Work Text:
“Dear Neil,
It has been a month since you left and my life is the most boring and empty I’ve ever known. Since I was hardly coping, my mother suggested I'd maybe write a letter to you. As a way to say goodbye, since…you know, we didn't get to have a proper one.
I got suspended from Welton. Cameron ratted us out and claimed to know you oh so well…I hit him. Maybe not my most rational thought, but I was basically already expelled. From what I heard, they used poor Keating as a scapegoat and threw him out too. Saying that he put those irrational, wild ideas in our heads. Funny thing, I met him just a few days ago. He was doing alright, considering the circumstances.
We talked. Long. About what we were doing now, after Welton and about you. Even though Keating did not know you for that long, you really meant a lot to him, you know. It was hard to see such a confident and crazy person be so…quiet. So mourning. Maybe he saw it in my face, maybe he needed it himself, but before we parted ways, he hugged me. There was a certain pain in his eyes that he tried to hide.
Aside from that, Knox, Meeks and Pitts sent me letters together. (Meeks did the writing, obviously) They wrote about the situation at Welton after I left. Out of the group, Cameron was obviously doing the best. I won't ever talk to him again, have no reason to, but the others are talking to him, even with reluctance. The one who is faring the worst of them must be Todd. They wrote that the day after I left, Keating was still packing and picked up something from the classroom. Apparently, Todd stood up for Keating and even climbed on his table, shouting “O Captain, my Captain!”. Majority of the class followed after him! I wished I had been there to see that. Talking about which.
Tomorrow I'll start my first day at my new school. According to my father, it is as prestigious as Welton. Not like I really care. I know I'll have no problems getting accepted by the people, but it's the first time I won't be in a class with you anymore. Remember the first day in elementary school? When we had to run through the rain, because it just wouldn't stop pouring after we arrived at the parking space? I surely won't ever forget that.
Or when you had to sneak me snacks from the dining hall of Welton, because I fell sick in the first week? Nothing will match the time I had, growing up with you. I just wished I could have grown old with you as my best friend. There would be Todd, Meeks, Knox and Pitts and we'd be old and wrinkly, sitting around a table piping our days away, reading poetry. Oh yeah, the new school probably won't have a Dead Poets Society. The other boys back at Welton stopped too, after what happened…I guess it died again.
I really don't know what to write anymore. I really miss you, Neil. Just when we had everything we ever wished for, it all went downhill.
In the end, it's me and my clarinet again. Just like when we met. On day one.
Rest in peace, my brother.
-Charlie”
Summer 1949
Dalton Mansion
—
“Ah, Mr. Perry, please come in! You're a little early, Charles hasn't finished his clarinet lesson yet. Would you like some tea?” A man with dirty blonde hair opened the door, smiling as he shook the other’s hand before leaning down to shake the little boy's hand, who was with Mr. Perry.
“Tea sounds good, thank you, Mr. Dalton.” Mr. Perry answered and returned the handshake. His son, Neil, was a step behind him, unsure and intimidated by the huge home. Just in the car, Mr. Perry had held a lecture about how important it was to behave and not make any ruckus, as the Daltons were a good connection for him.
They sat down on beige couches around the coffee table. It all seemed so expensive, Neil was astonished. “Don't gawk”, Mr. Perry whispered to Neil, while Mr. Dalton was checking in with the people in the kitchen. With an ashamed expression, Neil turned back to look straight ahead. “Alright, tea will be right out in a few. In the meantime please have some snacks”, Mr. Dalton came back, followed by someone who seemed like a housemaid, who carried a snack tray.
Neil remembered his father saying he could have one cookie and not more, but his mouth watered at the sight of the cake and all the sweets. He looked up at his father, who had started a conversation with Mr. Dalton. “You’re Neil, right?” Neil turned to look at Mr. Dalton and nodded. “Yes”, he answered. “Don't be shy, Neil. Take as many as you want”, Mr. Dalton smiled at him, but when he looked at his father again, said one had an intimidating fake smile, showing him not to take too many. So, Neil hesitantly took one cookie and thanked the man.
