Dreamers- A Merome, Pooflan, Wroetostar and Minizerk Story

⋖Chapter 24⋗

Harry's P.O.V.

I had seen something, something that I wasn't sure Vikk was even aware of yet. It was the same thing I felt for him for so many years, a love for the boy I had known as my little brother for so many years, and this time the love wasn't for me. Little Vikk truly loved me, that was true enough, but now some of that love was directed at someone else.

Lachlan had captured the boys heart the moment they had met and I was glad because it distracted the cinnamon skinned boy from what was happening to me, how fast I was dying. They were practically inseparable now, spending most of their daylight hours together, laughing and smiling and looking... happy. That had faded for a little when Simon and Josh disappeared in the night, but I understood why.

Simon had been dying too and he knew it. I heard his weak whisper to Josh when he thought I was asleep, about how he wanted to go home. It was easy to know why he wanted to go home, even though that place was now a burnt and razed flatland, he had lived there for years and there must be so many memories attached to that land. It made sense that he wanted to die in a place he knew.

For a few days I almost expected Josh to return, alone, but I soon realised that that wasn't going to be the case. Josh didn't want to return- once Simon died, he would have nothing left to live for. He knew Vikk and I would be cared for, we were safe and well with people were trusted. Josh... he wouldn't return. Once Simon died he would take his own life, leaving this world behind.

But the thing was, I was so glad for Lachlan. He was only a little bit younger than Vikk, a cheeky, happy, bouncy boy that I already loved dearly. He was the person I wanted Vikk to spend the rest of his time with because they simply fit together like puzzle pieces and it was clear that Vikk adored him.

My thoughts turned to him and what he would do once I was gone. It was inevitable now, that I should die, and Vikk would live on after me. He had improved dramatically ever since we had met up with Josh and Simon and then the new group and although he was still held back by his rickets he had a healthy glow about him, he still had days where he couldn't bear to move because of pain, but they came less often. He would live, and I would die.

I looked across the clearing at Rob and Preston, sitting together. I lay, slept alone now except for when Vikk crawled into my arms at night and whispered enduring little secrets to me, about how happy he was. Surely he wasn't oblivious to my plight, maybe he was just ignoring it, pretending I wasn't dying.

But, Preston and Rob. The younger was resting his head on Rob's shoulder, softly whispering to each other and giggling together, both watching the two younger boys- their Lachlan and my Vikk.

It would make my death easier, I thought, to know that Vikk will be cared for once I was gone.

All I had to do was ask.

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Jerome and Mitch had gone with Vikk and Lachy to swim in the stream, leaving me alone with Rob and Preston. This would really be my only chance to tell them, ask them to care for him. I caught Rob's attention, he had been looking in my direction, but I was too weak to sit up and go to them to talk.

"Yeah Harry?" Rob asked, coming to sit down beside me and after a moment Preston followed his boyfriend, flopping down behind him and just in my view.

"I- I need to talk to you." I whispered, wincing in pain as I rolled over onto my back. "Without the others around."

Rob looked concerned for a moment until I gave him a soft smile, gently reassuring him.

"It's alright." I breathed. "It's about... it's about Vikk." A look crossed Preston's face and he glanced at Rob, holding his gaze for a moment.

"O-okay?" Rob stuttered, leaning over to squeeze my shoulder. I sighed.

"I know I'm dying." I said, avoiding their gazes because I didn't want to see their reactions. "And I'm worried about Vikk, so much. I don't want to see him left alone after I'm gone and it'll make it so much easier to know that he's being looked after."

"You want our promise that we'll look after him? We'll take care of him?" I nodded.

"I want your promise. I want to know that you'll take care of him like I did once I'm gone, that he'll be okay."

"Of course." Rob whispered and I finally looked up at him and Preston. They were both smiling, even if they were a little teary eyed. "Of course we'll look after him, of course we will. Lachy loves him and we do too."

And that was all I needed to hear.

"Thank you." I mumbled, closing my eyes. "It'll make it easier."

"We'll be here." Rob said. "Til the very end."

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It really was much easier, knowing that Vikk would be cared for after my death. I could relax much more, I could fall asleep and not care if I didn't wake up in the morning, but the end didn't come just yet. Something did tell me that Simon and Josh were gone and I would be seeing them very soon, but not yet. I still had to say goodbye.

As I became weaker, days stretching into weeks, I noticed things that I hadn't noticed before. That Mitch often leaned across to Jerome for comforting touches and that Jerome always returned them, that Rob seemed to waver in his confidence whenever someone needed a question answered that wasn't about plants. That Preston went to Rob for comfort if the situation got out of hand and that Lachlan got scared by loud noises. That Vikk cried to himself when he thought I was asleep, often going to the younger blonde if he was awake. Things that made my heart ache because I would miss them so much.

Was this how Simon felt in his final days, so aware of everything yet feeling like he was in a cloud that blocked everything out?

Because I felt like that, and that was how I knew the end was coming.