Chapter Text
"Watch it asshole!" a man screams from behind as Ekko bumps into even more people in his way. Being late for work was not a new thing for Ekko. After all these years, he is still late for work everyday. Living five minutes away by foot meant nothing when you have the same poor time management like he did. Staying up late doing hobbies that defiantly shouldn't take priority, was something he was known for among his friends.
"Excuse me!" Ekko screams as he moves through the crowded side walk. It was eight in the morning and everywhere in New York was like this. Everyone was just trying to get about their day with little regard with anyone else in mind. He was one of the few people in the city that cared about how other people felt. Being a very compassionate person inside a world filled with hate was something the people closest yo him loved deeply.
Ekko was one that would never hurt a fly if he could help it. That doesn't mean he used to be a perfect person, especially before college. He ran through the crowd like his life depended on it. To be honest it kind of is when your boss warns you about being late everyday and you try your best to get to work on time but manage to never do it. It also helps drastically when your boss is also your best friend.
I'm going to get killed for being late again.
His shoulder collides with a woman that was dressed in a dark blue dress with a pile of folders in her arms. She loses her grip on them as they slip from her hands and fall onto the stone cold sidewalk.
"Dude! What the fuck!" she screams at him. Ekko skids to a halt and helps the woman he hit pick up the folders he caused her to drop.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you," he apologizes as he passes her the folders and papers in his hands. Her hand collides with his face hard and walks away in disgust.
He touches his face gently where her hand contacted with his face and sighed. Ekko stood up quickly and began walking faster than before, moving through the crowd with precision. Bumping into people was common with the population density of the city, people being assholes was something that was even more common than that. The wind from the nearby river started blowing through the air as Ekko turned the corner. The dreads on his head moved in front of his eyes, causing him to go temporarily blind before he quickly moves them to the sides of his face.
Having long, curly hair was something Ekko always had a struggle with since he was little. When Benzo first showed him how to turn his curls into dreads when he turned 13, it changed how he saw the world. (literally and figuratively) Now it wouldn't get into his eyes and block his view that often. Today just had it out for him from the moment he woke up on the floor of his spare room that he always spends his time in.
Ekko turned the corner fast and sprinted down the street. The sidewalk was surprisingly not as crowded as the one he was just on. A bright green sign catches his eyes quickly as his work came into view. Even with it not being crowded there were obstacles in his way, a construction team were digging up the sidewalk to work on pipes. Of course that's were the tax dollars went. He moved around them quickly with some of the workers shouting at him to slow down.
He continued his pace as he got closer to the front of the building. As he neared the doors, a kid no older than the age of nine came out of no where from the side alley and almost hit him. Ekko screeched to a halt and fell right on his ass to make sure that he didn't hurt the kid. The bike tires screech to a stop as the kid hops off the bike to help him off the ground.
"I'm sorry mister. I didn't see you there."
Ekko stands up, wiping the dust from the pavement off his pants, "It's no problem kid. I was running too fast anyway."
The kid smiles and then his eyes widen. "Oh crap. I'm late for school." Ekko chuckles as he watches the kid rush back to his bike and pedals as quick as he could into the alley across the street. He walks this time as he finally reaches the front of the building. The big green sign above the doors stare right back at him.
Firelight Care.
with a shake of his head, he pushes the front door open as he walks inside the building. The lights hanging from the ceiling greet him, casting a golden glow that gave him a sense of warmth compared to the cool spring air outside. The walls were a slight dark green color with some dark brown wooden accent. Posters lined the wall with important information with patients. Telling them about possible wait times and if it was a medical emergency that they should call 911.
Patients were already lining the rows of chairs of the waiting room. The reception desk on the left side of the room, had one person behind it like usual. A great woman in her early forties with ginger colored hair and reading glasses.
"Good morning, Lilly," Ekko says confidently as he walks past the desk.
The gingered haired woman smiles at him as their eyes meet, "Good Morning, Ekko. You're late again."
He laughs hardly, "It's New York. Everyone is late."
Lilly shakes her head as she set her focus back onto the computer in front of her.
He smiles as he walks past the rows of chairs filled with patients that need to be seen towards the back door that enters the back room. Ekko looks through the glass window in the door, searching for any signs of the boss. With no sign of the man, Ekko pushes the door open, walking into the back room. Several work rooms on both sides of the main room where they could take care of patients privately. His eyes found the clock on the back wall immediately, twenty minutes late.
That's just great.
A woman in scrubs exits from third door on the right side, closing it behind her. She starts walking up to him and his eyes found her quickly as the shine of her golden hair comes into his view.
"Ekko, you're late again," she said with a smile extremely wide that Ekko could swear it could end any argument.
"You know how it is, Lux. New York is named 'the city that never sleeps' for a reason," Ekko retorts back at her as he opens the locker room door.
He walks into the room that could make anyone claustrophobic, opening his locker as fast as possible, not paying attention to anything else as he grabs his dark blue scrubs, putting them on as quickly as he could. When he finished getting dressed, he exited the room and Lux was standing right there leaning against the wall with her arms crossed across her chest.
"Scar wants to talk to you," she said quietly in the way she does when she doesn't want anyone else to hear her.
Ekko chuckles and smiles at her. "He always wants to talk to me. It's nothing new."
Lux shakes her head with a small smile on her face. Ekko walks past her, heading towards Scar's office. Then a small hand touches his shoulder from behind, causing him to stop abruptly. He turns around and Lux was standing there with wrinkled eyebrows.
"Look, Scar talked about firing you."
Ekko chuckled, "Scar is all bark and no bite."
Lux's face didn't change at all, which made Ekko realize that this could be serious.
"Look, I know I'm late everyday—"
His sentence is stopped halfway through as another, familiar voice comes from behind him.
"Ekko!"
Ekko turns back around and sees Scar standing right there. The man stood almost a whole foot taller than him, the deep scar on the left side of his face caught the light from above perfectly, making it seem like it wanted Ekko to see it.
"My office now…" Scar said with a low grumble and deep rasp in his voice as he turned around. Ekko looked over his shoulder and watched as Lux was really concerned about what was going to happen.
