This one's for hetaliafangirl4ever, so I hope you enjoy!
I'm sorry if the characters are slightly OOC, but it just felt right this way.
And I don't really know if the genres are right, so if you have any suggestions on that, let me know.
xoxox
Five friends were gathered under an old oak, the oldest in town. Berwald, Tino, Emil, Lukas and Mathias had been friends since kindergarten, and had been inseparable ever since. Well, Emil had joined them later, but since he was Lukas' little brother, they welcomed him with open arms. The kids were all about to enter secondary school (except for Emil of course), and they had come together one last time to say goodbye. Goodbye, because Mathias was moving out of town.
"Dudes, I'm gonna miss you guys so much!" Mathias said, wide grin accompanied by a sad look in his eyes.
"You promise you'll write us?" Tino asked. He had unconsciously taken Berwald by the hand, searching for some emotional support.
"Of course! And I'll try to visit as much as possible!"
"B' g'd," Berwald said. Nobody except for Tino had even the slightest clue as to what the Swede was trying to say, so Tino translated for him. "He just wants you to stay healthy, Mattie!"
Mathias' grin grew wider. "Sure thing, dude!"
Emil pulled something out of his little backpack. "Got this from pabbi," the little boy said, showing them five bottles of beer. Even though they lived in Norway, Emil had taken to using Icelandic vocabulary.
"Sweet!" Mathias cheered, while Lukas hit his little brother on the back of the head. "You stole it, you mean! We're way too young to be drinking!"
Mathias cheerfully cut him off. "Aaw, come on Lukas. It's just this one time. You should be thanking the little guy!"
Lukas huffed indignantly, but didn't say anything else. He'd been really quiet the entire evening, not being his usual joking self.
The five of them sat there, backs against the tree, watching the sunset and each with a bottle of beer (Emil had fallen asleep after drinking only half of his bottle). Tino and Berwald were talking about the new school year (Tino talking and Berwald listening), but Lukas had isolated himself from the group. He was playing absentmindedly with the cap of his bottle, face difficult to read.
"Hey," Mathias said as he sat down besides the other.
"Hey," Lukas returned, not bothering to look up.
"Beautiful sunset, isn't it?" Mathias remarked. He was met by an indifferent shrug of the shoulder.
Mathias tried to face his friend. "Come on Lukas. It's not like I'll be gone forever. I'll write you every week, heck, every day if you want me to. And I'll try to visit as often as possible."
Lukas was glaring daggers at the ground. Mathias reached out, and laid two fingers under Lukas' chin, forcing his gaze up. The startled boy instantly tried to move back, but Mathias' firm grip kept him in place.
"Let go," Lukas hissed. The emotion threatened to spill onto his face. It wasn't anger nor happiness. Maybe sadness? But who would be sad on a beautiful day like this? Sure, he was moving to Denmark, but it wasn't the other end of the world.
"Lukas. I promise I won't forget you."
Lukas broke. Mathias only got a glimpse of the tears that spilled from his eyes before he pulled the smaller boy into a rib-crushing hug. He clumsily rubbed Lukas' back, as the other cried into his shoulder. Mathias, being twelve years old, had no idea how to really comfort somebody, but he tried his best anyway. It hurt too much seeing his friend this heartbroken.
"I promise. I promise. I promise." He just kept repeating those words like a mantra, until Lukas calmed down again.
The smaller boy looked a little embarrassed at his sudden outburst. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Mathias reassured him. He tried to wipe away some tears, but Lukas shied away. Mathias smiled when the boy glared at him again, a fierce look in his eyes.
"Don't you dare forget."
Mathias crossed his heart.
"Never."
xoxox
The bus was filled to the brink with all kinds of passengers, most of them going home after a hard day's work. Among them, there was a very emotionless looking teenager. He had light blond hair, hold back on one side by a pin in the shape of a golden cross, and he had one curl that somehow seemed to levitate next to his head. He had earplugs connected to an iPod in his ears and was staring outside, not really taking notice of his surroundings. That boy was Lukas Bondevik, now sixteen years old.
