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“Hello?” Riley said into the phone, only hearing a faint breath before the line clicked off. He stared at his phone screen, cursing him for not saying anything. It had been two years since they parted ways, but he couldn’t get him off his mind. He and Chase had been ridiculously close over their time as interns at the museum. It hurt at the end of the summer when they had to leave, heading to their own homes before heading to school.
Riley, stupidly, decided that he didn’t want to know who his roommate was until he got to school, so he was dumbstruck when he opened his dorm room, only to find Chase sitting on one of the beds.
“Surprise Mate!” He remembered the Kiwi’s accent as he said those simple word that went right to his heart. It was at that moment when he realized he was falling in love with his best friend.
Riley did a good job at hiding his crush on the older boy. The whole year they spent side by side. When Chase couldn’t afford to go home for Christmas, Riley brought him home to his family. Easter and Thanksgiving dinner’s were also served at the Griffin’s, while for spring break, Chase surprised him, and took him to New Zealand for the week. The problem was, all the extra time spent together only increased his attraction to his friend. So it was expected when the year finally ended, that both boys were distraught that they were leaving each other for good. Chase’s study abroad year was over and he couldn’t afford to transfer permanently to Amber Beach University.
The boys stood outside of the airport, not ready to say goodbye. Riley knew that he couldn’t keep his crush silent for any longer. When the boys went to hug, he wrapped his arms around the brunette, holding him tight before taking and kissing him. Chase pulled back shocked, eyes wide. Riley whispered “I love you” as the other boy grabbed his bags and ran off into the building. Riley felt the tears roll down his face as he stared after he’s crush, who was fleeing from him. Why couldn’t he have held back, why did he have to go and ruin their perfect friendship?
Since that day, Riley had gone back to school, and only heard from Chase on big days, like his birthday, or a holiday. Every time it was the same thing, Riley’s phone goes off, he answers only to hear silence and the line click off. Today was different, there wasn’t anything special about today. Riley felt his phone go off again, a picture of Chase from their time as interns popping up on his screen. Riley went to press answer, before deciding he didn’t want to repeat this process. The definition of insane, doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result, he was tired of hoping to finally hear his voice.
Riley went on with his day as if he hadn’t gotten the phone call. He went a took his last final for the semester, excited to finally be done, he spent a lot of time in high school taking college courses in hopes of graduating early, and it had finally paid off. He had three days of freedom before his graduation on Saturday and starting as a full time employee at the museum. He went back to his dorm room, flopping on his bed and looked at his phone.
One voicemail from: Chase Randall
Riley couldn’t believe that he actually left a message. He pulled it up to see that the message was over three minutes long. His thumb hovered over the play button before finally hitting it.
“Hey, mate.” The accented voice hit him hard. Those were the first words he had heard from him in two years. “It’s me, obviously. I, uh, got a letter the other day from, um, from your mum. She said, ha, she said that you were graduating early. Have to say I’m not surprised, you always were ridiculously smart. She said something about you getting a job at the museum as well, ha.” Riley held onto those sounds, missing the way his friend had laughed. He cringed at the amount of silence that followed. “I, uh, I’ve been, umm, you know, I’ve been thinking about, uh about everything that happened, and what you said before I left and, well, I, I’m sorry Ri. I, I uh, no, you deserve better. You deserve so much better Riley, so much more. I thought I was your best friend, but now, I realize how bad of a friend I was. I didn’t read the signs, or I would have known that you had feelings, I would have known how felt about me, I wouldn’t have been so stupid. Riley, I’m so, so, oh hell, I just can’t, not like you’re probably going to listen to this any way.” Riley’s heart dropped as he heard the line click off.
Riley sat there in disbelief, thinking those words over and over again. What was he about to say before he gave up? Riley considered what he was going to do, before finally giving in and pressing Chase’s name on his phone. He heard the first two rings go through before the click.
“Hello?” Chase asked.
“Hey, Chase.” Riley said timidly. He didn’t sound like he realized it was him when he answered so he had no idea how this was going to go.
“Riley?” He heard the disbelief. “What are you doing, I mean, why are you calling me?”
“I just got your message.” Riley said, not sure where to take the conversation from there.
“Oh, yeah, that, look, I’m sorry you had to listen to that mate.” Chase went to go on, but Riley interrupted.
“No, don’t say that, it was a relief to finally year your voice again after these couple of years. I missed you.”
