Prompto's phone buzzed softly next to him, the screen lighting up as well, signaling another text from Noctis. In the two months or so Prompto had known Noctis and his merry gang, he had surmised a few things. Noctis tried really hard to be cool and aloof, while actually being a massive nerd underneath his surface, he had a weird obsession with fishing, and was a child. He had an attention span the size of a teaspoon, but Prompto figured that was through no fault of his own, he led a rather hectic life. Prompto had also decided that Noctis was really funny, decided rather than discovered, as his jokes tended to fall flat with his other friends, but Prompto couldn't help but laugh every single time. One of the last things he'd learned was that he had a heart of pure gold. Despite knowing each other for such a short time, Noctis had proven time and time again that he was unwaveringly kind. Lastly, he'd finally surmised Ignis and Gladio were together, it should have been obvious during his first encounter with the group, but even the blond was the first to admit he was never the most observant. To be fair to himself however, the two had hardly acted it outside of that first night, in fact he was so blown away Gladio had asked "if there was a problem with that." To which Prompto nearly wet himself in response.

On this particular night rain came down in sheets, the forecast had predicted around five inches, but he felt like it was far more than that. His whole apartment was darkened except for his laptop's screen, allowing him to focus on his photo editing work in front of him. Vyv had asked him to take pictures of the city for some editorial Ravus was doing, and while it wasn't exactly hard work, he would be damned if he didn't put his heart and soul into every piece of work he did. Which he honestly tried very hard to do, but it was getting incredibly hard to focus when his new self-proclaimed bestie was constantly texting him. Ignoring would only work for a minute or two before another flurry of texts made their way to his cell, so before that could happen he picked up his phone, turning it on only to be blinded by the light. As his eyes adjusted he could see that Noctis had sent him no less than fifteen messages. A bit less than usual.

Dude this meeting is so boring.

Like stfu who cares about Niflheim profits.

They don't like us why would they buy our shit.

Why are you ignoring me?

Why do you hate meeee.

Wait omg, i forgot. You're working.

Lol what does Ravus even write about? How much Insomnia sucks compared to Niflheim probs.

JOKES ON HIM. NIF IS SO BORING.

Nah but really tho, stop ignoring me.

Let's have dinner, there's this really awesome seafood place by the office.

Like yeah, it's opposite the city from you

and it's raining….

but IT'S SO WORTH IT.

PROOooOooOooMPtooooooo.

I should really be focussing but like why tho?

The rest of the messages contained variations of "stop ignoring me" and he couldn't help but laugh aloud in his apartment. For all his posturing, Noctis really was just an energetic kid, but in public he was so "cool" and "aloof" tending to zone out in his thoughts a lot. Prompto had to wonder which one was the real one, which Noctis was posturing and which one was the one he was really like? Or had he not even seen the real Noctis yet? It concerned him, not only because he wanted to actually get to know the man, but also because he tended to wear his heart on his sleeve, and it was only slightly disconcerting that other people didn't.

He typed out a quick reply and hit send before throwing his phone off to the side, not really giving much thought to where it landed. Despite it being sometime in the early evening it was amazingly dark outside, not even overcast, just dark. Black clouds seemed to cover all of the city, throwing what felt like tonnes of rain onto the city. Were people actually down there? Out there in the city dealing with the torrential downpour? The streets of Prompto's neighborhood could only be described as wet and barren, but there had to be people out there right? Those who couldn't escape from the rain like he could. Some people like being in the rain though, but it just made Prompto feel… lonely. He used to like the rain, he used to enjoy looking out on a dark cityscape, sharing a cup of cocoa with someone. But someone was the key there, he hated being alone, after what had happened though he hadn't brought himself to try and find someone.

His phone lit up, his ringtone filling the empty air around him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He padded over towards it, answering it without bothering to look at the Caller ID.

"Hello?" He hoped whoever was on the other end couldn't hear how tired he sounded.

"Oh! He lives! I text you for hours and I get one reply back? That hurts man," Noctis' voice instantly brought a smile to his face and a laugh bubble up in his throat.

"Man you said it yourself! I was working," he said through a small chuckle, "I'm assuming you're done with your 'Totes boring meeting'?"

"Ugh don't even get me started, just a break. Just wanted to make sure you were alive." He could hear a few murmurs just behind Noctis' voice, so it made sense he was still in his meeting.

"Oh har har, that's reeeeeeal funny. Do you bother Ignis and Gladio like this?"

"I used to, but then I met you."

Prompto wasn't sure how he should have replied to that, or how he should feel for that matter. He could feel a blush creep up on his freckled features, but he couldn't place why. "Shut the fuck up man," he laughed, trying to diffuse his own nervousness.

He heard a sigh on the other end that he couldn't quite place and immediately wondered if he had said something wrong, but before he could say anything else Noctis spoke up, "Hey listen the Counsel of Monotony is reconvening," a small laugh, "I have to get back in there. Text me though? Please?"

Prompto nodded, before it registered Noctis couldn't actually see him, "Yeah! Yeah absolutely," he said. Noctis hung up first, leaving Prompto feeling like he'd said something wrong. There was absolutely no way he was going to focus on his photo's now, he relented with a sigh.

