"Ok, Kuki," Abby bit her lip worriedly. "Are you sure you'll be able to handle this."

"What are you talking about, silly," A nervous titter escaped through my lips. "He couldn't have changed that much."

It couldn't possibly be him. The person in front of us is a complete stranger. His jaw too square, shoulders too broad, and body too tall. Smiling the way he did was somehow wrong, teeth weren't supposed to be that straight. He used to have crooked teeth. It was endearing and sweet, a clear sign of youth. Now they're as perfectly lined up as the picket fence that surrounds his front yard.

This shouldn't be so shocking. I'm supposed to recognize the person in front of me, and yet I don't. Maybe the blame is on me for not thinking about him as much as I should have or on him for growing out of everything that made up his appearance. Everything about him is wrong, and soon I'm fighting the urge to push down his hair onto his forehead. It looks so stupid now. Perfectly tousled in that effortless way that was anything but natural. What happened to the outdated bowl cut?

He isn't supposed to be this old. We're not supposed to be this old.

Anger flooded my veins.

Despite her previous worries, Abby was happily catching up with this stranger wearing our old friend's name. Hoagie was no better, making dumb jokes, and laughing with the foreign person in question.

And just as I was about to berate them for not being as angry as I... For not caring as much, for disrespecting our dear friend's memory in this awful way.

He looked at me.

Before he had been more focused on Abby and Hoagie. But now he was just looking at me.

Time stopped in that moment, and everything became clear.

"Hey." He barely breathed the word, and his horrifyingly different smile turned into a familiar smirk. "I heard you guys needed my help to kick the crud out of some adults."

That is all that it takes to bring me back. The rage that once filled me to the brim dissipates. It's replaced by shame.

Meanness was never a quality of mine as a child…... Maybe I had changed too.

But at the moment it didn't matter. Really it had never mattered.

Because for all his changes he was still Wallabee Beatles. His hair was still that particular shade of sunshine, his eyes still held the playful light of youth and pale little freckles still were scattered against his tan skin. The same determined look gleamed in his eyes.

Despite all of his changes, he was still himself. Still determined and headstrong. And if someone had asked he'd probably admit his burning resentment of Rainbow monkeys on the spot.

And even through the sadness I felt. The anger. The disappointment. That we hadn't gotten to go through puberty together. That the last memories we shared were when we were 13, and now he was eighteen and I, Seventeen. That we had been absent from each other's lives for an unbelievably long amount of time.

I smiled. Because we were together now, despite everything. We were back. We had each other.

We had Hoagie and Abby as well.

We could be a team again.

We could be a family again.

"Oh Wally," I practically tackled him in a hug. "You haven't changed at all."

And he really hadn't... at least in the ways that count.

A silly little thing I wrote months ago. I guess I felt like sharing it. Alas there is already a fair amount of 3/4 fiction on this website, and others so I totally recommend checking them out. My personal faves are "29 tries" and "A beautiful lie". Let me know what you thought of this odd drabbley thing. Comments, complaints, and questions are always welcome. Constructive criticism is heavily encouraged. Anyways, I hope whoever read this enjoys it.