Yuya put his phone down on his desk. He couldn't stop thinking about what Marucho had said. Even if it was just to push Yuya away from Dan, he couldn't deny it made him question himself again. Was he bi? He wasn't sure of it; he could be straight. He didn't even know he liked men before Dan came around. Maybe it was just because Dan was attractive.
Everyone would want to have that man. But would everyone want to hold his hand, listen to his voice for hours, hold him, kiss him? Probably not, because even if Zuzu jokes about those things to Yuya, he would never want to actually do it. So, Dan really had the power to make someone realize they were gay. Usually, that only happened to celebrities. Dan was a celebrity in Yuya's eyes.
Yuya was sitting at the park bench, putting his skates on. He was going to learn how to do the flip by tomorrow. So, he was back at practicing to flip on the ground, it took him a few tries to get him caught back up but once he was, he learned to flip easily.
"That's the kind of progress we need. Now, lets go to the ramp." Sylvio said as he led Yuya to the small ramp.
"We'll practice on this one first since it has no rail on the back for you to get caught on." Sylvio said. Yuya watched as Sylvio made sure that it was still possible and after a running start, he was able to do it. He smiled and gestured for Yuya to try. Yuya was scared, he could get seriously injured if he were to fall on his back. The metal bar's glare was intimidating. He looked over at Sylvio, who was standing next to the ramp. His hands were held together in front of him and his face bore no fear. Yuya thought that he shouldn't be afraid either.
He breathed in deeply and exhaled. Yuya ran up to the ramp, going up smoothly, right hand grabbed onto the coping a split second before the left. He swung his legs up anyways, his grip faltered, his foot slipped, and he could feel himself falling. That coping wasn't going to welcome his fall either. But his back never hit the coping. He continued to fall back and then slide down the ramp.
He saw Sylvio's hand where his back would have hit the coping, he cringed as he held his wrist with the other hand. Yuya quickly stood up to inspect the injury. It didn't look like that bone was supposed to be there.
"Fuck. That looks bad." Yuya said.
"Yeah, you took a pretty hard fall." Sylvio tried to joke but then the shock of it went away and he felt the pain.
"Damn it, Sylvio. Is your brother here?" Yuya asked. Sylvio nodded, looking down in attempt to hide how weak he felt. He's broken bones before, but he hasn't broken one in a while. He had forgotten how much it had hurt. He skated over to his brother with Yuya.
"Hey, what's up?" Sylvio's brother asked. Sylvio looked up at him, tears streaming down his face as he held up his wrist. He felt just like a child again, not able to get any words to come out of his mouth. Sylvio's brother reacted quickly, knowing that Sylvio wouldn't cry for a silly injury.
They went over to his car, Yuya and Sylvio sat in the back as his brother started the car. As they were driving, Yuya put his shoes back on and even if Sylvio insisted that he could put his shoes on himself, tying his shoes with one hand was difficult. He let Yuya tie his shoes for him. The hospital lights blinded Sylvio behind his glasses and tears. He took his glasses off to wipe the tears and he saw his brother talking to the receptionist. Yuya was beside him, he could see his shoes, he never really noticed how bad his shoe taste was. He internally laughed.
"Sylvio, why did you do that? I would have been fine." Yuya said.
"It was my fault, Yuya. I should have taught you better before you attempted to do it. I rushed." Sylvio said, voice sloppy from the crying.
"Sylvio, if I thought I wasn't ready, I wouldn't have gone up that ramp. My hand just slipped on the coping." Yuya said in an attempt to comfort Sylvio. Of course, he was lying. But it was good to lie sometimes.
Sylvio nodded and then he was called to get x-rayed. Yuya followed him, explaining to the doctors and nurses what had happened and showing the skates as evidence. They did the routine for broken bones, giving him a cast for his wrist.
Then, they were on their way back home.
"That was a pain." Sylvio said.
"And I used to think that hospitals were comfortable." Yuya said.
"Hospitals are terrible." Sylvio replied.
"I was like five, Sylvio." Yuya argued.
