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Chapter Text

Violent coughing filled his room, it was a sound that Augustine was all too familiar with blood and petals that followed it. He would get rid of the Blue Hydrangeas that blocked his airways but he honestly couldn't bring himself to forget that person and wouldn't tell the person that they loved them. After all, who would say that after he didn't even help Winnie when they fell down those stairs.

  He honestly didn't remember when those wretched flowers started growing inside his lungs, all he knew was that it happened during middle school. Even then, after he thinks that he lost all feelings for that boy, the flowers never stop growing and the pain that comes with them. He found it stupid that it had to be Winnie of all people, he found himself disgusted that he liked that man.

  He sighed as he crushes the petals in his hand, he honestly prefers when the flowers turn into a purple shade, void of any blue - the blue reminds him all too much of that boy he wishes he never met. Yet, it always turns back to its original color that matches Winnie's pale blue eyes. The blood that use to coat the petals are now smeared onto his tan skin, and he wiped it off onto his pajamas.

  He flops down on his stiff bed as the frame creaks a bit. He drifts off into a dreamless sleep wondering if the flowers would ever stop growing without the surgery. He sometimes hopes it never goes away to remind him of Winnie when he gets lonely.

~

  His irritating alarm goes off as he stops it, croaking out a sigh as he gets up to get dressed. He looks into his neatly sorted clothes as he picks a random orange t-shirt and black basketball shorts. He goes to the washroom to clean up his face - which probably still has blood on it - and brushes his unkempt hair into something actually manageable.

  He looks at his flip phone - one that Winnie decorated with charms and gave him for his birthday - shows that he should be heading out the door by now. He rushes a bit as he slips on his shoes and grabs his bag as he runs out the door not bothering to grab a stale bagel from the cabinet - it's not like it matters, he hasn't been eating breakfast for a couple of months - as he yells a goodbye to his parents who are getting ready for their work.

  He arrives at the bus stop and he sees Winnie as he internally dreads having to stand by them in awkward silence. He notices that Winnie moves away from him a bit as they both wait. 'What, am I too much of an embarrassment to stand next to you?' Augustine thinks as the bus arrives as Winnie goes first paying for his ticket and then Augustine does the same thing. He looks for a free seat but the only free one is next to the same person that didn't even want to stand next to him.

  He sighs as he sits next to Winnie, 'fifteen more minutes', he thinks yet not even three minutes into he feels a petal come up. He looks around in his bag for tissues but realizes he left them at home. He covers his mouth as he hacks out three petals and some blood, Augustine spews out curses under his breath as he thinks the world really doesn't want him to live a peaceful life.

  "Auggie are you ok!? You spit out blood, and, and, hold on!" Winnie squeaks out and turns to Augustine while pulling out a small packet of tissues. 

  "I thought I told you to stop calling me that…" Augustine mutters as he takes a tissue and cleans off his mouth and hand while trying his best to hide the petals that came out.

  "Was that blood..? you need to get that checked out, it must be very extreme if you're coughing that out!" Winnie says a little too loud as some more people look over yet they don't read the room.

  Augustine shushes Winnie and then speaks again after he gets all the blood off, "It's fine, it'll go away soon, it looks worse than it actually is."

  The bus finally pulls over to the bus stop where they both usually get off, he lets Winnie go in front of him as they slightly limp. The both of them get off the bus and a couple people follow up after to talk to Winnie - they're probably Winnie's friends - as Augustine walks to the school alone. It wasn't exactly like he wanted to talk to Winnie much longer, it was like Winnie wanted to tease Augustine about how lonely they made him feel without them.

~

  He breathes a sigh of relief as he walks outside as it is midday, he spots a free bench in the courtyard. It was a relief that he finally got away from Winnie, he couldn't exactly change courses in the middle of the year when his and Winnie's relationship started to fall apart and now it's the final day, he could finally get away from him for good - although he would miss his smile or his laugh.

  He finally gets out his sandwich and fruit, although the only thing he could probably stomach is the fruit. As he was eating he looked around and noticed that there was practically nobody, it was weird because this was a fairly common place for people to hang out.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a group of people coming outside; it was his unlucky day as it was definitely Winnie's group, he could always tell because of Winnie's sweet voice that always spoke louder than the rest. Augustine sighs as he throws away the rest of his lunch - his appetite wasn't the best lately, especially near Winnie.

  Augustine could feel Winnie's pale blue eyes stare at the back of his head as he left the area. He should definitely get to his next class, just a couple more hours and then he'll be able to go home.

Chapter Text

The day passes slowly but he honestly wasn't shocked, that's expected when it feels like any other day for him but with zero work - he definitely didn't stare at Winnie to pass the time. When the bell dings, he feels relieved and walks out to the bus station as he takes a seat at the station. 

He hears Winnie's group as they walk to the station, Augustine still hears Winnie's voice over the rest of them and it makes him sick. That voice is the one that he wishes he never heard in his life. He hears the bus stop and then a couple of people come out before he goes in and sits down on a random seat. As Winnie passes him, they drop a packet of tissues on his lap as they speed walk away.

He looks at it confused as he realizes that it was the same packet that Winnie used this morning. Augustine wonders as the bus starts going. The packet doesn't look to have any more tissues removed than what Winnie gave to him this morning. The packet has Winnie's signature color that he wears all the time.

He sighs as he looks out the window, the sun shining bright causing that same window to turn slightly warmer than average. He counts the number of stops before him, and it isn't long before he's at his stop. 

He quickly gets off the bus as he walks home, the walk is peaceful but he couldn't hear Winnie's voice - he didn't know why it bothered him so much. But before he could continue his thoughts, he hears Winnie's footsteps clap on the pavement as they rush towards Augustine.

"Auggie! Are you sure you're alright? I saw-" Before Winnie could finish their sentence Augustine stops him.

"I'm fine, why do you even care?" Augustine snaps as Winnie stops walking seeing Augustine stomp off. Winnie doesn't speak up as Augustine leaves him behind, Augustine doesn't care what Winnie has to say. Winnie's words always sting him like a venom and he doesn't want them to poison him one last time.

He closes the front door to his house as it's quiet, a usual occurrence as his parents always come home later than him. He usually likes the silence but is just uncomfortably awkward and a little chit-chat from his parents always cheers him up a bit. He heads to his room as he throws his bag into the corner of the room. Augustine’s room is in disarray, he wants to clean but never actually does anything about it.

He feels another petal come up as he covers his mouth. He feels the petals come out along with the blood, the warm, vexatious liquid making his hand itch out of irritation. He notices there are more blood and petals on his hand, he scowls at that fact as the curse that plagued his life.

He lets the petals fall to the floor as they dance around in the wind unbothered that they were slowly killing Augustine. Like how Winnie was unknowingly killing Augustine, it made him mad at the blond for plaguing him with that ridiculous, fairytale-esk curse. Was the reason that he had this problem because he liked Winnie? He always knew it was wrong, just like his supposed “friends” told him, so he shouldn't be that surprised.

The tears falling from Augustine’s face feel like acid on his skin as he wipes them away. Why is he like this? Negative thoughts plague his mind as he sits down on his bed. He looks at the old picture that sits upon his bedside table, why didn't he want to forget that parasite?

