You're In Awfully Early {Septiplier}

Just Too Many Memories

Felix gently sits the lid to the shoebox down beside his crossed legs. The orange box is filled to the brim, nearly overflowing with photographs from tourist attractions: aquariums, amusement parks, and zoos the most common.

The ones on the top are the most recent, though they themselves are almost five years old. PAX has an annoying quality of visiting the same cities each year, and near the end of their friendship, they were running low on new attractions. The most recent ones are the sparsest, only a few professionals taken at the PAX conventions.

Felix took careful time organizing the glossy photographs, each with the time and location written in neat handwriting on the back. His heart lurches at the mere sight of captured memories, his fingers reaching for the pictures. They're cheesy photos in front of green screens, but he smiles at them anyway.

The topmost ones have Mark and Jack. Jack's past neon green hair shines even through a pictures. Mark's hair transitions from red to blue to pink, his darker color no match for the Irish highlighter at his side. Ken flashes through facial hair, ranging from clean shaven to lumberjack, and Felix cringes at his own experimentation with heavy facial hair.

As Felix moves farther back, gently placing seen photos on the lid of the box, Mark and Jack show up much less. Jack looks so young, a baby face and terrible fashion. Mark's smile is shier, his hands always politely tucked behind his back. More classic tourist pictures flow into the mix, mostly of only Felix and Ken.

Felix's heart flutters in his chest, and he allows himself to enjoy it for just a moment. His mind drifts between aquariums and amusement parks, a few pictures taken at ridiculous tourist attractions like the World's Largest Ball of Twine. He stops on a particularly cheesy photo of them at an aquarium, their faces over exaggerated shocks of terror at a shark photoshopped into the top corner.

He smiles even at the more standard ones, of only them smiling brightly in front of basic backgrounds. Ken's arm is slung across Felix's shoulder's, the blonde's wrapping around the taller's waist. Ken has a lopsided grin, and Felix a toothy smile. They're always turned into each other just enough for it to be noticeable, and Felix can understand why photographers often referred to them as boyfriends. Back then, he didn't mind, and for the longest time, Ken didn't either.

The oldest pictures have peeling lamination, the color fading from the photo inside. Yet, the memories are still fresh as the day they were taken. His heart aches at the past, full of excitement, exploring new cities a thrill when they were still so young. Back then, when they were still unrecognizable to the public, image was barely an afterthought. Felix misses their immature behavior being mistaken for young, male stupidity rather than a staple of YouTubers. In the most recent photographs, he almost missed being mistaken for a couple over being recognized as PewDiePie.

He finally finds the ones from Disney Land, the small collection held together by a paper clip. Releasing them, he flips through the small montage, chuckling softly at the proposal picture. Free for couples when they bought four or more, Felix couldn't resist forcing Ken down to one knee. He waved the photo triumphantly when they saw Mary later that evening, laughing about being her replacement. Mary absolutely loved it, giggling and demanding Felix make her a copy.

Felix lays the photo face down with a sigh, his own engagement pictures coming to mind. He wonders if he should have sent Ken an invitation, if the American will truly avoid him for the rest of his life. A pang of guilt shutters through his chest at the initiation he sent Jack many months ago, inviting the Irishman only but giving him a plus one. Looking back, it feels incredibly silly to not have included Mark.