“I missed you, too Ri, I just didn’t know what to say.” There was a brief silence. “God, I’m such a horrible friend.”
“Why do you keep saying that? I didn’t understand why you kept saying it in the message and here you go again.”
“Because I’m a coward!” Chase yelled into the phone, an audible gasp following. The line was silent again, Chase scared to say any more, and Riley processing what he just said.
“You mean about all of the dropped calls?” Riley asked, hoping for an answer.
“They’re apart of it, but, Riley.” Chase took a deep breath. “I was hoping to say this to you in person, gods know I thought about it forever, but never knew how to say it to you. The day I left, I was torn up. I didn’t want to leave my best friend, you became my lifeline while I was away from home, hell some mornings the only reason I got up was because I knew I was going to see you that day. I didn’t realize until the last week that I was, uh, yeah.” Riley held on to ever word, not sure how to take them, waiting for the final explanation. Chase took another big breath. “You can not interrupt me, with what I’m about to say Ri, or I may not be able to get it out, okay?” Riley hummed in agreement. “That day at the airport I was trying to work up the courage to tell you something important, I was just, scared I guess, I didn’t know how you’d respond.” Chase took another breath. “I finally decided I was going to tell you right before I was going to leave, that way if it went badly I could at least get out of the situation, like the freaking coward I am, but right as we hugged, when you kissed me, I didn’t know what to do. I panicked, and instead of telling you, I ran, to scared of my own reactions.” Chase’s voice started to crack. He sat on the line in silence for a bit before whispering into the phone. “I love you, too Ri. I didn’t realize it until it was too late, and I was so scared that you’d reject me, that when you kissed me, I should have kissed back, I should have told you then and stayed, but I didn’t know how you’d handle the truth. A kiss could mean that you liked me, but I loved you, I wasn’t able to handle the truth so I ran. I’m so so sorry, Ri.” Chase cried on the phone. Riley was shocked, Chase loved him? Chase wanted to stay with him originally? Riley didn’t realize he was crying, till he tried to say something, voice not working. He took a breath and wiped at his eyes.
“I love you, too.” He whispered, tears fallings steady at this point.
“Wh-what?” Chase asked, almost in disbelief.
“I love you, too Chase. I had always had a small crush on you, but the year we spent together at school, I fell in love with you. I thought you rejected me that day at the airport.”
“Oh, no, Ri. I would never reject you. I’m sorry Ri.” Chase sobbed. They stayed on the phone for a bit, trying to talk through their tears, to no avail. Soon the line went dead. Riley cried harder, he finally opened up, got the answer he wanted, and Chase was goon again. He lay in his bed, tired, and cried himself to sleep.
* * * * * * * * * * * * Riley tied to text and call Chase the next morning, but his phone was turned off, going straight to voice mail. He mopped around the next three days, moving stuff from his dorm into his new apartment before work started on Monday. He kept thinking about his time with Chase as he moved out of their old room into a room to work where the first met. He started to reconsider this job; McDonalds started sounding better and better, if it meant not thinking about the brown haired boy.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Riley was dressed in his best clothes, the green tie and white collar, all that was visible under his graduation gown. He went around with the other graduates, still down form the phone call. He took his seat, waiting for the ceremony to begin, looking around at all of the parents and friends filling the room. He found his family up on his left side, cheering and hooting with the other parents. He thought he saw Cha…. But decided to cut that thought off immediately.
Before long the ceremony started. He got up when his name was spoken, hearing the cheers form his family, but it was five words and one voice that made him stop dead in his tracks.
“I LOVE YOU RILEY GRIFFEN!” Chase shouted, a poster of a green Raptor with a Black Parasaur, their dinos from the museum, held above his head. Riley stood in disbelief, before being pushed to walk on stage. He watched Chase the entire time, not believing his own eyes, as Chase continued to smile at him. Riley didn’t even hear the cue to throw his cap into the air. He was to concerned on when they were allowed to leave. The second they were released; he clutched his cap to his chest and ran to where Chase now stood on the main level. He planned on hugging him and asking what he was doing here, but his body had other plans. He jumped into Chases arms, arms going around his neck as he kissed him deeply. This time, Chase arms wrapped around him, kissing him back. When they finally pulled back for air, Chase smiled, panting for air.
“I love you Baby Raptor.” He smiled, squeezing him tighter. Riley beamed at the familiar nickname and kissed him again.
“I love you, too Hot Shot.” He smiled.