While the two men were talking, a middle aged man walked down the stairs and talked to Mr. Dalton for a moment, presumably the clarinet teacher Charles just had a lesson with. Tailing behind, was a young boy with dirty blond hair and a bandaid on his cheek. He seemed pretty tidy and yet wild at the same time. “Charles, the boy I told you about is here. Meet Neil.” Charles looked like a copy of his father, but with a different eye color, probably got them from his mother. Politely, Neil held up a hand for the other to shake, which he did with a lot of enthusiasm. “Hi Neil! I’m Charlie”, a bright smile plastered itself on his face as he pulled Neil towards the staircase. “Father, I will show Neil my room!” And with that, they disappeared up the stairs.
As Neil got pulled into the big bedroom, he awed at the sheer size before noticing all the cool things inside. The door closed behind him and Charlie let out a sigh. “Finally, someone who isn’t a grown up. They are so frustrating all the time. ‘Charles do this’ ‘Charles do that’ ‘Charles be good’ annoying, isn’t it?” A chuckle escaped Neil, as he watched the other boy let himself fall into his bed.
A moment of silence passed, before Charlie looked up at Neil with a raised brow. “Not that talkative, huh? Come here, sit down on the rug. We can play with my new toy trains. Unless you see something more interesting?” Charlie jumped up from the bed and walked over to a neatly cleaned shelf with a huge collection of various toys.
Taking a better look around, Neil spotted a box of what seemed like colorful bricks. At least that was what the picture on it showed. He pointed to them and asked “Hey, what are those?”. With a hum, Charlie turned around to look at what Neil was referring to. “Oh those are…Legos? I don’t know. Father said it is something new and bought it for me to try out. He said it was quite expensive.” Neil watched Charlie pick up the box and sat down across from him on the carpet. “Apparently you have to put them together to build something and they can stay together without glue. We can figure it out together.”
Neil watched the other look at the pictures of the instruction, but seemingly couldn't understand it. Aside from a few huffs from Charlie, it was quiet and so Neil mused up all of his courage to start a conversation. “So, you play the clarinet?” Charlie glanced over to look at Neil, before turning back to fold the instruction. “Yeah. I hate it though. My parents made me learn it. Out of all the instruments, I don't understand why they had to choose the clarinet.” “I think it's really cool. My parents don't let me learn any musical instrument. They said it's a waste of time and I should focus on studying for school…”
Both of them fell silent. It was not an uncomfortable one, more like a solidary one. They both were stuck in similar situations and found comfort in knowing they were not alone. “Screw the instructions. Let's do what we want to do!” With that, they turned their focus back to the lego bricks in front of them.
After around an hour, the two of them managed to build a little town with the little bricks…If you use a lot of imagination. It's basically bricks stacked up and they imagined them to be certain things. But they did not have any less fun. A little while later, the boys were called downstairs. Their fathers had news to tell them before the Perrys left to return home.
“I hope you two had fun.” Mr. Dalton smiled at them and Charlie’s face lit up. “We tried out the new Lego's you got me! They were amazing. We had lots of fun!” A chuckle left Mr. Dalton's lips as he gently ruffled his son's hair. “Good, because you two will share a dorm room at school this fall.” Both boys looked at each other and smiled. Even though they just met, it was evident that they would become good friends in the near future. “Well, Charles say goodbye to Neil and Mr. Perry.” “Will we see them again before school starts?” Charlie looked at Neil, who did not say much, but had the same pleading look in his eyes. With a sigh, Mr. Dalton agreed and showed the other two out of their home.
When the door finally shut, Mr. Dalton turned around and let out another long sigh. “He seems like an obedient young man. You should learn from him. Always out for trouble. Just yesterday you broke our new vase and hurt yourself in the process. I bet the Perry boy would not do that.” And with that, Mr. Dalton walked upstairs to his bedroom, leaving Charlie alone, his head low, with the servants swarming around the house. Keeping it clean, tidy, and expensive.
