𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚜 // 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔 [𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐]

GnR - 14 Years (Izzy/Axl)

1976.

The summer had been absolutely gorgeous.

Axl remembered that.

One of those seasons where the long days dragged forwards into an apparent eternity, sun-drenched afternoon haze blurring one memory into another. But that year, those memories were stark; though muddled almost hallucinogenically together, there were particularities which made them stand out from the nostalgically blurred tapestry of those teenage summers.

It all began with a flash of black hair.

Now, it just flew in front of his closed eyes, compelling the achingly familiar, painful sentimentality to gradually envelop his mind.

Brown eyes staring warmly into his own.

Now he could barely look at him.

A pale hand reaching out across the tall strands of grass to tantalisingly grasp his own.

Lips ghosting nervously across his, like he knew it was forbidden, like he wasn't sure how it would go, when it would end.

Hell, he wished it hadn't had to end. It was all messed up now, all gone, all ruined.

But then, it had all been simpler. Just two boys, unsure where this life would take them, unsure if there was any meaning to discover.

Unsure of these blossoming feelings for one another.

The stuttered admissions. "I think I'm in love with you." / "I think I'm in love with you too."

The fairytale hope for the summer never to be washed away by time. "Let's make this day last forever." / "...Okay."

The bond even they didn't trust. "I trust you, you know that?" / "You probably shouldn't. But I know what you mean." / "If we ever go down in flames, just know I loved you." / "I know."

Now the memories flew through his mind in a wistful torrent.

Axl sighed as he watched Izzy strum his guitar in the corner of the room.

He couldn't even look him in the eye.

Neither of them were even sure how it had happened. One day they were hopelessly in love, in each other's arms whenever the situation allowed. But then, it gradually stopped being lovey-dovey, and started getting complicated.

That was the thing about teenage summers. They didn't overthink things - they just let life happen.

But there's a difference between letting life happen, and letting it wash away the best thing you'd ever know.

He knew that now.

...He knew that now.

Reviews From Before Republishing [5 votes]:

Ynadinah: I loved it❤️ it is so poetic and melancholic yet so brief... thank you.

Lalicious: What a wonderful little gem! So beautiful and delicate! I loved your description of summer being like a hazy tapestry of memories, so sweet and sensual, like only teenage summers can. Then the distance, the falling apart, better still, growing apart. Beautifully done.

Slaxl19: What...the fuck. This almost made me cry. This was so fucking beautiful. This is absolutely fucking incredible. It's so short, but you built up a whole past for these two, made up of fleeting memories that hit as hard as anything, and a present that somehow huts harder still, and hinted at a bleak, desperate future. You are so fucking talented. It...wow. I just, I don't know. I'm in shock at how absolutely lovely and heartbreaking this piece is. I loved how hesitant their confessions of love were, it was so sweet. And this: "if we go down in flames, just know that I loved you." My heart. That was so fucking real and beautiful and painful at the same time. And the bit about them kissing but not knowing where it would lead, but overcome by feelings and in the moment, just not caring. And just the beauty and the nostalgia and poetry. I was thrown back into that summer with them. Fuck, I'm blown away. I....please keep writing. I don't know what else to say, aside from thank you.