Lukas was on his way home from his last day of school. At least from Lower Secondary School, next year he would start at Upper Secondary School1. He had went through the entire proclamation with the greatest disinterest one could muster. He knew his grades would be good either way, he didn't need a ceremony to celebrate it.
Lukas wasn't exactly a delinquent, but he also wasn't what you would call a class-A student. Sure, he had high grades, but he paid absolutely no attention in class, he was bad at working with others, he made sarcastic remarks towards teachers (both behind their backs and in their faces), and he simply didn't care if it would get him in trouble or not. Lukas was in one word: emotionless. He hadn't always been that way. People in town could distinctly remember Lukas being a nice kid, always making jokes and playing with his friends. But something had changed him, and nobody dared to ask what it was.
Lukas looked up as the bus reached his stop. He got off, put his hands in his pockets, and casually walked home. As he reached his house, he was met at the gate by his little brother.
"If you don't want to be tackle-hugged by our parents, I suggest not going in there." After that, he ran off, probably to go play at a friend's house (some Leon kid Lukas had heard about).
Lukas braced himself as he stepped inside.
xoxox
After another obligatory celebration of his graduating, Lukas finally found the chance to go up to his bedroom. He dropped his backpack onto his bed and checked his watch. Only two minutes until eight o'clock. Better hurry then.
Lukas started up his computer and pulled a headset out of his drawer. Time to start his "job". In his free time, Lukas voluntarily talked (and mostly listened) to people over the Internet. People who were bored, depressed, lonely, sometimes even suicidal. They could contact him through a certain site, and from eight till nine, Lukas was there for those who needed him. All of the people who "worked" there were volunteers, Lukas being one of them (he had too much free time anyway).
Lukas turned on his headset and logged in. Now, all he had to do was wait.
He didn't have to wait long.
A minute or so after he logged in, a name popped up at the bottom of his screen, asking for a call. Lukas took it, seeing as it was his job. He waited for the beep and began speaking.
"Hello, this is Lukas speaking. You can choose to remain anonymous if that would make you more comfortable. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Hey! Just wanted someone to… someone to talk with, you know? Is that all right? I'm not taking up anyone's time or anything, right?"
Lukas smiled, a rare sight to behold. "Of course you're not. What would you like to talk about?"
He could hear a sigh of relief. "That's great!" He immediately sounded a lot more confident, knowing he was free to speak.
"Okay… So, seen any good movies lately?"
Lukas raised an eyebrow at the question. Wasn't he supposed to be talking about himself?
"Not really, no. I don't go to the cinema that often."
The boy let out an audible gasp. "No way dude, are you serious? You've been missing out!"
Lukas couldn't shake the feeling he had heard someone talk to him like that before. But now was not the time to be thinking about himself, his job was more important.
"Enlighten me," he said.
Having gained permission, the guy kept talking to him about his favourite films until their time was up.
"I'm afraid I'll have to cut you short. My shift is done. If you want to keep talking, there are plenty of other volunteers at this site."
He could almost hear the guy pout.
"Nah, that's cool. Thank you for listening, dude. You're sweet."
Lukas couldn't stop a faint blush from colouring his cheeks. No one had ever called him sweet before, especially not a guy.
"…Thanks. Goodbye." And without waiting for his response, he hung up.
Wow. The guy had been talking for an entire hour. Even though Lukas had initially been annoyed by his uncut ramblings, he had come to enjoy himself towards the end. Talking about films was definitely better than listening to someone's problems, even though to others that would sound selfish. But Lukas was just one guy. He could only take that much of other people's suffering, even though he was more than happy to help where he could.
But there was something else that had kept Lukas interested throughout the conversation. He just knew he had heard that voice somewhere. Well, a variant of the voice perhaps. But it just sounded too… familiar.
Lukas shrugged it off and decided to go do something else. It wasn't like he was going to see-hear- the guy ever again, so why bother?
Oh, how had the Norwegian been wrong in thinking that.
xoxox
It was the next day. Lukas was sitting behind his computer screen. He had just finished talking to someone who kept crying about a diseased pet, and Lukas had found it difficult not to shout "get over it already, it's just a fucking goldfish!". But apparently, the gods gave him no time to rest, because a new caller had already popped up. Lukas sighed and took the call.