After a brief sigh, Ekko follows the towering six foot three man to the main office. Scar is a softy at heart and knew that sometimes the hard approach was the only way to get things done effectively. As the two men approached the office, everyone was looking at them. Everyone knew that Ekko was the golden boy of the building.
Scar opened the office door, reaching his arm out into the room as if motioning Ekko to enter first. As he walks past the threshold of the doorway, his eyes scan the office. The walls were a dark green color with dark brown accents that matched the waiting room. He moves further into the room, looking at the framed medical degree Scar obtained while incarcerated.
Scar was charged for selling drugs, only got caught when a young boy accidentally overdosed on their parents supply that they bought from him. It sent Scar down a spiral when he learned about it, he plead guilty to everything. He wasn't a bad person, just a person that was struggling like every American. They gave him seven years and during that time, he studied to make a better person of himself.
The door closed behind him as Scar entered the room, walked past Ekko and sat down behind his dark wooden desk. Ekko followed the mans motion and sat in one of the chairs on the opposite side. The top of the desk was lined with papers of various different things — bills, worker information he hasn't put away yet, a photo frame that has a picture of the two of them and Lux framed inside.
A deep sigh escapes Scar's mouth, "Look Ekko. You've been late everyday for the past couple months."
Ekko remembered what Lux said. "Scar, if you're gonna fire me. Just do it."
The man looks at him with a puzzled look on his face, "Fire you? Where did you get that idea from?"
One of Ekko's eyebrows shot up, "Lux said—"
"Lux heard a rumor. You're not in trouble."
A relaxed sigh came out of Ekko's mouth. He wasn't getting fired. That was a good thing. He needed this job badly for his high ass rent his landlord set the price of. Scar stands up, walking around the desk, approaching him slowly and stopping right in front of him.
"So what's this about then?" Ekko questions.
Scar reaches to the top of his desk, pulling out a small paper style calendar of the month. The man's finger points to the current date. Written inside the little box marked the 29th, "Ekko's Birthday Dinner." Ekko's eyes widened instantly. He forgot today was even his birthday. Ever since he left Hayward, he's just not cared about birthdays or celebrations. It didn't matter if she wasn't here with him.
"Happy Birthday man," Scar says as he pats Ekko's shoulder.
A sigh escapes Ekko's lips as his head falls into the palm of his hand. "I forgot today was even my birthday."
The man shakes his head, "We all forget things. Some things… We can never forget."
Ekko nods, as much as he wants to forget about his time in Hayward, he just can't. Everything that happened back then was seared into his memories like they never want to be forgotten. Not that he'd ever want to forget the best nights of his life. High school was the happiest time that he could remember. Now… He didn't even want to wake up most mornings.
Ekko sighs heavily, "You're right."
Scar smiles at him while putting his hand on the his shoulder, "I know it hurts that she's not here, Ek. I've been in a similar situation before and it's not going to help you if you keep thinking about the past like that."
A tear slips past Ekko's defensive posture, slipping down his cheek. He quickly wipes it away before Scar notices it, "It's hard not to think about the past when everything I wish I still had was there."
The man nods at his words, knowing exactly what it felt like to wish the past was the present. Ekko takes a deep breath, about to continue his thoughts, but then the sound of a knock on the office door makes him hold back his words. He stands up from the chair and gives Scar a confused look as the man gives him a shrug of his shoulders. Ekko fixes his scrubs as he mentally prepares to face whoever it may be on the other side of the office door.
He walks to the office door slowly, trying to think of the possible people that could need his or Scar's help. The sounds from the other side of the door were panicky, like someone sent the nuke alarms off and everyone is panicking. Ekko wraps his hand on the door knob as he turns and pulls it open to find Lux standing there with her eyes wide like she needed desperate help.
Ekko puts his hand onto her shoulder for reassurance, "What's wrong Lux?"
The woman's blue eyes move to the side as to make him look right behind her. He watches as the nurses and doctors are running around like crazy. Ekko turns back to Scar as the man has a smile on his face. A sound comes from Lux's mouth that draws Ekko's attention back to her. She looked like she was on the verge of having either a mental breakdown or just crying right where she was standing.
"The wait room is filled almost to capacity and all the nurses and doctors are pushing themselves to hard," Lux looks right into Ekko's eyes then at Scar, "Is he fired?"
Scar chuckles deeply and shakes his head, "You heard a false rumor. Besides-" he points at Ekko as the young man turns towards him, "You should get your ass to work and help them." A soft chuckle escapes the youngsters lips as he starts to follow behind Lux as they exit the office.
"Remember that we have dinner plans tonight!" Scar shouts at the two of them as the door closes behind them.
Both Lux and Ekko look at each other and chuckle. Of course Scar would have something planned for his birthday, even if he himself forgot about it. His eyes meet Lux's fast as she turns to look right at him. Something about the way her face was gave him a sense of relief.
"Happy Birthday Ekko," Lux said softly.
A smile forms on his face from the simple birthday wish. Lux always made him smile. Always reminded him of— Don't think of her right now man, he thinks to himself. Six years later and the love of his life could never leave his mind. She was permanently in his brain like she was hot branded there. Ekko gets closer to her, wrapping his arms around her small frame. Lux's eyes widen in shock, he wasn't one to show this kind of affection or even care about displays of affection at work. She wraps her arms around him, barely fitting around his back.
"Thanks, Lux. It means a lot," he whispered right into her ear.
Her grip on Ekko's back tighten at his words. They were best friends after all, nothing more. Doesn't stop rumors spreading like wildfire in the workplace that they were secretly dating. Ekko doesn't see her that way and Lux feels the same way about him. Apparently men and woman can't be in platonic relationships like theirs to almost everybody.
They both let go of each other with a smile on their faces. Lux's cheeks were flushed bright red. He looks around them as he sees a lot of people running from place to place as they try to catch up with the over whelming amount of patients that they had this morning. Both of them start walking to the huge table in the center of the room as the doctors and other nurses are scrambling to catch up and take care of this many people.
It's own sort of chaos. The kind of chaos that needed to end so everything could go smoothly.
"Watch this," Ekko whispers to Lux.
