All Chapters of Left Behind at the Crosswalk of Life: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Fabian's POVI had just reached the entrance when I noticed that Wendy Sherman, my girlfriend, and Sawyer Young, my friend, were already looking around the apartment.Wendy looked at me and asked impatiently, "What took you so long, Fabian? Sawyer and I are almost done looking around. If you'd taken any longer, the real estate agent would've called it a day."Sawyer stuck his head out of the kitchen, then quickly went over to Wendy and patted her on the shoulder. "Oh, stop being so hard on Fabian, Wendy. He's always been a slow walker, so you should be a bit more patient with him."I lowered my head and glanced at the mud stains on my pants. "You guys walk too fast."Sawyer laughed it off and pointed toward the balcony outside. "You've made it anyway, so it's no big deal. Do you see that balcony out there? It'd be perfect for growing lisianthus. It'd look great in photos."Wendy looked in the direction he was pointing and chuckled. "It's not easy keeping lisianthus alive, an

Chapter 2

I returned home alone, put on my slippers, walked over to the bathroom, and used wet wipes to slowly clean off the dried mud stains on my pants.I didn't even notice when the motion-sensor light flickered on and off. I only snapped out of it when the water spilled over the edge of the sink and dripped onto my foot. I slowly reached out to turn off the faucet.I was always a bit slow on the uptake. I wasn't born like that, though. I was seven years old when Wendy had insisted on dragging me out into the rain for two hours just to catch frogs. I had a high fever for the whole day, almost frying my brain. I eventually suffered from delayed reflexes and processing ever since that day.Luna Chadwick, my sister, was so enraged that she wanted to beat Wendy up right there and then.Wendy knelt beside my bed back then, tears streaming down her face. "You can hit me if you want to, Luna! I know it's all my fault! Please don't take Fabian away with you! I swear I'll make it up to him for

Chapter 3

Wendy's expression shifted slightly. She looked stunned before putting on a mocking look. "You want to break up with me? Do you think you can scare me just by saying that, Fabian? How could you possibly live without me, especially with those delayed reflexes of yours?"I stated flatly, "I'm not trying to scare you, Wendy."Wendy turned away and threw her handbag onto the couch. "That's enough, Fabian—stop throwing a fit. I'll send you the details for tomorrow's lunch spot later, so make sure to be there on time."She walked straight into the bathroom without turning around, and before long, the sound of running water echoed from within. She had completely tuned out everything I said through the frosted glass door.I still went to the restaurant the following afternoon. Sawyer had genuinely put a lot of effort into helping me find a place, after all, and my upbringing had dictated that I had to thank him for it.Wendy and Sawyer had already arrived when I pushed open the door to th

Chapter 4

I returned to the apartment and packed my luggage.I suddenly noticed that the dry box that had been sitting in the corner for years was now empty. It held the keepsake Mom left me—a long-out-of-print roll of Kodak film that marked the start of my dream as a photographer.Wendy opened the door, her brow furrowing deeply when she noticed my calf wrapped in bandages. "What's going on here? Why are you wrapped up like that?"She reached out and pinched my ankle gently. "You should pay more attention when you walk next time. I'll accompany you to Islavia to watch the auroras with you once things slow down for me at work, so quit sulking all the time like the world owes you a favor." I pulled my leg away and asked, "What did you do with my film roll?"Wendy froze for a moment, then stood up and fished a dented metal casing out of her pocket. "You treated it like such a treasure that Sawyer and I decided to hide it from you. "You see, the plan was to give it back as a surprise after

Chapter 5

I shivered slightly as the air conditioning at Losenia Airport blew against my arms. I pushed my suitcase and followed the crowd toward the arrivals exit.Luna walked over with long strides, taking over my luggage handle with one hand while wrapping her other arm tightly around my shoulders. "Why have you lost so much weight? You're all skin and bones, Fabian!"She then frowned and gave me a solid pat on the back. "I swear I'll go back one day and give Wendy a good beating."I leaned my head against her shoulder without crying, just feeling incredibly tired. "I'm hungry, Luna."Luna ruffled my hair and said, "Let's go! I'll treat you to something delicious!"Luna looked at me through the rearview mirror once we got into the car. "Have you really decided not to go back, Fabian?"I looked at the scenery speeding by outside the car window and nodded. "Yes, I'm not going back."I closed my eyes, listening as Luna rambled on about the people and events she had encountered at the comp

