Stuck With You (Boy x Boy)

Chapter 3

Previously: "You look beautiful when you laugh."

Now:

【Zack】
We both fell silent for a moment. Henry then stuttered,

"I-I don't know why I said that."

Just by looking at his face, I could tell he was having an internal crisis. But there was a literal storm raging inside me. My heart was beating so fast for no reason. I didn't respond until Henry waved his hand in front of my eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I lied.

Henry looked at me sceptically before he gave up and said,

"If you say so."

We were silent for a long while. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, and I sighed,

"Let's just go and sleep now." Henry nodded, agreeing with my idea. We both went to the couch and laid down just as we did when we took a nap this evening. I checked the time. It was 12:30 a.m. Henry got comfortable on top of me and was out cold in a few minutes. I, on the other hand, couldn't sleep at all. My mind was racing with thoughts.

I'm friends with Henry now. What should I do next? The answer to that came to me pretty quickly. I should utilise the time I'm spending alone with him to develop our friendship even more. Wait, why am I even thinking about this? Usually, I just go with the flow and let things unfold as it is, so why am I planning this out?

Because of all this internal chaos, my mind got tired. My eyes were already drooping. I yawned and let them fall shut. Then, I had the most wonderful and horrifying dream ever...

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As soon as I fell asleep, I was in a familiar garden. It had the scent of flowers and cookies and pies. It felt homely. I walked across the park and realised that this was the garden near our house where Henry and I used to play every day.

I was wandering around in the garden without aim when I saw two tiny figures. They were chasing each other. I strode to them quickly, and I saw that there were none other than Henry and me.

We looked around six years old when we hadn't started drifting apart yet. We were so happy and content just by being in each other's presence. It felt nostalgic. Someone called our names, and all of us turned around. It was my mom. She was calling us for an evening snack.

Little me and Henry raced inside. I followed them. I watched as our younger selves drank the milk and stuffed all the cookies into our mouths. Then we ran out again. This time little me was holding Henry's hand and was leading him to another familiar place. It was our secret hideout.

We had a stash of snacks in our hideout, along with our small bicycles and helmets. Our younger selves took out the bikes and started riding them uphill. We lived in the suburbs before both families moved into the city. I saw our younger selves slowly ride up the hill and reach the top.

We sat down on the grass beside the gigantic tree. Since it was a hill, I could see the sunset. I watched along with mine and Henry's younger self. The warm shades of red and orange gave way to the cooler ones, like blue and purple. Suddenly, I heard younger Henry speak,

"Zack, promise me that we will be friends forever?"

It was reminiscent of the promise I made to Henry today. I saw my younger self entwine his pinky with Henry's and say,

"I promise."

A gentle breeze blew, and the grass swayed soothingly.

But then the scene changed. I was at my school now, the one I used to go to when I was still in the suburbs. I saw Henry's younger self kneeling on the ground and sobbing. I saw my younger self hurl insults at him and proclaim that he wasn't my friend anymore.