Tak!
Clara opened her eyes from the shut.
Tak!
When she recognized the sound, she puckered her lips and covered her whole with her duvet.
Tak!
Ergh.. she threw her duvet in annoyance and went to roughly open the window. She sees Nathan grinning innocently down there, just right in her mother's garden. Shoot! He was standing on the carpeted grass! Mom will notice his shoe prints! She mentally groaned.
Clara: "Nathan! Get the f*ck out there! It's mom's new grass!" she speaks inaudible voice that only Nathan can hear her.
Nathan: "I will after you come down!" He threatened.
Clara rolls her eyes before she leaves to grab her sweater. She returns to the window to show evidence that she is ready to meet him so that he will step out from her mother's garden. Nathan beams in satisfaction as he excitedly leaves the garden after she closes her window.
Clara: "What do you wa-" she stops midsentence and her eyes widen to see a small-sized cake, light on top were two candles.
Nathan: "Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to my Clara, Happy birthday to you~" Nathan sings melodically. His sweet voice melts her heart but then she glares at him.
Seeing her sudden changes of expression, Nathan quickly explains.
Nathan: "Baby, I'm so so sorry for the late wishes! I swear I had prepared the cake and your gift but-"
Clara: "But you forgot once you held the joystick. Am I right, "Nathan Parker"?" Clara crossed her arms over her chest. Glaring even fiercely when Nathan grins at her statement. He admitted that he was so into playing games before he realized it was already past midnight.
Clara: "You didn't reply to my messages so I called you. I know you hate me interrupting during your gaming session, but today is my birthday! You should save it for another time! I ha-" Nathan cut her off by quickly pecking her lips. He didn't want her to say the word "hate". He didn't want to hear that she hated him.
Clara stops nagging and glares at him again. But this time, with red cheeks it almost made Nathan burst out laughing at her cuteness. He holds in, to not make his girlfriend angry again.
Nathan: "Faster! Make your wish and blow the candles!" he ushers her before the candles melt on the cake. Clara smiles and with eyes closed, hands clasping together, she prays for her wish to come true earnestly. When she is done, Clara opens her eyes and blows the candles.
Clara looks at her boyfriend with the sweetest smile ever as she says, "Thank you." Then she pecks his lips in gratitude.
??: "Nathan?" A voice interrupted. Nathan turns to look and smiles widely seeing his eldest brother, George watching him.
George: "What are you doing here?" he asked as he approached Nathan with furrowed eyebrows.
Nathan: "Bro! You came just in time! Today is Clara's birthday, remember? Now come and wish her a happy birthday!" Nathan's voice almost hitched up before he shut his lips. Clara's parents are still sleeping. He didn't want them woken up because of him.
George sighs. He has been searching for where Nathan could have been in the middle of the night. It's 1 AM for god's sake. George presses Natha's shoulder while saying, "Let's go home."
Nathan: "What? I can't bro. Today I was late to wish her because I played games with you. Clara is already mad and if I leave now, she'll get really upset. Just give me 1 hour, yeah?" he pleads.
He looks at Clara who is watching them with a smile. She gives a brief nod saying she understands if he wants to go. Nathan quickly shakes his head.
Nathan: "No, I won't go home just yet. Let's eat the cake then I'll sing you your favorite song, okay?"
George: "Nathan! Let's go home! Now!" George's deep voice roared in the quiet night. He grabs Nathan by the elbow and drags the younger away from her house.
Nathan struggles to escape as well as keeping the cake safe.
Nathan: "I won't Bro! Why are you like this?! You know Clara is my girlfriend! You too always sneaking out late at night to see yours! Why can't I?!"
George: "Because Clara is gone!" he screams and the cake in Nathan's hands falls, crashing on the cold tar. George breathed in to calm down. He rakes his hair back as he collectively reminds himself that this was not his first handling Nathan like this.
Nathan: "What do you mean she's gone...? Sh- she's right here.." he stutters as he points to where she stood a minute ago. However, this time, the spot was empty. Just as George said, Clara's gone.
