Chapter Text
Shanks can’t remember the first time he met Buggy. Because as far as he could recall they were at each other’s side, it probably helped that their parents weren’t only neighbors but also best friends. And it meant many playdates, even when they weren’t big enough to even be able to understand what a toy was or hold one at that, many sleepovers to the point if they were together and then suddenly felt the want not to go home and stay over there would be not only spare pillows and blankets for the other but also spare clothes and other hygiene product.
When they were 6 years old, Shanks realized that on the side of their homes, 2 rooms were facing each other: his father’s study and Buggy’s mother’s Crafts room. That day he throws the biggest tantrum, demanding that he switch rooms with his father so he can be closer to Buggy.
“Even if I switched with you, what makes you think Ray and Shakky will agree to give that other room to Little Blue?” asked Roger, as if he caught a reason for his son to see so he could stop his crying.
But the response he got was for Shanks to stare at him for a moment, eyes red and puffy from crying, sniffling, and wiping his nose with his sleeve, his eyes staring at his father’s what felt like an eternity, before he turned around and heading for the door.
“Where are you going, little fire?” Roger called as he walked slowly behind him. Shanks stopped just as he was gripping the handle to look at his father and answered.
“I… *hic* I’m gonna *hic*…ask Mr. Ray to give Buggy *sniffles*…da room.”
“What if he said no?”
At that question, Shanks froze, not realizing the reason why he would ever be rejected. He just wanted to be close to Buggy, he and Buggy should always be together, isn’t that what he was always taught and learned throughout his life, he can’t even fathom the concept of being separated. So his father’s question didn’t get the wanted reaction, which was for the toddler to understand and give up on the idea. Instead, Shanks’s eyes watered again, and his lower lip started quivering.
“…Oh no…” Roger closed his ears and took a cautious step back.
That night Shanks cried so loud and hard that their neighbors got out of their homes to see what was wrong. Shanks threw himself to the ground, crying loudly and struggling in his parents' hold, which made it difficult to carry him, almost dropping him on his head every time. It was only when Shakky came over, holding the hand of groggy Buggy, who was rubbing his eyes tiredly, refusing to open them and trusting his mother’s guidance, that Shanks stopped. Shanks ran to Buggy for a hug which surprised the bluenette for a moment, but he accepted the hug as he was used to the red-hair’s antics. Without even registering what was happening why there were so many adults around, or why his shoulder suddenly felt damp, Buggy took Shanks’s hand and they both walked back to his house where their parents found them sleeping together on Buggy’s bed, Shanks from exhaustion and Buggy from just wanting to go back to sleep. When Roger explained why Shanks suddenly threw a tantrum that almost leveled Buggy’s regular ones, Shakky shrugged her shoulders and agreed to switch rooms if Buggy wanted to, much to Roger’s displeasure, making Rouge find out where Shanks got his attitude from.
Since then, every morning that passed, and without a fail, Shanks’s cheerful call of “Good morning, Buggy!” echoed in the neighborhood, followed by an angry shout of “Shut up, you’re too loud!”. And when the parents heard the familiar squeaking of metal wheels in the middle of the night they knew their kids were exchanging letters and not asleep as they should be.
There were those days when one of them was sick and couldn’t get out to play or allow any visitors in. and they both had their way of comforting the other during it. When Buggy got sick Shanks would go to the part of the backyard that was visible to Buggy and ask him what to do so he could have fun for both of them, first time he did that it was innocent fun, like telling him to do a cartwheel, or how fast can you run, or how high can you jump, but when they got older the close calls to go to the hospital are close for trying to do a backflip and jumping from a tree. When Shanks got sick Buggy acted like a doctor, he would pop out from the opposite window with fake glasses and while lap coat while holding a chart to write one and then asking the regular doctor questions.
“How are we feeling today?”
“A bit sleepy but better than yesterday.” Shanks would answer with a hoarse voice as he rested his head on the window while looking at Buggy, who was taking notes, with a smile on his face.