She smiles, knowing exactly what he was going to do. Ekko grabs one of the metal chairs around the table and climbs on top of it. Everyone always called him the crazy one for doing dangerous stuff. Guess he picked that up from someone in the past.
"HEY!" He shouts into the chaotic mess of their "emergency" room.
Everyone stops what they're doing, turning and widening their eyes as they all look at him. The sense of chaos that filled the room seconds ago vanished in an instant. Everyone always respected the chain of command in this work environment. Especially when he demanded their attention.
"All of you need to calm down," Ekko climbs down from the chair and looks at the closet nurse and doctor, pointing at them with clear intent, "You two take rooms One and Two," his eyes find the next pair of people, "You two, rooms Three and Four," the next pairing comes clear into his view as his eyes meet theirs, "finally, you two take rooms Five and Six."
All six of them stare at him, share glances with each other and get to work fast. The chaos has been settled slightly as the room turned into a semi-functioning workplace in seconds. Everyone starts doing exactly what they were told.
Ekko turns and looks at the office door to find the boss smiling with his arms across his chest as he clearly did his job. He smiles back at the man, turning back to all the nurses and staff standing at the table that are staring at him in astonishment that he was capable of being that demanding.
"The rest of you," Ekko takes a deep breath to steady his rising stress, "continue doing your job and do it the best way that you can. We need to get as many people in and out of the waiting room as possible so their conditions don't worsen."
Everyone nods back at him, respecting the authority he holds in the workspace they all share. Lux nudges his bicep with her shoulder, causing him to look down at her. Those bright blue eyes she had always reminded him of her. Maybe that's what drove him to get closer to Lux when he started working here. Nothing lustful or even romantic—just the feeling of being closer to something that was left behind in the past.
"So you do know when to be a boss," Lux comments with a smile on her face.
Ekko shakes his head with a smile stretching from ear to ear, "How about you get to work and I don't write you up."
The blonde woman's eye widen at the sudden threat, knowing damn well he's just messing with her and wants her to do her job. She turns away from him, walking to the other nurses around the giant table in the center of the room and begins helping them, as her job requires of her. A small chuckle escapes his mouth as Ekko starts moving to the desk in the back corner with his name on it.
He wasn't a perfect cleanliness person at work compared to his apartment. The desk was covered in everything you could think of—paperwork that was scaling to the height of a small mountain as Scar called it, a photo frame of the same picture Scar has on his desk, and a personal picture of his blue eyed 'demon' best friend back in Hayward. Biting her lip like she always did out of habit when she was excited or nervous. The photo was blurry and you really couldn't make out exactly what she looked like, but it didn't matter to him.
Ekko smiles at the picture, remembering it was the day that they decided to do it. That was one of the best day's of his life. Definitely something you couldn't forget because it changed your view on life the first time you do it, especially with someone you love.
The picture was a really good memory. He decided to take her out on this elaborate dinner date that neither of them were used to. All she loved was spending time with him no matter where they went, didn't matter if she didn't like it. She loved him as much as he loved— loves her. All he wishes now is that she's happy with who ever she is with.
Ekko shakes his head. Focus man, work first, reminiscing later. After that little trip down memory lane, he started working on his giant pile of paper work. Scar and him always shared the paperwork evenly, even if the stacks of papers was coming out of their ears. Paperwork was the worst part of the job, a repetitive process that consisted of reading the whole thing to understand it, then signing it. Over and over and over and over again. A very boring part of the job that could take an entire shift if you get behind on it just like how Ekko is right now.
Picking up the top paper, reading through it, then signing it. It was very easy, very boring. There was nothing like a good day where you get paid to manage all the workers and do paperwork because there is so many that you and the boss have to handle it. Every paper that was completed made time feel like it was going by .01x the speed that it really is.
After a couple of hours, he finished a quarter of the pile (it really felt like ten hours). Ekko looks up from his desk to give his eyes a break from looking at papers. That's when he notices Dr. Brenton coming up to his desk. He was newer to the job, coming right out of college and impressed Scar pretty fast.
"Mr. Wright, can I have some assistance with a patient in room 3?"
Ekko looks at the door to room 3, slightly open and nurse Millie standing outside of it, "What seems to be the issue?"
The doctor looks around the room nervously, like he was trying to hide something that the others might not want to hear. Ekko stands up out of his chair and walks up to the man.
"You can tell me anything, Brenton. What's up?"
Dr. Brenton breathes out hard and tries to collect himself, "The patient has a gunshot wound in his shoulder and refuses to have the police involved."
A nod comes from Ekko. Something like this doesn't happen that often in this place. People getting shot however is a completely different story. That happens all the time in New York, mainly in the areas with the higher crime rates. Gunshot wounds was not their problem, it is considered a medical emergency which you need to go to the hospital for.
"I'll go get the big man. He'll know what to do," he says to reassure and calm down the doctor.
The doctor nods at the man and heads back to the room. A sigh escapes Ekko's lips, just what we needed to deal with today. After taking a deep breath, he starts his walk to Scar's office. Scar is definitely used to dealing with this kind of thing, plus he always said that he'd deal with this kind of situation himself.
As he approached the office door, Ekko knocked on the door. "Come in," Scars voice comes from the other side. Taking another deep breath, he pushes the door open. Scar was sitting behind his desk with his glasses on the ridge of his nose.
"We have a problem in room three," Ekko says quietly.
"What kind of problem?"
"GSW."
Scar takes his glasses off and places them onto his desk. He rubs his hand down his face in frustration. Leaving this behind in prison was something Scar wished would stay there. He doesn't want any part of gang or even gun violence. Standing up from his desk, Scar walks over to Ekko.
"Is Dr. Brenton okay?"
Ekko nods, "He is. Just terrified because we don't know if he has a gun."
The tall man nods as they exit the office and make their way to room three. They walk slowly to the room, trying their best not to scare other people.
"You're coming in there with me," Scar says so nonchalantly.
Ekko's eyes widen at him, "You want me in there with you when the man possibly has a gun?"
"Just in case something goes wrong."
His heart rate quickens in an instant. He thought Scar would handle this on his own but he gets where Scar is coming from.
"You think he has a gun?"
"I would in his situation. You know how to take someone down?"
