Chapter 38

Things calmed down; the practice session completely finished. Joshua, who had found himself leaning against the door frame, thought it was finally time to go to his room. But before he could set the plan into motion, his sister suddenly perked up.

The girl had been flicking through her folder of sheet music and came across the piece she predicted would be her first performance once healed. The concert was a little under half a year away and was the next thing she had planned after the Mozart competition. It was unlikely she would be allowed to take any jobs before then.

Why she had suddenly gotten excited was now what interested her older brother. He knew what the folder was and that it was not something one would usually get like this over.

"Are you too tired to play or not?"

The question threw Henry off, him turning to the teenager and being met with large, pleading eyes. Originally, he had planned to play a little too, but he did not want to reveal his real mood. For this reason, he had avoided it, only playing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' right at the beginning. The other pieces she had asked for would have exposed him. But, none of those times had Penelope been this expectant.

However, he did feel a little bad, so perhaps he could give in a little. "Which piece?"

Penelope snapped her head to the blond man, Joshua easily seeing her eyes light up as she hurriedly showed Henry the piece. "It was actually after listening to you perform this seven years ago, I decided to take piano seriously. Is it too much to ask you to play it now?"

There were a few seconds of silence, Henry only looking at the score, before he gently shook his head. "Move over to the stool, I don't want to accidentally hit you." Hearing him agree, Penelope wasted no time in giving him the space he needed.

Curious, Joshua ended up staying, not understanding but wanting to hear the performance.

The melody started off soft, ethereal, like the gentle trickle of water down a mountain stream. The chords were soft, the notes almost fluid, filling both siblings listening with a calming warmth. But there was a sinister undertone, nothing one could obviously hear, Penelope only aware of it because she had been researching and making notes on the piece and its performances. Joshua, with his ears mostly untrained and having never heard the composition before, could not hear it, but he could feel something, almost like the calm before a storm.

And that was exactly what it was.

Slowly the sound started getting heavier, occasional sounds of discord getting more and more frequent. Joshua found that the notes didn't exactly clash, but something made him feel nervous, like anxiety welling within him.

The music had become sad, it was almost as if he could hear heartbreak, he could most definitely feel it. Had his emotions been even a little bit immature, he really might have started crying.

But then it changed again.

The sound became frustrated, turbulent, violent almost. The low minor key combined with the heavy chords and inhumanely fast melody. Penelope was in awe at how Henry could play the part so well without any preparation. But Joshua was finding himself almost lost in the echoing sounds; it was almost like whatever message the song was conveying was slowly being lost to insanity.

Every note and chord was played with purpose and distinction, yet the over sound lacked in clarity. It really did make the man feel like he was spiralling or momentarily losing his mind. Joshua really couldn't understand it, but the music seemed to be greatly influential. If the part before hadn't done so enough, this part made him emotional to the point where he really did want to cry and give up, that was the kind of frustration that came through.

The piece moved onto its final section, calming back down a little.

One would expect for it to at least somewhat return to the first part, coming around full circle. However this was not an ABCA piece, or even ABCD with a completely new motif for the last section. Instead, the structure of this particular composition was ABCB', it returned to the sadness of the second part. [A/N: each letter corresponds to sections of the score, each generally being noticeable different, a little like verses without a chorus]

It was different, it was docile, calm, slow. But that was not how it felt. The pain and heartbreak from the second part came back clearer than before. There was no more growing anxiety, but there was more pain. No build up, but no sign of ending.

The overall feel could be likened to the notion of giving up.

And then it was suddenly quiet.

The piece didn't end abruptly, it was all down to how it was played, the emotions that had come through had been so strong that by the time Joshua realised it had fallen silent, the tune had long ended.

It left a painful, bitter aftertaste. His younger sister had been so excited for the song, it had not once occurred to him that the song would have a bad ending. He did not even know that BE's were associated with songs, but that was what the bittersweet feeling made him think. It was a song without a happy ending, no, it was a story without so.

Penelope had been originally in awe, but as the third part went on, she had found herself worried. Perhaps the piece was not one she should have requested while he was injured, because Henry thrown himself into playing. The man was now breathing a little heavier, body probably in pain. A couple trials of sweat travelled down the side of his forehead. But the most alarming thing had been that while he transitioned to the last part, Henry had closed his eyes and tears started escaping.

Miraculously, he did not open his eyes again, the sheet music long forgotten, playing the last part almost perfectly. But that did not stop his face slowly being soaked by saltwater.

"H-Henry?"

At the stuttering, nervous voice of the teenager registered in his brain, Henry turned to her and opened his eyes.

Joshua froze at the sight of Henry's red eyes and wet cheeks, suddenly at a loss.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to play that piece. I didn't realise it meant so much."

"No, no. It's nothing like that. I was just relating to the narrative a little too much today. I didn't want to play the other songs since my mood would have ruined it, but I thought with this it might not. I just delved a little too deep. Did it ruin the performance?"

"Mmnm," she hummed while shaking her head. "It was a beautiful performance. DO you feel a little better now?"

After a few seconds, there was a small nod.

Before Henry got a chance to wipe his tears, Samuel burst into the room, almost knocking Joshua down. Behind him, Joshua could hear hurried footsteps coming closer.

With his brother's sudden appearance, Henry stood up, turning to look at what happened. It was only when he was pulled into a hug that he realised Ramy had told them about what happened at lunch. Everything finally came tumbling back down and left him once again at a loss.

