Our perfect rainstorms

The 3rd of March, 2016

It seemed far too sudden after Emilia's accident for this to happen. "No no no no no", I kept thinking to myself. I didn't go to school, I sat shaking in Emilia's bed with my phone in my hand. Emilia was there, too, doing her best to comfort me. She held me as I shook and cried.

I had gotten a text from Charlie's mum. Charlie was in hospital, too. After his dad had been going on and on and on about how anyone in the LGBT+ was worthless trash and should kill themselves, well, Charlie had decided to try and do just that. He took an overdose of ibuprofen, and his dad, suddenly actually giving a shit, called 911 when he found his son lying on the ground with an open bottle of pills next to him. Charlie's dad had work that was so unavoidable he couldn't spare a few more moments for his son before he called his mum to watch over him. Apparently, his ex-wife's work doesn't matter as much.

But I was too devastated to think of what an asshole Charlie's dad was at the time. I just sat in her bed and Emilia held me, doing her best to keep me from melting into a pool of tears. She had given me blankets and some hot chocolate to make me feel better.

"I hope he's alright", Emilia said. "I mean, of course he's not, but I hope he's going to be alright".

"I hope so too", I sniffled.

"How are you feeling?" She asked me.

"Scared", I replied.

"Do you want anything else?" She asked again.

"No, I'm fine", I answered.

"Okay", Emilia said.

"Sorry that I'm keeping you from doing stuff you actually wanna do", I said.

"It's alright. You need someone to be here for you, and that's what friends are for. And I am your friend, even if I don't remember it that well", Emilia replied. I smiled for a second.

"You're a good friend", I said. Emilia smiled and thanked me.

"Can I get a kiss?" I asked a few moments later. Emilia looked surprised. "Uh, on my forehead, I mean".

Emilia grinned and kissed my forehead. "Anywhere else you want me to kiss you?" She asked.

"No thanks, I'm alright", I replied.

Then Emilia just held me, and time passed like that. About an hour, an hour and a half, and then I felt better again. Still scared, but much better than I did earlier.

"Do you want to play a game of something?" I asked. Emilia had fallen half-asleep on me, and jerked up and blinked when she heard me talk.

"Do what?" She asked.

"Like, Mario Kart, or Uno, or something", I said.

"You sure you want to?" Emilia asked. I nodded.

"Okay", Emilia said and smiled, and we got off her bed and went to the living room, plopped down onto the sofa and turned Mario Kart on.

I did a lot worse than I usually did at Mario Kart. We played many cups, and Emilia won most of them. I was still too distracted, but Emilia sitting close to me made me feel a lot more at ease. It was like that on the bus trip back to my home, and the little kiss on my cheek she gave me at my door, but then I started worrying again. I wanted to text Emilia to ask if I could have a sleepover, but I started overthinking about that, too, so I decided not to, in case something bad might have come out of that.

Emilia texted me.

Emilia: *sends u lots of hugs and cuddles and blankets* I'm so sorry about what happened to your friend. I just hope he gets better soon.

Me: Me too. I don't wanna lose him.