Speechless

“Lau─” Alphonse caught himself before he could regret a big mistake. He sighed and closed the door behind him, shrugging off his book bag. “Mom!” he continued. “Dad! I'm home!”

The house was quiet, only the average “ziiiiip” was heard as he unzipped his jacket and removed it, placing it on the coat rack next to the door. He looked to his right, checking to see if they were having a family moment in the dining room, then to his left, now wondering if they were watching a very quiet funeral on television. No mother, father or pest of a brother in sight. He walked further into the house, glancing at an empty kitchen, and stopped. He stood very still, straining to hear if there was anyone down here. The house was just as quiet as when he came in.

That's weird, Alphonse thought, turning and walking up the stairs to the second floor above. I'm not early; they're usually all here at this time.

Alphonse looked inside the three bedrooms, including his own, and finding nothing but their furniture and their clothes, he walked back down the stairs and made his way to the kitchen, to rummage in the refrigerator and find something to eat. Though now he was eating a chocolate bar and a strawberry shake his brother had placed there─Sorry, bro!─he couldn't help but to wonder where his family had gone. He usually would have been quite pleased to find that his home was empty and free of his oblivious parents and his overbearing brother. But now it was just weird.

“I seriously hope,” he muttered, mouth half full of chocolate and strawberry flavored shake, “they didn't forget about the 'thing.'”

Now, the “thing” he was referring to was the instrument he decided to obtain for Music Club. He had been obsessing over it endlessly, but on that day, when he first stepped into the room full of music lovers and heard Raven play on her violin─it was decided. No, he would not play the guitar, the cello, or the triangle; this boy was going to learn how to play the violin. At first it seemed like such a pleasing idea, to gain efficient skills on the violin and impress the girl that had made him stutter interminably. Then it annoyed him that the only reason he even chose to do music was because of the jealousy and wounds he had in his heart because of his brother─and now it was for a girl. However, it wasn't completely about either of those two reasons anymore. It was to prove to himself and to those around him that he can achieve it all. Especially his parents.

The brassy sound of the door being slammed made his thoughts all collide into a tiny tornado and disappear. Alphonse looked toward the kitchen entrance and saw Claude standing there, breathing raggedly and smiling. He raised an eyebrow at his breathless brother, wondering if he looked all excited because he was getting married and moving out. Oh, please let it be so! he thought mockingly.

“Alphonse!” Claude said suddenly, moving toward and grabbing his arm. “We have to go; quickly, it's important!” He pulled at his arm, and Alphonse jerked his arm away from his grasp, startling him.

“If it's important,” he told him coldly, “I'll know, and then I'll hurry.”

Claude only stared at him, eyebrows furrowed in something that appeared almost like concern. Alphonse, not being able to stand his studying gaze, sighed and stood up from the counter, brushing past his brother. He put back his jacket on and walked out the door, into the slightly cold air. He spotted his mother's 2007 Mercedes-Benz S-Class ahead and headed for the polished black car. As he opened the door and sat in the back seat, he heard the house door open; Claude walked towards the car after locking it with his keys. He got in the passenger seat and looked at his mother, as Alphonse looked moodily out the window.

“Where are we going?” Alphonse asked monotonously, eyes still staring out the back seat window. It looked lonely outside, what with the street being empty of any residents; there was no one outside. It gave him chills just a little bit.

“Somewhere,” Laura said from the front seat, maneuvering the steering wheel, and driving down the street.

Alphonse watched the houses on his street go by, wearily aware that Claude kept glancing at his direction, looking a bit nervous. “Where's somewhere?” His voice was soft and cold.

“Don't worry about where we're going,” Claude told him, daring to turn his head towards him and grin. Alphonse stared at him, feeling his eyes narrow with annoyance and suspicion. He found it quite disturbing that suddenly he was being all understanding and encouraging towards him. Some might call that a good brother; others, such as him, would call it as weird as bobtail cat befriending his younger brother, who just happened to be a German Shepherd. “You'll love it,” his brother assured him.

He said nothing, rolling his eyes to a small extent and looking away from Claude's gaze. He could feel Claude's eyes on him for a few more seconds, then he finally turned back and sat straight in his seat. A soft sigh escaped his lips. Let's just hope I do, he thought.

Almost twenty minutes had passed since Alphonse got in his mother's car, with no desire to start conversation with his mother driving up front and his brother in the passenger seat next to her, who couldn't stop tapping his finger on the door. They were in Downtown, he noticed finally, after minutes of staring blankly out the car window. The sidewalks were full of all sorts of people, most of which had bags in their hands, waltzing up and down the streets in their winter coats. Stores were aligned perfectly together, not as big as a store you'd find in a mall, but enough. People stood waiting at the bus stops, looking out to the street to see if a big, white bus was coming any time soon. It was just simple Downtown.

When Alphonse got out of the car, his eyes narrowed as Claude got out of the car and his mother stayed inside, smiling casually at the two of them. He stopped Claude from closing the door and leaned inside, looking suspiciously at his mother. “Where are you going?” he asked her.

