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Dakota’s always been good at falling, but not at letting go. Maybe it’s why he gives up his heart so easily; literally gives up his heart, in a surgery that could’ve gone so horribly wrong. It probably should have, with the man performing it, but Dakota hadn’t hesitated. Now, sitting on the edge of a roof, midnight long passed and the shadows long as the darkest part of the night creeps in, hand on his chest where he can feel the heartbeat there, he remembers this heart was once William’s.
William’s, with his nervous edge and terrible driving abilities. William’s, with his slightly crooked smile and brown eyes so deep Dakota could get lost in them. William’s, who is in love with someone else.
The small smile that had been creeping up Dakota’s face drops in an instant. What once was William’s heart beats in his chest as he drops his head into his hands with a heavy sigh. Barely eighteen and he’s dealing with so much and he can’t even fall for the right guy. For someone who loves him back. But he really couldn’t compete, could he?
Because, Vyncent . Even Dakota isn’t blind enough not to tell the guy is attractive, and he’s from a whole other planet , and then there’s his powers, and. Well, it’s a lot.
When William looks at Vyncent, that lovestruck, sappy expression crossing his face, Dakota hates himself. He hates himself for the jealous rage that rears its head like a great, ugly beast erupting from his ribcage. He hates that he wishes William would look at him like that, instead of Vyncent, that he’d even spare Dakota a glance for a brief moment.
A heartbeat. Regular, normal. Slowed by how tired he is, his emotions do nothing to speed it up. Dakota lifts his head, and stares up at the stars. “Why can’t anything be easy?”
The universe doesn’t reply. The cosmos, infinite in their wisdom, turn the other cheek. Dakota sighs.
“Figures. He was… He was never mine to begin with, anyway.”
Always Vyncent’s,
his mind supplies, and Dakota’s too tired to try swatting it away. He just collapses backwards on the roof, shingles digging into his back, and stares upwards until he falls asleep there, William ever-present on his mind, like he always will be. Because Dakota’s always been good at falling, but not at letting go.