Of course he did. The training from Vi in high school was incredibly useful. So Ekko nods at Scar and in turn he smiles back.
"Yeah. I've been taught a thing or two."
"Good. You might need it."
They get to the door to the room, Scar looks at Brenton.
"Whatever you hear—don't come in until my go ahead."
The doctor nods quietly. Scar turns the sore knob and enters the room. Ekko takes a deep breath, in and out, then follows behind, shutting the door. The man with a clear gunshot wound to the shoulder is on the bed, his hand tucked under his jacket. Scar walks right up to the side of the bed next to the man.
"You have two choices right now," he says in his deep, commanding voice.
The injured man looks at Scar, "Oh yeah? What are they?"
"One: you leave the building and call 911, or Two: I forcefully take that gun from under your jacket and cuff you to the bed until the police show up," Scar says with no ounce of remorse for the man's pain.
The man looks at him angrily, like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. "Well what if I chose neither?"
Scar looks right at Ekko, "Then my partner and I will take this into our own hands."
His eyes look from Scar to Ekko multiple times, trying to figure out what they would do. Then in an instant the man takes the gun out from underneath his jacket and points it at Ekko. Ekko freezes in place, his whole world flashing before his eyes. Every single moment of his life replaying in an instant, his doubts and regrets coming into his head quickly.
The man pulls the trigger, Ekko just stands there, accepting that he was going to get shot—nothing happens but a click click noise. Scar leaps at the man, slamming the man's hand into the bed railing, causing the gun to land on the floor. The man tries fighting back but Scar is quick to subdue him.
Ekko just stands there watching it all happen, frozen in place. His ears were ringing from the feeling of almost being shot, like his body was dissociating him from it. He could hear Scars voice, but none of it was clear. Then in a quick motion, Scars punched the man on the bed hard enough to knock him out.
That's when Ekko's eyes fell down to the gun on the floor. Staring at it like it did actually go off, then a hand falls on his shoulder, causing him to jump. He looks over to the source and finds Scar standing there with his mouth moving. Nothing was coming in clear, but one word he could read from the scarred lips, "Lux."
The door opens with Lux standing in the opening. They have a conversation until she definitely jumps from seeing the gun on the floor. Ekko doesn't know what they're talking about, but all he knows is that within the next minute, Lux is leading Ekko out of the room carefully.
Nothing is registering in his head. All he could feel was his feet moving forward, one in front of the other and the hand on his wrist. Not even the surroundings were connecting in his head, it was all just a blur. The next thing he knows, a smell of fresh air, well as fresh as the air can get in the city. His vision clears up a little as the air hits his lungs. All he could see clearly was Lux holding his hand, still guiding him away from the building and into the alley next to it.
Lux comes to a full stop and turns around to face him. He could tell that she's talking with her mouth moving, picking up on a few words from reading her lips, he sits down on the steps on the side of the building at Lux's instruction and help. She sits next to him slowly, wrapping her left arm around him. Using her right arm, she turns his head towards her, moving his dreads out of his face and getting his attention.
Nothing was coming to his ears well, he could see Lux speaking but couldn't hear her from his ears still ringing. Ekko watches her mouth with careful attention, making out the words she was saying.
"Close your eyes, take deep breaths, in and out."
That's what he could see her say, without rejecting her words, he followed the instructions. Closing his eyes, counting back from five and started taking deep slow breaths. He focused on his breathing, trying to calm down his racing heart and brain. Lux never takes her eyes off of him just to make sure he's okay. Being Lux's friend meant that you always have someone looking after you, even if you don't want them too. After a couple of minutes, he could hear out of his ears clearer than before, being able to hear the cars passing by, other people walking, the construction crew from down the street and Lux's breathing.
Ekko opened his eyes slowly, finding Lux staring right into him. It didn't startle him, not exactly. She was one person that really couldn't scare him no matter how hard she tried. Last year, she tried to scare him on Halloween but completely failed—that was until Scar scared him minutes later. There was nothing like having a gun aimed right at you that definitely makes someone scared to die. Someone in a mask just trying to jump scare you was a piece of cake.
"You okay?"
Ekko nods his head slowly, trying to make sure he doesn't give himself a headache. He was okay. Was he okay? Even he didn't know himself. It feels like his heart is still beating out of his chest from the adrenaline.
Without thinking, he pulled out of Lux's reach and pulled out his phone. All he could do was remember what he saw when the gun was pointing at him. His fear, regrets, memories that never left. The one thing that kept bothering him was his major regret, the only thing he still hasn't forgiven himself for.
The phone screen kept staring at him like it was giving him the clearest answer to what he was thinking about. In a way, it was. He hasn't thought about doing this in years. Without a second doubt, he opened his contacts and scrolled down to the P's in his contacts. Sure enough, her name was right there, sitting right where he left it.
He clicks her name, pulling up her number with the options to either call or text her. Lux watched as his thumb almost hits the call button, waiting to see if he would. Ekko's thumb almost hits it, but he stops himself as he shuts his phone off and slides it back in his pocket.
They haven't talked in so long, six years to be exact. It was all his fault. Never texting, calling, or even going back to visit her. The truth was that if he did any of that, he would've dropped the life he's made for himself here in New York to go back to her. She was the love of his life and he still can't get over her.
Lux stares at him, reading his body language. She notices his shoulders start to shake, the crease in his brow. In an instant, she moves closer , wrapping both of her arms around him. Feeling her arms wrapped around him, he turns fully and reciprocates the hug, putting his face into the crook of her neck.
"Let it out Ek," she said softly in his ear.
In an instant, Lux could feel his whole body start to shake and his tears started hitting her bare shoulder. This was the one major thing that he loved about Lux, being a shoulder to cry on without any pity or judgment. She was such a caring person—just like her.
A few minutes went by as Ekko was still crying into her shoulder. That's when Lux heard footsteps coming from the front of the alley. She looks up to find Scar coming closer to them. A police car passes behind him with its lights on. As he got closer, he notices that Ekko was crying.
He comes to a full stop a few feet away to give them their space, "Is he okay?"
