REPLAY [ krtele / kritz / krii7y ]

ɴᴏᴠᴇ

STAGE THREE, DAY FIVE

john keyes woke up early in the morning, he felt free. his breathing took less effort and he frowned. originally he thought something was wrong, was this what stage three felt like? jaren seemed to be in much more pain then he was...he turned, coughing weakly and smiling brightly when he saw no petals. "darryl!" he yelled, jumping up.

his heart was pounding with his realization, darryl looking up quietly. "yeah, john?"

"toby loves me." he whispered, bouncing like a little boy on a trampoline.

darryl's eyes widened, smiling. "that's great, john! david, toby loves him!"

david looked up with a small smile, nodding. he thought it was ridiculous that john was already in love with someone else, he couldn't imagine anything happening to lui...let alone falling in love with someone new. but, he was happy that his friend wasn't going to die, at least.

⏪

the boys had gone out for a celebratory movie, lui and david cuddled up in a seat, jon and evan whispering to each other. john and darryl, however, sat there with no one but themselves. "darryl?" john whispered, shifting.

"hm?"

"d'you think it's possible that toby really loves me?" john murmured, "i mean, she doesn't seem like it."

darryl frowned, shaking his head. "'course she loves you, john, who doesn't?"

of course, the first thing that came to john's mind was jaren. but it could've also been cameron. because cameron didn't feel anything when it came to john, not anymore, anyway.

⏪

john and the boys came back laughing, falling through the doorway of david and lui's new apartment. they hummed, sitting on the couch and floor and going through their phones. it was john who almost started crying, jumping up. "darryl, c'mon. n-not just darryl, fuck, all of you...c'mon!" he yelled, running out of the room.

it was a simple notification, the boys thought until they saw the tears in john's eyes. they jumped up after him, running to catch up. 

"john, what happened?" darryl panted as they stopped outside of mason bradford's house, john knocking on the door quickly.

"toby's missing, fuck, darryl...i told you she didn't love me! god, darryl, nobody fucking loves me except for jaren." john choked, "she's missing, darryl, she's fucking gone." he panicked until david put his hand on john's back.

"hey," he whispered, "just because she's missing doesn't mean she's dead." he shushed john when he tried to speak, "she might've freaked when she realized it. she could've just ran out."

john relaxed slowly, nodding with fake happiness. "yeah, yeah. she's fine, i'm sorry. i'm sorry for freaking out."

david shook his head, "it's alright." and as he uttered those words, mason bradford opened the door.