Chapter Text
I close my eyes for a second, drifting into what could be my final nap. It's calming but only because the person I love is right by my side.
We're probably gonna die this way, wrapped in each others arms. If this is it, as long as Mateo is right by my side, bring it on death.
We'll find each other, Mateo and I. He'll never leave my side, and i'll never leave his because we're Last-Friends for the rest of our short lives...
at least that's what I thought.
I'm startled awake by the blaring fire alarm. Opening my eyes, I see the room clouded in black smoke. I jolt up but choke on the thick
smoke and struggle to breathe. Feeling at my side, Mateo is no longer there. Even more panic sets in with this discovery. Falling to the floor,
I make an attempt to look around the room for him but I can't see shit. "MATEO!" I scream his name but it's no use. Shouting his name is
drowned out by the fire alarm and is stealing my breaths. I tie a cloth around my face, open his bedroom door while crawling, and reach
the front door. I get to my feet and slam it open which also releases a wave of black smoke. His neighbors are all outside shouting at me,
saying they called the fire department, and among all of them, I don't see Mateo. One guy approaches me and says something about the
stove and how he was gonna fix it but Mateo said not to because he was dying. Realizing where Mateo is, I inhaled a few deep breath
and run back inside, neighbors yelling after me.
I reach the kitchen entrance to find the bright, orange source of the fire. The heat rips at by skin.
Putting one foot forwards, I walk into the fire. A few steps in, my feet collide with something. I drop to my knees and grab at what's lying
there. It's Mateo. I grab at his arms, despite my grip slipping on a slick surface covering his arm, and start pulling him away from the kitchen.
When the light finally hits us, I see his body is covered with deep burns. Dropping to my knees, I wrap my arms around him and cling to
his body. Tears are streaming down my face when the neighbors try and separate me from him. The ambulance arrives but they don't
do anything to try and help Mateo...
My heart sink as they pull out a body bag instead of putting him in the back and rushing him to the hospital.
My heart shatters when I see the shape of his body inside the body bag.
Silent and un-moving.
I'm rushed to the hospital in the ambulance. When I arrive, the nurses tend to burns on my body which had gone unnoticed
until now and others are asking me questions.Eventually, they leave when they see i'm not gonna be answering any of the questions
anytime soon. Once everyone left my hospital room, it's just me, laying in a hospital bed in absolute silence. I go over everything once
more, trying and failing not to break down and cry. Mateo is dead...I was in love with him and he was in love with me. My mind recaps
everything that happened today, from meeting him because of the LastFriends app, the last memories we made together, falling for him,
kissing him, regretting not meeting him earlier, both of us crying because we had no time left together to grow old and gain a possible
future together. And with that, I end up crying myself to sleep.
"...us!"
"Rufus!"
My eyes fly open when I hear a voice shouting my name along with a strong grip on my arms violently shaking me. I look besides me
to see Mateo shaking me, with a worried look on his face. I bolt up straight, causing Mateo to jump and almost fall off the bed but I catch
him and pull him into a deep hug. "Rufus?", he whispers into my ears with his body still wrapped in my arms. I'm shaking so damn much
but I don't care. I feel his arms wrap around my shoulders, hugging me back. Because of this, just feeling him hugging me and knowing
he's here with me still, I break down and start mad sobbing. After a few seconds more, I pull away from our hug and kiss him. He rests his
forehead against mine and I put one hand on his cheek, stroking his skin and looking into his eyes. Eyes which I thought I would never see
again. "You're alive...", I say but it comes out as a raspy whisper. I see his eyes shift to the right and then the biggest smile I've seen him wear
spreads across his face accompanied by tears.
"We're both alive." He whispers into my ear.
Three words which come as an even bigger impact than from when I received my Death-Cast call.
I turn my head to the right, and on the shelf I see a clock.
It reads 12 AM.