/ So I never got around to revising this chapter. And I probably never will because thesis makes your life shitty like that. That said, I apologize for the delay. Here's your last chapter. :) /

CHAPTER FOUR

Goodbyes

Arthur found it a ironic that the last fifteen minutes of his life were also the best. Because of this, however, it was getting hard for him to let go. He thought he had accepted the thought of death, but that was before Lovino came and gave him a reason to live. Now he found that the phone call really was a mistake, not only because he didn't doubt that the Italian would be left in the mud with the weight of Arthur's memory on his mind, but also because he suddenly felt like he wasn't ready.

After fifteen minutes of talking to this brash Italian at the other end of the line, sharing random stories and things about themselves, he was suddenly afraid to die.

Because now someone cared and now someone would miss him.

"... so I said, 'Idiota, you should have known better to-'" The Italian paused in his storytelling. "I hear loud beeps from there."

"Lovino…" Arthur swallowed. He really wasn't ready for this because all he could feel in his gut was dread. "The last engine has failed and..."

Silence.

Arthur panicked. No please, he thought, gripping his phone tightly and clenching his teeth. I need you now more than ever… please… stay… for just a little while longer…

"Lovino, I… I'm sorry…"

Still, there was silence from the other end of the line. At least, he supposed, the Italian hasn't hung up on him yet.

The blond sighed. "I knew this was a mistake. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Lovino. I…

"I was ready to die, you know. I was ready to go to the hell everybody always said I would go to. I wasn't afraid of falling from the sky in this huge broken tin bird and I wasn't afraid of seeing Death in his black robe holding a scythe over my head. I wasn't afraid, until I spoke to you.

"Now, I'm terrified. I don't want to die anymore. You gave me hope, Lovino. And while I'm glad that I'll have somebody to remember me after I'm gone, I'm sorry that I have to leave you at all. I'm sorry that you met me under these circumstances and I'm sorry that you'll have to bear with this burden. I know you said that this was your choice, but I'm still sorry.

"I guess this is where we part. If it wasn't like this… If we had met before my time is up and we had spent more time with each other, I… I think we would have been inseparable. I…"

Arthur took a breath. He's unnerved that his new friend still hasn't said a word but time's a-wasting and he had to make good use of his last seconds. He had to say it.

"I like you, Lovino. And I suppose you can take that in any way you like." He gave one last smile and if the Italian was telling the truth about his voice being so expressive, he would have heard.

"Goodbye, Lovino. May you live a happy life."

And finally, finally, the Italian's voice sounded from the other end of the line.

"Goodbye, Arthur. May you die a peaceful death."

And Arthur closed his eyes as the plane hit the ground and he was no more.

~.;*;.~

Fifteen minutes had gone by so fast. Maybe too fast. Lovino still wasn't sure what to feel about what had just transpired. Should he be sad? Angry? He didn't know. He was just confused and there's that feeling of horror in his gut but also this feeling of contentment.

He heard Arthur's speech, but he wasn't able to speak. He was too busy trying to figure out where the last fifteen minutes had gone, what exactly Arthur was to him right now. They said you can make a friend out of a stranger in five minutes. Can you make something more out of a stranger in fifteen when one of you is dying?

"I like you, Lovino. And I suppose you can take that in any way you like."

Apparently, you can. But did Lovino like Arthur too? Did he feel attached to him in these measly fifteen minutes he was given? Did he feel strongly attached to this dying man without even knowing what he looked like more than what he had heard from the man himself?

"Goodbye, Lovino. May you live a happy life."

He heard the smile, of course, because the Brit's voice was able to carry even that on. And perhaps there wasn't really a question. The answer, he supposed, was yes.

"Goodbye, Arthur. May you live a peaceful death."

The connection was cut off and Lovino was met with the dial tone, but he was calm when he put the receiver down. It wasn't as if there was anything he could do to change fate and he knew that Arthur had heeded his final request.

Given that, he was going to fulfill his friend's final request too.

"So," his grandmother asked immediately after he sat down in front her. "Was it your blonde?"

Lovino simply gave her a somber smile and a one-word answer.

"Yes."

/ Review.? /