the world beyond - oneshots

rhea and asti

asti stared at her friend, almost astonished as they faded, her best friend, that she had neglected and mistreated her entire life, and they still stayed.

because they had no one to love them properly.

asti opened his mouth to say something, anything, some final words? no. pleads. she wouldn't let it end, not like this, not yet. not here in this god forsaken world.

'wait- wait, ree,'
she took their hands desperately into her own, shaking them slightly and squeezing a bit.
'please. you have to wait, i need to apologize to you.'

'..asti, you know i'll forgive you anyways, so whats the point?'
rhea chuckles a bit, tilting their head at the other.
'i don't want to have the chance to forgive you again. i'll just be disappointed again.'

'no, no, no! rhea, please- wait,'
asti almost yelped, in a sort of unexplainable urgency and panic.
their heart, that wasn't there, raced, and they felt alive again.

'i'm waiting, xixi.'
rhea said rather simply.
the nickname physically hurt asti and she almost recoiled in a way, rhea hadn't called asti that since she died.

'i- .. i'm sorry, i'm so sorry, please just let me make it up to you, please, please rhea. i'll be a good friend this time, i'll make you feel loved for once.'
he begged, shaking and stumbling over his words frantically.

'its too late for that.. well, its not like i hate you, but you already knew that. i never could, even though i want to, i'm still here waiting for you, still here letting you hold my hands.'
they sighed.
'i never change, huh.'
they looked down at their hands.

'..rhea..'
asti whispered selfishly.

'its sorta cute, you know.. you know how selfish you are, but you're still trying because thats what you think is right.'
they pulled one hand away from asti to which she chased, only to have her hair ruffled by the other.
'i used to dream about a day like this in middle school, in my dreams i said it was okay, forgave you and kissed your forehead, and then we lived happily together.'
they muttered.
'now that its actually happening, i can't say i don't want that.. but.. i don't want to force you into a relationship, platonic or romantic, that you don't want.'

'i do want it!- i want to be your friend, your best friend, rhea! forever!'
they shouted, their face going red, embarrassed but too emotional to care about that.
they could sort through both of their feelings later, with rhea.

'you don't.'

'i do! i promise i do, rhea!'

rhea chuckled quietly.
'even now, you can't let me be happy..'
they whispered under their breath.
'don't feel too bad about it. i get it, asti.'

his chest hurt, he felt like he was being shattered into a million pieces.
'i failed, fuck, i failed you so bad!'

'yeah, you did. don't worry, i still love you though. you could kill me and i'd still love you.'
rhea's eyes welled up with tears.
'i had to make peace with the fact that you'd never even like me, nevermind love me back. i knew that but i still chased after you. you always felt so alone, but it was because you were too busy looking blankly into the distance, far away in your own little world. you never took the time to.. to appreciate-'
rhea choked up a bit, clutching their chest.
'what was in front of you. me. i was right there, asti.'

asti felt what could only be described as pure horror.
they felt horrified.
and they didn't know why, they knew they were an awful friend to rhea all throughout, but they just didn't care about them enough to think that, maybe, just maybe, rhea was a human being with emotions and what they would say and do to them actually affected them.