Love Belt [Jonghyun]: You're my love belt, hold me tight,
Hold me in this nervous world, (please hold me)
They're sopping wet as they climb out of the river, gasping for air and holding in laughs. Barbara giggles as soon as she regained her breath. "I can't believe you pushed me off the jump." She wrings out her wet hair and wraps a towel around her waist.
"I can't believe you pulled me down with you," He retorts, shaking the water from his hair and taking a towel from Barbara's outstretched hand. "My back still stings from hitting the water." Barbara snorts from her position on the picnic blanket and pats the spot next to her.
"Whatever, you've had worse. Come and eat." He complies, sitting cross-legged next to her before snatching the sandwich from her hand and taking a bite. Her protest of 'Hey!' does nothing to deter him and soon the sandwich is gone.
Scoffing, she took another sandwich from the basket and gnawed on it. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Dick dozing off with his head in her lap. "Babs," He mutters sleepily. "This was our first picnic, right?"
Barbara mutters a soft answer. "It'll be out last too." She almost wants to take it back. Her mind is suddenly filled with everything she's seen the past few weeks. The headlines that speak of temperature spikes and radiation poisoning. The very thing that gave us warmth and light is killing us.
She sweeps the damp hair from his forehead as he drifts off. She wants to make a lot of memories before it ends. She wants to etch them into her brain, cherish them, and she hopes that it's possible.
She doesn't feel ready to leave yet.
The next day they get ice cream and walk along the street despite the sweltering temperatures. The day after that they go roller-skating, and the day after that they go and meet each other's parents. Barbara wants to make years of memories in the final week. So today they decide to go to the arcade.
The streets are empty, everyone scared to come outside and be at the mercy of the sun. Their hands swing back and forth as they walk in silence before Dick asks. "Do you think that this will stop?" He squints and looks up at the sky.
Barbara averts her eyes and replies with a question. "What? You mean the sun suddenly goes 'my bad' and goes back to its original position?" She too looks up at the sky, wanting to curse the star that's super-heating the Earth.
Dick laughs and Barbara can picture the small smile on his face. "Yeah."
"Probably not." Barbara answers, staring ahead at the arcade yards away from them. "I mean, everyone's given up hope at this point." Dick squeezes her hand.
"I dunno. Maybe everyone's just come to terms with it. I think I'm almost there." Barbara almost has the gall to feel offended that he's accepted losing her so easily. She quickly retracts the thought, it's not like they were leaving each other, they were going together.
"Maybe." She hums, gripping his hand tighter.
"Tomorrow is the day, you know." He meets your eyes and the indifference he displayed just moments before is replaced with anxiety.
"I know." Barbara thinks that maybe, she is ready. The churning of her stomach tells her otherwise.
"What do you wanna do today?" Barbara is sweating despite Dick's air conditioner on full blast. She watches Dick shift uncomfortably on his couch, sweat making his face moist.
"Can we. . ." Barbara licks her dry lips before continuing. "Can we just stay here?" She hates the quiver she can hear in her voice.
She knows the world is ending. Everyone will be dead tomorrow. The air is moist and hard to breath but Barbara sucks in a deep breath anyway. Trying to keep her composure. She can still remember the news when this fiasco began, newspapers and T.V. stations scrambled to find out if it was actually going to happen, reporters on television breaking out into tears, and even families huddled together wishing for a way out. She can still recall the choruses of 'I told you so' and 'I knew it' that came from the people she used to think were crazy.
She looks up at Dick's swollen eyes, caused from the last calls to his family, the last repetitions of 'I love you', and the last goodbyes. They had been like this for the last couple of hours, coated in sweat and just lying on his couch, arms and legs lazily entangled. Every half hour or so one of them would start to cry and just suck in deep breath.
She's says she's going to miss him and he murmurs the same words back to her. It finally occurs to Barbara that it's not just her dying, it's not just Dick, it's the whole world. A whimper fights its way up her throat and she blinks away tears. The heat is even hotter than she can gauge now and she tightens her grip on his shirt.
She feels his hand on her back curl into a fist as a burst of heat makes its way towards them. They both shiver involuntarily and Barbara can practically picture the world engulfing in flames. The tile in his kitchen has already melted and the glass in his bedroom window has shattered, causing them both to jump.
She knows the moment is here, she wants to speak before the hot air suffocates her. "I'll see you later Dick, okay?" Her words are short because her lungs feel like they're burning and she wants to say so much more but can't will herself to open her mouth.
"Same, Babs." He manages to choke out and Barbara feels her eyes water. She buries her face in the couch and waits.
She looks at Dick one last time and as the world burns around them, she finally decides that, maybe, it's okay, that it's not the end of the world.
a/n: this is wrote in a different way than my other sad stuff? not sure but i tried. the next one is gonna be happier.