That picture had been of him and Winnie's first day of school together and has kept it all these years. He takes the picture out of the frame as he heads over to the trash bin, he doesn't want reminders of that boy who has done nothing but destroy it.

The front door opens and Augustine quickly gathers himself as he removes any evidence of the petals and blood on his hands. He heads to the bathroom as Augustine splashes his face with water. He looks into the mirror as he rubs his eyes, his face has a slight blush - probably from all the crying - as he goes out to greet his dad.

"Hey, Dad," Augustine says as he gets a cup and fills it with water.

"Hey Augustine, how was your last day?" Augustine’s dad looked a lot like him, tan, brown hair, and a decent build.

"It was alright. How was work?" Augustine looks over to his dad, he's putting away his bags as he responds.

"It was like normal, although there weren't as many people."

Augustine nods as he finishes his cup as he sets it down on the table he hears a ringing from his phone. He takes it out seeing it is Winnie, he quickly declines he puts it away as he goes back to his room deciding to take a nap.

~

A couple of days pass by as he carries on as normal, although throughout the days Augustine avoids Winnie like the plague. He honestly doesn't want anything to do with Winnie if he has a say in it.

Although he hasn't had any run-ins with Winnie, he definitely can't avoid this as he holds a warm homemade soup - not made by his dad but by his mom, if his dad got anywhere near a stove Augustine’s mom would go ballistic.

He sighs as he rings the doorbell and he curses Winnie's poor immune system for making him bring soup over. The door gets yanked open by a boy who is definitely not supposed to be up and about the house,

"Auggie! How are you?" Winnie shouts but immediately regrets it as he starts coughing.

"Why in the hell are you up?" Augustine snaps in a concerned cold demeanor as he ushers Winnie to their room.

"Well before my mom went to buy more medicine, she let me know that you were bringing me soup, sooo~ I wanted to wait for you to come over!" Winnie says as they get dragged over to their bed and are made to lay on it.

Augustine sets the soup down and then puts a rag that was next to Winnie onto their forehead. He sighs as he speaks up, "You should have stayed in bed, if you want I can go back home so you can rest."

Winnie hesitates before nodding as Augustine hesitantly leaves the room unknowingly leaving an upset Winnie.

Chapter Text

The days started to blur together, he honestly couldn't tell if it was Monday or Friday - not like that mattered anymore, he didn't need to keep track because he finally finished school. 

He followed the same schedule of laying in bed for around a hour, eating lunch, his parents asking him questions (whether it’s about his day or if he's actually ok), cleaning his room for a bit before giving up and going to take a nap, getting up to eat dinner, and then trying to go to sleep, but failing, so he takes melatonin meds and then falling asleep after a little bit.

Of course he coughed up some petals every now and again - although he should say it's an everyday occurrence at this point - always taking note on how there was the rare occurrence of a whole flower which was becoming more common each day.

He looks down at his hands, the dried blood still on there from yesterday, as he tries to wipe it off with a tissue but he ultimately fails as only some of it flakes off. The blood on his hands pissed him off, basically serving as a reminder of his sin of loving Winnie. 

He lets out a pained cough, a little bit of blood clawed its way out of his lungs as he sighs. He leaves the room as he goes to wash his hands, the scalding hot water washes away any blood left.

He leaves the bathroom and goes down stairs to the kitchen as he sees his dad.

”Hey kiddo!” His dad pronounces as he looks over to Augustine.

“Hey,” he notices the lunch that his dad was preparing, the lunch looked big enough for two people, and the two containers that were set out tells him that it was, in fact, made for two people. “Are you bringing Mom some lunch to her work?”

“Nope, it's made for you and Winnie! I thought it'd be nice that you two could go on a walk or go to the mall!” His dad says with enthusiasm, not knowing the dread that was brewing inside of Augustine.

“Did you ask Winnie about that plan?” He was hoping that his dad didn't, but knowing him, he'd already ask Winnie.

*Why wouldn't I have?” his dad said in a confused tone.

“Just checking.” Augustine takes the packed lunches as he thanks his dad.

Augustine wanted to die right then and there, let the disease kill him right on the spot. He walks out the door and over to the bosko’s as he rings the doorbell, it's a sound that he definitely hasn't heard in a long time and he hopes it's not the last time.

The door swings open after a little bit as Winnie greets him with a slight smile, it feels unnerving for Winnie not to go in for a warm bone crushing hug - at least that's something he doesn't have to worry about anymore.

“Let's just get going.” Augustine says as he leads Winnie over to his car, Winnie slides their crutches in the backseats of the car as he slides into his into the passenger seat.

Nobody tried to start a conversation as the ride was silent. Once they get to the mall, Augustine helps Winnie out of the rickety car as Winnie thanks him. 

He didn't even know why he just didn't tell Winnie how he didn't want to go, maybe it's because he wants to spend time with Winnie before he dies. He buries the feeling of regret for not telling Winnie about it but he doesn't think that they would care either way.

Winnie points out a pet store, he can already see the cats and dogs from the entrance. Augustine wonders if the animals ever wanted to escape the glass cages.

“Look, that one looks just like you!” Winnie points out a brown fluffy tabby, it rubs against the glass as the kitten meows at Winnie - it seems to like Winnie.

Augustine just stares at the kitten as it looks at him, it just turns back to Winnie and it puts its paw on the glass as Winnie lets out an aw.

Augustine walks over to the dogs section, he sees a white lab as the puppy just stares at him timidly. ‘Huh, kinda like a younger version of Winnie,’ Augustine thinks as he turns back to Winnie but he seems to be busy with the kitten.

He turns back to the lab but he hears the clack of Winnie's crutches, “Aww it kinda looks like me!.”

Augustine nods as he looks back to Winnie - in all of his beauty - who is smiling back at him. The one thing that he notices is his blue marbled face.

“It's really pathetic how you can't even say no to wanting to hang out with me, are you really that desperate for my attention? It's no wonder you don't have any friends, you can barely take care of yourself, while I'm thriving on your pain!” Winnie's words stab him in the worst ways and in the worst places.

“Auggie, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost.” Winnie says in a tone that he would normally take for concern but they must be mocking Augustine.

“What the hell was that!” Augustine says as he looks over to a shocked Winnie, they back up a bit as Winnie looks him in the eyes.

“What do you mean, are you ok?”

“I’M NOT GOING TO SIT THERE AND BE TREATED LIKE WALKING TRASH.”

“Augustine, can you please calm down? I would rather not make a scene right now.”

Augustine scowles as he stops yelling, he looks around to see only an employee tending to the store.

“We should get out of here…” Augustine states as he starts to leave the store as Winnie soon follows.

They browse different stores as they look at different things and sometimes buy something. They soon stop for lunch as Augustine takes out the prepared food - bannock along with some ham, kiwi, and melon.

Winnie happily chows down on the food while Augustine eats slowly, his appetite has been deteriorating and any food to him has been even more bland.

He wishes he could go home and take a nap like usual but Winnie probably wouldn't listen, and he doesn't want to deal with a whine Winnie. Winnie's eyes that he has loved for over seven years looks at him 

“Are you going to finish?” Winnie smiles at him warmly.

