end of part 1!!

“Oh, come on! I really thought I had it this time!” Eddie hears him say, but there’s glee in his deep voice. And Eddie doesn’t know what possesses him at that point, but he steps forward.

and the most amazing thing happens because he laughs. He’s laughing after falling on the concrete from a 10-foot height. Eddie watches in astonishment as the boy rises from the ground, not in pain or frustration, but in amusement. +

He manages to stay up for a couple of seconds, but then either his hands or one of his feet slips and the boy loses his hold and falls to the ground under him. The impact echoes through the air of a mostly empty park. The boy gets up on his feet, +

The movement is perfect, full of power and grace, the way the muscle moves under his skin, exposed by a tank top and a pair of shorts, the way he folds his legs under him and reaches forward. He lands vertically against the opposite wall, hands holding onto the top of it. +

almost 15 between one wall and the other. Eddie doesn’t know why he stops in his tracks, why his feet plant themselves on the ground as he watches the boys as one of them takes a running start and launches himself into the void. +

three boys, all of them looking a little bit older than him, positioned precariously on opposite sides of a concrete stairwell, one of them on the right, the other two on the left. From where they are standing there are at least 10 feet of void between them and the ground, and +

He just has to show signs of life every few hours if he doesn’t want someone to come to collect him and bring him home like a stray cat). But yeah, physically speaking, he’s alone. Eddie’s wandering around, killing time, when he sees them: +

He’s in Chicago when he sees someone falling. It’s September now. He’s there for a concert. He’s alone if you don’t count the fact that he has to call someone every like, three hours (doesn’t actually matter who: if it’s Henderson, Harrington, or Wayne. +

“Never better,” he says, and somehow it is not a lie. +