“I'm going to go park the car,” she said, smiling an amused smile. She raised an eyebrow at Alphonse and looked over his shoulder at Claude. Then she gave a sharp look at Alphonse. He knew what it meant. “Get a good look inside while I find a parking space. Go on, shoo!”

Alphonse stepped back as Claude closed the door and Laura drove away. He stared after her car, feeling defeated. He was being forced to spend time with his brother. It seemed that his mother was taking the liberty to try to get them to get along, and oddly enough, Claude is going along with it. He could see that as his older brother led him to one of the stores; he occasionally glanced at Alphonse, as if he thought he just might run away just so he didn't have to spend time with him. But of course he would not. His mother was coming back; she was simply parking the car. A few minutes of whatever was in store inside couldn't hurt. He'd survive.

Alphonse brought his head up at the last minute to look at the store's sign. It was in big, bold red fancy letters. It read: FALLEN HARP. His left eyebrow raised in slight confusion. Just what kind of place was his brother taking him to? Both him and Claude then opened the double door, stepping inside the place that had remained a mystery until now. He expected some kind of surprise attack party from his family, maybe to show that they really did give a damn in the end. However, it was quite different. For one thing, there didn't appear to be any other person besides him and his brother. And also...

The place was too magnificent to even be located in Downtown. What was this, some kind of joke?

“Where is this?” Alphonse asked in a soft, breathless voice.

He stepped aside from his brother to explore his surroundings, quietly taking it in. His eyes went over the items around him, and he thought, Is this...a music shop? Why else would there be so many music CDs neatly organized in shelves that were very high in stature? They were full of all kinds of CDs, he saw now. He saw rock music, hip hop music, Latin music, classical music, all kinds, really. Even international music. As he passed by the shelves, looking up at them with wonder and awe, he noticed the names of the types of music on the small signs on top of the shelves.

“What do you think?” Claude's voice said right behind him.

Alphonse barely turned, eyes locked on the extraordinary collection of music. “It's...amazing,” he responded in that same awed and soft tone. He was transfixed with the collection of the band The Beatles. All sorts of artists' names adorned the cover of the CDs. He couldn't take it. He wanted it all!

“I told you you'd love it!” Claude chuckled. He reached over and pulled out a book-shaped box; it was a collection of Led Zeppelin songs. Alphonse raised an eyebrow, feeling the corner of his mouth stretch over his cheek, half smiling.

“I thought you were into classical songs,” Alphonse said casually, strolling further into the store, and looking admirably at the tall bookshelves full of music.

“Huh?” Claude said, laughing lightly. He walked right behind him, going through the collection of CDs in his hands.

“After all,” Alphonse added, “you play the cello.”

As he touched lightly the cover of a opera CD, his brother stood beside him and smiled at him. Actually smiled at him, a full, marveling smile. Alphonse looked at him, curious about that smile. Could it be that he loved playing music on his cello so much that at the simple sound of the word his world lit up? It made him experience that same guilty feeling inside him that he felt when he thought about his reasons for wanting to take up music. His brother actually adored playing the cello, anyone could see that. But Alphonse's reasons... Could they be enough to prove himself to his parents? To his own brother?

Claude's courteous voice broke his thoughts apart as he spoke. He said, “Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean I only stick to classical music because of the instrument I play.” Alphonse's left eyebrow arched up, not understanding. “It just means I took that step where instead of only listening to other people's work, I want to create my own.” He looked at Alphonse. Alphonse couldn't help but stare back, stuck in a state of bewilderment and a tiny bit of admiration. He always thought of his brother as a show off. Now he didn't know what to think anymore.

“Come on,” said Claude abruptly, grabbing a hold of Alphonse's arm gently. He pointed ahead, where Alphonse could see two white columns in the middle of the way, and beyond, just more book shelves, which probably contained more music. When did this store end?

Alphonse looked incredulously at Claude as he led him towards the white columns. “How big is this place?” he asked him, smiling in amusement.

“Big enough,” his brother spoke simply. “The area here is for books of music, music artists, the usual music related stuff. What I want to show you is not on this floor, though.”

Alphonse gaped at him. “Not on this floor. You're trying to say there's more than all of this?” He waved his arms around, indicating the size of the store and its contents.

“Yeah,” Claude laughed. “Come on.”

The boys walked past the two large white columns separating the music area to the book area, entering into basically the same thing; he was surrounded by the same tall bookshelves. Only these apparently contained actual books instead of the music. Alphonse wanted to take a look around, but Claude was already guiding deeper in, not bothering to look at them. At the end of room where they were, at the far corner, was a staircase that appeared to lead to the second floor Claude wanted to show him. The boys went up the staircase, hearing the small creaking as their shoes made contact with the wood. At the final step at the top was his surprise.

And when he saw just what was that his older brother was so eager to show him, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened in pure delight.

Oh, my god.