“Not really hungry..” Augustine packs up his leftovers as he stands up and helps Winnie. 

The interaction that he and Winnie had earlier still lingers as he looks at Winnie longingly. He balls his fists up as he grips the handle of the lunch bag. 

“Where do you want to go next, oo we should go to that café over there,” Winnie points out the quaint shop, “you look like you need a coffee!” 

“Eh, what was that supposed to mean!?” Augustine says as Winnie and him go over there, but as soon as they start walking, he sees Winnie almost drops his bags. Luckily Augustine was fast enough to grab it, “I should carry these, you're already slow enough, I don't need you to worry about dropping these again.”

“But, what if your arms get tired!”

Augustine looks at him with an eyebrow raised as he speaks up, “I'm going to be fine.”

“I mean it is a little hard carrying that with my crutches…” Winnie says, proving Augustine's point further.

They continue towards the café, once they get there Augustine opens the door for Winnie and follows as he follows suit. The café smells like coffee and pine, just as he steps in he feels a flower scratch its way up as he speed walks over as he grabs one and coughs into a napkin. 

The blood soaks into the white paper cloth as Winnie looks at him with concern.

“Did the doctor say how long this would last?”

“About a week to two weeks…” he didn't even go to the doctor, he already knew what the disease was. He knew it wouldn't go away, he was just estimating when the flowers would finally fill his lungs.

“At least it'll go away soon!”

“Yeah…”

Augustine throws away the bloody napkin as they both walk over to the counter and order their drinks - Augustine gets a lightly roasted medium coffee with three shots of espresso while Winnie gets an iced green sweet tea.

“I still don't get how you can drink, the smell of it makes me sick,” Winnie walks over to the table placing their crutches on the side of it after they sit.

“You're one to speak, how could you ever enjoy tea? The after taste is horrid.”

They both hear their names get called out as Augustine walks over to go grab it.

Augustine hates how Winnie is talking to him like nothing ever happened, Winnie should hate him but instead they happily agreed to his dad's proposition to hang out with Augustine.

Once he brings over both of their drinks to the table as he takes a sip of his coffee. He definitely knows that the drink would wake him up. The bitter liquid makes him regret not putting some sugar into the drink.

“How much caffeine is in that anyway?” Winnie asks curiously.

Augustine does some quick math as he speaks up, “um around… 382 milligrams?”

Winnie almost spits out his drink as he looks at Augustine, “Are you that tired!?”

Augustine only shrugs as he takes another sip. He doesn't really care about how much caffeine as long as it wakes him up.

“Do you want to play in the arcade? We haven't done that in a while!”

“I don't really care,” Augustine states as the coffee finally kicks in as he feels like he's not about to pass out on the store's pavement.

“Or we could go to the back of-”

“I swear to God Winnie if you say what I think you're going to say we are going to the car and leaving.”

Winnie tries to play it off trying to make an excuse but can't seem to think of one. He smiles a bit at the cute, panicking Winnie as they sweat bullets.

“We are definitely not doing the latter, and I don't mind playing in the arcade.”

“Yippee!” Winnie quickly gets up and grabs their crutches, bugging Augustine to open the door faster. Once they get to the arcade, Winnie rushes towards Space Invaders, one of Winnies favorite games.

Winnie struggles at first, they both haven't been to the arcade in one year, but he gets the hang of it as he easily defeats the enemies.

“I still don't get how you got so good at the game.” 

Winnie cries out a no as he loses, “You jinxed me!” 

Augustine rolls his eyes as he starts a new game, he doesn't do as good as Winnie as he furrows his eyebrows. The game was just as hard as he remembers it and he doesn't get as far as Winnie. He sighs in defeat as he lets Winnie have another go, he notices that Winnie’s start was significantly better than before.

Winnie is able to last a bit longer but still loses after a while. They both hop from game to game but Augustine was still thinking about their argument, it's stuck in his head on repeat as he wonders what Winnie meant. ‘Did Winnie really not know what they said?’ 

“We should probably go home!” Winnie exclaims as they smile, Augustine nods as they walk out to the car. Augustine helps Winnie and then gets into the driver's seat.

As he drives he thinks about the time they both spent together. He honestly would have stayed in bed than spent the day with that bastard.

Chapter Text

This last week continued like normal, Augustine did notice that it felt harder to get out of bed - the warmth reminded him of someone he knew. The schedule never changed and Augustine felt sad that his week like this - probably his last. The reminder makes him pissed that he won't do anything about it. Why couldn't he bring himself to forget the person destroying his lungs and heart .

Augustine was withering away, unlike the flowers in his lungs that clawed their way into his life. Augustine sighs at the flowers in his bin that are covered in clots of blood, more blood coats the flowers every time he coughs them out. The bold red always stands out against the pale blue, it always does no matter how many times he's seen it.

His fists curl as his knuckles turn white, the rage simmering in him continues to grow. There's a knock at his door, Augustine opens it as his mom stands there with her glowing smile.

"Augustine, Winnie asked if you wanted to go out on a drive." His mom says in a chipper tone, she was holding the house phone - her voice was like honey like he always remembered.

"Tell him that I'll be out in a bit." Augustine mutters as he closes the door and changes into a black and orange shirt and black shorts.

As soon as he finishes, he hears a familiar honk outside of his house. Augustine slips on his shoes and takes the packet of tissues as he walks through the house to get to the front door. He opens it as there's a waving Winnie as he is fairly confused (didn't he just have his cast on like a weeks ago?), but he still gets into the passenger seat. Why did Augustine even agree to this - he didn't even like the last time they were hanging out - what makes him think this is going to be any different?

~

They have been driving for some time now and nobody has broken the silence. It's less awkward than most of the times they hung out the past two weeks and he's slightly glad for that. But, somebody needs to break the silence.

"So…"

Winnie looks at him with a shocked expression, something that makes him extremely confused.

“What’s with that look…?”

“Oh, it’s nothing!” Winnie smiles, that was one thing that was always plastered on his face. “It’s just been so long! I’m surprised you talked to me first, hehe.” 

Augustine raises an eyebrow but doesn't question it further, “Why were you moving again?” 

“Don’t you remember? I got accepted into the uni we wanted to go to! The transportation costs are high, and my parents are moving their workplace near there anyway. So, we just decided to move somewhere close to where the school is.” Winnie's pale eyes look over at him and then the road, the quick glance makes him raise an eyebrow.

“University, huh… Isn’t that nice.” Augustine's words are sour and bitter, but he can't blame Winnie for the fact that he didn't make it into university.

“Mm? Ah, that does make me wonder… Hey, didn’t we apply to the same school together?” Winnie looks at him with a confused glance, “Ah! Was I the only one that got accepted while you got turned down?” Augustine stays silent as Winnie smiles once more. “Aww, don’t feel so bad Auggie! I’ll study hard for you on your behalf!”

"Don't call me Auggie." Augustine snaps , Urgh, are they really trying to encourage me? it just sounds like they're passive-aggressively showing off.

“Who were the people crying outside of your house?” it was a genuine question, not like the last one wasn't, but he was confused by all the crying. He saw people - at least try to - give Winnie bouquets of flowers of various meanings or love letters, it really seemed out of place with their sobbing.

