aiiddeeen ! - the elder yelled inconsolably, squeezing the body of his little brother, never wanting to lose him, while the strange orange light of that rising sun in the middle of winter shone upon them.
Then, the older one closed his eyes too, waiting for the cold to take him to meet his little brother, in some corner of any place, behind that orange sun...