Fall 1949
Elementary School parking lot
—
“God, when will it stop pouring? At this rate we will miss the ceremony.” Mr. Dalton scoffed and angrily leaned back into his seat. His wife, who was in the passenger seat beside him, was equally annoyed and glared out of the window. Their son however spotted something from the backseat window.
Next to them, there was another car with all of their passengers inside, presumably also waiting for the rain to subside. Charlie recognised the boy, who sat in the back, also looking outside. He waved to the other and smiled as he got a wave back. Neil’s face lit up as he saw his friend, though through the rain it was hard to see his face clearly. In their car, Mr. Perry was grunting and complaining about everything he could, while Mrs. Perry tried to calm him down, to no avail.
“I'm sick of waiting, we're going in. Let's get the bags later” And with that, Mr. Perry quickly jumped out of the car, followed by his family. The Daltons saw them and quickly decided to do the same. Neil and Charlie giggled while running after their parents, deciding to hold hands to avoid falling behind. When they finally walked through the gates to the school, all six of them were soaking. The two boys had mud on their school uniform, presumably both tripped…or one tripped and pulled the other down too. They’ll never know. But either way, they got an earful from their parents for dirtying their uniforms even before their first day began.
Later, when their parents finally left and they finished putting their things away, Neil and Charlie chuckled to themselves in their shared dorm room. “It's just a uniform! We can wash it. Did you see my mother? She was fuming! Right after, she got all polite and kind to greet the principal, who heard them yell at us.” Charlie made exaggerating polite laughing noises while shaking hands with Neil. “Oh hello Mr. Principal, no we were not screaming at our kids” Neil joined in on his jokes and imitated his own father. “Mr. Principal, I swear our kids are very obedient and not usually this clumsy” That went on back and forth, till they finally decided it was time to go to sleep.
Well, they tried to, but two kids in an entirely new environment do not fall asleep that quickly. Instead, they were gushing around and telling the other about what their future would be like. “Father said I should work hard and become a doctor! I will save lives in the future” Neil smiled, laying on his side and facing Charlie, who was doing the same. “Really? My parents said I should become a banker. Sounds boring if you ask me, but they said I will have a lot of money and will be able to get all the toys I want!” Charlie held up his arms and showed how many toys he wanted to get (with his little arms it wasn't a lot).
“You know, my parents have a house near a lake. We should go there together some day!” Neil beamed at him. No one had invited him to do something before. “I'd love to join you some day.” He replied and listened to Charlie ramble on and on about what they could do together. “...and when we're both grown ups we could take our future friends there too! If my parents allow me. I'm sure when we're old enough they would let me have it for a week or two.” As he talked, Charlie had to stop and yawn twice. “Maybe it's really getting a little late…” He mumbled as he rubbed his eyes and turned to stare at the ceiling. Neil followed and turned to lie on his back. Minutes passed in silence, the clock on Neil’s table ticking quietly, but it seemed louder when both were not talking. Neither of them fell asleep, even if they were tired.
“Hey Neil? Are you still awake?” Charlie whispered across the small room to the other bed. Their beds were not far apart, so Neil could still easily hear him. He turned around to face Charlie again and looked at him in anticipation. “What is it, Charlie?” A hand shuffled out from under the covers and reached out to him. Neil took it with a little confusion. “Promise to stay my friend forever?” During the few months that they knew each other, Neil had never seen Charlie so quiet and vulnerable. Suddenly the overly confident and easily excited boy in front of him was small and full of fear. Afraid to lose his first real friend.
“Forever and ever” Neil promised with a reassuring smile on his face. Maybe he was not the most outgoing boy, like Charlie, but he would always be there for him. They'd be there for eachother. Forever and ever.
-
The years passed by quickly. Charlie, as the extroverted and unruly one, quickly made a name for himself and found his place in school. Neil on the other hand, slowly but surely got out of his shell and became the bright, class rep kind of person. Both of them were good in school, never failing any subjects (even though other people would not expect that from Charlie) and always coming out on top of their class.
