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Heathcliff doesn’t remember when he ends up drifting to sleep. He also doesn’t quite remember what time it is, or if this is all a dream or not, but the 2010’s music being played on the car speakers is very, very real. And very loud, at that.
Another way to wake me up, I guess, Heathcliff thinks to himself, as he slowly wiggles back into an upright position.
It’s late June, the summer right after their graduation, and Heathcliff’s birthday, to be exact. To celebrate, both Heathcliff and Shino decide to go on a trip from their apartment in the City of Glory all the way to their childhood home, tucked away in a forest all the way in the far reaches of East Country.
“Morning, sleepyhead,” Shino says, to which Heathcliff acknowledges with a yawn.
They’re driving on the freeway right now, with all the horses grazing outside the road on those long stretches of plains. It’s a welcome change of pace from all the large establishments and crowds they see every day in the main streets at Central.
“…How long was I out?”
“A few hours. Don’t worry about it.” Shino’s eyes are focused on the road.
“Exactly how many hours," Heathcliff asks, which Shino refuses to answer. It irritates him a bit, this stubbornness of Shino. Heathcliff thinks it would cost him one day. Like for instance, today, if he suddenly passes out from driving for too long.
“I told you, don’t worry about it. I’m holding up just fine. And it’s your birthday, so you should rest.”
“Maybe you are now, but you can’t be the only one driving this whole time. I’ll help,” Heathcliff pleads. “And I can’t rest properly if you’re not feeling well, you know.”
After a short silence save for the music playing in the radio, Shino responds. “Then I’ll stop after the next stop.”
“Good.”
——
They’re in the middle of belting the lyrics to their fifth Taylor Swift single when they hear a sudden beep in the background.
“Huh. That wasn’t part of the song.” Shino takes this as a sign to pull over with Heathcliff quietly panicking beside him. This can’t be happening, Heathcliff thinks. Are we stranded here forever…?
Shino snaps him out of his trance, as if reading his mind. “Hey, it’s going to be okay,” he says. “We’re just running out of fuel.”
Indeed, the beeping sounds come from the fuel gauge, its pointer dangerously nearing red. If it had been a more technical issue, Heathcliff is pretty sure he can fix it on the spot, but running out of gas is something out of his control that just can’t be helped on a road trip like this.
“Um,” Heathcliff collects himself. “How far is the nearest gas station?”
Shino pulls up his phone to check—thank god for the good signal despite being in the middle of nowhere. “Not bad. About 20 minutes away, give or take.”
“Well… do you think we can make it?” Heathcliff asks, despite already knowing his answer.
The radio starts playing 22 as Shino perseveres on the last of the car’s fuel.
——
“I have an idea.”
It’s currently 1:30 in the afternoon, and they’re both back on the road after gassing up and having lunch at the nearby diner.
“What is it, Shino?”
“We should go to an amusement park.”
Heathcliff feels his grip on the steering wheel waver. “Didn’t you nag me to death at 5AM just to get to Blanchett faster? Why this now?”
“You’ve been looking stressed the whole time, and I just want you to have fun. And amusement parks are fun. Remember when we used to go to that one near the East border? The one where you cried in the caterpillar ride?"
Despite his initial doubts, Heathcliff can’t help but giggle at those memories. “God, definitely! I remember dad even stopping the entire ride just to get me out. That was too embarrassing…”
“Yep. Couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Shino says.
At his words, Heathcliff suddenly recalls how Shino could only watch him from afar. Shino never really had the chance to get close to him, only being a kid hired from nowhere to a big family.
And in return, Heathcliff could also only gaze back at him, silently wishing that he had a hand to hold that wasn’t only his mother’s or his father’s.
Heathcliff thinks that maybe that’s why he cried back then. That he couldn’t really be with Shino despite always just being mere meters away from each other. At a caterpillar ride, among many other instances.
So nowadays, sometimes Heathcliff can’t even believe that they’re as close as they are now. Hell, they even live together in the the same apartment, in the same room where they share the same things. Things that the Heathcliff and Shino of the past never would’ve imagined together, like rent, dinners, clothes, kisses—
He stops himself before dwelling on it any further.
Amusement parks, right.
“Well.” Heathcliff clears his throat. “That’s because you couldn’t be there with me. Maybe you were too short to even ride anything back then.”
“That doesn’t matter now since I’ve gotten taller. I can ride anything with you.”
“Haha, of course… Looking forward to that, Shino.”
——
Shino feels his hand go numb as Heathcliff squeezes it for dear life at the Freefall.
“WHEN YOU SAID RIDES,” Heathcliff tries to say in between screams, “I DIDN’T MEAN—THESE ONES!”
“What? So you wanna go to the teacups?” Shino questions him as the mechanism slows down at the ground.
Heathcliff, trying to catch his breath, simply shakes his head. “I think, I’m good for now. No more…”
Despite all his screams for help, Heathcliff has never been this exhilarated in his life. The last time was probably when he was eleven, where he ran away from home into the forest to chase a squirrel that stole one of his tiny gears, unsurprisingly also with Shino.
“Well, I’m itching to go for more,” Shino says as he unbuckles himself from the seat and stretches out his limbs.
“Shino… Fine then. It’s only around 4:30, and you look like you have a lot of energy left…” Heathcliff feels his stomach grumble. “But not before we get something to eat. I’m absolutely starving.”
——
The two boys gaze at the sunset as they ride the ferris wheel together. It is 6 in the afternoon, and all plans of getting to Blanchett on time are pretty much thrown out as they munch on their cotton candy in peace.
“This is nice. We should do this more often,” Heathcliff says.
Both him and Shino ended up going to more attractions, spending the entire day at the amusement park as if this was where they were celebrating his birthday. He’s grown tired from all the heat, the rides, and the lines, but to be honest, this is the most fun he’s had in quite a long time.
Shino lets out a grunt of agreement as he sips the last of his Slurpee.
They sit there in silence for a while, enjoying the moment, with Shino’s cold hand from holding his drink under Heathcliff’s oh-so soft and warm one.
“Look, Shino. Isn’t that Blanchett over there?” In the distance, Heathcliff notices a stone structure surrounded by a vast forest as their cabin reaches the top of the wheel.
“Huh. I never knew this park was that near,” Shino remarks.
“…We should get going, then. Father and mother might be getting worried.”
Without saying anything, Shino rests his head on Heathcliff’s shoulder, as if to ask him if they could stay like this for a little longer. He must be exhausted from today, Heathcliff thinks, as he smiles at him fondly.
“Thank you, Shino. Today was fun. The most fun I’ve ever had." He also leans his own head against Shino's, to answer him yes, let's stay here.
If only Heathcliff could stop time to preserve this moment forever, he would.
“I’m glad. Happy birthday, Heath.”
The two of them stay leaning against each other as the cabin descends, and their view of Blanchett slowly disappears.