“Good, Good.” Buggy answered and then used the cable connecting them to send a paper bag held with a clip to Shanks. “Blow into this.”
Confused Shanks reached inside, and there was a bubble bottle, which made the red hair smile. He took it and blew into it sending various babbles into the air, and it made him smile but was interrupted by a fit of coughs. Buggy flinched at the sound but stuck to the act and pretended to take notes.
“Hmm, the patient still has a sore throat, doctor’s advice is to drink plenty of cold water.”
“Nooo, hahaha, that will make it worse.” Shanks said with a laugh.
“And eat plenty of veggies.” Buggy continued ignoring him.
“But I don’t like them.” Shanks whined playfully.
“Shush! If you don’t get well there will be permanent consequences!”
“qonce? Kuens?…don’t use big words! What does it mean?”
“Can’t help it that you are dumb and don’t study well.” Replied Buggy before explaining. “It means the result of your actions.”
“Oh… so if I don’t do the things you say I should, what will the results be?” Buggy returned to his previous acting for dramatic effect.
“You won’t be able to eat candy…” he paused then took off his glasses causing his shoulder-length hair to whip around him. “Forever!”
“NOOOOOO!” Shanks shouted falling backward on his bed dramatically.
“YOU’RE BEING TOO LOUD!”
Rayleigh called from the kitchen window making both boys flinch in fear before slamming their windows shut and going back to their beds to hide, even when it was the middle of the day. Buggy and Shanks had their beds beside the window so that even when the windows were closed, they could still see each other slowly sneaking a peak from beneath their covers, before bursting out with laughter when their eyes met.
Of course, the best time when they got sick is when they caught the chicken pox. Buggy was quarantined in Shanks’s room, where they had their meal brought to them, and many games to play, they shared one bed, and when they got better Shanks didn’t want Buggy to leave so he got a permanent red marker to put dots in his and his best friends’ body. Least to say both of them didn’t like being stuck in the bathtub for hours, having their skin scrubbed until the red dots were gone.
They have been inseparable for years, however, nothing good lasts forever, as one evening when both families were having dinner separately Roger explained to Shanks how they had to move to a different location for a while for his company. At first, Shanks thought it was only his parents who would leave, and he would stay with Mr. Rayleigh, but his heart dropped when Roger told him that everyone including him would move.
“How long?”
“Huh?”
“You said that we’re going for a while?” Shanks asked calmly that none of his parents were used to, Roger and Rouge looked at each other with a sad look, because they knew what he meant.
“We don’t know, love.” Confessed Rouge as she reached out to hold her son’s now still hand. “Your dad’s company is going through difficult times and we need to be there for him as a family.”
“How long?” Shanks asked again, not meeting his parents eyes his eyes on his plate.
“It depends on how well things will go. Either few months-”
“Months!?” Shanks exclaimed meeting his father’s eyes, which caught them by surprise.
“- Or…longer...?” Roger continued in hesitation.
“YEARS?!” Shanks shouted as he stood up from his chair, making it fall backward, which startled his parents.
“Shanks, dear, I know it’s you’re upset, but-” Rouge tried to calm him down but was interrupted.
“Upset!?” Shanks shouted. “I’m far from upset!”
“Don’t shout at your mother like that! And the decision is final, we’re leaving in 2 months.” Roger said firmly, displeased by Shanks’s outburst, even if he understood his feelings.
“2 MONTHS!?” Shanks's eyes widened as his eyes darted at both parents. “Why did you decide that without telling me first?”
“Because we knew you’d react like that.” Answered Roger.
“If you knew, why did you decide that in the first place?” argued Shanks.
“Are you deaf, boy?” Roger asked now a bit angry. “We’re going through difficult times, and we need to stay together during it.”
“Then you two can go I am staying here!”
“With who!? Who do you think is going to take you in for years waiting for us to come back?”