Their situation at home never got easier, but it was more bearable with their best friend at their side. Neil became Charlie's supporting pillar, and the person who would ground him, make sure he would never get himself into too much trouble and actually hurt himself. Charlie became Neil’s chain breaker, cage opener, the person who pulls him up when he can't do it himself.
Maybe it never got better, but at least they had each other. As a future doctor and banker…
Summer 1957
Dalton vacation home
—
“Charlie! Charles! The Perrys will arrive soon, please come out when we call you.” Charlie's mother called out to him, through half of the house and through a closed door. It was not the first time they spent their summer vacations together. Charlie and Neil became very close friends over the last few school years and even closer during their stay in the Dalton vacation home. Partially, because they had to share one room and had spent a lot of evenings talking about anything and everything.
They were in their teenage years now and would start highschool soon. Both of them got accepted into Welton Academy, one of the best and most prestigious schools in the area.
While Charlie was unpacking his things, he saw all the old toys he and Neil left in the closets and suddenly he was full of nostalgia. It's one of the few places he was not surrounded by freakishly clean furniture, shining floors and an absurd amount of servants. There were still some, but not as many as at home. His whole childhood was in one place. There was just a small detail missing.
“Charles! Come downstairs!”, his father yelled from the staircase and Charlie stumbled down the stairs a little too fast. He nearly tripped, but quickly caught himself. Quickly greeting Mr. and Mrs. Perry, he turned to pull Neil into a hug. “How was summer school?”, he chuckled and Neil rolled his eyes at that. “Keen. Not any better than your tutors, I'm guessing” he mumbled back, loud enough for Charlie to hear but not anyone else. “Neil and I will go unpack our stuff, call us if you need us”
Closing the bedroom door, both of them let out a sigh. “This place is always the highlight of my summer”, Neil said as he threw his bags on his bed. It was silly, how they assigned their beds almost 7 years ago and still stuck to them. “Mine too. Finally a break from studying.” Charlie also continued to put his things away and while doing that, he thought about what they could do for the rest of the day. “How about we go to the lake later? I think we won't get away from our parents anytime soon, so maybe after dinner?”
Neil rummaged through a drawer, which was plastered with random stickers, before he grabbed more clothes to put away. “Sure. I just hope it won't get too cold. Remember when we both caught a cold last summer? It was all your fault.” They both chuckled at that, before Charlie threw a sock at him. “It was not entirely my fault! You wanted to stay longer and I complied!” “You could have forced me inside, but you didn't!” Neil grabbed the sock and threw it back at Charlie. “I’m not your mother! It’s your fault, for even suggesting staying outside for longer!”
Their little argument went on as the sock was thrown around and soon was joined by another sock and then a pillow. So, as it was bound to happen, it turned into a pillow fight. “Boys! You're being too loud, come down and help carry the things inside.”, Mrs. Perry called up to them. Their laughter slowly, but surely died down and they made their way downstairs. Each grabbed two bags of groceries, which they bought beforehand and carried them to the kitchen. As always, the two families would stay for two weeks together at the lake. Maybe it was their similarity that brought them together. Maybe it was their sons.
“Charlie grew taller, didn't he? Neil barely got any taller this summer.” Mrs. Perry noticed and looked over at Mrs. Dalton, who was putting away the groceries with her. “I'm sure he is just a late bloomer. Don't worry too much, dear” During their conversation, the two fathers were outside cleaning up the garden furniture. “Usually I get someone to do this for me. I don't know why my wife insisted on not getting any servants during vacation.” Mr. Dalton let out a long sigh as he threw a few cushions on the bench. “Next time we'll just get the boys to do this. They'll be 14 next summer” “Well, someone has to carry in the groceries and if they don't do it we'll have to.” Mr. Perry thought about it and shrugged “You have a point”
Back inside, the boys finished carrying everything out of the cars and immediately got a new task. “How about you two go and wipe down the tables and do a little dusting?” Mrs. Dalton suggested, before turning to wash the vegetables they would use to cook dinner with. Beside her, Mrs. Perry was cutting meat. “Good idea. You two know where the things are stored.”, she added and after a few groans, Neil and Charlie made their way to grab the cleaning supplies they needed.