"Hello, this is Lukas speaking. You can-"
"Yo Lukas!"
Lukas almost jumped out of his chair from the sudden outburst. He squinted his eyes at the name of the caller, which read "BeerLover696".
"…Are you the guy from yesterday?" he asked after a short pause.
"Yup, that's me! You miss me, Lukey-Wukey?"
"…If you're going to keep talking like that, I'm hanging up."
"No wait!" was the frantic shout that almost made his ears bleed.
"That fucking hurt!" Lukas growled.
"Oops! Sorry dude! It's just, you're supposed to listen if I want to talk, right?"
"I guess so," Lukas grumbled.
"I promise I won't take an hour today."
"Impossible, half of my shift is already gone."
He could hear a gasp.
"Well, I guess I'd better start talking then!"
That day, they talked about alcoholic beverages (read: beer). And again, the caller talked until his shift was done. This time, he ended his call by asking Lukas where his accent came from.
The next day, the caller told Lukas to call him Den, and asked him if he could call Lukas Norge. Lukas complied. They talked about their favourite seasons that day, and Den told Lukas he had a nice voice.
The fourth day, Lukas informed Den to either not take up his entire shift, or to start calling in his free time.
"You mean you'll give me your personal number?"
"Sure. Just stop wasting other people's time."
Den sounded like an excited little puppy that day.
The fifth day, Den called Lukas at one in the afternoon. They talked about the weather, their shoe sizes, future plans, favourite subjects at schools, whether they'd rather be tied up without any clothes in the school's bathrooms or be found masturbating in their own room by their parents (Den chose the first option, Lukas refused to give an anwser). It was seven o'clock when they stopped talking.
"Why do you want to talk to me that much?" Lukas asked with an annoyed undertone. Sure, talking to Den was actually a lot of fun, but Lukas wasn't the nicest listener when he wasn't on duty. Surely, the guy must have some friends of his own to talk to.
"Talking to you lights my day, babe."
Lukas started blushing, and scowled at his screen. "Are you hitting on me?!"
He could hear the other laugh. "Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe~"
Lukas immediately ended the call.
The next day when Den tried to reach him, he didn't pick up.
The day after that, he did, finding himself actually missing the guy's voice.
"Come on Norge, I promise I won't insult you anymore," Den assured him. He sounded happy that Lukas wasn't ignoring him anymore.
"Fine. But one more inappropriate comment, and I'm changing my number."
"Good, because I won't bother you. I promise, cross my heart."
Lukas fell silent at those words. A distant memory tried to work his way in. It was so close, but he just couldn't grasp it…
"…Have we met?" Lukas asked. He had to know where that gnawing in his belly came from.
"Huh? You mean, outside of the web? …Probably not. You said you live in Norway, right? Well, I live in Denmark."
Oh… So they hadn't met… Still, the feeling wouldn't disappear.
"…Never mind then. What do you want to talk about today?"
xoxox
Lukas had a dream that night. Not a nightmare, but also not a particularly happy dream. He dreamt of a sunset, a tree, and of him and his friends. His little brother Emil was there, his best friends Tino and Berwald (who had started dating only a year ago), and… There was someone else. Someone strangely familiar, yet Lukas couldn't tell who he was. He tried to get the guy to turn around, to show his face, but found himself unable to reach out.
He woke up with a headache the next morning.
xoxox
That day, he was meeting Tino and Berwald in the mall, where they would go get some ice cream. Lately he had spent less time with the two, not wanting to be the third wheel to the happy couple. He still enjoyed their presence, but things were different now that they'd grown up. Maybe if Lukas were to have someone of his own they could go on double-dates, but now he was stuck having to look at them being all lovey-dovey. Sometimes his brother would join them, but the age-difference kept him from coming too often.
"Hey Lukas! Good to see you!" Tino called out to him, waving excitedly.
"H'llo," Berwald mumbled.
Lukas nodded and sat down at the table. They each ordered a sundae, and used the waiting time to catch up (again, Tino doing most of the talking).
