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Pim nervously ran through the bushes behind everyone's houses. He probably looked more creepy than anything, but he needed to get there. He needed to get to Charlie. He needed to do this. He recognized all the houses he was desperately running across, remembering seeing them all those times Charlie and him ran to his house together. He slows down for a bit, adjusting his backpack and glasses, thinking. He came to a familiar looking bush and looked up, his eyes glossing upon the sight of Charlie's house in front of him. Charlie was home alone, it was late at night, Pim knew this was his only chance, even if he didn't want to ever have this conversation with Charlie. He had already packed his things and left his house, that wasn't the hard part. This is. He knocked, loud enough for Charlie to hear him, but not loud enough to wake up the entire neighborhood. Charlie was in his room, enjoying his time alone, until he heard the knock. He sighed and rolled his eyes, hopping off his bed and walking down to the door.
He opened it with an annoyed look on his face, "Sam, what the fuck are you doing back, it's-" he looked around and didn't see anything, eventually looking down and smiling when he saw Pim. "Oh, hey man! Here, come in, uh- What are you doing here so late dude?"
"We'll discuss that when we get to your room," Pim steadied his eyes off of Charlies and ran up the stairs to his room.
"Huh." Charlie followed him up, walking into his room and shutting the door behind him. He walked over to his bed and sat next to Pim, "So, what's up? It's not like you to sneak out. And what's with the backpack?"
Pim's face soured. Here it comes.
"U-Uh, Charlie, you know I-" Pim sighed and got the nerve to look Charlie in his eyes, "You know the situation with my family, correct?"
Charlie scoffed, "Ugh, yeah dude. They're assholes, all of them. If they said literally anything about you, consider their asses knocked out, I'm getting sick of them constantly berating you."
"Me too."
The two sat in silence before Charlie raised his eyebrow, Pim frowning up at him.
"I- I'm leaving Charlie. I can't take it anymore. I love you and all of our friends and your gorgeous family but I- I can't, Charlie. I can't."
Charlie looked down at Pim with disbelief, nervously chuckling, "Pim dude, you're- Kiddin', right? This is like, some prank from Amy to piss me off? Your mom not wanting us to hang out anymore?"
Pim shook his head, "I'm sorry."
Charlie gulped, "C-C'mon dude, please- Listen I- I know your family's bad, but- But we only have one more year of highschool and we're almost done! Then we can go to college! Get a degree and start a life together somewhere new! You're tough dude, you can take it for a little longer! I know you can! It doesn't have to come to this, we can just have a lot more sleepovers if you want, I can- I'll be there! I am here! I'm always here for you! I always will be, Pim, you've told me everything about your family, is- Is there something.. Physical going on? Here, come here, show me your arms-" Charlie frantically took Pim and rolled his sleeves up, Pim squeaking and gently pushing Charlie away.
"I'm not as strong as you think, Charlie! There's only so much a critter can take, and I- I've had my share, Charlie."
Charlie's lips gently started quivering, Charlie covering his mouth with his hand to cover up as he looked down at the floor.
"I'm sorry, I know it's a lot to take, but I- You're the only person I'm letting know about this beforehand. You've always been my best friend, and I'm not doing this because of anything you said or did. Everything you've ever done for me I appreciate more than you will ever know. I just need to get away."
"But-" Charlie looked back up, "Where are you gonna go? What are you gonna do? H-How are you gonna-"
"I have a plan Charlie, I promise. I have a place to go and it's with someone I trust."
Charlie chuckled, "Wow, you- You really did plan all this out. Ha. Haha. Heh. Oh, that's-" Charlie's sad smile quickly turned into a frown, his quivering lip becoming more apparent. Pim teared up and looked away.
"I'm so sorry. I would take you with me, but I know that's not the life you want."
"The life I want is with you."
Pim looked up, both of them having tears developing in their eyes.
"Charlie-"
"Please stay, dude. Please. I can't- I don't know if I can, like, physically and mentally live without you."
Pim sighed deeply, gulping as a tear fell from his eye, "I can't. It's already done. W-We can still talk! I have your number!"
"But- Where are you even going? And who are you going with?"
"I'm going to my aunt's house. She's good, she hates my parents, and she lives far away from here, she's taking me tomorrow- Technically today. So I wanted to say goodbye."
