(Untitled)

[teenagerenegade]

For as long as Charlie Bartlett can remember, there's been music. His mom always used to play and, when he was four, he'd had his first piano lesson, learning to play chopsticks with his feet swinging. After his dad went to prison, his mom had played less and less and the piano had become Charlie's. His mom used to leave him notes there because

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[not_for_ages]

Freddie's so often felt like crying since he arrived on the island, it's a little startling to find someone else doing it. Almost as startling as it is that there's a grand piano blocking the pathway.

He stops at the other end of the glossy black instrument and waits until Charlie's finished to speak.

"Alright there, mate?" he asks, eyebrows drawn together with concern.

[teenagerenegade]

"Yeah," says Charlie, clearing his throat and actually managing a smile as he wipes his face with the heel of his hands. He plays another ruffle of notes and huffs a laugh through his nose.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

[not_for_ages]

A leaf spins down from the canopy and falls to rest upon the piano's top. Freddie reaches nimble fingers out and plucks it away, careful not to touch the glassy black sheen, afraid he'll smudge it.

"Does this, um, happen often?" he slowly asks, and then hastily clarifies, "Musical instruments blocking the path, not-" He motions helplessly Charlie's way in lieu of finishing the thought.

[teenagerenegade]

"Not so much with musical instruments," says Charlie, brushing his fingers against the keys, running through the fingering for a jazz piece his mom always liked.

"But stuff from home? Yeah, that happens a lot. This is one of the nicer things."

[giftless]

Edmund was headed in the opposite direction down the boardwalk as Charlie. Were there not a piano, they would have run into each other in a few minutes, probably exchanged a kiss and a tease, promised to find each other later or one of them would have changed course. Another good day on the island.

Instead there was a piano and his boyfriend was crying, the sort of tears that you can't fight, that pour out while you hardly realize what you're doing. He didn't know the piano. He didn't recognize it as anything other than a beautiful, large instrument on the boardwalk, but he knew it had to mean something.

He reached Charlie's side as he finished singing and pulled out his headphones, sliding onto the seat beside him. His hand fell to rest on the small of his boyfriend's back. "Charlie?"

[teenagerenegade]

That kind of touch is so familiar to him that he half wants to melt into Edmund, but then having good posture at the piano is drilled into him too, so his spine stays straight and he plays a few bars of Mozart before he looks across.

"Hey," he says, gently, and then he wipes his face with the heel of his hand before he leans in and presses a kiss to the corner the corner of his mouth.

[giftless]

Edmund returned the kiss, but didn't let Charlie get away that easily. He held the side of his face, palm pressed to his cheek, and wiped more of the tears away.

"Why are you crying?" he asked. His face showed little, but his eyes were desperate for some hint, some way to help. "Talk to me, Charlie."

[teenagerenegade]

"It's one of those island things," he explains, voice pitched at almost a whisper because Edmund's so close. "My dad bought my mom a piano the year they got married. I learned how to play on this piano."

His hand stretches out and just brushes the keys.

"It's mine."

[teambatgirl]

"I- oh. Sorry." She'd stopped because there was a piano in her way, a piano that very clearly did not get left here by accident. But then she'd stayed because he had started singing, and now she's just being intrusive. Now he's upset and she's standing here looking at him when she clearly should be elsewhere.

"Sorry," she says again and takes a step away from the piano. "I didn't mean to disturb you."

[teenagerenegade]

Anybody else might be more concerned with wiping their face, but Charlie plays a couple of bars of Prokofiev first and he's smiling when he looks up at her. Then, he does duck his head and wipe his face.

"I'm playing a piano in the middle of the boardwalk," he says. "I'm pretty sure it's not your fault."

[teambatgirl]

"Yes, but I could be more tactful and give you as much privacy as an impromptu boardwalk jam session would allow." Still, she doesn't leave and rests her elbows lightly on the piano. There's that childish, stubborn refusal to make anyone have to cry on their own. And loneliness too, just a tiny bit. "You play really well."

[teenagerenegade]

"I don't think those words actually go together," says Charlie, nose wrinkling as he smiles despite the fact that his face is still damp. He plays a little fanfare, a flourish of notes.

"Awh, thanks," he says, grinning. "I...had a bunch of lessons? For, like, forever."

[turnedoutfine]

It kind of became the norm on the island, expecting the unexpected, since it seemed like whenever they got too comfortable another curve ball would be thrown their way. That, though, didn't stop Alexis from being surprised when she was walking down the boardwalk and rounded a corner only to spot a piano. With Charlie sitting at it, playing it and singing.

She didn't understand the significance, but she knew enough about the things people got from home to realize that's what was probably happening. Silently, she sat next to him as he was taking off his headphones, then reached out to clasp one of his hands in hers.

[teenagerenegade]

She takes his hand and he plays another flurry of notes with the other before he wipes his face. He squeezes her hand and looks up at her.

"It's mine," he explains. "From home. I kind of wasn't expecting it today."

[turnedoutfine]

"It's beautiful," she said quietly, ghosting her free hand over the keys, not hard enough to press any of them down. "You must have played some amazing music on this piano."

[teenagerenegade]

"I don't know if I'd call it amazing," says Charlie, flashing a little grin. "But I'm okay."

[little_moons]

As carefully as I can, trying not to startle him, I slide onto the bench at his side, the two of us pressed shoulder to shoulder, my knee resting against his.

"Your mom's?" I ask quietly. He plays, and I know he used to play with his mom, so it just... fits. There's not really much else I can think of that'd make him cry like that.

[teenagerenegade]

"Yeah," says Charlie, just manages to get it out. The tears are still rolling down his cheeks and he leans in against Neil and just lets it happen. Of everyone on the island, everyone that he loves, there's hardly anyone else that he could just fall apart in front of. Just Ed. Just Neil.

A little sob forces it's way out of him.

"Yeah, it's hers."

[little_moons]

I slip an arm around him, holding him a little closer, feeling him jolt and hiccup with barely contained sobs.

"It's nice," I murmur, even though I don't really know pianos. It's pretty, and it sounded nice when he played it. I rest a hand on the keys, and they're cool and smooth under my fingertips. My other hand slides up to rest against the back of his neck.

[teenagerenegade]

It feels good to be held like that and Charlie makes no effort to pull away. He stays curled in against Neil until his breathing calms down. He wipes at his face with his free hand, reaches out and traces the tips of his fingers over Neil's and then presses down lightly to make a note.

"It's beautiful," he chides, gently.