“Mr. Ray is going to take me in.” Shanks replied with a grin as if he proved his father wrong, only to earn an eye roll.
“Did you really believe that Ray, whose work keeps him from his family for months, is going to take you in?” Shanks opened his mouth to say something, but Roger beat him to it. “Open your eyes, kid, have you ever wondered why they are different from us? Because unlike your free-spirited lifestyle, which I provide, everyone in Ray’s family must work hard, Shakky, not only goes to work but also has a side job from home. Why do you think Buggy acts so mature sometimes because he had to learn how to take care of himself when his parents were too busy to do so. He cleans the house, mows the lawn, and sometimes even cooks, and while doing all that he still studies hard to be a straight-A student. So please tell me, Shanks, what makes you think that I am going to leave a spoiled kid who doesn’t even take the trash out, with my best friend's family, who follows a strict schedule, which helps them balance each other? Huh?!”
Shanks just stared at his father with wide eyes, not believing that this was how his family saw him. A spoiled brat. Feeling the tears escaping his eyes Shanks ran to his room and slammed the door shut behind him, ignoring his mother’s calls. Shanks fought back the tears miserably as they kept running down his cheeks. He clenched his chest, trying to catch his breath but couldn’t, he went to the window, he needed to see Buggy to talk to him, it always brought him comfort to be near his Blue. But when he opened the window, he noticed that Buggy’s room was dark, which normally meant that he was asleep, but Shanks wanted him awake, he needed him awake now! So he gripped the pebbles that he kept in a jar near the window just to use to get Buggy’s attention, but just as he was about to throw an angry handful of pebbles he stopped when his eyes caught a glimpse of movement downstairs.
Shanks’s windows did not only have a view of Buggy’s room but also his home’s kitchen window, which was a bay window, giving him a full view of what was going on inside. There was Buggy, drying the plates that his mother rinsed after his father washed them. It was clear that they were talking among themselves, but what the red hair noticed most was the smooth movement between them. They were almost in sync, probably because they had done it so much that they were used to it, which made Shanks compare himself to them. They probably just finished dinner and decided to clean up together, when he finished eating he would just lounge on the couch to watch TV while his parents cleaned up, and on the days that his father wasn’t home, he would still let his mother do it alone. When was the last time he washed dishes with his parents?
When he thought about it further, Buggy always used to tell him how he could stay long or stay over because he had chores or homework to do. And although Shanks was sad he would immediately distract himself with something else until it was time to play with Buggy again. He took a look around his room, which was full of toys and other gadgets, most of them were collecting dust from how long it's been since Shanks touched any of them, he looked back to Buggy’s room, and although it was far and dark the red hair still remembered how it looked inside. His friend has always talked about wanting to be flashy, which means dressing differently, looking different, and even having unique and strange stuff, yet his room only had homemade posters and cut-up magazine pictures of artists he liked. In fact, anything that is flashy or expensive in his room is mostly the gifts he gave him for his birthdays or things Buggy bought with his own money after working hard around the neighborhood.
Did Shanks ever beg for something that he didn’t get? From an extra allowance to a trip to some country just for the amusement parks, and sometimes he wouldn’t appreciate these trips because he couldn’t take Buggy with them.
Shanks stayed in his dark room, sitting in silence for a long time, but then there was a knock on the door, he ignored it, the handle turned but it wouldn’t open because Shanks had locked it after slamming it shut.
“Are you awake, kid?” His father’s voice can be heard from the other side, he sounded almost hesitant. “If you are awake, could you open the door so we can talk…. Please?”
There was a long pause. Roger sighed and turned around, taking a few steps from Shanks’s room, but stopped when he heard slow movement from the other side and the door unlocking. The sight that greeted him broke his heart and made his regret even greater. Shanks’s red hair was a mess, his eyes red and swollen from probably hours of crying, the tear lines were almost visible, his runny nose red from wiping it with his sleeve, and he just looked exhausted. When their eyes met Shanks’s eyes started quivering, and his eyes started to water.