Tears fell from both of Charlie's eyes as he physically recoiled, "Tonight?!" Tears spilled from his eyes, "This is the last time I'm ever gonna see you?! Right now?! N- No! No, dude, no! I'm not- I'm not doing that man! You can't- You- I-"
Pim looked away, silent sobs falling from him as he heard Charlies very vocal sobs beside him, "I'll make sure this isn't the last time period, but it's going to be the last time in a while."
Charlie sniffled, "W-When will I see you again? I can't just not have a date!"
"I don't know, Charlie. Not everything can have a time immediately."
"Can- Can we go to the same college? Yeah, let's go to the same college!"
"It can't be here. I can't risk it."
"It doesn't have to be here!" Charlie grabbed Pim's face and turned it towards his, "It can be somewhere far away from here! I don't care! We could go to Nevada, we could go to Oregon, we could go to Florida for all I care! I just wanna be with you!"
Pim sobbed in Charlie's hand, softly taking it and holding it against his face, "Okay. That sounds nice," he sniffled and slightly smiled.
Charlie smiled too, "G-Great! So, where do you wanna go?"
"Maybe Arizona. I hear it's pretty there."
"Nice! We could go to the, uh, Phoenix one?"
"I think there are multiple of those, but I also think I know which one you're talking about, since your geography isn't the best. I like that idea."
"Cool! We just gotta finish this semester, then we're done with highschool, and then we can see each other again!" he pulled out his phone to look up the first day, Pim softly giggling to himself. "September 4th! That's not too far away!"
"Heh, yeah."
Charlie jumped up and ran to the calendar on his wall, quickly flipping pages and circling the fourth with a big red marker. He smiled and sat back down, "So, it's a date!"
Pim laughed, "It's a date."
Charlie had already completely forgotten about the whole leaving thing, Pim quickly frowning upon seeing how happy Charlie looked. Pim leaned forward and hugged him. Tight. Charlie feeling Pim heaving sobs over his shoulder quickly snapped him back to reality, grabbing Pim like his life depended on it. Eventually tears spilled onto both boys' backs, Pim pulling away after what felt like hours.
"I should-" Pim choked saying his words, coughing and sobbing. He looked at the floor, not even being able to look at Charlie. "I should go."
Charlie let out one last loud shaky sob, sniffling and wiping his nose before nodding, "Uh, yeah. Hey. Look at me- Look. Look at me." He took Pim's face and once again perked it up at him. Charlie wiped Pim's tears away, rubbing at his cheek, "I need to tell you something before you go."
Pim gulped and turned his head like a confused dog. A sad, heartbroken, confused little puppy. Pim couldn't even think out his entire thought before Charlie leaned in and kissed him, catching Pim completely off guard. Pim started shaking as he slowly kissed back, Charlie soon after pulling away and chuckling at Pim's confused flustered face, more tears stinging down his face.
"I love you."
Pim started sobbing again as he held Charlie's hand against his face even tighter, digging his face into that big hand he held so close to his heart. He quickly leaned up to give Charlie one last quick kiss, holding his shoulders and sobbing as he pressed his forehead against Charlie's nose.
"I- I love you too Charlie! More than anything! I-I'm gonna- Miss you! So so so much!" Pim could barely get words out between his sobs, wincing as he felt Charlies tears plop onto his head as they rolled down his nose.
He pulled away and gasped, quickly shutting his eyes and looking away, "I'll- Ugh, see you the fourth man."
Pim covered his mouth and sobbed one last time before hopping off of Charlie's bed and wiping off his glasses and fixing his backpack, "I'll see you then- Hey Char?"
Charlie looked up at Pim, slowly nearing the door, softly hoping he would never leave, "Yeah man?"
Pim softly smiled, "Do you promise we can- Go on official dates when we meet again?"
Charlie sniffled and chuckled, "'Course man. We can have a nice little spaghetti dinner in our dorm."
Pim smiled, "I'll love that."
"Me too man."
"Please don't ever change, my Charlie."
Charlie blushed as another tear slipped out, Pim biting his lip before opening the door and stepping out, taking one last look at Charlie and smiling. They both stared at each other before Charlie started shaking, giving a soft nod to Pim as he frowned and sighed before shutting the door. And there it was. Just like that. He was gone. Pim pressed himself against the door once out, sobbing, forcing himself to walk to the road his aunt said she was gonna pick him up on. Charlie jumped at the sound of the door closing, clasping his face as he sobbed. He wished Pim were here to comfort him.