No. Clara, no! please don't go! Nathan's heart ached painfully.
Nathan: "Bro it's all your fault! You scared her!" he runs to get into the dark house, calling for his girlfriend. At this time, he didn't care anymore if he awoke her parents.
Nathan: "Clara! Clara! I'm sorry! My brother didn't mean to raise his voice and scare you." he wanders around the garden. He stops when he realizes how unkept the garden is.
The garden was Clara's mother's favorite place and she always took good care of her garden. She even scolded Nathan and Clara once for playing in her garden. But today, in the darkness of night, with the help of the moonlight, Nathan sees plants wilted.
The once neat and pretty garden changed into a messy, abandoned land.
Nathan turns to look at the house carefully. The wall of the house used to be in a feminine yellow color but now the paint is worn off. Nathan runs to the porch and swings open the front door. He was surprised to find the shiny metal door knob is now rusty and was bewildered to see the empty house.
Why was it empty?
Nathan: "Bro, where is Clara? Where's my Clara? Where's her family?" he asks George who quietly tags along inside the house. When George chose silence, Nathan ran upstairs to Clara's room. However, he was stopped midway by his brother.
George: "Nathan," he calls his name gently.
George: "Clara is already dead." Taehyung said in one breath, unable to watch his beloved little brother in such a broken state again. Nathan's face fell and he looked broken. His hurtful expression must have mirrored his shattering heart.
Nathan: "I SWEAR SHE WAS WITH US JUST NOW!" Nathan growls and turns to face George, trying his best to remind him that, "I sang her a happy birthday and she blew off the candles!"
George: "and I SWEAR I SAW YOU walking out and I followed to see you talked to NO ONE, SANG TO NO ONE AND YOU YOURSELF BLEW THE CANDLES!" George exclaimed with the same tone.
Nathan stumbles a step back.
What?
Nathan: "Bro, please. This prank is not funny. What did you plan with Clara again? Why did you do that?! If you didn't, none of this will happen!" Nathan yells angrily then pushes George before continue running upstairs to her room.
George's tears stream down at his younger brother's remarks. The past flashed before his eyes the moment Nathan was so broken and when the boy almost killed himself.
4 YEARS AGO.
A week before Nathan's birthday, Clara secretly met with George. She asked him a favor to accompany her to shop for Nathan's gift. She knew that George knew best about his little brother which was why she sought help from him.
On Saturday morning, when Nathan asked George to play a game together, the eldest nicely declined saying she had a date with his girlfriend. When he turned down his request, Nathan called Clara, thinking he too should spend the day with her. But Clara too turned him down. She said she had something to do and hung up with urgency.
Nathan then decided to go to the arcade. On his way there, he saw George's girlfriend was with her friends. They looked like they were discussing group assignments in the caf?, seeing as they had laptops and books. She saw Nathan across the street and flashed him a smile.
Nathan unsurely smiled back. He quickly left to call his brother but his calls were unanswered. Nathan wandered around the small town in hopes of bumping into his brother to ask for an explanation. Nathan was furious to think that his brother was cheating on his girlfriend. Bella was nice and pretty, it was unforgivable to act dishonestly to his lover.
But little did Nathan know, George already informed his girlfriend about his little plan with Clara so his girlfriend freaked out when she saw Nathan looking at her.
George sighs remembering that.
He had put his phone in silent mode and Clara was the one who picked up his girlfriend's call. She told them that Nathan saw her with her friends instead of George which it will be made him grow suspicious of his own brother.
At that time,
"Tada!!" George came out with the shirt Clara chose for Nathan. He was being her supermodel. Clara who was on the phone smiled. She went to fix the collar of his shirt and at that bloody scene, Nathan showed up looking in disbelief.
Clara instantly ended the call with George's girlfriend to stop Nathan who was walking furiously towards George. A hard punch landed on George's left cheek. George stumbled backward and Nathan took this chance to grab his collar and punched his stomach next.
Clara: "Oh my god! Nathan! Stop!" Clara dropped the shopping bags and went to pull Nathan away from George. She hugged his waist while doing so, but Nathan shrugged it off later and glared at her with teary eyes.
His body was shaking in pure rage and betrayal causing Clara to break at the sight. Her eyes were teary too. She went to reach for his hand but Nathan averted it.
Nathan: "WHY MY BROTHER?!" He yelled.
Clara: "Nathan, this is not what you think." she tried explaining yet Nathan cut her off by saying,
Nathan: "Not what I think? I freaking saw you and George together cheating on both me and Bella!" Nathan's upset was an understatement.
He totally lost it.
George: "Bella knew we were going out. So, I am not cheating on her, Nathan." George explained. Unfortunately, Nathan misunderstood yet again.
Nathan: "F*cking Christ! So I am the only one who didn't know?" he left after he said that in disbelief tone. He thought, Bella and George already broke up because George liked Clara and they were secretly dating behind him because he still didn't know.
Clara: "I'm sorry." she said to George for the bruise. George just shook his head as he gestured for her to run after Nathan and tell the truth. F*ck the surprise plan. Things were already going to hell.
Clara ran after Nathan and she kept calling his name because Natha ignored her. Nathan fastened his pace when he saw the green light for walkers and he wanted to cross the street and go far away from Clara at the moment. He was beyond upset to know the girl he loved dearly cheated behind him with his own brother!
Clara: "George accompany me to buy your birthday presents!" Clara didn't care anymore about what people talked about around her and was screaming for Nathan's attention. What was most important for her at that time was not to lose Nathan. She loves him, so much.
Nathan stopped almost immediately. What? He thought.
Clara: "We planned a surprise for your birthday that's why." her voice croaked with tears because she knew Nathan was angry at her.
Birthday surprises? Nathan repeated to himself.
He turned around to see his vulnerable girlfriend crying from the other side of the road.
Clara: "It's the truth." She cried. "The one I love is you, Nathan. Please don't leave." Seeing Nathan finally turn to face her made her knees weak. She nearly loses him.
Nathan's heart sank with relief to know the truth and felt so stupid to assume things and thrash around without thinking. He felt sorry for her for his act based on emotional state. He could have let Clara and George explain before accusing them of something they didn't do.
Seeing Clara wiping her endless tears, Nathan walked towards her, forgetting that the red light was now on for walkers. He just wanted to reach Clara to say how he was so dumb, he was very sorry, and that he loved her so much.
George: "Nathan! Watch out!!" George ran after them too and shouted when he saw a car driving towards Nathan. The car was honking but Nathan didn't hear it nor did he see it coming, because all his senses were on Clara alone.
The next thing he knew, his body was flying and he heard George now calling for Clara.
Present,
George walked into Clara's room and saw Nathan crying while hugging an old frame picture of Clara and him. After the accident that took Clara away, her family moved away to Europe and this house has been vacant since.
Nathan: "It's all my fault. It's all my fault." Nathan keeps on chanting those as he rocks back and forth, hugging still the frame close to his chest. It was repeated whenever he realized the truth. The truth is that Clara is dead. His love was gone and she left him all alone.
Nathan: "I shouldn't cross the street. I shouldn't so she wouldn't be the one who take the hit for me. I should be the one." he cried harder.
Clara managed to push him away, saving his life by sacrificing hers. Nathan still remembers how she looked at him with a faint smile before her eyes fluttered close. Nathan can still feel her warmth blood pooled on the tar and seeping through his thin shirt fabric.
His trembling hands reached for her unmoving hand, crying and telling her how he was sorry and that he loved her so much. He begged her to stay, to not leave him. But the only thing she did was breathe one last time and whispered a very faint, one last sentence of love to him.
George can't hold himself either. It was killing him to see his loved one being hurt. Sometimes, he wished that he was the one who took the hit instead of Clara, so his brother could be happy again.
But what happened, happened.
Time can't turn back, no matter how cruel their love ends.
It was a "Love Tragedy".