𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥 /// 𝙿𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚋𝚎 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚡 𝙵𝚎𝚖! 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚢 𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎

"'𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎.'"

°°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ☪ ·._.·°¯°·.·°·.·°°°

It was hard for Phoebe to fall asleep that night. Sure, the world was saved and she was back on the team, but so many thoughts were swimming around her mind that she drowned in. For one, the fate of Melody made her think about the afterlife; it was eternal, agonizing, lonely.

Come to think of it, she didn't really know anything about Melody. They were strangers, and that was simply reality. Maybe she was in the fabric of the universe now, reduced to mindless particles floating around other mindless particles that maybe could've once been her family.

The end. Tragic, but beautiful. Sunsets are one of nature's great wonders, but they mark the end of a day that will never return. It will only be a day once. Christmas in, say, 1985 only happened once. The New Year's Eve from 1999 into 2000 only happened once. It can be applied to people, too. Individual people only happen once, no two are the same, like how no two snowflakes are the same. People end, but only if you really let them. Sure, they can be gone physically, but did Phoebe forget her grandfather when he moved on to the next stage of eternity? No. That wasn't going to change for Melody.

Summer of 2024 will only happen once. Her family will only happen once. Her friends, too.

Phoebe's soul escaped her body for a moment when her phone suddenly buzzed on the nightstand, notifying her of a new text message. She groaned and reached for her glasses, pushing them up her nose as she opened the text.

𝗡/𝗻 💞

𝗛𝗲𝘆 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗯𝘀
𝗨 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗸?

She smiled, shifting to her side and typing a reply.

𝗡/𝗻 💞

𝗛𝗲𝘆 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗯𝘀
𝗨 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗸?

𝗜'𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂?

The three dots popped up immediately. They flickered for a few moments before another message bubbled up.

𝗡/𝗻 💞

𝗛𝗲𝘆 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗯𝘀
𝗨 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗸?

𝗜'𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂?

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗲
𝗨 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼
𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻?

Phoebe furrowed her eyebrows in curiosity and sat up, glancing out her window at the car filled streets illuminating the night. Y/n was right next door, often coming over to the firehouse in the middle of the night anyway, so why downtown?

𝗡/𝗻 💞

𝗛𝗲𝘆 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗯𝘀
𝗨 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗸?

𝗜'𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂?

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗲
𝗨 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼
𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻?