REPLAY [ krtele / kritz / krii7y ]

ϙᴜᴀᴛᴛʀᴏ

STAGE ONE, DAY ONE:

john hummed softly, running a hand through his hair, a lilac poetically placed between his head and his ear. it was a sign for toby to save john from his doom, but of course, toby wasn't thinking that john was eligible for hanahaki.

if she knew about jaren..well, more who gave jaren the hanahaki that ultimately settled in his demise, or even cameron, she would have done something about it right then and there. she would have made john get the surgery, because she is not okay with being a murder.

no one would be. that's not the point, though, the point is that john keyes sat down with toby lyons at lunch with a sickly sweet smile and leaned over to the now blonde girl. "rocky," he hummed, toby smiling softly at him.

"hi, johnny." toby hummed, setting her hands in her lap. "like the lilac." she giggled, pointing to john's platinum blonde hair.

"why, thank you." john smiled, taking the lilac out quietly and setting it on the table. "you wanna go to the movies with me, rocky? i know you've been wanting to see jumanji."

toby's smile widened, nodding swiftly. "oh, that'd be so fun, john. when?"

"tonight." john chuckled, toby's smile growing brighter. "and you can have that lilac."

the girl snatched it off of the table, smiling softly. "what time, johnny?" she giggled, placing it behind her ear gently.

john didn't answer for a moment, watching toby with a soft smile, showing for just a moment that oh, god, he was in love. "seven," he breathed after a moment, shifting. "the movie starts at seven. i'll come to your dorm at six?"

toby nodded softly, getting up. "i've got class. i'll see you at six." she flashed the smile that made john's heart skip a beat before trotting off towards her class, fitting right in with a group of boys.

"take the stupid helmet off, eric!" was all john heard before the group disappeared around the corner, john letting out a breath and getting up to head back to his dorm.

⏪

four p.m., that was the time and toby lyons was watching mason enter the dorm as if he were the only boy that the girl had ever seen.

and suddenly, toby had a genius idea. "hey, mason?"

mason looked up, smiling at his friend. "hey, toby, what's up?" he questioned, flopping down on his bed.

toby shifted, leaning up slightly on her bed. "wanna go to the movies with me and a friend?"

"what movie?" mason smiled, shifting. "because if it's cats, i'll cut my own eyes out."

toby gasped jokingly, shaking her head. "oh, no, i'd never put you through that torture. jumanji, you wanna go? we're leaving at six."

"'course," mason hummed, "you're payin', though."

toby giggled, nodding and leaning back down. it took her a few moments before the love on her face washed away and was replaced with the realization of reality. first off, john was paying..so he should've been notified before she invited anybody. she felt bad, wondering if john would say no to someone else being added onto their adventure.

she didn't want to have to cancel on mason, so she grabbed her phone and clicked john's contact, quickly crafting a message. 

⏪

ROCKY 🌸 (4:13 P.M.)

hey johnny, can i invite a friend to go see jumani
with us?

JOHNNY 😇 (4:14 P.M.)

i dont kno rocky
u sure ur not gonna fuck in the back of my jeep rangler?

ROCKY 🌸 (4:14 P.M.)

you don't have a jeep rangler, johnny
and i'm sure 😁

JOHNNY 😇 (4:15 PM.)

then sure
as long as i dont find any condoms 👀

ROCKY 🌸 (4:15 P.M.)

😂 mkay, thank you

⏪

in all honesty, john wanted this to be his chance to make toby fall in love with him. and of course, john keyes definitely could not do that with some random third wheel joining them. however, he didn't want to upset toby and just agreed. of course, he would have more opportunities to make toby fall in love with him.

that was all john keyes thought about as he showered, brushing through his hair and finding his nicest "movies" outfit. he hummed softly, checking the clock and nodding when he saw that it said five, he sprayed cologne quickly and plopped back on his bed. he was originally going to scroll through twitter but he found himself scrolling through his camera roll, he felt the pricks of tears when he saw the pictures of jaren but didn't stop.

he slowly clicked on one, chewing on his lip lightly. "milk boy," he mumbled, "i'm sorry." although no one was there to hear him, he wiped his eyes and whispered again. "i'm sorry."

no response, he hadn't expected there to be one but it would've been comforting..oh, so comforting to hear jaren's voice again. he could be out of this mess, no hanahaki.

he wanted it to be over, everything. hanahaki was trying to rip him out from the outside in, it had started with his mental state and then moved into his lungs. it was all he thought about, whether it be jaren's untimely death or his own swiftly approaching. he didn't forget that jaren's hanahaki had gone swiftly. so fast that the doctors weren't prepared, they could have saved jaren had they just had all the facts.

had john just loved him in time, and that's when john keyes realized he was sobbing and begging the air for forgiveness. yelling for his milk boy to just come back to him, oh, god, just come back to him.

that's all he wanted, to hold him tight and be back in high school. to be able to tell tyler wine that he was the best friend ever one more time, he wanted to hear darryl's voice and not be worried that the boy had been sobbing so horribly that his throat had almost been ripped to shreds by his voice box.

simply, john keyes wished he could grab hanahaki by the throat and shove it in a box, then bury that box in a dark..deep hole.

then just..leave it there, forever.

but he couldn't and before he knew it, it was six and he was spraying his cologne again. the thought of his milk boy in the coffin fresh in his mind as he walked to toby's dorm and brought the girl to his car.

the thought of his milk boy sitting in the hospital room as they yelled for doctors, just trying to resuscitate him long enough to get the flowers out of his lungs, being fresh in his mind as he shook hands with mason and introduced himself.

and jaren smith was what john thought about throughout jumanji, not even appreciating kevin hart's one-liners. he had conversed with toby a bit, smiling at the girl more then he ever would have anyone else. (except jaren, of course.)