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If ever there were a time Gunther regretted feeding into Kicks enthusiasm, it was now.
He felt like the world had slowed down like he was suspended in the moment right before he knew Kick would fall and land on the pavement.
They’d prepped for weeks to get everything just right, down to the music that would play if ("when" Kick had corrected him for the hundredth time) Kick stuck the landing. Through the generous donations of Kicks fans, now consisting of the majority of the people in town and not just Jackie, they had managed to make what was arguably the safest ramp they had ever constructed. It was certainly better than the old styrofoam and plywood they would use.
His parents were actually excited, even his typically inconsolable dad was rooting for his son, for once. Brad had helped them, however begrudgingly at the insistence of Honey who looked just as excited as Kick for what would probably be his biggest stunt.
Gunther was there for all of it; the prep work, the sound design, he was with Kick through every other stunt and wild idea so obviously, he was here for his most awesome one.
He heard Honey gasp and felt someone grab his arm-- he realized later it was Kendall but in the moment barely registered someone had even grabbed him-- heard the cries of the crowd and someone shouting for the ambulance.
This reminded Gunther of the first time Kick had gotten pretty badly injured, during one of his very first “stunts”. He’d just had his training wheels taken off and wanted to try a smallish jump off one of their homemade ramps, barely a few feet off the ground. They were both far too young to grasp how dangerous this stuff was, even if it wasn't as high stakes as what the pros did but Kick had been practicing and admittedly getting better.
Still, he’d fallen pretty badly and it left a rather nasty graze on his knee. Neither of their parents were home; Brad had gone to some friends house and Gunther's parents at the shop. So, Gunther did what he had seen his parents do a thousand times before, and he helped Kick home, disinfected it, put a bandaid on it and kissed it better.
Their parents weren’t any the wiser, and Kick still had the scar.
But now, Gunther was watching his best friends and bro for life as he fell out of the sky, not from the few feet of a bicycle but the dozen or so feet of a jump gone bad.
And maybe it wouldn't be that bad, and maybe Kick would be fine, maybe the daredevil would just laugh off yet another broken limb or mild concussion.
But, Gunther knew that this time, it would be more serious. That this time would have more impact on Kicks life.
That this time, Gunther wouldn't be able to just put a bandaid on it and kiss it better.