Chapter Text
It was a quiet night. No activity around Seymour's Bay except for the bobbing ferry, which Rudy was sitting silently on, trying to absorb the shock he had endured the night before. He wasn’t sure whether the silence was helping his pain or just deepening it.
All he knew was that he asked Louise a question, a really important question, and she said no. No. How, after years of loyalty and trust, could she have said that horrible, painful word? Rudy sighed and leaned against the window, closing his eyes and letting his mind travel through the journey that was their relationship.
14 years earlier…
Rudy didn’t have a ton of friends. It wasn’t something he resented, just a fact he had come to accept. A couple of close friends was better than lots of fake ones, right? He took a deep sip of his inhaler and sighed remorsefully.
It was the first week of fourth grade, though. Rudy would've killed for a fake friend.
After he had sat quietly on the playground bench for a few minutes, two eccentric redhead boys ran up to him and began talking animatedly.
"Hi! I'm-"
"He's Andy!
And I'm-"
"And he's Ollie! We're twins!"
Rudy stared at the two puppy-like children and nodded blankly. "Yeah, I've got that. Uh, I'm Rudy."
"Awesome!"
"Wanna play gaga ball?"
At this, Rudy perked up a bit. "Sure! I love gaga ball!"
As the trio walked to the pit, Rudy noticed someone already standing in the pit, someone he became immediately transfixed by. She was... curious looking, sporting a bright green dress, a pair of pink bunny ears, and a look of determination on her face. Noticing the boys, she walked over with a smirk on her face.
"Yo, Pestos! Is this some fresh meat?"
Taken aback by her brashness, Rudy began stuttering. "Uh, I-I'm Rudy. Well, Rudolph. B-But, I haven't been called that in a million years, heh."
God, he was awkward.
The girl laughed a little, and clapped him on the back. "I think I'll stick to Rudy. I'm Louise. You ready to play?"
"Um, s-sure."
"Let's do this!"
The boys jumped in the pit and waited in anticipation as Louise bounced the ball in the air and called out the traditional gaga ball chant.
"Ga..."
"Ga..."
"Ball!"
In a flash, Louise batted the ball to the ground, immediately taking out the ankles of one of the twins. The remaining three players dodged each other's attacks stealthily for nearly 10 minutes, until Louise boldly made an illegal shot, slamming the ball straight into Rudy's chest. Suddenly, the boy fell to the ground, knocking any remaining breath out of him.
"Oh, shoot!" Louise yelled, rushing to Rudy's side with concern. "You okay, Rudes?"
Frantically, he shook his head.
"Great, that was super helpful dude. But seriously, what do you need?"
"Inhaler...." Rudy gasped, inhaling rapidly. "Left...pocket..." Louise quickly fumbled for the device, before shoving it in his mouth to give him the gift of breath once more. Rudy breathed a sigh of intense relief and stared at Louise with admiration.
"Uh...Thank you so much," he said graciously.
"Eh, don't mention it kid," Louise scoffed. "Hey, you got someone to eat lunch with? I've got some pretty weird siblings that might be right up your alley."
Rudy let out his first real smile since arriving at Wagstaff Elementary. "That sounds absolutely awesome." With a small smile on her face, Louise pulled Rudy off the ground and walked to lunch with him, keeping him steady and balanced the whole time. Rudy was pretty certain this was the start of a long lasting friendship. ... “
Next Stop: King’s Head Island.” Rudy’s head jerked up. One stop to go until he was back in the safety of his own room, where he could turn on the TV and drown out his thoughts. In fact, why wait? He’d pull up something on his phone. As seen as he pulled out the device however, he cursed his bad luck. 10% battery. Just enough to make an emergency call, definitely not for a show. Stuffing the phone back in his bag, Rudy dozed off once more, his thoughts once again filled with Louise.
...
5 years earlier...
After finally zipping up his final suitcase, Rudy looked at his bare room and let out a heavy sigh. The Pesto brothers had left a week earlier to prepare their shared dorm room at UNJ, but Rudy couldn’t bear to leave all of those memories behind yet. "Hey, Rudes!" Rudy turned to see Louise walk in, smiling with a hint of sadness that Rudy could tell she was trying so hard to cover up. She walked up to him and kissed him, and swiftly punching his arm to show that she wasn't that mushy.
Rudy and Louise began dating their junior year at Huxley High, and Rudy couldn't have been happier. He knew he didn’t deserve her. He leaned into his girlfriend and sighed in reminiscence.
“God, can you believe we’re leaving?” he asked, chuckling slightly, a slight wheeze escaping. “It’s so weird to see this place so quiet. This town was once a madhouse!”
“Well, it was made for me then.”
Rudy shook his head and looked at Louise with fondness and worry. She had been struggling with mental illness and depression her whole life, and was only very recently taking action about it. It made her feel like she was worthless, and every self deprecating thing she uttered slowly shattered Rudy’s heart. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly.
"Don’t go there Lou,” he whispered before kissing her gently on the cheek. "I thought Frond was helping you out."
"Oh no, he's totally helping” she sighed, smiling weakly. “It’s just… never mind, not going there.”
"Tell me."
“What if we lose everyone? What if… high school was the only thing holding us together?”
Rudy was stunned. He never considered that. What if…? No. He had to be strong for Louise.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Don’t worry about it. Our bond with our friends is so strong. It’s…” Rudy racked his brain searching for an appropriate word for their eclectic friend group. “It’s… evergreen.” He smiled and wrapped his arms around Louise. “Almost all of us are going to UNJ. We'll see each other like, every day. Our group will never die out. "
Louise’s eyes welled up with tears as she looked at him lovingly, something her emotionless self didn't do often. “And neither will my love for you.”
Oh, if only that had been true.