Page 241 of Once in a Lifetime, Part 2

“It started ugly, so let it end the same way,” Mano said.

Ody shook his head. “No. It doesn’t have to end ugly.”

That earned him a quiet laugh. Mano glanced down, then looked back at him, a trace of sarcasm in his eyes. “What next? We stay friends?”

Ody’s throat closed up. He shouldn’t push him. Not here. Not like this. But this was his last chance. “Do you love me?”

Mano’s face went still.

Just say it, Mano. Please. If you do, I won’t let you get on that plane.

Mano didn’t move. Something twisted inside him. The words hovered at the edge of his throat. I love you. But Ody had come to say goodbye. Not to stop him. Maybe he just needed to hear it once. Before letting him go.

He swallowed the words and checked the time on his phone. “I’ll miss my flight,” he said, not looking up.

Ody’s vision blurred, but he held his stare.

“Take care, mikre,” Mano said. Then he turned and headed toward security.

Ody dropped his gaze to his hand, lightly touching the watch Mano had given him. He turned his wrist, shifting it just enough for the cross tattoo beneath it to show.

Mano kept walking, fists clenched at his sides.

“Mano.”

He should’ve kept going. He should’ve gotten on that plane. But Ody calling his name stopped him. He turned slowly. Their eyes met across the distance.

Ody unclasped the watch.

Mano looked down at it.

“I know it’s rude to return a gift,” Ody said as he stepped closer, “but… since we won’t see each other again, it feels right.” He let out a short, hollow laugh. “It’s too expensive for someone like me anyway.” He stopped in front of him and held it out.

Mano’s gaze flicked from Ody’s face to the watch. He didn’t move.

Ody stepped closer.

Mano slowly opened his hand, and Ody let the watch fall into his palm.

He stared at it. The watch he had bought back when Ody still smiled at him in supermarkets and stole batter from his cheek like nothing in the world could ruin them. For the boy who had turned his life upside down with a single smile and a tenderness he never knew how to handle.

And now it was back in his hand.

Ody didn’t want it. Didn’t want something that carried his touch. His name. His memories.

Mano blinked hard, fighting the sting behind his eyes. No. He wouldn’t let him see.

He closed them for a moment. When he opened them again, whatever had been there was gone. He lowered his hand, the watch resting in his palm, his hollow gaze fixed on Ody.

Then his arm snapped upward. The watch slammed against the floor. Glass shattered, sharp fragments scattering across the tiles.

Ody flinched. His eyes dropped to the broken pieces, a knot forming in his chest. He forced himself to look back up.

Mano’s face had turned to stone. “I don’t want anything that reminds me of you.” He turned and walked away.

Ody’s heart hammered. He looked from Mano’s retreating figure to the shattered watch at his feet. Then he dropped to his knees. His hands shook as he gathered the pieces. A broken sound tore from his throat as he tried, uselessly, to press them back together.

People moved around him. Voices, footsteps, announcements. None of it reached him. He didn’t know how long he stayed like that.