Chapter Text
It happened on the last day of the school year.
After Wemmbu said goodbye to all his classmates for the summer. Even though knowing he would probably meet with them later that day.
He walked home with Flame, like they always did. Laughing and joking around, talking about plans for the summer. The only thing they agreed to do was do everything together. But, that was already the unspoken plan. They did everything together, every summer. Every day.
When they got to their houses, side by side, they quickly waved goodbye to eachother as they stepped foot into their homes.
Wemmbu's parents were at the entrance of the house. Looks that screamed worry and seriousness. A pit formed in Wemmbu's gut.
Wemmbu felt sick. He barely heard the conversation. Things blurred together at the words "moving" and "across the country". It was for his dad's job or something. It didn't help. Words mixed together confusingly and his vision blurred.
He didn't understand why this was happening to him.
The next thing he remembered was puking in the bathroom toilet.
He didn't tell Flame that night. He didn't text him or talk to him for the rest of the evening like he usually did.
He didn't eat dinner. He curled up in bed, stuffing his face into the pillow until his cries stopped.
They never did.
They next morning he played it off like normal. Glanced once at the date once— a week from now— circled on the calendar. He didn't look at it again.
He would have a week of a normal summer doing normal summer things. And he wouldn't mention last night.
So, Wemmbu acted normal the week after school ended.
The date circled on the calendar was crossed off.
The sunset was all too bright in Wemmbu's eyes, but he forced himself to stare. The sight next to him would bring him to more tears. Getting blinded by the sun was all much preferred.
"Hey Flame?"
His voice sounded so foreign. Distant in itself, like it was thousands of miles away. In another town, where he knew nobody, and he would be alone.
He heard the sound of shifting on the curb, feeling the slight brush of arms. The feeling of his best friends hoodie against his skin was all too familiar, the smell even moreso. He took a deeper breath just to memorize the scent.
"Yes bro? You good— you look like you're preparing to like.." his best friends voice slowly faded into deep mumbled words, losing all color like he realized something.
Wemmbu hoped he did— to save Wemmbu from the explanation and the words himself.
His lips pressed tight, and eyes watered slightly from the glaring sun.
".. nevermind, just continue," his friend mumbled softly, as Wemmbu turned his head farther to the side.
He was always so open to his best friend. They had been together since forever. Just them in their small little town. Sure there were other kids, but no one could connect with them the way they did with eachother.
So why was Wemmbu hiding himself now?
He cried in front of Flame plenty of times. When he failed the math test, he offered to help him study. Wemmbu only ever understood math with Flame. Countless times as kids, throwing tantrums or crying in the playground after scraping a knee. The first, and only time Wemmbu confessed to someone— a girl, he got rejected. He cried softly, sat in his room until Flame found him. He swore even Flame started crying himself that time.
He couldn't bare to look Flame in the eye with these tears however.
"I—I-" he stuttered out stupidly, taking a moment to breathe and calm his voice and stop it from cracking midword. It was stupid, because by now, Flame could probably tell he was on the verge of crying like a baby.
"I-Im moving.."
Flame watched as the car rolled away.
Off to an airport, and soon they would be thousands of miles away.
Ever since those words were uttered, the world stopped making sense for Flame.
It was like he was viewing himself in third person. He was in his eyes, watching everything. But his mind was all too blurry for him to make any decisions himself.
He brought his hands to his eyes, clearing the blurriness that sat there with a few rubs.
He didn't want to go back inside, despite the summer sun being far off the horizon.
The summer just started.
And it felt like everything to do was a two person activity.
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