“I’m… a s…s.sspoiled brat…”
Before he knew it Roger had wrapped his hands around his son and brought him into a tight hug against his just where shanks into another fit of sobs. They stayed in there for a long time, Shanks didn’t even notice when his father sat him down on his bed, being too tired from crying that he didn’t feel when his father carried him back to his room, and in there, they had serious conversation.
Roger apologized to Shanks for his choice of words because the last thing he wants is to be the cause of his tears, but he needed to understand that this move was not only hard on him but also on them as well. After all, this was their home, Roger built this house from the ground up even before he met Rouge, he proposed to her in the backyard underneath their tree, and their most exciting adventures were inside those walls, whether they were sad or happy, they still cherished every moment, and they were especially sad because, unlike Shanks who will have a fond memory of this place his soon baby brother will be born with no idea of this house and what it means to them, to him it would be just stories about an old home.
“I understand, it’s not about the house to you.” Roger said gently, Shanks still did not meet his father’s eyes and just stayed leaning on him for comfort as his father kept either rubbing his back or petting his head. “You and baby blue have been inseparable since diapers, the longest time you were apart was maybe 3 months because we went on that one vacation during summer and even then you were eager to go back home, I think you even threw a tantrum at some point forcing us to return sooner.”
He joked wanting to lighten the mood, but Shanks stayed quiet not reacting to his father’s words, making him feel troubled. He almost was going to call Rouge to help him but then Shanks finally broke the silence.
“If I worked really hard, can I stay with Mr. Ray?” He asked. “I can share Buggy’s room, we Shared a room many times, so it won’t be a problem, and… and I… I know I never did chores, but I can learn from Buggy, I can learn fast! And I promise to do better at school! Just … please… dad, please…”
At the last part, Shanks had turned to look at his father, his puffy red eyes could cry no more and Roger knew that if he could, he would probably be at that moment. This was a difficult time for him, not only was he learning to put his foot down and refuse his son’s request, but also comforted him during his first emotional breakdown. All he could do was bring Shanks into a tight hug and it was all that he needed to understand what it meant and it only broke his heart further. That night Riger slept on Shanks’s bed because he fell asleep from exhaustion clinging to him and he didn’t have the heart to force his fists to let him go.
The 2 months that followed were exciting at first.
Rayleigh told Roger that Buggy acted terrifyingly calm, acting as a calm adult who understood the family’s need to move far away for god knows how long. The bluenette locked himself in his room, his parents thought it was to grief alone but they were surprised when early the next morning Buggy marched into the Gol.D family’s household, slamming Shanks’s door open startling the poor kid before slamming a giant visual plan on how they could have the most fun in those 2 months before they leave. Treating it as if they didn’t do everything in his plan the world would fall apart around them and everything would be lost.
They called it the “One More Time” adventure, which was the best name for a plan a kid can come up with.
During the first month, the two of them revisited their first hiding place where there was a makeshift ship that they built and played pirates on it, but then forgot about it with time. When they returned to it Buggy had buckets of paint, tools, and lastly, extra wood planks, courtesy of Mr. Roger, waiting for them. They made it a project for them to finish before Shanks left. So, every day after they finish or before they start an activity, they would visit the ship do some repairs then continue with their day. Going to an ice cream shop, ordering everything from their favorite restaurant, playing every game in the arcade and winning it, camped together, even when it was in their backyard, and dug a hole to the other side of the world, which got them scolded along with Roger who helped them. They had many things to scratch off their list and with each success, they documented it with a photo. A photo of them sitting in the ice cream shop with a giant serving in front of them, then in their favorite restaurant, passed out on the seats after failing to eat everything on the full table, them covered in winning tickets from the arcade games, them inside the tent at night their shadows visible while Roger was outside with his hands up ready to scare the kids, and then finally them sitting on the ground with Roger, covered in dirt, besides the big hole they dug looking down in shame as they were being lectured by Rouge and Rayleigh.
