next to me ✓

week 4, thursday

FOREVER. maya never truly knew the meaning of forever. was it her entire lifetime? was it the day the earth stops spinning? she'd never know. well, she does now. akaashi taught her meaning of it.

....

"maya."

the girl heard her boyfriend calling her name. she hummed in response and looked up to see akaashi just looking at her, his fingers playing with her hair. they were in a cuddling on a rainy thursday night while having a marvel marathon.

maya had one leg in between akaashi's while she was hugging his torso, head leaning on his shoulder. akaashi had one hand playing with maya's hair and the other rested on his knee. they were both dressed in oversized hoodies and sweatpants with a bunch of snacks scattered all over the bed.

"i-i lov-"

he stopped. akaashi took a deep breath, his face red in embarrassment. he didn't understand why he was so shy to say it. was it in fear that maya wouldn't say it back? fear of rejection? definitely not. maya had told him multiple times how she would give him the world if he asked for it. so why couldn't he say it?

maya blinked. was akaashi too shy? too scared? she knew what he wanted to say so she tried to help him out.

"hey, hey. it's fine. i know what you mean. maybe we could have a replacement word for it? so you can feel more comfortable."

maya reassured. akaashi nodded, giving her a soft smile. he cupped her face before colliding his lips with hers. maya gasped in response but returned the kiss quickly. after a few seconds, their lips parted.

"i love you. always."

akaashi finally said. maya grinned from ear to ear. she buried her face in his chest.

"i love you. forever."

"forever."

she repeated.

"always."

he replied.

that was the moment that maya knew what forever meant. she would always love akaashi, even after her death, or after his. her love for him could never fade. she would love akaashi even when she was six feet under, in a coma or paralysed.

....

maya was on the floor again, beside akaashi. this time, there was a comfortable silence. something told her that he was truly right beside her, admiring her features and falling in love with her all over again. and she was right.

she felt a presence beside her, eyes burning into her side, in a good way. it was warm and welcoming. she felt at peace. that day was very special. it was her and akaashi's four year anniversary.

i'm glad i'm spending it with him. maya thought. she turned to face her lover. his face wasn't visible but he was still there. suddenly maya's phone vibrated, making her jump. her eyes widened in shock when she saw the notification on her lockscreen.

⤷ [ babyboy keiji <3 ]
maya help me plea

⤷ [ babyboy keiji <3 ]
sent you a voicemail

she opened the voicemail quickly, wondering what he had sent her.

"m-maya...please."

akaashi panted.

"help me. call....the ambulance. my head...it..."

akaashi stopped for a while, all maya could hear were his pants and the faint voices of passersby calling for help. she heard a thud before hearing akaashi's voice once again.

"forever."

upon hearing that, maya burst into tears. she couldn't believe it. did he call me instead of 995 for help? where is he? his parents refused to release any information. b-but...he. why did this only send now? she then got another text from the same number.

⤷ [ babyboy keiji <3 ]
hello maya-chan. this is keiji's mother, sakura. please ignore any of the messages or notifications you received from keiji. we have switched his phone back on and all of his messages were only able to be sent now. thank you for reading.

"oh."

she lost hope. he wasn't coming back, was he? she was never going to see him again. let's say maya also learnt something about forever from akaashi. it's that once someone you love is gone, they're gone forever.

despite all her efforts, she never be held in his arms ever again. never get homework answers from him ever again. never getting sweets from their favourite cafe ever again. forever.

maya wiped her tears before taking her stuff and looking at akaashi once again.

"forever."