"When I was five, they were putting staples on my head." Sylvio replied. Yuya didn't say anything further except directions to his house.
He had them drop him off at the corner so that his dad wouldn't hear him come back. He snuck back into his house and sat on the couch. He held the part of his back that Sylvio had saved. He was really considerate for no particular reason.
Dan woke up with the feeling of warmth still present on his wrists. He placed them to his cheeks, but there was no heat radiating from them. He sighed as he dropped them to his sides. He got out of his bed to get ready for the day. He had to pack up his stuff, since he was going to be leaving the next day. Then he heard his phone start to ring.
He picked it up, "hello?"
"`Ello Dan." Yuya greeted.
"Yuya! It's like two in the morning over there, why are you awake?" Dan asked.
"It's barely two thirty, Dan. Anyways, I just wanted to update you." Yuya replied. Dan rolled his eyes to the word, 'barely.'
"What's going on?" Dan asked.
"Well, I was skating with Sylvio, and he was trying to teach me this trick. But I ended up falling and he broke my fall with his wrist." Yuya explained. Dan stopped what he was doing.
"And is he okay?" Dan asked.
"Yeah, his wrist is just broken." Yuya replied.
"Yuya, I think that's the opposite of being okay. His wrist is broken." Dan replied. He was confused at how calm Yuya was about the whole thing.
"But he has a cast now, so it'll be fine." Yuya responded.
"YOU BROKE Sylvio'S WRIST, Yuya! How is it just, 'fine?'" Dan asked.
"Well, he said that he was fine. He broke his left wrist so he can still write." Yuya replied.
"Ugh, and I'm stuck over here for another day." Dan whined.
"At least it's one more day, I miss you Georgie." Yuya said.
"Shut up. You know when I come back you have to do whatever I tell you, right?" Dan replied.
"Yes, your majesty. I still eagerly await your return." Yuya replied. Dan smiled at Yuya's stupidness.
"Okay, Yuya. I have to start packing." Dan said.
"NOOOO! Talk to me while you're packing!" Yuya demanded. Dan sighed. He put the phone on his dresser and tried to facetime Yuya. Yuya accepted it and Dan started to walk around his room and pack up his things. All the while Yuya kept talking to him, both complimenting him and making fun of the way he packed his things.
Then Dan found one of his uncle's sweater in the pile of clothes. His uncle was around Yuya's height, maybe taller, so the sweater fit him big. He put it on and stood in front of the camera with it.
"Dan, what are you doing?" Yuya asked, laughing a little.
"This is how one of your sweaters would look on me." Dan said, spinning around to give Yuya a full view of himself. Yuya giggled at the view.
"You have sweater paws." Yuya pointed out. Dan looked at them and smiled brightly. He continued packing with the sweater on. Dan could feel Yuya's eyes on him as he talked. Whenever he looked up, he could see the admiration in Yuya's eyes. He could feel his cheeks burn at the thought.
Soon he was done, and he checked on Yuya since he hadn't heard him in the past few minutes. The area where Dan would usually see Yuya was black, so he turned off his camera and put the phone to his ear. He could hear Yuya's gentle snoring and assumed that he was asleep. Dan sighed and put his phone back on his bedside table.
Then he heard a voice through the phone, "Dan?" Dan sat next to the bed and picked the phone up.
"Yeah Yuya?" Dan asked quietly to the phone.
"Love you Dan." Yuya replied. Dan smiled and rolled his eyes; Yuya would even joke like that in his sleep.
"Love you too, Yuya." Dan replied. "And I actually mean it." Dan hung up and Yuya and went downstairs to eat.
Yuya stared at the phone on his desk. He was falling asleep on the call, he was going to say, "I love you Dan, goodnight." But he was too tired to get all of the words out. Then he expected Dan to just say goodnight and hang up. What he didn't expect was whatever the fuck just happened. He just lost a bet to Zuzu thanks to him. Damn it Dan, couldn't wait a week? Yuya was too worn out to think about the implications of what Dan had said. So, he wrote it down and fell asleep, hoping that when he woke up, he would understand.