He flipped on the lights to his living room and kitchen, running a hand through his limp hair. This wasn't the first time he'd felt like this over the months. Whenever Noctis said something like that, something about Prompto, he'd just freeze up and say anything to distract himself, but Noctis would withdraw away from whatever line he wanted to go down. And every time Prompto convinced himself it was just his overthinking.

The one time he had to convince himself he wasn't overreacting was a few weeks ago, when Noctis was talking about his job. Noctis almost never talked about his job, and Prompto wasn't one to pry, so getting him to speak was amazing. He remembered it clearly, they were out walking during Noct's lunch break. He had seemed so out of it that day, gazing off into the distance, not paying attention to anything around him. It was after almost running into the third cyclist of the day that Prompto had finally asked, "Dude, are you alright? You don't look like you're… I don't know man like… all here I guess?"

It took Noct a few seconds to get the dazed look off his face before he responded. "Man I'm just stressed. Caelum Enterprises is a big company you know? And it's all going to be mine someday! I just don't… I don't even know if I want it! It's a massive multi-billion Gil corporation, I don't think there's a business we're not involved in you know? Now dad wants to open restaurants, and he wants me to head the department. Man I just feel so overwhelmed."

It was like word vomit, this was the first time Prompto had heard anything like this from him. They just sat at a park bench for a few minutes, and Noctis looked like he had really appreciated the space for a second. "Thanks for listening man. I know my problems aren't easy to respond to, but I appreciate it all the same."

"Hey man, what if I had like this multi-billion Gil company in my like, backyard or something, you don't know that." Prompto laughed, punching Noctis' arm lightly.

"Ha! Yeah I don't know do I? What do you do? Do you have like an army of photography ninja's who take all your pictures for you?"

"That's just ONE branch! I also manufacture all the HOTTEST pop groups! Like I personally scout out the best and the brightest ever, hone their singing and dancing talents and release them out into the world."

Noctis gave a rather loud and boisterous laugh as Prompto got up on the park bench, his hand over his eyes as if he were "scouting for talent" right then and there. "They can't hide from me Noct. They crave the fame!" Noct continued to laugh and Prompto started to join him as he climbed down from the table.

As the laughter died down, Noctis looked at Prompto in a way he could only describe as "soft." Like he was just happy to be in his presence. "Thanks bro… that was just what I needed?"

"What? Me making myself out to be an idiot?"

Noctis laughed softly and shook his head, "No man, just you I guess. You always know just what to do to make me feel better." He reached across the bench and grabbed Prompto's hand firmly, but gently as well. A feeling shot through him like a lightning bolt, one he didn't know how to place. He hadn't felt something like this in a while, but what he did know was that it made his heart go an extra mile a second. He gingerly pulled his hand away and laughed, he didn't quite know why but it felt wrong to pull away. "Hey man, you always know I'm here for you. No matter what." The smile that previously decorated Noctis' face slowly faded, and shortly after he got up asking the blond to follow him.

In the days after that, while Noctis was acting like himself again, Prompto had to convince himself over and over he was just overreacting, he was overthinking it. His anxiety got to him like that, it caused him to think things were there that weren't actually there. That had to be it.

Now, even weeks later, Prompto was convincing himself again that it was him that was being weird. He was just being a bro, it's okay for bro's to be besties. That's the whole idea. His phone buzzed again, another text, and as he turned on the screen once again to appease his friend lest his device blow up again, he had a thought in the very back of his mind. He'd felt this type of thing only once before.

Her name was Cindy and she was everything that everyone should want to be, at least that's what he thought at the time. She was the last person to make him feel such conflicting emotions, make him think he was always overthinking. She made him feel like the only person on the planet while simultaneously feel so far away from everything concerning her. The last time he enjoyed rainy nights were with her, laughing at jokes about nothing and drinking cocoa. If he was being completely honest with himself, which wasn't something he did very often, he missed it. He missed her, or at least the thoughts of her.

Absentmindedly typing out a reply, Prompto couldn't help but think of the heady feeling he got when he was around her, how his head swam in a fog when she spoke and caressed his features. She was like a drug and when you got a hit you were hooked. With the benefit of hindsight however, you can see bad things a little more clearly. Toxic things are lined with purple in your mind.

Cindy was the brightest purple you could imagine.

She seemed so bubbly, but at the end of all things drugs are drugs. Cocaine is fantastic when you take it, but when you stop the crash is the worst.

Prompto couldn't help but be scared, the last time he felt like this it nearly ruined him. He felt like this about his art form. He felt like that about Cindy. He feels this for Noctis. He can recognize it, but he doesn't want to accept it. Who would want to accept something that has lead to their destruction so many times?

So he stood there in his kitchen, trying his hardest to squash this uncertainty in his mind, he tried to have a conversation with Noctis. He tries to keep it friendly and pedantic, talking about nothing, or at least trying to talk about nothing, but Noct had this amazing ability to run a conversation all on his own. While Prompto tried to keep things very simple Noctis tended to run with anything given to him. In the end though, Prompto brewed himself a cup of coffee, and sat back down at his laptop returning to his work. He answered only every few texts, and he found it best that if you don't have to confront something you didn't have to think about it either.