“Ah, those were my other friends! They all came by to say goodbye. So many people were crying, I didn’t know what to do! Hehe.” Winnie's smile falters but quickly changes back into the smile he's grown so used to and fond of .

“I saw you get a bunch of bouquets and letters… and, ugh, last minute confessions. Just when did you get this popular?” Augustine never saw that many people hang around Winnie, well not when Augustine was around them.  “You sure you want to spend your last day with me instead of your countless fans?” Augustine spits out bitterly. If Winnie has so many friends, why would they want to spend any more time with him than with anyone else. 

“Why, do you not want to...?” Winnie asks with concern in their tone.

Augustine doesn't answer, he would rather not say anything. The question makes him quite quiet and that makes Winnie raise an eyebrow. Augustine notices that Winnie doesn't make a comment on his silence as they continue to drive.

He feels the same damned feeling that lets him know that his time is getting shorter. Augustine takes out a tissue and the flower cluster comes out soon after as well as the blood. Their eyes meet as Winnie's look reeks of concern pity.

After the long silence, Augustine speaks up once again, “...Is your leg all healed?” It's a question that he wanted to ask for a bit, the last time they met Winnie's leg was still in a cast.

“Took you long enough to ask, hehe! Of course! I broke it last winter, right? It’s been months since.” Winnie's joyful tone never went away no matter the conversation, today was no different from the rest. Will he ever miss that voice? "Sometimes I lose strength in em'! But other than that it's fully healed! Everything's back to normal!" Winnie takes a pause before continuing, “...I never knew I’d suddenly trip down the stairs like that. And on the day of finals, too. I later heard you played my position in the game on my behalf that night.”

“...The audience loves you more anyway, too.” Augustine scowles as he looks out the window and then turns back to Winnie.

"So, when are you going to ask?"

"...? Ask what?"

"Wasn't all this you warming up the conversation so you can ask about that?" Winnie looks back upon the road before speaking once more. "The reason I suddenly stopped talking to you. You know why!"

The car feels much colder as Winnie’s face turns back into the same blue. That same anxious feeling comes crawling back as he feels his heart rate pick up. Winnie's bright white smile contrasts with the dark atmosphere creating a sense of dread within Augustine.

"Because you're an embarrassment to be around. Just by looking at the short conversation we had just a moment ago. It's obvious that the difference between us is incomparable. I got into the school that you wanted to go to, I have a bucket full of other friends that adore me. I've been praised and recognized by the public, then there's you. What are you? What do you have?" Augustine's eyes widen as Winnie spits out the violent words, it hurts him in every way imaginable, "No brains, no social life, no skills. What does that make you? Trash, trash is what you are. I pity you."

The world turns back to normal, with Winnie looking straight forward like they never said a single thing. Winnie turns back to him and then looks at Augustine with a perplexed stare. 

“What’s with that look?” Winnie speaks up once more, looking like they didn't just spit out insults at him. The look they gave Augustine pissed him off, like they could speak down to him like he was a parasite.

“Say it. Say what you just said again.”

Ah- okayyy? What’s with that look…?” Winnie's look reeks of pity, their eyes connect as Augustine’s fists clench in anger. “Let’s just calm down and-”

“HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN YOU'RE SITTING THERE TREATING ME LIKE WALKING TRASH.” Augustine jaw clenches as he snaps at Winnie. The shock of Winnie is apparent as their skin loses all color, becoming chalk-white.

“WHY ARE YOU YELLING ALL OF A SUDDEN?”

“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS-”

Both of their shouting stops as a sudden chill fills the car. They both turn to the window to see the blizzard outside, the snowflakes falling upon the window yet not melting.

“Is it… Snow… ing…?" Winnie breaks the silence, snapping Augustine out of his trance.

"... Yeah."

“J-just to be clear… It’s… currently july… right?”

"... Yeah."

They both stay in silence for a bit longer, letting the situation settle in.

“WHAT’S GOING ON?!?”

Chapter Text

¨I DON’T KNOW!!! I WAS TOO FOCUSED ON TALKING WITH YOU!” Winnie yells they look at me with panic, “ IT WAS JUST LIKE THAT WHEN I LOOKED BACK AT THE WINDOW!”

“O- OUTSIDE, LET'S JUST GO OUTSIDE FIRST!” Augustine turns around to the door. It has ice crystals forming at the window and edges of the car door. “aAAAND- THE DOOR’S FROZEN?!” Augustine's mind was racing, he’d never thought this would happen - especially with them. He pushes on the window regulator but it doesn’t budge, ”IT’S TOTALLY JAMMED!”

Augustine knows that Winnie’s going to be mad at him for doing this. He has no other options and he doesn't want to freeze to death with them. "This leaves me no choice..!"

"W- WAIT DON'T TELL ME YOUR ABOUT TO START KICKING MY-"

Augustine foot plants onto the door, each kick shaking the car and making the door frame looser. He's surprised when the door goes flying open and he rushes to where the door used to be.

"WE'RE OUT!!!" He's a second too late as he gets a face full of snow. "AACK!"

"Uwah, we really ARE out…!" Winnie looks down at him and gives a smile. "Wah! Sorry, sorry~! Should've dodged faster, hehe." Winnie looks at him with shock before talking once more, "Ah? Augustine, your outfit…!"

He gets up as he notices that Winnie has gotten out of the car and is  shivering a bit - he should ask him about that later.

As the ridiculous situation settles in he starts to panic more. "What the hell's going on?! WHY AM I SUDDENLY STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF A SNOWSTORM IN JULY?!" 

"Snow in July… This is very serious… I didn't know climate change would come to be this extreme!" Are they really cracking a joke in a situation like this? "Everyone, let's take better care of the earth!"

"THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW! I MEAN IT IS IMPORTANT BUT-" Augustine grips his bag strap tightly.

"I guess even climate change can't just change outfits out of the blue. Look look, our clothes…!"

"...It's the outfits we wore last winter… This is awfully convenient, at least it keeps me warm…?"

"But if it was changed for our convenience's sake, something doesn't match up…!"

"Our clothes suddenly swapping already doesn't "match up"." He couldn't think of any reason why it wasn’t convenient. "Because it isn't convenient… for our eyes…? Since the design is so… ug… ly…?"

"Eh?! Is my outfit not pretty?! B, but I thought it suit me! I can't believe you don't like it… I totally thought you would… Now I forgot what I was going to say due to the shock…"

Is he really joking at a time like this? "Stop joking around and go on already!!!"

"Look look, my clothes are much thinner than yours! You've got a cozy hat with those ear covery thingys, a coat, even those cute lil' boots perfect for the outdoors. While mine are clothes I only wore indoors during the winter! Mostly places like the school building!"

"Now that you mention it… aren't you cold?"

"Yeah no I'm FREEZING…"

"YOU MORON!!! GET BACK IN THE CAR RIGHT NOW!!!"

"B, but the door won't even close now after all that kicking you did…"

"Oh yeah… Sorry about that. AHH!!! THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING!!! Why ARE our outfits different?! What even IS this blizzard?!? WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN!!!!"

"D… Don't panic! We gotta preserve our energy…! Haaah…" Winnie is shivering more every second.

