Dust and Memories

Midnight Messages

Roderich hadn't been able to sleep for a week now. He laid alone in bed at night, staring at the bare walls of his new apartment and wondering what Basch was looking at, before realizing that was silly talk. Basch had never been one to stay up past eleven.

The blond man's final words to him haunted him at these peaceful hours, and he found himself thinking far too much into them.

"We're not friends, and we never were."

Did that mean that all those times Basch had bailed him out of trouble as a child meant nothing? Did that mean that the smiles shared, the laughter that floated to the setting sun, the days spent dancing in the soft spring breeze were all meaningless?

The thought of living such a lie for so many years crushed the aristocrat. He trusted Basch, and still did, with everything he had. The Swiss man had been his friend when he had none, had been his lifeline when he was ready to give up on the world.

What had happened to them? Where were those two children with wide, tender eyes, and hearts brimming with innocence and love?

He had no answer, but the question was enough to keep him up in the dead of night.

In his heart, he knew he had to make peace with Basch, lest he spend his whole life sleepless, dwelling on a question that had no clear answer. But how could he make peace with someone who wanted absolutely nothing to do with him?

The bare wood floor was cool beneath his feet as he slipped out of bed and shuffled slowly towards the phone, picking it up hesitantly and gazing at the scrap of torn paper that rested beside it, where he had hastily scribbled his former friend's number in blue ink.

He filled his lungs with a deep breath of air as he pressed the softly glowing numbers on the landline, and finally pressed the call button. He knew Basch wouldn't pick up (it was two in the morning, after all,) but he wanted to make peace. Perhaps it would be easier if he didn't have to talk to the grumpy Swiss man.

The phone rang for a while, and he waited until he heard the voicemail.

"Hello, you've reached the Zwingli family. We can't get to the phone right now, so please leave a message, and we'll get back to you."

Roderich waited for the soft beep that followed, and cleared his throat before beginning to speak.