Back To The Future

Kiss Goodbye

Flashback

"~? What's wrong? Please, tell me! You can't hide it from me!", I heard Clive say worriedly.

It had been over three years that we had met for the first time. We were both twelve years old now, and as much as I hated it, I had to leave him alone again.

I tried to get myself together as tears were still falling down my face on the box I was holding in my arms. Clive and I were sitting on a bench in our school's park and I was waiting for my parents to pick me up one last time.

"You're my best friend, Clive", I said.
"You're right. You deserve to know."

I felt him softly laying his hand on my shoulder.

"Clive, I... do you remember when I told you about my doctor's appointment?
The doctors told me that I am very sick. They have to... try and save me."

"Try and save you?"

"Yes. I don't know what it is... my mom has been crying a lot, so I know it doesn't look good for me.
Clive, they're taking me to a clinic to try and heal me, but I don't know if I'll come back.
If I don't, I want you to know that you were the best friend I ever had and that you made my life so much more fun. I'm so sorry that I can't be there with you on your birthday this time."

I looked at Clive who had become completely silent.

"Do you hate me?", I asked.

"Hate you? No! ~, it's the opposite really. You're my best friend and you've been here for me all the time, now it's my turn to be here for you!
I want them to try as hard as they can to save you! It'd be egoistic if I only thought about myself!"

I started crying again.
"Clive, I don't want to leave you alone here. I don't want to lose you and never see you again!"

"You won't! I promise!", he said and before I could do anything about it, he had planted a soft kiss on my cheek.
My face immediately blushed under the tears that were still streaming down it.

"And you know what? When they've healed you, we're going to bake bread again with my parents and solve puzzles together just as we did all those years!
I hope you won't forget me until then!"

"I could never forget you, Clive."

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What I saw when looking into the hospital mirror deeply frightened me. Not because of my looks, but because I was wearing the white clinic shirt that indicated the surgery I would soon have.
And even though I couldn't be completely sure, this was by chance the last time I would ever see myself.

But what scared me the most was never seeing Clive again. He had been so alone before he met me and would probably get bullied again. Could he cope without me? How would he react to the message I had left for him? Would it help him live without me or would he miss me even more?

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"It's okay, honey. It's alright."

My mom was softly pushing me towards the hospital bed as the doctors infused some anesthetic into my arm.

But by the tears in her eyes, I could tell nothing was alright.

"Mom, dad, I love you", I said and I was surprised that I had finally weakened as well, a last tear rolling down my cheek.

And before I could even make out their answers, I saw nothing but darkness.

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Clive's POV

A few days later

It was still very early in the morning when I naturally woke up. Even though it was my thirteenth birthday, I was not excited as much as I had been the years before.
The past few years had been special because of ~. She had never failed to make me laugh but now she was gone. Would she come back again? What if she survived but lost all her memory after the surgery? What if she forgot about me?

While I was still laying in my bed, I glanced at the box that I had put on a chair in my small room- it was the box ~ had given me on the day that she had to leave.

"It's your birthday gift", she had said. "It's nothing new but something very special. I hope you'll like it!"

I decided to make this the first gift I would open.
When I removed all the paper and opened the box, I recognised what it contained.
The top lid of the box read 'Memories' - the box contained all puzzles that ~ and I had ever given each other over the past years!
This was the best gift I had ever received... a collection of sweet memories.

I was daydreaming while looking at each puzzle itself, remembering when I had given or received it from her. Nonetheless, I noticed that there was another scrap of paper in the box which was folded twice- the puzzles weren't folded at all, so it must be something different. When I finally took and unfolded it, I realised that what had been written on it was

'I think I love you'

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A/N: Some flashbacks to try and explain the backstory more! x
(Kiss Goodbye- a reference to one of the cases in Layton Brothers- Mystery Room)