"Hey, you okay? You've been shivering this whole time-"

"Y- yeah… It's just… So cold… Let me… S… Sit down and… warm my hands… a bit…" Winnie takes a break to plop down. "Could you… Please… c, check the car… while I do that…? Check for someth- thing… that might be of use… o- or if anythings… wrong with it…?"

"How could I say no if you're asking me like that… I'll be quick. Don't close your eyes. If you do you won't be waking up."

"Hehe…"

Augustine trudges through the thick snow before making it to the car. The car was just like the outside, cold as hell. "Hooh… Everything's frozen on the inside already, huh… Need something to melt it… something with heat… Will I be able to find it?"

Augustine crawls over to the gauge to find it completely empty… great… “... Wait, why does it say we’re all out of fuel?! I swear it was almost full when I checked it before, the situation’s… more serious than I thought…?!”

Augustine sighs as he checks the glove box. There was a flash of two stuffed animals… or Augustine thinks it was god he was going insane out here. “W, what was that just now…! I swear I just saw something…! Am I seeing things…?! AHH!!! GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF AUGUSTINE!!!” 

Augustine slowed his breathing, winnie was right panicking would get them nowhere… wait are those cigarettes…?  “... Wait this is… I don’t remember him smoking… oh yeah. He pretended to so he’d look cool in front of the cool kids. When I warned him, all of them just called me a loser. The fact that he kept this means… is he still hanging out with them?” It was stupid that he was still hanging out with them.. 

He grinds his teeth while thinking. “Just ignoring my worries for him, huh! What, am I not cool enough for him? Am I really an embarrassment?” He lets out a sigh, is this why he was ignoring Augustine? “Anyway, the one thing I need… the lighter… It’s not here! Where did he put it…!”

He slams the compartment before speaking once more, “I think that’s everything I needed to check for now. Why is all of this suddenly happening to me…! It’s enough torture as it is having to spend time with-”

“EEEEE!!!”

“W- Winnie?!” 

Augustine quickly scrambles out of the car to find a shivering - but perfectly fine - Winnie.

“WHAT’S GOING ON?! WHAT HAPPENED?!” 

“My hands are freezing…” The very obvious statement infuriates him more, why in the hell did they do that?

“THEN WHY WERE YOU BUILDING A SNOWMAN WITH YOUR BARE HANDS?!”

“Nono, that's not all there is to why I screamed - though it is a tinsy part of it. When you were still investigating the car I… I saw an ominous shadow moving in the distance through the storm…”

“An ominous… shadow?!” They had to be joking… what else could be in this fucked up snowstorm other than them?

“Yeah yeah!! It really scared me. Soooo- I made this lil snow friend to calm my mind!! Cute right, say hi to him!!”

He sighed once again, did Winnie not think to call him? “You should’ve called me if you saw something like that!”

“Ah… but you were so focused on your investigation…! I didn’t want to interrupt. You don’t like it when I do that.”

They had a point… but if they were in danger they still should have told him. “... It’s… fine, just tell me next time.”

“... Gotcha!”

Do they not trust him? Why do they feel so… distant.

“Anyways! I don’t think that we should stay here much longer… I have a bad feeling. Sooo- how ‘bout you!! Did you find anything?” 

“It says the fuel’s all out so the car probably won’t move. And we’ll need a heat source for the frozen parts inside… Couldn’t find the lighter.”

“Ah… that… Iiiii- left it in my room somewhere! Since it’s impossible for us to get there now. Lets look for something else!”

“Hoo… Then that means… Nothing will change even if we stay by the car…” All of this is stupid… none of this would have happened if he just said no

“We have no choice but to walk forward…! Our number one priority is to find shelter… plus heat and fuel! Okay!! Tell me when you’re ready!!!”

Chapter Text

“Smile, smile!~” Weren't the words he expected when he told Winnie he was ready to go. “We got this, we can do this! Go!”

“Stop hyping this up and just go!” Augustine yelled at Winnie, he just wanted to go back home where he could spend the rest of his life without that plague.

The snow crunched under his boots as he heard Winnie’s followed a couple seconds later. The cold nipped at the both of them as they trudged through the snow. He kept looking back to Winnie taking note of how slow he was. It kept ticking Augustine off, at the rate Winnie was going they wouldn't be able to get any help.

… He knew what he had to do…

“Alright, get on my back.” Augustine looked at Winnie with a grimace, he never thought he'd do this.

“Ah?”

“You obviously can’t walk because of the cold. I’ll carry you.”

“Y... You sure? You don’t have to overdo it…”

“Since when did you care about that? I said it’s fine, just stop wasting more time and--”

“But if I trouble you, you’ll-”

“I got this, I can lift you up easy and–”

“I said, I don’t need it.”

Winnie’s tone surprised him, it was never this hostile.

“What? Don’t want a trash like me carrying you around?” Augustine's tone matched theirs, he didn't want to be treated like trash by them again. “Would that be too embarrassing for you?”

“It’s not like that...! Why do you keep talking like that...?”

“Why do you keep talking like– Fine, whatever. It’s my fault for asking.”

He sighed as he left Winnie's side, this time he heard Winnie's pase match his. He still heard Winnie let out shaky breaths as he followed behind him.

Every step felt tiring as Augustine dragged his body through the snow, reminding himself that he had to keep going. The time seemed to stretch on for eternity, yet everything felt like it had happened so fast.

Was he really that much of a burden? Even if it came from Winnie it still hurt.

Augustine stopped in his tracks as he looked down at the ground. Was that… blood?

“T… That can't be…”

“Is that…”

“Blood.” They both spoke in unison, the shocked expression on his face never fading.

“WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE IT WAS DRAGGED ON THE FLOOR?!” Augustine shouted.

As they moved forward they finally met what caused the snow to stain. It made Augustine want to hural once he saw their mangled corpses.

“That's… us…” The sight made him gag as the scene looked straight out of a horror movie. The slashed body of younger Augustine and the stabber body of Winnie must be a sick prank…

“I can’t believe it… You’re really telling me there’s something here with us that can cause these injuries?” Winnie let out a shaky breath as they shivered.

He felt like he could barely breathe, oh God why now, why now of all times.

While Winnie rambled on, Augustine panicked, there was nothing he could do to hide the flowers.

There was nothing he could do as he coughed up the flowers, the blood dripping out of his mouth.

He quickly crumbled them up, Winnie never looking over at him.

“-It’s not like whatever attacked us is standing right behind us!”

The warm breath of some creature crawled down his neck.

Without thinking, Augustine slammed his bag into its face, “BACK OFF.”

“You just had to jinx it!” Augustine glanced at Winnie before looking at the path ahead. “What are you standing around for?! Run!”

Everything felt so fast as they ran, his heart pounding, his body aching, and his breaths shallow.

His legs felt numb, barely feeling each step.

He just has to keep going, Winnie would be able to keep up.

Run.

Run.

Run.

Run.

“OW” Was the thing he heard as he turned around.

Winnie looked at him with teary eyes.”WINNIE?!?”