"Do you want to kill him? I think we should kill him," Samuel said, his voice completely serious as he held his brother. He didn't like how Henry was almost limp in his arms. He didn't like that Henry had to be hurt like this. He didn't like that of all people to have betrayed his baby brother, it was someone he had grown up with. If Henry said the word, Samuel really would storm right over to Caleb Shard's place and end his life without any concern for consequence.

"Murder is not on the table, Sam," Caroline said, coming in with her husband and Meera. "Besides, death is too easy. We should ruin him to the point he wishes he was dead."

Meera also jumped in, "Agreed. I can jump on a computer and start it right now."

Marcus held back a sigh, listening to his blackened family talk nonsense, completely certain that just a nod from Henry would be enough for them all the jump into action. Thankfully, his youngest son was not listening at all, meaning his family were not becoming criminals tonight.

"Samuel, let go of your brother, don't feed him dark thoughts. The same to the rest of you." It wasn't often that Marcus would take charge of a situation on his own, he would normally leave it to his hot-blooded wife, only inputting when needs be. But that did not mean he held no authority; in fact he debatably held the most. With those two sentences and some beckoning, the older man had his arm around his second son's shoulders, the rest of his family calming down.

As Marcus checked on Henry, Joshua realised everyone had come upstairs to this room. The young man sent Archer a questioning look but didn't get a response. He clearly knew, all of them did, yet no one was telling him what happened.

Joshua was starting to feel some regret for not sticking in the car, for not pushing it further, for being uninterested in general.

Whatever happened must have been bad, the man starting to realise the sensations he received from listening to the blond man play was not purely due to the song. Whatever pain and turmoil must have also come out in his playing. He had never realised that the piano, or well any music, could be such a strong weapon; now, after the emotional performance, he would never forget it.

"Are you certain you don't want anything done?" Marcus was answered with a meek nod from his youngest son.

It was as he had suspected, Henry had no intention in retaliating against someone he cared about. But the man could feel his heart ease a little since Henry no longer looked like a ship lost at sea after their small talk. It seemed to be that his son had been trying to avoid confronting his feelings over the situation, a long-forgotten habit from when he was a child.

Marcus could vividly remember the few occasions in which his son had been hurt, the silly child would always cry but start spouting about everyone else other than him. As if running away from the fact he was hurt himself. He would watch his son go as long as possible without confronting his pain, one time even holding out a week. But his emotionally shy son would never open up to his own family. It would always be to his close friends, namely, the man who was behind this situation, Caleb.

Right now, Henry had calmed down, and perhaps because he was now grown, was at the point where he normally would unload to his friends. The only thing that worried Marcus was that this was all happening because of the loss of his closest friend; who would he talk to now?

Marcus looked back towards the door, where the other family had crowded, watching the situation. They seemed to have had an idea about something happening but the second they arrived at the residence, his hot-blooded wife and heir had immediately unloaded the entire situation on them. Not that anyone particularly minded, the two families really were extremely close with each other now.

But it was not the Lore's as a whole that caught his eyes, it was their second son, who was staring intently at his own. Even if Joshua's face seemed impassive as ever, the signs of worry were there to be found.

The man inwardly smiled; there was someone already there for Henry to talk to. He knew his son's shyness seemed to be making a return when it came to his fiancé, not all that surprised when Samuel had informed him of the brothers' chat on Saturday. But Henry and Joshua really were close, closer than they probably even realised. Marcus had the feeling that his son would talk on his own to Joshua given the chance.

"You seem a little worn out, how about we get a room prepared for you to rest a little before dinner?" Hanna proposed, seeing that things had considerably calmed down now. When she looked at the young man, she found herself worrying if he would collapse, he looked exhausted.

Henry shook his head, feeling that it was too much trouble for the other family. They already had to watch this entire fiasco because of him, he did not want to further impose. In fact, if it hadn't been for the dinner to come, he might have bolted the second his father intervened. "I can't trouble you that much."

"It is no trouble at all," John immediately responded, seeing the same thing as his wife. The young man really looked weary, on the verge of collapse. In fact, the entire room could see it.

Marcus thought about giving his son a little push but, to everyone's surprise, he didn't have to.

"My room. It is just down the hall. Besides, I have something to discuss with you." Joshua had no such topic, but the dark-haired man had guess that Henry would take it as he had something to say about their plan against the Q Group.

It would be enough to lure him away before his legs gave away.

It was just to stop him from getting injured. To stop everyone else from worrying. It also doubled as making their families think they were close, feeding their act.

It absolutely had nothing to do with finding out the reason why Henry had started crying. Nor the uncomfortable feeling that came from it. And it definitely was not connected to his curiosity with what had hurt the other man.

At least, that is what Joshua told himself.

Henry did think what Joshua had predicted, also seeing it as a good chance to avoid his families endless coddling as well as helping with their fake relationship. Thus, he did not hesitate to nod, shaking his father's arms off his shoulder and roughly wiping his face again.

Without much else said, Joshua turned and limped out of the doorway, his family giving way. Henry followed silently behind him.

All of them looked at the spot the two had passed. It was not that their interaction had been particularly loud, nor was it something particularly strange. There was no reason for it to catch their attention so greatly.

However, at the same time, something about their lowkey interaction and wordless understanding seemed undeniably sweet. So sweet that Caroline and Samuel even forgotten their own anger.

In that moment, both families could only marvel at what a fitting and adorable match the two were.