tw// mentions of death
**
"...albert?"
albert turned.
he couldn't believe it. the whole world opened, everything felt new. he felt safe.
he didn't feel so alone.
"race?" albert choked through tears. still, he couldn't move. he couldn't breathe. was he dreaming?
two years.
two years of being alone. begging and pleading to see the one person he ever loved just once more. just to say goodbye.
all he knew was that he was dead. they had hurt him so bad that he was dead. that he was tortured. gone.
not one word from the broken blonde boy for two years. he was left unknowing of the end. he left him to believe there would be no them for any longer.
should he be angry? upset? happy? he felt so many things, he couldn't process what was really happening.
albert was convinced he was hallucinating.
until he felt cold, lanky arms wrap around him for dear life. until he felt the wet tears coming from the boy soak through his torn up tank top. until he sobbed into the arms of his favorite person. until he finally felt again.
he gripped onto race tightly. if he let go, race would disappear. it would be a dream, all of it.
after nights over nights of want, of longing to see his best friend once more...it came true.
there he was, crying into the one person that made him felt human. the one person that ever made him feel loved and cared for. the only person that really mattered to him.
albert couldn't risk letting go of him. he couldn't run away again. he could watch race get taken away. he couldn't stand hearing those painful echoes that bounced off of the buildings as he ran.
he ran for his own life.
but he carried on for race.
for the hope that one day race would be brought back to him. that one day he'd hear his bubbly laughter once more. that one day he would see that beaming grin that made his heart melt. that one day he would hug his best friend like nothing else mattered. like there was no one else in the world.
it all came true in an instant.
two long, dreadful years without race.
they finally pulled away after the almost endless hug. the hug that made up for two years without each other.
race still had the same eyes that carried the entire world in them. the same smile that told albert that it would be okay no matter what. the same curls that albert loved combing his fingers through on sleepless nights, gazing up at the shimmering stars above.
but he looked broken. he looked beat down to the bone. every day in that refuge sucked the life out of him. he looked alone. sad. lost.
albert held onto his hand tightly. he could never let go. he could never leave him. not again.
they didn't have to say anything. the silence told a million words. they stared at each other, waterfalls flooding from their eyes. the tears reflected off of the glistening moon that shone over them.
albert could see every feature that race carried.
nothing could replace the moment. no future late night conversations, no past engagements.
it was just them. again.
when their lips connected, they couldn't help but let the tears flow harder. a million cities lit up when their lips connected. albert felt like he was floating. like he would never come down. two years caught up all at once and danced around them, singing a song filled with love. it was like race never left.