They were just missing one photo and it was the photo is their ship.
As Shanks was painting the last parts of the ship Buggy was writing the name on the side. “The Purple Emperor” they decided to name it together. When Shanks finished the back side he stood up and went to Buggy’s side.
“Whoa! Buggy that looks amazing!” Shanks’s eyes sparked. “How did you learn to write like that?”
“I’ve been practicing at home.” Buggy said with his tongue out, his brows furrowed, being in full concentration on what he was doing. He was writing the name in cursive, which wasn’t perfect since his hand kept shaking but it was perfect enough for them. “Done!”
Both kids pulled back with a smile as they observed their work. The small “ship” was perfect. Shanks was smiling at their hard work imagining him and Buggy playing pirates on it all day long, but he was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a sniffle beside, and his eyes widened at what he saw. The bluenette had heavy tears running down his cheeks, his red nose now runny with him failing to wipe it away, and his face flushed because he was trying to hold back the sobs. Shanks panicked, because his chest hurt every time, he saw Buggy cry and didn’t know what to do.
“B.. Buggy, what’s wrong? Are you hurt anywhere? Did you step on something?” Shanks asked hurriedly as he looked to the ground, scanning his friend’s feet for any injury but there were none. Buggy shook his head and started wiping his tears.
“We *Sniff* We.. finished…” He struggled.
“What?” Asked Shanks confused as he came closer to Buggy to hear him better.
“This was…*Sniff* was the…the last thing…*Sniff* we finished and…and *Hic* and… and there is n…nnnothing keeping you h..here…with *Hic* with .. meeee…”
With that Buggy covered his face and crouched down as he cried. Buggy knew he was an ugly crier so he had the habit of covering his face whenever he felt that there was a wave of heavy sobs that he couldn’t control. At home it was easy to cover, he could use a pillow or a blanket, or just hide in his room, but in public, he would stick to a spot and refuse to move so that no one could see his face unless one of his parents worked as a shield by carrying him so he can hide his face in their necks. Hearing this Shanks's eyes widened as the realization of what Buggy said sunk in, his eyes started to water and both kids fell to the ground crying as they held onto each other. It wasn’t until an hour later when both mothers went to the “Secret” spot for snack time for the boys that they heard the soft whimpers and sad sniffles. Seeing their boys in that position broke their hearts, so they comforted them the best they could before admiring their hard work. It was Shakky who told them that they should go and buy some pirate customs to get a proper picture. But before they did that, Rouge suggested they take a before and after picture.
So now there was a picture, of Buggy and Shanks, with red watery puffy eyes, snot running down their nose, them wrapping their arms on each other's necks with the other arm holding up two fingers as a sign of victory and big smiles on their faces. The second picture was of both kids dressed up as pirates, but not your simple peg leg and hook hand, these boys had their own versions of how a pirate should look like.
They both bought the basic outfit of a deep red hates, coat, and pants that had golden embroidery, that came with white shirts and fake swords. But they decided to add their own twist to it. Buggy added more fluff and feathers to the hat, and to his coat he used glitter to add color to the end of the sleeves and coat tail, and finally, around his waist, he added trinkets that he found in an attic from his mom’s old craft supplies painted it gold so they would look like “treasure”. As for Shanks, he didn’t care about being flashy like Buggy, he did add 2 feathers, one blue and the other red, and some fluff to match Buggy’s hat a little bit, he didn’t care about the coat as much as he cared about the weapon, he didn’t like that he had a plastic sword that would easily blow away with the wind, so Roger made it his mission to find someone to commission to make 2 wooden swords that were painted professional to look like real swords, but in fact they were harmless. It was a surprise gift, so you could imagine the boys' excitement the day they were ready to take the photo Roger came to them each hand holding the realistic wooden swords for the boys.
