Falling In Love

21 - For Him

srry fam if it's confusing lmao
pairing: vikklan
word count: 740
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Walking through the rubble, I knew I had messed up. I left them alone in the house while I went out to work to pay for that goddamn trip to safety. Every so often, I saw a glint of silver or gold in the dust below that crunched beneath my feat. Gold and silver that belonged to my parents. The bitter remains of their jewelry and valuables. I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my dirt caked hands. I was too numb to feel anything.

"Lachlan!" I heard a call behind me, but it sounded distant. Everything sounded distant. Like I was hearing things through a wall of cotton.

It hurt knowing that there were people who were hurting like me. It felt like the world had collapsed at my feet.

There were painful screams that erupted from the scorched buildings and I knew those were their last breathes. The last screams that would escape their mouthes. Soon, the pain would dissipate and a calmness would flood their body– like a dam breaking. Their struggling would stop. Another light flicking out in this godforsaken world. 

"Lachlan, Lachlan, thank God you're okay, you're okay, you're alive," I heard an out of breath Vikk chant behind me. He collapsed to his knees, clutching my leg like a child would to their parent. "You're alive," He whispered over and over, chanting it like a mantra. I ran my fingers through his dark hair, letting him hold onto me like I was the last of everyone.

In a way, I was the last. I assumed Vikk's neighbourhood was demolished as well. His house gone. His family.

"We were supposed to have more time," I pointed out, my voice lacking emotion.

"Time," He mumbled, "Time is a human concept. They are not humans. They are monsters."

It was silent mostly. The wind blew through the surrounding trees, blowing the dust into the air.

"Vikk," I said after a moment. He looked up with his hopeless brown eyes, sadness pouring from them like a faucet.

"Yes?"

"Stand up," I commanded, wanting so much in that moment to wash away his heartbreak even if only for a moment.

"You were at work earlier, weren't you?"

He nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but no words fell out.

"To pay for the ride, right?" I prompted. He nodded once more and I felt my heart clench. His gaze fell to his feet.

"I didn't work hard enough. I couldn't afford the to pay for their safety and look where they ended up. They're dead. My family is dead," He looked back up at me with a broken expression. "All thanks to this war."

"Fuckin' ride to safety. What a joke," I muttered, thinking of the last PSA. A message that explained there were vans to take us out of the danger zone, the 'impact zone' they called it. For a fee. A fee families like Vikk and mine couldn't afford. So we went to work in attempt to pay for our ticket to the promise lands. I felt my heart ache for the boy in front of me.

"W-What are you doing?" He stuttered as I brought his face closer to mine.

"You never deserved any of this, you know that? You're so strong, Vikk, you did all you could. You tried and I'm sure they appreciated that until the very end," I stroked his cheek with my thumb, smearing dirt across the surface of his dark skin. I pressed my lips to his softly, savouring the feeling. His lips were chapped and I could feel tears falling down his face. He kissed back in this sweet yet dark moment.

When I pulled back, I was a bit surprised to find myself being kissed once more. This time with more need and force. My eyes fluttered shut as I blocked out the hell surrounding us for this one moment of peace. For this one moment where I know that there is still hope.

Vikk is full on sobbing when I pull back again. I hold him close to me while sobs wrack his body causing him to shake with vigour.

It's hard to hold it together when a war is waging around us. When my loved ones were murdered just hours before. But I had to do it. I had to– for him.