Dan took one last look at his childhood park. He had two more hours before he had to go back to his family to stuff into two cars and head to the airport. He sat on one of the swings, swaying back and forth slowly. Then he heard footsteps approach from the rocks behind him. He turned around to be unpleasantly greeted by the face of Marucho.
Dan turned back around, "what do you want, Marucho?" Marucho took the seat beside Dan, swinging slightly higher than him. Dan kept at his pace.
"C'mon Dan, I bet you can't swing higher than me." Marucho challenged. Dan looked at him, a face of pure happiness. A face of his childhood. Dan started to swing higher, remembering the past where they would do this as kids. Marucho laughed at the challenge as he swung higher than Dan. Dan tried to challenge him still, but his height gave the illusion that he was swinging higher than him. He declared Marucho the winner as he slowed down his swing.
"Now we have to jump, remember?" Marucho said, slowing his swing down a little to ensure he doesn't break anything, then he jumped, landing on the dirt/sand in front of them. Dan jumped off as well, landing next to Marucho. Their childhood was great, it was always fun, and they never argued. He liked to hope that the Marucho next to him was the Marucho from the past.
But then Marucho climbed on top of him and pinned his hands above his head.
"We aren't the same as when we were kids, Dan." Marucho said. Dan glared at him. He hated the hope he had. He should have known that Marucho wouldn't change overnight.
"And I noticed that, even if I changed to like you; I liked the old you. The you that would bend to my every command and request just to keep me as your friend." Marucho said. Dan didn't blink, scared that if he did, Marucho would use that as an opportunity.
"And now you're the new you. The one that has friends at home, who actually care about you. I know they care more than I do. Because if they didn't-" Marucho tightened his grip on Dan's wrist making him cringe and try to squirm away.
"If they didn't; you wouldn't be fighting back." Marucho said, loosening his grip once again.
"So, I just wanted to show you how much I care, one last time before you leave." Marucho said.
Dan's mouth finally opened, "Marucho, no." But Marucho leaned in and let go of Dan's wrist. Instead, he moved to wrap his arms around Dan. Dan tried to push him off, but that made Marucho just hold on tighter. Then he felt Marucho shake as his shoulder dampened.
"FUCK! WHY WON'T YOU JUST LOVE ME!" Dan froze at the sound. Marucho looked up at him with a face covered in tears.
"I love someone else, Marucho." Dan said calmly, as not to provoke him further.
"It's that Yuya bitch, isn't it?" Marucho said, voice finally cracking.
"Yeah." Dan replied. Marucho got off of Dan and sat up, wiping the tears from his face. Dan sat up as well.
"You know, you don't have to be homophobic to fit in. That's actually a stupid way to try and fit in." Dan said. Marucho looked at him, only some tears remained.
"Ha, can't really change now. I've been stupid since the beginning; I have to keep up the act." Marucho replied. Then he stood up and wiped the sand off his pants.
"We aren't the same as before, Dan. And you just happened to get the lucky end of life. You have family and friends that support you through every decision. They all have your back, no matter what you do. Meanwhile, I was taught to hat people like us my entire life. And I made friends with people who had the same beliefs. That's why I fell for you Dan, because you cared."
Marucho stuck out a hand for Dan to take. Dan refused and got off the ground himself. Marucho cringed and pulled his hand back.
"I'm sorry that I took that care for granted." Marucho said as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Then he left, without any farewell from Dan. Dan watched as him, Runo and Julie got into the car. He dusted himself off and went back home. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to relive his past.
GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF BEFORE AND THE AFTERMATH OF A CAR CRASH. IF YOU WANT TO SEE HOW IT TURNS OUT THEN READ BUT ILL PUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE END NOTES TOO SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO.
"Dude, what the fuck was that over there?" Runo said, pushing at Marucho's shoulder. The car swerved a little from the push.
"What are you bitching about now?" Marucho replied.
"You, motherfucker." Runo said.