It was a dream come true to the kids, but a nightmare to the sensible parents, who had to chase the kids around so they wouldn’t hurt themselves, or make sure they wouldn’t destroy anything. Roger got an earful but he didn’t regret it.
The day of the move came and both parents were preparing for the most heartbreaking moments. The week before Shanks was spending every night with Buggy, to wake up and sleep beside him, so it was difficult when he was woken up that morning by Mr. Ray telling him his parents wanted him to help move his boxes from his room. Of course, Buggy wanted to help the red hair but then got scolded because they were procrastinating, which meant more trouble for Roger and Rouge. As expected there was another crying session, which the parents understood completely, so they came up with a plan.
“You can still call each other.” Said Rayleigh interrupting their 3rd cry session beside the moving truck this time. Both boys, who had tears and snot running down their faces looked at him confused.
“What?” ” Huh?”
“You can call or send letters to one another, here!” He then pulled out a pen and paper and started writing down their address and house phone number and gave it to Shanks.
“When you reach your new home and settle you can send a letter so we know your new address or call us so we know your new house phone number.”
Looking down at the piece of paper Shanks had no idea what those numbers or letters meant but all he needed to understand was he could use this to still be able to talk to Buggy. A smile grew on his face as he held the piece of paper tightly, then he launched himself at Ray almost knocking him down to bring him into a tight hug.
“THANKS, MR. RAY!!” He exclaimed earning a pet on the head from the blond man.
Shanks then pulled away and turned to Buggy, who was also smiling at the realization that they could still be in contact, then took his hands into his, surprising the bluenette, and locked eyes with him.
“I promise to call every day! And I’m gonna choose a very big room so when you come over you will have a place to sleep, and I’m gonna take lots of pictures and send them to you and! And I’m going to tell my new friends about you so that when you come, they will like you as much as I do! But Buggy will be my only one true friend! No matter how far or how long I’ll stay, I will only love Buggy!”
Shanks’s words had so much passion in them, that he didn’t think anything wrong with it, so he was confused when the adults looked surprised, and Buggy was blushing hard. The bluenette pulled his hand away only to strike them down on the red hair’s head.
“Don’t say stopped stuff like that, you flashy fool!”
“What did I say?!”
And with that, they sealed their departure list with an unexpected last fight, in which the parents tried to break out but Roger told them to “give them a minute”. When they stopped, panting slightly from the exhaustion of the fight, they looked at each other’s battered looks before laughing and giving each other one last hug.
“You better not come back, Red, I've already forgotten about you.” Said Buggy, as he leaned into the open car window.
“In your dreams, Blue, you’re gonna see lots of me so much so that I’m going to be in your nightmares!” Shanks replied with a grin as he stuck his tongue out and Buggy copied him.
As the car sped away, Shanks struck with the realization that this was it that this is the last moment that he would see Buggy opened the car window again and stuck his head out surprising everyone.
“I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN, BUGGY!” He shouted. “I PROMISE!”
“YOU BETTER!” Shouted Buggy back.
And finally, the car and truck were out of sight and Rayleigh and Shakky had to deal with a crying and depressed Buggy for the first few weeks of Roger’s family’s departure.
That was until the first phone call.
They spent hours talking on the phone, and both families had to put a chair beside the phone tables just so their sons wouldn’t get too tired standing up. Then the letters came accompanied by a picture of the new house, Shanks’s room, Shanks’s new school, Shanks in his uniform looking angry because he hated not being able to wear what he wanted. In the letters, Shanks would write about his new home, how it felt weird, and couldn’t sleep in there at first because it felt so empty and strange, how his school was awful because they had too many rules and he couldn’t make any changes to the uniform, or they would call his parents. Buggy in return just sent him pictures of new outfit designs he wanted to make when he was an adult. A picture of Buggy dressed in his pirate outfit beside “The Purple Emperor” holding a badly made jolly roger that had Buggy’s red nose, and beneath it, it said, “Mine now”. But they both knew it was only to tease Shanks and finally, a picture of the spot where they dug the giant hole captioning it “Grass started growing on it”. In the letters, Buggy talked about how his morning is so much peaceful without a rooster screaming every morning, how now he had a lot of time to plan his flashy future, how he now can read books without Shanks whining at him, telling him that he wants to play now.