“WAH…! OWOWOW… Sorry, I tripped a lil-...! I- I’ll be fine, so you should-’

“DON’T YOU PULL THAT SACRIFICE CARD, JUST GET UP ALREADY!!!” Augustine pulled Winnie up, his arms felt like they were about to give out.

“Haah…!! Thank you…!! You saved me…!!”

“Shut up, we’re not out of this yet! There’s nowhere to hide with how flat and wide this field is- it’s impossible to drive it away…! And we’re gonna be out of breath any second now because of this god damn snowstorm…!! What the HELL do we do?!”

“Wait wait- Auggie!! I’ve got a plan!! Hear me out!! The floor we’re standing on right now, I think it’s ice…! If we slam our foot down hard enough, we can make it crack…!” Augustine never would have thought Winnie would be able to think of an idea that insane. “We can guide the monster to come towards our direction, and on its way to us it’ll step on the crack… And with the ice not being able to handle its weight, the monster’ll fall right in under the water!”

“Are you INSANE?! What if WE fall in too?!”

“Do YOU have a better idea?!”

“GH… N… No…”

“EXACTLY!! We’ll get caught if we waste any more time! Come on!!”

“I got it, don’t tell me what to do!”

“LET’S STOMP ON IT AT THE SAME TIME!”

“READY? ONE…”

Their stomps cracked the ice each time before it gave out, spreading out towards the monster.

“WE DID IT!!” they both celebrated, relief washing over Augustine.

“YES, IT’S WORKING!!! IT’S GOING DOWN!!!” Augustine yelled.

“...Wait, the crack’s spreading wider than I thought it-”

“woOOUULD-AAAAHHHHH?!?!” Time felt like it stopped as he felt the ground give out beneath him.

“AUGUSTINE!!! G… Gotcha!!!” The ice cold hands of Winnie's held onto his shaky ones.

“I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW WE’D GET MESSED UP IN THIS SOMEHOW!!! WHAT DID I TELL YOU!!!” The hole looked endless, nothing made any sense here that's for sure. “HGK… How deep IS this hole…?! It’s basically a cliff…! What the hell is going on with this place…? It just doesn’t make sense…! Alright- pull me up, hurry!!!”

“Augustine…” The word made his heart drop, why were they hesitating to pull him up..?

“Winnie?”

“What should I… What should I d-do… Ehk…. I… I can’t… feel my… hands… I can’t… put… any… strength in them… it’s all frozen. I feel like… my fingers are going to… fall off… a-any second… I… I can’t-.... I can’t pull you up…!! I’m trying but it just won’t let me…! What do I do…? What do we do…?”

“Don’t let go. Please don’t let go. I’m your friend. We’re friends.”

“...We are friends, right?”

The marbled face of Winnie appeared, smiling, before dropping him down.

That bastard.

Chapter Text

“...Haah… Huah… Haa… Hgk… Hugh… H-how… Am I still…? Hgk… M-my leg… it… hurts… I can’t… g-get… up… I… hgk… can’t… freeze… to death… here…” The snow surrounding him felt like it was piercing his core.

“I can’t… I can’t go out… like this… Not because of… him… Get up… Get up…! Move… Move…! MOVE…!! MOVE ALREADY!!!” His arms miraculously moved, pushing himself up. His teeth were chattering 

Cold… COLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLD…! Cold, it was too cold…! He never knew a person could ever feel THIS cold…

Everything hurt… like he was being stabbed. He probably wouldn’t be able to get up the next time he fell… Of course everything here’s frozen too… 

“h… how’s there snow when it’s…. indoors.. Wait… This is… the hallway of their house… Why here… are they somehow connected to why all of this is… happening…?”

“Urgh… Just thinking about them m-makes my head… h-hurt…For now I need… heat… heat… heat…! Anything warm… hot… literally anything…! Th… That’s right… T-the… lighter… He- he said… it’s s-somewhere in his… r-room…!” Augustine rambled on, oh god the cold was getting to him… he was literally talking to no one.

Every step felt painfully numb but he managed to move from his spot. Each box he checked was empty and useless, just his luck..

He let out a sigh as he trudged to Winnie’s door, the handle felt colder than usual as he tried to turn it.

“...Huh? N- no… no- why, why is it- why is it locked-...? No- Nononono- please, why…why…!!! Why, why, why…!!! Why now…!!! 

He felt devastated, why does this have to happen out of the blue, Winnie almost never locks his door... so why now?

"I would… kick it open… but... I don’t have t-the strength… this time… The key… I need to find the key… I’m- losing my s-senses- I need to… find it… quick…”

The world around him moved slowly as he quickly checked Winnie's laundry room, still no lighter.. God why did they make things so difficult. Next to Winnie's room was the bathroom, knowing Winnie, they would forget it there. As the door creaked open the sound of sirens echoed from the bath -It wouldn't be the strangest thing he saw today.

The sticky notes were the second thing that stuck out to him. All there on the sticky notes was just reminders and a to-do list, but the one that sucked out like a sore thumb was orange and had three words that he avoided to read -it was something he didn't want to remind himself of.

“Did… did he put these up…? Will looking at these pathetic pieces of paper… be helpful…? What the hell am I… Supposed to do now…!!”

Augustine sighed as he went back towards the laundry room, one of the sticky notes mentioned something about it.

“...Thinking back to that… note on the mirror… M-maybe he left the keys in o-one of his clothes when p-putting them in the washer again… it wouldn’t hurt… to check…!” He mumbled to himself as he opened the laundry room door.

He opened the washer door as he felt a jacket the felt weirdly familiar "I knew it, there’s definitely something in-”

“WH, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS…?!?!” he pulled out a skin suit, it looked exactly like him, the face… the hair… and the clothes.

“HUAH… T-the zipper… on its back… Is this… a fake… body suit…”

"Hgk… I know… it’s a hallucination… but… why… Why me… Why me… in… here… In their house… For now… Keys… I need to focus on the keys…!”

He fished the keys from the jacket pocket before shoving the skin suit back into the washer. He stumbled towards Winnie's bedroom door just wanting the experience to be over. 

He shakily put the key into the hole before turning it as he heard the click. “Y-Yes… This is it…!!”

A feeling of relief washed over him as he opened the door. “...Ugh… Why is it so dark…?! I can’t see anything…!!! The lighter… Where’s the lighter…?!”

He moved his arms around the room hoping to find the lighter in the pitch dark room. The feeling of a plastic lighter grazed his hand as he grabbed it and then lighting it, the area around him lit up as he saw what was hiding.

“Wh… What is all this… Th… those are all….” 5 Augustine statues -he honestly didn't know how to describe it- stood motionless around the room. "This… this is HIS room… Why… Why am I in his… Even the furnitures… look like… Me…?"

...

“...Ah.”

“I get it now…”

"I knew it was suspicious, how we were always stuck together… That bastard… used me like I was his own… for his own advantage…! Like I'm an object he’d put in his room… Like I’m his clothes he can wear whenever he liked… To act like me… To copy me… He applied to the same university as soon as he learned what school I wanted to go to…”

"They suddenly got interested in an award I was already working to get and he was recognized for it… They even got into the hockey team I was a part of since I was young and stole my position… And played in the game I was supposed to and won…"

"Stealing all the attention from everyone… even from my close friends who I knew before THEY came along…! Everywhere I go, everything I do, everyone that I meet, every time that I wanted something…!”

