Chapter 74 - Tired

Ander walked at the edge of the bridge with shaking legs. His life was a mess, it didn't make any sense to him no matter how hard he tried to reason all the facts out.

His mother wasn't his mother, his father hates him, Francis rejected him for Avan. Avan is hell-bent on taking everything away from him. He has been living a lie his whole life while everyone fooled him. His real mother wasn't a good person and the fact that his father was in love with a man who for some reason he thought was Francis.

He looked down at the water flowing below at high pressure. His eyes were clouded with tears, all he could feel was how cold he was inside and outside. He climbed over the bridge looking down at the water, his legs were shaking threatening to give out.

He stretched his right feet out and prepared to jump. "Ander," he heard the ghost's familiar voice call out to him. "Relax and think about what you are trying to do. The water below is poisonous, it will burn your skin off the minute your body touches it," Francis added.

He was sure that it was for this exact reason that the male chose this lake to jump in. He moved closer to Ander who didn't seem at all bothered by his warning. All that he could see was freedom inside the lake. Freedom from all the loneliness and the pain of being unloved.

"Ander, listen to me. If you jump you will hurt so many people, they are many who love you and will be sad to lose you," he said trying the change his mind.

Ander blinked the tears in his eyes away and turned his head to face Francis. "And you? Would you be hurt if I died?" he asked him.

"Yes, I would be hurt if you jumped so please step back," he pleaded.

"Why would you care? Is it because me dying would mean that you never get your life back?" he questioned him.

"No," Francis replied immediately. That was not the reason he wanted to save Ander, it was because he understood what it was like to walk in Ander's shoes. Yes, his family loved him unlike Ander but he knew what it was like being born with a destiny you can't control.

Many times he too tried to kill Alexander and he couldn't help it so he understood that all that happened was not the boy's fault. He didn't deserve the pain he was feeling or the hatred from his father.

"I want you to live so that you can achieve all your dreams, find happiness and die in old age," he said.

"Lies," Ander blurted out. "You are lying to me. You don't care about me," he said and turned his eyes back to the water.

"No Ander, believe me. I am not lying, I truly do want to see you happy," he stated.

"Prove it," he said to him.

"How?" Francis asked.

"The truth," he said. Francis frowned at his reply. He had no idea what Ander meant by that, he opened his mouth to ask when Ander spoke. "Are you in love with my father?"

The question made Francis freeze, the question in his mind was why Ander was asking him this particular question. The boy was unstable and considering suicide so he had to be careful of his words.

"If that is hard for you to answer then tell me, are you the man that my father is in love with?"Ander asked seeing him take too long to reply.

" Yes, I am bu..."

"It was a yes or no question. I didn't ask you to explain anything to me," Ander said interrupting him.

He slowly turned around so that he could face Francis, he didn't come off the edge of the bridge. Gazing into Francis's eyes more tears flowed from his eyes.

"What happened sixteen years ago?" he asked him.

"That is not my story to tell Ander. You should ask your mother," Francis replied.

"Where is she then?" he questioned.

"She is in th..."

"I am asking about my real mother and not that woman."

Francis bit his lower lip unable to reply. How was he supposed to tell him that Alexander killed Olivia because of him? He couldn't bring himself to say it, Olivia might have been a bad person but she didn't deserve to die like that.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" Ander asked him.

"Ander, these questions you are asking are better answered by your mother and father. Please just come down from there," he pleaded to reach out his hand to hold Ander.

"When I asked you to hold me you refused and let me go. Why do you insist on it now?"

Francis halted in his movements and looked up to meet Ander's gaze, the look on his face had changed to one that he was familiar with. He brought his hands to his face and rubbed them to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating and looked again and it was.

He stumbled back in disbelief, there was no way it could be true. 'Is Ander in love with me?' he asked himself and shook his head at how absurd that idea sounded in his head.

"Ander, I..."

"Who do you love?" Ander inquired. "Between my father and Avan who do you love the most?"

Francis thought about the question and if he were to choose between his son and his love then he would choose his son. His son was more important than anything else in the world.

"Avan," he replied. Ander's leg slipped hearing his answer and he fell off the bridge. Francis rushed and grabbed hold of his hand. With two splinters in his body, he was able to touch things and he thanked the heavens that he could or else Ander would be gone.

"Hold on I will pull you up," he said but Ander did the opposite. Instead of holding his hand, he let it go. 'I don't want to live in a world where no one loves me,' he thought and smiled at Francis. 'I will treasure this moment forever. At least even for a second, you were concerned for me.'

Francis struggled to lift him, he couldn't bear the burden of having one more life on his shoulders. He felt guilty for everything that was happening to Ander as it was because of him that the people around him weren't even open to loving him.

Ander's eyes glowed and Francis was pushed away making him let go of Ander's hand. Ander fell from the high bridge, he closed his eyes to brace death. He could feel and hear the water and knew that it was time.

Just as he was about to hit the water, he felt a pair of hands wrap around his waist. He smiled, it made him happy that Francis jumped after him to save him. He opened his eyes to see Avan flying away with him in his hands. His blood boiled seeing the face of the boy that Francis chooses over him every time.

"You have two seconds to let me go if you care for your life," he threatened but was ignored.

Ander rushed them to a nearby clearing before setting him gently in the ground. He walked a few steps back to create some distance between them.

" What were you doing?" he asked him.

"Nothing that concerns you," Ander replied bitterly.

"Listen to me. I need to talk to you, you can do whatever you want later," Avan said. He wanted to apologize for what happened between them and to explain the reason he didn't give him an answer.

"And you thought that I would ever want to hear anything that you have to say?" Ander questioned amused.

"It's imp..."

"Not interested," Ander said and lifted himself off the ground to fly away.

Avan felt his heart race in his chest, the thought of Ander killing himself all because of him didn't settle well in his heart. His mind couldn't help but remind him of that time in the room when Ander opened up to him. The things he blamed him for were all he could think about since he woke up.

Even in his sleep, it was all that he could see. He flew up to the sky and grabbed hold of Ander hand and turned him around. He reached his hands to his back and pulled him close.

"Let me help you," he pleaded to place his other hand on Ander's cheek. He caressed Ander's cheek softly while gazing into his eyes.

Ander was tired, he felt severe aches all over his body. His heart, his head, and his joints. He had no one to turn to anymore and was very cold. He was too tired to stop Avan or threaten him and let him have his way.

Seeing no objection from the male, he wrapped both his hands around Ander's body to keep warm. He held him close to his chest so gently as though he was a fragile glass that might break if he was rough with him.