The Treehouse [BxB]

thirty one

The next couple of weeks blurred past River as a mess of work, therapy, and skating with Fiona. He was slowly improving - he couldn't do any tricks yet, but he could now use his board to get around, though he still wasn't entirely confident on it.

He had read and reread Mickey's letters a thousand times, and spent countless hours debating whether or not to bring it up with him. He decided to push it to the back of his mind, at least until he saw him. But that wasn't easy when all he could think about was the pain in Mickey's words. River knew he had upset him by leaving, but this was digging far deeper, and with each messy word scribbled down in Mickey's handwriting, River could practically see the way his heart shattered. And that was River's fault.

It was all River's fault.

Even as he sat on the train, watching the snowy countryside zoom past the tracks, he couldn't quite get the images out of his mind. Imagining Mickey's reaction when he learnt that River had disappeared. Wondering what had gone through his mind; every icy cold fear, flashing behind his eyes, picturing his best friend dead. River had put him through hell, and he wondered why Mickey had forgiven him. He didn't deserve forgiveness.

As the train climbed up North, the snow around him grew thicker as the white powder sprinkled the Earth, dusting everything in layers of icy peace. He didn't like the snow - it was too cold, too wet, too miserable. He had missed it last year - he was far away, working in Barcelona. But now he was back, there was no escaping the grasp of a British winter.

When he reached the train station, Mickey was waiting for him, wrapped up in a thick coat and a fluffy scarf. River ran into his arms, and they hugged, and kissed, and felt the cold world around them grow warm with their joy. It felt so good to be together again, in each other's arms, listening to each other's voices - not through a phone, but in person, when you could feel their chest vibrating as they spoke. It was amazing.

"Fuck, it's freezing." River shivered, pulling away from the hug, staring up into Mickey's honey eyes as they walked out of the train station.

"Welcome to the North of England." Mickey grinned, throwing an arm around River's shoulders, "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too."

Mickey looked down at him, at his rosy cheeks and blue eyes, "I missed you."

River stopped walking, and leant up to press his cold lips against Mickey's. It didn't matter that they were in a busy train station; because the world around them stopped moving when they kissed. He pulled away slightly, and mumbled, "I missed you, too."

They hopped on a tram which took them to the university's campus, and Mickey introduced River to his flatmates. Hearing the word 'boyfriend' come out of Mickey's mouth made River's heart clench. But it felt good, and he wondered if he would ever get over that feeling. Probably not - he hoped not.

Fran was there, too. She hugged River when she saw him, and he almost didn't recognise her. She looked so different than she had that day at the beach, with tanned skin and pink hair. She looked older, more mature, but her smile was still the same.

When they got to Mickey's dorm room, Mickey locked the door behind them, and River rose his brows, "Why you locking it?" He teased.

Mickey rolled his eyes, "My flatmates have no boundaries." He told him.

River glanced around the room, and his eyes found his old glasses sitting on Mickey's desk. He picked them up, his fingertip tracing the frames, "Shit." He whispered under his breath, "It's weird seeing these again."

Mickey scratched his arm nervously, "Yeah..." He sighed, "I'm sorry, I should've told you I had them."

River already knew he had them. He wrote it in his letters. "It's okay." River placed them back down again, and picked up the small miniature skateboard he had given Mickey the day he left. He couldn't believe he still had it. "I'm getting better at skating, you know?"