Charlie grabbed the duster and held it up like a fencing saber. “En-garde!”, he said before hopping around and running after Neil, who tried to escape him as he only had a rag in his hand. “Hey! Stop! You’re spreading all that dust!” “Not like it wasn’t dusty in here already” Neil continued to run away from Charlie, but it came to a halt as he ran into the walk-in closet of Charlie’s parents and shut the door.
Aside from a few older dresses hanging there, there were only a few bags on the floor. “Come out, Neil! You can’t stay there forever” Neil chuckled and leaned against the door. “I think I’m quite comfortable here.” From the other side, he could hear Charlie shuffle around, but was not quite sure what he was actually doing. “You party pooper”, Charlie muttered with no real ill intentions. It sounded like he was also leaning against the door now, a little out of breath, as was Neil, from running around the entire house.
“Alright, now come out. We still have things to do.”, from the sound of it Charlie stepped away from the door to give Neil enough space to open it. Slowly, Neil faked over the top caution and glanced out of the door gap. Charlie held up both of his hands, still holding the duster in one of them. When Neil finally stepped out of the closet, Charlie launched an attack and used the duster as his weapon. “Charlie! I’m getting all dusty!” “I’m undusting you! You’re just not appreciating my work”
Charlie laughed as he finally stopped and looked at all the dust on Neil’s shirt. “Well, maybe my undusting did not really work”, he shrugged and Neil ran up to him to get all the dust on the other too. “Give me a hug, come on Charlie!” Their chase continued, but this time Neil was running after Charlie. “Help! The dust monster is chasing me!”
-
A few hours later, after they finished dinner and cleaned up, Neil and Charlie changed into swimming trunks and grabbed their towels to go for an evening swim. “Father, Neil and I will go down to the lake! We'll be back shortly after the sun's down, like always” Charlie called out to his father, who was sitting with the others in the backyard. The adults got themselves wine and decided to catch up and chat a little. “Stay safe, boys!” Neil's mother called out to them, before the two of them disappeared down the path towards the lake. It wasn't a long walk, five minutes if they took very long.
“God, did I miss this feeling. A warm summer evening, swimming in the lake after dinner. This is how I want to spend all of my summers”, Charlie gushed and smiled over at Neil. “Yeah… Whoever gets into the water first!” Neil challenged and ran off before he even finished his sentence. Obviously, Charlie reacted quickly and ran after him, yelling something along the lines of “Hey, that's unfair!”. In the end, he ended up being the first in the water, as Neil wanted to take off his sandals and Charlie did not bother with that, only throwing his towel to the side nearly off of the wooden pier before jumping in.
He swam up to the surface and chuckled at Neil, who accepted his defeat and sat down on the edge of the pier, letting his feet dangle in the water. “Not getting in after losing to me?” He commented and swam up to him. “It's cold, isn't it? I can see you shivering” With a shrug, Charlie turned to let himself float on his back. “It gets better.” All of the sudden, he lunged forward and pulled Neil into the water, causing both of them to dive under. “Charlie! What the hell!” Neil yelled, but said one already swam off to take off his sandals. “Is it still cold?” He teased, throwing his footwear on to the pier.
They individually swam a few rounds around the lake to get warm, but as teenagers always do, it quickly became a competition. When they used up their energy, Neil and Charlie found themselves floating on their backs somewhere near the riverbank. The sun was still up, but the skies were already turning pink, indicating the nearing sunset.
“Are you excited for highschool?”, Neil asked, still staring at the sky. With a hum, Charlie thought about it for a moment. “Not really. I overheard my parents' plans to double the time I'll spend studying every summer.” Unsatisfied with the answer, Neil turned to look at him with more seriousness. “I mean like…For the people and…stuff” Suddenly he was not so sure anymore and trailed off. What was he trying to ask Charlie, that made him so nervous? “Well, we never had any problems making friends, did we? I'm sure it won't be any different there either.”
