afterwards // lil peep

lets laugh a little before im gone

"from the moment i saw her, we clicked. wtf lmao"

i used to live in long beach with my parents. at the time, they seemed like the happy, normal, suburban parents that would have brunch with our neighbors every saturday and treating it as a normal tradition like christmas or easter. 

everything came to us easily. 

we were by no means rich but we were definitely not poor. we were able to live comfortably where we sat. just across the street was where gus had lived. 

when i was just at the small age of four, my parents had baked their widely famous brownies, got me and my older brother, alijah, dressed in our sunday best to walk across the street and deliver these brownies and make new family friends. i held onto my mothers free hand, watching as my father had rung the doorbell. my small, four-year-old eyes widened as i watched the door open, a small boy around my age had reached the door knob and opened it. 

he only had a pair of jeans on, his blonde hair spiked to one point at the top of his head as his small gut stuck out. his smile was bright, bringing out a small sparkle in his eyes as he looked at all of us. 

"momma!" he yelled after turning his back to us and cupping his hand around his mouth to project his voice. steps from within the house came closer to the door. as the tall slender woman appeared in the doorway, the blonde boy stepped closer, sticking out his hand towards me, "my names gustav elijah ahr." he spoke boldly. i smiled a little and looked up at my parents who were greeting, who i presumed to be gustavs mother. 

i slowly let go of my mothers hand and stuck out my hand, "my names averie elizabeth jones." i said, a bit quieter than him. he grabbed my hand and shook our now linked hands up and down. 

"my momma says this is how youre supposed to greet new people. do you wanna come play with my cars?" he blurted, making me smile a little more. at my parents house, i wasnt allowed to play with what was consider boy toys. i strictly played with dolls and house with my other friends who were only girls. i looked up at my parents who were now stepping inside with my brother. i looked back at gustav and nodded quickly before walking in with him, walking behind him and up the stairs to his room. 

"gus, baby, please put on the shirt thats on your bed?" his mom, who i had found out later that day was named liza, yelled from the bottom of the stairs. 

"yes momma!" he yelled back. we got back to his room and i looked around. it reminded me of my brothers room, full of blue and bed sheets of super heroes. i watched as he quickly slipped on the plain yellow t shirt and sat on the floor in a spot next to his rug that had roads and buildings on it. i watched as he ran to his toy box, shaped as a treasure chest and watched him reach inside, nearly falling in before pulling out a small cardboard box of cars. he sat down on the floor on his knees in front of me and dumped the cars out onto the floor next to rug and watched as they all sprawled out on the floor, making loud metallic noises as they all clinked together as they hit the floor. i watched in amusement as he picked out his one car that was bright pink, inspecting it closely before offering it to me.

"this ones yours because its pink like your skirt." he said out loud before i took it. i smiled widely before looking at all the cars, picking out a bright yellow taxi and holding it out for him to take. 

"this ones yours because its yellow like your shirt." i said back before hearing him giggle and nod before taking it in his hand. i watched as he leaned over his rug, making car noises as he moved the yellow car along the long winding road. i watched in amusement before he stopped in his place and looking at me.

"do you know how to play cars?" he questioned me with a confused look on his face. i felt my ears go red, as did my cheeks as i shook my head no. he then started explaining that the long grey lines on the rug were roads and we drove our cars on it. we could crash them like in action movies, pick up famous people from buildings but one catch was that we had to always make the car noises otherwise you, 'just werent playing cars right.' 

after what seemed like hours of playing with cars he decided to put them away. i heard his mom yell his name from the stairs and my mom yelled my name from around the same position. we both stood up and as we walked out of his room, he grabbed my hand. i looked at his hand and up at him, seeing his cheeks turn a light shade of pink with a cheeky grin on his face. 

"my momma says this is what you do when you like someone." he blurted, giggling a little before walking with me out to the stairs. i giggled in response, looking at our parents waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"arent they just so cute." liza laughed softly, clasping her hands together in front of her chin before sighing, "its time to say goodbye to averie, sweetie." she smiled down at him as she gently messed with his hair when we made it to the bottom step. i looked up at my parents, seeing them smiling brightly at us. i looked back at gustav, watching as he wrapped his arms around my small body. i instantly hugged him back and blushed as a picture was taken by liza of us. my face started burning when we pulled away, feeling his kiss my cheek.

"bye averie!" he squealed before going to his mom an hugging her leg. 

"bye gustav!" i squealed back before walking to my parents, holding my moms hand as we all walked out of the house and back across the street.