Work Text:
It had been a month since summer ended.
One whole month since Nil had to say goodbye to Dimitri.
One whole month of hell on earth.
It wasn't like they hadn't kept in contact, of course they did- but college had kept Dimitri away from the phone for far too long, if you asked Nil.
It was hard to cope without him. The people of Pine Point had never felt so hostile, and he was struggling to keep the band together, especially because he didn't really know how to play guitar yet. He still had his job at Marco's, but he was pretty sure that was only because he was desperate to keep people after Dimitri had left. He felt like it was only a matter of time before he got fired.
The drone of bugs, the croaking of frogs and the cool air of the woods weren't doing a whole lot to calm Nil's mind- not right now, at least.
...
Was it normal to miss someone this much? To feel a horrible aching in your chest every second they were away?
...
Of course it was. Dimitri was his best friend, he was just reading too much into it.
How could he not miss Dimitri? Everyone did.
Everyone felt how empty the town was without him. Everyone desperately wanted him to show back up in that dinky red truck again as if he had never left, as if he would never leave again.
He closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh. Yeah.
...
Just as sleep finally started washing over him, his phone started buzzing. He had half the mind to ignore it, let it ring and go back to sleep, but it seemed to keep ringing for way too long. Without checking who it was, Nil answered the phone with a groan.
"Hello?"
"I miss you."
Nil froze. The voice on the other end's words were slurred and mumbled, but Nil could still recognize it from anywhere. "Dimitri?" Nil answered, his eyes shooting open.
"I should have stayed in Pine Point-" Dimitri muttered. "Uni sucks. There's no fishing, no band practice, no you..." Nil couldn't think straight, couldn't think of how to respond, but he didn't get the chance to before Dimitri started speaking again.
"Do you know how much I wish you had at least come with me?" He asked. "A lot. I could have let you sleep under my bed or something..." Dimitri let out a dry chuckle at the poor attempt of a joke. "At least you'd be here." Nil could hear it more clearly now, the buzz of people talking and music playing in the background.
"Dimitri, where are you?" Nil asked.
"Some... Party. I don't know." Dimitri said. "Some uni friends asked me to come. It sucks. I keep thinking you should be here standing in a corner like you always do."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nil asked. He didn't get a response, but he could hear Dimitri talking to someone on the other end.
"Sorry, sorry, um- my ride's making me leave." Dimitri said softly. "I'll call you back. I love you. Bye." And just like that, the call was over.
Nil stared at his phone for way too long, death gripping it as he kept eye contact with himself, tears forming in his eyes.
God damn it, Dimitri.