"I thought I'd never see you again."
- T.K.
Digimon Adventure 1
Alex double checked the address written down on his phone. He looked back up at the number on the door, then back at his phone. Sitting on his head like usual, Patamon sighed and deflated in exhaustion. "It's the right door, " she reassured the boy only to receive a disgruntled noise in return. He glanced both ways, taking in the sight of the unfamiliar corridor once more. His gaze lingered briefly on the elevator - but Patamon was quick to notice and gave him a disciplinary knock on the head. "Don't you dare! I swear, you better ring that doorbell before I-- Hey!" The little Digimon squeaked in surprise as Alex took her from his head and turned around with his back to the door. He held her up with both hands in front of his face and whispered, "Patamon, I can't, I can't, I think we should go home."
"What?!"
"Shhh--" Alex tried to hush her.
"We already talked about this, Alex! For heaven's sake, you can't go back now!"
"Y-yes, but--"
"No, I won't allow it!" Patamon yapped and flapped her wings in an attempt to free herself from his grasp. But Alex clung onto her, nervously shaking his head. "Come on, let's at least think about it before we--"
"Think about it? We've thought plenty!"
"Look, I'm not ready! What if they don't like me?? I-I can't just go barging in here all like 'hey guys! It's me! That loser weirdo you've never seen befo--"
"Hello? Can I help you?"
Alex and Patamon froze up, their bickering coming to an immediate halt. There was a brief pause. Alex awkwardly turned around. The door was now open, and standing there in front of him was another boy. Blonde, blue-eyed and on the shorted side. Eddie, Alex immediately thought upon seeing him. That's Eddie! He's right in front of me! He looked just like he did on the computer screen, which Alex found a bit odd for some reason. There was something almost surreal about seeing his friend like this - he looked so real. The two stared at each other for a few seconds. Alex swallowed, suddenly beginning to wonder if the recognition wasn't mutual. He watched Eddie direct his gaze towards Patamon, who was still in his hands. I should say something, he thought.
"Alex," Eddie's voice was soft as he looked back up at him. A warm smile appeared on his face. Instinctively, Alex smiled back but feared that his voice would crack if he had a go at words. He cleared his throat, loosening his grip on Patamon to allow her to crawl up onto his shoulder. "Hi," he squeezed the sound out his throat. "I'm late-- I'm... sorry.... about that. Being late. Haha." Did I just say 'Haha' out loud, he groaned at himself. Alex reached up to scratch his neck, not at all prepared for the other boy to go in for a hug. He tensed up and laughed stupidly at the embrace. Something told him that Patamon was rolling her eyes at him right now.
The apartment was small, yet bigger than Alex had expected. There was a very homely feeling in the way which the place appeared tidy, yet ultimately human - not dirty, just harmonically cluttered. Alex was invited into the living room where the two other apartment tenants, Jacob and Nathan, were seated. Nathan sprung to his feet to greet him immediately, loud and charismatic. "Alex! Man, I'm so happy you decided to come!" he exclaimed, giving him a firm hug with a dunk on the back that made Alex's lanky frame ache briefly. When Nathan pulled away, the bruises on his face became noticeable - still, they were light enough for Alex never to have noticed them over webcam. "I started getting freaked! Thought you weren't gonna show," Nathan laughed. He reached up to scratch his scalp that hid somewhere beneath that outrageous amount of red hair. It was usually in a ponytail, Alex noted, but today it hung freely onto his shoulders. "Oh, take it easy on him, he's had a long trip," Eddie cautioned Nathan kindly. Alex continued to smile in that stupid way, happy but undeniably overwhelmed. "I'm okay," he cooed.