She shakes her head without moving it that much not to disturb the man crying into her shoulder. Scar nods, knowing exactly how Ekko was feeling. Having your life flash before your eyes and everything come into your head was something he knew all too well. The man walks closer to the two of them, stopping right behind Ekko. He crouches down, setting his palm onto Ekko's left shoulder.
Ekko turns his head, tears still streaming down his face. The two men look at each other for a minute without a word being spoken. He turned his head back into Lux's shoulder and continued to cry. Crying was something Ekko rarely did, unless something finally got to him. Neither Lux or Scar cared that he was crying. All they wanted to make sure of, was that their best friend was okay.
"Take the rest of the day off, Ek." Scar said softly.
A sniffle comes out of the crying man, "What about the paperwork?"
"It'll be here tomorrow, and the next day. There's no rush on it."
Lux could feel Ekko nod against her shoulder, trying to keep some of his composure together. The man tries to finally stand up but his legs nearly give out from under him. Scar catches him fast, making sure that he doesn't collapse hard onto the concrete with the help from Lux. Both Scar and Lux look at each other, knowing what they should do.
Ekko turns around to face Scar lazily, his eyes red from the crying and tears still sliding down his cheeks. This is the first time in a while that Lux has seen him like this. For Scar, this is the first time he's ever seen Ekko like this. The man always puts on a brave face around his friends, sometimes it gets too much for him to keep it inside.
"Go home man," Scar says softly.
Ekko wipes at his tears as he nods in agreement. The three of them stand there for sometime, just letting the man take as much air in as he could tolerate. He taps Lux's shoulder a couple of times, a sign for her to let go of him. She slowly moves her arms away from him, being as careful as possible as she backed away from him to look into his deep dark brown eyes.
Ekko looks at her then back at Scar, "What are you two planning?"
Lux and Scar share a glace, then she decides to speak up, "I'm taking you home."
He whips his head around in an instant, thinking he heard wrong. "You're gonna take me home?"
She nods as she walks right up to him, grabbing his wrist and starts walking back to the street with him in her hard grip. "Yep. There is nothing you can do that will change my mind."
Ekko turns around to look at Scar, who's laughing so hard he's doubled over. A chuckle erupts from his mouth as they speed back into the building with Lux set on the intention that she's bringing him home. Everyone in the room turned their attention towards them as they rushed through the waiting room and into the backroom. Even the other co-workers were even more baffled by this.
The pair stop in front of the men's locker room, with Ekko eyeing her out of the corner of his eye. "You can be really bossy when you want to be."
Lux grins at him, "Well you can too. So hurry up and change. Meet back out here in five minutes."
After saying that, Lux turned around and headed for the woman's locker room on the other side of the back room. He shook his head with a grin on his face as he pushed the door open and headed for his locker. The locker room was small, probably could only fit four people inside it at once, but the wall of lockers was plentiful of them. When he first started, he was lucky no one took his lucky/favorite number.
Walking to the end of the room and stopping at the first column, he opened locker four. Ekko started pulling off his scrubs as he pushed the top off, then took his scrubs pants off with his regular clothes that he chose this morning underneath. A Simple dark green sweater with tan khakis and a pair of dark brown steel toed boots. Closing the locker after putting his scrubs inside, he walks out of the room and towards the woman's locker room.
He passes his other co-workers with all their eyes on him. Everyone was probably wondering what was going on in his head. Did they want to know that he was thinking about how it might've helped him if he died in that room? How he can't get the love of his life out of his head?
None of that matters right now. All that did at this moment was him meeting Lux and walking back to his apartment. As he approached the locker room, Lux exited it with her bag slung right over her shoulder. Their eyes met and a giant smile appeared on her face in an instant.
"Ready to go home?"
Ekko shrugs his shoulders with clear intent that he honestly doesn't know. Lux rolls her eyes as they exit the building and onto the sidewalk, turning left towards home. He pulls out his phone, 12:30pm, only briefly in the afternoon. They walked down the street with Ekko taking the side closet to the street.
"It's a good thing you don't live that far from work," the golden haired woman broke the silence between them.
He nodded as he fixes his dreads from being in his face from the wind again like this morning, "And I still manage to be late everyday."
Lux laughs at his small humor. At least he wasn't crying anymore. That's all she cared about. They turned left at the corner, the sidewalk packed with people walking. Ekko held out his arm as he shoved it in his hand into the pocket. She noticed his gesture and looped her arm around his, just to make sure they didn't lose each other.
"You know—" she starts talking but Ekko interrupts her.
"We're not talking about this again."
"You need to see someone. Go on a date or something."
He side eyes her with a look that made her stop talking right away. When he didn't want to talk about something, he always gave this look that Lux could pick up on easily. All she wanted to see was him happy, see him not still hung over his ex that he dated years ago. They walked in silence for a minute, then an idea struck Lux fast.
"What if you meet my roommate?"
Ekko unwraps his arm from hers and begins walking faster, not wanting to have this conversation. A sigh comes from her lips as she catches up to him quickly.
"I'm not saying go on a date with her," she says to him.
He scoffs loudly, "You seem to care too much about my dating life Lux. Did it ever occur to you that I don't want to move on from her?"
It did occur to her that he didn't want to. He's made it too obvious for her and Scar to notice it.
"It's not healthy, Ek."
Ekko doesn't listen as he walks even faster, trying to put distance between them. Lux increased her speed, nearly tackling him onto the concrete in front of his apartment building. He goes to walk up the stairs into the building when her hand catches his. He looks at her like he might just hit her, but he has more self control and even more respect for woman to even do that.
"I'm just saying, you can meet her with no intention of dating. Just a new friend," Lux says in a pleading manner. "The only ones you have are Scar and me."
He hated this one thing about her, giving him a reality check. She was right, he only had the two of them. Having no ambition to meet new people or even go out and do anything fun unless it was with them was one thing he suffered with. Sometimes you need reality smacked right into your face.
"Fine. I'll meet her," Ekko says in a completely defeated tone.
Lux lets go of his hand and starts clapping with a pleasing look plastered on her face. He looks at her with this pleasing look and can only think of one person. It's hard to get over someone when your best friend constantly reminds you of her. Then again, he wasn't lying when he said that he doesn't want to get over her. She's never left his mind in all these years with no contact (especially no thanks to him).
