𝙤𝙣𝙚-𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨

27 | memory lane

mayhaps it's a soft and angsty one 🥺🥺

TW-mentions of suicide
...

"hey corbyn?" daniel's voice was bordering a whisper, shy yet eager.

"yeah dani?" the two were sitting in the towering tree that was rooted in daniel's backyard. stars blinked sleepily down at the pair, the moon gently laying a soft glow over them.

"don't ever stop smiling, okay?" daniel fiddled with his fingers. "you smiling makes me feel like i can too."

daniel watched as corbyn bit his lip gently in thought, his young face scrunching up in thought.

"ever?" he finally spoke.

"ever." the brunette confirmed.

"i'm only seven, silly goose! how will i do that forever?" corbyn's giggles wove throughout the air, the stars and moon seeming to brighten at the sound.

"stay happy. stay with me!" with that, daniel grabbed his best friend's hand, locking their pinkie fingers. "pinkie promise?"

"okay. pinkie promise."

...

the mantel was gathering dust. now 25, daniel was taking one last walk through his childhood home before his parents left for washington.

"who's this?" he asked his mother, who was packing away frames filled with photographs and notes. "he looks familiar."

daniel's mother grabbed the silver frame, blowing away the dust and bringing it closer to her face.

"oh my god, you don't remember him?" her face studied daniel's with a hint of surprise. "that's corbyn besson. you two were best friends up until tenth grade!"

it all came back.

...

"ten year olds aren't supposed to sneak out." daniel whispered into the chilly air. yet as he said this, he was opening his window and preparing to make the easy jump from his room to corbyn's.

"it's fine, you're turning eleven in a few days anyways." corbyn waved off his concerns.

true that.

"okay, but you'll catch me if i slip, right?"

"i'll always catch you, dani."

...

"dude, this teacher sucks absolute balls." corbyn just laughed from his spot on daniel's bed, playing on his playstation.

"she's not that bad. you're in eighth grade, daniel. nothing she could give you could be worse than that math camp our parents sent us to last summer." a loud explosion came from the television, showing that corbyn had died.

"crap."

daniel just rolled his eyes at his best friend. "you are both incredibly helpful and incredibly useless."

"all part of my charm, brochacho."

"never ever say that again."

...

"hey corbyn, we missed you at jonah's birthday party." zach called from his seat on the rusty swings.

"he's finally a real teen, not a fake thirteen year old!" the group of five laughed obnoxiously, ignoring the looks they got from other kids.

"yeah, i had something important." daniel didn't miss the grimace that his best friend-no, practically soulmate at this point-gave. he never missed anything that corbyn did these days. the boy had drifted, stuck on a piece of wood that daniel could almost reach but not quite hold.

now he was being forced to watch from the boat as corbyn became a spec on the far horizon.

"maybe next time." the brunette added quietly, ruffling the blonde locks on top of his friend's head.

"maybe." he replied, just as soft.

"quit being soulmates and hang out with the rest of us too." jack chuckled.

daniel's heart lifted along with the corners of his best friend's mouth.

...

"mom, where'd he go?"

the gentle smile turned sad.

"somewhere else, honey. somewhere that treats him better."

daniel's heart clenched painfully in his chest, though he wasn't sure why. he just remembered the boy, yet now his eyes were becoming glossy.

"w-why? how?"

his mother guided him to one of the only spare chairs left in the living room. her hands left loving pats on his back, trying to take some of her son's pain.

...

"daniel james, we have to go now."

it was two in the morning, daniel noted, as he hastily threw a shirt on. usually he'd be complaining his heart out at this hour, but something in his instincts told
him that this was important. life changing.

his instincts were right, however he didn't find out until he was already being dragged into the hospital.

"mom?" his voice was raspy, confused. "mom, what's happening?"

instead of an answer, daniel got a pair of caring arms wrapped around him, not belonging to his mother.

"i'm so sorry, honey. i'm so sorry." saskia's hands and voice were shaking simultaneously.

"what happened? where's corbyn? where'd he-"

he finally got a glimpse of who was in the hospital room their families were gathered outside of.

...

"it was a suicide, darling. his second attempt." now daniel's mother's voice was thick.

"how could i have-oh my god, mom." everything was failing him. his brain, his soul, his heart, his voice, his legs.

"i can still feel him around you, baby. you have an aura, or a shield of protectiveness around you. corbyn never left after all these years."

the two sat together on the tiny green chair in the middle of the dirty room, hunching over each other to try to maybe relieve the pain that was now fresh in their bodies.

...

"in loving memory of corbyn matthew besson."

the photograph of corbyn did no justice to who he was. the black and white of the newspaper didn't catch his sparky blue eyes or blushing cheeks that matched so well with his pink lips, everything coming together to contribute to the showstopper that was his megawatt smile.

"hey corbyn?" he ran his fingers over the smooth, cold gravestone that now marked where his platonic soulmate rested. "smile forever for me, okay?"