“He always shows up and…! Steals, replaces, ruins everything from my life and leaves me with nothing…! Now that I truly have nothing left, now that he’s already stolen everything from me… they start ignoring me, talking down on me, pitying me…”

“And now…! They must be trying to get rid of me for good…! To throw me away like a piece of useless trash…! To get rid of any evidence of how he used me…!!! That’s right, I was always suspicious of them…!” 

“I always hated them…! I don’t know how they did it but… Everything that’s happened from the moment I got out of the car is probably their fault too… Yeah, all of this must be their fault…! They're trying to hunt me down…!!!”

He would never admit that it was their fault for his hanahaki and he would never blame it on Winnie. It was his own fault… if he didn't fall in love with them he would have been completely fine… Why did he ever love Winnie…?

“Augustine?” Winnie's voice interrupted Augustine's monologue 

“Augustine, is that you? It really IS you…! So you WERE here! I was so worried! I’m glad you’re safe!” Winnie continued.

“... Y, you… how did you…?” Augustine stuttered out, why would they fall down willingly?!

“Well- this place hasn’t been very realistic so far! I couldn’t hear anything after you fell down that hole… So I knew something else must’ve happened to you- instead of… So I followed you in! I fell, and now I’m here. I don’t know why this place looks like my house, though… Oh! And while I was going around looking for you-”

Winner held up a gas tank, the liquid sloshing inside at the quick motion. “I found some fuel! Anyways- Are YOU okay? Are you hurt?”

Augustine hesitated for a moment before responding, “Found the lighter.”

“Lighter? That’s great…! Now that we’re both safe again, since we both looked around this floor, we should go downstairs! I’ll wait for you outside!”

Winnie's footsteps got quieter, their presence now gone. He let his head clear a bit before joining Winnie.

If they were able to come down here…

And seeing how I survived after falling down…

There’s a chance that the monster is also still around…

…Down here’s the stairs to the first floor…

This bastard… they're…

They're probably… planning something to get rid of me again… Just like how he tried to with that hole earlier…

…

…I need to… I need to… strike him first!

“SNAP OUT OF IT, AUGUSTINE!!! Are you okay? You’re sweating bullets- And what’s with that scary expression” those words made him hesitate…. Did he really want to do this?

“You keep talking to yourself and accusing me of something I never said…! I called your name multiple times just now…! And you didn’t even answer…! ...We can’t go on like this. Augustine, I… I have something to ask you. When I… fell down the stairs last winter…”

“I saw… You.”

“I know you didn’t push me, I know I fell because I accidentally tripped myself, I know that but I knew… you were at a distance where if you wanted...You could've easily reached out and stopped me from falling, when I was lying on the floor, about to pass out… I also heard… footsteps of someone leaving the area. And I heard that… someone else called the ambulance other than you.”

“I… That’s…” Augustine tried to speak up but was quickly interrupted by Winnie.

“...But… Despite it all… I didn’t feel resentful or enraged… I just felt… confused. I think that was the first time I started seriously reflecting on our relationship. All along I thought we were best friends, but since then I realized you might’ve thought of us differently.”

“It felt like a wake-up call. Ever since then I was paranoid about how you’d feel about me. I thought you hated me, I thought you didn’t want to see me ever again- I was scared. I didn’t know what to do or what to say- So I started distancing myself from you. But that didn’t solve anything, it just made our relationship worse…! What WE need is…”

“A conversation. An honest conversation.”

“Nothing will change if we just shut ourselves from one another. I’m not mad. I’m not disappointed. I’m not going to blame you for

anything that’s happened. So just… talk to me. Tell me everything. If you don’t, I’ll never know until the day I die…! Augustine, tell me how you feel…!”

The moment he heard the words “Tell me how you feel”,

He had forgotten all his suspicion, his hatred, his fear of Winnie…

And nothing but all the feelings he had been bottling up for all these years were left in him, which started to helplessly flood out in the most unsightly way possible

The lump in Augustine's throat started to dissipate as he started speaking, "I… I envy you for succeeding…! And I’m scared of what’ll happen to me in the future because of it…! I know I’m supposed to feel happy for you… I know I’m supposed to celebrate your success by your side!”

“I know I’m being selfish… I know I’m being overly emotional… I know that more than anyone…! I know I’m being pathetic, I know that- I know that! But I just can’t help it…! Whenever I see you… I can’t help but think you stole everything from me…! Whenever I start something, you suddenly start copying me and then take it away from me…!”

“It wasn’t just once or twice- but every single time…! Then you soon master at what I wanted to do- making you loved and recognized. Covering me behind your massive shadow, burying everything I’ve done so far in the ground, taking away everyone that I wanted to impress, having everyone’s attention and fortune heading towards you.”

“And now that you’re adored by everyone… You must’ve felt embarrassed for having to call a nobody like me your friend… No talent, no social life, no skills… Now all I have left… is the fact that I’m your friend- But you have so much more in life than me… You won’t need me anymore… So I thought… you were getting rid of me…! I was terrified…”

“The truth is… I love you… every time I feel regret… It's been eating at me everyday. I know it's wrong, I know it's something I shouldn't feel towards you, I was terrified of what you'd think…! I couldn't let the feeling go…!"

“Is that… really how you felt all this time…?" Winnie spoke up, oh god he messed up...

"You were my hero! I looked up to you ever since we first met…! I was able to be the way I am now because you inspired me with how bright and friendly you were!”

“I was able to feel at ease no matter where I went or what I did because I had a friend like you with me. I think that’s why I kept following you around… Because I didn’t want to leave your side. But I now realized… There are still things not even a friend should do. That there’s a line that not even a friend should cross, I crossed that line way too many times up till now, huh…?”

“You are the coolest and brightest person I have ever met in my whole life, Augustine! I was only able to do all the things I’ve accomplished so far because you encouraged me back then…! Because you gave me hope…! You work hundreds, thousands, million times harder than me… And I remind myself every day how lucky I am to have ever met a friend like you…! What do you mean you have nothing? You’re someone who can take over the entire world if you wanted to! You’re amazing like that!”

“Augustine… I’ll never leave you. There’s nothing in this world that can replace you. If I had to spend my time with anyone else, it'd be you..! Thank you for trusting me and telling me the truth…!”

Maybe it wouldn't turn out that bad after all.

Chapter Text

.

..

...

Now he got it.

It wasn’t Winnie that was hunting him.

The real hunter was…

Himself.

Already deciding what’s going to happen in the future, what other people will think of him in his head…

Blaming others for all the misfortunes in his life…

Not trying hard enough and justifying that by saying-

“Someone who’s more skilled than me or popular than me will come along and take all the glory anyway…”

It was all him.

Even though Winnie stayed the same, he was too blinded by my own jealousy and insecurity-

That no matter what they said or did, he distorted the truth…!

He didn’t even try to talk to them properly and decided they were only out to ignore him, out to hurt me.

Interpreting him the way he feared and believed in the lies he told himself to justify hating them…!

He was at fault all along!