"You're gonna like her. She's right up your alley," Lux says with a excited squeal.
All Ekko could do was smile a little bit and shake his head at her enjoyment of her torturing him with this.
"So, what's this roommate of yours like?" He asks curiously.
"She's very ecstatic, closed off, doesn't like people getting in her own business, does these 'crazy' ideas and loves causing trouble, but I promise you she's very friendly," The woman tells him, almost like she likes her roommate a lot.
He chuckles to himself. Of course Lux would find a roommate that is the completely the opposite of her, "She sounds… interesting."
Lux nods fast, excited that Ekko is even thinking about someone else and not her.
"What does she look like?" He asks curiously.
Her face changes fast, from a tender happiness to a sudden slight anger, "Does it matter what she looks like?"
His head shakes as he knows it doesn't matter, but he just wants to know anyway to get an idea in his head. "It doesn't. It just helps paint a picture of what she might look like if i have some detail about her."
Lux sighs, knowing that Ekko is more of a visual person than detail. Giving some detail wouldn't be a bad thing. "She's different from other woman," Ekko was going to ask her why but she cuts him off before he could say a syllable, "She has bright blue hair that reaches about half way down her back, wears these eye lenses that change her eye color to a bright pink."
That last part is really—strange, different from what he was expecting. "Pink eye lenses?"
The woman chuckles at what she's going to say, "She told me that she thinks the color is cool. That it gives her a recognizable look that would make it hard to forget about her."
Ekko nods at her. This woman defiantly sounds right up his alley. He could see himself being friends with her at the very least.
"So, What's her name?" He asks her curiously.
A smile so wide and bright flashes across Lux's face, "I honestly don't think it's her given birth name. It's completely different from what you'd expect."
"Okay…" Ekko says with a curious tone. Basically asking her to tell him without being rude.
"Her name is Jinx," the woman says with a confident tone.
That threw him right off about his expectations about her name. Jinx. It's got some mystery to it, something that draws him in further to wanting to meet her like it was a sirens call.
"I can't really say anything about her name, I mean just look at mine."
Lux nods. Even she thought it was a strange name, but she didn't really care because she became friends with her pretty fast. Plus he's not wrong about his own name.
"That's true."
Then there was silence between them. He was thinking about if he actually wanted to meet her, or if he should stay hung up on the past. Ekko knows that it isn't healthy to stay in the past, to still be hung up on her and halt his life for someone that probably forgot about him. Why should he be scared to move on and actually live his life?
"When do I meet her?" He asks Lux, breaking the deafening silence between them.
She looks back up at him and grins so wide that Ekko thinks he could see her smile from from the roof of his apartment building.
"I'll talk to her about it. See what she says and I'll text you."
Ekko nods at her, turning to the buildings front door as he reached into his pocket for his apartment key.
"I do have to warn you."
He turns his eyes back to her at a sentence like that, "Warn me about what?"
Lux plays with her thumbs nervously. Trying to come up with a way to sound like he wouldn't matter to her. He notices her hesitation, thinking about 'well how bad could it be?'
A sigh escapes her lips slowly, "She's been looking for someone specific. When she moved her a couple of months ago and when she started to trust me, she told me that she's looking for someone."
That is extremely curious. Moving to New York just to find someone? That takes a lot of courage and love to do that for someone.
"What's her relation to this person she's trying to look for?"
"All she told me that it was her best friend that she lost contact with years ago," Lux says with a curious tone.
That is even more curious. How could someone lose contact with their best friend like that? Unless her friend did the same thing he did to her.
"Well, I could help her if she wants help finding them," he says with a serious tone.
She nods at his words, knowing that Jinx would appreciate it. Lux walks up the stairs, stopping right in front of him. She grabs his wrist slowly, "She will appreciate that, but I would tell her yourself when you meet her."
He nods as he gets out of her grip, "Well enjoy the rest of your day Lux. Text me later."
Lux turns around as she walks back down the stairs, "Will do. Besides, I think this will help you move on from Powder."
Ekko freezes in his tracks at her name. The love of his life that he couldn't get rid of no matter how hard he wanted to. His heart always crawled back to her. He forces himself to open the buildings door as he stands there frozen.
"We'll talk later, Lux," he says as he forces himself through the door way and into the building, closing the door behind him.
His back hits the door as he stands there, trying to think of something else to get his mind off of her. Get up to your apartment and just relax. Need to finish what I've been procrastinating with. Pushing himself off the door, Ekko starts walking to the elevator at the other end of the hallway. Two doors filled the hallway, one apartment on the right and the other on the left.
He presses the up button as he reaches the doors. He never liked living on the first floor, to much noise from the apartments above. When the elevator doors open, he walks inside and presses floor five. The top floor. As he waits for to get to his floor, he reaches for his phone in his pocket. He enters his contact list again, scrolling back down to the P's and stopping when her name appeared on his screen.
Powder.
His best friend.
The love of his life.
A sigh escapes his lips. His thumb reaches to her name and presses on it, opening the call button to him. Out of instinct, his thumb reaches closer to the call button. Then the elevator dings as the doors open up to the five floor. Ekko shakes his head as he turns the screen off, shoving it into his pocket as he walks towards his apartment door. When he is standing right outside his door, he fumbles with his keys, trying his best to get to the right one.
He stops right as he gets his apartment door key out, pushing it into the key slot and unlocking the door. Ekko steps past the threshold of the doorway, closing and locking the door behind him. Walking further into his apartment, he's greeted with his massive living room with a connected kitchen, an open floor plan.
The walls were a dark gray (would be a different color if his landlord allowed it), filled with different paintings from years of "collecting". The two bedrooms on the far back wall with the bathroom all the way on the right. He places his keys on the table, heading for the fridge on the kitchen. A drink is exactly what he need, especially after the incident at work and Lux mentioning her by name.
Opening the fridge to barely anything but a twelve pack of beer, he sighs. Of course he forgot to go food shopping. After grabbing a beer from the pack, he closes the fridge with his hip and starts walking towards the extra bedroom in between his room and the bathroom. Lux and Scar always said that he was crazy to pay rent on a two bedroom apartment when it was just him, but he wouldn't be able to do this one thing that he loved.