"Hey," Lukas suddenly interrupted him. "Do you remember when we were little, that we always used to go to that big oak in the middle of town?"
"Of course I do!" Tino replied.
"And do you remember there was some other kid coming with us?"
Tino looked puzzled. "Don't you mean your brother?"
Lukas shook his head. "No. There were five of us."
Berwald leant forward. "M'th'as," he said.
"Huh?" Tino asked, before his face brightened. "Oh yeah, that's right! Mathias! Remember, Lukas? Wasn't he your best friend back then?"
Tino kept rambling on about this new discovery, but Lukas didn't hear him.
Mathias… How could he ever forget? Then again, they hadn't properly seen each other since that fated day. The day he left… The day he made a promise. A promise he would never fulfil. Sure, they had kept in touch a couple of months. But as a lot of long-distance relationships do, it faded, until the calls just completely stopped one day, and with that the letters did as well. Lukas had tried to reach him, but no one answered his calls, and Mathias had never given him his full address.
They had made a promise to never forget. And Lukas had broken it. But that wasn't the worst part.
Lukas suddenly stood up.
"Lukas? Hey, where are you going!"
Lukas didn't look back as he ran out of the mall. He didn't stop running until he reached his house, didn't turn around while he ran up the stairs, into his bedroom, and let his body fall on the bed.
Once he hit the mattress, he allowed the tears to flow.
Mathias had been his best friend.
But also his first and only love.
xoxox
Lukas was sitting behind his computer. The name of BeerLover696 was flashing on his screen. His mouse hesitantly scrolled over the options. Pick up or ignore call?
He finally clicked a button. Maybe the guy could cheer him up, he seemed like the type to never get sad or worried about anything.
"Hey Norge, it's your favourite Internet buddy!"
"Hey Den. I've gotta warn you: I'm not really in the mood to talk today."
Den's tone changed immediately. "All right then. Spill your guts. Tell me what's wrong."
"Why should I tell you? I hardly even know you."
"Hey, if you can listen to others ramble on about their boring little lives, I can do the same for you. And we're not complete strangers. Heck, I even know your shoe size!"
Lukas could feel a slight smile curl around his lips.
"Fine. I'll talk. You are warned."
"Bring it on!"
And so, Lukas talked. He talked on and on and on, and surprisingly enough, Den made for an amazing listener. He never interrupted Lukas, never asked any unnecessary questions, he just listened and made the occasional sound to show he was still there.
"…And so, I feel like I've betrayed him somehow. But more than that, he has betrayed me. He was the one who promised." Lukas felt a little disgusted by how childish he sounded at the moment, but he couldn't stop talking. It was a great relief to finally get it all out. Now that he'd remembered, he could at last recognize the weight that had been hanging over his shoulders, pulling him down. By talking about it, some of it was lifted, even if it was just a tiny bit.
"Of course you feel betrayed. Who wouldn't?" Den said. His voice sounded surprisingly soft.
Lukas sighed.
"Why am I even telling you any of this? It's not like you can do anything about it."
"…Maybe I can."
Lukas paused. "…Sorry, what do you mean? Are you going to come over here or something?"
"It's a surprise. But after hearing how down you are, I don't know if it's a good one anymore."
Lukas frowned. He was curious, but also confused. "A surprise? I don't understand."
"You'll see. Bye Lukas."
And with those words he hung up, leaving behind a Norwegian with very mixed-up feelings.
xoxox
He got a call from Tino, telling him to meat up a the great oak the next day at midnight.
"Okay, see you then," is all he said.
xoxox
While making his way over to the tree, Lukas' head was spinning with questions.
Why were they meeting up? What was that surprise Den had been talking about? Why had his brother been acting so mysterious today? And who the hell did Den's voice remind him of?
All of those questions didn't matter though. Because he heard the strangest and most unexpected sound when he finally reached the great oak.
"Yo, Norge!"
Lukas froze. That voice. That voice. Could it be? No, not possible. Den didn't even know where he lived. It couldn't be him. …Could it?
Slowly, as if he were to hurt himself if he were to move too fast, he turned around to look at whoever the voice belonged to.