Augustine wiped his tears from his eyes as he sniffled. “That’s-... it’s not true…! I’m not as great as you think I am…! You’ve always been a good friend… You always were- I was a fool to have ever taken it the wrong way…!”

“I’m sorry… I never should have let you get hurt…! You’re way more important than my pride- What was I even thinking… How could I have been so childish?! I was stupid…! I’m ashamed…!” Augustine admitted, the moment didn't feel real… it felt like a fantasy, he wasn't complaining though.

“Hey, we can call it even now since I did let you fall into that giant hole earlier!”

“IS IT REALLY OKAY TO BRUSH THIS OFF THAT SIMPLY!?!”

Winnie let out a little chuckle. “Augustine!”

Winnie holds their hand out for a fist bump. “We’re friends, right?"

“... Huh…?”

“If you’re okay with it, I’d love for you to be my friend.”

“... Yeah..” Augustine let out a sigh at Winnie's words.

“HHRUGHGHHAHRRUG HH GRHG…” Augustine sobbed out, the realization of everything they said dawned on him.

“AH!! A, ARE YOU OKAY?! BREATHE, AUGGIE, BREATHE!!!”

“IT’S BEEN SO LOONG SINCE I CRIED THIS MMUCHH RRHGHGK..”

“WAH!! IT’S OKAY!! DON’T CRY!! SMILE!! SHH!!”

Augustine took a deep breath, feeling a little lightheaded after talking so much.

“All calmed down now?”

“Urgh… y, yeah… Thanks…”

“Glad to hear it!!”

“So, Auggie! Remember the ‘we’re already dead’ theory I told you? I’ve been doing some more thinking on that, and…! You know how people say: ‘A person sees their life flash before their eyes when they’re about to die or they’re seriously injured’?”

Winnie continued speaking, “What if this IS that? The situation we’re in IS the flashback? Well, for us it isn’t us just watching the flash like a movie… We’re actually experiencing it! Re-living it, even!”

“T, that means we’re about to die in real life… I did hear ambulance sirens go off a few minutes ago but… Wait, then where are we now?”

“Probably… an important memory that we constantly look back to, a memory that impacted our lives the most…? Oh, and another thing! Don’t people usually see these flashbacks on their own? But look at us, we’re sharing it! I think this is because the memories we’re thinking of are the exact same…! What were some memories you think that impacted you deeply in life?”

“...Meeting you and… seeing you fall last winter,”

“Mine too!! Our first introduction and… The first time the crack in our relationship was visibly shown.”

“...So the reason why it’s suddenly winter now… Why our clothes are suddenly changed… And why this place looks like your house…”

“-is because we’re in a mixed memory of the winter when we first met and the winter when I fell!” Winnie finished his sentence and then added, “The house is left the same way when my family first moved in… and the clothes are what we were wearing on the day I fell!”

 “You’re in indoor wear since you were inside the school,”

“You’re in outdoor wear since you were leaving the building!”

“AAHHH!!! THIS IS HURTING MY HEAD!!! So what you’re saying is we’re currently in a coma and are in a critical condition…! Probably because of a car accident or something… And our consciousnesses are trapped in a mixed memory of the winter when we met and when you fell down the stairs?!”

“Wow, you summarized that perfectly…!”

“WHO CARES ABOUT THAT! HOW DO WE GET OUT OF HERE ALIVE…?!”

“mmmmMMMMM ~!! AH!! I got it!! This is a flashback of an important memory that we look back on often, right? Because of regret, because it deeply impacted our lives…!”

Winnie continued his thought, “If that’s why we’re having this flashback, if we get rid of our regret, get rid of the thing that’s been mentally hunting us… The thing that keeps making us look back to this memory. Maybe we’ll snap back out to the present instead of the past, back to reality! Since no regret means no looking back!” 

“...Alright, let’s do it then. I trust you.”

“OKAY!!!”

“N-no need to get that cheerful over it… So- how do we defeat it?! All we have on us are-”

“The lighter…” they both simultaneously say.

“Are you thinking-” 

“What I’m thinking?” Winnie finished his sentence again, honestly he found it kind of cute.

The house shook as the monster roared, he forgot that it was just downstairs. It doesn't matter, he can face it with Winnie. 

“ACK…!!! Speak of the devil…! Well- I REALLY hope it isn’t the devil.”

“Yippee, how convenient for us!! Alright, tell me when you’re ready!”

“I’m ready..!”

“Alrighty!! I’ll splash the guy with the fuel as soon as I see ‘em-”

“Then I turn on the lighter and chuck it, yeah?”

“Yeah!! I love when we finish each other’s sentences!!”

“Let’s go then… To the first floor..,!”

“WE GOT THIS!!”

“WE GOT THIS!!” Augustine hyped it up as well, at least he was going to face it with them…

This is so confusing seeing them in a good light. Like nothing ever happened… whatever he can contemplate later.

The creaking of the stairs felt louder every step they both took, where in the hell is i-

“EEEK…!! TH-THERE IT IS!!!”

“WHERE?!?”

“RIGHT THERE!!! THERE!!!”

“I don’t see iii-AAAAHHHH!!!”

“WAH! IT’S LOOKING RIGHT AT US!!

“GET THE FUEL!!! DO IT!!!

“Wait… It looks kind of cute once you get used to-”

“STOP MESSING AROUND AND POUR THE DAMN FUEL NOW!!!”

The sound of the gasoline splashing the bear was followed by Winnie shouting, “NOW, AUGGIE!!”

“I… GOT IT…!!!” He tossed the lit lighter at the beast, the smell of burning fur and smoke filled the room.

“...We did it…” He stood there shocked as Winnie hugged him. “WE DID IT!!! WE REALLY DID IT!!!”

“WOOO!!! THAT WAS SO COOL JUST NOW, AUGGIE!!!”

“Nah, the way you threw that tank was WAY more cooler-”

“Then we were BOTH cool, huh!! Hehe…”

“Now that we got rid of the monster- what’s our next move?”

“Oh yes yes, our next move, about that-!! Iiiii- didn’t think this far ahead actually, hehe…”

…

“YOU WHAT?!?!”

“Maybe if we let ourselves burn here too we’ll somehow wake up in the real world…~?”

“THAT DOESN’T SOUND VERY COMFORTING! IF I DIE- I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!!”

“Hehe~ …”

Chapter Text

The loud sirens was the first thing Augustine heard when he woke up.

What the hell…? 

Everything hurts…

“Ugh…”

“...Ghk… Wh… Wha…? Why is everything upside down… This is… the car…! Is that… siren…? An ambulance, huh…”

“W… Winnie… Where’s Winnie?! Winnie?!?” 

“Uwah!! So my theory WAS right!! The car crash coma trope, isn’t this cliche, hehe!!” 

How could they be so excited...? 

“I’m glad it wasn’t the version where we were already dead! Now THAT would’ve been troubling!!”

“How can you smile… at a time like this…”

“But YOU’RE smiling too!”

His relief was short lived as he felt light headed, he couldn’t breathe. 

“AUGGIE?”

Augustine clutched at his throat as his vision faded.

Fuck those dumb flowers.

Chapter Text

I am sorry to inform you all that I am going on an indefinite hiatus, I would rather not share to many details on here but I'm hopeful that I will able to return soon.