Because it's you (Rei x Arlo)

20

Rei's odd behavior left a bad taste in his mouth and he found that his appetite was suddenly gone. He huffed, because the chilly was pretty good and he had only eaten a bit out of it. With a grunt he pushed himself onto his feet before heading back in the house. "Done already?" Arlo shook his head. "Do you have like, a container I can put this in? My stomachs just acting up." Rei's mother nodded quickly going to one of the cabinets for said container. Arlo thanked her quietly before turning his head toward the stairs.

He didn't understand why Rei was acting so weird, it wasn't like him at all. Usually, Rei was very open and honest. He wasn't one to bottle emotions up, but recently, it seemed like he had become more closed off. Well, to Arlo at least. The blonde sighed before deciding he would go check on the other and made his way back up to the orders room. He gently knocked before opening the door but frowned upon finding no one in there. The soft sound of running water reminded him, however, that Rei had said he was going to the bathroom and was now in the shower.

Arlo stared at the ground. He really was stuck. He didn't know what to do about this situation, with it being so new to him. So, he decided he would confront Rei about his behavior. When he got out of the shower that is. 

Out of boredom, Arlo began to look around Rei's room. It had been a while since he last visited and there were a few changes he had yet to notice. Example A, the guitar sitting in the corner. A small smile pulled at his lips, turns out, Rei was pretty serious about the guitar thing. He ran his fingers across the strings gently, a dull twang sounding when his fingers moved away. He hummed as his eyes traveled to Rei's desk which was a mess of papers, pencils, empty coffee cups, and several textbook. 'Ah, the life of a college student.' He was just so excited.

Curiosity got the better of him and he randomly picked up one of the papers, his eyes skimming over the writings. A jumbled mess of what looked to be algebra problems covered the paper, along with harsh scribble lines over problems that Rei had likely gotten wrong. Must've been an old paper, considering Rei told him he was in an English major. Either that, or he was so bad at math he had to continue learning it in college. Arlo chuckled at the thought before grabbing another paper seeing notes about a work by Emily Dickinson and another over Robert Frost. Arlo furrowed his eyebrows, he would never understand poetry. And by the looks of it, neither would Rei.

He looked through a few more papers before one special one caught his eye. Buried beneath the several white papers, was a baby blue paper. Arlo lifted it up seeing words on it rather than sloppy notes. Interest peaked, he leaned against the desk and began to read.

Dear Tomorrow

You've been shining so brightly
I'll be holding on tightly
To the words that you said

Arlo's eyebrows rose. Was rei writing poetry? He was in a poetry class, so it made sense.

Because you took that one moment
So much more than alone then
We were out on our own then
Until you took me in

Then you sat down next to me with your heart on you sleeve
If I never would've met you then I never would believe
Someone like you would be writing to someone like me
Signed, Yours Truly

Arlo felt a lump form in his throat. Was this a letter to someone that hadn't been sent? Was he intruding on something that was private to Rei and Rei alone? The "yours truly" part implied that he had written it for someone, but who? Rei didn't have many girl friends, and the ones he did have had boyfriends or weren't interested in dating. As far as he knew, Rei didn't swing the other way. He shook his head, he was in this deep, he had to keep going.

Dear My Someday
I'll keep writing you nightly
And keep holding on tightly
To the words that you said

Arlo had concluded that this was definitely a letter of some sort. He almost felt bad for peeping...but, something was just nagging at him. Maybe this was the reason for his odd behavior, was the person he wrote this to not returning his feels. It was strange though, he concluded. He began the letter twice, and address it to two different people. Arlos thoughts were becoming fuzzy, so he pressed on.

So proud of who you became now
You're in a world without chains now
You let your heart lead your brain
How you always wanted to be

But when I'm sitting here alone I can't help but to think
Looking back on the people that we used to be
Why does being so free mean so far away from me?
Signed, Yours Truly

There was emotion on this paper. The words practically jumping from the sheet and stabbing into Arlo's heart. Every word confirm what Arlo had already knows from the beginning, that Rei would never be his.

And that was okay.

"But what does that mean?" He mumbled. "Why does being so free, mean so far away from me?" He chewed on his lip trying to decipher the message this letter was sending. There were so many things confusing him. Why did Rei write this? Who was it written to?

I kept waiting around
I kept chasing the mail
Always lost never found
I kept writing and dreaming till my words ran out
And I stared at this blank page
Until finally I wrote...

...Dear My Never
This is my half-hearted goodbye
The other half wants to still try
Remembering words that you said

Now, Arlo knew that Rei could be emotional. He was so sappy all the time and was always open with his emotions. But this, these words he was reading. All he was gathering from this was heartache, and he didn't know what was causing Rei to feel like this but he wanted to help. He just didn't know how.

But I guess we let go now
We'll be out on our own
How you always wanted this all out
But now I guess it's too late

But my one wish for you is that you find yourself
Don't settle for less or for anyone else
I pray that you dream like the dreamer I know you can be
Signed, Yours Truly

Arlo felt like he had seen enough, his heart was racing and tears threatened to spill over his cheeks. He was going to put the paper down, until one like of words caught his eyes.

Uhhh...figure out some tune go here. Like, just some notes that would fill the space before the next part comes.

Arlo recognized Rei's note taking, having read several of them in the past, so he knew that this was directly Rei writing something for himself to remember. "A tune..." then it hit him. It was song.

"You ever thought of writing your own song?"

"Seriously though, I have thought about it. I've experimented with some notes here and there but nothing big."

"C'mon, you can't tell me you've never thought of it before."

"I want to, just don't know what I'd write it about."

Suddenly it all started making sense. How defensive Rei had been about the guitar, how he constantly insisted that he wasn't trying anything of the sort with it. But if this was a song...

He glanced back down at the paper, there were still a few words left.

Dear Tomorrow
I still know that you might leave
I keep holding on tightly
To the words that you said
Of all the things I've let go of
And the way that I've grown up
You're the one thing I'm sure of
That I could never forget

Because it's impossible to fly without wind on your wings
You're the air that I breathe and the songs that I sing
Without you I never found much to believe
But you taught me to be the person that I'm meant to be

He knew it was a song, but it was still addressed to someone. It had to be someone close to him, if they taught him how to be himself. His mother? His father-no. It couldn't be Remi, the tone was too sad for it to be about Remi. Maybe a high school mentor, or teacher that was no longer with him?

So maybe for once we can settle the score
Because the road to my heart leads me straight to your door
Through all of these years I've never been anything more

"Than your's truly." He muttered.

He jumped when the bathroom door clicked open and his eyes locked with Rei's. Rei's golden eyes flicked down to the paper in his hand, and Arlo saw the panic that quickly settled over his face. "Rei-" he turned to speak, but the bathroom door slammed shut before he could say any more.

A:N-The song is "Yours Truly" by Paradise Fears. It's a really beautiful song and after reading through the lyrics I really thought that it fit for the two of them. I think you should give it a listen, and let me know if you liked it. Thank you for reading!