And froze once again, but this time the shock was even bigger.
Blue, energetic eyes. A grin that never disappeared (only it was a little more shy now). Hair that defied gravity.
Mathias.
But how? Why? How?
And not only that.
Mathias was Den. Lukas had no idea how he hadn't recognized that obnoxiously loud voice. Then again, it had been several years, and last time he'd heard Mathias talk, they had been twelve years old.
Was he a hallucination? A very real-looking hallucination that was now waving at him. Lukas was still too shocked to return the gesture.
"I… I see you've changed a lot. But, in a good way!" he quickly corrected himself. "So yeah… Here I am I guess… Surprise! Hahaha…"
Mathias abruptly stopped laughing when Lukas moved towards him. His eyes were still wide in disbelief, looking as if he'd seen a ghost. When he was standing right in front of him, Mathias' expression softened.
"Hey Nor-"
He never got to finish that sentence. It's hard to talk when someone punches you in the face.
And now Mathias was sitting on the ground, clutching his nose and looking up at Lukas with eyes the size of flying saucers.
Lukas was panting slightly, having thrown all he had in him in that one punch. And oh, it felt good. He took in a deep breath, and began yelling.
"HOW DARE YOU SHOW UP HERE YOU ASSHOLE! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN YEARS! WE MADE A PROMISE AND YOU BREAK IT LIKE IT MEANT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO YOU, AND NOW YOU JUST SHOW UP LIKE 'HI I'M BACK, HAPPY TO SEE ME?'?!"
Mathias cautiously got up, never breaking eye-contact.
"AND WHAT WAS UP WITH THE WHOLE DEN-THING?! WAS THAT A FUCKING JOKE OR SOMETHING? BECAUSE SERIOUSLY IF IT WAS, IT WASN'T FUNNY! AND TO BELIEVE I TRUSTED YOU! I TOLD YOU EVERYTHING YESTERDAY, AND YOU WERE JUST LIKE 'AH YES, I SEE'!"
Mathias moved his hand from his face.
"AND DON'T THINK I'LL EVER FORGIVE YOU, YOU LYING, UNTHRUSTWORTHY, SON-OF-A-B-"
Lukas' ranting was cut off as Mathias pulled him in an embrace. He immediately wanted to push him off, tell him they weren't done talking yet, but Mathias was holding on tightly, and the shouting had worn him down.
Now that the anger had been partially subdued, a new emotion started bubbling up.
"I trusted you, you asshole… And you just leave me behind…"
"I know," Mathias replied.
Once Mathias started to gently stroke his back, Lukas broke down. He pulled the other close and clenched his coat in his fists. He buried his face in Mathias' shoulder and cried. He cried his heart out, sobbing loudly into the soon-to-be-soaked shoulder. And Mathias simply held him tight, stroking his back and letting him relieve himself.
It was a very emotional day for the usually emotionless Norwegian.
xoxox
Once he had finally calmed down, the questioning could start.
First thing Lukas wanted to know was why he was here. Mathias told him his parents had decided to move back into town, so he was going to be living here until university.
Then Lukas asked if he had known all along it was him when they had been talking over the Internet. Mathias told him he did.
"But how?"
"I called Tino and Berwald a while ago. They told me about that volunteer-thingy, and it was easy to find you from there on."
"Tino and Berwald?"
Mathias nodded. "Yeah. They were also the ones to arrange this meeting."
"So they knew all along…" That meant that in the mall, they had just been playing dumb. His brother was probably in on it too, that would definitely explain his weird behaviour.
"Why call them? Why not me?"
Mathias looked really small at that moment.
"For the same reason I haven't contacted you. Believe me, I wanted to, more than anything! But remember when I suddenly just stopped calling you?"
Lukas nodded. Now that his memories had come back, it was hard to not remember anything.
"Well, people had broken into our home, and they took my cell phone with all you guys' number in it. Your addresses were in there too."
"Then how come you still had their number?" Now that his initial wave of anger and sadness had been dealt with, he had been left feeling rather empty. But this was the one thing he had been dying to know about. Why had Mathias broken all contact? He wouldn't be satisfied until he had heard the entire story.
