Renga Fluff But I Hit You In The Head With The Skateboard Of Angst

25: in real life

(SLOW UPDATES BUT WE'RE STILL HERE!!

RECAP: Reki's hella depressed but his care is transferred to Cherry and Joe so Langa can go back to school and his mom can go back to work.)

The next time Reki felt like he was living real life was waking up in the guest bedroom of Cherry and Joe's apartment, feeling like he was about to vomit.

He didn't know what time it was, he didn't know what day it was, he didn't know anything except that, according to his dream, every person who had ever loved him was dead.

He ran to the bathroom and heaved into the toilet sloppily, letting out a sob as a wave of mourning washed over him.

Cherry, Joe, Langa, Mrs. Hasegawa, his sister's, his foster family, oka, every single person was gone. Killed. Murdered. All because they knew him.

It's like he hadn't woken up yet as he sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, almost shouting in his mourning for the people he thought he had lost. He believed every bit of his dream was reality. He believe that he was alone. Alone, scared, and lost.

His fear was real and his grief was true and then the bathroom door opened and Joe was standing there.

Reki's tears didn't stop, but his sobs did as he looked up in shock. It's like the world melted around him and if was just him and Joe and he understood that what he'd previously believed was a result of him not being fully awake.

"Kid? Hey, did you have another nightmare?" Joe asked, but Reki couldn't speak.

Instead he let out another sob, got up, and attacked Joe in a hug and sobbed harder than he had in weeks.

Similarly, this was the most emotion Joe had seen Reki display since he he had moved in. He wasn't sure whether it was a good thing he was letting his emotions out, or a sign that he was getting worse and the only way to know was to wait it out.

So he did, and he rubbed Reki's back and held him close and soon they had sunk to the floor and Joe was hugging Reki on his knees. He became a strong point. A rock to hold on to in Reki's absolute hurricane of emotions.

"In my dream you died. Everyone- everyone had died like my family did." Reki mumbled softly into Joe's ear, hiccuping afterwards, "and I didnt- I woke up and I didn't realize it wasn't real."

Joe was silent for a second, shivers tracking up and down his spine at the thought of himself dead, of himself dead someone believing it.

"I promise. I promise I'm right here, and Cherry is asleep in the other room, mkay? We're here for you. Me Cherry, and Langa and his mom too. And your history teacher, Oka, right?" Joe said to him, rubbing his back.

Reki let out a little laugh as Joe tried to list off all the people who were there for him, "yeah. Oka."

Joe was shocked by the laugh. He hadn't even seen Reki smile in coming up on a month.

"So many people love you, Reki. You know that?" Joe asked, now carefully detangling the boy's hair with his gruff hands, worn from skateboarding and sauteing.

"I know. But sometimes I can't feel it. Mostly I don't feel anything but sad." Reki admitted, feeling a bit of coolness as he realized how many tears he had let soak into Joe's shirt.

"Do you feel it now?" Joe said, squeezing Reki in a tighter hug, "do you feel it? Can you feel all the love I've got for you?" He asked, swinging side to side playfully as he captured Reki in what could only be described as a bear hug. It was even tighter than what Georgia could manage. The feeling brought on a sense of nostalgia that, instead of being a reminder, was comforting.