It was a cold and bleak day, grey sky and snow on the ground - almost the same as it had been a year ago when it happened. I tried to tame back my hair so it wasn't quite as messy and in my eyes but it just fell back into place whenever I brushed it from my eyes.
I stared out the window, watching the children on my street running up and down, throwing snowballs, pulling sledges, building snowman's... Just enjoying the fact that the schools were closed for the week due to the weather. Every single face that I looked at had a massive smile plastered on it, their laughter filling up the air as they played with their friends - they all looked as though they didn't have a care in the world. How I envied that about them.
I turned myself away and rubbed at my eyes briefly before I pulled out a random pair of jeans, boxers, a white shirt and black waistcoat and quickly pulled them all on. I grabbed my socks and boots, pulling them on too before standing up and biting at my lip. I stared down at myself, straightening out my waistcoat but nothing about it changed too much as it just stayed hanging very loosely on my frame.
I turned round and sighed as I looked over myself in the mirror, noticing how much I'd let myself go in the last year: I felt as though my hair had gotten greyer and seemed a little more lifeless, how the bags that wear under my eyes seemed to have gotten darker with every day that passed and my clothes were hanging off of me from the weight that had just dropped off of me - it wasn't just the waistcoat. I grabbed a belt and put it through my belt loops, putting it on the last hole, but even then my jeans still felt a little loose on my hips, but at least they wouldn't fall down. I knew that if he could see me now he'd be yelling at me and screaming how much of an idiot I was, that I should be looking after myself and focusing on the future, but I genuinely just couldn't... Not alone.
It sounded so silly, and such a cliché thing to say... But it was the truth. Everything had been planned out to the very last detail when we were teenagers, and that worked for both of us.
Well, it was going to work for us.
We had both been walking down the street after going Christmas shopping... It was meant to be a happy time to prepare for, but it had all gone down hill so fast. I whimpered to myself, biting my lip to stop my tears from breaking through. I grabbed my jacket and pulled it on, wrapping a scarf round my neck and a little bobble hat on my head in an attempt to fight off the weather, they had said that it was going to snow some time this week, so I wasn't taking any chances with getting caught out in the cold. I took one final glance in the mirror at myself before sighing and walking out.
"Come on Drew, you need to give me some idea on what you want for your Christmas," Barrone whined, tugging on his arm.
"I gave you an answer already, and you called me a cheesy fuck and told me to give you a real answer - but my answer is still the same!" Drew giggled in response.
"Saying my name does not count as a present," he whined.
"Just put a bow on your head, that's good enough for me," Drew winked before bursting into laughter at how red Barrone's cheeks went at the comment. He received a playful punch on the shoulder before he kept walking, Drew following behind giggling.
"Well if you won't help me with yours, can you at least help me with everyone else's?"
"Now that I can do," he grinned and took back up Barrone's hand as they continued their walk down the street before stopping outside a random shop and looking through the contents that was there.
"What about that for Kier?" he asked, pointing to a skull belt buckle.
"Nah, he already has his diamond looking one, he wouldn't trade that in for the world... What if I just got him a person gin bottle and a fancy glass to have it in, do you think he would like that?"