"Actually I didn't think I'd have those. But a month ago my mom told me to clean my room, and I suddenly found this box with stuff from back here. All of you guy's numbers were there."
"Then why didn't you call me?" Lukas asked again, frowning this time. Wasn't he important to Mathias at all?
"I… I couldn't. Not that I didn't want to, heck, I've missed hearing your voice so much! When I finally got to hear you again it was like heaven! But… I couldn't just call you after all those years. You'd be equally as pissed as you were a moment ago, heck, probably even more. I was a coward. I chickened out. So, I called Tino and Berwald to hear what you've been up to lately. I couldn't call your brother, that would be too close to you."
Lukas silently took in the information. True, if Mathias were to suddenly call after four years of nothingness, he couldn't have possibly predicted how he'd react. Maybe he would've just hung up or something. But it was more than a little satisfactory to hear Mathias admit that he was a coward. The guy had hurt him too much by disappearing from his life not to get any punishment at all.
"…And there's another reason I didn't want to hear your voice. I-I mean, your angry voice. I would die if I had called you and you would've just started shouting. At least by meeting you I could see your face again. I'm sorry."
Lukas looked at him when he felt eyes fall upon his face.
"That thing you said when we were talking. About that boy being your first love and all."
Lukas froze again. Shit. He had totally forgotten he'd said that.
Yet, Mathias didn't look disgusted in the slightest. Just… curious.
"Did you mean it?"
Lukas could only blink. He wanted to deny it, but knew he couldn't. Not after being so honest. Damn, why'd he have to go and spill his guts to a complete stranger? He should've just bought a diary or something. Keep his feelings to himself. It worked for girls, so it could also work for him.
And then he felt a hand caressing his cheek. Startled, he looked up. Since when had Mathias come this close?
"Please, Norge. Lukas. If you find it in your heart to forgive me… I want you to know that I've loved you for a long time now. And I've never once forgotten about you. I don't blame you for forgetting me, that was my own damn fault. But I didn't break that part of the promise. So-"
Lukas leant forward and successfully cut him off.
It was the first time he'd ever kissed someone. He probably wasn't any good at it, but Mathias didn't seem to complain. Lukas felt tears streaming down his cheeks again when he realized how right it felt, how long he'd been waiting for this. How much he'd loved Mathias as a kid. How much he loved him even now, after all that had happened. Because he'd never truly forgotten that feeling. He had pushed it to the back of his mind, but it has always been there, reminding him of something that could have been, something he didn't have. That was why he had stopped caring.
That day, Lukas showed more emotion than he had the past four years.
xoxox
Five friends were gathered under an old oak, the oldest in town. Berwald, Tino, Emil, Lukas and Mathias had been friends since kindergarten. They hadn't always been inseparable, a lot had happened to try and pull them apart. But now, they were a close group once again.
Emil had brought the beers, and Tino had bought some snacks. The sun was already setting, but it was never too late for a picnic. Berwald had his arm loosely draped around Tino's body. Emil was sitting to the side, texting with his friend Leon. Lukas and Mathias were huddled next to each other, content with watching the sunset.
"Hey Norge?"
"Hm?"
"You think we should renew our oath?"
"Oh, so it's an oath now?"
"Yeah, that sounds more official and stuff."
"Sure. But this time, I want you to stay. Or at least try to remember my number."
Mathias chuckled as he crossed his heart.
"I promise Norge. I'll stay by your side."
They went silent for a moment.
"Hey Norge?"
"What is it now?"
"Why do you think the sun is orange when it sets?"
"How the hell should I know."
More silence.
"…Hey Norge?"
"What?!"
"…I love you."
"…"
"…"
"…Whatever."
But Lukas didn't shake Mathias' arm off when he laid it around his shoulder and pulled him close.
xoxox
Jeej, sappy ending! But I guess it could've been worse. I hope you guys liked it!
1) In Norway (or so I've read), there is a Primary School from 6 to 13 years, a Lower Secondary School from 13 to 16, and an Upper Secondary School from 16 to 19.
Words:
Pabbi: Daddy