Neil did not give an answer right away. It looked like he was deep in thought, but Charlie saw right through him. “Something is bothering you and it does not directly have something to do with the school, does it?” Charlie looked at him and Neil faced him, but his eyes were not on him. “I'm not pressuring you to tell me, but you know you can tell me anything, right? Forever and ever, remember?” Without noticing, they floated off to the shore of the lake. Charlie sat up and held out a hand to him, like back then on their first night together in school.
But Neil did not immediately take it. “What if I don't want to become a doctor? I mean, that's what I've been studying for all my life now, but I…I don't really want to do that.” By now, they were basically sitting on the grass and only their legs were still in the water. Charlie took back his hand and looked into the sky, where Neil was also looking to. “We don't really have a choice, do we?” he mumbled back. To be fair, Charlie also did not want to become a banker, but both of his parents would not accept any career path but another secure, high paying job. It was the same for Neil, that's partially why they became friends so fast in the first place.
“I'm glad I at least have something in my life that I can choose. And that is having you as my best friend.” Neil turned to look at Charlie and smiled, holding out his hand for Charlie to take. “Forever and ever, Charlie” He said, softly, like their moment would end if he spoke any louder. “Forever and ever, Neil” Charlie murmured back to him and hit his open hand like a horizontal high five before holding it up for a fist bump, which got accepted by Neil after giving him a look of surprise.
Holding the fist bump for a moment, Charlie broke it first and got up, striding towards the pier. “Alright, it's getting late. We don't want you to catch a cold now, do we? Catch up, slowpoke”
Fall 1958
Welton dormitory - Neil and Knox’s room
—
“Knock knock. Read you stole my roommate this year” Charlie grinned at Neil as he leaned against the open door, followed by Meeks. Inside the dorm room, Neil and Knox were individually putting their stuff away while chatting about their summer. Neil smiled back at the two boys, who were making their way inside now. “And you stole mine, so we're even” He said before turning to face and catch up with Meeks, whom he hasn't seen all summer unlike Charlie, with whom he spends every summer (for at least a week or two).
Charlie scoffed and patted Knox’s back as a greeting. “How was your summer, Knox? Any girl who caught your eye?” He wiggled his eyebrows in a teasing manner, which forced a laugh from Knox. “In my dreams maybe. What did you do? Were you locked into your room so you’ll study?” Knox chuckled as he watched Charlie throw himself on his bed. “More or less. Had tutors come in every day! I could ace every exam from now till college!” They laughed together as Knox also made his way over and sat on his bed, leaning against the wall next to it.
It was evident that the duo had gotten close with their respective roommates over the past year and even though they were a little disappointed that they would not share rooms again, in the end they were glad that no one would be more than a few steps away. “Neil, how was summer after you left the lake?” Charlie asked across the room. “Keen.” Obviously, Neil was being sarcastic and it was in fact not keen.
“Did you two spend time together?”, Meeks asked while looking between the two. They knew that Neil and Charlie were already friends before Welton, but they did not know much more. “Every summer Neil's family would stay with my family at a lake. It's been like that for maybe ten years now” Both Knox and Meeks let out sounds of amazement. “Why did I not know that you were super rich?” Knox commented and jokingly hit Charlie's shoulder, who laughed. “Not important enough to mention” He shrugged and watched Knox’s face light up in realization.
Dramatically, Knox snapped his head to look at Charlie, who looked at him in confusion. “So that's why you always have such expensive hygiene stuff! Your parents bought them for you. Man, I'd like to have expensive shampoos and gels too.” Neil and Meeks chuckled at that from the other side of the room. During their chat, Meeks had gotten comfortable on the chair at Neil's desk and Neil leaned against the window. “Half true.” Charlie shrugged again as he crossed his arms, getting in a cozy position. “I bought that with my pocket money”
Another surprised sound left Meeks and Knox as they stared at Charlie before looking at Neil for confirmation. “Don't look at me! I just know that his parents are rich, I didn't know about the pocket money.” Neil brought his arms up in defense. “But it makes sense when you see their home. Everything looks so expensive” He added and moved to sit on his bed, getting joined by Meeks.
