Work Text:
"please come here."
Qiu sent a message to Roxanne just a second ago, now she's outside their porch, knocking on their front door. She gulps nervously, not knowing what to expect from here.
Frantically, she opens her phone and types out a reply to her previous message. "i'm going there" her previous message read, quickly follows up with: "i'm at your porch." Suddenly, the door is opened, but Roxy didn't expect that the person who would be answering the door isn't Qiu, but their mom.
"Welcome, Roxanne. Qiu's been expecting you." Mrs. Lin says as she opens the door for Roxy, and she nods, silently thanking her. She quickly runs upstairs to see Mr. Lin, knocking on Qiu's room.
"Qiu, your friend is here, she'll come in any moment now." He says, offering Roxy a small smile. Mr. Lin leaves quickly, not wanting to disturb his child.
She smiles back at Qiu's father, wordlessly thanking him as she carefully enters Qiu's messy room. Closing the door behind her gently, Roxy is met by the sight of Qiu's face buried into their pillows. Not that surprising, but there must be more to it. After all, they wouldn't message her so ominously this late at night. Delicately, she walks up to them and kneels on the wooden floor, reaching out to stroke the back of their head.
Startled, Qiu flinches at the contact and Roxanne instinctively pulls back her hand. Qiu catches her wrist, placing it on the back of their head again so that she can continue.
"Hey..." Roxy speaks, her shaky voice barely above a whisper. She can feel Qiu breathing in and out on the pillow, and she frowns, feeling concerned about them. Qiu's not the type to cry in front of someone, let alone call someone over while they're crying. They don't reply, but reluctantly face their side, wanting to feel her hand again.
She gasps at the sight of Qiu, the only sound now being a song from their phone. They didn't even bother to plug their earphones in. Roxanne gets up from the floor and sits on the bed, next to Qiu's body laying on the mattress.
Clearing her throat, Roxanne tries to find the reason why Qiu called her over.
"What happened?" She says weakly as Qiu rises and sits beside her. They turn to her, wiping away a tear.
"Everything's so confusing... I wish the ground would swallow me alive right now..." Qiu mutters, pulling their knees to their chest. They place their arms on their knees, hiding almost all of their face except their eyes, sore from weeping.
"I'm sorry I called you over this late. I just don't think I can keep this to myself any longer. You're..." They reply, but don't finish it.
Roxy brushes their hair behind their ear, trying to get a better look at Qiu's face. They shudder, but don't fight it. You could maybe see the top half of their cheeks reddening slightly.
She smiles bittersweetly, leaning towards her side to observe her friend. "Qiu, I'm here for you. You don't need to do this all alone." Another stray tear falls from their eye, and Qiu stops trying to hide their face anymore, there's no point in doing so.
"I have a lot on my mind. I just can't understand how even if I still have so much people around me..." Qiu states in a shaky voice, before pausing for a moment. They quickly clear their throat so that they can properly speak.
"Even if I have so much people around me... I just feel alone, like I'm the only one who hasn't gotten it figured out yet." Qiu anxiously massages their head and rubs their eyelids again. They look to the side and are met with the sight of Roxy.
"I'm here, Qiu." She smiles, offering her arms. Qiu clocks her offer without hesitation, laying on her shoulder. They don't hug back, they let Roxanne wrap their arms around them. Softly, they reach out and hold her arm with both hands, the one wrapped around their chest as they continue to cry.
"Listen to me, you're not alone. Even if it's just somebody like me, one person is better than none. Right?" She insists, still hugging the Qiu who's silently crying. They nod weakly at her words, urging her to continue.
"And no matter who you are, who you will be, and who you're not. I'll..." She sighs, before continuing her train of thoughts.
"I'll keep on loving you."
Qiu's breath hitches at the words, clinging to her arm even more tightly as they close their eyes. More tears flow out, but they are able to smile now. "I'm glad you're my neighbor, Roxy." They whisper, sobbing happily as a small hint of pink appears on their cheeks. Qiu's phone is still playing a certain song, but asides from that, a comfortable silence is still present between the two.
It's a damn cold night, trying to figure out this life.
Won't you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new?
Don't know who you are, but I-
"I'm with you."
Roxy replies weakly, a tinge of pink on her cheeks as well as she can't help but smile at them.