Work Text:
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“btw!!! i have a question for you”
“Oh! I’d be happy to answer your
question! Fire away, mate :o)”
“sooo likeee”
“would asking rick astley to give you a
copy of pixar’s up create a paradox”
“??? Explain?”
“cause he’s never gonna give you up
but in the process he lets you down”
"DIE"
---
A grin finds its way to my face as I hit “send,” my fingers trembling from laughter I barely manage to suppress. I don’t mean it, of course. I’d never send something like that with the intent to hurt, especially if she didn’t know I was joking. If anything, she thinks it’s funnier than I do, if her keysmash in response is anything to go off of.
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“HWBAHJWEWJEWHJW”
“I GOTTA KNOW!!!”
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There’s still a small smile on my face as I reply, shaking my head in mock exasperation.
---
“I’m going to break you into equal
little pieces like a Kit-Kat.”
“it’s because i’m a woman isn’t it”
“MATE.”
---
I fall back in my seat, unable to suppress my laughter any longer. The couple of stares I receive in return from the crowd I’m stuck in hardly even register. I forgot how busy the station gets at this time of day. As a precaution, I run my fingers over the material on my jacket’s hood. Hopefully my own train gets here soon. I’m anxious to get out of the noise, and more so to see my best friend again.
---
“BAHAHAHAHA”
“OOH YEAH you’re supposed to get
here around 4 right?”
“That’s the plan! I think the train might be
running late, though. I’ve been here forever.”
---
A screech rings out from the one of the tracks, and I can’t help but flinch. As routine as the sound is here, it doesn’t get any easier to listen to. The noise that follows after from people surging in and out of the train that just arrived isn’t exactly pleasant, either. If only that were my train, so I could get out of here.
---
“WAUGHAGH hopefully it gets here
soon :(“
“LISTEN… i miss you”
“Aww, mate, I imss you too !”
“*Miss; my bad”
My fingers find their way into the material of my hood again in an attempt to ignore the glare of the lights above. I swear I can hear the neon buzzing if I strain my ears enough. I frown, curling into myself to try and calm down. Unfortunately, some poor fellow trying to catch their train on time smacks against my shoulder. I know they didn’t mean any harm, but I can’t help but flinch. My trembling hands (when did they start shaking?) nearly drop my phone when I feel it vibrate.
---
“are you forgetting the fact you
literally use better grammar in a day
than i do in a month HAHAHAA you’re
good dude”
“Rihgt, r ight .”
“ssorry”
---
I can feel hot tears welling in my eyes, and I bite my tongue to force them back down. My efforts are futile, though, because I can feel the eyes of other people here on me, and that just makes me want to cry even more. My phone vibrates again after a moment.
---
“are you alright?”
“it’ s realy loud hre mat e”
“crap”
“i’m flagging a taxi to the station”
“i’ m suposded to be t he
one heading to youthouhgh”
“don’t even worry about that right
now bud”
“in the air now. i’ll be there in ten”
“ok”
“i ;m sor ry”
---
I don’t remember much after that, except for vague memories of someone grabbing me, attempting conversation, and finally ushering me out of the station. Now, the tightness in my chest has eased up enough for me to process things again.
One side of my head is pressed into the crook of someone’s neck, muffling any sound on that side. I can’t really hear much on the other side either, since whoever I’m sitting against has gently cupped one of their hands over my ear. Their other hand is loosely intertwined with one of mine, occasionally tracing small circles over my knuckles.
I blink a few times, wincing at the sting that surges from the drying tears. My head slowly moves up to survey the area. We’re sitting in the grass outside, far away from the station. The person holding me must feel the motion of my head lifting, though, because they look down to meet my eyes. It’s none other than my best friend.
“Hey, y’with me…?” she mumbles, gently squeezing my hand. The question flies right over my head as I continue to look around.
“When-” I wince as my voice cracks. “When did we get out here…?”
“Only a little while ago,” she hums, shifting her body so I’ll be more comfortable. “We’ve been here no more than a half hour, if I had to guess.” I settle against her, reaching my free hand up to gently grab her sleeve. She doesn’t say anything about it.
“Oh,” I mumble, running the material through my fingers.
“Was there anything in particular that triggered ya, or…?” My best friend’s voice trails off with a tilt of her head, and I wave her off.
“It was just too loud,” I sigh. “That had me on edge as is, but then someone ran into me by accident. I think that’s what set things off.”
“Makes sense. I’m really sorry, I shoulda just came here in the first place. Or at least booked you a taxi, instead of makin’ you wait at the station during rush hour,” she sighs, and I wave her off.
“It’s all good. You didn’t know all of that was gonna happen.” I sit up, albeit slowly so I don’t accidentally overwhelm myself all over again. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”
She cracks a smile at that, and I feel myself relax. “What, you think I’d just let you sit in there? Sensory overload is never a good time.”
“You can say that again…” I mumble, getting both of us to laugh weakly. “So, are we still gonna go out later like we originally planned on, or…?”
“If you want to,” my best friend shrugs. “I just don’t want you to get overwhelmed again.” She’s always got my needs at heart. I’m really lucky to have a friend like her.
“You’ve got a good point, mate. Can we just stay home today?”
“Absolutely!” She chirps, before her usual cheeky smirk spreads out across her face. “Maybe you can finally debunk the Rick Astley Paradox for me when we make it back?”
“I take it back. Bye.” I shove her away, standing up and acting like I’m going to walk straight into town without her. She explodes into laughter, and it’s not long before I can’t keep a straight face, either.