Rekindling- Pico x Keith/BF

1- Train Tracks

Keith skipped down the sidewalk, humming to himself as a thin mist settled around him, causing the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck to stand up from the sudden cold. He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself. I really should've worn a coat. Still, he was undeniably stubborn- Cherry had done her best to convince him to wear something other than his signature white t-shirt but to no avail. Now, he was starting to regret being such a knucklehead. He sighed, sitting down on the edge of the old, rusted train tracks that ran along this part of the city, tangled with weeds and broken in places. He could still remember hanging out here with his friends when he was younger, when trains had still rumbled down this exact track and they'd dared each other to run across it. Keith smiled to himself at the memory, as dumb of an idea as it had been. Every nook and cranny of this place felt familiar to him, the yellowing grass highlighted with dandelions and the low growl of cars off in other parts of the city. The sky was an overcast grey, and across from him sat an old, squashed looking motel right next to a shady looking diner, the flickering sign casting hazy yellow light onto the grass. The train tracks were copper brown and looked as if they hadn't been touched in a long time, something that made Keith sad. He had so many memories here as a child, and now it seemed no one bothered to come here anymore.

In all honesty, Keith understood why. The whole place was broken down and cheap looking, littered with soda cans and cigarette butts, and it had been since he could remember. There wasn't much here at all, in fact- it was rather empty other than the scattered apartment complexes, with most of it being just the lonely track and empty lots of grass. But maybe that was why he'd liked it so much, as it had so much more space to run and play, even if it was labeled dangerous. Keith knew his mother didn't like him going here when he was under her care. Still, he never listened. This was where every kid went, the perfect spot to hang out where you weren't cooped up in the city or in danger of parents yelling at you. Even though it was shady it had a sense of normalcy that comforted him. And, of course, there was the most important fact- Pico had lived here.

It felt strange, remembering the bright haired boy. In all reality Keith didn't really think of Pico much these days, something he felt guilty about seeing as he'd been such an important part of his childhood. He and Pico had been like two peas in a pod, sitting on the hot asphalt eating bomb-pops together during the summertime, playing tag in Keith's house during rain and snow days, partnering up for school projects and copying each other's homework. Pico had been the most carefree person in the world back then, always smiling and showing off the large gap in his teeth, his shock of clementine orange hair only adding to his personality. As a child Keith had tried to count all of the other boy's freckles multiple times, confused beyond belief as to how one person could have so many. Pico always seemed to be able to find a reason to laugh, pulling Keith along with his crazy pranks and plans. Even so, he'd been a pretty good student, even pushing Keith to be better in his own ways. He'd lived in this exact place, in a shabby apartment block with his mother. It seemed every room except his own was filled with cigarettes and dirty dishes, his mother asleep on the couch as the tv rumbled in the background. In fact, Keith wondered if he'd ever seen Pico's mother really be there for him. Half the time he had had to stay at his uncles house because of his mother's neglect- Keith remembered how much Pico had hated those times. His mother and uncle were always screaming at each other, so the two of them had always either been outside or in Pico's room when they were staying at his uncle's, never anywhere else.  Even though any place other than Pico's apartment was cleaner, he still seemed to prefer the tiny room to anything else.

Because he'd been left alone for the majority of his childhood, Pico had also seemed to get the idea that he needed to fend for himself, and didn't need anyone else to take care of him. He always got snappy when Keith's mother tried to help them with their legos, or have Keith bring an extra lunch to school for him. He seemed to live by the idea that he was bulletproof, that he could do anything. Keith remembered him saying that once he became an adult he was going to do whatever he wanted. That was what led to all the pranks and risky dares- Pico was willing to do anything and everything just to prove that he could. The two of them were completely different in every way, with Pico being brash and bold, and Keith being sweet and shy, although he'd grown out of his introversion as he'd gotten older. They hadn't even had the same group of friends, yet somehow they'd gravitated towards each other and become closer than any of their other buddies. Keith didn't care that Pico's clothes often went unwashed or that he stole food from the school garbage sometimes when he didn't have his own lunch, and Pico didn't mind that Keith had problems with speaking or that he moved almost uncontrollably when music he liked came on. They didn't ask questions about each other and maybe that was why the bond they created was so comfortable. They'd played on these exact train tracks, made awkward dandelion chains and then dared each other to eat them, tried to steal candy from the older kids that were definitely still too young to be smoking. Keith didn't remember young Pico perfectly, as they'd only known each other until the third grade, when Keith had to move away, but he remembered enough to know that the Pico then and the Pico now were two very different people.