Their chatter got interrupted by a knock against the open door. Pitts was standing in the doorframe and smiled. “Why did no one tell me you guys are having a get together in here? I was searching for you” He chuckled and closed the door after he entered. As he occupied the chair Meeks just left, he got bombarded by questions from Meeks and Knox. “Did you know that Charlie was crazy rich???” Pitts looked at them in confusion and surprise. “I guessed it within the first week. Thought you guys knew it too” He answered, but seemingly that was not the answer the two wanted.
Neil and Charlie watched it all go down as they chuckled at the antics of their friends. With a wave, Charlie motioned for Neil to get closer and a little further away from the three guys, who were still discussing. Charlie pulled Neil down and whispered to him,“Wait till they know about my Saxophone.” “You got a saxophone??” Now it was Neil’s turn to be surprised. “How did you buy it without your parents noticing? Do you even know how to play it?”
Charlie motioned for Neil to lower his voice, as he had yet to reveal it to the others. “First, my parents give me money every month and never check what I spend it on nor how much I have left. It was surprisingly easy to sneak a saxophone into school. Second, I heard it is not so difficult if you can play the clarinet. Have yet to try it out,” He raised his eyebrows as to say ‘does that explain it for you?’ and Neil nodded before chuckling, “You're a sly one, aren't you?” Charlie joined in and answered, “Call me slick”.
With that they returned their focus back to the discussion in front of them, which had turned into a bunch of confused idiots talking in a very heated manner. “But that could have been a gift??? I mean-” “No, it was clearly something he bought himself, but-” “Guys, I believe Neil and Charlie are enjoying our confusion a little too much.” All three of them turned to look at the duo, who held their eye contact for a moment before breaking into laughter.
Thursday, December 31st 1959
Charlie’s bedroom
—
With a long sigh, Charlie folded the letter he just finished writing. He thought about ripping it apart, burning it, anything to destroy it leaving no trace. But he did not. His initial anger should have faded by now, as it’s already a little more than two weeks ago, since…
Charlie neatly stuck the letter into his otherwise quite messy drawer and waited for a moment. It was like his body was on autopilot. A loud explosion startled Charlie out of his trance. From his position at his desk, he looked out of the window, but the lights were already gone. Another bright light shot up to the sky and Charlie stepped closer to his window, opening it to get a better view.
The fireworks outside were not too far away, but he could hear and see some which were at least further away than the first ones. Charlie did not register much of it, he was only half present to be honest. Only staring outside as he had nothing better to do. He did not notice himself shivering from the cold winter air, or his ragged breath as hot tears dribbled out of his eyes and down his cheeks. His blurred vision also did not seem to bother him as he stared at the colorful explosives outside.
“You promised me, Neil. You promised we'd be friends forever. Forever and ever. Why did you not talk to me? I told you you could always tell me everything!” Even though he rambled accusations, Charlie couldn't really blame Neil. Every time that happens he just falls apart, piece by piece he crumbles and can not stop it. He fell down to his knees with a thud and tried to hold himself up by the window frame, grasping it desperately. “What about the plans we made?” Charlie choked out as more tears streamed down his face.
During the past few weeks, Charlie barely looked around his room, as most things reminded him of Neil. Like the Lego set they finally figured out two years after they first unpacked it. Charlie glanced to the side and saw his clarinet case, which was usually not in his room, but for once he was happy to see it as his saxophone got damaged during his moving back home process and then taken away by his parents. Grabbing it, he held it close, hugging the case as it was the only thing giving him some form of stability.
He was right.
In the end it was just him and his clarinet.
Forever and ever.