Chapter 161
The moon was bright that night, and the wind gently ruffled the tree leaves; the place was quiet, lifelessly quiet.
Zeno stood beside his Nana, silently staring at the two graves lying before them, they had placed beautiful flowers on each grave, silently wishing their last goodbyes to the dead.
Zeno moved closer to his Nana and placed a hand over her shoulder, a silent reassurance.
He was patient, waiting for her to wish his parents her final goodbye, he had told her that they were never returning again. He sold the house Mr. Orion had renovated; after all, there was nothing left there to remind him of his parents; Bison had destroyed everything.
So, this was them trying to gather all the memories they could before leaving the the next morning.
Nana slowly looked up at Zeno and nodded at him, "I'm ready to leave," her voice was cracked.
Zeno nodded, smiling at her.
He gently held her hand and led her away.
Life had to go on no matter what; people are born, and people die; that's what life is all about.
Regardless, life goes on.
Ezra and Nicholas were waiting for them inside the car and when Ezra saw they saw them approaching the car, he slowly moved it to meet them.
"Go in, Nana," Zeno held open the door for Nana.
"Thank you," Nana smiled before entering the car.
Zeno entered the car from the other side of the door, helping Nans fix her seat belt.
"Let's grab something to eat, yeah?" Ezra asked as he moved the car.
"Yeah, that'd be nice, Doctor, Zeno must be very hungry by now," Nana replied.
Zeno chuckled, "I'm not a kid anymore, Nana," He reminded her.
"You will always be my baby, Zeno," She patted his cheek.
After eating dinner, Ezra drove them back to his house, where they would all sleep for the night.
He had finally cleared his guest room for Nana's sake so she could sleep in it.
Zeno was sitting on Nana's bed as she walked over with a book in her hands, he smiled, happy that she still had her old habit of reading before sleeping.
"I dressed your bed for you, you'll sleep just fine and be ready to fly tomorrow morning," He informed her.
Nana smiled. She walked over to Zebo and sat beside him, taking his hand in hers, "Zeno..." She called gently.
"Yes, Nana," He replied, placing his head on her shoulder.
She was quiet for a while before speaking, "I might be old, but I'm no fool.... who hurt you?" She asked softly.
Zeno paused and slowly raised his head from her shoulder, "What do you mean?" He asked like he had no idea what she was talking about.
Nana smiled, "Who hurt you, Zeno? You look heartbroken; I've never seen you like this before, not even when you broke up with that Hispanic girl; you were rather happy if I recall correctly, but this time, you look different; you look so hurt, dear child. Who was it? Did you love her so much? Nana can help you speak to her if you want," She looked at his face, watching him try hard to mask his expressions but she could see right through him.
Zeno sighed, "Don't worry, Nana, I'm a grown man, you don't have to help me out with everything anymore, especially not in relationships. That person doesn't matter anymore, I'm over it, I'm just... healing," He assured with a small smile.
"I'm hurting, as you said, Nana, but I'm getting g used to it, and with time, I'll be numb to it, it's just a matter of time," He hugged her.
There was no need to mention Sebastian to her; after all, he wasn't even sure if she would be accepting of him having a male partner, in a way, he was glad everything ended before Nana regained consciousness.
Nana sighed, "It's alright, Zeno, I'll be right here beside you, I'm not going anywhere, okay?" She asked.
Zeno nodded, "Okay, Nana, I love you," He smiled.
"I love you too, mi Nieto," She kissed his head.
"Get some sleep, Nana; we have a long flight tomorrow morning," He said and stood from the bed.
Nana was looking at Zeno as he walked toward the door, smiling.
"Leave the light on, child, you know I love sleeping with the lights on," She said when Zeno was about to turn off the light.
"Okay," Zeno replied.
He was about to open the door when Nana stopped him again.
"Zeno?" She called.
"Yes, Nana?" He answered and turned to look at him.
"The man who paid my bills, I'm yet to meet him, maybe we can go say a thank you before leaving for the airport in the morning?" She suggested.
