Dust and Memories

Kiss Me

Nothing could have prepared Lili for what she would wake up to. The first thing she noticed was that she was not in her room at home. The lights were too bright, and the walls in her room were pale green, not stark white. Panic began to paralyze her limbs. Had she been kidnapped?!

All she remembered was feeling weak, so very weak, and going to take a shower. After that, she was in darkness. Barely conscious, she turned her head very slightly to the window, half-lidded, virident eyes widening at what she saw.

There was her brother, tucked up against the side of a very familiar brunette man, who had his arm around the smaller blond's thin shoulders. Basch seemed to be asleep, with long, thick lashes resting against his tear-stained cheeks. His breaths were slow and steady, and she was about to close her eyes again when he opened his.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his voice slightly husky from lack of use. The man next to him chuckled and shook his head.

"No, i'm sorry. I really messed up, putting my dating life before my best friend. I paid for it, in the end," he said quietly, and Basch averted his gaze, eyes on the man's chest rather than his tanzanite eyes.

"I didn't mean it when I said we weren't friends," he mumbled. "I was just startled, and your voice opened a box of hurt that I never wanted to see again. But...I kind of liked getting your messages."

Gently, Roderich slipped a long finger beneath Basch's chin, and the petit blond looked up again, slightly startled. "I was never angry at you for hating me. I...I missed you," Roderich murmured.

Basch was getting lost in his fathomless eyes, where he could read all the years he had been gone. He saw raw hurt, grief, and affection, all braided together to be one emotion - hope.

"I missed you too," Basch murmured quietly, only then noticing how close their faces were.

Lili felt happiness bloom in her frail chest when she saw Roderich dip his head, and Basch tilt his up, and their silhouettes in the window looked briefly like one being when they kissed.

It was only for a second, because at the very moment they had chosen to kiss each other, the door burst open to reveal Basch and Lili's frantic mother, and they jumped apart as though scalded. She giggled hoarsely at their crimson cheeks, and Ms. Zwingli's surprised expression at seeing her son and his former best friend kissing.

"Hello Mutti, Basch, and Roderich. I'm going to be okay."