What Buggy would never tell is how empty and lonely he felt. Since he was spending so much time with Shanks the bluenette never realized how truly rarely his parents were home. How it hurt to sit alone and eat knowing you have no one and nothing to look forward to. That school was scary. Were the students always this mean to him or is it because Shanks was not there to protect him anymore? He got his answer when one of the boys in class shoved him to the ground and cornered him.
“Your friend is not here to play hero anymore, huh?” He mocked him before, pulling Buggy’s hair and forcing him to watch as the other student tore his homework. And when he went to the teacher, he was scolded for making a mess.
But Buggy stayed quiet.
He didn’t want to make his busy parents worry about him, and he didn’t want Shanks to see him as a weak kid who still needed him, so he just told lies about how he was popular now and everyone admired him. All Shanks could say was praise and tell him how he had always been cool. Buggy believed as long as he had the phone calls and letters from Shanks then he could endure it as long as possible.
That was until Shanks’s little brother, Ace, was born.
“He looks so weird.” Explained Shanks. “He looks like a pink hairless alien, but I can’t say that because mom would scold me again.”
“Well, duh, all babies look like that when they’re first born.” Explained Buggy as he ate a cookie his mom provided for their long calls. “You looked like that too when you were a baby too.”
“NU UH! I didn’t look like that, I was born handsome!” Defended Shanks.
“Yu uh!” Mocked Buggy. “You probably looked like a red potato.”
“I did not!”
“Did too!”
“If I looked like a potato then your nose was probably bigger when you are a baby!”
“WHO HAS A BIG RED NOSE!!??”
“YOU DO DUMMY!”
They were about to start their usual bickering when Shanks suddenly paused.
“Oh, sorry Buggy, mom needs help with Ace, I got to go bye!”
And then he closed the phone and Buggy just sat there with wide eyes the line buzzing in his ear as he looked outside and sure enough it was still day time, they would usually end their phone call when it was near night time or either set of parents scold them, usually Buggy’s parents, but this time, Shanks was the one to end it, so early, and before Buggy could have the chance to say goodbye.
The little boy could feel a sudden feeling grow in his chest. Was that anger? Fear? All he knew was that this feeling hurt. But Buggy was a sensible child, he didn’t take this action to heart, he thought logically.
Shanks now has a baby brother, he has more responsibility now, so it’s expected that they can’t talk as much and he understands that.
But then the letters weren’t coming as much or as full as before.
Shanks said that school was becoming too hard for him, maybe he was just focusing on his homework for ones since Buggy was not there to help him.
“Sorry Buggy, Shanks isn’t home now, he went out to play with some friends, but I will tell him that you called.”
He has friends now? What about him being Buggy’s only best friend? He already has friends while Buggy was still getting bullied at school and locking himself in his room, because he has nowhere to go. He wasn’t surprised, unlike him Shanks always made friends easily wherever he went, will it be easy to make a new best friend as well?
Then the letters stopped coming, and shortly after so did the calls.
Shanks stopped calling him… Shanks stopped sending letters to him… Shanks isn’t responding to Buggy’s call and letters… Shanks is too busy… Shanks is playing with his new friends… Shanks is at his friend’s house… Shanks is studying… Shanks is playing with Ace… Shanks is… Shanks went… Shanks is with…. Shanks … Shanks…Shanks….
And Buggy was alone…
“You traitor”
He said one night to the empty space of his room as tears ran down his cheeks soaking his pillow.
Buggy cried silently until he fell asleep.