a forever goodbye

2

A week had passed since Akaashi's visit to the doctor. He had been put on several medications to help ease the pain but still, he'd get a migraine twice a week.

Upon hearing the news, his parents made him not go to collage. "Your health comes first, dear. Once you get better then you can go." His mother had told him gently with a sigh. This angered the eighteen year old. All he wanted was to go to collage, graduate at the top of his class then find his dream job but sadly, this had to wait. He was stuck at this parents house, in his childhood room filled with posters of old bands he used to listen to in his teens. He looked around and saw an Arctic Monkeys and Mother Mother poster on his closet door and wall sighing at his cliché edgy teen phase in middle school.

Bokuto completely messed up his schedule just so he could see Akaashi everyday. He didn't mind though, after all, he loved seeing Akaashi anyway.

"My first surgery is in December." Akaashi sighed as both him and Bokuto sat in silence for the past ten minutes.

Bokuto's head popped up, looking at Akaashi with sparkling eyes. "Really? Whats the date?"

"December 30th." Akaashi said, looking at the calendar and signing as it read 'November 29th'

"Wow... thats coming up soon..." Bokuto chewed his cheek. An awkward silence fell upon them once again. Bokuto wanting to say something but not knowing how to tell him. Akaashi noticed his behavior, looking over at him with a slight smile.

"What do you want to say?"

"I was wondering if you'd want to go to the fair with me tomorrow? I was supposed to go with Kuroo but he canceled on me. We can only go on the slow rides like the ferries wheel." Bokuto suggested, his eyes trailing to his thumbs that twirled around each other. Akaashi's smile brightened, his eyes never leaving Bokuto. He reached his arm out to grab Bokuto's hand. "I'd love to go."

Bokuto smiled back, squeezing Akaashi's hand. They stayed in this position until Akaashi hissed, grabbing his hair and folding inward. This was possibly the worst one yet. Bokuto quickly got up from his chair to assist Akaashi, grabbing his medication. He removed a single pill from the bottle and grabbed his water bottle, handing them to Akaashi. He quickly threw the pill in his mouth, downing it with a mouth full of water. After the sharp pains had passed, Akaashi was left with a smaller headache.

"I-Im going to lay down now, Bokuto." He said slowly getting up from his chair. Bokuto assisted him, sitting on the bed next to him, his hand still rested in his. "If you want me to, I can leave so you can rest a little."

Akaashi shook his head. "No... please stay, Bokuto." Bokuto slipped a slight smile, rubbing his thumb against Akaashi's hand.

"Alright then. I'm not going anywhere."

Akaashi's eyes started to close and his lips parted gently. He was sleeping soundly. Bokuto then gently took one of his fingers, brushing Akaashi's bangs away from his forehead. The setting sun that poured in through the cracked curtains spilled on his face, illuminating his features. His eyeslashes shined against his rosey red cheeks. To Bokuto, he looked like an angle. Bokuto then released something, something thats been on his mind since the first time he met Akaashi.

"Hes so beautiful"

Bokuto smiled as he played with Akaashi's hair gently... and aloud he said it. "You're absolutely beautiful- no- gorgeous. You're gorgeous, Keiji Akaashi." A reply was not expected. Bokuto knew he was sound asleep. It was something he had wanted to say, but simply couldn't say it to Akaashi's wide awake face.

Then his face fell, remembering the hospital visit. Curling his hand around Akaashi's again, he sighed.

"I don't care how much it will cost, I just want you healthy again, Akaashi. Thats all I want. Money doesn't matter to me. I'll make you better and that's a promise." He whispered gently, watching Akaashi's hair fall slowly back onto his cheek as soft snores left his lips. Bokuto admired his sharp jawline and how it perfectly fit his face. Bokuto's eyes then moved to Akaashi's lips, they looked soft like a rose petal. He thought about every dream he had about kissing those lips. He'd always scolded himself the next morning for dreaming about that. They were just friends and it would stay that way- forever, but no matter how much he hated himself for it he couldn't help but dream about Keiji Akaashi's lips pressing against his own. Friends or not, he wanted to kiss them really badly. He so badly wanted to run his fingers through his soft hair while leaning their foreheads together after a kiss.

Bokuto didn't want to admit it but he was in love with Akaashi. Its something he didn't want to think about. They were best friends and he never wanted to ruin their friendship with a one-sided confession. He didn't want to lose Akaashi like he had lost most of his friends in middle school, so he kept his feelings burried in the back of his mind, but upon seeing Akaashi like this, completely at peace, made those feelings burst open like an animal thats been caged.

A blush appered on his pale cheeks as those thoughts rolled in.

"I love everything about Keiji Akaashi, I love him so much that words can't describe."

And he whispered, as quiet as the wind, "I love you, Keiji Akaashi... more then anyone else in this world." Akaashi then moved around in his sleep, causing Bokuto to draw his hand back. Another smile plastered his face before he leaned in and kissed his forehead.

"Sleep well, Akaashi. Ill be here, in your chair... like always."

A few hours later, Akaashi woke up yawning and stretching his arms out in the air. He sat up, looking around the room. He spotted Bokuto calmly sitting in the corner of the room watching a movie on his laptop. With a groggy voice, Akaashi spoke up.

"What are you watching?"

Bokuto purked up, looking over to Akaashi. "The Flaut in Our Stars." He responded, clicking pause on the movie.

"Pff, why that movie?" Akaashi chuckled, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, to be fair it's a really great movie." Bokuto chuckled too. Akaashi moved over in the bed, leaving room for Bokuto to sit next to him. He patted the open space waiting for Bokuto to join.

Bokuto stayed quiet, looking at the empty space.

"Sit with me. I want to watch it too." He said softly, his voice a mere whisper. Bokuto nodded, sitting next to Akaashi with the laptop in half of both their laps. He pressed play while leaning his head on Bokuto's shoulder. Bokuto glanced down at him, remaining calm. He then rested his head atop of Akaashi's. They hadn't said a word for the rest of the movie enjoying each other's company.

Bokuto started to doze off, his eyelids feeling heavy and quite hard to keep open. When the credits rolled, he finally drifted off to sleep. Akaashi pulled his blanket over Bokuto's sleeping form after watching him for a moment. He too felt tired and fell asleep.