"You think we didn't hear you? 'Why won't you love me?' Like you're Dan's bitch." Runo mocked him. Leaning on Marucho's shoulder, causing the car to swerve again.
"Don't be a dick, Runo." Julie said. Runo got off Marucho's shoulder.
"What? How am I being a dick? This fag thinks it's right to just go around professing his love to every other fag he sees." Runo said hitting him again.
"Runo, fucking stop! We're going to crash." Julie yelled.
"Runo, just quit bitching about it while I'm driving." Marucho said.
"Aw, Marucho can't handle a few shoves. Do you want me to drive you two babies?" Runo said, grabbing the wheel from the passenger's seat.
"Runo, what the fuck?" Marucho asked as he tried to shove Runo off the steering wheel.
"C'mon Marucho, just let me take the wheel." Runo teased, moving the steering wheel from side to side.
"Runo, we're on the highway! Don't you know when enough it enough?" Marucho screamed.
"JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL," Runo sang as he leaned the car to the right side of the road.
"RUNO WHAT THE FUCK!" Julie screamed as he tightened his seatbelt.
"TAKE IT FROM MY HANDS!" Runo sang loudly again as he swerved back to the left side.
"`CAUSE I CAN'T DO THIS ALONE!" Runo swerved back to the right.
"RUNO LET GO!" Marucho yelled.
"I'M LETTING GO!" Runo sang as he let go of the steering wheel. Then he looked up and saw a light approaching them quickly. He couldn't find the voice to speak. And neither could Marucho as he followed Runo's line of sight. Marucho smiled in the light, maybe now, something would change. Something would come out of all of this, right?
Julie woke up and quickly unbuckled his seatbelt, falling onto the roof of the car and climbing out of the window that had shattered in the crash. As he escaped, he cut his palms on some of the glass.
Once out, he looked at the other two in the car. Runo had never worn his seatbelt, so he crashed headfirst into the window. Then Marucho, he was unconscious, but maybe not dead. Julie looked over to Runo who was sticking out his window, then he dragged the corpse away from the car.
Julie didn't care about the gross feeling of the body, or the stinging pain in his palms, he had to help Marucho. After the corpse was far enough away, he climbed back into the car, cutting his back on the glass above him. Once he was in, he reached over to Marucho, unbuckling his seatbelt and catching him before his head hit the roof.
He grabbed his sleeves and pulled him out of the car, apologizing for cutting him on the same glass. Once they were out, he dragged both of them a safe distance away from the car.
Then, Julie inspected himself. Other than the pain in his side and right leg, he was relatively unscathed. Runo was long gone; Julie couldn't bring himself to look at him long enough to give a good description. But his face no longer looked like a face. Then he looked over at Marucho, his arms had shards of glass in them, shards that Julie was too afraid to take out.
Then, Julie did the thing he was dreading to do. He put two fingers to the side of Marucho's throat. Julie waited a few seconds for a heartbeat. None. Another few seconds? None. Julie's vision was blocked by tears as he switched to put his other hand's fingers against Marucho's throat.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." Julie repeated the word over and over. He hoped that one of the times he said it, Marucho would suddenly spring up. But he didn't neither of them did. Julie laid his head on Marucho's chest, trying to evaluate what had just happened.
Julie picked himself off the ground and to the other car, every step made his right leg sting more. He eventually made it up the hill to check up on the man in the other car. His head was on his dashboard. Julie made it to the open window on the driver's side and went to check his pulse. He could feel the beating of the heart. He quickly went to shake the man awake. He awoke with a groan, then he looked over at Julie with wide eyes.
"Are you okay, you're head's bleeding." The man said. Julie wiped the blood off, it wasn't too much.
"Can you call an ambulance sir?" Julie asked. The man pulled out his phone and called an ambulance to come pick the four of them up. Julie rode in an ambulance with Marucho, not wanting to see Runo's face again. Though, he couldn't see Marucho's either but at least he wasn't the one that almost killed them all. After everything that had happened, Julie didn't actually feel that bad. They were gone, but they were always terrible to him.
Good riddance.