Ekko opens the spare bedroom door with a smile on his face as he takes his fifth sip from the bottle. He enters the room carefully, trying not to step on all the supplies on the floor. Paintings lined the room, not from a collection, ones he's made himself. Some where memories. Others were when he was feeling down thinking about her. Not a lot of people know that he loves to paint. He picked it up a couple of months after starting college.
Walking towards the desk on the far end of the room, he picks up his wooden paint palette and the acrylic brush with his free hand. He continues walking until he reaches the painting that he's been working on for a while, putting down the palette and brush on the small table next to it. Then he reaches up and pulls the cloth covering the painting off, revealing the painting fully.
Ekko sits down on the wooden chair as he takes another sip from the bottle. Drinking and painting was something he didn't do often, only when he really felt the need to suppress his feelings and thoughts. His eyes meet the canvas hes been using the last couple of months to make this. This one meant a lot to him, maybe too much.
It was the backyard of Powder's old house on New Years Eve when they started dating. The painting had the two teenagers kissing in the snow with fireworks going off in the sky behind their heads.
This was his favorite memory, one he clung to everyday because he never wanted to forget it. He takes another sip from the bottle as he pulls his phone out once again, turning the screen on with her contact right there. A sigh exits his lips as he finally has the courage to do something he's never done in the last six years.
Pressing the call button, the line beeps immediately. "Sorry. The phone number your trying to reach is no longer in service." The line disconnects abruptly, sending a deep shot into his heart. After all these years of keeping her number, she doesn't have it anymore.
A deep feeling of rising anger fills into his chest as the reality hits him. Tears start pooling in his eyes from the heartbreak that he'll never be able to talk to her again. In an instant, he throws his phone across the room, hitting the wall with a loud thud. The tears spill from his eyes as he starts crying from the deep resentment of being stupid enough to never call her in the last six years.
Ekko put the rim of the bottle to his lips and chugged it down quickly. Seeing how fast he went through it, he stood up, walking out of the room and back into the kitchen. He threw the bottle into the trash as he reached into the fridge, grabbed the remaining eleven bottles in the pack and made his way to his room, kicked the door opened as he reached it, not bothering to close it behind him.
Climbing into the finished bed, he opened another bottle and chugged it. All he wanted to do was make this feeling go away, to make sure that he would completely forget about her. One after another, bottle after bottle was opened and emptied just as fast until it felt like his head was spinning and going to explode. Ekko laid on his back, staring at the plain white ceiling, wishing that he could've done something different so that this wouldn't have happened.
All of a sudden, his eyes felt heavier than they have ever been. He tried his best to keep them open, but he was dragged under the darkness. His heart was filled with dread, anger and regret. Not at Powder, not at anyone particular. Mad at himself. Mad that he could've avoided this if he just talked to her after moving away. But as he was dragged under the realm of sleep, he realized that he couldn't change the past, that looking towards the future was something that he needed—had to do instead of being stuck in the past.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
A bright light hits his eyes in a flash, awakening him from his slumber. Opening his eyes, he is greeted with the bright light from the window. He closes his eyes fast, trying not to make his headache even worse than what it was already from the night before. Ekko rolls away from the light spilling into his room from the window next to the bed. He's experienced hangover's before, but not as bad as this. Only one thing was on his mind, What did he do last night?
All of a sudden his ears pick up the sound of his television from the living room, playing either a show or movie. Ekko takes the blanket off of his body, looking down at it confused, When did I get under the covers? He shakes his head, trying to change his focus but makes his headache even worse in the process. Swinging his feet off the bed, he tries to stand up but slightly stumbles in the process. After getting in control of his balance, he starts making his way to the closed bedroom door.
The sound from the television became clearer than before but it was still muffled, "Mr. Whatsit?" That was followed by the laughter from a woman he knew all to well.
Opening the bedroom door, he finds someone watching the last season of Stranger Things on his TV. That's when his eyes fell onto the couch as his eyes noticed the golden blonde hair sticking out from the top. He walks closer to the couch when all of a sudden the TV pauses and Lux turns to look at him.
"Good morning, Ek," she said calmly.
A confused look formed on his face, "How did you get in my apartment?"
She stands up, beginning to walk over to him as she pulls out a key from her pocket, "The spare key you gave me."
That's when it hits him. He forgot he gave Lux a spare key to his apartment just in case she was worried about him. If she was here, what did he do last night?
"What happened last night?"
She walks over to him, grabbing his wrists with her hands and began guiding him towards the other side of the couch. Ekko sat on down at her guidance, wondering why she was even here.
"Let me make you something to eat and get some water into your system," she says as she walks away into the kitchen.
He watched as Lux walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge to all the shelves being stocked full of food. Now he was even more confused. Closing his eyes to ease the tension of the headache, he listening to her moving around the kitchen like a cook that could be on master chef.
What felt like an hour, Lux walked back over to him, "Here you go."
Ekko opened his eyes to see a full plate of breakfast food, a bottle of water and some pain medication. He could've sworn that Lux was acting like his mother right now. Without arguing, he took the medicine, the water and took the pill in one gulp, then he grabbed the plate and began feasting on the breakfast she just made for the two of them.
The two of them sat in silence as they both ate, that was until he broke it, "What're you my mother now?"
Lux starts chuckling with her mouth full and swallows what's in it, "I kind of have to act like it when you get blackout drunk and don't answer my calls or texts at three in the afternoon."
He stops eating after hearing her say that. Drinking that much that early in the day was not common for him. Then he remembers calling Powder and her number being changed so he couldn't talk to her ever again.
"Look Lux, I'm so—"
"It's okay. I get that after yesterday at work you wanted to talk to her. I'm sorry that her number doesn't work anymore," she said apologetically.
So he was at least conscious to some degree while drunk, and he told her about Powder's number not working. That's just great. Now he feels like she thinks that he could never move on from her. That much was true. Ekko knows he should move on, find someone new. That's why he agreed to meeting Jinx.
"Honestly it's fine," he says as he stuffs his mouth with bacon, "Did we talk about Jinx?"