Chapter 6

Wendy's expression instantly hardened. "That's impossible. Fabian told me that he was moving into this place today."That man slammed the door shut, muttering an insult from the other side. "You got the wrong place, you freaking nutjob!" Wendy stood alone in the dim hallway as the motion-sensor light went out, plunging the place into pitch silence. She was baffled, wondering where Fabian had gone with his suitcase if he hadn't rented the apartment here. She took out her phone, unlocked it, and tapped into his chat log. She suddenly noticed that his profile picture had changed into a picture of a cactus. She then sent him a message, asking, "Where are you, Fabian? You'd better stop messing around."She noticed that her message had failed to go through; a red exclamation mark appeared next to it, with "Tap to try again" underneath. She tried calling Fabian's number instead, but it was unreachable. That meant that the number had been permanently deactivated. She suddenly felt a wa

Chapter 7

Sawyer sat on the plastic chair beside the hospital bed, looking like all the life had been drained right out of him. He gripped the phone in his hand, its display stuck on the last line of the group chat. "May you two live happily ever after. Goodbye forever."He forced a smile with his dry, cracked lips, shifting his gaze from the screen to Wendy's face. "It wasn't a dream. Fabian didn't just walk away from you. He walked away from me, too, Wendy."Wendy turned pale, her chest heaving heavily. "You were the one who insisted on checking out that apartment together! You were the one who dragged me to that boring sci-fi movie premiere!"She gritted her teeth and glared viciously at Sawyer. "If you hadn't ruined his roll of film, he wouldn't have left!"Sawyer burst out laughing, tears rolling down his cheek and dripping onto the back of his hand. "Do you think I'm the only one at fault here? You're the one who took out that roll of film from the dry box! You could've easily stopped

Chapter 8

It was a sunny day when Luna and I hit Starlight Boulevard. I raised my camera, instinctively aiming it at Luna, who was wearing a trench coat with her features sharply defined.Luna suddenly walked over and placed her hand over my lens. She stopped an elderly couple passing by and chatted briefly with them fluently, easily switching between languages. She then handed them the camera, returned to my side, and put her arm around my shoulders. "Look at the camera, Fabian."I heard a crisp clicking sound as soon as the shutter went off.I looked down at the display on the camera, realizing that it was the first time I appeared in my own camera frame. I was smiling faintly in the photo.It was the sci-fi movie I had always wanted to watch. It was just a shame that I didn't get to watch it during its premiere. Luna handed me a tub of popcorn and said, "It doesn't matter if it's not the premiere. If a movie is good, it's never too late to watch it.""It's pretty much the same watching

Chapter 9

Luna turned to look where I was staring, immediately dropping her smile the moment she noticed Wendy standing outside. She casually threw the dress onto the couch, strode out of the boutique, and walked straight up to Wendy. She then slapped her hard across the face, one slap after another.Wendy's lip split instantly, blood spilling out. She didn't even flinch. She looked past Luna's shoulder, staring intently at me. It wasn't until Luna landed the fifth blow that I walked over and took hold of her wrist. "That's enough, Luna."Wendy casually wiped the blood from the corner of her lip with the back of her hand, her eyes bloodshot. "I've been looking for you every single day this past year, Fabian."She braced herself against the ground and struggled to stand. She then tried to move closer to me, saying, "I called Luna and begged her to let me see you, but she just told me to piss off."Luna scoffed. "I shouldn't have just told you to piss off. I should've torn you a new one firs

Chapter 10

Wendy and I were the only ones left standing there.Wendy's eyes brightened, as if she saw a glimmer of hope. "You're willing to hear me out, right, Fabian?"I pointed to the empty seats in the nearby lounge area. "Let's sit down and talk."Wendy followed me over, looking almost overwhelmed that I was willing to talk to her. She sat about two feet away from me and said, "I know I messed up. I actually never liked Sawyer. "I've known you for 20 years, and you were always too quiet, slow to move, and slow to react. I would sometimes talk to you, and it would take you a long time to respond to me. Sawyer was different. He was chatty and lively."She looked up at me, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I just found it quite novel. I spent so many years waiting for you and taking care of you. I just got tired and needed a breather."I mulled over her choice of words, struck by how fitting they were. "You thought Sawyer was your oxygen tank, and I was the dead weight suffocating you, huh?

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