They sat with me, quiet and unmoving. I hadn't heard from them for what seems like an eternity, but the time apart also feels like it was nothing. Their silence isn't awkward, as it could've been. They shook, but it wasn't from the cold.
"It's been six years," they said then, their ice blue eyes watching the trees wave to the incoming storm. "Six years, Darrin.... Since we all left them." They said the last word with such disgust, and I felt the same way; they were talking about people we all thought were our friends, our companions, our comrades. People we never thought we would lose.
"I know. Sometimes, it doesn't feel like it's been that long."
"And it still hurts." Their eyes turned to me. "It feels like there's a whole in my chest. They took my heart from me."
I knew how they felt; I'd heard them cry, scream themselves awake from a bad nightmare caused by the loss. I'd seen them sit by themselves, staring at nothing because of how numb their mind has become from having to cope. I've seen all of the shit they had to go through, how depressed it made them. I knew it all. I was right by their side when we both went through it all.
I slip my arm around their shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere. You know that right? That's why you visited today; you missed us, you relapsed into some bad nostalgia that those traitors caused."
"It just hurts. A lot. I don't know if I'll ever get over this. Will I ever be normal?"
"Normal is overrated, Lullaby," I answer. "But, if you're asking about if the pain will ever go away, I'm not a witch doctor. But, no matter how bad some days get, or how good others feel, I'll always be here if you ever wanna talk through it. Anything at all."
They smiled, and leaned against my shoulder. "Thank you. For being here for me."
"Hey, loyalty is my only vice."
They chuckled. "By choice."
I smiled back. I hope they'll be sticking around a little longer this time, before going out into the world, all too confident about facing a crushing society where they aren't loved as much as we love them, for who they are. They need us more than they'll ever admit, but that's what makes their visits memorable.
YOU ARE READING
365 pt 2
Non-FictionHere's a continuation of 365, the story where I do my best to write SOMETHING every day. Wattpad has a chapter limit of 200, and that was reached on July 19th. So, the rest of the year will be written in this, I guess. The first 200 days of the year...
