REPLAY [ krtele / kritz / krii7y ]

ᴄɪɴϙᴜᴇ

STAGE ONE, DAY TWO:

john keyes sat in his dorm room, his bed pushed up against the wall with his phone propped up on his dresser. he was facetiming a friend from his hometown, darryl noveschosch. john didn't have any classes that day and figured, what the hell? i'll call my best friend.

so there he sat, on the floor..talking to his phone. of course, he didn't look completely sane if you just walked in the room, but that was only because you couldn't see his phone. he didn't mind, he was smiling like an idiot as he watched darryl laugh. he could tell that darryl hadn't been doing that much anymore and he was happy to see it. "so, how's evan?" john questioned, running his hand through his hair.

"he and jon broke up after uh, you know." darryl mumbled the last two words, almost slipping up and mentioning the unforgiven name. jaren wasn't a word people liked to say around john, they were afraid that he'd break down like he had at the funeral. 

"oh, that sucks." john frowned, "what about lui and david?"

"oh!" darryl smiled softly, "they're good. they're still here, they live together now. visit sometimes, jon and evan are friends again. that's really good because they weren't talking for a bit. i think jon said they broke up because evan was being a dick, or something like that." darryl explained quietly, john nodding softly. 

⏪

"john," jaren had whispered, nudging his ex. john remembered it like it was yesterday, jaren had nudged him gently and whispered his name swiftly, again. "john!"

john had looked over at the brunette boy, humming a soft "hm?" before turning to jaren. "what is it, milk boy?" he asked, having no idea of what would happen in just a few days.

"jon and evan are dating," jaren had whispered matter o' factly, earning a chuckle from john.

"yeah, milk boy, i know." was john's response, everyone knew that jon and evan were "dating" it had been a joke since freshman year.

"no, like actually!" jaren had huffed, his pout breaking john's heart to remember. even if jaren was joking, john didn't like seeing him pout when he would die so soon.

john proceeded to raise an eyebrow, "really? like boyfriend boyfriend?"

"boyfriend boyfriend!" jaren nodded, giggling and chewing on his lip.

⏪

john didn't know, but he had smiled in real time at the memory. darryl had been watching his expressions change, only realizing that he was thinking about jaren when the smile crossed his lips. "maybe evan didn't want to tell us." john murmured, still seeming as if the memory had his full attention, even if was fading to the back of his mind once again. "and jon got mad."

"i think that was it," darryl nodded, leaning back quietly. "when's your next break, john?" he questioned, trying to get the platinum blonde's mind off of the boy who was now six feet under.

"soon," john murmured, "winter breaks in two days, you want me to visit?" he smiled slightly, questioning darryl and sitting up a bit straighter.

"yes!" darryl smiled brightly, bouncing slightly on his bed. "oh, we can get lui and david! evan and jon too, they miss you. they've told me." darryl seemed all too excited before it died down, a frown replacing his once bright smile that john missed seeing.

john didn't know why until he realized he had been choking quietly, he paused, coughing. he assumed that would be the end of it, but continued to cough. he retched slightly and finally, two lilac petals fell out of his mouth and onto his elbow. "oh." was all he said as he threw the petals away.

"you'll be in stage two by then, john..i can't..i can't let you come like that." darryl whispered, now sounding like disappointment was all he had ever known to be true.

"it's fine, darryl , he's close to loving me. i can tell." john lied, toby was farther away from loving him then she was when john had started his expedition. but, that wouldn't stop him from seeing darryl. he had seen how happy he made his best friend at the simple though of seeing john again, who was john to take that away?

so, he smiled softly as darryl's smile was back, the boy was bouncing again. "i'll call lui, david, and everybody else! it'll be a welcome home party, even if you're just staying for a week or so." darryl chuckled, shifting. "i gotta go call them!"

"bye, darryl." john smiled, darryl rushing out a bye and hanging up. that's when the briliant idea crossed his mind; ask toby to come with him.

the two had come from the same town, he could converse with toby throughout the plane ride and then he could finally get toby to love him! he could come back to town with no more pesky flowers in his system and finally a relationship that both were invested in.

john nodded, deciding this was the best plan of action before picking his phone up and clicking on toby's contact.

⏪

JOHNNY 😇 (5:20 P.M.)

toby i got an idea

ROCKY 🌸 (5:20 P.M.)

what's up?

JOHNNY 😇 (5:21 P.M.)

wanna take a flight home with me
darryl is getting my group of friends together i can have him call your parents and such

ROCKY 🌸 (5:21 P.M.)

sure 😁 can my friends come?
eric and a few other guys, i know you've seen eric
you've met mason, his aunt lives over there

JOHNNY 😇 (5:23 P.M.)

yeah definitely
you guys gotta pay for your own tickets though
im not rich ya feel

ROCKY 🌸 (5:23 P.M.)

thanks john
i'll tell the guys!