Lux nods her head as she finishes her own plate, "Yeah. I talked to her about meeting you."
Now she had his full attention. At least as much as he could handle, "What did she say?"
She chuckles as she recounts the conversation from yesterday, "At first she was hesitant. Kept insisting that she didn't need anyone in her life."
Ekko finished his plate, putting it on the table in front of him and started giving her his full attention.
"Then was until I mentioned your name and she stopped walking away from me, then full sprinted at me and shook me like this," Lux says as she gets up from her spot, walking over to him and putting her hands on his shoulders to begin shaking him like crazy.
A series of chuckles escaped his mouth from the thought of this woman randomly shaking someone just because of his name. "Does she know me?"
The woman shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know. All she said that she was open to meeting you."
That's curious. Someone he doesn't know wants to meet him badly because of his name? It's a very strange thing. Lux sits back down in her spot and continues watching the show. "You do know that this came out months ago?" Ekko teased her with.
She laughs at his teasing, punching his arm lightly, "I've been out of touch from everything for a while. I'm trying to finish it."
He shakes his head with a smile on his face as he grabs his bottle of water, chugging it down in one gulp. Needing another drink, he stands up off the couch and walks towards the kitchen. Ekko starts looking in the cabinets for something strong, not alcohol, just something to wake him up faster. There was nothing in the apartment for what he wanted, just exactly what he needed.
He walks back into the living room, grabbing his boots and starts putting them on. Lux notices this right away, "Where do you think your going?"
Ekko smiles as he finishes tying the boot onto his foot, "Going for a morning run."
"Just be careful. You're not fully recovered from last night," she says as she shakes her head in her palm.
He walks towards the door with a smile on his face, "I promise I'll be okay, Mom."
Both of them share a hard laugh as he opens the door and exits the apartment. The cool morning air hit his lungs fast and unrelenting. The street was lined with people walking and going about their day like always. He made his way down the steps and began walking towards a special place to him. When ever he ran out of something refreshing in his apartment, he would take the ten minute walk and get himself something he always needed for his own sanity. Just one cup a day was all he needed.
Ekko started noticing small things he never really paid attention too. Somehow there were little convenience stores around his apartment he's never noticed before. New York has them everywhere, almost one on every block if they could help it. It didn't matter if was owned by a local business man or even something like seven eleven, there was always somewhere to get something refreshing or even a late night snack.
He continued walking past them all, his mind only on the one spot in the area he loved getting his coffee. After a couple of minutes, he arrived at Jericho's. His favorite cafe where they carried and made everything you could think of for a morning refresher. This morning he definitely needed a coffee, it might just help him wake up faster. Ekko pushes the front door open with his shoulder as he yawns into his hand, holding it open for a couple that left with their morning supplies.
As he entered with the door closing behind him, there was a small line to the counter. A little busy this morning. He pulls his phone out of his pocket as he got in line, thinking that Lux might want a coffee he texts her against his cracked screen. Wait. When did my phone get in my pocket? He chuckles as he texts the woman that was back in his apartment. The line kept moving forward as he sent the message to her. Within seconds she texts back.
"I'm good. I'm leaving your place now anyway, Jinx is picking up our coffee right now. Meet you at work," Lux sends with a smile emoji.
Ekko sends her a a thumbs up, "See you at work."
The woman in front of him moves forward as he puts his phone into his pocket. While looking up at the menu board above the counter, his eyes catch something that he couldn't exactly call normal. Bright Blue hair, standing right in front of him. Ekko's eyes widen as he sees her messy hair pulled up into a morning bun. There's no way that this is her. His mind went to how Lux described Jinx from the day before.
"Can I get one small Caramel Macchiato and one 'Chuck's Special'," the woman in front of him says with complete confidence.
Ekko's pulse quickens a little bit after hearing that first coffee order. That was Lux's go to coffee in the morning. This has to be a coincidence. There was no way that he just happens to run into the one person that desperately wanted to meet him. After the barista left the counter to make the coffees, she pulled out her phone and began texting someone. Being a curious person with the idea that he was about to do something stupid, he looked over her shoulder and noticed Lux's name right at the top of the screen.
That was the nail in the coffin. He was standing right behind Jinx. The barista came back with her two coffee orders and texted Lux that she was on her way. She pocketed her phone into her pajamas, grabbed both of the coffee's. Jinx swung around quickly, bumping right into Ekko who was way too close to her expectation, spilling both coffee's right onto his shirt.
"Shit," she said out loud as she bent down to grab the cups. Ekko just stood there frozen in place, not believing that this was the mysterious roommate of his best friend that he's never met had just dumped coffee right on his shirt. "What a dick," she says as she stands back up. He unfreezes from his place, having to let someone know about the mess the two of them made.
"Hey Jericho," he said loudly. The barista from behind the counter turns around and looks right at him.
"What's up, Ekko?" The brawling heavy man asks.
Now Jinx froze in place the second she heard Ekko speak. She could recognize that voice no matter how long she's gone without hearing it. It was the one thing about him that she could never forget.
"We made a little bit of a mess. Have someone clean this?"
Jericho nods at him as he walks into the back to get someone to clean the spilled coffee on the floor. Now everyone in the shop had their eyes on him, looking at him like he was a dick that wouldn't help the woman he bumped into. His attention was now back to her as he lowered his eyes to find her but is startled when he finds her staring at him in disbelief.
Lux wasn't wrong about the pink eye lenses. They gave him a little jump as he looked into them. She was completely frozen in place as she was looking at him. It was like she couldn't believe that this is how they met or even the fact that it was him. They stared at each other for a solid minute before he spoke.
"Are you okay?"
For the first time, her eyes blinked as she shook her head, "Yeah I'm fine."
A sigh of relief hit him that he thought he might've somehow hurt her without doing anything.
"Next time though," she started to say, "Watch how close you get to someone in line asshole."
She walked past him, heading towards the exit. Ekko wanted to chase after her, but doing that just might make her opinion about him even worse than it already was just by standing too close to her. The door's bell ringed as she exited the shop and started walking way from the glass in the front of the shop. He sighs deeply, thinking about how stupid he was for even bothering to snoop at her phone.
What a great first impression Ek.