Heat Haze

Construction Site

Author's Note: 

One of the biggest issues that I have with writing is keeping characters in, well, character. Sometimes I have little headcanons that help me work on their relationships. Don's relationships with his friends are part of this. He has an open and friendly relationship with Dashlie since their personalities are somewhat similar. On the flip side, he despises Duni and has a fearful respect for DDawn. I have his relationship with Richard a little bit strained, not only to have it contrast with Jon and Nick's relationship, but also because their personalities are too similar (they're lancers to each other). 

Don jolted from his bed, awakening in his room. What had just happened? That clearly wasn't a dream. First, it was the truck and then the food? What was going on? He frantically reached for his phone, the box of tissues on his end table falling off in the commotion. It read the same thing! Saturday, July 12th 9:46 AM! Was he dying over and over again? There was another voicemail waiting for him.

"Hey, idiot. At the park, twelve. Let's meet." Richard's voicemail ended. Don stayed there for a good minute. Should he go out? Don checked his closet. Once again, one of his hats was missing. This time, it was the one he chose when he was out with Duni. Perhaps they showed him how many chances he had? Whatever it was, there were only nine hats left. He needed to watch his back at all times.

Don felt uncomfortable as the summery sunrays beat against him. His sweater suffocated him as he approached the entrance of the park. He could see a pale red figure standing there. It seemed like Richard was smart enough to wear only his collar shirt. The park was packed with people running around and having fun. It was just like his day with Dashlie. Don quickly approached Richard, who turned around just in time.

"What the hell took you so long?" he simply stated. Don had gotten used to the insults, they were thrown around frequently and by everyone, but this one seemed to be different. Dashlie had said the same thing, so would this turn out like that? Why did he even come out of his house?"

Yeah, so what?" Don replied. That was all he could say. 

"Nothing. Let's just get going," his friend sighed, setting off with him.When the two reached the city square, it was already one. The streets were packed with people holding shopping bags or going throughout their day. Richard and Don passed all these people and stopped at a traffic light. Don pressed the button to allow them to cross. The two waited. The roads were just as packed as the sidewalks, but it usually never took this long. What was taking it so long? The citrus-eyed male felt something drop in his stomach. What if a car hit him again? Would Richard wait for it? He was more impatient than Dashlie ever was, so what's stopping him? It took Don a little while to notice the red hand on the light had changed to a white crossing symbol, and that his friend was already almost on the crosswalk. He snapped back into reality when the realization hit him.

"Wait!" he yelled, using his arm to block Richard from crossing. 

 "What are you doing?" A car zoomed past them, running a red light. The younger male could feel his companion tense up. "Thanks for that," he finished, pushing Don's arm away from his chest. Don sighed. Thank god nothing happened.

"Why do they keep building things here?" Richard started as they walked underneath the safe area of a construction site. Don shrugged. He suddenly felt something cold fall onto his hat. It seemed to seep through it. Was it water? He reached for his hat. 

"Hey!" the taller male responded when Don nudged his glasses. Don checked his hat. It was stained with water, the ceiling leaking with it. He didn't want to know where it was coming from. He kept walking only to notice Richard had stopped behind him.

"Don't leave me behind. I need to wipe my glasses," his friend stated, taking off his rectangular glasses and cleaning them with his pocket square. Don almost stopped. It couldn't hurt to just keep going? He winced when the sun came back into his eyes as he exited the safe area. "Where the hell are you going" the brunette yelled. His friend's shouts were interrupted when Don heard a gasp from a stranger. People were pointing towards to sky, conversing with each other. When Don peered up, his heart seemed to stop. 

"Don! Get out of there!" Richard's voice ran silent. The cord snapping as the metal beams fell from the sky was all he heard. 

I won't be updating for the next two weeks, I have a trip planned out. I will update again as soon as possible. Summer break is coming to an end, so I may not be able to update as frequently either.

EDIT: Fixed some grammatical mistakes.

Thank you for reading, and hopefully, you understand.