Side By Side

12

Warnings:
-None

Clay's POV

~ One Year Later ~

I sat down on the grass with Sapnap next to me. 'Three, two, one... START!' I yelled as I clicked the timer.

We both started running as fast as we could to the end of the park which was exactly one mile. We kept running and I turned around once I was at the end, running back with Sapnap by my side.

I immediately tapped the timer once we came back and fell down on the floor. 'Fifteen minutes and thirty seconds,' I panted, laying down on the floor.

Sapnap smiled brightly and rolled closer to me, resting his head on my chest. 'My goodness, dude. You're almost faster than you were before you got these artificial implants.'

I grinned as I lifted my sweats up to look at my permanent leg implants. After months of wearing prosthetics, training with them to pull them off again and get a sort of socket I constantly needed to pull on and off, I decided it was enough.

If I wanted to join the army, I couldn't struggle with prosthetics I constantly needed to change a socket from, scared they would get damaged. Eventually, I exercised so much that they ripped and my therapist decided that it was better if I got implants, just like Sapnap.

I had surgery where they implanted artificial implants into my legs. They had the exact same purpose as a leg would have, but they were thin and made of metal. It was difficult to explain, but they directly implanted the metal into my bone so the bone would grow around it like a part of it.

I only needed to attach my prosthetics to it instead of pulling on a socket and gained a lot of mobility and strength after recovery. I noticed I walked way easier and I could exercise better than I'd ever done before.

Sapnap had the same surgery for his arm and he easily moved himself now. It was like we never lost our legs and arm since we just acted the complete same way as we did before losing our limbs.

Sapnap breathed out as he lifted himself up to kiss my cheek. During this time, his parents went to jail and my parents officially adopted Sapnap. He cried a lot from happiness and finally started realising he was actually my brother and my parents' son right now. We loved each other more than anything, he had been so close to me and we were always together.

Next to him, George and Karl still lived in America. George didn't feel safe anymore in England and just shut his mouth about being Jewish. We all knew he was, but we didn't talk about it so he wouldn't get in danger.

They visited us at least once a week, but most of the time three times to just chill and hang out together. George had a hard time processing the loss of his parents, but once he realised we would all be here for him when he needed someone, he started talking about it to release his emotions.

Sapnap, George and I had therapy and we all were diagnosed with the same trauma disorder, PTSD. With therapy, we managed to beat the intense fear and continue our lives normally. Even though I beat PTSD, I still wanted to go back to the army, together with Sapnap.

A few months ago, I went back to my old school with Sapnap. It was honestly funny to me to see their faces when I came in with prosthetics and I laughed at them as I yelled that I could in fact do this easily.

I told them I was one of the best recruits and they accepted me even though I was gay. I even got onto the news as the first gay soldier in the army and I told them my story, making sure everyone knew I wouldn't give up even after being bullied, losing my hearing and legs. I was going to come back stronger than ever and I made sure everyone understood that.

They didn't say much back and I walked off again while I laughed with Sapnap because of their shocked faces. They never expected me to be one of the most successful people in their class but I LOVED that I proved them wrong.

'Hey, come back to earth!' Sapnap giggled as he pinched my face with his finger. 'You're daydreaming.'

I laughed shortly as he pulled me really close to him. 'Do you remember when you laid on my chest at night because you were scared?' he asked with a soft smile on his face.

'I do,' I replied, resting my head on his chest. 'I loved and hated those nights. I loved them because I could lay with someone and I hated them because I was so scared.'

Sapnap nodded slowly and kissed my hair multiple times in a row. 'We will be getting around short hair back soon.'

I looked up at him and nodded. 'I think we looked epic,' I wheezed. I lifted myself up, but Sapnap started whining and held me back to cuddle.

I grinned and laid back down with him, looking at the sky. 'Do you want to watch the clouds with me? I used to do that when I was younger, then I looked at the clouds to see if I could find any funny shapes.'

Sapnap smiled at me and looked up to the sky too. 'Look, that looks like a tree.'

I nodded and pointed to the other side. 'I can see a candle in that one.'

He nodded too and we kept pointing out some clouds as we realised it was getting colder outside. 'Do you think about it?'

'About what?' Sapnap asked.

'The nights we spent in a crater together in the extreme cold with snow and explosions all our us?'

Sapnap nodded softly as he looked in front of him. 'That was such a terrific fight. I don't understand how we managed to live through that one and ended up injured during a complete unplanned battle.'

I smiled and lifted myself up. 'Now we still can, let's go inside with some blankets. I know what you want, you want hot chocolate milk.'

'Of course I do,' he grinned as I stood up. He stood up as well and joked with me by jumping onto my back.

I lifted him up my back and started walking home as he jumped down again. 'I love you, dude. Probably more than anyone.'

'I love you too,' I answered, pressing a kiss on his cheek before giving him a tight hug. Sapnap was truly my brother and no one could ever convince me otherwise.

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