Zeno's hand tightened around the door handle; go see Sebastian? No fucking way!
He cleared his throat, "Unfortunately, we can't see him, Nana. We don't even know who he is and we can't know him. Ezra said the man had asked to remain anonymous forever. He's just used to going around and doing charity without asking the praises, he's such a kind man," Zeno lied through his teeth.
"Oh, I see, his kind is so rare, bless his soul," She smiled.
"Yeah, bless his soul," 'More like curse his soul! He thought quietly.
"Good night, Nana," Zeno said and left the room.
That night, he tried to sleep without thinking about Sebastian, but the brain was a treacherous organ so he failed to sleep without thinking about Sebastian.
He was hurting himself on purpose by creating all kinds of scenarios in his head where Sebastian was being all loving and clingy to Sakura, He wanted to hurt himself so much that when next he thought of it, he'd feel nothing.
Zeno didn't realize when he finally fell asleep; all he knew was that he woke up when he heard the door of Ezra's office being opened, followed by Ezra's footsteps.
Ezra had slept in his office, leaving his room for Nicholas because wanted to be away from him.
"Good morning, Zeno, ready to leave?" Ezra questioned Zeno, who had his eyes half opened.
Zeno hummed, "I think so," he smiled and pulled himself up from the couch.
"I'll get Nana ready first," He said to Ezra before walking toward the guest room.
Ezra stretched himself before walking over to his room, he would just wake Nicholas up and let him get ready.
He had work to do at the hospital later that day, so he just wanted to drop them off at the airport and go back to work.
He opened the door and entered his room and was surprised to see Nicholas all ready and waiting.
"Oh, hi, good morning, Nick," Ezra greeted the quiet guy.
Nicholas raised his head to look at Ezra, "Good morning," He said and stood from the bed.
"I'll be in the living room,l; hurry up and take us to the airport," Nicholas said before pushing his bag out.
"Nicholas..." Ezra called.
Nicholas paused at the door, "Yes, Doc?" He replied without looking back.
Ezra sighed, "Never mind, I'll just hurry up," He dismissed.
"Yeah..." Nicholas said and walked out of the room.
***
They were almost at the airport; the car was moving at a steady pace while Nana was comfortably napping behind the car.
Zeno was silently staring out of the window, he was wondering what awaited him in Paris; he hoped it was all good things. They say Paris is the city of love, but he wasn't going with that motto, he was going with a different motive: Independence.
Paris was a place where he wouldn't be bound to anyone through threats or contracts, where he could be himself after so long of being a shadow of himself, a place where he could start life afresh without encountering the footprints of his pasts.
Ezra's phone suddenly rang and disrupted the silence.
He pressed a button in his dashboard without looking at it and Zeno suddenly heard the voice he dreaded the most at the moment.
"Hello?" Ezra asked as he didn't know who was calling, he didn't take his eyes off the road to check.
Sebastian's voice rang out in the car. "Ezra, I need you to come over to the house," He said.
Zeno shrank back into his seat, his heart beating faster than usual. He hated it; he hated that he still reacted to that bastard's voice; he hated that Sebastian might still have a little hold on him; he didn't want that.
"I'm sorry, friend, I can't. I'm currently taking N... a friend to the airport," Ezra informed.
Sebastian was quiet for a while, "Who are you taking to the airport, Ezra?" He asked in a brooding tone.
"I'm taking my cousin, Sebastian, why do you need me to come over?" Ezra questioned.
Zeno was thankful that Nana was sleeping, she might have just ruined the lie and spoken up.
Sebastian could be heard sighing, "When you're done dropping off your cousins, come over to the house and check Sakura out, she's complaining about something being wrong with the baby," He said.
Ezra nodded, "Alright, I'll be there in an hour, bye," The call was disconnected.
Zeno sighed in relief, hearing his voice again reopened all the wounds he'd been healing for a month. But as they drove inside the airport, Zeno smiled; soon, all this would be history.
Fuck Sakura.
Fuck Sebastian.
Respectfully.
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